Turning Point

Guest (Male): In his only end-times prophecy, Jesus said his return would be preceded by the gospel reaching the world, and you have a part to play in that. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah considers how the current generation of believers can help extend the gospel's reach worldwide. Here is David to share the conclusion of his message, "In a World of Bad News, Be the Good News."

Dr. David Jeremiah: And that is true. The darker the night, the brighter the light. We can shine in this world in this day and age when so much is so determinedly dark. We can be the light of the world. That's what God has called us to be. We're studying that from a prophetic purpose looking through the lens of Matthew 24. We'll get back to that in just a moment.

First, let me remind you that Turning Point publishes a magazine, and we're very proud of this magazine because we see how God is using it to help so many people. Last I heard, over 300,000 people get this magazine in the mail, and many more than that receive the devotional package through their internet. If you're not doing that, if you're not receiving this information right now, we'd like you to join us.

If you'd like to have the magazine, simply ask for it when you get in touch with us and we'll send you the next copy as soon as it comes off the press. It will be a blessing to you, and it will add value to your life as a believer. We're sure of that. So right now, let's get started with this second part of "In a World of Bad News, Be the Good News." This is Matthew chapter 24, the words of Jesus, the Olivet Discourse. We're getting close to the end of it, but this is an important part. Listen up.

So when Jesus said the kingdom is going to be preached to the end of the world, he was predicting that it would be preached during our lifetime and afterwards. During our lifetime, he was predicting that during the deterioration of world events, during the epics leading up to his return, there would be the preaching of the gospel. The gospel is being preached now. I am preaching the gospel.

The one positive trend amidst the signs that we have discussed so far is that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all of the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. It will be the end of the church age. One of these days, the last person will be saved and the rapture will happen. One of these days, the last invitation will be given and the rapture will happen.

I hope you aren't waiting for a sudden decision when you see everybody else going up. It won't happen. You don't want to do that. You don't want to take a chance on your eternity because of some silly reason or something somebody has told you. If you're not a Christian, if you're not saved, today is the day of salvation. This is the day of opportunity.

You do not know when the rapture is going to happen, nor do I, but let me tell you something I do know. There is nothing that needs to happen before it takes place. The rapture is an imminent event. That means nothing needs to happen before it happens. No one watching Jesus that day on the Mount of Olives could have imagined this prediction coming true, that the gospel coming from Jesus, who was sitting four feet away from them, would cover the whole earth.

Acts 1:8, Jesus said, "You shall receive power as the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Now, did that come true? Let me do a little arithmetic with you, a little math. I love the math of the book of Acts because it tells you what happened.

Shortly, 40 days after Jesus was back in heaven, the day of Pentecost happened and Peter preached a great sermon. I don't know exactly everything that was in the sermon, but it must have been a good one because 3,000 people got saved at the end of the sermon. Many of them went home from the day of Pentecost and they were enabled to understand the gospel in their own language. It was the miracle of Pentecost.

Soon, the number of believers reached 5,000. That's in Acts 4:4. Disciples began multiplying exponentially, and the number of the churches multiplied as well. In fact, I love the fact that finally in the book of Acts, they don't have any way to describe it any longer, so they just say a lot of people got saved. From Antioch, the first official church sent missionaries. Paul and Barnabas were commissioned and they organized missions, and by the early 300s, the Roman Empire had been reshaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Nothing was the same. The gospel had penetrated every institution, every government, everything. The gospel had literally become wild in its propagation. Every generation of Christians from that time until this have spread the news to those around them. There have been some people of gigantic stature who have led the way, men like Wesley and Carey and Moody and Billy Graham.

Most of the work, however, has been done not by the great people that we know. We would call them the "goats." I didn't use that word very much before I understood what it meant: Greatest of All Time. They're goat evangelisms, did you know that? But the goats didn't do it. It's the sheep that did it. We're the sheep, and we get the chance to spread the gospel. We're the barefoot evangelists.

The gospel didn't spread all over the world because of a few men. They led the charge, they stood in front of us and challenged us, but the world was changed because of men and women we call laymen, people like you and me, who have shared the gospel wherever we have gone. Today in this world, we have made progress in sending the gospel everywhere.

Let me give you a little progress report. There's a group called the Joshua Project that keeps track of the gospel and how it's doing in penetrating the various people groups around the world. A people group is a group of people who speak the same language, they're self-incorporated, they're together. They're a people group. About 10,000 of them have been reached with the gospel.

That means there are 7,000 people groups that need the gospel that don't have it. What that means is they don't have the Bible, they don't know the gospel, they don't have anybody preaching to them, there are no missionaries. If you ever go to Washington, D.C., and get a chance to go to the Museum of the Bible, there's a room there that you can walk into that is overwhelmingly powerful.

It has a wall with little boxes that look like a mailroom, and it shows you all of the people groups of the world and the ones that have been reached are different than the ones that haven't been reached. They literally take donors into that room and show them all the people groups that are yet to be reached, and sometimes people who have great resources say, "My wife and I are going to take that one," and they pay whatever it costs to get the gospel.

You say, well, how do they do that? Well, we're living in this time where it's not as hard as it used to be because of technology. The gospel now can be taken out of our language and into another language much quicker. I wish I could explain to you how this happens, but they find the different sounds and they create the gospel in technology. Then they marry the technology with the Word of God, and it comes out at the other end of the computer—a Bible.

With the technology we have today, we can reproduce a Bible in another language in one-fourth of the time it used to take us. And we are making progress. We are seeing the Bible and the gospel go into languages every year, every month, where it has never been before. The good news is that today, we're starting to penetrate even the most difficult barriers by means of technology.

The internet is essential, but cheaper methods for setting up satellite TV and radio have also allowed preachers to reach difficult homes of interested people who want to learn about the gospel. I'm so blessed to be in the middle of all this. We started preaching the gospel in Spanish in 30 new places, and I'm doing the preaching. I'm preaching in Spanish. It just amazes me that I'm able to do that.

I see me preaching and I say, who's that? And we preach in places where you can't preach. For instance, through the internet, we're reaching Iran. Iran is totally opposed to the gospel. We're heretics. We should be dead. But the gospel is getting into that country and people are coming to Christ. The interesting thing is we get response from them.

Almost every time in their response, if they can communicate, they say, "Please do not send anything to our home. Please do not identify who we are." They've accepted Christ at the expense of their own life. Oh, the stories that I could tell you of what God is doing around the world through the gospel of Jesus Christ before the rapture, before the tribulation. The gospel is literally reaching the world in which you and I live.

I remember one time being at The Cove, which is the training center in Asheville for the Billy Graham Association. We were having dinner, and after dinner, they had a young man come and give a little report. He said, "I want you to know that this coming week, Dr. Graham is going to speak simultaneously to more people than anyone has ever talked to in the history of the world."

And he talked about how they had gotten all these streaming systems set up around the world. He talked about how many billion people were going to have a chance to hear the gospel. That kind of thing is happening like you cannot believe. Men and women, we live in a time when the gospel has the opportunity to be heard as never before. And the darkness seems to be coming toward us. In the midst of that darkness, the gospel is standing up, showing the way, shining the light.

The unstoppable message of the gospel before the rapture. But then the rapture will happen and all God's people will go to heaven. Immediately after that, in the first three and a half years of the tribulation, there's going to be a massive revival. Now, I know some people that say, "Are you praying for the great revival that's going to bring Jesus back in the rapture?" Well, I'm praying for revival, but I haven't prayed that way because there's nothing in the Bible that says we're to have a great revival before the rapture happens.

It's not in the Bible. We hope it happens. I'm okay if it happens. I hope it does happen. But there's one thing I do know. There is a prophecy that after the rapture, during the tribulation period, there will be the greatest revival on this earth that has ever happened. You say, "Well, Pastor Jeremiah, how's that going to happen? All the Christians are gone." Well, I remember J. Vernon McGee saying, "But my programs will still be here. They can find them on the radio." Kind of a good idea.

Well, let me tell you what I know about that. First of all, there are going to be two incredible witnesses that show up. They call them the two witnesses. I think it's Moses and Elijah. So how would you like to live in a community and somebody says, "Hey, would you come with me tonight? We're having a rally downtown and Moses and Elijah are going to be there to speak." I might go to that.

These two witnesses are going to do amazing things. In fact, they will actually die and come back to life. During the ministry of the two witnesses, thousands of people will get right with God and become Christians. Well, if that's not enough, the two witnesses are followed up by 144,000 spirit-filled Jewish witnesses. Just think about that phrase for a moment: 144,000 spirit-filled Jewish witnesses spread all over the world, preaching the gospel.

The gospel will be preached during the tribulation. Many people don't realize that the first half of the tribulation will be one of the greatest evangelistic awakenings in human history. And I want you to know I'm not going to be here when it happens. I'm going to be getting reports, but I'm not going to be here. I'm going to be in heaven because the Bible teaches that before all that happens, if you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you will go to heaven to be with the Lord.

I'm among that group, and I know that many of you are too. So while all this evangelism is happening on this earth, we'll be in heaven in fellowship with the Lord. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world, and then comes the return of God. Now, that's the message of the gospel, but I want to conclude my remarks to you today with a second part of this message, which is "The Unstoppable Messengers of the Gospel."

The message is important, but without messengers, the message can't get distributed. Without preachers, there's no message available. What do we do if there are no messengers? That's why Jesus said, "Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields. They are ready, white for the harvest." Jesus said we need helpers, we need messengers. There are people ready to be saved, they just need to hear the gospel.

Then he said, "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." How does the Lord help us to do that? Well, I want to engage with you at a little deeper level right now than where we have been so far and help you understand we are a group of barefoot evangelists. We are the people who carry the gospel to the world. First of all, we do it by showing it in our lives. We are representatives of the gospel.

Ladies and gentlemen, that means we need to be different. We need to be people of God. Let me tell you something that you may not have thought of. In the world in which you and I live today, we are more conspicuous than we have ever been. We are more different than we've ever been. There's a greater contrast between a person who is really walking with God and the rest of the people in the world than there's ever been.

You say, "How do you know that?" All I know is I watch what's happening in the world. I watch what goes on in the world and realize if you're an out-and-out Christian and you stand for God, you will be noticed. You will be noticed because you're different. Jesus said it this way: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light."

You are the light of the world. Let your light shine, Jesus said, so that men will see your good works. There we go, the incorporation of the gospel into your life. That they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Now, Jesus could have said "that they may hear your good words," but he didn't say that in that passage. He said "that they may see your good works." In other words, ladies and gentlemen, we need to be people of God.

We need to be people that somebody would say there's something different about you because of your relationship with Jesus Christ. If your whole goal in life is just to morph into the culture, you're a Secret Service Christian. You're never going to make an impact. God doesn't use people like that. How are they ever going to know? You have to be a person that exhibits Christ in your life.

In 1 Peter 3 and verse 1, Peter told the wives of unsaved husbands to live such a humble and happy life that if any of your husbands do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by your behavior. Somebody must have asked Peter that day, "Hey Peter, I got a husband who doesn't believe in Jesus. What do I do about that?" I'm surprised at Peter's answer, aren't you?

He didn't tell them go home and preach the gospel. Over the years that I've been a pastor, you wouldn't believe some of the stories I've heard about women who so want their husbands to become Christians and what they do. Some of them tell me, "I go home every Sunday, Pastor, and I preach your message to them." And I just think, oh my word, it's bad enough coming from me alone, going through another person.

No, here's what Peter said. Peter said, let me tell you, ladies, how you have the best chance of winning your husband if he's not a Christian. Live your lives in such a way before him that they will want Jesus even if you never say a word to him about it. Be a Christian. Be kind, be loving, be a faithful woman. That's how you win your husband. You say, well, how are they going to know what to—oh, if you live the way you should, they'll know what to do. They'll see you reading your Bible once in a while. They'll know that church is an important thing.

Sometimes I hear women say, "My husband tells me I shouldn't go to church. What should I do?" Well, you're supposed to be obedient to your husband. I don't know the answer to that one. Watch on television? What I do know is you don't cause a major war over it because you can get the gospel into your heart without actually walking out of your building. What I'm saying to you, ladies, is this. I know this to be true. The best way to win your husband is not by the words that you speak, but by the life that you live.

Ask God to help you. One of the secrets that I've discovered in our marriage is the secret of learning how to serve one another. Find out how to serve one another. I remember the day that dawned on me and I wondered, how could I have been so stupid for so long? She shouldn't have to ask me to carry the trash out. She shouldn't have to ask me to do the things that you would normally do. So I look for the things I can do, and it really disappoints me when she does something I should have done before I could do it.

That's the way it should work. Now, I'm no paragon of virtue. I'm still a work in progress. But I'm telling you, the servant principle in a marriage is an overwhelming concept. If you don't get it, you will miss out on much of the blessing God has for you in your marriage. So by showing you preach the gospel, then by sharing. At some point in our life, words are necessary, and there is no gospel without words. Hear me carefully. You can live a good life, but if people don't understand why you're living a good life, they got no hope of finding the answer.

God has revealed in the scriptures that he loves us, that we're broken and that he died for our sins, and at some point we may have to communicate these truths. And it doesn't mean you have to have a degree in theology. Someone once told me, "If you want to have people never come to church, announce that you're going to preach on witnessing," and there will be very few people who show up. You know why? Because we all feel guilty because we don't do it. We know we're supposed to share our faith, but we don't do it.

There's all kinds of reasons. I don't feel qualified, I've never had any training, etc. But Jesus just said to us we're to be witnesses. So you're standing on the corner one day, getting ready to cross the street. A car comes this way, another car comes that way and they T-bone. Nobody's hurt, but the cars are all messed up and you're a witness. You saw it. So they come and they take down all your information, and you have to go to court and in the court, you have to stand up and witness what you saw. This is what I saw. I'm a witness.

Here's what I want you to know, men and women. To be a witness is simply to tell people what Jesus has done for you. If Jesus hasn't done anything for you worthy of witness, you need to go back and examine your faith. You need to ask God for every opportunity he could ever give you to tell somebody else what Jesus has done for you. You don't have to know ABC, you don't have to know the Romans Road, you don't have to know the four spiritual laws. I'm not saying you shouldn't, you'll need them someday maybe.

To be a witness isn't to be a theologian. To be a witness isn't to be a lay preacher. To be a witness is simply to tell people what you know has happened in your life. Let me give you a good little outline. Here it is: what I was before, what I am now, and who made the difference. In our churches, we have literally discouraged witnessing by telling people that they got to go to this course and that course and then you can witness. You know the best witnesses are the people that just got saved? They can't help themselves. They have to tell somebody what Jesus has done for them.

So let me disabuse you of all of the reasons why you shouldn't be a witness and just tell you, if God has done anything good in your life, figure out a way to tell somebody. I mean, if we could start a groundswell of that, it would change the world. It would change our churches, it would change our communities. Witness. And there's not one of us here, no matter who you are, how long or short your salvation experience has been, who can't witness.

That's how the gospel changed the world. There's no record in the book of Acts of long catechisms on how to witness. They just told everybody what happened. In showing and sharing, one last way you can help win the world and that's in supporting. When you give to the gospel, you help the gospel go forward, helping to fulfill our Lord's prediction that when the gospel is preached to the whole world, the Lord Jesus will return the second time to set up his kingdom.

I'm so happy to do that. I know God is going to do something. He's going to help people translate the Bible into a different language that wouldn't have the Bible today if we had not supported it. You preach the gospel when you share your resources. Let me ask you this question: what better can you invest in? What better can you give to than the gospel of Jesus Christ?

So there you have it. That's Jesus' amazing prophecy that the gospel will be preached to the ends of the earth. We're in the before the rapture period. We're preaching the gospel the best we know everywhere we know, and we're learning how to do it better. There's a whole new field opening up to us in social media that I don't even understand. I'm overwhelmed. In one month at Turning Point, we had 50,000 new names and people that we've never heard from before contact us.

There are people out there so hungry for the gospel. Somebody's got to find a way to get it to them. We're determined to do it some way, somehow, through church, through radio, through television, through social media, anyway we can. And I know you join me in that quest. Before we close our Bibles and close this service, the question I want to ask is the one I asked already. Have you accepted Christ as your savior?

You're either an evangelist or you're a candidate for evangelism. You're either somebody who's telling people how to get saved or somebody who needs to be saved. And if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ, let me urge you to do it today. You say, "Pastor, how do I do that?" You pray a prayer and invite Jesus Christ to come and live within your heart. It's as simple as that. It's a spiritual transaction that you take. I can lead you in the prayer, but you need to want to do this in your heart. Amen.

I hope you will do it. I hope you will pray the prayer to receive Jesus. You will join hundreds of hundreds of people who have done that as the result of this program because we always give you the opportunity to do it, and God prepares your heart and we present the message and those two things come together and lives are changed. The stories are abundant and they're powerful and they're irrefutable.

So if you haven't received Jesus Christ, please do it today and make this your spiritual birthday. Tomorrow we're going to talk about "The World of the End, Be Determined." It's a very summary-like message, but what a great response we should have to the world in which we live. I think that's one of the most important values we should develop. Be determined. Be determined to be the person you are in private that you are in public. Be the person God called you to be. And we'll talk about that tomorrow. I hope you'll join us. Until then, this is David Jeremiah. Thank you for listening. We'll see you next time.

Guest (Male): Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and senior pastor, Dr. David Jeremiah. Will you take a moment to tell us how our ministry is an encouragement? You can write us at Turning Point, P.O. Box 3838, San Diego, California, 92163. Visit our website at davidjeremiah.org/radio or call 800-947-1993.

Ask for your copy of David's book, *The World of the End*, with a special "Be the Answer" bookmark, yours for a gift of any amount. You can also download the free Turning Point mobile app for your smartphone or tablet, or search in your app store for "Turning Point Ministries" to access our content. Visit davidjeremiah.org/radio for details. That's davidjeremiah.org/radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue the series, *The World of the End*, on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.