The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

terrorist attack whether you like it on any other for it it's difficult to imagine how this thing will manifest itself no one had expected that something like this was let's grab our Bibles and I'm gonna have you turn to two chapters today a revelation chapter six and also first Thessalonians chapter five and the title of my message is the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse let's pray together now father as we come to this intense material in the book of Revelation as we look at the future of the world as spoken by you to John on the island of Patmos we pray that as we read often in this book he that has ears to hear let him hear lord help us to wake up to the Souness of your return and help us Lord to live lives that are pleasing to you as we await your return so we commit this time a Bible study to you now in Jesus name Amen a man walks into a crowded midnight showing of the new Batman film Dark Knight Rises or The Dark Knight Rises it opens fire twelve people are killed 58 people are wounded eleven critically it's one of the most deadliest shootings in US history he is alleged to have said that he was quote the Joker and all of the talking heads are on television searching for answers and asking the question how could such a thing happen was there a political motivation maybe it was a psychiatric disturbance maybe it was a sociological pressure we want some kind of explanation that will assure us but I'm going to give you the explanation and some won't like it this happened because this man was evil and there's sin in the world and the heart is not basically good it's basically bad and I wish they could say to you this is an aberration and we'll never see anything like this again but should we be all that surprised I mean after all we teach our children from their earliest years in school that they're just highly evolved animals why should we be shocked when they behave like one it's interesting in the aftermath of this great tragedy they're having a prayer vigil in Colorado there and that's a wonderful thing and I know there are strong evangelical churches that will be there to minister to the people who've lost loved ones but I just wonder where are the prayer vigils before these things happen why is it that oh you can't pray here or you can't put the 10 commandments there oh you can't ever read the Bible we don't want God but when tragedy hits let's have a prayer vigil right man I wish I could tell you things are gonna get better but according to the Bible and especially the book of Revelation things are going to get worse in fact the worst is yet to come the Bible mentions terms that we hear a lot Antichrist Armageddon the Great Tribulation the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse what are these terms even mean type in the word apocalypse and Google and you'll get 20 million pages of response here now in Revelation we're gonna find out what it means and we're gonna see how close we are to these events playing out in real time at present the Middle East is an absolute powder keg with a turmoil in Syria right now in a recent attack against Israeli civilians on vacation you can see things are super tense over there a showdown between Israel and Iran seems to be inevitable the Pratt that present conflict alone could bring about this scenario we read about in 30 seconds eco 37 and 38 where that large force to the north of Israel may gog marches on her and one of her allies is persia also known as iran yeah it's all happening right before our very eyes and jesus said when you see these things begin to happen look up for you redemption is drawing near years ago Billy Graham wrote a book called approaching hoofbeats the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and then the introduction of that book Billy wrote and I quote some theologian emoji and some Bible scholars have thought these scenes as described by the Apostle John our description of past events however most evangelical scholars interpret them as having to do with the future as do I in my view the shadows of all four horsemen can already be seen galloping through the world at this moment therefore I want not only to apply these four symbols of events are yet to come but also to put our ears lower to the ground and hear their hoofbeats growing louder by the day Billy concludes I can hear the hoofbeats of these horses much louder than when I first began writing this book and quote that book was written in 1983 it's been almost 30 years now and the approaching hoofbeats have now become thundering hoofbeats you don't even have to butch your ear to the ground it's getting close I mean think about what has happened in the last twenty nine years since Billy Graham wrote those words the computer age has done with global access people can get information onto men everywhere now militant Islam has emerged as the world's most dangerous force excuse me to golf wars have been fought as well as Afghanistan we have the continuing escalating violence in the Middle East and the increasing isolation of Israel we have the overthrow of Libya Egypt and now maybe Syria all becoming decidedly more anti-israel as the Bible said things would be in the end times we have also all of the other conflicts outbreaks of violence etc and without question the world is a much more dangerous place and it has ever been it's even more dangerous than the times of what we call the Cold War when we had a faceoff with the former Soviet Union and then all unfolds before us here in Revelation you might say that the real action of this book now begins revelation 6 to 19 is the heart of this book these chapters contain 21 judgments that will be unleashed on the world during the seven-year Great Tribulation Period in the book of Revelation we have three distinct series of future judgments we have seven seals we have seven trumpets and we have seven bowls each series of seven described unique events that will take place in the Tribulation Period and the first of these four sealed judgments is the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse now remember in our last message we were looking at revelation five which is sort of a glimpse into heaven and by the way on next time we're gonna look a little more at happiness we read of these people who are martyred on earth or in heaven and we're gonna answer the question how much do people in heaven know about things that are happening on earth I think you will be surprised by the answer but there in Revelation 5 remember that a scroll is produced a seven sealed scroll and we believe that to be the title deed of the earth and there is great weeping in heaven because no one has found worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals until one emerges who is like a lamb who has been slain it's Jesus and he's opening the scroll again the title deed of the earth now what we're about to read reveals what happens as he opens his scroll and repossesses that which is rightfully kids so let's read now what the Bible says about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse revelation six starting at verse 1 now I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder come and see and behold I looked and there was a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given to him he went out conquering and the conquer when he opened the second seal I heard the second living creature saying come and see another 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 it was given to him a great sword when he opened the third seal I heard the third living creature say come and see and I looked at me hold a black horse and he that sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand and I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creature saying a quart of wheat for a Denarius and 3/4 of barley or three quarts or barley for a Denarius do not harm the oil and the wine when he opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the four living creatures saying come and see and I looked and behold a pale horse and the name on him that sound on it was death and Hades followed with him and power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill the sword with hunger with death and by the beasts of the earth will stop there so here we are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse the Tribulation Period virtualizer seven years begins with the rider on a white horse who is this masked man now normally when we see a guy in a white horse we expect him to have a white hat that's because we've seen a lot of westerns right and the white the guy in the white worth of the white dad is he the good guy or the bad guy he's the good guy because the bad guy he rides a black horse and as a black hat right well in this particular case the writer and the white courts is not a good guy at all in fact he's a super bad guy he's the baddest of all guys the writer of the white horse is none other than the Antichrist now because there is also a white horse mentioned in revelation 19 that is clearly speaking of Christ some think this is related to that somehow and in a way it is but there are two completely different people in Revelation 19 verse 11 we read I saw heaven standing open and there was a white horse whose rider is called faithful and true what justice he judges and makes war and honor said our many crowns that's Jesus Christ the writer on the first source of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is Antichrist he's masquerading as the Messiah thus he wears a crown singular while the writer of the White Horse in Revelation 19 wears many crowns revelation 6 parallels Matthew 24 revelation 6 is like the bird's eye view of the whole tribulation period it's sort of like if it was a movie we pull the camera back now and we're getting the big picture and then as we go further into the book we go in for close-up shots at different events that are happening so here we're seeing the big picture Matthew 24 is also the big picture it was there the disciples came to Jesus and the Mount of Olives and said master tell us what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world and he went and gave to them in chronological order the events that will take place he the first thing he said many will come in my name saying I am Christ how does revelation 6 begin which is also an overview of end times events we have the Anti Christ emerging on the scene now it's important excuse me it's important that we clear out throat there we go it's important that we understand what the prefix anti means anti does mean against but it also means instead of so is the Antichrist against Christ or is he there instead of Christ well the answer is both he offers himself as an alternative to Chrysler and the minds of some Christ himself if they're not discerning and he certainly is opposed to the Lord contrast the writer of revelation 6 to the writer of Revelation 19 the Antichrist in revelation 6 verse 2 has a bow but interestingly no arrows the writer on the white horse of Revelation 19 Jesus Christ wields a mighty sword Antichrist wears a Victor's crown the kind that would be won in an athletic competition while Jesus Christ in Revelation 19 wears many crowns Antichrist initiate swore Jesus Christ comes back with this armies to put an end to war Antichrist initiates the Great Tribulation Period Jesus Christ ends the Great Tribulation Period now the Antichrist has many aliases he's called the man of sin the son of perdition the little horn the wicked one the Prince it is to come the one who makes desolate and of course the Beast but most of them simply know him is the Antichrist now if he were to appear I don't think he would be who would you it you would expect he won't be dressed head to toe in black with sinister sunglasses and was steam rising off of him no this guy is going to be charismatic he's going to be intelligent he's going to be suave he's gonna be magnetic and it's really a mask he's hiding behind because he is the most evil man who will ever live if Saint never had a son this is him the only man probably who would even come close to him and wickedness would be Judas Iscariot there are over a hundred passages in the Bible that detail the origin nationality career character Kingdom in final doom of the Antichrist so in fact the Bible has a lot to say about him and you might be surprised to know that many Americans believe there is an antichrist a poll was taken among the readers of US News and World Report and 49 percent of the readers believe there will be an antichrist sometime in the future that surprised me almost half of Americans believe there will be an antichrist I in a Newsweek poll 19 percent of Americans said they believed ni crisis on earth right now and in the same poll nearly half of those who accept Bible prophecy believe Antichrist is alive right now so the question arises is the Antichrist alive at this moment well no one can answer that authority but let me just say this I think it is highly probable that he actually is alive even at this time and he will rise to power this coming world leader the Antichrist will come in economically difficult times he will be able to do what no president Prime Minister King our world leader has ever done he'll bring about global economic stability and worldwide peace isn't that what everyone wants right now we want a solution to all these global issues were facing like the economic problems and certainly the cry of so many is peace well the Antichrist will do that in fact he will be healed as the greatest peacemaker that ever lived he'll probably win the Nobel Peace Prize but in effect he has a satanic Superman but he will deceive through peace a very thing people desire he will bring and he will use that peace as a weapon John MacArthur wrote of the Antichrist quote the world's desperate desire for international peace will serve as bait for the Satanic trap unquote you say that doesn't make any sense to me listen this piece he brings is a pseudo piece and it's a temporary piece to get himself in position to get his foot in the door but then he will show his true colors because the Bible actually says through peace he will deceive many Daniel 8:25 yeah he's gonna be a master of deception Daniel 8 says he'll be a master of deception you'll become arrogant he'll destroy many without warning he don't even take on the Prince of princes in battle but he will be broken listen Antichrist will be able to do something that no one has ever pulled off before he will actually bring peace in the Middle East most likely he will bring an end to global terrorism somehow he brokers a deal the Muslim nations and the Jewish people one way we know that he'll win the heart of the Jewish people or at least some of them is he'll help them rebuild their temple you know when you look at the skyline of Jerusalem today you don't see the temple in fact you might see a building with a large gold dome on it that is the Dome of the rock it's a holy site to Islamic people around the world and one day according to Scripture the temple is gonna be rebuilt you remember the original temple built by Solomon later destroy or later beautified and rebuilt by King Herod and then ultimately destroyed by Titus and the Roman legions in 70 AD and it has not been rebuilt since then but anti-crisis gonna do what no one has ever been able to do he will rebuild the temple for the Jews again and that is why many will heal him as the leader in fact after he gets his foot in the door you'll become the supreme leader but then he's gonna show his true colors now where does he get the ability to do these things the Bible tells us it comes from the devil himself revelation 13:2 says a dragon which is interpreted as Satan in Revelation gives him the antichrist his power his throne and his great Authority now having said all these things I don't want to paint too bleak of a scenario because it can almost appear as though God has not involved any of this and evil is just taking over but no this despite the fact that Antichrist is coming on the scene God is still in control factors we go back to the first chapter of Revelation and remember revelation means the unveiling right what is it the unveiling of well it's the unveiling of our future in the book of Revelation we find out what is yet to come but it is also the unveiling of the church and we looked at what Jesus thinks of the church as we looked into seven churches there in Revelation 2 and 3 but finally it is the revelation of the unveiling of God himself and remember we saw the Lord in glory on his throne in control sovereign over all things that happened and God has even sovereign at this time verse 2 says Antichrist had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went out conquering and to conquer notice the crown is given who gives it to him or permits him to have his reign well the Lord does because Satan can do nothing without the express permission of God remember the story of Job and how the devil came with his onslaught against the servant of the Lord but first he had to ask permission which was granted so ni Christ comes with his agenda which is allowed for a time it emerges on as the great peacemaker the man of benevolence the man with solutions and then it is revealed who he really is this has called the abomination of desolation Jesus mentions out of Matthew 24 and when you see the abomination of desolation crisis let the reader understand but how many people know what it is well here's the answer the abomination of desolation is when Antichrist rebuilds a temple for the Jews there's three-and-a-half years of global peace economic stability but Denny shows his true colors and we read about it in 2nd Thessalonians 2 don't be fooled by what they say but they day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed that sent a Christ the one who brings destruction listen he will exalt himself into by every God tear down every object of adoration and worship he will position himself in the temple of God claiming that he himself is God and this is really how taters take control you know they come in with acts of benevolence and then when they get what they want the rest comes like when Rome first came into power the Caesars did not originally demand Roma's ruled by Caesar but also by the Roman Senate but of course as time passed these Caesars began to deify themselves and then they demanded worship from the people and declared themselves to be gods and that is why many Christians lost their lives in the early days of the church because they would not simply say Caesar is Lord you see Hitler was similar you know he came to Germany they were in economic a hardship and communism was running rampant and he spoke of returning the fatherland to their roots and the glories to come for the nation of Germany people of Destiny and and he told him that that he would bring it about and as he emerged in power he did he helped the economy of Germany initially but then he began to show his true colors and soon the faith of the people of Germany was replaced by Nazism which was a faith in and of itself and then the Hitler of course began to enact what was described as a final solution which was his desire to wipe out the Jewish people off the face of the earth but my point is these guys never come on the scene initially showing what they want to do and that's how the Antichrist will do these others are just a prototypes of what is to come Antichrist will have his own false religion and he he'll have a religious leader working alongside of him called the false prophet revelation 19:20 says the Beast was captured with him the false prophet who worked signs in this presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped this image they were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone just as surely as there is a Holy Trinity a Father Son and Holy Spirit we have this unholy trinity if you will of the Antichrist masquerading as Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit being replaced by the false prophet and then the devil himself wanting to be in the place of God the devil always wanted the top job right now he thinks he bringing it about and this faith this religion of the Antichrist it seems to me will be a combination of many belief systems intertwined or the cult isn't that's why any move toward a one-world religion always concerns me you know people will say let's have interfaith prayer services and you can have the Christian pray and then the Muslim pray and then the Buddhist pray and then the Hindu pray and isn't it beautiful we're all talking to the same God well listen I don't know what God you're talking to but you're not talking to my God the Bible says the Lord our God is one God there's only one God and the God of Islam is not the God of the Bible the God of the Bible is the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob he's a God that loved us so much he sent His Son Jesus Christ these are not different names for God these are different gods there's only one true God and he is the one that is revealed in the pages of the Bible of course nowadays people will say things like well I'm not into organized religion I consider myself a spiritual person right how many of you have heard that before I'm into spirituality which really means I make it up as I go right I take a little of this I take a little of that whatever suits me in my lifestyle that's my fate and that seems to me what will be the religion of the end times because somehow you have to have people of different creeds and faiths buying into this so I'll probably be a combination of a lot of things I think the only thing that will not be tolerated is a person who believes that the Bible is the Word of God because it will be a great persecution against Christians and that is why we need to guard against this even in the church today because one of the signs of the times according to first Timothy 4 is there will be an apostasy or falling away it says that spirit totally teaches it hadn't no later times latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons such teachings come through hypocritical liars whose conscience is have been seared as with a hot iron Paul addresses the same in 2nd Timothy 4 three to four people will not put up with sound doctrine instead they will suit their own desires and they'll gather and run them a number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear this is what we see happening in parts of the church today give me a Christianity that caters to me don't bore me with Bible doctrine keep it lively keep it interesting keep it exciting keep it motivating don't judge me don't tell me to change my lifestyle that's the kind of faith I want that's why Paul says the antidote to that is preach the word be prepared in season and out of season that's what we're gonna do here at harvest we're gonna keep preaching the Word of God our goal is not to be the biggest Church we to be a strong church and more importantly we want to be a biblical church it honors God and so we have to be on guard because when we see this move toward a one-world religion or setting aside things that people say to buy this and we shouldn't let get in the way of unity these are four shots of the Antichrist jesus said when the Son of man comes back will he find faith on the earth and a better translation of that would be the faith in other words when Christ comes back will he find the faith on the earth will he find Orthodox Christianity well I think you'll find it's somewhere but not as much as he ought to and so that is why we need to hold to the Word of God so the white horse comes the writer is wicked he appears to be a good guy in reality he's a bad guy to some he might seem like Messiah but he's the false messiah no it's not Jesus Christ it's Antichrist he's followed by the Red Horse we could call him the warhorse look at verse 3 of revelation 6 he opened the second seal I heard the second living creature saying come and see another 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 and when we be fiery red reminds us of the description of the devil in Revelation 12 3 who is a great fiery red dragon Satan is the one behind the wars and the struggles on this planet jesus said of Satan in john 10:10 the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy notice the difference between Jesus Christ and Antichrist at the coming of Jesus Christ we have peace on earth at the coming of Antichrist we have peace taken from the earth it says a great sword is given to the writer of the Red Horse and the greek word here for sword speaks of the short stabbing sword a Roman soldier used in close combat that's interesting you know the Roman soldiers had an amazing army and they had a lot of brilliant strategies and tactics they used to subdue their enemies and of course we've seen it depicted in films like glide ei tur and others where the soldiers are marching in the battle and and they would have those big shields that were like the size of a door basically and they're long Spears and they would march in unison and then if there was a barrage of arrows they would pull together pull those shields on the side pull him up on the time they were like a box that was impenetrable and but then as they got into close combat they would cast a large shield aside it was far too cumbersome to carry they had a short smaller round shield and then they had a short sword when you got up close and personal with your opponent this is the same kind of sword that would be used by an assassin may be hidden in a robe a how's it gone it's like that and that's the sword of the Antichrist so the writer of the Red Horse which means that he comes off one way and then shows himself to be something else he seems like a friend and then he pulls out the sword and stabs and it's true war you know we've seen some horrible wars in our history in world war ii more than excuse me world war 1 more than ten million people lost their lives it was so horrific that it was described as the war to end all wars but of course it was only 20 years until another war came that was far more terrible world war 2 50 million people died but these wars as awful as they were are nothing compared to the scale of war that will be released by the devil during the tribulation period now as we read about the mass destruction it's going to take place it can happen in one of two ways or maybe both ways one is cataclysmic we're sort of like a mount st. helens comes out there earthquakes and things of that nature what we often call natural disasters but then it could also be God allowing mankind to unleash his nuclear arsenals you know we all remember that we dropped the atom bomb in World War 2 on Japan because they would not surrender and those bombs were dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima it's estimated that 200,000 people died but yet 67 years later one nuclear submarine carries enough explosive firepower and it's warhead that are equal to 40 times every bomb down in World War two put together so we have so much nuclear capability now it's been estimated and these numbers vary that there are 23,000 nuclear weapons on the face of the earth today we don't need 23,000 we don't need 12,000 we don't need 5,000 we just need a few and there would be global destruction now for years we lived by what was called the mad theory and that was an acronym M ad for mutually assured destruction so basically with the Soviet Union during the Cold War we said you nuke us we'll nuke you you got that and we had our missiles pointed at each other and things came to a head to recall if you're quite old in the Cuban Missile Crisis but we thought you know this is how it works but now we're in a different world it's not just about the so-called superpowers like Russia and the United States and China and others now we have rogue nations like North Korea and Iran and Iran is in the process of developing a nuclear weapon there's no question about that and they've said once it's developed here's their goal to wipe Israel off the face of the map that seems pretty clear to me what their agenda is and by the way they've also threatened to use it against the United States and so will any of this happen will any of these weapons be released well no one can say with certainty President Ronald Reagan said years ago we remember Hollywood off and start we he said I won't do it in this voice now but man is used every weapon he has ever devised it takes no crystal ball to perceive that a nuclear war is likely and in a nuclear war all mankind would lose and quote that's true here's an interesting thing the Red Horse of war it's followed by the next horse called the pale horse for six the name of him that sat on it was called death Hades followed with him power was given him over a fourth of the earth to give a sword with hunger with death and the beasts of the earth the word for pale is a Greek word chloros we get our word chlorine from it it means this horse was sort of the shade of yellowish green not an attractive color usually the color of sickness even death so in the wake of the red so here comes a white horse so called good guy who really is a bad guy followed by the red horse bringing war followed by all of this famine and then ultimately by the black horse with disease and all the rest of it it's so parallels what experts call a nuclear winter there was an article in the LA Times it said a nuclear winter would kill more people than the atomic blasts the article says quote in the most detailed public study yet of nuclear winter an international team of scientists theorized that a nuclear war would result in a worldwide famine that would kill billions far more than even the casualties of the initial blast fires and radiations scientists estimated through those several hundred million would die as a result of their direct effects of nuclear war the indirect effect potentially would lead to deaths in the range of one to four million and yet we read the one following the Red Horse of war takes one-quarter of the human population that's a lot of people so this is all unfolding before us then we'd say no one why would God allow this why would God permit this because God is a God of justice he's gonna let evil run its course then he's going to establish his kingdom but I want you to know something even during the Tribulation Period the Lord is extending opportunity after opportunity for people to believe for starters we have angels flying to the heavens preaching the everlasting gospel it's sort of like an angelic mop-up operation and this sort of addresses that question that is often asked what about the person who has never heard the gospel in the middle of the jungle they're always in the middle of a jungle I don't know why well guess what for the person who's in the middle of the jungle or wherever they'll hear the message of the angel preaching the everlasting gospel and the Bible tells us God will raise up to miracle-working witnesses that will have the world as their audience everyone will see what they're doing and ultimately the Antichrist hasn't put to death and God brings him back to life in the ascending heaven and the Bible says all the world watches it now one could that have happened except in recent history where we have information on demand and we can all view an event in real time as it's happening so there's the two witnesses there's the angel and then there's a hundred and forty four thousand Jews running around the planet preaching the gospel and they're protected by God you see no they're not Jehovah's Witnesses they're Jews who believe in Jesus as a messiah like 144,000 Marty Goetz is running around telling people to believe in Christ so you see there will be the testimony that will be prevalent in the last days but yet we will discover so many won't reject it so I know this is kind of a bleak scenario but today when we're reading through chapters of the Bible you come across what you come across and you let the chips fall where they will but let me say this Antichrist is closed he could be alive today but the Bible does not tell us look for Antichrist it tells us how we are to look for Jesus Christ that's the key in fact to the point I don't even think we will see Antichrist be revealed so don't waste your time trying to figure out who he is because the Bible actually tells us in the book of Thessalonians 2nd Thessalonians 2 the mystery of lawlessness is already at work only he who now restrains will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way and then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming right now the restraining force in the world is the Holy Spirit working through the church but once a church is removed in the rapture that is when Antichrist can be revealed ok so we think all right what am I supposed to do how am I supposed to live and glad you asked now go over to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 and we'll read that other passage but this is what we would call a parallel passage that goes right along with what we've just read and light of what we have seen here is how we are to live as Christians waiting for the Lord to return 1st Thessalonians 5 when they shall say peace and safety sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains upon woman so everyone's saying oh man there's peace on the earth all we are saying is get a piece of you know everyone says its global harmony it's a harmonic convergence it's all cool man yeah then I'm like Christ says yeah here's who I really am abomination of desolation persecution against the Jews persecution against the Christians war famine pestilence all the rest of it when they say peace and safety sudden destruction will come upon them as labor labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape okay what am I supposed to do listen burst forth but you brothers are not in darkness so the day would overtake you as a thief you are the sons of light and the sons of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness therefore let us not sleep as others do let us watch and be sober for those who sleep sleep at night those who get drunk are drunk at night but let those of us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as at home at the hope of salvation for God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ great words very clear no you're not appointed to rap in the Tribulation Period God's wrath is gonna be poured out you're not appointed to that God's gonna remove you as a Christian before this happens before Antichrist is revealed so how should I live in light of that three things I'm told to do number one wake up verse 6 let us not sleep as others do you know there are people in the church today who've gone to sleep they're not watching the signs of the times there's a letter G there's a pass of this even a laziness there seems to be a disconnect between their so-called spiritual life and their real life instead of walking in the spirit as the Bible says they should do their sleep walking have you ever gone sleepwalking it's kind of scary really someone tells you what you did the next day what I did what and so the Bible is saying you need to wake up to the urgency of the time you need to wake up to the Souness of the Lords of church so number one wake up number two sober up verse 2 excuse me verse 8 those who are of the day should be sober now listen I spent the first 17 years of my life around drunk people so I feel I can speak somewhat authority to this my mom was a raging alcoholic and I spent a lot of time in bars waiting for my mom to get done drinking here was a cycle of my life pretty much every day of my childhood when I lived with my mom she would you know have some cocktails before dinner she would go out she would come home raging drunk screaming yelps road things and then pass out and then she did the same thing the next day that was pretty much the story of her life so I've been around all kinds of drunks you know there's different kinds of people who in the different ways you react to alcohol sometimes people are what we call happy drunks they're really stupid drums but we're happy you know they're just I love you so much and you say the next thing man when you said you love me know what you know but they're they're just they're sloppy they're silly they laugh at anything and then someone has to tell them the next day what a fool they made out of themselves but in the moment they thought they were so clever but then there's mean drugs people that drink and they get angry and they throw things and they hit and commit acts of violence and so there's different ways you react to the influence of alcohol but the Bible is simply saying sober up now how do we do interpret this I think we interpret it literally and figuratively simple interpretation don't get drunk duh this comes as a revelation to some well what do you mean don't get drunk don't get drunk here's the thought if you don't drink you'll never get drunk if you do drink you could come under the influence oh no I can hold my liquor can you you want to run that risk listen I don't want to be under the influence of anyone or anything but Jesus Christ that's it don't be filled with the spirits be filled with the holy spirit that's what the Bible says so that's the obvious interpretation but then I think sometimes we can be intoxicated with other things you know G says jesus said in Luke 21 34 take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing and drunkenness and the cares of this life and that they come upon you unexpectedly an expanded translation from the Greek says don't let your heart be weighed down with the givingness headache and nausea of self-indulgence interesting you know it's not just that I'm not to be literally drunk that's a no-brainer but I can even be intoxicated with other things that are not the main thing there's nothing wrong with concerning yourself with what you're gonna eat and what you're gonna wear and where you gonna live those are normal human concerns providing for your family but don't let that become your preoccupation don't make your life all about the pursuit of stuff or other things that cause you to not be ready when the Lord comes so what am I to do I am to wake up number 2 I am dis over up and finally I am to suit up verse 8 put on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation you know Paul had a lot of time to research Roman armor reason being he was chained to Roman guards you know you're gonna hang around you start talking so what's your name so tell me about your armor you know tell me about all this stuff works I have some police officers who are friends and they were there Sam Brown which is their utility belt so tell me about all these things here okay now what do you do with this thing what is this thing and do you have a hold her for a doughnut where does that go exact thing don't say that to a cop that's a anyway you know they tell you how their equipment works so here's my gun here here you know here my handcuff said here's my pepper spray here's my baton or whatever you know they have different devices different tools to do their job same with that soldier you know all of the equipment they wear so Paula say no right suit up put on the armor of God why because folks life is not a playground it's a battleground and as a Christian you're in a battle if you like it or not you might say well listen man I am like a spiritual pacifist okay okay then you're gonna be defeated you better put your armor on you better use learn how to use your sword and march forward wake up sober up suit up here's one final passage Romans 13 this is from the Phillips translation don't turn to it I'll just read it to you the present time is of the highest importance it's time to wake up to reality every day brings God's salvation nearer the night is nearly over the day is almost on let us therefore fling away the things that men do in the dark let us arm ourselves for the fight of the day let us live cleanly as in the daylight not in getting drunk or playing with sex nor in quarreling or jealousies let us be Christ men from head to foot and give no chances to the flesh to have its fling that's a great translation that's what God says to you to me it's just how I am to live and let me close by asking are you ready for the Lord's return listen the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse they're coming the Anti Christ he's coming the Tribulation Period it too is coming that's the bad news the good news is but for all of this is unleashed Christ is coming for his people for his people and then at the end of the Tribulation Period Christ returns with his people so that means we're caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we come back with him again at the end we're in those armies that marched with him you see what goes up must come down or coming back but here's the question if Jesus came back today would you be ready or are you doing some of the things the Bible says you should not be doing are you literally out getting drunk are you preoccupied with the things of this life are you living in a compromised relationship are you playing with sex as the Bible says you should not be doing are you doing things you know are not right things you would be ashamed to be doing if Christ were to return I have a suggestion stop doing that stuff and get right with God folks this is your wake-up call don't sleep through this if you need to get right with God I'm gonna give you an opportunity to do it right now in a moment we're gonna pray and I'm gonna give you an opportunity to put your faith in Jesus Christ and if you are living a compromised life and need to make a recommitment you can respond to this as well let's all pray father thank you for your word to us and I pray that you will speak to these that do not yet know you and help them to get right with you this moment we ask now while their heads are bowed your eyes are closed if you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life if you would like your sin forgiven if you want to be ready for the Lord's return if you want your guilt taken away if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life wherever you're sitting I want you to stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer just stand up wherever you are stand up up in the balcony and harvest orange crust harvest Orange County outside in the amphitheater up in the court building here in the sanctuary stand to your feet I'm gonna lead you in a prayer you want to get right with God just stand up that's right god bless you stand up and stay standing if you would please stand up god bless you wherever you are stand up and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer of commitment of Christ you stand maybe you need to make this recommitment to Jesus you've been living a compromised life and you know you need to make a change you stand as well let me pray for you anybody else stand now god bless you let's stand up stand up god bless you there's a few more of you didn't need to stand do it now stand now and I'll lead you in a prayer god bless each one of you standing god bless you guys anybody else stand now you know you need to get right with God one final moment and then we're gonna pray anybody else stand now god bless you god bless you god bless all of you that are standing stand now all right all of you that are standing I'm gonna lead you in a simple prayer and I'm gonna ask that you would pray this prayer out loud after me this is where you're asking God to forgive you of your sin and you're committing your life to Jesus Christ again as I pray pray this out loud after me okay pray this after me now Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but you died on the cross and shed your blood for every sin I have ever committed I'm sorry for that sin I turn from it now I choose to follow you from this moment forward make me ready for your return help me in a way Cod and diss over up and the suit up thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen amen god bless each one of you that's good god bless you guys all right you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 198,122

Rating: 4.7191558 out of 5

Keywords: Greg Laurie, dark knight, death, Colorado, Jesus, shooting, revelation, end times, last days, Christian, anti christ, peace, nations, satan, sickness, signs, apostasy, natural disaster, holy spirit, witnesses, 144, 000, wake up, sober, suit up, armor, helmet

Id: oipdXKshLp8

Length: 55min 2sec (3302 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 25 2012