Are We In The Last Days?

Carter Conlon from the historic Times Square Church in New York City.

I want to encourage you not to be afraid of the days that were living it because God's not given us a spirit of fear. Our reason for being on the earth is to testify about the Christ again to cross died for the sins of all people and promises eternal life to everyone who turns to him. Thank you for joining us today for this weekly call to the nation program with this turbulent world changing an incredible pace. Many Christians are asking are we living in the last days as Carter will point out in today's message. You should not be afraid because God is in control and he has a special purpose for you during these troubled times. Let's join Carter now as he takes us to first Thessalonians chapter 5 now as we been traveling recently. We come across a lot of people who have a question in their heart, and I think it's a question that people here would be sharing and probably a lot of folks that are online are thinking the same things that we are. The question is are we in the last days. Are these the days just before the return of Jesus Christ. And if they are there must be a witness, not only in the current events of our day are the very social climate were now living in but there has to be a witness in Scripture to as well of the time that were now living in someone to take a look at some of the Scriptures do not generate a comment too much on them. I want to read about it and I want to finish with one of the final signs of the last days. That should bring gladness and joy into your heart and I'm trusting and believing with everything in me that for many it will cause you to rise up and become the person that God has destined your life to be so. Father, we want to just say thank you God for your word, which indeed is a lamp for our feet and a guide for our path. Thank you God that the entrance of your words does bring light thank you Lord Jesus Christ that is by your word that we are guided we are admonished we are cleansed we are instructed God. We are led into this incredible promise in life that is promised to us through Jesus Christ. In spite of all the darkness, my God, give us back our children.

Lord, we pray, give us back our homes, our marriages Lord Jesus Christ before you come.

Let there be something that brings glory to your name. A shot at glory in the earth for those who can still hear Lord we just ask God that you would speak to those that you are calling to yourself at this time and we thank you for it. In Jesus name, amen. Negative started.

First Thessalonians chapter 5 where the apostle Paul writes about the time in the season of Christ's return, because in the previous chapter he talks about the Lord descending heaven with a shout, the voice of the archangel. The trumpet of God.

The dead in Christ rising first and we who are alive and remain be caught up together with them in the clouds we we come to know this doctrine is the rapture of the church. This is something and it should be an unexpected moment in history when when the Lord himself calms and gathers his his his people from the earth before the final judgments of God begin to be released among the people that remain on this earth and beginning of chapter 5 in verse one pulses but concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night for when they say, peace and safety, so that means there's there's going to be every effort I suppose that humanity can produce to to bring about peace in the world, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Another is is going to be something come into the world. AA calamities upon calamity just that is inescapable. There's nothing of human effort that can stop this from happening. Just as when a woman is about to give delivery to a baby. She can will if she wants not to have the child but there's nothing she can do to stop this delivery, but you, brethren, verse four, are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of the day you're not of the night nor of darkness.

Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober.

For those who sleep, sleep at night and those to get drunk are drunk at night.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation for God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, brethren, you are not in darkness of this day should overtake you as a thief. So in other words, according to the Scriptures.

There is this interior witness that will be given by the Spirit of God to the true bride of Christ. When we are living in these last days when were living at the time and the season just before this outbreak of lawlessness in the world, and the sudden return of the Lord Jesus Christ to let me read to Mecca to try to add anything to this, but there's a commentary from the full life study Bible on this particular passage of Scripture.

Let me just read it to you both Jesus and Paul painted dismal picture morally, spiritually, and doctrinally is the present age closes.

Paul, in particular, stresses that the churches will be invaded by godless elements in the last days the falling away within the church will have two dimensions. Theological apostasy is the departure from an rejection of a part or all of the original teachings of Christ and the apostles. False teachers will offer salvation and cheap grace while ignoring Christ demand for repentance separation from immorality and loyalty to God and his standards false hope that centers on human activity and goals of self interest will become popular moral apostasy is a severing of one saving relationship with Christ returning to sin and immorality. Some leaders may proclaim right doctrine yet abandon God's moral law, and standards of righteousness in their I corrupt the truth and loose deception. Many churches will tolerate almost anything for the sake of numbers, money, success, and honor the gospel of the cross with each call to suffer to radically renounce sin and to sacrifice for God's kingdom and to deny oneself will become unpopular both church history in the predicted falling away at the end time warns believers not to be naïve about widespread corruption of the gospel. At some point in church history rebellion against God and his word will reach astounding proportions and this is what I begin to hear from pastors all over Europe in particular.

And those are visiting Europe that there's there's been a set it there there actually surprised at the suddenness with which there's a revulsion against truth and especially against biblical truth or society is now spiraling.

It's almost like were circling the drain, especially in the Western world and birds were going down farther and deeper into foolishness into immorality and and we are we are so confused. As a society and becoming very intolerant of everyone that holds to biblical truth. Jesus addressed this in some measure in Matthew chapter 24 when his disciples came to him and they said tell us, when shall these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age.

So give us tell us one of these things would happen when you're going to return in this world as we know this is going to come to an end, Jesus talks about firstly deception there be all kinds of religious deception, most in the earth to be false messiahs there be false preachers who will be saying to the people I am Christ.

In other words, if you're looking at my life, you're looking at what a life governed by the word of God the Holy Spirit looks like there will be false.

There will not be true, there will be wars and rumors of wars were living at a time. Now, with the obvious conflict going on in Ukraine and the potential for it to increase far beyond those borders and even farther into the world on top of this were now looking at a renewed conflict potentially between the United States and Russia and China as well. If they invade Taiwan which it appears the going to do it in the not-too-distant future. Sort were looking at wars in the world were looking at rumors of wars. He said don't be troubled by these things.

They must come to pass, but the end is not yet nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines were now talking about famine, 23% of the world's wheat is produced in the Ukraine and the Ukrainian government arts are saying just now they can't get their wheat first of all, having difficulty harvesting it and the week that they can harvest the ports have been blocked by Russia so they can't get the weed out they say it's going to produce hunger hardship all over the world and particularly Africa were to be hit hard by famine because of the inability to get the crops out to market, there would be pestilences, some instant new diseases we have covered 19 know where the variance of covered 19 now the monkeypox and who knows what's coming. After all of this in earthquakes or disturbances in the earth in various places. All of these are the beginning of sorrows.

They will be followed up at this particular portion time that Jesus is talking about in Matthew 24 by all nations, beginning to hate the people of God to the point of even in some places putting them to death and because of the name and the testimony of Jesus Christ and there is in fact this sudden Jesus revulsion David Wilkerson prophesied about it in one of his books is of the best sudden Jesus revulsion that the whole world and in their view and intolerance for those who hold to maybe a biblical worldview about sexuality or about maleness and femaleness in marriage between a man and a woman to be sudden and other such things to be a sudden intolerance and truth will become. We will become haters because we hold truth and this is spreading all over much of the world today.

This is on the much and an extremely rapid basis. Might I add. This is all starting to happen. Now let me just fast-forward to Paul in second Timothy chapter 3 uses know this first one in the last days perilous times will come. Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, bolsters proud this blasphemer is disobedient to parents, unthankful and holy rethink of this young shooter in the in Texas recently began his is is the rageful rain general things that he did by shooting his grandmother in the face almost as something almost unthinkable, unloving, unforgiving slanders, without self-control, brutal, despises a good traders, heady, headstrong hottie lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying its power so that the question I started out by asking, are we living in the last days. My answer is yes, we are how long is he going to be until Christ returns.

They don't know how long of the last days, it could be 10 more days.

It could be 10 more years.

It could be 10×10 more years. I really don't know. But the Bible does say were not children of darkness these days should not overtake us as a thief.

We should be aware of the times that were living and we should be diligent to be walking in a righteous way with God and leaving as many people as we can to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Remember his site the Scripture that I opened with work.

Paul the apostle says these words, he says, but you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this day should overtake you as a thief. We ought to know that they were living in, we ought to see the signs everywhere and it's it should cause us because a cry in our hearts to God have mercy on this generation of mercy on our marriages, our homes or families of children, have mercy on leaving the evil in our midst.

God, what were not or not looking or rejoicing in the judgment of anyone. It's it's it's Christ himself made it very clear that he didn't come to condemn the came to forgive, and we are ambassadors of that forgiveness. But most of all, God did not appoint us to wrath, but obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and so I want to encourage you not to be afraid of the days that were living in, especially those that are out there now in your hearing all these things and that the tendencies wanted to shut off all the news and to stick our heads in the sand and pretend it's all going to go away, but we don't have to do that because God's not given us a spirit of fear but is given as powers given his love is given us a sound bite week.

We know these things have to come but God has given us the power of his Holy Spirit to cause us to stand. He's given us a love for all people to cast out the fear of man at The Fear of the Moment That Were Now Living It, and We Have a Reason to Live Because Our Reason for Being on the Earth Is to Testify about the Christ Who Came to across Died for the Sins of All People and Promises Eternal Life to Everyone Who Turns to Him. But There's Another Sign in the Last Days Is Another Lasting Sign That I'm Now Looking for with All of My Heart and I Saw a Little Bit of This and Was Sure That with You When I Was in Warsaw and Here It Is.

It's the Day of Pentecost, Peter Steps out with the Disciples Out Of the Upper Room and in among the Crowd of People and He Starts with These Words When He Preaches This First in Famous Sermon after the Baptism of the Holy Spirit Is Come, but This Is That Which Was Spoken by the Prophet Joel Acts Chapter 2 Beginning at Verse 16. It's Shelter Come to Pass in the Last Days, Says God, That I Will Pour out My Spirit on All Flesh Your Sons and Your Daughters Shall Prophesy, Knows Your Sons and Daughters Will Start Speaking in Alignment with God.

That's What It Means That They Will Understand the Ways of God and They Will Begin to Speak the Things of God and They Will Begin to Agree with God and Begin to Walk with God and the They Start Moving and Living in the in the Power of God in the Not the Not Speaking the Things of This Life and Not Wringing Their Hands Single. What Must We Do the They Actually Understand the Future.

The Understand the Promises of God in the Began to Speak in Alignment with the Promises of God. All Hallelujah to the Lamb of God, Not Terrified by Our Adversaries.

Not Terrified by the Hatred That's Being Unleashed on This World, but Understanding It Was Foretold, There Is No Escaping It. In the Natural, but There Is an Is There Is Not Just an Escaping but Experiencing a Victory over It in the Power of Christ. That's Alive in Each One of Our Lives. Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy, Your Old Men Shall See Visions That Was Your Older Man Are Not Living in the past, Talking about the past Week We Have a Vision for the Future. We We See Something for Our Families and for Our Children, We Come to Know the Power of God and Were Speaking about the Power of God to the Next Generation Were Speaking about What God Has for the Future. Dear Old Men Are Not Sitting in a Rocking Chair Talking about Yesterday, Your Old Men Are Talking about Tomorrow. God Puts Something inside of Us Is the Psalmist Once Said the Agent Sums It.Don't Take Your Hand off Me until I've Shown Your Power to This Next Generation.

That Is to Come, Not Just Talked about It but Shoulder to the Mentally Seen It Alive and That God Don't Take Your Hand from Me until the Children Can See Who You Are and What You Do in the Power You Have Available for Those That Are Called into Your Kingdom My Eyes on My Menservants and Maidservants I Will Pour Out Of My Spirit in Those Other Words There. There Is There's No Distinction It's a Whosoever Will Moment on the Earth in the Last Days, Young, Old, Rich, Poor, Educated, Uneducated, Makes No Different.

Big Big Job Little Job, No Job Makes No Difference. God Says I Will Pour out My Spirit in All Flesh, They Will Prophesy, and I Will Show Wonders in Heaven. Signs in the Earth, and the Blood Fire Vapor of Smoke. The Sun Shall Be Turned to Darkness and the Moon into Blood, before the Coming of the Great and Awesome Day of the Lord, and It Shall Come to Pass That Whoever Calls on the Name of the Lord Shall Be Saved One More Sign Unbelieving for That with All My Heart I Believe Is Right and Time Spiritual Awakening, Let Me Tell You a Story up. I Got to See a Raindrop of This Thunderstorm. When I Was in Warsaw We Had the Opportunity to Go into Speak at an All-Day Conference for Pastors and Christian Workers Have Been Giving out to These Refugees and Refugee Centers in and Feeding and Housing and Clothing and Everything Else in Their Exhausted. It's Been Four Months and They're Very Very Tired.

There Was a Young Girl from Marriott Pole Millinery Oppose. It Is This Small City in the Ukraine. It's Been Bombed Out Of Existence, and It Just Literally Doesn't Exist Anymore Was Virtually Destroyed It in Whatever Ways They Chose to Do That. But This Young Girl's Had Nothing but a Life of Hard Take Her. She Lost Her Mother, She Lost Her Two Brothers. Her Father Lost His Mind As He Found Himself out after Going through All of This Getting on a Bus, Not Knowing Where She's Going, Ending up in Warsaw, I'd I Don't Know If It Was a Christian Home Christian Family That She Took Her in, but I Do Know She Ended up at the Pastors Conference. Heaven Knows How, but She Ended up in the Conference Didn't Speak a Word of English. Part Way through the Very First Service City Sitting in. She's Never Been in Church. Her Whole Life Never, Not Even One Time Doesn't Know Anything about God Just 22 Years Old. She Sitting in the Service He Suffered Incalculable Heartache. She's an Orphan.

She's All Alone. She's Lost Everything. She Is Every Reason to Be Bitter.

Don't You Think Every Reason to Lose Hope in Life and As She Sitting There.

Suddenly the Holy Spirit Falls upon Her.

She Said She Told Us after through Translator. She Said That Here in Her Arm Stood up. She Said That Her in the Back of My Neck Went Straight up As I Did Know Exactly What This Power Came upon Mick and She Said I Heard a Voice and the Voice Said to Me from This Day Forward.

You Are Mine. Isn't That Something from This Day Forward, Quincy Came See the Gladstone to Ms. She Was Crying so Hard She Could Hardly Talk. And since He Said Dresser Translator. I Heard the Voice of God. The Days Not Amaze You, Not Even Knowing If There Was a God She Heard the Voice of God without Hearing the Gospel. I Was Just There Encouraging the Pastors and She Suddenly Heard the Voice of God.

What Did He Say from This Day Forward You Are Mike.

What Does the Scripture Say When My Father and Mother Forsake Me. The Lord Will Take Me up. Praise Be to God.

Not Only Did She Find Christ That Day but She Is Now in Bible School We Arrange to Get a Revival School Where She's Learning English and Once He Knows Nothing for Bringing Your Here to Pennsylvania This Is Going to Attend Our Bible School at Summit International School of Ministry. Praise Be to God As a God Works Coming in Not Knowing the Lord to Being in Bible School the Next Day. Only God Could Do That All God before Stephen Was Opened the Book of the Bible Says in Bible School Learning English Learning the Word of God. Only God Could Do That but That's What the Scripture Says in the Last Days.

I'll Pour out My Spirit Every Hungry Heart. Everyone That Everyone Who Was Whose It Maybe Has Very Little If Any Knowledge of God. But Just As an Open Heart. I Don't Know What Preceded That Moment in Other Than Just Decoded the Real Is It Possible There Is a God and Suddenly God Comes and Confirms His Presences, His Willingness It's It's Almost like EA They Had the Upper Room Revisited Again Where the Holy Spirit Falls on This Young Girl Who Has Not Known Anything but Heartache. Your Whole Life and He Speaks Towards Us.

From This Moment on Your Mind Unbelieving That's Going to Happen with Our Children. The Lord Is Able to Go into Our Schools. Maybe, Maybe Some of Us Are Locked up.

But God Is Omnipresent That Ms. Is Not Locked Out Of Our Schools in Our Classrooms. In My Prayers. A Got Suddenly You Just You Just Visit the Children and No Matter Who's Trying to Shut Everything down to the Say.

From This Moment Onward.

You Are Mine and Start to Speak to the Children Speak to Our Highschooler Speak in Our Colleges Speak in Our Homes, Speak to Our Marriages See This to Me Is That the Sign That I'm Looking for in the Last Days. I Know, Wars Are Going to Come and I Know Families Are Going to Be Here and I Know That We We've Already Had a Two Year Shutdown. Heaven Knows What's Going to Happen in the Future, but I'm Not Looking to Any of These for the Future.

This Is Not My Concern. I'm Looking for an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on This General Are Looking for an End Time Harvest That's Going to Be Greater Than Anything That's Ever Preceded It. In the History of the World. So How Come to Pass in the Last Days. That's What God Said. That's What Joel Prophesied That's What Peter Said, and According to Peter As He Thought It Was Happening. It Began on the Day of Pentecost That I Believe with All My Heart. David Wilkerson Believed It so As Well. There Is Going to Be an End Time Harvest That's Going to Stagger Every Harvest That Is Ever Hit This World That Doesn't Mean That Countries Are Going to Be Redeemed. It Doesn't Mean That Lawlessness Is Suddenly Going to Be Abated. It Means That Everyone Who Still Wants to Hear Is Going to Hear It Means with the Trumpet of God out. There's Going to Be Hundreds and Hundreds and Hundreds of Millions of People Gathered Together to Be with the Lord Forever Means at the Mercy of God Is Going to Be Part Time on This World before the Lord Jesus Returns. Glory to God.

That Is My Hope That Is Not Purpose. I Want to See This. What Happened to This Girl Repeated 100,000 Times in the Next Few Years and A Few Days Even God Himself Only Knows How This Is Going to Happen. We Don't Have To Figure It out, but We Do Have To Look Forward to It and to Walk in It.

Which Brings Me to My Final Point for Those That Are Listing What Are Your Last Days Going to Look like You Can You Can Make Your Choice. This Little Girl Could've Just Got up and Walked out, and Are Likely Gone Back to Sorrow and Despair and I Could Be Her Testimony for the Rest of Her Days on the Earth and Tragically She Would Stand before God One Day and Find out That You Had an Opportunity to Be Redeemed an Opportunity to Become a Daughter of God an Opportunity to Begin to Speak the Way God Speaks and Have a Brand-New Life in Plans from Sin and Empowered by the Holy Spirit, but Turned It down. The Question Is What Are You Going to Do What Is Your Last Days Going to Be like. I Going to Be Wringing Their Hands and Reading in the News Every Day about Wars and Famines and Fretting and Fussing and Wondering Are You Going to Preserve Yourself and Your Future Is Going to Bow down and Start Compromising to the Godlessness of This Present Time, There Were Now Living in or Will You Stand in the Strength of God, We Let God Become Your God Will at the Holy Spirit Become the Power of God within You to Cause You to Stand to Be the Person That God Is Destined Your Life to Be. The Choice Is Yours.

God Will Not Force You. It Will Touch Your Life and Show You That Is Real but the Choice Is Left to You As to Whether or Not You Will Respond to the Kindness of God, and Allow the Holy Spirit to Come into Your Life. The Lord Is Willing to Do for You What Only Can't Convict All You Have To Do Is Admit That You Need a Savior. Just Don't Make It Complicated. Jesus Christ Came to This Earth.

2000 Years Ago, Walked among Us for 33 Years Went to Cross Suffered Horribly to Pay the Price for Every Wrong Thing That You Have Ever Done so That Believing in Him You Might Be Free from the Bible Calls Its Enemies Everything You've Done against the Ways of God, That You Might Be Free Is Willing to Give It to You As a Gift If You Will Admit You Need a Savior Believe in Christ Took Your Place and Then Confess with Your Mouth Jesus Christ Is Lord, Keep It Simple. You Been Listening to Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City. For More Information and Resources to Help You in Your Walk in Christ. Log on to TSC.NYC TSC.NYC, Be Sure to Be with Us Next Week for a Call to the Nation with Hunter,