PROPHECY ALERT 🚨 Revelation 6 & 22 Antichrist, Four Horsemen, and Christ’s Return || Gary Hamrick

Revelation chapter 22. If you're joining us online, that's where we are. Um, and so, let me um frame things this evening. Um, but let's pray first and then we'll get into our study.

Lord, thank you for meeting us here time and again. You're so faithful. Your word says, "Where two or more are gathered, there you are in the midst of us." So, we thank you, Lord, that you are with us. And we pray now you'll guide us as we look into this last chapter of the last book of your word that you'd impress upon us the things that we should understand, Lord, and help us, Lord, to process these things as we look forward to your certain return. We love you and we thank you together in Jesus' name. And everyone said, amen.

I'm going to take my final stroll to the back wall, uh, because this has been our timeline through the whole book of Revelation. Um, and it has covered everything from Jesus's resurrection from the dead, his ascension that led to the church age. We're presently living in the church age. At some point, um, there's going to be a trumpet call. And, um, it tells us that the dead in Christ will rise first and after that, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. That's like the first phase of Christ's second coming. He only comes in the clouds to receive his his church. And so he physically snatches us from the earth. There is an English term that we have derived from the Latin word in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, *raptuse* to be seized. And we say it's the rapture. There's an event where people will actually be taken from the earth. And so he raptures the church.

Following the rapture of the church is 7 years of tribulation. That's Revelation 6 through 18. Uh, very uh difficult, cataclysmic things that come upon the earth. And not because God delights in, um, you know, displaying his wrath, but because he knows that human nature is sometimes he has to literally turn up the heat in order to finally get our attention and finally, uh, we might surrender to him. Um, unfortunately, uh, many will not, but many will during the tribulation time. And then at the end of the tribulation, which culminates in the battle of Armageddon, then Christ, this is kind of the second phase of his of his uh second coming. He returns, uh, uh, visibly, physically to the earth, and we who have been with him will return with the Lord, and he will establish his kingdom on earth for a thousand years. That's the millennial reign. He will rule and reign from, uh, Jerusalem. And then following the millennial reign will be the lake of fire, the false prophet, the antichrist, and Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire along with all those who have just summarily uh dismissed Jesus and denied him as Lord and Savior. Um, and that's all at the same time as the great white throne judgment when God brings a final uh judgment upon, really, the human race, those who have not yet been judged, uh, through the millennial period. Those of us who've already gone to be with him, we've been judged be by virtue of the cross and our confession of our sins and our faith in Jesus. So we don't, we don't get judged again. Once you have passed from death to life, you have experienced that rebirth. That is your judgment. Our sins have been placed on Christ.

And then the last two chapters of Revelation, where we've been the last couple of weeks, talk about the new heaven and the new earth. It's literally heaven coming down, descending on earth. A new city, Jerusalem, that measures approximately 1,500 miles in every direction. Uh, it's as long and wide and high, the Bible says. So it's shaped, the new city, somewhat like a cube. It's a very interesting dimension that we may be living in. But there's a new heaven, a new earth. Present heaven, present earth are going to be destroyed, the Bible says. And so God creates a new heaven, new earth, this new heavenly Jerusalem, heaven on earth. And we talked about, uh, the new Jerusalem, uh, the past couple of weeks.

To summarize, uh, the new Jerusalem, we we can see it this way. We have the description of the city. When you look at Revelation 21, uh, it's very beautiful. It's adorned with every precious stone. It's very colorful. Uh, the Bible talks about streets of gold, but at the same time says that the streets of gold were transparent like glass. So it's difficult to comprehend how things can be gold but also transparent and not opaque, but that's the way the Bible describes it. The gates of the new Jerusalem, a single pearl, 12 gates, three on each side, uh, to enter into the city. The population in the city, believers are present. God is with us. Unbelievers are absent. They have been sentenced now at this point. They have been cast into the lake of fire. So this is eternally our home, our home with the Lord, and he is with us.

And then the invitation to the city, we see here in chapter 22 in a moment where the invitation is, "Let him who thirsts come." It's an open invitation. But but those who are able to receive the invitation are believers at this point. The ones who are going to be able to drink, uh, of this water of life are those who have gained access into this new heavenly city by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Which brings me to the next slide. When we talk about "Let him who thirsts come," uh, in the Bible, uh, in chapter 22, there are, uh, references, three phrases that are repeated often. One is "water of life." We'll talk about it tonight. It's mentioned once in chapter 21 and then twice again here in chapter 22. Another phrase that is repeated often here is the "tree of life." We touched on this briefly last week. It is mentioned in the book of Revelation back in chapter 2:7 as the promised reward for the church of Ephesus. "He who overcomes will be able to eat of the tree of life." Then it's mentioned three more times in chapter 22. And finally, an often repeated phrase in chapter 22 are the words of Jesus, "I am coming quickly." So, we're going to be looking together at chapter 22. And we're going to look at these three often repeated phrases as we make our way through chapter 22.

Let me read the first, uh, five verses if you have your Bibles there. Now, Revelation 22:1, "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever."

And so at the beginning of this chapter, it says, "For he showed me." So John's writing this. The "he" is an angel that, uh, we read about back in chapter 21, uh, verse 9, one of the seven angels. So God dispatches an angel to take John on this tour of the future. And John sees this new heavenly city, this new heaven on earth. And the first thing that he has is shown here by this angel is a pure river of water of life. So again, um, just here's a breakdown of what we're going to see here. A summary of the water of life that is mentioned three times in the book of Revelation, twice here in chapter 22. The water of life is mentioned nowhere else outside of the book of Revelation. These are the only three references that we have in all of the Bible to this phrase, the water of life. Uh, it gives us the description here. It's crystal clear. It's a pure river. Um, it tells us here in in the text that I just read that it is flowing from the throne of God down the middle of of the street. And so that's a little odd for us to comprehend. Why would a river be, you know, down the middle of the street? Remember, there are no asphalt streets in in heaven. So these are transparent glass streets, uh, uh, that are made of gold, and there's some kind of water course through it. So, some of what we're reading here, we probably just have never seen, nor can we really imagine, which is what the Bible tells us anyway. "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for them that love him." And so, some of this is a bit of a mystery what John is seeing and what he's writing to us. That there are things that, you know, part of the, um, you know, topography of the new heaven, the new city Jerusalem, that we just may not be familiar with because we've never seen anything like it. But it also tells us here that this water of life is flanked by the tree, and I put in parenthesis, plural, the trees of life. And I'll explain that, why it's either singular or plural when we get onto the topic of the tree of life in a moment. And then it tells us that, um, believers drank from this, uh, water source in the new heaven. And so that's the summary of it.

Now, if you look back here at the verses with me, um, it it talks then about in verse two, "In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life." So now we we are introduced here to the tree of life, which which again I touched on briefly last week. Um, it it first appears in Revelation chapter 2 and then three more references here in chapter 22. Now, unlike the water of life, which is only mentioned in the book of Revelation, the tree of life is not only mentioned in the book of Revelation. The tree of life is first mentioned to us in the book of Genesis in chapter 2, was one of many trees in the Garden of Eden, but it was one of only two trees that were specifically named. You have the tree of life and you have the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And it was guarded by cherubim after Adam and Eve sinned against God. And when they were expelled out of the Garden of Eden, God didn't want them to go back into the garden to eat from the tree of life. So he stationed cherubim angels with fiery swords so that they could not get back in and eat of the tree of life. That's Genesis 3:24. But then we don't see the tree of life referenced again until we get here to the book of Revelation when in chapter 2:7 Jesus mentions to those who overcome in his letter to the church of Ephesus that they shall, future tense, "eat from the tree of life." And then it reappears in the new heaven here in chapter 22, and its leaves and fruit are a reward for believers. And it tells us here that it produces fruit each month. Uh, so as as you look at these first five verses here that I just read, a couple of things I just want to mention. Uh, first of all, it's a little difficult in the language to understand, um, how many, is it just one singular tree of life, or are there multiple trees that are all called the tree of life? And the language is difficult, and there's debate among Bible scholars to interpret this. You know, it was a single tree in the Garden of Eden. And then, of course, as I mentioned, you know, God guarded it so they couldn't go back and eat of it. Then the flood came and destroyed the planet. But at some point, you know, God preserved the tree of life, uprooted it before the flood, kept it so that it reappears here in Revelation chapter 22. Now, some Bible scholars say that the way the language is, it just means that the tree was so large and overwhelming that the branches, uh, would drape over both sides of the river. And so that's why some say, "No, it's just a single tree, but it's so large and and producing such wonderful fruit that the branches extend on each side of the river." And so that's what it means. Others read this and say, "No, the language, especially when you look at verse two and it says, you know, on on either side of the river, in the middle of the street and on either side." So, how do you have in the middle and on either side? That's why some say, "Well, it's huge and it's draping both sides was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits." Now, look, "each tree yielding its fruit every month." Well, now it sounds like there's more than one tree, so it's difficult to understand. Um, if I had to just pick one of the two, my preference would probably be in interpreting this passage that there are trees on either side of this water of life, this river, but each tree is a tree of life. And so, it's it's a it's a single, um, kind of a tree, but there might be multiple trees because of the way the language seems to indicate here.

Now, it's interesting also to note that it produces fruit every month. And this is interesting in this for this reason. You know, God is outside of the space-time continuum. With God, there is no measure of time. You know, with us, there is a measurement of time. But God is outside of that. So, that's why the Bible says with the Lord, a thousand years is is like a day, and a day like a thousand years. I mean, God is outside of time. He's not restricted by time. Now, he entered our time when he took on flesh and dwelt among us. But when you think about heaven and you think about eternity, there really isn't any measurement of time, except that it is a reference here to a measurement of time. Because when it speaks about the fruit being produced every month, what that indicates to us is that heaven still marks time. It will just be a different kind of time. There's no end to this time. There's no aging process in this time. There's no expiration of this time, but it still indicates to us that heaven marks time because of what it says there about how each tree yields its fruit every month.

I also want you to notice in verse three where it says, "And there shall be no more curse." Um, actually, before that, "the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Why do the nations need healing? There's no more sickness. There's no more disease. So is it, do these leaves have some kind of medicinal quality? Actually, the Greek word for healing can also mean health-giving. So it doesn't indicate that there's any sickness. There is no more sickness. There is no more death. There is no more pain in heaven. The Bible already made that clear in chapter 21. So there's probably some just, uh, wonderful properties to the leaves. I don't know if it means that it's edible. I I don't know. But it, but it's health-giving versus healing in terms of sickness. There is no sickness.

And then verse three, when it says, "And there shall be no more curse." If you circle that word "curse," that's an important point because Jesus has redeemed us from the curse. And you know, when man sinned against God originally in the Garden of Eden, then God pronounced a curse. He cursed, um, the serpent. He cursed the woman. He cursed the man. And, uh, when he cursed the woman, he said, "You're you're you shall now experience pain in childbirth." Uh, when he cursed the man, he said, "Now your labor shall be intensive and often feeling unproductive in the process of all your work." And in the process of the curse, too, God says there's now going to be friction between the two sexes. And so there's, and then the ultimate curse was death because when they disobeyed God and they deliberately ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said to them, "In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die." Literally, the dying process begins. So death entered the human race. It's a part of the curse. It's a part of sin that that mankind, um, incorporated into our being, and it became a soul issue. It became a spiritual issue, um, that was handed down to every successive generation. Thus, the reason we get, you know, eventually die is because we're, you know, still under that curse. But Jesus broke the curse and offers us eternal life. And so, uh, that's, you know, Paul would write about that in Galatians chapter 3 in verse 10. And he says, "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.'" You know, you and I cannot fulfill all the letter of the law. We are lawbreakers by nature. And then our best efforts, we don't measure up. So there's this futility, and it's the result of being under the curse. But then Paul goes on to write and he says, "But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall live by faith." And so he brings in the whole idea, you know, thus we cannot work our way to heaven because you can't obey the law well enough to deserve heaven. But he adds there, "But thanks be to what Jesus did, we can have access through faith in his finished work." And that's why he goes on to say there in Galatians 3:13, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,' that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith." And so, you know, this is when when we read here about, you know, being delivered from the curse, this is the restoration of all things because mankind, um, brought himself under the curse, under the wrath of God by being lawbreakers. And and yet when we receive Christ by faith, he's the one who took the curse for us by dying on a cross, and and therefore the curse now has no more power over us. And so that's why John writes there, "And there shall be no more curse, no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him."

And then the next sent the next verse, verse 4, "And they shall see his face." You know, Paul would write in 1 Corinthians 13:12, he said, "Now I see, but in a glass darkly." In other words, now I look into a mirror like like it's foggy. I can't I can't see everything. I can't know everything this side of heaven. So he says there, "Now I see, but in a glass darkly, but then I shall see face to face." But there will come a time when we will actually see the Lord face to face. And he says, "And his name shall be on their foreheads." So some kind of tattoo, some kind of mark that forever identifies us with the name of God as belonging to the Lord. And then there in verse 5, we talked about this before, it there's no reference to sun. There's no more need for moon. That God himself will be the light, and um, and we shall reign with him forever and ever. So, you know, no more nighttime, no more sleeping, no, you know, no more if the earth is rotating on its axis, it, it, we don't turn away from the sun at any point because the glory of God fills the place. And so, we there's never any darkness. But you won't need to go to bed. You won't need sleep. You won't, and by the way, we're going to see here in a moment about part of the, uh, the tree of life offers fruit. You know, you don't need to sleep, and you don't need to eat, but there will still be eating in heaven, but now it's just going to be for enjoyment. And it, and it, and you won't need it for sustenance. It's just going to be completely for pleasure, and it won't ever affect, you know, body image. So, it's going to be a wonderful day.

So, verse six, then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And I I like that because, you know what? When you read what we just read, it's almost with disbelief we read some of these things. And and I'm not saying that like a lack of faith. I just mean when you read the description of this incredible city and the glory of God being present and streets of gold and, you know, this clear, crystal clear, pure river running down the the the thought of it is almost just, we we're like almost in disbelief, like this is just too amazing to even grasp. And so John says there, "Listen, these words are faithful and true. Trust me on this. I'm telling you, if if you're if you're wondering like, is all this true? I just want you to know, yes, these words are faithful and true."

"And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. Behold," now Jesus interjects here. These are his words. If you have a Bible with red letters, this is him speaking. "Now, behold, I am coming quickly." And there is that phrase that is repeated three times in this chapter. "I am coming quickly." Now, that does not necessarily mean soon. You know, because you could read this and say, "Well, it's been, like, 1900 years, almost 2,000 years since John penned these things. Is John a liar or what?" I mean, he hasn't come quickly. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's coming soon because God, you know, the measure of time is different between us and the Lord, but it means suddenly. The language indicates, and and that's all through the Bible when it talks about his second coming. It talks about he's going to come like a thief in the night, like suddenly, unexpectedly. That's what he means here about quickly.

And then he adds, Jesus says, "Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophets of this book." If you'd circle or highlight, if you have electronic Bible, the word "blessed." Blessed. And it literally means, oh, how happy. The Greek word is *macarios*. Oh, how happy. And what's interesting is when you add it up, and I haven't been pointing it out throughout our study in Revelation, but when you add it up, there are basically seven beatitudes in the book of Revelation. You you remember when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, he shared eight beatitudes. "Blessed are, blessed are." And he gave a promise to each of the different groups that he was, you know, blessing. And in the Sermon on the Mount, what Jesus was saying was, "Oh, how happy are those who are poor in spirit," or whatever, whatever it was that he was addressing there. When you get to the book of Revelation, you read seven beatitudes. And I'm just going to skim through these things with you. Uh, because the last two of the seven are here in the book of Revelation. Here's the first one in Revelation 1:3. "Blessed are those who read, hear, and keep what is written in Revelation." And it says, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near." And so, you know, sincerely, there's a blessing in in me reading it, and when you read it yourself, there's a blessing when you hear it. You know, you're here hearing this. Uh, God just says that there's an intrinsic blessing for those who read it, hear it, and keep what is written in the book of Revelation. Here's the second one in chapter 14:13. "Blessed are the believers who are martyred during the tribulation." That verse says, "Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" Number three, Revelation 16:15. "Blessed are the believers on earth during the tribulation who keep themselves pure while they wait and watch for the return of Christ." In chapter 16:15, we read, "Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." So that whole idea of garments is that reference of being clothed in the righteousness of the Lord. So don't, you know, don't despise his righteousness. Don't be living, you know, wickedly or immorally because there's a blessing for those who during the tribulation period, they get saved, they become believers, and then they live in a pure way while they wait and watch for the return of Christ. Number four, number four, "Blessed are believers who will celebrate with Jesus at the wedding banquet of the Lamb." This is out of chapter 19:9 that says, "Then he said to me, 'Write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" This is after Jesus comes again, right? When he establishes his kingdom on earth for a thousand years, there's this blessing for those who have joined him at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Number five, "Blessed are those who have part in the first resurrection and who will reign with Christ during the millennium." This is chapter 20:6. "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years." And then the last two of these seven beatitudes, these these specific statements that talk about certain blessings in the book of Revelation, number six is found here, uh, where we are in in verse 7 when when it tells us, "Blessed are those who keep the words of the prophecy of Revelation." That's verse 7. "Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." Oh, how happy we would be. And I'll show you the the last beatitude when we get to it.

But in verse eight, "Now I John saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down in worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things." Now, this is just a natural kind of, you know, impulsive thing that he does. He's like, he's seeing these visions. This angel is giving him this tour, you know, of what is to come. And John just, man, I got to worship somebody. And he falls down at the feet of this angel to try to to try to worship. It's just kind of this impulsive thing. But look what the angel says. Verse 9. "Then he said to me, 'See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book.'" Worship God. You know, don't the worship of angels is a demonic thing. The worship and to venerate, you know, people and saints, that is not a biblical thing to do. The only one who deserves our worship and is worthy of our praise is the Lord God Almighty. >> And we must not worship people. We must not worship angels. We must not, you know, pray to other, you know, saints. And Jesus is the only intermediary for us. He is the one making intercession for us. God is the only one worthy of our worship and praise. And so this is misplaced worship here. But it's just like this impulsive moment with John. He's just like, "Wow, this is overwhelming." And the angel corrects him. Says, "You better get up. Get yourself up. Do not worship me. Worship God."

Verse 10. "And he said to me, 'Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.'" You know, when Daniel was prophesying, there were a couple of times that God said to Daniel, "Seal h seal up the words of this prophecy until the end." Now, John is being told here, "Don't seal this up because the end is near."

And verse 11, "He who was unjust, let him be unjust still. He was filthy, let him be filthy still. He was righteous, let him be righteous still. He was holy, let him be holy still." I I won't play it, but Johnny Cash wrote a song about that verse. It's kind of a cool song. But anyway, what it sounds kind of bizarre though. Let him who was unjust, just let him be unjust. Let him who was filthy, let him be filthy still. Well, what he's saying here is at this point, and this is the closing chapter, at this point, if people have not responded, all right, and they have not surrendered their life to Jesus, then God is saying here, "Let let him who is unjust be unjust. There's nothing else that can be done now at this point. Let let him who is filthy, let him just stay filthy. I mean, I I've done, he's saying here, basically, I've done all I can do." And, um, he takes any burden off of us that, you know, other human beings are not our responsibility. Every person has to make their own decision, their own choice. And and yet at at the end he says, "And he who is righteous, let him be righteous." You know, the ones who have chosen good. And he who is holy, let him be holy still. But but we can't be responsible for other people's decisions. Unfortunately.

Jesus speaks again in verse 12. "And behold, I am coming quickly." There's the second time he says it. "And my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work." Now again, listen, doing good things don't get us saved. There was only one good thing that was done in order to get us saved, and that's what Jesus did on the cross. We put our faith and trust in his good work, in his finished work. But nevertheless, once we get saved, we want to do good things just because that should be the natural overflow of a walk with Christ. We we just want to live in a in a way that would honor him and and, um, would would do good things, not because we have to earn God's favor, just because it becomes the overflow of a heart that loves God. And God says to us here, "I take note of those things." So those good works aren't going to save you, but those good works will be rewarded. And Jesus is keeping track here. And he says, "My reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work."

Verse verse 13. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." And then here's the seventh beatitude. "Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city." So that's the last of the seven beatitudes of of Revelation from from verse 14 of chapter 22. "Blessed are those who obey God's commandments that they might have access, free access to this." And um, again, the mention of the tree of life, "may enter through the gates into the city." There's no, nobody's going to be scaling a wall to get in. You're going to get in through the gate, or you're not at all. And and those who who come in have already been judged ahead of time as as worthy because of what Christ has done.

Verse 15. "But outside are dogs." Now, don't worry. This is not talking about your pets. For sure, dogs will be in heaven. That's my wish. And we know other animals that will not. But anyway, somebody, by the way, God bless people who send me stuff, you know, who watch online. Some wonderful lady from Wisconsin sent me a book about why I hate cats. It was a great book. I love it. It's up in my office. I should have brought it. But anyway, we know where they're going to be. You know, none of that in he, there's not going to be any hissing in heaven. Praise God. Anyway, um, that word "dogs" there is a reference to, that's a euphemism for morally impure. People who are like dogs, morally impure, but outside, in other words, already been cast into the lake of fire are the dogs, the morally impure, and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Verse 16. "I, Jesus." And interestingly, that is the only time in the whole Bible that you read that emphatic statement. >> "I, Jesus." He never says that anywhere else except here. This is like his, you know, his closing few comments here. "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root," notice, "and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star." How can you be the root and the fruit of the line of David? How can you be both his ancestor and his descendant? But he is, this is Jesus. This is the one who has always been the self-existent one who is God. So he preceded David. But he also descended from David because when God was born of a virgin, Mary, and even Jesus's adoptive dad, though not his biological dad, Joseph, were both descendants of King David. So, so Jesus was able to assume both the the biological through through Mary and the legal right to the throne of David. He is the son of David, but he precedes David. And that's what he's saying here. The bright and morning star reference to basically like the North Star, the one who points the direction for all things.

"And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'" There's the invitation. "And let him who hears say, 'Come.'" "And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." What a wonderful invitation there.

But he closes with this warning in verse 18. "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part of the book of life from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book." Look, look at how he ends this here. All right? In other words, he's saying to us, there's a high price to pay for tampering with the word of God. There is a high price to pay for tampering with the word of God. And he confronts both directions. If you add to these things, you're going to invite my judgment. If you take away or subtract from these words, you're going to invite my judgment. Now listen, when you add to the word of God, that's legalism. When you subtract from the word of God, that's liberalism. And we see it. We see it even in our day. So there are some people who have a very legalistic bent towards the word of God. They want to impose upon you standards that are higher than what God even says. That somehow if you if you live even more righteously and fulfill certain rules and regulations, that then you'll be even more righteous. But people who live like that are legalistic, and they're adding things to the word of God. They're they're they're expanding upon the commandments and making it harder and more burdensome for you to live in ways that God didn't even command you to live. That's legalism, you know. It's it's the, you know, I used to get this from from people who have Baptist backgrounds. People would sometimes ask me, you know, can is it okay for Christians to dance? Because people with Baptist backgrounds like, no dancing. I mean, serious fundamental Baptists like no dancing, no dancing, no going to movies. So people, you know, some like, is it okay for Christians to dance? Can Christians dance? My answer would be, some can and some can't. Yeah, I've seen some Christians who cannot dance. They should not. They should not even try. But that's the kind of thing it's like, we can't dance, we can't go to movies, you can't. Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I mean, you know, there comes some some things that are reserved for your sanctified conscience that are not necessarily commanded in scripture. But you start adding those as laws, that's legalism. When you subtract from the law of God, that's liberalism. There's a whole stream of liberal theology right now that is sweeping through churches all over the world and in our country particularly. It's damaging. And this is when you look at the commandments of God and you start to, what I call it's it's selective Christianity. It's like, well, I I don't really think that that particular thing applies today. So, you know, we're we're not going to really adhere to that. And this one is a little antiquated, so we're not going to adhere to that one. Before you know it, you know, you you've treated the word of God like fish. You've deboned the whole thing because you want only to eat the parts that are more palatable to you. And there are some things in the Bible that are harder to swallow than other parts. But all of it is God's word. And shame on any of us who try to either add to the word of God or subtract from the word of God. Legalism and liberalism are both wrong. And God says, "I'm going to judge you for it. You don't tamper with the word of God. It may you may not like it always, but it is always good for us because it is always God's gracious, good word for us."

Well, at the end here, look at verse 20. "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.'" Amen. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Come, Lord Jesus in Aramaic is *Maranatha*. And then verse 21, "Let's let's read this all together and out loud." Verse 21, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen and amen."

Let's give God praise tonight. Amen. Thank you, Lord. It's, uh, it's a wonderful thing to see in the benediction, the last, uh, sentence of the last verse of the last book of the Bible, that God ends on a note of grace. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." Amen. Lord, we thank you for your grace. We thank you that our hope is in you. That no matter what transpires on earth, our eyes are fixed on you. We look up because we know that our redemption is near. Find us faithful, Lord, as we walk with you, awaiting your glorious return. We want to be ready, Lord. We long for your appearing. And we thank you for your precious promises, and how your word from beginning to end is filled with a measure of your grace. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. Right.

Good evening again, everybody. Let's take our Bibles out and go to the book of Revelation. We are still making our way through this apocalyptic book about the end times. So, let's take our Bibles out and go to chapter 6. That's where we left off last week. We finished chapters four and five. And, uh, today we're going to be looking at chapter 6. Now, before we read into chapter 6 and before we pray and commit our Bible study to the Lord, let's just first, um, get kind of a running start so we understand the context as we are heading in now to chapter 6. And the section that we are now heading into, chapters 6-18, are some of the heaviest chapters, not just in the book of Revelation, but really in the whole Bible, because these chapters speak about God's coming wrath. Um, as I've said before, sometimes, uh, God has to work in, um, rather strict ways to finally get people to yield. Um, you know, he gives us opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to turn to him. And, uh, if we are stubborn and we refuse to, then he will literally turn up the heat to try to get our attention, to try to get us to the place where we finally will cry out to the Lord. That's his heart be behind chapters 6 through 18. I don't want anyone to read these chapters and think, "What a loveless God. What a what a harsh God." Um, what what a what a terrible God. Because, uh, if you understand your own heart and sometimes your own reluctance to yield to the Lord and your desire instead to live for yourself, your own pleasures, your own desires, then you can appreciate that God is going to go to great lengths to to try to win us. And if that takes, at the last hour, which is literally what we're reading about, if that takes, at the last hour, a hammer in order to really wake us up, then that's what God's going to do because it's it's the final call. It's the final call for people to come to a place of faith in Jesus. So, these chapters are heavy. Uh, we're going to talk about it on Wednesday nights. We go verse by verse. So, we're going to go through these in great detail. Uh, but please keep in mind that as heavy as these chapters are, uh, this is God's final wakeup call. Okay.

So, in order to understand chapter 6, uh, I got to quote a little bit from chapter 5. Uh, because this is what we read at the beginning of chapter 5. "And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals." And then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. And so John sees, uh, God the Father on the throne of heaven, as John has now been transported by the Spirit into the presence of God in heaven. And he's writing these things that he sees and these things that he hears. And one of the things that he sees here is God the Father on the throne with a scroll in his hand. And what we identified that scroll to be last week in our study is basically the title deed to planet Earth. And it is sealed with seven seals. Now, don't think of it as seven seals on the outside of the scroll. Think of it as one seal on the outside of the scroll that will be broken, and then the scrolls unraveled a little bit further until it gets to another seal. And then that seal has to be broken, and then unrolled even further until we get through seven seals that will be broken and opened. But John first sees that there's no one worthy to open the scroll until he recognizes the Lamb, who is Jesus. And he says this further in chapter 5, 6 and 7. "And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, that's Jesus, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, that's a sign of power, and seven eyes, that's a sign of wisdom, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." And then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And so the seven spirits again, just meaning the sevenfold, manifold, uh, spirit of God, and and seven being a number of completion and perfection. So he sees the Lamb, perfect in power, perfect in wisdom, uh, the Holy Spirit there represented as well. And Jesus is the only one worthy to take the scroll from the Father who is seated on the throne. And the word "Lamb" will be the word by which Jesus identifies himself through the rest of the book of Revelation. He wants to be known as that redemptive Lamb that died on a cross, that sacrificed his life for the sins of the world, who shed his blood for the sins of the world. So Jesus comes and he takes the scroll from the hand of the Father, and he's going to unroll it, and he's going to break each seal. And as he breaks each seal, he is going to be pronouncing a judgment written on the scroll. You're going to, you're going to find that between chapters 6 through 8 in the book of Revelation, there are a series of judgments that escalate in intensity as you go from chapter 6 to chapter 18. We start with a series of seven seals, these wax seals that are going to be broken. Judgments will be read. It'll be followed by a series of trumpets that will be blown to announce more judgments, followed by a series of bowls, or some translations say vials, that are poured out upon the earth with more judgments. So you have a series of seals and trumpets.

And bowls that we're about to read that will describe in detail the the different things that are going to come upon the earth. God is giving us a glimpse of what is to come. Um, Christians have this opportunity with our Bibles to actually get a glimpse of things that are to come in the future. Um, we should be well informed. We should be prepared. And these chapters should also light a fire under us to be more faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus with our neighbors and with our friends and our loved ones. Because if we really grasp that the world is is going to I mean if you think now when we look at the news and we look at Portland and Seattle and Chicago and stuff that is happening tragically in our world right now it is nothing compared to what is about to happen on the planet and the world will be in such upheaval and there are going to be such terrible things are going to happen. I hope that by reading these chapters we're going to get even more of a passion if we don't have one already for our loved ones and friends who need to know Christ so we can be more diligent in sharing Jesus with them.

And so what we find as we come through to this place here in Revelation chapter 6, we've already talked about Jesus's resurrection from the dead after he dies on the cross. Then he ascends to heaven. Then the church age is Revelation 1, 2, and 3. We are presently in the church age. So that is present tense. And then everything from chapter 4 on is future with some exceptions. There are some chapters in Revelation that kind of look backwards, but generally speaking, from chapters 4 on, we're talking future events. So, we looked at chapter 4 last week where John serves as a type of the church taken up to heaven. The word church is mentioned 19 times in the first three chapters of Revelation and then not again until chapter 22. So, the church is missing during this wrath period of chapter 6 through 8, which is what we come to now known as the seven years of tribulation. There will be seven years of this tribulation, this wrath that is poured out upon the earth. The last three and a half years of which are known as the great tribulation because it gets it gets worse. It escalates in intensity. And so this is the time period we're about ready to study.

Now um sometimes we think and and incorrectly so that as soon as the rapture happens whenever that day happens the rapture again being when Jesus comes only in the clouds not all the way to the earth only in the clouds trumpet call of God is sounded dead in Christ rise first we who are alive and remain will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air so there's a whole generation of people of Christians who don't experience death were taken were snatched from the earth taken up to heaven to be with the Lord I believe during the tribulation period. Okay? And some people erroneously think that that means the seven years of tribulation start immediately. There's nothing in the Bible that says those things happen uh you know close to each other. It might, but the church might be raptured and the tribulation doesn't come for another 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years. There's nothing in the Bible that says as soon as the church is raptured then the tribulation starts. It just speaks of the fact in terms of the the great prepoundonderance of of evidence that the tribul that the uh rapture happens before the tribulation, but the Bible doesn't say how how much before. So sometimes, and the reason I point that out is because sometimes Christians look at their world environment and they think, well, it's bad, but it's not that bad. So we can't be too close to the tribulation. But there's nothing in the Bible that says we couldn't be taken now, for example. just I mean today, tomorrow, next week, and then the tribulation. God doesn't pour out his wrath for another few years. It doesn't say that. So that is a good reminder to us to always be ready because you don't know at what point Jesus might come in the air to gather the church to come for his bride. And so we have to be ready.

Now, when we get here into chapter six, you're going to notice that when the seals are opened, the first four seals that are opened are attached to four horses. And this is sometimes known in culture as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. So, we're going to see here in chapter 6 as each seal is opened, there is a first a white horse, then a red horse, then a black horse, and then what the Bible says is a pale horse. It really means a a light green horse that appears and there are they're horsemen riding these horses. And each of these seals are going to explain a a kind of God's wrath poured out upon the earth. And the first four of these of these seals are represented here by horses and a horsemen that um that John sees coming upon the earth. So we're going to take a look at this. That is the uh the introduction to tonight's study. So, let's pray and then we'll dive in here to chapter six.

Lord, thank you for this time in your word tonight. And we do pray that you would motivate us to be men and women and young people who really have a heart for the lost so that when we read of these things that are going to come upon the earth with compassion, we would want as many people to be spared of this as possible that they might know Jesus and be rescued and uh to be kept safe in heaven while these things happen on earth. And thank you, Lord, that you are our blessed hope, that you are coming again for your bride, and we look forward to that day. Continue to help us to be watching and to be ready, for we do not know the hour in which you shall return. And so, Lord, help us now and strengthen our hearts as we read through this chapter tonight. We praise you together in Jesus' name. And everyone said, "Amen."

Uh, I'm going to read, it's only 17 verses. I'm going to read all of chapter 6 and then we'll come back and we'll unpack each of these seals. So, take a look with with me here. Revelation 6, starting at verse one. John says, "Now I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, saying with a voice like thunder, come and see." And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him. And he went out conquering and to conquer. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see." Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another. And there was given to him a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a daenarius, and three quarts of barley for a daenerius, and do not harm the oil and the wine." Verse 7, when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, saying, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the name of him who sat on it was death, and Hades followed with him, and power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And then a white robe was given to each of them. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were, was completed. I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty man, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and 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 his wrath has come, and who is able to stand."

So here in chapter 6, we'll start back in verse one and he tells us that the lamb that is Jesus opens the first of these seven seals and uh he talks about how he hears one of these creatures. This is one of these angelic beings saying with a voice, "Come and see." And I looked and behold a white horse. And so the first um seal is opened. A white horse appears and there is a rider on this white horse. And so the question becomes, who exactly is the rider on this white horse? Don't think it is Jesus. Jesus does not come until chapter 19. The one who was riding on this white horse had a bow. It tells us in verse two, but notice no arrows. The bow was a symbol of peace. Arrows was a symbol of war. And so what it's telling us is this one who is coming on the white horse is coming under the guise of peace, but will actually be bringing war. The arrows are missing. So it's hidden for now, but he's going to come as a messenger of peace, the appearance of peace, but he's not coming for peace at all. And it tells us that he's wearing a crown. Now, there are two Greek words in the New Testament that describe crowns. One word is stefanos. And that's the word used here. And another word is diademma. And when we get to chapter 19 and we see Jesus returning to the earth, he is wearing a crown. And the Greek word is diadema. Diadem. The word used here for the crown is stfanos. So a diadema crown is one that is ornate. It is royal. A stfanos crown like the one used here, mentioned here in the original Greek language, is the kind of a crown that uh an athlete would get in the Olympic Games, a laurel wreath. It's it's a perishable crown. So that again tells us that this one who was wearing the crown, this is not royalty. They're not nobility. This is someone who is coming with an inferior crown. It was given to him and he went out conquering, it says there, and to conquer. And so the white horse is ridden by none other than the antichrist. This is the appearance of the antichrist. The antichrist will come during the tribulation period. And I want to first mention a few things about the antichrist, the titles of the antichrist, and then we'll talk a little bit about the traits and then finally the timing.

So first of all, the the titles of the antichrist. He goes by a few different titles in the Bible. He's called the man of lawlessness. Uh in the NIV, King James, New King James calls him the lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. He is referred to as the abomination that causes desolation. Jesus uh refers to the Antichrist this way in Matthew 24:15. And Jesus is quoting from the book of Daniel when he Jesus says in Matthew 24, when you see the abomination that causes desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, flee. Get out of town. And Daniel mentions the abomination that causes desolation in Daniel 9 27. And he is referring to something that happened historically and something that is happening prophetically at least from the time in which Jesus spoke the words about the abomination that causes desolation. So here's here's kind of the a lot of prophecy in your Bible has a near and then a far interpretation. In other words, it had dual meanings. It was like a sword. It's like a double-edged sword. It cuts near and it cuts far. A lot of times when prophets would speak of prophetic things, it had a very near implication and then it had a distant implication. And so um when Daniel spoke about the abomination that causes desolation, there was an event that happened in uh 168 BC by a a Greek king whose name was Antiochus IV and then he adapted for himself a title Epiphanies. So he was known as Antiochus Epiphanies. Epiphanies means like the you know the presence of God. And so that's how he saw himself. This Greek king Antiochus IV who was king over a part of the Seucid Empire which basically covered much of Syria. If you look on a map today and and Antiochus IV epiphanies was um a very egotistical guy. uh he was rebuffed by a king of Egypt and when he was rebuffed he went back through Israel and he just began to show his um displeasure by slaughtering Jews and by doing something that was considered very profane and Takus IV in 168 BC took a pig which he knew was an offensive objectionable animal to the Jews was not kosher took a pig into the temple of God in Jerusalem and slaughtered it on the altar. And it was considered an abominable thing to do. It was the abomination that causes desolation. And as a result, about a year or two later, 167 BC, 166 BC, Jews rose up called the Makabian revolt led by Judas Mcabas and they took back the temple and they purged it of this profane thing, this this pig that had been slaughtered, cleaned it and uh recaptured it and took back their temple. Okay. But Jesus then about 165 years 85 years after Antiochus had done that he says in Matthew 24 Jesus that it's a future event. He says when you see the abomination that causes desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel meaning that in Techus IV what he did to slaughter that pig cannot be the only fulfillment of what Daniel was prophesying about because Jesus said it was something in the future. And what he was speaking of is a parallel to what happened in 168 BC. And that is that the antichrist will come. One who proposes and professes to be God himself. A man will come onto the world scene. And it is a man, by the way. Bible says it's a man. Okay? So ladies, it's not going to be a lady. Antichrist. All right? And if you and if you're looking around in government right now today and think it's not a lady, you might wonder, but it's not. Okay? He's going to come and he's going to proclaim himself to be God. And this is what 2 Thessalonians tells us in chapter 2 that he's going to set himself up. This is 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 um verse three. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come unless the falling away comes first. There's going to be a great apostasy. There's going to be a falling away from the faith. And the man of sin is revealed. That's a reference to the Antichrist, the son of predition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped. So that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And so the antichrist will come and he will declare himself to be God and he will set either himself up literally or a statue of himself up in the temple of God. And that is the abomination that causes desolation when the antichrist comes onto the world scene.

Now I'm going to get a little ahead of myself. So let me first mention a couple of more things about the antichrist. Some traits of the antichrist. He will, as I just quoted here, he will blaspheme God. He will oppose God. And he will exalt himself. He will set himself up in God's temple proclaiming himself to be God. Uh the book of Daniel tells us that the antichrist comes onto onto the world scene as a very charismatic political leader who will uh be very charming and um will be able to secure a peace deal uh between uh Jews and Gentiles. And um and I think that the word Gentiles probably also refers to the fact that there has been for many decades an attempt to broker a deal between Jews and Christians and Muslims on the Temple Mount. Uh then President Bill Clinton came very close to securing a peace deal between Yaser Arafat at the time who was the leader of the PLO and Ahoud Barack at the time who was prime minister of Israel. um it was very close to becoming a peace deal, but Yaser Arafat did not agree to the terms even though he was being given more than 90% of what he asked for. um and so there will come a time when some geopolitical leader, very charismatic, influential person will be able to broker a peace deal between Jews and Christians and Muslims and the temple will be rebuilt. You know, presently there's not a temple in Jerusalem. Hasn't been there since 70 AD since it was destroyed by the Romans under Emperor Titus Vispasian. But there will come a day again when the temple will be rebuilt. Why? Because I just read to you from 2 Thessalonians 2. The Antichrist will set himself up in God's temple proclaiming himself to be God. The temple will be rebuilt. Daniel tells us that this great charismatic leader will will dupe the Jewish people into a peace deal and only halfway into it will he reveal himself for who he really is. Many of the Jews who do not presently believe or at some point in the future believe that Jesus is Messiah will think that the Antichrist is Messiah. And so they will then believe that he is their hope until halfway into this peace deal, he reveals himself for who he really is. And then many of the Jewish people who put their trust in him will realize that they have been duped.

The timing of the antichrist. He will come to power after the rapture of the church. He will be overthrown and destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus returns. Now, I should have put the word destroyed in quotes because it's not like he's going to be annihilated. The Bible says in Revelation 19:20 that he will be cast alive into the lake of fire, but he will be destroyed in the sense that he will be rendered powerless when Jesus returns and he will be overthrown. Could the antichrist be on the world scene? Now, it's possible. It's possible that somebody in the wings, some government influential political leader could be presently here, just has not come to the revelation of of who he is um until, of course, we get closer to the return of Christ. So, um whether or not we will actually ever see the Antichrist, um I I don't know. Um we might see just the very beginning of his influence in the world, but the church is going to be taken before the Antichrist is really revealed. So, how much we will really see of him or know of him is unknown. I hope I don't ever see the Antichrist. I have no desire to meet the Antichrist. Um, if you do and you want to stick around for that, um, there's a problem. Uh, you shouldn't want that. You should want to get out of here as quick as possible.

Well, verse three, he says, "Then when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, come and see, and another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another, and there was given to him a great sword." So the second uh horse that we see here is a red horse. The second seal is opened and red is the color of terror and bloodshed. And so the the second seal tells us there's going to be war on on the planet and um there's going to be the unleashing of the sword which is symbolic of course of of terror.

And then in verse 5, when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." And so I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a daenarius, and three quarts of barley for a daenerius, and do not harm the oil and the wine." So a black horse comes now onto the world scene as the third seal is unrolled and and broken uh by Jesus. And the black horse represents famine and economic collapse. And um in particular here he mentions uh that in verse six a quart of wheat for a daenarius. Now a quart of wheat is basically what was necessary to make a loaf of bread and a daenerius was a day's wage. So as part of the famine and economic collapse of this time that is speak spoken of here prophetically if you just take you know an average salary of if somebody makes like 50,000 a year a day's wage would mean that a loaf of bread is going to cost $200. And so again, if you if you think about look at just our own immediate um time that we're living in where the Corona virus has greatly impacted the economy. People have lost their jobs. Uh you know, businesses have been closed. Some businesses are not going to reopen. Some businesses have already permanently closed. Some uh major companies have have uh filed for bankruptcy. And so the the I mean and and just think how fragile the economy is because of this virus. I mean one vi I mean you know eight months ago be before co really had an impact none of us would have imagined that one virus would so dramatically impact the economy and what what our unemployment went from like 3% to over 10% 11 12% around the country. And so look how fragile things are. And now because the world's economic systems are so interwoven, if one country falls economically, it's a domino effect. And it's it's not like the United States can by itself be economically unaffected if other countries begin to fall. If other countries fall, we're going to be pulled into the same economic collapse. If we have an economic collapse, other countries around the world are going to fall in the same way. So, it's very interwoven, very interconnected and very fragile as a result. And the Bible says that there's going to be this time of economic collapse and famine. Things are going to be expensive. Um, I read the statistic that that last year in 2019 in the world, there are 821 million people who were labeled food insecure. Not sure where the next meal is going to come from. 821 million people and of that number, 149 million are starving in our world today. So, it won't take much when when you talk about what's going to happen in the world and economic collapse and famine, it's not going to take much to push literally tens of millions of people into starvation when there's economic uh collapse and famine in our world. Uh it it ends in verse 6 talking about the oil and the wine. Oil and wine are idioms for the wealthy. So they're going to be some who are not impacted by this. Um they're they have their stockpiles. They have their resources. Uh but the great majority of people are going to be terribly impacted by what is coming in terms of famine and economic collapse.

Uh number seven verse 7. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying come and see. So I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the name of him who sat on it was death, and Hades followed with him, and power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. So the fourth seal is broken here. And uh when it is broken, John sees with it a pale horse. Now in your Bibles you can circle the word pale or highlight it if you have electronic Bibles. And the Greek word is chloros. C h l o r o s. Chloros. We get our English word chlorophyll. So that's why we know that this doesn't mean pale. When we think of pale, we think of like, you know, the blood's been drained out of our face. You know, you look white as a ghost. But this is actually a greenish color. It's chloros. It is pale green. And this horse, this pale green horse represents the death of many unbelievers. Uh death is coming uh with this horse and Hades followed with him. The abode of the dead. Uh and power was given to them over a fourth of the earth. Now this is um significant. So pale, chloros, chlorophyll, four weapons are mentioned here. A sword which is war, uh hunger or famine. Uh it says and then with death that some translations translate it plague and by the beasts of the earth. So there's going to be different ways that unbelievers are going to meet their demise. It's it's going to be somewhat through war. It's going to be somewhat through famine. It's going to be somewhat through plagues. and somewhat even by wild beasts who are going to be you know roaming the earth and and attacking people during this time. And it says here that over a fourth of the earth uh will die. Now presently there are about 7.9 billion people on the planet. So almost 8 billion people are on the planet today. So we're talking a fourth. We're talking over a fourth. It says here we're talking two billion people. This is significant. Two billion people are going to die in the first series here. So this is obviously a very sober time here, a very terrible time here. And it says um that they will die some again by war um hunger again. The whole issue of famine is is still an issue here. And then with death, again, the Greek word can be translated plagues and some some translations translated as plagues. You know, it's interesting that after World War II, more people died in Europe from influenza and typhoid than all the casualties of World War II combined. Disease killed more people after World War II as a result of the war. And as a result of, you know, um unsanitary conditions and the devastation that happened throughout Europe, you had rampant influenza, you had rampant typhoid. And as a result of influenza and typhoid, more people died from those diseases after World War II than all the casualties of World War II combined. So again, we can see how this this is something that's not not so far-fetched. In the 14th century, the bubanic plague, otherwise known as the black death, took, you know, they didn't really keep the greatest records in the 14th century. Plus, plus, you know, when you have so many massive people dying, you just have massive graves and people are are trying to bury the dead as quickly as they possibly can. But an estimated 30 to 60% of the entire population of Europe died as a result of the bubanic plague. Some estimates say that half of Europe's population, more than half, 60% died as a result of the bubanic plague. An estimated anywhere from 75 to 200 million people died in the 14th century from the bubanic plague from one disease. 75 to 200 million people. So again, I know COVID is on our minds and the death rate actually is lower than influenza thankfully. But when you think of something like the bubanic plague and how it took tens of millions of people, um it it doesn't take much, folks. One bacteria, one organism, one virus, and and then you have a disaster on your hands.

Verse 9, when he opened the fifth seal, so we're done with the horses now, the four horsemen, but we still have a few more seals here. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. Okay? Now notice we're talking about believers. People will die during the tribulation period for their faith. They will be martyred for their faith. And they were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then a white robe was given to each of them and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were, was completed. So Jesus opens the fifth seal and what we have here between verses 9- 11 is the the the record of the death of some unbelievers during the tribulation period. During the tribulation, believers die for not worship. There's two reasons basically that believers will die during the tribulation. They will die for not worshiping the beast or for not receiving his mark. That's all in in Revelation chapter 13. So, we'll eventually get to that. Now, some of you are saying, "Wait a minute. I thought you said believers are out of here. We don't go through the tribulation. Why are be people dying here in the tribulation who are believers?" Because it's still possible for you to get saved during the tribulation period. Believers who are alive at the time when the trumpet call is sounded will be snatched from the earth. we will be kept safe and not have to go through this. But the unbelievers who are left behind will still have opportunity to get saved. There will be people who will still have an opportunity to trust Christ as their savior. And again, because the wrath of God is being poured out here and and there will be finally some people who will finally bend the knee and bow to God and recognize his lordship and confess their sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. But it's going to take all this stuff. I mean, you start to see billions of people dying around you. That ought to wake you up pretty quickly, right? You start to you're like, you know, the world's falling apart and we got all this stuff happening here. I better get right with Jesus. Yeah. It's your come to Jesus moment, literally. And so, people will be able to get saved during that time. But here's what's going to happen. When they don't receive the mark of the beast, we'll talk about that later. 666. We get to Revelation 13. And and they don't have the capacity to buy or sell. and or they don't worship the beast who demands to be worshiped. They will be martyred during the tribulation period. And so what John sees here are the souls of the saints who have now gone to heaven and and they're under the altar of God here and they're crying out for justice. They're saying, "How long, oh Lord, will you allow all this terrible stuff to go on the earth before you avenge our death?" And the Lord is basically saying to them, "The time is not complete yet. There are more people who are still going to be a part of the kingdom. And unfortunately, they're going to suffer the same martyrdom you have, but the time is not yet complete, but God is not oblivious to these things. He's going to take care of it, but they're wanting justice here uh to avenge their deaths, their their their murders as martyrs.

And so in verse 12, I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. And so when the sixth seal is broken, uh, it it unleashes unrestrained universal natural catastrophes. We're talking earthquakes, volcanic explosions, meteor showers, asteroids, tsunamis, uh, all of this. Um, in 1883, the Crakatoa Islands, uh, which were volcanic islands in the South Pacific, erupted. 1883, the eruption was heard 3,000 mi away. Um, it created um tidal waves 1,500 miles away and it changed the tides 7,000 miles away. One volcano and it changed the world's weather for two years. Okay? Because of the ash and the blocking of the sun and how it affected the atmosphere. That was just one volcano in 1883. And so the Bible predicts here earthquakes, volcanic explosions, meteor showers, asteroids, tsunamis. Um, some of you have been following some of this. Um, but I just I just read on the news um yesterday this article that says because one of the things it says here is the moon became like blood and so everybody's looking for like the blood moon. You know, listen, you you won't be here for the blood moon. Okay, you understand so far how we've been going through this. You won't be here for the blood moon. So people are like, I saw the blood moon. Well, then then you you miss something else. Uh but I read this article just the just the other day that says the moon is quote rusting and scientists are stunned. It's already starting to turn red. And in the article um it says it's leaving experts perplexed by the discovery. The research published in Science Advances. Uh the lead author of the study uh Shuai Lee of the University of Hawaii said in a statement, quote, "It's very puzzling." Quote, "The moon is a terrible environment for what they call uh hematite to form in. Hematite is a feric mineral." So it it's, you know, it's an iron mineral. And um it talks about how the rust, also known as iron oxide, is what gives Mars its reddish color. And scientists are saying the same kind of thing is happening to our moon. And they don't understand it. They don't understand why it's happening. Um at first, quote, I totally didn't believe it. It shouldn't exist based on the conditions present on the moon, said study co-author NASA JPL planetary geoccientist Abigail Freeman. Um, and so it just an interesting article about how scientists are stunned about the moon starting to turn red, this rust look. And then I read this other article that came out um just today. uh potentially hazardous asteroid wider than two football fields set to fly past Earth next week, this coming Monday, by the way. Okay, so I don't know if we'll be here for the study next week or not. Um, but if we're not, you were told in advance. Okay, but actually, you know, as I started reading it, you know, scientifically speaking, when they say it's coming near Earth, well, in the article, it says, well, 4.2 million miles away. Okay. So, that that doesn't look like a near disaster anytime soon, but um it says that it's going to pass on this Monday, September 14th, uh at 24,000 m hour. That's it's careening at 24,000 mph. And they call these kind of objects some these asteroids um near Earth objects or Neos. And uh so as I read further in the article, it said that um according to a 2018 report put together by planetary.org, there are more than 18,000 NEOs around our planet right now. At any one moment, I'm thinking like could one just kind of carine off course? In fact, just a couple months ago, this past summer in August, it says a basketball court-sized asteroid flew at least 45,000 miles away from Earth. according to NASA's asteroid watch. And it says, "And separately in August of this year, an asteroid the size of a pickup truck flew within 2,000 mi of Earth, the closest ever recorded." And then I love this. It was missed by NASA until it flew past the planet. Wake up, NASA. You should be telling us. But anyway, I just share those things as a point of reference that, you know, what will it take? It won't take very much for God to kind of redirect some of these things and for them to impact the planet.

And the end of this chapter then verse 14, then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up. What that's that's a line in a hymn is it how great thou art or one of those amazing grace. Does anybody know? Anyway, there's a and in and one of the hymns I think it's how great thou art. It talks about, you know, then the sky will recede and will be rolled up um moved out of its place. And verse 15, and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves, listen to this, they hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and they said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us." Like, it's going to be so terrible that people just want to die. Like, like fall on us, just bury us. um to hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of his wrath has come. And who is able to stand? You know, that's that's sad when you think about it because instead of them kneeling and bowing and humbling themselves uh to to the one um who is behind this and surrendering to the lamb, they just hide themselves. They hide themselves and they just ask the mountains and the rocks to fall on them. You know, it it's it's we have to choice. It's either we we hide from God or we run to God. That's always been the choice throughout time and eternity. And that will be the choice even in this day. You can either run from God or you can run to God. And I guarantee you running to him is a lot better. Amen. >> Amen. Let's pray together.

Lord, as we close out this chapter tonight, we do pray that if our hearts are not in the right place, we would run to you. And we think about people in our lives that we know and love who are hiding from you. Nobody can hide from you, Lord. You you see everything. You know everything. And so we we pray Lord for those who are running from you and hiding from you. That they would turn to you. that you would use some circumstance or you would use us as vessels in the lives of other people that we know and love to bring them to that place where they would come to know you and have relationship with you. We don't want anyone to go through these things. You don't want, in fact, you tell us, Lord, in your word, you want none to perish, but all to come to repentance. And you've made a way for all of us to be able to escape your wrath, to receive your grace and your forgiveness by just humbling ourselves and running to you instead of from you. coming out into the open, stepping into the light instead of hiding in the darkness. If we would just humble ourselves and cry out to you and say, "Jesus, forgive me. Forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Be my Lord and Savior. I surrender to you." If we call upon you, Lord, we will be saved. So I pray for everybody who hears this prayer right now, whether in the moment or later on podcast or later and they listen to this Lord that anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If we would just humble ourselves, seek you, pray, confess our sins, invite you into our lives to be Lord and Savior. You are so eager to save us, to rescue us, to forgive us. Thank you for the hope of heaven. And thank you for forgiveness and grace and mercy that you expressed to us on the cross. We love you because you first loved us and gave your life as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. continue to help us Lord as we make our way through the book of Revelation. We love you and we praise you together in Jesus name. And everybody said amen and amen.