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Miss This Event!
The Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation
after a God-given vision of things to come . It was written sometime between
90 and 96 AD. As we all know, Revelation is a book full of vivid
word pictures.
Chapter one contains the introduction and the
promise of a blessing for studying the book. Jesus also states who
He is. He is the "Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning
and the end… the Almighty."
In chapters 2 and 3 we saw the seven letters
of instruction to the Christians. In chapters 4 and 5 we visited
the throne room of heaven. Now things begin to speed up. The
church has been raptured away from the earth and God is ready to pour out
His judgments upon the earth because of sin and rebellion. What will
the Christians be doing at this time? Well, in heaven we will be
judged for our works – and rewarded appropriately. After that we
will have the marriage supper of the Lamb. We will talk about this
later as we continue our studies in Revelation.
REVELATION 6
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals.
Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder,
"Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its
rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror
bent on conquest.
When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature
say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider
was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each
other. To him was given a large sword.
When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature
say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse!
Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard
what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart
of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages,
and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a
pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close
behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill
by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of
those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they
had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign
Lord, holy and true, until You judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge
our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were
told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants
and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake.
The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned
blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from
a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll,
rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich,
the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the
rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the
rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath
has come, and who can stand?" |
Today we are only looking at verses 1-4.
I don’t know about you, but reading these verses
makes me a little nervous. Why? Because our picture of Jesus
is as a very kind person who wouldn’t hurt anyone. And that is a
good and appropriate picture. However the day will come when the
One who wanted to be our Savior will become our Judge!
Jesus describes judgment quite well in the
following verses:
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, You did
for Me.' Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me,
you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty
and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite
Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison
and you did not look after Me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when
did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick
or in prison, and did not help You?' He will reply, 'I tell you the
truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not
do for Me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the
righteous to eternal life." Matthew
25:40-46
Back to Revelation 6:1-4
Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb, opens the first
seal. Scholars have a variety of opinions about these things, as
you can imagine. As we review this portion of the Bible it is important
that we do not get hung up on the details, but that we look at the big
picture. The "big picture" is that God
rewards faithfulness and punishes sin.
The first seal is a rider
sitting on a white horse. This indicates peace…
but not real peace. Shortly after the rapture of the church the Antichrist
becomes the world leader and promises he will bring world peace.
Now I’m not even suggesting that either of our current presidential candidates
are the antichrist, but as you know they are making some pretty big promises
that they probably won’t be able to deliver. The antichrist won’t
be any different, but many conservative scholars believe that the Antichrist
will come on the scene at a time of crisis and people will want to believe
that he can rescue them. The antichrist is allowed by God to deceive
all the people that refuse to acknowledge Christ as Lord and Savior.
Some scholars believe that the white horse
represents the purity of the church but I find that inconsistent with the
setting of this scripture.
The red horse appears
when the second seal is opened. This represents
war and violent death, which God will allow in bringing His wrath on the
world. The tribulation will be a time of violence, murder and war.
The sword of war and persecution represents a terrible judgment.
Peace is taken away from the earth. Today most people feel that we
should love and help each other, but that will change into murder and violence.
The truth is that this is happening today.
As I thought about today’s message, I reflected
back on my relationship with my dad. Dad was a strict disciplinarian.
Believe me, I did my best to avoid his wrath! I didn’t like being
spanked. But as I grew older I had another reason for not breaking
his rules. I didn’t want to hurt the one who had given me life –
the one who had helped me lay a solid foundation for my own adult life.
It hurt me to see anger and pain in his life because of what I had done.
We can call this assimilation and identification. I took on my Dad’s
values and learn to identify with him.
This has a spiritual application.
As we mature in Christ we become more and more like Him. The last
thing a mature Christian wants to do is to hurt our Lord! Over time
we become more and more like the Lord – at least that is God’s plan.
The Bible teaches us that "The
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord." Some say that
a loving God will not punish us with something as terrible as hell.
That isn’t what the Word of God says. It may be good psychology,
but it is poor theology!
| Therefore, since through God's mercy we have
this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret
and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word
of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even
if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image
of God. 2 Corinthians 4:1-4
The King James Version puts 2 Corinthians 4:4
this way: "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who
is the image of God, should shine unto them." |
One of the 10 commandments says, "Thou shall
have no other gods before Me." We usually interpret this to mean
idols. But it can also mean Satan, who is the god of this world.
That is "god" with a little g."
Romans 6:16 tells us that whom we obey that
is the one whose servant we are. Don't
you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves,
you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin,
which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
We would be remiss if all we did was to take
care of ourselves. Ezekiel 22:30, 31 is rather startling:
I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand
before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy
it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume
them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have
done, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Psalm 106:23 helps us understand:
So He said He would destroy them-- had not Moses, His chosen one, stood
in the breach before Him to keep His wrath from destroying them.
God wants the very best for each of us and
we are all important in the Kingdom of God. Please, never put yourself
down because you do not have a position of leadership, or because you are
still learning … we all are! General Eisenhower once rebuked one
of his Generals for referring to a soldier as "just a Private." He
reminded him that the Army could function better without its Generals than
it could without its foot soldiers. "If this war is won," he said,
"it will be won by Privates." In the same way, the common, ordinary,
one-talent Christians are the very backbone of the church. We have
our great evangelists, our super congregations led by dynamic elders, and
our wealthy brethren who are able to finance great works. But, if
the work of the Lord is to be done, if the gospel is to be taken to the
lost, it will be the "ordinary" Christians who will do it.
But if we rebel and walk away from God, then
the end result is eternal separation. When we deny the God of the
universe, then we come under the control of the god of this world, who
is Satan. You will be spending an eternity with one of the two Gods
– The God who sent His Son Jesus, or the god of this world. It’s
your choice!
Yes, the end of the world is coming.
But if you and I will earnestly serve God we can miss the events outlined
in our scripture for today. The choice is yours. |
