 Tonight, I want to talk to you about discerning the signs of the times. Now this message is for every believer and to some degree even non-believers. In days like these, you will hear many different opinions coming from many different angles based on many different presuppositions, based on many different perspectives, based on many different interpretations of Scripture. And so sometimes it's difficult to find your footing when the world seems to be in chaos, when everything around you is shifting, when people talk of every system failing. Where can you run for safety? Where can you go for security? Who can you trust for the truth? Well, the good news is that we have a solid foundation upon which we can place our faith and by which we can understand the world around us. That solid foundation is not the opinion of man. It's not a philosophical, political, or religious talking point. It's not an intellectual analysis of the times in which we live. That solid foundation upon which we can build our lives is the living Word of God. The Word of God has the answers. Even in times like these, the gospel is still the hope of the nations. Jesus is still the way, the truth, and the life. And the Word of God is still the ultimate authority through which we understand all things. Now in the Scripture, you will find various different contexts, different parables, different prophetic truths that jump out off the page and they can give you glimpses of the timeline for the end of days. But let's just be real. Nobody has the full picture. And the reason nobody has the full picture is because the Bible doesn't give it to us. And the reason the Bible doesn't give it to us is because it's none of our business. Because we're not on the throne. We're not in charge. We're not the judge. Now having said that, this does not mean that the Bible doesn't give us some type of grasp on what the end times will entail. And even when I use that phrase end times, some things might come to your mind. And depending upon your eschatology, there might be other things that come to your mind. Let me tell you this as a word of caution. The moment you try to have all the answers, you end up forcing some things on Scripture that aren't meant to be there. So concerning the last days, yes, we can explore some chapters of Revelation. Yes, we can look at some chapters of Daniel. I'm sure even in the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, we might find some principles of truth that guide us to understand how God deals with nations during certain times. But when it comes to the last days, there is no clearer text in my opinion than Matthew chapter 24. Now in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus gives us a clear summary of how things will go in the end of days. And then after giving us that clear summary, he then goes on to describe certain details that take place at certain points. But nowhere in Scripture do we see the entire timeline laid out for us with everything in perfect order. My friends, if it didn't require faith or trust in God, then what would be the use of it? God gives us enough. God gives us what we need to please Him, to obey, to do as we ought to do. But the truth of the matter is not much changes for the believer whether or not we are in the last days. What you say, brother David, I thought we're supposed to be prepared. Yeah, you are. You know how you live prepared? You live clean? Know the word? Stay connected to the Lord, obey His commands, fellowship with the believers, live a lifestyle of worship. But what about when it's not the end of days? You live clean? You know the word? Stay connected to the Lord and so forth. So whether or not these are the last days, we must live victoriously as believers until the very end. People talk of fear. Here, fear. David, do you think it's all going to melt down to nuclear war? Well, even if it did, you know exactly what you knew yesterday, that today could be the day you go. What difference does it make? If it's by disease or a car accident or nuclear explosion, none of us are promised tomorrow. So not even the threat, the greatest threat that the world has to offer should shift you. You should not be moved on the solid rock ice stand. On the solid rock ice stand. So yes, we ought to be discerning, but we ought not to be paranoid. Yes, we ought to be informed with what God is doing in these days. But don't be obsessed. Don't allow your mind to get all wrapped up in weirdness and conspiracy theories. You're going to go down a rabbit trail and it's not going to take you to the ultimate place of peace and joy. I'm not talking about being ignorant. I'm talking about staying focused on what matters. So yes, there are things happening in our world that are quite scary, but Jesus is still Lord. Yes, there are things that are uncertain. The Bible is still truth. How should we live? How should we live? How should we prepare? Just obey God. Simple. Obey God. Walk with him and he'll take care of the rest. Now this doesn't mean that we should just be apathetic toward the times because Jesus himself told us that we are not children of the dark. We are children of the light. We're not to be caught off guard by these things. We ought to know. We ought to have at least a basis for understanding the things that unfold in the world around us. We ought to be prepared to stand firm in boldness and in courage and in faith that we might resist fear and deception and confusion. So we look to the Scripture. Now as I said, Jesus gives us somewhat of a summary. So if you look at Matthew 24 and if you read verses one through 14, you'll notice that he gives this very generic overview of how things will unfold. And then after verse 14, he starts to get into specifics. Now tonight I'm going to deal in principles, not with specifics, because if we get, for example, into the abomination of desolation, well that's a whole sermon. I could do a whole study on just that one thing he said when he talks about the fig tree. There's so much there. We could do a study on just what he said about the fig tree, okay? So what I would rather do than to go into all the details is give you a basis for understanding and then you can go and study the Scripture further. But stay grounded on that truth. So let's look at verses one through 14. We're going to look at the very direct, now pay attention to the very direct way that the disciples place this question to Jesus. I mean you have him standing there, physical form, and you say, when will he end be? And he gives you a clear straightforward answer. That's about as clear as it gets. So look at Matthew 24. I'm going to read and then we'll break this down as we go. As Jesus was leaving, verse one, Matthew 24, verse one. As Jesus was leaving the temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various temple buildings. But he responded, do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of the other. Where Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, tell us, when will all this happen? That's question number one. What sign will signal your return? Question number two and the end of the world. Question number three. Verse four, Jesus told them, don't let anyone mislead you. For many will come in my name claiming I am the Messiah, they will deceive many. Now stop there just for a second. This Tuesday I'm going to be addressing how to know you're following a false prophet. I'm going to give you nine important signs. That's this Tuesday. But you know, when you look at this word Messiah, it actually means anointed one. Now we imagine that when someone is a false prophet or a false Messiah, that they're going to very blatantly come claiming I am Jesus, such as we've seen some of these psychopaths do. They're loony guys. I am Elijah. I am Moses. I am Jesus. And please don't just clip that out and put it on TikTok. There's context to that. I'm quoting the crazies. Okay. I'm not claiming that. I can just see it now. So he exposed. There it is. But I mean, we all kind of expected right that there'll just be this this blatant claim to be Jesus. And we've seen it. I saw one documentary on this guy who, who claimed to be Jesus. He had the beard, the white robe, the sandals, but he didn't have the power or he wasn't resurrected. And, and, and the people would come annually sit on these in like this forest come and sit and he would come out for like an hour or so. I don't remember exactly how long, but it was just a glimpse. They would catch him and then he'd go back up to his little house and they'd go back to their village and they do it all again later. And this man was claiming he was Jesus. He was the Messiah. But that's not how the claims are going to come. You see, that's not very deceptive. Most people understand, okay, they're crazy, but think about what the scriptures saying here that they'll claim to be the Messiah, meaning they'll claim to be anointed when they are not. It's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they've been fooled. We have so much trust in our own discernment. It's almost the point of pride. I have the gift of discernment. If you have to tell us, you probably don't. But remember people of God, discernment isn't some vague sense of something wrong. That's usually our own emotions. The sermon isn't some filling in your stomach where you go, oh, I just, I felt wrong. Well, maybe you just ate something bad before you came to that service. And now you think it's discernment. But discernment is not vague. The sermon is very specific. If you're saying something about this, that something about that vague, that's not discernment. Might be intuition, might be suspicion, might be emotion, might be your own observation. But it's not discernment. Discernment is very specific. And the problem is that people go off their emotions and call it discernment and base their discernment off of what they feel instead of what the word of God says. And so what ends up happening is people begin to follow people who claim to have an anointing from the Holy Spirit, but in fact, do not. I'm not here. If you're sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for me to name names, I don't play that game. What I do is lay down what the scripture says. And the truth of the matter is there are some who will come that claim to be anointed. And sometimes it's not even blatant in the teachings. Sometimes they're teaching things that are just absolutely wonderful, solid, built on Christ, the word, and you wouldn't know until judgment day when their lifestyle is revealed that all along they weren't actually walking with God like they claimed. We don't need to be worried about false messiahs, false anointed ones. We just need to be aware. That's coming on the rise. More and more people claiming it, more and more people saying, I am anointed. I am anointed. I am anointed. And while every believer, biblically speaking, is anointed, what this is talking about is a claim to leadership, a claim to influence that gathers people around a false anointing. Now again, I'm going to go into details on how to discern that on the live stream on Tuesday. If you're watching the replay here, just look it up on our channel. It's how to know you are, I think it's how to know you're following a false prophet, nine important signs. But you can look for that. It should be out on Tuesday. And again, depending upon whether you watch this live or replay, you just got to have to find it around the channel. For many will come in my name claiming I am the messiah. They will deceive many. That's terrifying. Not some many, many will follow after anointings that are not of God. Verse six, and you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. Let's read that again. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. It's the gripping nature of fear. We went from fearing terrorist attacks to fearing COVID to fearing financial ruin and now to fearing Russia. In every season of life, there's going to be something that is potentially threatening. In every season of life, there's going to be something that makes you afraid. But the scripture declares that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power and love and a sound mind. People of God, if you don't have a sound mind, it's time to stop obsessing about the things of the world. So entangled in what's happening, so worried and worked up over things that ultimately we have no control over. Don't be afraid. Don't panic, he says. That's coming from the highest authority. Jesus himself warned us of this. There will be wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. This is if Jesus is speaking through this scripture to say, hey, hey, hey, relax. I promise you this, people of God, Jesus is not panicking right now. He never was. Yes, these things must take place. Now watch this. This is so key because I think sometimes we read these things and just gloss over them. But the end won't follow immediately. I remember going to church as a young pastor's kid and we would have these guest speakers coming. Did you guys ever have that guy who would come in with the slideshow? You know what I'm talking about? And just like connect it to like how McDonald's was the king of Babylon and like just weird things like that. It was always different. Every president was the Antichrist, right? It depends. Every four years, the new Antichrist got elected. So there was just all these different ways of looking at the world. And I remember someone, you know, while the internet represents and I just remember thinking, my goodness, like I'm freaked out. But do you realize that the Bible says here none of that is indicative of the end? Like none of that has any bearing on whether or not we're living in the last days. You know why? Because there have always been wars and rumors of wars. In fact, you wouldn't know it by watching the media, but in terms of how many wars are ongoing, how many people are dying through war, this is actually one of the most peaceful times in all of human history. You wouldn't know that though. Jesus says you will hear wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. I got this. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Here will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all of this is only the first of the birth pains with more to come. The Bible describes the unfolding of the last days in the same way as childbirth. The contractions come closer and closer and more and more intense. And that's the way that things begin to unravel in our world. Event after event gets closer and closer and closer and closer, and you feel like you can't catch your breath until the next world shattering event, and then the next one, and then the next one, and the next one, and it comes faster and faster and faster and faster until finally something is born, something new comes out. Now I know we're talking about not being afraid, and I want to make sure we're standing on that foundation, but let me just say this, if COVID freaked you out, you haven't seen anything yet. You think that put our world in a vulnerable place? That's not even what the Bible begins to describe as some of the more intense things that will unfold. You think what's going on politically around the world, and you think what's going on with the wars and rumors of wars, you think that is shaking things up. You haven't seen anything yet. Now as believers we walk into this soberly again, we have to avoid both extremes. Yes, we acknowledge that things unfold in this way. Yes, we acknowledge that the world is a dark place, but at the same time we don't panic, but we still must acknowledge things are going to get much worse. But on the other side of this struggle, on the other side of this intense turmoil, on the other side of this uncertainty, and the shifting of everything we hold secure, on the other side of that, there is great glory. On the other side of that, there is an establishment of a kingdom. On the other side of that, there is the rule and reign of Christ. On the other side of that, there is glory. He rules now, he reigns now, but something is being established in all of this. It's creation crying out for the Savior. It's creation crying out for the revealing of the sons and the daughters of God. It's creation crying out for the supernatural. It's creation crying out for the gospel. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains with more to come. Then you will be arrested, persecuted and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. Now there are different degrees of persecution. I think sometimes we are dismissive with people who are persecuted at the lower tier. I don't think that's right. Someone may be distraught, they come home from work. At work, they are being really cruel to me because I'm a Christian. We say, in some countries, they are dying. You need to suck it up and get over it. That is not a proper way to look at persecution because there are different degrees of it. Insults, Jesus talks about as a form of persecution. And saying that I can't be sad because someone else has it worse is like saying I can't be happy because someone else has it better. It's got nothing to do with anyone else. That is a form of persecution. That is a form of coming against an individual. There's persecution of insult, there's rejection, and then there is bodily harm, imprisonment. Some of the more severe persecution, but do not ignore the lesser levels of persecution. Don't be dismissive of those things. It may sound spiritual to dismiss those things, and you may hear preachers say it all the time, well, the other side of the world, they're suffering, so we're not dealing with anything, so stop complaining. No, no, no, no, my friend, that right there is an indication to you of where things are going. It begins with insults. Do you realize that society is trying to push Christianity out of every part of it? Do you realize that in every movie, every TV show, every book, it's not only popular, it's expected and celebrated when they attack Christians? It's part of the agenda of the enemy to vilify the church. We need to be careful when we listen to people complaining about their churches, their pastors, their leaders, and stop just believing everybody who insults the church of God. We say things so epithetically like, well, yeah, the church is a bunch of hypocrites. That's the bride of Christ you're talking about, and you sound more like the world than you do a believer when you begin to insult the church in that way. Could it be that the church isn't toxic, but that people just don't want their sin preached against? If you call the church controlling, I say the church is just preaching holiness. You say, oh, well, I left because it was a bad environment. Was it a bad environment, or did you go there with a bad attitude and therefore come out with a bad perspective? We so easily side against the church, and that's how effective the programming of the enemy is. I rebuke that lie. The church is not a bunch of hypocrites. The church of the living God is the most generous, loving, kind group in all of the world, period. But the world is pushing us out. They're programmed to hate us and vilify us. And then something interesting happens, and many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. So then you get people leaving the body of Christ, claiming I am the body of Christ. No, you are the body of Christ when you come together with the body. We have to stop embracing this falling away and calling it a revival. So many people leaving the body of Christ, claiming that somehow other believers are contaminating just how super spiritual they are. Well, I stopped going there because they're just not as spiritual as me, and I just had to leave and get out of there because I want more. I want to go deeper. Like, do you want to go deeper or you just don't want accountability? See, so many people isolating from the body, claiming to be the remnant when they're actually the rebellious. Remnant, remnant, remnant. Well, are you connected to the body? No, I'm the remnant. Well, then you're the rebellious, my friend. Falling away, isolation. That's how it happens. That's how the enemy gets you. It's hatred for the body of Christ. This disdain for the church. Well, I'm not in an organized religion. Are you into disorganized religion? Name something that God ever did that was unorganized or chaotic. Everything God does is organized. We have to stop taking the world's talking points and applying it to our perspective on Scripture. That's why there's a falling away. That's why people are leaving. That's why there's isolation. That's why there's disconnection. That's why believers don't have peace. That's why they're depressed. That's why they're losing their minds. That's why they're getting into weird doctrines because of isolation from this falling away and Jesus described it as something that would happen. And they would betray and hate each other. That's a sign of the times. And then the Scripture says, and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Now there are lots of different opinions on this, but so far as I can tell in Scripture, the difference between a false Messiah and a false prophet, usually a false Messiah is someone who claims Christianity but just claims to be anointed, a false prophet is someone who claims an entirely different message, but it can resemble the Christian message. It can resemble the Christian message. False prophets today will tell you how to manifest your dreams. False prophets today will tell you how to meditate and align yourself with the universe. You're not aligning with the universe, you're aligning with the devil. This new age grip, false prophets, false prophets. A perversion of the message, a twisting of the gospel. Verse 12, you don't have to really hear any commentary on this. You can see it. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and as a result, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Now watch this, verse 14. Think about everything we just read here. All of the various different things that Jesus describes as leading up to the end of days, the signs of the times at the end of the world. And then it's like he takes a shift. There's a sudden turn now, and he says, and the good news about the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world so that all nations will hear it, and then the end will come. I thought about this. It seems so out of place, famines, earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars. People leaving the faith, oh, and the gospel will be preached. But you notice that in describing these other earth-shattering, world-changing events, Jesus follows up each time with saying, but the end is not yet. But the end is not yet. But this isn't the indication. This isn't the sign. And he says, this gospel shall be preached to all nations, and then the end will come. What does this tell us, people of God? Well, think about the different ways we look at it. Some say the end comes when a world is destroyed through earthquakes, famine, war, rumors of wars. They describe all of these negative effects, and it produces fear in the hearts of those who hear it. Some point to present-day headlines, saying, there it is. It's all over. Throw up your hands and defeat Jesus. Come get us out of here. We're done. Evacuation, evacuation, evacuation. As if we're going to retreat when Jesus said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you. Church, gates don't move. We attack the kingdom of darkness. It does not come and attack us. That's the place it should be. That's not always the case, but that's the way it should be. Gates do not prevail, meaning we storm the kingdom of darkness, snatching souls from hell fire, bringing them into the kingdom of lights. Some point at those headlines, oh my goodness, hide under the desk. It's coming. It's coming. Really speculation. You ever hear of these pundits on these demon-owned and operated news networks producing fear, propaganda, a bunch of liars, all of them, a bunch of liars? You want to do something good for your peace? Just turn the news off. Turn the news off. Propaganda. Prophets of mail. You talk about false prophets. Those are false prophets. All they ever talk about. Sky is falling. The world is coming to an end. You go outside. The sky is still there. That's worldly speculation. Huddle, hide. Grab your children. Kiss your family. Goodbye. Tell them you love them. Tall, coming to a bleak end. It's the world's answer to everything. And then we have the doomsday prophets who take advantage of the headlines for clicks and views. They take advantage of your fear knowing it's going to grip you, so you keep watching. And by staying obsessed, you think you stay in control, thus alleviating momentarily this sense of fear that you have. Do you realize that that's all it is? It's grasping for control to alleviate your fear. That's what this obsession is, to get it all in and know everything that's happening. And there are people who take advantage of that because it's clickable. Because it gets followers. Because it gets views. I'm so sick of the doomsday prophesying. I call it prophylying. Taking natural events, looking at what could possibly happen, making a prediction or an educated guess. It's not prophecy. It's just looking at the conditions and making an educated guess, saying, well, this probably is going to happen next. So let me go out and prophesy or prophesying it after the fact saying, I prophesied this three weeks ago when they didn't. Now there are true prophets. I've seen it. I've seen some, and it's almost scary how accurate they are. One prophet friend of mine in last year told us, he said, in the spring of 2022, Russia will invade Ukraine. Just like that. Now that's prophecy. But others, they take advantage of the moment and do it because not because they care, but because it's on trend and because it gets clicked, beware of that, which you're feeding yourself. So there's all different ways to look at this. You can look at it through the eyes of the headlines. You can look at it through the eyes of the world. You can look at it through the eyes of the doomsday prophets. I like to look at things through the perspective of Psalm chapter two. Let me show you something. I love this. Psalm two, one through six. Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? Women in the world who control many things, spiraling out of control of societies and governments. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord scoffs at them. That's his response. That's God's response. You have your plans. You can read in the modern day translation here, Putin makes his plans, but he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. Then in anger, he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. For the Lord declares, I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain. In other words, people of God, it doesn't matter what the world plans. It doesn't matter how the world is going. It doesn't matter what the trends of the hour are. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. He who sits in the heavens shall laugh. It's the humbling of nations. What you are seeing, people of God, is positioning us for the greatest victory we have ever known. You may look at the headlines and see defeat. I look at the headlines and see victory. You may look at the headlines and see darkness on the horizon. I look at the headlines and I see an opportunity for the gospel of Jesus Christ. The doomsday prophets say it's over. The Bible teaches it's just begun. The world says there's nothing we can do, but the Scripture tells us that God is in control. Babylon is falling. Babylon is falling. Babylon is falling. You can only build so high before God will knock them down. Their agendas may be set just right, but they don't realize they're actually fulfilling the plans of God. When it looks the darkest, when it looks like it's over, when it looks like there's no hope, like the systems of the world are failing and they are, when it looks like things just aren't going to go back to the way they were. They're probably not. And look up and see it coming. Seize the opportunity, souls, souls, souls. I don't care what the doomsday prophets say, God's not done. I don't care what the doomsday prophets say, the gospel still works. You know Jesus, Jesus said in the last days, perilous times will come, but Jesus never said that in the last days the gospel would lose its power. The gospel still works. It always works. We are victorious. My God, if you only knew, I'm stirred up right now, if you only knew the power that was in you by the Holy Ghost, if you only knew what God had placed inside of you, you wouldn't be trembling in fear, scrolling through your phone. You would be speaking out loud in tongues, thanking God for the opportunity, for the great revival that's before us. Yeah, calamity might be coming, but calamity is always there. Yes, the world may be falling apart, but what's new? The world is always falling apart. It's time that the gospel goes to every nation of the world, and then the end will come. What does that mean? Church, it means that no matter what leads up to it, it ends in victory. No matter what leads up to it, Jesus is still Lord, Jesus is still Lord. Can they do to me? So the body can't take my soul. Radical church, fearless, fearless. What do I have to fear? If God be for me, who can be against me? Would you stand to your feet, church, all across this room? I'm going to pray tonight that the power of the Spirit of Fear would be broken. The power of the Spirit of Fear. You watching online. Stop scrolling through fear mongering. Yeah, stay informed. I already cleared that up. Stay informed. Be aware of the times. Don't be obsessed with them. We're victorious in Christ. We're victorious. We're not lifting up our hands saying, God, get me out of here. We're saying, okay, God, I'm ready to go. I see the need. I see the need. I see the opportunity. Don't miss the opportunity because of fear. Don't miss the opportunity because of fear. The harvest is ready. The harvest is ready, but the laborers are here. If you take anything away from tonight's message, that's what I want you to remember. We are victorious. God is victorious. Hands lifted. Eyes closed. Begin to pray out loud. And the Holy Ghost. His rising church. An army is rising church. He's holy. Church, lift your hands now. He's baptizing you afresh. He's baptizing you afresh. Let him touch you. Let his power overcome you. Cuando robo sente yende robobo quenterre bebo santo. Pray out loud now, and the Holy Ghost, people of God. Let it be a mighty roar that fills this room. The church will not remain silent. The church will not remain silent. We will take the place of authority that God has given to us. We're victorious in Christ, victorious in Christ, victorious in Christ. Say this, say, Lord, thank you. You are victorious. Thank you that I am victorious in you. Thank you that you have overcome the world. Thank you for the move of your spirit that's coming to this world. Now, say this, say, Jesus, don't let me miss it just because of fear. Just because of doubt. One more thing, church. Say, here I am, send me. Now pray out loud, and the Holy Ghost, let him fill you afresh. He's filling you afresh, church, filling you afresh. I can see him touching people all over here. How heart's well this place, Holy Spirit, how heart's well come, I see God's hand on him. The presence of the Holy Ghost, the glory of God, what's your name, my friend? JJ? JJ, God's going to use you. I don't know who you are, it's my first time ever seeing you. When I saw you out there, the Holy Spirit told me to call you out, tell you that he wants to use your life. And let what his presence marks on you today be that reminder forever. Never forget his presence. God's going to use you, God bless you. The weighty presence we talked about, lift your hands, receive right now the presence of the Holy Ghost. Down just for a moment, there's a weighty presence on the room. And in just a few minutes, God's healing and delivering power is going to flow through this room. And you're going to see people healed and delivered tonight. I do also want to acknowledge the online audience, thank you for joining us. I'd like to encourage those of you who your first time watching us, maybe you haven't done so yet, to subscribe to Encounter TV, not that we might grow in numbers, but so that you might join what God is doing through this channel. It's a ministry that is both Biblically balanced and Spirit filled. If you love the presence of the Holy Spirit, you love the presence of Jesus, you love his power and you love the Scripture and you think all things that the Holy Spirit does ought to be grounded on the Scripture. And I encourage you to subscribe now and don't forget to click that notification, but also there's several of you watching, I didn't even check the numbers, but there's several of you watching. Make sure each of you leaves a like on this, whether you're watching live or on replay, so that this can actually spread and reach other people. Now stick with me for a moment, deliverance. Let me make this 100% clear so there's no miscommunication. Your giving is not tied to your healing. Your giving is not tied to your deliverance. You cannot give to be delivered, you cannot give to be healed, that's not even biblical. Not only is it not biblical, that's witchcraft, that's sorcery. Anytime you see someone trying to create a link between your giving and between your miracle, when it has to do with healing or deliverance, that's sorcery. That's not of God. We've freely received, so freely we give. If you have but a penny to your name, I believe Jesus is going to heal you tonight and you can keep the penny too. Jesus doesn't discriminate between rich and poor. In fact, I really believe that Jesus has a special place in his heart for those who are financially struggling. Now you can't give to receive a healing, you can't give to receive deliverance. There are scriptures that talk about receiving financial fruitfulness, financial, specifically regarding finances. That's where you're giving a fax, not your physical body, not your deliverance because it's principles of generosity. Now that I've cleared that up, please understand that if you're in this place and you're in desperate need of a miracle, the last thing I want you to do is empty your savings just so you can be healed. It's not necessary. In fact, there's been many times where people have come up and said, here's money. Please pray for me. I say, go pray about giving the money. Here's the free prayer. And that really is the way Jesus does it. All rights that we ought not to give out of compulsion or guilt. So neither do I apply pressure to God's people. I don't think that's biblical. What I do is simple. I say, here's the need that we might continue to spread the gospel around the world. Will you help us do it? It's just that simple. Now one might wonder rightfully so, well, why do you need money when it's free to preach the gospel? Well, the gospel is free. But the means to communicate the gospel on a mass scale are not. I mean, what do you think it costs to rent a building like this? What do you think it costs for cameras, for camera men to broadcast around the world as we do in such a professional manner? And our team does a brilliant job doing it. That all costs finances. And so I'm going to read a portion of scripture to you here in regards to your giving. And I'm going to pray that it inspires you. Not giving because you feel guilty. I don't want to make you feel guilty. I want to inspire you tonight so that when you give, you know, you heard from the Holy Spirit. You don't leave, you're going, oh man, should I have done that? But you leave, you're going, the Holy Spirit spoke to me, I gave and I feel good about that. Let me show you something in 1 Kings chapter 17, 1 Kings 17. And as I said in a moment, we're going to minister to the sick, but this is not linked with it. The reason I do this in the middle is so I can get it out of the way. If I start with it, it's not a good start. If I end with it, it's not a good ending. So we just put it in the middle and get it out of the way. Then the Lord said to Elijah, go and live in the village of Zarephath near the city of Sedan. I have instructed a widow there to feed you. So here the Lord speaks to the prophet and says, I have already spoken to the woman to give. That's interesting because in verse 10, so he went to the widow, he went to the widow of Zarephath, he went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the gates of the village, he saw a widow gathering sticks. And he asked her, would you please bring me a little water and a cup? As she was going to get it, he called to her, bring me a bite of bread too. So he's a little, a little pushy here. Imagine someone comes to you in the middle of the work day, they say, I'm a prophet of God, get me a cup of water. You're like, fine, I'll get it and you say, oh, also pick me up some food on the way. That's basically what he's doing to this widow. He says, please bring me a little water and a cup. She was going to go get it and he says, oh, a bite of bread too. But she said, I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal. And then my son and I will die. Now here's a woman preparing her last meal for her and her son. The fat man was so bad. People all around them were suffering. Famine had affected the region. People were starving to death. Their economy was shaken, a system in that world collapsing. Today that's what many people fear. Collapse of the economy that collapsed to the world. What will I do for work? What will I do for food? What will I do about the failing dollar? What will I do about the rise of inflation? What will I do in search of a job? Fear begins to grip the heart. Situation looks hopeless. And in the middle of this hopeless situation, she forms a plan. That plan wasn't ideal, but it was her plan and it was all she could do. She was going to make a little bit of bread for her and her son. Her and her son were going to eat it and their plan was to die. That's how bleak the situation was. And in the middle of this situation, the prophet challenges her to do something and it's a bit audacious if you ask me. Imagine if I were go to go to the home of someone on social security, a fix didn't come, barely making it because of inflation. And I say, make me a meal and make it a good one. People would look at me and say, well, how could you do that, David? Well, I assure you I wouldn't do it unless the Lord instructed me and the prophet was instructed by the Lord. And he says to her, don't be afraid. Go ahead and do just what you've said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what's left over to prepare a meal for yourself and your son, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says. There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops to grow again. So she did, as Elijah said, she and Elijah and her family continue to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers just as the Lord had promised Elijah. Now, I used to preach this one way, I preach it a different way now. I used to preach that it was because she gave that there was more flour and oil left for her. But notice that's not what God said. God simply gave her the promise, I'm going to provide. You will always have flour and oil. Then I thought about it. I thought, wait a minute, why would Elijah go to this one widow? Why would God instruct him to go to her? It's because she was a righteous woman and she prayed to God and she, I believe, was a giver. So God instructs the prophet to come to her. He doesn't say, if you make me my bread first, then God will provide for you. He said, don't be afraid, because God is going to provide for you, give me my bread first. I don't believe God's provision is conditional. The Bible says that I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread. You don't give in hopes that your Heavenly Father will take care of you. The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. It's not an exchange. I mean, that's the very base God is going to provide for you. You think God is going to withhold food from your children because you didn't give a super chat on YouTube? No way. What this is, is an act of trust. You don't give to get God to provide for you. You give because you trust that he will. You see, when you're free from that fear of wondering, am I going to make it? Am I going to have enough? Once that fear has been broken off of you, then you're like, wow, I'm free to give. I can do this. Now, God does increase your resources, as we see in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. He increases your resources if you become a giver, but he doesn't leave you to starve just because you don't write a check to the church. We give because we can trust him. We give because the gospel needs to be preached. What you're giving tonight doesn't go to David Hernandez. Doesn't go in my pocket. It goes to fund our ministry administrative costs, our ministry payroll, our rent, our travel costs, our flights and our hotels and the cameras. When I'm telling you, it's a good soil to sow into. But it's the law of giving. You see, this woman had one plan, God had another. Your plan is to just kind of check off a few bills and then cross your fingers and hope you can make it. How about God's plan? How about exceedingly, abundantly above all you could ask or imagine? Well, that's what the Bible says to provide all your needs. And then you'll have enough left over. The scripture says this, with plenty left over to share with others. Wow. That's prosperity. Prosperity isn't necessarily me driving a fancy car wearing nice clothes. If you wear nice clothes and drive a nice car, God bless you, but that's not prosperity. Prosperity is when my needs are met and I can help others around me. That's prosperity. So my message to you is simple. I'm not going to stand up here and twist your arm. You're the people of God. You can hear from the Holy Spirit yourself. You watching online too. Now I will suggest the mounts, but these are not coming from the Holy Spirit at a size of, really what I do is I look at the size of the crowd and I say, if everyone gives about this much, the need will be met. So usually at any of our events, we find that the giving needs to be somewhere between $25 and $100. That's not a holy number. It's not a magic number. You're not going to sell a magic $25 seed for 25 X on your blessings. Okay. It's not the way it works. It's just the number I'm putting out there to challenge you a little bit. Maybe you were thinking 10, maybe God says, try 25, but you have to hear from the Holy Spirit and God, I believe is going to provide your needs. I believe he'll provide your needs, whether you give to us or not because he's that good, but this is going to go to help further the gospel. You believe in this ministry. You believe the world needs the message that's coming out of this ministry. You believe we need to expand kingdom territory in these times. Now is the time to give. You watching online. There's a link for you. The rest of you were going to have usher's come and they're going to bring an envelope. I want to challenge you. This is a challenge now, a challenge and you asked the Holy Spirit if you can take that the challenge is I want you to consider if you can, if you're able, a gift of $25, a gift of $50 or a gift of $100. And there are two or three people in here who could do even more than that. And as those envelopes are being passed down, you're going to take an envelope and pass the rest down. You can also give on the link here. You can also go to DavidHurtonAndHisMinisteries.com slash donate to give. Now those of you who are filling out the envelopes, make sure you fill out that envelope completely. Name, address, email, phone number, and then all the card information. We destroy that so that nobody has that when we're done with it, but it's all secure. You're going to make checks payable to David Hernandez Ministries. Write that out and it's your gift that's going to the Lord. Now here's what we're doing this month and every month until we're done with our studio. Some of you wondering what's going on with that. Our fundraising guys has reached just under $2 million. And you believe that 1.9, I think it's 1,922,000 raised so far. And I'm believing we're going to finish the 2.75 before May 15th. So pray for that. But here's how you can get involved. You say, well, what do you want me to give to David? Do you want me to give to the event or do you want me to give to the ministry or the project? What? All I'm saying is just give your best gift. And what we're doing as a ministry is at the end of every month, we're taking the surplus that's left over and putting it into Project DTV. So just by giving to the ministry in general, you're helping that project alone. And already my team is telling me that there will be a surplus for the first quarter of 2022 that we're going to be able to put into Project DTV. So everything that comes in that's over our needs, over our overhead, that is going to go into the project. If you'd like to make a special gift to that, well then you can ask one of our ministry team members or one of the moderators online. If you're interested in that. For now, I'm just asking you general gifts, general gifts to go into the ministry. And hopefully this covers the event for tonight. And then we take, if there's any surplus, we put that into what's left over. And of course that goes into the studio project. And it is moving much faster than we had anticipated and that's a good thing. The finances are coming in. Now, as you finish filling that out, I'm just going to challenge you one more time. Don't withhold. Don't withhold because of fear. Don't have the tendency to do that, to say, well, I don't know. I'm a little nervous. You online. Maybe you might feel like safe behind the screen while I don't really have to get involved. I'm just watching. No, we need your help too. And if everybody watching online were to give $25, 50 or 100, in fact, let me, let me do a little, little something here. I can actually see you guys online. I can see the comments. Let me say hello real quick to those of you watching online. Look, there you are. Wow. We have people from all over the world watching live or replay. Let me know in the comments section. Where are you watching from in the world? Let me know. I want to know your city, your state. There's almost, I think it's 1.6, there's 1,600 people joining us online right now. God bless you all. I want to challenge you to give too, whether you're watching live or on replay. Yes. We're going to pray for the sick. Yes. We're going to pray for deliverance. Yes. We're going to pray for people to be refreshed. But we need to take care of God's house first. We need to make sure that we're funding the gospel. It's biblical and it's necessary. So give that gift. You can give one time or become a monthly supporter. And I believe that as you so, God's going to give us more wisdom on how to handle what you're giving to this ministry. Now, is there anybody who needs a little more time to fill out the envelope? I'm kind of just buying time. Okay. Way in the back. Okay. By the time we get to you, I'm sure we should be good. Thank you for your giving. Way in the back. Someone else. Okay. I want to do this. As you're filling that out, I want to pray with you. Let's believe that God's going to let this year be your greatest year financially you have ever known. Can you believe that with me? I'm serious because God wants that for you. Why? Because he needs us to get involved in the kingdom. That's the partnership he created with us. Now, you and I might be thinking, well, is it selfish to pray for that? No. Ask him for the job promotion. I bind that religious spirit that tries to keep you in the place that you are. Ask him for the job promotion. Ask him to increase your resources. Why? So you can consume it so you could have luxuries. No. So that we can send the gospel all around the world. That's why. So lift up your envelope. Those who are giving, if you gave digitally, lift up your hand. And I'm going to pray, God bless it right now in the name of Jesus. Lord, in the name of Jesus. We pray right now for the provision of your people. Let this be the greatest year they've ever known financially. Lord, we're going to make this covenant with you, this pact with you, this deal with you. Lord, bless them more than they've ever known and they promise to give more than they've ever given. Come on. Say that to him right now. Say, Lord, bless me more than I've ever known and I'll give more than I've ever given. Starting tonight. Starting tonight. Yes, Lord. In the name of Jesus, bless your people. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And everyone who agreed said, amen.