Philip Anthony Mitchell: End Times, Repentance & Awakening the Church | The Jesus People Podcast Episode 67

Summary

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Jesus People Podcast Episode 67 Summary

Guest: Philip Anthony Mitchell
Host: Ryan Miller
Date: April 7, 2026
Title: End Times, Repentance & Awakening the Church

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Ryan Miller welcomes pastor and evangelist Philip Anthony Mitchell for a candid, urgent conversation about the unfolding of end times, the need for repentance, and the call to awaken the Western Church. Together, they discuss signs of the times, threats facing Christianity, the importance of holiness and crucifying the flesh, and what it means to truly be ready for Christ’s return.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Signs of the Times & the Imminence of Christ's Return

• Seeing the Season Change

  • Mitchell uses the falling leaves as a metaphor for change:

    "We understand that when we see leaves fall off the tree that a season is changing. I do believe right now...we are seeing the unfolding of end time prophecies. The leaves are falling off the tree." – Philip Anthony Mitchell (02:25)

  • Stresses that though "no man knows the day nor the hour," Christ did not leave his followers blind to the season.
  • Mitchell cites Matthew 24 and 2 Timothy 3 as prophetic indicators being fulfilled in current events.

• Urgency for the Church

  • "We are probably living in the final hours of the church age. And I think this is the hour for the people of God to be awakened and to be on mission and to be serious about the Great Commission." (02:45)

2. The Greatest Threats Facing the Church

• False Teaching & Comfort in Sin

  • Mitchell asserts the biggest threat to the American church isn't external but internal:

    "The greatest threat to the American church is the American pulpit...a type of American Western gospel that is keeping people comfortable in sin." (04:12)

• Need for Repentance

  • "What we need right now begins with genuine repentance, gospel preaching and prayer that fuels revival." (04:45)

3. Islam, Persecution, and Cultural Shifts

• Warnings of a Radical Ideology

  • Mitchell and Miller discuss the rise of radical Islam and its increasing influence in the West:

    "There's a radical ideology that is hostile towards Christianity...It has taken over all of Europe. It is in turn to our shores. And if we don't have an awakening in this hour, your children are going to suffer in sore minds." (05:40)

  • Not just an American issue; with firsthand stories from Nigeria, they describe the global scale of Christian persecution.

• History Repeating

  • "Jesus took territory by love. Muhammad took territory by a sword. You can check the history books. It's very clear." (08:29)

• Prophetic Fulfillment & Last Days Martyrdom

  • Mitchell ties modern persecution to Revelation’s prophecy of believers being beheaded (10:00):

    “There is an ideology that decapitates the head of men...I believe that ideology, through radical Islam, will be the faith to persecute Christians, in the end.”

  • "We have a moral, a biblical and spiritual responsibility to be bold heralds of the gospel, to sound the alarm and to do all we can to bring as many people aboard the Ark of Safety as possible before time has run out." (11:13)

4. Facing Fear & Living Ready

• Normalizing Fear, Choosing Faithful Courage

  • Mitchell reassures listeners:

    "Fear is normal. It is part of the human experience...but I have met people who have learned to fear less and learn to just do what they have to do. Afraid." (11:57)

  • Emphasizes fearing God above all (13:00):

    "The thing we should fear most is the one who has the final say so in our soul."

  • Powerful paraphrase: "If we really take the words of Jesus literally...then he’s even saying, don’t even have fear to the point of death." (13:37)

• The Parable of the Ten Virgins: Living Prepared

  • Mitchell summarizes Matthew 25:

    "The danger in that passage is that it does reveal that there are people right now who feel like they’re believers and they’re ready and they’re not." (15:01)

  • Warns against spiritual apathy:

    "The person I'm most concerned about is not the atheists...it’s the person sitting in church every Sunday...who think that they are in right standing with the Lord." (16:30)

5. Love as the Christian’s Weapon

• Stories from Persecuted Believers
  • Miller recounts a Nigerian woman who forgave her attackers—highlighting radical forgiveness and love:

    "If I saw my attackers, I would give them the biggest hug." (18:00)

  • Mitchell affirms:

    "He did not call us to hate. He did call us to love...That love, that love goes as far as praying for our enemies, praying for those who persecute us, forgiving those who persecute us." (18:16)

6. Practical Steps for the Struggling or Unsure Christian

• Advice for Those Lacking 'Oil' in Their Lamps (Readiness)

  • Mitchell offers compassionate encouragement:

    "The fact that you’re alive and breathing, there’s still grace and time...return to the Lord. Return with weeping, return with humility, return with fasting and prayer. Turn from your sins and place your faith firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ." (21:06)

• Run Toward God in Repentance

  • "Don’t run away from God...God is not mad and that he’s not angry and he’s waiting for them to return. That’s why he told us the story of the prodigal son." (22:58)

7. The Ongoing Process of Sanctification and Dying to Self

• Personal Story & The Call to Daily Crucifixion

  • Mitchell shares his testimony of salvation and his ongoing sanctification:

    "For the first time I felt guilty for sin...Then that began the journey of sanctification." (24:06)

  • Explains the necessity of dying to self:

    "The cross is an instrument of death...My will must die. My flesh must die...There is a correlation between spiritual maturity and death. The more we die, the more we grow." (24:34)

  • Daily self-examination:

    "Every day, for me, there is a measure of a funeral...I don’t want to assume that my heart is so full of light that there’s not darkness still sitting in there that I don’t see." (25:30)

• Challenge to the Church

  • Mitchell laments the lack of messages about death to self in American churches:

    "Why don't we go to conferences and hear more preaching about holiness, purity and repentance and the crucifixion of the flesh and prayer?...Because these things are not sexy. And nobody wants to bring you to the conference to talk about that." (32:43)

  • "We need to preach more death so that our people will be more alive in the spirit." (32:05)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the urgency of the hour:

  "Time is running out. The Lord is returning soon. He has saved you for his purposes. Now is the hour to pursue intimacy with Christ." – Philip Anthony Mitchell (33:14)

• On the crucified life:

  "The more we die, the more we live. And I think we strengthen the sanctification process to the degree we die." (25:50)

• On loving enemies:

  "He did not call us to hate. He did call us to love...If we don’t have love, then we’re not growing in biblical Christianity." (18:16)

• On self-examination:

  "We should examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith." (21:55)
  "I don’t want to assume that my heart is so full of light that there’s not darkness still sitting in there that I don’t see." (25:30)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00-02:22 – Setting the stage: urgency, introduction, and context
• 02:22-04:00 – End times prophecies and the call to awaken
• 04:00-05:38 – Repentance, false teaching, and the state of the church
• 05:40-11:43 – Radical Islam, cultural change, persecution, and eschatology
• 11:43-14:58 – Addressing fear, choosing courage, and living prepared
• 15:01-17:43 – The parable of the ten virgins and warning against spiritual complacency
• 18:00-19:55 – Stories of persecuted believers and the necessity of love
• 21:06-23:44 – Practical steps for the struggling, serious call to repentance
• 24:03-32:05 – Sanctification, dying to the flesh, and personal testimony
• 32:43-33:08 – The need for deeper messages in the church
• 33:14-35:03 – Final plea to Christians and taking up the call
• 35:06-37:13 – Closing prayer for awakening and revival

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Final Words & Takeaway Message

Mitchell’s charge to listeners is profoundly urgent and heartfelt:

"Now is the hour to take the entire life and put it on the altar. Say, Jesus, for you I live, and for you I die...To set their gaze on eternity, to be more focused on the crown that will lay down at the feet of Jesus than these temporary rewards of life." (33:15)

He calls believers to intimacy with Christ, readiness for his return, daily crucifixion of the flesh, and living out the Great Commission with unwavering love and courage amidst a world in turmoil.

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For listeners seeking practical direction:

• Examine your heart and life for readiness and faith.
• Embrace repentance and daily surrender to Christ.
• Prioritize prayer, holiness, and love – both towards brethren and enemies.
• Live each day as though Christ could return at any moment.

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Memorable Closing Prayer:
Mitchell prays for awakening, boldness, repentance, revival, and readiness in the Church, concluding in:

"...the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen." (35:58)

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A direct, no-nonsense appeal to wake up, repent, crucify the flesh, and love deeply—while there’s still time.

Transcript

[A]

We are in trouble.

[B]

Ryan, do you believe Jesus is coming soon?

[A]

I don't think we have that much time left. And if we don't wake up right now, sound the alarm, your children of mines are not going to recognize the United States we're living in right now. Why don't we go to conferences and hear more preaching about holiness, purity, and repentance?

[B]

You can check the history books.

[A]

It's true.

[B]

It's very clear.

[A]

There is a. A radical ideology that is hostile towards Christianity.

[B]

Jesus took territory by love.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Muhammad took territory by a sword.

[A]

Yeah. I think we have a moral, a biblical and spiritual responsibility.

[B]

My question for you is, where did that come from?

[A]

I don't want to assume that my heart is so full of light that there's not darkness still sitting in there that I don't see.

[B]

Guys, welcome to the Jesus People podcast. We have the great honor of having Philip Anthony Mitchell on the podcast today. Sir. Thank you for being here, man.

[A]

Thank you for having me, Ryan. I appreciate it, brother.

[B]

Absolutely. I've been. I've been watching your sermons, your reels for quite some time now, man. You. You bring the fire?

[A]

Yeah, it's.

[B]

It's one. It's a rare anointing that I've seen in you, where I think the world now is hungry for truth, in a way, and you are bringing the unadulterated truth from the scriptures in the word of God. My question for you is, where did that come from?

[A]

Yeah. First, just. Thank you for having me here. I appreciate it. I'm very humbled. I think it's a combination of a few things. I think on one end, some of it is just my nature. And I think when God saves us into the kingdom, there is a. He doesn't really take away our nature. Paul was Paul. Peter was Peter. Their writings look different. I think some of it of my nature, some of it is the encounter that I had with God in Israel, December of 2018. I had what I would call like an Isaiah 6 moment with the Lord in which I really understood the depth of his holiness and the depth. Brokenness of my own life. And is that. And then I think the last part of it is time is running out. Right. And so for me, I'm deeply burdened about the bride, and I'm sensitive to the fact that the Lord is returning. And I think those three things working together is what kind of fuels my passion. It's a combination of nature brokenness and awareness that time is running out. Yeah.

[B]

Amen. Do you believe Jesus is coming soon?

[A]

I Do right? I do. And so we are in Texas right now and I'm looking out and I can see through this window that the leaves have fallen off the tree. And so we understand that when we see leaves fall off the tree that a season is changing. I do believe right now, as we look across both America, but globally, I think we are seeing the unfolding of end time prophecies. The leaves are falling off the tree. My concern is whether or not the bride is paying attention to that. Although no man knows the day nor the hour, I think Jesus did not leave us blind to the season of the end. I personally believe both in my prayer time and my study of God's word that we are very near to the end. I believe that we are probably living in the final hours of the church age. And I think this is the hour for the people of God to be awakened and to be on mission and to be serious about the Great Commission. I don't think we have that much time left. Yeah, I just don't believe it. I think the global headlines, the things we're seeing forming in Europe, the things we're seeing happening in the United States, the unfolding of two Timothy chapter three, we're feeling the winds of Matthew chapter 24, we're feeling the winds of that. I don't want to get into a deep eschatological study here, but I think we're feeling the winds of Matthew 24, we're seeing the manifestation of 2 Timothy 3. I think we are definitely living in the last days of the church age and we need to be awakened.

[B]

What does that look like?

[A]

It starts with repentance. It starts with repentance. I think there's a lot of finger pointing at the devil in terms of the things that's happening in the church, but I don't think we could blame the devil for the things happening in the church. You know, Jesus said, on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. So according to the Lord himself, the enemy will not overthrow the church. But I do believe the greatest threat to the American church is the American pulpit. I think the things that the apostles was most concerned about was not the devil, but false teachers. They said, we know as soon as we leave, false teachers will come in behind us and not spare the flock. I think right now there is a type of American Western gospel that is keeping people comfortable in sin, that is giving them a cotton candy gospel that is not challenging the believer to live on mission. And I think what we need Right now begins with genuine repentance, gospel preaching and prayer that fuels revival. We need an awakening of the bride in this country. I think the bride is sleeping and I think that there is a large portion of believers who are like the other five virgins. They're going to get caught without oil and it's going to be too late. And so we need an urgent warning to sound in America, I would dare say, around the world. We need an awakening right now in our country. And also too, Ryan, you know, I don't know how fluid and transparent I could be right now on this podcast.

[B]

Go for it.

[A]

There is a radical ideology that is hostile towards Christianity that is incompatible with Western fundamentals that has swept through the east, that has swept through the continent of Africa. It has taken over all of Europe. It is in turn to our shores. And if we don't have an awakening in this hour, your children are going to suffer in sore minds.

[B]

I believe you're speaking about Islam, of

[A]

course, the rise of Islam, radical Islam. They're very vocal on social media about their desire to take over America. And I think that it is a false sense of inclusion is why we think that we shouldn't say nothing right or do nothing right. It is the same weakness to take a stand for Christ that saw the influence of Christianity wane in the East. Yeah. I think a lot of people in our country think that, you know, Christianity is a Western religion, but it's not. It's an Eastern religion. And yet in the place where Christianity was born has been completely taken over by Islam. All right. And so when I just thinking about the people that we're putting in office, when I think about certain cities that's being taken over by that ideology, when I'm seeing a tolerance for that ideology creeping into America and somebody will listen to this right now and say, you and I are close minded, that we are bigots, that we are not loving towards people outside the faith. And that is not true. I love all men, but I know we have an enemy that is working through men. And if we don't wake up right now and sound the alarm, your children and mine are not going to recognize the United States we're living in right now. We're in trouble, Ryan. We're in trouble and we need to hold the line as long as we can. I just think we have too many people who are afraid to talk about this and to sound the alarm. But not on my watch. Right. I will not be silent about this. And I think we have to sound the alarm about what's happening right now in our country. Yeah.

[B]

I was just in Nigeria in the fall with Global Christian Relief. I believe you also are a fan of Global Christian Relief and what they're doing. There was one moment where a mother who had just lost her husband and her son weeks prior, said to me, I never thought this would have happened in Nigeria. I never thought my village would get overtaken by radical Islam. And the reason why the spiritual warfare and the literal warfare is so powerful right now in Nigeria is if you take Nigeria, you take Africa. And that's the goal.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is they're pressing from the north.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The leadership is doing what I. What I perceive as very little about it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And there is an agenda to move Islam. Jesus took territory by love.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Muhammad took territory by a sword.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You can check the history books.

[A]

It's true.

[B]

It's very clear.

[A]

But the same thing has happened in our country. All right. I look at what happened in New York. I look at what's happening in Dearborn, Michigan, look at what's happening in certain cities around the country. I think it is a strategic takeover. Right. We could just look at Europe as a pattern. Right. Right now, as you and I are doing this podcast, almost every major city in Europe has an Islamic mayor. There's over 100 Sharia law courts in Europe, and you can't walk the streets of Europe without seeing the manifestation of that takeover. Right. It'll only be a matter of time if Europe does not hold the line before Sharia is unleashed in Europe and we see people in America dancing the streets asking for Sharia. Right. Okay. Right. Let's put those same people on a plane. Yes, sir. Women. And send them to a country where Sharia's law. And let's see how long they last in those nations. With Sharia's law, they'll be begging to come back to the United States. Right. And I think it's our false sense of tolerance and our ignorant inclusion that is allowing the hostile takeover of that radical ideology. And so we live in Indian. And I would even go so far as to say. This also, too prophesies about the end. Right. There is a scene in the book of Revelation where there is an innumerable amount of believers who have been saved. They are now in glory. And the scripture says, these are those who have been beheaded for the testimony of Christ. Right. Beheaded for the testimony of Christ. There is an ideology that decapitates the head of men. Right. I believe that ideology, through radical Islam, will be the faith to persecute Christians, in the end, I believe that eventually they will take over the whole world. And I believe during that time the Antichrist will come to power. It will not surprise me if he will be Islamic himself. And then if we read the Scriptures very carefully, I do believe that it is radical Islam that is the manifestation of those end time scriptures about the decapitation of the heads of believers. Right. And so to some degree, we are watching God's ending plan unfold. But that doesn't mean that we should be complicit and quiet at the same time. I think we have a moral, a biblical and spiritual responsibility to be bold heralds of the gospel, to sound the alarm and to do all we can to bring as many people aboard the Ark of Safety as possible before time has run out, before the end has come, before we enter into those final days. Although the Scriptures are being fulfilled, that doesn't mean we should be silent. We should be out there doing God's work.

[B]

Someone's listening to this right now. They're experiencing fear both because of what's happening globally and what's happening internally. They know the incongruity of their lifestyle. What would you say directly to that person listening that's saying, I don't know that I got oil in my lamp right now?

[A]

Yeah. I would say, you know, fear is normal. It is part of the human experience. And I think that we first have to normalize fear, right. I don't think I've ever met a person who did not have fear, right? But I have met people who have learned to fear less and learn to just do what they have to do. Afraid. And so I do think when we look at the times, it's very easy for people to turn on the television, look at the times, hear conversations like this, and feel afraid. And so I think we want to normalize that so they don't condemn themselves. But at the same time, what I do think is that fear should not paralyze us from stepping into everything that God has called us to do and being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that we should do things afraid if we have to preach, preach. Afraid if we have to share the gospel, share it. Afraid if we got witness to somebody, witness afraid if we got to take a stand for righteousness, take that stand. Afraid, right. I think the thing we should fear most is the one who has the final say so in our soul, right? We should fear him most. You know, Jesus said something very powerful to the apostles. He said to them he was going to send them out. He Said, like sheep amongst wolves. He said, go and preach and teach and heal. And he said, don't be afraid of men. Don't be afraid of those who kill the body but can't touch the soul, but instead be afraid of the one who could throw body and soul in hell. So in that text, he talks about two type of fears, the fear of man and the fear of God. I think we got to choose which fear we want to have. One of them is going to cost us our calling and will cost somebody their eternity. The other one will give us boldness in the face of contention and strife. And so if we're going to fear anyone, we need to fear the one who has the final say so over our soul and not fear men. I think the fear of men is what's making a large group of the church cowards, and it's making us afraid. I mean, if we really take the words of Jesus literally when he says, don't fear man. Don't even fear those who can kill the body, but fear those who withdraw body and soul to hell, then he's even saying, don't even have fear to the point of death. Right. And I think if we get that in our heart, what is the enemy going to do with a person like that? Right, right. What is a radical ideology going to do with a person like that? And so I think that while we all have fear, we just got to choose. Are we going to let fear paralyze us? Are we going to step into everything that God has called us to do? And ultimately, are we going to fear man, or are we going to fear God? I've made my choice. You've made your choice. I think the other people have to make their choice. What they don't want to do is hear that trumpet blow and they have no oil in their lamps. Because when the Lord comes, everybody's fate will be sealed. There will be no second chances. There is no purgatory. None of that is biblical. And so we got to know what side we're on now. And that is very important for believers to decide that before time has run out.

[B]

Can you take me into that? Matthew 25, passage, 10 virgins.

[A]

Yeah, that's such a beautiful passage in which Jesus is pretty much describing the Christian world in the end. I think the danger in that passage is that it does reveal that there are people right now who feel like they're believers and they're ready and they're not. And so the Lord tells a parable about 10 virgins. He says, Five were wise and five were foolish. Five had oil and five did not. Five were ready and five were not. And when the bridegroom came, the five who was ready went out to meet the bridegroom. And then the other five came to the first five and said, let us borrow some of your oil. And they said, no, we can't do that. If we give you some of our oil, we won't have enough for ourselves. And the point that Jesus is trying to make is that when he comes, we all need to be ready, right? We need to be ready. We need to be prepared. That is, we should be living every day like the Lord is going to return. We should be living with a sense of urgency. We should be living like he is near. We should not be idle. We should not be thinking we have all this time and someone will listen to this right now and think that, you know, you and I are over the top, right? We're doing the most. It doesn't take all of that. But when I read these scriptures, I see men like the Apostle Paul who preached with urgency in the first century A.D. right? He's preaching with urgency just a few decades after the resurrection of Christ. And now we are two millennia removed from the resurrection of Christ. Should we not be preaching and teaching and living with a greater urgency that they had in the first century, when we have less time today than they had? Amen. And so it is a warning from the Lord for all believers to live ready, to live prepared. And I think the saddest thing, the person I'm most concerned about is not the atheists. They know they don't believe in God. It's not the agnostic they know don't believe in God. It's the person sitting in church every Sunday in Dallas, in Grapevine, in Atlanta. There's people sitting in churches every Sunday who think that they are in right standing with the Lord. You know, God forbid that trumpet blow, right? And then they realized all this time they was not right with God. What a tragedy to be sitting in gatherings and going to conferences and reading devotionals only to discover man, you never were saved to begin with. You never had a true relationship with Jesus. That, to me, is the greater tragedy than not believing at all. And that's going to be the unfortunate reality of those virgins who are not ready.

[B]

Yeah, I. I remember being in Nigeria and just talking to some of these believers and talking about how grateful they were even though their family was killed. There was one lady, they held a gun to her head and say, deny Jesus or we're Killing you. She said, I'll never deny my Lord.

[A]

Boom.

[B]

They shot her in the face. And I talked to her after years after this happened, and she was like, if I saw my attackers, I would give them the biggest hug. Talk to me about love as the weapon of the believer in these end times.

[A]

This morning, I was sitting in my hotel room and I was praying over my heart. Last night at C3, I was talking to the church from Psalm 24 about clean hands and a pure heart. And although we do have enemies in this life, I think that we have a responsibility as a believer to not only love the brother and sister, but also love the enemy. Jesus taught us, if you only love people who are easy to love, there's no reward in that, right? But we also have to love the enemy. We have to love those who persecute us. And in so loving them, we demonstrate the love of Christ. And that love, that love goes as far as praying for our enemies, praying for those who persecute us, forgiving those who persecute us, like Jesus did on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And so we do have to have love. I think Jesus said by this, the whole world would know that you are my disciples, that you love one another. And love is, at its core, the Aramaic fragrance of Christianity. He did not call us to hate. He did call us to love. And so when I think about that story of the woman in Nigeria, I think that's beautiful, right? And I think it's that type of love that will leave the unbeliever confused and wondering, what kind of God do you serve? That you can forgive your attacker or person who pulled the trigger. It testifies to the glory of Christ. It testifies to the one and only true God. And so we must be full of God's love, and we must handle ourselves with love. Can't escape that at all, right? If we don't have love, then we're not growing in biblical Christianity.

[B]

I want to take a quick break, and I want to tell you about a ministry that my family personally supports. It's called Global Christian Relief. And you may not know this, but there are more persecuted Christians around the world than ever before. And Global Christian Relief sends medical aid. They send Bibles to persecuted countries that don't have access to them. They're providing shelter. They're taking care of the least of these in the name of Jesus. And if you want to support them, you can click the link in the show notes. You can read stories of what God's doing in the persecuted church. And know this. Jesus says that what you've done for the least of these, you've done for him. But also that when we love each other as a body of Christ, the rest of the world will see him. So go check it out. Yeah. And in these end times, I think it's pretty clear, as you alluded to, we can see the seasons. Jesus says, you can't know the day or the hour, but you can look outside and you can see the seasons. How does somebody who is listening to this podcast right now and they're going, man, I, I don't know that I'm ready. Number one, I don't know that I got oil in my lamp. Number two, I got all these things going on. I drink too much, I'm vaping too much, I'm doing all this stuff. What would you tell that person that's feeling like, man, maybe I just don't have the self control. Maybe I'm just not part of that remnant. Maybe I'm just not the anoint. What is the tangible action that they take right now?

[A]

Yeah, that's a great question. So I would say to that person, at first, the fact that you're alive and breathing, there's still grace and time. I would remind them that there is a God in heaven who loves them, who cares deeply for them, who sees them. I would remind them that their sins does not have to keep them separated from their Father, and that in their shame, they don't have to run away from God. I would remind them of the sin of our pristine parents, the sin of Adam. In our original sin, when Adam sinned against God, he feels shame. God is walking in that garden and he shouts at him, adam, where are you? And he's not asking, adam, where are you? Because his hiding spot is so dope that he can't find him, Right? There is no ambiguity with sovereignty, Right? So God knows all. But he's asking, Adam, where are you? To give him a revelation that even in your sinful state, don't run away from me, run towards me. This is the same spirit in which God speaks through the prophet Joel when he says, even now, while they were in rebellion, return to me, says the Lord, Return with weeping, with fasting and repentance. So I would say to the person right now who feels far away, return to the Lord. Return with weeping, return with humility, return with fasting and prayer. Turn from your sins and place your faith firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I would say to those who think they're Christians, and they're not, is why the scripture says we should examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith. Right. And so we take inventory of our heart. You know, am I growing in the love of Christ? You know, do I see the reflection of Christ in my heart? And when they have this sense that maybe I'm not a true believer, maybe I'm far away, man, Run towards the arms of your father, but don't run away from him. They need to know that God is not mad and that he's not angry and he's waiting for them to return. Just that's why he told us the story of the prodigal son. He's waiting for them to return. And it's only the adversary, the accuser of the soul, that will make them try to run in the opposite direction. So I would say to that person right now, repent, surrender, stop running. Time is running out. You have no idea what's on the other side of a yes. You have no idea what God will do with a life that's completely surrendered. I would say to the person watching right now, just surrender and watch what God does with the rest of your life. That's what I would tell that person right now. Run to the Father. Don't run away from him.

[B]

What was your experience like? Because you. I've heard your backstory, you were caught up in sin and then you met the Lord. What was that sanctification process like for you? And then talk to me a bit about crucifying the flesh, because I think. I think that's in this end times move. The Lord says he's coming back for a bride that's pure.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And right now we're seeing mixture.

[A]

Yeah, definitely. I live the dark life of 20, 24 years. I was suicidal when the Lord found me. The Lord found me in a bathroom in November 2003, over a toilet seat, confessing my sin. I knew I came out that bathroom. I knew I was saved. I knew something had happened in my life because for the first time I felt guilty for sin. And so I knew God had done a work in my heart. I met a man that week who put a Bible in my hand and said, if you're going to know God, you need to know this book. So I began to read God's Word. And then that began the journey of sanctification. I think people understand that salvation which we are redeemed by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are regenerated, brought into kingdom. That is a momentary event. But what must happen after that is the process of sanctification, which is a lifelong process of being conformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate goal of the Christian walk is not to be rich or famous or any of these things. It is that when we die, we look like the person who saved us. This is all of Colossians 1:28 in which Paul said him, we proclaim right, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone mature before Christ. And so the ultimate end game of salvation is that we will be matured into the image of Christ. And so that process of sanctification is worked out over a period of a lifetime in which we are growing in Christian character, we're growing in Christian faith, we're growing in biblical community. And the last part that we don't like, we are dying to the flesh. This is why Jesus said in the Scriptures that you must take up your cross and follow me. And if someone does not take up their cross and follow me, that person is not worthy of being my disciple. The cross is an instrument of death. So he already prophesies to you and I that there must be a dying of ourselves in order to be true disciples, right? My will must die. My flesh must die. Everything that goes against the Lord Jesus Christ's will for me must die. Everything in me that is in front of Christianity must die. And I think there is also a hastening of the sanctification process to the degree that we die. I think there's a correlation between spiritual maturity and death. And I think the more we die, the more we grow. The more I live, Ryan, the more I die, and the more I die, the more I live every day. For me, there is a measure of a funeral. There is a moment in which I'm wringing out my heart from sin. There is a moment of reflecting when I'm saying, God, if there's sin in me, crucify it. If there's pride in there, if there's arrogance in there, crucified, if there's things in my heart I don't see crucified, where there's darkness on the inside of me, crucified. I mean, I pray like this every single day. I don't want to assume that my heart is so full of light that there's not darkness still sitting in there that I don't see. One of my good friends, Francis Chan, he and I was talking about this not that long ago. He was saying. He was saying to me, brother, he was saying, I think sometimes people forget that there is always Some measure of deceit with the human heart, right? And because of that, we have to live in such a way in which we don't think that our heart is so pure that there's not things in it that still needs to be crucified, right? Francis is like, 57, right? So he talks to me like an older brother would talk to a younger brother. And I think about that, right? I think there's a tendency for us to have a false piety in which we think our heart is so pure that there's not something in there that needs to die. And so I think we pray the prayers of David. Lord, search my heart, and if you see anything wicked in me, then lead me down those paths that lead to righteousness. And so I think we have to always assume that there's things in there that God is still dealing with. And I want to say this to somebody who's watching. This is so critically important. I'm going to repeat this. The more we die, the more we live. And I think that we strengthen the sanctification process to the degree we die. Like, I was talking to a brother in here. I was talking to this brother right here who I just love his spirit. I was talking to Dylan, and one of the things he was saying how he just wants to die. He wants to die to everything that is in him, that is worldly, that is ungodly. He just wants to die. And he's shedding tears, and I'm shedding tears, and I'm listening to him talk. And I said to him, I said to Dylan, I said, if the whole body of Christ would have that same desire, man, we can see revival in all cities. Dag, I'm about to cry right now. I feel like the bride in this nation is too alive in the wrong way, Too alive to sin, too alive to pride, too alive to arrogance, too alive to rebellion, to. Alive to disobedience, right? All of it is a mockery of Christ. I get wary of our services and our conferences and our gatherings, right? We dance and we sing and we go to gatherings. We walk out of there, and we're so alive to sin. And for the brother and sister watching right now, like, at some point in time, we have to love death, the death of this flesh, the hatred for sin, the hatred for the things that grieve the heart of God's spirit. There has to be a part of us that we. Every morning, we crawl over to that beam and we nail ourselves back on that cross, and we allow the spirit of God to keep Crucifying in our flesh everything that is hindering us from growing in a depth of intimacy with Christ. I think we love all of the blessings of the kingdom, but we don't love that instrument of death. If we will be his disciples, we must take up our cross and follow him. And I think to the degree we do that, we hasten, we further that sanctification process. We must die in order for us to live. And I think the more we die, the more we live. Yeah, yeah. The more we die, the more we live. I think that's a message for this whole generation. Die. Crucify the flesh. Kill. Mortify the flesh. Kill everything in you that is an affront to the kingdom and the Lord Jesus Christ. Kill it. When you feel conviction, that is love. When the spirit is confronting you about things that are evil and dark, that is love. When you see the ugliness that is in your soul and the Lord lets you see that, that is his love. Kill it. Kill it. We need to preach more death so that our people will be more alive in the spirit. Man, I feel the spirit of God in this place right now. Why don't we hear more sermons about that? Why don't we see that at more conferences? Why don't we go to conferences and hear more preaching about holiness, purity and repentance and the crucifixion of the flesh and prayer? Why don't we hear more stuff about that, right? Why don't we hear more conferences about the intangible things that matter most or that all around us is fleeting? Why don't we talk like that? Right? Because these things are not sexy. And nobody wants to bring you to the conference to talk about that. And they say you're not going to fill up a room talking about that. But that's what we need right now more than anything else, right? To deliver the Western church from her idolatry, from her materialism, and from being a whore with the devil and from all these things. And to turn from our wicked ways and the ways of this world and to value those things that are intangible more than the things that are tangible. Why are we all concerned about the things that we can touch? Money, cars, houses, boyfriends, girlfriends. And not more concerned about the intangible things that are far more valuable. Character, faithfulness, holiness, purity, prayer. These things are far more valuable. We need to be talking about that, right? And those things, they grow to the degree that we die, right? To the degree that we die. Those things grow when we die to sin. We grow in holiness. We die to sin. We grow in purity. We die to sin. We grow in character. We die to sin. We grow in intimacy. We die to sin. We grow in our prayer life. Some of the things that we will be growing in will exponentially take off to the degree that we die in this area right here. You know, it's like we trying to have our cake and eat it too. And then we wonder why our churches are dead, why our sermons are dead, why our podcasts are dead, why we don't feel the spirit of God in some of these places. You know, die and be a living sacrifice. Romans 12. It is a reasonable act of worship.

[B]

If you could give one final plea to a Christian listening to this right now, knowing that the King is coming soon, what would you say to them?

[A]

My final word to the Christian listening right now. Time is running out. The Lord is returning soon. He has saved you for his purposes. Now is the hour to pursue intimacy with Christ, to love and to know his word. To be involved in the work of the Great Commission. To be serious about your personal discipleship and the discipleship of others. To be serious about the crucifixion of the flesh and how we love the unbeliever. Now is the hour to take the entire life and put it on the altar. Say, Jesus, for you I live, and for you I die. To set their gaze on eternity, to be more focused on the crown that will lay down at the feet of Jesus than these temporary rewards of life. To not allow their heart to be tethered so much to the things of this life, man. To be witnesses for Christ in every sphere of influence and not think we need platforms or microphones to be faithful, be on mission in every sphere of influence. Pray, see Christ, pursue holiness, crucify the flesh, run from sin, keep their eyes on eternity. Be faithful witnesses. Love your spouses, disciple your children, get your home ready. Christ is going to return soon. That will be my final word to them.

[B]

Amen. Well, Pastor, would you close us in prayer?

[A]

Yeah, I will. Eternal God and ever wise Father Ryan and I give you glory and praise and homage for who you are. And we thank you that you've given us the privilege of being called sons. Help us to never take that for granted. We pray right now, Father, for everyone watching this podcast. First, we pray for the believer that there will be an awakening right now in their soul, that you will trouble them right now in their soul, that you will set fresh fire to every brother and sister that's watching right now. We pray that you would open their blinded eyes that they will see. We pray God, Lord, you would open their ears that they would hear. We pray, God right now that they will turn from unrepentant sin and they will hurl themselves, Father, on the altar of sacrifice. We pray, God, Lord, that strong godly men and women would rise up in this hour. They will contend and take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. Make them more sensitive to your spirit than ever before. Deepen their love for your word. Cause them to love the things that you love and to hate the things that you hate. And let their feet be on mission for the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray right now for the unbeliever who may have crept in. We pray, Father God, Lord, that you would deliver them from the lies of the devil, that maybe they will turn and repent of their sins and place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray God for revival in our cities, in our nation, that we will contend for the faith in the final hours of the church age. Let revival hit our nation and let the light of the gospel shine into the dark strongholds of false ideologies all around the world. Let us be a people on mission and a bride ready for you when you come. We ask this Father, in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of our soon coming king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. And amen. And amen.

[B]

Amen. Guys, thank you for tuning into the Jesus People podcast. We will see you next week.