The Seals Part II
Notes
Transcript
We are going to get the other seals but first I want to start in Acts when Paul arrives in Athens.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
We begin with Paul today because I think it is important to understand the scriptures of Revelation but also we need to understand our position in society. At the core of Revealation we see the final judgement of the world but we also see the restortation of God’s creation. I have set it many times that while technology and the speed of society has changed. The overall problems of society has not changed very much. We live in a world obssesed with idols. It isn’t about politics or anything like that. It is about the spiritual health of the society in which we live. The truth of the matter is that we are still in a spiritual war with sin, with idolatry, with the devil and this will continue each and every day.
Paul walks through Athens and it is a major city in the ancient world, it is still a major city in today’s world. It is a city full of idolatry. As Paul walks he isn’t angry, he is distressed. He is sad that such a great city could fall so deep into idolatry. So he gets to work. In the same way, we can walk through this world and get angry. No one would blame you, there is a lot of upsetting things that are happening. There is an immense amount of idolatry in our society. but a challenge for all of us, myself included, we shouldn’t get angry, we should get to work just like Paul does in Athens.
However God is still working every single day as well. The evidence is all around us and the evidence is in this very church. We can see God working in our lives through the prayer requests but also with how many people are coming to Jesus. We are baptizing people, people are showing up for Sunday service, people are coming to all the different small groups. Then there is the outreach this church has through the food pantry, through the discipleship people are doing every day and visiting various different nursing homes.
So let us continue on in Revelation
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
These seals are one of the reasons that we need to get to work. We are in the tribulation period now and we are in the judgement phase. There is an end to this spiritual war and we know who the victor will be. This 4th seal is one of the most devastesting judgements on the world. When the seals are finished there will be no doubt that God is in charge of this world. So an approximate number for a 4th of the earth is around a billion people. This is not a trivial judgement but a major judgement against the world. It will be an unpresecendented time of trouble in this world.
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
This seal is the revelation of those that had been martyred for the faith. Those that had been killed because of the word of God.
One of the reasons why I am so passionate about protecting our right to worship and the ability to preach and study the Word of God is because it is not this way everywhere in the world. In fact in many places in the world being a Christian is an incrediably dangerous way of life.
Throughout History: 70 Million martyrs
More than half of all Christian martyrs died in the 20th century
Estimated 400 Christians are killed daily for their faith
More than 360 million experience high levels of persecution (violence)
Regions: North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Nigeria
In Nigeria
In June 2025, over 200 Christians were killed in an attack attributed to Fulani militias, according to multiple sources. Survivors reported gunmen storming the village on motorcycles, setting homes on fire, and killing people indiscriminately, describing it as one of the deadliest recent attacks,
We need to always keep the persecuted church in our prayers. I know that I always thank God that we can come here and worship God when we like. I pray that we never know this persecution but we need to pray for the strength of our brothers and sisters in Christ that are facing this every day.
These martyrs will be given white robes but they must wait. There must be more martyrs to come. In the last seals , I pointed out some of the groundwork that is being laid in the world as we march through history. The ground work for more martyrs has long been laid.
No one is a martyr for a conclusion, no one is a martyr for an opinion; it is faith that makes martyrs.
Saint John Henry Newman
Apologetics discussion: Faith and the truth of God
It is faith that makes martyrs. The tough truth is that none of us know what would we do in these kinds of situations. I pray for that type of faith though. One thing that I was convicted of when looking at these stats and praying about the persecution and tribuliation was having that kind of faith in my life.
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
This is one of the most dramatic and devasting judgements on the unbelieving world. I take all of this as literal and not as figurative. It will be such devasting event that mountains and islands will move. There will be zero debate whether or not this is a judgement of God
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 6:15–17
The practical effect of the judgment was fear in unbelievers from all walks of life. They called on the mountains and the rocks to fall on them and to hide them from God’s wrath. Their fear was so great they would rather be killed by a falling mountain than to face the wrath of the Lamb and Their wrath, referring to the anger of the Triune God. Again this is not a picture of ordinary trouble but the period of greatest distress in world history.
Chapter 6 that we just went through during the last couple of sermons is one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible. It also puts to rest the false teachings that God is not going to judge the world. it puts to rest the false teachings that God affirms sin. Yes God will judge the world but, let us look at that last question in verse 17, and who can withstand it.
It really is a great question because those who can withstand it, are those who came to God in time of grace before a time of judgement. Those that gave their lives to Jesus Christ, gives them the ability to stand when God does deal with the earth in this final period of great distress.
Which brings back to Paul in Athens.
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”
Paul does what Paul did at every place he went. He preached the Good news of Jesus. He preached the gospel. In Athens there were those who came to Jesus because Paul wasn’t concerned with what people thought but he was concerned with what God thought. That is the attitude that we need, we cannot be concerened with what people think about us, we must be concerned with what God thinks. God wants all of us children to come back to Him. The hard truth is that there will always be those that turn from God. But the Grace of God is at work , right now , Mr. Dacus told us 2 weeks ago that people were coming back to church and he was correct. We need to get to work during this time of grace
Let us pray
