A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Are you prepared? Do you see what's going on in the world? Do you see, are you discerning enough to see what's happening, the way things are moving? And it's not stopping. It just keeps moving. It keeps rolling. It keeps increasing. We're here to occupy, we're here to preach the Gospel, but there's coming a time when the ambassadors are going to be called home, when God's going to take us out of here. In the meantime, we do our job, but are you ready? When the trumpet sounds, will you be taken? Will you be prepared? If men and women will not yield to the love of God and be changed by the grace of God, there is no way for them to escape the wrath of God.

We're glad to have you along today as we continue our chapter-by-chapter study of Revelation with Pastor John Randall here on A Daily Walk. As we open chapter 6, we're about to focus on the tribulation period. The section we're looking at today can be described in one word: terror. The worst earthquake, the worst flood, the worst atomic explosion—none of them compare to what lies ahead for those who have rejected the Lord. Along with this bad news is the good news that we don't have to experience any of it as long as we have placed our trust in Jesus Christ. We urge you to take an active role in the study of Revelation by turning to chapter 6 in your Bible as we join John for today's message.

John Randall: If you are a student of the Word of God, this should come as no surprise to you. The tribulation period begins, a new ruler rises to power, and he, as Daniel tells us and prophesied, he will make a covenant with the nation of Israel for seven years. He will rebuild the temple there in Jerusalem, and there are people who are ready to rebuild it even now. But in the middle of that seven-year covenant that he makes, three and a half years into it, he will break his covenant with the nation of Israel. He will go into the rebuilt temple, demand to be worshipped as God. It's what the Bible calls and Jesus referred to as the abomination that brings about desolation, and he will turn on the nation of Israel. He will break his covenant.

The Apostle Paul describes this individual in Second Thessalonians chapter 2, and this is what he says: "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all powers and signs and lying wonders and unrighteous deception among those who perish because they didn't receive the love of the truth that they might be saved." This may seem strange to some of you here today, if you're here for the first time, but when you look around the world and you are discerning and biblically aware, you can see the scaffolding being set for a one-world government, a one-world currency, a one-world religion of tolerance and coexistence.

You see people being conditioned for what is coming: a greater move toward globalism. The world is longing for this kind of change. I remember reading many years ago an ominous and apocalyptic quotation from a former Belgian Prime Minister, Henry-Paul Spaak, who was one of the principal architects in helping develop the origin of what is now the European Union. Around the year 1957, this is what he said, listen carefully: "We don't want another committee, we have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance 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 the devil, we will receive him."

I believe when the Lord comes for His church, that the man of sin will indeed rise to power and he will come conquering and to conquer just like it says in Revelation. But folks, listen, don't be looking for the Antichrist, be looking for Jesus Christ. But then the second seal is opened and a red horse emerges. It says when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see." And a horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another, and there was given to him a great sword.

John is invited now again to see what would happen as the second seal opens. This time he observes a red horse and he sees peace being taken from the earth and people turning on one another and killing one another, and there was a great sword. Obviously, the red horse is the horse of war. Jesus told us in Matthew 24, in His Olivet Discourse, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; all these things must come to pass. The end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom."

Jesus warned there would be wars and rumors of wars increasing, and today we see it. As you look around the world at the present time, violence increasing on the earth, nations at war, on the brink of war, preparing for war. But notice what happens when the red horse and its rider appear: world peace is ended, many people destroyed, military power is placed in the hands of one man. This coming world leader begins with an offering of peace. He starts out with diplomacy, he has a bow without arrows, but then he's given a crown and he exchanges the bow for a sword.

Often in the scriptures, when it speaks of bearing a great sword, it's a reference to capital punishment. The Antichrist's false peace will dissolve into war, assassination, rebellion, revolt, and massacre. John then watches as a third seal is opened. In verse 5, when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." And so I looked and behold, this time a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine."

Usually what follows war is famine. Food becomes a source of power. Again, Jesus said this would happen in His Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24 coincides exactly with what John says here. In Matthew 24 verse 7, Jesus said, "Nation is going to rise against nation, kingdom's going to rise against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes." John sees this third seal open and a pair of scales. It suggests that prices will change dramatically. Economics will be influenced with radical inflation like we've never seen before.

When he references a denarius, a denarius was a day's wage. In other words, with the war of the red horse and then the famine that follows, a person could work an entire day to get three quarts of barley, which is the equivalent of one loaf of bread. It is the barest of necessary food for minimal survival. The oil and wine will not be touched, it says, which may imply that the rich get richer at this point, but then the poor become poorer. It is startling to consider that right now, one-third of the world's population is presently on the brink of starvation.

Yet during the tribulation period, that only increases. But then the fourth seal is opened and it says in verse 7, when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see." And so I looked and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was—listen to this—power was given to him over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. In light of war, famine, disease, pestilence that follows, one-fourth of the world's population will perish, folks, listen, in the first part of the tribulation period.

Jesus made this clear again in Matthew 24 when He said in verse 9, "They will deliver you to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." Folks, a fourth of the world's population being destroyed would represent the greatest destruction of human life ever recorded. The geographical equivalent would be the entire population of Europe and South America. That's unprecedented. In the age of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, such a total is terrifyingly possible.

These are the things that John sees in his vision. And folks, listen, these things haven't happened yet, which tells you something: it's still going to happen in the future. It's a matter of time. And yet people go through life living under this false assumption that there'll never be a day of reckoning, that there is no God, Revelation isn't true, it's a bunch of allegories and so forth. But the Lord pleads with the people of this world to turn and repent and receive salvation. But then there's the fifth seal.

In verse 9, the fifth seal: when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then a white robe was given to each of them and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed.

As the fifth seal opens, John sees those who have been martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ, and he sees that they are located, it says, under the altar. This points back to the Old Testament because in the Old Testament, during the sacrificial system, when a sacrifice was offered, the blood was poured out, the Bible tells us, under the altar. Who are these martyred individuals? They were the ones, folks, who were left behind. They were the ones who scoffed at the Rapture, the ones that said, "Oh, that's never going to happen, that's a joke, I read those fictional stories, I saw the movie, totally lame, I don't believe it."

And then the trumpet sounds and the church is gone and they're left standing there. And chaos ensues and suddenly they realize it was all true. I cannot imagine what it would be like to experience that. And now they're given an ultimatum by the Antichrist: either take his mark or die. Folks, the technology for such a mark is available, it's ready. There's just one thing standing in the way: the church of Jesus Christ, still here for the time being.

They cry out and say, "How long until You avenge us?" and the Lord says it's a matter of time. You know, when you think about persecution and martyrdom, it seems like such a foreign concept to us in free America. But there are places around the world where the most dangerous thing that you can be is a Christian. 150,000 to 165,000 are martyred each year. These are stats that are told by those that calculate these things that go on around the world.

Many face persecution, imprisonment, and death. Many that we hear about and many that we don't hear about. Voice of the Martyrs gives us these updated stats on a regular basis. But these individuals who lost their lives for the Gospel, they're crying out for God to judge those who put them to death, who seem to be still living on the earth, and they're asking the question: "how long?" And in the process, they're given a white robe, which speaks of the righteousness of Christ.

People have asked me the question often, "Will there be people saved during the tribulation period?" And the answer to that question is yes. As we go through the book, we'll see there are 144,000 marked evangelists spreading the Gospel. There will be two witnesses upon the earth proclaiming the good news. There will be angels, the Bible says, during the tribulation period flying back to and fro declaring the everlasting Gospel. People can get saved during the tribulation period, the only thing is they have to die for their faith.

There are those who make light of these things. "Well, if what the Bible says is true, then I'll give my life to the Lord then." Friend, my response to you, if that's your thinking, is if you can't live for the Lord now, when you have freedom, when your life is not threatened, don't falsely assume that you're going to stand for Christ when your back's against the wall and your life is on the line. You need to choose Christ now, not later. Now is the day of salvation.

But then the sixth seal is opened and we're almost through. It says he looked and he opened the sixth seal and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth like a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

As the sixth seal is opened, cataclysmic events and celestial disturbances follow as John's description of what follows the sixth seal being opened. We see references to this even in the Old Testament. In the book of Isaiah and Ezekiel, it talks about earthquakes that are associated with God's judgment. The sun becoming black and the moon becoming like blood, the prophet Joel predicted this. He said when the day of the Lord comes that the sun will be turned into darkness, the moon into blood, and during the great and awesome day of the Lord.

The stars of heaven falling from the sky like a fig falling from a branch. Isaiah 34 verse 4 says all the host of heaven will wear away and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll and their hosts will wither away like a leaf withers from the vine or as one withers from the fig tree. John says exactly what Isaiah said. In other words, John is seeing, folks, the prophecies of the Old Testament come to pass during the tribulation period.

The Bible tells us concerning creation at the present time, in Colossians chapter 1, that Jesus is before all things and in Him all things consist or literally are held together. Right now the sun is at just the right distance so that we don't burn up, and it's just the right distance so that we don't freeze to death. But there's coming a time when the earth is going to be shaken and mountains will be moved and stars will fall from heaven.

And what is affected when this takes place? Look at verse 15. And who is affected? The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man, hid themselves in caves and in rocks of the mountains and they said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come and who is able to stand?"

Who is affected? Who was on the earth? Everyone is affected. Doesn't matter your status, how much money you have or you don't have, how great you think you are or how secure you think your job is or how wonderful your life is. Every single person is going to be affected who is still here on the earth when the tribulation period comes. Nobody's going to escape it. They'll try, it says they try to hide themselves. They know where the judgment is coming from.

They know that it's coming from heaven, they know that it's coming from the throne of God, but what did they do? Rather than repent of it, they seek to hide from God. But you can't hide from God. Who can stand? The question is asked. The Bible tells us in Luke chapter 21 verse 36, "Watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the son of man."

The only people that are going to stand are the people that are taken to stand before the son of man who have escaped what's coming. Friend, I just wonder, are you ready? Are you prepared? Do you see what's going on in the world? Do you see, are you discerning enough to see what's happening, the way things are moving? And it's not stopping. It just keeps moving. It keeps rolling. It keeps increasing. We're here to occupy, we're here to preach the Gospel, but there's coming a time when the ambassadors are going to be called home, when God's going to take us out of here. In the meantime, we do our job, but are you ready? When the trumpet sounds, will you be taken? Will you be prepared?

If men and women will not yield to the love of God and be changed by the grace of God, there is no way for them to escape the wrath of God. God has proven and declared that He loves humanity, died to save us from wrath to come. The Bible says we have not been appointed unto wrath but unto salvation. This is God's heart for us: to be saved from these things that are coming. Hey, listen, these things are already on the earth, but when it happens during the tribulation period, it's far beyond anything we've ever seen before and this is just in the first part of it.

It's like the Lord starts sending letters and then He starts throwing packages and then He starts throwing trucks. I mean, it just increases as the tribulation progresses. But friend, there is a way of escape. Jesus came and He died on the cross and He rose again from the dead offering salvation so that you would never have to experience the tribulation. But if you choose to reject it—the love and the mercy, the long-suffering, the forgiveness of God—this is exactly what you'll experience. This is a preview of what will happen upon the earth.

How should this affect me? First of all, it should make me grateful if I'm a Christian here today, of what Jesus saved me out of, what Jesus saved me from, and what He's saving me unto. It should make me grateful. But can I tell you something else? It should also motivate me to tell everybody I know of what's coming. "Well, I don't want to tell anybody, they're going to think I'm crazy if I tell them you know the tribulation's coming, the rapture's coming, they're going to think I'm crazy." I think a lot of people thought Noah was crazy.

120 years building the ark. The Bible says he was a preacher of righteousness during that time. Everybody laughed, everybody scoffed, everybody persecuted him every day he went out to the construction site and kept on building and kept on building until the door was shut and the rain came and no one was laughing anymore. Folks, what we're seeing on the earth—and I'm not saying this to scare you, I'm saying this just to be clear with you—either God's Word is true and what He said is going to come to pass and we need to be prepared, or it isn't.

And I believe that it is. And I believe we're seeing things that are unfolding right now that are a precursor to things that are yet to come. I mean, again, I've said it over and over again, just look how easily the world has been conditioned. The world has been conditioned easily. Just fall in line, do whatever they say. Is it true? Probably not. But who cares? And I think it's a wake-up call to the church of Jesus Christ that Jesus is coming soon. I'm more aware of the coming of Christ than I've ever been in my walk with the Lord.

The question is, are you ready? Maybe you're sitting here today—you know, Pastor John, wow. Maybe you're saying to your friend, "Well, thanks for inviting me." Listen, you're invited because you're loved. If somebody didn't care about you, they wouldn't tell you the truth. But if you want to be prepared for the return of Christ, if you want to know that when the trumpet sounds, you're going to be caught up to be with the Lord, that you will escape, as the Bible says, all these things that are to come upon the earth. They are coming; there is a day of reckoning.

He is a God of love, He is a God of mercy and grace, but He's also a God of justice and a righteousness and holiness, and He will judge the earth just like He said. But today, mercy triumphs over judgment at the cross. And if you want to receive Christ, there may be one of you and it's worth it. Maybe one of you here today would say, "That's me. I need to give my life to Christ, or I need to get right with God." And if that's you, I want to pray for you this morning.

I'm going to give you the opportunity to get up out of your seat or out of your car, wherever you're at in this parking lot, and to come and stand below this platform and pray to receive Christ, to have your sins forgiven, to have the hope of heaven, to become a new creation. And if that's something you desire, respond to the love of God today. He loves you.

Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, You know all who are here in attendance today. You know every situation, every circumstance. Lord, You know those that know You and those that don't, those that claim to know You but don't live for You. Lord, You know every circumstance here today and I ask, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit would move through this parking lot. Lord, that You would convict hearts of sin, that You would draw people unto Yourself. Lord, that You would rescue people from the bondage that they're in. Lord, that You would deliver people. You're a Savior. You came to seek and save the lost. Lord, would You do it today? Lord, draw people to Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit today in Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance and faith. So as we study the Revelation of Jesus Christ, keep that in mind. If you're not sure of where you stand with the Lord or know for certain that you're apart from Him right now, you can turn to the Lord even as we speak, and we'd love to chat with you about that, so please jot down our contact information.

You're listening to A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall and part two of our message, The Beginning of Judgment. Hear A Daily Walk online at adailywalk.org or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you seen Pastor John's Daily Walk Devotions? We post the daily devos at adailywalk.org, so grab your Bible, watch these encouraging daily devotionals. They're short enough to watch as you're getting ready in the morning or on your lunch break.

It's not hard to point out all that's wrong in this country and at times we may wonder if there's any hope. This is the time to be praying for our country and its leaders, and so we'd like to suggest a helpful little prayer guide written by Jack Countryman. It's titled If My People, based on a verse you're probably familiar with, Second Chronicles 7:14. With biblical and historical reminders of the power of prayer, this will show you how to make a difference on your knees as our country heads into another election season.

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So call us now, 877-242-0828, or you can donate online at adailywalk.org. We'd love to hear your thoughts of our Through the Bible study. Has it been helpful to your daily walk? Would you like to see us continue on this station? Let us know where you listen and what you're learning as you go through the Bible with John. Include your prayer requests as well. Contact us there at the website, adailywalk.org. Thanks for being with us. Come back next time when we'll again study the book of Revelation together. That's here on A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall, where you never have to walk alone.