It's great to be here tonight, thank you everyone who came out. I just want to say, before I get started preaching, that there is a bunch of stuff out there in the lobby, audio CDs, USB flash drives, all right also, DVDs of a film that we put together recently called Professing Themselves to be Wise. We brought a few hundred DVDs so there should be plenty for you to grab 1, 2, 3, whatever you want to do with that. It's got a wonderful picture on the back of me with the Dr. Spergel glasses, with the taped up and everything like that. I was out soul-winning the other day and I gave it to a guy that we had just won to the Lord, and he said, "Oh, is this a picture of you back in the day?" I was like, "No, I was never that geeky, it was just a joke." Anyway, yeah, be sure to grab that stuff. It's all free, load up on it, make sure it all goes to a good home. Give it away, use it, don't enshrine it.
Matthew chapter number 16 is where I want to start tonight. The title of this sermon is, The Signs of the Times. The Signs of the Times. Starting in verse number 1, the Bible reads, "The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed."
Now, if you would, turn to first Thessalonians, chapter number 5. First Thessalonians, chapter number 5, of course, follows up the famous passage on the rapture at the end of first Thessalonians, chapter 4. One of the most common scriptures quoted in a Baptist church, one of the most famous scriptures of all time is that scripture at the end of first Thessalonians, chapter 4, but not a lot of people follow it up with reading into chapter 5 and getting more of the context where Jesus and his second coming are said to be as a thief in the night only to the unsaved. He says we that are saved are not in darkness, that that day should overtake us as a thief. We are not going to be taken by surprise because we have the Bible telling us all the things that will lead up to it and we can see the signs of the times.
That's why he says in verse number 1, of first Thessalonians 5, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you." You don't need me to tell you, you already know, he's saying. You, yourselves, perfectly know, verse 2, "Know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and safety then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober."
Let us watch. We don't have to be in the dark tonight. We have the word of God to tell us about the events of the end times. We know the sequence of events, we know what things will be like when the end is approaching, we can read it in the Bible. Then, if we have our eyes open, we can discern the signs of the times that we're living in. I submit to you that if we look around today, we can see many signs that we are living in the last days. No man knoweth the day or the hour of Christ's second coming. I don't pretend to know when it's going to be, it could be a few years from now, it could be a few decades from now. I have no idea, but I'll tell you this right now, there are many things that we see today that would indicate to us that we are rapidly approaching the end. We can discern the signs of the times, as God's people.
Go, if you would, to second Timothy, chapter number 3. Second Timothy, chapter 3, there are many scriptures in the New Testament that talk about what things are going to be like in the last days, that describe the world shortly before Christ's second coming. We see a lot of those things happening all around us. Even if we were to just look at the technology, we can see now that the technology is in place where the scriptures in the book of Revelation could literally be fulfilled. Many people in the past looked at things in the book of Revelation and they thought a lot of it was figurative that was actually literal, because they thought to themselves, "This would be impossible."
For example, if a few hundred years ago, you're reading a scripture that talks about how no man is going to be able to buy or sell without a mark in his right hand or in his forehead, you'd say to yourself, "How could that be? There's always going to be a black market. There could always be people that would just pay with cash, and that would use silver and gold and coins and paper money. There's already a great black market, they can't really stop people from buying or selling." But now, in 2016, we see the technology in place for a cashless society.
A cashless society. The wallet that you have filled with paper money, is only worth anything because people have agreed that it's worth something. As soon as the government were to say, "At the end of this year, December 31, whatever the year, that money is going to be no good anymore, you need to turn that into the bank it'll go in your electronic account." Then, that paper money will be worthless at that point. We're getting to the point now where you could see the transition is very possible to a society with no cash, where every transaction is electronic. Look how easy it was to shut down our PayPal accounts as soon as we started printing things that they didn't like.
Obviously, that's not the tribulation, but it just shows you how that's where things are going. You preach the word of God, you don't get on board, we'll shut down your account. Now, thank God there's still cash, there's still checks, we can go shop around and find other companies to do online banking through, and online transactions. But, what, when it's all integrated, and they just push a button and your account is frozen, your account is seized. We can see how that's possible. The technology is there, it's not far-fetched at all.
Then, you look at scriptures, for example, in Revelation chapter 11, where it refers to the 2 witnesses and how they'll be killed and their dead bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 days. It says the whole world will see their dead bodies laying in the street. A couple hundred years ago, you'd wonder, "How could the whole world see these guys if they're in Jerusalem?" Of course now we have the internet, and satellite TV, and cameras. You can see how it would be broadcast live to the entire world and the technology is in place for these things to be fulfilled quite literally. We could be approaching the end.
The Bible says, in second Timothy, chapter 3, a description of the end times. It says, "This know also, that in the last days." Hey children, sit still. Second Timothy 3:1, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." Perilous means dangerous. He says, "For men shall be lovers of their own selves." One of the things that characterizes the end times is that people would be self-centered, self-absorbed, lovers of their own selves. We see that in this generation more than any other generation, this overly sensitive, just worried about themselves, everything is about me. People have called it generation me, generation selfie, generation selfie-stick, generation everybody it's all about me.
Think about the fact that as our society becomes more sinful, it becomes more selfish. What could be more selfish, when you think about major, big sins, sins like murder and adultery. What could be more selfish than murdering your own child for your own convenience? That's exactly what abortion is. You're so concerned with yourself that you're willing to murder an innocent baby just so that you can have a different quality of life. That's total selfishness. Think about how selfish it would be for you to cheat on your spouse, to commit adultery with another man, or commit adultery with another woman, and to bring that pain and suffering upon your spouse, upon your husband or your wife. What a selfish thing to do.
Sin is selfish. That's why the Bible says that. "All the law is fulfilled in this one word, thou shall love they neighbor as thy self." He said, "Look, if you love your neighbor, you're not going to kill your neighbor, you're not going to commit adultery with your neighbor, you're not going to steal from your neighbor, you're not going to lie to your neighbor." Sin, at its core, is self-centered, selfish, self-absorbed and we're living in a day where man are lovers of their own selves. Where people, when they choose a church, they just want to know what that church can do for them, "What kind of programs do you have for me? What kind of programs do you have for the children?" They don't stop and ask themselves, "Hey, is this a team I want to be apart of? Is this a place where I want to go and work and serve God?"
Serving in the local church, working in the local church. We have a room at the back of our church, now it's actually off to the side, but it's a room that has a refrigerator. You know, most churches have some kind of a kitchen, or some kind of a place with refrigerators. In our church, I call it the break room. The reason I call it the break room is because I consider the church a place of business, a place of work, a place where people are doing work. They go in there to take a break from the work that they're doing. It's like a job. They go and they win souls, and preach, and serve, and roll up their sleeves and get involved. It's not a place where you go, like a theater, and just sit down and enjoy the show and then walk out. No, no, it's a place of work.
Lovers of their own selves don't understand that. They just want to come and have their itching ears tingle. They want the sermon to feed them and they just want to feed, and feed, and feed, when they need to get out there and work for the Lord. That's why we have a break room in our church. You say, "Oh I can't believe he said business." Well, you know what, Jesus said, "I must about my Father's business." You know what the first 4 letters of business are? Busy. Busy. Only communists and hippies don't like the word business.
Look what the Bible says here in second Timothy, chapter 3, verse 1. It says, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For man shall be lovers of their own selves." Why? Because those are dangerous people. People who just only love and care about themselves. They'll kill you for $20. They'll murder their own child. A person who is just absorbed in loving themselves is going to create a dangerous environment for others. They're going to grow up and be a criminal. Children who are never taught to think about the needs, and the feelings, of others, and empathize with others.
The Bible says, "Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous." Meaning that they desire that which doesn't belong to them. They lust after more money, and more things, and more possessions. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. It says they're covetous, they're boasters, meaning that they brag and talk about how great they are. Which, again, goes along with being a lover of your own self, when you're a bragger and a boaster. Proud, again, that goes right hand in hand. Blasphemers, disobedient to parents, un-thankful, un-holy.
These are the type of things that we're seeing abound in our culture in America today. People are disobedient to their parents, they're blasphemous, they're boasters, they're proud, they blow off their mouth against God and against the Bible, and against His anointed, and they have no fear of God today. The Bible says they're, "Without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce." Look at this last one, "Despisers of those that are good." We're living in a day where the wicked despise those that are good and now, it's even getting to the point where even mainstream America is starting to despise those that are good.
Now, what's interesting about the word despise is that it pretty much means hate. If I said I despise something, or despise someone, that would mean that I hate that person or hate that thing. De-spiteful or despising, these are synonyms for hating. What's interesting today is that these bunch of freaks and perverts out there, for example, that are protesting this event, they are despisers of those that are good. You know what? These people from the media here, unless they turn over a new leaf and start telling the truth, which probably isn't very likely, but these bozo's from the media over here, they're going to show all the love wins and love conquers hate, they won't show you God-fearing, family men and women, walk in this church and women are called a slut and a whore, and they've never even seen these women in their life because they just rail, and hate, and spew out all their filth, and they're disgusting.
But, you won't show that on the media, will you? No. You'll show all the little, pretty, little sodomites and they all love each other. Why don't you go to aids.gov and show what these people are really like, where they're 50 times more likely to get Aids? Why don't you do a story on how homosexuals are 50 times more likely to get Aids? Why don't you go to aids.gov? Why don't you go to cdc.gov? Because you're a coward, that's why. Because you'd be fired if you did that, that's why. Hey, and by the way, hey, and by the way, learn how to count. Go back to school and learn how to count. This is 75 people. You want to make it out like it's just a few people? Hey, there's still 7000 men in this country who haven't found the need to bail.
The Bible says, "Despisers of those that are good." Every single one of these homo's would love to tear me apart, limb from limb. If they could get in here, and the police wouldn't stop them, they'd love to come in here and rip us apart and kill us all. They don't just hate me. They don't just hate Brother Jimenez. They hate at all Christians. They would love to destroy us all. You know that's right, and yet they say that we're hateful. Well, you know what? At least I do admit that I hate pedophiles and perverts, but these people are hypocrites. They won't admit it but they hate my ever-loving guts.
Let's continue with this passage. Second Timothy, chapter 3. It says in verse number 4, "Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." This is the people who don't have time for church because they're too busy out having a good time. They're out playing, and they're going to the lake. Look, I love going to the lake, but you know what? I'm not going to go to the lake when I ought to be in church. I don't love pleasure more than I love God. The Bible says, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away."
There are all kinds of churches around Sacramento and across our nation, they have a form of godliness. They have a form of Christianity. They have a form of biblical teaching. But, they deny the power thereof. You know what the power thereof means? It means the authority thereof. It means the might, and the strength behind it. There are churches out there that claim to be a Christian church but they'll even deny the miracles of the Bible. They'll say that the children of Israel didn't really cross on the Red Sea after Moses parted it through the power of God. They'll say that it was just a land bridge, or it was the wind that did it, or it was just some kind of a reed sea instead of the Red Sea.
They'll claim that Jesus was not born of a virgin. They'll claim that Jesus didn't walk on water. They teach a social gospel and they have a fake Christianity. I'm talking about the United Methodists tonight. Let's call it what it is. The United Methodists, they'll sit there and deny the virgin birth, deny the bodily resurrection of Christ. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power of God. They don't believe in the miracles of the Bible. Not only that, but they deny the power of God's word. They believe that their views and their understanding trump God's word. No, God's word has the power. God's word has the authority. God's word is what we ought to go to, not to whatever is popular, or whatever the opinion of the month is that the media is cramming down our throat.
What we see in this passage, if we were to take the whole thing and aggregate, and obviously we don't have time to talk about each point on the list, is that in the last days, when He lists all these sins, He's saying the last days are going to be very sinful days. If we were to just sum it up in one sentence we'd say, "In the last days, perilous times will come because sin will abound." What do we see? We see our country is more sinful than it was 10 years ago. It's more sinful than it was 30 years ago. We can see, clearly, that the morality in our country is going down. It was going down like this, but in the last 3, 4 years it seems like it's just on a bobsled to hell. That's what we see today.
Now, if you would, turn to Luke, chapter 17. Luke, chapter number 17. Luke, chapter 17, we're talking about the signs of the times. Jesus Christ said that his second coming would not catch us unawares, it would not come upon us as a thief in the night because we can look around and see these things begin to come to pass. We see a world government forming, the United Nations. We see the United States relinquishing its sovereignty to this world body. The last time the United States declared war on anyone was when they declared war on the country of Hungary in World War 2. Ever since then, we're just enforcing United Nations resolutions. The last declaration of war from the Congress of the United States was World War 2.
Have we fought wars since then with no declaration of War? Because we're going under the authority of the United Nations. We are seeing a world government forming. That's a sign of the times. When we see the stage being set, for as the Bible says, all nations, all tongues, all kindreds, and all people to look to one leader, the anti Christ. To worship one man, the anti Christ. That's why we see all of the religions coming together. We see the Catholics and the Protestants coming together and saying that the Protestant reformation was just a big misunderstanding. "It was just a big mix up, finally we can clear it up 400 years later. What are we thinking? We all believe the same things." That's what they're saying today in the news.
We see today that eastern mysticism is even coming into the church. We see that the Buddhists and the Hindus, and the co-exist mentality, where all religions come together. We can see the new age movement today, rolling out and becoming mainstream doctrine in the United States of America. Universalism, universalist religion, that says, "Christianity is a way." Jesus said, "I am the way." They say, "Oh, well, that's a way but Islam has a way, and Hinduism has a way. They're following the light that they have and we're following the light." No, no, no, there's only one light and it's Jesus Christ. The Lord, Jesus Christ, is the only way to be saved. It's the only way to heaven, through the blood of Jesus Christ, his death, his burial, and his resurrection.
At the second coming of Christ, the Bible says in Luke, chapter 16, verse 26, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed."
At the second coming of Christ, the Bible teaches that in the days leading up to that, it will be like it was in the days of Noah, and it will be like it was in the days of Lot. This passage in Luke 17 contains the famous scriptures about the rapture where it talks about 2 being in the field, 1 taken and the other left. 2 women grinding at the mill, 1 taken, the other left. That passage about the rapture, in context, is compared the days of Noah, when the flood came and destroyed them all, and the days of Lot, when fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This is referring to the fact that the day the rapture takes place it will rain fire and brimstone upon the earth, according to the Bible, which of course, takes place after the tribulation but before God's wrath is poured out. All God's people said ...
Whoa, no pre-trippers here tonight, huh? If so, don't say anything. Somebody will be glad to explain it to you after the service. In Luke 17, he compares it to the days of Lot for a reason. It's funny, when I was growing up, my dad ... My dad's here tonight. He used to always say, "I don't think the end is yet." He said, "Because it's not like it was in Sodom yet." I remember thinking to myself, "I don't think he's right about that." I read the story of Sodom and I said, "It's never going to be like that." I thought, "He's misinterpreting that." You know what, dad? You were right, because, you know what? It's starting to look like the days of Lot out there.
I got off the airplane in San, I mean, Sacramento, I thought, yeah, it seemed liked San Francisco. I got off the airplane in Sacramento, California this morning and it was 2 minutes before I saw a dude walking through the airport with a skirt on. We're living in days that are getting to be like it was in the days of Lot. You know what I think is so funny, is when people attack us Bible believing preachers, and they say, "Oh, why do you preach about homosexuality so much? Why do you keep bringing that up? Why are you so fixated on that? Why are you bringing it up?" Because it's being crammed down our throat every stupid day. Because not a day goes by that the TV, and the magazines, and the newspapers aren't cramming this trash down our throat.
You know what? We didn't pick this fight, the fight came to us. You know what? I didn't write this book and this book already predicted, thousands of years ago, that that's what would be happening. I didn't choose that, "Hey in the end times, before the second coming of Christ, we're going to have to be ripping face about a bunch of perverts and homos, and that's going to be the big issue in America that everybody talks about every single day in America." Hey, I didn't choose that. I didn't even predict that. I thought my dad was wrong about that, okay? I didn't choose this fight, this fight has come to us. You know what I say? Bring it on.
Hey, look, whatever fight the devil wants to bring me, bring it on. I'll preach any part of the Bible, and I'm not ashamed of any of it. I like all of it. We didn't choose this. "Well, why do you make that your battle?" I didn't make that my battle. I preach 156 sermons a year, I preach every book of the Bible, I preach out of Genesis, I preach out Exodus, I preach out of Leviticus, I preach out of Numbers, I preach out of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. I preach on the gospel, I preach on heaven, I preach on hell, I preach on the deity of Christ, I preach on the trinity, I preach on salvation by faith, I preach on the eternal security of the believer. I'm preaching on repentance, I'm preaching on this, I'm preaching on that. Then, you preach on sodomy and all the cameras show up.
I didn't choose that. They chose it because it fits their agenda. You know what they don't realize? They come in here because it fits their agenda, their little narrative, their brain-washing campaign that they're a part of whether they know it or not, or believe it or not. You know why they're here? They're here because their bosses want them here. They're here to demonize Christianity. They're here to demonize God's people. You know what? You can't even make us look ... Take me out of context all you want, because you know what? The stuff I say from the Bible is so true, even out of context, I still like it. I still like it.
Even the TV pieces where they attack me. Look, I'm watching all your guys' coverage the past 3 minutes, I got popcorn, and I'm thinking, "Man, he looks good on there. Yeah, tell them." I like all of it. I like it all. You know what? These people in the media, they're so deluded, they think, "Oh man, when we put this on TV, man, everyone's going to hate Pastor Jimenez." You know what they don't realize Brother Jimenez? Is that half the people in Sacramento are sitting at home, and they're seeing you on TV and they're saying, "Hey, there's a guy with some guts. There's a guy who's finally telling it like it is. There's a guy that actually believes the Bible." You know what? They just don't have the guts to say it, but they're sitting there at home, in the comfort of their home saying, "It's about time somebody told it like it is." That's what they're saying.
All the media's doing is just helping get the word of God out. You know what? The apostle Paul talked about how some people were spreading the word of God for the wrong motives. He said, "They preach Christ even in envy and strife, they preach it of contention, trying to add affliction to our bonds. Trying to add persecution to us." You know what? Hey, I just rejoice that people are hearing about Verity Baptist Church. Great. Then, they're going to tune in, and they're going to get the gospel, they're going to get the soul-winning, they're going to get everything else he preaches. 95% of the time when he's not talking about perverts, all the other good stuff from the Bible, they're going to tune in. Then, some of these cowards, once they see him go through the storm, once they see him stand tall ... A lot of people are sitting at home right now just wanting to see how it's all going to turn out.
Nobody wants to get onboard with a loser, with a quitter. I know you're not a loser. I know you're not a quitter. They're sitting back and they're watching. Let me tell you something, he's going to be like a rock because he's founded on the rock. I'm going to tell you something, when the battle is over, when the dust settles, and when the media's moved on to their next faggot promoting story that they want to write, their next wicked, God-less story to promote the downfall of morality in America, and when they go back to printing more smut and crap in their stupid newspaper, and their stupid TV show, and hell-o-vision. You know what? He's going to be still be standing and this church will just grow, and grow, and grow.
You know what? I already know. Hey, I've already been doing it. Hey, I went through this in Phoenix, Arizona 7 years ago, and you know what? Our church is bursting at the seams. We just can't knock out the walls fast enough to expand our auditorium, because you know what? People want the truth. The Bible says in Daniel, chapter 12, go to Daniel chapter 12, we're going to look at some things from Daniel. Let's go back to the Old Testament, Daniel, chapter 12. Daniel, chapter number 12. We're going to look at some things from Daniel, chapter 12, and Daniel 11. These are 2 scriptures that have to do with the end times, that have to do with the second coming of Jesus Christ, where Daniel is actually seeing things way into the future.
In fact, in Daniel chapter 12, he's told, "Seal up these things because these things are not going to happen for a really long time." We're living in those times where we're getting close to the fulfillment of these things. Let's see some things that characterize the end times leading up to the second coming of Christ. Daniel, chapter 12, verse 1, the Bible reads, "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time." That's referring to the tribulation.
In Matthew 24, he used almost same wording, "Then shall be great tribulation such as never was since the beginning of the world to this time, nor never shall be." If you look at the word trouble and you look at the work tribulation, you'll notice that the consonants are the same, T, R, B, L. Trouble, tribulation. These are related words. He says, "At that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
One of the things that God points to as coming shortly before the end, is that many would run to and fro, and that knowledge would be increased. Go back to Daniel, chapter number 11. "Many would run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." That is something that we're seeing happen very rapidly today. I believe when the Bible says, "Many shall run to and for, and knowledge shall be increased." That has to do with the technology that we see, where transportation is so much faster, where people can just run to and for. We have people here tonight at this service from a whole bunch of foreign countries. I know my friend here, Rob, from Canada, where's [inaudible 00:32:34] from Canada? Then, we got brother Logan Robinson from New Zealand. Who else is here from a foreign country tonight? Anybody else from a foreign country?
Yes. Where are you from?
Speaker 2:
New Zealand.
Speaker 1:
New Zealand also.
Speaker 3:
Canada. [inaudible 00:32:49]
Speaker 1:
Canada with Rob. Okay 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Speaker 4:
Australia.
Speaker 1:
Australia, all right. Anybody else from a foreign country?
Speaker 5:
Canada.
Speaker 1:
Canada.
Speaker 6:
[inaudible 00:33:00]
Pastor:
Yeah, Kazakhstan, all right. That just shows you the amazing transportation where people can just hop on a plane and come here from Kazakhstan, Australia, New Zealand, different parts of Canada, and be at a place like this. Why? Because the technology is facilitating that, and then He says, "Knowledge shall be increased." One of the most amazing things about the technology that we have today in 2016 is the way that we can just get information on the internet. I remember when I was even a child, if you wanted to learn about something, if you wanted to know some piece of information, you had to take a trip down to the library and you'd pull books off the shelf that were 20 years old, or 10 years old, and you're trying to get up-to-date information. Sometimes you had to travel to distant cities to access larger libraries and find the data, find the information.
We can just be walking around and see some plant or some animal now, all we have to do, "Hey what kind of plant is that?" Just take a picture of it on your phone, there's an app that will tell you what kind of plant it is. "Hey, what was the name of that?" Everything. Any question you have, any piece of information you want to know, anything you want to learn about. It's just so simple, you just Google it. All of that information is at our fingertips. Obviously, there are a lot of bad things that are also available on the internet. There are a lot of people that would use it for pornography, or use it for online gambling, or use it for adultery, or other nefarious purposes.
One of the things that the internet has done is it has allowed us to preach the word of God to a mass audience. We don't need the media anymore, that's why they already walked out. We don't need them anymore. Nobody listens to them anymore. That's why the Sacramento Bay keeps getting thinner every year. Nobody cares. We are living in a very special time because we can actually be the media. YouTube, YouTube, Me Tube, we can actually broadcast the truth and get millions of viewers. Let me tell you something, the internet is the printing press of the twenty-first century. It's the most revolutionary thing since the invention of the printing press and we can actually upload true, biblical preaching.
In the past, to be a TV preacher, you had to be a total compromiser. You had to be bought and paid for by the devil to get on TV. Now, anybody can upload sermons. Brother Jimenez, myself, other men of God all over the world preaching the truth can upload it and have access to millions of viewers. It's amazing. So many pastors are just, they're not even capitalizing on that opportunity. I guess if they were living back in the 1500s and the 1600s, they would, "Oh, forget the printing press, we're happy with our little church, us 4, no more." I'm telling you, we have an opportunity to broadcast this stuff to the world in all languages, and get it out there.
Look, I don't know about you, I want to work hard and I want to pull out all the stops, because I don't know how long the party's going to last. When are they going to start censoring us on the internet or pull the plug on the internet? I don't know. I'm going to put as much stuff on the internet as I can and get it out to as many millions of people as I can before that happens. Then, we'll just switch to just flash drives. That's going to be next, just flash drives, CDs, DVDs, have fun collecting up all those and trying to sensor us.
Look what the Bible says in Daniel 11. Go back a few verses to Daniel 11:32, it says, "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." Exploits are great works, legendary works, amazing works, epic works. He says, "They that be strong and do know their God." He said, "They'll be strong and do exploits." Verse 33, "And they that understand among the people shall instruct many." They will instruct many. They that understand, they that know the people, they that are preaching the truth, shall instruct many.
I believe that in the end times, there will be one last, great push where the gospel will go all around the globe and where people will hear the gospel like they've never heard it before, in the last days. Look, it's not just through the power of the internet, it's going to be through door to door soul-winning. A lot of people don't ever go on the internet. Let me tell you something, we need to have a multi-pronged attack, we need to be out there physically, flesh and blood, knocking doors every week. Up one street, down the other, every door in Sacramento, every door in Citrus Heights, every door in Elk Grove, every door in Roseville, every door in Orangeville, every door in Carmichael, every door in West Sac, every door downtown, every door in this whole area, physically, boots on the ground, knocking those doors. Then, broadcasting to the whole world on the internet.
I've talked to some pastors and they say, "Well, I agree with what you're preaching, but I'd never put it on YouTube because I don't want the persecution." I guess you forgot that verse that told you to leap for joy when the persecution comes. I guess you forgot the part about, "Who so findeth his life shall lose it but whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." I guess you forgot that verse that said, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but out of them all the Lord delivers him." Let me tell you something, with the doors being knocked, and the soul-winning churches springing up all over America, and let me tell you something, it's started to accelerate.
We're seeing new churches start, we're starting 3 new churches this fall, just what our church is doing, let alone what Verity is going to be doing, let alone what Steadfast is going to be doing, let alone what Word of Truth does, let alone what Old Path does, West City Bible Baptists, whatever other churches that share the same vision of knocking every door and of preaching from the housetops all the counsel of God, uncensored, unadulterated, unfiltered, well-refined preaching. Brother Garrett Kirchway, our missionary to Botswana, he just indicated to me this afternoon, he said, "Hey I've gotten you the opportunity, while you're in Botswana." Because I'm only going to be there for a week, "To preach in a public school." He said, "You'll be preaching to hundreds and hundreds of junior highers." He's trying to get me into the high school in that village as well.
I'll tell you what I want to do, Brother Garrett, I want to get a list of every high school and every junior high in the country of Botswana. We're going to work down that thing like a checklist and we're going to preach the gospel in every single school that will let us, and we're going to keep calling them and we're going to offer them free Bibles, free New Testaments, free DVDs, free CDs, a flash drive if you've got a computer. You know what? We'll come and preach the gospel and we're going to do great works, God willing, through His strength, if He allows us to. We're going to continue doing the greatest works.
Look, I want to do the greatest works that the world has ever seen. I'm going to tell you something, it's not because I'm anything special, because you know what? He's doing the same thing. All these other pastors are doing the same thing. All the speakers you're going to hear from are all sharing the same vision. Look, it's not anything about me. Look, in 10 years, 20 years, there are going to be 100 of me and you're going to forget that I even exist, because there's going to be 100 of me. Praise God. I don't matter. All I am is a guy who just decided to get up and preach it like it is and let the chips fall where they may.
You young men here, you could be that guy. I'm not ... He's way more talented than I am. Brother Jimenez is a lot more talented than me. It took me about 500 times preaching before I preached like him on his third time. I'm not joking, I'm not kidding. You know what? Young man out there who's listening, you could be 1 of the 100. I believe that, in my lifetime, there will be hundreds of preachers that are just like me, greater than me, doing better works than me, putting me to shame. Hey, that's what I believe God has told us will happen in the end times. He said, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all nations and then shall the end come."
I believe we're starting to see that happening. You know what? It's a sign of the times. It's a sign of the times that Sacramento is hearing the truth. You know what? Whether they hear, or whether they forebear, whether they sit at home and, "Oh, how dare he offend the LGBT, HIV, ABCDEFG community. How dare he offend us people." You know what? It doesn't matter. You know what's for sure? They'll know that a prophet has been among them. They shall know that a prophet has been among them.
I'm here to tell you that we are living in the last days. We don't know when it's going to be. I don't know about you, I want to be one of the people that does great exploits. I want to be a part of it. I want to be on the ground. I want to be just knocking doors, one at a time. I want to be one of God's people that's a part of the team. I want to be a part of a church. I want to be a part of a movement that is not backing and going, "Oh man, they're taking over, we've got to do something. We've got to do something." I don't want to do something, I want to do the greatest things that the world has ever seen, that's what I want to do.
Get a vision tonight that's big. Do something big for God. You know what? Every man, woman, boy, and girl can be a part of it. "I'm not talented." You know what? You don't have to be talented to be a soul winner, and if you're a consistent soul winner, you will be great in the kingdom of heaven period. Period. Period. You will great in the kingdom of heaven. Look, it doesn't take any special talent, it doesn't take any special ability. You know what it takes? Guts. That's all it takes. That's all it takes.
You know what? Anybody who wants to can have guts because the Bible says that if we pray for boldness, He will grant us boldness. Even the most shy and timid can become as fearless as a lion when they are filled with the Holy Spirit of God. That's what the Bible teaches. The Bible says, "When they have prayed, the place where they assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness." Man, woman, boy, and girl, we're all filled with the Holy Ghost. You know what? You want to be filled with the Holy Ghost? You better be at the right place at the right time, because they were all filled with Holy Ghost because they were there, which goes back to what Brother Al said about being in the right place, being in the right church, getting around God's people.
The signs of the times are everywhere. Are you able to discern them? Are we living in days that are beginning to resemble the days of Lot before he went out of Sodom and Gomorrah? Are we beginning to live in days where people are exceedingly sinful and lovers of their own selves? Do we see the technology? Do we see the police state in place? Do we see the world government forming? Do we see all of the things that the Bible told us would happen, coming to pass, right around us? Do we see a great fire and a great movement amongst God's people for a soul-winning revival, unlike anything the world has ever seen?
Why not? God's arm is not shortened that he cannot save. It's you, and I, that have the power to limit God by our lack of vision, and our lack of faith, or we can do the greatest works that world has ever seen. But, it's up to us. What are we going to do? Are we going to be ordinary? Are we going to be the usual, run of the mill, Joe church member? Or are we going to rise up? Don't tell me about some greatest generation of some old ... I don't want to hear about that. Let's talk about the greatest generation, how about 2016? How about the people that we're winning to Christ in 2013, 14, 15? The spiritual babies that are born in 2012, 2013, 2014?
You know what? I don't care what Dan Rather says, or Tom Brokaw, or whoever that was that put that thing together. Hey, when we get to heaven, the greatest generation is going to be God's people that did the most works for God, and the most soul-winning for God. I pray that it would be the people that God saved in 2010, 2011, 2012. I pray there would be a great baby boom of spiritual babies that are born, and that these spiritual babies would go out, and rise up, and be the greatest generation of Christians that literally would shake the world, and would literally just spread the gospel to every person on the planet, to every nation.
It's possible. You write the book. You decide whether it's going to happen or not. I can't do it by myself so I can't make that decision. I can decide to be a part of it, but you have to decide to be a part of it too. Together, we can get the gospel to Sacramento like Sacramento's never seen it before, and the whole world. Now, I don't know the history of Sacramento, I don't know what kind of soul-winning churches have been here in the past, I'm not sure exactly what they accomplished, which doors they knocked. If we were to be able to get in a time machine, go back to the 1960s or the 1970s, I don't know what kind of great soul-winning churches existed. You know what? I believe that Verity Baptist Church can, and I believe that it will, by the grace of God, be the greatest soul-winning church in the history of this city.
That ought to be the goal. Go big or go home. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
