A Glimpse Of Glory 3

Judgement From The Worthy One

Text: Revelation 6:1-8

Introduction

We have just been given a tour of God’s cosmic radiant throne! Through the eyes and words of John, our hearts have been led to celebrate the fact Jesus Christ is truly alive and is the worthy One to bring final redemption to His people and final judgement on all wickedness and unbelief.

John attention is now turning to Christ as he watches Jesus carry out the Father’s plan to repossess what was lost back in the garden; mankind and creation. This process is one of peace, but of war. It will be a series of judgements that will ultimately lead to the final battle of Armageddon.

My friends, until this global type of holocaust occurs, we will continue to witness this world deteriorate further and further into chaos, confusion, and sin.

Matthew 24:6–8 “6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Some who don’t take time to understand how God is good, will point the finger at God and say, “What right do you have to do these things?!”

The question we should be asking, “Why haven’t we already been judged?”

Listen, this is not God throwing a temper tantrum. It is God doing something that God wished He would not have to do. These warnings does not reflect an evil God, but rather a gracious God.

Here is an interesting yet sad fact about humanity; they are they only creature who can and does reason away a warning or potential danger.

Hebrews 10:31 “31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

1) The Seal Of False Peace

The contents of the scroll is not read, but acted out.

The word “Come” is declared with a mighty thunder.

A white horse and it’s rider comes forth.

These first four seals involve horses and riders (“four horsemen of the Apocalypse).

Horses are usually associated with words like triumph, majesty, power, conquest, etc, when you read of them in scripture.

Some theologians like to think the one sitting on this horse is Jesus Christ.

However, Christ is the one opening the seals.

This riding is carrying an empty bow, while Christ is illustrated as one with a sword.

Christ returns at the end of the tribulation, not at it’s beginning.

More than trying to identify the rider as a person, it is best to understand the impersonal forces coming from each rider.

However, it is my estimation, the Antichrist best fits this rider and what it accomplishes on earth.

Period of false world peace.

Illustration — Adolf Hitler spelled out in detail his plans for conquest in his book Mein Kampf, published more than a decade before World War II began. Yet, incredibly, the Western allies (particularly Britain and France) persisted in believing Hitler’s false claim to be a man of peace. They stood idly by as he reoccupied the Rhineland (demilitarized after World War I), thus abrogating the Versailles Treaty, then annexed Austria, the Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia. Desperate to appease Hitler and avoid war, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain met with the Nazi dictator at Munich in 1938. Upon his return to England, Chamberlain triumphantly waved a piece of paper (containing a worthless pledge of peace from Hitler) which he claimed guaranteed “peace with honor … peace for our time.” When Winston Churchill (one of the few never taken in by Hitler) rose in the House of Commons to declare that England had suffered a total, unmitigated defeat he was shouted down by angry members of Parliament. The deception was nearly universal; almost everyone misread Hitler’s intentions. Only after he invaded Poland in September 1939 did the allies finally acknowledge the truth. By then it was too late to avoid the catastrophe of the Second World War. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 179.

False sense of safety from war, famine, death, etc.

God has always warned His people about false peace.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 “3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

His conquering will be a bloodless victory.

“crown” = a winners crown, not a kings crown.

He will conquer through deceit.

His false peace will come to a halt halfway through the tribulation period.

Daniel 9:27 “27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

Only Christ can bring true peace — Revelation 20:1–6 “1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

2) The Seal Of Global War

Again, just like WW2, when people come to understand the Antichrist’s false peace, devastation will ensue across the globe.

Red horse — this color often times depicts fire, blood, war, etc.

God’s judgement descends and brings the Antichrist’s time of false peace to a close through a bloody holocaust.

A. What was this rider to accomplish?

a. He removes peace from the earth

Q — Can you imagine if peace vanished from every corner of the earth?

The existence of peace is part of God’s restraint over the evil in this world.

Psalm 2:1–4 “1 Why do the heathen rage, And the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, And cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision.”

Violent slaughter will become commonplace. While Scripture does not give the details, the advances in modern weaponry suggest a terrible, unimaginable holocaust. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 180.

Matthew 24:6–7 “6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

This judgement does not come from man, but from God.

b. He is given a great sword

Description — a short, stabbing sword a Roman soldier carried into battle; an assassin’s weapon.

It is a “great” sword = the extent of way.

When war ensues across the globe, the Antichrist’s hand will be force to ensue war as well.

Daniel 8:24 “24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.”

Many of God’s people (Jews) will be victims of this time of war!

Matthew 24:9 “9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”

These violent and bloody events will continue leading up the the millennial kingdom.

3) The Seal Of Global Famine

Use info from website

A. John was shocked

“Behold” — This gives you the understanding how John was shocked to this rider.

Lamentations 5:10 “10 Our skin was black like an oven Because of the terrible famine.”

Famine is a logical consequence of worldwide war as food supplies are destroyed and those involved in food production are killed. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 182.

Matthew 24:7 “7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

Famine has been something God has used in the past to bring judgement or discipline.

B. Pair of scales

What usually as to happen when food supplies are drastically shortened in order to make sure everyone is provided for?

Illustration: As in the United States during the Depression, in Europe in the aftermath of World War II, and today in many war-torn third-world nations, there will be starving people standing in food lines. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 182.

C. A quart of wheat…three quarts of barley for a denarius

barely enough to sustain one person for one day, while a denarius represents one day’s wages for an average worker. People’s labor will barely provide enough food for themselves and not enough to feed their families. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 183.

Those with families will be able to purchase three quarts of barley for a denarius. That will provide food for their families, but barley was low in nutritional value and commonly fed to livestock. Thus, a person’s wages will barely feed three people with low quality food. Both of those scenarios represent starvation wages, and signify severe famine conditions. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 183.

Can you imagine working all day for one loaf of bread?

All of this is not the worst to be seen of the tribulation period!

4) The Seal of Death

A. The horses color

Pale (ashen; green): Chlōros (ashen), from which the English words “chlorophyll” and “chlorine” derive, refers to a sickly, pale, yellow-green color; characteristic of the decomposition of a corpse.

Is this not what you would expect as a result from widespread war and famine?

B. Death and Hades

Hell (Hades) speaks about the grave.

Revelation 1:18 “18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

Notice the numeric impact!

Example: roughly 8 billion of the earth’s population today. This would equal roughly 2 billion deaths!

Think about it…what kind of weapon have we built with out great intelligence?

Nuclear, chemical, biological, and more.

Humans have spent more time being creative in how this could unfold than considering how to avoid it! (movies and books)

What will be the tools of Death?

Sword, famine, and pestilence (death).

Pestilence = “thanatos” which also translates to “death.”

Example — Throughout human history, disease has killed people on a far more massive scale than war. More Union and Confederate soldiers died from disease during the Civil War than were killed in battle. An estimated 30 million people died during the great influenza epidemic of 1918–19—more than three times as many as the estimated 8.5 million soldiers who died in battle during World War I. In addition, several million more died at about that same time in an outbreak of typhus in Russia, Poland, and Romania. In a world ravaged by war and famine, it is inevitable that such disease will be widespread. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 184.

Wild beast

John McArthur claimed not many think of rats as a wild beast. But it definitely works well with disease.

The most infamous and devastating occurrence of rat-borne disease was the Black Death, a fourteenth-century outbreak of bubonic plague that wiped out one-fourth to one-third of Europe’s population. In a world ravaged by war, famine, and disease, the rat population may run wild. John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 184.

Conclusion

Far worse is still to come in the remainder of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls.

Hebrews 10:31 “31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

There will be no escape for impenitent unbelievers from the terrors of the Tribulation, or from the infinitely worse terrors of hell.

Hebrews 2:3 “3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”