False Promises, Prophets, Messiahs and Manipulations vs. the Truth

The Last Things You Need To Know: Living Life in Light of the End

Mark 13 talks about the false prophets and false christs who will appear in the last days, but we can encounter false prophets and false christs even today. We often think that those who are deceived are simply gullible, yet we can all be deceived. In fact, those who think that they cannot be deceived are the easiest ones to deceive.

Todd WagnerNov 2, 2002Mark 13:14-37; Revelation 12:6; Mark 13:14-16; Mark 13:19-23; Acts 8:9; Mark 13:28

In This Series (9)
False Promises, Prophets, Messiahs and Manipulations vs. the Truth
Todd WagnerNov 2, 2002
Prophetic Terms, Timing, Persecutions, and Promises, part 4
Todd WagnerOct 27, 2002
Prophetic Terms, Timing, Persecutions, and Promises, part 3
Todd WagnerOct 20, 2002
Prophetic Terms, Timing, Persecutions, and Promises, part 2
Todd WagnerOct 13, 2002
Prophetic Terms, Timing, Persecutions, and Promises, part 1
Todd WagnerSep 29, 2002
One of These Days: What to Expect and What He Expects of Us
Todd WagnerSep 22, 2002
Matter Only Matters if the Bible is not a Matter of Fact
Todd WagnerSep 8, 2002
Wonders of the World vs. the Wonders of a Magnificent Obsession
Todd WagnerSep 1, 2002
The Purpose and Product of Prophecy
Todd WagnerAug 25, 2002

In This Series (9)

Lord, thanks for these friends and for whatever reason you folks had here this morning, some here because family is going to celebrate the gift of children and how we want to dedicate ourselves individually and collectively as a body to raising these children in a way that we speak of a God whose love is unconditional, and whose love is not based on performance, that they would understand that love because they would see it modeled in us toward each other and also us toward them.

But for us to be those kinds of people, Lord, you have to do a good work in us. You have to continue to change us. We ask that you do that by the teaching of your Word, by the illustrations we'll use this morning, by the sobering reality of deception that tries to grab our hearts and lead us astray. Lord, we pray as we study your Word that you would open the eyes of our hearts. All of us.

I pray especially for those this morning who don't think you would ever want to know them, that you would see all your Scriptures about just the opposite. No matter where they were last night, what they did, what thought has crossed their mind while they sat in here this morning, Lord, you're pursuing them. Like you pursued me in grace. I pray, Lord, you would help them see with their hearts what you died on the cross that they might know.

Well, the Dallas Morning News has a little section called the religion section, and in the religion section every week there's an opportunity for folks to write in with an op-ed, with an editorial comment about something they see in society or today's world that moves them at least to pen something.

A week ago there was a little article by a guy by the name of Craig Hill, who is a professor at a seminary here in the United States. He wrote a little editorial in it and the title of it is "The End of the World, Again." He's writing about his concern with the rise again of the infatuation people have with this concept of the end of the world.

It typically happens in waves, and often those waves are associated with major world conflict or major world turmoil. Certainly we've had our share of those lately. and rightly so, because of some Scriptures we've been looking at rather intensely these last couple of weeks, and we'll look at again today.

It also comes, though, when people come on the scene claiming they have somehow deciphered God's Word in such a way they can match their Bible with the front page of the New York Times, and they can lay one over the other and go, "See? This is this, and that is that. Therefore, we are here. This is what's about to happen."

That's gone on for a long time. Sometimes with more tragic results than others. Back in the 1840s, a guy named William Miller was just a farmer who felt like he had figured it all out. He partnered with a Boston preacher by the name of Joshua Himes, and literally tens of thousands of people got really excited about the fact they were sure this event called the rapture which removed the church, as we talked about last week, to be in the presence of God, when he would come back and get his bride to go to is father's house. It was about to happen.

It turned into what is called the Great Disappointment and that really devastated a lot of lives. About 30 years later, though, another guy came on the scene. William Blackstone wrote a book called Jesus Is Coming. It was published in 47 different languages. You fast-forward about 100 years, you've got a guy by the name Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth. One of the bestselling books of the entire decade of the 70s.

Then in 1988, you've got a guy who wrote a book in 1985 or so called 88 Reasons Jesus Is Returning in 1988. There were a lot of folks who really got tragically involved with this guy, and I knew some of them personally. The way they affected their families, the way that they dealt irresponsibly. There was a score of people that, because they were so sure Christ was returning, some of them killed their pets because they didn't want to leave their pets behind without care of loving people.

One of the members of our body, Mark McLaughlin, shared with me a story about his brother who, during this period of time, had gone through a lot of chemical abuse and chemical dependencies. Mark shared how he had gone through a lot of brokenness in his life, including the loss of a marriage.

When he was a young man he had some sense of a spiritual relationship with the Lord. We're not ever sure the depth of it, but his brother kind of wandered away from that. Through his addiction to alcohol and dabbling in some other drugs and other things, his marriage and, really, his whole life was falling apart.

Then he had to move back in with his mom and dad. It was during this time that he began to a radio preacher who was talking about how sure he was Christ was coming back. This very broken and vulnerable man began to listen to this. In fact, Mark said he went home one time and his brother was driving a brand-new Jeep CJ-7.

He knew his brother was in a pretty tough way, so how in the world is this happening? He said, "Well, I'll tell you how, because I've been listening to this guy on the radio, and Christ is coming in about six to seven months. So I bought this thing and I'll never have to make a payment on it. I'll be gone before they come to repo on me. I basically get a free Jeep for six to seven months."

He said every night he would go with a quart of Colt 45 and his cigarettes and get in his Jeep CJ‑7, which he was stealing, drive out to a field, drink his little Colt 45, smoke his cigarettes, put his feet up on his stolen Jeep CJ-7, in effect, and listen to this radio preacher tell him why he wasn't going to have any consequences to what he was doing.

Needless to say, this man's Jeep was repossessed and the hopelessness that had so much defined his life also repossessed him. He never took a journey towards spiritual things again. He ended up dying from the alcohol abuse and drugs not long after that.

Now folks, that's just right here. There are scores of people who mock at the truth that has been revealed in the Scriptures because individuals are way into date-setting and way too into "this equals that." The Scriptures give us plenty of rails to run on, but it's very clear we cannot know the day or the hour, especially of this event when God is going to come and grab his bride, but even more, it says, "Despite the fact, I'm going to give you great detail about what will happen before Christ returns," which is a separate even than him grabbing the church to be with him…

There is an event called the second advent, when Jesus would come to restore his work through his chosen people, Israel, and all who honored the Messiah Israel had been given, Jesus Christ. Jesus says, "No man knows the day or the hour." You find Jesus' longest teaching on that at the end of his ministries in what is called the Olivet Discourse in Mark 13. If you have your Bibles, please turn there with me.

We're going to wrap this thing up and I'm going to say again what I want you to hear, which is that Jesus thought the last thing you need to know is not when he is returning but what he expects us to be doing because he is going to return. That's it.

We have spent now 10 weeks as of today talking about this, and we have given you a ton of Bible and a ton of information and showed you how this fits together. Mark 13 is a text written to Jewish individuals who are asking a Jewish Messiah, "When are you going to come back and reconvene your work with this Jewish state called Israel?" (Those who God strives with to glorify himself.)

They ask, "When will this be? Because God you just told us, Jesus, this temple is going to be destroyed. This temple is the center of our worship of you. If the temple is going to be destroyed, when are we going to become again the epicenter of all that is right in worshipping you?"

Jesus would remind them, "Listen, the reason the temple is going to be destroyed is because, though you are now the center of all Jewish religion, you are not the epicenter of all right worship. You have let ritual replace righteousness. You have let form deceive you into thinking the function of true worship with Spirit and truth is going on with me," much like our country is doing.

There are churches filled all over this city/state/country today filled with people who are deluded into thinking because they attend a certain place at a certain hour God is somehow pleased with them. That is not the case. It is the case that if you love the Lord, you will seek out a place you can go to worship him.

It is not necessarily true because you are in a place where some are worshipping him that you yourself are worshipping him. It's the old statement, "Cars are in a garage. Therefore, if I am in a garage, I am a car." No, that's not good logic. "Worshippers go to church. Therefore, if I'm in church, I'm a worshipper." Not good logic.

God says, "I do not want people who honor me with their lips, who sing songs, serve in Sunday School, and greet people out in parking. I want people who know me and know their sin and need for a savior, those who have found a lack of peace in this world, found a lack of righteousness in their own life and have looked to Christ for peace and righteousness."

Mark 13 is this little section of Scripture where Jesus is unfolding what will happen in the end days. He talked about what's called the seventieth week of Daniel, which we've talked about for a long time. It's the last seven years in God's prophetic calendar for the nation of Israel. We haven't started it. It will start when a guy, who is known most familiarly as the Antichrist, makes a treaty with the nation of Israel and promises them peace.

Israel was always to look to God for peace, and this one will come on the scene, and because of intrigue, skill, and political dealing he will become a world leader. We mentioned last week about the event called the rapture, which is not mentioned in Mark 13, but the rapture is when God comes to grab his church and take them to a place of blessing but also of judgement.

He will judge us based on how we live in relationship with him, and at the end of that seven-year celebration, he will return with us to reconvene his work with Israel and begin what we now know as the millennial reign, with millennial meaning a thousand, a thousand-year reign with Jesus literally here on earth reigning in Jerusalem, and us with him in some form.

Jesus is describing the events in Mark 13 which will define in those last seven years what will be happening on this earth prior to his return after the church has been removed. One of the things we've established is that there is going to be turmoil like this world has never seen. If you can imagine, true believers being ripped out of this world. The planes would go down, the cars would crash, the political powers would be corrupted and destroyed.

The armies would be thrown into disarray. Somebody is going to have to bring that all together, and it makes a great deal of sense that somebody is who the Scriptures said they would be, a very charismatic figure who, through intrigue, would capture people's affections and, specifically, this hated little state surrounded by Arabs who is threatened today and protected by Big Brother over here.

Big Brother is not going to be in such great shape. We're absent from the end-times description of the Scripture, meaning the United States. So who is going to give Israel protection? Answer: a leader of a revived Roman Empire, who is known as the Antichrist, who will promise them peace. For three and a half years there will be general peace. At the end of that three and a half years, we get to Mark 13:14.

Now follow with me here, because we're going to finish this chapter today. In Mark 13:14, Jesus says an event will happen, which is that this man who has promised Israel peace will assert himself in a way that has always been his attention. He doesn't just want to give Israel protection. He wants Israel's personal worship. See, God is the one who can bring peace to Israel. We're told to pray for the peace of Israel. Praying for the peace of Israel is like praying for his kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven, because Israel will only have peace when they do one thing.

The answer to when Israel will have peace is the same answer to when you will have peace if you're here today and you feel like you're surrounded by terrorists, the Arabs, if you will, who hate you, who oppress you, a lack of peace because of the loneliness in your heart, a lack of peace because of a lack of financial success or security, or maybe just an emotional disorder you've got, or maybe just because of a sense of defeat because of choices you've made. You lack peace.

Peace will only come in an abiding, continual way when you turn one place, and that is not to the false strategies of the Enemy, not things that are antibiblical or anti-Christ but when you turn to the one whose name is Peace. That's when peace will come to you.Now you'll get fleeting peace with prosperity, you'll get fleeting peace with relationship, but that's peace as the world gives. Jesus says, "I give a different kind of peace. A peace that is above and beyond any circumstance. That peace I offer you in me. I am the way to peace. I am what true peace is and I am where life is."

Israel will find peace when they turn to Jesus. Simple and plain. Israel is not going to turn to Jesus until God takes them as a national group through an incredible amount of horrors that, as I've said before, are going to make what we saw in the 1940s look like a picnic. That's a horrible reality, but Israel's worst days are ahead of them and so are their best days.

Their best days are ahead of them when they turn as a people back to the Jesus who came and offered himself as their Messiah, their Deliverer, their Prince of Peace, their Mighty God, and their Wonderful Counselor. The Antichrist will come having offered them peace, and for three and half years it will go generally well, but in the middle of that seven-year period preceding when Christ will return, there will be a war, a movement on Israel, by some different nations.

God will miraculously deliver them. In the midst of that miraculous deliverance, the Antichrist will take credit for it and he will enthrone himself now not as just some world ruler but as a world figure to be worshipped. Specifically, he will call the people of the covenant, the nation of Israel, to worship him. He will set himself in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and he'll say, "Don't just serve me, but honor me. Worship me."

Now watch this. In Mark 13:14, Jesus says, "When this happens you run to the hill. You do this immediately. You remember your bible. Let the reader understand, you [Jews] go back, you remember back in Daniel I told you this guy was going to come and he was going to make some incredible, audacious claims." We might look at those in a minute.

"But you run for the hills. You understand this isn't going to be pretty. Those in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one who is on the housetop must not go down or go to get anything out of his house. The one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat, because there is no time. You just go to the hills and you run."

In Revelation 12:6 it says this about Israel. "…the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she might be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days." That means for three and a half years. Let me give you a little example of what's going to happen.

The Antichrist is going to move in the nation of Israel in a very aggressive way. There are going to be some that decide to stay and worship him and develop a relationship with him because they think that's the way they will find life. God says, "No. You flee this Egypt and you go to the wilderness, and I will miraculously provide for you in a way like I miraculously provided for you before, except this time you will sustain your relationship with me."

I want to make this very unpopular claim and that is the nation of Israel as we know it today, we should be so excited about the fact it has been reconvened in 1948, and the destruction and dispersion of Israel is what began a lot of liberal interpretation of prophecy in the Scripture and gave birth to what's called amillennialism or post-millennialism, when people tried to help God out with his prophecy, saying there is no Israel to do a work with, so the church much be Israel.

That's nonsense, because the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. God said he will do something with Israel, and he will, but then we also have some folks who are very excited. One of the things Hal Lindsey did is he said when Israel was reformed in 1948, he took a verse from Mark 13, and he said this generation will not pass away before the seven years are over.

So they termed a generation as 40 years, so he added 40 years to 48, and what do you have? You have 1988, and you have a group of people who thought for sure Christ would come back by then, because that generation will not pass away. Well it did because that was a misinterpretation of that verse. Date-setting is not the point of studying the end times. The point of studying what God has to say about the future is to know he sovereignly enthroned in the heavens.

He does whatever he pleases, and nobody messes with the Ancient of Days. What he is saying to his people, Israel, is you don't mess around with the one who promises you peace. You run for the hills and let me provide for you there. Wisdom would say, "Stay here and deal with this great world power." He says, "Don't do it." He goes on to say, in Mark 13:19,

"For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall. And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days."

Israel will be dispersed again, and he will shorten the time they're in the wilderness where he provides for them before he returns. Then he says this in Mark 13:21. "And then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ'; or, 'Behold, He is there'; do not believe him; for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order, if possible, to lead the elect astray."

Let me make sure I'm going to capture your attention here, because we're about to give you a demonstration. I want to tell you why we're going to do it. If we are correct in understanding God's prophetic calendar, the church, true believers in Jesus Christ, individuals who are aware of their need for a Savior, and brokenhearted by their sin, and with a broken heart and contrite spirit, have thrown themselves at the provision God has given them, which is the death of his Son Jesus Christ on a cross for them, who then wed to him by covenant…

If we understand the Scriptures correctly, the church will be removed by this time. That is all 2 Thessalonians continually says. You're not destined for the day of darkness. God will remove you even as he has done Noah, Rahab, Lot, and on and on, but there will be some who will be here.

Let me tell you an application for you. He says to the people who are here during the tribulation, "Listen, false Christs, false prophets are going to come, and they're going to be very persuasive in the things they do." Let me tell you which amazing tragedy is happening right now. There are individuals in this room who every day read their horoscope, and they seek to find some sense of peace and security, and direction from that.

There are some people in this room who have been to see psychics, who look to psychics to find some sort of peace, direction, some ability to get some control to mask their pain or to empower themselves through some insecurity. There are people in this room who believe there are individuals who have some supernatural power who can somehow give them what they need to have the peace they are looking for.

I want to say to you, as lovingly as I can, you are being taken advantage of. There is no such thing as a psychic and there is no such thing as an individual who can help you in any way that even approaches the way Jesus Christ and his objective, tangible, inerrant Word can and the presence of his intimate, powerful Spirit in your life. For those of us in the church to dabble at these things that the desperate dabble in is a great mockery to our Lord.

This section of Scripture talks about the false Christs and the false prophets who will especially come in the seven years before Christ comes. I'm going to tell you that today there are false Christs and false prophets who seduce the church. Some of you look to Dr. Phil with as much anticipation and passion as you do Proverbs. You can't wait for the next book from Deepak Chopra or from Tony Robbins or from some other individual who promises you they have a new insight to give you peace, fulfillment, and happiness.

I am begging you to be people of the book, people of faith, people who abide with Christ and find fulfillment in him alone, because when we go over there now it makes other people think what we have found here is less than what God said he has provided right here. It is blasphemy. There is a guy named John Edward who has a little show twice a day. He is the world's most famous psychic right now. He's been on Larry King. You can't turn the TV on without seeing this guy.

He's got a show called Crossing Over where he speaks with the dead and he channels and gives folks information from the other side back here to let you know and give you some sense of peace in the midst of your turmoil, brokenness, and despair that, "Hey, your loved ones are there, and they care for you, and they're letting you know they are working in you, through you, and around you."

He is doing very poorly, may I add. Little psychic manipulations. They're not psychic. Little magic tricks and illusions. I've got a very good friend who I've known for about 20 years who I'm going to bring up here right now, and I want to show you a demonstration John Edward couldn't do if he wanted to. Danny, come on up here as I'm talking.

What we want to do is show you something, and this is not just a parlor trick to entertain you. I want to show you a powerful demonstration. Danny has been a professional magician, that's is background, and he has since moved on to something he felt was much more significant and important. Danny, interestingly enough, is himself a son of Abraham. He is a Jew who has come to faith in Jesus Christ. He is one of the world's leading magicians and illusionists. He's invented tricks that men who are household names have used.

Danny Korem: Can we just clarify something?

Todd Wagner: Yes.

Danny: I didn't become a Jew to not become a magician. In other words, I was a Jew first.

Todd: Right.

Danny: Then I became a… It sounded like I went on to something more significant.

Todd: Yes, no.

Danny: Went on to Israel...

Todd: No, no. He was clearly a Jew first. His greatest trick as a magician was to become a Jew, which is really an amazing thing. No, Danny has gone on… Why don't you give them a quick little sample of what you're doing now?

Danny: We teach behavior profiling. We developed a system for profiling folks. The last four years we've exclusively spent time on how to identify the bomber/shooter in the schools, the military, the John Muhammad incident, et cetera. So this is a little bit far afield from what we do on a daily basis. We're looking around and I don't see any scopes, so I think we can proceed.

Todd: Exactly. What he's done right now is he's training a lot of law enforcement, school district leaders, and leaders around the world about how they can identify what are called random actors. Individuals who are prone to do the things you just saw the Washington, DC, sniper do and the men at Columbine do. Things like that. Danny works for the FBI/ATF, law enforcement people, and school leadership to help them understand how to identify these people based on thing he has learned and developed. It's pretty exciting.

Meanwhile, we've got folks like this gentleman. I'm going to show a clip of John Edwards and the claims he makes. I'm going to tell you this. We had to record many different programs from this guy to allow him to look like what he is pretending to be. There are a number of shows where he does this simple thing which is called cold reading, which Danny will allude to in a minute, where he is trying to work with individuals to tell them things.

Lots of times they'll go, "No, that's not ringing a bell. Nope, that's not me. No. No. No. Well, yeah. There is a girl who lives next door to me. Yes. That's right." I say that, but the guy is pretty good at what he does. Good enough to fool a lot of people, and he's using a magician's trick. A lot of you don't know and remember a guy named the Amazing Kreskin. When I was a kid, I'd watch Johnny Carson to see the Amazing Kreskin.

He claimed to have psychic abilities by which he would do different ESP-type events and things like that. When Danny was a college student at the University of Tulane, he sent Kreskin a letter saying, "Hey, keep doing what you're doing, but stop telling people you're doing it by having psychic ability and powers, because you're tricking them. You don't have psychic abilities. What you do is fine; just tell them it's a trick." They threatened to sue Danny because it was the guy's livelihood.

Danny: They were going to repossess my bike.

Todd: That's right.

Danny: Yeah, so I backed off.

Todd: But eventually Kreskin realized he would look pretty small suing a guy who could expose them, and every now and then Kreskin comes back on the scene saying he can do some different things and Danny has to remind him, "Hey, we thought we had an agreement you were going to do your great little tricks but call them tricks."

In 1982, Danny exposed…it was the very first time a psychic confessed…a guy by the name James Hydrick. I'm going to show you some clips from him in just a minute. Danny did a thing called psychic convections where he got Hydrick to confess some of the things he did, which were pretty impressive, were just manipulations and tricks.

Seventy percent of America, in 1982, believed in the existence of telekinetic powers where, through the ability and power of the mind, you can move an object. After the airing of this broadcast, which over a hundred million people had seen, now 17 percent or less believe in it. It has been 20 years, so maybe some of you believe someone you might meet can do some things like that. I want to show you that you're wrong, these are tricks, these guys aren't as good as him, and he's telling you they're tricks.

All right, what I'm going to do is throw this thing out. I don't really care who gets it, but somebody grab that please. Thank you.

Danny: That's the first time I've seen you drop a ball.

Todd: I know. Believe me, it's happened… Sir, grab that. Come up on stage and I'll let you throw it up over your head to somebody else. Come on up here, sir. Sir come on up here. We'd like you to come on up. Somebody else grab that and when you get it, please pick it up. Ma'am, would go come up here?

Danny: Yeah, and just toss it to somebody else.

Todd: You throw it to somebody else. Thank you. All right. Jay, throw it to a girl. We need a girl. We'll do guy, girl, guy, gal. All right. Thank you. Whatever woman is closest to that, please come up. Come on, you can come on up. I thought you were somebody else.

Danny: Interesting.

Todd: Come on up here, please. If you all would just take a seat on the stage where Danny asks you to. Thank you, ma'am, and, ma'am, come on up here. Now I need a nurse. Is there anybody here who is a nurse? Just stand if you're a nurse, please. Please stand if you're a nurse. All right. Meredith, please come on up here. No, wait. Since I know you… Ma'am, I don't know you. Why don't you come up here? Okay.

Danny: I realize this is a little unconventional. We didn't do this in my synagogue when I was growing up, but this is a fairly serious demonstration. How many Aggies do we have here from Texas A&M? Yeah. That's not a bird or a crane; that's what they do down there. I gave two or three different addresses at different times down at A&M and did this demonstration. It's fairly intense, especially if you have any… We don't have any small children here? That's good.

Seriously, it is a fairly intense demonstration, so for the next eight to ten minutes, we'll just focus on these folks up here. Hi. Now, I don't believe I've met anyone here. Am I correct? I don't know anyone. Good. Here's what I want you to do. This fellow who they talked about on television, John Edward, is he'll have a large room full of people and he'll point people out and say, "I'm getting a message from someone, et cetera, et cetera."

Then he'll just start trying to describe attributes about that individual. We're not going to do that. We're going to be a little more direct. What I want each of you to do, except for you, Ma'am… I'll give you some special instructions in a minute. I want you each to think of the name of somebody who you know who is alive. You must know them personally, so don't put down like President Bush unless he's a personal colleague. Okay?

Except for you, Ma'am. I'm going to ask you to think of the name of somebody you know who is deceased, but do not write down the name of someone who is deceased recently. That would not be appropriate. Someone who you knew personally. What I want you to do on your slips of paper when I tell you to, is you're going to open your slip of paper and print legibly, because we will have to verify what you've written later.

I want you to write down the name of this person, and if there was a pet name you called them by, put that down as well. Okay? So everyone is going to write down the name of somebody who is alive, except for you, Ma'am. You're going to think of someone you know who is deceased. Okay? Can you do that? All right. I'm going to come back to you in a minute, Sir. I'll turn my back, and if you'll begin writing… Also, shield the name so nobody can see it, but make sure to print legibly, then fold your slips up just like they were.

Hi. You're a Registered Nurse? Where do you practice?

Ruth: I actually work at a mission clinic in Nashville, Tennessee.

Danny: Oh, so you're visiting?

Ruth: Uh-huh. I'm visiting. Is that good or bad?

Danny: I hope I don't embarrass the church. We just joined. We're just joining formally. We've been visiting here for a while, but this is a little bit unusual for a sermon illustration.

Ruth: Okay. I'm a Christian.

Danny: You're a Christian, I am, too. Sometimes people wonder. Your first name again? In the mic, so they can hear.

Ruth: Ruth.

Danny: Ruth? Okay. That's very good. Now Ruth, you know how to take somebody's pulse?

Ruth: Yes.

Danny: All right. I'm going to ask you to take my pulse a little bit later. What you're going to do is… It will be a little bit different, because we don't have a monitor here. With one hand you'll take my pulse and the other hand you're just going to tap out the pulse. My suggestion is just close your eyes when you do that so you can block everything out.

Ruth: All right.

Danny: Ruth, it's going to change.

Ruth: Okay.

Danny: So you have to promise me you'll only tap what you feel.

Ruth: Okay.

Danny: Have they finished writing their names down?

Ruth: I think so.

Danny: Finished? Okay, good. I you'll put the slips here on the book, please. Now what I want you to do, Sir, is mix them up. Ruth, this is a little bit unusual of an assignment. I'm going to ask you to take my pulse and then with your other hand, like I showed you, tap out the pulse on the microphone.

Ruth: Okay. Now? [Tapping]

Danny: Mm-hmm. Okay, now it's going to change. Very good. All I'm going to ask you to do is pick up one slip. Don't open it. Mix them around a little bit. Pick one up and just hold it isolated at your fingertips so everyone can see it. Right? Okay. Now again, my pulse will change, so only tap, Ruth, what you feel. Okay? [Tapping] It's pretty slow, isn't it?

Ruth: Mm-hmm.

Danny: All right, Sir. Put that one down and pick up another one. [Tapping] It's really slow, isn't it?

Ruth: Mm-hmm.

Danny: Put that one down and pick up another one, please, Sir. Keep going. [Tapping] Has it changed at all?

Ruth: It's slower. It's diminished and…

Danny: Can you feel it now? It's kind of thready?

Ruth: Yes.

Danny: Is it still there?

Ruth: Just still. It really has slowed. I can feel it.[Tapping]

Danny: Okay, put that one down, sir, pick up another one.

Ruth: Are you alive? I can't…

Danny: Is it gone?

Ruth: It certainly is low.

Danny: You can't feel it, can you? Don't be embarrassed.

Ruth: No.

Danny: Am I right?

Ruth: I'm having a harder time, yes.

Danny: It's gone, yeah.

Ruth: Which…

Danny: It's supposed to happen. Don't open this. Just hold it like this. All right? If you'll stand, please. This is a female.

Woman** :** Mm-hmm.

Danny: Older. It's kind of an unusual name.

Woman: Mm-hmm.

Danny: Old name. Like a relative, Charlsie Huntsberry. Something like that?

Woman: Charlsie Huntsberry.

Danny: Charlsie Huntsberry.

Woman: Charlsie.

Danny: Charlsie. Very good. And who was she?

Woman: My mother.

Danny: Your mother. Yeah, yeah. If you'll step right over here. Okay, first, open up the slip of paper. Is that the one my pulse stopped on?

Woman: I don't know if it's the one your pulse stopped on, but…

Danny: No, I'm talking about the one he was holding.

Woman: Yes.

Danny: Yeah, yeah. That's what you have written down here?

Woman: Yes.

Danny: Yeah. This was a trick.

Woman: It also has a dot on it. I don't think the others have dots on them.

Danny: Do they? Perhaps. Did you do that when you… When you felt my pulse stop… Have you ever experienced that before?

Ruth: Not unless they are dead.

Danny: That's a good observation.

Ruth: A great liner, really.

Danny: We've done this for the medical society here, surgeons, et cetera. They didn't know how it was done either. In fact, I was on an operating table a number of years ago. I had a deviated septum that had to be corrected. When I was lying on the table, the anesthesiologist said, "Dan, do the pulse thing."

Ruth: Scary.

Danny: So he got the EKG, and he goes… He said, "Okay, get it going again, Dan." They didn't think it was really funny. They didn't think it was too cute. So you believe this is a trick? You're cool with that. Okay. Thanks for coming up.

Ruth: Mm-hmm.

Danny: Thank you, ma'am.

Woman: Uh-huh.

Danny: I appreciate it. Thank you, everybody.

Todd: Thanks all of you.

Danny: Thank you.

Todd: What he just did, again, the guy who does it, John Edward, we're going to show you the clip really quick. It's about a minute and a half. I want you to see the difference. What he does is a technique called cold readings, which Dan describes in his books how to do this. You have to practice it, but you can basically do cold readings.

What this guy will never do is give specific information. You'll see some of what he did. This was the best we could find to make him look good in just a moment, but I want you to see it. What Danny just did is with a woman he never met. He had a guy over here holding up a piece of paper. When he had that person hold the name of the deceased, mingled with five other names, his pulse stopped and then he turned around and said the name of the deceased to woman he never met. It was a hard to pronounce name, Charlsie… whatever it was.

Now if somebody did that to you, walked up, in effect, and said, "Hey, you know so and so, and they just died." You could start to go, "This guy is in touch with something and has powers and abilities I'm not familiar with and don't understand." They're simple conjuring magic tricks. Watch this John Edward thing and then we'll talk just for a moment.

[Video]

Man: From an early age, John Edward has had remarkable psychic abilities, predictions, and premonitions he couldn't explain. At age 15, a reading by a psychic changed his life. John was told what millions have witnessed. He can reunite people in the physical world with those who have crossed over.

John: Hi, welcome to Crossing Over. I'm John Edward. I'd like to remind you the only people who have any control over what happens during this experience are loved ones on the other side. They are basically running the show here. As you'll see in today's gallery, anyone who is connected to you has the ability to come through as long as you are able to validate that connection.

Before we called you, you were supposed to be making coffee, and somebody was there, and they just left?

Man: Yes.

John: They had said something about the coffee, and you said, "Come back, I'm going to make it."

Man: Yes.

John: Right.

Man: Unbelievable.

John: This is just your dad's…

Man: You're unbelievable, John.

John** :** This is just your father's way of saying he's with you, and he's using me as the medium to let you know he sees what's happening. Imagine looking at a clock and go to the 2:00 position. Right where you are, 2:00.

Man: Uh-huh.

John: He's highlighting that spot.

Man: John, you're going to laugh when I say this to you. I'm a little teary eyed, but I have a thing with a friend of mine. She is very religious, and we laugh about it because there is a phone booth right in front of my restaurant and we see an image of the Virgin Mary all the time.

John: That's me as a representation of a symbol. That's me as a representation of spirituality, faith, and belief.

Man: Oh, I know that. That's the only thing that could be.

John: That's what this work is all about.

Man: Yeah.

John: It's about having that type of belief and then knowing that, like you said it… I'm just paraphrasing what you said, you don't need me to do this for you.

Man: I know they're around me all the time. I know that.

John: It's like your dad's way of saying he sees this.

So your mom would be bringing through these other families?

Man: Well, my mom's name was Paula and she was probably one of the most incredible ladies there was. She took everybody in off the streets, and it was amazing how many people came to say goodbye to her. It just made everything so much easier today. Talking with her and everything.

John: They're making me feel like I need to acknowledge your name times two.

Man: As you can probably tell by my expressions, there are a lot of things he hit on. One of the ones was when he said, "Your name times two." Everyone calls him Yaya. His name times two is exactly what he said. It was a couple of things he touched on that made me just… You know. It just seems so unbelievable. But it is.

John: I feel like you're either changing your menu…

Man: Yeah. Yeah, we are.

Man: I was sitting at the restaurant last night with Russ and he was talking about changing the menu. Then when he said changing the menu, it was like… Less than 12 hours ago he was telling me they're changing the menu. Then for him to say it made me make one of those stupid faces.

[End of video]

Todd: Paul, if you'll get those two slides ready, I asked you to prepare, I want to say this. You guys are going, "Why are they doing this?" I'm going to tell you why we're doing this, because you are people of the book. You are to be guides to the blind, instructors to the naive, correctors of the foolish. What I want to do is introduce you to folks who can tell you very simply, "You can be deceived, and stopped being amazed at things."

The reason we didn't do a big illusion here that disappeared is because you've seen Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed, but you think when psychic mindreading and things like that are happening, "Wow. Something must be going on there." These are illusions and tricks. That's what's going to happen towards the end.

I will talk in a minute about whether or not supernatural powers will be involved with the Antichrist. I want to show you a slide Danny shared with me. This is basically… When you look at this first line, what do these people have in common? Right here. Felons, dictators, cult leaders and followers, gang leaders and their members, a typical Taliban soldier, and fake faith healers or fake individuals claiming charismatic activity and the follower of those types of individuals. What do they have in common? The next slide shows that and then I'm going to ask Danny to comment on this just for a second.

Danny: This came out of our research when I did that first documentary in the early 80s. James Hydrick was alleged to be the world's leading psychic. He was forming a dangerous cult-like group in Salt Lake. This was three years after the Jonestown Massacre. Hydrick had the same behavioral and background profile as David Koresh, the cult leader down in Waco. At that time people didn't understand why people would join cults and do crazy things like this.

We started to notice a pattern that virtually everybody in Hydrick's cult group, including Hydrick, had one of these five risk factors in their family background: divorce, separation, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and severe disfunction. We started to look carefully from other investigations. I was an investigative journalist. I know that sounds a little weird…magician in my early 20s, then I became an investigative journalist and produced documentaries and things.

The typical Taliban soldier in Afghanistan is fatherless, grew up in a refugee camp. Fake male faith healers. We've investigated a number. Todd's actually helped me on several undercover investigations 10 to 15 years ago. Virtually every one of these individuals has this in their family background, as well as their followers. That evokes the question: What are they looking for?

Todd: Right and we want to say this… If you'll go to the next slide, some of you are out there and you are children who have had parents who are divorced, maybe some severe disfunction in parents. We've probably all, if we made it through the first four, go, "Hey, all right. I'm there. I'm number five." As potentially my kids will if I don't get transformed.

But to not make light of this, what I want to say is there are a number of you who are out there going, "Well, wait a minute. Why am I not?" Hopefully the reason is because in your effort to find some relief from the disconnect and pain that comes through these things, you have found true peace in Jesus Christ. So you don't need some empowering device to make you feel like you've found something that can give you a sense of sanity to your uncertainty, because you have found the Prince of Peace.

Here is why I am doing this this morning. Because in the church of Jesus Christ, there are a number of people who attend churches and who take his name and claim to know him but who still have a tremendous desperation and are looking to mask their pain, distract themselves from their peacelessness, or are looking for some empowering device, whether it's through an experience they get through long times of worship or some sense the Spirit is there and active in their life in a way through some manifestation of the Spirit's presence.

Hysterical laughter, senseless babbling in unknown languages. These are things which begin a slippery slope to looking for something other than Jesus Christ alone as the means of which you will find peace. Danny, you said you had two quick things you wanted to comment on about some of this stuff.

Danny: First off, although these are deceptions, some of these things are extremely sophisticated. They're not obvious at all. This was a simpler form of deception, but we had a demonstration we used to do on the radio we had picked up from a guy like John Edward. It would go like this.

A caller would call in to a radio talk show and he would say, "Ma'am, I see two children, but one is in the spirit." Then there'd be this long pause and a catch in this caller's voice. He'd say, "I'm sorry you lost your child when he was young." He'd have virtually 100 percent accuracy every time he would do this.

How could you do something like that? This is a technique called cold reading, as Todd explained is in our book, which came out in 1988. "I see two children, but one is in the spirit." He didn't say she had two children; he just said I see two children, but one is in the spirit. So it could be two kids in the neighborhood, one of her kids, et cetera.

So you listen, and what gave it away that she personally lost somebody was…what? The long pause and then the catch in the voice. He said, "I'm sorry you lost a child when they were young. I'm sorry you lost… I believe it was your son, was it not?" The guessing on the son or daughter is 50/50. It's overpowering.

What if she said, "Gosh, I don't know if that applies to me?" He says, "Well, I mean I'm seeing two children, but one is more spiritual than the other. I see two children, but one is in the spirit. One is more spiritual. Or I see two kids, one is in the spirit. One is deceased." All you have to do is add this with getting a tiny, tiny bit of information about somebody and you can really look like you have powers.

The way we used to expose these people on camera, and he would be actually extremely easy to expose, is we plant somebody in the audience, and we give him false cues beforehand. Then we right down in a letter to the talk show host what the psychic or the faith healer is going to say about that individual.

Except in the letter, everything that is stated about that person is false. So you get ironclad proof. It's like what we do in an undercover investigation. It's really nothing more than investigative work but applying some unique types of tools. With the large number of people we have in the culture today who come from homes like this… The youth population is 64 million kids in the United States, and 40 million have one of those five risk factors…40 million.

So we have a profoundly at-risk culture. John Muhammad and James Hydrick, the gentlemen in my first documentary, both have the same behavioral profile. Both were looking for illicit power and control. One did it by trying to form a cult-like group. Hydrick, in the early 80s. He was stealing guns. He also threatened suicide. He had a little group of followers, young boys who followed him, et cetera. It's really the same story, just a different cloak.

Todd: Let me show you this. We're going to go about 10 to 12 more minutes, because I want to wrap this up. Just to let you know, in Isaiah, God says, "You can know I am God." How does he say you can do that? "By the fact I can tell you what is not yet." We don't have time to do it, but there's an illustration I've been a part of with Danny where he has sent a FedEx package to a university campus to a group of folks where there is a prediction of what the headline would be on a said date.

When I was with him and this happened, it was the day Iraq invaded Kuwait. No one knew that. Eight days before it happened, he sent this FedEx package out with this information in there, and those people got there, and this was the big news story. Everybody was abuzz about it, because they knew it was going to draw us in. This individual had this package that was sealed, brought it to the thing sealed. Danny had never met them.

They opened this package, and inside of there was the prediction Iraq was going to invade Kuwait. Now if you saw this happen with somebody, you would go, "Wow. This person must be connected and in tune with God." It's a trick. They use more and more complicated devices, and we all need to know we can be deceived and we can be fooled.

I want you to hear two things today: The easiest people to be deceived are folks who think they cannot be deceived. That used to be me, and then I met Danny Korem. I mean that. I used to think I could figure these things out in some form or fashion. As we've developed a friendship over the last 15 to 20 years, every time I would start to figure something out, he would go, "Todd, there's so many layers of this. What you need to do is humble yourself and realize, unless you invest your life in this, there's no way you're going to be able to figure things out."

Then on top of that, when you figure something out, somebody else is going to figure something else out. Let me let you hear from a gentleman who is a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. Listen to him and heed the warning. This is what he says.

[Video]

Man: Dr. Ray Hyman, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon, and an expert on deception. He is noted for his work with the defense department exposing fraudulent psychics. He maintains anyone can be deceived, such as the scientists who tested Hydrick.

Man: And we are fooled, not because we are mentally incompetent or gullible but, rather, because we are intelligent. Correct?

Dr. Hyman: Yes, and I'm glad you used the word gullible, because there's an illusion called the illusion of invulnerability or the not-me-syndrome. When we see somebody else being taken in, somebody taken in by Hydrick for example, somebody may watch this and say, "Gee, how gullible are those people to be taken in by something like that? That couldn't happen to me. Those people are gullible."

The very phrase, "That person is gullible" is a device, a psychological device, to say, "He's different from me. Something is wrong with that fellow. I couldn't fall for that." Unfortunately, the extent that people believe they are different from other people who have been taken in makes them even more susceptible to being taken in. In fact, if I was a con man, that's the kind of person I want to deal with.

[End of video]

Todd: I want you to see this. I want you to see a clip of James Hydrick. It's the guy Danny exposed. While he was in jail, a chaplain led him to Christ, or at least told him about the things of Christ. Hydrick, to entertain and empower himself and mask his pain, now chased hard after Christianity. He would use his magician's tricks to convert prisoners. Though he exaggerates, watch this.

[Video]

Man: When in jail, Hydrick was taught by a chaplain to read and write. Although he exaggerates, Hydrick tells how he used his tricks to convert inmates.

James: How do you convert people? How do you get them to go from bad to good? He would tell me, "Well, you've got to turn them on to Jesus, the Lord. So what I did is he gave me a Bible, several Bibles, and I'd read them, you see. I said, "Hmm. I have got an idea." I didn't tell Brother Joe this, and I have never told him this, but I would convert 20 inmates a day. I would make that my limit.

I have to do 20 inmates a day. What I'd do is I'd get up and start telling them about Jesus and stuff. I'd read things, and they'd get interested. Then when I see that they're starting to get turned off, I'd say, "Hey, check this out, man. You don't believe it? I'll show you." It's so funny. These guys' eyes were huge.

Man: What did you do?

James: I'd take the pages of the Bible and I'd say, "If the Lord is here with me, make these pages move." I'd open the Bible, I'd hold the Bible with something, and I'd say, "Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, make these pages move." The guys are going, "Nuh-uh." Every time it worked. Then I'd say it's in here. I'd take a pencil and put it there and say, "I have got to call the Lord and see if I can get him to do this, but you are going to have the power to do this if you accept the Lord." The next thing we'd see is this guy wearing a big cross and passing by without the people…

[End of video]

Todd: That's just an interesting thing he would do to entertain himself and mask his pain of the abuse he went under. He thought it wasn't bad because he was doing it for a good cause. Jesus doesn't need our tricks and our conjuring, because when those tricks and conjuring are exposed, or our date-setting is exposed, people leave the only truth that can truly not mask their pain but heal their pain.

As people who have found hope in Jesus Christ, as we move towards the end times, you're going to see more and more miraculous things, because technology will advance and the ability to deceive will advance. Hydrick, and I'm not going to show the clip because of time, talks about how the Alphabet Bomber, who bombed the Los Angeles airport, and he claims some connection also with Sirhan Sirhan.

They wanted him to form a cult through which they could deceive people. They wanted Hydrick to be the false prophet, or the false Christ, who had these powers that would get folks to follow them. Jim Jones, who started with very evangelical work in Los Angeles, led a bunch of people to death by doing simple magic and conjuring tricks to show them he had powers. Staged.

People who are in a great deal of pain are going to look for somebody who they think has a more specific manifestation of the supernatural. That is why there has been a huge rush in the charismatic community, because people want to experience God. We are all for experiencing God; we just don't need to pretend to prove ourselves that we can do it.

The mark of Jesus Christ in this day and age is that we love one another and that we take our very self-centered, hurried lives and we become other-centered people who confess our sin, love one another, and spur one another on to love and good deeds and who are gracious and care for one another. That's the mark God says people won't be able to counterfeit. That's the calling of this church.

In Act 8, there was a guy named Simon the Magician, and, in fact, there is a thing called simony that exists in churches today when people would try to buy power or influence in order to gain this special position in people's lives. It's called simony and it has its origins right here. What I wanted to show you very quickly is Acts 8:9.

"Now there was a certain man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic…" The word they use there is the word we get the word magic from, the Greek word. It talks about how Simon was astonishing people. The word for astonishing right there is existémi. It is the same root as existentialism, which is the idea I want to know something is real only when I experience it.

You have a number of people who are looking for experiences in order to verify what they hope to be true and, again, the experience Christ promises is the sense, rooted in faith, grounded in the objective standard of his Word, you have been forgiven, you are indwelled by his Spirit, and you begin to hate sin and love what it good.

You lack nothing pertaining to life and Godliness. As we get towards the end times, I'm going to offer to you that more and more you're going to be confronted with opportunities to go, "There must be something over there I don't have with this Jesus." One of the reasons these guys are having such a way with people who are in the church is because so many churches do not have the mark of Christ.

What is the mark of Christ? A supernatural love for one another. The thing that will allow us to be effective in this community is not great singing, teaching, or illustrations. It's going to be transforming lives that walk in an abiding way with the Spirit of God, and we begin to love and serve one another, care for the orphan and the widow, and do nothing out of selfishness and empty conceit.

You will see transformation happen when we preach the gospel and authenticate the gospel with those works. There is a faster way to get people to come, and that is to bring people up here and do magician's tricks and parlor tricks to have you fill this room with ecstatic babbling, false healings, and the like.

It is mocking the name of God, and it is leading people down a road where they end up saying, "Jesus isn't the answer, so maybe alcohol, drugs, or some other lust for power or escaping is." That's why I spent so much time on this, because we as a body need to realize what's at stake here. God holds us accountable for our testimony and for what it is we hold up that is hope.

He goes through the rest of Mark 13 and he talks about things that are going to be happening. Then he closes with two parables. I'm going to end our time in this entire deal by reading these two parables and showing you the illustrations that go from them, and then we're going to go home.

Please read these parables with me. It starts in Mark 13:28. He says, "Now learn the parable from the fig tree…" All he is going to do right here is tell you that when you see the fig tree beginning to have leaves like this and tender twigs like this, you know new life is coming. What Jesus is saying is "When you see these signs happening, Israel, you'll know the Son is about to come."

"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away."

Jesus Christ says, in closing up his last inventory, is "Know your Bible. Know your Bible." He tells you in Revelation 13 the Antichrist will cast down fire from heaven. He tells you he will be doing signs, wonders, and things that look very impressive and that astonish people and make them experience the supernatural. The Bible is saying, "Do not be deceived. If they, in that intense environment, are not without excuse in their deception, how much more are we accountable?

Now listen to this. He says, "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." In other words, "So stop obsessing about when and get busy, stay busy, with what you're supposed to be doing." Verse 33: "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. It is like a man, away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task…"

Like he has assigned you and me. He "…also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert." Whether at evening, midnight, whenever the rooster crows, or in the morning, in case he should "…come suddenly and find you asleep." What I say to you all is this: Don't obsess about dates; obsess about faithfulness.

Now these are things Jesus says in relationship to the second coming. How does that relate to you and me? Well, the second coming will relate to you if you don't come to know Christ prior to the event where he removes his church. Hopefully you will come to know Christ then and you'll go through the seven seals, trumpets, and bowls described in Revelation 6-18, which will involve the last week of Daniel, which is what is described here in Mark 13.

If you are a nonbeliever here today, may this day be especially instructive to you. If you are a believer, my charge to you is make the sign God said, "By this all men will know you are my disciples" be the sign that marks you as an individual. What is that? "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I loved you, so you shall also love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples."

Here are the applications. When we see Christmas decorations are going up, which is what this is talking about in Mark 13: Christmas is the coming of Jesus. When we see stuff go up that says, "Christmas is coming," you can be sure Thanksgiving is coming soon. One of my most embarrassing moments as a kid in church growing up is that I was sitting in a church about the time of year with my dad and the 50 other folks in the room.

The pastor was up there trying to pull in audience participation, and he said, "Hey, now we've got a big holiday coming up we all really like. What is it?" My dad nudges me and goes, "Christmas." I shot my hand, I looked like a greedy little kid with his eyes focused on the prize and presents, and I go, "Christmas!" Everybody laughed, and he goes, "No, Thanksgiving." I can remember the humiliation to this day I felt. I looked at my dad like, "Well, thanks a lot, you knucklehead."

Let me just offer this to you. You see, some of the things that look like the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the birth pangs even more today than ever before. If we see things we think look like Mark 13, what does that tell you? You go today into Target or Walmart, you're going to see Christmas decorations, but what haven't we gotten to yet? The gathering together to celebrate the goodness of God, Thanksgiving.

So when we see things looking like Jesus could come in a very short period of time, get ready. I'm telling you this is why the imminent return of Jesus Christ has been something the church has faithfully taught. The return for his church and then the return with his church to reconvene his work of justice.

Secondly, I want to say this again. There's a difference between watching for signs and being obsessed with signs. So watch signs, but be obsessed with…what? Signs? No, be obsessed with the Savior and faithfulness towards him.

Lastly, don't be caught sleeping or slacking off. Be caught waiting, watching, or working. We're closing this series. We're not going to talk about end times anymore. We're going to be obsessed with waiting, watching, and working, proclaiming the gospel with faithfulness, compassion, love, and bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus said the last thing you need to know is not when he's going to return but that he's going to return, and he wants to see you and me faithful. If you don't know Christ, you're going to have to deal with him. If you don't know Christ, there is going to be a day when those of us who do are going to be removed, and then you're going to be here when Jesus says, "It's going to be as bad as it ever was before and ever will be again." He wants you to escape that flood, so get on the ark, because the rain is coming.

Do I think it will come in my lifetime? Yes, just like Paul did, just like Augustine did, just like Luther did, and just like Spurgeon did, because that is what God wanted. Do not think he is slow as some count slowness, but he is patient towards you, wishing that none should perish but all should come to repentance.

May God be glorified, you be encouraged, and may you hold the Jesus who is the way, the truth, and the life. May you be free from deception. May you be faithful with the gospel, and may your life carry the sign of Jesus Christ, which is that you do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind you consider one another as more important than yourself.

You don't merely look out for your own personal interest but also for the interest of others, that you have in yourself the same attitude which was in Christ Jesus. Go in peace. If you don't know the Savior, come here and let us introduce him to you, crucified, dead, and buried, that you might have life. Have a great week.


About 'The Last Things You Need To Know: Living Life in Light of the End'

The most influential person in history is also the most misunderstood and misrepresented. Two thousand years after He walked the earth, Jesus of Nazareth is still a mystery to many people. Whether you admire Him, worship Him, despise him or simply don't know about him, it's difficult to deny that any other single person has had more influence on our world than Jesus has. But how do we come to understand a man who is so commonly misunderstood? Join Todd Wagner for a walk through the Gospel of Mark and look into the life of one man who changed the entire course of human history. See Jesus for who He truly is and learn how He can change the course of every individual life that understands, responds to and trusts in Him. This volume covers Mark 13.