Announcer:
Revelation. The time of the end.
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Mysterious signs.
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Strange happenings.
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Confusing numbers.
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Are we facing a new world
order and the mark of the beast?
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Are we living on a
planet in upheaval?
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Are we on the
verge of Armageddon?
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Revelation, what do all the
signs in this mysterious book
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mean? Discover real answers.
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Revelation Speaks
Peace, with Shawn Boonstra.
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+
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>>>Shawn Boonstra: Welcome back
to "Revelation Speaks Peace." My
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name, Shawn Boonstra. I am
probably the only Boonstra in
the city of Minneapolis tonight;
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unless you've run into some
others, I'm probably it. I am
the speaker for a radio program
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known as the Voice of Prophecy,
a program that was based in Los
Angeles, California, for 85
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years, until this past fall when
we pulled it out of California
and moved it to the mountain
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state of Colorado. And from
there, in the foothills of the
Rockies, we now broadcast all
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over the globe, from Southeast
Asia to the Middle East, from
Europe to South America, and of
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course, right here in the United
States of America. And every so
often, we even let it go up
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north of the 49th parallel into
my home country of Canada. Now,
if you are here for the very
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first time, tonight, let me just
take a few more minutes tonight
again and explain how the
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seminar works. I won't do that
every night - we're going to
move onto other things tomorrow
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night - but there are some
people who have come for the
first time tonight. Our
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subject, as you probably guessed
from the advertising, is Bible
prophecy. So our only textbook,
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really, is going to be the
Bible. I do make reference to
other texts - you know, I
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brought out Edward Gibbons last
night out of curiosity's sake
and so on - but really, the
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textbook is the Bible, and
that's because my method is just
to examine what the Bible text
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actually says and let the Bible
explain itself. And as many of
you saw last night, the Bible
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does a remarkably good job of
just spelling things out and
explaining itself. And every
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night, as we go through our
subjects, we're going to learn
principles, we're going to see
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big themes, that will help us
understand how Bible prophecy is
structured and help us as we
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move into deeper and broader
topics night after night. So for
example, one of the really
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simple principles that we walked
away with last night was, you
have to read the whole thing. If
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you want to understand Daniel 2
and the dream Nebuchadnezzar
has, then you read the whole
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chapter. And in essence, if you
really want to understand Bible
prophecy, you don't have much
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choice but to read the whole
book. And people say, "Well,
that's a big book." I know it's
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a big book, but it's well worth
- those of you who have read it,
is this well worth your time to
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read, yes or no? Oh yeah, it
sure is. It has revolutionized
my life. I wake up every day
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bubbling with joy and hope
because of what I found in this
book. You gotta read the whole
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thing, and that's kind of one of
the underlying lessons that we
walked away with last night. And
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once you have all the principles
that we're going to gather -
we'll get some more tonight -
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Bible prophecy, the book of
Revelation, the book of Daniel,
they become as easy to
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understand as the rest of the
Bible. Literally, you can read
them as easily as you read
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.
All you need is the
all-important historical context
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and then a few more tools that
help with understanding. And
from that point on, it becomes
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easy. You can read Revelation as
easily as you read anything
else. And as you read it, what
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you discover is that prophecy
isn't mysterious; it's not
frightening, it's not something
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from the Twilight Zone - it
actually makes really good
sense. And once you see the big
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picture, it actually gives you a
lot of hope. What you discover,
if you read it all and get the
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right tools, is that God is not
trying to destroy the human
race. That is not His first
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intent. That is not what He's
after. He's not trying to
destroy the human race; God is
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trying to save it.
Unfortunately, Hollywood always
paints this horrible picture of
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God. They make these Bible
movies and they always paint God
as "arbitrarian", severe, and
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trying to kill everybody off.
But if God was trying to kill
everybody off, why would He give
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us the information we need to
make it home? He loves us. The
big picture is beautiful. And
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once we gather a lot of the
information, we're going to step
back and discover there's always
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a beautiful picture of hope in
every prophecy. We saw that last
night already. Nebuchadnezzar
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has this dream. "Oh, I'm going
to lose my empire." And then
Cyrus loses his empire, the
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Persians do, and the Greeks, and
the Romans, and western Europe,
and so on. But at the end of the
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day, the prophecy said that God
sets up a kingdom that never
needs replacing. It's the
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prefect environment for us to
live in. It's always a picture
of hope. Now, what we cover
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every night is going to build on
the stuff that we covered the
night before, and it's kind of
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progressive. The stuff we
learned last night and
especially tonight is going to
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factor into what we study
tomorrow night. And so it
becomes important to kind of
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follow along. And I know, as I
mentioned last night, a lot of
people are busy, but I can
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promise you - I mean, I'm busy
too, I've got kids - I've got
one daughter who's singing
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somewhere tonight in Colorado.
I've got another daughter in a
nursing home. She's not in the
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nursing home - she's only 13 -
but she's helping in a nursing
home somewhere else tonight. And
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they're in soccer and they're in
volleyball and piano lessons and
that, so I get busy. So I
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understand how busy people are.
But I promise you, if you clear
your calendar for a few nights,
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most people around the world
have told me that they walk out
the door knowing more about
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prophecy in a few days than they
learned in their entire life.
I'm going to open up the taps
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and pour it all out there and
give you more than you've ever
had before. That's my aim. We
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are learning basic principles
and key thematic concepts in
prophecy so that at the end,
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like building a house - I talked
about it last night; we put down
a foundation, put up the studs,
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hang the windows and the doors,
put on a roof, and so on - and
at the end, we'll step back and
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look at the big picture, and
that's the part I'm looking
forward to: the big picture will
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blow you away. Let's talk for a
moment about what we learned
last night. Let's have an exam.
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Are you ready for your first
exam? No? You didn't know
there'd be a pop quiz, did you?
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Here it comes. Nebuchadnezzar
has a dream and there's a
statue, and the statue is made
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of different metals. The head is
made of gold; the chest is made
of silver; the belly and thighs
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are made of brass or bronze,
depending on the translation you
read; the legs are made of iron;
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the feet are made of iron and
clay, if you remember that. What
empire was represented by the
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head of gold? Who was it? The
Babylonian empire, or the
Neo-Babylonian empire, or
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Nebuchadnezzar's empire. What
empire was represented by the
legs of iron? Which one was it?
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That was the iron monarchy of
Rome, as Everett Gibbons
descried it. Next question.
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Will the western Roman empire
ever be reunited, yes or no? No.
That was kind of the whole
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point, wasn't it? They shall not
or will not adhere to one
another; they will try and try
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and try for centuries to put it
back together and they will
never succeed. Last question.
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Who does set up the next
universal kingdom? Who is it?
It's God, and it happens when
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Jesus Christ returns. Now,
tonight, a planet in upheaval.
We're going to look at a
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2000-year-old prophecy that is
mind-numbing and it becomes more
interesting with every passing
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year. Let's pray. Father in
heaven, I know that this is not
like the other books on the
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shelf. You speak through this
book. I know that because it
changed my life. And I would ask
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that You would make me fit to
speak tonight. I'm not fit to
represent You, except that You
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would bless me, and so I ask for
that. Cover my sins with the
blood of Christ. Enable me to
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represent You faithfully so that
heaven is smiling when we're
finished. And I ask it in Jesus'
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name, amen. In the Bible, in the
gospel according to Matthew,
there is this story where Jesus
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is walking through the city of
Jerusalem with his disciples,
and they walk right past the
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temple. And it's the second
temple, the one that was built
after the Israelites came back
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from Babylonian captivity.
Sometimes we call it Herod's
temple. Herod didn't build it,
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but he did expand the grounds
and beautify the grounds and so
on, and so we often call it
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Herod's temple. But we could
also call it Cyrus' temple
'cause Cyrus liberated the
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Israelites and let them go home.
Or we could call it Artaxerxes'
temple because Artaxerxes helped
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fund rebuilding the temple. Or
we could call it Nehemiah's
temple because he was down there
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working on the walls of
Jerusalem. But this is the
second time they have built the
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temple. And the second temple is
drop-dead gorgeous. It's one of
the ancient wonders of the
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world. And as they walk by it,
the disciples begin to swell
with pride, understandably, and
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they point to the temple and
they brag just a little bit.
"Oh, look, Lord, this beautiful
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building is proof that God is
with His people." And Jesus
stops and He looks at the temple
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and then He says something that
really bothers those disciples.
And what Jesus says in Matthew
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24 actually sets the stage for
understanding the last few
minutes of this world's history.
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Matthew 24 verse 2, Jesus is
looking at the temple and He
says, "Do you not see all these
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things? Assuredly, I say to you,
not one stone shall be left upon
another that shall not be thrown
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down." This temple, guys, it's
coming down. Not one stone left
on top of. Jesus was absolutely
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right, because roughly 40 years
later in A.D. 70, there's a
group in Jerusalem known as the
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zealots, and they are trying to
overthrow Roman occupation, and
they're protesting and they're
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causing trouble. They stage an
uprising, and so Titus, the
Roman general, is sent into
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Jerusalem to take command and
squash the rebellion. And the
zealots, at one point, running
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from the Romans, go and hide in
some of the rooms in the temple.
And the soldiers are looking for
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them. And we don't know if it
was deliberate or accidental,
but at one point, a soldier
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sticks a lit torch through an
opening into the temple, and the
temple is full of cedar wood
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that is centuries old and very
dry, and the soldier starts a
fire. Titus loved the building.
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The Romans loved to preserve
culture where they could. And he
tried to save it, but there was
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no use; the temple burned up,
and hundreds of zealots died
inside that temple, and a lot of
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the gold in the temple started
to melt and run into the cracks
between the rocks. And so partly
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out of rage at the zealots and
partly to get the gold out of
the cracks, the Romans literally
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disassembled the temple, and
they don't leave one stone left
on top of another. Today, in
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the city of Rome, about halfway
between the Colosseum and the
Arch of Constantine and the old
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Roman senate in the ancient city
of Rome, there's an archway.
It's known as the Arch of Titus.
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It was erected to celebrate his
victory in Jerusalem. And when
you go through that arch and
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look up on the wall, you can
still see this fresco, this
carving, of Roman soldiers
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carrying away the seven-branched
candlestick that they took from
the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus,
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40 years in advance, was
absolutely right. This temple's
coming down. And that bothers
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the disciples. Well, how could
that be? It's the temple. I
guess they forgot it came down
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once before. And they come to
Jesus with a question. And you
read the question in verse 3.
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"And as He [that's Jesus] sat
upon the Mount of Olives, the
disciples came to Him privately
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[away from the crowd], saying,
'Tell us, when will these things
be? And what will be the sign of
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Your coming and of the end of
the age?'" They're reasoning to
themselves. Well, if the temple
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comes down, that's got to be the
end of all the things. It must
mean Jesus is about to set up
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His kingdom. Lord, tell us, how
will we know? What will be the
signs? Give us a sign of Your
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coming and the end of the age.
We need to know. Now, I want you
to listen very, very carefully
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to what Jesus says, because it
has bothered a lot of people for
the last 2000 years. Here it is
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now, starting in verse 4. "And
Jesus answered and said unto
them: 'Take heed that no one
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deceives you.'" I want you to
pay attention to that word
"deceive" because as we keep
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going through different
prophecies found in the Bible,
you're going to see that word
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cropping up a lot of times. The
word "deception", "deceive" is
there an awful lot. Jesus is
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saying there's going to be a lot
of confusion before He comes
back, a lot of bad thinking. And
00:15:28.12\00:15:33.19
what that means is that you and
I are really going to have to
pay attention. We are going to
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have to be absolutely sure that
we know what this book says. And
you will not be able, in the
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end, to just take somebody's
word for it. You're going to
have to know. Jesus said there's
00:15:43.61\00:15:49.04
going to be deception. What kind
of deception? Verse 5. "For many
-" How many? Many. Oh, there's
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more of you here than that. I
can see you all. You know I can
see you, right? For how many?
00:15:58.72\00:16:02.49
Many "- will come in My name,
saying, 'I am the Christ,' and
will deceive many." This is
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going to be a big problem. Jesus
said there'll be a lot of people
who'll be deluded and fall for
00:16:08.80\00:16:13.47
this kind of stuff. "Many will
come saying, 'I am the Christ,'
and you will hear of wars and
00:16:13.57\00:16:17.91
rumours of wars. See that you
are not troubled: for all these
things must come to pass, but
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the end is not yet." Verse 7.
"For nation will rise against
nation and kingdom against
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kingdom, and there will be
famines, pestilences, and
earthquakes in various places."
00:16:30.15\00:16:36.26
You want to know, guys, when my
kingdom is getting close? Then
pay attention to these kinds of
00:16:36.96\00:16:40.93
signs: false christs with their
bad religion; war and famine and
pestilence and earthquakes. And
00:16:41.00\00:16:46.63
the sceptics read this - I've
heard them - the sceptics read
this and they say, "What a lot
00:16:46.74\00:16:51.51
of nonsense; we have always had
those things." There have always
been weird religious people.
00:16:51.61\00:16:57.88
There have always been wars to
fight. There's always been
famine and pestilence and
00:16:57.98\00:17:02.95
earthquake. These aren't signs
of anything. But the sceptics
didn't keep reading. They don't
00:17:03.05\00:17:11.43
understand. They didn't read
verse 8 where Jesus says: "All
these are the beginning of
00:17:11.53\00:17:22.50
sorrows." That word "sorrows" is
a very important word. Jesus did
not choose that word by
00:17:22.60\00:17:27.21
accident. In fact, if you don't
understand why He uses that
word, you cannot understand this
00:17:27.31\00:17:32.75
prophecy at all. What does that
word "sorrows" mean? The best
way to explain it is to tell you
00:17:32.85\00:17:40.09
something that happened in our
family roughly 13 years ago. It
was 1:30 in the afternoon. I'm
00:17:40.19\00:17:47.56
at my office. I'm living in
Toronto at the time. And my
phone rings on my desk. I pick
00:17:47.66\00:17:52.17
it up and it's my wife. "Hi,
honey," she says. Her voice is
always so nice. It was nicer
00:17:52.27\00:17:57.14
than that. "Hi," she says. "I
think I want to come to the
office and see you this
00:17:57.24\00:18:02.28
afternoon." I said, "That's
nice. I always love to see you,
but it's 1:30 in the afternoon.
00:18:02.38\00:18:06.41
I've got, like, four or five
more hours to go. Why are you
coming to the office in the
00:18:06.51\00:18:10.82
middle of the day?" She said,
"Because I've been in labour for
the last hour." I said, "Well,
00:18:10.92\00:18:17.26
maybe you should come to the
office." Now, we only had one
car in those days, or I would've
00:18:17.36\00:18:20.60
gone to get her. I walked to
work. And she drove down the
office and she came upstairs,
00:18:20.70\00:18:25.97
and I'll never forget it. There
was a little yellow love seat by
- an ugly yellow love seat by
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the front door of my office. And
she came in and very carefully
sat down in the seat. And she
00:18:31.11\00:18:38.01
said, "Now, I know what you're
like. You're going to panic.
You're going to panic. I know
00:18:38.11\00:18:41.98
what you're like, Shawn. And I
just want you to know, there's
nothing to worry about. We have
00:18:42.08\00:18:46.09
all the time in the world. The
baby's not coming anytime soon.
I just wanted to be early so we
00:18:46.19\00:18:50.63
could be ready when it is time
to go to -" I said, "We've got
to go to the hospital." She
00:18:50.73\00:18:54.46
said, "No, no, no, it's far too
soon. The contractions are,
like, ten minutes part." I said,
00:18:54.56\00:19:00.24
"Ten minutes apart? We've got to
go." She said, "No." I said, "We
have to go." "No, no, no, I'll
00:19:00.34\00:19:06.04
feel like a fool. They'll send
me home." This isn't our first
rodeo; she knows. "Oh," she said
00:19:06.14\00:19:10.68
- Does that make sense in other
languages? This is not our first
baby. We didn't have rodeos; we
00:19:10.78\00:19:16.69
had babies. She said, "I know
what you're like. And I don't
want to go to the hospital.
00:19:16.79\00:19:27.30
They're going to tell me I came
too soon and send me home and
I'll be embarrassed." She said,
00:19:27.40\00:19:31.50
"I know, though; let's go for
lunch." I said, "I don't want to
go for lunch. You think I'm
00:19:31.60\00:19:35.40
going to eat? We're about to
have a baby. I can't eat." She
said, "I just want to go for
00:19:35.50\00:19:38.61
lunch. It'll be nice. We'll sit
and talk." I said, "I am not
going to have this child in
00:19:38.71\00:19:41.91
Arby's. It's not going to
happen." She said, "Well, maybe
we could go to Best Buy." Right?
00:19:42.01\00:19:46.51
We don't have Best Buy in
Canada; it's actually Future
Shop. I converted it for
00:19:46.61\00:19:49.72
American talk. We have Future
Shop. She said, "Let's go down
to Future Shop, and you can look
00:19:49.82\00:19:55.69
at all of the electronic toys,
and I'll walk up and down the
aisles and it'll feel good to
00:19:55.79\00:20:01.13
walk up and down the aisles." I
said, "No. We are not having
this baby in Future Shop. We
00:20:01.23\00:20:06.30
have got to go." She said, "I'm
not going to the hospital. This
baby is not coming." I said,
00:20:06.40\00:20:10.84
"The baby must be coming; why
are you here?" She said, "No,
it's too soon." She said, "I
00:20:10.94\00:20:14.21
know. Let's drop off our oldest
daughter at a friend's house now
while we have time, and then we
00:20:14.31\00:20:19.01
don't have to do it later when
we have no time." I said, "That
sounds good. Let's do that." So
00:20:19.11\00:20:23.85
we took our oldest daughter
Natalie [ph] - she was, oh, not
quite three. We got to the
00:20:23.95\00:20:27.56
friend's house. She had her
little suitcase. She loved
staying there. We rang the bell,
00:20:27.66\00:20:31.43
she ran inside, they closed the
door, we turned around to go
down the steps, and my wife
00:20:31.53\00:20:35.20
buckles over. "Oh!" I said,
"What's the matter?" She said,
"What do you think is the
00:20:35.30\00:20:41.10
matter? It's a contraction." I
said, "How far apart?" She said,
"Six minutes." I said, "We've
00:20:41.20\00:20:48.21
got to go to the hospital." "Too
soon," she said. I said, "Go to
- get in the car." We drove down
00:20:48.31\00:20:52.11
to the hospital. We pulled into
the parking lot. And she said,
"Let's just sit in the car and
00:20:52.21\00:20:56.32
listen to the radio for a
while." I said, "I'm not going
to sit here listening to the
00:20:56.42\00:21:01.29
radio." I got out of the car. I
walked around to the passenger's
side, I open the door, and this
00:21:01.39\00:21:07.03
is the only argument I've won in
22 years of marriage. The only
one. I said, "Get out." And I
00:21:07.13\00:21:12.53
pulled her out of the car and I
brought her inside. I put her in
front of the admitting nurse.
00:21:12.63\00:21:16.40
She's sitting at the desk. And
this is what she said. She said,
"I have no idea why I'm here. My
00:21:16.50\00:21:20.21
crazy husband dragged me down
here and it's too soon." The
nurse looked at her, she said,
00:21:20.31\00:21:28.45
"I think I have a pretty good
idea why you're here today." And
they put her in the
00:21:28.55\00:21:32.22
monitoring room. They put the
monitors on her tummy and you
hear the baby's heartbeat. Isn't
00:21:32.32\00:21:36.29
that sweet when you hear the
baby's heartbeat? And then she
said, "Would you get out of
00:21:36.39\00:21:39.73
here? You're driving me crazy.
Go down to the cafeteria, buy a
sandwich." So I went down there
00:21:39.83\00:21:43.80
- I hadn't eaten in a day and a
half - and I bought a sandwich.
I hope there's no hospital
00:21:43.90\00:21:48.20
cafeteria workers here, but this
was the worst sandwich ever
made. Noah threw it out on the
00:21:48.30\00:21:53.41
ark. It was so old. And it was
dry. And I ate it. And I ran
upstairs. And I got upstairs to
00:21:53.51\00:22:02.58
where she was supposed to be on
the bed with - and there's
nobody there. And there's no
00:22:02.68\00:22:08.42
doctor, there's no nurse,
there's nobody. Oh, no. I looked
down the hall. There must be ten
00:22:08.52\00:22:13.66
doors, and there's a lady having
a baby behind every door. And I
dropped out of pre-med when they
00:22:13.76\00:22:21.00
showed the childbirth film. I
passed out in the dark in class.
And I prayed a prayer, "Lord,
00:22:21.10\00:22:25.07
please don't let me open the
wrong door, no." And I listened.
I literally listened at each
00:22:25.17\00:22:32.71
door. No. No. Maybe. Closed one
eye, I opened the door. Oh, it's
her. The baby arrived within ten
00:22:32.81\00:22:43.16
minutes of me walking in there.
The doctor almost didn't make
it. "Baby's not coming anytime
00:22:43.26\00:22:50.33
soon." Those aren't signs; that
stuff has always happened. They
missed the word "sorrows." In
00:22:50.43\00:22:57.81
the Greek language, it's
"odune." It's "contractions."
It's birth pains. And birth
00:22:57.91\00:23:03.91
pains happen quite awhile before
the baby actually comes. They
just pick up speed and they grow
00:23:04.01\00:23:09.85
more intense as the moment
comes. So I'm going to ask a
question tonight. Of all these
00:23:09.95\00:23:15.26
things Jesus told us to watch
for, yes, they have happened all
- I mean, Jesus knew there'd
00:23:15.36\00:23:19.33
been war and earthquake and
famine and pestilence, but He
called them contractions. Since
00:23:19.43\00:23:24.60
that day, how big have the
contractions become? I want you
to think about it tonight. But
00:23:24.70\00:23:29.24
just before we think about it, I
want to give you a word of
caution. The first word of
00:23:29.34\00:23:33.68
caution is this: We are not
going to throw darts at a
calendar and pick a date for the
00:23:33.78\00:23:38.31
second coming of Christ. Why?
Because Jesus says you're not
allowed to do that. Matthew 24
00:23:38.41\00:23:42.38
in verse 36: "No man knows the
day or hour." I've had people
come to me say, "He said 'day or
00:23:42.48\00:23:48.32
hour.' He didn't say 'week or
month.'" Yes, He did, Acts
chapter 1, on His way back to
00:23:48.42\00:23:54.56
heaven. The disciples said, "Now
tell us when You're going to
establish Your kingdom." He
00:23:54.63\00:23:57.77
said, "It is not for you to know
the times or the seasons."
"That's in My Father's control."
00:23:57.87\00:24:04.64
Now, why wouldn't God just give
us an exact day? Right? Why not
just tell you? You're going to
00:24:04.74\00:24:10.01
come that day. 'Cause He knows
what you're like, that's why.
You're going to wait 'til the
00:24:10.11\00:24:16.12
last minute, try and make things
right with God, but that is now
how you build a relationship.
00:24:16.22\00:24:20.22
You see, with God, it's not a
legal arrangement only. It's a
relationship. You can't build
00:24:20.32\00:24:26.26
those in the last minute of your
life. It's like telling a girl,
"Look, I'll marry you once I run
00:24:26.36\00:24:31.13
out of other options." That's
what it's like. You can't build
a relationship - of course God
00:24:31.23\00:24:38.67
doesn't tell us. It's about a
relationship with Him. Now, we
can't pick dates, but we can get
00:24:38.77\00:24:44.55
a sense of when it's soon. Jesus
did say that. In verse 32, He
actually says, "These signs,
00:24:44.65\00:24:49.08
these contractions, are like a
fig tree in the springtime. When
you see the leaves come out,
00:24:49.18\00:24:52.95
then you know that summer is
almost here." That's how much we
can know. Summer is almost here.
00:24:53.05\00:24:59.23
So let's take a look at it.
Jesus gives us three general
categories of signs to look at:
00:24:59.33\00:25:03.67
He gives us signs in the
religious world; He gives us
signs in the political world;
00:25:03.77\00:25:08.00
and He gives us signs in the
natural world, geological-type
signs. I want to start with the
00:25:08.10\00:25:13.51
religious signs. Let's see what
kinds of things Jesus told us to
watch for. He said: "For many
00:25:13.61\00:25:19.01
will come in my name saying, 'I
am the Christ,' and will deceive
many." Jesus said when you have
00:25:19.11\00:25:26.02
a lot of people claiming to be
Messiah, lots of them, it's a
sign that we're getting close.
00:25:26.12\00:25:30.73
He says it again a little bit
later in verse 24. "For false
christs and false prophets will
00:25:30.83\00:25:36.53
arise and show great signs and
wonders, so as to deceive" -
there's that word again -
00:25:36.63\00:25:43.51
"deceive, if possible, even the
elect [God's people]." Jesus
said, "Be careful. There are
00:25:43.61\00:25:49.74
going to be a lot of fakes just
before the end, and even if they
manage to pull off a miracle,
00:25:49.84\00:25:56.05
even if they do stuff you can't
explain, watch out. A miracle is
no guarantee that God is behind
00:25:56.15\00:26:04.56
it." False christs work signs
and wonders in the end. Even the
evidence of your senses, the
00:26:04.66\00:26:10.77
things you see and hear, might
lead you astray, so do not allow
yourself to be fooled by
00:26:10.87\00:26:16.47
somebody's pop and dazzle and
showmanship, because false
christs will work wonders. It's
00:26:16.57\00:26:25.08
what Jesus said. There's only
one safe place to stand; it's on
the Word of God and what it
00:26:25.18\00:26:29.45
says. Jesus said when there are
lots of these people, then you
know it's almost time. You know,
00:26:29.55\00:26:35.32
over the centuries, there have
always been a few. In the first
century after Jesus, there were
00:26:35.42\00:26:39.59
a few wing nuts that came out
and said, "Ooh, I'm Jesus come
back." Around the year 1000,
00:26:39.69\00:26:45.60
there were two or three, because
there was some millennial fever
around the year 1000. But if you
00:26:45.70\00:26:51.24
paid attention to how it's
gotten in our lifetime, let's go
back through my lifetime and the
00:26:51.34\00:26:58.05
stuff that I remember. 1969.
Charles Manson gets a group of
people to murder Sharon Tate in
00:26:58.15\00:27:06.02
a house just over the hill from
where I used to live in
Northridge, California. And what
00:27:06.12\00:27:11.03
was Charles Manson trying to do?
He was trying to get one group
of people in Los Angeles to
00:27:11.13\00:27:14.63
blame another group of people in
Los Angeles for the murder, and
spark the battle of Armageddon,
00:27:14.73\00:27:19.23
at which point he would step in
and become messiah to the whole
world. Now, what's unbelievable
00:27:19.33\00:27:24.07
about Charlie Manson is he still
has a following to this day.
Forty years later, there are
00:27:24.17\00:27:28.38
still people who think he's
Jesus Christ. In fact, you
probably heard it a couple of
00:27:28.48\00:27:32.81
months ago: some young girl
wanted to marry this guy. That's
one. Jim Jones follows quickly
00:27:32.91\00:27:39.85
on the heels of it. People's
Temple, San Francisco and Los
Angeles. Eventually, he moves
00:27:39.95\00:27:44.13
the whole cult, to avoid
scrutiny, down to Jonestown,
Guyana. And when the government,
00:27:44.23\00:27:49.73
the CIA started to inspect what
was going on, he actually talks
the whole cult into poisoning
00:27:49.83\00:27:53.87
themselves. They drank Kool-Aid
laced with cyanide. You younger
folks, when you hear somebody
00:27:53.97\00:27:59.34
saying, "Oh, that person drank
the Kool-Aid," that's where that
comes from, from that event in
00:27:59.44\00:28:03.85
the 1970s. You know, I listened
to Jim Jones' last sermon. The
CIA has made it available so you
00:28:03.95\00:28:10.25
can listen to it. It's
bone-chilling. He has hundreds
of people in a room and they all
00:28:10.35\00:28:14.86
say, "Yes, we'll drink the
Kool-Aid. We will die for you,"
except one woman who stands up
00:28:14.96\00:28:19.29
and says, "I've been reading my
Bible, and this doesn't seem
right." Another messiah, a
00:28:19.39\00:28:24.77
false one, Sun Myung Moon, in
our generation, founder of the
Unification Church. We call them
00:28:24.87\00:28:28.90
the Moonies. You've probably
seen their mass wedding
ceremonies. An interesting side
00:28:29.00\00:28:33.48
note, he also started the
Washington Times newspaper. It's
a great newspaper. There's
00:28:33.58\00:28:37.61
nothing culty about the
newspaper - just an interesting
side note. I just found that out
00:28:37.71\00:28:41.58
a few months ago. Sun Myung Moon
claimed he's the second coming
of Christ, that he came
00:28:41.68\00:28:46.49
to this earth to finish Jesus'
unfinished work. And he said,
quote - I quote him - "He [he
00:28:46.59\00:28:54.56
means God], He is living in me.
I am the incarnation of
Himself." Tens of thousands of
00:28:54.66\00:28:58.33
followers. In the early 1990s,
this guy by the name of Vernon
Howell comes around. And of
00:28:58.43\00:29:03.47
course, that's a very ordinary
name, so he changes it to David
Koresh: David after King David;
00:29:03.57\00:29:09.08
Koresh after Cyrus who conquered
Babylon. His original name in
his original tongue is Koresh.
00:29:09.18\00:29:15.88
And he told his followers, "I'm
a sinful christ. The first time
Jesus came, He had to be sinless
00:29:15.98\00:29:22.49
and pure, but now I've come to
indulge in sin and experience
that on behalf of all humanity."
00:29:22.59\00:29:28.33
It's hard to believe that people
fall for this stuff. But they
do. Jesus said there'll be
00:29:28.43\00:29:34.57
overwhelming deception for
people in the last days. And you
saw how that story ended in
00:29:34.67\00:29:39.64
Waco, Texas. It ended in flames.
And the tragedy is, it didn't
have to, because the Bible has
00:29:39.74\00:29:45.11
plenty of warning to keep you
out of those places. You don't
have to fall for it. Marshall
00:29:45.21\00:29:51.15
Applewhite, San Diego, Heaven's
Gate Cult, had a partner. She
called herself Peep; he called
00:29:51.25\00:29:55.99
himself Bo. They were Bo and
Peep. And they told everybody
that there was a flying saucer
00:29:56.09\00:29:59.79
behind Comet Hale-Bopp and they
had to kill themselves so that
they could ascend to the next
00:29:59.89\00:30:04.67
level above human. So in San
Diego, they all went out for
dinner one night, they ate bowls
00:30:04.77\00:30:09.47
of lemon wedges - I have no idea
why - the waiter told us they
ate lemon wedges. Then they went
00:30:09.57\00:30:15.04
home and they poisoned
themselves, and the last two
wrapped their heads in bags and
00:30:15.14\00:30:18.88
suffocated. Didn't have to
happen; Jesus warned us. Just
last year, Alan John Miller of
00:30:18.98\00:30:25.25
Australia told the world he's
Jesus. And his girlfriend Mary
Luck said that she is Mary
00:30:25.35\00:30:29.36
Magdalene. He explains it on his
website. There's an audio
recording. He says there's
00:30:29.46\00:30:34.76
probably a million people who
say they're Jesus; there are.
Probably a million people who
00:30:34.86\00:30:39.03
say they're Jesus; most of them
are in asylums. Actually, most
of them are not. They're not.
00:30:39.13\00:30:43.94
And he says, "But one of us has
to be Jesus. How do I know?
Because I remember my life."
00:30:44.04\00:30:48.68
You'd think nobody would follow
it. But he has a following;
people come every week to
00:30:48.78\00:30:54.38
listen. One after the other. The
Solar Temple in France. Benjamin
Creme, the Maitreya.
00:30:54.48\00:31:00.82
Nerve gas attack in the Tokyo
subway. So many people showed up
in Jerusalem, claiming to be
00:31:00.92\00:31:05.09
Jesus in the year 2000, that
they actually named a
psychiatric disorder after it:
00:31:05.19\00:31:09.56
they call it Jerusalem syndrome.
Right now, in North America,
there are more than 1000 people
00:31:09.66\00:31:14.50
who claim to be Jesus Christ and
actually have a following.
They're not in prison, they're
00:31:14.60\00:31:18.64
not in asylums; there are more
than 1000 right now tonight.
"Watch out," said Jesus, "when
00:31:18.74\00:31:25.61
many come, you have many
contractions." But you know,
it's just false christs that the
00:31:25.71\00:31:31.35
Bible warns us about. It also
talks about religion that goes
bad. Here's a prediction from
00:31:31.45\00:31:35.56
the apostle Paul, 2nd Timothy
chapter 3 verse 1. He says: "In
the last days perilous times
00:31:35.66\00:31:42.16
will come. For men will be
lovers of themselves..." Oh, is
that ever true now. Verse 5:
00:31:42.26\00:31:49.24
"Having a form of godliness -"
we're going to cover that whole
passage on a coming night. But
00:31:49.34\00:31:53.64
in verse 5, he says, "These
people will have a form of
godliness, but deny its power."
00:31:53.74\00:31:58.25
They'll claim to be believers.
They'll claim to be godly, but
they won't live it and they
00:31:58.35\00:32:03.52
won't really believe it. Going
through the motions. About 30
years ago - in our lifetime -
00:32:03.62\00:32:09.36
Jeffrey Hadden was the editor of
Christianity Today and he put
out a survey. I've been
00:32:09.46\00:32:14.20
describing this one ever since
it came out. It fascinates me.
He surveyed 10,000 Christian
00:32:14.30\00:32:19.67
pastors - 10,000. He got 7500 of
them to respond here in America.
And he gave them four questions
00:32:19.77\00:32:26.84
and asked them, "Do you agree
with these statements?" These
are Christian pastors. He asked
00:32:26.94\00:32:30.78
them, "Do you accept Jesus'
physical resurrection as a
fact?" You would hope so.
00:32:30.88\00:32:34.25
Because Paul says if Jesus
didn't rise from the dead, then
our faith is in vain. "Do you
00:32:34.35\00:32:39.19
accept?" Two out of five pastors
said, "No, I don't actually
believe that happened." Two out
00:32:39.29\00:32:44.59
of five. He asked them, "Do you
believe in the virgin birth of
Christ?" Almost half of the
00:32:44.69\00:32:48.56
pastors said, "No, we don't
believe that actually happened.
"Do you believe in an evil
00:32:48.66\00:32:52.93
demon power today? When the
Bible says there's a devil, do
you believe that's true?" Now,
00:32:53.03\00:32:56.54
these are pastors they're
asking. Forty-five percent said
no, there is no devil. "Do you
00:32:56.64\00:33:02.41
believe -" this one breaks my
heart "- do you believe -" these
are pastors - "Do you believe
00:33:02.51\00:33:06.68
that the Scriptures are the
inspired and inerrant Word of
God in faith, history and
00:33:06.78\00:33:10.05
secular matters?" Eighty-five
percent said no. Not just the
preachers, though. Easy to pick
00:33:10.15\00:33:17.83
on them. Let's turn it around on
the pews for a moment. 2009,
Barna goes to the pews and
00:33:17.93\00:33:22.80
interviews churchgoing
Christians. Do you agree with
these statements? "God is the
00:33:22.90\00:33:26.10
all-powerful, all-knowing
Creator of the universe who
rules the world today."
00:33:26.20\00:33:30.37
Seventy-eight percent, praise
the Lord, said yes. But it's
still one out of five, almost,
00:33:30.47\00:33:34.68
that said no. Churchgoing.
"Satan is not a living being,
but a symbol of evil."
00:33:34.78\00:33:39.45
Fifty-nine percent said that's
true, there is no devil.
Churchgoing Christians. In
00:33:39.55\00:33:43.49
America. "Jesus sinned while
living on this earth," Barna
said. Thirty-nine percent of
00:33:43.59\00:33:49.42
churchgoing Christians said it's
true, Jesus sinned. But my Bible
said Jesus is the sinless Son of
00:33:49.52\00:33:54.56
God, the pure Lamb of God. Next
one. "The Holy Spirit is a
symbol of God's power or
00:33:54.63\00:34:01.00
presence but is not a living
entity," not a person of the
godhead. Fifty-eight percent of
00:34:01.10\00:34:07.08
churchgoing Christians said
that's true, there isn't really
a holy spirit. Having a form of
00:34:07.18\00:34:12.91
godliness, Paul said, but
denying its power. I could go
all night. I've got surveys like
00:34:13.01\00:34:19.62
you wouldn't believe, but I
think we've kind of made the
point and we move on because
00:34:19.72\00:34:23.53
there are more contractions.
Jesus mentioned stuff in the
political world. "You will hear
00:34:23.63\00:34:27.50
of wars," He said, "and rumours
of wars. See that you are not
troubled, for all these things
00:34:27.60\00:34:31.67
must come to pass; but the end
is not yet." "For nation will
rise against nation, kingdom
00:34:31.77\00:34:36.74
against kingdom." Now, we have
always had war and the threat of
warfare. What we're looking at
00:34:36.84\00:34:42.01
are trends. Are the contractions
bigger or stronger or closer
than they used to be? We've
00:34:42.11\00:34:49.38
always had war; it's always been
nasty. But in the last few
generations, we've just gotten
00:34:49.48\00:34:53.72
very efficient. I mean, we used
to have war. We would line up in
two lines wearing bright red
00:34:53.82\00:34:58.59
coats and we would take turns
shooting at each other. And if
we ever got up close, you had to
00:34:58.69\00:35:04.53
look someone in the eyes if you
planned to kill them. But then
in the 20th century, it suddenly
00:35:04.63\00:35:09.10
changes. We have trench warfare.
And then the airplane and then
the A-bomb and now our new
00:35:09.20\00:35:13.91
favourite toy, the drones so
that we can kill someone on the
other side of our planet and
00:35:14.01\00:35:18.28
then go out for dinner right
afterwards. We killed more
people in warfare as a human
00:35:18.38\00:35:23.85
race in the 20th century than in
all previous centuries put
together, period: 203 million
00:35:23.95\00:35:29.42
people dead. We didn't do that
in all the other centuries
combined. Right now, tonight,
00:35:29.52\00:35:36.16
you can go check it; there are
forty-nine armed conflicts being
fought right now. Some of them
00:35:36.26\00:35:40.37
are averaging more than 10,000
deaths per year. Forty-nine of
them; go look it up. The
00:35:40.47\00:35:44.97
conflict with Boko Haram in
Africa has already killed 4500
people this year and it's not
00:35:45.07\00:35:49.21
quite March. It's going on right
now. The last I checked, every
single member of the United
00:35:49.31\00:35:55.22
Nations is involved in a dispute
with another nation. Every
single one. After the Soviet
00:35:55.32\00:36:01.29
Union collapsed, we all told
ourselves, "Ooh, the world's
about to become a more peaceful
00:36:01.39\00:36:04.43
place," but now it's worse than
it ever has been. North Korea
still wants to finish the war.
00:36:04.53\00:36:09.40
China is busy redrawing the map.
Russia stirring up trouble in
Crimea. ISIS knocking on
00:36:09.50\00:36:16.04
Europe's door and trying to
seize land all over the Middle
East. We have rogue nations
00:36:16.14\00:36:21.18
working on nuclear weapons. It
was bad enough when we knew who
had them. And the eight nations
00:36:21.28\00:36:26.55
that did have them had enough to
destroy the planet fifty times
over in less than a day. But
00:36:26.65\00:36:33.09
now there are people with an axe
to grind, rogue nations that are
developing nuclear programs.
00:36:33.19\00:36:36.83
Folks, it has always been bad,
but it's never been like this.
That's just the tip of the
00:36:36.93\00:36:42.76
iceberg. Jesus gave us signs to
watch for in the natural world
too. He said there'll be
00:36:42.86\00:36:46.84
famines, pestilence, and
earthquakes in various or
different places. Tonight there
00:36:46.94\00:36:52.27
are countless millions who face
food shortages in sub-Saharan
Africa. Right now, the number in
00:36:52.37\00:36:57.08
sub-Saharan Africa that are
starving is 28 million. Nearly
the entire population of my home
00:36:57.18\00:37:02.65
country. I think of the Kalahari
bushmen who we had contact with
some years ago. Remember the
00:37:02.75\00:37:07.92
film, The Gods Must be Crazy. We
made contact with those folks,
and their kids were crawling out
00:37:08.02\00:37:13.43
of their huts in the morning to
lick the dew off the grass
because it's the only moisture
00:37:13.53\00:37:17.37
they would get all day. In this
world, a child dies of
starvation every six seconds.
00:37:17.47\00:37:23.84
There are three million people
in Somalia that would not live
if they didn't have food aid.
00:37:23.94\00:37:28.14
There are one million in Somalia
living in tent cities. Right now
in this world, there are more
00:37:28.24\00:37:33.15
than a billion people that don't
have their basic nutritional
needs met, and four out of five
00:37:33.25\00:37:37.49
children born in this world
tonight are born into families
that cannot afford to feed them.
00:37:37.59\00:37:42.89
Even though you and I have more
wealth than any generation in
the history of this world, we
00:37:42.99\00:37:49.43
have more people going hungry.
And let me tell you tonight,
that bothers God. When Jesus
00:37:49.53\00:37:55.30
comes back, it says in Matthew
25, "Why didn't you feed Me?"
And people will say, "But when
00:37:55.40\00:38:00.64
did we see you hungry?" He said,
"Because you saw all those
hungry. Inasmuch as you did not
00:38:00.74\00:38:05.25
do it to the least of these, you
did not do it to Me." One more
sign. Jesus talked about
00:38:05.35\00:38:10.69
pestilence. Think about the last
few decades. Any strange new
diseases? Huh? Any weird ones
00:38:10.79\00:38:20.73
that we can't explain? Strep
throat used to live in the back
of your throat. Then about
00:38:20.83\00:38:25.00
twenty years ago, it crawled out
and become flesh-eating disease.
I knew someone who lost a leg to
00:38:25.10\00:38:30.61
that one. Spinal meningitis
showing up in our schools again.
We're having trouble treating
00:38:30.71\00:38:34.64
it. The black plague recently
showed up again in the streets
of India. The black plague. Mad
00:38:34.74\00:38:39.38
cow disease. My home country
Canada just had to put another
ban on their beef because people
00:38:39.48\00:38:44.12
are nervous about it. It's a
horrible disease. The food
supply is contaminated.
00:38:44.22\00:38:48.96
Tuberculosis is becoming
drug-resistant and making a
comeback. SARS. We have such
00:38:49.06\00:38:53.63
short memories, but do you
remember that one? I was living
in Toronto when that touched
00:38:53.73\00:38:56.93
down. They would take our
temperature before they let us
into the airport to make sure we
00:38:57.03\00:39:01.54
didn't have a fever. A brand-new
respiratory disease no one had
ever seen before. The
00:39:01.64\00:39:06.57
Ebola virus hiccuped twice and
now it's all ablaze in Africa
and it's touched down here at
00:39:06.68\00:39:12.21
home a couple of times. And
we've got CRE. I can't even
pronounce the whole name of that
00:39:12.31\00:39:18.62
one. It's half Latin and I can't
pronounce it. CRE. The nightmare
bacteria. It's a drug-resistant
00:39:18.72\00:39:23.16
bacteria, just killed a couple
of people again in Los Angeles
and infected 200 a couple of
00:39:23.26\00:39:27.96
weeks ago. Hospital deaths due
to infection from drug-resistant
bacteria have increased
00:39:28.06\00:39:33.47
seven-fold in the last fifteen
years. We thought we had it all
beat with our antibiotics, and
00:39:33.57\00:39:37.51
now we're struggling. Our food
supply is going downhill.
There's salmonella in the
00:39:37.57\00:39:41.94
spinach. You hear it almost
every month on the radio. "Be
careful with the E. coli in the
00:39:42.04\00:39:45.88
meat and in the vegetables." Is
there pestilence? You better
believe it. And it's not just
00:39:45.98\00:39:50.69
the disease; it's the constant
droughts. Australia's in
drought; California's in
00:39:50.79\00:39:54.79
drought; Sao Paulo, Brazil is in
drought. They don't know where
we're going to get the water for
00:39:54.89\00:39:59.26
the 10 million people
that live in that area.
00:39:59.36\00:40:01.16
There's flooding in other parts
of the world. Fires like we've
never had them in other parts of
00:40:01.86\00:40:05.30
the world. We have crop
diseases. We have honeybees
dying off in record numbers.
00:40:05.40\00:40:09.47
We're wondering when it's going
to affect food production. We
have whales and dolphins washing
00:40:09.57\00:40:14.04
up on the beach in spooky
numbers down in South America
and entire flocks of birds just
00:40:14.14\00:40:18.95
dropping out of the sky here in
North America. And I know what
some of you are thinking. "I
00:40:19.05\00:40:28.99
felt pretty good when I came
here tonight. I got a little
tickle in my throat." There's
00:40:29.09\00:40:38.13
more. Earthquakes. This is
interesting. People argue about
earthquakes. You can slice the
00:40:38.23\00:40:44.07
data any way you want. You can
go and get different data and
apply different criteria, but
00:40:44.17\00:40:49.34
what's interesting, if you get
enough of it, a pattern begins
to emerge. I did it a few years
00:40:49.44\00:40:55.68
ago. About 25 years ago, I went
to the University of Victoria,
and I went to the geology
00:40:55.78\00:41:01.66
section, seismology section of
the library. Huge library there.
And I started to write them
00:41:01.76\00:41:07.50
down. And I went for the big
earthquakes, the ones that sort
of knock your house down, so
00:41:07.60\00:41:12.27
everybody knows they happened.
Take out cities, make the
records. And I found something
00:41:12.37\00:41:18.81
interesting emerging in the data
that I assembled. In the first
300 years after Christ, there
00:41:18.91\00:41:23.65
was one such earthquake. The
next 200 years, there were two.
The next 300 years, there was
00:41:23.75\00:41:28.15
one. The next 200 years, there
were three, a little bit of a
spike. And then you get about
00:41:28.25\00:41:32.92
two per century. In the 1000s
there were two. In the 1100s
there were two. I think there
00:41:33.02\00:41:38.43
were two in the 1200s. In the
1300s we went back down to one.
In the 1400s there was one. In
00:41:38.53\00:41:44.57
the 1500s there was two. And
then suddenly we get a little
spike: in the 1600s there were
00:41:44.67\00:41:49.57
seven. In the 1700s it almost
doubled to thirteen. In the
1800s it did double to
00:41:49.67\00:41:55.64
twenty-six. In the 1900s it was
about 138. I went and looked at
USGS data just a few days ago,
00:41:55.74\00:42:08.09
looked at the way they were
cutting up the data, and they
said, "You know what? In the
00:42:08.19\00:42:11.83
last decade, at the beginning of
this last decade, we had about
200 a year, and now it's 800."
00:42:11.93\00:42:18.27
And there's not just more;
they're bigger. Remember the
Asian tsunami? 9.3 in magnitude.
00:42:18.37\00:42:26.51
First earthquake felt by every
device on the planet. It was the
longest earthquake in
00:42:26.61\00:42:30.85
recorded history - ten minutes
long - and it left an 800-mile
scar in the bottom of the ocean.
00:42:30.95\00:42:36.28
On that day, we said, "What an
anomaly; that'll never happen
again." Then it hit Haiti, and
00:42:36.38\00:42:41.19
then the big one in Japan,
flooded Fukushima. Look, I know
this stuff has always happened.
00:42:41.29\00:42:47.86
But is it really business as
usual? Let me ask you a question
tonight. What time is it? I did
00:42:47.96\00:42:58.07
an interesting experiment
starting just a few years ago. I
started taking the covers of
00:42:58.17\00:43:04.21
major magazines, especially Time
magazine, Newsweek here,
Maclean's up in Canada. I
00:43:04.31\00:43:10.99
started laying them all side by
side, and they started to tell a
remarkable story. If I had three
00:43:11.09\00:43:18.89
hours tonight, I'd show you the
whole story, but I don't, so let
me show you some of it. The most
00:43:18.99\00:43:24.83
logical starting place is the
day we all think of when
everything seemed to change:
00:43:24.93\00:43:29.54
2001/9/11. In the west,
everybody's attitude changed
overnight. I remember where I
00:43:29.64\00:43:38.45
was; do you? My wife was on the
other side of the country. I
couldn't believe it. I was late
00:43:38.55\00:43:43.39
for work. I was shaving - back
when I shaved. And my wife's on
the other end of the country,
00:43:43.49\00:43:49.79
and I hear out of my bathroom -
the TV's on - a small plane just
hit the World Trade Center. I
00:43:49.89\00:43:57.30
thought, "That's weird.
They don't fly small planes down
00:43:57.40\00:43:59.53
there." And I went out, and like
many of you, I saw the second
one hit. I called my wife, I
00:44:00.34\00:44:05.94
said, "It just came here. It all
changes now." It did, didn't it?
As we're trying to grasp how
00:44:06.04\00:44:15.85
horrific that was, that's when
we find out we're going to war
in Afghanistan. That war cost us
00:44:15.95\00:44:21.59
a billion dollars U.S. every
single month. And as we're
trying to get our heads around
00:44:21.69\00:44:26.86
that news, suddenly, there are
floods in Europe like they have
never seen in the history of
00:44:26.96\00:44:30.93
Europe. This is a picture of
Budapest under water, flooding
in Europe. And as we're
00:44:31.03\00:44:36.50
thinking, "Is there something up
with the weather?" That's when
Enron collapses. Our memories
00:44:36.60\00:44:41.61
are so short, we virtually don't
remember this one anymore, but
that was the first big hiccup in
00:44:41.71\00:44:46.85
our global economy, when we
started to realize that a hiccup
anywhere in the world starts to
00:44:46.95\00:44:52.19
take us all down. And Time
magazine asks the question, "How
sticky will it get?" They had no
00:44:52.29\00:44:59.29
idea, because we were about to
go to war in Iraq next, to the
tune of one billion dollars a
00:44:59.39\00:45:06.20
week. And as we're getting our
heads around that war, suddenly
that's when SARS touches down
00:45:06.30\00:45:12.27
and we've got this new disease
nobody knows how to deal with.
Everybody walking around with
00:45:12.37\00:45:15.71
masks on their face. I had
doctor friends treating SARS
patients, describing how awful
00:45:15.81\00:45:20.02
that was, up in the city of
Toronto. And we're thinking,
"How many new diseases can we
00:45:20.12\00:45:25.05
get?" And that's when a heatwave
hits Europe. They're no longer
going under water; now people
00:45:25.15\00:45:29.56
are dying of the heat in quick
succession. Something is up. And
on the heels of that, the power
00:45:29.66\00:45:36.00
grid fails in the American
northeast. Everything from New
York up to Buffalo plunges into
00:45:36.10\00:45:41.84
the dark. Now, to be honest, in
other parts of the world, they
were laughing saying, "Our power
00:45:41.94\00:45:45.81
goes down all the time, you big
babies." But you saw what
happened. Just a night of
00:45:45.91\00:45:54.58
darkness and we lose control.
That's when the tsunami hits in
Southeast Asia, the one that
00:45:54.68\00:46:01.86
left the 800-mile scar on the
bottom of the ocean. Nine point
three. Ten minutes long. 2005
00:46:01.96\00:46:11.87
comes around and we ran out of
names for the hurricanes that
year. They have a letter of the
00:46:11.97\00:46:16.60
alphabet for every hurricane.
There's hurricane Albert and
hurricane Bert and hurricane
00:46:16.71\00:46:20.38
Charlie and hurricane David.
They ran out because they had 27
that year. And they started to
00:46:20.48\00:46:25.41
ask the question, "What's going
on? Are we making these things
worse? Why are there so many?"
00:46:25.51\00:46:29.98
We had no idea what was coming,
because that's when New Orleans
went underwater with hurricane
00:46:30.09\00:46:35.29
Katrina. You saw that.
Incredible. And we weren't ready
for it. We're not ready for most
00:46:35.39\00:46:41.16
things. Then 2008 comes and the
next hiccup is there and the
economy collapses and we have
00:46:41.26\00:46:47.14
the worst collapse since the
Great Depression. My bank
disappeared overnight. I used to
00:46:47.24\00:46:52.01
bank with Washington Mutual. Go
look them up. They don't exist
anymore. And trust me, that was
00:46:52.11\00:46:57.41
just a warm-up. How do I know?
James chapter 5 predicts: "Come
now, you rich men, weep and howl
00:46:57.51\00:47:03.79
for your miseries that are
coming upon you. Your riches are
corrupted and your garments are
00:47:03.89\00:47:08.29
moth-eaten. Your gold and silver
are corroded and the corrosion
will be a witness against you.
00:47:08.39\00:47:13.76
You have heaped up treasure
against the last days, and it
won't do any good." 2008. We
00:47:13.86\00:47:19.87
still haven't quite recovered
from that all over the world.
That's when the earthquake hits
00:47:19.97\00:47:23.07
in Haiti. 150,000 reported dead.
The Haitian government is
telling us, "No, it was more
00:47:23.17\00:47:27.88
like 300,000."
00:47:27.98\00:47:29.78
Cyclone hits Burma on the heels
of that, kills 140,000, puts
half a million people in
00:47:30.15\00:47:35.02
makeshift shelters. Deepwater
Horizon begins dumping oil into
the Gulf of Mexico, turning the
00:47:35.12\00:47:40.62
Gulf of Mexico red. The biggest
spill in marine history. Almost
five million barrels dumped into
00:47:40.72\00:47:47.36
the Gulf of Mexico. 210 million
gallons. When you look at these
one at a time, you don't think
00:47:47.46\00:47:52.63
much of it. And we're kind of
getting desensitized to this
stuff. But pay attention. It is
00:47:52.73\00:47:57.41
going down. Three years later,
tar balls still washing up on
the beach. That's when Arab
00:47:57.51\00:48:02.98
Spring kicks in. Starts December
of 2010. Governments are
overthrown all over the Middle
00:48:03.08\00:48:07.65
East over the next three years,
in Tunisia, twice in Egypt,
Libya, Yemen, civil uprisings in
00:48:07.75\00:48:14.02
Bahrain and Syria, and it has
never quite settled down. The
whole Middle East is still a
00:48:14.12\00:48:19.16
tinderbox tonight. And then it
hits in Japan, the earthquake
and tsunami. Suddenly in March
00:48:19.26\00:48:25.80
of 2011, a 9.0 earthquake off
the coast of Japan. The fifth
most powerful earthquake in
00:48:25.90\00:48:31.07
history and the strongest in
Japan's history. It pushed 25
million tons of debris into the
00:48:31.17\00:48:37.81
streets of the city, caused 122
billion dollars of damage, and
killed 16,000 people in a
00:48:37.91\00:48:44.49
heartbeat. Always been like
this? Mass shootings right after
9/11. We had the Beltway
00:48:44.59\00:48:51.13
sniper kind of to kick off the
party. July 20, 2012: James
Holmes shoots up a theatre in
00:48:51.23\00:48:57.23
Aurora, then sits calmly,
waiting for the police to come
and get him. Sandy Hook
00:48:57.33\00:49:02.24
Elementary School. The Columbia
Town Center, next to my house
when I was living on the east
00:49:02.34\00:49:08.21
coast. Clackamas Town Center in
Portland, Oregon. The navy yards
in Washington, D.C. Phoenix back
00:49:08.31\00:49:13.05
in 2011. Anders Breivik kills
more than 70 people in Norway.
It's one after the other.
00:49:13.15\00:49:17.65
Another dozen dead, I heard the
other day in Missouri here just
a few days ago. 2013, bombs in
00:49:17.75\00:49:25.26
pressure cookers at the Boston
Marathon. It's one thing after
the other. 2013, Calgary,
00:49:25.36\00:49:32.73
Alberta, and parts of Colorado
go under water. Boulder's under
water, Calgary's under water. I
00:49:32.83\00:49:38.24
couldn't believe it. The
Saddledome in Calgary is under
water. Last summer in 2014, they
00:49:38.34\00:49:42.94
had the worst flooding in
recorded history in Serbia,
Bosnia, and Croatia. That's when
00:49:43.04\00:49:48.28
we find out that the bees are
dying all across this country
and we're worried about who's
00:49:48.38\00:49:52.02
going to pollinate the crops.
The Syrian civil war breaks out,
April of 2011, in an attempt to
00:49:52.12\00:49:58.69
overthrow the Baathist
government. Somebody starts
using chemical weapons on their
00:49:58.79\00:50:03.43
own people, and by September of
2013, 120,000 people have died.
Hurricane Sandy hits October
00:50:03.53\00:50:09.97
2012. Sixty-five billion dollars
in damage. I lived through this
one. I had a place in Maryland I
00:50:10.07\00:50:15.91
was living and we rode this
thing out. There are still
neighbourhoods in New York
00:50:16.01\00:50:19.78
without power. There are still
neighbourhoods that were burned
to the ground in the disasters
00:50:19.88\00:50:23.52
that happened afterwards. The
Atlantic Monthly reported just
weeks ago that by the time we
00:50:23.62\00:50:31.39
came to 2014, forty-nine percent
of Americans now agree that our
weather is a sign that the world
00:50:31.49\00:50:38.90
is ending. We're not laughing
anymore. People used to laugh at
this. Twenty years ago, people
00:50:39.00\00:50:46.04
used to laugh at this, and
nobody's laughing anymore
because something is going on.
00:50:46.14\00:50:51.78
More killer tornadoes than we
have ever seen happen all at
once. Moore, Oklahoma. Joplin,
00:50:51.88\00:50:56.79
Missouri. Super typhoon Haiyan,
November 13, pummels the
Philippines, kills 2500, puts
00:50:56.89\00:51:03.73
670,000 people out of their
homes. The Ebola outbreak in
recent months. And ISIS marching
00:51:03.83\00:51:10.73
up to the coast of Libya,
beheading Christians, and their
next target, they say, is Rome.
00:51:10.83\00:51:16.00
Do you know why? They're trying
to spark a war with the west
that they believe will become
00:51:16.10\00:51:21.64
Armageddon, and in their minds,
they believe that when
Armageddon starts, Jesus will
00:51:21.74\00:51:24.41
come and take their side. Never
been like this. What time is it?
There is one more sign. No, not
00:51:24.51\00:51:39.46
another sign. This one's good.
Remember the pattern. God always
lays out the bad news, the mess
00:51:39.56\00:51:49.14
that we made, then He delivers
the good news. Jesus follows up
with one more sign to watch for.
00:51:49.24\00:51:55.61
Don't miss this one. Matthew 24
and verse 14: "And this gospel
of the kingdom will be preached
00:51:55.71\00:52:01.58
in all the world as a witness to
all the nations, and then the
end will come." Now, when Jesus
00:52:01.68\00:52:05.95
said the gospel would go to the
whole world, it seemed
impossible. The whole world? The
00:52:06.05\00:52:09.56
disciples didn't even know about
some of the world, and they had
to do the job on foot. They
00:52:09.66\00:52:14.03
didn't know about the people
living in South America or in
Australia. They had no idea that
00:52:14.13\00:52:19.03
those people happened. It seemed
impossible. But I am telling you
that tonight, it is absolutely
00:52:19.13\00:52:24.44
happening. You know that in the
year 1800, the Bible was
available in less than 70
00:52:24.54\00:52:28.64
languages on this planet.
Sixty-seven, I believe, in the
year 1800. Today it's available
00:52:28.74\00:52:33.68
in 2233. Christianity tonight is
growing sixty-five percent
faster than the population is
00:52:33.78\00:52:41.12
growing in Africa. It is growing
four times faster than the
population in South America; and
00:52:41.22\00:52:46.66
it is growing by the hundreds of
thousands in India. How do I
know that? I saw it with my own
00:52:46.76\00:52:51.40
eyes. I did "Revelation Speaks
Peace" in a place that had no
Christians just a few years ago,
00:52:51.50\00:52:56.71
and 25,000 people came out;
16,000 of them became
Christians. It's changing. It's
00:52:56.81\00:53:05.85
changing. There are eighty-five
million Christians in communist
China, almost a hundred now. We
00:53:05.95\00:53:13.39
think we know because they keep
bulldozing their houses. I'm
telling you, it's not all bad
00:53:13.49\00:53:19.23
news. "All these, said Jesus,
"are the beginning of sorrows."
Birth pains. But you know what
00:53:19.33\00:53:32.97
comes after the birth pains,
don't you? Yeah. John 16. "A
woman," said Jesus, "when she is
00:53:33.07\00:53:41.32
in labour, has sorrow because
her hour has come." There's that
word again. "But as soon as she
00:53:41.42\00:53:50.26
has given birth to the child,
she no longer remembers the
anguish, for joy that a human
00:53:50.36\00:53:54.50
being has been born into the
world. Therefore," said Jesus,
"you now have sorrow." He knows.
00:53:54.60\00:54:01.14
People say, "Where's God?" He
knows. And He didn't make the
mess; we made the mess and He
00:54:01.24\00:54:07.78
sees it. And His promise in
prophecy is not to destroy
everything; He's not the one who
00:54:07.88\00:54:12.55
made the mess. His promise is to
set it right. Therefore, now you
have sorrow. God knows you hurt.
00:54:12.65\00:54:21.06
He saw what those people did to
you. He knows what happened in
your life. He knows you have
00:54:21.16\00:54:26.76
sorrow. "But," He says, "I will
see you again and your heart
will rejoice and your joy no one
00:54:26.86\00:54:36.04
will take from you." The statue
is crushed. The pieces blow away
in the wind, and Daniel said
00:54:36.14\00:54:50.25
they'll never find those pieces
back. Human systems of running
this world are gone forever, and
00:54:50.35\00:54:56.02
the stone comes and fills the
world. The kingdom of God is
established forever. And
00:54:56.12\00:55:02.00
because it's forever, no one can
take your joy from you. Worldly
kingdoms crushed to dust,
00:55:02.10\00:55:08.47
disappeared, but the kingdom of
God lasts forever. You wouldn't
want it any other way. I don't
00:55:08.57\00:55:17.68
want human government again. I
get less and less and less
excited about elections. Doesn't
00:55:17.78\00:55:25.39
matter. For thousands of years,
it doesn't matter. Our world's a
mess. Let me say this: if you're
00:55:25.49\00:55:33.36
banking on people to solve your
problems, if you're banking on
governments to solve your
00:55:33.46\00:55:39.30
problems, the last 2000 years
should tell you, that doesn't
work. The contractions, in spite
00:55:39.40\00:55:47.98
of our best efforts, are only
bigger and stronger than ever.
But there is a solution. Not
00:55:48.08\00:55:58.32
only does God open a kingdom, He
throws the door wide open and
invites us all in. And I can
00:55:58.42\00:56:09.33
tell you, there's not one of us
that deserves it, after the way
we've lived. But because of the
00:56:09.43\00:56:15.50
cross of Christ, He can open the
door. I'm telling you, it's not
about death and doom and
00:56:15.60\00:56:24.41
destruction. Revelation speaks
peace. If you want to place your
faith in the coming kingdom of
00:56:24.51\00:56:36.52
Christ, if you're tired of this
old world, I'd invite you to
just stand and have prayer with
00:56:36.62\00:56:43.06
me.
00:56:43.16\00:56:44.73
Father in heaven, we watch the
world around us and it doesn't
offer us a lot of hope. Some
00:56:49.07\00:56:59.28
people are despondent. What a
joy to find out that You see it,
You know we have sorrow, and
00:56:59.38\00:57:11.83
that You're about to solve it.
Thank You for Christ. And I pray
it in the name of Jesus, amen.
00:57:11.93\00:57:23.57
Today you have watched just one
in a series of "Revelation
Speaks Peace" presentations.
00:57:25.27\00:57:29.78
The entire series is available
on DVD. Find out how you can
order a copy at www.vop.com/rsp
00:57:29.88\00:57:38.25
Or Call.. 877-955-2525 Or if you
wish you may request the series
by writing to Voice of Prophecy
00:57:38.35\00:57:47.50
PO Box 999 Loveland, CO 80539
Our world is in turmoil. War.
Hate. Catastrophe. And a battle
00:57:47.60\00:57:57.67
for your mind. What on Earth is
next? Order the entire
Revelation Speaks Peace series
00:57:57.77\00:58:03.45
from the Voice of Prophecy. 24
powerful episodes on DVD. Pastor
00:58:03.55\00:58:09.72
Shawn Boonstra will clearly
unlock prophecies in Daniel and
Revelation -- using the Bible as
00:58:09.82\00:58:16.39
the key. Experience hope for
your future. Decode secrets of
prophecy in episodes, such as A
00:58:16.49\00:58:22.53
New World Order, The Ultimate
Mind Game, and How to Postpone
Your Funeral. The world is
00:58:22.63\00:58:29.37
changing so quickly. Learn how
to read Bible prophecy for
yourself! With the complete DVD
00:58:29.47\00:58:36.14
series "Revelation Speaks Peace"
You can also find answers to
life's toughest questions, by
00:58:36.24\00:58:42.88
ordering Voice of Prophecy's
free Discover Bible Guides.
Where is God when you suffer?
00:58:42.98\00:58:48.79
Does your life really matter?
How does Bible prophecy affect
my life? The Discover Bible
00:58:48.89\00:58:54.83
guides will help you find
answers to these question in the
Bible We'll take you step by
00:58:54.93\00:59:01.14
step to what you care about
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00:59:01.24\00:59:07.28
box.  To order your DVD set or
Discover Bible Guides go to
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00:59:07.38\00:59:18.42
www.vop.com/rsp or call
877-955-2525. You may also send
us a request by mail to: Voice
00:59:18.52\00:59:28.83
of Prophecy PO Box
999 Loveland, CO 80539
00:59:28.93\00:59:32.20
+
00:59:34.70\00:59:36.44