Welcome back to Real Life with Mike and Jason.

We're glad you're here with us for season four.

And this season we're looking at a topic that I think in many ways we were talking a little bit about this before the show started, really can drum up some controversy, some confusion, maybe even some fear.

And so we'll be talking about really, the topic on are we in the last day or.

Or what are the last days?

And is there.

Does the Bible even talk about it?

And so as we do every season, we care first and foremost, what does God's word say on the topic?

And so that's what we're going to be looking at this season.

And I can't believe it's already been a year since we started this.

It was last September that we kicked off our first episode, just before the election, actually.

And so it's our honor to be back with you and our pleasure to be back with you as we kick off season four, talking about prophecy, all things end times prophecy and what the world looks like, what we can expect, what is our obligation, what are we supposed to do with that information?

And so before we get started on it, though, I wanted to introduce somebody that you may have never seen before.

And you'll see his handsome face there, smiling and he.

We got two people with glasses now, too, so maybe bring your glasses next time, Pastor Mike.

I could do that.

Yeah, I could get them right now.

This is Pastor Air conditioner on while I'm doing it.

Pastor Gene.

And Pastor Gene is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Hanford, which is a little north of us.

And before he served as a senior pastor, I think you were the assistant pastor there in Calvary Chapel of San Bernardino, Is that correct?

Yeah, yeah.

Way down in Southern.

That's my hometown.

I wasn't born there, but that's my hometown.

Awesome.

Well, he's joining us this season and we're so glad to have him.

A little bit about him again, obviously.

He's a senior pastor now at Calvary Chapel Hanford, and he's been.

I think you guys, you've known Mike for a long time, haven't you?

You guys have been in ministry for decades.

Yeah, I was trying to figure that out.

But, yeah, I first met Mike, we were at a retreat at Mount Hermon.

And it's the first time you met.

I had my kids with me anyway.

Yeah, I.

But I couldn't remember how long ago that.

It's got to be at least.

I mean, that's more than 20 years.

I'm sure yeah, easily your early 90s.

And so a little bit about Pastor Jean.

He not only is a senior pastor, but obviously he's a husband, he's a dad, he's a grandpa.

He's been married to his wife Pam for 49 years.

When is your 50th?

July 10th.

It's coming up pretty soon, about less than a year.

So I better get started planning for it.

That's right.

Absolutely.

Yeah, you better.

So we're honored to have him.

Thank you so much for joining us, Pastor Jane, and hopefully you're as excited as we are to have you here.

I am.

Awesome.

So let's get started then.

We'll kick it off with kind of the big question behind the whole season.

What does the Bible actually mean when it talks about living in the last days?

Because I think it's very easy to get caught up in headlines or theories, but Scripture really gives us clear direction on what the end times are, what the last days are.

We talking about prophecy.

We got a lot to unpack.

We're going to be here for eight episodes this season.

So please definitely stick with us.

So I guess let's start with you, Pastor Gene.

Walk us through a little bit about what the Bible says about that very topic.

What does it mean to be living in the last days?

Yeah, sure.

Hey, I do like this topic because I got saved back in 1979 as a result of prophecy.

And I once saw the Hal Lindsay movie, the Late Great Planet Earth.

Man, that thing is ancient, but it got me going in the right direction.

A friend at work led me to Jesus Christ.

So the last days.

Good question.

Are we in the last days?

We are, because the writer to the Hebrews says we are.

I think it's the first verse in Hebrews.

He said God has been speaking to us through prophets and various other means.

But.

But now in these last days, he's begun to speak to us from his Son.

And so we would say that the last days began with the incarnation of Jesus Christ, and they run through the second coming until he comes, returns to the earth.

So as far as the way I like to look at it is like this.

It's a period of time that we know a great deal about because God is showing us the future and what's going to happen.

And so if the end times begin when Jesus Christ is born, then, you know, we have the offer of the kingdom to Israel that's part of the last days.

They reject it.

Jesus ascends into heaven, and we have the church age on the day of Pentecost forward and then we'll talk about the Rapture and the resurrection of the church at some point, which gets us going in the direction of the Great Tribulation for seven years, after which the second Coming will happen.

And that will pretty much be effectively the end of the last days.

Looking into the millennial kingdom.

So to me, it's like a chronology, you know, that can help a Christian, you know, know where you're at.

And I think it's important people know where they're at in history.

There were some Old Testament guys, remember Mike?

They said, hey, these guys knew the times that they were in and it helped him a great deal.

So, so yeah, last days, that's, that's my overview of it and full of signs that we can look at and try and discern where we're at.

But it's not mysterious at all.

You see, if we take it that way in the terms of dispensations, you would say, because hey, we're in the church age, it has certain characteristics.

And once that's over, the tribulation will have certain characteristics.

It's funny, a lot of times people say, oh, I think we're in the tribulation right now.

Well, that's not possible, obviously theologically, because the church is still on earth.

But really, do you think that there's all kinds of terrible things going on around the entire planet that are earth shattering and deal breaking though?

I mean there's pockets of activity where people are fighting and there's different things going on.

But we're talking about a time that will affect the entire globe.

The entire planet will be going through geological changes and all kinds of judgments and that.

So we definitely have not been in the tribulation and we're not in it now.

I know, I know some people want to say that a lot of the prophecy, you know, like in the Revelation is fulfilled, but that's just.

I don't want to be mean or anything, but that's nonsense when you think about.

Well, just read Revelation 4 through 18 and you'll see that we have never had a time like that up till now.

So it's, it's future.

So yes, we're in the last days.

Other apostles said the same thing, but, and let's go for it.

We're in the church age.

We're supposed to be preaching the gospel to all of the world.

That's our mission.

And the mission is it's mission specific.

If you don't know where you are, what you're supposed to be doing, well what good is that?

So we're in the last days.

We're specifically in the church age, which could end imminently.

And so let's get to work sharing the gospel.

Oftentimes, you know, what, what culture the world talks about is very different than what we see when we read the Bible or what the Bible says would happen, you know, in the last kind of the last days, the very end times.

And so I think, just in my mind, I think of things like Hollywood movies, TV shows, what people say on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram.

So it's easy, I think, to get swept up in fear, just to start living in fear or even confusion.

What does the Bible actually say?

Because I've heard this pastor say that the rapture was going to happen here and it didn't happen.

And so you kind of get jaded with.

Well, I just don't know that I believe any of it.

Maybe it's all a lie.

So could you talk a little bit then about the difference between pop culture and real biblical prophecy?

Yeah, and it's such a great question because obviously, as Pastor Gene touched on, there's so much different theologies out there with regard to the end times.

You know, you.

Are we pre, middle trib, post trib, you know, I mean, are we preterist?

Are we futurist?

I mean, there's all kinds of biblical positions, you know, that we can take.

And unfortunately, living in a world that is dominated by sin, that's why you see, even within theological circles, this, the word is, you know, sensationalized.

And, and the enemy loves to sensationalize anything because what that does in the heart of people, and we saw this during COVID is just makes people live in fear.

And if you can cause people to live in fear, then you can control them.

So when you think of all the things that are happening in culture, like you said, there's the doomsday preppers.

I mean, I think most of the people that are promoting that are selling something.

I mean, I can't tell you how many people I know that have bought food that they've buried in their backyard, you know, because some doomsday prepper said that, you know, the end of the world was coming, not the rapture of the church.

You know, being someone like myself and us that are here, we believe in a pre tribulation rapture.

And I believe, as Gene said in the book of Revelation, it clearly maps it out so that we can know.

You put it in your notes.

You know, we've shared it, you know, many times over.

The last few weeks, you know, God's given us his word and especially prophecy.

Prophecy was given to prepare us, not to scare us.

And I think that's the big difference.

You know, the world wants to scare us.

And I think probably could be said of certain theological circles as well, just trying to control people.

And Jesus said In John chapter 3, in verse 19, he says, and the judgment is based on this, he says God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

And all who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear that their sins will be exposed.

And so you have the world promoting, you know, one agenda and we have the church promoting another.

And this is my own personal take.

I mean, it almost might sound silly, but I, I truly believe that this whole thing with global warming, you know, then it changed then from global warming to climate change is all the enemy's way of controlling people and trying to explain what's going to happen in the end times.

When God pours out his wrath, you know, upon the earth.

As Gene was sharing, you know, when the church is gone, it was taken up and you read Revelation 4 through, you know, 18, we've never seen any of the things that have, are going to transpire in the world.

So the world has to get people prepped in one sense for it.

And not to say that they could then repent and turn to God.

But you know, literally they've got to figure out a way to take care of themselves and to protect themselves.

And that's where fear comes in.

But you know, Paul wrote to Timothy, you know, second Timothy 1:7, he says, you know, for God has not given us a spirit of fear and Timothy, but of power and love and of self discipline.

It's important to just understand there's a contrast here, you know, and I love the fact that as we just focus in on our relationship with God and we walk with God, we have peace.

You know, you put it in your notes there.

And as I was reading in John 14, you know, @ the Last Supper, you know, Jesus sat with his disciples and he told him not to fear.

You know, he.

And he expresses, he says, you know, what I give you, the world can't give you, you know, I give you a peace that the world knows not of.

So the things that God will do as we draw close to him and as we study God's word, the true believer is going to have peace.

It doesn't mean that we're not going to go through Hardship and we're not going to suffer.

We see all those things.

It's just part of living in a fallen, broken world.

But in our inner man, our inner person, in our spirit and in our soul, we can have peace with God.

And I think that's the biggest contrast.

You know, everything that the world does is to try to rob you of that peace and to get you to respond.

What we would say is in the flesh, where God's going, you know, no understand, I'm sovereign, I'm in control.

Everything that's happened, you know, what is prophecy, it's history told in advance.

And I love that.

And we can rest in that.

So hopefully that makes some sense and adds to the dialogue here.

Yeah, for sure.

I mean, we, you know, one of the beautiful things is we don't have to guess dates, we don't have to get caught up in that hype.

We just stay awake, trust God and what he already said.

But I think, you know, if we're just to be honest with ourselves, it really feels like, at least the way I see it, and I think you guys will agree that things are definitely moving a little bit faster than Maybe they were 20, 30, 40 years ago.

I was thinking about this as I was, you know, just looking through this episode and you know, I could imagine.

Could you, you know, just thinking like a pastor who maybe was really prominent, who was really strong and in ministry 40 years ago might see a headline or 50 years ago, you know, about this new magnetic strip that was coming out and thinking, oh man, that could be, that could be a, that could be a, you know, kind of a gateway to the, to the one world currency or, you know, not being able to buy and sell.

But then I think the difference between the headlines 50 years ago and today, it's like, you know, we'll wake up, look at our news in the morning and say, oh, you know, Israel bombed Damascus.

Well, okay, that's what's going on today.

And then we just kind of move on.

Like we were just so used to these rapid fire significant, I think in many cases events.

And it's multiple headlines a day.

So what used to take decades, it seems like unfolds really in real time.

So I guess.

Pastor Gene, can you walk us through maybe some of the signs that might show, you know, because we talk about the end time being any point from when or the last days being from when Jesus ascended all the way up until now.

But there's certainly something that's going to be different the closer that we get.

So could you Walk us through a little bit about what signs we may see as we get even closer to Jesus coming back for his bride.

Yeah, sure.

You know, I like what you were talking about there in terms of people not being excited anymore.

I think part of that I'll address real quick is that they've become desensitized because some have been given to sensationalism like Mike was talking about.

And, you know, they just saw prophecy where it wasn't my favorite example.

And I was guilty of it too.

We take the Bible literally, but then we always talk about the Soviet Union being Russia and Russia was going to come down and invade Israel and all of that.

And then one day I woke up and there was no Soviet Union.

And so everybody that was teaching it is these guys.

It's them and nobody else, you know, well, then you have to punt.

And people think, well, guys, you know, you're just making this stuff up.

I tell you, to me, and you don't hear this too much, but I think we need to hear more.

There's a lot of good things we'll talk about.

I like to get to AI and the Mark of the beast and all that briefly.

But what I try and encourage people to do is talk about the nation of Israel.

It is the absolute proof, miraculous proof, that we are in the last days and that God is doing exactly what he said he was going to do.

Dispersed for, you know, from 70 A.D. on into the 1900s.

Then the Zionist movement gets popular.

You end up with the Balfour Declaration, Israel gets back in their land, they win the six day or the Arab Israeli war.

Now they're in their land.

Ezekiel tells us that when they're in their land, he sees this valley of dry bones and the Lord tells them what's going to happen.

And essentially God is going to regather Israel in the last days and then he is going to bring them to life as a nation.

But they will be in unbelief until the second coming when Jesus comes to finally save them.

And so, you know, like I was thinking today, that terrible earthquake and the tsunami that people are struggling from right now, you know, and, and, and a lot of people would say, and I can't say any different.

I mean, they say, oh, you know, earthquakes in various places and all of that.

Well, maybe, maybe not, you know, I mean, because people could counter and say, well, we just, we know about more earthquakes now because we have a better seismic system.

But you can't do anything with Israel except believe God, that he said, he said this would happen.

And this is, it's a global thing, right.

I mean, it involves nations.

It's not even just one carpenter in Galilee or something like that.

You know, obviously, you know, but you know what I'm talking about.

And so let's talk about Israel and the fact that she is a burden to all the nations of the earth just the way God said she would.

I mean, it's just right there in front of our face and then we can work backwards from there and talk about the things that trouble people.

Yeah, absolutely.

And Israel definitely is a big part of that.

What are your thoughts then?

I mean, we talk, we talk about, we see this in Second Timothy and about false teaching being widespread.

What's your kind of your pulse on.

On that is that seem like it's getting more, more prevalent as time goes on.

I mean, you know, truth being optional, feelings kind of.

Yeah.

Even if it's in the sense of more people are exposed to it.

You know, I mean, a lot of people, they always.

Their argument, it's like the Second Peter argument, oh, where's the promise of his coming?

People always want to say there's really no evidence that he's coming.

And there's always been false teachers and all, and yet now it's more prevalent.

So that's one way of fulfilling it.

But another thing is, I think again, you touched on it.

It's an important subject.

People, we tend to get desensitized as Christians.

So if Mike, talk about culture, if culture is way out here at, you know, the 50 yard line, well, we're at the 20 yard line, so that makes us better than the culture.

But then as they make progress into their, you know, towards their goal line, they take us along with them.

And so we can say, well, we're still not as bad as the surrounding culture.

But, and I ask people, I say, hey, what are you doing that you weren't doing 20 years ago as a Christian?

And is it that if it was ungodly then, is it really mature now?

I mean, have you matured?

You know, and I don't want to, you know, obviously I don't mention too many things specifically because we don't have to put a guilt trip on anybody, but I think we need to look at our hearts and I mean just the church in general is way more liberal than it's ever been in my lifetime.

Uh, and as far as the prolifera that gives a basis for a foundation for false teaching because you, you aren't really grounded in the Word.

You don't know what the Bible actually says, because you only hear messages about feeling good and false teaching catches you off guard.

And, and a lot of Americans are, you know, they're.

And people in the west, they're just not ready for the false teachers and the heresies that come around.

Yeah.

And again, a lot of these subjects, I mean, you talk about AI, you talk about, you know, things like that, and a lot of those we will address throughout the season.

But they're certainly an interesting implication, one that maybe even 10 years ago wasn't even on our radar.

I mean, we heard, we knew the term, we understood it from maybe Hollywood's perspective of like cybernet or whatever it was in, you know, the Terminator movies or something like that.

We understand it.

Yeah.

You know, we, we understood, like, the idea of it, but just seeing how quickly, just in the last two years, just in that front, that technology has increased and it really is exponentially.

So it's just the further along we go, it's like more in focus.

You can start to see events in Daniel, Revelation, etc.

Play out.

So.

And then just the global instability too, I think.

I mean, just you talk about Israel, how much this little nation, I mean, how many people do they have living there now?

It's I think 8 million or 6.

Million, 6 million, something like that.

Just how hated this little patch of land is worldwide.

And that is certainly not getting any better.

You know, it's just wild to see how much of what the Bible has already talked about is lining up with what we're seeing practically today just in news headlines.

And people are talking about whether it's the, you know, like you said, the rise of false teaching or just global instability and even the spread of the gospel going into these extremely hostile places.

But God's spirit can't be stopped.

And so it could be frightening in that regard, because as a Christian who doesn't really read the Bible, or if we're just thinking of a group of people that don't really read the Bible or they get their theology or their news or their prophecy takes from TikTok and don't really settle into what God's word actually says because there's so much comfort and hope in God's Word specifically in these times.

But if, if you're trying to understand them and rationalize them apart from the truth of God's word, it's going to lead you to fear because God's word is the, you know, it's the standard of how we're supposed to understand what's going on.

And so with all that in mind, what do we do with that then?

Information as we look to kind of wrap up just this first episode.

And again, a lot of these topics we're going to unpack throughout this season.

But so how do we live in light with what we're seeing?

And I'll kick this off to Pastor Mike.

How do we live in light with what we're seeing without fear, without getting overwhelmed or without panicking?

What should be our, our response then to the times that we're living in as followers of Jesus?

You know, I think of, you know what Pastor Chuck Smith used to say, never trade what you do know for what you don't know.

And you know, Jesus, you know the night that like I said, that he was betrayed and, and at the Last Supper he sat with his disciples there and he told them, he said, don't let your heart be troubled.

He said, if you believe in God, believe in.

And he's sharing with them things that I'm going to prepare a place for you and when that place is ready, I'm going to come back and receive you to myself.

And he goes on, he says, you know, in my peace I give to you not a piece that the world knows not of.

But yet this whole thing kind of focused around, you'd pose the question from Matthew's Gospel, you know, like no man knows the hour, right?

Jesus says, no man knows the hour.

So we're going, what do we do if we don't know the hour?

We don't know when the Lord is, is coming back.

And I think I'd heard share this one time in a, in a sermon, he said, you know, you don't know what you don't know.

And, and it's so true.

So we don't focus on what we don't know.

So you go, what should the impact then be of not knowing the hour?

And Jesus answers the question for us.

He says in Matthew 24:42, he says, so you too must keep watch, for you don't know what day your Lord is coming.

And then Paul says, you know, in First Thessalonians 5, he says, but you're not in the dark about these things.

He says, dear brothers and sisters, you won't be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief, for you are all children of the light and of the day.

We don't belong to the darkness and the night.

So be on your guard, not asleep like the others.

Stay alert and be clear headed.

And I love that, you know, it's almost like saying you Know, live like there's no tomorrow, but plan like you're going to be here for 100 years, you know, from now.

And so what do we do?

Paul again, he admonishes us, you know, don't be conformed right to the world.

And the world's going to go, hey, you know, this is happening, this is happening.

Run for your lives.

You know, Jesus, in the Olivet discourse, you know, he tells us these are the things that are.

People are going to be saying.

And he says, but, you know, it's like, what's that quote I love by Corrie Ten Boom.

She said, you know, when I.

When I look around, I get confused.

She said, when I look down, I get depressed.

Yeah, but when I look up, my heart's at rest.

And I think that's so true.

And so, you know, we don't.

We don't play into the world.

We don't let the world squeeze us in.

But we stay in the word of God.

We stay in prayer, we stay in fellowship.

All the things that God created, you know, for us to enjoy, that would protect us and let that transform the way that we think, because the world's going to obviously tell us that we need to think, you know, on our own, apart from God, you know, that was the.

Wasn't that the lie all the way back in the Garden of Eden?

You eat this fruit and you'll be like God.

You won't need God.

You.

You can figure everything out, you know, on your own.

I. I got a quote from a brother this morning.

I really liked it.

It was.

He's from Raymond Edmond, and it said, never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.

And, and that's so true, you know, for us as believers.

And so we're called to live by faith.

We're not called to live by fear.

And as we, you know, put our trust in Jesus, and there at the Last Supper, that's what he said.

He goes, you know the way.

You know, Thomas is going, lord, we don't.

We don't know the way.

And he goes, I am the way.

I am the truth.

I am the life, and no man comes to the Father except by me.

And so we can rest in the fact that we know the way.

And that, like Gene said.

And that comes back to how we should live the rest of our lives, you know, as believers, as we know that Jesus is coming soon.

And when Jesus comes, the end of what we believe is the church age, you know, the opportunity for that last gentile to come to faith.

Then comes the Rapture.

So be in a.

Stay in focus.

Don't.

With all the things that are going on, don't lose sight of why we're here.

We're, he's left us here, he's placed us here to live in and through our lives, to reach other people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The good news.

I always think of, you know, Isaiah 41:10 says, you know, don't be afraid, for I am with you.

Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and I will help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

And so my encouragement would be, is don't live in fear, but live by faith.

And then that faith is, is not based on faith.

That faith is, like Gene said, it's based on fact.

You just look at historically and what a beautiful reminder he's given us to focus on the nation of Israel.

We can argue all day long, you know, how many earthquakes happened in a day and how much pestilence is going on in the world, but you cannot argue that God chose Israel and he chose Jerusalem, the, the only city on this earth that he's claimed for himself.

And they're the focus of everything.

I mean, we've got, who would have known, you know, college university campuses here in the United States, you know, that are just teaching, you know, anti Semitism as courses.

And you'd think that is so bizarre, but it's so biblical, you know, that we see, like you said, that the whole world is focused on this little tiny nation and God ultimately is going to come to their rescue.

And so we just need to stay on point and like I said, not live by, by fear, but live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Amen.

Yeah.

And so there's no way, as we look to wrap up episode one, there's no way to get around the fact that we are living in the last days and we have been again since Jesus came and ascended.

But what's different now is the intensity, the frequency, the signs around us.

And then obviously Israel's a big one, which we're going to talk a little bit more about next, next week.

So it's not something to fear.

It's a reason to stay steady, to trust in God, stay rooted in his word and keep our eyes looking up, keep our eyes on Jesus.

So here's a question I want to leave our listeners with today is are you living like Jesus could come back at any moment?

Because the truth is he could.

There's we're not waiting for anything else other than our Lord to come back.

And so the good news is he is coming back and he's coming for his people.

Before we wrap up, I just wanted to give our first episode, I wanted to give the opportunity for Pastor Gene or Pastor Mike.

Any final thoughts you want to share on what we've talked about today before we go?

I yield the floor to my good friend from Hanford, Pastor Gene.

Hey, I just want to say this and well, look, I hope by the end of this season people will get the idea that this stuff isn't that hard.

As far as the broad outline.

Everybody wants the minutiae of detail and dates and stuff, but forget that and just focus on the broad outline and signs.

You know, we get to Revelation, it's, it's people say, oh, we don't teach Revelation because it's full of signs and symbols.

Think about it.

When you're out driving, right, your world is filled with signs and symbols and they help you.

You wouldn't know it's a four way stopper that all traffic doesn't stop and that can be disastrous.

So signs are better.

And so the thing is God's given us these signs and we know where we're at basically and what to do, like Mike said.

So I think we can simplify it by having this big picture view and then you can toy with the details as well.

But so it's not easy, but it's not hard.

Amen.

So next week on Real Life with Mike and Jason, we're going to be looking at specifically how biblical prophecy works, what it is.

We'll talk about the difference between fulfilled versus unfulfilled prophecy and why Israel matters.

Because there's a little date that happened in 1948 that completely changed the trajectory of how we see Bible prophecy.

It didn't change the Bible prophecy, but it added a level of intensity and clarity that we didn't expect before that.

And what to watch for in the days ahead.

Don't miss it and we'll see you next time.

And if you enjoyed this episode, share it with somebody, you can always email us any questions at real life@ccbakersfield.com and obviously our new guest host, Pastor Gene is senior pastor again of Calvary Chapel Hanford.

And you can look at his sermons and follow his all his social media accounts by going to their church website too.

So we thank you so much and we look forward to talking to you on episode two.