Jack Hibbs - What Was. What Is. What Is to Come (01/23/2026)
Introduction to Revelation 1:8
Have you turned to the Book of Revelation chapter 1 today? Revelation chapter 1, and we’ll focus on verse 8 specifically, but we’ll read the verses leading up to it in a moment. But look at verse eight, Revelation 1 verse 8, and it’s out of this verse where we get the title for the New Year’s message for this year. The title is «What Was, What Is, and What Is to Come.» It comes out of Revelation 1:8, which is one of the descriptions of the very nature, the DNA of God himself.
Jesus' Declaration
Jesus is speaking in Revelation 1 verse 8. He says, «I am the Alpha and the Omega.» That is a tremendous statement for Jesus to make because that title alone—there are four of them here in one verse—but that statement alone, that title «I am the Alpha and the Omega,» is reserved from the Old Testament for God alone. Nobody can say this without being killed for blasphemy. You don’t take on the name of God. Jesus did, but he went on. He says of himself that he’s the beginning and the end.
This is an awesome statement. It’s a statement of eternity. He’s saying before anything material or anything that was ever created was created, that which began, I was in existence before whatever began. And when all things come to an end, I will still continue on. That’s the Jesus of the Bible. That’s the God who is going before you this year.
He says of himself also another title out of the Old Testament, which is the nature of God: the one who is, who was, who is to come—the one who never changes, who presides over all things. That’s what that statement is. He’s saying, «I’m the one that has presided over all things past, all things current, all things future.» The Jesus of the Bible.
And then finally, the fourth declaration in this small little verse is the fact that Jesus is the Almighty. The Almighty. He just lays it down—four radical, amazing, powerful statements regarding the very nature and characteristics of God himself. And Jesus says those things belong to me.
You might say, «Well, yeah, but look, he said that and he was killed for it.» Might I remind you that Revelation chapter 1 is after his resurrection? What does that mean? That means he not only spoke it before he was put on the cross, he went to the cross of his own volition because it was the plan of God to die there for your sins, to be resurrected from the dead. And in the Book of Revelation chapter 1, Jesus is announcing it to the Apostle John, having been resurrected from the dead. If it had more power when he was living, how much more power does it have now that he’s resurrected from the dead? Remarkable statement.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
So as we look at this and we use it as a springboard, look at Revelation 1 verse 1: «The revelation of Jesus Christ"—the unveiling, the apocalypse. The word means that whatever is being concealed, in this case it’s Jesus Christ himself, the veil is being taken off to reveal Jesus Christ, or the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Book of Revelation is of Jesus Christ; it’s the unveiling of him. The New Testament announces that Christ is the centerpiece of the revelation of God, and the last book of the Bible is specifically introduced that way—"which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly or quickly take place.» The word means that when the end-time things happen, they will go very fast, in short order.
And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. «Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.» John says to the seven churches which are in Asia—today Turkey, that these seven churches once existed—"Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn or preeminent one from the dead"—that is, the first one to be risen from the dead never to die again—"and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.»
Verse 7: «Behold, he is coming with clouds"—he’s speaking about the second coming events, not the rapture, the second coming events—"Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him"—that’s a reference to the Jewish people—"and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, amen.»
Here’s verse eight: «I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,» says the Lord, «who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.»
Application for the New Year
What does this mean for us for this new year, on this day, the first day of this new year? Well, number one, the fact that I want the takeaway from today, this devotional time as we dedicate our attention to the new year, that we place God’s centerpiece most prominent in everything in the new year. And so when we look at the God of the Bible, we have to remember something: the God of the Bible, according to his own statement, is that he’s the God of the past. We think so often that the past is something that is only around to haunt us, or the past is something that we look back with fond memories, that somehow it’s coded that way, or maybe the past was a horrific time and it’s something that you just want to avoid, or you’re so glad you made it through.
Wait a minute, if we’re Christians this morning, our God from this verse tells us he’s the God of the past. God knew all along the way that you would become a Christian. He knew all the things that you and I would experience. He’s the God of the past. He’s not only the God of the past—we’ll see today that he’s the God of the present and he’s the God of the future. And we need this truth for our new year that’s before us. All of that—past, present, and future—is the prophetic nature of God. He’s the one who was, who is, who is to come. It’s his nature.
God’s Unique Nature
I’m going to give you some verses well known to you. You hear these often, and we love to boast in these verses because they describe the nature of our God, who absolutely is unique from all man-made gods. In Isaiah 46:9 and 10, he says of himself that «I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done.» That makes him omniscient. In that statement, God is saying, «I know everything from past, present, and future. Nothing can be learned by me. I’m God.» And by the way, because he knows all things, he can speak from the distant past to us today about the future. Is that awesome? Someone say, «That’s awesome.» That’s the God of the Bible. That’s the God of your new year. That makes him omniscient.
Another thing is that it makes him unrivaled. Look at Isaiah 45:21. He says of himself, «Who foretold this long ago, or who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but me.» I can almost hear him say it with an attitude: «There’s none but me.» You can see all idols and totem poles and statues bow down to him. He’s omniscient, he’s unrivaled, and he’s comforting.
Isaiah 42:9 says, «Behold, the former things have come to pass"—meaning the things I’ve told you about long ago have now happened—"and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.» That’s the God of the Bible.
Prophetic Purposes of God
So church, we’ll look at three points in our New Year’s Day message, beginning with this one: the prophetic purposes of God. I want you to mark that down—that God, the God of the Bible, unique from all other gods made by man, is the fact that he has a prophetic purpose to what he does. He has a prophetic purpose to what he does. So the first thing we see is that his prophetic purpose, and we’re going to keep it in three genres or three areas throughout the points. Number one is that he has been revealing this purpose among the nations. We’ll look at the nations, we’ll look at the Jewish people, and we’ll look at the church. As we look back, as we look to this moment, as we look ahead, we understand that God has prophetic purposes.
And we look at the statement that «who was"—that he is in fact the one who was. And that means that he has revealed his purpose among the nations. And see, what does that mean? That means from the very beginning of time itself, God was at work among the nations of the world, from their formation. If you are a history buff, you can go to Genesis chapter 10, and in that chapter, the first formation of nations begins to take place. In fact, that chapter is noted as the table of nations, and from those nations, all other nations came forth to the one you’re sitting in today.
God does this. As we consider God’s distant work about nations, why do I say that today on this new year? Because God has always been in control, and I want to build my case today that God controls and presides over the nations. We know this three ways: that throughout the distant past, God has brought all things together according to his plan. And nobody knows his plan; he’s revealed to us what he wants us to know, but just enough.
The Bible tells us that God is the one who establishes kings and brings down kings. Ladies and gentlemen, in this new year, if you like it or not—and what I’m going to say is not a political statement—but you are about to receive the appointment of a new president. If you like him or not, it doesn’t matter. Do you understand that you and I, ordained by God, we were to get involved, to stand for righteousness. Good, bad, or ugly, you and I were to stand for righteousness. In other words, God is sovereign, but we do our part. It doesn’t change, diminish, or add to his sovereignty. He holds us responsible.
But here’s the deal: you want to know why Donald Trump’s president? It’s not because of the Electoral College, it’s not because of Russia, it’s not because of anything other than God has decreed it so. Now, he said, «I don’t like it.» I love you, but tough. God didn’t ask you, did he? God didn’t ask me for my opinion. Listen, he puts kings in power, he removes kings. That’s what he does. We are going to find out what the purpose is all about and what we and how we get involved in what happens, but God is on the move. And the past teaches us that God is involved in the affairs of men.
Another thing that we know about this is that he overrides governments. Wow, you look at what’s happening in the last 8 years—the Middle East has been redefined dramatically. I just saw a report from out of Syria: in the last six years, 265,000 people have been killed in Syria with what’s happened with ISIS and the war. Unbelievable death and mayhem. God did not cause it, but God presides over these things. He’s watching—it’s an easy, convenient way for me to put it—he’s watching all these things happen. He’s watching what man does to man, but he’s got a plan, even though he’s not causing it.
Another thing is that we realize that God is rearranging and reconstituting nations. He’s been doing that from the distant past, and as we’ll see today in a moment, he’s doing it even now in our day.
Revealed Among His People
The next thing that we realize regarding the prophetic purposes of God is the fact that it has been revealed among his people. God is not only and has been working among nations, but this is a lot of fun: the fact that he has been—notice the past tense on this—he’s the God who was, and he has been revealed among his people. When I say his people, I’m talking about the Jewish people.
I’ve got to tell you, every time I bring up what I’m about to bring up, I get emails, I get letters, I get notes because of this. Perpetually: «Pastor Jack, I can’t believe it. You know, you seem to know the Bible, but you really blew it today. You talked about the Jews as though God was interested in them today. You talked about Israel as though God cares. Israel is not for real. There are no Jews. They all forsook Jesus. They don’t—they shouldn’t be existing anymore. They’re irrelevant, and you don’t know the Bible.» Wow, really? Listen, that logic is ripped right out of the playbook of Adolf Hitler. Listen, the Bible warns us from generation to generation: you don’t denounce, you don’t refuse God’s working with his people, the Jew. And boy, are you watching the news? I’ll save that for the present stuff.
But the past—hey, the past—the Jew is not supposed to be in existence. Almost every empire has tried to eradicate them, and now we’re right back at it again where the nations of the world do not want Jews to be existing. Amazing. And yet I can tell you right now that God has always reserved a remnant of his people since the beginning of the first Jew, which cracks me up. Do you know who the first Jew was? The first Jew was a Gentile. Listen, if you’re Jewish in the house, listen to me carefully: who’s your father? Who’s your daddy in the faith? Abraham. Did you know the first Jew was a Gentile? That always freaks out my Jewish friends. The first Jew was a Gentile. His name was Abram. Where was he from? Ur of the Chaldees. He was a Chaldean. What made him a Jew? What made him a Jew was not circumcision. What made him a Jew? God declared him a friend, and God declared him righteous by faith before he was ever circumcised. And get this, you might say, «Well, he kept the Ten Commandments.» That’s funny because he pre-existed Moses. There were no Ten Commandments. He was not circumcised. Abraham believed God, and that’s how Abraham became the first Jew.
And the descendants of Abraham are not allowed to live today according to many governments of the world and according to many university campuses in America. Jews have no right to exist. Isn’t that interesting that that’s the talk of the past and the present time? And this is what God says in Isaiah chapter 43:1. Isaiah 43:1, and I give you this because of the year that we’re going into. You’re going to hear more about the Jews, more about Israel, more about Jerusalem than you ever have in previous years.
Isaiah 43:1: «But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. Since you were precious in my sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you; therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east"—has that ever happened? Is it happening now? The Bible says it’s going to keep happening—"and gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up! ' and to the south, 'Do not keep them back! ' Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.»
God is speaking to the Jewish people about this: in the last days, I’m going to—God is saying—I’m going to orchestrate the nations in such a way that my people are going to come back to their land. And I challenge you: don’t believe what I’m going to tell you right now. Go search and see Aliyah—what is going on. But Aliyah: Jews who have been born in other parts of the world, including the United States, in record numbers are getting up and moving to Israel, getting jobs, joining the army—young people, by the way. Never before seen: record number of young people, college-age graduates, college-age kids from America leaving school and moving to Israel. Nobody can explain it. Parents wanting them to stay—they’re moving to Israel. Look it up later: what’s going on.
Isaiah 43: God is laying the groundwork forward, and it’s happened so far in small numbers. It’s going to increase, and the year ahead of you—follow it. It’s going to increase what’s happening. Our God is the God of the past, and he said long ago he was going to be doing this. So in this year ahead, you want to watch for that.
You see, Jack, why do I want to watch for that? I just want to pay the bills. I just want to see my kids grow up. That’s my point: the God that has made you all the promises that you lean upon for your life and for your joy and for your hope—now my point is this: that it’s the God who keeps his promises from the distant past, and nothing can sway him from fulfilling his promises. And you look at how God deals with the nations of the past, and you look at how God has spoken or dealt with his people in the past, and that ought to give you comfort regarding what he’s going to do.
Revealed Among the Church
And it leads us to this third argument under this first point: the fact that the prophetic purposes of God have been revealed among the church—has been, past tense. Now, I don’t know if I’m allowed to say this. I’m not sure if on this new day—you know, in California anyway, we have a bunch of new laws that went into effect today, and you’re going to have to live with them. People who have committed nonviolent crimes—as California has defined—now nonviolent crimes are being released out of jail. Get out of jail free card with the new laws going into effect today, and you’re going to have to deal with that.
So I don’t know if what I’m going to say is illegal or not, but when it comes to the church, um, what’s the term? We are—the culture tells us we are to be all—is it the word inclusive? All-inclusive. That is awesome if you’re going to a vacation getaway. It’s awesome if you’re on a cruise ship. But did you know that God knows nothing about inclusiveness? Did you know that? Now, here’s the part where he’s going to ruffle a progressive feather or two. Jesus is so anti-inclusive. Jesus says, «Unless you’re born again, you’re not coming into the kingdom of God.» Say, «Pastor, there’s no way that—no way God said that.» It’s in your Bible: John chapter 3, starting at verse 1. The letters are written in red. Jesus says, «You ain’t getting in unless you’re born again.» Is that narrow? Oh, that’s narrow. That’s illegal. Well, you have to take it up with the judge, and I don’t mean the one in Sacramento, okay?
The church is exclusive. I’m talking about the church, not the church by label or title. I’m talking about the church by living organism, Spirit of God church—the real church. All through the last 2,000 years, God has been faithful to his prophetic word to preserve his church. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, «I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.» Somebody say amen. He has been faithful. Because he’s been faithful, he shall be faithful. He’s our faithful God.
The Prophetic Presence of God
Second argument this morning—what was, what is, what is to come—is this: the prophetic presence of God right now in the age in which you and I live. In Revelation 1:8 says «who is.» Jesus says of himself that he is the God who is. What does that mean? The God that always is present, the God that always is—the God that is eternal is now the God who is. The Bible says in Revelation 19:10 that Jesus Christ himself is the testimony—the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Powerful.
The prophetic presence of God. Jesus—listen, the psalmist David put it this way. He said in Psalm 139, «If I were to go across the oceans and flee from God, he would be there.» He said, «If I were to descend into the bowels of the earth or hell"—that was the reference—"God would be there.» He said, «I can’t flee in any direction without God being there.» Can you imagine running from God? You stop, take a breath, turn around, and there’s God. He’s everywhere. David said, «If I were to ascend into the heavens, God is there.» Jesus simply said that he’s the God who is. That is an awesome statement.
The very fact that we look at this applied to the nations—we go now from what was to what is happening now. The prophetic presence of God is being witnessed now among the nations. Will you write that down? It’s being witnessed now among the nations. Church, I have to tell you, I’ve got 30 more minutes, I think it is or so, to give you what is impossible to give in light of what’s going on in the world—just not only in this last week, but this entire year has been off the charts. I believe if nations would open their eyes, they would see God is at work right now among the nations. I have no doubt about it personally, but I want to give you this to encourage you that this is the God who goes before you into this new year.
Current Events and the Nations
We’ll go to the headlines—some of them anyway. Headlines went global, of course, just this last week, rocked the world politically, and is still being rocked. All of the news channels this Sunday morning are covering this topic, and that is the creation of UN Resolution 2334. You say, «I don’t know what that is.» Well, last Friday, December 23rd, during the week of the Jewish holy day Hanukkah—festival of lights—Barack Obama sent Israel a message at just the last moment when nobody can do or say anything to him because he’s going to throw the rock and then run out of town. He sends them a message. Forgive me for saying this—I’m quoting a man, Governor Mike Huckabee, a fellow brother in the Lord, by the way—was asked to give comment on what happened at the UN, and I quote Mike Huckabee: «Barack Obama gave Israel a gift for Hanukkah. It was the middle finger.» You see, well, those are strong words. Actually, he was holding his words back in light of what happened.
Ladies and gentlemen, on December 23rd last week, the United States launched a political and legal international war on Israel. It would have been better for Israel if we would have attacked them with aircraft and bombs because they would have beaten us. This they cannot do anything about. Notice the Wall Street Journal headline: «Obama’s Parting Betrayal of Israel.» Next headline: Tan—Iranian news. Anytime Iran is happy with what the US is doing is not a good day for us. «Iran Welcomes UN Resolution Condemning Israeli Settlements.» Focus on the word «settlements.» How many of you live in a settlement? Anybody? Settlement? Of course not. Of course you don’t.
If you apply the word «settlement"—the UN created the word «settlement.» You’ve heard the word «settlement» before. You’ve always heard it in the context of the United Nations. You want a settlement? I mean, I tell you what you want to do a settlement. Here’s what—this is what settlement means. Let’s go to Yellowstone or Yosemite. Let’s go to Sequoia with a tent and a camp and a stove in a—that’s a settlement. When you hear the word «settlement,» it’s something makeshift, temporary. That’s what settlement is. I don’t want this church to ever use the word «settlement» again when it comes to Israel and its existence.
Let me rephrase it by looking at the headline. Let me be more accurate because I could show you—I should have showed you pictures of what so-called UN settlements look like in Israel. Let me tell you something: I’d move into any one of them today—the beauty, the construction. Now read it again—this is the truth: «Iran Welcomes UN Resolution Condemning Israeli Neighborhoods» or cities or towns. The reason why you didn’t raise your hand is because you live in a town or a city, a neighborhood. So do they. But the United Nations does—they—I don’t want that to be something so relatable to you.
In the world, do we have another headline or is that it? I can’t remember. «UN Security Council Approves Motion Demanding End to Israeli Neighborhoods.» And if you could see the picture—it’s too dark—they’re all raising their hands and voting. A vote, by the way, that God was watching from heaven. You don’t mess with Israel. God says you don’t poke the apple of my eye. Don’t poke my cornea. He says, «When you’re poking Israel, you’re poking the cornea of my eye.» God says. You say, «I don’t approve of everything that Israel does.» He didn’t ask you to agree with everything Israel does. He’s not asking for your political commentary on Israel. God says, «Don’t mess with my people.» You have to take it up with him, but he keeps his word.
Next slide is very encouraging. Those guys down under—they’re all right. «Australia Distances Itself from Obama’s Administration Stance Against Israel Settlements.» I’m wondering if you caught the dialogue shift. The first three news headlines talked about the UN. Did you get it? Anybody? Are you guys with me? Are you here? First three headlines was UN, UN, UN. This one says no UN—what does it say? «Obama Administration.» You’ve been hearing about it on the news. Mark your calendar: January 21st. On January 21st, the Israelis—Benjamin Netanyahu—is going to be revealing international data that’s been supplied to him via one country alone: Egypt. And there’s others. Why? Because Egypt and several other Arab nations who do not agree with this decision have secretly given the data to Netanyahu. He has now vowed to put it publicly for all to see via or through the new United States president on January 21st.
When asked, «Reveal it now,» he said, «I will not do it.» They said, «Give it to Obama now.» He said, «I will not do it now.» They claimed—they the media world claimed—Israel doesn’t have the data. Netanyahu said, «We have 100% proof that Arab nations that agree with Israel gave us the data. You will see it. The world will see it if the president of the United States wants it to be seen.» Ladies and gentlemen, when Israel says they have 100% proof and it implicates Arab nations in support of Israel—this is—it’s going to be a wild first quarter of the year. I’ll tell you that. Keep your eye on the news. This is epic global stuff taking place. You are living in historic moments.
Did you know that there’s only one nation though that could have stopped this whole thing at the UN? One nation has the power to have stopped this terrible, terrible thing to Israel. You say, «Why is this so terrible?» Number one—help me remember because I’m really old now. I forget things. This is the nation on this finger, and this is what’s going on. A moment ago, I mentioned to you that people were moving based on Isaiah 43. People are moving in from all over the world, going to Israel. Did you get that? Right. Okay. Israel’s building homes. Israel goes back over 4,000 years on that land, ladies and gentlemen. And here’s the deal: is the world being pressured by the world to embrace immigrants? The answer is yes. The UN is one of the big drivers for all nations to receive refugees, immigrants. The answer to that is yeah, it’s true.
So Israel has an influx of tens of thousands of people deciding to move to Israel all over the world, and they need houses for them to live in on vacant land. The UN says, «You can’t do that. You cannot make homes for immigrants moving into your country.» I want—are you a college professor today here? I want you to think about that for a minute. Everybody has to accept immigrants except Israel. Why the double standard? Well, because I’m a Christian, it’s demonic. That’s the truth behind it all.
Getting back to the point of this one finger: the United States had absolute power to stop the entire resolution by itself, and it refused to do it. Not only did it refuse to do it, Benjamin Netanyahu with the Arab nations are going to announce on January 21st that the resolution never originated with the UN. They said it originated with Barack Obama, which answers why—listen, this is a little war going on because I don’t know if you know this or not, but you paid money in Israel to defeat the last campaign of Netanyahu. Did you know that the United States interfered with the Israeli elections? We sent tens of thousands of dollars campaigning against Netanyahu. Did you know that? And Netanyahu won anyway. But then Netanyahu endorsed Donald Trump during the campaign. Now Barack Obama and his parting gift gives Israel the one-way sign. This is war on a grand scale if you think about it.
I quote now: under UN Resolution 2334, religious activity including prayers by Jews claiming that the Western Wall is a Jewish holy site are in violation of international law. You ever seen pictures of the Jews with their prayer garb and they’re praying at the wall? According to the new resolution, that’s illegal because the Jew is assuming that that wall belongs to them. Ladies and gentlemen, if it doesn’t belong to the Jew, it doesn’t belong to anybody. It’s the retaining wall of the outer court of the temple.
Interview Excerpt
Watch this interview if you would. But Eric, a lot is on the line, and when John Kerry made that ridiculous speech today, he bloviated for what seemed like an eternal amount of time. I thought, you know, that it made a Castro speech look like a tweet in comparison. But the sad thing is he kept talking about the two-state solution and how Israel needed to give up something. I don’t think a lot of people fully understand the complexity of this. I’m going to just quickly show you this little map. All that green—those are Arab Muslim countries. You can’t even see it, but there’s a tiny little red dot right there. That’s Israel.
Now Israel has 1/64th of the land mass of all those Muslim countries. In John Kerry’s fantasy, Israel is supposed to give up land and give it to people who could get it from those who have 64 times the amount of land that Israel has. Explain why that makes—this is important—a resolution sanctioning Israel. It gives the Palestinians currency to negotiate, does it not? It not only gives them currency, it gives them validity on the terrorism that they have sponsored and celebrated. They pay people a monthly salary if they kill a Jew. They name streets after people who kill Jews. They do not include on their maps Israel—any form of Israel—because they don’t believe it should exist.
Israel has offered—back in 1995, Ehud Barak offered basically 95% of the Israeli land to get peace with Arafat. Arafat turned it down. Look, the Palestinians don’t want peace. They want to destroy Israel. Golda Meir said it best back in 1972: «There will be peace in the Middle East when Palestinian mothers love their own children more than they hate Jewish children.» Eric, this is not going to be resolved. There is no such thing as a two-state solution if the second state is lying on top of the land that has been the land of the Jews since the time of Abraham 4,000 years ago.
Look, Israel is the only democracy between Africa and Asia. It’s the only country that gives women total full rights as men have. Why doesn’t John Kerry put a little pressure on the nations that subjugate women to a lack of education, won’t let them drive? The UN—we fund the United States funds UN extensively. The regular budget—we account for about 22%. That’s about $600 million in 2016. But there’s a peacekeeping budget we’ve been talking about—almost $2.5 billion as well. And further voluntary contributions—they can be 7 or 8 billion. Do at the US funds the UN initiatives—should we cut that back? We should eliminate it, and I’ll tell you something: we ought to take that money that’s going to the UN and make it available to veterans who have served under the US flag and make sure they get the benefits they need. We are getting zero benefits. We’re getting embarrassed by the actions of the UN. That’s money that ought to be spent on American servicemen and servicewomen, and I hope Donald Trump makes it one of the first acts of his presidency. And guess what? We have a nice piece of real estate over in the East River over there in New York City as well if we do. Thank you very much.
Significance of Current Events
What does this matter? How does this matter? It matters everything. Here’s the reason why: you’re literally watching today in the 21st century—this year, this week, and it’s going to be front news this year ahead of you—Israel’s right to have its land and to build. But you heard the two-state solution. Did you hear that? Two-state solution. So what is the two-state solution? Another United Nations creation that Israel should allow a state within a state. So the United States should allow a new country to be in the middle of Nebraska. And well, who would do this? Well, here’s the reason why it’s being talked about.
Zechariah 12—I’m not saying this is the fulfillment. I’m saying the stage is being set for it to be fulfilled in the not too distant future apparently. «The burden of the word of the Lord against or concerning Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 'Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples'"—do you remember Huckabee’s little map of the green countries? Those are the surrounding nations. Israel was right in the middle of that—"when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day"—so that’s a future event, but I submit to you today that the stage is being set—"that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away"—like Barack Obama—"will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.»
God is saying in the distant future—and he speaks it to us from the distant past—Israel, Jerusalem is going to be a front-page news item, and the issue is the surrounding nations are going to want it to cease to exist. And you’re hearing this right now on the news. One more news clip or headline, and then I’ll read another verse that drives it home. «Israeli Ambassador Will Give Trump Proof Obama Drove UN Vote.» This is all coming. That’s a huge—listen, whatever you think about the Jews and their politics, when they make public statements like this, you go search history. This is not a joke. They come through every time. The world is shaken right now over this. That’s a big statement.
You see, I don’t believe him. That’s okay. Just wait till January 21st. Let’s see if he’s lying. Let’s see what that ambassador is saying. Here’s the verse. Listen, imagine this—this is nearly—this is 2,700 years ago. Joel 3 verse 1: «For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat"—so this is at the end of the tribulation period, yet future. Obviously, it’s at the end of the tribulation period. God is going to be angry—righteously—and he’s going to indict the world, and he’s going to punish them based on something. «I will bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat"—the Kidron Valley—"and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people, my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up my land.»
This is more current than today’s news. Well, what about God’s prophetic presence being witnessed among the people—the Jewish people themselves? Well, simply this: God is realigning nations just as he said in Isaiah. There are wars being conducted because of Israel. God is moving regarding the Jew. And here’s the funny thing: the Jew exists today against all odds. Israel since 1948 is a nation a second time against all odds. People are saying that the Jews are to be eradicated. We need to stop the Jew.
How many of you have heard of AIDS—HIV, AIDS? You ever heard of that? You think it’s important that we should fight AIDS? How many raise your hand if you think it’s important that we should fight AIDS? Do you know what the leading nation is on the development and technology against AIDS? Israel—number one. Nobel Prize-winning ethnic group of people: Jews. How many of you heard of Boeing, Marathon, Sony? Anybody heard of Intel? How about Dell computers? Microsoft? You know where they—listen, Israel is their R&D—research and development—center places of the world right now. Israel. Did you know that? Why? Because they’re hiring Jewish engineers. Why? Most highly educated in the world.
You want to—you want to listen, you want to boycott the—yeah, we believe in boycotting Israeli products. You better think twice before you say that because a lot of those products are keeping you alive. Isn’t that funny? Don’t take the college narrative. Look at reality and read your Bible. Critical stuff. The Jews are being blessed by God. They don’t even know it. They don’t even realize it. That’s exactly what God said would happen.
God’s Presence in the Church Today
Keeping in the same genre, we go from the nation to the Jewish people to the church under this second point. The church—the church is witnessing God among the church now, today. How so? I believe this personally: that God is purifying his people, not only in America but in the world. Listen, the silver lining to the horrific persecution that’s going on against Christians globally is that those who are Christ’s are paying often with their life right now. Those that are not are just going into the culture and fading away.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me ask you something right now. Now, you know what? This service is packed, and that’s great, and that’s wonderful. But listen, you should have come to first service if you wanted a parking spot. Apparently first service parties or they stay up late—I don’t know. But what am I saying? I’m saying this—I’m just joking. What I’m saying is this: with what the church in other parts of the world is experiencing, if that happens—and when that happens—in America, the church is going to get super healthy. Do you understand that? It won’t be convenient then to be a Christian.
I don’t know if you came here today because you’re religious. I don’t know if you came here today because it’s a New Year’s resolution. I don’t know if you came here today because it feels good. But listen, what are you going to do when it doesn’t feel good? Those days are coming, and it’s not a day to have chagrin and to be sad. It’s a day when the church is purified. God, I believe, is purifying his church in the world right now. American church—its hour is coming. We don’t know what that means or what it looks like, but it is coming. He is preparing his bride. She’s getting her gown ready, ladies and gentlemen, and that is a good thing because only in situations like that does the word of God lift up off the pages of the Bible and become a reality in your life. And those who are not truly his will fade away into the shadows.
The Prophetic Power of God
The third and final argument is this: the prophetic power of God is at work today. When Jesus said in Revelation 1:8 that he is «who is and who was and who is to come,» he’s the God of the future, and he will be seen among the nations. What’s happening in the future for this year and for the years to follow—should God grant us that opportunity to watch and see—is that God will be manifesting his power among the nations. May the nations of the world wake up to begin to realize what’s going on, but God is at work.
Um, the Bible—we’ve all heard this, we’ve all studied this, we’ve seen this in the Bible—that there are the signs of the times or the last day signs, the last day events of the Bible—indicators. I wrote down in my notes: indicators, signs, alerts—they are increasing according to the Bible everywhere. And then I wrote down «wow.» That’s like my phone. I am signed up for so many news apps from around the world that I get constant—in fact, I turn it off during service so we’re not interrupted here because I have my timer going on right now. I get constant notifications. Don’t you? Ding—what’s going on? Ding—well now what? Ding—what? Ding—where? Ding dong—no, you don’t like what? Constant news all the time.
What is that? Why do I—you say, «Why do you torture yourself that way?» Because listen, I want to look at every bit of the news filtered through the Bible. If it means anything—maybe it doesn’t, but maybe it does. God is sending us push notifications from around the globe that we can recognize with our Bibles if we know our Bibles. Constant alerts. The nations—here’s some. Um, those of you who are investors, you know much more than what I’m talking about regarding this. Those of you who watch the news, you know about this. Those of you who don’t know, you don’t know. And that is the European Union is almost all but dead right now as I speak today. It may end this year. England’s out. Italy’s thinking about getting out. Germany—they’re in trouble because they’re paying for everything. They are going broke. France—they went out. European Union—they tried—listen, go study it. They tried to make a USSE—that’s what they called it originally: United States of Europe. But they all got together, and they voted one thing: we will do what the Americans did—we will not do. Did you know what it was? Number one vote: we all agree we will not have God referenced in our documents. No wonder why your experiment fell apart.
The euro is tanking. The borderless nations didn’t work. Now they have mass chaos. They have terrorists running to and fro at will. It’s out of control—nuts—and they’re going completely broke. Europe is upside down, and England had enough brains to save itself so far. And I want to read you what a Secretary General of the NATO—North Atlantic Treaty Organization—had to say: «What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the alliances of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he God or devil, we will receive him.» Heinrich Spaak said that—not yesterday, but in 1959.
See, well, that’s old—that’s old. Yeah, I wish I could tell you that’s not the attitude of the European leadership today. Let me give you a statement that is from the recent CEO—he’s now retired—Josef Ackermann of Deutsche Bank, Germany. Quote: «The time has come to deepen economic and currency unions. For this, we need a renewed push towards integration. We need strong political leadership. Europe needs a leader.» That’s the—we need help. Europe’s going down. We need help. They’re calling out for help. One guy says, «Send us a God or a demon—we don’t care. We need a leader.» You know what your Bible says about their leader? He’s going to claim to be both a God, but he’s a demon. He’s called the Antichrist in the Bible.
The Bible says—and I’ll just paraphrase it; you can look at the reference on the screen—Revelation 13 beginning at verse 16. The Bible tells us that when this guy rises to power, he’s going to fix economic problems. You know how he does it? It’s brilliant. Have you ever heard of filing bankruptcy? You zero out everything; you start over. Companies do it all the time. People do it. You renegotiate your debt. Collapse by going to zero. The tragedy is someone’s got to pay somewhere for you to get back to zero because you’re subzero. But you start over, and you zero everything out.
The world is saying all the economies are upside down. It’s funny because Israel’s economy is exploding profitably, but that’s not the topic for now. The global economies are tanking, ladies and gentlemen. So the Bible says in the Book of Daniel that there’s going to be this Antichrist beast man. He’s going to come on the scene, and he’s going to have an idea to zero out the economies. He’s going to make them all work. Book of Revelation 13 tells us that he’s going to do that by abolishing cash and using numerics. «He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.»
So whatever numerical values people will do transactions with, there’s going to be a prefix introduced to people that will have the number 666. So you live in 714, 949, 818 area code—imagine the prefix. Imagine everybody being introduced—they’re doing numerical transactions. You say, «Well, that would never happen. You mean no cash? No—you mean no money? No cash—just numbers? Yet just numbers. People buy and sell with numbers only?» I know that would never happen. You would never buy anything on the internet with just numbers only. But to be legally to pass the background check and to prove that you’ve passed the background check to deal in the economies of the world because you’re safe, you get a prefix, and the prefix is 666-4978-n29—whatever your number is. And you have to agree to this, and I’m sure there’s going to be a laundry of security clearances because the arguments that nations give for this technology revealed in the Bible—they said it would eradicate human trafficking, terrorism, drug trafficking—all of that stuff. It’d go away. I don’t know how they think that, but that’s what they say.
I want to show you at least now these two news clips. Watch this: «Denmark Becomes First Country to Ban Cash.» Did you know that? I didn’t know that. In fact, one of the articles said Americans are the least informed on this topic, but they do the most spending. We do the most electronic spending, but we still thank our dollar—we still thank George Washington and Ben Franklin. Isn’t that funny? We do. I mean, I live in a cashless society. I don’t have—I told you before, look at that little wallet of mine. I am so poor—that’s all it is, little tiny thing. No cash—only numbers. I only numbers.
«IBM Adopts Bitcoin Payment System: Digital Currency Goes Mainstream.» What is that? IBM is leading the way—global commerce, no cash. You know, Uruguay—they banned cash transactions below 5,000 bucks—only numbers. Wow.
Hope for the Future
What about the Jewish people as we consider this? What’s going on? I don’t want you to leave the building today all bummed out. «Well, what a New Year’s bummer. Should have stayed home.» No, no, no—listen, the exact opposite. The same God that made all of these statements of the past kept his word. The statements he’s made now—he’s going to keep. And the statements he’s made about the future—he’s going to fulfill. In light of all of that, he’s the God who says, «I love you. I’ll never fail you. I’ll be with you all the way through. I’m going to walk you"—he says—"all the way through the end of this whole year. I’ll walk you through no matter what happens. I’m going to walk you through it.»
His people—his people, the Jewish people—I don’t need to belabor this. Watch the news. God is assembling his people in Israel. It’s happening. We talked about that. Third and finally, the church—we will see God move among his church. I have no doubt about it. If today with what we know from the Bible, I have great hope and great excitement. But Jack, America’s a post-Christian nation. Yes, it is. Listen, that’s not how you get to heaven—by being an American. Remember, all nations will turn against God in the end. We are not of this nation anymore. We’re Christians. We pay our taxes, and we do what we do, but our citizenship is in heaven.
Listen, the great news about us being Christians at this time for this new year is that God is going to fulfill his promises to us. And here’s how we’re going to survive—no, here’s how we’re going to succeed—not survive. We’re going to do the opposite of what’s trending today in the western church. What’s trending today? Bible studies are boring—no Bible studies. Less Bible verses—it confuses people. Don’t talk about prophecy—it makes people nervous. Be more inclusive. Be more ecumenical. No, we’re not going to do that. We’re going to be more than ever just biblical—just Bible—just listen, drawing closer to him. Why? Because he has always proven—always proven—to have a remnant of people past, present, and future. He will never fail you.
And Jack, but what about this and what about that? Listen, what about this and what about that? He will never fail you. But I got hit by a truck—he’ll hold your hand. But I got sick—he’s going to hold your hand. But financial—he’s going to hold your hand. Amen. And he will keep his promise to you, the church.
And then I want to end with this: we need to be more focused this year than ever on you and I being dependent upon the person of the Holy Spirit. You know why churches today are departing from orthodoxy and they’ve got to do everything they can to get people in the doors? Because they have lost the presence of the Holy Spirit in their ministries. There’s no presence. There’s no conviction. Where the Holy Spirit’s present, God will convict sin. When there’s discouragement, God will encourage people where his word is presented. The Holy Spirit moves—moves. And when those things of his are not present, then you’ve got to get all kinds of hype and all kinds of stuff to prop it all up. You’ve got to water it down to get them in. You adopt human ways to do God’s business, and it’s wrong. And the Holy Spirit will not do it.
So more than ever, we need to be for this year—starting now—more prayerful, more to the word—starting in our private lives. And you can expect God to do amazing things this year—absolutely amazing things.
So I want to leave you this picture: if I were your pilot and this is one big airplane, I would say, «Put on your seat belt because as we approach our destination, it’s going to get a little bumpy.» Now, that shouldn’t scare you. You know, if you love to fly, it’s like whatever. And if you’re scared to fly—a scared—that’s a new word. That’s scared and afraid—it’s really bad. You’re a scared—that’s super scared and afraid. If you’re a scared, then what you do—I’ve noticed—is people start looking around. They start looking around other people on the flight, and they look for experienced flyers. And if you look at them sleeping, it’s like, «Well, okay, it’s not so bad. That guy’s sleeping. He may be drugged out of his mind, but he’s sleeping. Okay, that person over there—okay, they’re not worried.» And it kind of sends you some peace.
Listen, as you leave these doors in a moment this year, your friends, your neighbors, your relatives—they’re going to be looking at you to see if they should start hanging on. You turn to them and say, «We got it. The one who was, who is, who is to come—he’s on his throne.» Amen. It’s going to be good.
Prayer
Father, we thank you for your truth. We thank you for your word and for your power, for your grace—the fact that you’re the God that was in it all at the beginning. You are the God that’s in it now, and you’re going to be the God that’s in it whatever comes. You’re going to end it. And so, Father, we put our absolute hope in you. We look to your joy and your peace. We will abound in you because you’ve made us promises—the power of the Holy Spirit. You are so faithful to the invitation to be with us and near us and to fill us with knowledge. God, make us pleasing to you that we might be fruitful in our lives. God, make us strong in you. Jesus, we commit our way to you. We commit this year to you.