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Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
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End Times Posse
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Rev. 6:1-8
The next event on God’s
prophetic timetable is the rapture of the church.
But after the church is taken out of here, meanwhile…back on earth,
there will follow a 7 year period like this earth has never experienced
before. The Bible calls it the
Great Tribulation. Chapters
6-19 paint for us a graphic picture of this gruesome period…it is so
terrible / frightening / horrible that you will think I’m exaggerating,
overstating the matter, until you see these verses for yourself.
But remember what Jesus
said about the tribulation back in
Matt. 24:21 “Then shall
be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world, unto
this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
That is an amazing statement when you think of all the
wars/famines/diseases/earthquakes/tornadoes/hurricanes/volcanic eruptions.
You think of all the atrocities that have taken place all over this
earth from the time of Adam and Eve, even until now…and Jesus said, add it
all together, and none of it can compare to what the world is about to
experience in the great tribulation.
In the OT, Jeremiah said
this about the tribulation: “I
see every man w/ his hands on his loin as a woman in travail, and all faces
are turned into paleness. Alas,
for that day is great, so that none is like it, it is even the time of
Jacob’s trouble.”
These verses teach us that in the tribulation, men will wrap their
arms around themselves like women giving birth, and that everyone’s faces
will be ashen gray at the terrible, frightening things happening on this
dust ball earth…and the whole world will be focused upon what happens in the
nation
Daniel 12:1, “And there
shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even
to that same time, and at that time, Thy people shall be delivered, everyone
found written in the book.”
What God gave to John in
Rev. 6-19 is a vision of unspeakable horror.
Chapter 5 tells of a 7
sealed scroll…the title deed to the earth.
The question was asked, Who is worthy to open that scroll, and
reclaim ownership of the earth from Satan?
We find that Christ alone is worthy!
The Lamb is also the Lion!
Now, in ch. 6, the scroll
begins to be peeled back…and 1 at a time the seals are broken.
And as the seals are broken, the horrors of the tribulation are
turned loose upon the earth, and they unfold before our very eyes.
The first four seals
involve the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.
Let’s look at them one at a time:
1.
As we open
the first seal and look at the first horseman on the
white horse, I
want you to think of the word
Dominion.
v. 1-2
“thunder”=indicates a storm is coming.
It’s the sound of heavy hooves galloping this way!
Who is this rider on the
white horse, unleashed on the earth at the beginning of the tribulation?
Some might think it’s Jesus Christ, but it’s not…that doesn’t come
until the end of the tribulation.
Rev. 19
11
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him
was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make
war.
12 His eyes were as a flame
of fire, and on his head were many crowns
That’s Jesus Christ
coming at the end of the tribulation…but that’s not the description given
here in ch. 6. Matter of fact,
the only similarity is the white horse.
So, if the rider on this
white horse in ch. 6 is not Jesus Christ, then who is he?
I believe him to be
the anti-christ…a
phony!
In the Bible, a white horse symbolizes conquest.
A bow is a symbol of power and warfare, and a crown symbolizes
dominion. There is coming one
last and final dictator to this earth…he’s the antichrist…he’s coming on a
white horse as an imitator of Jesus Christ.
He is Satan’s great imitator/deceiver…and his deception is so
convincing, that even the Jews, many of them, will believe him, and will
think that their Messiah has finally arrived.
He will come on a platform of peace, (notice: no arrows, just a bow)
but this last world dictator will bring death and destruction to this earth.
You say, how is that
possible? How is this going to
happen?
v. 2
“given unto him” Yes.
His power and his dominion are given unto him.
They are given to him by God.
It is God who will allow it to happen.
Listen to Rev. 17:17
17
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give
their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
According to that verse,
God will convince the rulers of the world to give their power to the
anti-christ.
Satan will think that
he’s in charge. During the
tribulation, the devil will think he’s calling the shots/running the affairs
of earth…but it is God who will control it all.
Even when chaos seemingly rules, God is on the throne and in full
control…but in essence, what God is doing is He’s giving mankind enough rope
to hang himself with!
In the tribulation,
although man will still have some freedom to choose, by the end of the game
everything will be according to God’s sovereign plan.
We'll learn more about the anti-christ in chapters 13, 17 and 18…but
when you open that first seal, and see the white horse ride by, think of
that word Dominion.
2.
Think of the
word
Division,
as you watch the red
horse ride by.
v. 3-4
Red is the color blood/war.
The anti-christ comes on a platform of peace…and one of the things
that will propel him to power is his plan which seems to be workable for
world peace. He will do
something which has never been done…bring peace to the middle east…but it
will not last…for at the mid point of the tribulation, after 3.5 years, the
second seal is opened, and the rider of the red horse will snatch the peace
from the earth.
THIS IS HUGE when you
consider current events in the Mid East.
It will come, first of
all, in the form of nation against nation…and it will also come in the form
of widespread violence, man against man.
Magog is prophesied to bring ‘many others’ with them…possibly the
Arab Israel haters from the entire Mid East.
But definitely
Can you imagine the
confusion, the chaos that will rule.
You think we live in a violent society now?…well, it’s nothing
compared to the malicious slaughter which will take place during the
tribulation. Dead bodies will
lie in the streets/groaning and suffering will be everywhere, and the stench
of death will reek in the air.
The Red horse speaks of
division.
3.
Depravation…as the black
horse rides by.
v. 5-6
Here is a time of
famine. Here is a
time of economic disaster/wholesale starvation.
War spreads across the world from the mid-east, and food and fuel
become more and more scarce.
“Balances”=old fashioned
scales…representing scarcity of food.
During the tribulation, food will be weighed like gold.
v. 6
measure of wheat/3 measures of barley
This represents one day’s food supply in that day, and the penny
represents one day’s wages at that time.
So, during the tribulation, a man will have to work all day—and it
will be all he can do just to buy enough food for that day.
It will be all a person can do just to keep body and soul together
and alive.
Again, we already live in
a world of perpetual hunger. We
tend to forget, or not even believe that here in the land of plenty…but it’s
true. 1/3rd of the
world is starving/1/3rd is underfed/and if you’ve got enough to
eat, you’re in the upper third!
But a world-wide famine is coming in the tribulation on an unprecedented
scale.
v. 6
“see thou hurt not the oil and wine”
These represent the luxury foods of John’s day.
The horseman was told not to tamper w/ these items.
In the tribulation, the poor will get poorer, and the rich will get
richer. The elite group of the
wealthy will retain their riches thru a moral sellout to the antichrist, and
they will be the few who will carry on in normal fashion, as the vast
majority are totally deprived.
The black horse
represents starvation and deprivation like the world has never seen.
White-dominion-antichrist
Red-division-war/violence
Black-deprivation-starvation
4.
Let’s watch as the 4th horseman rides by, and as we do,
think of the word “Death”.
v. 7-8
“pale” comes from Greek word
cloros (chlorine/chlorophyll), and
speaks of a gastly
green color…it’s the idea of a body that has turned green and
rotten w/ decay…and according to v. 8 during the tribulation,
1/4th
of the world’s population will die.
Think about that and let that soak in.
Right now, that represents well over 1.5 billion people!
How will this happen?
This is just speculation, but that could include something like germ /
biological warfare, or something nuclear in nature on a national level.
Dr. Frank Holtman, head
of
What an unbelievable
chain reaction will take place:
First, the antichrist
will come w/ dominion/then war
will come w/ division/famine will
come w/ deprivation/then
death will come to over a billion
people…it would be impossible to bury them all!
But that’s not the end of it…John saw 2 personalities associated w/
this pale horse…look again:
v. 8
Capital ‘D’ Death….and Hell followed…
This means that while death claims the body, hell claims the
soul…after death comes hell and judgment, and no one will be able to
escape…no one will be able to pull the dirt over their face.
You say, Bro. Jerry,
you’re just trying to scare me!…
…if you’re not saved, I wish I could!
Although fear motivation
is not the very best motivation to get saved…it’s not a bad motive…matter of
fact, wise is the man or woman who recognizes the wrath to come and asks God
to save them from it (saved from hell!)
The Bible says when Noah
built that ark he was moved w/ fear of what was coming.
If you’re not saved and this message scares you, you’ve got good
reason to be afraid!…for these 4 horsemen are ready to ride…they’re saddled
up, and if you’ll put your ear to the ground I think you’ll hear them
coming!
The stage is set for the
rapture of the church…and these seals will begin to be opened, and these 4
horsemen will ride.
Now, it’s not just the
religious world that’s warning that the world is headed for chaos.
Even the secular world is feeling a sense of impending doom.
George Borgstrom in his
book “Hungry Planet” said, “it is
sobering to realize that no part of the world, in the event of serious crop
failure, is more than 1 year away from critical starvation.
And even in the rich
Doctors and scientists are continuously learning of new strains of
bacteria which are resistant to all known antibiotics…and doctors around the
world are becoming alarmed at the possibilities of the greatest outbreak of
disease the world has ever seen.
SARS contains animal viruses, and then you’ve got things like the
bird flu which had the CDC in a panic, and v. 8 says this pale rider death
kills w/ ‘the beasts of the earth.’
Jesus said, in the last
days there will be a great increase in earthquakes, famines, and pestilence
(incurable diseases). And you
cannot watch the news today w/out seeing all 3 regularly.
If you’ll pick up your Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the
other, it’s hard to be blind to the fact that we are in the closing shadows
of this age. The flames of
judgment are on the horizon…things are nearing the conclusion.
The bottom line?
If
you’re not saved…you’d better get saved.
Let me tell you something
about salvation/forgiveness of sins:
It is so precious/valuable, that God refuses to allow you to buy it/earn it/work for it…but if you’re willing to receive it as a free gift, God will give it to you! Fear of these future events is not a bad reason at all to get saved, but there’s so many positive benefits to salvation that I have to confess, even if there was no hell, I’d still want to be a Christian!
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