Third through the sixth seals
here in Revelation chapter 6 Of course we remember now that
these seals were the seals the seven seals of this book That's
mentioned in chapter 5 the book of God's will We see in the opening
of the seals that this is the purpose of God unfolding in time
upon this earth These seven seals are opened one at a time by Christ
He's the only one worthy to open them which Signifies revealing
them, but also fulfilling it These are manifestations of God's
will each of these seals and God has willed these things and
they have come to pass on this earth and shall this is what
has is and shall come to pass in the earth and by the ordinance,
decree, purpose, and will of God Almighty. The first seal,
you'll recall, had to do with Christ accomplishing redemption
for his people. It's the lamb going forth conquering
and to conquer. He wins, is winning, and will
always win. If you're in him, you win too.
He causes us to triumph. He accomplishes redemption, and
that's primary. That's the first seal. Of course
it is. God has a universe because he
has a people. And he has a people for the glory
of his son. Everything that happens in the
earth, though, is in God's hand. All of it. And that's what we
see here. That second seal shows that all
of the killing in the earth, murder. Why do people murder
each other? Well, because they're evil. But it doesn't happen without
God. It doesn't happen without God.
He says, I kill and I make alive. And that's what this second seal
was about. He withdraws peace from the earth. And it results,
what's the result of that? You see how vital the blessing
of God is in this earth? If he just takes his peace away,
we kill each other. And don't put that past yourself.
I've mentioned to you before, sometimes I have some water right
here. We would kill each other over a glass of water if God
brings us to that point and takes his hand off. You know you would,
and I know it too, I would too. So he takes his peace away in
that second seal. The inevitable result of that
is war. The third seal here has to do
with the economies of the earth, the buying and selling. This
much for some bread, this much for some barley, this much for
this and that. And again, the message is in
this third seal also that Christ determines all of that. Now think
about what this means. This is... We get some perspective
on everything that happens in the world from these seals, don't
we? What's going on in this world?
Redemption. It doesn't look much like it,
but God's saving his people. That's what he's doing. And then
when he takes his peace off of this earth away, you can see
that. How many times in my lifetime
have people said, well, boy, it just looks like God has taken
his hand off of us. It sure does, doesn't it? To
a great degree, not all the way, Because we'd all be goners. And then what else is going on?
Buying and selling. That's what this whole world
is about from man's perspective, isn't it? Getting, getting, getting. And what's interesting here is
the word measure and measures. In this third seal, it talks
about measures, a measure of this for this much, and a measure
of that. That word is C-H-O-I-N-I-X. It's pronounced quiniques. And
you know what that means? It's not just a general word
that signifies any quantity, but it specifies a daily portion
for one person. That's what that word means.
It's a day, it's a portion for a day, for one person. And so we have God in the revelation
of this third seal, and Christ in particular, doling out to
every man on this earth his daily portion. You don't even know
what your portion is for today, but you're gonna find out. God's
already measured it out for you. And you're gonna get it. You're
gonna get it, whatever it is. Think about what's happening
in the earth. Simply from a standpoint of just observing what's going
on around us. If you're a believer, you know
that God's saving His people. Whether you see somebody get
saved by God Almighty, we don't say get saved, but whether you
see God save somebody this morning or not. God is saving His people. That's why this world stands.
Read, I believe it's 2 Peter 2. When he saves the last one, he's
gonna wrap this thing up. He's gonna burn this whole place
up. But he's not willing that any of his elect should perish.
That's why he hasn't done it yet. And so yes, we say, even
so come Lord Jesus, but at the same time, we say, Lord, save
those that we love. and then come back. We're selfish,
aren't we? We're selfish. Save everybody
I love and then come back that next day. But he's going to do
it his way and he's going to do it the right way. Whatever
he does is right. But just looking around, you
know, the preaching of the gospel is still happening here and there
in different corners of this world. Christ is the one holding
the reins. He's the rider. He's the one
controlling it When it comes to that he not only is salvation,
but he decides who is saved who's not all Judgment is committed
under the Sun all decision-making And people are killing one another
but not randomly or at the whims of chance Christ again is holding
the reins and What else is happening? People are buying and selling,
aren't they? That's what this world runs on. Economies rise
and fall. People live or die by a system
of monetary value in this world. But what a comfort to God's people
that all of this is not in the control of the incompetent, corrupt
sinners. Oh, listen, Psalm 145, 16. I
thought of this when I saw this third seal opened up. Thou openest
thine hand and satisfyest the desire of every living thing. The little birds that live in
the tree, they're gonna get their daily portion from Him, and so
are you, so am I. I'm gonna get what's coming to
me today from Him, from Him. Boy, that's a comfort, isn't
it? That includes my family, and
I'll tell you what, I wouldn't have it any other way, would
you? I don't want anything to come my way today. One of the
psalmists said, Lord, don't make me rich lest I forget you, and
don't make me poor lest I curse you, but give me that which is
convenient for me. Can you honestly say that, don't
make me rich? And we are rich in a sense, aren't
we? We have everything we need and everything we want. Hmm,
he definitely is rich toward us, isn't he? The Lord Jesus
taught us to pray this, give us this day our what? Our Juaniques, our daily portion,
our daily bread. We pray that by his grace. That's
what's being revealed in our text that he gives to everyone
their daily portion in this life, more to some than others. It's not guaranteed that everybody
gets the same. Some people work hard all their
life and have very little. Other peoples don't lift a finger
in a rich, in monetary things. It's not about that. It's not
about that. God's blessing does not correspond
to more or less of this Earth's provisions and luxuries. That's
not what blessing is. More stuff does not mean more
blessing from God. It just doesn't. For some, an
abundance of stuff is a curse for that rich young ruler. He
could not, think about this, he could not Follow the Lord
of glory, the one who is the very riches of God, the one who
owns everything and is everything. He could not follow him because
he had a lot of stuff. That's a curse. God's people are blessed with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Not in merchandise. In Christ. The oil and the wine
here are the spiritual blessings of grace and mercy. Look, He
gives and withholds when it comes to the things of this world.
And we're to honor Him in that. Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter
8. I wouldn't want to read this, We just have one service today,
so if it's a couple hours, y'all won't mind, will you? Don't be
scared, I won't do that. Deuteronomy chapter eight, I
believe it starts in verse 11. But this is just a blessing.
We may not finish all that I read, but I hope we can. But look at
Deuteronomy eight, and yeah, it is verse 11. Beware that thou
forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments
and his judgments and his statutes which I command thee this day.
Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly
houses and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks
multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all
that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up,
and thou forget the Lord thy God. which brought thee forth
out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led
thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery
serpents." And think about that. That wasn't just an earthly experience.
That was Christ. Those fiery serpents bit them,
and he said to Moses, raise up a serpent of brass on a pole,
and everybody that looks will live. And then He said, thousands
of years later, as Moses lifted up that serpent on the pole,
so must the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Who brought
thee forth water out of the rock of Flint? What did Paul say?
That rock was Christ. who fed thee in the wilderness
with manna? What did our Lord Jesus say?
I am that bread that came down. Moses gave you not that bread,
but my Father, and I am that bread. If any man eat of me,
he shall never hunger again. which thy fathers knew not, that
he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee to do thee
good at thy latter end. And thou say in thine heart,
my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth
thee power to get wealth. That's the part I've never forgotten.
I read that 20 years some odd ago. I don't know how long ago.
And I've never gotten that out of my head. For it is he that
giveth thee power to get wealth. And look at the things he mentioned,
your goodly houses, your food. Next time you go to the grocery
store, you get ribeye instead of hamburger. Remember the Lord
your God. And when you got nothing but
hamburger, and you can't afford anything else, remember the Lord
your God. And when next time you build
a house or improve your house, Remember the Lord your God. Next
time you buy a new car, remember the Lord your God. Every time
you put a bite of food in your mouth, he gives us our daily
bread. But listen, that's the earthly
blessings now primarily he's talking about, but this whole
book is spiritual. The oil and the wine are the
spiritual blessings of grace and mercy. Remember the good
Samaritan, what did he do when he found that man? He poured
in oil and wine into his wounds. That picture's the grace and
mercy of God in salvation. And the command here in the opening
of this third seal is that however things fare with the economies
of this earth, however poor or rich in earthly things my people
are, the blessings of God are not affected in any way. You
don't hurt them. His gifts and calling are without
repentance. He didn't take that back. Job
lost just about everything else, didn't he? Except the mercy and
grace of God, the blessing of God. And he was given stuff,
his stuff. We're rich in Christ, no matter
our financial status, and that doesn't fluctuate. Gifts and things like that, they're
different for different people. But how saved are you? If you
know the Lord Jesus Christ, you're exactly as saved as I am. That's
how saved you are. Christ is everything to God's
people and we all have him. Christ Jesus, Paul said, all
things are yours. All things are yours was he exaggerating
if everything in this world works together for your good That makes
it yours by God's grace for your good We're rich beyond expression
And that's Christ doing that's his command in the earth. He
hath commanded the blessing upon his people That good Samaritan,
let me read you part of that. Luke 10, 33, but a certain Samaritan,
as he journeyed, came where he was. That's another phrase that
I've never been able to get out of my head since I read it. I
don't know how many decades ago. He came where he was. Where that
poor man that had been robbed and stabbed and left in a ditch
bleeding out, He came where he was. That's what God does. He
don't meet you halfway. He'll come right where you are.
If he don't, you're a goner. You're a goner. As he journeyed,
came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion
on him. And went to him and bound up
his wounds and pouring in oil and wine. The Lord said when
he opened that third seal, he said, don't you hurt that. That
don't diminish, that don't go away. He poured in oil and wine
and set him on his own beast and brought him to an end and
took care of him. Here's what this seal teaches
us. Listen, this third seal teaches us this. Therefore take no thought
saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that you have
need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added
unto you. He's commanded it. Your daily portion is gonna be
in your hand. Today and tomorrow and from now
on David said I've never seen the Lord see begging bread I'm
old and I used to be young and I've never seen it. Have you? Oh My These seals are showing us that
the consequential matters of this earth And this life are
in the control of the Son of God Boy, that makes it easier
to go to sleep, doesn't it? Like a rider on a horse, the
bit in the mouth is turned whithersoever he will, like the rivers of water
and like the hearts of kings. Proverbs 21.1. Boy, I like to hear about that. Verse
seven in our text. When he had opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see,
and I looked. Behold a pale horse and his name
that sat on him was death and hell followed with him and power
was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill
with the sword and with hunger and With death and with the beasts
of the earth The second seal had to do with war because he
withdrew his peace from the earth right and everybody was killing
each other To whatever degree he removes his peace. That's
to what degree we will be at war and This one is death from
all causes and we say causes even though there's only one
ultimate cause of death the Lord kills and he makes alive But
hell follows with this one Hell follows it Not heaven not glory,
but hell and so this is God's purpose for the reprobate the
lost in this world those without Christ But by default, it also
reveals that there are those who cannot be affected by this.
There's a limit here, isn't there? And this is comforting too. You
know, the Lord told me to comfort you. I'm gonna try to do that. It's gonna be Him doing it though,
isn't it? He knows how to do it. There's
a limit here. A third part, now I don't know,
And perhaps the most important thing for us to know here is
that power was given unto them. You see that? The rider here
is death and hell is following with him, but power is given
unto them. Who buy Christ? The reins are
still in his hand, aren't they? I'm not sure why it's a fourth
part. I said a third part, it's a fourth part. I believe it was,
wasn't it? A fourth part of the earth. Okay,
well, I'm not sure why it's a fourth part. I don't know anybody that
knows. But what's clear is that there's
a set limit. There's a set limit. It may be
that because of the deaths of so many infants and people who
don't know, there are people born and live years that don't
have any capacity to think or to understand the gospel. You
reckon God puts those in hell? I believe I could show you from
the scriptures that he doesn't. But that's for another time.
I'm just speculating here, and I'm honest when I do that. I'm
honest with you. That may be why that only a fourth
part is visited by hell, death and hell here. And it may well teach that here. I remember Henry used to say
that way more people are going to be in glory than in hell.
And that's the reason he gave. And that may well be true. I
don't know that for sure. It's not up to you or me, but
listen. The Lord said in Revelation 118, I am he that liveth and
was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the
keys of hell and of death. I'll tell you this, I don't know
why it's a fourth part, whether that's literal, whether it's
only 25% roughly or whatever of people are gonna go to hell.
I don't know about that, but I know this. It's gonna be the
Lord that decides who. Thank God Christ holds the keys. of hell and of death and the
power is his to give. He gave death and hell power
over a fourth part of the earth. You can't get into hell if you
wanted to, if you're his. That's a blessing. And then look at verse nine.
And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the
souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the
testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice
saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true. Oh my, their souls
are under the altar by the grace of God. And they say, oh Lord,
holy and true. How long dost thou not judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And
white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said
unto them that they should rest yet for a little season, until
their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be
killed as they were should be fulfilled. Now there's a lot
of teaching in this. This seems to be very specifically
about those who were slain for preaching the word of God. Many
of the prophets if not all of them and many of the Apostles
And many of God's preachers and teachers throughout throughout
history I recommend Fox's book of martyrs. That's a good book
and It describes a lot of what happened to people that preach
the gospel but And so we know of some of them, but that doesn't
happen so much now like it did then. And we can't know how many
of those who are slain just for mentioning the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about this. There are those
who are killed now in some countries just for mentioning the name
of Christ, just for carrying a Bible around. But a lot of
them don't even know who they're talking about. So they're not,
they're certainly not the ones mentioned here. They don't even
know who this Bible, Preaches But they're killed so I don't
know about all that But I know this though. It is precious to
see that the Lord specifically mentions Those who die for the
express reason of the testimony of him There's a lot of teaching
here for all believers Unto them all were given white robes and
all who have washed their robes and made them white, how? There's
not but one way. You can't walk in white before
God any other way. Your robe has to be washed in
the blood of the Lamb, unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own precious blood. And no matter the circumstances
of their physical death, all whose robes are washed in the
blood of the Lamb are redeemed, and they have robes of white
before God. This is the righteousness of
Christ, which is also called the righteousness of the saints.
He is our righteousness. These are not physical robes,
but spiritual. And we wash them in the sense
that we come to Christ and lay hold of him and say, Lord, be
propitious to me on the mercy seat. God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. We lay hold of him by grace through
faith, but these robes are given because salvation is of the Lord.
They're given, unto them are given, given. Robes of life. Now these martyrs asked the Lord
a question here, and the answer is such a blessing. Just rest
a little while. Until I do what I'm gonna do.
Just rest a little while. Isn't that a beautiful answer?
Until my purpose is fulfilled. And we all ask this same question,
don't we, in a little bit different form? They're saying, how long,
Lord, till you avenge our blood? on those in the earth that killed
us. But listen, we ask the same question
in a different form. We say, oh Lord, holy and true,
how long? How long? But in the very same
breath, we acknowledge that however long it is, we're glad it's up
to him. We say, oh Lord, you're holy
and true. Whatever you do will be right
and good because of who you are, who you are. He's the Lord holy
and true, so however long it'll be, it'll happen exactly when
it should because of who he is. Every question we ask should
be asked this way, trusting him to do what's right. Lord, how
long, how long? David asked that in the Psalms
a time or two, didn't he? How long, Lord? Every question we ask, we trust
Him to do what's right, what's good, what's perfect, what's
best for His glory and for our good. And boy, what an answer. There's a reason for the delay.
You know there is because of who He is. His purpose for His sheep. is
not yet fully accomplished on this earth. There are some that
have to die the way you did, and when they do, I'll avenge
you. You could say that different
ways, couldn't you? You could say there's some that have to
be saved like you were, and when they are, I'll avenge you, I'll come for
you. Because that's what we ask in it. How long, Lord, will you
tarry How long will you let this horrible earth continue? Because let's face it, we're
in an oasis, but that doesn't make this earth anything but
horrible. The people in it, absolutely horrible, including
us, without his grace. We may ask, Lord, how long, oh
Lord, holy and true, will you allow this wretched earth to
stand? How long before you come? Take me home and here's his answer
Just a little while and in the meantime rest Just rest a little
while isn't that beautiful Rest in his sovereign power Rest because
he's on the throne. Can we rest? Knowing that everything
happens by his will that's what this book is Rest in his invincible love and
grace. Can you rest knowing that he
loved you with an everlasting love and therefore with loving
kindness he drew you to himself? Can you rest in that? Rest in
the peace which passeth all understanding that is ours in Christ Jesus.
He made peace through the blood of his cross and now we can come
boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy in our time of
need. Rest while he does what he needs
to do. That's what he said. I'm doing
some things and when I get done, this will all be over. Now you
just rest. I may remember that one 30 years
from now. Rest. How do we rest? by coming to
Him. He said, come unto Me and rest.
And we're continually coming, aren't we? Continually coming
to Him. Come unto Me and find rest unto
your souls. We never cease to come to Him,
do we? It says in 1 Peter 2, to whom coming? To whom coming? As unto a living stone, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. To whom coming? It's a continual The opening
of this seal reminds all of God's sheep that all of our powerful
enemies cannot touch us without Him. He gave power unto hell
and death over this fourth part, but not over you. He said, hitherto
shalt thou come and no further. A thousand will fall at your
left hand and 10,000 at your right hand, but it won't come
near you. The plagues that he's ordained for sinners in this,
they won't come near you. Listen to Psalm 27.1. The Lord
is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Well, that's
a good question, isn't it? If the Lord is your light and
your salvation, who are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? I
know that troubling things happen. in this earth and we're gonna
be trouble bound. That's who we are. We're gonna
be. But may we be comforted also because of who he is. Listen, the next thing he said
there in Psalm 27, the Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom
shall I be afraid? When the wicked Even mine enemies
and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh. They stumbled and
fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this will I be confident." And you know what
comes next? He said, in this will I be confident.
And what did he say next? One thing have I desired of the
Lord, and that will I seek after. that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of
the Lord and to inquire in his temple verse twelve and I beheld when
he had opened the sixth seal and lo there was a great earthquake
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as
blood now listen people talk about this and this is Mostly future now there's applications
for now in all of this, but this is future. This is the judgment
This is the day of his wrath But think about what's happening
this these weird thing. They think the moon's gonna be
red and this guy look Think about basically what's taking place?
What is the moon? What is the Sun? What is the
star? What are the stars? I? And think
about the significance of it, the spiritual significance of
it. These are not physical signs. If he does do that, then we'll
look at it and we'll say, great, I remember that from the scripture,
but you know the significance of it's going to be spiritual.
It's going to be spiritual. And we'll talk about that, but
let's finish reading it. But as I read it, I wanted you
to think about what are those things? And what's exactly happening
here? Verse 13, and the stars of heaven fell into the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken
of a mighty wind, and the heaven departed as a scroll when it
is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved
out of their places, and the kings of the earth, and the great
men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty
men, and every bondman. All of the Mighty people in the
earth, the prominent and wealthy and those with authority, but
also slaves. Everybody, every bondman and
every freeman hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth on the throne
and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath
has come. And who shall be able to stand?
This is the Lord Jesus Christ returning to this earth as he
promised that he would. And remember what the Lord said
to the prophet when he said, if you don't warn, if you don't
warn them, if you don't warn people about the judgment, I'll
charge you with it. You're gonna be responsible for
it. He said, when the Lord says judgment's coming and you don't
tell him, Well, this is it. This is a description of it.
He's gonna return to this earth like he said he would and everything
earthly, this is what's going on when the sun is not gonna
be anymore. And the moon's gonna turn to
blood. Everything earthly that man counts
as stable, reliable, and constant will be removed. It's all over. And look, that which man calls
light, the sun, light, moon, stars, light, they're gonna be
put out. Now think of the spiritual significance
of that. Men call light darkness, and
darkness light. And they're gonna find out on
this day that what they called light was darkness, and what
they called darkness was light. But verse 15, no matter who you
are, captains and slaves alike will tremble and hide. That's
what Adam and Eve did, didn't they? In the very beginning,
because of their sin, they hid from God. And that's what's happening
here, everybody. Think about what's happened now
since the garden. The whole history of time has
taken place, and God, from the very beginning of that, as soon
as he banished them from the garden, he taught them concerning
the blood, concerning redemption, concerning acceptance with God
by an acceptable sacrifice. He taught them of Christ from
the start. And his prophets and preachers
and teachers have been declaring Christ throughout the history
of the world. And at the end, when it's all wrapped up and
it's all fixing to be over with, what's man doing? He's still
hiding. And he would rather die and cease
to be. The rocks cover us up, destroy
us, kill us, rather than us having to face the one that made us. and the one that died on Calvary,
the one that we spit on all of our lives, the one that we despised
and rejected. We don't wanna face him. But listen to this in closing.
While the ungodly and those who despised the Lord Jesus Christ
in the day of his grace in this earth, while they're calling
upon the rocks to hide them, We, God's sheep, God's church,
God's elect, we're not gonna need a refuge from the Lamb,
because by His grace, we've taken refuge in the Lamb. Isn't that
the, that's just it, isn't it? That's just everything. We're
hiding in Him, not from Him. That's grace. That's great. That's what His blood did for
us. He is the rock which hides us
from the wrath of God. We're hidden in the cleft of
the rock of ages and covered there with his hand. Oh, and
from there we see his glory. So he says to us now, rest for
a little season. Can we do that? Oh, God forbid
that we complain. God forbid that we murmur. God
forbid that we dishonor him. But all we have to do, because
of what he did, all we do is rest. Just rest for a little
while. And when God, when all that he
has ordained shall be done, he'll come for us. And we do say even
so, come. Lord Jesus. Amen.