Ep. 7284 - Midnight Is Near… Are You Awake or Asleep?

The bridegroom is coming.

Will the church be ready or asleep at midnight?

Where do you stand?

Well, I wanna cover the true biblical timeline

of the second coming, the meaning of the last Trump,

and why the parable of the 10 virgins

is really more urgent today than ever.

So don't miss this eye-opening message

that could change how you understand prophecy

and determine whether you're prepared

when Jesus returns.

[♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪

Good afternoon, everybody.

I'm Dave Robbins with End Time Ministries,

and thank you so much for joining me

on this edition of The End Time Show.

You know, Jesus promised that he is going to prepare

a place for us, but yet he's going to come back

and take us to be with him.

Now, he didn't give us an exact date,

but he didn't leave us in the dark either.

He gave us signs, patterns, and a timeline

so that we wouldn't be caught off guard.

So today, I wanna talk about what that really means

and ask an important question.

Are we actually paying attention

or are we drifting asleep

while everything unfolds right in front of us?

Certainly don't want that to happen.

In John 14 chapter verses two through three,

Jesus says, in my father's house are many mansions.

If it were not so, I would have told you.

But I go to prepare a place for you,

and if I go and prepare a place for you,

I'm gonna come back again to receive you unto myself

that where I am, there you may be also.

Now, folks, there's nothing more important than this

in your life than making sure you're ready for that event.

So Jesus came, and he paid the price in blood

to purchase his bride, and specifically explain his intention

to one day return for the church.

But he never revealed the time, did he?

He didn't give us a date when his feet

would touch down on the Mount of Olives.

Instead, he provided just a myriad of signs

which would indicate the general time period

when we should expect the culmination of his plans.

The, you know, he said, there's gonna be famines

and pestilence and earthquakes and diverse places.

That's in Matthew 24 verse seven.

But he also identified some specific time markers

which would have been impossible to properly understand

by any of his contemporaries at the time.

None of the apostles understood the writings of Daniel

and many other prophecies.

And of course, so one example would be

the abomination of desolation.

And Jesus said, he's talking to his disciples,

but he says the abomination of desolation

spoken of by Daniel the prophet.

Well, that wouldn't occur until after the temple

was destroyed in 70 AD and then rebuilt.

That's Matthew 24 15.

So in fact, the disciples lived their entire lives

unaware of exactly when Jesus would return

because that mystery was not ready to be revealed.

Moments before his ascension in Acts chapter one,

Jesus commanded those who had followed him

until the very end to not depart from Jerusalem

because they needed to wait for the promise of the Father

which say if he, you have heard of me, that's Acts 1 verse four.

So the response from his disciples was a simple question.

Lord, will you at this time restore,

again, the kingdom of Israel, Acts chapter one verse six.

And the answer was, no, it's not for you guys to know.

It just simply wasn't time for the kingdom

to be restored to Israel in a physical sense, at least not yet.

So the apostles were right about what God had promised,

but they misunderstood the timing of it all.

First, God had planned the church age

and that it would last for, you know, approximately what,

2000 years, the restoration of the kingdom of Israel

will take place at the second coming

when the Lord rules over all the earth for 1000 years.

And now there will be revivals in Israel.

Prior to that, I will say the tense of view to first,

Zachariah chapter 12, and there will be, you know,

there I have Jewish friends that are saved today.

But by and large, the Lord coming back

and then coming out to see the Messiah on the Mount of Olives,

that's gonna happen at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Then the Lord's gonna establish his government here

on the earth for 1000 years.

The devil's gonna be bound during that 1000 years

and the church will reign as kings and priests

with Jesus Christ on the earth.

That's Revelation 510.

So the apostles, their confusion was not because

they were foolish individuals.

I mean, they're the foundation of the church, right?

Based off of the cornerstone Jesus Christ.

And so they weren't foolish individuals,

but they didn't understand because it simply wasn't time

for anyone to understand at that back 2000 years ago.

They couldn't.

They didn't understand the writings of Daniel.

John never even understood his writings in the book of Revelation,

at least from chapter four to chapter 22

in the prophetic portion.

He didn't understand much of that.

So this situation is not without precedence.

Remember the Old Testament prophet was told

in Daniel chapter 12,

in the beginning of Daniel chapter 12,

it actually talks about the time of the great tribulation.

Daniel was prophesying about that

all the way back 2500 years ago

when he was down in Babylonian captivity.

And he's asking the Lord, when's this gonna happen?

When's all these things gonna wrap up?

And the Lord said in Daniel chapter 12 verse four,

oh Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book

even to the time of the end.

So notice the similarity of the message delivered to Daniel

by an angel to the answer given to the apostles by Jesus.

If it is not for you to know the times and the seasons

for the Father have put it in his own power,

that's Acts chapter one verse seven.

So the loyal followers of the first century,

they desired knowledge, when they're standing out,

Jesus is getting ready to ascend into heaven.

And they were saying, well are you this time

gonna restore your kingdom?

He promised them power, he said, nope,

you go and turn Jerusalem until you be in due

with power from on high.

And that was the power to establish the kingdom

of God for this dispensation.

We are those that are certainly blessed to live

at the time when the power of God is available

and the mysteries surrounding the timing of the end time

events, we live in a time when those things

are being revealed right before our very eyes.

And we have great responsibility because of that.

It's not given to us just so we can stick our thumbs

on our lapels and say, ah, boy, I can beat you

in a debate or I know the timing and you don't.

That's not what it's for.

It's for us to help people to understand

we're just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ

and you need to make yourself ready.

And so what do we do?

Well, we need to prayerfully study,

rightfully dividing the word of truth

because we've got to consider the cultural context

in which it was written 2,000 years ago,

how those guys dealt with things

and John was even 2,000 years ago describing things

that would happen 2,000 years in the future,

bombs and wars and all kinds of things.

And so we've got to rightly divide the word of truth,

2 Timothy 2, 15.

Now, there's some confusion here

and I want to kind of clear it up if I can.

When we talk about the last Trump,

so confusion about God's timing is not restricted

to the first century.

So in other words, the confusion what I'm talking about.

So some people would say the last Trump

and the seventh Trump are two different things.

And if you're looking in scripture

that can really mess you up

when you're trying to figure out these things.

Because the seventh Trump,

they have to say it's two different things.

If people believe in a pre-tribulation rapture

because the seventh Trump happens in Revelation chapter 11

and they believe the church is gonna be gone.

So they have to say the last Trump and the seventh Trump

are two different Trumpets, but they're not.

They're the same thing.

So there is this confusion about God's timing,

but it's not restricted just back to the first century

and of course, much of it abounds in our day as well.

And so many are under the misguided perception

that the rapture will happen just in a split second.

And they claim Paul's usage of the phrase

in the twink of the oven eye

provides a scriptural basis for this belief.

That's, man, 1 Corinthians 1552.

So that quotation is accurate.

The Lord will come and we will be changed

in the moment of the twink of an eye.

So that's accurate, but the argument

is a misapplication of the word of God.

Paul did indeed identify a significant event

will occur in the moment of twink of an eye

at the last Trump.

But he was not saying that the rapture will start

and finish in less than,

that it takes place for us in a blink of an eye.

1 Corinthians 1552 again, instead the apostle

to the Gentiles, Paul described how quickly

we shall be changed.

You're gonna be changed in a moment of twink of an eye.

He said when this corruptible must put on in corruption,

this mortal will put on immortality

and that's on down in the chapter there

about it's 1 Corinthians 1552 and 53.

So it's our metamorphosis into the immortal beings.

That's what that's going to occur

instantaneously as part of the unfolding drama

of the second coming of Jesus Christ.

But the last Trump, the Bible says in Matthew chapter 24,

immediately after the tribulation of those days,

will the sun be dark and moon shall not give a light,

stars are fall from heaven, the powers of heaven,

shall be shaken.

They shall then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.

Then they will see the sign of the coming of the sun

and men in heaven and he will send his angels

with the sound of a great trumpet.

That great trumpet in Matthew 24,

the last trumpet in 1 Corinthians 15

and the seventh trump at in Revelation chapter 11,

the seventh trumpet, they're all the same trumpet folks.

The Bible says right there at the very end

that the two witnesses will be killed,

laying the streets for three and a half days

and then in that same hour there's a great earthquake,

7,000 people were killed and the seventh trumpet occurs.

And that's when the second coming,

Battle of Armageddon, it's all happens right there.

Those trumpets, they're all the same

but some people want to divide them up

and that really messes a lot of people up.

So I want to make sure we're covering a lot of ground here

but I want to make sure you guys all understand

because this stuff is understandable.

Paul also explains the transformation

that when we go from mortal to immortal,

that it's gonna happen to those who have previously

also died while they're still in the grave.

A lot of people ask about their loved ones all the time.

If they've been born again, they're coming out of the grave.

And they'll be raised already in their glorified state

of in corruption and those of us who remain

the Christians that are still alive

that have been born again, both Jew and Gentile,

then we will experience that the instant transformation

just before our feet leave the ground.

And we should expect our ascension to be similar

to the description of Jesus in Acts chapter one

when he was taken up and they stood and they watched him go.

And then a cloud received him

as the apostles watched him on.

That's chapter one verse nine.

So Jesus did not instantly disappear without,

you know, without any warning or,

and that's not how we're,

that's not how the rapture's gonna take place.

We will be changed in a moment

between clinging up and I,

but we will be,

we're just gonna rise slowly, people,

there'll be people that stand around all over the earth

watching people go that are caught up in the rapture.

Some people who are not ready to go,

they'll be jumping trying to grab them.

So they take me with you,

but it's gonna be too late.

You know, and as we slowly rise to meet Jesus in the air,

his arrival back to the earth will not go unnoticed.

First, that's the lowlings, 417.

Jesus described his soon return with these words,

it says,

for as the lightning comes out of the east

and shineeth even under the west,

so shall also the coming of the sun and man be.

That's Matthew 2427.

It's not gonna be,

his coming's not gonna be like the first time

when he came born of a virgin Mary.

This time, the Bible says,

Revelation 17, every eye will be hold him.

You know, far from that event,

which ended, you know, in the beginning,

again, Revelation 17, every eye shall be hold him

and they that also which pierced him.

So during this event,

humans from all kindreds

of the, across the earth will have enough time

to realize their eternal mistake.

There will be people who are not going to make it

and they're gonna wail because of him.

That's Revelation 17.

And my goal in life is to get everybody I can ready

to meet him.

This is what drives me.

It's what gets me up out of bed early every morning

and it's what keeps me writing articles

and doing programs and taking tours to Israel

and doing the Jerusalem Prophecy College

and traveling everywhere and everything we do here

is it so we can get famous?

No, cause I don't care about any of that stuff.

Is it so we can make a ton of money?

No, absolutely not.

Cause that's not, we're not in it for that.

I'm in it because I'm gonna spend eternity

with the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I want to make sure everybody

that I can get my hands on goes with us.

You can't, you can make any mistake you want to make

but don't make that one that you miss it.

The Apostle Paul clearly explains the timing of this event

that it will occur at the last Trump

and it is completely illogical to them

to assume that the seven trumpets from Revelation

will then sound at a later date after the last Trump.

It's not, it's not.

But if you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture

and you say, well, the rapture after the Revelation 4.1

the church is gone during all this

then you have to say that the last Trump

and the seventh Trump are two different events

and that simply is not the case.

That's why that's one of the million reasons

why I do not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture.

I absolutely believe that the Bible teaches

a post-tribulation rapture.

That's one of the many reasons.

Also, let's see, so an honest evaluation

of the scripture, it leads to an obvious conclusion.

The last Trump spoken by the Apostle Paul

is the final trumpet explained by the Apostle John

Revelation 11, 15.

The Bible says this.

In the seventh angel sounded,

and there were great voices in heaven saying,

the kingdoms of this world are to come to kingdoms

of our Lord and of his Christ,

and he shall reign forever and ever.

So that is the same event depicted when a stone,

not cut with hands, smashed the statue

of Nebuchadnezzar's dream back in Daniel chapter two

and the exact same event depicted by the sixth and seventh seal.

And there's only one last trumpet.

It's the seventh trumpet.

It's the trumpet in Matthew 24.

It's the last Trump, 1 Corinthians 15.

All these biblical descriptions,

they signal an event.

The rapture only happens one time in the future.

And it's not instantaneous,

and the full description of the second coming of Jesus

matches this fact.

And like I've said before many times,

the rapture, the marriage supper of the Lamb in the sky

and the second coming is one continuous event.

The Lord comes, the Bible says in Ezekiel 38,

when the nations come against Israel,

the Lord's fury will come up in his face.

And he's going to come back Zachariah chapter 14

and fight on behalf of Israel as he did in the day of battle.

When the nations come against Israel,

when that happens, the Lord's coming back.

He gathers, the rapture occurs on his way back.

We have the marriage supper of the Lamb in the sky.

And then we go straight to fight on behalf of Israel

at the Battle of Armageddon.

It's one continuous event right there.

You can read Revelation 16 and then jump right over to 19

and the story continues on.

And once you understand the parenthetical chapters

and how there are explanatory chapters wedged

in between the four accounts of the second coming

of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation.

Man, it just opens up the book of Revelation.

You can understand it.

But if you get that mixed up,

like the old Clarence Larkin

in the Dispensational Truth book,

he got all that messed up.

And that was taught in our colleges

and different seminaries and all over the place.

Almost pretty much everybody that teaches prophecy

on television right now, just about.

It teaches most of them teach Clarence Larkin's

Dispensational Truth book.

And he got the prophecies way off.

And he believed in a pre-tribulation rapture

and he messed up all kinds of stuff.

And I'm just being honest and transparent with you here.

So once this misguided notion

that the rapture happens instantly

without warning is dismissed,

then the proper understanding

of one of the most significant parables

of the New Testament,

and that makes it very possible.

And that's the parable of the 10 virgins.

Now, if you look,

let's see the parable of 10 virgins.

So if you look at Matthew chapter 25,

obviously Matthew chapter 24 and 25,

all of it discourse.

Jesus is still teaching in Matthew 25 here.

And so the 25th chapter of Book of Matthew,

it includes two parables told by Jesus.

The subject matter of the first is the second coming

and it's commonly misused as proof text

for a pre-tribulation rapture.

So this logic typically follows this basic course

of the all 10 virgins who are waiting

for the return of the bridegroom

once enjoyed a right relationship with the Lord.

However, the five foolish virgins did not realize

the return of the Lord was imminent

and became kind of lackadaisical enough

in their walk with God to miss the rapture

when it came without warning.

And this interpretation, it certainly has some merit to it.

But it does not properly consider the cultural realities

at play back in the Hebrew story,

back in the culture, the different things to happen back then.

And then in the natural world,

it would be foolish to think a groom returning

for his bride would intentionally hide himself

from his beloved, trying to catch everyone off guard.

And that's not the way it's gonna work.

The joyous return of the bridegroom

after the completion of the house

to soon be inhabited by the newlyweds,

remember he said, I go to prepare a place for you,

would have been accomplished with such pomp and circumstance.

So the same is true for Jesus

and he is explicitly warned his disciples

and us to always be watching

for the signs of his return that are drawing nigh.

And but some people say, there's no sense in,

you know, why study the prophecy, just be ready.

No, we're supposed to prepare the church

for the soon return of Jesus Christ

and certainly the world.

Look, here's what's coming.

You need to be ready to go, watch, be sober.

Don't get into kind of a lackadaisical state.

And that's what a horrific situation that would be

to not be ready to go when the bridegroom comes.

Bottle said that Jesus said at one point,

was she not that I must be up and about my father's business?

He asked his mother, Mary.

And it's the same thing with the church in the end time,

which you're not that I'm up and about my father's business.

This is the father's business, the kingdom of God.

And so we've got to be ready to meet him at all times.

I can't let Satan kind of, you know,

just get me in a swing and just kind of swing me off

to sleep on a Sunday afternoon nap time.

No, we're gonna keep, we're gonna remain ready

to meet the Lord at his soon return.

And we're watching the signs to know that we're almost there.

And it puts in me a drive to win the lost.

This is what prophecy, one of the main things,

I love following time lines and all this other stuff.

But I'm telling you what that does,

that ignites a fire under me to do more,

to travel more, to write more, to teach more,

to study more, so that I can prepare more people

for the soon return of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, there's a turn, this is a turn.

There's a traditional understanding.

It repeats this same lessons that could be ascertained

from the previous chapter, Matthew 24,

which concludes with a comparison between the faithful

and the wise servant.

It's 24, 45 and the evil servant in 24, 48.

Both are servants in the same household, if you understand.

And remember, but it implies that each servant

once maintained this proper relationship with the Lord,

the evil servant thinks to himself,

well, you know what, my Lord delays his coming.

And therefore, he decides the smite is fellow servants

to say, hey guys, let's go out and eat and drink

and let's just have a party.

It's gonna be a long time before the Lord comes back.

That's Matthew 24, 48, 49.

Well, this, of course, this failure to recognize

the soon return of Jesus or the master

causes him to be caught unaware.

And the Lord said of that servant,

of that servant shall come a day,

well, the Bible says, the Lord of that servant shall come

in a day when he looketh not for him

and in an hour that he is not aware of

and shall cut him a sunder and appoint him as portion

with the hypocrites and there shall be weeping

and gnashing of teeth.

That's Matthew 24, 50 through 51.

Now, these words are immediately following,

followed by Jesus saying,

then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened

unto 10 virgins and Matthew 25 verse one.

All 10 women in this parable are virgins.

That it implies that they have not gone

a horing after other gods as Israel is so likened,

often rebuked for in the Old Testament,

Judges chapter two verse 17.

So five of the foolish virgins,

five of the virgins are foolish,

but they are still virgins and they were in the right place

at the right time and had the proper wedding attire.

And at one point even had oil in their lamps,

but they didn't have the wrong doctrine of salvation

or lack of desire to make it to heaven.

Their problem was not having an extra supply of oil

so their lamps had gone out while they were waiting.

And they did not endure to the end

and remain full of the Holy Spirit.

And while the evil servant mistakenly viewed the delay

of his master's return as an opportunity

to indulge in the flesh without consequence,

the five foolish virgins,

they miss out on eternity

with our loving bridegroom,

even without any outward manifestation of obvious sin.

And the meaning here is clear.

When people in the house of God are foolish enough

not to watch for his return,

eternal disaster can result from that.

And so I know that we're coming up on a break here,

but I certainly wanna make sure that everybody understands

the difference in some of these things,

the terminology, the timing,

it's very important we get it right

because we're dealing with a lot of people

that depend upon us, right?

Your family, friends, sphere of influence.

Certainly wanna make everybody ready that we can

to know the times and the seasons.

One of the most frequently asked questions

we receive at NTI Ministries is,

why do you guys teach the rapture happens

after the Great Tribulation?

Should we be passively waiting to be taken

in any moment or actively preparing

for the greatest revival in history?

Paul states, plainly, it will not occur

until after the man of sin, the Antichrist, is revealed

and that will not happen until God declares

it is time.

I will walk you through a timeline of the final seven years

to rapture the merits suffer the lamp

and the second coming of Jesus Christ.

It's one continuous event.

It's not an event separated by seven years.

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You know, everyone, I just want to make sure

that we're ready to go.

And when you talk about a,

so let's define the term imminent rapture,

or that the rapture could happen this afternoon.

The Apostle Paul taught against the Apostle Paul

in the second Thessalonians chapter two.

He said that that day, the coming of our Lord

and our gathering to get it under him,

the rapture and the second coming,

that that day would not occur until after

that comes a falling away first, which was a dark ages,

and the man of sin has revealed the Son of perdition.

The antichrist is going to be revealed

before the rapture occurs.

The man of sin has revealed the Son of perdition.

The antichrist is going to be revealed

before the rapture occurs.

Okay?

So false hopes of an imminent rapture

that has not yet come can cause

what I would call spiritual fatigue

among those not waiting for the prophetic timeline to play out.

And it is this spiritual drowsiness

which can serve as the real subject

of this parable of the 10 virgins,

the five foolish and fives-wise virgins.

They got spiritual fatigue.

And the Lord warned that there would be people

like that when the bridegroom comes,

that they would be in spiritual fatigue.

They let their light go out.

Oh, everybody, don't do that.

Don't let that happen.

Don't let that be.

You where you would get spiritual fatigue.

Watch the prophecies of the Bible.

Understand the timelines.

And no one is coming.

You say, well, if I know when it's coming

that's a few years off,

that's when I could sit back on my laurels

and sit back in a lawn chair and say,

you know what, the Lord delays is coming.

We got, we can party on.

The Bible says, don't do that

because in such an hour as you think not,

your Lord will come.

Nobody listening to me is promised tomorrow.

You can never go into a state of lack of

daisicle attitude or just this,

well, I'm gonna set back in coast for a little while.

No, no, there's no time to coast.

I'm 57 years old.

I don't have time to coast in my life.

I don't care if I was 17 years old.

There's no time to coast

because we don't have much time left

before the soon return of Jesus Christ.

And I don't want him, the rapture is a few years off.

But I don't want him to come for me tonight

or tomorrow morning,

and I haven't made my calling an election sure.

So I can't sit back and say,

well, you know, the Lord delays is coming.

So I can just, you know,

there's too many people going to hell, folks.

We don't have time to sit back and say,

well, I mean, no,

I don't have one day that I can take off

and not do something to try to win a person.

A Facebook post, a teacher lesson,

something to where I can try to draw people's attention

right back to the straight and narrow.

That's the most important thing.

And certainly we don't want you guys,

whoever, to fall off the straight and narrow path.

I'm telling you, there's nothing more important

than this in your entire life.

Make your millions and billions.

Be successful.

Do whatever you want to do.

But don't get off the straight and narrow path

because I'm telling you,

just as sure as I'm sitting here at the desk,

talking to you,

there's going to come a time

when those clouds split open

and every eye will behold him.

Just like he came the first time,

he's coming the second time.

And I've got to make sure I'm ready to go.

I've got to get my family ready.

I've got to get, you know,

all my sphere of influence.

I know people all over the world,

I'm very blessed to have a lot of great friends

around the world.

And when they get, when we get together,

you know what we talk about this?

Joel Golden, the guy in,

that one of my best friends in the whole world,

that's in the IDF.

He's like about a two-star general

here in the United States for the IDF.

He's been a, like the,

for the, one of the call them,

not the Navy Seals,

the Delta Force for the IDF for years.

He was at the very tip of the sword.

And when we get together,

we're talking about the Lord's coming

and, you know,

here's how we're going to prepare Israel

for the Battle of Army getting

and for the great,

for the, the great tribulation

that's coming,

we're going to save Jews.

And I mean,

man, I'm in.

But yet, I'm trying to save all the Gentiles too.

I don't care what color you are.

I don't care what your, you know,

your ethnicity is.

I don't care your education.

I don't care how much money you got.

I don't care about any of that.

I don't want to see anybody

go to hell.

And I know hell is a term

that a lot of people don't like to use anymore

because it could be offensive

and this, that, and the other.

Listen to me.

There is a hell

and there will be people that go there.

Jesus Christ talked about hell

more than any other preacher

or teacher in the Bible.

He said there's,

it's going to be eternal torment.

There will be weeping and whaling

and gnashing up teeth.

It's going to be a horrible place.

But because we don't want to maybe

step on somebody's toes,

then we don't talk about hell.

But there is a hell

and there will be human beings

that go there.

I don't like talking about it.

But the fact is,

if you believe there's a heaven,

just as real as you think that is,

then there's a hell.

That's just as real.

And a lot of people have tried to

discount the fact that there's a hell

or maybe that's just, you know,

maybe that's just a figment

of somebody's imagination

or when you die,

that's it.

And there's no eternal

place of torment.

But the Bible's very specific

that there is.

And I don't want to see anybody

go there.

I don't want to see my worst enemy

go to hell for eternity.

That would be horrific.

And there's some bad people out there.

Thank God I don't have to make

the decisions on all that.

That's God's job.

Who?

Man.

A sleep at midnight.

You know,

most sermons based on this passage

here of the, you know,

focused exclusively upon

the five foolish versions.

The congregations are encouraged

to pray through.

Stay the course.

Be ready for the soon return of the Lord.

All of those exhortations

that they're perfectly appropriate.

Absolutely.

But if we only focus on the

unwise versions,

we miss so much that Jesus

is trying to explain here.

It is imperative that we extract

the finer details of this story

and understand the additional

lessons that are available.

Instead of only checking,

let's say ourselves to ensure that

we are not properly classified

among the foolish versions,

we've got to also recognize the

negative implications of being part

of the five wise versions.

Have you ever thought about that?

Who are part of this parable here?

Make no mistake that there will be

wise versions sitting in the same

pews as others in the church

who are warned too late

for their actual state.

So verse, verse five contains

a fascinating detail that's often

overlooked.

It says, while the bridegroom

tarried, they all

slumbered and slept.

Both the wise and foolish

versions were asleep.

No one was watching

in anticipation for the bridegroom

to arrive at the moment he did.

Probably because it would be

unusual for a groom to show up

at midnight.

However,

that's the precise time

when the cry goes forth.

Behold, the bridegroom

cometh, go ye out to meet him.

That's Matthew 256.

So when the signal was given,

the wise had enough time to

wake up from their sleep,

trim their lamps, be in position

when he arrived.

The foolish, they had enough time

to panic and request help

in their crisis.

We don't have enough oil.

And the call did not stay.

You missed it.

Jesus came in a twinkly eye.

You were asleep.

It was not an instantaneous event.

While the versions did not know

the date of the bridegroom's arrival,

for the wedding,

as the moment became closer,

they should have known exactly what to expect.

Just like anyone who understands the prophecies

of the Bible,

should not be shocked when Jesus returns.

Okay?

They were all sleeping and slumbering.

Thank God

that five of them had prepared

and they had enough oil to go out

and meet the bridegroom.

They were full of the Holy Spirit,

they were born again,

and they were ready to meet him.

They had enough oil.

Too many people believe

the description of his return

as a thief in the night

applies to the church.

What it doesn't.

In his letter to the church

in Thessalonica,

Paul acknowledged

that there was no need for him

to write into them

concerning the times and the seasons.

He was not referencing the weather

but reassuring them

that even though it is true

that the Lord will come

as a thief in the night,

the church should not be concerned

because the apostle,

the apostle Paul,

he reminds the,

the flock here, he said,

but you, brethren, are odd endartners

that that day should overtake you as a thief.

This is why it is of utmost importance

that we follow the prophecies

of the Bible.

These prophecies are given to us folks

for a reason.

Think of this, in the Bible,

there are about a thousand prophecies

concerning the events

that will surround the,

the second coming in Jesus Christ,

the Battle of Armageddon,

the Great White Throne Judgment,

the 1,000 year millennial reign

and our eternal existence.

There's about a thousand prophecies on that.

And

anti-ministries was put here

to help you understand these things

to know.

We're getting ready to meet the Lord folks.

There's not 200 years left.

God is not doing everything

with me and Joe Golden

and our college

and everything that's going on over in Israel

for this thing to wrap up in 150 years from now.

Joel is in his sunset phase

of his career

with the IDF

and I'm not getting any younger.

Every day, just like every one of you listening to me is.

And the fact is

this stuff's going to wrap up in our lifetime.

I'm telling you, if I'm

I just don't see it happening

any other way.

Everything is converging at the same time.

God has opened up this giant door

for anti-ministries

and the IDF to work together folks.

Why did God choose a ministry

that believes in a post-tribulation rapture?

Think about that.

Because people need to understand

we're going to be here through it all.

And

there are about a thousand prophecies

concerning all this stuff.

And God did not want his church

walking through these end times

with blind folders on.

I say that all the time

because I see a lot of people

with blind folders on.

And so the Apostle Paul

said ye, ye, ye, um,

ye brethren are not in darkness

that that day should overtake you as a thief.

You are children of light and children of the day.

He's talking to us.

And that's first

to us, salonians 5 verse 4 through 5.

He was saying that day will not overtake you as a thief.

So to those that are not watching

they're not paying any attention.

The Bible says that the Lord is going to come

as a thief of the night for you.

But for those that are watching

they're paying attention.

They're involved in the kingdom of God.

They're winning souls.

They're just, they're preaching

and teaching the gospel of the kingdom of God

every single day.

They're doing their best to promote the kingdom of God

and to build the kingdom of God.

You are now, when you're born again

you're an ambassador in the kingdom of God.

You're winning souls.

You're doing the best you can to promote the church

and to, uh, to build the kingdom of God.

On the earth because

I want to be part of the kingdom of God

for that thousand year millennial reign

and with him for eternity.

And if you don't love the kingdom of God

and the plan of God and love God

and everything that goes along with it,

man, you're going to, it's going to look pretty dicey

for you coming up here for long.

You say, Dave, you shouldn't talk like that.

You're going to hurt somebody's feelings.

I would rather hurt your feelings now

and prepare you for the soon return of Jesus Christ

than the wait till we get on the other side

and say, man, you know what?

I wish I would have said this to that person.

If I can, if I, if I can say something

that would shake you

and say, man, I've got to get ready to go.

Then I, then I'm willing to do that

because I don't want to see anybody lost.

Sometimes you got to shake somebody by the lapels

and say, look, you need to get ready to go here.

Well, I mean, we can have any kind of other conversation.

You want, I love fishing.

I love hunting.

I love doing, you know, all that stuff.

But the conversation at some point in our life,

sooner rather than later, we've got to have is,

how are you doing?

Are you ready to meet the Lord?

Because that could happen to any one of us today.

Now, not the rapture.

But the Lord could come back

for any single person listening to me right now.

And I've got to be ready to meet him.

If you've got to forgive some people,

man, go forgive him.

Forgive him.

Let it go.

Don't let Satan rob you of your salvation.

Don't let Satan rob you of your eternal destination.

And whatever else,

if you've got a sin that's plaguing you

and, you know, the,

I got to, I'm addicted to something.

Get a hold of Tom Lyman here at Enti Ministries.

And Tom has a recovery course

that he can help you go through

that can help you with your addictions.

And if you need counseling,

his wife, Atlanta Lyman's account,

a licensed counselor,

she's a doctor now.

And whatever you need,

if you need a church in your area

that Enti Ministries can connect you with,

let's get on with it.

And you say, Dave,

and you're so dogmatic today,

listen to me,

I deal with people all the time

that are asleep.

And they're just ambling through life.

And, you know,

sometimes that's just part of the season of your life,

where you're just barely holding on.

I get it.

I've been there more than once.

But the thing is,

because I understand the prophecies of the Bible, everybody,

I understand that there's a sense of urgency in me

to grab people.

I do things now that I,

there's no way you could have paid me to do this stuff

back 25 years ago.

And, you know,

get up in front of a crowd of 500 or 1000 people

and teach prophecy to them.

And, you know,

try to save them and get them to heaven.

Man, 25, 30 years ago,

this wasn't even on my radar.

I was like,

knew I was out building,

you know, buildings and all kinds of stuff.

And I was,

and now,

man, I'm saying,

give me the crowds.

Let's go.

Because, you say,

are you trying to be famous?

I'm not trying to be famous.

I'm trying to win people to God.

And I got to reach as many people as I can.

That's why we want to be on more radio and television,

more television programs

and have a much bigger presence on the internet.

And that's why we do Israel trips.

And that's why we're,

that's why we got all these balls in the air.

It's important,

we're trying to reach as many people as we can.

Satan's trying to

put you to sleep.

Just, it's okay.

Do whatever you want.

You know,

the Lord will,

the Lord's going to delay us coming.

It's okay about it.

Oh, man.

No, no, no, no,

no, can't do that.

I've got to get my,

I've got to get ready to go.

So Paul says that,

you know,

it's, there's no need

that at first Thessalonians five.

There's no need

that right under you

about the coming of the Lord.

Because you guys know

that the Lord's going to come

as a thief of the night.

But he says,

you, brother,

are not in darkness

that that day would overtake you as a thief.

Your children are the light

and children are the day.

How did they get that?

They were, they understood the prophecies.

The people that are in that position,

that the Lord will not come

as a thief of the night,

will be what,

they're going to be the ones

that understand and know the prophecies

and they know about what time the thing is going to happen.

There used to be a,

a video back when I went to

youth conference,

youth conferences back when I was a kid,

12, 13, 14 years old.

They used to show a movie

called A Thief in the Night.

And it was this scary,

you know, people were running

from the Antichrist

and this scary, you know,

crazy stuff

and they were cutting their heads

up with guillotines

and all kinds of stuff.

And scared us to death.

And we would just lay

across the altar and pray and cry.

And I, you know,

I guess it was effective

in things like that.

But the thing is,

is that the Apostle Paul said

there's a big bunch of us

that it will not come

as a thief in the night.

And I want to get these things

right.

And I don't want it to come to us

as a thief in the night for you.

And so,

then Paul gives charge

to the church,

which unlocks a very key

that's very necessary

to both understand

and apply the parable of the 10

virgins.

Let me get back to that.

He says,

therefore, let us not sleep

as do others,

but let us watch and be sober.

That's first thought

slowly in his five-six.

Right after it says

that you guys aren't,

he's not going to come

as for you as a thief

in the night because you guys

understand these things.

You know,

because, and then he says,

therefore, let us not sleep

as do others,

but let us watch and be sober.

Satan is a master

at taking, trying to get,

filling your life

with all kinds of pomp

and circumstance

and getting your mind off of

the Lord

and your relationship

with the Lord

and the soon coming

of Jesus Christ.

And what he does,

he loves to just

low you to sleep.

And that's what happened

to the virgins, didn't it?

The 10 virgins.

They had been,

now many of them,

five of them,

they were ready to go.

But,

five of them,

they weren't ready.

And certainly,

don't want that to happen.

And I know this is kind

of an unorthodox

radio broadcast,

but the thing is,

sometimes,

I just got to throw all the,

you know,

just got to throw everything out,

the plan,

throw it in the trash.

And just sit here

and let me just talk to you guys

because I deal with a lot of people

at our conferences

and emails,

oh my, my email is crazy.

But I love it.

And all of my correspondence

on Facebook

and in our travels

to do the tours

you know,

all of our teaching things

and everything we do.

And I see people

that I'm like,

I wish I could put you

in my suitcase

and take you home with me

because they need help.

And they're just,

it's just like a,

they have no clue

about some things

and I try to get them connected

to churches

and get them in good Bible studies

and they don't,

you know,

they tell me that,

well, I'm too busy for that

and I'm like,

you're too busy

to go to church.

You're too busy

to take part

in a Bible study.

But yet they want to change their life.

And the fact

that a matter is

is that I've got,

the Bible says,

for Satan not

the assembling of yourselves

together

as the matter of some is

even so much more

as you see the day approaching.

Folks, we don't need less church.

We need more church.

And back when I was a kid

and in my teen years,

we had revivals

and they would go

from Monday night

all the way

to Sunday.

No, no, no.

They would go Tuesday

through Sunday

and the preacher would preach twice

on Sunday.

So we would go Tuesday

Wednesday, Thursday Friday, Saturday,

Sunday morning, Sunday night.

And the pastor

would, the evangelist

would take Monday night off.

Now, I haven't been

in one of those

in a long time.

But that's how we did it

when I was younger.

And those guys were

holding the line.

And man, we had some moves

of God.

And it was just awesome.

And you say,

what are we talking about, Dave?

I'm trying to tell you that

we're just prior to the second

coming of Jesus Christ

and there are people

that are asleep at the wheel.

And it's a dangerous spot.

And you know, as the Lord's

arrival draws

ever closer,

those who have

a proper understanding

of the Word of God,

they're not going

to be caught by surprise

when the last trumpet,

when the seventh trumpet,

when the great sound

of a trumpet in Matthew 24,

when that event happens.

The question

for the church today is simple.

And people,

are we going to be asleep?

I mean, there are far too many

prophecies in the Bible,

being fulfilled right

before our very eyes.

For us not to know

when the Lord will return.

I mean, when the antichrist

sits in the rebuilt Jewish

temple and proclaims

to be God,

and the false prophet

calls down fire

from the sky

as a lying miracle.

The adherence of this

one-world religion

often called the global

ethic.

They're going to fall in

line immediately

and those who know their

Bible will be set on fire

for the greatest time

or revival of the world

has ever known.

Because they understand

we only have three and a

half years left.

If you don't understand

the prophecy of the Bible,

you're just going to think,

man, what in the world

is going on?

There's this world government

and this guy who's leading

it now and he's trying to

get us all to take this

mark in our right hand

or in our forehead

and we're not going to be able

to participate in society.

Should I do that?

Should I not?

This guy who's over

this world religious system.

I just saw him

pull down fire

from heaven on TV the other

night.

And I mean, he's

performing miracles.

I mean, this has got to be

godly because he performed

a miracle.

And, you know, I mean,

there's some crazy stuff

happening in the world.

Now, there are people

that will follow after

that stuff because they

don't understand the

prophecies of the Bible.

But the Bible says that

the false prophet will

pull fire down from heaven

and that he's going to

perform miracles to deceive

people into following

after and worshipping the

antichrist in his world

governing system.

But they're going to think

because he's performing

miracles that he is of God.

But he is the farthest

thing from God.

And so you've got to be

able to discern these things.

And so I'm saying we

got to spend time on it now.

We got to make sure we got

these things right.

This is why we're coming

on the radio and TV all

the time in writing books

and producing videos.

And we're doing our

Facebook posts and all

of the stuff.

What are we trying to do?

We're trying to focus you

right back in on what you

need to do to be prepared

for the soon return of

Jesus Christ, everybody.

Backslider, come home.

If you're backsliding today,

if you've walked away

from the Lord, come home.

If your heart is beating

and you are still breathing,

you've got a chance.

Come home.

You understand Jesus told

the parable about the

prodigal son, right?

He said, while he was yet

a far off, the prodigal son,

he went out squandered

it all, ended up in a hog

trough, sat in there wanting

to eat the husk of the hogs

because he hadn't eaten

in so long.

He had squandered all of his

living.

And he said, you know what?

It's actually better

at the father's house

than down here eating

a slap of the hogs.

And so he says, you know

when I'm just going to go home,

I'll be a servant in my

father's house.

I'll just, I'll, I'll

rake the leaves.

I don't care.

So he goes home and the

Bible says, this almost

makes me want to start crying.

Because I've been a prodigal.

The Bible says the father

was saw him yet a far off.

You can't see somebody

far off if you're not

watching for them.

If you're not paying

attention, they can get right

away.

You never know.

But the Bible says the

father, Jesus Christ, in

this instance, was looking

a far off.

He was watching.

Is that prodigal coming

home?

Jesus Christ is looking

for you today.

Are you a prodigal?

Come home.

Say, Dave, you don't know

what I've done.

I don't care what you've

done.

I've done some ignorant

stuff in my life.

And God brought me right

back in.

So if you're a prodigal,

come home.

We've got a huge prayer wall.

John Little started a

giant prayer wall upstairs

where we pray and have

devotions every morning

here at in time.

We've got a prayer wall

with people's pictures

and names all over the

wall.

It's huge.

And many of them are

prodigals.

Kids loved ones that have

walked away from the Lord.

I'm saying, come home.

Don't let Satan lie to

you and say, oh, Jesus

doesn't love me anymore.

That's a lie from the

pit of hill.

You can come home.

And it's time.

Why?

Because these prophecies

are letting us know I

could talk to you right

now for the next two hours

on world government,

world religion.

Precursures the mark

of the beast.

Efforts to establish a

two-state solution in the

Middle East.

Most of the nation's

already recognizing

Palestine as a state.

The world government,

a world war that we could

be in right now, if not

leading to that in the

next short while.

And the great end time

revival and the efforts to

build a temple on the red

heifer.

And we can talk about

everything.

Is that letting us know

all of this stuff is

supposed to happen right

here before the soon

return of Jesus Christ.

And yet there are still

some people that are asleep.

No.

Can't have that.

Can't have anybody asleep.

Wake up.

If you were here in the

studio, I'd shake you by

the lapels and say, wake

up.

Jesus Christ is coming soon.

He could come today for

any one of us.

But his rapture is going

to happen before very

long.

He's coming back to get his

bride.

I'm telling you.

The Bible says when all

the people of Israel, his

fury will come up in his

face.

And he's going to come back

and fight on behalf of

Israel at that battle.

Do you not see all the

nations of the Israel or

the nations of the world

most of them against

Israel as I speak to you

tonight?

It's very important folks.

The prophecies are

happening all around us.

Be also ready for in such

an hour as you think not

your Lord does come.

The rapture is coming

before very long.

The prophecies tell us it

is you're not children

of the night that they

would overtake you.

As a thief, your children

of the day.

So watch and be sober.

Make your calling on

elections.

Sure, everyone.

This is the message.

We're teaching the gospel

of the kingdom of God to

the entire world because

the end time is right

now.

Wow.

Man, don't you want to be

ready for the soon return

of Jesus Christ?

I'm going to go to be with

him forever.

Don't you?

I'm going to go to be with him

forever.

Don't you?

I'm going to go to be with him.