I love you. Big guys do cry. That is great. Thanks. Great to be here with you. Oh, thank you, sir. Okay, just, yes, sir. This is dangerous. It's great to be with you. Thank you for all the good things. Rich has been, Dr. Schmidt and Valerie have been good friends for years. I traveled around Israel with, basically it was just you and I on a small, we had a small group, but I spent a lot of time with you traveling around. And Brother Jim, there you are. I thought you left, man. I was gonna be like, oh man, thank you. My father, Thank you so many for so many of you coming to me and telling me that you appreciated listening to my father on the radio. It was something of a complete surprise to us. He was so careful. He loved Wisconsin. He loved the people of Wisconsin. He came here many times. Loved being on with Jim on Crosstalk. Loved coming up here. I see why you have a very beautiful state, city, area. As Rich says, he passed away and at the memorial service, I had come down with COVID and I had just watched my father pass. And I live in San Antonio with my wife and two daughters, still at home. There's five of them. Two still at home. And we made it back to San Antonio, and then I went into the ICU for eight days. And had I not seen my father struggle and pass away, I would not have known the fight it was going to be to stay alive. I was talking to our photographer friend, and she just said, you know, it's amazing how many people are passing away. Bible teachers, people in the community. Yes, it's a time in which we're living. Maybe that's a time when people need to say, all right, those have gone on, and I can only think And by the way, any of you listen to our five minute program on a weekly basis, on a daily basis on VCY, another one of our teachers, Dave James passed away from COVID. It's been an amazing two months, but God is gracious and we are to continue that fight, amen. Thank you for being here this morning. I know that you've come. This is a prophecy conference, and we're gonna study Bible prophecy. Yes, I could sit here this morning and tell you how all the props are in place on the stage. Brother Rich could probably tell you that also as well as I could. He's a prophecy teacher. Many of you are well are knowledgeable on the subject of Bible prophecy and how it's gonna play out in the end times. If you take your Bible and you were to put your finger in the book of Lamentations, and then you put your other finger in Revelation chapter 22, 21, that's a third of the chapters of God's Holy Word. There are 1,188 chapters in the Bible. From Lamentations to Revelation chapter 22, 21 is 392 chapters. One third of God's Word. One third of God's Word in those 392 chapters present prophecy. present a verse, verses, passages about past prophetic events and future prophetic events. You know, as I travel around and speak in churches, as we look and we can tell you, I'm always amazed at how people, not just people, but pastors lose their way. They have fought a good fight for so many years, but they took their eye off of the prize. Do we have any airplane pilots in here? Just one, okay, I can speak freely on that subject also. Two, all right. If you know anything about, and you can confirm this with me, if you know anything about landing a plane, When you're landing a plane and you're coming in, you keep your eyes on the end of the runway because that's where you're gonna ultimately end up. If you were to look where that plane is gonna touch down on the ground, you would crash. You would not make it to your final destination. When I think about people, pastors, folks in churches, Probably some that sat in these pews for many years, and I don't know that much about this church, but I know a lot about a lot of churches. You have people that were strong in the faith that helped build this church and then slowly drifted away. You ever think of why people do that? It's because they have taken their eye off of the price. That prize that both Peter and Paul in their letters to the early Christians as they were suffering persecution, as they were beginning to feel the wrath of the mighty Roman Empire. They were encouraging them to finish the race, to fight the fight, to keep your eye on the prize. And if one third of this word is about future prophetic events, if it was that important to God, how much more important should it be to us? Why study Bible prophecy? We're gonna talk about it. I could tell you about the alignment. This morning, if you're watching the news, Prime Minister Bennett, Naftali Bennett, met with and is still in Russia because the meetings went long with Vladimir Putin. And so he had to stay the Shabbat in Russia. I can tell you about Turkey. Turkey just casting out 17 ambassadors, nine of them that are members of NATO, which is our treaty that was set up to help protect the nations of Europe. Tayyab Erdogan casting them out, wanting to set himself up as the pan-Islamic leader. I could tell you about China, knocking at the door not only of Afghanistan, wanting to get its mineral rights, knocking at the door of Iraq, wanting to get a hold of the oil that is there. By the way, there's more oil in Iraq than there is in Saudi Arabia. I can tell you about Russia, Iran, you know all these things, you've been watching them. The stage is being set. Why study Bible prophecy? Since you will be making decisions today that will affect tomorrow, you must know today what will happen tomorrow. Why study Bible prophecy? If we understood what was going to take place and how soon it would take place, every pew in this church would be packed with people that we were trying to get that message to. If you're going to know what's going to happen tomorrow and how that's going to take place and how it affects you. Not only as Daniel did when he read the scriptures and Daniel did that Daniel and Daniel chapter 9 by reading the prophet Jeremiah understood how many years that the Jews were going to be out of Israel. Just reading the scriptures. But how is the effect. Not only our lives, not only the here and now and those that we live next to, but for eternity. Everyone has a worldview the way we see and understand the events in our world today. Therefore, we must have a prophetic biblical worldview to understand why our world is acting as it is today. Since one third of the Bible is prophecy, we must know how to study and understand Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy is not just studying to know who the Antichrist is, what side of his head does he part his hair on, because I find a lot of people, and Pastor could tell you the same way, Brother Jim could tell you the same, anybody that's involved, you can go to a lot of conferences where everybody wants to dissect who is this player, and what's happening here, and what's taking place. But you know what? They started doing that in the first church. Both Peter and Paul said, look, we are living in the days. We're living in the last days. In fact, they had to be, Paul had to remind those at Thessaloniki that, hey, it hasn't happened yet. Don't be ignorant. The rapture hasn't happened. Studying Bible prophecy helps you to have that proper, prophetic, biblical worldview as to what's taking place, why the world is acting as it is. When we read through God's Word from Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21, This is His story about what's going to take place. And again, if over one-third of this is the way that He talks to us, I don't believe God speaks audibly today. I believe the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and gives us yearnings and helps us to understand. That was what was promised. But what I do know is that this is the way that God communicates with us. And if over one-third of what He says to us is about future events, That should be important to us. Why study Bible prophecies? Well, take a look at your Bible. Turn with me to 2 Timothy. When you look at this, it is profitable. Prophecy comprises of at least 30% of scripture. Brother Rich and I did a radio program, and you brought this up on the radio this last weekend, our hour and a half weekend radio program. that as you hold these prophecy conferences and as you study God's word, it is about understanding what's taking place and what's happening. But when you look at that, it's very profitable for your lives. Look at 2 Timothy 2, verse 15. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. As you study God's word, and I hope you have God's word. I hope you have it in your home. I hope you have it with you. I hope your families are using it. But the problem is today in a lot of our churches, we're not opening up God's word. Bible prophecy is profitable. Study to show when do we need to present ourselves as a workman that needeth not to be ashamed? What was that? All the time. Specifically, we're gonna stand and give an account to how we lived our life before Jesus Christ. If you were a follower of Jesus Christ, you call yourself a believer, you have accepted Christ as your personal Savior, You're gonna stand before him to give an account, and are you a workman that needs not be ashamed? Look over at chapter three of 2 Timothy. Again, Paul's giving us this information. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, which a lot of churches have thrown out today, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. You know, God wants us to be holy. Peter said, When he talked about giving account for how you lived your life, for what you know, for what you believe, he said, be holy, be righteous. That was what the Old Testament talked about. That's what these books, when they were talking about in Leviticus, about how that God wanted us to be holy. He wanted us to be right, living persons. Bible prophecy is important because it is profitable for our lives. It is proven. There are over 1,000 prophecies in the Bible. Of those, 500 have been fulfilled. And those 500 had to be fulfilled exactly as they were given in the Old Testament to the first coming of Jesus Christ. They couldn't have made a mistake because if those prophets had made a mistake, guess what? I wouldn't be here this morning. Neither would you. We might as well tear this Bible up. but every prophecy given to the first coming of Jesus Christ, his birth, where it would take place, when it would take place, why it would take place. The confidence that I have is because those first 500 happened exactly as the scriptures and the prophets said that they would. The fulfillment of the other 500 is just as sure as those that have already come to pass. Turn with me in a second, Peter. Remember, Peter is given some last minute instructions to that early church again. And I love what it says here. Verse 16, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables. Remember, Peter's given instruction on how to live in these last days and how to encourage the body of Christ to keep moving forward. 2 Peter, chapter 1, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables, what we made known unto you, the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Peter could talk about this stuff because he was an eyewitness to what Jesus Christ had done. That's what he says here. He says, look down here, verse 19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy, where unto you do well that you take plead unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawns and the day start arises in your heart. Peter says, look, we have a more sure word of prophecy. We don't follow. books that people write, cunningly devised fables. And at that time, coming into the early church, were the fables of the Greek gods and the mixture. Oh, there's so much. It's practical. Prophecy is just as practical as discerning the weather. Remember Matthew chapter 16, up at Caesarea Philippi? When the Sadducees and the Pharisees came to Jesus and said, show us a sign who, you know, if you are the son of God, if you are who that you say that you are, show us a sign, what did Jesus say, ye hypocrites? He had just, they had all just seen him feed not only 5,000 men, 5,000 women. If you got 5,000 men, 5,000 women, you'd get probably 10,000 children, 20,000 that Jesus just fed. And yet here they are asking for a sign, and Jesus says, look, you can discern the weather. When you get up in the morning, red in the morning, sailors take warning. Red at night, sailors delight. Bible prophecy's very practical, but yet some of us don't even take the time to let it affect our lives as believers. It's purifying. Knowing that Christ can return at any moment makes us make every moment count. Turn with me over to 1 John. Last night we were talking with John and Tina, Pastor Rich, and Valerie, and we were out to dinner. I was telling about my dad in the old days. My dad had a satellite, Plymouth Satellite, 1972 Plymouth Satellite, four-door, red. His favorite color, if you know anything about my dad, was red. He was a pure sanguine, if you know what that means, type A personality. When we were kids, my mom used to, when we would do something wrong and got in trouble, those words would come out of my mom's mouth. Wait till your father gets home. Now we lived at the end of a long road. And I can remember standing at the window waiting for my father to get home. And as soon as I saw that red car, John, looking down that road and that red, fire engine red would turn around that corner, I knew that I was gonna have to give an account for something that I had done. When you look at 1 John, as we look at that, Verse John chapter three. Beloved now, verse two, beloved now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And every man and woman and young person that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure. You know, as we study Bible prophecy, it is there not for us to figure out who these nations are that are going to come against us, what's going to take place. And that's good. And that's having a biblical worldview. But when we look, when we study Bible prophecy, it should help each and every single one of us. This last it is promised that there will be an eternal reward for the students of Bible prophecy that prize that That Paul talked about and Peter talked about when as soon as the rapture happens. This is a little timeline We'll be using this and I'm sure you've seen this before so this is nothing new But the next event that take place on God's calendar of events and believe you me We are the closest that we have ever been to the rapture Now those in the first century church They felt the same way. But in the twinkling of an eye, we could be caught off of this earth at the rapture, and I believe that that's the next event. And we will be at the judgment seat of Christ. We will be standing before the Lord Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians chapter five, to give an account to how we lived our lives. What does this mean? Bible prophecy because it's so important. It helps us to understand that as we stand before our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, one of the things that we're going to do at one point is we're going to lay our crowns. We're going to lay our gold, silver, precious stones. We're going to give them what we've done. But what are they? The crown incorruptible. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 27. The crown incorruptible is about bringing your body into submission, making decisions that are gonna help you as you live your life. And it's not just about exercise, but what it's about, turn with me to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 27. Because I think if we knew about these crowns, each and every single one of us. Start in verse 24, know ye not that which run and erase all, but one receiveth the prize, so run ye that ye may obtain. Verse 25, first Corinthians chapter nine. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible crown. What's that talking about? It's talking about giving, sacrificing your life, not following after and planning everything just for your short lifetime on this earth, but it is talking about the things that you do, do they, do you do those for yourself or do you do those for God? Because you're gonna stand before the Lord and He's gonna say, well, you did this for yourself. You did this for your own glory. You did this for your own praising, worship, but you wanted people. Because the Lord sees all. Yesterday, we were here, I saw the many people that came to church here to clean it up, to clean the bathrooms. to clean the kitchen, to set up, to prepare for the Word of God to be taught for an outreach to the community. And if you're here today, all that we do as we stand before God is gonna be judged on whether we did it for Him or we did it for ourselves. Sacrifice given to missionaries, going to the mission field, Not buying what the world has to offer. In our churches today, we're seeing less and less people that want to make that sacrifice. Oh yes, there are some churches that are filled, but it's because they want to be entertained, they want to go. incorruptible. The crown of rejoice in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 19. Turn there with me. Look at these. I want you to see these because these are so very important as we're looking at the Scriptures. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. When you, when Paul is talking and he's giving information. He's, for what is our hope? or joy or crown of rejoicing. Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? This crown about those that win someone to the Lord. Paul said, look, you're my hope. How many are here because you were invited and you came to know the Lord? Don't raise your hands. How many in the community don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, but have never stepped foot in this church to hear that wonderful message. Like there's nothing wrong with desiring these crowns because we give these crowns back to Jesus Christ. The crown of life, James 1.12, not yielding to temptation. Not talking about, look, we're all gonna be tempted. We're all gonna follow into temptation. It's about doing something, acting on it. The crown of life, the crown of glory, edifying the saints, 1 Peter chapter five, talking about educating. We need Sunday school teachers, we need Bible teachers. I desire those crowns because again, what do we do? We give it back. It also determines my wedding garment. As I stand before and I'm married to Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, the bride of Christ, Our deeds in Revelation chapter 19 determine our wedding garments, our white raiments. Crown of righteousness, 2 Timothy chapter four, verse eight. Looking and longing for that appearing of Jesus Christ. Studying Bible prophecy. prophecy is it okay if I come down you can hear me so I think about this often do we study Bible prophecy because it helps us to understand that one day in the twinkling of a moment we could stand before the Lord live every day, as John says, pure and productive and holy in an unholy world. We know that the rapture could take place at any moment. How we're living our lives is so very important. Because the rapture is an event that no one knows when that will be. But why study Bible prophecy? Because Revelation 20 talks about another future event that will take place. The Great White Throne Judgment. The Great White Throne Judgment. Do you know that's the most solemn event in all of history? That's where people that rejected Jesus Christ at the end of a thousand year period of time will be sentenced eternally with Satan. By the way, hell was only designed for Satan and his evil angels, Jesus said in Matthew. People that decide that they don't want Jesus, God's offer to have a restored relationship with mankind, those that reject Jesus will be sentenced eternally to the lake of fire. But you know Jesus said there's only one way to the Father and it's through me. I am the way the truth and the life John chapter 14. Unfortunately those people that never hear the gospel message never have a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior will be sentenced at the great white throne to eternity in hell. Why study Bible prophecy? Because we know that in a moment, God's timetable for the last days will start to unfold. For those that are living before the rapture, they will not have another chance to accept, and they heard Jesus Christ and his offer, or they heard someone give that information, and they reject Jesus and the rapture takes place you will never have another chance to accept Christ as your personal Savior. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, because you rejected the love of the truth you will not have another chance, you'll be caused to believe a lie. Maybe you're here this morning and you're hearing that gospel for the first time and you're being faced with making that decision. If the rapture happens before we're out of here you will not have another chance because you rejected the love of the truth. But I think about the great white throne judgment. You know, it's not until after the great white throne judgment that all tears are wiped away. You ever think about, and I'm sanctified, I'm guessing, sanctified speculation, but this being the most solemn event in history, Not the most important. The most important was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Revelation chapter 1 verse 18. But the most solemn event in all of history will be the judgment where Jesus Christ judges those. Not the judgment seat of Christ where Christians are, but where those that reject Jesus are sentenced eternally to the lake of fire. And it's not until after that event. You know why? I believe all tears are wiped out after this event. You knew? You knew? You knew and you didn't tell me? I believe that we'll be standing there behind the throne and we're gonna see people that we worked with, that we went to school with, we lived next door to. Perhaps for some of you, maybe in the same house. We've got all the information here. One third of God's word is about future events and how we should be living our lives. But some of us are more interested about how the stage is set. than why it is set. Can you imagine standing there? And you see people that you never told. You had the message, you knew it was going to take place, but we as believers, and it's not just you because when I'm preaching, I'm preaching to myself. We have to keep running that race, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. Yeah, we could study, we're gonna study Bible prophecy, I'm gonna, how to study Bible prophecy, that's what I'm gonna speak on next. Tonight we're gonna take a look at the things that are lining up, that is all so important. Believe you me, we have spent many years doing it and have been on the front row of watching it take place. But if all of this was just left in here and we didn't do anything about it, I go back to the very first statement I gave you. Study in Bible, if you're gonna make decisions tomorrow about what's gonna happen and affect tomorrow, then you must know what's gonna happen. And you need to know that today. God could have chosen the stars in the sky to spell ye must be born again. He could have had the trees cry out, the rocks cry out. But whom did he task with the message of carrying forth about his son that he sent? That's you and I as believers, as followers of Jesus Christ. So when we study Bible prophecy remember it's profitable for living our lives, for guiding our lives every day, for living right lives. It's promise, it's practical, it helps us to be pure and productive and that reward that we get not only for serving him but perhaps taking family members, loved ones, friends, and it's our responsibility to do that. Father, this morning as we study, we take a look at the things that are taking place. I just felt burdened. I have felt burdened for the church, for the body of Christ, for believers. We could spend so much time, and part of that will be rewarded for. All of that that we do in your name and for your glory and honor will be rewarded for. But the things that we do for our own glory and the message that you have given for us to carry forth, we have that responsibility. and understanding how things are going to unfold and how close that they are about to unfold should motivate us to live a pure productive holy life in an unholy world, in a world that's looking for answers, in a world that is increasingly turning its back on the Creator, on the Savior. That's all promised that it was going to take place. That should only indicate to us how serious we should be about our lives as believers. Maybe you're here this morning, you just visited, you just stepped in, you came because you were invited by someone and this is the first time and you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal savior. I wanna give you that opportunity. It's as simple as A, B, C. Admit that you're a sinner. Romans 3 says we have all sinned. We have all fallen short of the glory of God. It's not just you, it's all of us. Pastor Rich, myself, Brother Jim, all of us. But we admitted that we were sinners. B, it's believe. Believe that God the Father sent his son to die for us. The book of John chapter three says that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. so that we might have eternal life, everlasting life, by believing in that death, burial, and resurrection. And it's as easy as C. Paul said in Romans, call upon the Lord and you shall be saved. Maybe you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal savior. You've never made that decision. If in the next instant the rapture takes place and you've heard that message, you understand it, you will not have another opportunity to accept Christ and you will spend eternity in the lake of fire. You say, Jimmy, I don't wanna do that. I want Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I want to start a life of living. If you're here this morning and you want to accept Christ as your personal Savior, just lift your hand. We're not gonna make you stand up. We're not gonna make you go around. I just want to see that you, and I want all of heaven, I want you to make that first proclamation that I'm calling upon God to come into my life. And it's as easy as just saying, Lord Jesus, please come into my life and save me. I want eternal life. Anybody here this morning? Please don't leave here without making that decision. Yes, I see all of heaven's rejoicing with you. Anyone else? There's a group of people that are here this morning, believers, and you understand how serious these days are and how important it is for you as a follower of Jesus Christ to tell others about Jesus Christ. to tell others about what God has done in sending his son. You say, Jimmy, I have a tough time. Oh, I'm busy at church, and I'm busy at the Bible studies, but when I leave here and I go out, I don't have the strength or the courage to tell others. I need the Lord's help. I need to be a better witness. I need to tell others about God's plan of salvation for mankind. Now, my head is bowed, but my head is raised. And if you wanna just lift your hand in the Lord, in the air, the Lord will see that. And you say, Jimmy, I need help. Lord, see the hands that are raised of people that know that they need to be more serious about telling others and about living the life so that we might be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. That's what you say in the word. That we are living a pure life because of the eminent moment that could take place of the rapture of the church. Lord, thank you for these words, a third of the way that you communicate with us is about future events. How then should we live?