And so I'm grateful for that.
Well, if you have your Bible, I'd love for you to join me in Revelation chapter number six. Revelation chapter number six. And like I always offer, if you did not get an outline or a timeline and you need one of those, if you could slip up your hand high enough for me to see it. Scott's back here in the back, and we got Daniel down here. If you can get him one, and then anybody else.
And just slip it up, and he'll get those to you. And we would greatly appreciate that here tonight. And so, Revelation chapter number six tonight as we kind of work through this here together. And in Revelation 6, we're going to kind of begin a little bit of a sober, a somber conversation about the tribulation period. And so, just to kind of get us going and give us a little bit of a runway going into this, I want to show the timeline up on the screen, just what we've been working through as we've kind of come to this.
And so. As you can see, Christ, when he resurrected, he was on earth for about 40 days, revealing himself to a number of different people before he ascended. And when he ascended, he actually, right then, shortly after the day of Pentecost happened, and that's when the Holy Spirit came. And that's what we know as the church age. That is where we are at.
Today.
So we are living in that. That's why it's circled up here on our timeline. In Revelation 1 through 3, you see that. In Revelation 1 through 3, remember, it's a progression of the end time. John, the apostle, is on the island of Patmos.
And while he's there, remember, he's not on that island on vacation, he's actually exiled there. That was like your Roman prison camp, if you would. And that's where they would put people that would preach and proclaim Jesus. That's where they would put them.
So if they exiled them, then they couldn't make a difference and people couldn't get saved and all these different types of things. And so he's exiled to the island of Patmos here. And he's giving this revelation or this revealing, if you would. And this is Christ revealing about things that we saw that have been, that are, and that are to come. And so you see that.
And so the church age is Revelation 1 through 3, his letter to the seven churches and all of that. And then right after the church age, in Revelation chapter 4, he is taken up in spirit up into heaven, and he sees what's happening up in heaven. We take that to mean that that's the rapture and the progression and on the timeline. And so after the church age, the rapture, the rapture is the next event on the the timeline of eschatology.
So it's the thing that we're waiting on. And by the way, if you're wondering, nothing in our world has to happen for the rapture to happen. It could literally happen at any moment. That happened tonight. And honestly, I would love that.
And so I'm kind of ready for that. And so it could happen tonight. And that's the next event. And so we see that in Revelation chapter 4 through 5. We get the glimpse of heaven.
And while John is getting this glimpse of heaven in chapter 4, we see the throne room. And so he sees all the different things and all the different prepositional phrases that he uses to describe what is happening all around the throne room, in the front to the sides, around it, behind it, everything else. All this different stuff's happening. And then in chapter number 5, We see John still in heaven, and he's grieving, and he's mourning. And you say, why is that?
Why is he weeping? And the reason is, is because God the Father, who is on the throne, has in his right hand a scroll. And no one in heaven or on earth is worthy to open this scroll. But yet, an angelic being comes up to him and says, or one of the elders says to him, actually tells him, hey, don't weep. Because there is one that is worthy to open up the scroll: the lamb that was.
Now we know that to be Jesus Christ. And this is the moment where God the Father hands the throne to Jesus the Son. And you say, what is in that scroll? What is in that scroll? It's really the, you could call it like a title deed about the earth and what's going to happen on the earth and some of the things that are going to happen on the earth.
And he gives it over to Jesus because Jesus is the lamb that was slain, and he is the only one worthy. To open up the seals.
So this scroll was sealed with seven seals. And in that day, they would have a scroll. And they would read it in this horizontal fashion. And what they would do is, when they would seal it, they would put these wax little seals on it. And here, the scroll that God the Father held in his right hand that he was passing over to Jesus, it had on the front and on the back, and there were seven seals on it.
And what you are going to find, starting in chapter number six, is Jesus. opening and revealing what these seals mean and what they what they are going to show. And so in chapters four and five, we're in heaven, we get a glimpse of what heaven is like, and then in chapter six we are brought back down to earth to Now, as we get into the tribulation, there's one thing that I want to mention. Tonight is we know and we believe, and I did a whole sermon on the rapture and why we as a church and why I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture view, which means that the rapturing of the church, or the word is actually to snatch, that snatching of the church up into heaven that you know 1 Corinthians talks about, 1 Thessalonians talks about, that snatching of the church. Is going up to heaven, why we believe it is going to happen before the tribulation period.
I'd encourage you, if you're wondering about that, when is that going to happen? Go back and listen to that because we gave a lot of biblical evidence of why we believe that it will happen before the tribulation.
So, chapters 6 through 18 that talk about the tribulation, the church, those that are alive at the moment of the rapture, will be taken up.
So, in other words, very specifically, what I mean by that is if Jesus came to rapture the church, to call us up together with him. The dead in Christ is going to rise first, and then we which are alive and remain will be called up together to meet the Lord in the air. This is not the second coming. This is when Christ comes back in the clouds, and we will go meet him in the clouds. In Revelation 19, he will actually come from heaven down to earth, and we will come with him.
It's not the same thing as the rapture. And so when we are called up. Those are all the people that are living. And so, if he was to come back tonight, chapter 6 through 18, if you know Jesus as your Savior, you'll be called up. You don't have to worry about chapter 6 through 18.
So, as we get into that, it doesn't mean we don't have to study it. You're like, well, let's just skip to chapter 19 or whatever. We still need to look at it and we need to know why this matters. For us, but remember, if you know Jesus, you don't have to worry about going through some of these terrible. terrible things.
And so Revelation six 1 through 17. And I'm going to do this. I'm going to read it straight through. If you are good with that, I'm going to read it straight.
Well, I mean, you got to be good with it. I mean, I'm not going to ask for your opinions and stuff. But I'm going to read it straight through, and then we're going to come back and dissect it a little slower because I want you to kind of feel that.
So it's 17 verses right in a row. Look to your neighbor and say, get ready. All right, so we're going to do this pretty quick. And I saw when the Lamb, that's Christ, opened one of the seals and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts, those are those angelic beings that we learned about, saying, Come and see. 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. When he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. There went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon, and to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword.
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny. And see, thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
And I worked And behold, a pale horse. And his name that sat on him was death. and hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword. with hunger and with death.
of the beast of the earth, verse 9. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge? and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. White robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.
Verse 12.
Now beheld, when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. Verse 14. And the heaven departed as a scroll. When it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us.
And hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Father, we love you. God, I'm asking for your power. I'm asking for you to lead, God, and direct my words tonight. And Lord, I pray, Father, for every heart that is in this place that we would be open so that when the word of God, that seed that is kind of planted and scattered throughout this place tonight, that it would take roots in our hearts because our hearts are good ground tonight.
God, we love you. Bless the reading of your word, for it's in your name we pray. And everybody said. Amen and amen. There's a lot here in chapter six.
We're going to kind of tackle the whole thing together. And so I'll try to do as much explanation as we can as we work through this. But on your notes, what we find here in verses one through eight. Are seals number one through four, and what you find are the four horsemen. The four horsemen here in verses one through eight.
For many, if you kind of Google this, if you kind of Google this, Find that in that these four horsemen would be called the four horsemen of the apocalypse. That's what they're referred to as, and if you do any further study on this. But there's a lot to these four horsemen that we're going to look at here. And so the first one that we're going to look at in verses one through or one and two is seal number one. And it's on your notes, the white horse.
Seal number one, the white horse. It's found in verses one and two.
So I want to read that a little bit slower. And I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals.
So remember this. The only one worthy to open the seals, that is the lamb that was slain. That is Jesus, the Son of God. He is the only one worthy of opening these seals. In other words, God is giving him authority, if you would, here.
And he already has that authority because he is God. But here, he is the only one worthy as God kind of hands this scroll to Jesus, the lamb that was slain. And so he takes the seal, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder. one of the four beasts saying to John, Come and see. And John saw, and behold, a white horse.
And he that sat on him had a had a bow. And a crown was given unto him, and he went forth Conquering and to and to conquer.
So the you know, you got this white horse and there is a rider on the horse, on this white horse. And so the question comes up is, is who is the rider? And who's the rider that is riding this horse? And very, I want you to understand that there are some people who would try to prove that this is Jesus here. This is not Jesus.
Jesus is the one opening the seal. This is not Revelation chapter number 19, and I'm going to explain why. But this writer, and I think this is on your notes, is the The Antichrist. It's the Antichrist. And It's not Jesus, and so he's the one giving the orders.
And by the way, nobody's giving Jesus orders, right? He's the one giving the orders. And what I'll tell you is: here's why it's not Jesus, because I know the white horse kind of makes you wonder, because in Revelation 19, Christ is going to come on a white horse, and there's a reason why the Antichrist is coming on a white horse. And we're going to look at that here tonight for just a few moments. And we're going to look at the Antichrist a little bit.
And so, if this makes you a little bit eerie, here's the good news for you: if you know Christ, you don't have to worry about it, okay? This is just information for you. You're going to be raptured out of here. You're going to either die and immediately, and that's not, I mean, listen, I know that sounds terrible, but to be absent with the body is to be with Christ. And so, we can go to our graves with hope, not because of anything we have done, but because of everything Jesus did on the cross for us, okay?
And so, you're either going to die and go meet him, or he's going to call you up wherever you are, and you're going to go meet him in the air, okay? And so, we are going to talk a little bit about the Antichrist, but you see here a couple things.
So, first of all, the The writer Has a bow. And And here's what I will tell you. He has this bow. And here's what, if you follow this in scripture, the bow was always a symbol. of peace.
The arrow is a symbol of war. And so, what you find here is he has a bow, but there's no mention of an arrow. And so, he has a bow. And so, what we gather from this, based on Scripture, is just this: that when the Antichrist comes, he is going to come and he is going to demand and seek to bring peace. And that's why he is going to be so deceptive.
Because who doesn't want peace? Right? And who doesn't want Peace. I mean, even on a day like today, like, we're all wanting peace, right? And so, what he's going to do is he's going to come demanding peace, but then also he has a crown.
He has a crown. And I mentioned this recently while we were studying this, and this is why word studies in Scripture are important. And I encourage you to do these things on your own. But the word crown in the New Testament, there's two Greek words for the word crown. And so you have the first one that's mentioned here in verse number two, and it's mentioned also in Revelation chapter four.
It is the word stephanos. It is the Greek word stephanos.
Okay, everybody say the word Stefanos. Just for fun. You're a Greek scholar. There you go. Congratulations.
Stefanos. And here's what that is. That is a wreath. White corner. Brown.
And those are the crowns that, like, when we get to heaven in Revelation 4, when we're laying those crowns at the feet of Jesus, that's the same Greek word that we find here. It's the Stephanos idea of a crown. And here's why this is not Jesus, because in Revelation chapter 19, Jesus also comes on a white horse, but he is wearing a crown. And here's where the original language is where we always land the plane on how we look at things. Because sometimes in English, we don't get a full picture.
So I'd always encourage you to go back to the way that it was originally written because it will make sense and it will kind of clarify some questions that you have. And so, in the original Greek, in Revelation 19, the word is actually the word diadema. In other words, it's where we get the word diadem. That word literally means majesty. It's talking about the glory of God, specifically kind of the sovereignty of God.
And so, what you see here is that in Revelation 6, on this white horse comes somebody wanting peace, and he's wearing a crown, Stephanos, and this crown is like a wreath-like crown. Revelation 19, white horse, Christ is coming as the Son of God, and on that horse, he is going to wear a crown, the diadema. In other words, the crown we have here in Revelation 6 is inferior to the crown that Christ is going to wear in Revelation chapter 19. Does everybody understand that? And so, what we get here is a picture of Of the Antichrist here on this white horse.
So let's talk a little bit about the Antichrist. And I'll share some thoughts.
So, first of all, if you're in my Bible fellowship class. We are going through 1 John. And as we work through 1 John. Here's what's interesting. We've been talking about the Antichrist.
Here's why. It's because John... is the only one in the New Testament that mentions the word. The Antichrist. It's the only one.
The name the Antichrist is mentioned four times in Scripture. Uh it's mention Um uh twice in 1 John 2. And once in 1 John 4. And then once in 2 John.
So John the Apostle. Ironically. is the only one that is Talking about the Antichrist or whatever. But here's what I want you to mean: that doesn't mean that the Antichrist is not mentioned a bunch of different times. I'm going back to the word Antichrist.
So the word Antichrist is only mentioned four times in the Greek. The word literally means adversary. It has the idea of opposing Christ. Being an enemy of Christ, if you would, that's what Antichrist is.
So, when we say the spirit of Antichrist, like we mentioned earlier, is at play, it's just the thing that opposes God, the thing that opposes God's word, the thing that opposes the things of God. That is what is at play in our world. And so, you got to understand that that's the spirit of Antichrist. But the actual Antichrist that will come onto the scene during the tribulation period is this person that is going to oppose Antichrist. God.
Working definition. I already have this up here.
So, this is what, if you're looking for a definition of what this is, I put everything that I feel like that the Bible says about the Antichrist in this one definition. And so here's what I will tell you. Here's what the Antichrist is. He's a future. Charismatic.
and political leader. Empowered by Satan. to rule the world. Yeah. until the Lord returns and eternally cast Him.
into the lake of fire.
Okay.
So that's, you can write this down if you want, or take a picture of this. This is kind of what my biblical definition of what the Antichrist really is in a lot of senses.
So he's going to come onto the scene during the tribulation period.
Now, one thing I forgot to mention as we came out of chapter 5. Is this. I was always taught and just kind of naturally believed because we look at. You know, we operate in time. God operates outside of time.
He's always been And he always will be. That kind of complicates things in our minds because we have a beginning. And everybody that has lived before us, they've had an ending and stuff like that, right?
So we operate within time. God's outside of time.
So the tribulation period: here's what I'll tell you: there's nothing in scripture. That I don't see, at least. And I went to a very deep source to find this, and that was Pastor Bailey's office, just to make sure I'm right on this, okay? He's the most, you know, other than the Bible, he's my source, okay?
So. But here's what I'll tell you. I was always taught that right when the rapture happened, we're called up, that begins the seven years. I don't know if that's the case. And I'm just going to tell you the reason why is: I don't see that necessarily in scripture.
We know that the rapture will happen before the tribulation period. But there could be a gap after the rapture before the seven years begin. I don't know. And the scripture doesn't tell us. It just assumes, like, as we work throughout time, that it could happen that way.
We just don't know. And so, when this happens, the church has been taken up. This Antichrist is going to come onto the scene during the tribulation period. He is going to be a political leader.
Now, for some of you, because I follow some of you on Facebook, you think he's already in Washington today, I can tell. And so, here's what I want, or has been in Washington at some point. Here's what I want you to know. Could be. We don't know.
But here's what I will tell you: Scripture tells us he won't be revealed until the tribulation.
So, even if he exists today, he's not going to be revealed until later, and you're not going to have to worry about it.
Okay? And so that's what we have to understand. But he's going to be a political future charismatic leader that is empowered by Satan to rule the world for a time until the Lord returns and eternally casts him into the lake of fire. The name Antichrist mentioned four times in Scripture. He's also known by a bunch of different names in Scripture.
So I'll give you a few of them. You can write these down if you want. In Daniel chapter 7. Verse 8, he is referred to as the little horn. In Daniel 9, 26, he's referred to as the prince that shall come.
Revelation 13, we will see him referred to as the beast out of the sea. 2 Thessalonians, he's giving a lot of names, which we're going to go there in a second. He's given the name the man of sin. The Lawless One and the Son of Perdition. All these are referring to the Antichrist.
So even though the name Antichrist is only mentioned four times in the New Testament. He's mentioned a bunch of other times in Scripture, just going by different names. For just a second, if you can join me in 2 Thessalonians, real quick, 2 Thessalonians chapter number 8. Uh 2 Thessalonians chapter number 8. And we are going to, I want to read something to you, and we got enough time to do this.
It's not going to be up on the screen, so I'd encourage you to follow along with this in your Bible. Um.
So, 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul is writing, he's talking about the Antichrist here, and we get a bunch of different things about the Antichrist. Here's what he says, and I'll read 10 verses.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by Spirit, nor by the word, nor by the letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. And that's talking about The judgment and the tribulation and stuff like that. Verse 3: Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin, there he is. Be revealed.
The son of perdition, another name that I mentioned. Verse 4, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things. And now ye know that withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
So. Here's what we learned. A few things on your notes about the Antichrist. First of all, what we see here in verse 4 is that the Antichrist opposes God and exalts himself.
So the Antichrist is going to come onto the scene during the tribulation. He's going to oppose everything of God and exalt himself. He's going to come onto the scene and he's going to demand to be worshipped. Um Daniel chapter 7 and 8. If you want to take some reading home and doing your own time, I'd encourage you to read that.
It writes about this. uh new like what we would call a world order. that is going to happen during the tribulation period. It's that when the world is going to be divided into ten different empires. In that wilds Seems very far-fetched for us to comprehend that.
But during the tribulation, Daniel prophesies that one day when this Antichrist comes, there's going to be these 10 world powers that are going to exist in the world today on planet Earth. And they're going to, you know, kind of group up, if you would, and things like that. I know for us, it seems so far-fetched. Like, how in the world could that even happen? I'm just this just me.
This isn't Bible, and so this is just my opinion on it.
So I'll just give you that because I told you at the beginning of the series, there are some things that I have an opinion about that I can't necessarily prove, but here's what I'll tell you. Regardless of your political kind of take on this. You could see that wide open borders could lead yourself there. And I'm not, whether you agree with borders or not, that's another conversation. But what I'm saying is, how can our world ever get to this idea that there's like 10 empires ruling the world, like what the Bible says?
And I'm just reading into it, and I'm like, how in the world could that ever happen?
Well, one of the ways that that could happen is like we just start linking ourselves up with other people in some ways. And that's how, you know, the whole world, and I know we think America, and that's a part maybe of it. I don't know. And so, but like, we're going to be in these world orders operating at that time, in other words. And Daniel talks about that.
And what he likens this to, okay, is. This this beast with all these different horns, these ten horns. There's going to come this little horn that is going to exist out of the. 10 world empires that are happening during that day. And I don't know why I keep doing this.
Like they're aborting the world and it's kind of orbiting around us or something. But they're going to be existing during this day. And this beast with these 10 horns are going to come about. And this little horn is going to come forward. And that's going to be the Antichrist.
He's going to try to seek to provide peace. To all these orbiting worlds, apparently, like I'm doing right now. And so he's going to provide peace to everybody. That's what he's going to go with. But here's what I will tell you: 2 Thessalonians talks about this, and we'll eventually get to Revelation chapter 13, which talks a lot more about the Antichrist.
And here's what we'll learn there: everything he does opposes God. He is working for the enemy. And so everything he does opposes God. It's sitting on your notes, by the way. This is still point number one.
So don't get ahead of ourselves. And so, Revelation, some of you are looking down, like, where is it? Where is it?
Okay, you just wrote it down. Just look backwards, okay, for just a moment. And so he's going to oppose God and exalt himself. And so that's going to be his main. In fact, Revelation thirteen says he will blaspheme the things of God.
In the name of peace.
Okay, the second thing we learn on your notes is this, the Antichrist, I got a 740, so the Antichrist will sit in God's temple proclaiming himself as God for others to worship him. What we see here in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 4, at the end of verse 4, you see that he is going to sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. In other words, he's going to go into the temple, and this is talking about the Jerusalem temple, and he's going to go into there, and he's going to demand to be worshipped.
Now here's one thing about what's going to eventually happen. The temple in Jerusalem does not exist today. It was destroyed in AD 70 by the Romans. And so this gives us hope. One day, that temple will be rebuilt.
That temple will be rebuilt. And so that's why, like, if you've ever heard the church kind of really interested in what's happening in Jerusalem and you see like some things starting to come about that one day that's going to happen, that's why the church gets somewhat excited about that because that is something that we know is going to eventually happen. It just means we're one step closer. But don't fear the Antichrist because if you're a part of the church, you're going to be raptured and snatched out of here, if you would, okay? And so, but that's going to happen.
So, this gives us hope that the temple will be rebuilt. Third thing about the Antichrist is this: He will be revealed after the rapture. That's what 6 and 7 here in 2 Thessalonians is about. And now ye know that withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. And so he is.
You know, one day going to be revealed at the time of the tribulation. But right now He's being withheld because there's still people that need to trust Christ as Savior. And so he's not being revealed right now. And so the next thing about the Antichrist is found in verses 9 and 10 of 2 Thessalonians. The Antichrist will perform.
Signs and wonders as well as deceive people. I don't know what that's going to look like. But he's going to perform wonders that are going to attract. A lot of people. And it's like, you know, this is why he's going to act like he's God, because when Jesus.
Came onto the scene, Jesus did all these miracles, and you know what people wanted? They wanted his miracles, they wanted his tricks. But they didn't want him. And so when the Antichrist comes, there's these signs and wonders, and he's going to have all this deception. The next one is this: the Antichrist is a work of Satan.
We see that in verse 9 of 2 Thessalonians 2. A work of Satan. Many will be deceived by him. The next one is this: verse 8. The Antichrist will be overthrown and cast into the lake of fire.
Can you say amen to that, okay?
So this deceiving A person that is going to come onto the scene is going to one day, according to verse 8, Be destroyed, and then eventually you will see this in Revelation 19 as well. When Christ comes back to earth and defeats the enemies of Israel, he will cast the Antichrist into the lake of fire along with the devil and his angels and his followers and that kind of thing, and he will be destroyed. All right. Um So this first horse, going back to Revelation 6. All right.
So Christ opens this first seal. It's a white horse, come with a bow. Remember, that's. Peace. As a crown, an inferior crown to Christ.
And he went forth conquering and to conquer. Here's why this is the Antichrist, and this is the easiest. you know, way of why this is not Jesus or whatever. The first seal, it's on your notes, represents deception. Yeah, the deception.
The fact that he's coming on a white horse. Here's what he wants everybody to think. He wants to fool everybody to think he is God. Isn't that the attack of the enemy? From day one?
And that's what the Antichrist is going to do. That's why we know that he's coming. Yes, there's the white horse, and when you look at the word white, you see purity, you see righteousness, that kind of thing. He's coming in deception.
So don't be deceived. This is not Christ. This is the Antichrist.
So let's go to seal number two on your notes. Seal number two in verses three and four. This is the red horse, the red horse. Verse 3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
There went out another horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. Sword. All right. The red horse on your notes represents war.
So, what you see here is this.
So, think tribulation time, these seven years. You're going to have the Antichrist onto the scene. He's going to be deceiving a lot of people. Deception's going to run wild.
Okay.
He's going to perceive himself to be God. And sadly, there's a lot of people that are going to believe him.
Okay.
And then there's going to be war.
So, this seven years is going to be a terrible thing. If you think today is bad, you haven't seen anything yet. And the good news is, for Christians, you don't have to see it if you know Christ today. And so, I want you to know that things get bad here, and we're looking at our world, and we're like, how messed up can it get? It's going to get worse during this time because God's judgment and wrath is going to be bestowed upon the world.
Red is the color of bloodshed. And so, this seal is telling us that there's going to be terror, and there's going to be war, there's going to be riots, there's going to be civil unrest. And war is going to be rampant. During The tribulation. Period.
That's what this seal is representing. That's what the sword is for in verse number four. They're seeking to take the peace away, and war is going to happen. Antichrist is going to try to have this peace and different things and deceive a lot of people. But at the end of the day, there's going to be a lot of bloodshed happening in our world.
The second, or the third seal, sorry, the third seal is found in verses five and six. This is the black horse. It's on your notes. The black horse. The black seal, or that's supposed to be the word horse.
That's my fault. And so, um, Well done on our notes. I put it, I highlighted it here, and I have somebody else, David, does our notes, and he changed it for me without me knowing.
Okay, good.
So the black horse represents famine and economic collapse.
Okay, and so that's what you see here. Verse 5 and 6, it says, When he opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, lo, a black horse. And he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou, hurt not the oil and the wine.
So here, what you have here in verse 6. Is this. So when you study this, a measure here in verse number six is just under a court, if you would. And so it's just under a court. And when you see this, so I was doing just some research, and I'm not good with math, and so I'm looking at this, and so I found some people that really did a lot of this for us.
Like, what does that even look like? And so, based on like the economy today, here's what this would look like.
Okay, if a person made 50,000 a year. If somebody made $50,000 a year based on those numbers and different things, what they're saying is this: this would be almost like. $200 for a loaf of bread.
So, if you made $50,000 a year, imagine what it would cost you if $200, you know, that's a ton of money for a loaf of bread.
So the point is, is what he's saying here in verse number six when he says a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny. The idea is that there is going to be this economic collapse happening around our the globe. that a lot of people are not going to be able to recover. People are going to have to die because of starvation because the economy cannot keep up. And when you look at our world, look at how fragile the economy is anyway.
Can you imagine if costs went up? I freak out if gas goes up. Right? And so here it's just saying that during this day, things are going to be. Crazy, and that the majority of the people of the globe will be impacted.
But what we do have here. is that um see thou hurt not The oil and the wine. That was always a reminder of the wealthy.
So there's going to be a few. That are not going to be hurt or impacted by this, but the majority of the globe will be. People will die of starvation. Um.
The next one, seal number four, and I gotta hurry, a pale horse. Verse 7 and 8. When he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked. And behold, a pale horse.
Now, the word pale, it's a Greek word, chloros. It's this greenish color, if you would. That's what he's talking about.
So, this is the green horse, if you would, the pale horse. And his name that sat on him was death, and hell followed with him, and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth. to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and with the beast of the earth.
So The pale horse represents Death.
So, what you see here during the tribulation, you're going to have deception. You're gonna have war. You're gonna have famine. And now you're going to have Death. It should break every one of your hearts.
During the tribulation, people people are going to die. Many unbelievers will die during the tribulation. And here's what I want you to know. What's really crazy to think about. It says that uh o that over the fourth part of the earth.
So if you took numbers by today, it's almost, what, 8 billion almost people on the planet? Do the math. A lot of people are going to die. A lot of people are gonna are gonna die. over a fourth of the population.
going to die during the tribulation. This is God's wrath. It's very sobering. Thought. to think about.
And then in verses 9 through 17. We see seals five and six.
So we get away from kind of the horse. idea and what we see here in verses 9 and 11 or 9 through 11. We see seal number five. And that is the death of believers.
So verses 9 through 11 say this: And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain. of the word of God. for the testimony which they held. These are martyrs. that are going to die for their fate during the uh tribulation period.
They cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell? The earth. And white robes were given unto every one of them. Aren't you thankful for the white robes that we will be given, not because of anything you have done, but because of the righteousness of Jesus that has been given to you? And it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled.
During the tribulation period, believers will die. You'll see in Revelation 13, many believers will die because they didn't take of the mark of the beast or for their faith and not worshiping the Antichrist. And you'll see that in chapter 13. The question has to be, why are believers here? And remember, you got to remember this: that the rapture, the capturing up and the calling up or whatever, that's going to happen before the tribulation period.
So if you're alive at the point of the rapture. then you're going to be called up.
So that would be everybody that's a Christian now.
Okay.
Well, after that, the tribulation is going to begin at some point on the timeline. And there's still going to be an opportunity for people to trust Christ.
Now, that is the mercy of God. You see, God has always provided rescue for his people. You know, we talked about it. You're like, wow, how could God destroy the world in an ark? Or in in a flood.
He provided the ark. Right? How could God ever allow this? He provided His Son as a form of rescue for us. And so, what you have is rescue.
So, during the church, don't think that, man, if somebody that you know. Um If somebody you know doesn't know Jesus and the rapture happened right now, it should break our hearts that they're going to have to live through some of this. But it doesn't mean that they can't accept Christ. The way that I would put it is this, is like Um If you're living in the world today, make sure you're on the first flight out of here.
Okay.
And that's the point. And so the first flight out of here is the rapture. And you don't want to deal with anything that happens after that. But there's going to be people that are going to be saved. In fact, I mean, we're going to look at this as we get deeper into Revelation that.
God's going to send an angel to fly around the world preaching the good news of the gospel. If that's not the mercy of God, I mean, as he bestows his wrath, he's still saying, I'm not willing that any should perish. But that all should come to repentance. And this angel is going to fly across the whole world talking about the good news of the gospel to all people. And so you have here that the death of the believers here, they're asking this: How long ago, Lord, will you allow this?
Without justice. And obviously the Lord's saying there's still more to be saved. Tarry here. There's still more to be saved. And so, seal number six, and we'll close with this, verses 12 through 14.
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal. And lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree. Casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind, and the heaven departed as a scroll. There's a song about that, a hymn. When it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
So still number six represents natural disasters.
So remember, during the tribulation, You'll have unbelievers that are going to die. Billions of people are going to die. Believers who know Christ are going to die. Natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and different things are all going to be happening on our world. War is going to happen, deception is going to be happening, famine's going to be happening.
All these things are going to be happening during these seven years of tribulation. And here's where I want to land the plane. It's going to be so bad. That look at what verse 15 says. And the kings of the earth.
And the great men. And the rich men All these people that are here. Chief captains, the mighty men. every bondman and every free man. They hid themselves in the dens.
And in the rocks of the mountains. It's going to be so bad that every man is going to literally like. Hide in the caves. Verse 16, and they say to the mountains, crying out to the mountains and the caves and rocks, Fall on us! and hide us from the face of him.
That sitteth on It's going to be so bad. that people are are wanting to die. Before they're willing to Repent. Since the beginning of time, here's what I want you to know, and this is where we're going to land the plane. Since the beginning of time.
You, mankind, have you seen it? has been given a choice. And here's your choice. You can either hide from God. or you can run to God.
So it's the beginning of time. That's the choice. You can either hide from them. Or you can run to them. And what we see here.
is that there are going to be people That would rather Hide themselves. From him. then run to him. And repentance. And that's what's so sad.
And here's what I'm reminded about as we think about that choice. There are people all around us. Better given this choice. They're either going to hide themselves, run away from God, they're going to say things, you know, when our world gets so bad, and they're going to see things, and they would rather hide in the caves and let the rocks come and fall and kill them and everything else before they're willing to turn their face to Him and repent of their sin and confess that He is Lord and He is the Lamb that was slain for them. That's what's so sad about our world.
And as we leave here, here's what I want you to know: that's a somber thing. This tribulation period that we read about And we're going to have to go deeper into it. I apologize. I don't expect our attendance to grow a whole lot over the next 10 weeks or so. Because I get it.
It's it's sobering and Somber to think that there are people and here's what's sad, there's people around you. There's family members. There's neighbors. There's people your kids go to school with. There's people literally all around us at the grocery store, the restaurant.
There's people all around us, and here's what I'm telling you. If they don't know Christ... as Saviour. And they don't know him. And the rapture was to happen tonight.
And it could. Then they would have to live through such a thing. Such a terrible time. And it it should encourage us. to share the good news of the gospel.
to tell people About Jesus, to tell people about him, how he has provided deliverance, he has provided salvation, he has provided Rescue.
