Preparing for That Which is Sure to Come

So greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to each of you, my dearly beloved brothers and sisters, and it certainly is an honor and a privilege for Naomi and I to come into your midst once again. Give me just a moment here while I get the electronics caught up with all that's happening. I think it's, when did we have, when did y'all have Bible school here? It's about a year ago, January, was it not? Last year, January? Yeah, actually it's this year, yes, yes, okay. Oh, there we are. Okay, let me start with, thanks for the prayer, Aaron, but I still sense a need to pray. Father, we come to you in Jesus' name again. Thank you, Lord, that you have promised us that, lo, you will be with us always as we go and make disciples among all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to observe all things. And, lo, you promised in Matthew 28, you will always be with us. And so, Lord, I claim that promise. I pray that you would stand with your servant in the pulpit of God. Lord, I pray you would open my mouth, loose my tongue, let me prophesy with anointing your scripture for your honor and your glory. Lord, I confess that without you I can do nothing, absolutely nothing. So help yourself to your servant, and opening my mouth to prophesy your word. In Jesus' name, we pray. Well, that doesn't look like much of the Word of God up there. Well, let me just share a little bit how this message has come. As I have been traveling about amongst many churches, many places, many people have come to me, and they said, Brother Raymond, you're a man of the Word of God. We know that. And I give all the honor and glory for that to him. And tell me, tell us, how do these things that are beginning to happen line up with scripture and the fulfillment? Is there a connection to end time prophecy, etc., etc.? Tell us. We want to know. And so, with that burning on my heart, we went to Greece, August, September, and October. And finally, the Lord dumped a message on my heart. And Brother Aaron asked me to come and share it here. And so, what you see up there are some of the troubling events, current events, of things that are going on today. I'm here to suggest to you that these are precursors or... Okay, I see a problem here. Let me start. They are precursors to more troubling things to come. You could say we are living in days of great uncertainty. They are precursors or conditioning events that are conditioning us for even greater and more troubling events that are going to come our way. You could say they're glimpses. You could see we're thinking of the season of Jesus coming. John the Baptist was a forerunner. The events that are troubling that we're seeing are forerunner events that are going to follow. You could say it's a wake-up call that there is more to come. Difficult things, hard things, moving towards fulfillment of end time prophecy. Brothers and sisters, I share with you, I speak to you, things are not falling apart in our world. Things are coming together in fulfillment of end time prophecy and events. Amen. That's what we're beginning to see. I suggest that to you. Troubling events. There may have never been a time in history when end time events prophecy is more aligned with culture and circumstances than what we are seeing today in our world. Not only in America, but globally. So, per adventure, you are not sure what I'm talking about. I'm just going to put this slide up first before I go any further. Isaiah the prophet spoke of a time such as this in Isaiah 59 verses 14 and 15. I'm going to read. I have a lot of scripture this morning. Don't feel compelled to look them all up and follow, but if you wish to, you may. I'm going to move along rather rapidly. But in Isaiah 59 verses 14 and 15, Isaiah said this, and judgment is turned away backward and justice is afar off. The truth is fallen in the street and equity or truth cannot enter. The prophet Isaiah says, yea, truth faileth and he that departs from evil maketh himself prey or an enemy, you might say. And the Lord saw it and it displeased him there was no, because there was no judgment and truth was failing. So, some of the things that, just real quickly, we hear a lot about communism, socialism, coercive mandates, forceful mandates, shutting churches down, vaccines, go on and on we could go. Globalism, the globe, the world is getting smaller and more intertwined as one system. The vaccine, that's global, that's global. Coercive mandates, yes. Pandemic viruses, illnesses, plagues, pestilence, just to name a few. Economic chaos. People are looking to civil government for help and peace. We, as God's people, don't look there. We look to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. But the the world is looking to civil government to help. Geopolitical climate change and global refugee crisis, that's a global problem. It's not only a problem of Greece, it's a problem here. All these problems are pointing towards more troubling events. Cancel culture. You know what cancel culture really is? It's silencing the voice of godly morality. That's what it is, brothers and sisters. Wake up. It's, and that's why we have lawlessness abounding. You've seen a picture up there, rioting and looting, lawlessness. It's only the beginning. A falling away, LGBT and accelerated decay of godly character, perhaps even some in the kingdom of God. Spiritual famine, religiosity, and Anabaptist, may I say Anabaptist nationalism. If you don't know what that is, you talk to me afterwards, okay. The scripture is clear, brothers and sisters. The prophecies of tomorrow reveal much about the present day global troubling problems. We need to infuse Jesus Christ and the salvation and hope that we have in Him into the into the very onset of prophetic events beginning to unfold all around us. And that's where I want to go. We need to infuse Jesus Christ and the salvation and hope we have in Him at the very beginning of this sermon and at the onset of these events. So enough of cursing the darkness. It's time to light a light, the candle of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Yes, Luke 21, verse 28. Listen to the words of Jesus. And when these things begin to come to pass, He's talking about end time events. We're in those phrases. We're in that time frame, brothers and sisters. When we begin to see these things come to pass, look up, lift your heads. It's time to get your eyes and my eyes off of all the troubling situations that are going around and all about us politically, spiritually, pandemically, whatever equally you want to put in there. It's time to get our eyes off of that and lift our head and lift our eyes and look to Jesus for our redemption draws nigh. Amen. Amen. It's very near. And in doing that, I thought of the account in Mark chapter four, verse 39. We know the story there. The storms of life were blowing hard with the disciples in the boat with Jesus. Jesus is very tired. He has just completed the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 4, Matthew 5, 6 and 7. He's physically tired. He's a man. He is sleeping on the bottom of the boat. And this storm is raging all around. Them and the disciples became fearful. They were bailing water, it tells us in Mark chapter four. Let me drop in. I'm just going to maybe read some of this to just to encourage us. Yes, Mark chapter four. Let me drop in at verse 39. Well, I'm going to back up a little in verse 37. And there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat upon the ship so that it was now full. And it was in the, and he, Jesus, was in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow and they awakened him. They say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and he rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace be still. And we know there was a great calm. And he said unto them, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, what manner of man is that even the wind and the sea obey him? Brothers and sisters, the disciples, you know, we can become so distracted with all these things that are going on around us in our sea of life, troubling things. We can not only become fearful, we can become distracted in keeping our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. You see those disciples, they were watching that storm and it was getting bad. And their boat was filling up with water and they were bailing. And Jesus is peacefully resting and taking his rest. He's sleeping. Finally, they got their eyes off of the storm. And I'm encouraging you to get your eyes off of the storm of life, those things that are going on all around us. And they got their eyes on Jesus and he rose in front of that boat and he brought a great peace. Be still. And the Bible says there was the wind ceased, the storm ceased, and there was a great calm. Father, we come to you in Jesus name. We take our eyes off of all these troubling events around us. Globally, locally, there's many that are hurting. There's many that are troubled. There's many that are fearful. Cause of COVID, because of the vaccine, because of the economic situation, whatever Lord, but we are in Jesus name taking our eyes off of the storms of life. There's those that are hurting because of loss of loved ones due to the situation we find ourselves. So, bring calm and peace and rest to them. All of us, Lord, we want to focus on you and that you, by your spirit and your power and your grace, would bring a great calm and peace and rest with our focus on you. Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, despised the shame, endured the cross, and is now set down at the right hand of the Father. We look to you, Lord Jesus. In Jesus name we pray to bring comfort and a peace to all that are needy and hurting. Maybe those that don't know you. Lord, draw them unto yourself to bring this calm and this peace at these troubling times. Lord, we love you and it's our heart to be faithful and true to you. We know, we hear the words of the angelic choir to the, to the shepherds there on that lowly hillside, approximately 2,000 years ago. Glory be to God, for behold, I bring good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Lord, we look to you to bring glad tidings of good things with great joy to us here this morning. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. So, in encouraging you, don't fear. Do not fear. Did you know that in the scripture there are 366 times, fear not. 366. One for every day of the year and an extra one for leap year. Hallelujah. That's a fact. Fear not. Fear not. Yes, and we think of those words of Paul the Timothy. For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love. And that's a very popular verse used these days and a sound mind. You know, fear is the fragrance of Satan's kingdom. The fragrance of God's kingdom and our king is good peace and good will and a calmness of heart entrusting him by faith. Hallelujah. Yes. So, the title of the message. So, what I wanted to say here, do not fear the future brothers and sisters. Do not fear, but rather be prepared. And that is where I want to focus in lighting a candle. Being prepared. Being prepared. Preparing for that which is sure to come. That title is taken right out of 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 19 where Peter says, for we also have a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well. That you take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Peter is speaking about Jesus Christ and the word of God. Yes, preparing that which is sure to be preparing for that which is sure to come. I have seven points. I'm going to go through them quickly. Every one of these could be an individual message. All seven of them could be. So, bear with me a little bit. I'm trying to summarize each point. Yes, preparing for that which is sure to come. A sure word of prophecy. How to prepare. Preparation number one. Psalm 119 verse 11. Very familiar verse. Brothers and sisters, as things regress and get worse and worse, they're going to take our Bibles. They're going to perhaps shut down worship as they did before. But I'm encouraging you to hide the word of God in your heart in preparation for when you may not have a Bible. Yesterday, I listened to David Troyer, the General Manager of Christian Aid Ministries, give a testimony of the hostages that have just been freed. They had no Bible. They had no Bible. He shared that these hostages, they had no Bible. They were here today. What I'm telling you right now is hide the word of God in your heart today. Now, because the day may come, you will not have a Bible. They didn't have a Bible. So, each one of the mature that had the word of God hid in their heart, they claimed and shared the verses amongst each other to encourage each other, to cling to the promises of God's word, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah. Yes. So, hide the word of God in your heart today. Know your Bibles. Yes. Yes. Just prepare yourself. The day is going to come because truth is the issue. They're going to want you to compromise or just shut up. Don't teach your children. We want to teach your children critical racism. I don't know all that junk. But anyhow, you know, truth has already fallen in the street. And we're a people of truth in that Jesus is the way. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man will know the Father or come to the Father but by me. Yes, truth. Brothers and sisters, they've already taken the Ten Commandments out of public places. Amen. Is that true? Yeah. Recently, there had the LGBT people had a Bible burning ceremony in LA. What's the problem? It's cancel godly culture. Get rid of it. But you know, if you have the word of God hid in your heart that you do not sin against him, they can't take that. Amen. They can't take that. So preparation number one is hide the word of God in your heart today. Now. Yes. Read your Bible daily. I encourage you in that. Every day, spend a good long season of reading the word of God. Hide it in your heart. Study it. Put set seasons aside personally to study it. The scriptures that mean the most to me is that God used to guide my life. They're real to you. Study the Bible. Memorize your Bible. That's what those hostages in Haiti were doing. They were sharing from the scriptures that they had hid in their hearts by a four time memorized. Treasure your Bible. Treasure it. Value it. If you don't treasure it now, the day may come tomorrow you won't have it. Make it a treasure. Prioritize hiding the word of God in your heart. And then share your Bible truths that God enlightens to you and quickens to your own personal heart. Be a living word like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was the word become flesh. Well now you become the word in the flesh. Live it. Follow it. Obey it. Yes. And of course, walk carefully. In world sin, hide the word of God in your heart that you do not sin against him. In John chapter 14 verse 26, Jesus says, but the comforter which is come, let me start over, but the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. How is the Holy Ghost going to bring it to your remembrance? Come on now, anyone. It's in your heart. Amen. Amen. I would, I don't want to limit the Holy Ghost. I don't want to do that, but either you heard it or you hid it in your heart somewhere that he'll bring it to your remembrance. Amen. Yes. Preparation number two. This is the command by the writer of Hebrews. Turn to Hebrews chapter 13 verse 3. In Hebrews chapter 13, the Hebrew writer is doing some summary writing. He's summarizing a lot of things that he wrote about in the chapter a four time. He says in verse one, in verse three is what I want. Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds as bonds with them and them which suffer adversity as being yourself also in the body. Remember past persecutions. You know, as you remember them, if you go way back to the Anabaptists, whoever, wherever, I hear many stories of many brothers been in prison for their faith, persecuted. I want to hear them because I can learn what may be ahead for you and I perhaps. You see, as you remember them, you know how to pray for them and in a sense what the Hebrew writer is saying, put yourself in their shoes as being with them. As you put in your mind, you remember them and you as being with them, it's preparation for how to remain faithful when and if this same persecution comes upon us, you and I. Yes, put yourself in their suffering shoes, wear their shoes, get very close to your brothers and sisters and catch their tears. Catch how they found victory and looking unto Jesus. Yes. In so doing, it prepares my heart for similar experiences that are sure to come and the way things are going. Yes. Preparation number three. So we had hide the word of God in your heart. Preparation number one. Preparation number two is study, read, prepare yourself by studying past persecution as the Hebrew writer commands. Number three is live for the Lord Jesus today. Yes. In the context of after Saul, Paul got saved, who was persecuting the church, the Bible tells us after Saul got saved in Acts chapter nine, it tells us, then I'm going to read this because I really like this verse and it applies to us today in preparation for us in Acts chapter nine. Yes, it says verse 31. Now remember the context. Saul has just come to Christ on the Damascus road. Then had the churches rest through all of Judea and Galilee and Samaria and were edified and walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost and thereby they multiply. Brothers and sisters, in preparation for that which is sure to come, we need to walk in the edification of the church corporately, being accountable to a brotherhood. Brother, help me. You walk with me. If you see something in my life, please talk to me. Love me enough to talk to me. That's the edification of the church. I'm open. But it's more than that. Personally also, I'm encouraging you in preparation to walk with Jesus in the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost today. When you and I walk with Jesus today in the fear of God and the comfort of the Holy Ghost, his grace will be sufficient tomorrow when things are difficult, when there's pain, when there's hurt, when there's troubling things come upon us. His grace will be sufficient. And that's exactly what 2 Corinthians chapter 9, where Paul writes, verse 8 says. 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 8 says this. And if we walk with Jesus today, his grace will be manifoldly sufficient tomorrow. His grace is manifold. It unfolds. There's many folds of grace according to the need. And he says, and Paul tells the church at Corinth in chapter 9, verse 8, these words. Listen carefully. And God is able. Listen for all the all-conclusive words. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, my brother, my sister, whatever the need may be. And ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound in every good work. Hallelujah. What a promise. An exceeding precious promise. Whatever the need may be, his grace is manifold and it is sufficient. So be assured, you walk with Jesus today, his grace will be all sufficient tomorrow as things move towards fulfillment of prophecy. Yeah. In Jeremiah chapter 12, verse 5. Jeremiah chapter 12, verse 5. Jeremiah is lamenting in his day of Israel. He's complaining to God how bad things were and how the people took no heed to his warning. He's lamenting to God. He's complaining. Well, listen to what God tells Jeremiah in his day to his complaint. And you know, there's a lot of people are murmuring and complaining because of the situations the way they are. People are continuing, Raymond, are you going to get the vaccine? It is so divisive. It is so troubling. I finally tell people, brother, you ask me a question, I'm going to be like Jesus. I'm not going to answer your question before I ask you a question. Well, what's the question? I say, when I answer this, whether it be yea or nay, is it going to affect our relationship? I'm more concerned about the brotherhood relationship than I am about the COVID or the vaccine. And his brother said, hmm, good. I said, thank you, I'm not going to answer you. End of subject. Troubling things, yes, but Jeremiah, he's complaining, he's troubled. And in Jeremiah chapter 12, verse 5, God responds to him, if thou hast run with the footmen and they have wearied you, how canst thou contend with the horses? And if in a land of peace wherein thou trustest, they wearied thee, how wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan? What God is telling Jeremiah, look, what you have seen so far is just footmen. It ain't very much. Jeremiah, it ain't very much. And this has wearied you. If the things that are going on now have wearied you, troubled you, took away your peace, your calm, your rest, you got distracted, I suggest to you, we've hardly seen the footmen. We've hardly seen the footmen. But we've seen a few footmen, maybe, at the beginning of the footmen. Maybe. I don't know. Jeremiah, how are you, if you become wearied with the footmen, then how will you be able to compete with horses? What God is telling Jeremiah, you haven't seen anything yet. Horses are coming. Well, prophecy. Horses are coming. You go read Revelation 6, verses 1 through 8. Horses are coming. I can see what you're thinking. You're thinking, well, maybe he's going to try and tell us when the rapture is going to be and we're out of here. No, I'm not. Because I don't know. And I'm not a date set or any such like. No. But the scripture does prophesy that horses are coming. You can, I'm not going to necessarily go through that. You can see it. But the, well, maybe I should. The white horse in Revelations chapter 6 represents the Antichrist. He has a bow, but he has no arrows. Yeah, rapid spiritual deception. I suggest to you, these precursors we've seen, it's going to go fast now as we go towards more full fulfillment of prophecy. Yes. Verse 4, we have a red horse bringing warfare and great bloodshed. Yes. And verse 5, we have a black horse wrecking havoc with famine and natural disasters. Way beyond anything we've seen thus far. Verse 8, a pale horse destroys all peace and brings death and 25% blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Okay. Horses are coming. The scripture warns us. Let's be prepared. Amen. By keeping our eyes on Jesus and the edification of the church, the brotherhood and the comfort of the fear of God and the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Walk in that today, brothers and sisters, and His grace will be sufficient tomorrow. That's an encouragement to you. Preparation number four, arm yourself to suffering and to deny yourself. You see, 1 Peter tells us that things are not going to get any better. 1 Peter, they may for a season. Lord only knows. 1 Peter chapter 4 verses 1 through 2. Why don't I just, for so much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself likewise with the same mind. He that suffereth in the flesh has ceased from sin. Hallelujah. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. That's Peter writing. You know, we live in a world that has been a world of comfort, ease, like my Indian brothers say. It's so easy when we come to America to be successful in business. It's so easy to make money. It's so easy to get ahead. We can't do that in India. And you know, we as God's people, we take the easy road. We take the road of pleasure, comfort, and ease. Suffer? Well, we can choose to be prepared and arm ourself. Arm yourself. That means prepare. Prepare. We can prepare now to deny self and be willing to suffer just a little bit. Yes, like Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. I'm going to turn to that because this has been a theme verse for Naomi and I as we are gospel globe trotters, if you would. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Verse 1 of 2 Timothy chapter 2. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. That's our theme verse. Find faithful men, teach them the all things of Jesus Christ so that they would go and teach others, their own people, that salvation is alone in Jesus Christ. Not in Buddhism, not in Hinduism, and not in any other ism. Then the following verse, Paul says, Timothy, in thinking of doing that, think about it. As you go and do that, Timothy, prepare yourself. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Arm yourself to endure hardness as a good soldier. Arm yourself now. Prepare yourself as a good soldier. Now think about that soldier, literally a civil government, a soldier of the army or the navy. There he is in a foxhole. I mean that foxhole, there's mud in the bottom of that foxhole. There's rats chewing on his boots. It's raining or it's cold and it's snowing and the bullets are flying and he is not afraid to die for a corruptible crown, his country. Arm yourself as a good soldier of our commander of chief, Jesus Christ, in going and preaching and sharing and teaching the gospel to living for and living for Jesus. Whatever your calling in life is in being a good soldier and witnessing a testimony. Yes, arm yourself to suffer. Deny yourself purposefully in preparation. Number five, this is the one I really need to tread softly on, and I want to. I'm a supported missionary. I cannot get away with from the burden that God put on my heart. Churches like you and many others support Naomi and I personally to be a witness for Christ among the nations, being a gospel globetrotter, if you would. So, hear my heart. I want to be gracious. I want to be caring. I want to be tender and I want to say thank you to all of you that have so faithfully supported us that we can do the work that God has called us. That includes MTM. That includes many of you, but the question as I study the scripture, it looks to me like as these things get worse and worse, we may lose all that we work for. There's many that have went before, left it all behind to escape, to pursue religious freedom. Now, most of you, that picture doesn't mean anything. Some, there's a few in here it does, but perhaps one of the wisest decisions that my wife and I ever made was walking away from the home farm. Misunderstood we were. We sold out to go and be a missionary. That was the home farm and we were totally misunderstood, but what I'm going to share with you, God spoke to our hearts back then and he continues to speak to my heart about this. You see, the question is today in preparation for what may be coming. Am I a mass distributor of our God's goods, his possessions, which we're only stewards of, or am I a mass accumulator? Just ask yourself that question. That's all I'm doing. Yes. You see, there are riches, eternal riches, that can only be gained if we sell out. For us, it was literally. Yes, in Luke, actually, let me go back and let's get a verse in, let me come back here. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 7, Paul as an elder brother, a senior brother, is telling a young spiritual son, Timothy, these words, he says, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Amen. That's right. Amen. Now, now let's go to Luke. Let me get Luke chapter 12, verses 31 through 34. Yes. We were hearing about the kingdom of God in our Sunday school lesson. Jesus says, but rather seek ye the kingdom of God and all these things that you need, raiment and clothing, I'm adding emphasis, shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, there's a little flock, Sunday school teacher, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that you have, give alms to the needy, provide yourself bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches, neither moth, corruption, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So how do I change my heart? Change my treasure. You change your treasure. You change your treasure if the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Christ is our treasure, your heart follows. Your heart follows. Amen. Yes. So in Luke chapter 12, again, I'm not going to go deep in that. I'd love to. This is one of my favorite passages in scripture. It's a difficult parable story to unpack, but in Luke chapter 12, I'm sorry, that's a misprint. It's Luke chapter 16. Sorry about that. That was my bad. In Luke chapter 16, we have this unjust steward, supposedly, who has done wisely. This unjust steward, it tells us that he has done wisely. That's in verse eight. And the Lord commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And so that's what makes this scripture a little hard to unpack. But this unjust steward, what he did is he freely distributed his master's goods. He freely gave away his master's goods. And the Lord, his master, not Jesus, commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely. Brothers and sisters, I'm suggesting to you that this parable Jesus is teaching us to be a mass distributor of his goods. They're not yours anyhow. Everything we have, even your own life, is not yours. He says, be a distributor. Be a distributor of your goods, your values. Be a distributor of the gospel. Be a distributor of teaching. Make disciples. Be a distributor, a mass distributor. That's why he has done wisely. The reason, brothers and sisters, God has given us in abundance as he has like no other region of the world in America. He's given us in abundance. He wants us to give away his goods to the needs of others, and that includes the gospel. He has blessed you abundantly to give it away to others. Do not accumulate it unto yourself, but rather be a mass distributor. Amen? That's what Jesus is teaching in Luke 16 with the unjust steward. But here's why I said it's the wisest thing we ever did is to sell out, distribute our goods. In verse 11, Jesus said, if therefore you have been faithful in, if you have not, that little not is in there, been faithful in unrighteous mammon, that is mammon, money, riches, and possession. If you've not been faithful in that, who will commit to your trust true riches? Now, what are true riches, brothers and sisters? This is why I said it was the wisest thing we ever did, distributing what we had at that time. What are true riches? You see, we read over that, things like that, and what are true riches? I got you with me. You're really thinking. That's good. God bless you for that. You're with me. True riches are those that are always by faith, spiritual things, and they are eternal. Amen? That's true riches. I suggest to you that God will not invest in us true riches. I have thought of a few here. I'm sure you'd have more. True riches. He will not invest in you and I best gifts, true riches, unless we have first been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, being a mass distributor. Then he empowers us in being a soul winner, perhaps, spiritual gifts to preach and teach, anointing, if you would, revelations of Jesus Christ from the Scripture. I don't know where the brother is that was teaching the Sunday school. I appreciated his scholarliness, revelations of the Jesus Christ. That's true riches. They're eternal to minister to others. So the question remains, am I a mass distributor or accumulator? Yes. The more I let go of this world's value system, brothers and sisters, the more God will immerse me with his heart of eternal purposes and values. Amen? But we got to take the step and let go of this world's value system. Again, your support is appreciated to Naomi and I. I tremble. I've had not the opportunity yet to preach this in my home church, but Lord willing, I will by the grace of God. I want to be careful, tread softly, not pointing the finger at anybody. Just take the test. Yes. When you have more than you need, and we all do, including myself, then build a bigger table to nourish and feed and minister to others around your table. Yes, build a bigger table, not a higher wall that sets you apart. And people don't have, yeah. Okay, preparation. You see, why is this point so important? Persecution, if you would, and things that are to come spell poverty. They're contemporaries. Poverty and persecution are contemporaries. Revelations 13, 17 tells us that there, that which is to come most certainly will force poverty upon God's people. I don't know in God's time frame when this will be. Pre-rapture? Post-rapture? I don't know. I don't think you do either. If you do, I'd love to hear from you. But it says that in Revelations chapter 13, it tells us that, let me just turn to that real quickly. Verse 3 says, let me just read that. My wife and I, and at church, we've been working through the book of Revelations, so that has helped me a lot. Yes, Revelations chapter 13 says that, and I saw one, I'm sorry, I'm having a little bit of a, it's verse 17. There it is. Talking about the Antichrist, and he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark on their forehead, or their right hand, and in their foreheads, that no man might buy or sell, save he that have the mark and the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of man, and his number is six hundred and six, three score and six. So, what we have here, whenever it will be in God's timetable, no man will buy or sell, except you will not be able to do business, you'll not be able to buy food, you'll not be able to have a car, you'll not be able to have a bank account, you'll not be able to enter any federal building, and I don't want to strike fear in anybody's heart, it's the word of God, be prepared, be a mass distributor now, be prepared, you'll not be able to travel, not be able to do what I'm doing, what we had been doing, we've not been able either, and I tell you this, this vaccine thing is, it feels a lot like a mark to travel, and whatever, blah, blah, blah. When we were coming home from Greece, I walked up to the counter, and the agent said, I need your vaccine card, well it used to be identification, some kind of identification, well now the identification is the vaccine card, it was that day, and I looked at her, and I just looked at her very graciously, very kindly, I said, ma'am, I don't have a vaccine card, but I do have a negative COVID test, oh okay, I'll let you go, you see, yeah, yes, poverty folks, and let's stand up for number six, yep, let's stand up for truth now, stand up for truth now, when it is easy, in preparation to stand up for truth, when it will, when your head will be on the line, when your prison may be on the line, learn to stand up for truth now, Proverbs 29 verse 25 says this, Proverbs chapter 29 verse 25 says, I'm going to read this, the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whosoever putteth, that snare means a deathtrap, a deathtrap snare, so the fear of man bringeth a deathtrap snare, but whosoever putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe, so I'm coming into Pakistan, and the, and it's illegal for me to do what I'm doing, and the immigrations officer says, sir, what's your occupation, now they never asked that before, but he did this time, I said, I'm a teacher, and he said, so you're a teacher, hoping he doesn't ask any more questions, but he said, what subject do you teach, I said, I teach English, thinking, I hope that's the end of the questions, so you're an American English teacher, I said, yes sir, I am, but, next question, what for textbook do you use to teach English, I said, sir, I teach English from an American English textbook, check out my bible, look what for language it's in, I didn't tell him that, so he said, you're an American citizen, you teach American English from an American English textbook, I'm thinking bible, I said, sir, that's right, he said, thank you, thank you, please, you come often and come again, I said, thank you, I will, praise the Lord, I walked away and I thought, where did all that come from, that never happened before, there was nothing premeditated, then I remembered the words of the Lord Jesus, when you're called on the line, be as wise as a serpent and as harmless as a dove, and also, I stood for truth, I said, Lord, was I 100% truthful, I'll let you decide, but then I also remember Jesus saying, when you are called in front of the authorities, don't premeditate what you're going to say, I will give you what to say, amen, as I walked away and I got far enough away, I about dropped everything in my bag, hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, you answered that prayer, you answered that cry, you did give me what to say, hallelujah, yes, stand up for truth now, learn to overcome the fear of men before your neck is on the line, learn now, stand up for truth, last but not least, warn and prepare others, brothers and sisters, if we know hard times are coming, as parents, teach your children, we have whole generations that have grown up in soft, easy, comfortable, easy to make money and business in America, and they may not know what's to come, they may not have ever heard what you're hearing here this morning, that which is to come, tell others, teach others, that's a Bible school that Naomi and I go to yearly, twice a year, to teach young people, teach your children, parents, that which is to come, yes, some of us may even have grown up in homes where the Bible wasn't taught, freely taught, teach your children, pastors and elders warn your congregations of what is to come, don't cause them to fear, cause them to look to Jesus Christ, in today's recent events, God is giving us precursors, things are only forerunners, it's only the beginning of the last of the last days, that which is to come, you see, there's more, in Matthew 24 14, and I'm not going to read all of these scriptures, but when Jesus talks about end times, in Matthew 24, sandwiched right in the middle of his dialogue, Jesus says in Matthew 24 14, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, then shall the end come, what is Jesus saying, in the context of end time events, he is saying this, be sure you are passionately involved in getting the gospel to all nations and all peoples, because God is a merciful, gracious God, a God of love and a God of mercy, he would have that none should perish, so he wants all to come to him through Jesus Christ before the end comes, and he has no hands, no feet, no mouth, no tongue, except yours and mine, his people, his redeemed sanctified church, yes, so be about warning others of that which is to come, standing up for truth, but there's more, in the book of Daniel, as it gets very dark around us, you see the gospel is going to shine like never before, there are the darkness of culture, the darkness of the global scene politically, diseases, calamities, whatever you want to put in there, all of a sudden the glorious gospel and the hope of the gospel is going to shine in Jesus Christ like never before perhaps, and end times, that's what Daniel says, he says in chapter 11 of Daniel verse 32, the people who know their God, the people who are walking with Jesus, they're walking in his grace and in his truth, in Christ's likeness, in that day, they are going to do great exploits, hallelujah, I want to be part of that, great exploits for him, you see it's getting very dark because of these calamities and things that are coming upon us in end times, but there's one more, dearly beloved, there are beautiful things and opportunities that come with hard times, dark times, struggles, difficulties, hard things, there's a greater level of fear of God all of a sudden, there's a greater level of comfort of the Holy Ghost in you and I, that will be more bold in sharing the gospel and bringing others into the kingdom, the people who know their God shall be strong, they shall be mighty in Christ Jesus and do great exploits for him, hallelujah, let's be telling others and being those people, the opportunity is now, today is the day of salvation, when you hear the voice of the Lord, encourage people not to harden their heart, the end is coming, yes, the gospel opportunities, we're in those days already, are abounding like never before, perhaps, and it's only going to get more in that way, one more scripture in Daniel, says in Daniel chapter 12 verse 3, and this is what I was saying, those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever, there's going to be the glorious light of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in these end times, as things get darker and darker, globally, politically, pandemically, whatever you want to put in there, it's the light of the gospel will shine like never before, can he flow through me and use me to shine the righteousness and lead many to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, in the seventh point, yes, in this context of end time events, prophecies, the life of Christ will shine like the stars of heaven against the great darkness all around us, I've seen many of you were taking notes, if you didn't get it, here they are, the first one was hide the word of God in your heart, in summary and in closing, preparation number two is remember past presentations, persecutions, preparation number three, live for the Lord Jesus today, his grace will then be all sufficient tomorrow, number four, preparation number four, arm yourself to suffer and deny yourself, preparation number five, am I a mass distributor or a mass accumulator, preparation number six, was learned to stand up for the truth now, and preparation number seven, which I just completed, was warn and share the gospel, prepare hope and and life with others today, it's not a hopeless situation, our hope is in Jesus Christ, amen, share it with others, let us all be prepared for that which is sure to come, according to the scripture, by taking heed to the sure word of prophecy, amen, let me pray, father we thank you that you have given us what it takes from your word to be prepared in Christ Jesus, your grace is sufficient, Lord we want to be like David, who always put the Lord in front at his right hand, and David went on to say in Psalm 16, in that context there at the right hand of the Lord are pleasures evermore, pleasures of rest, pleasures of peace, pleasures of a great calm and resting in Christ Jesus, that you are sovereign, you're all wise, you're all knowing, Lord we thank you that this is where the rest comes, you're in control, and we trust you, we love you, and we have a heart to follow you, and walk with you today in preparation, Lord, for what you have for us tomorrow, bless my dear people, bless these dear people in Jesus Christ, may there be an overwhelming rest and peace in Christ Jesus, today in preparation for what you have for us, and all of us tomorrow, knowing you will walk with us, and your grace will be sufficient, you will meet the need according to your will, thank you Lord, I pray for those that maybe don't know you, Lord, they don't have this grace and this peace right now, I pray they would come to you today, they would find you as their personal Lord and Savior, that you would bring a great peace and a great calm in the storms of life, in their hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord, and their salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus, hallelujah, save us Lord, from fears and doubts and questions, we look to you, in Jesus name we do pray, amen.