How to Face the Last Days Without Fear - Part 3 — Derek Prince

Derek Prince Ministries proclaiming the inspired Word of God around the world. Derek Prince is an internationally recognized Bible teacher and author. Through books, audios, videos, and radio broadcasts, Derek seeks to reach the unreached and teach the untaught.

In over 50 years of ministry, Derek has reached over 100 nations in more than 50 languages. And now, Derek Prince.

The Red Horse and Judgment From Heaven

Now going back to chapter 6, we come to the second horse. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come. And notice this creature also, this horse also, was commanded from heaven.

Most important you understand this, because otherwise you get a false perspective of what's happening on earth. And 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. I understand that to be ethnic conflict. Something released on earth that makes people of one nation group attack and seek to destroy one another. And this is seen almost all around the globe today.

In South Africa, North Africa, Israel, Yugoslavia, much of the former Soviet Union. And I predict that there will be no nation on earth which will finally be spared from this. And I would ask you to consider what it would be like if that red horse began to ride through the United States with so many different racial groups.

We've seen a little of it between black and white. And I believe there is more to come. And I want to emphasize this horse was ordered from heaven. It's part of judgment. Remember, revelation is in part a revelation of the judgment of Jesus.

The Black Horse, Shortage, and Rationing

The third horse, in verses 5 and 6, when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come. And I looked and behold a black horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales or balances in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine. Now this black horse to me is a very obvious picture of shortage and rationing.

And denarius was a working man's daily wage. So a working man at that time would get just enough money to feed himself. And then it says, do not hurt the oil and the wine. This is my personal understanding.

The oil and the wine were reserved for the rich. And in the midst of the shortage, there were those who were living in luxury. And basically that's happening in the world today. The poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer.

The Pale Horse and Widespread Death

And with some wonderful exceptions, the rich do not care for them. They care for themselves. They're gripped by that spirit of self-love. Now we come to the fourth horse. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come.

And I looked and behold a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was death. And Hades followed with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.

Now that's an obvious picture of famine and ensuing widespread death. And it says actually it would affect the fourth part of the earth. There were two horses. The name of the rider on the first was death.

The second was Hades. Death claims the bodies of men. Hades claims the souls of men. And notice authority was given to them. Where did the authority come? From God, from the throne. Now as I meditate on those four horses, there is one conviction that becomes stronger and stronger in me.

The Gospel Must Outrun the Coming Judgments

And it's a message for God's people. The message is this. The white horse has to stay ahead of the other three horses. We have to get there with the offer of mercy through the gospel before these terrible judgments fall on people.

And I think I can say that Ruth and I are motivated by a passion to see that white horse get there on time. We've been privileged to see it happen in some places. We were in Moscow, held a conference for a thousand leaders of the church, all of whom had been contacted previously through my, either through my radio program in Russia or my books translated.

And at the end, one experienced leader who worked in Russia said, I've organized many conferences but this was the best that I've ever organized. And he said, I think it came at a vital moment because the cost of travel is going up so much that people will no longer be able to come that distance.

Some of them had traveled six days by train to get to that conference. And I would like to say nowhere have I ever seen greater enthusiasm than in those young Russian people. We, Ruth and I, have a tape, it's not a professional tape, it's just of the some of the worship in Russian.

We don't really understand Russian. But when we need encouragement, we just put up that tape. They knew how to worship God. The Bible says you have to worship God with your whole spirit, soul, mind, and body, with all your strength.

And they did it. I mean you didn't have to get them worshipping, you couldn't stop them. And I know I learned a few, I had learned Russian one time, but that was years ago, but one phrase that I've never forgotten is Иисус Господ.

How many of you know what that means? Jesus is Lord. And they would sing that again, again, 50 times. I tell you, you have a lot of enthusiasm in this church, I love it, but you're far behind the Russians.

And most of the churches are even further behind. Oh, to meet people who are hungry, who are thirsty, who've never heard, who don't know. We had an intercessory team that came just to intercede, about 25 people.

And just to prepare their way, they went out in Red Square in the middle of Moscow, and they're holding a prayer meeting. And you don't have to do much in Moscow to gather a crowd, and a crowd assembles.

What are you doing? So one brother, a Dutch brother, began, through an interpreter, to preach to them. Just a very simple gospel message. And when he finished, a young man ran up to him, threw his arms around his neck, and said, I'm a Muslim.

I'd never heard before that God loves me. Brothers and sisters, you're missing a lot, if you don't get involved in reaching the unreached. You can sit here in a comfortable church and have a wonderful time, but the real rewards of the people whose heart is with those who've never heard.

And so that's our ambition, to ride with that white horse before the other horses get there. This May, we're going to Kazakhstan, Almaty, which is the capital. I have another conference there. I never knew where Kazakhstan was until we arranged to go there.

It's one of the Muslim republics in the southern part, and the Muslims are turning to the Lord by thousands there. But they need somebody to ground them, to teach them. Our purpose is not evangelism, it's to train the local leaders to do their job.

And our representative, who's a Dutchman, has a plan to have a distribution center of our material in every one of the provinces of the former Soviet Union. He says, if the doors close again, it doesn't matter, we'll have the material inside.

So you can understand, when I begin to talk about the white horse, I get inspired. That's so vivid to me. And I see the other horses, the red horses, has advanced a long way. And in some places the black horse is there, in some places the pale horse.

People are dying of famine. Somalia, parts of Yugoslavia, other places. Brothers and sisters, what are you doing about it? What are you doing? You remember what Jesus said to the church? I know your works.

I know what you're doing. It's wonderful to praise the Lord. I love it. I enjoyed your phrases. But that's only the beginning. What do you do when you leave the church? What is the aim of your life? Is it to serve Jesus?

To be available to him at any cost, in any place, at any time? I've lived long enough and been in the church long enough to notice that very often it's not the really gifted people that gets results. It's the committed people.

Isaiah's Vision of Worldwide Judgment

Somebody said, God only asks one ability, which is availability. Are you available? All right. Let me just give you one other passage that speaks about, I believe, this period, and that's in Isaiah chapter 24.

I want to back this up so that you'll see this is not just one single passage of Scripture. I could find 50 passages that refer in some way or other to this. This is an amazing chapter, chapter 24 of Isaiah.

Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface, and scatters abroad its inhabitants. And it shall be as with people, so with priests. As with the servant, so with his master.

As with the maid, so with her mistress. As with the buyer, so with the seller. As with the lender, so with the borrower. As with the creditor, so with the debtor. In other words, neither wealth nor social position will protect you.

This is coming on the whole earth. The earth shall be utterly emptied and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The haughty people of the earth languish.

The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. That's the reason for the wrath of God. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate.

Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men are left. Then we go on to the latter part. Verse 17. Fear and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit.

And he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. But notice what's to follow, because this is the prelude to the establishment of God's kingdom on earth.

You go on to the last three verses. Verses 21 through 23. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, and on the earth the kings of the earth. So God will deal with the rulers on earth, and he'll deal with the principalities and powers in the heavenlies.

They will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit or the dungeon, and will be shut up in the prison. And after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be disgraced, and the sun ashamed.

You know why? Because their light will be so pale in comparison with the glory of God. Then the moon will be disgraced, and the sun ashamed. For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his elders gloriously.

So that's what precedes the establishment of God's kingdom on earth. If you want the kingdom, you have to be prepared for the birth pangs. No birth pangs, no birth. Now I could stop here, but seeing we have so many Jewish believers here, I want to go a little further.

The Sealing of the 144,000 in Revelation 7

I have good news for you. You don't hear much good news, but I've got some. We're going to go on to Revelation chapter 7. I tell you, I spent five years in East Africa, and every time I see an African in a congregation, I just preach to him.

And then I spent many years in Israel, and every time there's one Jew, I just preach to that Jew. And it's been a blessing to me because I've heard two languages I love here today. Swahili, what's praise the Lord in Swahili Mahesh?

That's right. And then Hebrew, two languages that mean a great deal to me. Anyhow, we're going to go on to this good news for the Israelites. Chapter 7. I have to move quickly, time is passing. After these things, that's the complete destruction of everything on earth, and an earthquake which rocks the whole universe, the whole earth.

After these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that they should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God.

And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

So before the final cataclysmic judgments come, God has something to do. He has a group of his servants who are to be sealed on their foreheads. And you know what? They're all Jews. And I heard the number of those who were sealed.

144 ,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. And then it lists the tribes, and it omits one tribe, you know which that is? Dan. Ask me why? I don't know. I'm not ashamed to say I don't know.

But every tribe is included. 12 ,000 out of 12 tribes, which makes 144 ,000. Then it goes on, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude whom no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

Then one of the elders, I'm going on verse 13, answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you know. So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Jewish Believers and the End-Time Harvest

Now I believe those two passages are joined in one chapter as cause and effect. I believe the harvest from all nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues will be gathered in by a hundred and forty-four thousand Jewish believers.

So Jesus said the first will be last, and then the last will be first. So the Jews were the first, they became the last, but the last will be the first. They'll conclude the task of evangelism. Think of a hundred and forty-four thousand spirit-filled young Jewish men turned loose.

We can't calculate what would happen. How many of you know the word chutzpah? Well that's one characteristic of the Jewish people. It can be good and it can be bad, but they don't get embarrassed. You can't silence them.

Nobody can shut them up. Now I just want to go to the close of this which is in Revelation chapter 14. This is the end of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Incidentally, you know what I believe? I believe there will be a hundred and forty-four thousand.

Not one hundred and forty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, and not one hundred and forty-four thousand and one, but precisely one hundred and forty-four thousand. If you observe God's dealings, he's very precise in all his measurements and all his numbers, and I believe it's going to be exact.

The 144,000 in Revelation 14

Now let's look at the end in Revelation 14. Then I looked and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and his father's name written on their foreheads.

Notice that was the seal. It wasn't revealed in chapter 7, but the seal was the name of Jesus and the Father. And you see if you read the intervening chapters, the Antichrist also places a seal on the forehead of every person that will accept it.

So in the end I think every human being will have one or other of two seals. The seal of the Antichrist or the seal of God. And I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunders, and I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.

And they sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

They had their own song. Now these are the ones who are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. But all the language is male. It's all talking about males. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

What a testimony to follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. As I understand it, they must be young Jewish men, probably not more than 16 or 17 or 18 years old.

Never involved in sexual immorality. Set aside, set aside by the choice of God for this specific task. I don't know whether you've noticed, but more and more evangelism is becoming the lot of young people.

Have you seen that? Some of the most effective evangelism today is done by king's kids, sent out by YWAM. See, young people don't have the inhibitions that we older people have. They just go out, tell it like it is.

That's what God wants. And listen, this is a beautiful testimony. In their mouth was found no garb, for they are without fault before the throne of God. What a picture. What a glorious picture. So in the midst of all the turmoil and the confusion, the suffering, the slaughter, God has his positive side.

Jesus Christ as the Faithful Victor

And you can look at the positive, or you can look at the negative. But believe me, brothers and sisters, if you don't come to this with a vision of Jesus, the victor over sin, death, and the grave, as the judge, as the only one competent to open the scroll, as the lion of the tribe of Judah, if you don't have a vision of the throne room of God and its power and its complete control, I think you're going to be very fearful and disheartened and discouraged in what lies ahead.

So I want to commend to you this picture of Jesus in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. And you know what else he was in the midst of? The throne of God. Isn't it good news that the one who's in the midst of the church is also in the midst of the throne of God?

He can take care of his own. He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He is totally faithful. When he rides out of heaven on his white horse, and I didn't have time to talk about the white horse appearing again from heaven, but it's in Revelation 19, when he rides out from heaven on his white horse, his name is faithful and true.

Peter's Call to Be Saved From a Perverse Generation

You can trust him. You can put your confidence in him. Now I feel God wants me to say one more thing, which is maybe a little unexpected, but as I was thinking about this message, I thought about the words that Peter spoke on the day of Pentecost to the Jewish crowd that had gathered.

And I just want to read one verse, Acts chapter 2 verse 40. And with many other words, Peter testified and exhorted them, saying, Be saved from this perverse generation. Dear friends, we are living in the midst of a perverse, and a crooked, and an immoral, and a dishonest, and an untrustworthy generation.

And you need to be saved from it. You need to come out from it. You need to be changed. You need to be different. And I just want to give you one opportunity. I know people have come forward already this morning.

Thank God for everyone that did. But if there's anyone here this morning, you've never turned your back on this godless world, and this ungodly generation. You've never come out and made a commitment to Jesus.

I want to give you one final opportunity to do it. If you intend to do that, just stand to your place, in your place, wherever you are now. I'm not going to wait long. Anybody who knows you're not right with God, this may be your last opportunity.

You want to escape the wrath of God, the judgments that are falling on a Christ-rejecting nation. Just stand up wherever you are. Praise God.