I have hundreds, if not thousands, of sermons in my files that I have accumulated over the course of my life. Just last July, we celebrated my 50th year in ministry. Over the course of 50 years, those sermons in my files represent countless hours of study and prayer and what is called “labor” in the Word.
I can say without hesitation, that I did get some of my sermons from others or copy them. We all did back then. That’s how the prosperity message grew and spread. In these last years I have gotten them by getting alone with God, study and prayer.
Before things came apart at Heritage USA and I subsequently spent 5 years in prison, my sermons comprised an array of topics as they should have. However, some of those sermons needed adjustment and correction after I studied what Jesus really had to say about money, and I’ve talked about that extensively in my book “Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse.”
First, God made a major adjustment in the way I viewed prosperity. Then, He taught me that His priority for my preaching was really the Revelation, because these are the Times of Revelation. He infused me with compassion for lost and hurting people as well.
These Revelation lessons didn’t come from my pre-prison days or when I was on top of the mountain. They came from those long days alone in a prison cell, the valley days when I studied the Words of Jesus from a different viewpoint. When you’re up on the mountain, things will look much different than when you’re in the valley.
I can imagine the course of the Apostle John’s life and I’m sure that he dealt with many spiritual subjects, until God arranged the circumstances of his life so that He could get John alone and reveal the Revelation to him.
That’s what God did for me. He arranged the circumstances of my life so that I would focus on those things He wanted preached. An old high school friend wrote to me when I was in prison and she said, “Reading from the depths of your heart, I believe God is preparing you so when you are released, you will have a new ministry for which you will be especially prepared. And upon your release, you will have a certainty of how God wants you to use your talents for Him.” She was so very prophetic in her words.
Today, when I preach the Revelation, many people say “Oh Jim, why do you try to scare people? Why don’t you lighten up? Sure, things are bad and we can see the escalation of many things talked about in the Bible, but why do you have to remind us ALL THE TIME?
Here is the short answer to all my naysayers:
1 Corinthians 9:16-17 NIV
Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
That means also Revelation… the Now book! Some do not like tribulation talk, but it’s not the bad news! Jesus is coming soon, to take us to our heavenly home. It’s the most exciting time in the history of the world! We should be watching, waiting and preparing for His return!
Revelation 1:1-3 KJV
The Revelation (Take the cover off, uncovering, unveiling, disclosure!) of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; (Shortly – Greek – Fixed, brief place in time – When happens will happen quickly or one right after another!) and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is(is not in Original text) at hand.
God arrested my life and put me in a place where He could show me His priorities for the Last Days. That includes the preaching of the Revelation, which is Good News to those who are looking for His return.
Woe to me, if I did not heed His leading.
