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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory. And while it's true, Matthew 24:36 says, No man knows the day or the hour of Christ's return, as we're going to see in Jesus' words today, we are still to be observant of the signs around us that are pointing to his soon and certain return. And we are to live our lives in light of his coming. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr.
Robert Jeffers. When Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples assumed that he would return shortly after. But 2,000 years later, we're still waiting for Jesus to appear. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress looks at three biblical signals of Christ's return and considers the implications for our lives.
But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Just before we get started, I'm inviting you to join me and Amy on the 2027 Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul, Mediterranean Cruise. One of the things I want you to know about this vacation is that we've been very intentional about how we've planned it. The dates are May 14th through the 23rd, 2027, and we've struck the right balance between meaningful exploration and genuine downtime.
We'll walk ancient Thessaloniki and Ephesus, sail to Santorini and Mykonos, and open God's Word together every single day. And since the best cabins fill up fast, now's the ideal time to reserve your spot and choose the accommodations that are right. for you. All the details are at ptv.org. And then, time is running short to request the exclusive book we published for you at Pathway to Victory.
It's not a long book. It's more like a personal journal. My book is called Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. And it's the perfect thing to place in the hands of a child or grandchild you love. A little inheritance of faith they'll carry long after you're gone.
I'd be glad to send you a copy to your home when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.
Okay, let's turn in our Bibles to Luke chapter 17. Luke was a doctor, and he offers tremendous detail about the life and ministry of Jesus. I titled today's message, Signs of the Times. I have a friend who has a saying. He says to a hammer.
Everything looks like a nail. And I know what he's saying. All of us tend to look at circumstances in our life or in the world through a unique set of lens. A lens that has been crafted by our own personal experience and perhaps by our own theology. To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
To those of us who believe what the Bible says about the return of Jesus Christ and the events that will precede that return, well, That determines how we look at world events. To a premillennialist, every world event looks like a sign of the second coming of Jesus. And while it's true, Matthew 24:36 says, no man knows the day or the hour of Christ's return. As we're going to see in Jesus' words today, we are still to be observant of the signs around us. That are pointing to his soon and certain return.
And we are to live our lives in light of his coming. That's the theme of the passage we're going to look at today. If you have your Bibles, turn to Luke chapter 17 as we talk about the signs of the times. And in verses 1 through 19, you find five simple exhortations of how we should be living our lives in these last days. First of all, he says we are to be careful.
Careful in how we live. Look at verses one and two. And Jesus said to his disciples: It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come. But woe to him through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
In light of Christ returned, secondly, Jesus says, be forgiving. Look at verses three and four. Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, saying, I repent.
Forgive him. Why are we to forgive? Certainly because of what it does for us. You know, unforgiveness, bitterness is like an acid. The only thing that damages is the container in which it's found.
But an even greater reason to forgive is God conditions his forgiveness. Of us. on our willingness to forgive others. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6, 14 and 15? For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But If you do not forgive men. Then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. It doesn't get much plainer than that, does it? Jesus says, be forgiving. Thirdly, he says, be believing.
Look at verses 5 and 6. And the apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you have had a faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and be planted in the sea, and it would obey you. A lot of people think that the key to effective faith is having a lot of it. But you know what the key is to effective praying?
It's not the quantity of faith, it's the object of your faith. You know, Jesus said, it doesn't matter how much faith you have. You can have faith so small, it's like one of the tiniest seeds in nature, the mustard seed. But if you have just a tiny sliver of faith, And it's placed in the right thing, the will of God. You can move mountains.
You can uproot trees. Be believing in these last days, Jesus says. Fourth, be obedient.
Now these verses They're very unusual. Look at verses 7 to 10. But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, Come immediately and sit down to eat? But we'll He not say to him instead, slave, prepare something for me to eat. and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I've eaten and drunk and afterwards you will eat and drink.
The master doesn't thank the slave because he did the things which are commanded, does he?
So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, We are unworthy slaves. We have only done that which we ought to have done. I read a number of commentators this week who said, oh, these verses are so hard to understand. They're not hard to understand at all. They're just hard to accept.
What Jesus is saying is, just as a master doesn't reward a slave for doing what he's supposed to do, don't expect some big reward from God simply for doing what he's commanded you to do. That's what slaves do. They obey their masters. Be obedient. And finally, he says, be grateful.
Be grateful. Down. There's a story in verses 11 to 19. This is not a parable, it's an actual occurrence. As Jesus and his disciples were making their way to Jerusalem, they were approached by ten lepers.
who cried out to Jesus, Lord, heal us. And so Jesus said, You go to the And tell him, in Jerusalem, you've been healed. And so obediently they went to the priest, and as they walked to the priest, They were immediately healed. But only one of those ten who was healed returned and came back to Jesus to thank him. Look at verses 17 to 19.
And Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten who were cleansed? But the nine, where are they? Was no one found who would give glory to God except this foreigner, this Samaritan? And Jesus said to him, Arise and go your way, for faith has made you well. Did you know God?
appreciates our appreciation. In Philippians 4, verse 6, I love this in the living Bible. Paul says, don't worry about anything, instead, pray about everything. Tell God your needs. And don't forget to thank him.
for his answers. God revels in our gratitude.
Now, these five exhortations we looked at are good for any time, for any Christian. But they're especially useful and important in light of Christ's returns. And that is what verse 20 turns our attention to: the end time events that will precede the return of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 20.
Now, having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming. He answered them and said, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is, there it is, for behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. Jesus basically said, wake up dummies. That's in the original text. Wake up, dummies.
The kingdom of God isn't coming with lightning and thunder and so forth. The kingdom of God is here. Right now, in your midst. Jesus was saying, the kingdom of God is right here, standing in front of you. I am the kingdom.
And yet the Jews rejected him at that time. Doesn't mean the kingdom of God was canceled, it was just postponed. And Jesus said, When I come again, there'll be all kinds of signs. Look at verses 24 and 25. He talks about his return.
For just as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first, Before he can come again, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And then Jesus gives us an outline of the end time events. And he does it again in Luke chapter 21. Let me walk you through this real quickly on this chart and answer a question I imagine many of you have.
Notice on your chart there, it begins with the cross. That is the crucifixion of Christ that brought about our redemption. And right now, we're living in that period of time called the church age, or as Jesus called it, the time of the Gentiles. This is the period of time when God has temporarily set aside Israel because of her rejection of Christ and allowed people like you and me, Gentiles, to be a part of. The kingdom.
Paul talks about this in Romans 11, 25, for I don't want you to be uninformed, brethren, unless you be wise in your own estimation that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. We're living in that time. God's not finished with Israel. He has one final time period to deal with them. The end of the church age will be the rapture of the church, 1 Thessalonians 4, when we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
This is not the second coming. Christ doesn't come to earth. We meet Him in the air. And once the rapture has occurred, the final seven years of Earth's history, the Great Tribulation, begins. And that time of tribulation.
For seven years is a time in which God will not only pour out his wrath on unbelievers, but it's a time when Israel will be given one last chance to accept Christ as her Messiah. Many Jews as well as Gentiles will be saved in spite of the horrible persecution of Christians during that time. That seven-year tribulation will climax with the war of Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ. When he returns, Revelation chapter 19, establishes his kingdom for a thousand years on the earth, Revelation chapter 20. And after that thousand-year reign of Christ, the final judgment, the great white throne judgment, the destruction of the present heaven and earth, and the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21 and 22.
Now, that's Bible prophecy in five minutes or less.
Now, here's the question I want to answer that you may be asking. People say, well, why is it here in Luke chapter 17, later in Luke 21, Matthew 24 and 25, whenever people ask Jesus, Lord, what shall be the sign of your coming in the end of the age? Jesus never mentioned the rapture. Why is that? Did you not know about it?
Did he not believe in it? It's always starting with tribulation and the second coming and the judgments. Why doesn't he talk about the rapture? Because the raptures for the church. And Paul said the idea of a church age when Israel would be temporarily set aside.
is a mystery that was given to Paul to reveal. That's what he says in Ephesians chapter 3. I was the one chosen to reveal this idea of a church, a pause in God's plan with Israel. It only makes sense if Paul is the one who was given the mystery of the church, it would be Paul who was given the task of explaining the end of the church age, which would be the rapture. Jesus was talking to Jews.
They were asking him, Lord, what shall be the sign of your coming? He said, Well, First, it's going to be the wars and rumors of wars. Matthew 24, a time of great tribulation. There'll be flashes in the sky, and then will come about the coming of the Son of Man, just as it was in the days of Noah. And then will come the judgments.
In fact, he talks about those judgments that will come with the second coming in verses 26. Of Luke 17. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man, verses 35 and 36. There will be two women grinding at the same place. One will be taken, and the other will be left.
Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other will be left.
Somebody say, oh, well, there's the rapture. One is taken away to heaven and one is left. No, the one who is taken is taken into judgment. The other who is left, this is the second coming, is left to enter into the kingdom of God. Say, I don't see that there.
Well, over in Matthew 24, 39, Jesus said the same thing. He said, For as it was in the days of Noah, it will be when the Son of Man returns. For they were eating, drinking, and making merry until the flood came and took them all away.
So shall it be. Two men shall be in the field, one shall be taught. taken the other left. Two in a bed, one shall be taken. The people who are taken are taken into judgment.
Just as the flood came, same word, and took them off. All away. That was the end times that Jesus portrayed to his disciples.
Now, what does that mean to us today? In Luke 21, 28, Jesus said, But when these things begin to take place, Straighten up. Lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. No, you can't know the exact day, but when you see these things beginning to occur that are signaling my second coming, Pay attention. Straighten up.
Because your redemption, your full redemption is about to occur. Let me suggest in closing today Three specific applications of what world events may be signaling to us today. I want you to write these down. First of all, as we look at everything that is happening in the world, it ought to center our attention. on Israel.
It ought to center our attention on Israel, the final world conflict. Regardless of what you hear in the news, it is not going to be with China, it's not going to have to do with Russia or North Korea or Iran. They may be subsidiary players in this, but the final world conflict will deal with Israel. Don't you find it amazing when you look at history? That so much conflict has been over this tiny sliver of land in the Middle East.
It's only 200 miles long, 90 miles wide. Why in the world do people care so much about that little inconsequential land called Israel? I mean, why is it? That Adolf Hitler was determined to exterminate six million Jews from the face of the earth. How do you explain the fact that after the Seven-Day War in 1967?
Eight heads of Arab states gathered together for the agreement, the Khartoum Agreement, and they said together, they said, there are going to be three nodes that guide our Middle East. policy for Arabs. No recognition of Israel. no peace with Israel and no negotiations with Israel. How's that for pursuing peace?
That is what governs their policy today. How do you explain that? How do you explain the fact? That is different as the Muslims in Iran are from the Muslims in Saudi Arabia. They are at each other's throats, but they are united in one purpose, and that is that every Jew ought to be exterminated from the face of the earth.
Why do they believe that? Why are they so opposed to Israel? Listen. Israel is God's chosen nation. The Jews are God's chosen people.
They are the object lesson of God's faithfulness to the world. And those who are opposed to Israel are opposed to God Himself. And that's why the final world conflict is going to be centered on Israel. The second thing that current events inform us about is this, and that is they illustrate how a regional conflict. could escalate quickly into a world war.
They illustrate how a regional conflict could escalate into a world war. You know, people say, well, there's always been trouble in the Middle East. It goes back thousands of years until the beginning with the conflict between Ishmael and Isaac. I mean, this is nothing new.
Well Two words make this time different than any other time in history. You know what the two words are? Nuclear weapons. They haven't existed before. Everybody hasn't had them before.
But Iran is developing them. Russia has them. Israel has them. We have them. It doesn't take much imagination to picture what would happen if Iran launched a nuclear warhead at Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.
Does anybody Wonder what the response would be? Does anybody wonder how Iran would respond if Israel engaged in a preemptive strike against Iran? What would be just a spark in other days in another region of the world, that spark could quickly become a flame that engulfed the entire world. That's why what's happening today is different. And third, I believe that today's Current events.
are preparing the way. for the Antichrist. I think everything we are witnessing right now. All of these events are preparing the world for the acceptance of the Antichrist. The Bible says the event.
That will begin the final seven years of tribulation before the return of Christ will be that this world dictator will sign a peace treaty with Israel. I think it will happen like this. As I read all of the scripture and try to synthesize it, I believe there is going to be some great challenges. Cataclysmic world event that will coincide with the rapture of the church. I mean, how else is the world going to explain suddenly the disappearance of millions of Christians from all over the earth?
I think it will coincide with some cataclysmic world event that will plunge the world into economic and geopolitical chaos. And there will be such consternation over all of these events that the world in unison will follow the lead of somebody who says, I have the answer to peace, and it will be the Antichrist. And so they will follow him. And the first three and a half years, Daniel 9 says, of the Great Tribulation, will be relatively peaceful. But at the end of that first three and a half years, the Antichrist will break his peace covenant with Israel and will plunge the world into that final three and a half year period of the great tribulation that will end with the return of Jesus Christ.
I believe what you're seeing right now. Is in some way paving the way for that final seven-year period. What should be our response? As we see these things beginning to transpire. We don't respond with panic.
We don't have to respond with fear, but Jesus says we should respond. with obedience. The Apostle Peter said it this way. In 2 Peter chapter 3. Seeing that all of these things are to be destroyed in this way.
What sort of people ought you to be? in holy conduct and godliness. Looking for and hastening. the coming day of God. Are you ready?
Are we truly prepared for the coming day of God? That's the lingering question that brings all of us to a point of decision today. including me. And it's why understanding God's timeline for the future matters so much. This isn't idle speculation, it's preparation.
Jesus told us to watch for the signs so that we would be ready for His return.
Well, this is the urgent message that Pathway to Victory is delivered consistently and without interruption since 1996. Back then, Pathway to Victory was just a fledgling media ministry. Since then, the cultural confusion has intensified and the world feels more uncertain. But our teaching based on God's Word is timeless. For these reasons and more, I've written a brand new book for you.
It was inspired by my 70th birthday. This exclusive hardbound book from Pathway to Victory reads more like a personal journal than a book. Because it includes seven honest lessons the Lord has taught me across a lifetime, wrapped around a few cherished photographs as well. And every page is rooted in Scripture. It's called Seven Lessons from My Seventy Years.
In it I open up about my parents, my calling, and the truths that have anchored me. lessons I long to pass on to you. And I'll send it to your home as my thank you when you give a generous 30th anniversary gift. Thank you so much. Your partnership keeps this timeless truth on radio, television.
Television, the internet, and all the other digital platforms that we didn't have back in 1996. Again, my book is called Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. And here's David to give you our contact information. Today when you give a generous gift to support the Ministry of Pathway to Victory, You're invited to request Dr. Jeffress's brand new book, Seven Lessons from My 70 Years.
Call 866-999-2965, visit ptv.org, or text ptv to 78800. And in celebration of 30 years of ministry, we've gathered Dr. Jeffress's most requested messages from the past three decades into a complete teaching series. It's called Truth You Can Trust. And we'll send it your way on DVD video and MP3 format audio disc as a thank you for your especially generous gift of $75 or more.
One more time, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like. P.O. Box 223-609-Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's P.O.
Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. Is there such a thing as a sin that God will never forgive? Find out the answer to that question next time in a message titled Seven Words That Will Change Your Life.
That's Friday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible.
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Now, you've heard me and Dr. Jeffers talk about this Bible conference at sea. And cabins, well, they're going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful celebrity Infiniti sailing round trip from Athens.
Now, each day you'll gather for biblical teaching, worship, and fellowship. and then you'll step ashore to stand where Paul stood in Ephesus, and walk the streets of Thessaloniki, where his letters still speak to the church to-day. Nine unforgettable nights with more biblical destinations along the way. Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of, plus the joy of traveling with like-minded believers. There's also an optional pre-cruise extension in Athens.
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