Well, good morning from England, and welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm David MacArthur, and this is the Bible Believers podcast. We're continuing our studies in Revelation today, the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. So greetings also to our friends in Australia and other countries in the world. Everybody, of course, is welcome, and it's wonderful to have people from different parts. Ian, welcome, and thank you for your email. I must act on that, and thank you for your suggestion. I really feel responsible to find ways of promoting prayer, respecting this ministry. I want to report the gospel was preached twice in the open air yesterday in the city of Worcester, which is about 20 miles south from where I'm sitting just now. and it's a beautiful city, it's a cathedral town, but like everywhere else in England and in the United Kingdom, there is great hardness of heart towards the gospel. So it appears, but we're still so in hope, we still preach the gospel desiring the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, and quite a few people came under the sound of the gospel yesterday, and I thank the Lord for that. Initially I thought it was going to be quiet, but then many people came past. So the work goes on, the ministry goes on. We desire to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, the belief that the gospel is the only answer in the generation in the days in which we live. Of course, we're living in most momentous times. We're considering the book of Revelation. We are trying to understand it better and to learn from it. And this book speaks about events which take place, I believe, for the most part at the very end And we could find ourselves living in those days when those judgments and those catastrophes, which are direct judgments of God, come upon the earth. If so, as Christians, we are to look up, we are to be confident in the Lord Jesus Christ and that our redemption draws nigh. The situation in the Middle East is very complex. It's very heated. We do not know yet whether this will prove to be a fulfillment of major Bible prophecy, but certainly the possibility is that it may. The Bible talks about in Ezekiel 38 and 39, the day is coming when the armies of Persia and Turkey and other countries, and Russia particularly, I believe, will be defeated on the mountains of Israel. More and more we're hearing about Russia getting involved in the current situation. Now that doesn't necessarily mean that that prophecy will be fulfilled immediately, but it could be fulfilled immediately. that all of the players are in place. The possibility could arise that a war that threatened the existence of Iran would bring Russia into the picture in a much bigger way. Again, we can read in Ezekiel 38 and 39 of a great multitude of armies coming and being defeated on the mountains of Israel. At the same time, Isaiah 17 talks about the destruction of Damascus, and that's never happened. and there are some people who seem to be watching Damascus with eagle eyes waiting to see what happens now. We wouldn't rejoice in the destruction of a city and the loss of life but that nevertheless is in Isaiah and we have to be aware of the certainty of the fulfillment of prophecy. And also at the same time we have China getting involved with what's going on in the Middle East The Bible does talk about an army of 200 million men coming from the east. Unthinkable in John's day, this is more than possible in our day. And if that were to happen, it would be such a massive upheaval in the world order. And this is what's going to happen, and many people will die because of that war. These are momentous times. So we don't know the time scale. We do know that for the last week, for the first time, people are talking about World War III as if it could be about to happen or break out at any moment. This is a serious matter. And my concern is that people in the world and ourselves as Christians, that we are aware that all history is his story, is God's story. and that we are ready, because much as we like to cling to things in this world, everything in this world is passing away, it will be destroyed with fire, but the Lord Jesus and his salvation lasts forever. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you found the Lord Jesus Christ? If this broadcast has one desire, one idea, one thought, it's that we should be sharing the Lord Jesus Christ that we should be desiring to honor Him, that we should be seeking to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and bear faithful testimony to Him, whatever happens in the world and in our own lives in these days. Nigel, welcome to you from Adelaide in South Australia. Lan, welcome to you in Texas, and thank you for joining us. And yes, I believe it must be the middle of the night where you are, so thank you very much for being awake and being with us, and it's a pleasure to have you with us. Jellyfish, welcome, and thank you for joining us. and others with us as well. The Lord bless and be with each one of us. Let's read the Word of God. We're going to go back to Revelation chapter 6. We'll read verses 1 to 9. We're considering the fourth horse of the apocalypse today. Amanda, hello and welcome. This is the Word of God. Revelation six, verse one. And I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, come and see. And I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, come and see. And then went out another horse that was red and power was given to him that sat there on to take peace from the earth. that they should kill one another, and there was given unto him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, come and see, and I beheld and lo a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. Father, we thank you for being with us this day. We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be our first love, our first consideration, our first concern, that He would be first in our lives, in our minds, in our hearts. Thank you that He loved us so much and went to the cross of Calvary, even enduring the shame and suffering of the cross, to bear our sins, to make a way of salvation, to save us and deliver us from the wrath to come. Father, our sins are very great, and we confess that we are sinners and unworthy. Thank you that where sin did abound, grace did also much more abound. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. We are meeting in His name, Father. We ask that He would be with us, even though we'd be scattered across the globe. We ask, Father, that Your Son would be with us now, and that His name would be glorified in our midst. Father, we pray for the situation in the Middle East. We pray that the day would come when the Spirit of grace and supplication is poured out upon the Jewish people and they look upon Him whom they have pierced and mourn. We pray for the Arab nations as well, Lord. We pray that You would work in their hearts to bring them to a saving faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we think of Iran, Lord, and although we know that Iran is a major player in the end times, we thank you that we hear reports of many people in Iran leaving Islam, finding Jesus Christ. We pray, Father, that many people in the Lord would find the Lord Jesus in that and other nations. And Father, we also pray that You would help and strengthen and feed those who have so come to know the wonderful freedom and liberty that comes from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation that comes from Him, the joy unspeakable and full of glory that comes from knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we have peace with God. So help us now in our study and may each of us be fed and encouraged and strengthened to stand in these days and in the days to come. This we ask and pray, Father, in Jesus' precious and lovely name. Amen. Amen. So yes, indeed, we do meet in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we meet in His name, it's because we delight in Him, we love Him, we've found Him, we know Him, we have received Him, we have believed on Him. Christian Kuti Lamprecht, welcome, and it's great to have somebody from South Africa. The Lord bless you. Bernadette, bless you in Ireland. And thank you for joining us this morning. I'm just gonna get some water just because I've got a frog in my throat. And there we are. So we're looking at, we've been looking at the four horsemen of the apocalypse and really the fourth horse, the pale horse ties together everything that's being said here. Now it's not so long ago that we can't remember four years ago when we were going about our normal daily business with our normal daily trials and afflictions and, um, difficulties and blessings and, uh, good things. And, uh, suddenly out of the blue, out of nowhere came COVID. and it's quite certain that COVID has changed things. Now, COVID wasn't epidemic where very large numbers of people were dying. People certainly were dying from COVID. Go along with the view that there was no virus. There certainly was a virus. I nearly died of it myself, and it was extremely unpleasant. Some of us have also had that experience. Others had it mildly. There is a condition known as long COVID, which is still being investigated by medical practitioners. Arguments still rage as to where COVID came from and whether it was created in a lab or not. I don't know the answer to that question. But one thing is certain that COVID changed everything and many of us found ourselves having to wear masks. Then the vaccines were brought out and we found ourselves to be living in a new world and a new environment. We also, though the results of that have remained to this day, if I go to any town, it seems today, I was in Worcester yesterday preaching the gospel, and then if I go to Kidderminster Town Centre, or if I find myself going to any town, you'll find multitudes of small businesses shut down. And I think it's a testimony to COVID. that during the lockdowns, the small businesses closed and there was no hope of them reopening. The towns have changed forever. But all of this seems very mild compared to the death that is referred to here in Revelation chapter six, verse eight. And I looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was death and hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Now, we need to consider these judgments of God. Whatever we have learned from COVID, we have learned that if there is another pandemic, then things will never be the same again. Now, I would argue, first of all, that Revelation chapter 6, verse 8 here is speaking of a pandemic which is far worse than COVID. And that's the first thing to bear in mind. But we've been given a heads up. We've been given some experience of what might happen. What seemed to be absent in where I was, I was in Hull at the time, much of the time before that was in the West Midlands here in England. But it is the kind of terror that you read about when you read about, for example, the Black Death in history and other pandemics, that people didn't seem to really have a realistic grasp or appreciation of what was going on. We knew we were locked down, we knew we had to queue for the supermarkets two meters apart in blazing sun or pouring rain, and everything was different. And yet there was no great terror or fear that I could discern or find amongst people. Now, this is the kind of pandemic where people are terrified, men's hearts failing them for fear. And people know that they are in great danger. One reads about various instances of plague during English history, for example, and how even kings and king's palaces were affected by this. Nobody could escape that, and they were full of fear. and moved out into places where they were separate from other people in order to try and not catch the plague. So these things are coming, these things are certain, they're in God's word, and what we may have here described in Revelation chapter 6 and verse 8 is a new pandemic. And I think there's more to it than that. And I'm going to say something about that. But I think that as a starting point, talking about a new pandemic is, is reasonable for these circumstances. So first of all, remember this, that the Lord Jesus Christ is found worthy. The lamb of God is found worthy. The lion of the tribe of Judah is found worthy that these are the openings of the seals, the seal judgments on the scroll. And this is the fourth seal. And as it's opened, it's the Lord Jesus Christ who opens the seal. These are holy and righteous judgments of almighty God upon the people of the earth. And, um, We need to say this, these are God's direct judgments. One view of revelation I've come across is that the first half of the seven-year tribulation are Satan's judgments on the earth, and the second half are God's judgments. All judgments are God's judgments. Everything is under his sovereign control, even if Satan finds that his most nefarious and most evil acts are merely performing the will of God in judging the Earth. God is sovereign and in control. These are judgments wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ, opening the seals, and they are holy and they're pure. This is a sobering thought that we on planet Earth are worthy of such judgments, that this is a just recompense for our sins. that God is righteous when he sends plagues and pestilences and when he sends famines and wars on the earth, God is righteous and just and holy, excuse me, sorry. And we need to bear this in mind because this tells us something about our sinfulness. I come across endless people who are full of self-righteousness and say, why doesn't God do this? And why doesn't God do that? Well, the answer is we don't know how many wars there are that God has stopped. We only know about the ones that God hasn't stopped, of course. And of course, we don't know how many deliverances from death we have every day. But every time we are delivered from death, God has delivered us. But we don't give thanks for that. We are unthankful and unholy, and we go around saying, why doesn't God do this, and why doesn't God do that? If we have any good thing, life or breath, or any good thing today, it has come from God, and we should be thankful to God, but we live in an unthankful and an unholy generation. Yesterday, preaching in the open air, I was amused because a man came up to me while I was preaching in Worcester, and he said to me, he said, What are you doing this for? He said, don't you know that in England most people keep their opinions to themselves? And I thought, well you're not keeping your opinion to yourself, but I didn't say it. But there we are. Ian says, with thanks today we found a light in Psalm 147 verse 2 which talks to Israel's restoration. Thank you for that Ian, Psalm 147 verse 2. Let me just read that for our encouragement. Psalm 147 verse 2. So yes, so the man who expressed his opinion that people don't express their opinions was expressing his own opinion. But my answer is always the same. Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Psalm 147 verse 2 reads, the Lord does build up Jerusalem. He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. Amen. Thank you for that, Ian. And I think that we can see that God is working in Israel at the moment. And there are those who argue that in order for Israel to be of God in the last days, she has to prove that she's righteous right now, and she's not righteous right now. No, she's not. As a nation, she's a long way from acknowledging the Lord Jesus Christ and obtaining that righteousness, which is by faith. But God is working in Israel. Now, if what I'm saying is correct, and many Christians believe this, if what I'm saying is correct, and I think, excuse me, I'm obsessive about adjusting the camera there. If what I'm saying is correct then I think over the coming months we will see some remarkable deliverances of Israel and we will see some remarkable preservations of the Jewish people. In other words, we're saying that what's going on in the Middle East at the moment is a spiritual war, it's a supernatural war that's going on. And although Israel doesn't yet generally acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to be her Messiah, yet nevertheless God's hand is moving them in that direction, and his goodness is determined towards them, and he will have mercy upon them. Now, if we're going back to Revelation chapter six and verse eight, or these four horsemen of the apocalypse, These are God's direct judgments. Let's ask, when does this take place? If I took what's known as a historicist view of revelation, I would say, well, these things have been taking place ever since the Lord Jesus was on earth. There's always been famines, there's always been pestilences, there's always been kingdoms rising and falling and wars. Now that is true, but I don't think that does justice to revelation. What's being seen here is a degree of trials and tribulations on the earth, almost a massive acceleration, an increase, a quickening, an outpouring of judgments on the earth. So the question is, is this merely describing events that have been taking place since the Lord Jesus was on the earth? And I don't think it is. I think, I think that that would make it meaningless. I think to argue that all we're reading about here is the normal state of things in the world is meaningless. These are global judgments. Surely these are global judgments and these are in time judgments. Then the question is, if they are, then when do they take place? Are these one-off judgments that take place at the start of the tribulation? Do they take place throughout the tribulation? And what's their relationship to the other judgments? And I'm inclined to the view that although these things will take place at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation, the rise of Antichrist and the taking of peace from the earth, that these things will be present throughout the tribulation as part of the judgments of God. These are terrible judgments. These are terrible, terrifying things that are coming upon the earth. In other words, to a certain extent, I think, my view would be that this would be a generalized summary of the things that are going to happen, the things that are happening, wars and rumors of wars and pestilences and diseases, and Jesus told us about that in Matthew 24, for example. So, we may very soon see these things happen. And when they begin to come to pass, then we should look up, of course, So I think they are more likely to be the normal situation in the world throughout the tribulation period. I said before that I believe in a seven year tribulation. Now, so our time anchor here, the key event here that marks the beginning of these is the riding forth of the white horse. Catherine, a very warm welcome to you, sister, and thank you for joining us. And thank you very much for praying, Catherine. That means an awful lot. And the Lord bless you and keep you by his grace, Catherine. The Lord bless you. Thank you for joining us. The riding forth of the white horse, if we believe, and I think I've put a case for the riding forth of the white horse to be the riding forth of the Antichrist, the rise of Antichrist, the conquering kingdom of Antichrist, will be the key moment. Now the question is, is this going on in the world now? I don't know the answer to that question. If the Antichrist is riding forth now, who is he? Is it Donald Trump? Is it Barack Obama? Is it the current Pope? I'm inclined. As you know, I'm inclined to the view that the Pope is the Antichrist, but it doesn't seem to be the current Pope, because he doesn't seem to be in very good shape. But I don't know. I'm inclined not to think of the Antichrist as being a United States president, although many people seem to think that it is a United States president. But it will all become plain. It's this individual riding forth now, as we speak, conquering through peace, conquering through diplomacy, whilst peace is being taken from the earth. Those two contradictory things. By peace he will destroy many. And of course we could be wrong, it could be a military conquest of the Antichrist, but the lack of arrows seems to suggest that he doesn't have any weapons that are offensive as such, but conquers by peace. And in fact in Daniel it talks about him by peace destroying many. And what does that mean about the current time, for example, what's going on in Israel? Well, if this is moving towards a Bible fulfillment, a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, I'm going to say that we might, we might, because I can certainly be wrong, but we might expect one of two things to happen. Either we might see the situation between Israel and Iran draw more and more countries into the point where the world is about to annihilate itself in nuclear conflagration, And at that moment, some individual steps in as a peacemaker and brings about a false peace which saves the world from World War III. And the world goes after the beast, goes after that individual and worships that individual who is the Antichrist. Or we might find even that, to our surprise and delight and astonishment, that this is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Revelation 20 of Russia of Gog and Magog being defeated on the mountains of Israel and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we are living in momentous times. Now, I remember in 1990 and then in 2002, was it, during the first and second Gulf War, we were asking the same questions and neither of those proved to be that fulfillment that we thought they might become. So we have to wait and see, but at the same time, let's not be ignorant of what the scripture says or be ignorant of the significance of the days in which we're living. So Ian says, to our experience, historicists tend to deny Israel's current relevance, suggesting both are wrong. Yes, that's my experience too, Ian, and I find myself, I find that untenable. I find the problem with historicists for you, it makes scripture seem to be prophecy meaningless. It's like a poorly cooked pudding, you can put your finger in it and it's just goo wherever you... do that and of course so I reject the historicist view because I believe that prophecy says something it says something about real events that will happen and I'm prepared to speculate about that because I believe we are living in the most important times and Israel's reformation of a nation is extraordinarily important event in history leading up to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ many Christians believe this too but I can't Except historicist view, because it tends to make the interpretation of prophecy meaningless, I think. Now Ross says, amillennialism says the white horse is the Lord Jesus conquering with the gospel. Some amillennial say that. I'm amillennial, but I believe that the white horse, I've put evidence for this from the scriptures, isn't the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who opened the seal. He was in heaven and he opened the seal. but that this is the Antichrist, that the picture of the rider of the white horse in Revelation chapter 1 is not worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Also, so much is it connected with the judgments of God, which are coming upon the earth, then we would see that, because Amon Elias will say that, Ross, they will say that this is the conquering of the gospel, and there's a contradiction there between the white horse and the other horses. But you can see my message on the White Horse, which is on this channel, and this is my position. Of course, what we're pointing out here is that Christians who love the Lord Jesus Christ have many varying opinions on these subjects. So we have to say, well, I disagree, but I disagree graciously and lovingly, and others, I hope, with me, but I have strongly held convictions. Catherine says Donald Trump fits all of the biblical descriptions of character. Catherine, thank you for saying that. I don't believe that Donald Trump is the Antichrist, but as I've said to many Christians who are saying all we need is political reform and the return of Donald Trump and we can make America great again, they would say, I say that Donald Trump has more in common with the Antichrist of Scripture than, for example, Joe Biden. That doesn't make Donald Trump the Antichrist, but it does tell us that there will be deception. Of course, I think that's a scriptural, that he comes in as a man of peace, that he comes in as a man lauded by the people, as he comes in as a savior, he comes in as a powerful figure who can make things right and restore prosperity and everything else. But we're not called to follow men. We need to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Too many are hoping that if only we get the right political leader, then we're going to find ourselves in a new political reality where Christianity will flourish. But that's not the picture we have here with the four horsemen of the apocalypse. And if we put our hope in men, men will fail us. We should be looking to the Lord. No man has the power to deliver us. And it's not a new political reality we need, it's repentance. The last message we did here, last Monday, two days ago, was about righteousness exalts the nation. People are looking for political solutions to spiritual problems. Only repentance, only turning back to the Lord Jesus Christ will save us as a nation. Nigel says, current events are turning my eschatology on its head. Again, Nigel, we need to say this, that my head can be broken, but scripture can't be broken. Sorry, that's probably the wrong way of putting it, but we need to say this, that, and I pointed out how during the First and Second Gulf War, we were looking for the possibility of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, that events can be wrong, but scripture can't be wrong. So we need to, I'm well aware that on the one hand, there are those who are going to say to me, you're interpreting the Bible by world events. So to go too far would be to say what's happening between Israel and Iran right now is that final fulfillment of Bible prophecy. We can't make that call at this stage. And it may not be, and there may be maybe 10 years before the Lord Jesus Christ returns. And there may be many things that we can't see. And on the other hand, there are those who are saying, well, so on the one hand, the risk is that we say that everything we see is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. And on the other hand, there's the problem of saying that nothing we see is a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. We need to be students of prophecy. We need to warn and say this may be the fulfillment of prophecy. I believe the reformation of the nation of Israel certainly was retaking of Jerusalem in 1967. But we need to warn people, it's the opportunity to warn people that God is serious in his judgments. We see that with these four horsemen. Jellyfish says, you all know how Harari said, there are many candidates to be the next Stalin. And of course, Jellyfish, he's one of them. And I've heard that Klaus Schwab is unwell, maybe he will die. And if he does, maybe Yuval Noah Harari will take over as the head of the World Economic Forum. And that could be very significant. We'll see. Catherine, Trump is also responsible for the Abraham Accords with Israel and has been referred to as the Prince of Peace by an influential group of Israeli religious men. Catherine, I didn't know that, but again, I don't take the view that Donald Trump is the Antichrist, but at the same time, these men have features which are like the Antichrist. Even Barack Obama has a statue of himself in the railway station in Jerusalem, so I understand that doesn't make him the Antichrist, but it does show you that he is highly regarded by the Jewish people. So we have to be circumspect. We have to be wise. We're living in a spiritual reality, a spiritual warfare, a world that is going to be brought to an end. And these judgments are coming. Ross says, I learned more historic premill like J.C. Ryle and Spurgeon. I'm not sure that Spurgeon was historic premillennium. I'm not sure about that. Yes, thank you Ross, we are gracious and of course there'll be people who, many people here probably who are pre-millennial in their views and I certainly respect that. I was myself in that position for a long time so and we need more light, we all need more light when it comes to these things. There are difficulties and problems which we face with our eschatology, with our view. Everything is going to be fulfilled. God knows how everything in his word will be fulfilled And here we are all trying to work it out ourselves with our tiny little minds before it all happens. It'll be clear at the end that every single thing, not one jot, not one tittle of God's word has passed. Hey, we're not even getting onto verse eight here. Thank you for your comments, that's great. So Jellyfish says we wouldn't be at this point without May the 14th, 1948, the reestablishment of the nation of Israel. So our time anchor here is the rise of Antichrist. I shall need to cut this short, but this verse 8, the fourth horse, a pale horse. Now, as a doctor, the first thing you do with a patient after you've called their name is you look at them and you see what they look like. And often we'll say to a patient, you're looking awfully pale. Oh some people are pale by nature some people put on pale makeup we've found and years ago we had a witness to golf culture people and they would put on pale makeup and they look like they were dead but they were walking around because they put on this makeup and yet but we see a pale horse and we associate that with with with illness and death and and very bad times And, uh, we have, we have here, this, this fourth hall seems to be a summary of the other horses, the rise of antichrist war war brings with it disease and death. Um, war brings with it famine. Um, people can't sow their crops. The men are taken away or people are taken away and can't. labor on the land and and uh... do their work so that crops don't get grown and then we have found the men are killing more supply chains are broken up the supply chain between china in the united kingdom is being broken up at the moment by who's the rebels in the mn firing missiles that ships in the red sea and uh... the prices to seem to keep going up and up and uh... War disrupts, war brings with it famine and disease and all of these things and inflation, which we have in verse six there as well. But this pale horse seems to be telling us of the sheer horror, the sheer terror of the death that is to come. Now. It's not just diseases. We've got war. It says here, it says a death and health and power was given over unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and with the base of the earth. So there's four ways in which people are killed and 2 billion people. If it was to happen at this time, that would be 2 billion people who would die as a result of these things. Extraordinary number of people die in the book of revelation. Half the world's population we have two billion people here then we have the reference to those who died during the war when the two hundred million men come from the east. And that's four billion people. That makes World War II, in which it was said that 70 million people died, look very small. Indeed, it looked like a local conflict in comparison with the things that are coming upon the Earth. These are the judgments of God. These are the terrible things that are coming. I find this. In England, we think that we're English, so it could never touch us. It could never affect us. I've said to young people, I've said, what if you were drafted? Oh, it would never happen here. But the things that have happened in the Middle East and Ukraine are waking up more and more our own society to see that we're not immune, that there are many who are targeting us. There are many who hate us in the United Kingdom and would like to see us destroyed as a nation. And as I've said, God's judgments are abroad in the land, that we're not immune, that these famines, that these wars will affect us here. This taking of peace, We have that situation in Australia and it seems a small thing overall but it may be a very big thing we have that very sad stabbing of a preacher preaching in a church two days ago and the police have said this was a terror episode. The person who did the stabbing of the preacher was shouting Allahu akbar which is the islamic cry as he stabbed that preacher. We are told there are many islamists in the united kingdom for example and we hope that these things never happen here but this taking a piece from the earth that we no longer we no longer isolated no longer kept away from these things. These wars and rumors of wars, these things that are going on, and who knows what's going to happen. Terrifying things, so terrifying that men's hearts fail them for fear. As Christians, we have peace because we know the Lord Jesus Christ. If we're preachers, we must carry on preaching faithfully, ministering the Word of God. Our times are in God's hands, but even so, What happened in australia should send shockwaves through the system because of the lengths that some people are prepared to do to oppose christianity in our days. So death here seems to imply all of the above, famine and war and pestilence and disease. We've got here kill with a sword, so we've got that taking a piece from the earth. We've got here hunger, so we've got the third horse of the apocalypse. And then we've got with the beasts of the earth. And that seems very interesting, doesn't it? That God is going to appoint the beasts of the earth to tear and to kill and to devour. Um, mankind, and we have to see that, uh, uh, uh, what will happen there. But, uh, that seems to be a particular judgment to God. Now, and of course, we could add to that verse 9, the martyrdom of the saints, the deliberate putting to death of Christians. So let's consider this disease question. Well, it says death. It doesn't say disease, it says death. And I wondered about that because people have for a long time been saying, well, it's this disease or it's that disease, it's HIV or AIDS. It's marburg virus or it's it's h1n1 bird flu or something like that in fifteen years ago we had. We had swine flu and that was going to take over the world but it didn't then we had about eight years ago we had. We had to be breaking out in africa and we thought that was gonna spread throughout the world but it didn't. But I remember in the hospital I was working in, in England, there was great concern. We didn't know what was going to happen. And we thought if Ebola came to the United Kingdom, for example, um, that, uh, it would be, uh, devastating, but it wasn't. And, uh, we need to remember that these things come from God and that in revelation, these things are God's judgment very specifically against the world. Now, what else can we say about disease? Well, we can say about disease that, uh, we could bring our own destruction about somewhere in the world. We have a small, a vial of smallpox in a lab somewhere. If smallpox were to be released from that lab, uh, then why don't they just destroy it? But if it was to be released from the lab, I'm told that none of us, none of our immunity would be effective. And, um. And so therefore, a pandemic of smallpox would wipe out a very significant number of us, a horrible disease. So just on John's comment there, years ago I heard it would be Prince William. Well, there is a dedicated body of people who think that Prince William is the Antichrist. I have in my possession a book called The Antichrist and a Cup of Tea, which is about, I think it's really about Prince Charles being the Antichrist, but that mantle might have passed to Prince William now. My own view, I haven't had time to read the book, so I don't know what the argument is, but my own view is, I don't think it's the British royal family. I'm always for the Pope being the Antichrist, but I believe they have their place to play in the end times. But we should pray for Prince William, that he would find the Lord Jesus Christ to be his saviour from sin. We ought to pray for those who rule over us, and he has a significant role in the nations. importance. So from my own point of view, Lan, I think you could probably, any public figure you could make a case for, and why shouldn't it be somebody from India or from China who's the Antichrist? Why does it have to be somebody from the West? We do tend to have a West-centric view of prophecy at times, and remember all those who were saying that the Eclipse in the United States was making the sign of the cross in the United States. And this was going over a town called, I think, Jericho or something. And as if somehow they would have expected two intersecting lines to make any shape other than a cross, like a circle or a triangle, which is ridiculous. But because it was the United States, it must be significant and important. And maybe one of the greatest ways in which God will humble the United States is to treat them as insignificant and unimportant in Bible prophecy. We would almost be offended, some of us, if the Antichrist wasn't Prince William, if the Antichrist wasn't Donald Trump, because we expect the Antichrist to arise in our own nations. We need to see that God is dealing with the whole world here, and we need to wait and see what God's judgments are. The beast that arises out of the sea, and the sea, in prophecy, tends to represent the nations. We, of course, are the nations, but there are many other nations as well. So death, we have this, if that vial of smallpox is released, and then we have in Boston, in Massachusetts, we have Having said that, America isn't important in prophecy. I'm now talking about America. But we have this gain-of-function virus. We had COVID, and it wasn't very deadly. But somebody in the lab had the bright idea of making it much more deadly. And so somewhere in a lab in Massachusetts, we have a vial of COVID virus, which is far more deadly than the first COVID virus which we endured. Now, this is just insanity, isn't it? How absurd, how terrifying that that would be the case, that there would be such a virus that exists, that somebody created it. One of the things that really amazes me all the time is how many of the judgments in Revelation can be brought upon ourselves by our own sins and by our own actions. So the judgment is worse. If that vial gets out and a quarter of the world's population dies because of a new form of COVID that was created in a lab with gain-of-function, then we have not only come under the judgment of God, that's for sure, but he has allowed us to be our own judgment by our own sins and by our own folly, our own backslidings have reproved us. And there are other diseases, as I mentioned, bird flu, which if it mutates and becomes transmissible amongst humans, could be a terrible pandemic. There's AIDS, there's drug resistance to tuberculosis, which is spreading. There's West Nile virus, Marburg virus, and so on. I don't know a great deal about those viruses, but I could look them up, but it's not necessary for the purposes of this. So it would seem to me that death would include new novel and terrible diseases, new pandemics. We're being told by the World Health Organization and by the authorities there will be new pandemics and that they will come very soon. Why is that? If pandemics are so rare, why would they be so soon? It implies that somebody's complicit in this. But it's death, it doesn't say pandemics, it doesn't say, I believe it will be a pandemic, it's death. What else? What other kinds of things would kill so many people? Well, one might be radiation poisoning if there's widespread nuclear war or a nuclear winter, for example. Another might be, but we read about the sun being darkened and the moon being darkened, and that would be one way in which they could be darkened, and that seems to be at the very end, just before, just as the Lord Jesus returns. So maybe not that, but even so, perhaps radiation in some cases, perhaps people will be killed by radiation poisoning. Another possibility would be man-made injections, which proved to be deadly to a significant number of people. And many other things. But death comes here. God's judgments lead to death. Two billion people called away, called away to judgment. One day alive, the next day dead, maybe. Or maybe a slow and painful death. But maybe it's cancers, or so-called turbo cancers, because there has been a report of a very significant increase in the number of cancers in recent years. it would appear that the increase in cancer started before the COVID outbreak. So it's not for me to comment on the reasons or causes for those cancers, but our time on the earth is short. And two billion people called away to judgment, six billion awaiting the judgments of God in a nation, in a world that is dark and dangerous and full of shedding of blood and where there is famine globally and where there is a, there are current pandemics perhaps And a world ruler who everybody worships and everybody thinks is going to save the world from all of these trials, but in fact is merely part of the judgments that come from God. uh... lancers why would have to be the pope well i believe that the andy the pope apple system is is uh... the antichrist system and uh... whilst some would say well we've already had the antichrist is the system that's got to christ i believe the antichrist is an individual to be amazed how many people are don't think antichrist is an individual but a system alone but uh... it would be the last pope uh... but uh... puritans in the seventies centuries to say that if the pope isn't the Antichrist, he has the misfortune to look exactly like him. But that's a topic for another day, but thanks for the question, Lan, thank you. Well, Jellyfish says the Pope would be a better suited candidate for false prophet, but we won't know until it actually happens. Now, this again, to me, is something that we have from dispensational theology and eschatology. The dispensationalists have for a long, long time been teaching that the Pope is the false prophet. Of course, the false prophet is a very evil character as well. But the question is two things. First of all, the false prophet seems to be a technocrat who is responsible for the mark of the beast and the image of the beast. and causing the whole world to worship the beast. But why would the Pope promote the worship of someone else when he is in the business of promoting the worship of himself? I think, to a certain extent, the idea that the Pope is a false prophet is a meme, to use a word, that has come out of dispensational theology. We're free to disagree. We're free to disagree. It will all become clear. We're free to disagree. Lan says, so many seem to be jealous of America. None of us are special. We are all sinners, no matter what country you are in. Amen, Lan. We're all sinners, and as sinners, if we know Jesus Christ, we're saved forever. And I know, Lan, that you rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, and many of us here do rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ and thank God for Him. So Nick can says, what I know is that Jesus is on his throne and is in control. Amen. Absolutely. Jesus is on the throne of heaven today. And, um, uh, he's the one that opens these seals. All judgment has been given to him by almighty God, but he is God, but he's the son of God. The father has given all judgment to the son. Um, and these are the judgments of God. So. We have the situation of death as well. All kinds of ways, people dying, torn by beast, taking a piece from the earth. We hear about these horrible stabbings that are going on and we hope that this will stop, but we find we have governments that can't deal with it, we have councils that can't deal with it, we have police forces that can't deal with it because they're too busy policing rainbow ideas and things. Not God's rainbow, the other one. These are the judgments of God, and they're coming on the earth, and people need to wake up. They need to see this. Those who say, if God is God, why doesn't he stop this? Why doesn't he stop that? Why doesn't he stop this disease or that disease? And the Bible is telling me that God is going to send greater diseases, terrible diseases, terrible wars, that far rather than stopping these things, God is going to promote these things. He's going to cause these things. He's going to send these things upon the earth as his judgments against the earth for sin. Now, as sinners, we don't like that. We don't like the idea that we deserve such judgments. We don't like the idea that God is just and righteous. Nobody can find fault with God's judgments. And yet, this is why the church needs to be so much in the way of warning people, not just tickling people's ears, but warning people, warning people to flee from the wrath to come. These tell us that God is serious about sin. Whatever we think about sin, God is serious about sin. God hates sin. God hates our iniquities. He hates our transgressions of his law, and his judgments are coming because of sin. Now, we've considered over the months how evil men are growing worse and worse. We see that in our days. Who would have thought that we could have had the kinds of ideologies we have? Transgender ideology, which defies logic. and yet promoted with such aggression and such determination and so many other things. But God's judgments are coming upon the earth. And this pale horse represents the terrifying, terrible, devastating judgments of almighty God that are coming in the days to come. Now also remember, see here that it's death and hell followed after him. And we need to be in the business of warning people that there is a wrath to come and there is a hell to come. 2 billion people precipitated into eternity. Of course, if the world's population today is 8 billion, all of us will stand before the judgment throne of Jesus Christ. But the church has lost her warning note. The church has ceased to be a clarion call. A trumpet sound. The church has ceased to take sin seriously, to take God seriously, and therefore has ceased to warn men to flee from the wrath to come. After death comes judgment, and whoever's name was not found written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. Death and hell follow. People will die from pandemics. They'll be torn by beasts. They'll be murdered. They'll be killed in war. They'll starve to death. These are the coming judgments of God, and after death comes judgment, and in judgment comes hell, fire, and damnation. This is the plain testimony of scripture. When men complain, why doesn't God do this, and why doesn't God do that, God pours out his wrath upon the earth. There's a way of escape. There's only one way of escape, and that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's when we find the Lord Jesus Christ. That's when we turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of God promises us that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved from their sin. Now that doesn't mean that we won't have difficulties in this world. It doesn't mean that we won't face trials ourselves. It doesn't mean that we won't go through great pandemics and difficulties and problems. but it means that whatever happens, our soul is safe, that it's well with our souls to know the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood was shed on the cross of Calvary so that we might be forgiven, and so that we might find that salvation that comes from God. If the book of Revelation is anything, it's a warning to us to flee from the wrath to come, to find Jesus Christ, and in finding him, to remain confident of God's determined goodness towards us, And as we'll find out as we continue to study Revelation next, that whatever happens to us, even if we lose our lives, it is well with our souls. Now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and your sin will be forgiven, and you will have eternal life and you have nothing to fear from death and hell. But the warnings here in Scripture concerning the pale horse could not be clearer. There is a death to come, and there is a hell to come, and these are the righteous judgments of Almighty God. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Father, thank you that in a world that is full of turmoil, even as we look at Iran and Israel and people talk about World War III, we think it could never come here, it could never affect us in our towns, in our villages, in our cities. And we think that we're above these things, and we're better than these things, and we're separate than these things because we're so full of pride, and so used to easy lives, Lord. Father, help us to realize that we are living in days when Your judgments are being poured out on the earth, and even more so as we see what takes place in the book of Revelation. Father, help us to hold fast in the Lord Jesus Christ till He comes. Help us to be confident of this if we were to die today we know we would go to be with him we know because he died for us we know because his blood was shed for us we know because he laid down his life for us. And took it up again and is resurrected and is raining on the throne of heaven today. Father, we thank you that you don't deal with us according to our sins. We thank you that our sins are cleansed in his blood, washed away in their entirety, corrupt as they are, dark as they are. We deserve the judgments of God, but we have found your mercy, Father. You have forgiven us for the sake of your own dear son. You have loved us with an everlasting love. So, Father, may we walk as children of light. May we stand out in these days in which we live. May we live for the glory of God. May we preach this gospel. I pray, Father, for the preaching that took place yesterday in Worcester, here in England. And pray, Father, that those who heard the Word of God, that they wouldn't be able to shake it, that it would go deep down into their ears and into their hearts, and that it would bring conviction of sin. And that there will be an awakening, Lord. We pray, we still long to see in our countries, in our nations, in South Africa, Lord, in America, in Australia, in England, Lord, and other countries represented here. We still long and ask and pray, Father, that there will be a hunger of God that comes from heaven upon the people. that there would be an awakening and that the people who see the beginnings of the judgments of God would wake up and see their mortality and feel that they are under the wrath of God for their sins and repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So raise up your cause in our lands. Be with those who are witnessing and preaching the gospel to Islam, Lord, and grant them that success which comes from heaven, Lord. Have mercy upon many, many who are under the darkness of Islam and bring them into that saving and glorious and wonderful and holy knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And we ask that You be with us this day as well, Lord. Have mercy upon our households, have mercy upon our families, especially those in our families who do not know You and do not know the salvation that is through faith in Jesus Christ. And strengthen us, Father, and help us, and have mercy upon us. And Lord, help us to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Fill us with Your Spirit and use us for His glory, we ask and pray. Father, we ask this in His precious name. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you for liking this as well. We've said before that likes help the algorithm on YouTube, and I'm desirous that these messages do get listened to by a significant number of people, because I believe that this is from the Word of God and that it's important. And so thank you for liking this talk. Now, again, I've expressed views which I know many will disagree with. Many of us are talking about the identity of the Antichrist and things like that. These are things to keep an open mind on and all will be revealed. But the key thing is that we're walking with Jesus and we're ready. for his return. Ian says, draw comfort that Bishop Mari reportedly prayed for his attacker, hand on his head, and has called for peace rather than retribution. Well, that's a Christian thing, isn't it? To forgive our enemies and to pray for those who, bless those who persecute you, pray for those who spitefully use you, Jesus said. So even so, it's a grim episode, Ian, that took place in Australia. And what can we say? Satan is seeking to destroy the Jews, but he's also seeking to destroy the church and the way he seems to destroy the church in the West is by making us comfortable to the point that we then became very lax about our doctrine. We became very fat and plethoric in our spiritual and flabby in our spiritual lives and we imbibed false doctrine such as the Church of England and we took on board every kind of Moral corruption and theological corruption to the point where we destroyed ourselves how sad that is how sad that is. Yesterday i preached outside the cathedral where hugh latimer good old hugh latimer who was burned to ashes at the stake in oxford but he was the man who preached the gospel. I can say that at least once in history, probably more than once, but at least once in history, Worcester had a faithful, powerful, evangelical, Bible-believing pastor or bishop in the Church of England, but the Church of England isn't like that today. The question arises in some quarters, for example, regarding the Church of England. Can she be reformed? I don't believe she can. I believe the point has come where God's people, those who love Jesus Christ, do need to come out. The battle can only be fought from the outside now. The battle can only be won when we preach the gospel and people turn back to the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Church of England has done things which are so wicked and so evil and so beyond and so corrupt that I don't see any coming back from that. And therefore I believe, and I preached this very thoroughly in Worcester yesterday, that people in the Church of England who love Jesus should come out because of that. So these are the things which we do. We are living in those days, and what's going on in the Middle East is a testimony to the truth of the Scriptures, I believe. How it works out, we'll have to wait and see. But as I say, I could find that I'm giving this talk and I'm saying, well, maybe it's in 10 years' time, maybe it's longer than that, maybe it's not, and find that by the end of this talk, a huge international war has broken out, and the end is very, very near indeed. Sudden destruction comes upon them, the Bible says. Amen. Well, it's an opportunity for questions, comments, and there really is a lot of room for discussion on the identity of the Antichrist and things like that. And we are going to have different views on the Millennium as Christians, but are we all focused on the Lord Jesus Christ? That's the question. Thank you very much for joining us this morning and being with us, and may the Lord bless each of us and encourage us and help us to serve Him in these days. So if I can elaborate on what I just said, here in England there are, I believe there are many true Christians in the Church of England, and some of those are pastors and teachers, but they are compromised just by being there. The Word of God says, come out of her, my people, lest ye be partakers of her plagues. I was talking about Babylon in Revelation, but the thing is that there are too many who are dithering, trying to make the argument that we should stick around and see what happens. But once the Church of England has voted to bless sodomy in the churches, then she has really voted to exclude God. And in a most foul and horrible way, And there's no coming back from that. So we love our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Church of England. And hey, for those of us who are nonconformists and outside the established church, hey, there is life outside there. And it's the Lord Jesus who's the head of his church. I've said this before as well, there's not two churches, an Anglican church and a non-Anglican church. There's only one church, and that's the church that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord knows those that are his. Joe Fish says, as Paul wrote in Acts 23.1, to live in all good conscience before God and a righteous way to live in what little time we have left. Well, So yes, we are to live in all good conscience before God. And that's our objective by walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to turn the camera off now and invite people to give their final comments if they wish to. But thank you very much for being with us. Hannah, bless you. And Germany, I think. Yes. Thank you for joining us from Germany. And the Lord blesses people in that country, in that nation. But thank you. So the camera goes off and the broadcast will go on for another minute or so after that, so people can give their comments and encouragements to one another. Thank you for everybody who's joined us, and they'll all be with us. Thank you for your comment, Ian. Ian says, I find it thrilling in a way that we can witness in fulfillment of prophecy, and we are blessed. Thank you, Ian.