Pathway to Victory

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Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

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This is Robert Jeffress. In response to the horrific attack on.

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Israel, I've written a brand new book.

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Called Are We Living in the End times?

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Go to ptv.org to order your copy right now.

We're clearly in the last days. We've been in the last days for 2,000 years.

We're not in the end times technically, but I would make an argument today that not only are we living in the last days, but we are living in the last of the last days.

I would argue that we are on the brink of the beginning of the end times.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Ever since Hamas launched an attack on the nation of Israel, one question has emerged at the forefront of many Christians: could we be living in the end times?

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress begins a brand new series on Bible prophecy to address this relevant and pressing topic. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

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Dr. Jeffress thanks David, and welcome to this special edition of Pathway to Victory. Back on October 7th, our world changed forever. Militant thugs swooped into Israeli neighborhoods on foot and in the air and committed unspeakable crimes. The images coming to our television screens looked apocalyptic, and in fact, many of us were asking the natural question: are we living in the end times?

Well, as the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, I abandoned my planned preaching calendar in order to address this looming question. Over the next few days, we will feature my new messages on Pathway to Victory. In addition to this brand new teaching series, I pulled my creative team together and asked them to help me publish a book I've written for you. It's called *Are We Living in the End Times?* The subtitle is *Biblical Answers to Seven Questions About Your Future.* We managed to fast track the publication, and today I'm very pleased to offer you a copy of this time-sensitive book.

In my book, I answer questions such as: What role does Israel play in the end times? What are the major events of the end times? And how should we prepare for the end times? You can request your copy today of *Are We Living in the End Times?* when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Please stay through the end of today's program because we'll share all the details once again, and we'll also describe other resources on Bible prophecy as well. But right now, let's give our attention to Matthew chapter 24. I titled this first message in this new series: What Does the Bible Mean by the End Times?

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It seems like the world is spinning out of control, doesn't it? Every day we're bombarded with disturbing headlines about the rising crime rate in our own country, about geopolitical tensions around the world that are increasing it seems like every day. And you add to that the growing instability in our own country as fewer and fewer Americans trust in a broken government and a biased media. It just feels like something is different this time. If you have that feeling, you're not alone. This week, one respected news source reported that US officials say this confluence of crises poses epic concern and historic danger. Even seasoned former Defense Secretary Bob Gates recently admitted America is facing the most crises it has ever faced since World War II. And one respected military official said we are just six steps away from World War 3. No wonder a recent Newsweek poll indicated that nearly 40% of Americans—this includes Christians and non-Christians alike—believe we are living in the end times.

In Luke chapter 21, Jesus gave His disciples a sneak preview of what is going to happen in the end times. In verses 10 and 11, He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes and in various places plagues and famines. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." As we read these words and the headlines, we can't help but wonder, are we actually living in what the Bible calls the end times? That's the question we're going to answer over the next six weeks. Are we living in the end times? In the weeks ahead, we're going to look at what Israel's role is in the end times. We'll look at what the headlines will be that signal we are truly in the end times. And most importantly, we'll discover how we should prepare for the end times.

But today, as we introduce this series, we're going to answer a basic question: What does the Bible mean by the end times? Now, before we begin looking at the "what" of the end times, we ought to answer the question "why?" Why should we even care about the end times? Let's face it, not that many churches address the subject of the end times anymore. Some of you are watching right now; you're in a church that rarely, if ever, talks about the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Look at our own metroplex—how few churches are talking about the end times. Even right now, many Christians erroneously believe that, well, in church we ought to be talking about more spiritual things like how to improve your prayer life or how to improve your marriage. We ought to talk about relevant topics. But I want to submit to you that the end times ought to always be a focus of our study.

There are three reasons for studying the end times. Number one, the end times is a major theme in the Bible. You can always tell how important a subject is by how much ink it gets in the Bible and how much space God devoted to this subject. And you'll find there's a lot of space devoted to the end times. For example, did you know that for every one prophecy in the Old Testament about Christ's first coming to Bethlehem, for every one prophecy about His first coming, there are eight about His second coming? There are 1,800 references in the Old Testament alone to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, one out of every 30 verses deals with the second coming of Christ. Twenty-three out of 27 books of the New Testament deal with the end times. And the last book of the Bible, the most detailed document about the end times, the Book of Revelation, is the only book in the Bible that has a special blessing attached to those who read, understand, and obey its teachings.

Now, why is that? If the end times are supposed to be a mystery that nobody can understand and have no relevance to daily life, why does God talk about it so frequently? It is a major theme of the Bible. Secondly, understanding the end times helps us interpret and apply the Bible. I want to be real blunt about this: it is impossible to understand the Bible, much less apply the Bible, unless you understand the end times. And number three, why understand the end times? The end times motivate us to godly living. The Bible never divorces the end times about the future with our life today. It ought to motivate us to godly living.

Now, before we get into our study of the end times, we need to make sure that we avoid the one major mistake people make when they study and talk about the end times, and that is trying to set a date for Christ's return. In Matthew 24:36, in this Olivet discourse, listen to what Jesus said talking about His second coming: "Of that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Jesus said there's no one except God the Father who knows when the Son is coming back again. No teacher knows, no angel knows, no man knows the hour.

Well, Pastor, if that's true, then why even study the end times? Listen, the fact that we don't know when Christ is coming is all the more reason to study the end times—to be ready, to be alert at any moment. Isn't that what Jesus said in Matthew 24, beginning with verse 42? "Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day the Lord is coming." And He gives this illustration: "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason, you must be ready. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will." The fact we don't know when means we ought to be ready at all times.

Somebody said one time, "Live every day as if it were your last day, because one day it will be." A number of years ago, I was being interviewed by a radio host at Fox News. He was Jewish, a good friend of mine. He said, "Dr. Jeffress, do you think you're going to live to see the return of Jesus?" I said, "I don't know, but it really doesn't make any difference." He said, "What do you mean, it doesn't make any difference?" I said, "Well, I'm 58 years old at the time. I said, I'm 58 years old. And I know in the next 30 years, one of two things is happening: either He's coming or I'm going. But I know the end is close for me, and it's close for you as well. And that's why we better be ready."

And that's the theme of Scripture: the end of time is coming, the end of the world, and the end of our time as well. And we need to be ready. So, are we living in the end times? To answer that question, we need to understand the difference between the last days and the end times. This is critical if you're going to know if we're in the end times or not. There is a difference between what the Bible calls the last days and what the Bible calls the end times.

Let's look at the last days. First of all, the last days correspond to the church age. You find the phrase "last days" in many scriptures. Hebrews 1:2 states, "In these last days, God has spoken to us in His Son." In 2 Timothy 3, Paul writes, "For realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come." The last days are roughly that period of time between Christ's ascension into heaven after His resurrection and the rapture of the Church. Now, I said that period of time closely corresponds to what the Bible calls the church age, or some people call it the times of the Gentiles.

Remember when Christ was on earth the first time? The Jews rejected Him by and large. And because of Israel's rejection, even though God had made a preacher promise to them that we'll look at next week, God temporarily—not eternally, but temporarily—set aside Israel because of the hardness of their hearts. And He opened up the Gospel to Gentiles, people like you and me. He invited us to come and be joint heirs with the Jews in the promises made to Abraham. Now, we are not the replacement for Israel. Don't make that mistake. God's going to fulfill His promise to Israel. He's going to fulfill it. Romans 11:2,5 says God cannot reject His people. He has temporarily set aside Israel right now for salvation. He's got seven more years to deal with Israel. But right now, we're in the time of the Gentiles.

How will we know when that time of the Gentiles, the church age, the last days are over? When the last Gentile has been saved who is going to be saved? There will occur the rapture of the Church. That's the next event on God's prophetic timetable, and that will usher in the period of time known as the end times. We're in the last days right now. Obviously, we're living after the time that Christ ascended into heaven. We're in the last days right now. But the last days will end with the rapture of the Church, and the end times will begin. According to Daniel 9, when a very specific event takes place, the Antichrist, who has assumed world power, will sign a peace covenant with Israel.

Now, we'll talk about this more in the weeks to come. But I believe that the Rapture is going to be used or explained away by some global catastrophe that explains the disappearance of millions of people. And this world catastrophe that is used to explain away the Rapture will throw the world into such chaos. The Bible says the Antichrist will assume control of the world without any force whatsoever. People will turn to him, and he will be the one who brokers the ultimate Middle East peace deal with Israel. That's the beginning of the seven years of tribulation. He'll probably get the Nobel Peace Prize for what he's been able to accomplish. People will worship him because he's finally answered the Middle East dilemma. He keeps that covenant for three and a half years. But after three and a half years, he breaks that covenant with Israel. He begins to persecute Israel and Christians who have been saved during that period of time.

And that seven years of tribulation climaxes with the battle of Armageddon, as described in Revelation 16 and Revelation 19, and the return of Jesus Christ—the visible return of Jesus Christ. And that is the end of the end times, going into the millennium. So right now, we're clearly in the last days. We've been in the last days for 2,000 years. We're not in the end times technically because the Rapture hasn't occurred and the Antichrist has not appeared. But I would make an argument today that not only are we living in the last days, but we are living in the last of the last days. I would argue that we are on the brink of the beginning of the end times.

Why would I say such a thing? Well, remember this about the end times: what Jesus said. Write these two things down. Some signs of the end times are present in every generation. I mean, let's face it, for thousands of years, there have always been wars, earthquakes, and famines. Some signs of the end times are present in every generation. We live in a fallen world, and we're going to experience those things. But secondly, the signs of the end times will accelerate in frequency and intensity when we get close to the end. Jesus said in Matthew 24:4-8, "See to it that no one misleads you, for many will come in My name saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. You'll be hearing of wars and rumors of war. See to it that you're not frightened, for those things must take place. But it is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains."

Jesus and other rabbis used the image of labor pains to explain the end time. Now, I've never had labor pains before. I've witnessed them, but I haven't had them. But you ladies understand this analogy. If you're pregnant, you can go months without any discomfort. But as you get closer to the end, there begin labor pains. Sometimes they come, and then they quickly depart. Sometimes you engage in false labor. You make a trip to the hospital and find out that it was premature. But then comes that time when the contractions start to occur closer and closer to one another. They increase in frequency. They also increase in intensity. The pain gets worse and worse. And you know you're on the verge of something big happening. That's what Jesus said the end times are going to be like.

There are some labor pains that have been around a long time. But Jesus said when we're close to the end, close to the birth of the kingdom, the millennial kingdom, when we get closer, those events are going to happen more frequently. You're going to see more earthquakes, more wars, more famines, more plagues or pestilences, epidemics. You're going to see that more and more and more. And they're going to be more intense than they've ever been before. And, ladies and gentlemen, that's what we're witnessing right now. I believe these signs are increasing not only in frequency but in intensity.

I've had several interviewers ask me recently, "Pastor, why do you want to tie all this to the end times? Why don't you know they've been fighting over there in the Middle East for thousands of years? What makes this time different?" Nuclear weapons is what makes this different. Israel has had enemies for thousands of years, but think about this: the first atomic bomb—two of them—were developed in 1945 and dropped on Japan. Today there are 13,000 of them. And Israel's enemies, by and large, are armed or almost ready to be armed with those nuclear weapons. It presents a whole different level of threat to the world today. And what the Bible predicts, we can easily see how it's going to happen.

The reason I'm convinced that we are at the last of the last days is we can look past the last days into the future and see how things are being set up for that great final world battle known as Armageddon. Do you realize for years, critics of the Bible laughed? And even Bible scholars wondered, why would all of the world's superpowers descend on a little nation like Israel that's no bigger than the state of New Jersey? It doesn't make any sense until you read the Bible. God is going to bring them there for the final conflict, and they're all going to be armed with nuclear weapons.

Listen to Revelation 16, verses 13 to 14. John says, "I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, that is Satan, out of the mouth of the beast, the Antichrist, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God the Almighty. And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har Mageddon." Ladies and gentlemen, things are falling into place for this great world battle fought by the superpowers of the world. The Bible says they will be armed with nuclear weapons.

Although we're not technically in the end times, right now we're on the verge, I believe, of the beginning of the end times. What should be our response to that reality? Paul gives us the right response in Romans 13. Listen to this very carefully, verses 11 and 12: "Do this knowing the time that it is already an hour for you to awaken from your sleep. For now, salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone and the day is near. Therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."

What was Paul saying? He was saying to those Roman Christians back in 60 A.D., "Wake up! Your salvation—that is, your deliverance, your promise from God of a new heaven and earth and a new body, your ultimate deliverance—is nearer today, in 60 A.D., than it was when you believed 20, 25 years ago and became Christians. It's nearer today than it was then." Paul said that nearly 2,000 years ago. If Paul were standing here today, what would he say to us? He would have said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I thought 2,000 years ago it was close and it was on God's calendar, but think how much closer it is today for you. It's time to wake up."

Paul said, "It's time to wipe the sleep from your eyes. It's time to get ready and get prepared. Because the nighttime, the darkness of this world is about to be eclipsed by the bright light of the return of Jesus Christ. Are you ready? Are you ready?"

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Can't you just picture Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives explaining the end times to his disciples? It's chilling to hear his words right now, even as we watch the war unfold in real time. Truly, we are living in the last days that precede the end times. Jesus is coming again soon, and our job is to be ready.

This is my first message in a brand new teaching series that was originally delivered to our church congregation just a few weeks ago. Very deliberately, we expedited this teaching series to our global pathway to victory. Audience, I urge you to be listening every day as we address the all-important question: Are we living in the end times?

To help you get ready, I've written a brand new book by the same title. We want every listener to have access to this urgent material as a means for getting ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ. In my book, I provide biblical answers to seven common questions about the future. Questions such as: What news events will signal the end times? And how do I prepare for the end times?

You can be among the first to receive your copy of my brand new book, *Are We Living in the End Times?* It's a clear book, not technical. It's practical, not theoretical. And it's yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. In fact, it's your regular gifts that give flight to our media ministry and allow us to pierce the darkness with the light of God's Word all over the world. Thank you so much for your support.

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David thanks Dr. Jeffress.

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Today, when you give a generous gift to support Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you Dr. Jeffress' brand new book, *Are We Living in the End Times?* If you'd like to request your copy, call us toll-free at 866-999-2965 or visit ptv.org.

Now, when you give $75 or more, we'll also send you the brand new *Are We Living in the End Times?* Teaching series on audio and video disc. Plus, you'll also receive a copy of the highly popular resource, *The End Times Illustrated*, featuring 18 original illustrated infographics and charts along with 11 essential prophecy teachings.

One more time, the phone number is 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. You could also send your donation by mail. Write to P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, TX 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins wishing you a great weekend. Then join us next week when Dr. Jeffress continues the series *Are We Living in the End Times?* right here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here.

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