In a recent conversation on The Jesus People Podcast with Ryan Miller, Philip Anthony Mitchell delivered a message that was equal parts prophetic warning and pastoral plea: the bride of Christ is asleep, the hour is late and what the church needs now is not another conference. It’s repentance.
We Are Living in the Final Hours
Mitchell, known for his uncompromising, Scripture-saturated preaching, was direct about his eschatological convictions.
“I personally believe both in my prayer time and my study of God’s word that we are very near to the end,” he said. “I believe that we are probably living in the final hours of the church age.”
He pointed to global headlines, the rise of hostile ideologies, the unfolding of 2 Timothy 3 and what he called “the winds of Matthew 24” as converging signs of the season.
But his greatest concern wasn’t geopolitical. It was the state of the pulpit.
“I do believe the greatest threat to the American church is the American pulpit,” Mitchell said plainly. He described a “cotton candy gospel” circulating in Western Christianity, one that keeps believers comfortable in sin rather than calling them toward holiness, mission and genuine discipleship.
Repentance First
When asked what awakening looks like, Mitchell didn’t point to a revival event or a prayer meeting. He pointed inward.
“It starts with repentance,” he said. “There is a type of American western gospel that is keeping people comfortable in sin… and I think what we need right now begins with genuine repentance, gospel preaching and prayer that fuels revival.”
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He invoked the parable of the 10 virgins from Matthew 25 as a sobering framework.
“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,” he warned.
Mitchell’s concern, he said, was not the atheist or the agnostic. It was the person sitting in church every Sunday who believed they were right with God and may not be.
Die to Live
Perhaps the most visceral thread of the conversation was Mitchell’s call to crucify the flesh. Drawing from his own testimony, he described sanctification not as a comfort but as a daily funeral.
“Every day for me, there is a measure of a funeral,” he said. “There is a moment in which I’m ringing out my heart from sin… 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.”
His exhortation was blunt: “We need to preach more death so that our people will be more alive in the spirit.”
A Final Word
Mitchell closed with a call that cut across fear, apathy and false security alike.
“Time is running out. The Lord is returning soon… Now is the hour to take their entire life and put it on the altar. Say, ‘Jesus, for you I live and for you I die.'”
The alarm has been sounded. The only question is whether the church will wake up in time.
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the upcoming book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
