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If Jesus Christ were to come back tonight at 10 p.m., What would you do? 866-348-7884. 866-348-7884. We want your calls. You know, when I was thinking about this, I was looking at the parable of the ten virgins, and this is what it says in Matthew chapter 25, verse 1.
It says, at that time, The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish. And five of them are wise. The foolish ones took their lamps, but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.
The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight the cry rang out, Here's the bridegroom come out to meet him Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish one said to the wise, Give us some of your oil. Our lamps are going out. No, they replied.
there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy buy some for yourselves. but while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later the others also came.
Lord, Lord, they said, open the door for us. but he replied, Truly I tell you, I don't know you. Therefore watch, keep watch. Because you do not know the The day or the hour. And we've got a Joanne out of Miami, Florida.
Are you there, Joanne? I'm here. What would you do? if you knew that Jesus was coming back at ten PM tonight. We've got five hours and 52 minutes.
Go ahead. I would be winning souls. I would be telling everyone that I would come in contact and just like on the streets, Like they have that sign that says Jesus is coming, repent. I would be making flyers, even find someone who had an airplane. I'd have.
Thousands and thousands upon thousands of uh flyers and throw out Throw them out and how to get saved and come to the knowledge of God's for his salvation. and repentance. I spent all I had. I would spread the word from the beach to the inner city and then call and text all my family members. who say they are Are they believers, but their fruit is not there?
And I would say if you is not in them, and they have turned away from God. Need to come back. They need to make a choice in their lives. who they will serve, the Lord or the world? You can't have both.
I would be spending my last moments before ten ten o'clock PM Saving a soul. Of whatever I had to do, and then I would patiently wait for the sound of the trumpets sounding. And go hither, and meet the Lord in the clouds. as if I would have to serve with gladness. and he would say, Welcome my faithful servant in my presence.
Well, I tell you what, that's a pretty good thing to do, Joanne. Let me ask you this: how different? Would your day be like from now until 10 p.m. And by the way, now you've got five hours and 50 minutes. How would your day be different between now and then versus any other day that you normally live for the Lord?
Yeah. Um I would be praying. doing things that I ordinarily do. but mostly in reading his word. Um you know, uh praising them.
Thanking him. for everything that he has done in my life. And um you know, just uh giving him more and more um of myself. my relationship with him.
Well, Joanne, I want to thank you for the call. We've got a Bucksman out of Dayton, Ohio. Bucksman, you've got five hours and 49 minutes. If Jesus Christ, if you knew that he was coming back tonight at 10 p.m., what would you do?
Okay. Exactly what Sister Joanne talked about, Michael. I do that right now. I just left our mall in Dayton, Ohio. And I just want to give a wonderful, godly high five to some Cedarville University students.
Inside this mall, Michael. that were ministering the truth of God's word To three young folks.
Now, to me, Michael, they're all young.
So we had these students, and then we had these young men that was about these students' age. And Michael, my heart just leapt. Brother, when I saw these three young men from Cedarville University sharing the truth of God's word. To these three guys about their same age, and I monitored them because I'm very biblically scholardered. And everything that they said, Michael, was spot on.
So after the three missionaries left, yes, we need missionaries here in Ohio. We need them in all 50 states, ladies and gentlemen. And just what Michael's talking about. He could come back in two hours. He's Michael's been blessing enough to give us, you know, all the way until 10 o'clock.
We have, ladies and gentlemen, we have to be at our father's business. We do not know when he's going to show up. I mean, Michael's being great saying, hey, we've got X amount.
Well, that means, Michael, I can go get something to eat. It's four o'clock my time, 410 my time here on True Talk Live in. On the Truth Network here in the eastern half of the United States. And, brother, I would honestly, my sin. Flesh, Michael would say, You know what, Bussman, you got six hours.
You know, go enjoy this, sad, or the other. Forget about ministering Christ, like Joanne says. Just go enjoy it. Get your last bit. Try to get a trip to Hawaii because you've never been to Hawaii before he comes back.
I mean, let's be honest with ourselves, Michael. That's what our flesh would want us to do. But the Bible teaches us to deny our flesh, doesn't it? And what is the best way to? Seriously, seriously.
Worship God? Through our Lord Jesus Christ, do what Jesus did when he was on the planet in the first century. That's what would be the most wonderful. Could you imagine? I mean, if he did show up, Michael, at ten p.m.
and all of us, everybody in the sound of this radio station's voice We were all doing what those kids from Cedarville University were doing. We were all ministering to people who didn't know Christ yet. And I am not kidding you, brother. My hat. is tipped to those kids from Cedarville University because I walked up on them, Michael, I listened to their statements that they were making to these three young guys, and they were all spot on because I was like, okay, Busk, If something's off.
It's your job because Timothy was told this by his mentor Paul to go and correct it so that what's going into those guys' ears is correct doctrine. And let me tell you, Michael, I'm so glad. I mean, I'm clapping right now inside the bus mobile. For those three young men from Cedarville. Or maybe it was four, rather.
That correctly ministered, told them about sin, did not shrink back on the fact that there is an eternity that they should be afraid of and concerned about. and Brother Michael and everybody listening to Truth Talk Live. those all of those men embraced There was handshakes. There was. Good solid manhubs because they were all male, and my heart leapt, Michael, watching.
So, after the missionaries left, these three gentlemen, these young guys. I went up and the first thing I did was call all their eyes. In the mall. And I said, everything that those men told you is absolutely true. And I paused like that to let the Holy Spirit work on what just come out of my throat, out of my heart, out of my bellies of living water into those men.
I just got to water seconds, just seconds, Michael. What those three young men did from Cedarville to those men. And let me tell you something. I got to give them the 56-year-old Christian testimony in about maybe a minute, Michael.
Well, I want to thank you for the call. I appreciate it. We're going to a break. 866-348-7884-866-34 Truth. Matthew 24:42.
Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord does come. We want your calls. What would you do if you knew that Jesus was coming back at 10 p.m. tonight? We'll be right back after these messages.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. All right, guys, this is Michael Zwick back with Truth Talk Live. What would you do? If you knew that Jesus Christ We're coming back tonight. At 10 p.m., and you've got five hours and 41 minutes.
We've got a McCartney Green out of. Jonesboro, Georgia on the line. McCartney, what would you do? Hi, Mike.
Well, the very first thing I would do is I'd say, okay, if I knew he was coming at 10. He must have given me that message.
So I would be on my knees. In gratitude, thank you, Hume, for letting me know. That'd be the very first thing that I would do. And then, in all honesty. I would probably get in touch with every single person in my family, and that's a lot because I have seven children and eighteen grandchildren.
I would get in touch with every single one of them. You're like, okay, babies, what we've been talking about and what we've been planning for is about to happen. I've got this info. And uh Let's go there. And get everyone to go out and just tell as many people as possible.
I mean, I'm sure that's what all the rest of your callers have said. If you know, you tell. and get everybody ready the best as you can. You have five hours? Yeah.
That's not a lot of time, but you do what you can. And also, I heard a few people say that the flesh might want to. go do this one last time or go experience that. I I don't think anyone who who is Christian like I am, I don't think that's what you're thinking at all. I think you're saying, let's do this, let's do this, Lord.
I'm so grateful. That's pretty much it.
Well, I tell you what, you know, and I actually got introduced to you from somebody that I went to a conference with, and she said, Mike, she said, you've got to see this video that I saw online of McCartney Green. And you said that you were praying about it, and you said you felt there was a real sense of urgency within you that Jesus Christ is coming back soon. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah.
It's I think a lot of people feel that way. But yes, I did, and I did because of a dream that I've had a long time ago. Um yeah. Yeah. So what happened in the dream?
Yeah Well, in the dream, and I had it way, way back. It was a long time ago. It was before I even knew anything about a raptor. I didn't know anything about it. And I was I had this beautiful dream and It was I was standing on the side of a mountainside or a hillside and I was preaching.
I was telling people about Jesus and just trying to let them know he really is real. This guy is real. He exists. He's the son of God. He died on the cross for our sins.
He was resurrected. He ascended to heaven. He's real. This is not some fairy tale. And I was really desperate as I was preaching on the side of this mountain.
And then I looked down and there were some children And they were pushing little plastic Easter eggs with sticks, just pushing them around in the the crevices of the dirt, just playing with them. And I got the idea, I mean a knowing, not the idea, but it was a knowing. That the reason for the children with these Easter eggs was it was a time marker.
So this was. Going to happen shortly after Easter. And then the next thing that happened is a man called to me from the top of the mountain, from the top of the hill. He said, stop. Stop preaching about Jesus.
It's time to stop. There's no time left. You don't have any more time to tell anybody about Jesus. You need to come up here to the top of the mountain to start on the next part of your mission. And that's what I did.
And I could go on, there's more detail about when I get to the top of the mountain. The main thing is, is I didn't realize until this Easter, just after this Easter, that dream came back to me And I realized, wow, it was talking about after this Easter. That's just what I felt. You know, I have not. Had a big long fasting and prayer session where I said, Am I right?
Am I right? Is it just Easter? I haven't done that. But I had a strong feeling, a strong knowing that that dream that I had so many years ago, around 2010, approximately. that I had all those years ago was referring to this Easter.
Time is very, very short.
Well, I tell you this, McCartney, and I want to thank you for the call. There's a lot of people who have set dates, and there's a lot of people who have set times. And the Bible just said, and I just read this, that nobody knows the hour or the date, but there are people out there who do believe that we can get it pretty close. You know, people talk about the birthing pains, about how you can kind of get it close to when Jesus, when you think he's going to come back. But I think at the end of the day, nobody knows the exact day or the hour.
You know, we may not even know the exact season. We can get it pretty close if we believe that. Be ready at any time because James 4:14 says, Don't you know that your life is like a vapor or a mist, where you're literally here for a moment. And then you're gone.
So, yes, Jesus may or may not come back at 10 o'clock tonight. And by the way, if he does, you got five hours and 36 minutes. But whether he does or not, tomorrow is not promised. And so I want to thank you for the call, McCartney. And we've got a Manuel out of Burlington, North Carolina.
Are you there, Manuel? Yes, he is. All right, buddy. What would you do if you knew that Jesus was coming back tonight and we've got five hours and 25 minutes, 35 minutes? Yeah.
I always think about when Martin Luther was asked this question in the Reformation. He was asked: if Jesus was going to come back tonight, what would you do? And the answer was I would plant a tree. And I think that mentality is pretty helpful if you are someone who's saved by grace and you are living a life submitted to Christ. What I would do, I would simply do what I'm doing right now.
I'm preparing dinner with my wife. And then after that, I'm going to be leading a Bible study in the town of Elon. And then after that, I'm going to be sharing the gospel with a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, a guy named Brian, and I'm praying that God saves that man's soul. And I'm going to go home and I'm going to lay my head on the pillow and I'm going to go to sleep. That is my game plan for the foreseeable future if God comes back.
Uh at ten o'clock tonight.
Well, yeah, I do believe if some people out there, if they knew that Jesus were coming back, if they're living a carnal life and they're not living their lives for the Lord, there may be a little fear involved. What do you think? What do you know? Oh, absolutely. I mean, that's sort of the idea of the second coming.
It's this judgment day. And when Judgment Day comes, That is meant to strike fear into people to know what's going to be coming. If you are not living for Christ, the fear of Judgment Day, the fear of the coming of Christ is important to have because judgment will befall all evil. It is a comfort for us who are the Christian. We know that God will finally bring new heavens and new earth and new creation and resurrection.
And we're excited for that day. And those are the two reactions anyone should have. It should be great fear or great excitement, whether you're a Christian or not. Yeah, and so, you know, one of the things that a lot of people have talked about is evangelism. And a friend of ours named Fred Hagee, he always says this.
He said, I always thought that evangelism meant somebody else should do it. But Jesus told us, you, Manuel, me, everybody else who's a Christian, to go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel. What motivates you to get up every day and go out and share your faith, Manuel?
Well, number one, like you said, it's a command when it comes to repent and for the kingdom of God is at hand. I mean, it's when God commands us to do something and gives us the Holy Spirit. to carry it out as we're called to do. And specifically evangelism, the number one in Genesis it tells us that he created man to have dominion over this world, to be caring the caretakers of it, take dominion of it. And then he extends that in Matthew chapter twenty eight when it talks about the great mission of making disciples of all nations.
As has been made Father and the Son of the Holy Ghost. She did to observe. everything Christ has demanded us. because he's with us to the end of the age. And so, my motivation is obedience to Christ, excitement for his second coming.
And I also believe the gospel is going to be effective. I think wherever it goes, God is going to save who He will, who He has predestined according to His sovereign grace to be saved. And the one who predestines the ends, predestines the means. And so I think when there was 11 people on earth, when Jesus came back from the dead, there's been so many saved now, and we've still got a lot a way longer way to go. I want to mention this too.
Last night we had a missionary night, and there was a lady named Natalie. Who said that she's gonna be going to the 1040 window where there's a huge mass number of unreached people groups? And she's excited to go reach out to them to share the good news of Christ in the next couple of weeks. No, sorry, in next week to be exact. And I think with that call of the great commission, that is my motivator: that God has given us a mission and we're going to be successful at what He called us to do.
Awesome, and you're welcome to stay on the line if you have to go. That's fine too. 866-34 TRUTH, 866-348-7884. We'll be right back after this break. If Jesus were coming back tonight at 10 p.m., what would you do?
Truth talk lie. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. All right, 866-34 TRUTH, 866-348-7884. If Jesus We're coming back tonight. What would you do?
You know, one of the things when I talked to some of my friends before this show that really kind of got me excited, are you still there, Manuel? Yes, sir. Yeah. One of the things that really got me excited was a lot of my friends were saying, I would be excited to see him. I'm looking forward to seeing him.
And it was something that kind of got me excited because I sat there and I said, yes, that is the right attitude to have. But man, well, there's also some people, according to 2 Peter chapter 3, it says in verse 4, it says, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning. And it says, Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heaven and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment.
So, one of the biggest things that I hear is this. Is people saying, Where is this promise of his coming? And they'll tell me things like, Well, there was a book that was written, 88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1988. There have been so many times over history, the Millerite movement back in the 1800s, people literally set a day in October of 1800 and whatever. Jesus was coming back.
They sold everything that they had because they were sure. that Jesus was coming back. At this time. And so I think there's some people, Manuel, who say, you know what? I'm not even thinking about it.
I'm not even worrying about it. It's like the boy who cried wolf. How would you respond to them?
Well, something to remind them that there is an Old Testament and people that just after the Old Testament were thinking the same exact thing before the first coming of Christ. I when it came to them waiting for the coming of the their Messiah, when will he arrive? Will he be this great hero? Will he be this suffering Messiah from the prophet Isaiah? And then he was finally came and all the people's uh criticisms and doubts were put to rest.
Or put to shame. That was kind of the idea that happened when Jesus first came onto the scene to bring about the kingdom of God on earth to make new creation for us. And so to the critic that's looking at that's looking at Christianity and wondering about the second coming of Christ. To that person, I'd simply say, do you believe Jesus? that's the biggest part.
Do you believe the resurrection? Um because How the New Testament writers looked at the resurrection of Christ was not so much as something that needed to be proven. In fact, the resurrection of Christ, according to the Apostle Paul, was the evidence for final judgment. And so that is the idea that if we believe the story of Jesus, we believe the apostles, we see how Christianity has changed the world. We're trusting that he is coming again to restore all things.
That is our confidence. And so when it comes to the different movements in the past that have tried to guess the date of Jesus. That I think I'm with the critic on that one. Those movements should be criticized. Those movements that fails to acknowledge the word of God in its own terms should be criticized.
But the actual books of scripture. they actually tell us about the excitement and joy or the panic and destruction that will come at the end of days. There will be a final judgment for those that deny Christ, and there will be a resurrection for those that are in Christ. And I think that's where we need to put our hope in, and not so much into people trying to guess the date of the next second coming. That's awesome.
And I want to thank you for the call, but I also want you to be able to share. You guys are part of an evangelism group that does evangelism to college students over at Elon University. And if people wanted to follow you guys online or if they wanted to donate or whatever they wanted to do, how would they find you? Yes, you can find this on crossexchange. org.
We are located in the town of Elon. I personally live in Gibsonville. My partner, he lives in Burlington. And the community we're outreaching to is the town and the University of Elon. But to donate to us, to find us, to get contact with us, we have a Facebook page, an Instagram page, and that's just called CrossExchange.
But to give or to learn more about our ministry is crossexchange.org. Cross X change all one word like that. I just wanted to make sure you got the X in there.
So thank you for the call, and I'm sure we'll talk to you soon. We'll be talking soon about Islam. I heard you've been studying it.
So. That sounds like fun, and I think your audience is going to have a great time with that one. All right. Thanks, buddy. Have a good day.
We've got a Mike Shreve out of Tennessee. What part of Tennessee are you from, Mike? I live in Cleveland, Tennessee, seven Pentecostal church headquarters in this town.
Okay, all right. And let me ask you: Isn't Perry Stone from Cleveland, Tennessee? Right, he's there in numerous evangelistic ministries. They have an old saying in Cleveland: if you meet a man on the street with a suit on, He's either a Pentecostal preacher or an insurance salesman that used to preach.
Well, I'm an insurance salesman, but I don't have my suit on today. But let me ask you this, Mike. If Jesus were to come back tonight at 10 p.m., what would you do? If I knew it in advance, you say? Yes, sir.
Is that what you mean? Yes, sir. Well, of course I I would spend the day In prayer, I'd spend the day Seeking him, but most importantly, I'd probably spend the majority of the day telling others. Uh and of course enduring the ridicule, but for their benefit. Telling them about it.
Yeah, and and I'm sure that's probably what you do anyways, right? Oh, well, yeah, my whole life is filled with sharing the gospel with other people. I've been involved in evangelism since 1970. During the Jesus Revolution, I was hitchhiking around the country preaching on college campuses. And I've never stopped since then.
Well, I tell you what, people are afraid to do evangelism, but I tell you what, it can be pretty exciting, especially when you see a lost, dying sinner who is going to hell, and all of a sudden you introduce them to Jesus Christ and it changes their life forever.
Well, that's what we live for. We've got. We've got two outreach websites. One's called thetruelight.net. It reaches out to Hindus, Buddhists, New Agers, Yoga Advocates.
And another one to Catholicswithlove. org that reaches out to share the born again experience with Catholics because I was raised Catholic.
So our whole life is my wife and my own. Our lives are all about sharing the love of Jesus with others. Uh and anticipating his coming. But I have a view about the second coming of the Lord. that may be a little different than some, but I feel it's biblically based.
Now what is that view, Mike?
Well, I believe in a post-tribulation catching away, or really catching up is the. more correct terminology. Because Paul said, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last Trump for the debt in price will rise, and we, which are alive and remain, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Never said we'd be caught away. But caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And then I believe we'll accompany him as he. Triumphantly enters this realm to set up the kingdom of God in fullness here. But uh i if I was to summarize my beliefs real quickly.
There's two key words. that I always share with people when we discuss this. And I I refuse to discuss it unless It's a peaceful interchange of ideas because it's a sacred event, the coming of the Lord. How wonderful is that? No matter.
no matter what a person's view is on the timing, it's the most wonderful thing every lover of God, every Christian could look forward to. But anyway, Uh the key words are First and last. And let me start out with the word last. Jesus said, All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and I will raise him up at the last day. There's no day beyond the last day.
And then in Revelation chapter 20. It talks about those that were martyred during the reign of the Antichrist, the Beast. And they were going to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. And the writer of Revelation said, This is the first. Resurrection.
Well, if the first resurrection contains people that have been martyred During the evil reign of the Antichrist, it cannot happen seven years prior. And that's I have many other reasons for believing in a post tribulation catching up of the believers. But the overwhelming emphasis of the Bible is not the disappearing of the saints, but the appearing of the Lord Jesus. And the Bible says, when he comes, every eye will see him. It won't be a secret return.
Every eye will see him. even those who pierced him. And all nations of the earth shall wail and mourn because of him. Um because they've rejected uh his rulership Yeah, and one of the things when you were talking that, talking about that, I was reminded that there were Christian missionaries who went to China, and they told the Chinese people before communism came in, they said, you don't have to worry because before it gets really bad, Jesus is going to come back. And so some people see that.
the pre-trib rapture as a form of escapism. What do you think? I tell people that the only Culture where the pre-trib rapture Is acceptable in presentation is the Western world. because we live in relative peace. But my dear friends in Nigeria that fear for their lives every Sunday, They're already going through tribulation, the hundreds that have been killed.
The North Koreans, the North Koreans that are immediately. imprisoned if they try to promote the gospel. And I used to preach in India quite a bit. And now you go to jail if you try to convert a Hindu. into Christianity.
Um or you can that if they prosecute you.
So, those folks are already going through some heavy tribulation. And this is another point, we don't really have time to go into it. But uh There is a huge difference between the word tribulation and the word wrath. Um And I do not believe God will pour out his quote unquote wrath on believers. But I do believe we're all going to go through tribulation.
These are they that came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation chapter 6. And Jesus himself told us: in the world you will have tribulation. And if the early church went through the horrendous persecution they went through, why would we be worthy of escaping it when they were exemplary in their discipleship commitment? And yet they suffered.
So I don't believe. That the argument God would never let his people go through suffering like that would. would be a sufficient Reason. And the number, we'll be right back. The number is 866-34TRUTH.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. What would you do if you knew that Jesus was coming back at 10 p.m. tonight? And while we were on the break, and you're still there, right, Mike? Yeah, I am.
Yeah, while we were at the break, I was thinking about this. How should we respond as Christians to persecution? You know, there's some people who believe that he could come back tonight. There's some people like yourself who believe, no, we're going to have to go through at least a portion of the tribulation before he comes back. And I believe there's a Bible verse about the Antichrist appearing first before he comes back.
But whenever it happens, we should always be ready and we should be living expectantly and with a sense of urgency. And here's the other thing, too: if for nothing else, let's say Jesus theoretically is coming back 500 years from now. All right. I think it's a lot sooner than that, but let's say it's 500 years from now. James 4:14 puts it like this: It says, Don't you know that your life is like a vapor?
You're here for a moment and then you're gone. We may be promised a lot of things, but one thing that we're not promised is tomorrow. And so, I want to have a sense of urgency with me because not only I may not be here tomorrow, but what about that person that I want to? The gospel with. You know, I was talking to a lady a couple of days ago, and she said that she had been praying for a guy and sharing the gospel with a guy who was in his 50s, and then all of a sudden she found out that he was dead.
What if you did not know that that person that you were afraid to share Jesus with was going to die tomorrow? But you know, also getting back to the issue of persecution, the Bible says in Acts chapter 5, verse 48, and it says, and then they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. You know, the Bible says in that verse, and in others, I believe, where Jesus talks about, that if you're persecuted for the name of Christ, that can actually be a good thing. What do you think, Mike?
Well, that was the last two of nine Beatitudes. A lot of people think there's only eight Beatitudes, but if you look at it closely, there's nine. And the the The eighth one says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. But then the ninth one is: Blessed are you when men shall persecute you for my name's sake.
And so, in some cases, it's because of the moral standards, the spiritual standards that we hold. that we're persecuted, but sometimes it's just because we're associated with Jesus. But the word blessed means happy, supremely happy, enriched with benefits, spiritually prosperous, highly favored of God. And so no wonder he said, when you're persecuted, leap for joy. because great is your reward in heaven.
And uh I've had people fight me through the years through my Because of the ministry, and I've said, Thank you so much. And they say, Why? I said, Because you're increasing my reward in heaven. Yeah, well, you know, my wife, my wife sent me a picture earlier, Mike. It was from Andy Griffith.
And Opie asked his dad, he said, Paul, when is Jesus coming back? And Andy Griffith says, I don't rightly know, Opie. You see, we're not on the planning committee, we're on the welcoming committee. And so that we're supposed to look forward to the return of Christ. And I tell you, one thing that can kind of hinder that is that if we're living in sin, if we're not living the way that the Lord has us to be living, then some of us may fear the return of Christ.
The Bible says that, don't you know that your life is like a vapor? But it also says that wide is the gate that leads to destruction and many go therein. And it says that narrow is the path that leads to righteousness or to heaven, and very few find it. Yeah. You know, so if you're sleeping with your girlfriend and you're not married, either get married or break up with her.
If you're gambling every day or you're drinking yourself to death, stop doing it. Jesus put it like this, Mike. He said, if your hand causes you to sin, he says, cut it off. He said, it's better for you to go through your life with one of your hands than to have both of your hands and to be thrown in to the fire of hell. He said, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck out your eye.
It's better for you to have one of your eyes than to have both of your eyes and to be thrown into the fire of hell. You know, a lot of people would say, oh, I'm not living right. I need to get right. But what the Lord says, I believe it's in Matthew 24. He says, if the thief knew, I'm sorry, if the homeowner knew when the thief was coming, he would have been there.
He says, but when the Lord is coming back, you don't know the exact day or the hour or whatever. Yes, we may have the season, but we don't know exactly. When he's coming back.
So we have to live with a sense of urgency. You know, Mike, and I don't know if people have told you this, but over the years, people have said, Mike, why are you always talking about Jesus? Why are you always sharing your faith? Why are you always doing this stuff? And I actually had somebody tell me, Mike, they said, if you won't do it, somebody else will.
And to me, that is the exact opposite of what I believe. How about you? Uh well The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. That's what Edmund Burke said, and that's one of my favorite quotes. that too often There's an old saying that a person is good for nothing.
And I said, too often there's a lot of good people. In the body of Christ that are good. for nothing in a sense because They never witness, they never share. They never tell people about Jesus or try to win the loss and for numerous reasons. They may feel incapable or intimidated or for some other reason.
But we've got to override our own fears and our own A sense of inadequacy and just do it because we've been given the charge. And if we don't do it, who will? If not now, then when? Amen. Hey, there's one scripture I'd like to emphasize, Michael, if I got a point and if I got a moment.
You do. And that's Second Timothy chapter four, verse eight, I believe it is. Where uh where Paul said concerning running the race. He said, I've run the race, I've kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day.
And not to me only. but to all that love his appearing. And I've always gone by the belief that pre-tribulation rapture Christians. love his appearing. They love the thought of Jesus coming back again.
Even though I don't see it the way they see it, I identify with the love they have for Jesus and the love they have for his return. Mid-tribulation rapture people and pre-wrath rapture people and those who, as I do, embrace a post-tribulation view. I love the thought of Jesus coming back again and setting this world In its correct and perfected and beautiful paradise-like state. And so we all love the same thing, and we're all going to receive a crown of righteousness. And so we can discuss these things, but that's the bottom Most issue.
That's the foundational issue: whether or not. We're looking forward to his return. Yeah, we should be looking forward to his return. And in addition to that, we should be loving each other. You know, the Bible says, I believe it's in 1 John, it says, How can you say that I love God when you hate your brother?
You know, one of the things that Jesus said that I take very seriously, he said, if you forgive other people when they sin against you, he said, your heavenly father will forgive you. He says, if you do not forgive others when they sin against you, he says, your heavenly father will not forgive you.
Well, some people say, well, you know, he didn't really mean that. He spoke very plainly, Mike, when he said that. And when he tells us that we need to forgive somebody, because now we've got five hours and three minutes before Jesus comes back at 10 p.m. tonight, I'm going to go ahead and forgive those who have done me wrong. And if for no other reason, because I know how much the Lord has forgiven me of.
How about you? Uh Oh yeah. Uh forgiveness is uh essential part. Of the gospel. And in order to give it, we in order to receive it, rather, we must give it away to others.
Absolutely. And I've heard that unforgiveness is like taking poison and hoping that the other person will die. You know, it's like we think that it's going to hurt the other person when we're angry at them. But you know what I've learned over the years, Mike? A lot of times when I'm angry at somebody else or when I refuse to forgive somebody else, they've forgotten all about it.
They're not even thinking about it.
So the truth is, is the person that it really affects is me. And so I'm sure you've seen with your deliverance ministry and your healing ministry is that when somebody finally decides to forgive that person who has done them wrong, they can not only receive healing, physical healing, emotional healing, mental healing, spiritual healing, but they can also receive deliverance as well. Is that right? That's absolutely right. And if we had time, I could give you some personal testimonies on that.
You know, one scripture you referenced, and I think it's an important one, is Second Thessalonians chapter two. This says, Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come. It says, Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord, our gathering together to him, do not be soon shaken in mind or trouble, either by spirit or by word or by letter or from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come shall not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
So this enterchrist figure must be Must be at a state of worldly influence or worldwide influence. Before the translation of the living believers and the resurrection of the dead takes place. That passage of scripture is very clear. That's right. And so let me ask you, Mike, if people want to check out your ministry, how would they find it out?
Well, I did a teaching on this this week, and I covered some points we haven't covered today. And that's on my podcast, Revealing the True Light, and they can find that on Spotify, or they could go to our YouTube site, youtube.com slash Mike Shreve Ministries. Also, I've got a website, tradeministries.org. And the other two that I mentioned, the true light.net. Uh That's it.
