PITP #08

Father, we do thank You that You are holy, holy, holy, three times holy. And Lord, that You are, again, as we prayed earlier, on the throne. As we look at Your Word tonight and consider this prophetic passage, I pray, God, that You would give us insight and ready our hearts for that day. For the day is near, and we say, "Come, Lord Jesus, come." For we ask it in Your mighty and precious name. And all God's people said, "Amen."

The book of Joel. The name Joel means "Yahweh is God." This is interesting because the first of the five pillars of Islam is a statement that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet. That's a lie. That's not true. There is one God. His name is the Almighty God. He is Yahweh, the first, the last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was and is and is to come.

In Deuteronomy chapter 6, God gives to His people, the children of Israel, the Shema, the statement that Israel would speak. They would say, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." Here tonight as well, that's our desire, because as Jesus told us, that is the first and the greatest commandment, is it not? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

In this book, the book of Joel, although it's called a minor prophet and is only three chapters, it is powerful. God speaks through the prophet Joel about 2,800 years ago, as we sit here tonight in the year 2009. Two thousand eight hundred years ago, God spoke through this man Joel, and we don't know a lot about him, but we do know that his name is a declaration of truth: Yahweh is God. He is our God tonight. If you are in Christ, He is your God, my God. We worship Him. That's what we just did for the last half hour; we sat at His feet in His presence, worshiping Him.

Joel saw a vision from God, and the vision that he saw correlated with something that happened in his day.

In the current events, if there was a Jerusalem Post 2,800 years ago, it would have talked about the event that took place and is spoken of in Joel chapter 1. There was an invasion into the land of locusts. Perhaps you've read this story before, where you read about the different locusts that came in: the crawling locusts and the flying locusts. They came and stripped everything that was in the land. All the people of the land mourned and lamented because they were farmers, and everything they had hoped for in their crops had been destroyed. As a result, there was no joy in the land.

When Joel looked at this, God gave him a vision. He saw a vision of another invading locust that was not an insect, but an army—an army that was going to come into the land and not just destroy the crops, but decimate the nation. Just as we have been doing in the last several weeks, going through prophetic passages in Scripture and looking at how the current events happening in our day line up with the Word of God, Joel, in his day 2,800 years ago, saw a current event that happened in his time, and then God showed the application of that event. He was able to see that God was on the move.

There are a lot of different opinions among commentators, Bible teachers, and scholars about what it was that Joel was referencing or speaking to. Many people say that the prophecy he gave of this invading army from the north was a prophecy of the Assyrian army and the destruction they would bring upon the children of Israel in the north about 100 years after Joel lived. It was close to 100 years. This invading Assyrian army would come down not just into the northern ten tribes and completely consume them like the locusts did, the physical insect locusts, but they would also come into the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin and decimate them as well.

However, as with many passages of Scripture, there are multiple fulfillments of prophecy. In many Old Testament prophetic passages, you read of a prophecy that spoke in the day it was spoken but also had a future fulfillment, sometimes more than one future fulfillment. Isaiah chapter 7, I believe, is one of those passages where God speaks of the virgin birth. We all know that this passage speaks of Jesus Christ, but it also spoke in that day.

In Isaiah's day, there was a promise to King Ahaz. Although King Ahaz would not listen to the promise and he would not heed the word of God, it was still a promise in his day. There was a fulfillment in his day, 2,700 years ago. Then, there was a second fulfillment about 2,000 years ago when Christ was born of a virgin. Many passages in Scripture have double fulfillments, an early and a latter fulfillment. One of those we know very clearly is in the book of Joel, which Peter referenced on the day of Pentecost when he spoke of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This passage speaks of the early and the latter rain.

I believe that what Peter saw and the church saw in Acts chapter 2 was the early rain. We today are looking forward to the latter rain. The early rain refers to the rains that came in the springtime, while the latter rains were those that came in the fall. You may remember that we have talked a little bit here on Wednesday nights about the feasts of the Lord, of which there are seven. Four of them fall in the springtime and surround Jesus' first coming, while the last three occur in the fall and surround Jesus' second coming.

The Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, which is the fourth feast and the last of the spring feasts. That was the early rain, and we are looking forward to the latter rain, the fall feasts, and the second coming of our Lord, our King, Jesus Christ. I believe that we are living in a day and in a generation where we will see God pour out His Spirit. I have absolute assurance that we are going to see a revival in our day, and I pray that this revival comes to our own nation.

It is already happening in many other nations. In fact, last week we talked quite a bit about Islam, and I know that some were probably shaken up by what was spoken, while others may be a little fearful about what I discussed and what you saw in the video last week. However, I want you to know that within Islam, there is a revival taking place—a revival of Muslims turning to Jesus Christ. There are pastors throughout Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and all the stands. There are men of God who love the Lord and are proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, and many Muslims are coming to the knowledge of the truth.

There is going to be a flood of Muslims coming to the knowledge of the truth, especially after the Gog and Magog War. They will see very clearly that they were wrong in their belief.

Revival is taking place in Africa, China, India, and Indonesia. God is doing a great work, even though there is significant persecution in these areas, which for many years has been referred to as the 10/40 window. We, as a church, are praying for that work and looking forward to how the Lord would lead us to be involved as well. God is on the move, and there is a revival happening. The great and terrible day of the Lord is coming.

More than any other book in the Bible, Joel speaks about that day. In Joel 1, verse 15, it says, "Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand." Again, in Joel 2, verse 1, God, speaking through the prophet Joel, says, "Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain." In Joel 2, verse 31, we read, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord."

Then, over in Joel 3, verse 14, it says, "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Finally, down in verse 18, it states, "And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip with new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water."

He says, "You see, this day of the Lord is spoken of throughout the book of Joel. It looks forward to a time when a great invading army will move into the land of Israel, and God will move with His army to destroy that invading army. They will come, multitudes, to the valley of decision, the day of the Lord in the valley of decision.

God will cry at that time, in chapter 3, verse 13, 'Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come and get you down, for the press is full, and the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.' God looks at these invading armies that are coming to fight against Him and His people, His chosen. As He looks at them, as we saw last week in Joel and in Psalm chapter 2, God laughs from heaven and sets them in derision against themselves.

But as He looks at them, He says, 'Put in the sickle.' As you look around the world tonight, do you see the vats of the world overflowing with wickedness? Our world is filled with wickedness, and it's going to get more and more wicked by the day. That wickedness is going to cry out to God to come with judgment. The people of God here on earth, like Lot when he was in Sodom and Gomorrah, will cry out to God that He would come and move. 'Lord, would You move?'

I believe He has an appointed day, an appointed time. The Scriptures point to that and make it very clear. Just as Jesus, in His first coming, had an appointed day, an appointed time, an appointed hour even. As He came, as He entered into Jerusalem, the Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus entered into Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday road, looked over the city, and wept. He said, 'You should have known the day,' because God had foretold in the Scriptures long ago when that day would come.

The Lord has given us great indication in the Scriptures about the times and the seasons. In fact, as we've looked at before, Paul in 1 Thessalonians tells us, 'Brethren, you're not to be ignorant of the times and the seasons.'

Why? Because you know that day will come like a thief in the night, but not for you and me who are awake and watching. Pastor Mark, this morning in the Seniors Bible study—some of you may have been here—taught about the church at Sardis, which was the dead church, the sleeping church. Who was here this morning for that study? What was God's word? What was his application to that church? Repent and wake up. Wake up.

We too need to repent. We need to wake up as the church, as the body of Christ, because as Peter tells us, judgment begins at the house of the Lord. Paul told the church at Corinth that we are to be those who, by the word of God, judge ourselves accordingly so that we won't be judged by the Lord on that day. We need to test ourselves to see that we are in the faith. We need to examine ourselves and see, do I line up with what God says I ought to be like and look like as a believer? Do I believe in Him? Have I confessed my sin to Him? Have I repented and turned to Him?

There is a very scary passage of Scripture in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 7, you've read it before, and we've studied it before. Let me tell you, every time I read it, I think to myself, God, please, don't allow anyone in this company, in this church, in my household, to be those who stand before you on that day. Many will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out demons in your name and done mighty works in your name?" And He says, "Depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness."

We want to be those standing with the Lord on that day as He enters again into Jerusalem through the east gate. Don't you want to be there? I know you do. I do. I look forward to the day when He sets His foot on the Mount of Olives, and the Bible says that one side will cleave to the north and one side will cleave to the south. The mountain will split down the middle as He comes in once again, triumphant, no longer riding on a donkey, but riding on a stallion. And we with Him—oh, I look forward to that day. It may not be too far away as the Lord comes.

This book, again, the book of Joel, speaks of this great and terrible day of the Lord. Now, three things: this day is terrible for those who know not God and have rebelled against Him. It is a terrible day that causes them to quake.

In fact, the book of Revelation tells us that for those who do not know the Lord, they will hide under the rocks and in the caves from the coming of the terrible and awesome day of the Lord. However, for those who are descendants of Abraham, the children of Israel, this day, as the Bible reveals, speaks of a time of Jacob's trouble. It speaks of a time of tribulation. It is not wrath upon them, but tribulation—a time of great difficulty for them.

The times leading up to this day will also be significant for the church, for you and I who believe in Jesus Christ. The Bible reveals that the times leading up to this day shall be perilous times for the church. It is wrath and terrible vengeance upon the unbeliever, tribulation and trial upon the children of Abraham, and for us, perilous times.

Perilous times in what way? Well, first, the Gospel of John reveals to us that it will be perilous times in the form of satanic opposition. We, as the body of Christ, will experience satanic opposition. Jesus told us in John chapter 16, verse 33, that in this world we shall have much tribulation. But He encourages us, saying, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." He adds that in Him we might have peace, but in the world, we will have tribulation.

As we have looked at before, Paul told Timothy that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. The times leading up to the great and terrible day of the Lord will be different for each group: for the unbeliever, it will be wrath and vengeance; for the child of Abraham, it will be tribulation and trial; and for those in the body of Christ, it will be perilous times.

These perilous times will include satanic opposition and, secondly, apostasy within the church. A great deception will take place. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus repeatedly warns us to see that we are not deceived. In Paul's letters to Timothy, we find further instruction. If you want to turn over to the first letter to Timothy, we will see what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, starting in verse 1. We, as the church, are facing significant challenges.

As this day approaches, perilous times are ahead. First, in the form of satanic opposition, and secondly, in the form of apostasy within the church. In 1 Timothy 4:1, it says, "Now the Spirit says expressly that in the last days, or the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared as with a hot iron."

Paul continues by warning against forbidding marriage and commanding abstinence from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. Here, Paul tells Timothy that in the last days, the Spirit speaks expressly and warns that there will be those who depart from the faith. It is hard for us to imagine. For those of us who know the Scriptures, study them, and seek the Lord, we look at this and wonder how it could be possible. Yet, it is true because God tells us that there will be individuals in the last days, during this time of satanic opposition, who will depart from the faith.

Again, Paul warns of this in 2 Timothy, his last letter written before he was martyred by persecution. In 2 Timothy 3:1, he states, "This know, that in the last days, perilous times shall come." He then provides signs of what those times will look like: men shall be lovers of themselves and covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

They will have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. Paul instructs us to turn away from such individuals. We should not associate with those who have a form of godliness but do not know the power of God. Why? Because on that day when Christ comes, He will say, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

We know that the Proverbs speak truthfully when they say that bad company corrupts good morals. It is much easier to be pulled down than to pull others up, isn't it?

It is better that we not get ourselves down in the muck and the mire, and down in the slew of despond with the world. Yes, we want to extend to them the branch of God; well, Jesus is the branch, amen? We want to extend to them the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, there are those who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.

In 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, Paul charges Timothy. He says, "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his coming, at his appearing. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." Why? Because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Instead, after their own desires and lusts, they shall heap up for themselves teachers having itching ears. They shall turn their ears away from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.

There are those who will depart from the faith. There are those who will be seduced by false teaching and false doctrine. So, Paul tells Timothy in verse 5 of 2 Timothy 4, "Watch in all things, endure afflictions, and do the work of an evangelist. Make full proof of your ministry."

We need to recognize that as we approach this great and terrible day of the Lord, which the Scriptures speak of often, there is going to come satanic opposition in this world. We are already experiencing it, and it's going to get worse. But greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. Take hope, church. Our Lord, our God, has overcome. The battle is won; it was finished there on the cross. We are not to be afraid of these things because God has not given you, nor has He given me, a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I believe that God is looking for men and women, young and old, within the body of Christ who are willing to go to their death standing for the Lord as Paul did. Now, in our world today, the term "martyr" has been transformed by the Islamic revolution. Within the radical Islamic world, a martyr is one who straps bombs upon themselves and goes into a crowd of innocent people to detonate the bomb. They call that person a martyr. That is not a martyr; that is what Satan has corrupted people to think is a martyr. A martyr...

The word "martyros" in Greek means a witness—a bold witness of the love, grace, and truth of God. If you want to see a true martyr, look at Acts chapter 7 and study the life and death of Stephen, the first martyr of the church. Observe how he went to his death. It wasn't with bombs strapped to himself; it was him looking up into heaven and seeing Christ standing there, awaiting his entrance into heaven as he was stoned to death by angry, wicked men.

I believe that the eyes of the Lord are going to and fro throughout the world today, looking for those whose hearts are loyal to God. They would say, "Though they take my life, still I will follow, and I will stand and preach Christ." About a year ago, I recommended the book "Fox's Book of Martyrs." It is a great book that illustrates how men and women throughout the ages of church history, since Jesus ascended into heaven, have stood their ground for the faith of Jesus Christ as they were led to their deaths. The Lord is looking for those who, with total abandon, will say, "God, I will stand upon your word, though they try to kill me or even do."

Does that mean that it's easy? Absolutely not. However, Jesus gives us a great promise in the Gospels. I believe this promise has often been taken out of context by many well-meaning preachers or teachers. They say, "I didn't have a lot of time to study this week, but God promised that in that very hour, He'll give me the words to speak." How many of you have heard that before?

If you look at the proper context of the verse, Jesus tells His disciples that they will be taken before governors and princes, and they will be beaten and killed for His name's sake. He instructs them to take no thought for what they will say because, in that very hour, the words will be given to them.

There have been several nights in my life where I have laid in bed, thought to myself, and prayed, "God, I don't know if I could do it. I don't know what would happen if I had to stand before someone ready to take off my head for the name of Jesus and for the Gospel. What would I do? What would I say?" And God says, "Don't worry about it. Take no thought for what you will say because, in that very hour, the words will be given to you."

You see, I, you, we don't have to worry about what we would say in that moment because God has promised to give us the words by His Spirit. Isn't that awesome?

You say that it is the most fearful thing to see them ready to kill you for your faith. What would you do? Don't worry about it. If the day ever comes, God will give you the strength. Fox's Book of Martyrs reveals that for us very clearly.

You might wonder, what if I denied Him? Don't worry about that. The Lord will give you the strength. For many years, we've heard teachings as we've studied eschatology, end times, and the tribulation. We've read that during that time, those who are alive, the tribulation saints, will face martyrdom. How will they be killed? Does anyone remember? They will be beheaded.

I know that many in the church have said for a long time, "Oh, we don't use that kind of execution anymore. Who does that?" Well, in our day, the question has been answered, hasn't it? In fact, in the last ten years, we've seen such killings on YouTube, MSNBC, and CNN. Yes, they are nice enough to say, "If you don't want to see something graphic, turn away." But for all the other people, we have witnessed how individuals have been killed by having their heads chopped off in the name of radical Islam.

I believe that we will see a continued move of radical Islam, and I believe it plays a significant part in the end times scenario that the Bible describes. Interestingly, every time you read about eschatology, end times events, and prophecies related to the second coming of Christ, the nations mentioned are all Islamic nations.

I read a very interesting article before the service tonight. Many people look at the scriptures in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 and believe Gog and Magog to be Russia. An interesting article I came across on the news wires tonight estimates that by 2015, the majority of soldiers in the Russian army will be Muslim.

As we look at the things taking place in our world today, they align with scriptures just as Joel, in his day, saw a current event and then God gave him a vision with the application. We are witnessing these current events unfold.

Take place, and God has given us His Word to be able to search the Scriptures and see how these things will come to pass. There are trends that are outlined in the Scriptures. We're going to look at another one next week, I believe. I've been studying through it about Zechariah chapter 1, and we'll be looking at a prophecy relating to the red horse, which has to do with war. This coming war is going to take place because of the division of the land of Israel.

It appears in that passage that there are four nations, four groups that come in and want to divide the land of Israel. Looking at our day, that's exactly what's being spoken about. Many of you know that there was an election held just yesterday in the land of Israel, and even right now they're trying to determine who will be able to form the unity government and bring about some sort of movement forward in Israel. There are two key players: Benjamin Netanyahu and Zippy Livni. Both of them are considering a two-state solution and the dividing of the land. We see the things that the Scriptures talk about, and we need to take notice.

As the church, we will experience and face satanic opposition, and we will continue to see apostasy within the church. I believe we're already seeing it. Did you know that there are large groups within the church that deny the second coming of the Lord? You may hear them called preterists, or sometimes they fall under the category of amillennialists. They deny the second coming, and it is a growing group within the church that is saying, "No, that's already happened. That's already taken place." But the Lord wants us to wake up and recognize that He will come again.

So what ought we to do as the body of Christ facing perilous times? What should we do? Well, the first thing we need is the outpouring of the Spirit. We need the outpouring of God's Spirit. In this passage, in Joel chapter 2, God promised that in these last days He would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. In the Old Testament, prior to the day of Pentecost and the outpouring of God's Spirit there in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit of God came upon specific men at a specific time. The Lord would come upon David, or the Lord would come upon Jonathan.

God would come upon Joshua or upon Moses for a specific time and for a specific work. However, in these last days, God has poured out His Spirit upon all flesh. He gave us a promise in Luke chapter 11 that whoever asks of the Father will receive the Holy Spirit. I pray and hope that every single one of you has asked of the Lord tonight and that you have received the overflowing, empowering work of the Holy Spirit.

We need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for five reasons. The first reason is revealed to us in Acts chapter 1, verse 8, where Jesus tells His disciples, "You shall receive power." We need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for power to be bold witnesses. The word "witness" is martyros in the Greek.

Secondly, we need God's Holy Spirit poured out upon us so that we can have the power to understand the Scriptures. Jesus said in John chapter 16, verse 13, "How be it when the Holy Spirit, when the Spirit of truth has come upon you, He will guide you in all truth; for He will not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that He shall speak, and He will show you the things to come." We need the power of God, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit, to be empowered to witness and to understand the Scriptures.

Thirdly, we need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower us to glorify Christ. In John 16, verse 14, Jesus says, "He shall glorify me." The Holy Spirit shall glorify Christ and shall receive of His and show it unto us. As we face perilous times as the church, we need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we can be witnesses of God, understand the Scriptures, and know the things that are to come.

Fourthly, we need the Spirit of God so that we can pray in accordance with His will.

With His will, Romans chapter 8, verse 26, states, "Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weakness. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

In these perilous times, we need to ask God to pour out His Spirit as He promised, so that we can be powerful witnesses. We need power to understand the Scriptures, power to glorify Christ in these dark days, power to pray in accordance with His will, and power to live godly.

In Galatians chapter 5, we read of the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Paul says, "Against such, there is no law." That's what we need tonight. We've been told an awful lot in our news media and by our politicians over the last year or so about what it is that we need. We need change we can believe in. We need stimulus packages.

As Joe Strafosti said a couple of weeks ago during our communion time, we need God's stimulus plan. We need His bailout. We need Him to pour out His Spirit so that we can be witnesses, that we understand the Scriptures, that we glorify Christ, that we pray in accordance with His will, and that we are able to live godly in these dark days. That's what we need.

We have been given a promise that if we call out to God, He will give us just what we need. "Seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to him who asks? "Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

He has promised that He would give us the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit which empowers us to understand the Scriptures, to walk in godliness, and to pray according to His will.

To glorify Christ and to be powerful witnesses in this dark world—boy, that's what we need. I know that there are a lot of people in the media and politicians telling us, "This is what you need. This is what you need." They're all wrong. I have no problem with us airing this on TV. They're all wrong, and I hope that a lot of people hear it and know it. We need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God.

As we see in Luke chapter 11, the way to receive it is by prayer. There are a few things that I believe we need to pray for. First, we need to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We need to ask God to pour out His Spirit. However, God does that in a very interesting way, so I think we need to back up a little bit before that. We need to pray for revival. We need to seek God to revive His church, which is sleeping and dead. We need to seek God in small groups and large groups that He would wake us up.

Additionally, we need to pray for a deeper working of God by His Spirit in our lives. We must recognize that when God begins to move in our lives, He does several things. First, He reminds us of our sin. He reveals our sin to us. Why? So that we can confess it, repent of it, and receive His forgiveness. By doing this, we can be united together in fellowship.

Unfortunately, the church is greatly divided. I believe that the church is divided because we have not been walking in the light as He is in the light. It is as we walk in the light that we have fellowship with one another. We need to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. How? We need to walk in God's light.

How do we do that? We need to come to Him with confession, confessing our sins and the sins of our nation. Last week, I mentioned Isaiah chapter 6. There, when Isaiah was caught up into heaven, he saw the Lord high and lifted up. When he saw the Lord, he was convicted of his sin. He confessed his sin, and after he confessed, he was cleansed. Then he heard the calling of God and was commissioned to go. This is always the order we find in the Scriptures: in seeing God high and lifted up, we are convicted of our sin.

We confess our sin, and He cleanses us by the work that He did there on the cross. After He has cleansed us, then we hear the call. If you don't hear the call of God tonight, perhaps you need to ask God to reveal if there's any wicked way in your heart. As we hear His call, He can commission us to go.

We need to pray, number one, for revival. We need to pray, number two, for a deeper work of God's Spirit in our lives. I believe, number three, we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the coming of our God. Psalm 122, verse 6 says, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee." What a beautiful promise! We, as the body of Christ, should be praying for the peace of Jerusalem. We should be praying for peace in the Middle East, but we shouldn't be asking Barack Obama to bring peace. We should not be asking the United Nations to bring peace. We should not be looking to George Mitchell, Hillary Clinton, or any of them; we should be asking God to bring peace because He is the only one that can bring peace. He is the Prince of Peace.

We also need to recognize that when we pray for God to bring peace, we're actually praying for Jesus to return because there will be no peace in the Middle East until He stands on the Mount of Olives. So, we need to pray for the return of our Lord. Revelation 22, verse 17 says, "The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come!' Even so, Lord Jesus, come. Let him who hears say, 'Come.' Lord, come quickly."

We are living in perilous times. You look at the headlines in the newspaper; you look at the things happening in our own community, and you know just as Paul spoke of in 1 and 2 Timothy, the things that he spoke of are happening. We're seeing it. Not only that, we're seeing the prophetic table being set. All the chess pieces are in place.

When we see these things and when we see persecution beginning to arise, we haven't experienced it so much here in America, but we see it in other nations very clearly. In satanic opposition to the church, we recognize we're living in perilous times, and we come to God and pray that He would pour out His Spirit upon us. That's what I'm asking for, and that's what I'm hoping that you, with me, will pray for as well.

Jesus told us that if any two of you agree on earth concerning anything, it will be done by our Father in heaven. We have opportunities here at the church.

To gather together for prayer, we meet on Wednesday mornings at 6 o'clock. Kelly has a group that gathers together on Wednesday afternoons at noon. She started a new initiative to gather on the first Saturday of every month for a prayer walk, walking through our community and praying for it. Josh holds a prayer meeting on Sunday nights at 7 o'clock. I look forward to and hope that we have more and more groups gathering together for prayer.

Why? Because we need to ask our God to move, and when His church asks Him to move, He moves. D.L. Moody said, "Where prayer is focused, power falls." We need the power of God to fall, and God promised that He would do so in our day. The latter rains will come, and your young men and young women will prophesy. Your old men shall see dreams and visions. Oh, the Lord is coming quickly, church! We need to be ready, and we need to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God. We must reach out to our community with the love and grace of our God because God is on the move.

That is really why I believe the Lord led us to do this series on the prophets over the last several weeks. Not so that we can fill our minds with all kinds of interesting things that keep us up at night—although they do—but so that we would be stirred up to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these last days. The Bible reveals that a great harvest is going to come, and we are living in such a cool time.

When we were having the prayer time this morning, I was thinking—and I think I even mentioned it—that I've often thought it would be cool to be a part of the first-century church. Wouldn't it have been neat to be part of that early church? But just think about it: I believe we are part of the last-century church. How exciting is that? I think Peter is in heaven saying, "Man, I wish I was down there." Maybe not.

The Lord is coming quickly, and we need to be ready. We need to be seeking the Lord and praying that He would pour out, because He has promised to do so. Let's stand.

And pray together. Father, I do thank You so much that You have given us great and precious promises in Your Word. As Paul said, all of Your promises are yes and amen to the glory of our God.

Lord, we do ask—I ask—that You would pour out Your Spirit upon this church. Father, that You would pour out Your Spirit upon Emmanuel Faith, even though they don't believe in the gifts of the Spirit. That You would pour out Your Spirit upon Mission Hills Church, Calvary Chapel Hidden Valley, and Calvary Chapel Valley Center. Lord, that You'd pour out on Horizon and all the Calvaries in this area, all the churches that teach Your Word and seek Your name.

And Lord, that You'd pour out upon those churches that have fallen asleep, that have, in a lot of ways, denied that You're coming again, and that You'd revive and wake them up. Lord, I pray that by Your Spirit, You would bring a conviction of sin, as You did there in the Book of Acts, when men were cut to the heart, crying out, "What must we do?" as You did during the days of George Whitefield, when he would preach to thousands, and at the end of the message, there would be thousands of people lying on the ground, crying out to You.

As You did in the days of Wesley and Spurgeon, or in the days of D.L. Moody, and Lord, as You did in many ways in the early days of Billy Graham, we pray that You would move powerfully through Your church—not so that we would have names that are remembered, but that Your name would be lifted and exalted.

Father, we want to see people come to the knowledge of the truth. Lord, the harvest is indeed plentiful; send forth Your laborers. Lord, equip us, ready us, give us boldness by Your Spirit. Father, give us the power by Your Spirit to witness, the power to understand the Scriptures, the power to glorify You in Your name, the power to pray in accordance with Your will, and the power to live in righteousness and godliness, for we ask it in the mighty and precious name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen. Father, Amen to the important Lord.

Lord, that will hear you together and that coming from. Thank you.