But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NKJV

3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. Matthew 24:3-8

Eight Things That are on the Prophetic Horizon:

https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Prophecy-Student-Spiritual-Discovery/dp/0882431056 (pic of Stanley Horton’s book “Bible Prophecy: Understanding Future Events”)

1. The Catching Away of the Church - “The Rapture."

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

2. The 7-Year Great Tribulation

3. The Battle of Armageddon

4. The Public Second Coming of Christ

5. The Thousand-Year Millennial Reign of Christ.

6. Satan’s Last Revolt.

7. The Great White Throne Judgment

8. The New Heaven and A New Earth

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservantsI will pour out My Spirit in those days. Joel 2:28-29 NKJV

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” Luke 24:49

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NKJV

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:1-4 NKJV

12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” 13 Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

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.

18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants

I will pour out My Spirit in those days;

And they shall prophesy.

19 I will show wonders in heaven above

And signs in the earth beneath:

Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

21 And it shall come to pass

That whoever calls on the name of the Lord

Shall be saved.’ Acts 2:12-21 NKJV

37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. Acts 2:37-41 NKJV

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. John 16:7 NKJV

#1. The Holy Spirit Is A Person.

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17 NKJV

#2. The Holy Spirit Draws People To God – He pulls on the hearts of people to embrace Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God!

44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him… John 6:44 NKJV

#3. Jesus Baptizes Believers With The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit Fills Us Again and Again!

1A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” 2So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 2 Kings 4:1-2 NKJV

1. (v.1) When You Don’t Know What To Do, It Is Important That You Know Where To Go!

2So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” 2 Kings 4:2 NKJV

2. (v.2) Recognize That Little Is Much When God Is In It!

3Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. 2 Kings 4:3

3. (v.3) Faith In God Must Be Released In Action.

4And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” 5So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. 2 Kings 4:4-5

#4. (v.4-5) Shut The Door On Doubt and Unbelief

6Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. 7Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.” 2 Kings 4:6-7

#5. Remember, God Promises There Will Always Be Enough! Phil 4:19.

The miracle isn’t in the oil. The miracle is in the obedience.

12When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” 13But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” 15And they did so, and made them all sit down.

16Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. Luke 9:12-17 NKJV

Three Takeaways:

#1. (What We Often Miss Is That) The Miracle Didn’t Take Place In Jesus’ Hands – It Happened In The Hands Of The Disciples!

#2. Jesus Already Knew About The Need To Feed The People, And He Already Knows The Answer To Your Problems.

#3. All Of Us Have The Tendency To Want To Figure Out In Advance How God Is Going To Provide For Our Needs. We’re Usually Wrong.

Ephesians 3:20(NLT)

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work

within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Matthew 5:3–12, NIV

3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5Blessed are

the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who

hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7Blessed

are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8Blessed are the pure

in heart, for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for

they will be called children of God. 10Blessed are those who are

persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of

heaven. 11Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and

falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and

be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way

they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Matthew 7:24–27, NIV

24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into

practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The

rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against

that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the

rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put

them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat

against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Amos 7:7–9, NLT

7 Then he showed me another vision. I saw the Lord standing beside a

wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was using a plumb line

to see if it was still straight. 8And the Lord said to me, “Amos, what

do you see?” I answered, “A plumb line.” And the Lord replied, “I will

test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their

sins. 9The pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the

temples of Israel will be destroyed; I will bring the dynasty of King

Jeroboam to a sudden end.”

Isaiah 28:17, NLT

“I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the plumb line

of righteousness.”

#1 Hold tight to your commitment to God.

#2 Hold tight to your commitment to others.

Closing

If you prayed that prayer You are a new person in Christ today! We

would like to hear from you. If you can text “ECSaved” at 97000, we

would love to celebrate with you!

Key Verse: Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we ask or think. Ephesians 3:20

Luke 5:4-11- When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

God is looking for obedience over ability.

God calls us outside of our comfort zone.

Luke 5:10-11- Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Matthew 14:25-29 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus

John 21:3

“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

3. God’s purpose still stands even when you walk away.

John 21:7

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

Application and Altar

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

20 Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 NLT

And I will put enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Genesis 3:15 NIV

#1 - God's Plan For You and Me Leads Us To The Cross-of-Christ.

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. Colossians 2:13-15 NLT

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:4 NKJV

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV

#2 - God's Plan Is Not Only To Lead Us To The Cross, But Also To Lead Us Through The Cross To Pentecost!

#1. Because of the Resurrection We Serve A Risen Savior, A Living Redeemer!

#2. Because Of The Resurrection We Have a Living Hope.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 NKJV

#3. Because of the Resurrection We Know That God Is In Control and Nothing Takes Him by Surprise.

We may make our plans, but God has the last word. Proverbs 16:1 GNT

"When You Try To Control Things That Are Not Controllable, It Creates Stress. Stress Is Caused By Trying To Control The Uncontrollable. Worry Is A Form Of Control."

#4. Because of The Resurrection, Jesus Sent The Holy Spirit!

The First Word From The Cross

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke

23:34 NLT

The Second Word From The Cross

“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke23: 43 NIV

The Third Word From The Cross

“Woman ,  here is your son,”  27  and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” 

John 19:26-27 NIV

The Fourth Word From The Cross

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Matthew 27:46 NKJV

The Fifth Word From The Cross

“I thirst!” John 19:28

The Sixth Word From The Cross

“It is finished!” John 19:30

The Seventh Word From The Cross

“Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Luke 23:46