Understanding the Great Tribulation and Preparing for Jesus to Return

While we wait for Jesus to come back, we must also remember the wrath that is to come. In this message, Adrian Rogers shares insight on the Great Tribulation, and what we can do as we wait for Christ’s return.

• White Horse – Dominion
• Red Horse – Destruction
• Black Horse – Deprivation
• Pale Horse – Death

The signs of Jesus coming are so many I have stopped looking for the signs I’m listening for the shout.
I believe that Jesus is at the door.
1 of the most blessed truths that I know, and it is a wonderful blessed and biblical truth is this, that is coming is imminent.
That means he may come at any moment. We’re not looking for some event in history.
We are looking for Jesus Christ himself. Profound truth simply stated.
This is love worth finding with pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers.
Turn to first thessalonians, chapter 1, and I want you to see 3 of the richest versus on bible prophecy in all of the bible.
And god has put 3 incredible thoughts in these short verses.
Look, if you will, in first thessalonians chapter 1 now, and verse 7.
So that ye were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia, for from you sounded out the word of the lord.
Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but
also in every place, your faith to god were to spread abroad
so that we need not to speak anything for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you and how ye turn to god from idols to serve the true or the living and true god and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come, especially notice first 10, to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are on a collision course with destiny and we cannot afford to be ignorant.
The signs of Jesus coming are so many I have stopped looking for the signs I’m listening for the shout.
I believe that Jesus is at the door.
1 of the most blessed truths that I know, and it is a wonderful blessed and biblical truth is this, that is coming is imminent.
That means he may come at any moment.
We’re not looking for some event in his we are looking for Jesus Christ himself.
The last prayer in the Bible. Do you know what the last prayer in the Bible is?
Even so, come, lord Jesus. And what that last prayer is ought to be our prayer today and every waking day even so come, lord Jesus.
For that’s exactly what Jesus taught us to pray, thy kingdom come.
They will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now there’s a dark side to this verse.
Look at it if you will in verse 10 and wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
The wrath to come, underscore that, look at it, meditate on it, There is impending wrath.
What is this wrath to come? It’s the great tribulation.
The Bible teaches that there are dark days coming on this earth.
You say pastor, we’re already having tribulation.
Friend, when the great tribulation comes, it will make the tribulation of today look like a Sunday school picnic.
The Bible calls it the wrath to come. Look at it. It’s right there.
The wrath to come. This is not some scare tactic that, I have conjured up.
I want to tell you that the Bible teaches clearly and plainly solemnly that there is a dark, devilish, devastating day that is coming.
The Bible calls it the wrath to come.
The prophet Daniel talked about it back in Daniel chapter 12 in verse 1, and he said in that verse, For there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was, since there was a nation even to that same time.
There will be a time of trouble, like there has never, ever, ever been.
Jesus warned about it.
Remember last week, we were in Matthew chapter 24, talking about the signs of the times, And Jesus wrapped that up in verses 21 and 22.
And he said for then shall be great tribulation. Now this this is the word of Jesus.
Listen to it. For then should be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be.
There has never been anything like it since the beginning, since the dawn of history, till the time that Jesus was speaking, nor any other time that would come after that time until the great tribulation comes.
Daniel said there is nothing like it. Jesus said there is nothing like it.
The apostle Paul said the wrath is coming. Look, if you will, in the book of the revelation.
Just leave first thessalonians, put your bookmark there and turn to Revelation chapter 6.
I think we’ll see a little bit more about this impending wrath.
Look, if you will, in Revelation chapter 6, let’s begin in verse 15.
It tells about that time, and it says in the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and the rocks fall on us.
And Idas from the face of him that setteth upon the throne. Now watch this.
And from the wrath, of the lamb.
Can you imagine putting those words together, the wrath, of the lamb.
The lamb is Jesus. The wrath of the lamb.
And then notice verse 17 for the great day of his wrath is come.
And who shall be able to stand?
That’s what Paul is talking about in our text. This wrath.
And notice this sixth chapter of Revelation, let’s just stay here for just a moment.
Because this this wrath to come is preceded by 4 horsemen.
We call those the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.
And if you’ll listen
today, you can hear distant thunder.
You can hear today the hoofbeats of those 4 horsemen.
That are coming over the horizon.
It is getting closer and closer and closer and closer.
Look at these 4 horsemen that precede this great day of wrath.
Revelation chapter 6 verses 1 through 3, and I saw when the lamb opened 1 of the seals and heard as it were the noise of thunder.
And 1 of the 4 beasts saying come and see.
Now look in verse 2, 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.
Who is this rider on this white horse? He is the Antichrist.
Now he is on a white horse. A white horse is a symbol of triumph.
Rules of that day, when they triumphed, would prance around on a white horse.
The rider on this horse has a bow in his hand. That’s a weapon of war.
It is a symbol of power. There is coming a conqueror with power.
This verse says he has a crown upon his head. That is he is a ruler.
It’s the word stephanos, it’s a crown given to a king And the Bible says, he goes forth to conquer.
There is coming a malevolent, wicked, horrible, indescribably powerful world ruler, the Bible calls the beast, the man of sin, the antichrist, the son of perdition, the wicked 1, and he will be the last world dictator riding upon his white horse with his bow in his hand, his crown on his head, the Bible says he will go forth to conquer.
Jesus predicted that. Jesus said, I’ve come in my father’s name. You wouldn’t receive me.
But Jesus said in John chapter 5 verse 43, if another shall come in his own name.
Him you will receive. Don’t think that, it will not happen.
And then who’s the next rider look if you will in verse 4, and there 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 1 another.
And there was given unto him a great sword.
The first horse, the white horse, that’s dominion. The red horse, that is destruction.
Red is the power of blood.
When this devil inspired leader, the Antichrist goes forth to conquer, And when he gets the idea of world conquest in his evil brain, what is going to follow?
First sin, then war then havoc and then destruction.
Didn’t Jesus warn us in our message last week as we studied his words.
That there would be wars and rumors of wars. It will not get better. It will get worse.
A general of yesteryear General Omar Bradley said these words, we know more about war than peace, more about killing than about living, This is the twentieth century’s claim to progress.
Knowledge of science outstrips capacity for control.
We have too many, men of science, and too few men of god.
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom.
Power without conscience, a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants We have enough nuclear weapons stockpiled in the world today to kill everybody on earth a hundred and 50 times.
How many times can you die? But war is coming.
A spirit of antichrist will inflame men’s hearts with hatred and cause brother to rise up against brother.
Child to rise up against parent. Nation to rise against nation.
They did not want the prints of peace.
And now there will be unrestrained war and dripping swords will be drenched with blood and the streets will be filled with the decaying bloated bodies of those who have died.
There will be the groans of the living, When Jesus Christ spoke about this in Matthew 24, he said you better pray.
It doesn’t come on the Sabbath day.
Because the Orthodox Jews would not flee Jerusalem on the Sabbath Bay.
And he said, woe, unto those who are with child.
These people who are carrying babies in their womb are little suckling children. Then what follows?
First, the white horse, dominion.
Secondly, the red horse, destruction, Thirdly, the black horse deprivation.
Look if you will in verses 5 and 6.
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say come and see and behold, and lo a black horse.
And he that sat upon him had a pair of balances in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the 4 b saying, a measure of wheat for a penny?
A measure of wheat. That’s That’s 1 meal. Openia, denarius.
That’s a day’s labor.
It would be the same as paying a hundred dollars or more for a loaf of bread and free measures of barley for penny.
Barley’s hardly fit to eat.
We spoke last week about what the lord Jesus had to say about famines coming.
1 half of the world already goes to bed hungry.
But when you take the able-bodied men of this world and put them to war, who’s going to kill the fields?
How are you going to get food to the hungry?
And there will come massive starvation when Titus, the Roman general surrounded Jerusalem, and 70 AD1 of the things he did was to cut the city off from food.
The people could not go out into the fields where there was ripening grain.
The people became maniacal, starved, half crazed, and historic historians tell us that women killed and cooked.
And ate their own babies, cannibalism, I believe will be seen again in the great tribulation, dominion, destruction, deprivation, And last of all, decimation and death, look at the next horse versus 7 and 8.
And when it opened the fourth seal, I heard the fourth be safe come and see, and I looked and behold a pale horse.
The word pale there is the word chloros. So where do we get chlorine from?
It means a ghastly green, putrid, the color of decaying deadly Flash, a pale horse, and his name that settled him was death and hell followed with him, and power was given under them over the fourth part of the earth.
More than a billion people will die.
To kill with the sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth.
Stay tuned. I’m gonna talk about the beast of the earth in just a moment.
Do you see the chain reaction?
First of all, the antichrist, dominion, then war, destruction, then famine, deprivation, and then death.
It’s a chain reaction. Sim causes hatred.
Hate causes war and bloodshed war causes famine famine produces death. But listen, death is not all.
Look at this verse. Look at it.
In in verse, 8, And his name that settled him was death, now watch.
And hell followed with him. Hell, followed with him.
Don’t get the idea that death will end at all.
As a matter of fact, the Bible teaches in days, men will seek death and death will flee from them.
But even if they do die, they cannot crawl up in the grave and pull the dirt over their face and hide from god because death gets the body, hell gets the soul.
It is death and hell.
I say if you listen, if you read the newspapers, if you watch You can hear the hoof beats.
You can hear the distant thunder. These 4 horsemen are ready to ride.
Now go back to our text, and we have been there for a long time.
So go back to first thessalonians.
If you will, I just wanted to take that little by path to help you to understand some of the things that the apostle Paul is saying when he is saying here that Jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come.
Now I think this verse will make more sense to you in first thessalonians chapter 1 verse 10.
That we’re to wait from his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus now listen to this, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Say amen. Say hallelujah. Listen folks. I’m telling you, you better thank God for Jesus.
The wrath is coming. No if so, maybe so. It is coming.
And only Jesus can deliver you
from the wrath to come. Now we’re waiting for Jesus. We’re not waiting for the Antichrist.
Some people think the church is going to go through the great tribulation, but that isn’t what this says.
It says Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come.
Go to chapter 5 And look, if you will, verses 1 through 3.
But the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write under you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord, so cometh as a thief in the night, for when they shall say peace and safety, then sun destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape, but notice verse 4, but ye brethren, ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief And then look if you will in verses 9 through 11 of this same chapter.
For god hath not appointed us to wrath.
The great day of his wrath has come, but that’s not for us.
God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation. That means deliverance.
By our lord, Jesus Christ, who died for us that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him, wherefore comfort yourselves and edify 1 another, even as you do.
You see the second coming of Jesus Christ is a comfort.
If I don’t believe that Jesus can come at any moment, if I’m looking for the great tribulation, if I’m waiting for the Antichrist rather than looking for the true Christ, rather than looking up, I’m looking around.
There’s no comfort to say, I’m going into the great tribulation.
But god is not going to pour out his wrath upon his own dear children.
Before god destroyed, sodom of Fire and brimstone, what did he do? He took lot out.
The angel said, I can’t do anything
until you’ve gotten out of here.
Before god sent the flood to destroy the world in Noah’s Day. What did he do?
He put Noah in the ark. Before the flood came. God has not appointed us to wrath.
God never pours out his wrath upon his children. He chastises his children.
His wrath is for the unsaved, those who don’t know the lord Jesus Christ.
And 1 of these days, the great day of his wrath is going to come.
Oh, there’s so many scriptures that teach this.
Revelation 3 verse 10 because thou has kept the word of my patience.
I will also keep thee from the hour trial, the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to test them that dwell upon the earth.
Jesus is coming, at any moment. Now folks,
it took too long for the first part of this message.
So let me just give you the bottom line. Alright.
Look again, if you will, in first thessalonians chapter 1.
Look in verse 7.
What should we be doing while we’re waiting for Jesus?
So that ye were examples to all that believe. Do you believe?
Then these people were an example to you.
Verse 8, for from you sounded out the word of the lord, not only in Macedoniaonia and Achaia.
But also in every place, your faith toward godward to godward is spread abroad so that we need not speak anything.
Paul said, when I got there to preach, you’d already been there.
You were sounding out the word of god. For they themselves, that is your converts.
Show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you.
How you turned to god from idols, to serve the true, the living, and the true god and to wait for his
son from heaven. Now folks,
while you’re waiting, you need to be serving, Why have I linked prophecy with 1 step higher?
Because that is what it is all about. If we believe that Jesus is coming and we do,
we need to turn from idols and say, well, I don’t worship idols.
Anything you love more, serve more, trust more, or fear more than almighty god is
an idol. To turn to god from idols, to serve the living god.
Waiting for Jesus.
We sing it. We’ll work till Jesus comes. And then we’ll be gathered home. He’s coming.
And when he comes, we’re going up higher.
And till he comes, we need to be moving up higher.
1 step higher. That, listen folks, When the Bible says here, they were waiting for Jesus.
Not only were they expect expecting him, they were anticipating him.
A man was a station master.
He was in the railroad station waiting for the train to come. A young lady was there.
She was waiting for the same train.
The young lady had her fiance on that train, She was waiting to meet him and greet him, and they were to be married.
What was the difference between the station master and the young lady?
The station master knew the train was coming. He had his charts.
The young lady could hardly wait. For it to get there.
That’s it? I can hardly wait even so, come, lord, Jesus.
We’re to be waiting, waiting for his son from heaven, looking, learning, longing, laboring,
till Jesus comes, and we’ll be gathered home. Thank god for Jesus.
Who has delivered us from the wrath to come,
bow your heads in prayer. Lord, Jesus.
I just pray that today, many will say yes to you and be saved.
While heads are bowed, if you’re not saved today, you can be saved right now where you are forever.
If you will receive Christ. Because of calvary’s sacrifice and because of the power of the blood, you can be saved.
Would you pray this way? God, I am a sinner. I acknowledge my sin.
My sin deserves judgment. But I want mercy.
I want to be delivered from the wrath to come.
Thank you, lord, that you’ve
not appointed those who believe in Jesus to wrath, but to obtain salvation. Lord, Jesus.
I trust you to save me. Would you tell him that?
Lord, Jesus, I trust you to save me.
Right now, this moment with all of my heart, I trust you. Come into my heart.
Forgive my sin, I receive it by faith,
and that settles. Amen.
Amen.