Today Is the Day to Trust Christ

Proofread Broadcast Transcript

Reading from Luke chapter 13, verse 5, I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke chapter 13, verse 5. Oh, magnify the Lord with me—let us exalt His name together!

It's Wednesday, July 22, 2026. Welcome to another edition of Mark & Friends. Today we conclude a message preached a week ago Sunday morning during the revival services at Bible Baptist Church in Champaign.

Evangelist Dave Kistler opens God's Word to remind us that Bible prophecy points us to one unmistakable truth. Today is the day to place our faith in Jesus. Today's broadcast opens up with about 30 seconds of yesterday's closing comments to provide context.

Here's Evangelist Dave Kistler on today, the Wednesday edition of Mark & Friends. Did you know you had a sin nature passed on to you? Now this was hard for my wife to admit. But since we were here last year, I was here.

We are now grandparents a second time with a beautiful little boy named Matthew Laughlin Wilder Igoe. Our son-in-law is Toby Igoe. Matthew Laughlin Wilder, Wilder after Laura Ingalls Wilder, of Little House on the Prairie.

Matthew Laughlin Wilder Igoe. Do you know he's seven months old? He wakes up the happiest child I've ever seen. By the way, I've got pictures if you want to see them.

I'll show them to you. I mean, really, I will. I've got pictures, okay? Videos, no doubt.

Do you know what? That little guy, as happy as he wakes up every morning, was born with a sinful nature. And you know what? Sin and that sinful nature is why Jesus died on an old rugged cross. Because no sin gets into God's heaven.

We have to be washed in the blood of the Lamb. Can I hear an amen? Amen. Jesus is correcting this idea.

Well, there are some people that deserve to go to heaven. Other people deserve to go. No, all are sinners in need of a Savior.

Wow. Now, having said that, I want to springboard off of what Jesus did to rip an incident from our headlines and try to draw some application so you understand where we are. I want to put an exclamation point on why now is the time to come to Jesus Christ as Savior.

Now, permit me for just a second to back up and share with you something from last year. June of last year, and again, please, I'm going to mention names and dates and events, and I'm not saying I endorse or condone. I'm just trying to give you the truth, all right? Stay with me.

June of last year, we launched an attack. I say we, the United States of America launched an attack on the nation of Iran to take out their nuclear capability at three locations. One of them was called Fordow.

The other was called Ishan. And there was a third one that slips my mind right now. Any of you know what I'm talking about, okay? Can I just say this to you? Again, it's just been fascinating to me.

I preached at military bases all over the world. I never served in the military. I'm asked all the time, were you a Marine? I don't know if I act like I'm a former Marine.

Anyway, they say once a Marine, always a Marine. But anyway, the bottom line is I never got the privilege of serving any branch of the military, but I've always been intrigued by it. Do you know those B-2 airplanes that carried two of those 30,000 pounds, 30,000 pounds each? We call them bunker busters.

They're actually called an MOP, which stands for massive ordnance penetrator. And they were dropped on Fordow and the two other locations. Any of you know what I'm talking about? I'm not trying to bore you with superfluous details.

But preacher, each of those airplanes, those B-2s were carrying two of them. 60,000 pounds of weapon payload. Do you understand how problematic that is? Do you know those planes carrying two of those were so heavy, they couldn't even get off the ground at takeoff with a full payload of fuel? They had just enough fuel in them to get airborne, and they were refueled in the air immediately after they got airborne.

That is astounding to me. And then they flew a mission to Iran and home that was 37 hours round trip in length. 37 hours round trip there and back and dropped those weapons.

Now, please stay with me. How does this happen? I had a guy tell me, Dave, the first plane that went in and dropped at Fordow, there was a concrete lid on a shaft that went six stories deep into the ground. It was covered by concrete.

The Iranian regime, the Iranian Republican Guard, the IRGC. By the way, they're the bad guys over there. The Iranian people are awesome.

Can I hear a name? They are. They are. I wish I could transport you back to a phone conversation I had with one of my friend's wives who's from Iran.

She grew up in Iran. I did not know that. She said, Brother Kistler, you are so on target with what you're trying to share with the American people on your podcast.

Please keep doing it. And what I've been trying to say is the Iranian people are amazing. The Iranian Republican Guard Corps, the IRGC that are in leadership right now, there's pure evil there.

When we dropped the first bomb to take off that concrete lid, the guy that was describing this to me who's very much in the know said, Dave, the minute the first one blew the lid up, the second one came right down behind it and went six stories deep in the ground and destroyed everything underground. I said, well, you know, there's a lot of questions, you know, in the media about how do we know? How do we know everything was destroyed? He said, Dave, do you know we have drones? I said, oh, yeah, I'm very familiar with drones. He said, do you know we have drones that are just a little bit bigger than the size of a fly? He said, and they photograph everything.

He said, we know, trust me. And all of that went off without a single glitch. I'm so thankful that we had some people that said, Lord, we give you praise for getting our men there safely and getting them home safely.

Can I hear an amen? Now we're back in Iran. Preacher, why is that important? I want you to look at Ezekiel 38 for just a moment. I want you to see something beginning at verse 1. Ezekiel 38 and verse 1. I'm about to read to you something that is yet future.

Yet future. Ezekiel 38 I'm going to read in just a moment. Would you look up at me? If this corner of this communion table is the next event on God's prophetic timetable, which is an event that begins with the letter R. It's called the what of the church.

Would you say it out loud? The what? Rapture of the church. 1 Thessalonians 4, Jesus is coming back. Those of us who know him as Savior and only those of us who know him as Savior are going out of here and going to heaven.

Following the rapture of the church, very soon thereafter, there's going to be seven years of tribulation on this earth. Seven years the likes of which the world has never seen. And, folk, again, I'm not trying to frighten you.

That is not my point. I'm trying to be honest with you. But if you miss the rapture and you're left behind, you're going to go through that seven-year tribulation.

And it is not pleasant. At the end of that seven-year tribulation, Jesus, who came in the rapture there to take his church out, he's coming back a second time all the way to the earth, and he's going to set his feet on the Mount of Olives outside the city of Jerusalem. He's going to walk down through the Kidron Valley.

He's going to walk up on Temple Mount. And Jesus is going to begin ruling and reigning for 1,000 years. You say, Preacher, do you really believe that? I do because the Bible says so.

What I'm about to read to you occurs on this timeline. My personal opinion is it occurs right after the rapture. In the weeks that follow the rapture, my personal opinion is that Ezekiel 38 happens.

It is a piece of prophecy that God tells us ahead of time. By the way, one-third of the Bible is prophetic truth. I want you to look at this specific piece of prophetic truth.

Look at Ezekiel 38. What's going to happen right after, I believe, the rapture of the church? Ezekiel 38, verse 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying... This is Ezekiel inspired by God to write these words. Son of man, set thy face against Gog.

Gog is a leader. The land of Magog. Magog is the land area over which Gog in the last days will be ruling.

The chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and prophesy against him. And say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and I will turn thee back. I will put hooks in thy jaws.

Watch this. And I will bring thee forth and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. God says, I'm going to draw you, Gog, leader of the land of Magog.

I'm going to put a hook in your jaw, and I'm going to draw you somewhere. Now I want you to notice something. The description of the military hardware in Ezekiel 38 is an ancient description.

Probably, pastor, in all honesty, the way this is going to happen, it will probably utilize modern day military. But for Ezekiel to understand it, God had to use ancient descriptions. Everybody understand what I'm saying? In other words, Gog's going to be drawn down somewhere.

Where he's going to be drawn is down into the land of Israel to attack Israel. Gog, the leader, land of Magog, every Bible scholar that's worth their salt, in fact, I don't know if anybody really that disagrees with this, will tell you that the land of Magog is Russia, directly to the north. By the way, Russia is in the news right now all the time, isn't it? With this Ukraine war.

And by the way, I've seen some of the pictures of some of the carnage from the Ukraine war. Both sides, it is horrific. It is horrific.

I pray it ends and ends soon. But if you look at Ezekiel 38, and let your eyes rest on verse number 5, look who's going to join Russia in this venture down into the land of Israel after the rapture, Persia. Ezekiel 38, verse 5, first word, Persia.

Persia is modern day Iran, which is in the news all the time right now. Ethiopia. Ethiopia is modern day Ethiopia.

Libya, that's modern day Libya. With them, all of them with shield and helmet, watch verse 6, Gomer. Now there is some difference among Bible scholars as to who Gomer is.

Some people say it's Germany. I personally believe it's the Sudan, the Sudan. But anyway, Gomer and his bands, the house of Togemar, there's really no debate about that.

Togemar is modern day Turkey. By the way, just this past week, Erdogan, the leader of Turkey, was again in the news. What I'm trying to tell you is the puzzle pieces are on the table.

Watch the rest of it. And the north quarters and all his bands, many people with thee. Drop down if you would, please, to verse number 10.

Thus saith the Lord God, and it shall come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind. He's talking about God, the leader of Russia at the time. And thou shalt think an evil thought, and thou shalt say, Look what the leader says.

I will go up to the land of unwalled cities. I will go to them that are at rest. The unwalled cities is Israel.

Those that are at rest is Israel. Them that dwell safely, middle of verse 11. All of them dwelling without walls, having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil and to take a prey, to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations.

Now look up at me for just a second. What the Bible is saying is this. There's coming a day when the nations I've just mentioned, Russia, Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, Gomer, I personally believe is the Sudan, and Turkey are gonna come down against Israel to take a spoil.

Notice how Israel is described when they come down against her. Dwelling safely. Dwelling safely.

Preacher, how does that tie into what's happening right now? Now this is not an endorsement. It's not a critique. I'm just telling you what's going on, all right? Please hear me.

The only enemy that Israel has had that is any threat to them really in the region is Iran. Iran is the problem. The other countries, in fact many of you watch this.

Preacher, I'm just gonna be honest with you. It bothered me a little bit. I had questions about it.

When President Trump got elected, this last time, first thing he did, he did it. First time he got elected too, he went to the Middle East. He did it again this time.

But the first time he did in 2017, he visited Israel. This time he went to the Middle East, he didn't visit Israel. He visited these three countries, Saudi Arabia, UAE, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

He didn't visit Israel. I was troubled by that. Is this signaling a change in America's policy toward Israel? So I didn't know anybody to talk to except our ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

By the way, I love Mike. I love Mike. Former Baptist preacher, now serving as ambassador to Israel.

So I said, Mike, Mike, I need to know something. Is this signaling something? Is this a change in America's policy with Israel? He said, no, it's not. It's not that at all.

Well, he told me what it wasn't, but preacher, he didn't tell me what it was. So I'm wrestling with this. I'm down in the gym, brother, which is a great place to think.

And I'm lifting the weight, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three countries he visited, they're Muslim countries, but they're Sunni Muslim. Sunni Muslims, which is what those countries are, and the Shiite Muslims, which is what Iran is, they fight like the Hatfields and McCoys at times.

So he went to three Sunni Muslim countries, negotiated deals with them, further alienated them from Iran, and more importantly, Iran from them. But in doing that, the president did something prophetic. What happened after that is it drove Iran right into the wide-open loving embrace of two other countries, Russia and China.

Russia and China. By the way, China's mentioned in the Bible too, the kings of the east. They come across a dried-up Euphrates River bed down into Israel as well at a later time.

Everybody remember this? What I'm trying to tell you, folk, we're living watching this be set up, and they're gonna come down. Evidently, Iran doesn't lead the charge because they're in a weakened state. And if Iran is the only enemy that Israel really feared in the region, which is true, Israel lets their guard down.

And these nations led by Russia, Iran following in tow, Ethiopia, Libya, the Sudan, I believe, and Turkey all come down to attack Israel. If you read the rest of Ezekiel 38, God intervenes and defends Israel and wipes out the armies and the leaders of those armies of all the nations I've just mentioned. Preacher, I believe this happens after the rapture because now there's a tremendous leadership void all over the earth, the perfect thing for the Antichrist to walk into and say, I've got an answer.

I'll give you peace in the Middle East where there's all the turmoil. By the way, there's turmoil there right now. All of this is happening.

Wow. Preacher, what do you think's gonna take place? I want you to turn one final place for just a moment, and then I'm gonna wrap up. I want you to look at Jeremiah chapter number 49.

Jeremiah chapter number 49. Jeremiah chapter number 49. I wanna show you this.

Beginning around verse 35. Jeremiah 49, verse number 35. None of what's happening in our world right now is accidental.

The fact that you're here today is not accidental. God wanted you to hear something, and what I'm trying to help you understand is this. He wants you to hear that you need Jesus if you don't know him.

When this rapture occurs, and there's nothing that has to happen before it can occur, then all of this that I'm describing from the book of Ezekiel is going to go into place. It's gonna go into motion. What's going on with Iran? There is a prophecy in Jeremiah 49 about Iran that has never been fulfilled.

Never been fulfilled. I want you to look at verse number 35 of Jeremiah 49. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow of Elam.

Elam. Brother Dave, who was Elam, okay? Elam was the son of Shem. Shem was the son of Noah.

So Elam was the grandson of Noah. Now, folks, this is vitally important to understand this piece of Bible prophecy. The Elamites settled in the southwestern portion of Persia, what is now modern-day Iran.

Here comes a prophecy in Jeremiah 49 against what they were called back in the Old Testament, Elam. It is now the modern-day country of Iran. God is pronouncing something about Iran.

Watch again verse 35. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will break the bow, the bow of Elam or the bow of Iran. Let me ask you a question.

Again, ancient descriptions, ancient descriptions of military hardware. What does a bow do? It launches something. What does it launch? It launches a what? An arrow.

It is a weapon. It doesn't say that I'm going to break the arrows of Elam. I'm going to break the bow.

I'm going to break, I'll put it in these terms, the launching capability of Iran. Question. What has happened in the last several weeks with what's been going on with Iran? Their ballistic missile capability and certainly their nuclear missile desires and capability has their ability to launch any of that.

Now, they can still launch some drones and a few things, but for the most part, their ability to launch anything has been taken away. Is everybody with me? You know what God is saying? I'm going to break not the arrows. I'm going to break the bow.

Watch the rest of it. Verse 36, And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven and will scatter them toward all those winds. There shall be no nation where the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

Now, look up at me for just a moment. That has never happened. People have never fled from the country of Iran except one time.

And preacher, they went to the four corners of the earth. In 1979, the Shah of Iran was deposed. By the way, if you look at pictures from 1979, I was old enough to remember this.

I was just two years out of high school. I followed this stuff. The Shah of Iran was deposed.

If you looked at pictures in 1979 before the revolution, 1978, 1977, Iran looked much like the United States of America. The women were not forced to wear like they do under Sharia law now. They weren't being forced to wear the burqas and the full body coverings and all of that.

It looked very western because the Shah was the friend of America. But in 1979, when the revolution occurred and the Ayatollahs took over, everything changed. Preacher, I got this call from this young lady named Layla, wife of a dear friend of mine.

She's dark skinned like my wife who's Hispanic, so I thought she was Hispanic or maybe Filipino. She's Iranian. She said, Brother Kistler, they fled Iran by the hundreds of thousands, literally, her words not mine, to the four corners of the earth to get away from what they knew was coming.

God predicted that in the days of Ezekiel. Watch again if you would please, verse 37. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, Iran, and before them that seek their life.

And I will bring evil upon them, Elam, Iran, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord, and I will send the sword after them till I have consumed them. Watch verse 38. And I will set my throne in Elam.

Now that's an interesting statement. I will set, God speaking, I will set my throne in Elam, in Iran, and will destroy from thence, watch this, the king and his princes, saith the Lord. Do you know that's never happened? Except it did on February 28.

Do you know when the attack was launched against Iran in the first hour? The Ayatollah lost his life. And stay with me, 40 of his princes were all killed in the first strike. Is this the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49? I think it is, because it's never happened before.

Watch the rest of it. Watch the rest of it. Look at verse number 39.

But it shall come to pass in the latter days that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord. In other words, at some point, people are gonna return. Now can I just share with you very informed suggestion is what I think may happen.

We've gone through 50 whatever days it is of a ceasefire, and just this past week again, I'm just telling you what happened. I'm not saying I condone it. I wish none of this had to happen, but I'm telling you, God's setting something up.

Our president said, ceasefire's off. I've had enough. If, if, and this is the problem.

The problem is not the Iranian people. It's the IRGC. The people that are in charge.

If they were to be removed and there was to be regime change, we would have, temporarily at least, some peace in the country of Iran and in the Middle East. Can I hear an amen? Now I don't know if you've been following this one. I'm gonna throw a name out.

His name is Reza Pahlavi. Reza Pahlavi. He is the son of the Shah who was deposed in 1979.

Reza has lived in exile in the United States of America since 1979. His name came up in my conversation with this young lady named Layla who was there in Iran, grew up there. She said the Iranian people want Reza to be at least their next leader.

Reza has said this in Washington, D.C. If there is regime change, I would love to be, and here's the term he used, the temporary leader of Iran. He's in his 70s. He knows his age is going to be a factor.

He said I don't wanna be the long-term leader. I wanna be the temporary leader in Iran and set up the next permanent leader. Preacher, in saying that, here's what he said.

This is astounding to me. He said if I were to be the temporary leader, I'd give my commitment to do three things. I'll be the friend of the United States.

I'll be the friend of Israel. And I will allow the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will allow the gospel to be the first unmitigated access into the country of Iran.

Can I hear an amen? I'm gonna make a lap. That is what the people of Iran are praying for. And by the way, I wanna encourage us to pray for the same thing, for those precious people who've endured 47 years.

Yes, they held our hostages for 444 days. Yes, they killed our soldiers, the Iranian regime did, at Khobar Towers. Yes, they've been responsible for thousands of American deaths.

But folks, what has been even more tragic is the fact they've murdered tens of thousands of their own precious people. There needs to be a change, and if there is, Jeremiah 49 will be completely fulfilled. At some point, preacher, my personal opinion is when Reza, if he ever gets there, were to step off the scene, the new guy would come in and take him back to what they were, an enemy of Israel.

Preacher, why are you telling us this? What I'm trying to tell you, folks, is what I've just shared with you is all predicted in this book. And the same Bible that says these things are going to happen in the last days says Jesus loves you. He died on an old rugged cross, was buried, and rose again the third day to forgive your sin.

The greatest day of my life was when as a young man in a preacher's home, I finally got it. Dave Kistler, preacher's kid, is a sinner. I'm a sinner by nature, and I've made choices to sin because of my sinful nature.

And the only way I'll ever get into God's heaven, even as a preacher's kid, is if I receive Jesus as my Savior and ask Him to forgive me and save my soul. I did, and thank God, He did. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Father, would you speak to us today? Father, I pray if there's anyone in this room that is not 100% certain that they're ready for eternity.

Father, I pray today would be the day when they make sure, when they get this forever settled. Lord, I had no clue, driving up here yesterday, that a man in whose office we've been a number of times, and again just recently, three weeks ago, in Senator Graham's office, I had no clue that he would breathe his last breath here on earth and step out into eternity. Lord, I know, I know what he professed.

I know what he said with his lips, but I don't know his heart. Only you know that. But Lord, this incident should serve as a giant exclamation point to us today that life is indeed very uncertain and very brief.

And so, Lord, may no one take a chance on their eternal destiny today. Rather than doing that, Lord, I pray they'd make the most important decision they'll ever make in life, and that's the choice, the deliberate decision to call on you today, Jesus, and ask you to save them, forgive them, and give them eternal life and the assurance of heaven with you forever. And Father, for what you do, we're going to thank you and give you all the glory.

Oh, listening friend, if there's a stirring in your heart and you'd like to talk to somebody about having a relationship with Jesus, can you trust the Bible? What is it like to know God in a personal way? And these trained counselors would be happy to pray with you. You can call 1-888-NEED-HIM. That's 1-888-NEED-HIM.

Thank you for joining us for today's edition of Mark & Friends. As we conclude this revival message from Bible Baptist Church in Champaign, Brother Dave Kistler reminds us that Bible prophecy isn't given to frighten us, but to prepare us. God's Word points us to Jesus, and today is the day to trust Him as Savior and Lord.

We invite you to continue learning by visiting the Mark & Friends page at greatnewsradio.org or wluj.org. There you'll find today's broadcast along with a growing collection of resources to help you continue studying God's Word and growing in your walk with Jesus. It's a wonderful way to revisit today's message or share it with family or friends. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for being a part of our radio listening family. This is Mark Burns with the Ministry of Great News Media. God bless you and have a great day and night.