A Time to Choose

Revelation 6:1–8 ESV

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!” When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

As Christians who believe that the Book of Revelation speaks truth about how the world will go, leading to the return of Jesus, we look around us and see the signs everywhere that we are in the last days.

More and more, I believe Satan is going to look for ways to get us to lose faith in God.

He wants to fill us with fear.

He wants to sever our connections with each other as the body of Christ.

We all know this to be true. What I’ve just said isn’t anything you haven’t heard before.

You know how, when you are reading God’s word, sometimes you see something that rings true at the time.

Earlier this week, as I was reading the passage above, I was struck by some correlations to what is going on around us today.

I am NOT saying that this is what John was trying to share when he wrote the book of Revelation!

It’s just something the Lord used to help me see our current situation more clearly.

The Scroll

First of all, let’s explain what is going on in Revelation 6.

The Apostle John sees Jesus receive a scroll, in which are recorded events that are to come.

This scroll is bound with seven seals, each of which represents an event to take place.

As each seal is broken, the event that will come is revealed.

The Horsemen

The first four seals, when opened, reveal individuals on horses.

The first, on a white horse, sets out to conquer the world.

The second, on a bright red horse, steals people’s peace and instigates wars and panic.

The third, on a black horse, ushers in a time of famine, when everything is in short supply, and what is available becomes vastly overpriced.

When it mentions a denarius in verse six, that was the equivalent of a day’s wages.

The fourth, on a pale horse, brings death to one fourth of the world.

The Connection to Today

As I was reading this, I couldn’t help but notice that the first rider was given a crown.

I started thinking about COVID-19, which is an abbreviation for Corona Virus Disease 19.

The word “corona” actually is Latin, meaning crown.

The virus is called this because it is covered in little protrusions that someone thought looked like a crown.

So we have this first rider, who is given a crown and who has a bow for attacking people and a goal to conquer the world.

And today, we have this new virus, with a crown, that seemingly is spreading unchecked throughout the world.

The second rider steals peace and sows discord.

Within only a few weeks since first appearing in the news, COVID-19 is causing fear and even hysteria throughout the world.

People here in Perryville were calling our Middle school the other day because they read about a possible COVID contamination at Perryville Middle School—in Maryland!

Parents have started sending their kids to school with surgical masks.

The mayor in Springfield, MO, sent an official request to all churches in his city to cancel services because there are two confirmed individuals in the area with COVID-19.

Major events are being cancelled.

The Fine Arts Festival that our youth were going to attend yesterday was cancelled Thursday afternoon.

Musicians are cancelling their concert tours.

TV shows and movies are halting their filming.

The third rider brings famine and inflation of prices

Stores are being depleted of staple supplies as people prepare to hide in their houses for the next month or so.

We went to Walmart last night, and grocery shelves were empty of things like eggs, bread, beans, ramen noodles, and cleaning supplies. Zenetta looked on Amazon online, and she saw that they were charging $50 for cheap quality toilet paper!

The stock market is also being severely affected, as people are afraid to make investments right now.

This leads to the fourth rider, bringing death.

The funny thing is that I don’t think COVID -19 will directly be responsible for the death of 1/4th of the world’s population.

The major researchers of this virus say that most people who get it will get a mild respiratory infection that might last awhile.

They think that it might be slightly more contagious than the flu, but only under certain conditions.

If you follow the same caution that you do during heavy flu season, you should be relatively fine.

Stay approximately six feet away from someone with a cough.

Wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your face.

Avoid shaking hands...

But if we allow this fear that is associated with COVID-19 to control us, things will only get worse.

If the stock market crashes, jobs will be lost.

Hospitals will not have resources to treat the sick.

Lives will be lost.

Satan wants to use this virus to fill us with fear and turn us away from faith in God.

If things continue as they are, could it open the door for martial law to be implemented the US?

How long will it be before the government DEMANDS that our church services be cancelled?

If that time comes, what will our response be?

Today, we need to decide how we are going to respond to this current crisis.

Are we going to respond in fear or in faith?

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

While we need to use wisdom to not put ourselves in situations where we could easily contract sickness, we must not get caught up in the hysteria swirling around us!

We must also be determined that, come what may, we are going to stay connected as the body of Christ.

We cannot use this virus as an excuse to separate ourselves from the church or from reaching out to this community.

If we should reach a point where we are not allowed to gather together in this building, we are coming up with ways that we can continue to grow together in the Lord.

We can set up house groups.

We are looking at ways to put sermons and teaching online.

We can also create an online community where we can interact with each other and discuss scripture.

These are just a few ideas as a means to prepare for certain possibilities.

The main thing is that we determine right now to NOT live in fear, but instead put our trust completely in the Lord to protect us.

This is when we determine to stick together as a body—as a family.

We are going to take time right now to spend time with the Lord in prayer and reflection.

Are you living in fear, or in faith?

If things get worse, if this current crisis turns out to be the conduit by which the persecution of the saints begins, will you stand strong?

Are you ready to be the Light for an increasingly dark world?

If you have been more consumed with COVID-19 than with quality time with God, you need to repent and re-prioritize.

Find a place to kneel, sit or stand and spend time with the Lord right now.