I was reading another pastor's sermon notes on Revelation. After
his twelfth sermon (this is my fourteenth), he received an anonymous note
from his congregation. It read, Kindly see to it that your sermon
presentation is more entertaining and con-cise. He had a member
who thought he was preaching too hard and too long! Well, I can
sympathize with the writer of that note. I have found it difficult to preach Revelation in an entertaining and concise manner. My preaching has been both harder and longer than I thought it would be. But the issues before us are serious, and as we move into this section of Revelation, the scenes of earth become all the more terrible. Satan's man rises to power and, like his spiritual
father, he only comes to steal and kill and destroy. The judgments of God begin to fall, increasing in inten-sity, until planet earth becomes a giant, smoking battle-field littered with the decaying remains of those who died in their deluded, rebellious rejection of Jesus Christ. They are scenes that cannot be passed over quickly, be-cause they serve an
important purpose in the Word of God.
1. To scare the living daylights out of us, making us see the fearful
consequences of rejecting the truth of God.
2. To sober us, making us take our lives more seriously and to live them
according to eternal values.
a. We will not put so much attachment upon the things of this earth once
we see what will become of them.
b. We will live more thoughtfully for eternity, finding our source
and satisfaction in God.
3. To send us out into the world ambassadors for Jesus Christ delivering people from the wrath to come. With the breaking of the first seal, we are introduced to the reign of the
anti-Christ. He has many names throughout the Bi-ble. He is the little horn of Daniel 7, the son of perdition, the man of sin, and the abomination of desolation. He will end up being the most hated man on earth because he will bring desola-tion death and destruction to the earth. With this chapter, we begin to see what the world will be like under the anti-Christ. With the breaking of the seal, John hears the noise of thun-der the sound of an approaching storm. The storm comes in the form of four horsemen. We will see that as each horse arrives on the scene, the storm
intensifies. It begins like a brisk breeze that causes nothing more serious than the loud crack of a flag snap-ping in the wind. It ends like a great tornado that flattens every-thing in its path.
I. The Four Riders 1-8
A. The White Horse
The first notable event of the Tribulation is the arrival of the Antichrist. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 states, Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day [the Day of Christ, the day in which Jesus returns to establish His kingdom] shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God.
1. He is antichrist.
a. He bears a resemblance to Christ.
Both come riding on a white horse
Both wear crowns
Both come to conquer
b. But he is in fact the very opposite of Christ.
READ DANIEL 8:23-25
Jesus exercised the power of God; Antichrist will exer-cise the power of Satan
Jesus saved wonderfully; Antichrist will destroy wonder-fully in a manner that is extraordinary, unique Jesus magnified His father; Antichrist will magnify him-self.
Jesus brought the peace of salvation; Antichrist will bring a peace of destruction
2. The symbols associated with him.
a. A brandished bow a readiness to use force
Like Hitler, he uses the threat of war to intimidate nations into accepting His demands
b. A crown a symbol of victory, reward
He will win the praise and respect of men and they will reward him by giving him power and authority.
3. He will go forth conquering.
a. His power and appeal will grow gradually
b. However, when it is apparent that all nations will not accept his authority, he will attempt to sub-due the world by force.
Prophecy tells us that the antichrist will come with the prom-ise of peace, but will prove to be a man of war. Those whom he cannot win by
deceit, he will conquer by force.
B. The Red Horse
When Hitler rose to power, he continually spoke of peace, all the while preparing for war. The antichrist will do the same. Having been given power over many nations, he will plunge the world into war in an effort to
rule it all
1. Red speaks of violence and bloodshed.
a. The peace he has so astutely bargained for he will take from the earth.
b. He will lead his armies to war, and the nations that had hoped for
peace will begin to kill one another.
2. He will trade his bow for a great sword.
a. It takes skill to wield a bow well.
b. It takes brute strength to wield a sword.
c. This tells us of the vicious nature of the anti-christ.
There will come a time when he will no longer rely on treaties and politics. He will no longer hide behind promises of peace, but will declare all out war.
C. The Black Horse
1. The symbols associated with him.
a. He carries a balance a symbol of the market-place.
b. He is associated with high prices.
A measure of wheat is the amount needed to feed a family for one
meal
A penny in the time of Christ represented a day's wages. Oil and wine are luxuries,
What we have is a condition in which necessities are priced out of sight,
but luxuries are ignored. What would cause that? Inflation.
2. The black rider brings worldwide inflation.
a. Money will become worthless
b. Food prices will skyrocket
c. People will line up to buy a meal for their family and will care nothing for the finer things of life.
D. The Pale Horse of Death
1. He is pale like the 1 billion corpses that will lie rotting on the
earth. (1/4 of the earth's population)
2. Everywhere he rides, men die.
a. By the sword men and women destroyed by violence; riots, civilwar, murder
b. By hunger famine caused by war and poverty
c. By death John could have said withplagues, or dis-ease Instead, he just says death, as though he saw people dying from something he could not explain (chemical warfare?
Radiation sickness?) By the beasts of the earth God is telling us that the world will become a savage place to live and
mankind will be involved in a fierce struggle for survival.
3. The tragic truth of Hell following.
a. John paints a picture of Hell following the pale rider a reminder that many will die without Christ.
b. Instead of the peace they had hoped for, they will spend forever in a
literal, burning hell.
II. The Fate of the Redeemed 9-11
A. Slain for the Word of God
1. Every Christian will have been taken from the earth at the rapture.
a. No more Sunday School; no more revivals
b. No more soul winners knocking on the door of the lost.
2. Where did these believers come from? They were born again by the Word
of God.
a. All the Christians will be gone, but all their Bibles will be left
behind.
b. As people lose faith in antichrist, they will turn to the Word of God,
calling upon Christ to save them.
3. As Christian faith begins to revive, persecution will start.
a. It will become illegal to own a Bible
b. Men will hide it, be discovered, and die as mar-tyrs slain for the Word of God
B. Slain for the Testimony which they held
Though living during days of suffering, the worst time in the history of the earth, these new believers will not deny the Christ they will have come to embrace.
III. The Fearful day of Retribution 12-17
A. A day of terrible disasters
1. The earth will quake and reel like the staggering of a drunkard.
2. Meteors will batter the earth, and the light of the sun and moon will
be altered
3. Every island and mountain will be moved out of their places a
day of total chaos and unbeliev-able violence.
B. A day of God's displeasure the wrath of the Lamb
1. Man will reap the consequences of his rebellion against God and his
rejection of Christ.
a. Men will pray, but not to God.
b. Somehow they will know that the day of grace will have passed them by,
and there is nothing left for them but judgment.
2. It will be the great day of God's wrath.
a. Men want to believe in a loving and forgiving God, but not a God of
wrath.
b. What they do not realize is that God is loving and forgiving, but when
they reject His way of salvation, they leave Him no option but judgment
Conclusion
In closing, we must acknowledge that these words are written for us. This
is a message, not for the world at large, but the churches of Christ. So,
why has God told us these things? I think we can find the answer in a
parallel passage from the Old Testa-ment.
READ JOEL 2:1-2, 10-13
God tells us these things to humble us to get us to turn to Him with all our hearts, and to do it now. He wants us to quit run-ning away
from God and living our own way. He wants us to be broken hearted over our participation in the same sins for which he will destroy this earth. He wants us to turn to Him with our hearts to find our delight and joy in Him, to take pleasure in lov-ing Him, listening to Him, and living His way. This is not just about knowing that we will miss life under the antichrist. It is about calling us to submit ourselves to the Lord-ship of THE Christ, allowing Him to bless us and use our lives to bring Him glory.
