Prophecy's Final Countdown

Doug Batchelor (DB): I wanna welcome our friends who are watching around the world to the Prophecy Code Event. It’s very exciting to be able to be with you. And very quickly, let me just summarize starting with this—if you were to put me on trial for my life and ask me, “What is the most important thing that you could share with another human being?” It would be the things that I’m gonna share with you during this series.

I believe that we will be seeking first the kingdom of God. And the things that you’re going to learn in a presentation like this are gonna really change your life. Matter of fact, before I go any farther, I’ve a lot of things I wanna share but I wanted to ask my wife to help me do that. I’d like to invite out Mrs. Batchelor. And you could help me welcome her, (Audience claps) that’s fine. And her questions tonight, we sort a stacked the questions tonight—are dealing with questions about the seminar. And so why don’t we do this so you get used to how it’s gonna to look.

Karen Batchelor (Karen Batchelor (KB))—Question and Answer #1: Please tell us about this Prophecy Code program.

DB: You know there has never been more interest in Bible prophecy than in the last few years. And this seminar is going to highlight the prophecies of the Bible with the special focus on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, as well as a number of others. You can’t really study those books without studying about Jesus, the Author. And you’re gonna find us touching on books all the way from Genesis through Revelation. But you will definitely understand the highpoints—of people wanna know about the Mark of the Beast, and they wanna know about the Second Coming, and the Rapture and all these things, we’ll cover those things. But you’re going to be exposed to Jesus in a new way.

Karen Batchelor (KB)—Question and Answer #2: Alright. What can we expect from this seminar?

DB: This seminar is gonna affect every area of your life. It’s going to affect your family—you know the Bible promise is, Jesus says in Revelation chapter 1, “Blessed are those who read, hear and keep,” there’s a blessing pronounced—and it will affect you and your family. It can affect you—you’ll be surprised, physically. (Karen Batchelor (KB): Uhmm) It will affect your finances, it could affect your--your friends, and your future. It will affect every area of your life because prophecy is a good thing. Jesus gives us these things, He wants us to know. (Audience says “Amen”)

And so, we’re so thankful that you are here for this series of meetings. You know, during this series I’d like to begin by talking about some of the principles of prophecy. I am going to talk a little bit about this countdown of Revelation. But first it’s important that we, if we’re gonna talk about the prophecy code, we cover the principles of prophecy.

DB—Sermon Question #1: Why does God give us prophecy?

And then we’ll talk more specifically about some of the prophecies that tell us about the eminence of Jesus’ coming.

I’ve been to Egypt a couple of times and obviously, one of the most incredible civilizations in the ancient world. I’ve been inside the Great Pyramid, and it is still mind-boggling the technology they must have had to make those stones fit together. But are you aware—you know our organization is called, “Amazing Facts,” so we always like to start with an amazing fact from history, or science, or nature—are you aware that for fifteen hundred years, from the time of Christ, or about 300 years after, until 1799, nobody understood what the hieroglyphics meant? They were written all over the walls of Egypt, but the--the genius in the history of this ancient Empire was locked in these symbols that nobody could interpret.

Eventually, Napolean went to Egypt, he brought with him about 30,000 soldiers plus historians, and linguists, and scientists. And when one of his soldiers was removing a wall, they found a--a basalt piece of stone about three and a half feet tall, two feet four inches wide, about a foot deep, and there was a text that was written on this stone in three languages. It had Greek, Demotic, and the Hieroglyphics. And they thought: what if this is the same decree in all three languages and if we could easily translate the first two we could use that, with the gifts of cryptography, to unlock what the hieroglyphics mean. A few folks worked on it for years and got nowhere, and then finally they named it “The Rosetta Stone,” you know that.

Finally, there was this brilliant, young, Frenchman named Jean Francois Champollion. He could speak 12 languages when he was 16—I mean this guy was smart—and he was able to use in these other texts in--in cryptography to unlock the Rosetta stone. And all of a sudden the whole history of ancient Egypt was available because of this wonderful experience, this tool. And maybe some of you have seen the Rosetta stone.

Well, as we read through the prophecies in the Bible, with the special emphasis on Daniel and Revelation, people quickly noticed that there’s a lot of strange symbols and signs that are in these books. For instance, if you go to the book of Revela--or Daniel, it talks about a vision of a great tree in one chapter, what does that mean? Another chapter is a vi--vision of a great image comprised of all these different metals and materials. And then another chapter talks about these four beasts, and then a goat, and a ram, and a lot of the prophecies are locked in symbols.

Likewise, if you go to the book of Revelation; I mean, people read Revelation and they sometimes wonder if the apostle John ate pizza and then had a bad dream, because it is talking about yeah, a lamb with seven eyes, dragons, all these angels with trumpets and viols and different faces—all these different symbols that are really confusing to people. And they wanna know what does this mean?

Well during this seminar we’re going to help you understand and we’d like to put the key in your hand, that’s why we’re using these symbols of the keys here. God wants you to have the key—not so you have to come to a pastor to unlock the prophecies. We want to put the key in your hand. Jesus wants you to know how to read the Bible and understand it. And so the purpose of this seminar is to place the keys in your hand that you can understand what the symbols in Bible prophecy are.

Now, the kind of prophecies that we’re talking about, maybe we should begin with the definition. The word prophecy means, it is a an inspired utterance of--of prophecy as viewed by Revelation or divine will; a prediction of the future made under divine inspiration, such as an inspired mes--message or prediction transmitted orally or in writing. And that’s from the American Heritage Dictionary.

A lot of what people think of prophecy today, some really strange ideas. How many of you have seen this kind of magazines? Don’t raise your hands if you buy them. (Audience laughs) If--if people around you know that you buy these magazines, your perceived IQ plummets instantly about 30 points.

And just a couple of weeks ago, I went through the supermarket and I was getting ready for this seminar and I saw this one about “Secret Prophecies of John the Baptist Are Found in a Cave.” And I looked at it and I thought: oh, I thought it’d be great. I’d like to take that and show that to the people. And when I went to buy it, I have to tell you, I felt sleazy (Audience laughs) just--cause, hey let me promise you, friends, I don’t buy these except when I’m doing a seminar like this. Last time when I bought one was in 1999. And I looked both ways and I was worried that some of my church members (Audience laughs) were going to see me buy one of these magazines. But you know a lot of people believe these, they buy these and they believe these.

When you say the word “prophecy” it means a little something different to everybody. Some people when they think about prophecy, they think about their local psychic. How many of you seen these institutions that they’ve got on the street corners. I wanted to get a picture of one of them for a seminar like this and it was a palm reader, foretell your future, you know—and it was a purple building, very attractive building.

I stopped and I was outside trying to take pictures and she ran out and she said: what are you doing? I wanted to say: you’re the prophet, you tell me. (Audience laughs) (Laughs) But but that wouldn’t have been very nice (Laughs). And and then you know of course, there are those who you’ve heard of the psychic hotlines. Yeah, I guess I heard one of those psychic hotlines says went out of business—I guess they didn’t see it coming, right? (Laughs) (Audience laughs)

But and then you got of course, see astrology charts. Astrology online and in the newspaper is a multi-million dollar business. And again, don’t raise your hand if you look up your s--your reading for what your sign says and I don’t wanna be unkind, but my mother used to write for those. And I asked her one day: Mom, do you believe that stuff? She said: are you kidding? And so I know it is sort of pathetic that people read that and think they’re supposed to somehow govern their day by what they’re reading where the astrologers don’t even sincerely believe it. I mean, do you really think that the positioning of the stars, multiple light years away, are affecting your destiny from day to day? Don’t answer that question (Laughs) (Audience laughs) if you believe you do (audience laughs).

But there’s that, then of course, you know there’s some people who’d become famous as psychic citers, meetings all the time about Nostradamus. And others have done programs on Edgar Casey or Jeanne Dixon, these people who can prognosticate and supposedly foretell the future, or looking to the crystal ball, or read your tarot cards.

And you have to know my background, friends. I grew up with, and I came from people that did a lot of this. And some of it is dabbling with the dark side. That’s not the kind of prophecy we’re gonna be dealing with. We’re gonna be dealing with Bible prophecy. That is gonna be our focus, that’s my promise to you. The Bible is going to be our sourcebook during this series of meetings. And this is the word of God, and this is where we’re going to find the answers, can you say, amen? (Audience says “Amen”) And so, we wanna put this information in your hands. We’re going to go through some questions as we begin with this series.

DB—Sermon Question #2: Another question I wanna ask is: how important is the study of Bible prophecy?

Well, what does the Bible say? Amos chapter 3 verse 7. Now we’re beginning to go to Scripture. Some of you may have brought your Bibles, some of you, your locations where you’re meeting we know that you’ve ordered Bibles. We’re hoping you can jot these down and look them up later if you don’t know how to find them quickly because so many Bibles have different paging that if I gave you the page number, it would be difficult.

Amos chapter 3 verse 7. How important is Bible Prophecy? “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets.” What does that mean? Whenever God does anything significant in history He always lets the people know in advance through inspired men and women.

For instance, before the world was destroyed with the Flood, did God send a messenger who warned them? If you read your Bible you know Nor--Noah warned the people, he’s called a prophet. And then there was Enoch who warned the people. It says Enoch prophesied in the book of Jude. Before God does anything significant He sends a prophet. Before the children of Israel went down to Egypt; God told Abraham your descendants are going to go. They were warned in prophecy. Before they came out of Egypt, God sent Moses. Before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, He sent Isaiah and Jeremiah. Before God sent His Son the first time, multiple prophets warned about that; John the Baptist came.

Doesn’t it make sense to you that the climax of the history of the plan of salvation on our world that God would send messages to us so we could know what’s coming? What that means is, whenever the Lord is going to do anything significant He will send a message through His servants, the prophets.

Then also we can go to our next verse, II Chronicles 20 verse 20, “Believe His prophets and you will prosper.” What does that say? You will prosper. God wants you to prosper. And so as you believe His prophecies, it’ll be a blessing that will react for you.

Now, God gives messages to prophets in a variety of ways; sometimes He spoke in the Bible through dreams, sometimes—many times, He spoke through angels, sometimes God spoke to prophets face to face, sometimes they had visions. Visions sort of like a dream except you’re up and walking around, you’re awake when it happens.

And so God gives these divine messages. In the book of Revelation it says in the first chapter, “He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant, John.” It comes from the Father to Jesus, to the angel, to John, to you and me. You’ve got that direct line right there in the beginning.

Now I remember when we did a seminar like this before from New York City. This has been fun. We went to New York City. John and I were in Washington D.C., at least on the outskirts, and we did the last one in 1999. And they were experiencing what you would call “millennial fever” at that time. And they actually had a chart on the wall that’s had a countdown to the millennium. And how many remember Y2K? (Audience answers) You know there were people who thought the world was gonna end—that was called the “mother of all false alarms,” (Audience laughs) Y2K!

I know at our office at Amazing Facts, someone talked to us into upgrading our phones. They scared us into thinking that they were all gonna die January first on 2000. And we spent thousands of dollars upgrading the whole phone system and phhh, I’m ashamed to admit it (Audience laughs). Others went and took their money out of the bank and filled five gallon buckets with garbanzo beans and they--(Audience laughs) I mean, it really was pathetic.

But after 2,000 some predicted that people will lose their interest in prophecy. During that year prophecy was everywhere, wasn’t it? Matter of fact, one of these supermarket magazines took our seminar—that was an international seminar—they took our handbill from the seminar and they put it on the cover of the Midnight Globe. I wanna ask you if you know what magazine that is. Because they knew that people were interested in the millennium and in prophecy.

And praise the Lord, they got the monitor working for me back there I can set that down now. And so people are still very interested; for instance, I think a survey was done not too long after the year 2000. In America 61% of people believe that Jesus will return to earth very soon, 59% believe the world will come to an end soon, 53% believe events in this century have been fulfilled in Bible prophecy. Matter of fact, interest in Bible prophecy is not waning—it’s accelerating!

How many of you have heard of the “Left Behind” series? And while it is clearly advertised that these books are fiction, a lot of people read them and they believe them to be a historical fiction that there’s gonna be a lot of fact--in facts connected to it. And this series of books has broken a number of records as far as one of the best-selling series for a religious series. That really is something to consider. And that’s not the only one. There have been a continual train of best-sellers that have been coming off the publisher’s list, and they make it to the best-selling list.

There was the “American Prophecy,” some of you have heard about that. And then someone else wrote a book called, “Beyond Iraq.” And people are so interested in prophecy and what is coming, that ought to tell you something. How many of you have heard of the book, “The Bible Code”?

We do a radio program every Sunday, a live radio program, and I’ve had so many questions. People say: Doug, what do you think of the Bible Code? And it’s based on this premise that they took the Scriptures in Hebrew and ran them through a computer and they found when you, you know, draw some lines that you could find certain words together and--and first of all, friends, I’ve got good news for you—you don’t have to be a computer programmer to understand prophecy. (Audience says “Amen”) Because if God’s got all these messages hidden in the Bible and you need a computer to locate them, what good are they?

And someone else said that you can take Moby Dick and you treat Moby Dick the same way, drop “Moby Dick” into the—I’m talking about the book, “Moby Dick,” not the whale, you drop the book, “Moby Dick” into a computer program and you’ll get the same results, you can find almost anything you looked for. And so I wouldn’t think that I wouldn’t put a lot of credibility in that.

And then there’re some new books. You’ve heard of course about the “The Da Vinci Code.” And they’re turning that one into a movie because it’s so popular. It has a very false biblical scenario, if you don’t mind my saying so, but I guess I’ve heard it’s supposed to be entertaining fiction. But you know people in America have problems getting their facts and their fiction mixed up because we watch so much television—matter of fact, people around the world.

And then there’s other book just came out from Tyndale Publishers, “The Last Disciple.” I know the author. Matter of fact, the author of that book mentioned our program on his national radio program last week. And so I guess we’re making the headlines too. (Audience laughs)

A man who is the Head of the Divinity Department in a university, he said, I can’t read his name, Bernard Beguin, I’m sorry, “Over the past 30 years more scholarship has been devoted to apocalyptic prophecies (last day events) than in the last 300.” Now, why am I sharing this with you? There is an accelerated interest in Bible prophecy and I think that part of it is driven by, not just people being sensational cause 2,000 is gone, that would have been understandable when the millennium transition, but it’s keeping, it’s--it’s accelerating. I think the Holy Spirit is telling people that God is about to do something and He wants us to be ready for it.

DB—Sermon Question #3: Question number three. Can Bible prophecy be trusted? Can we trust the prophecies in the Bible? Are they accurate? Are they dependable?

A few verses for you: Isaiah 47 verse 8 and 9. And the prophet there tells us, “I am the Lord, new things I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them.” And again, in Isaiah chapter 46 verse 9 and 10, “I am God and there is none like Me declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done.”

You and I can’t read the future but you know there’s something about God. You and I live in the present. God lives simultaneously in all parts of time. We can’t understand that, it makes our brain start to bubble when you just try and think about it. But God can exist in the past and in the future and He’s not restricted by time. And so when He tells you something’s gonna happen He’s not guessing like the weather man. He knows what’s gonna happen, amen? (Audience says “Amen”) And it doesn’t fail.

And prophecy, another example is when Joshua led the children of Israel into the Promised Land, he told them that the prophecies—the good things in prophecy were fulfilled. In the book of Joshua chapter 23 verse 14, here he said, “And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing.” How many? Not one thing.

See, Moses made many prophecies and God gave prophecies to Abraham and Jacob and Isaac about His people. When Joshua finally brought them into the Promised Land and they conquered their enemies Joshua said, “Not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you.” Good things—some people think all the prophecies in the Bible are doom and gloom and wrath and plagues and a lot of prophecy is good things.

And you’re gonna find out some of the good things that God has planned for you. Not one of them has failed—He brought them all to pass. Matthew chapter 24 verse 35, what did Jesus say about the dependability of prophecy? He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” And we’re going to look at a few of Jesus’ specific prophecies a little later on.

Another example of some striking prophecies, I wish we had more time, Daniel chapter 2. How many of you have read that chapter where it talks about this metallic image made out of gold, and silver, and bronze, and iron, and the feet are iron and clay? And for years the skeptic said: oh—this prophecy is so accurate cause in this prophecy Daniel tells all the kingdoms of the world, from the time of Babylon to the second coming of Christ, and he says in perfect order and names many of them, that Babylon would be a world empire and then Medo-Persia, then Greece, then Rome, then Rome would divide, and all of it happened.

And the skeptic said: well, that was all written after the Roman Era. And they—it was just made up and stuck in the Bible. But you know they found the Dead Sea scrolls and they know the Book of Daniel was written before the time of Christ. And they don’t know how to deal with that because it is so accurate. You can count on the prophecies. And by the way, according to the prophecy of Daniel, we’re right down at the very toes of that image, the very end, all of it has happened, the way it said.

You know one of the most amazing things for me that proves the dependability of prophecy is Jesus’ First Coming. Now I mentioned to you that I’m from a Jewish background. My mother was Jewish—very loyal about her being Jewish even though she was not very religious. You realize you can be Jewish and not be religious. And when she heard I was thinking of being a Christian, I really upset her. I upset my whole family—Jewish family anyway.

And I thought very carefully about Christianity because we always taught Christians persecute the Jews. You may not know this but some Jews have the idea that many of the Nazis claimed to be Christians. And you can go through history there’s been a lot of persecution. So for me to accept Jesus and the New Testament is valid was a real struggle. But I began to look at the Old Testament prophecies and it was very troubling to me because there are over 300 Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah that are fulfilled when Jesus came. And it was fulfilled perfectly.

Let me give you an example of just a few of those. I have here in my Bible that I’ve added to my notes. Prophecies that are very specific, dealing with things like it talks about the time of His birth, that He’d be born of a virgin, the place of His birth, His ministry, the events of His betrayal, the manner of His execution, His resurrection and ascension, and it all happened exactly as God’s word had foretold it would happen.

Notice here, Old Testament, Micah chapter 5 verse 2 said He would be born in Bethlehem. Matter of fact, the religious leaders knew that, they quoted that to King Herod. They knew that was a prophecy, it happened. Born of a virgin, Isaiah 7:14, did it happen? That He would be of the lineage of David, King David, did that happen? I’m just giving you 12 out of 300. That King Herod would try to murder Him as a baby, Jeremiah 31:15, did it happen? Sold for 30 pieces of silver, how can you be that specific in advance? Zechariah chapter 11 verse 12, did it happen? You can talk to me, this is a seminar—did it happen? (Audience answers “Yes”) Okay, thank you very much, I feel better. People watching around the world are gonna think there’s nobody here. (Audience laughs) Crucified; crucifixion wasn’t even in effect when David prophesied that, did it happen? (Audience answers “Yes”) That His clothing would be gambled for—how could you predict that? Psalm 22:18. None of His bones would be broken—did it happen the way the Bible prophesied? Psalm 34:20. Buried in a rich man’s tomb, Isaiah 53:9, did it happen? The year, hour of His death, I’m sorry, the year, day, and hour of His death, Daniel 9:26 and 27; Exodus 12, the number, did it come through? That He’d be raised the third day? Hosea chapter 6 verse 2, did it come through?

Now I’ve just given you 12 of 300 Old Testament prophecies about the First Coming of Jesus. See, during this seminar, we’re gonna talk a lot about the Second Coming of Jesus. I want you to know He came the first time just as He predicted. By the way, don’t forget, God’s people had been waiting fifteen hundred years for His Second Coming, almost 2000 years from Abraham, they had began to lose faith that it was gonna ever happen—the very same thing that is happening now, 2000 years after His First Coming. He’s gonna come, sure right on time! That’s why we’re singing that song, Jesus Will Come on Time. He’s not late.

Somebody did some survey on this. Dr. Peter Stoner, Former Chairman of Astronomy and the Engineering at the Pasadena College in California. He worked for 600 students. For several years he applied the Principles of Probability—he was a stastitician (statistician) regarding the prophecies of the Messiah’s coming—just considered eight prophecies. Of those eight prophecies, of the hundreds that are available, they decided that statistically, the chances of all eight of those being fulfilled in one man in a lifetime is more than one—now I don’t know what that number is, (Audience laughs) but there are 33 zeros, I counted them. And if someone wants to email me and tell me what that number is, I’ll be happy to share it with everybody.

What are the chances of somebody staging that? What are the chances of that happening by accident? There’s no question that Jesus was the Messiah and He came right on time just as the prophecy said He would.

DB—Sermon Question #4: Question number four. What can we expect from the careful study of Bible Prophecy?

As we gather together in this first seminar we’re gonna be studying the prophecies, what can we anticipate will come from that? Answer? The Bible promises a blessing. Revelation chapter 1 verse 3. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things that are written in it for the time is near.” By the way, friends, you notice it’s not just those who hear and read but those who keep. God not only wants us to be hearers of the word, He wants us to be doers, that’s what “keep” means.

And the greatest blessing—you’ll be blessed by coming—I promise you. And I’ve not yet done a seminar like this where I’ve not experienced people coming up and saying: you know my wife and I came, we haven’t been talking, we’ve on the verge of divorce, I’ve had couples say we’ve filed for divorce, but we came to this seminar together, came from different directions, we met and some things happened through the proclamation of the word, we’re together now, all kinds of miraculous things happened.

You will be blessed. How do I know that? Doug, are you promising something? No, God is promising it! Don’t take it up with me. I believe His word. He says there’s a blessing. And you know what, the amazing thing to me is that I meet people who say: ahh they didn’t wanna come to this seminar. I’d actually had people come to our seminars they said: our pastor told us not to come. He said there’s a curse pronounced on anybody who reads Revelation. (Audience laughs)

Really! (Audience still laughing) Is that what it says? Well, they just reads about the plagues and the boils and stuff and they don’t realize that it’s–that it’s a blessing pronounced on those who read. There is a curse at the end for anyone who changes the words of the prophecy, but He’s blessing those who read it. So you’ll get a blessing in your life when you come.

DB—Sermon Question #5: Furthermore, question number five. Why do some prophecy seem difficult to understand?

Well, you can read in Luke chapter 8 verse 10, Jesus tells us He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables.” Why? He says that, “Seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand.” What does the Lord mean by that?

Well, many of the Bible prophecies were written while these apocalyptic prophecies with all the symbols—they were written during a time when God’s people were captives in another country. John was a captive on the Isle of Patmos, under the authority of Rome; Daniel was a captive in Babylon; Ezekiel in Persia.

Not all the prophecies are apocalyptic where you’ve got the symbols in them that are very pronounced. And in order to protect the messages they were given in this symbolic language, but the keys to unlock those symbols are in the Bible. I’ll--I’ll, I’ll tell you more about that a little later.

You know I used to live on the Navajo Re--Reservation in New Mexico. I was a pastor of a Navajo congregation. And I tried to learn, I’m pretty good with languages and I, I’ve picked up a few words in every language but--but all I remember in Navajo is “yate” which is “hello.” (Audience laughs) Oh, I also remember the word “yes” is “oh,” because I used to always think they were saying “no” and they were saying “yes” “oh” and that meant “yes” (Audience laughs) (Laughs) and that was very confusing.

But you know some of you may know that during World War II a number of the Navajos were code operators, because the Japanese broke every American code and they were desperate. And so someone who had grown up as a missionary on the Navajo Reservation suggested: you ought to use the Navajo’s because their language is so difficult to understand and they did barely just begun to be written for the Bible, actually.

And they used these Navajo code operators and the Japanese could never figure out what in the world they were saying. And not only did they speak in Navajo on the radio but then they used code in Navajo. (Audience laughs) I forget all the words but like a, you know, they call a blue jay would be a dive bomber, and a turtle was a tank and they--they said “oh there’s five turtles coming up the road or” and this, and then they’d say that in Navajo and they never could figure it out. But the Navajos had no problem because they spoke Navajo.

So when you read the Bible and begin to understand the symbols—we’re gonna try this tonight. I’m gonna give you some Bible symbols, we’re gonna read a verse, you’ll begin to say, “Ahh, that’s how!” You can understand some of these prophecies.

DB—Sermon Question #6: Question number six. So how can I understand the secret code of prophecy?

And that’s what we’re all wondering tonight. Matthew chapter 7 verse 7. Several things you can do if you want to understand the Bible. Jesus said what? “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened unto you.” Ask, seek. How many of you have discovered that when you’re searching for something and you find it, you rejoice! Most of you are not very happy about finding your keys when they’re where you left ‘em. (Audience laughs) You’re happy about finding your keys after they’ve been lost, right? (Audience laughs)

Tonight we’ve in our haste of getting ready. Karen on her way here forgot something back at our apartment and so she said: I’ll drop you and I’ll run back. And then I get a call from the apartment and she said: Doug, you have the keys. (Audience laughs) And so someone else had to bring her the keys. But you--you appreciate those things.

How many kids get excited about finding an egg in the refrigerator? Not too excited. But if you paint one up and you hide it—and then they find it, and oh, they squeal, they’re so excited, right? (Audience laughs) And so the Lord knows that there’s this nn--curiosity that He’s built into us so that when we seek for something to find, we go “Praise the Lord!” And there’s been many times I’ve been reading God’s word and all the sudden something clicks, and I go “Oh, thank the Lord, He revealed it to me.” So seek and you’ll find.

Furthermore, John chapter 7 verse 17, if you want to understand, beware—Jesus says if anyone wants to do His will, He will know concerning the doctrine. If you are willing to do His will God will reveal the truth to you—but there needs to be a willingness.

And furthermore, keep in mind, you need the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14, it tells us, bl--uh, “The natural man receives not the Spirit of God for they are spiritually discerned.” Some people read the prophecies in the Bible and they toss the Bible aside: Ahh, it’s just gibberish, he had a bad dream. But no, it’s one of the most brilliant books in the Bible. A matter of fact, the more we go through this you can understand why the books of prophecy in Revelation are being studied so much because it is so incredible—the knowledge that is condensed in these prophetic books.

DB—Sermon Question #7: Number seven. What is the central theme of all Bible prophecy?

Now I hope nobody is disappointed. If you just came to this series and you said: Doug, tell us when the world’s gonna end. I’m not gonna give you that, sorry. I’ll tell you when it’s near. We have a study tomorrow night on Revelation’s Rapture, and you’re gonna see some amazing things and even tonight. And you’ll say: I just wanna know about Armageddon, Tribulation, Mark of the Beast, Anti-Christ, I wanna know angels. We’re gonna cover all those things.

But the central theme of all prophecy is Jesus. What is, if you turn in your Bibles, how many of you have Bibles with you tonight? Turn to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Before you read verse 1, what’s the title of the book? Anyone have it yet? What’s it say? The revelation of Saint John. How many of you have your Bible that says the revelation of Saint John? It doesn’t say that anywhere in the Bible. That’s the title that men gave it.

What’s the first verse now? The revelation of Jesus Christ. Now what is the word “revelation” mean? A revealing—He wants us to know. And it is not a revealing of the beast. It doesn’t say the revelation of Armageddon, or the revelation of the plagues, or the revelation of the Antichrist, the book is about Jesus.

And so, He is gonna be the center of all the prophecies that we study. All the prophecies point back, Jesus is the axle that they all point to. And so I hope you’re prepared for that. I just wanna be honest with you upfront and let you know that.

Furthermore, John chapter 5 verse 39, Jesus said, “Search the scriptures, these are they that testify of,” who? It says they’re telling you about Me. So these prophecies are really telling us about Jesus. You can also read in John chapter 14 verse 29, “And now I have told you before it comes to pass that when it does come to pass you might believe.”

Now I hope you’re not disappointed, but not all Bible prophecy is given so that you can prepare in advance for the future. Sometimes Bible prophecy is best understood looking back. For instance, a lot of these prophecies we’ve just talked about—most Bible prophecies all been fulfilled, there’s still a lot in Revelation that’s in the future. But when I look at the past prophecies that are fulfilled, what does that do to my faith in God’s word for the future? Strengthens it!

Why does God want us to have faith in His Word? Is it so we can trust the prophecies? Or is prophecy really working to redeem us? The main goal of all Bible prophecy is not to help you know how to invest in the stock market, or who you’re supposed to marry, or what kind of car to buy, or who to vote for—it’s not to prognosticate the future. The central theme of prophecy is to point you to Jesus. It is redemptive in its value. God wants us to know that He knows the future and He has a plan for you. But you have to cooperate with His plan. (Audience says “Amen”)

DB—Sermon Question #8: Number eight. What is the key to unlock the code of Bible prophecy?

Now we’re gonna get right into it. Alright, first part of the answer, Isaiah chapter 28 verse 10. “For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” The key to understanding the prophecies in the Bible is let the Bible interpret itself. You must compare Scripture with Scripture.

Now, one reason I say that is, just take the book of Revelation for example. Out of the four hundred and four verses that you find in the book of Revelation, are you aware that two hundred and seventy-six of them can be found referred to in other places in the Bible?

So what is the key to unlock Revelation? You need to look in other places in the Bible. And you know one of the tragedy is a lot of churches have thrown away three quarters of their Bible. I’ve been to many churches where they supply the Bible. And by the way, before I go any farther with this seminar, I just want to reiterate something. This is for everybody regardless of your religious background, and if you are a believer in the Bible, regardless of your denomination.

I believe God has His Spirit fill heaven-bound, saved people in many different churches. Everybody hear that? (Audience says “Amen”) And so we’re coming together as God’s children to study His book and find out what does the Bible say. That sounds fair? (Audience answers “Yes”) And you may find some things I say you might say: oh, Doug, I don’t know if I agree with that. Please keep coming, you’ll find a lot of stuff you do agree with, amen? (Audience answers “Amen”)

You know sometimes I listen to radio preachers and some of them are kooks, (Audience laughs) r--right? You know that, say amen. (Audience says “Amen”) Yes, I mean you know, some of them are selling snake oil and all kinds of kooky stuff and it’s embarrassing for me because you know one of the most unpopular things you could tell a person is that you are a televangelist. (Audience laughs) I mean it’s like a dirty word.

And I remember Karen and I when we went on our honeymoon, we started to meet people and we noticed when they say: what do you do? And I said: well, I’m an evangelist and we do TV. Oh, you’re a televangelist. It’s like they sneered. (Audience laughs) And so I said: well dear, I’ll tell you what, let’s--let’s you know teach the Bible, that’s what I do. And so if they ask you just say, I’m a teacher.

And so we meet people: and so what do you do? You know ultimately you meet people they ask that question I say: I’m a teacher. Oh, what do you teach? Oh, I teach the Bible. Where do you teach? Well, I travel around to teach. Oh, you’re an evangelist. (Audience laughs) And so it didn’t get me very far anyway.

But, I listened to different preachers and you know there’re some good preachers out there. And every now and then you e--you eat the melon and you spit out the seeds, right? And so if you say: oh, Doug, I don’t know if I agree with that. Well, keep coming. Allow me time to convince you. Write down a question. Maybe I’ll have more Scriptures to try and reinforce something I say that you go: ah, I don’t know about that. I we wanna know the truth together, right? (Audience says “Amen”) So we’re gonna search and find and you gotta compare Scripture with Scripture.

The meaning of Bible prophecy is hidden throughout the Bible—you need to know the Scriptures. A lot of churches I’ve been to, they’ll supply a Bible in their pew and it’s only the New Testament. Three quarters of the Bible is the Old Testament. And a lot of the keys that unlock prophecy are going to be in the Old Testament. When Jesus walked the earth, when Jesus prayed, when Jesus fought off the devil, did He even have a New Testament? It wasn’t written yet. (Audience laughs) And so obviously, we need this book.

A matter of fact, in the New Testament when it says, “All Scriptures is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for correction and doctrine and instruction.” What was Paul talking about when he said that? New Testament hadn’t been assembled, so when he said all Scripture is inspired, it was principally the Old Testament then. So that’s where we’re going to find a lot of the keys.

DB—Sermon Question #9: Number nine. What are some of the examples of prophetic symbols and their meanings?

Well, we’re gonna move through some of these things very quickly. First of all, you can look for instance in Revelation chapter 1 verse 16. It says, “And He had in His right hand seven stars,” speaking of Jesus, “and out of His mouth was a sharp two-edged sword and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.”

How many of you really believe when you get to heaven that Jesus is gonna walk around with a great big, old saber sticking out of His mouth? (Audience laughs) What is that mean? Why, obviously, let’s hope it’s a symbol. It would be disconcerting if you have to visit with somebody and had a sword sticking out of their mouth. (Audience laughs) Am I right?

Well, if you read in the Bible, for instance, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, “For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword.” And then you go again to Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17, “And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” So the sword equals what?—(Audience answers “The word”) the Word. Now as you begin to move through some of these prophecies you say: ah, so these symbols have a meaning.

Revelation talks about the lamb, several times it talks about the lamb that was slain. We’ll talk about that another night. John chapter 1 verse 29, there John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” What is the lamb in Revelation? Jesus. How many agree with that? The lamb in Revelation is a symbol for Jesus. Are you getting the idea?

Now, I’m gonna give you some very common Bible symbols and their meanings. I’m just gonna give them to you. You can look them up later. And we’re gonna take one verse and we’re gonna apply this principle, that sounds fair? And if you’ve got your Bibles turn to Isaiah chapter 1, no, I’m sorry, Isaiah chapter 4 verse 1, Isaiah 4 verse 1. Now while you’re doing that I wanna give you the symbols.

Most Bible scholars agree that in prophecy’s symbology a woman represents a church; bread represents the Word of God, how many know that? “Man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Clothing represents righteousness or unrighteousness depending on whether it’s clean or dirty, it depends to its character. And the Son of man—who is the Son of man in the Bible? It’s a name for Jesus, alright. Most of us agree with these symbols?

Now we’re gonna read that one verse that you find in Isaiah chapter 4 verse 1, this is a prophecy speaking of the last days. “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man saying, we will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel only let us be called by Thy name to take away our reproach.” They said “our own bread,” “our own apparel.” What is the bread?—the Word of God. What is a woman? (Audience answers “Church”) And the apparel represents character. Do they want His robe of righteousness or their own? (Audience answers “Their own”) Did they want His bread of life or their own interpretation? (Audience answers “Their own interpretation”)

It tells us in the last days there’s gonna be many, many churches—seven is a number sort of a completion—that claim to be God’s church. They use His name, they are—say: let us be called by your name, we’re gonna call ourselves Christians. But we don’t want your interpretation, we don’t want your righteousness, we want our own. Has that been fulfilled? (Audience answers “Yes”) You see how to use these symbols to try to unlock some of the Bible prophecies?

So what is the key to unlock the Bible prophecy code? The Bible is the key. You know I understand in the Amazon jungle, there are some plants that can be dangerous and they say that as a rule of thumb that if you eat a toxic plant, somewhere within a hundred yards of that plant is another plant that is the antidote—they’re right there together.

I know it’s true where I live in California we got poison oak and they say one of the cures for that is manzanita and they almost always grow in the same vicinity. So whenever Karen gets a little dose of poison oak she goes out and makes some manzanita bark tea and that brings some relief.

Now we’re gonna give you for free—anybody who’d like to download it—just go to the Amazing Facts Prophecy Code website, prophecycode.com and when you go to that website you’ll see a place where you can download a free list—you can read it or download it—of Bible prophecy symbols. And it’s some basic symbols—it’s not all of them, but it’s something that will get you going and you can take a look at these and it’s one of the best ways for us to disseminate this information.

Now this gives us a little introduction to prophecy. Now, for our last few minutes, with your permission, I would like to get through as many of some of the final countdown signs that God has given us in this world that we are living in the last days. And if whatever we don’t get to tonight we’re gonna have more opportunity tomorrow night to talk about some of the signs of the last days.

DB—Sermon Question #10: Question number ten. What are some of the prophetic signs of Revelation that we are in the final countdown?

In the Bible it tells us that Jesus was talking with His disciples one day, they were visiting the temple and He shocked them with a statement saying there would not be left one stone upon another. And they wanted to know. They thought the destruction of the Jewish temple would be the end of the world. And so they said Lord, they came to Him, and He said to them “There’ll not be left one stone upon another,” and this is Matthew 24 verse 2. And they said in verse 3, “Tell us when shall these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the world”?

Then Jesus gives a series of signs. For instance, He says, one of the first things that Jesus said speaking of signs of the end and the Second Coming, don’t miss this, Christ said, “Beware of false christs and false prophets,” first thing He said of all the other signs. You know what that tells me? Jesus was saying there’s gonna be a lot of counterfeits out there; there’ll be a lot of misinterpretations.

I wanna ask you, when Jesus came the first time, the majority of His people that had the Bible, did they understand who He was and were they ready? Could that happen again? So just because you’ve got a best-selling book talking about prophecy, does that mean it’s the truth? Or could that be a sign? Matter of fact, the way I read my Bible, Jesus said, “Narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it.” So don’t just flow with the popular trends, beware of false prophecies and false christs. And we’ll say more about that.

Another sign Jesus ga--gave for the last days. He said there’d be an intensity of wars and rumors of wars. Do we have war in the world today? We’re engaged in what’s being called war right now. Are there rumors of war? Just this week, talks about problems with Syria and Iran and North Korea. And it’s especially intense when you consider that they’re now worried about some nuclear weapons that seemed to have disappeared.

I understand that since the collapse of the Soviet Union that there are one report said, 200 nuclear warheads that are missing. Well, that ought to be a real concern, amen? What if that should happen to fall into the hands of some rogue nation, right?—these missing warheads. I mean some of these countries and these people are not afraid to strap themselves with explosives and blow themselves up though—what if a group of them gets a hold of a nuclear device?

And that’s why we are seeing this increase of security everywhere I go in the world now—because people are afraid. We also have the chemical agents and the nerve agents, and biological warfare. In the last century, I know we’re in the new century now but I mean in the last hundred years, two world wars and the weapons are in a scale that they never have been again.

Furthermore, it’s possible that if Jesus doesn’t come soon men will self-destruct. Do we now have the capacity to destroy ourselves? (Audience says “Yes”) Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24 verse 22, “Unless those days were shortened,” speaking of His Second Coming, “no flesh,” that doesn’t just mean people, flesh means li--living organisms and creatures, “no flesh would survive.” We’re getting to that point where if Jesus doesn’t come soon man will just self-destruct.

In that same theme there’s pollution. Are you aware there’s a prophecy in the Bible that talks about those that destroy the earth? Revelation chapter 11 verse 18. And it says that you should destroy those who destroy the earth. God made men, put them in the garden, said dress it and keep it. We are stewards of this planet. And I’m not, you know I’m not a hyper environmentalist but I think we should care about the planet, amen?—(Audience answers “Amen”) and take care of things.

Does man now have the capacity to destroy the earth? Somebody sent me this picture of--of a swan nesting, surrounded by filth i--in a polluted river, and I thought how it’s a picture of you know the purity that God created things with and what we’ve done to it. And n--not only that, but just it’s happening in the water, in the air, in the food, in the soil. We are in polluting the environment.

Could man pollute the environment a hundred years ago? Not like today. I mean, it doesn’t matter how many orange peels you’ve got or coconut shells, you’re not gonna pollute the environment. Now we’ve got the--the ability to really destroy things.

Another sign Jesus gave at the last days?—an acceleration of natural disasters. Do we see that happening? (Audience answers “Yes”) I thought it was something when this tsunami struck. Karen and I, I’ll never forget, you all remember where you were? We were driving across Nevada. We were listening to the news and we heard about it. And they first began to announce as many as 10- or 15,000.

Well, I’ve been on some of those beaches where it hit. I was in India, on the beach in Madras, and I said: no way, I said, it’s gonna be a lot more than that, dear. And--and the number of course, we all know, continued to climb and I don’t know, I’ve heard everything from 160,000 to 200,000 people. And the news reporters were saying: this disaster of apocalyptic proportions. This is, is this the wrath of God? News reporters, secular reporters were saying: this disaster of Biblical proportions. Even the unbelievers saw this as almost a--a harbinger, a--a sign of what is coming—should get our attention.

You know there’s a prophecy in Luke chapter 21 Je--Jesus is talking about the signs of the end just like in Matthew 24. He makes this additional statement, “And there will be signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars and on the earth, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring.” Have we seen that? Could this be a sign? And then you read on, Luke 21 verse verse 26. “Men’s hearts failing them for fear and the expectation of those things that are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven will be shaken.”

You know, you go back a few years ago and people didn’t understand that terrorism really was a war technique. Now we hear all about terrorism. What is terrorism? What is it mean? It is a war of using fear as a weapon. “Men’s hearts failing for fear, the sea and the waves roaring,” almost sounds like the headlines doesn’t it? I believe that we’re living in the last days.

Jesus also talks about the acceleration of earthquakes. He says there’ll be earthquakes in diverse places. And of course, the tsunami was connected with a 9.0 earthquake on the Richter scale. Evidently, there’s been an increase in earthquakes. And I’ve got a graph here, you gonna put up, I don’t know how you’ll be able to read this, but this comes from the US Geological Survey.

See the acceleration from 1900 to 2000? And then if you go beyond that, in 1997 there were only 3 notable quakes; 1998, 10; 1999, 13; 2000 dropped down to 6; 2001, 7; 2002,12; 2003, 39; 2004, 39; 2005 year-to-date and this is off because I got this a few days ago, we had 6. And based on that calendar, if they continued at the same rate, we could be over a hundred this year. You know that would le--lead me to believe that things are accelerating. Jesus is trying to get our attention.

Killer weather. You know I thought it was interesting not only with the tsunami but then there were a series. I used to live in Florida and I remember when hurricane Betsy came through. And then, but there was a wave of hurricanes and earthquakes in other parts of the world. I mean sometimes our attention was distracted, and then the fires and they actually had a number of newscasters one night. I taped it, and then I realized I couldn’t show it to you because of copyright things. I wanted to show you several news stations. I’m talking about MSNBC, and CNN, a number of ‘em, they all had special reports. “Is this the end of the world? What does this weather mean? Is this the wrath of God? Is it a sign?” Any of you remember seeing some of those? These news reporters were wondering what does this mean because it wasn’t just the tsunami, just back to back, it seemed like God was trying to get our attention. They’re asking that question.

Another sign Jesus gave for the last days, famine. Do we have people still starving in the world today? Absolutely! And in some pla--you know it’s hard to believe, I’ve stood in South Korea and looked over the border in the North Korea and the people are starving there. At times it’s been so bad that reports would come out of North Korea that they’ve resorted to cannibalism, because they’ve got this crazy despot there who is grinding down his people. Famine. Jesus said there’ll be famines in different places and this is the beginning of sorrows.

Approximately there are 3.5 million people in the world who are starving and many are malnourished. A hundred, I’m sorry, 10,000 people per day starve to death—a lot of that is caused by war, some of it is caused by drought. Put that fact together with this fact that out of the world’s population of, oh here it says 5 billion, that’s a misprint, over six billion, 60% are malnourished, 20% are starving.

Now, couple that with the fact of what’s happening with the population explosion. Just this week CNN released a report that those that study the population growth in the world they’re calculating by the year 2000 and 50 there will be a 40% increase in the population, it’ll be 9.1, and much of it in some of the poorest countries of the world.

You know it took over 5,000 years to get the first billion people in the world? And then it only took a hundred and thirty years to get the second billion? I remember when there were 3 billion and in my lifetime it’s doubled. That’s really something to think about if this many people are starving, Jesus has to come (Audience says “Amen”) or will self-destruct!

Pestilence in diverse places. Of course, we already know about the spread of AIDS. And I still don’t think the people in North America understand what a problem this is, but I’ve been to Africa and other parts where the numbers, the percentages of people that are struggling with AIDS is terrifying—it really is a problem that has gone all across the culture. And the SARS, there are new strains of very contagious diseases that are becoming resistant to antibiotics and tuberculosis, and some other things are on the increase.

Jesus says one of the signs of the last days will be violence. He said as it was in the days of Noah. What does it say about the days of Noah? The men, thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually and violence filled the earth. Do we have problems of violence? (Audience answers “Yes”)

You know I--I am of course very concerned about the situation in Iraq. At the time of this broadcast we have a boy who is in the Marines, a daughter who got mustered out of the Army just recently. And but the reality is more people die in four or five American cities everyday than die in Iraq, from violence. Have we considered that?—gangs, killing each other. A lot of it is because we’re--we’re perpetuating what we see.

Speaking of the last days, for me one of the most incredible signs that we’re living in the end is this prophecy in Daniel. I’ve given some from Jesus, some from Revelation; Daniel chapter 12, the end of the book, last chapter. The prophet there says, the angel actually says to Daniel, “But you Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end.” What is the subject here?—time of the end. “Many will run to and fro and knowledge will increase.”

Well, not only does that mean in the last days people will go to and fro through the Bible, here a little and there a little, but let’s face it, people are going to and fro faster than they ever have. When you think about it i--it’s mind-boggling! There are people who are watching this program right now who remember when there was no such thing as a calculator watch, a digital watch, no such thing as an airplane. That’s right.

I’ve got a church member still alive; I used to be her pastor, how old is she, hundred and six? Hundred and seven! And she still has all of her wits in--and if Viola is watching bless your heart, Viola. Can you remember, can you imagine living through that kind of--my grandfather died 93, not too long ago, living through World War I and II and the--the incredible changes in knowledge that have transpired during that time—mind-boggling! Can you say amen? (Audience says “Amen”) Remember when radio, television didn’t exist! And now we take all these things for granted.

Somebody was saying—I thought this was interesting: You know that you’re living in the 21st century when you accidentally enter your password in the microwave, (Audience laughs) you have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three,” (Audience laughs) sometimes people call and they ask me my number and I kind’ a cycle for two or three numbers before I realize I’m not even giving the right one— (Audience laughs) used to just have to remember seven digits for your phone number, you email the person who works in the desk next to you, (Audience laughs) you’re laughing cause you know it’s true, (Audience still laughing), you’re reason for not staying in touch is you don’t have your friend’s email address, you pull in to your driveway and call your spouse on the cell phone to see if they’re home. (Audience laughs)

The prophecy about knowledge increasing. You noticed it didn’t say wisdom will increase? Because even with all these accelerated knowledge man has still not learned how to love his fellowmen, has he? And we’re using our knowledge not only for good but also for destructive power.

You know I thought it was fascinating this week. I’m a pilot and I--I was intrigued by Steve Fawcett’s recent accomplishment. It’s amazing, history—when, yesterday, two days ago? Yesterday, yeah, this is a current meeting—flew around the world, one man breaking records.

My Dad was in the aviation business and I remember him telling me one time he had to fly by himself from Hawaii in a D.C. III and he said it was the longest trip of his life. He was ferrying a ship back from Hawaii to California and it just seemed like I can’t imagine flying around the world.

I saw this not too long ago. Honda has come out with a new robot, ASIMO, is that how you say that? It’s a new Honda robot, and they’ve got it now not only where it’ll walk around and wave and it can do some very simple functions but they’re developing these robots that now they’ve thought ASIMO to run. He can only run, I think he runs like this (Audience laughs) but (Laughs) that take, you know, how much computer program—you like the way I did that? (Audience laughs) You know how much computer programming—(Audience still laughing) actually, you can go online and watch him run—(Laughs) (Audience laughs) you know how much computer programming it takes? What we do so simply to develop a robot, but that’s scary. To the--I mean all it can do is you can say, “Come here ASIMO,” “go” and he can either walk or run but that’s all he can do at this point. I think he cannot grab things and carry things around but and then you know of the international space station.

It says many will run to and fro and knowledge will increase. Are we living in that day? (Audience answers “Yes”) This is the century that has seen knowledge explode exponentially more than any other generation that has lived in the history of man. I believe this is the generation that’s going to see the coming of Jesus. (Audience says “Amen”) Can you say amen? (Audience says “Amen” while clapping)

And then you know to top it off, Jesus made another prophecy, cannot be misunderstood. Speaking of the last days, Matthew 24 verse 14. He said, “And the gospel of this kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then the end will”—does He say might come, (Audience answers “No”) could come, may come?—“will come!” Do you believe Jesus? (Audience answers “Yes”)

Is the gospel being preached in all the world? He didn’t say they’ll all believe He said, “For a witness, an opportunity.” It’s being fulfilled in your very ears right now, or those who might be watching, it’s being fulfilled in your eyes.

Right now as I speak with a half a second delay, these messages are bouncing off these geocentric satellites and ricocheting all around the planet. The message is going to the world not only through programs like these but through the internet, people are listening. And there on the radio, and television, and tapes, and publishing, and even the countries of the world that are trying to restrict Christianity like China, it’s exploding there because they’re getting it through the internet. The lessons are going all over the world.

Jesus is coming again, friends. (Audience says “Amen”) We can see it happening. This global evangelization, I believe, is evidence that Christ’s coming is eminent. And you’re not here by accident. He wants you to be ready, friends. (Audience says “Amen”) He brought you to these meetings because He has a special plan for your life.

You know if I wanted to I wanted to head home to Sacramento and there’ve been times this week when I’ve wanted to already, (Audience laughs) I get lost in your town. This is you’ve got the most convoluted streets in the world (Audience laughs) and then construction to top that off.

If I were to find my way up to Interstate 80, you know Interstate 80 goes from Coast to Coast and it goes right through Sacramento. If I was to try and make my way up to Interstate 80 and drive to Sacramento, I’d have to get up to Virginia before I run into 80. Would I see a sign as soon as I got on the Interstate in Virginia that says Sacramento, 2,300 miles?—(Audience laughs) probably not. Matter of fact, I might get to Nevada before I see that sign. And it might even say San Francisco.

But I know when you started getting into Utah I saw a sign there, Sacramento, 300 miles or whatever it was. As you get closer you start seeing more signs, and then as you’re getting through, you go through Utah, you’re getting through Nevada they’re closer and closer together. And then pretty soon you see signs that say Sacramento, 20 miles, 15 miles, 10 miles, 9 miles, 8 miles—and the closer you get to your destination, the more rapid the signs.

Friends, there have always been wars and earthquakes, but the confluence of all these things are coming together on this generation. Jesus is coming very soon. (Audience says “Amen”) The only way for us to be safe is to build on the rock of His Word, amen? (Audience says “Amen”) The Bible is going to be our sourcebook. No man knows the day and the hour of His coming. And if you’re coming to this seminar wanting me to tell you that, we don’t know. But we can know when it’s near and God’s word is telling us that we need to get ready.

You know I believe (Background music starts) that you’re here tonight because the Lord brought you. He wanted you to hear that He has a plan for your life. Let’s face it, life is terminal. The purpose of this life is to determine where we want to spend eternity. And Jesus wants you to be with Him. He laid down His life that you might be saved.

You know I was very moved as I’m sure you were, by the stories and the images of this cataclysmic disaster with the tsunami. You and I can’t imagine 200,000 people suddenly being snuffed out. I mean, it just did--it almost makes me weep just to say that. Some of the stories are--are heart warming. People who saw the wave coming and they knew they would probably die but they ran back for somebody else. Or they jumped into the swirling waters to try to rescue a child or somebody else and you really saw people laid down their lives, they cared.

I remember reading one story that I thought was interesting—very pertinent for us. And this man who had actually lived in Hawaii for years, he understood something about tsunamis and earthquakes, cause you know the volcanoes shaking the island all the time. Had a Resort right near the epicenter, owned a Resort.

And when he felt the earthquake, first thing he did is he went to the window and he looked at the sea cause he knew what could happen. And when he saw the sea going out, and then he saw the people that began to walk out and said: oh, look at this, we don’t know why this happened, but we can collect shells. Others got their cameras that just look at that and they’re walking out into the water taking pictures.

He dropped what he was doing, he ran downstairs. Ran up and down the shore and he said: a tidal wave is coming, a tsunami is coming, run for high ground, run, I know what this means, trust me, get out of here, screaming. And they looked at him wondering: what’s the matter with him? The wer--sunny day, placid water, didn’t look like there was any problem, which is what our problem is today.

People think that we are gonna get advanced notice—that notice is in the Word, friends. Jesus is telling you now that He’s coming again. And because of the warning of that man, not one person in his Resort perished. They heard his warning, they saw the urgency and they all said: hey this guy is telling us that he knows something that this is a sign and we better listen to him. And they headed up for higher ground and they were saved because of that.

Friends, I’m pleading with you. I hope you’ll not view this as just another meeting. I’m sincere when I say, I don’t know if I’m ever gonna have this opportunity again. We are so close to the end. At--that when I look at what’s happening in the headlines, when I--when I look at what’s happening in the world, when I look at what’s happening in the church, everything is pointing in the same direction that Jesus is coming soon. And He loves you desperately. And He wants you to be with Him. He wants you to be saved. He’s not gonna be late, He’s gonna come on time. (Audience says “Amen”)

I’d like to ask you tonight: “do you wanna be ready when Jesus comes”? (Audience answers “Yes”) Friends, those of you who are watching, I’m hoping that you are saying yes, you want to be ready when Jesus comes. I want to encourage you. Don’t let the devil do anything to keep you from these meetings. Jesus wants you to come that’s why you’re here tonight.

The devil doesn’t want you to come and He’ll try to distract you. If you make up you mind, “Lord by your grace, I’m gonna be there.” God will make a way for you to be here. Do everything you can to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and you will be blessed for it.

It’s only 20 nights. And if what I’m saying is true, friends, nothing is more important. If what I’m saying is true, nothing is more important than seeking first His kingdom. I hope you’ll bring your friends and enemies, and your family. (Audience laughs) You may have some friends—hopefully, our location is full here in Silver Springs, Maryland, but at your location we hope that if there’s room, bring your friends, it’s not too late, we just started. Matter of fact, if you were gonna miss a meeting should have missed this one because it just keeps getting better. The information we’re gonna share is so crucially important.

And before we close, I just like you here in the D.C. area and those who are watching, if you would like to say I believe Jesus is coming and I wanna be ready, let me see your hands. Amen, praise the Lord! Can I pray for you?

Father in heaven, we’re so thankful for the Word that you’ve given us and the message in your Word that Jesus is coming soon. Lord, we know that you want us to be ready and we want to cooperate. I pray that during the time of this seminar that we will all do everything we can to come and to see, to hear the Word. And I pray that we’ll be transformed by it.

Lord, I pray that You will move the mountains and part the sea, whatever that you need to do to make it possible for people to tune in to this seminar that we might be in touch with our friends and neighbors and bring them, that their lives might be transformed as well. Pour out your Spirit, Lord, and I pray you’ll do something during this series where many will be in the kingdom, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.