What the Word says about the Last Days

1. In every way possible, I felt like the enemy tried to hinder this word today. I even had the outline before I left for Constantinople, I sent it for translation, I arrived late back yesterday – my Internet was down, I called Cosmote. I was on the phone with Cosmote, George knows, till 1:30 this morning, that was 4 hours. They could not get my Internet to work, I couldn’t even save my sermon on a flash drive and bring to George. But the reason I believe that it has been hindered – but I’m here and I’m preaching, is because I believe very much, this Sunday and next Sunday, I want to share a little bit about what the Word says about the Last Days.
2. I’m not going to tell you that Jesus is coming tomorrow – but He could! But this local church has joined with many around the world, to pray that everyone in this world, by the year 2033, which will be the 2000-year celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit, that everyone in the world, will have the witness of Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior, and He came to save them, Amen! And if we believe that and if we understand the hour in which we live, I believe, our hearts are going to be very burdened, that people will have an opportunity, before Jesus comes again, because I believe Jesus is coming, I believe He’s coming soon.
3. There are too many things happening in the world today, so, if today I get a little scattered, my brains are a little bit like noodles, they’re a little tired, but I believe the Word, God wants this Word today, and please come next week. Every single day, on the world stage, something is happening that we’re seeing in the news. Whether it began with Covid, or whether it began in 2008 with the world-wide economic crisis, I don’t know, but I do believe, from a very certain point in time, in the year 2000, when it came, that the stage has been set as never before, to move towards the ‘Grand Finale’, where Jesus will split open the skies, the heavens; the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ will rise, and those of us who know Him will rise to meet Him in the air, and go to the very supper of the Lamb. So, there are a lot of oceans rising and things that we could drown in. There is pestilence, disease, there are wars, they just said in Israel, this is war. There’s economic upheaval everywhere.
4. But do you know what, the Lord will let us know, in His Word, He predicted 2000 years ago, that towards the end, a system would come into this world, to bring all these things together to bring a one-world government. But as man thinks, that he’s going to control the world, the King of kings, will come upon the scene. And I believe the Lord wants me to remind you and myself, that the God of the Bible, and if you don’t read it, you need to start. And if you don’t know any of the Scriptures that talk about the End Times, come see me. They’re not just in the New Testament, they’re also in the Old Testament. But because from the days of Adam and Eve, when they fell and sinned, God had a plan to come and rescue His creation, Amen. Thank You Lord.
5. The God of the Bible is the one true and living God. I believe that this Word is inspired and without error – there are no mistakes in it. God knows the future – even yours. I like that. Sometimes we just say, ‘Oh, that’s just the big picture’. But He even knows ours if we will follow Him. But guess what, God has an enemy and we know his name, and he’s been at war with God, his name was Lucifer in heaven, and he rebelled against God, and he fell from heaven, and he has been at war with God ever since, and guess what, he has no plans to surrender. Satan will never surrender, but one day, King Jesus, hallelujah, will put His feet on him, and He’ll declare, ‘I’ve won!’ because He already anyway when He defeated him on the cross.
6. Though the war has been long, and Satan continues to say, and he is saying more and more, that truth is relative. Truth is whatever you believe, that there is not one truth. But I’m telling you this morning, the Lord is calling His beautiful children, His bride, for our hearts to begin to join together, and the parts of the truth of God that we maybe don’t understand, we need to come together and talk about these things. Because if we ever lived in a time where we need to be united, it is now. There are not many truths; there is one truth, and I’m sorry, if you don’t like it, but I believe the Word says, ‘God created male and female’. There’s no question about it. It is Satan who’s trying to corrupt it. Marriage, is between a man and a woman. And if you disagree with me. Let’s talk; let’s not talk against one another, let’s talk, Amen.
7. It is time for us to come together, and see what the Word of God says, because guess what? I may not always be right, and maybe you aren’t either. But I know One, His Word is true; His Word is like a two-edged sword. It will cut through those things, that we don’t understand and it will reveal the truth. We must remember, that God is in control, no matter what we see happening. I am looking for the return of Jesus. I always say that I’m 39 forever, obviously I’m not, but I’ll always believe, I’ll see the coming of Jesus in the clouds. And we’ll talk a little about that next week. I’m sure you over there will surely see it.
8. Israel, became a nation again before I was born, and that was one of the prophecies; when you see Israel, become a nation, you know that the fig tree is putting forth new leaves. The end-times are beginning to bloom, to leaf. The devil is a master of illusion. He’s a master at misdirecting us. He’s a master at turning our attention away from the truth, and tending our attention towards thinks of this earth – like money, romance, career. These aren’t bad things, but if they’re number one, you’re not focusing on Him. He tries to turn out attention towards self-love. False religion, empty philosophy, it still amazes me, that here in Greece now, the worship of the pantheon, has again become an official religion. I don’t know about you, but I’m not planning on worshipping Aphrodite or Athena, or any other god. He wants to direct people to something that’s empty.
9. Maybe this week, you’ll want to read the Book of Revelation. The Apostle John wrote it and said this is the revelation of Jesus. It’s about His getting ready to come back, and the things that are going to happen. When John wrote this, it was an age of swords and spears and Roman togas. And during that time, in the Book of Revelation, and other books, a one-world economic system, would come and control global commerce.
10. The developments we see in the world today, whether it’s a certain nation, owning ports in Greece, or a certain nation now, that I recently found out, it’s citizens travel to America, with suitcases full of money, and they find lawyers or real estate agents, that are crooked, and they give them these suitcases of money, to buy up land that they’re legally not allowed to have, and this certain nation is owning a large part of American farmland. They’re all over the world, we can see developments happening, where nations or cultures are wanting to control other nations. The Bible is true; it prophesied these things would happen. The stage is being set for a one-world government. But, Eva-Lena, He will keep us above the waves. Storms may come but we’ll walk through, and the 8 billion people that are on the world today, they need to know, that there is a way through this, that is true, and it will give them light beyond this life, Amen.
11. Hundreds of prophecies concerning Jesus’ first coming they were fulfilled. I can give you tons of lists of them, if you’ve never read about them. And these things help us know that the Word is true. Do you know that it was prophesied where He would be born? It was prophesied that it would be a virgin birth. It was prophesied that He would arrive in Jerusalem, it was prophesied that He would be betrayed, that He would suffer, that He would die for sinners. It was prophesied where He would be buried and that He would be resurrected. And historians say that there were enough witnesses to say, ‘Yes it happened’. And it proves the Word of God.
12. So, we can base prophecies about the future, on the Word of God. If those prophecies happened, the Words for the future are going to happen, Amen. So, we need to fix our eyes on Jesus. Because He wants to get us ready to come and get us – a beautiful bride. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament, frequently spoke the word ‘Parousia’ which means ‘Presence’ or ‘Arrival’ or ‘Coming’. In ancient times, this word was used to describe, ‘Oh, the king is coming’. Seventeen times in the New Testament, it refers to the return of Jesus, and ten of those times, refer to what we call ‘The Rapture’. I hope I can talk about all of this next week. But there are actually 2 comings, the first one He comes to take His bride, and the second, he’s going to come and step down on Jerusalem and He’ll begin to judge and finish all up here.
13. At the Rapture, I’m going to keep saying this again, Jesus is coming for the Church. Do you realize you are His bride? He’s the Bridegroom, and so when we talk about loving Him, we love Him because He first loved us, He shows us His love, and when you are in a marital relationship, you want to share that love, don’t you? I ancient Jewish marriages, a girl and a guy would get engaged, but they wouldn’t announce when the day was. So suddenly, the bridegroom, the guy, would decide that it’s time for the wedding. I want to get her; I want her. And he would go and just capture her; he would rapture her; he would take her away from the home and that’s when they would have the wedding.
14. That’s why we liken the rapture to Jesus coming to get His bride. He can’t wait any longer; He’s coming to get her. The bride didn’t know the exact hour, but she knew it was close. So, she was ready and waiting. She had a dress there ready. If he would come in the middle of the night, she could put it on. He wants us to get ready, to be ready, He’s coming. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. When we read this and understand, this was predicted, He was coming, it was prophesied.
15. The Lord is telling us to get ourselves together, individually and together, ready for His return and tell the world, there is salvation in the name of Jesus, there’s a better place, Amen. I believe that we’re going to see more and more, signs become obvious, signs that Jesus is coming soon. And we can choose to ignore them, or just believe, ‘Oh, I don’t think that’s true’, or just go on with our lives, but I’m telling you that the Lord is giving us an opportunity now. He’s calling us now, to draw near to Him, that we can draw others near to Him. Do you know why He hasn’t come yet, because the Bible says, He is not willing, He does not want anybody to die in their sin.
16. We are His witnesses. We are here to praise the Lord and for the people to see the praise in our life, that they would be drawn to the beauty of the Lord and to want that more than anything. I hope you’ll give me a little more time next week, but I want read one more scripture, 2 Peter 3:3-8. The Lord will keep His promise, He will, always has and He will. We live in a day where people mock us or scoff at us, people who walk for their ungodly desires. We live in the day where people say that the Bible is a nice book, but they cast doubt on the reality of it, that it is real. We must not forget, that the promises of God are sure and true. We may begin to think that the rapture is some fairy tale for the future, maybe, but Matthew 25, says, ‘Don’t let the light in your lamp, go out’. Keep your lamp burning. Jesus is coming back for a beautiful bride.1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, you may want to read it. He wants us to be aware of this.
17. Let me tell you really quickly as we get ready to close. Why? Why a rapture? And this is something we can tell people that don’t know the Lord. Wouldn’t’ you like to meet Jesus? Let me tell you why it would be great to know Him. He loves you so much. He wants you to know that He keeps all His promises, so He said He’s coming so He is. Guess what? He says when He comes after us, and we go up in the air, we get a new body, we’ll be changed, in the twinkling of an eye. I’ll have a body that will never have a wrinkle. I’ll never have another disease; no physical problems ever again. Wouldn’t you like to know this Jesus? And for those that want absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, He’s coming to take us to be with Him, so that we will not have to suffer the judgement of God. That’s how much He loves us. The stage has been set, so what are we waiting for? Let’s quit waiting to get ready. Let’s get ready. Let’s be so ready, that people see the beauty of Jesus. That people realize that anything else less than the desire of Jesus, it’s not doing to matter in the end. If we ever needed to put on the whole armor of God, it is now, because Satan is a deceiver. When we have the helmet of salvation on, we have that breastplate of righteousness, all the armor, when he throws those fiery darts, they cannot land. They fall off that helmet, they fall of that shield, Amen. He will not deceive us, hallelujah. And people need to know, there is One, that loves them so much.
18. We’re being called, to live in a very difficult time. I don’t know all that’s going to happen, but I know that when we put our faith in Jesus, we’ll be able to walk, on top of the water, on top of the troubles, Amen. And I don’t know about you. Do you have loved ones that don’t know Jesus? I do. I want them to know, there is a way through what seems even the most difficult times. That they can call on His Name, and He will cause them to rise. As we close today, if you don’t know Jesus, of course just ask Him into your life. He’s been waiting, to come and live with you – to be with you. We need to pray to have a heart, that the Lord will use each one of us, to rescue those, the everyone that doesn’t know Him. Our hearts need to break, for those that don’t know Him. Give us a burden Lord to be like Jesus.