Praise the Lord. We are thankful once again that the family could gather together. It is always quite a reunion each year. I am praying that this coming year, our reunion will be elsewhere—hopefully in the clouds. Praise the Lord. Amen.
As we come together tonight, it is our heart that, as we share, we give some sense of what the Lord wants to say—some direction for the conference, something that is on the Lord’s heart that will set the course and the tone for the conference.
I had an interesting experience today. I was at a Wawa gas station, and it is amazing how the Lord can touch you. As I got out of the truck to fuel it up, there was this song playing. They play music over the speakers. I guess they do not want you to pay much attention to how fast that meter is clicking, and how about forty dollars’ worth of gas is going into what used to be twenty.
They were playing the music, and I got out, and it said, “Sending an SOS. Sending an SOS. Sending an SOS.” It went on ten times: “Sending an SOS.” I said, “Well, when are they going to tell us what this SOS is?” This was music playing. I did not know such music, but anyway, I thought after ten times they would finally at least say something about what this SOS was. You know, SOS is a warning signal that goes out, and I wanted to know.
But it kept on: “Sending an SOS,” the whole song. There was one line: “Sending an SOS.” I said, “Well, what in the world does this mean?” Then I got to thinking about it.
I said, “Well, if you are sending an SOS, what you are really looking for is someone to respond to that SOS. It is not that you are necessarily going to have time to tell someone what is going on. Just respond. Just come. Just respond. Something is happening. You need to respond.”
Then the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Jerry, that is what tonight is about. I am sending an SOS—an SOS not from man, not from me, but from God, from God’s throne. An SOS.”
And I said, “Yes, Lord, indeed, it is time that we receive the SOS, that we respond.” I know what the SOS message says now. It says, “The time is at hand.”
“The time is at hand” is the theme for our conference. In Revelation 1:1, when the Lord Jesus determined to give us what is to wrap up this age, He gives us the book of Revelation. In the very beginning, He said that this is what God gave to show to His bondservants, for the time is at hand.
Brothers and sisters, this was not a message that came from the apostle John, but a message that came from God Himself, from the Lord Himself. That SOS went out over two thousand years ago: “The time is at hand.” If two thousand years ago the time was at hand, and that message came from God Himself, how much more is the time at hand today? It has to be extremely close.
It is interesting: at the end of the book of Revelation, the angel speaks, and the angel tells John from the Lord, “Do not seal up what is in this book, for the time is at hand.” At the very last, the Lord gives us this message:
Behold, I come quickly.
Now, some of us may want to say, “Well, if it was two thousand years ago that the Lord said, ‘I come quickly,’ how could it be two thousand years?” Let me say this much to you: if the Lord said to those saints two thousand years ago, “I come quickly,” He intended them to live their lives like He was coming quickly.
He intended them to know that they needed to be in the spirit of rapture, that His coming soon was just around the corner. They could not live their lives as they chose, but had to be truly His disciples in Jesus Christ.
The SOS message is: the time is at hand. Brothers and sisters, a dramatic, revolutionary change is about to take place on this earth. Very soon now, the Lord Jesus Christ will come back. He will reign on this earth for one thousand years.
That is not going to happen many, many years from now, brothers and sisters. I happen to believe that if we are in the spirit of rapture, we have the sense that this could very easily happen in our lifetime, before we even pass away—even in my lifetime. The chain of events that will trigger His return could even happen this very night: the rapture of some of His saints.
Brothers and sisters, a dramatic event in the history of man will soon take place. Calvary was a great, tremendous turning point in the history of mankind, but it was for a purpose. Calvary does not stand by itself. It has a real purpose: that God might have the kingdom He intended to have from the very beginning, for His Son to reign and rule over this creation and this man whom He has made. Praise the Lord. The event will be very soon.
How do we know that that is the event of which the Lord is speaking? Well, in Revelation 1, He says:
Behold, He cometh with the clouds;
and every eye shall see Him.
It is important, brothers and sisters, that we understand the time in which we live. If we do not understand the hour, the time in which we live, we will not be ready. We will not be prepared. I think this is the SOS: we have to be ready; we have to be prepared.
Brothers and sisters, particularly you young brothers and sisters, if you are going to take a test, you cannot expect not to prepare and get a good grade. If you are going on a vacation, if you do not prepare ahead of time, what will happen? Vacation will most likely be a mess. If you are going to get a new job or go for a job interview, do you not prepare ahead of time?
Our preparation makes all the difference in how we will respond. It makes all the difference, brothers and sisters, in being prepared for what is about to happen. So our Lord Jesus wants us to prepare.
Our response to this SOS message, and how we respond to it in His grace, will eventually determine our place in the kingdom. This kingdom age will last for one thousand years. If we are passive, indifferent, lethargic, and do not understand the time, we may not be ready. We may be disqualified from reigning and ruling with Christ during those one thousand years.
I believe there is an Old Testament event in the life of David that is very prophetic of the hour in which we live and of what we have gathered at this conference for. In 1 Chronicles 12:32, it says that the sons of Issachar had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.
Of the children of Issachar, men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.
They understood the hour in which they were living, and they knew what they ought to do. What did they understand? They understood that Saul’s kingdom was about to end. They sensed that Saul was not the true man God was after, and they also sensed that David was the king who was really after God’s heart.
What did they do because they understood that the time was about to change? It says that they came armed for war to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul over to the kingdom of David. They came armed, prepared, ready, to turn this kingdom from Saul to David.
Brothers and sisters, we live in an hour when the King is coming. He is looking for a vanguard—those who will come to Him, those who will be prepared and ready for war, if necessary, to bring in the King and to turn the kingdom of this world over to Christ. That is the hour in which we live. Our desire is to be a part of that vanguard.
We need to understand that this age of grace, this church age in which we live, is about to end. We are about to come into the kingdom age. The events preceding that will be the rapture, and then Christ’s return to set up His kingdom on this earth.
It is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. In the Bible, that is one thousand years, and it says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” He is speaking to saints there, brothers and sisters—a blessing to be able to reign and share in the rule with Christ.
The SOS signal has gone out. Brothers and sisters, I pray that we will hear what the Spirit is saying.
If, in our busyness, for some reason that signal has not yet reached our heart—maybe it has just gotten to our brain, and we can say, “Yeah, I believe the Lord is coming soon”—but has it reached this heart, where it really makes a difference in your life?
Well, brothers and sisters, we should be able to look at the events around us today and what is going on in this world, only to realize that the Lord is coming soon. Earthquakes have increased tremendously. Turmoil in this earth has increased tremendously. War and rumors of war have increased tremendously. All these things, the Lord said, will happen before He returns.
But when the disciples said to Him, “Lord, when will all of these things happen?” He gave them the parable of the fig tree. They wanted to know the time—the time of His return. The Lord said:
When the fig tree putteth forth leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;
even so ye also, when ye see these things coming to pass, know ye that He is nigh, even at the doors.
We know, brothers and sisters, and Bible scholars will tell us, that the fig tree is representative of the nation of Israel. Maybe young people do not realize this, but there was a day in which it seemed to be obliterated, that it almost disappeared from history.
But a marvelous miracle happened in 1948: it was recognized as a nation. Can we say that this is a fulfillment of the fig tree putting forth its leaves? I think maybe it is, brothers and sisters. That occurred in 1948, almost sixty years ago.
In Luke 21:20-28, the Lord said Jerusalem would be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled. Then you would see the Son of Man coming in power.
Brothers and sisters, Jerusalem was really under the control of other nations, under Gentile nations, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar until 1967. That is twenty-five hundred years. There was a short period under the Maccabees when it was back under the control of the nation of Israel, but in 1967, during the Six-Day War, Jerusalem itself came under the full control of the nation of Israel.
The time, brothers and sisters, for the Gentiles is full. That was almost forty years ago—in my lifetime, in my history. It happened. It is a signal. It is a sign to the nations and to the world. Israel is a sign for the world and the nations, and God’s sign is: “I am coming soon.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus is not only at the door. His hand is upon the doorknob, and we see the doorknob turning. We have to really be aware of the hour we are in.
The Lord Jesus Himself, during His first visitation, during His ministry on this earth, was speaking to the crowds and to the Pharisees. He said, “You are hypocrites. You are able to discern the weather by looking at the sky, but you are not able to discern the time in which you live.”
Brothers and sisters, are we not guilty of talking about the weather all the time? I am, particularly when it is hot like it has been this week. But have we discerned the time in which we live?
The Lord was very serious. He said, “You missed it. You did not discern the time.” Instead of lifting up our Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and King, they crucified Him on the cross, brothers and sisters, because they did not know the time.
The last time the Lord Jesus came into Jerusalem before He was crucified, it says He wept over the city. I believe the Lord Jesus would weep over us. He said, “Because you do not know the time of your visitation.” He is coming soon. He is coming soon.
I believe, brothers and sisters, the Lord wants to use this conference to awaken us to the hour, to the time in which we live, that we might be a people who are ready for Him. May we be like the sons of Issachar: men and women who knew and understood the time, men and women who knew what they ought to do.
Brothers and sisters, we need to be ready to transfer the kingdom of this world to our Lord Jesus Christ and to be a part of that.
The SOS signal has gone out. The time is at hand. What did our Lord Jesus do, brothers and sisters? He gave Revelation, a tremendous revelation of Jesus Christ. What God gave to us was a revelation of His Son. He gave it to the apostle John, and He says every bondservant needs this revelation.
If you are going to endure, if you are going to be ready, if you are going to make it through, you have to have this revelation. Brothers and sisters, this week, as we prepare our hearts, we need to ask the Lord that He would give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Otherwise, we will not endure. We will not be able to make it to the end. We will not be able to finish the race and run this race that we have been asked to run. We will become tired and weary of the battle, exhausted in our circumstances and problems and the cares of this life, and the time will come upon us unawares.
About twenty-five hundred years ago, there was a battle in Greece, at Marathon. The Persian army was invading Greece and was going to conquer it. In fact, it was obvious to everyone that the Persians far outnumbered the Greeks—four to one—and that they were going to come in and take over Greece. There seemed to be no question about it.
But the Greeks initiated a surprise attack. At the end of the battle, six thousand Persians were dead and fewer than two hundred Greeks. An amazing battle, an amazing victory, took place, and Greece was spared. The Persians left.
Today, they celebrate this victory with a marathon. At the end of the battle, the commander picked out a soldier called Pheidippides. I am sorry; Dana will correct me later. He understands. Pheidippides—there you go, I got it. He was a soldier who had been in the battle all day.
He was chosen to run back to Athens, which was 26.3 miles away. The commander said, “Run back and tell them that we have won the victory,” to encourage them, because everyone was thinking that soon they would be slaughtered by the Persians.
Pheidippides had fought all day long, but he pressed himself into the charge that he had. The orders had been given to him. He was exhausted, but he pushed beyond his exhaustion, brothers and sisters, and he endured.
History says that those who saw him that day said he ran like the wind, that he never slowed down, that he never wavered, until he reached Athens. When he reached Athens, he cried out, “We have won the victory!” His heart exploded, and he died. He gave the message, though. He endured tremendously against all that his body was saying to him that day.
Brothers and sisters, many of us have been to all thirty-one of these conferences. Many of you here have been enduring. You have been running this race for many years. Many are tired from the battle. Many may be exhausted. Some may have even quit the race.
But where did Pheidippides get such energy? Where did he get such drive? Where did he get such endurance? He got it because he experienced the victory. He lived the victory. He had firsthand experience of that victory.
It was not secondhand knowledge. Brothers and sisters, that is what revelation is. It is firsthand. It is not something that I tell you. It is not something the apostle John tells you that he saw. It is firsthand experience and revelation of the Lord Jesus Himself.
That is what gives us the endurance. That gives us what we need to carry on. It gives us purpose. It gives us energy. It gives us endurance. No matter that our heart may give out at the end, we need to finish the race.
But, brothers and sisters, we have found out through the years that revelation itself is not enough. The cross is needed.
Our Lord gave us a tremendous example. Remember when the Lord asked the apostle Peter, “Who do men say that I am?” They gave a few answers, and He said, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Revelation.
The Lord said, “Upon this I will build My church.” More revelation. Then what did He do? He started speaking to them of the cross. Brothers and sisters, what this tells us is that there is no way to the throne except through the cross.
If we are to reign and rule with Christ, with Him on the throne, brothers and sisters, we will also have to go to the cross. We will have to take up our cross and follow Him.
It is not good enough just to have revelation. It is not good enough just to have some experience of the cross. We have to be responsible with what the Lord has given us: the gifts He has given us, the grace He has given us, the vision He has given us, and the heart He has given us.
We have to be responsible, brothers and sisters, for the judgment seat of Christ will be soon. That will determine our place in the kingdom, or even whether we are qualified for the kingdom age.
I remember, as a young boy in the seventh grade, going out for basketball. I had never tried out for a sport before. I do not really know why I thought I could do any good at basketball. I was pretty short and pretty light at the time.
But I did, and I remember we were practicing. The coach put me with this guy, and he was a giant. He was a big, tall guy. I thought to myself, “Man, I will never be able to guard this guy.” He set up a play for us, and I was supposed to be the defender.
We were running down the court, and this guy got the ball right to the hoop. The coach stopped everybody and looked around. He said, “Who is supposed to be guarding this man?”
I did not say anything, because I was thinking, “Look, this is ridiculous. I should not have been guarding this guy in the first place. You have given me an impossible assignment here.” I never said that to him. I was not quite that bold.
He said, “Who was to guard this guy? I assigned someone to guard him. Who guarded him?” Finally, I stepped forward and said, “It was me, Coach.” He said, “Well, where were you? You are way over here. This guy is over here at the basket.”
I said, “Well, yeah, I just really did not think I could do guarding that well.” He said, “Look, I gave you this assignment. You should have guarded this guy.”
Well, he was right. Regardless of the size of this guy, I should have done what I was told. But in my heart, I had already given up. I had given up. To my shame, brothers and sisters, I dropped out from basketball. “I will never do anything at basketball.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord has given us a tremendous responsibility, and He is going to hold us accountable. I think sometimes our response would be, “Well, Lord, You put me into this ridiculous and impossible circumstance I am in. Lord, how can You really expect me to be responsible?”
“How can You hold me accountable with the things that I have to deal with, with what is going on in my life, either physically or emotionally?” Brothers and sisters, it can be anything. You just say, “How could the Lord expect me to respond and be responsible?”
Well, I guarantee you, brothers and sisters, the Lord has given out His assignments. With the Lord, grace is always sufficient. We will have no excuse. We are accountable and responsible. Brothers and sisters, this is something that we cannot afford to drop out of. We are responsible.
He says, “To whom much is given, much is expected.” But praise the Lord, it is the judgment seat of Christ. Just before He comes to set up His kingdom, He will evaluate His bondservants.
To some, He will say:
Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, good and faithful servant.
Brothers and sisters, we all here tonight want to be among those to whom the Lord can say, “Enter into My joy, good and faithful servant.” The joy is to reign and rule with our Lord during those one thousand years.
Let me end with this, because I want to encourage us all. Many of us have come to this conference tired—not just from the trip, but from life—exhausted from a weary battle that you have been going through in your personal experiences.
Others have been wounded. Others are discouraged in this race. Some have wavered. Some have stopped altogether. Some have been disabled through sin and failures. Finishing the course does not seem feasible.
“Lord, I love You, and I really do, Lord, but my hopes for the kingdom are almost none. Lord, I hope You will take care of me. Lord, I just cannot seem to make it.”
In 1976, there was a Special Olympics. I think we are all aware of the Special Olympics. Those are Olympics held for young people who are disabled, either physically or mentally. This is their opportunity to be a part of athletics and to run.
There was a race, a one-hundred-yard dash. There were nine contestants in the race, and they were all physically or mentally handicapped in some way. They were all there at the starting line, all excited about the race, all wanting to participate, all wanting to run the race well, all wanting to finish the race, all hopefully wanting to win.
The gun sounded, and all nine of them started out. But about halfway through the race, one of the children fell. He was very discouraged. His hopes of winning, of course, were gone, and even completing the race seemed impossible.
But a couple of those who were running with him stopped. They turned around. They came and picked him up. Those three crossed the finish line together.
I think that is part of what this conference is about, brothers and sisters. I am hopeful that this week, as we worship together, as we pray together, as we fellowship together, and as we serve together, we will pick one another up. We can finish the race together.
Lord, tonight You told me that You wanted to send an SOS signal. You made it very clear. Lord, this signal has been going out for many years now, and we want to respond.
Lord, we want to be those who realize the hour in which we live. May we have an understanding of this hour, and may we know what to do. Lord, may we hear You. May we respond to You.
Lord, give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation. Lord, give us the grace that we may take up the cross and follow You. Lord, give us the grace that we might finish this race we are in, finish the course that You set for us.
Lord, we want to be part of that vanguard that brings in the King, that turns the kingdom of this world over to the kingdom of our Christ and Lord. Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, quicken us to this hour.
In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.