Book of Revelation Opening of the Six Seals Part 4, #prophecy #rapture

Okay, so who's here this morning? There's Eric. Good morning to you, Stephen. Good morning, Gail. Good morning. And to others who will join us, good morning to each of you. We'll try to call some names a little bit at the end of the lesson, but we are, this is part four of the opening of The Six Seals, and we're going to get through as much information as we possibly can. Good morning to you, Beatrice. On last week, as you know, we started talking about The Six Seals, and we were discussing the four horsemen, the four riders, the four horsemen that are found in chapter six, and we dealt with the first, showing that that was Christ, who went forth with a bow, conquering and to conquer. And also, we looked at some correlations in the book of Revelation that demonstrated that the rider of the white horse was Christ, particularly in chapter 19 that showed his conquering the armies, that he was the one who rode the white horse. As a matter of fact, let me go over there and just read a few of those passages, so that we have those in front of you before we get started in today's material. But in verse 12, excuse me, verse 11, it says, "...Now I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them. With a rod of iron, he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And his name, he has on a robe and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lords of Lords." So there is no way that we could ascribe that to anyone other than Christ, and it shows that he is the conquering one in the vision of the six seals, and the means and method of this conquering would take place through the events that are transpiring with the other horses that we find. Not that he's actually doing some of those things, but it's because of what's taking place in fighting against his enemies. We will see how all of this is coming about, because he was to do all things to himself. And Beatrice, I see your request. We'll definitely make prayer on behalf of you for your legs. I'm sorry to hear that, but we will definitely do so. All right. So as we were saying, he went forth to subdue his enemies and bring victory to the kingdom of God. That began on Pentecost, according to Luke chapter 24, 47 through 49. And the gospel would be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. As we said on last week, the end is not the end of the gospel. Rather, it was the end of the old covenant system. It was the consummation of that age, just as Jesus said in Matthew 24 and verse 3, what will be, when will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming or presence and of the consummation of the age? And so we have to see that according to Matthew 24, 35, that is what passed away. Whereas he said his word would not pass away, and that would be the everlasting gospel according to first Peter chapter one. And the verse is 24, actually 23 through 25, when he talks about the gospel abiding forever. So this we should understand. And then we gave you passages from Isaiah 51 and verse six, where he says his righteousness would not be abolished. That's a reference to the gospel. And again, in verse eight, that his righteousness will be forever, excuse me, and his salvation from generation to generation. So the gospel was the conquering power over spiritual Israel, over natural Israel. It was the conquering power of spiritual Israel. And that is how they were able to conquer. And as you saw in Revelation 19, they were also riding with the one who was on the white horse. They were also on white horses and therefore chose the victory that was being given to the believers in Christ. And as we said, the power was the gospel of salvation. Now, there were other plagues that were involved, which all of which we see in the book of Revelation and the disaster that was to come upon them was pestilence. It was the sword, it was famine and judgment, et cetera. And then of course, he also talked about the wild beast that we went back to Leviticus 26 to Deuteronomy 32 and several other passages, second Chronicles 20 and verse nine, Jeremiah 15 and verse one, also verse two, Ezekiel 5, 16 and 17, and also Ezekiel 14 and 21. I hope that I covered those on last week, but nevertheless, those are passages that demonstrate to you that there was all four of these disasters that were to come upon them. Let me just give you a couple of examples just to make sure. But in second Chronicles 20 and verse nine, it says, if disaster comes upon us, sword, judgment, pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this temple and in your presence, for your name is in this temple and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save us. In Jeremiah 15 and verse one, the Lord said to me, even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my mind would not be favorable toward this people, cast them out of my sight and let them go forth. And it shall be, if they say to you, where should we go? Then you shall tell them, thus says the Lord, such as are for death to death, and such as are for the sword to the sword, and such as are for the famine to the famine, and such as are for the captivity to the captivity. And then in Ezekiel 5 and verse 16, when I sinned against them, the terrible arrows of famine. Now, remember the Lord went out conquering and to conquer, but he says, when I, and he had a this is from Deuteronomy 32, I think the verse was 25, but it says, when I sinned against them, the terrible arrows of famine, which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread, Ezekiel 5 and verse 16. So those words were spoken against Jerusalem in the old covenant in reference to the destruction that was going to come upon Israel through the Babylonian army. And once again, in Ezekiel 1421, for thus says the Lord God, how much more it shall be when I send my four severe judgments on Jerusalem, the sword and famine and wild beasts and pestilence to cut off man and beast from it. So all of that was taken out of the law in terms of the judgment that God would bring upon Israel in times when they rebelled against him. And that is what is going on in the book of revelation. You have the rebellion of those who refuse to repent, refuse to accept the gospel. And then on top of that, to add insult to injury, they began persecuting the saints just as they had did Christ as was predicted in Matthew chapter 23, first Thessalonians 2, 14 through 16, and many other passages in the new Testament that talked about those persecutions. Now, after the white horse, we have the rider of the red horse. And as we said, in each case, the color of the horse corresponds to the mission of the rider. Red indicates wrath, anger, bitter and revengeful suffering and bloodshed that the gospel preaching would entail. And as you know, very early on when they began preaching the gospel, they shed the blood of Stephen, they'd already killed Christ, of course. And then we have them murdering Stephen, as you can see in Acts chapter seven. And so Christ's mission was a mission that included war. He said in Matthew chapter 10, and the verse is 34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. And so you read that elliptically, I did not come to bring peace only but also a sword for I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemies will be those of his own household. Mac King says the great sword of the second rider was the or the sacrificial knife that was used in offering sacrifice. And it symbolized the religious warfare between the two Israels that cost the lives of many saints. So when Babylon finally fell in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all those who dwell on the earth. And when he had begun to settle these accounts, one was brought to him, who owed him 10,000 talents, Matthew 18 and verse 24. So from that perspective, you can see how there were those who refused to repent and therefore brought to judgment. So Jesus said to them in Matthew 23, and the verse is 34. Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes, some of them, you will kill and crucify, and some of them, you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of righteous able to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. So there was the prediction by the Lord himself that there would be bloodshed. And this bloodshed would be as a result of the persecutions that would come against the believers. But also it would be that which was meted out upon the enemies of Christ who were doing the persecuting as vengeance for their actions. Now, the black horse we find in verse five, when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come and see. So I looked and behold a black horse and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. Black was typical of woe and mourning and the woe and mourning would come as a result of the scarcity of food. Agabus had prophesied of a famine that was leading up to the time of the But also, and that's in Acts 1128, but that was predicted and foretold by Christ in Matthew 24 and verse seven. He says, for nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. And again, all of that comes out of the prophecies of the law that would refer to Israel's judgments when they were rebellious against Christ. So in Acts 11 and verse 28, it says, then one of them named Agabus stood up and showed by the spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. And if I'm not mistaken, the word mellow is used there. And so what he was saying was there was about to be a great famine. So from that perspective, we can see that, you know, this was near, it was in those, in the time that was leading up to the siege of Jerusalem, where there, particularly in Judea, were suffering from famines. And of course, that intensified in terms of the retribution upon the enemies of God during the time of those persecutions. Now the widespread persecution of the Jews caused great economic loss to Christians. The Jews, the Christian Jews were driven from their homes. In first Thessalonians 2, 14 through 16, he says, for you brethren became imitators of the churches of God, which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. Well, you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, even or just as they did from the Judeans who kill both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us. And they do not please God and are contrary to all men, forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved. So as always to fill up the measure of their sins, but the wrath has come upon them to the uttermost. Then if we look in Hebrews chapter 10 and the verses 34, he says, for you had compassion on me in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. So they were plundering the houses of Christians, destroying them on every hand, their possessions, et cetera. And this created great economic hardship for them. And this was a result of the rider of the black horse and the persecutions that were coming on them. Those who did not have the mark of the beast could not buy or sell. And as revelation 13 and 17 says, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. And hence, as Paul described this, this was called the great distress. And in first Corinthians seven and verse 26, he says, I suppose therefore, because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Those times of persecution created severe and extreme, pretty much unbearable hardships, even though there were many faithful Christians who survived it, but there were even more perhaps who turned away in apostasy. I won't say perhaps, because Jesus said the love of the many shall wax cold. And so he was asking them, are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you. False point. But this I say, brethren, the time is short. So these events were not for our day and time, as a lot of people want to say, but that was a part of the persecutions that were taking place in the first century. That's what these riders of the four horse or the four horsemen are demonstrating and the horses upon which they rode. And so he says the time is short. Well, that corresponds with the message of the book of Revelation, because the time was near, it was at hand, it was shortly to come to pass, and therefore they were not to seal the writings of the book. And so he says, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it for the form of this world is passing away. So that particular age, the old covenant age was passing, and they were living in the end of that age. And of course, that comes up when we get to the fifth seal, or the yeah, the sixth seal, and both the fifth and the sixth, actually, we'll see that that comes up. Now, the next horse is found in the fourth seal, and that is verse seven. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come and see. So I looked and behold a pale horse, and the name of him who sat on it was death, and Hades was death, and Hades followed with him, and power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by beasts of the earth. So here again are these four categories of calamities that would befall them. Now, this pale or greenish white color was symbolic of death. And we find death and Hades mentioned together in several passages. The Bible says, oh, death, where's your sting? Oh, Hades, where's your victory? First Corinthians 1555. I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. We also see that they are defeated together. According to Revelation 20 and verse 13, the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works, and death and Hades was cast into the lake of fire. And so the defeat of death and Hades was already in process, but it was not consummated. That is correct. The land or the earth here does point to Jerusalem's judgment. And so as we were saying, the defeat of death and Hades was already in process, but it was not yet completed. As a matter of fact, you have a text in 2 Timothy chapter 2 and the verses 14 that will speak about death as though it had been destroyed. Now, the point of this is that we should recognize that this could not be physical death of which he is speaking. And some people kind of get lost there when they read about this, because they will say, well, you know, that's the end of physical death, so he cannot be talking about physical death later on, or rather that was the end of spiritual death. Excuse me, let me correct that. And so he could not be speaking of spiritual death later on because spiritual death had already been defeated. But you see, that's reading the scriptures incorrectly. What we have to see is that there was a process of defeating death. So in verse 9 of 1 Timothy chapter 1, the Bible says, who has saved us and called us with the holy calling, not according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death. So the text says that he has abolished death, but we will see as we look further in the scriptures that death was not fully abolished. And therefore it brought, as the text says, he has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. You could say the same thing about bringing light and immortality. That was not a complete process as well. And so from that perspective, death was still going about wreaking havoc. But what kind of death are we speaking about in this connection? In 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 7, the Bible says, but if the ministry of death written and engraved on stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not steadily look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, now notice how he's describing that. He's talking about the ministry of condemnation. He's talking about those or the situation under the law. And the Bible says that death reigned from Adam to Moses. Well, if death only reigned from Adam to Moses, then it cannot be reigning under Christ. That is at the consummation of Moses. And as we've already seen from Matthew 24 in verse three, the consummation of Moses would not take place until the temple was destroyed until the fall of the city as described in Matthew 24. So he's saying for even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect because of the glory that excels for if what is passing away. Now notice that present tense verb there, the present passive verb. And so he says for if what is passing away, what was he referring to? The ministration of death, what he called the ministration of glory, which was exceeded by the more glorious. And so he says, if what is passing away was glorious, what is remaining is much more glorious. That would be the correct way to read that text. And then again in verse 18, but we all with unveil face beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are being transformed. You know, a moth doesn't change into a butterfly overnight. It is a process. And that's the word that's used in second Corinthians three and verse 18, for this transformation from glory, the ministration of death to the ministration of righteousness, which is light as according to Galatians three and verse 21, for if there had been a law, which could have given life truly righteousness would have been by the law. So he interchanges righteousness and life in the text. So the ministration of righteousness is the ministration of life. So there is a transforming or transformation out of the ministration of death into the ministration of life. And that took place over the period of the excaton beginning from the death of Christ and the preaching of the gospel on Pentecost all the way down to the fall of Jerusalem. And hence death was still going about to conquer. And in first Corinthians 15 and verse 26, another text where we need to go. And I suggest to you that you go to biblehub.com or any other place where you can look up the verbs in an interlinear or look at the original language and you will see in first Corinthians 15, it doesn't say that the last enemy, which shall be destroyed is death. That's a future tense. What the text actually says in first Corinthians 15 that everybody says is resurrection. The last enemy, which is being destroyed is death. So again, even in first Corinthians 15, the text is telling you that the last enemy that was being destroyed was death. And we can take that up also in revelation 21 for it's the same passage. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes and the death shall not be any more, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain because the first things have passed away. That's the consummation of the death because it comes at the close of the book of revelation. So where's all this coming from? It's coming out of the book of part of it is coming out of Isaiah chapter 25, six through eight, which is what Paul was quoting from in, uh, first Corinthians chapter 15, when he talked about, uh, he will swallow up death in victory and remove the veil of the covering that was cast over all people. Paul quotes that in first Corinthians 15, 54 and 55. So when that system of Judaism was destroyed, that ministration of death that we were just talking about in second Corinthians chapter three, which is parallel by the way to, uh, first Corinthians 15, that would be the time when the veil was done away. And, uh, the new covenant age, the age of the spirit, the age of glory of Christ, the gospel age would follow that system. And so the death of the one resulted in the rising of the other. Again, that was consummated at the appearing of Christ acts chapter three verses 19 through 21 and Hebrews nine 28. And the second appearing of Christ was in connection with the atonement and jubilee. Uh, that is, uh, the, uh, time of the work of the high priest, which was the second appearing of Christ. All of that is temple typology. And that's why, uh, the writer in Hebrews said that the law was a shadow of the good things about to come, that the judgment was about to take place. Verse 37, Christ would come in a very, very little while. And that is the context that we should see it. Now, the last thing I'd like to say about death is the power of death and Hades was to kill those who had light since death and Hades elsewhere always spoke of spiritual death. It refers to killing those who had light. Now, those who have life, we're believers because life is only in Christ. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. Well, how then was death and Hades killing them? Remember in also in Matthew chapter 16 and verse, uh, 18, when Jesus said, and I also say unto you that you have Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Well, if Hades followed death, what Jesus was saying about the church was that death would not prevail against it. Again, I reiterate the fact that death only reigned, had power over them from Adam to Moses. It did not extend beyond the time of the demise of Moses' covenant. And so from that perspective, um, we have death and Hades referring to spiritual death. And that was the only death that could adversely affect the believers. That's the only death that could separate them from the love of God. And how did they fall subject to that death? They fell subject to that death through apostasy. Remember in first John five and verse 16, he says, if anyone sees his brother sending a sin, which does not lead to death, he will ask and he will give him life for those who commit sin, not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about it. All unrighteousness is sin. And there is sin not leading to death. We know that whoever is born of God does not sin, but he who has been born of God keeps himself and the wicked one does not touch him. Now, often the wicked one is described, even in the book of revelation as a Satan, uh, particularly the Jews, if you please, uh, in that context of the book of revelation, but through the persecution of the Jews, many disciples sinned unto death. That's how death that rode on this pale horse, killed them, killed the ones who had life. I mean, if you already did, you can't be killed. Right. Um, and so in Matthew 24 verses, uh, nine through 12, the scripture says, then they shall deliver you up to tribulation and shall kill you. And you should be hated by all nations because of my name. So Paul, I mean, uh, the Lord is telling them that they're going to suffer persecution and death. Now there were some believers who were not willing to be faithful unto death. That's what Jesus told them in Revelation two in verse 10, be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. But you see, not all of them were willing to do that. Just like all believers today are not willing to even, uh, confess and acknowledge the fulfillment of all these things that God has done. They would rather continue to get paid their little paychecks. They would rather continue to have the praise of men. They would rather continue not to suffer any hardship because they just can't take the heat. And so they would sit back and know the truth in many cases and still won't confess it. And there were those like that in the first century, they were not about to lose their lives because of that. And so many of them went back to Judaism and, um, this was very serious thing. And so in verse 10, it says, and then shall many be stumbled or many shall stumble and they shall deliver up one another. Remember, we just read, Jesus said he came not to bring peace, but a sore and many in their own household, daughter against daughter, mother against mother, father against father, et cetera, and other relatives, even delivering their own relatives up. If you had a house that was split between some who remained as Jews following and practicing Judaism and others who had become believers and the authorities came looking for all the Christians so that they could kill them, persecute them in prison, et cetera. Then their own family members would give them up in order to save their own necks. And sometimes if they, if the Christians became weak, they would do the same thing. And so that's what he's saying. Many, um, will stumble and they shall deliver up one another and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise and shall lead many astray. So that's another way in which they cause them to sin unto death. They led them astray into apostasy, Matthew 24 11. And because of the abounding of lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold. That means they turned away. They fell away. The writer of this horse killed by the sword, hunger, death, civil persecution. And most of the epistles were designed to stem apostasy from Christianity to Judaism until Christ returned. That was the goal or point in reference by the apostles. Well, that basically covers the four writers. And, uh, on next week, we're going to talk about the souls under the altar and, uh, possibly get into, um, the opening of the sixth seal as well. I hope that these, um, insights were helpful to you that if you have any questions or comments, be sure and, uh, contact me or write them. I'll read them and then see if we can respond accordingly. I know that you do, uh, listen and write to me, or you come back and tell me, you know, about it, uh, about points that you either want to see emphasized or points where you think I've missed it. And I don't mind that at all. I appreciate it because it causes me to study more deeply and to see, uh, just what the Bible has said, be sure and share the broadcast with others. I, you know, have just this past week, I've gotten messages from people in the UK from people in Romania. And, um, so we know that the messages are getting out. Uh, someone from Trinidad contacted me as well and said, look, I've been listening to you for quite some time and I agree with what you're saying. So we are really grateful and people are telling us that, you know, covenant eschatology is not spreading, that it's dying. This is a figment of their imagination. I don't know how they can say it. Uh, the only reason they continue to exist is because they can't destroy it. And so they, you know, they want to just try to talk it down. But as we close, let me say good morning to, um, to, uh, let's see, who did we miss here to Dale? Um, and to Lombardi, uh, renovations to Carol, Claudia, uh, Carlos and, um, Deb to Robin. And, uh, I think that's it. And let's remember to pray on behalf of Beatrice, who will be having back surgery, uh, Thursday, um, on the 16th, uh, in Birmingham, Alabama. So let's pray that all goes well. Um, and, uh, we trust that God's grace will be with her through it all and that everything will turn out, uh, to be a very positive with that. You all have a great morning. Sorry. I got on a little bit late this morning, but you know, Hey, I missed that hour of sleep that I was really expecting to get. I just didn't get it. And that threw me off a little bit, but I think I fudged a little bit on the time over so that you got, um, all your time. You didn't, um, didn't shortchange you on any of your time with that. Uh, once again, good morning to you and have a pleasant day.