"When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord. We're glad to have you here We are especially grateful for those of you who have been continuing to share the ministry website with all of your family and friends. Your faithfulness to share God's Word with others continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to God's Word!
I want to let all of you know that we are thankful your prayers. Prayer is powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And
through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith in Jesus Christ.
Praise God! May He continue to use you and this ministry mightily
to effect change in even more lives. All for His glory!
Scripture clearly indicates that as we move toward , there will be many conflicts, border contentions, race wars, and national and international battles. Jesus' description of the end times is eerily contemporary. Just pick up a newspaper or watch the news
Inancient times, there were no telephones, faxes, or high-speed internet connection. To those of you who are younger, that's hard to believe isn't it? To deliver laws, edicts, bulletins, policy directives, and other important documents, kings sent forth couriers on royal horses, that were vital to the operation of their kingdom. These royal horses were bred and especially
dispatched from the throne room of the king, to prevent the kings royal decree from being delayed. In other words, these four horsemen of the Apocalypse are couriers who are sent throughout the world on behalf of The King of Kings! Each of the four living creatures is given a mission, and the Apostle John is granted an opportunity to observe their unique assignment. Through his vision, we are given a brief description of each horse and it's rider as well as the objective task. Each is given the power to accomplish that which he has been commanded to do. We can essentially The seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls are symbols of judgement. The stage is set, and now let watch, as the drama begins to unfold. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set this amazing text in our minds as we prepare our hearts for the Holy Spirit is saying to us. Revelation 6:3-8.
"When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
As we come to verses 3 and 4, John is still in heaven, and the vision is depicting the events happening on earth. Verses 3 and 4, " When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come. And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him."
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth."
The End of the World has been a subject of debate for a centuries. Technically, we have been living in the last days for more than 2000 years of human history. The culture depicts the end time events much differently than the truths of the Bible, which tell us precisely how the world will end. I believe these prophetic signs are being fulfilled before our very eyes.
When Jesus was talking with His disciples about the end times, He forewarned them that persecution of Christians would increase. The imprisonment, torture and death of Christians continues to rise throughout the world at record levels. After telling His disciples about coming persecution in the last days, Jesus said "you will be hated by all nations because of My name." Over the past several decades, laws and regulations are stripping back Christians rights and influence, in places where it once flourished. Then, Jesus said "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another." Pew Research indicates, that fewer Christians are passing on their faith to their children. And that Christianity is one to two generations from crisis.
Jesus then told His disciples, that before the end comes, "Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many." It is certainly no secret, as these false teachers continue to rise, that sound doctrine is not being taught in the churches today. Next, He forewarned that "Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold." In light of recent events, we can clearly see that the U.S. heading toward lawlessness. Anarchy is in the offing as the lack of respect for law and authority increases, as rules go unenforced.
The final sign Jesus gave His disciples was an encouraging one. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations." During the pandemic, God opened door through the internet and technology to reach those who have never been accessible before. The result is the gospel began to spread faster than Covid-19! It goes without saying, we live in a world in desperate need of redemption.
I am frequently asked, "How close are we to the end of the world?" The only answer I have is, "Much closer than you think!"
In Matthew 24, Jesus said "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming."
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we than You for Your Word. We are so grateful for Christ Who gave Himself for our sins, delivering us from the coming day of wrath. We rejoice in the hope of the day Jesus is going to come and gather His own to Himself. Lord, however, we do pray that every heart receiving this message, would be turned toward Christ, and receive the salvation that He provides, and praise You. May no one neglect such a great salvation. May the truth be spoken, confirmed, and witnessed for many to receive.
In Christ's precious name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: The Second, Third, and Fourth Seals
The moment has now come, the Lamb of God is breaking open the seals of the scroll, and one by one they shall be broken. The music of praise that previously occupied chapters 4 and 5 has ended. What is written under the seals of the book begins to leaps off its pages. The depravity mankind and his sin is taking a toll that ends in judgment. The world faces the inevitable wrath of a holy God and death.
This is an astonishing Word to the church and to the world. For us as Christians, to neglect our great salvation is to come into judgment, for which there will be no escape. And, to the unbelieving, do not neglect the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ on the cross and the forgiveness of sin and the escape from God's wrath. This is a great salvation!
Open your Bibles with me to the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 6. Chapter 6 begins a chronological process to achieve God's purposes to reclaim His rightful ownership of the universe, and as these seals are broken, a corresponding
In
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I
looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name
Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them
over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with
pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth."
As I have stated previously, it is my conviction that the church is raptured before this occurs. In fact, we saw that the church is in heaven, which is represented by the twenty-four elders,
who are praising God and glorifying God and glorifying the Lamb.
In Matthew 24, Jesus said, following the deceptiveness of peace, "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end." Then in verse 7, He says, "Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom."
The first one, if you will remember, was peace; what is to follow is anything but. Jesus refers to these four horsemen as "the beginning of birth pains." And, as with birth pains, they come somewhat infrequently, increasing in frequency and intensity, until the final birth takes place. Allow me to point out, that the same is true of the events that are going to occur during this time period.
The birth that is in mind, is the coming of Christ to establish His kingdom. The birth pains are the events preceding that. These events increase in frequency and intensity the closer they get to the final event. There will be more and more pain, faster and faster, until the ultimate pain of Christ coming and destroying all the wicked on the face of the earth. Matthew 24:8, then describes the first half of the final seven year period. By the way, this is parallel to the first four horsemen that John sees in his vision. The widespread persecution is depicted when the fifth seal is opened, which we will see next time.
In the second half of the seven year period, is what Jesus called "The Great Tribulation." By the mid point, people have been converted, people have been saved. During the second half, the persecution continues. According to Daniel 9:27, it is at the midpoint of the seven-year period, the Antichrist desecrates the temple in Jerusalem, which starts the persecution. That is the event that triggers the great tribulation.These events of the unrolled scroll will encompass the full seven years of God’s wrath. "The day of the Lord," which is the final fury, when God Himself comes in the form of Christ and enacts His own judgment. Again, that is preceded by the divine judgments which we are seeing unfold in these first five seals.
Christ, Who is the rightful heir, breaks the second seal, which unrolls another section of the scroll,
which describes the events that are going on in this second phase of
God’s unfolding judgment. Whatever is written in the scroll then becomes a visible.The second living creature summons the next rider, "Come," as the sovereign Lord breaks the seal and judgment unfolds. As we noted last time, horses are associated with with power, majesty, and force. If you look up the word "horse," in your concordance, trace it through the Old Testament, it's quite an interesting study. I encourage you to do that if you get a chance.
Notice the second horse is red, as opposed to white. The red speaks of devastating war. We know it’s war, because it says "it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him." Again, this parallels what Jesus said in Matthew 24, about war and rumors of wars, and nations rising against nation. He is the rider who divides race against race, class against class,
neighbor against neighbor, employee against employer, husband against
wife, religion against religion, and nation against nation. He is the
rider who takes peace from the earth and causes every kind of division and destroys every human relationship that he can.
I am compelled to remind you, that all of these things that are happening are happening at the command of God. I have heard a number of people call it a variety of things, however, biblically, there is only one thing that it can be called and that is the wrath of God. And it is being executed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is God who allowed the false peace; and it is God who allows the wars. It's important that you understand that. I don’t know exactly how it happens, but just when everybody’s breathing easy in this false peace, "kingdom will rise against kingdom." And it’s going to escalate all over everyplace.
In case you’re wanting comparative passages, you will find the same thing in Mark 13 and Luke 21. So, first we see peace taken from the earth, then we see men are going to slay one another. Violent slaughter begins to take place all over the earth. Next, we see "A great sword was given to him," a "machaira." This was a slaughter-knife used for stabbing. It is an assassin's weapon, It depicts war, revolt and massacre.
In Jeremiah 25, it says "For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it."
In Daniel 8, it says this, referring to the Antichrist: "He will destroy to an extraordinary degree. He will destroy mighty men and the holy people." This is going to become ugly, very, very ugly. The Antichrist is the one who orchestrates a peace treaty with Israel. I believe he will be the instrument of world peace.Then, in order to contain his power and maintain his authority, he’s going to turn to war. The abomination of desolation is part of the holocaust that he creates. Daniel 11 says "He speaks monstrous things against the God of gods." It goes on to say "He will show no regard for the desire of women." That could either a reference to the desire of women being a phrase the Jews use to speak of the Messiah, or that possibly he is a homosexual. In our world today, that's not unimaginable either.
No doubt the Antichrist comes in peaceably. As we noted last, so did Adolf Hitler, that's how these people work, in setting themselves up as the world dictator and the great power. He will he set himself up in Jerusalem as God to be worshiped by the whole world. He holds the Middle East in his hands, all of its resources, invincible in his own mind. You can read more about the prophecy and the escalating wars as Antichrist gets involved in in Daniel chapter 11, it's quite a fascinating study.
Verses 5 and 6, "When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine."
Here, we find basically the same introduction: "When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." then he says, "I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand." By the word "Behold," his shock is indicated. The third seal is opened and the third rider comes. Black is the color of famine. You can read more about on your own in Lamentations chapter 5. The set of scales is to measure out the wheat, food is going to be rationed.
"And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine." There's no doubt in my mind that God is speaking here, because these creatures, these
four living angels, these four cherubim, are surrounding the throne of
God.
By the way, wheat or barley was the basic food for the people in John’s day. A denarius was a day’s wage. A quart of wheat would sustain one person who had a very moderate appetite for one day. Barley was animal food, but you could get more food to feed your family if you’d settle for that. It would similar to having to choose between a loaf of bread and a small bag of dog food.
Imagine working and earning only enough money to buy what food was needed for that day for one, then, consider trying to feed a family and providing the other basic necessities of life such as housing, heat, clothing, and transportation. Folks, that's what is coming. Worldwide famine and hunger is the result of worldwide war. Again, in Matthew 24, Jesus warned there would be famine. Keep in mind, this too is God’s judgment.
Next, God warns them to be very careful with their wine and their oil, because it’s so precious, don’t waste it. If all you have is raw wheat without any oil to mix with it, it will be very difficult. Not to mention wine to drink with it. Keep in mind, water will likely be unfit to drink in these days.
When there is this kind of wide scale war happening all over the globe, slaughter is colossal,
productivity halts, and food supplies are destroyed. Because food will be extremely scarce, rationing with become necessary, similar to WW II, where 20 to 25 million people died of hunger or hunger-related diseases. Just imagine, with the type of weaponry we have today, a war of this magnitude will be absolutely devastating. It will be all man can do just to survive. So far, we have world peace, world war, world famine, and we’re not even out of the first three-and-a-half year of all of this period.
That brings us to verses 7 and 8, "When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth."
The fourth cherub is commanding the next rider and the horse. Then he says "I looked, and behold, an ashen horse," some translations say "pale." You might be interested to know that the Greek word is "chlōros," from which we get "chlorophyll," which is associated with the color "pale green." By the way, the word chlōros appears several times in the New Testament in connection with grass or vegetation.
So here John sees a pale green horse, "and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth." In other words, death will follow the famine, and the grave will follow death. Currently, there are over 7, 896, 496, 800 people in the world, and between now and tomorrow morning, 40,000 children will starve to death. The day after tomorrow, 40,000 more! During this period of time, an unthinkable number of people will die.
Pestilence, and the wild beasts of the earth are frequently linked together in Scripture. In fact, in a number of Old Testament passages, war, famine, pestilence, and the wild beasts are predicted by God to be His means of final judgment. Jeremiah chapters 14 and 44, Ezekiel chapters 6 and 14. Pestilence is the Greek word "thanatō," the word for death. When you have worldwide war, followed by famine, there's bound to be a problem with health and sanitation. Far too often, because of medication available, we greatly underestimate the power of disease to wipe out entire populations. There will likely be no medicine, as the living conditions descend to a primitive level.
As for the wild beasts of the earth, many people think of lions and tigers, but historically the deadliest creature on the face of the earth is a rat. In fact, it was rats infested with bubonic plague that killed one-third of the population of Europe in the fourteenth century.And, they can carry as many as thirty-five diseases at once. Rats have killed more people than all the wars of history, and they always make their home where men dwell.
All of this is inevidible, and astonishingly, there's much more to come. And we'll look at that next time.
In Closing..
The picture of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse is not a pleasant one. But as terrible as the four horsemen events are, they are not the worst judgments that are to take place upon earth. It is my prayer that as you receive this message, you will turn to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation before the end comes.
If you’re not yet saved and this message scares you, you’ve got good reason to be afraid! The best way to prepare for the events of End of the World is by placing faith in Jesus and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2021 All Rights Reserved