Good morning and welcome back.

It is so good to be back with you.

As we're kicking off episode four of season four.

If you remember, last week in our last episode, we talked about specifically about global unity and the growing push towards, you know, one World Order.

We talked a lot about the world's version of peace and how oftentimes that that is kind of the opposite of what peace really is, or at least the cost of truth.

It's peace at the cost of truth.

And how believers have to stay rooted in God's word and, and how easy it is to get, you know, swept up in deception, especially the deception that's coming because it's going to get worse and worse and worse.

And we see it today.

And so today our focus is specifically on wars, rumors of wars and division of nations.

Next episode, we're going to look at division of families.

But, but we're taking a higher level approach today.

And that really those aren't signs that God has lost control.

Because it's easy as Christians to look at it and think, oh, does God really know what he's doing?

Does he even exist?

Is he in control?

But that's beautiful thing about prophecy is, is he's telling history in advance.

And so we're going to look at how scripture explains these events, why God allows them, and as always, how we can stay anchored in His Word and in our faith when the headlines are filled with so much uncertainty and conflict.

And it's not just, you know, every year that something new comes up.

It's daily we wake up and some new global event has happened or shooting or something.

There's just chaos all the time.

And so as we get started, let's kick this off with Pastor Mike.

Pastor Mike, can you talk a little bit about what God actually says about that, specifically wars and global conflict, or does he say anything about it at all?

And if so, why do these things mean that God is not losing, that he's not losing control, that he still is in fact in control?

Great question.

You know, that is discussed all the time in the church.

And you know, Jesus speaks to that very thing in the Olivet discourse in Matthew's Gospel, you know, in Matthew 24, Jesus says about this time, you know, before the rapture of the church will take place, you know, and he says, you'll hear of wars and threats of wars.

He says, but don't panic.

I'm reading this from the nlt.

He says, yes, these things must take place, but the end won't follow immediately.

Nation will go to war.

Against nation and kingdom against kingdom, there will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.

But all of this, and this is really the key to this whole thing, it says all of this is only the first of the birth pains with more to come.

So there's nothing in scripture that dates a time, you know, when Jesus will come for the church in the Rapture.

But he says that there's things that are going to be taking place in the world.

And so the skeptics and the critics of the church know, they'll say, well, you know, we've always had wars and we've always had, you know, famines and earthquakes and pestilence and all these things.

But you're missing the point of the text in context.

Jesus is saying that, yes, those things.

I'm going to cough here, have existed, but the closer we get to his return, it's like a pregnancy.

These things will happen in greater increase.

And so the real question is, and we have the wonderful thing with the Internet and be able to share information now around the world, has all these things increased in the world?

And the answer is absolutely yes.

You just shared, you know, terrible tragedy that happened, you know, yesterday in our country where, you know, children were attacked, you know, in.

In a Catholic school.

And we see all these things, you know, that nation is rising up against nation, kingdom against kingdoms.

It's not just, know, Russia versus Ukraine or, you know, China, you know, versus America.

You know, this is infighting.

This is things that are happening inside the United States at such a tremendous degree.

And so all these things, you know, Jesus said, don't panic when you see all these things happening, you know, because it's part of God's sovereign plan.

And it doesn't mean that God is causing these things.

God in the truest sense, he's a capitalist.

He's capitalizing on all these things.

You know, one of the passages, you know, we were discussing was, you know, God causes all things to work together for good.

We don't know how they all work together, but we understand and we believe in truth that God's word is true.

And so somehow, some way, he says, all these things are going to work together.

And then I go back to Genesis, you know, the story of Joseph and his brothers who betrayed him.

And, you know, Joseph the Great, you know, statement we see of Joseph's life is, you know, what you meant for evil.

You know, God was will turn for good.

And so we always see God working in turbulent times.

I put my notes just to make reference to if I Had to pick three times.

I was going through this, studying for this.

If I had to pick three things in my own life that I, that I've looked at in history that really demonstrate to me the sovereignty of God.

Was the Exodus of Egypt, you know, under Moses.

How life changing that was for the children of Israel.

Then the early church in the persecution that the church suffered, the 10 waves of persecution from Nero to Diocletian, you know, before, you know, Constantine came into power.

And in the first through the fourth centuries and then the third one was World War II and the Holocaust, you know, to think that all, I mean, some of the greatest, I mean, horrific tragedies in the world with regard to specifically the nation of Israel.

And then immediately right after that, you know, 1948, Israel becomes a state.

And so you just see God's sovereign plan unfolding.

It's almost like we talk about diamonds.

You know, they shine brighter on black velvet.

You know, when you go to a jewelry store, you always put it there and where you can see it against darkness.

And, and God in a sense has done his greatest work in the darkest moments, you know, of human history.

I don't know if that's kind of what you're shooting for, but that's just as I was thinking of this.

That's what came to mind.

No, absolutely.

And, and so I think it's clear that, you know, that we know this is coming.

God said this is coming.

And I love the way you put it.

It's prophecy is just God telling history in advance.

So, so then if wars and conflicts are not signs that God's lost control, it's something that, that he says is coming.

What really drives the division then that we're seeing?

And it's not just politics.

We think of, you know, economics, we think of tribe against tribe, we think of human ambition.

Right.

You know, which obviously can drive a lot of politics and greed.

But.

But are there deeper forces than at work?

And so I guess maybe Gene, you can talk a little bit about this.

You know, specifically about like the power struggles, the clash, even ideologies.

We talked about this today, just, you know, denominational clashing, you know, and just the spiritual batter that the battle that the scripture says kind of is happening behind the scenes because it's easy for us to look and see with our eyes and just see all these things going on.

But there's something, I think more nefarious, there's something deeper and there's obviously something very spiritual principalities behind what we're seeing too.

So I guess can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, sure, I'd love to.

Yeah.

You know, you look the world today, the things that people are deciding and standing for.

I mean, I don't want to get political and I won't, but it's just insanity.

I mean, normal people are, you know, just not understanding the times they're in.

You have to say, well, there must be some other kind of spirit at work here.

A lot of us think we're in Romans chapter one going down the drain.

You know, if that's a terrible spiral.

And I think it's borne out by the discussions people are having where they, you know, let the criminals out.

You know, we want to have all criminals in our cities now.

And.

And so all this insane stuff.

But so whenever stuff like that's happening, I say, well, this has to be spiritual.

There has to be a supernatural element to it.

And then you remember in Scripture how they.

Daniel described the Prince of Persia.

And it would seem that there are spiritual agents that are at work in the nations behind the scenes, obviously following a plan but not knowing so and still causing havoc.

And.

And Psalm 2, why do the nations rage?

And then it goes on to say that it's because the Anointed One is coming.

And so I think one aspect of human history, you look at history as the devil trying to destroy the promise that God made in the Garden of Eden where he said, hey, I'm the way.

I'm going to come.

I'm going to be the God man, and I'm going to die in the place of human beings and they're going to be saved.

We're going to restore all of this.

And I know there's a lot of things to trace in the Bible, but you can trace that history and, you know, key moments when the devil looks like he's going to win in terms of this.

But.

And his.

His structure is, I want to kill whoever represents God.

And now it's Israel.

You know, ever since the time of Abraham.

And God said, hey, I'm you nations, you're on your own in one sense.

I mean, he's still the King of kings and Lord of Lords, but he goes, I'm going to work with Israel now.

And so Satan says, all right, well, that's easy.

You know, now I can concentrate on just that one little group of people.

And you know, of course, people in the world now, they wouldn't think, well, this isn't all about Israel, but it really is.

I mean, all of human history, not like that's happening.

And Then the rest of it's happening, but everybody's being postured to be just in the right position to fulfill the remaining scriptures.

And so I, you know, we're not looking for a devil everywhere.

We're not casting demons out of territories or anything.

In fact, Daniel, you get the, the most specific look at a being like that.

And Daniel just continued to do what he had been doing, and that is praying and receiving prophecy.

I mean, he didn't decide they had to have a meeting, you know, him and his three buddies to, to cast the demons out of Babylon or whatever.

I mean, he just, he just was, we would say he just simply kept on being a Christian, took his stand in that place.

And, and so, you know, whatever swirling around, we're able to stand.

And, and when his friends wouldn't bow to the image, they said, we will not bow and God will deliver us or he won't.

And we don't care either way because we belong to God.

And so that's, I think, an attitude Christians should take with joy.

I mean, not in a in your face kind of way, but say, hey, I can't go along with this.

We can't do this.

And I'm.

It's not a criticism, but I'm kind of surprised we don't see more Christians in more trouble.

You know, I don't know.

I know, Mike, you've had to take a stand for things even before, you know, you were in the ministry and stuff and you think, hey, somebody, you know, you're missing something here.

If you're never getting fired or being persecuted at work or.

So, I mean, how can you engage with this culture and never have to take a stand or end up at a student council or not student, but a council meeting or a school board meeting where you're saying, hey, my kid is not going to participate in this.

I mean, it's one quick story.

There's a gal here who's a teacher, and I forget the issue.

It probably had something to do with the sexual stuff.

This was years ago, and she just wasn't going to teach it.

And she called me and she said, you know, what do you think?

And we prayed about, and I said, hey, I know there's a lot of Christians out there.

Get together with all the Christian parents and make a thing about it, you know, in a gentle way.

Well, then she called me, I had followed up and she said, well, I called all the Christian parents and they said they didn't want to get involved.

They'll just counter the teaching at home and so these kids are being taught one thing, but then when they come home, we'll tell them the truth because they didn't want to take a stand.

And so know people, they need to take a stand.

And if they lose their job, they lose their job.

If they, you know, I know Mike's going to talk or one of us is going to talk about divisions in families and stuff, but sometimes you're just, you know, you don't do anything, but you take a stand.

And that's what the, you know, the soldier in Ephesus, you know, hey, I stood.

I stood on the word of God.

Amen.

Yeah, absolutely.

And again, we were talking about that, I think last week too, and even this week and next week, and it said that wanting peace at all cost, but it's not peace because it just leads to compromise.

So in that your story is, is beautiful, beautifully illustrates that is.

It's.

I don't want to make waves and what's the cost of that?

We're not standing up for truth.

And these kids, they can't help what class they're in.

So they're going to be, they're going to just.

Whatever is taught is going to go their, their head.

I think me and Mike, we were talking about this yesterday in that saying that says, you know, when you send your kids to study under Caesar, don't be surprised when they come back Romans.

And it's just, that's, that's the way it is.

So just wrapping up then, you know, this idea of, of nations divided by power.

So I think just to highlight, you really have kind of three things here.

One, you've got power struggles, which is, you know, leaders of governments seeking dominance, control.

We see, you know, state against state, country against country.

And we're seeing that today.

You see it all over the, the news and the social media feeds.

And then you have these ideological battles, which is kind of like what you were referencing, that the competing worldviews, biblical truth versus, you know, secular systems and freedom versus control.

And then.

But I think the, the real battle, though, is the spiritual one.

And that's, you know, what Ephesian, you know, we see Ephesians 6:12 and we have, I mean, there's very real demonic influences and, and there's an enemy of our soul and Satan hates God's people and he hates God.

And so, you know, it's, you can't have the conversation without that, that element.

So, you know, when you see these power struggles, it's easy to, you know, to kind of lose heart, to think the world's spinning out of control, and in some regards it is, but.

But it's not unexpected.

The truth is it's not random.

And so, Pastor Mike, can you look at.

And I know you talked about this only five minutes ago, you talked about God's sovereignty, but can you tell us a little bit or talk through a little bit about God's sovereignty?

God's sovereignty.

And is it still guiding history, even though, see, you know, all this chaos.

Yeah, I think it goes back to, you know, the passage Jean shared there in Psalm 2.

Just to kind of back it up for a second.

He said, you know, why are the nations so angry?

Why do they waste their time with feudal plans?

The kings of the earth prepare for battle.

The rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one.

Let us break their chains, they cry, and free ourselves from the slavery to God.

But the one who rules in heaven laughs and the Lord scoffs at them all.

And it's.

It's so true, you know, that the God is working, you know, through all this chaos, and it doesn't matter who's in power.

That's why, you know, we don't need to panic.

It's like, you know, we're such a politically divided country, you know, and I remember the last election, you know, that.

Who did.

Not this one, but the one previous where didn't really like the.

The outcome of it.

But, you know, I didn't threaten to move to Canada or, you know, out of the country or anything, you know, because I didn't like who was in power.

Because as a believer, I know who's in power.

And that God works in very sovereign ways, and we can rest in that.

You know, that's the beauty of, you know, of studying the Word of God.

It.

It really does bring peace.

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 17, verse 17, it says, for God has put a plan into their minds, a plan that will carry out his purposes.

He's not talking about believers here.

He's talking about unbelievers, says, and they will agree to give their authority to the scarlet beast.

And so the words of God will be fulfilled.

So we rest in the fact that, you know, everything is going according to plan.

Nothing in this world happens by chance.

It's.

It's like either God is in control of all, or he's not in control at all.

Right?

And.

And I love the fact that scripture, especially in the Book of Revelations, we see at the beginning of the book there in chapter 1, verse 8, and chapter 22, verse 13, that declares Jesus is the alpha and he's the Omega.

You know, he's the beginning and he's the end.

You know, we sing about this and we talk about it, but do we really believe it, you know, that God is in control, you know, over, over history and ultimately, you know, the, the consummation, you know, this, this world, what's going to take place and it's going to be a glorious ending for those that believe.

But you look at how God, you know, used, you know, people who are evil for great purposes, you know, Pharaoh we think in, in Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon, as you know, was mentioned Cyrus, you know, the king of Persia there.

And you know, in Isaiah 45, I mean here's a guy who, Cyrus is a king who's not even a believer.

He's not even a worshiper of God.

And yet he, he used Cyrus in such an amazing way.

You know, Psalm 45 says, this is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue the nations before.

But again, he wasn't even a worshiper of God.

He said, for the sake of Jacob, my servant of Israel, my chosen, I've summoned you by name and he anointed him and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me, you know, and it's, it's such a, you study that out and you go, wow.

And then in the New Testament, you know, and probably the most prominent of, of people that we see was Judas Iscariot, right, one of the 12, you know, for 30 pieces of silver, he, he rebels against Jesus.

And, and you know, it's an amazing way that God, you work through that, that circumstance in that situation to fulfill God's ultimate purpose is to how prophecy was fulfilled, you know, that he'd be betrayed, like I said, For 30 pieces of silver, he'd be betrayed, you know, by a friend.

And ultimately that, that death would lead to crucifixion.

So then we see how God worked through the, the Roman authorities there.

You know, they were enemies of God, but they carried out the plan.

You know, Jesus scripture says would.

Would die by crucifixion, you know, even before it was an invented.

And the Romans obviously carried that out not believing or even, you know, knowing that God was using them.

You know, we see the Assyrian kings, I mean so much like I said, of just how God is in complete control.

And you know, you'd read the Bible and you, you get it.

I mean it's just a A beautiful thing.

And again, that goes back to, you know, what I shared in the last portion of when I was sharing some scripture was Genesis 50, 20.

You know, again, Joseph, you know what you meant for evil?

God has meant it for good.

And that's.

That's echoed all through Scripture, which then, you know, if I had to only teach one chapter, if I could, if somebody said, hey, you can only teach one chapter of the whole Bible, what chapter would that be?

And for me, it'd be Romans, chapter eight.

And I love how that chapter comes to a conclusion in verse 28.

And it says, and we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

And, you know, again, we learn real quick, you know, we can trust God.

We can rest in God even in the midst of chaos.

I don't have to understand it.

I don't have to know everything that's going on, but I just know, like, what's that old expression?

I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.

And it reminds me, too, of that story that you tell.

It makes it.

It's so funny to me, seeing how God can use even people who would, you know, stand on the tallest building and shout that God doesn't exist, that science is the only true belief.

And, you know, in that story you tell about the.

The lady who's, you know, needs groceries, she's hungry, she's at her house, she's just on her knees praying, God just provide.

And her atheist neighbor hears her and is like, you know what?

I'm gonna prove to her that God doesn't exist.

And so he goes out and gets her groceries and comes back and knocks on the door and, you know, and says, here, I heard you praying and I wanted to do it.

And just.

Her response is, God, thank you that you would use this guy that doesn't believe in you to fulfill you to answer my prayer.

And so the perspective is amazing, but it's so true that God uses and can use anybody and everybody.

He's sovereign.

The point is he's sovereign.

He's in control.

And knowing that God is sovereign over the chaos, especially when we talk about wars and rumors of wars and these nations and the chaos, and we think of Iran and in China and Russia and Ukraine and all this stuff going on, knowing that God is sovereign, that should give us confidence, not fear.

But oftentimes it leads to fear because we're seeing with our eyes and not through our faith, not through God's.

Promise.

But it also raises the question, then what do we do?

And I guess I'll.

Gene, I'll kick this over to you.

How do we live then?

And we talked about almost every episode we wrap up with this.

How do we apply this?

How do we stay anchored?

And so let me ask you, how.

How do we live anchored then, in, in that truth that God is sovereign, that God's in control when everything around us feels unstable.

Are there some practical ways you would encourage believers to, you know, to, to really navigate these times and to stay connected through the chaos of, of what we see in a global scale?

Yeah, obviously, the word of God staying where I chuckled because I was thinking about Bible teacher D. Martin Lloyd Jones.

My son's read a little bit of biography on him, and I guess during World War II, during the bombings of London, he'd be preaching on Sunday mornings in whatever church he was invited to.

And they'd hear the air raid sirens, and everybody would get up and he would say, where are you going?

And they said, well, we're being bombed.

And he goes, we're here to study God's Word.

And he would literally just shame everybody into staying at church and God protect them.

So it was, it's, you know, you think, man, that's commitment to the Word.

You know, it's like, hey, I believe.

I believe what I.

What this, what this book says.

And I'm going to follow it, I guess.

You know, with me.

One thing I wanted to work in here is like, you know, people are stressed and, and they, they want to, you know, they want their life to be a little bit better.

And so California, every, you know, okay, everybody's leaving California, right?

I mean, that's, that's the dream is to get out of California.

And I, I wonder if Paul the apostle would want to come to California, don't you think?

I mean, if you look at the United States, there's a bunch of terrible places, you know, Absolutely.

He would, I mean, hey, California would cover everything.

You know, he'd be, hey, let's go.

You know, let's do this thing.

And so I just share with Christians, I say, hey, you know, on this issue, and of course, any issue, are you really being led?

Is that what God is doing in your life?

Did you.

How could you pray about this?

And then this is, this is God's solution.

All the Christians are going to leave California because the people aren't worth talking to.

And I know it's hard, you know, so.

But on a practical level, people need to look at themselves first and say, like I said earlier, am I taking a stand when God is giving me this ground?

You know, I mean, I think there have to be Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego moments and Daniel moments and, you know, Elijah moments for every Christian.

Maybe not super dramatic, but hey, this is that moment.

And maybe it's, hey, I'm going to stay in California, you know, and just, I'm going to get in touch with the Lord.

So, you know, you know, the basic Christian things that are great.

The word of God inspired, infallible, authoritative.

We now have a relationship with God where we talk to him in an, I believe, an informal way, the way you and I are talking, because he's.

He's our, you know, our brother as well as our Lord.

Go to church, you know, hang around with other people.

Everybody now has their own idea of what church is.

I just read some stuff on X this morning about, you know, basically their idea of church is Starbucks, you know, whenever you can meet, and everybody just praying for one another and.

And I'm not down with that and stuff, but let God do what God's going to do and all, and then share your faith with others.

So those are the basic things.

They've always been the basic things.

They'll continue to be the basic things.

And I think if people were looking at their life and say, hey, am I doing the basics?

I think they would become more aware that the spiritual problems in people's lives need to be addressed rather than, hey, I need to get out of here or get to a place of comfort, you know, and maybe we've created a little bit of a distance because, you know, the general we, the universal we, where, you know, people get the idea that the ministry is what the pastor does or what the missionary does or that, you know, what the staff guy does.

I almost hate to use the word staff, you know, but, you know, say, hey, those guys do that.

I maybe give money, which is great, you know, and then they do that.

And so, you know, I think we need to just return to, you know, those churches that have that sign on the door as you're leaving.

This is now you're entering your mission field.

And then when you start to see your job and your school and your city and your children growing up as a mission field, then, hey, you know, you don't have time to be scared because you're.

You're serving the Lord and people are needing to hear the gospel.

Yeah, that's so true.

And I think if we were to create probably an accurate sign of how most people really view what you're saying is, is that sign would say, now Pastor Mike is leaving for the mission field.

Now Pastor Gene is leaving for the mission field.

It doesn't apply to them.

But it's so true that, no, we are all called.

And my workplace, when I was in oil and gas, that's my mission field.

And you know what?

It's so funny when I'm Walmart grocery shopping, that can become my mission field.

It's where we're at.

And it's the whole body of Christ.

It's not.

Not just the pastors.

But you're true.

A lot of people look at it, I gave what I, you know, I gave my money, and now that's my Christian duty, you know, and it's really, it's really.

And sadly, they've been taught that way.

I mean, I'm not at Calvary's, but, you know, that's how the Christian life is folded out to them.

Yeah.

And, and so it's, you know, they need to just have a, a fresh look at Ephesians where it says, we equip you to do the work of the ministry.

And that's not Sunday school.

I mean, we do, you know, as a family, we get together and we need teachers and we, you know, we take care of the body, but the work of the ministry is outside where you are maybe the only Christian or maybe there's five of you, you know, whatever guys got, you know, hey, God, what do you want to do here at this elementary school so that we can shake Christians up and, and get them, you know, it's.

No, it's not bad to say, hey, wake up, arise.

You know, let's.

Let's go do something for the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

So as we wrap up today, remember, as you know, the whole conversation this episode was wars, rumors, wars, divided nations.

And those are not, you know, signs that God has lost control, that they are evidence, really, that his word is unfolding exactly as he said, you know, that would.

God's plan is advancing and nothing can stop it.

His hope and his promises, they're unshakable.

They're unchangeable.

I mean, you can't come to any other conclusion through reading through, through his faithfulness to the people of Israel in the Old Testament time and time and time again.

So our challenge to you this week is when you hear troubling news, because, spoiler alert, you're going to, you're going to hear troubling headlines tomorrow and the next day and the next day.

Don't let fear, you know, take the lead in that.

Instead, remember, you're not given a spirit of fear, but peace, love, sound of mind, pause and pray, you know, for God's will to be done in that situation and in your life and, and, and that he would help you see, see that situation correctly through, through the lens of faith and trust in him, trust in his sovereignty and just really strive to keep your heart and your mind anchored in his promises.

And you're not going to do that apart from His Word, apart from fellowship, apart from worship, apart from praying.

So if you're not, if you, if you don't have a good habit of being in God's word, you've got to be in His Word, spend time in His Word.

This week.

And so next time, next week we'll be talking really kind of bringing the conversation closer to home.

We talked, we started with rumors of wars, nations, but next episode, next week we're going to talk specifically about the division of families and friendships.

And you know what Jesus said about that, because he did, he did say something about it, that, that believing in him, walking with him is going to divide people, it's going to break relationships because God stands for something the world doesn't.

And that's truth, objective truth, his truth, reality.

And so, and really, we'll talk about how to stand firm in that so you won't want to miss it.

We look forward to seeing you.

Thanks for joining us.

Thanks for listening and we will see you in the next episode next week, 4pm on Thursday.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Real Life.

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