The End Time Outpouring
1 Timothy 4:1,2
We are living in the last days. Theologians have debated whether
or not the Bible speaks of an end-time revival before the return of
Jesus. Those who say there will not be a revival point to the rise
of evil foretold in Scripture. Certainly, the Bible tells us that there
will be increased demonic activity in the end-times.
The apostle Paul was very explicit in his writings to Timothy about this matter:
1 Timothy 4:1-2
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some
will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits
and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience
seared with a hot iron.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will
come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control,
brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather
than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And
from such people turn away!
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine, but according to their own desires, because
they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
The phrase “latter times” means a little later on, not far out in the future. That is, false teachers are going to arise within the church almost immediately and continue on through our day and until the end of time. The point that is being made to us as believers is very well made: the church and the genuine believers have to be constantly on guard against false teaching. The terrible danger of false teaching always confronts the church and believer. And note: this is a revelation of the Spirit of God Himself. It is not the idea of some preacher seeking recognition because of his novel idea. It is the warning of God’s Spirit.
The Spirit has spoken expressly (rhetos), that is, in specific terms, in plain words, distinctly, so that there can be no question about what is being said. False teachers will arise in the latter times.
This is suppose to be a picture of the future—a terrible picture of what the last days of human history will be like. But if you would notice it.....I want you to note a shocking fact here: this sounds very much like the society of today. We just do not think of our day as being so terrible; we seldom sit down and study the godless marks of society. But this is exactly what this passage does: it discusses the godless marks of the last days, marks that come close to painting a picture of our present day and time. This fact points to our day as being part of the last days. It is very possible that the Lord’s return is at hand. One thing is sure, we must do just what Christ said: be prepared for His return, for He can return at any moment.
Perilous times means difficult, troublesome, trying, uneasy, hard, violent, threatening, and dangerous days. The picture is that of people turning to and fro, here and there, not knowing which way to turn. “The last days” is a Biblical term that points to the end of the present age, the days right before the return of Christ, and the end of the world.
The second mark of the last days will be a godless world. Why will the last days be perilous? Because the world will be godless. Note how the terrible marks of the last days sound very much like a picture of today.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And
from such people turn away!
Even as Paul was writing these words some false teaching had already seeped into the church, and the future was not looking too bright. This was a prediction of Scripture; Paul was prophesying that the false teaching was to spread. The day was coming when apostasy was to sweep throughout the church. The idea is that the apostasy would be great—many would follow after the false teaching and the whole church would be affected.
Yet in the midst all of this Satanic assault upon the earth, there will remains the Church of the Living God which is the Pillar and Ground of Truth, which has been washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ and Filled with the Holy Spirit! Unquestionably, the Church is in the hour of its greatest spiritual conflict. The devil knows that his time is short and he is unleashed to deceive and devour as many as possible.
But as dark as the darkness will get (and it will be very dark), the light and glory upon the Church will be even greater.
Isaiah saw this day and he proclaimed:
Isaiah 60:1-2
Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
The darkness that Paul spoke of is going to get deeper and deeper until it covers the earth, but in the midst of that darkness, a light shines, a light arises – it is the Church, and God’s glory rests upon her. To think for one minute that God is going to be outdone by the devil in the earth’s final hour is foolishness.
Jesus told His disciples in Matthew chapter 16 that He would build His Church upon the rock of the revelation of Jesus and that gates of hell would not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Some key points from this passage:
• The Church is built on the revelation of Jesus. If you’re looking for a church, find one that preaches a revelation of who Jesus is! Good Sunday School programs and great music are nice to have, but if there is no true revelation of Jesus coming forth from the pulpit into the pews, the gates of hell will prevail against it.
• Jesus is building His Church. The Church doesn’t belong to a man, or a group of people. For those who think that the church at the end times will be less powerful than the
church in the book of Acts, I would question how Jesus could spend 2,000 years building something and it be less than when He started.
• The gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. I have never seen a gate attack anyone. The Church is not to be on the defensive, but rather on the offensive. We
are to charge the gates and take back enemy-held territory.
Jesus continued his sermon by telling the disciples how the Church was to operate in this conflict:
Matthew 18:19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The keys of authority have been given to the Church to bind and to loose. You might ask, “To what do the keys go?” The keys go to the gate in verse 18, of course. We have been given all authority over Satan and his works of darkness. Whatever we bind on earth
in Jesus’ name is honored in heaven and backed by the power of God. Whatever we loose on earth is endorsed by God and loosed by the power of God.
The Church can do nothing without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Quote Zechariah 4:6 Not by power, Not by might.....but by my Spirit saith the Lord!
The denominations that have rejected the power of the Holy Spirit have begun to wither and die out. In many cities, these churches are consolidating due to the absence of a growing congregation. People are hungry for the power of God.
They are searching and are not finding what they are looking for in the traditional denominations.
As a comparison, the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement has exponentially grown over the past 100 years. Christians who attend Spirit-filled churches now make-up
27% of the world’s Christians and 8.5% of the world’s population (584 million people).
The two regions of the world that have been most effected are the Americas and Sub-Saharan Africa with approximately 7 out of every 10 Pentecostal/ Charismatic
Christians coming from these areas.
We know from church history that this is exactly what happened to the churches in Asia. The Asian churches were the very churches who were warned in the Book of Revelation (Re. 1:11-3:22). There were seven churches, and out of the seven only one remained faithful to the preaching of the Word—the Philadelphian church (Re. 3:7-13). The other six became apostate; many of the people turned away from the pure preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Why? What caused the apostasy? What caused so many people and churches to turn away from Christ and from the pure Word of God? This present passage gives the answer, and remember: it was a prophecy.
The apostasy had not yet happened. Two clear reasons are given why people turn away from Christ and why churches turn away from the preaching of the pure Word of God.
1. People will not endure sound doctrine. By doctrine, of course, is meant the doctrines, teaching, and instructions of God’s Word, the Holy Scriptures. The only doctrine and teaching that is sound is that of God’s Word.
The point is this: people turn away from sound doctrine because they do not want to hear the truth.
2. People will want teachers who will allow them to live like they desire. The Greek actually says that people will be dominated “by their own lusts” (epithumia). They will be living lives of lusts, cravings, and gratifications—lives that seek the gratification of the flesh.
Such lusts and cravings will so dominate people’s lives that they will seek ministers and teachers who will tickle their ears with the message of personal development and self-image.
Note this: the messages of personal development and self-image, of philosophy and psychology, of religion and good works are messages that benefit men. But they do not go far enough. They do not solve the problems of evil and selfishness within the human heart nor do they solve the problem of death. Any person who is truly honest and thoughtful knows that no person and no group of persons—not even the whole human race—can keep a single person from dying nor infuse a serum into a person that will make him live forever. Neither can anyone recreate the earth and the heavens into a perfect world. Man is far short of perfection. If there is to be such a thing as salvation—as being delivered from evil and death and given eternal life in a new heavens and earth—it has to come from God Himself. This is the message, the glorious gospel of God’s Word: there is salvation through His love—His love that has been demonstrated in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The point is this: men do not want to be honest. They want the right to live like they want and to do their own thing. They want the right to be comfortable, at ease, recognized, honored, esteemed, and to secure position, authority, wealth, and power. They want pleasure and stimulation—the gratification of their lusts when they want them gratified.
Therefore, they want teachers who will tickle their ears and assure them...
• that the building up of their discipline, image, and personal development is good and acceptable just so God is honored and acknowledged
• that immorality and carnality are forgivable
As stated, both messages are true, but they are not the whole truth. And the only way a person can be saved, truly saved, is by surrendering his life to the whole truth of God’s Word. Note what Scripture says: false teaching is nothing more than fables. The Amplified New Testament says that people “will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.”
Paul said to the church at Galatia in Gal.1:6-9 “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
This is why all true ministers of the gospel must preach the Word, for a great turning away is coming as a matter of fact its happening now. God’s ministers must preach now while there is still time—preach with all the fervency and power of God’s indwelling Spirit.
In the words of the great Bishop Richard "Mr Clean White .......Its almost Midnight........ The cry is about to be made. Behold! The bride groom coming, have you any oil, Are you saved? It’s almost midnight. The master is on his way. He just might come tomorrow, he just might come today. Its almost Midnight, The rapture is about to take place. Shame on you If you miss it, please except his amazing grace. Enough of the Bible has been fulfilled, this should give your conscience a spiritual chill. Its almost Midnight, are your garments white, Its almost midnight. Have you got oil in your lamps? Its almost midnight. Midnight.....get right.....better get ready ......better get right.....its almost midnight.
1 Thess. 5:2 says, For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
The believer does not have to fear this swift and sudden judgment; the “thief in the night” will not catch us by surprise. Christians are in a separate category: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:4). It is only those in darkness who will be taken unawares, and we “are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (verse 5). Praise the Lord, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 9).
The unsaved should heed Jesus’ warning: “Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:44). How can you be ready? God has provided the way for you to escape the judgment. That way is Jesus Christ (John 14:6). By accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are granted forgiveness of sins, mercy, and salvation with the promise of everlasting life (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8–9). The “thief” is coming, but you can be a child of the day. Don’t put it off; this is “the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:19).
A study of the letters of Jesus to the seven churches of Asia Minor in the Book of Revelation reveals that there are three churches that remain until the end-times:
1. The Church at Sardis: “You have a name that lives, but are dead” (Revelation 3:1). This church represents religion, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.
Sadly, after the rapture of the Church, many congregations will be scarcely affected, as they were never truly born again, but instead trusted in church membership to get
them into Heaven.
2. The Church at Laodecia: “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:16). This group is prevalent in
the world today. But as the darkness gets darker and the light on the Church gets lighter, lukewarm Christians will be forced to choose.
3. The Church at Philadelphia: “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10). The Church at Philadelphia represents the true bride of Christ… the Church that is spoken of in Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
This is the glorious bride, full of the power of the Spirit. We shall stand in the last hour being adorned with God’s glory. The Church will make warfare in the heavenlies and be victorious. The battle spoken of in Ephesians chapter 6 will be our normal course of
duty.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter got up before the bewildered crowd and preached with the power of the Holy Spirit. He said that “This is that!” He was referring to Joel 2:28-32.
Acts 2:17-21
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see
visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness. And the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
These are the “last of the last days” and God is pouring out His Spirit. He will not force anyone to go along against their will. But for those who are hungry, He will use you to usher in the greatest move of God in the history of the Church.
