Turning Point

Guest (Male): If you sometimes become overwhelmed by the problems of the world, remember this. As a Christian, you have the assurance of ultimate victory. Today on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah shares how the gospel has remained strong and reliable through history, and why it's the key to your secure future. Here's David to introduce his message, "The Triumph of the Gospel: The Final Prophecy."

Dr. David Jeremiah: There will come a day in the future when the gospel will be preached for the last time on planet Earth. The scripture is very clear about that, and we're going to talk about it today. But let me just say to you at the front end of this broadcast, the gospel is being preached every day in every way on planet Earth right now.

There is no absence of the gospel. You can find it anywhere: on television, on the radio, in books, in churches, in conversations, in small groups. So if you miss the gospel, it surely is not the gospel's fault. You know that the gospel will make a difference in your life. If you trust Jesus Christ and believe the gospel, you will accept him as your savior and he will change your life.

The gospel is available, especially here in our country. The gospel is so available. I hope you don't miss the availability of the gospel and lose the opportunity to walk with Christ, not only here but throughout eternity. We'll talk about the finality of the gospel preaching in the world in just a moment as we begin our Bible study together.

During this month, we have been talking to you about "Where Do We Go From Here?". It's based upon a book that I wrote and there's a study guide for it. As we end this series in just a couple of days, I want you to know that the material from this series is available in book form, in a study guide, and on CDs. You can get all of that from DavidJeremiah.org.

Just go to our website and there you will see a display of the resources for this particular series. You can get these resources and maybe even have a Bible study of your own in your small group or in a Sunday school class, or wherever you meet with other people from the family of God. We produce resources for you to use and we encourage you to use them. Well, let's get started with this two-day discussion of "The Triumph of the Gospel: The Final Prophecy."

Back in 2018, as the Easter season was approaching, the Sirius XM channel came together with the Billy Graham organization to play Billy Graham's messages 24/7 throughout the entire Easter season. This was advertised as a limited-time agreement, and when the Easter season ended, the messages by Billy Graham went away.

But the response to the great evangelist's preaching must have been very positive because he's back on Sirius XM. This time it is a full-time, every day, 24 hours per day permanent agreement. You can now hear Graham's messages on Channel 460 around the clock. And I have been listening.

Each message is introduced and it's located by the date on which it was preached. Some of the messages were recorded live from his huge stadium events, and some of them are replays of his weekly 30-minute radio program which he recorded in a studio. For over 70 years, for seven decades, Billy Graham preached and we can listen to what he preached.

He preached during times of war. He preached during times of peace. He preached during times of racial unrest. He preached when our nation was going through serious financial crisis. He preached in the aftermath of the assassination of President Kennedy and when we landed our astronauts on the moon.

He preached through the administrations of 12 United States presidents. He preached during the terrible days that surrounded 9/11. He preached when his children were growing up and when his wife died. No matter what was happening in our world or in his world, Billy Graham preached.

I'm not telling you something you don't know. You listened to him. Perhaps you even attended one of the many events that he had. I'm always surprised when people say, "You know all those people that go forward in the Billy Graham crusades, they don't all come and accept Jesus." I don't know whether they all do or not.

All I know is everywhere I go, all over the world, I meet people that got saved listening to Billy Graham preach. So whatever he was doing, it was making a difference. I tell you about how long he preached because I want to remind you about the subject that he preached.

I cannot begin to tell you how much my heart has been stirred as I have listened to his sermons. I turn on the radio and I listen to Billy Graham preach. In spite of the myriad of issues that confronted him, he confronted them all with one thing: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He never wavered, he never changed, he never apologized. He seemed to get stronger and better as he got older. As I have listened to him, I have found myself thinking of the words that Paul wrote to the Corinthians when he said, "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

I believe that it is the gospel alone that can triumph over the many challenges we are facing in our culture at this hour. That was what was confirmed to me as I listened to this great evangelist on the radio. He believed the gospel was the answer to any question and he preached that gospel as if it were our only hope, because it is.

So I want to talk with you first of all about what this means. In that respect, Billy Graham followed the great Apostle Paul who, according to Romans Chapter 1, was a servant of the gospel. In the Book of Acts that gives the history of Paul's preaching and in his many epistles that contain the content of his preaching, it is the cross and the resurrection.

It is the gospel that is at the center of it all. One of the best illustrations of Paul's focus on the gospel is found in his letter to the Colossians. In Colossians, he defined the gospel like this: God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

That's the gospel. That's what he preached. That's what the world needs. I'm going to address some of the problems, but it would be so easy to just get off on a tangent on everything that's wrong. And you know, that's more than a year's worth of preaching.

When you get all done, people are aware of the problems, but they don't know what the answers are. I choose rather to preach the gospel because the gospel changes people's lives, as we're going to see. Without Christ, we're still in Satan's grip.

But because of God's great love for us, his only son, Jesus, shed his blood to redeem us from our sins and give us full forgiveness. He rose from the dead, he ascended to heaven, he resumed his position of supreme authority. When we believe and receive his good news, he instantly conveys unto us his family and takes us into his kingdom.

That is the triumph of the gospel, the victory of Jesus on our behalf. As we survey the book of Colossians, there are several truths about the gospel that jump out at us. First of all, the message of the gospel is transforming. I have a friend, as many of you know, who pastors the Calvary Church in Hyderabad, India.

And as you know, it was my privilege to go there and preach in his church. Every time he preaches, he does this. He holds up his Bible and he says, "All books are informational, but this book alone is transformational." He does it in his slow, dramatic Indian way.

That is the truth. That's the difference in the gospel. The gospel changes things. I've had a chance to watch what the gospel does generationally. I've seen how the gospel changes people's lives, then changes spouses' lives, and changes children's lives, and changes grandchildren's, and changes whole families. It changes everything.

It's not often that I quote a press release from an atheist society, but just as the pandemic was fading from the headlines, this news item caught my eye. A group called the Atheists in Kenya Society in Nairobi issued a press release dated May 30th, 2021. Listen to this.

"This evening, regretfully, the secretary of the Atheists in Kenya Society, Mr. Seth Mahiga, informed us that he has made the decision to resign from his position as secretary of the society. Seth's reason for resigning is that he has found Jesus Christ and is no longer interested in promoting atheism in Kenya."

The press release went on to say, "We wish all the best in his new-found relationship with Jesus Christ. The position of secretary of the society has been rendered vacant." The statement went on to ask for applicants for the position. We cannot imagine how many people like Seth are saved by the blood of Christ.

Every single day in this world, a miracle like that happens over and over and over again. And the ones that are the most fun for me are the people that some folks come and say, "Even God couldn't change his life," and then God changes his life. Isn't that the wonderful thing about the gospel? Isn't that the way the gospel works?

Paul told the Colossians, "We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel."

And to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote something similar. "Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power. You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." What an incredible thing the gospel is. It is the number one change agent in all of the universe.

Nothing can change people or personalities, individuals or families like the gospel. The message of the gospel is transforming. Furthermore, the work of the gospel is expanding. Paul went on to say, "The gospel has come to you as it also has in all the world, and it brings forth fruit."

Even in Paul's day, he saw the gospel spreading and expanding like concentric circles throughout the entire known world. Jesus said, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." I don't know how you feel about what's happening to the gospel.

There are some discouraging things that we could discuss. But giving everything that's going on and taking a global perspective, a 30,000-foot look at the gospel, from my experience, I can tell you I've never seen a moment in my lifetime in which we are reaching more people, witnessing more conversions, touching more nations than now.

I remember coming into this auditorium for the first time on a Saturday night after we had been told that we couldn't have church. Now, you know, I don't know what to do when you can't have church. I go to church, that's what I do. It's my life.

But I came in here and I preached in this auditorium. There was a camera person and there was a person with a video scroll and a couple of my friends, and that was it. And I told my wife after that was over, "I hope I don't have to do that again. That was so hard." I was so discouraged.

I got back to the green room afterwards and they started to tell me what was happening from the internet and the messages that were coming across during the time I was preaching. When we got it all done, we found out that first week that I preached to nobody, I preached to over 100,000 people on the internet. Can you imagine that?

Obviously, we didn't hold those numbers through the whole thing, and I suppose today we would average a little over 30,000. But many of the people who joined us then are a part of our online congregation. They listen, they write, they support us financially. And many of them tell us the story of their life being changed because of the gospel.

It's hard to be discouraged with the headlines when a bigger story is unfolding. We can't fully document it, but the gospel is yielding unprecedented fruit all around the globe. The triumphant gospel is penetrating new areas, going places where it never would have gone before.

Perhaps you've heard rumors about the growth of Christianity within the borders of Iran, of all the places you would think the gospel would never go. Well, the rumors are true. One report said the gospel is spreading through that nation at a sizzling pace. Another report said the Holy Spirit is on fire in Iran.

We are on television in Iran on a network called the Malakoot Channel. That takes us into the country, and I preach and a scroll goes across the bottom with the language that they observe there. It's amazing. These people, they can't tell anybody that they're listening because they'd get in trouble.

We often get emails from them saying, "We want to say thank you, but please don't send anything back to us." Most people that we get in the United States, they want you to send everything you can back to them. But the people in Iran would just as soon you not respond, but they want to tell you what the gospel is meeting in their lives.

Plans are unfolding right now for Billy Graham to preach in Iran. Can you believe that? Dr. Graham's sermons are being dubbed into Farsi and broadcast into the country. It's believed that his sermons will reach over 20 million Iranians in the safety of their own homes.

There's a verse in Hebrews 11, Verse 4. Here's what it says: "He being dead still speaks." And that's true. Billy Graham still speaks. Everywhere you go, there's somebody listening. TBN runs a Billy Graham classic thing every Saturday. I love watching that. It's so funny to see how people dressed back in the '40s and '50s.

As followers of Christ, we read the news differently than other people. When you hear reports of the Iranian nuclear deal or the ayatollah's apocalyptic threats, just remember when you're listening to that, there's more going on there than meets the eye. The Lord is at work behind the headlines.

The gospel is moving into every corner of the earth, and its message of triumph is spreading all over the world. So the message of the gospel is transforming, and the work of the gospel is expanding, and the followers of the gospel are maturing. The Apostle Paul told the Colossians that he was praying.

This is one of the best prayers in the New Testament. "That you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy."

Paul prayed for the Colossian believers not just that they would become Christians, but they'd become mature Christians. And he used these wonderful words: might, and power, and patience, and long-suffering, and joy. How many of us need a lot more of those qualities in our lives?

Paul asked God to strengthen the Colossians. And we need that, and God is doing that. While the world is worsening, the Lord's servants are increasing and his churches are advancing. When I look at the students and young adults in this church and in our schools, I'm not discouraged, I'm encouraged.

We have a young generation whose growth in zeal and godliness surely will be tested, but which will triumph in the years ahead. Despite all of the anguish and the abuse of our age, the gospel is going to triumph through the church as we mature in Christ and bear fruit in every good work.

Never underestimate the power of your local church. Make sure your local church is a big part of your life. That's something God has promised to bless. I know we have many parachurch organizations and I applaud them all. But there's nothing that God has promised to bless like the local church.

If you listen to me on the radio, you know every Friday I tell people, "Go to church. Don't stay home and watch us on television, go to church because the church is what God has promised." He says the gates of hell will not prevail against the local church. How many of you know the gates of hell are at work today?

But the church of Jesus Christ has the promise that it will stand strong. So why shouldn't you be a part of the church? And maybe this is a good place for me to insert my little promotional. If you're not going to church because you stopped going to church during COVID, and you've gotten comfortable going to church in your pajamas, it's time to go back to church.

The church needs you and you need the church. So the message of the gospel is transforming, and the work of the gospel is expanding, and the followers of the gospel are maturing, and the author of the gospel... oh, the author of the gospel is preeminent. One more thing we must remember is that the author of the gospel is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Listen to Colossians 1 describe that. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were created and he is before all things and in him all things consist, and he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence."

Richard Chin is the national director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students. He's a profound ministry with young people on multiple continents. But it always wasn't that way. In fact, in the early part of July in 1983, Richard Chin was a student whose Christian experience was barely existent.

One day while attending a conference, he heard the speaker ask one question. Here was the question: "Is Jesus number one in your life?" He knew he was a good number two or three, but he was not number one. Sometime that week, he said, "I joyfully received Jesus as my Lord and I moved him up from number three to number one."

He began to study his Bible and he was drawn to the book of Colossians and he was so infected by this book he memorized the book. He was amazed at the triumphant picture of Christ found in its pages. As we see Jesus more clearly, men and women, the gospel gets bigger and bigger in our hearts.

His death becomes more wonderful, his resurrection becomes more astonishing. Sin becomes more disgusting and the devil seems more evil. The restoring work of the spirit gets mightier. The global extent of the gospel becomes more important and the connection between everything in the Bible becomes clearer.

Our yearning for eternity becomes greater and the love of God becomes more delightful in our lives. When you put Jesus number one, everything else starts to get in its right place. Jesus is preeminent in everything, wrote Chin. He rules everything in this creation and he rules everything in the age to come.

The question that changed Richard Chin's life is profoundly important now. Is Jesus truly preeminent in your life? Is he number one? If he's a good two or three, there will be nothing victorious about your experience. Someone said a long time ago, "Only in the Christian life does surrender bring victory."

So surrender your life to Christ. Make sure he's number one. That's going to be more important as we move through these days that are in front of us. And then the theme of the gospel is energizing. Another triumphal note in Colossians sounds like a blast from the trumpet.

Here it is: Colossians 1:27. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." What a slogan, what a motto. Taken together, this is the triumph of the gospel and you can make it your own. Christ in me, the hope of glory. The moment we put Christ as our Savior, he comes through his spirit to live and reign within us.

And one day we're going to see him face to face. One day soon, we'll literally walk and talk with him as the disciples did long ago. We will share his glory and have a part in his inheritance, reigning with him over the new heavens and the new earth. The New Living Translation says it this way: "And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory."

So what does this mean and where do we go from here? What do we take away from this that we can unpack in our lives every day? If the gospel is the preeminent, triumphant message, if it triumphs over everything else, if there's no problem that we face in our culture today that is not overwhelmed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we believe that's true and the Bible says it's true, what do we do now?

How do we respond to that as followers of Christ? Well, first of all, let me suggest that we preach the gospel with our lips. Whatever it is that God has equipped you to do that helps move the gospel forward, that's what it means to preach the gospel. So preach the gospel with your lips.

Here's a second one: picture the gospel with your life. Someone once told me that the hardest thing about being a Christian is that it's so daily. Isn't that the truth? Every day you have to get up and do it over again. But here's the good news. It's daily, but the eternal spirit of God lives within your heart and he enables you to do what you couldn't do.

We're to preach the gospel with our lips, and picture the gospel with our life, and practice the gospel with our love. Amen. And we've got a couple more of those before we're finished with this message, and we'll share them with you tomorrow as we meet together. How to preach the gospel today as you look forward to the final preaching of the gospel in the future.

That's really what this series has been all about. How tomorrow's prophecies foreshadow today's problems, and I should say today's opportunities as well. We come to the end of this series tomorrow, and we won't be talking about these resources again. So let me remind you that there is a book called "Where Do We Go From Here?" that I wrote a couple of years ago.

There's a study guide that goes with it that outlines the series you've been listening to on the radio. And there are CDs of every single message that we have played during this series, with more information on it than we have time to put on the air. So get ahold of us at DavidJeremiah.org. Make sure you get these materials for your small group, for your library, for your teaching, wherever you have a chance to produce the word of God. And we'll see you next time right here.

Guest (Male): For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series, "Where Do We Go From Here?", please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected: our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at DavidJeremiah.org/radio. That's DavidJeremiah.org/radio. Or call us at 800-947-1993.

Ask for your copy of David's new book, "Understanding Biblical Prophecy: A 30-Day Bible Study." It's a powerful resource and it's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International, and New King James versions, available in a variety of handsome cover options.

Get all the details when you visit our website, DavidJeremiah.org/radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we conclude "Where Do We Go From Here?" on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.