Monday, August 9, 2021

Four Horses and the Martyrs

 

War, thoughts of war, and the economic and social conditions that precede and follow war are the primary fuel of speculation about the Antichrist, the end of the world, and the second coming of Christ.  In 1981 a prominent economist alluded to the coming depression, brought on by high interest rates and speculative investment-mentality.  He stated that the last time such conditions existed was 1928 and 1929.  He encouraged us to watch the government begin to print massive amounts of money to head off another Great Depression.  Then he made the statement that relates to our text:

As in Germany in the 1920's, recourse to the money printing process in the 1980's will set the stage in this country for the second coming of a Hitler.[1]

Chicago's Rabbi Eckstein said that

...all of this climatic ferment epicentered in the middle east, seems to him to be messianic times.  And if this is it, if the messiah appears, rabbi Eckstein says that he can't wait to ask him one question:  Is this your second visit or your first?[2]

I have an answer for the venerate Rabbi -- it's the second!  The first was when He came as a child; this next time it will be as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  And this time instead of a crown of thorns on His head, there will be a sword of judgment in His mouth.

Today’s text is the beginning of judgment on the earth.  Chapter 5 dealt with the worship scene in heaven, a seven-sealed book, held in the right hand of God.  Only Jesus is worthy to open the book, and, as he begins to break the seals, we discover that it is closely connected with the Olivet Discourse (found in the 24th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel), Jesus "other sermon."

Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”  Mathew 24:3

It is important to remember (for perspective, and our sanity), that Revelation is not strictly chronological.  The events we will look at today are after the church has departed earth.  Those who have received Jesus Christ are taken out (raptured, caught away) from this earth before the beginning of God's wrath.

For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.  1 Thessalonians 5:9

The unfolding of the wrath of God happens in three series of judgments: seals, trumpets and vials.  They are like scenes of a play.  Each series has seven movements.  One expositor put it this way:  The action of [Revelation] is carried forward, for the most part, by these series.[3] 

(I am indebted to that author, Dr. John Phillips, at least for the outline titles, as he has identified

          ·       the seals movement as:  The world ruined by man

          ·       the trumpets movement as:  The world ruled by Satan

          ·       the vials movement as:  The world rescued by God.

The Troubling Question in Your Mind

There is one big question about this judgment we all want answered with certainty.  And we want it answered before we start to hear about beasts, wars, and plagues.  The question, preacher, is...

Are you absolutely certain Christians won't be here to suffer along with unbelievers during this great tribulation?

The answer to that is YES!  The proof is the context of this whole chapter, coupled with what we know about God's nature:

For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.  2 Thessalonians 2:7

Throughout this series of judgment movements God's Holy Spirit is not seen on the earth.  He is the One who is holding it (lawlessness) back (restraining it)

The church, indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, is the great restrainer of evil on the earth. 

          ·       It is the church that first built hospitals. 

          ·       It is the church that has pushed for education and human rights in all ages. 

          ·       It is the church that exposes evil and wrong in society. 

          ·       It was, as France's deTocqueville stated, it ... goodness that made America great, and it was the flaming pulpits of America, ablaze with righteousness that made America good

It was the Spirit of God that made those pulpits burn.  And when the Spirit is withdrawn, the church leaves this earth also; and with her go the restraining influence for good.  Evil will have its heyday, so that judgment may fall properly on the earth and all its evil! 

So this morning we study God’s judgment unfolding as the impeccable and infallible power of God’s judgment begins to pour out judgment on the earth.

The White Horse   (Man's Philosophy without God)

I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory.  Revelation 6:2

And the connection with Jesus’ other sermon:

for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.    Matthew 24:5

The "beginning of the end" is opened with a look into what is already happening, a world that thinks it can get along without God.  The technical name is humanism.  William Henley's famous poem, Invictus describes the condition,

Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud;

Under the bludgeoning of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed.

It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

The problem with humanism is it makes no allowance for God.  Some humanists even believe in God.  However, they assume the position that God may have been back of the creation, but now takes no interest or part in the affairs of man.  In short, we are left to our own devices; we must create our own destiny. 

          ·       The Communist debacle was anti-god in ideology. 

          ·       The evolutionist group reduces man to blobs of protoplasm, absent of moral ability or responsibility.  

          ·       The New Age fruitcakes are humanistic, because it is an eclectic mish-mosh of religions that have as their center, man alone.  The New Age movement is all about what can be done to make one feel better about oneself!  It has no object of worship except self.  

          ·       The peace movements have no peace. 

          ·       The sexual revolution backfired, and became the sexual nightmare of AIDS, abortion on demand, and Homosexual confusion. 

          ·       A governmental love-affair with liberalistic socialism masquerades as love and kindness, but will ring empty when it bankrupts the hand that feeds the handouts.

          ·       The next battle ground, euthanasia, is already heating up.

What is the tie that binds all these?  They are all products of secular humanism.   They all replace God with man on the throne of the universe.  In this nightmare TRUE Christianity is reduced to laughable anti-intellectualism(You really believe a man was God, died and rose again?  Hey, I believe in spiritual things -- but don't get spooky on me here!

The white horse of philosophy is ridden by none other than the Antichrist.  We can say that with authority, even though some interpret this to be Jesus.  The rationale is that this crowned conqueror, riding on a white horse is an imitator of the real peace-bringer, Jesus. 

Note how in Revelation 6:3-4, the next event is war.  Jesus' peace will be everlasting.  This peace is an imitation, and comes from the chief counterfeiter:

“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it.  For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. Matthew 24:23-24

False prophets use feel good religious tactics, which is the philosophy of man without God; these are attractive, inoffensive, and totally ineffective! 

In the end, when Holy God judges this world, humanism will just not be enough!

The Red Horse   (Policies of Men's Government)

When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!”  Then another horse appeared, a red one.  Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth.  And there was war and slaughter everywhere.  Revelation 6:3-4
And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic.  Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.  Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  Matthew 24:6, 7a

The "policies" of government have always seemed to lean toward war, while talking about lasting peace.  Actually, there is such an economic advantage to war, free societies cannot last indefinitely without it!  In the realm of control, our so-called free societies are not any different from the Communists or Socialists.  The Evil Iron Red Curtain used armies to control their own people.  But the players in "first world" countries use emotional patriotic appeals to get their young men into the armies.  And it is only a matter of time till those armies claim the valuable oil rights, control the population, and configure the world map the way it ought to be!

The Anitichrist will use the same tactics, only on a grander scale!  In earlier translations the word “kill” is used, but the NLT is better as it uses the stronger word, slaughter! Politics is all about power; politicians exert power; the process claims power; it is never about peace, it’s always about the slaughter of life.

and the way of peace they do not know."   Romans 3:17

The Black Horse   (Prosperity of Men's Greed)

When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.  And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay.  And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.”  Revelation 6:5-6
There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.               Matthew 24:7b

The black horse with its rider's scales is a symbol of economic disaster for the poor.  You might say, economic disaster for the poor?  Well, in times of economic tightening, it is the poor who suffer most.  The Great Depression did not touch the very wealthy.  Many of the wealthiest families increased their fortunes due to the lost property of the middle – and lower-class families.  There is a pronounced widening of the gap between the rich and poor these days.

Never have famines around the world been more devastating than at present.  As they worsen, they will become more frequent.  When starving people in Ethiopia cut down every tree and brush to make fuel for fires – or to sell for food – there springs up a desert.  Deserts do not produce food for the future!  The average American dog eats better than the average child in Africa.

Famine always follows or accompanies war, and it is getting worse.  Now, according to the latest statistics[4], 821 million in the world (nearly one-quarter of the world's people) live in abject poverty, only a day or two from starvation.  That will seem like heaven, compared to the black horse of famine during the tribulation.  A day's wages will not even buy a day's food for one person, much less that family.

The Pale Horse   (Pestilence of Man's Blood)

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.    Revelation 6:7-8
Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.  Matthew 24:28

Plagues and diseases have always followed war and famine.  In the 14th century the Bubonic Plague wiped out one-third of the European population.  During and after World War I, typhus and influenza killed 26 million.  Typhus alone killed 200 million over a four-century span.  In World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, nerve gases began the chemical warfare that (if truth be known) paved the way for the deadly strains of viruses such as polio, AIDS, and a myriad of yet unknown enemies (probably including Covid) that will devastate the world population during the Great Tribulation.  Fully one-fourth of all living (11/2 billion if it were today), will die within a few months.

How will all this happen?  Perhaps as did the bubonic epidemic, with infected rats, and stockpiled viruses.  All that is required is the right circumstance, the right motivation, the right madman.  It is not how, but when...for it will be a reality!

“Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How terrible it will be when all four of these dreadful punishments fall upon Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease—destroying all her people and animals.  Ezekiel 14:21

The Martyrs   (Persecution of Believers)

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony.  They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”  Then a white robe was given to each of them.  And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them.  Revelation 6:9-11
But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.  “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed.  You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.  And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.  Matthew 24:8-10

The Nazi holocaust is a relatively fresh memory for our contemporary society.  Eighty years is not quite long enough to forget.  However, the persecution of Jews goes back to Abraham, Moses, and the time of Ruth. 

In the Christian Era, we must not forget that the church was comprised mainly of converted Jews.  Domitian, a Roman emperor, put believers on poles in his gardens, covered them with oil-based pitch, and set them on fire to be human lamps for his late evening strolls.  The arena floors ran blood-red with the lives of saints who would not deny Christ. 

The history of the early church is written in blood.  Tertullian (c.AD160–220), was a Christian historian in the 3rd century.  It was he who said:

The more you mow us down, the more quickly we grow;

the blood of Christians is fresh seed.

Wendell Phillips, a preacher of the 19th century said,

Every step of progress the world has made has been from scaffold to scaffold, and from stake to stake.

In the contemporary world, some believers recognize that suffering for Christ ought to be the norm.  Radio preacher, John Debrine said,

It took Acts 8.1 to fulfill Acts 1.8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”   Acts 1:8
A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria.  Acts 8:1

M. Scott Peck is a believer who happens to be a psychiatrist.  He once wrote,

...as the time of the martyrs largely passed, so did the life blood begin to flow out of Christianity and out of the Church.  Persecution should be an omnipresent risk for every Christian.[5]

Beloved, conditions now exist for these five horses to break-forth on the earth with their horrible judgments.  The peace initiatives that will all fail, accompanied by power-grabbing governments, who propel nations into war and the resultant famines, disease, and chaos will be followed by self-proclaimed prophets who blame it all on the followers of Jesus. 

          ·       Persecution will reign. 

          ·       Horror will be the norm. 

          ·       Men will beg the hills to fall on them to end the nightmare.

This is a gruesome picture of a world in which the influence of a holy God has been removed.  It is a look at the prelude to Hell, the total absence of God, altogether. 

All these judgments have their ancient parallels, as well as their contemporary reminders.  But what has happened in the past, and what we see now, merely serve as faint shadows, or hints of the real thing to come in the Great Tribulation. 

And we all know that a shadow, a model, a miniature, prelude, foothill, ad infinitum, is only a mild representation of the true horror which is to come:

For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.  Matthew 24:21

What, then shall I do?

I have a Warning and a What to offer:

THE WARNING

Don't be there!  Make sure you are not in the Great Tribulation.  Be in the other number of saints, taken in the rapture.  Call upon the name of the Lord today and be saved.

THE WHAT

Warn others!  Help other people to know what's coming.

In the southwest, near Flagstaff, there is the Great Continental Divide.  If you drop a cork in the stream that flows towards the west, you can eventually pick up that cork in the Pacific Ocean.  If you drop the cork in the stream on the other side, it will wind its way all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, and finally to the Atlantic.  It makes a difference where you drop that cork.

There is another Great Divide; it is the breaking of the first seal.  When that white horse comes out of the gate, it will already have happened. 

          ·       Without Christ, you will be subject to travel through the darkness of a world gone mad. 

          ·       Without Christ you will see the white horse of man's philosophy deceive an entire world. 

          ·       Without Christ you will see the red horse of government-sanctioned war for profit and fun. 

          ·       Without Christ you will see the black horse of economic ruin, and the resultant famine that will destroy the world's food sources. 

          ·       Without Christ you will see the pale horse of epidemic claim one-fourth of the population, and you'll wish you were one of them. 

And, without Christ, you will not be a spectator in all this. 

          ·       You will participate. 

          ·       You will join the horses and their riders in persecuting those Jews who do turn to Christ during this time. 

          ·       You will help put them to death...and you will be guilty again of murdering the Messiah, the only Son of the one, true living God.  

          ·       You will labor under a strong delusion that what you are doing is perfectly right.  God will see to it!

It makes a difference where you drop that cork, my friend.  Drop it in this world's banks, in this world's pleasures, in this world's system, and watch it float towards the Great Tribulation.  Talk about whitewater!  You will not know what hit you. 

No!  Drop that cork in blood! 

          ·       Drop it at the foot of the cross! 

          ·       Come to the cross today and be saved, washed in the blood…cleansed for all eternity – ready for the rapture, not the rupture! 

          ·       Decide -- the Great Divide is upon us!

Title Image:  Phillip Medhurst via Wikimedia.com   Unless noted, Scripture from The New Living Translation 



[1]Julian Snyder, from a speech to the 3rd Annual New York International Investment Seminar,           9-17-81

[2]Associated Press, 1-22-91

[3]John Phillips, Exploring Revelation, (New Jersey, Loizeaux Brothers, 1993), 95

[5]M.Scott Peck, A Different Drum, 241, 242


 

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