Revelation chapter 6, I'd like
to read this whole chapter and then we want to spend a little
time on verses 1 and 2. We have witnessed, we have read,
we have seen in all the chapters preceding this chapter the authority
and the power of the Lamb to come forward and to open this
book and to loose the seals. We have witnessed Him in His
greatness in chapter 1. We have seen Him in His authority
over the seven churches which represent all the people of God,
all the churches In every age, in chapters 2 and 3, and chapters
4 and 5, we have seen the great description of the Lord as John
was caught up in his vision to see the things that be in heaven.
And then in the last chapter, chapter 5, we have witnessed
this one that is of the Lion of the tribe of Judah and also
the Lamb of God, This lamb, as it had been slain and had all
power and all authority, had all knowledge and had all presence,
this one is now able to take this book, this scroll, and to
take it from the one that sat on the throne. Now, up to this
point, if we didn't know, we wouldn't know who sat on that
throne. But we have an inside track.
By revelation, we can know who sits on the throne, and we can
only know who sits on the throne as he is revealed by the Lord
Jesus Christ. We will never know God the Father
except through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord reveals him,
that's what we find time and time again in the New Testament,
the Lord reveals him. Now it is amazing as we've been
going through the book of Leviticus, it's amazing that all they went
through, all they did, all they performed, and I don't know if
they had time to grow crops. They must have, but the description
and the minute detail was all finished in one person. And I'm glad I'm on this side
of Leviticus. It just makes life easier. He
is my lamb. Take it up with him. So he asked
us to ask for forgiveness and we can do that silently in our
closets. He asked us to beg forgiveness
of those we offended and we can do that between one another,
but it's not out at the altar and it's not what was going on
then. Now that same Lord that was revealed
in all of those sacrifices is the Lord that came up to the
throne and took that book And now we're going to see him one
by one open those seals. Those seals, as we look at this,
they represent some secrets that God's going to make known. And
I was reading, uh, people's views of this. I, I can't help, but
just keep to the course, the revelation of Jesus Christ. I'm
not going to get into the interpretation of times and seasons, because
the Lord said, of those things you have no need of knowledge.
That's what he told his disciples. The times and the seasons you
have no need of. So I'm not going to get off onto
that, I hope. I don't want to be in that area.
I just want to look at these as we open these seals, as the
Lord opens those seals, and we're privileged to read them, that
we get some view of Christ. Some that we've seen, and Lord
help us to see some that we haven't seen. These chapters four and
five plainly teach the authority and power of the Lamb to come
forward and to open this book. just time and time again. And
now the book is opened and we're going to see these great scenes
set before us. Now, the book of Revelation,
if I can remember this as I read through here, the book of Revelation
was written to comfort the church. He did not write the book of
Revelation or give the book of Revelation, the Lord didn't,
to scare anybody. He gave the book of Revelation
to comfort his sheep. And there's no better way to
receive comfort from God in perilous times than to see in his word
that he is the Lord God Almighty. And he has not relinquished his
authority or his power, he is just demonstrating it. All right,
here in the book of Revelation chapter six, and I saw When the
lamb opened one of the seals. I just want to say this, the
book of revelation. There's only one other book that
the Lord Jesus Christ is called a lamb. That's the book of John. And I think it's maybe once or
twice. And the rest of the times it's found here in the book of
revelation, the Lord is called a lamb. And there's only, I believe
one time in the book of revelation that the word lamb is used when
it doesn't refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. All right, I saw
when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard, as it were,
the noise of thunder. One of the four beasts saying,
or four living creatures saying, come and see. And I saw and behold
a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow. This is a bow
and arrow. And a crown was upon him, and
he went forth conquering and to conquer. I'm not going to
give that privilege to a human being. Some people do. They say this is the Roman Empire,
or this is that, or this is Christ. All right, now verse three. And
when he had opened the second seal, I heard a second beast,
or second living creature, the second living creature come and
see. And there went out another horse that was red, and powers
given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the world,
that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him
a great sword. And when he'd opened the third
seal, I heard the third living creature say, come and see, and
I beheld in low a black horse. And he that sat on him had a
pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst
of the four living creatures say, a measure of wheat for a
penny and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt,
not the oil and the wine. And when he had opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, come
and see. And I looked, and 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 earth. fourth
part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunger, and
with death, and with the beasts of the earth. 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, O Lord? Holy and true 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. And I beheld when
they 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. And the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs
when she is shaken in a mighty wind. And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it was rolled together. And every mountain
and island was 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, 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? One of the things I
have to constantly keep in mind that this is a spiritual book,
and if we try to apply it to physical things, we'll probably
be wrong. It's a spiritual book. All right,
let's go back to the first two verses of this chapter and look
at the events that took place under the first seal as the Lamb
opened the seal. This is the revelation. This
is the revealing. This is the opening up of this
seal by the Lamb of God. And He is the only one that can
do what we're gonna see done. No man was able to do this. No
man was able to take the book, number one, and no man was able
to open the seals, number two. This was a ministry and this
was a responsibility of the Lamb of God to do this. He is the
Lamb that has all power. He is the Lamb that has all authority
and power. He is the Lamb that has all knowledge
about all things. And He is the Lamb that is in
all places at all times at the same time. This is the God that
came up and took that book from Him who sat on the throne from
the Father. And as he opened the seals, we
find that the four living creatures are going to have something to
say on the first four of these seals. The first living creature
says, come and see this. He said, I heard a noise, as
it were, the noise of a thunder. And in that song we sang, it's
one reason I wanted to sing it, tried to sing it, is it talks
about the lightning and the thunder being used of God. Now thunder
in this capacity to me is, it is so powerful and it is so catching
to our awareness that there is no room for anything else. We do not have time to contemplate
an answer. We're so awestruck by this. It is God's way of getting the
attention, the spiritual attention of his people. And we thrive
on this. We thrive on God getting our
attention. We are dependent upon God getting
our attention. If he doesn't lift our chin,
we'll not see his attention. We thrive on God getting our
attention. It is necessary that God gets
our attention. We're not drawn or prone in that
direction. So we thrive. So if there is
a thunder that goes off, The church says, thank you, Lord.
I was caught up on the affairs of the world. I was caught up
in the affairs of myself. I was caught up in this. I was
caught up in that. And you thundered, and I heard it, and I thank you
for it. I can get my eyes off of what's
going on and get my eyes on you. So that's important that God's
people hear the thunder of God. It takes the place of everything
else. It's more than white noise. It's
sharp. So God's word to God's people
is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and
it gets our attention, and there's nothing else will do what it
does. Nobody can do what the word of
God does to us, and it shakes us, and it gets our attention,
There's no room for anything else. We're not interested in
philosophy. We're not interested in psychology.
We're interested in what God has to say to our soul. Now this
one that's revealed in verse 2, And I saw, and behold, a white
horse. I was interested in that word
white because there's a number of times in the scriptures here
in particular in the book of Revelation that colors are brought
to our attention and they're not put there just to fill space.
Turn with me if you would back to the book of Matthew chapter
17 and this is the same word that we find on the Mount of
Transfiguration. This horse is a brilliant brilliant,
brilliant, brilliant, brilliant white. It is, as we read here
in Matthew 17 and verse two, the Lord Jesus Christ had this
appearance when he was transfigured before his disciples. And this
is representative of what we will see. Now, whenever we see
Christ in the scripture, we're gonna see a glorified being. We're gonna see a glorified Christ. We see him even in his, even
in his agony, we find glory around him. No man could have taken
what he took. Now notice here, Matthew chapter
17 verse 2, he was transfigured before them and his face did
shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light. And that's
the same word that we find over here about this horse. This is
a brilliant scene that God gave to John. This is a brilliant
scene. One other time, one of the angels,
it's recorded in Matthew Chapter 28 and verse 3. Matthew Chapter
28 and verse 3, it shares with us about one of the angels that
came down and rolled the stone away from the tomb of the Lord
Jesus. It gives us this description
about him, and it's the same word we find with regard to that
horse. that this one is writing. Matthew
chapter 28 verse 3, his countenance was like lightning and his raiment
white as snow. So this is an eye-catching appearance. This is something that got caught
John's eye. I think I told you about my granddaughter
down at our shop, and she opened the door and looked out, and
she saw a bush that would not burn. And I had to look twice. Now
right across the street is a place where they burn excess gas. And there's a bunch of trees
in front of her, bushes in front of it. Now that's the kind of
sight that Moses was caught by. A bush that would not burn. His
eyes were caught by it. His eyes were trapped by it.
And this scene is a scene that trapped John's eyes. He could not, nor did he want
to, look away. This is a brilliant white horse. Now, the account is not about
the horse. The account is about who's sitting
on that horse. But the one sitting on this horse
is sitting on a brilliant horse. It is white like the light. It's brilliant. And it tells us there, going
back to the book of John, I saw and behold a white horse, and
he that sat on him had a bow. Now, there's only one armament
that the Lord has ever used. was reading today, he, don't
you know my father gave me permission to call 12 legions of angels? That's when they took him. They
came after him with staves, swords, and they didn't need him, but
they came after him. He never used a stave. He never
used a sword. He only used the sword of the
spirit. The only armament that the Lord
has ever used is the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
in Christ Jesus. This is the only thing that he
will ever use to overcome all his people in their desperate,
wicked, and undone condition. He will use his word. The seal, we see this rider upon
a white horse, and we don't have to guess who he is. This rider
is the Lord Jesus Christ. It tells us this one, he's going
forth and he's triumphant. He is a king. He's our victorious
captain, our conquering man of war, but he only conquers souls. He only conquers hearts. He only
conquers people in that capacity. Religion will tell us that they'll
conquer people with the physical sword. The Lord Jesus Christ
conquers them with His armament, and it's always spiritual. He
came upon us with a spiritual armament. He came upon us with
the Word of God. He came upon and trapped us with
it, and arrested us with it. and did everything that was necessary
to capture his lost sheep. And it's the word of God. He
never uses physical force. He uses spiritual force. And
by the way, it's much more powerful than physical force. Turn with me back to the book
of Joshua chapter 5. Joshua saw a sight as they just
passed into the land that had been promised to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, and he is surveying a sight. Book of Joshua, Joshua
chapter 5. And this is who's on that horse.
He's going forth to conquering and to conquer. This is who is
on that horse. Joshua chapter 5. Verse 13, we
find Joshua coming up to a person, to someone that he hasn't identified
yet. He soon will. It's going to be
revealed to him who he is. But he just crossed over, he's
followed the Lord. The Lord's spoken to him prior
to this time. The Lord's led him across the
Jordan River, instructed him to get 12 men, take the stones
out, establish a monument here. This is why this is here. And
then all of a sudden, the Lord appears unto Joshua, and Joshua
doesn't know who he is. And the Lord reveals himself
to him. Now notice here, Joshua 5, verse 13. And it says, and
it came to pass when Joshua was by Jordan, excuse me, by Jericho,
that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood
a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And
Joshua went up to him and said unto him, Art thou for us, or
for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as captain
of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his
face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith
my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thy stand is holy. And Joshua did so. As captain of the Lord's host. Now that's this one's riding
his horse. This is that one that John saw in this vision. This
is the one who was held by the first seal. This is the one when
opened and revealed, John saw one riding on a white horse,
and this is none other than the captain of the Lord's host. This
is a conquering one. This is one who is able to take
the worst adversary and conquer that one completely. and that
one is able to bow and worship and say thank you for the conquering.
This is the one that comes upon all his children and challenges
them by his strength, his power, his almightiness, his sovereignty,
and declares who he is, and in the Holy Spirit reveals himself
to them in regeneration, and what do they do? They bow. They
worship. They don't walk away shaking
their head at God when Jesus Christ is revealed to them. This
is that one that John saw. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 31. Isaiah 31. Isaiah chapter 31
and verse 1. Now this is the opposite of the
Lord. This is looking for horses to help that have no help. Woe
unto them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses
and trust in chariots, because there are many, and in horsemen
because they are very strong. But they look not unto the Holy
One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Now this is the natural
tendency. I'm going to go where there's
the strength, and it's only the strength that's in Christ will
endure to the end. Our natural tendency is to go
to Egypt. Our natural tendency is to trust
in horses and chariots in Egypt, for they are many. They have
the appearance of strength, and that's what we do when we trust
our religion. We're trusting in things because
they look good. The Lord Jesus Christ, as he
revealed himself to John here under the first seal, is a mighty
warrior upon a beautiful white horse. He's going forth and he's
the only one that goes forth conquering and to conquer. He
has the power and the authority to do that. Back up one chapter
here in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 30 in verse 1. It says
here, Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel,
but not of me, and that cover with a covering, but not of my
spirit. that they may add sin to sin
and walk to go down to Egypt and have not asked of my mouth
to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and trust
in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore shall the strength
of of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of
Egypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zohan,
and his ambassadors came to Haines." This is those who trust in everything
else. Now, this is a conquering and
going forth to conquer God sitting on a white horse that catches
the eye of John and every one of God's people in such a way
that they are caught up with him. They are enthralled with
him. They are overwhelmed with him
in his ability to come and conquer with one thing, and that's with
the gospel. Man has to conquer with all kinds
of contrivances, and the Lord Jesus Christ conquers only with
the gospel. Turn with me, if you would, to
1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse
25. This one that sat on the white
horse, he had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went
forth conquering and to conquer. Here in the book of 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and verse 25, for he must reign. Now there's a mouthful just there.
If we just stop there, we have enough to contemplate, ruminate,
think about. He must reign. He's not gonna
be un-reigning. He must reign, and he will reign
and must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. Now,
there are those enemies that he dealt with at the cross, but
the major enemies that he's gonna have under his feet is his people.
those who have raised their fists against him that he has promised
to overcome in regeneration and give them a new heart and they
will welcome his feet on their back. It is their privilege to
support his feet. So he must reign, and he will
reign for eternity. But he must reign until he hath
put his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. And we go over to the book of
1 Timothy and we find that he dealt the death blow to death
on the cross. But he is still bringing all
those railing against God under subjection by his power and his
strength and the strength of the gospel. Turn with me just
a little bit further in 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter
10, verse 4 and 5. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal. There's one thing that is so
comforting and so freeing. When it comes to the gospel,
I don't have to convince you of anything. Number one, I can't. And number
two, I'm not supposed to. God convinces people of the gospel. It's just throwing out the seed.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. It's not psychological. We're not trying to convince
anybody of anything from a physical or a mental standpoint. We're
not trying to get anybody to do anything for the mere privilege
of counting them. We're not trying to convince,
I'm not coming, Paul said, I'm not coming with flowery words
of man's advice. not trying to encourage anybody
to do anything. I'm trying, he said, I'm preaching
the gospel and encouraging people to trust Christ without moving
a muscle. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal. There's no pigeon-holing, there's
no screen-dooring, there's no arm-twisting, There's no shaking
and hollering. There's no condemning to hell. God alone does all that. And
it goes on to say, but mighty through God to the pulling down
of strongholds. Now God's grace, God's mercy,
and God's gospel will pull down the worst case. Doesn't take
the warfare weapons of, of, of carnal casting down imaginations. You know, God did a work of grace
when he takes our imaginations, our reasonings, and casts them
down. He says, they're not worth anything. And every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ, that's the work of
this one who goes forth conquering and to conquer. He takes on the
biggest battles. He takes on the battle for our
soul. He takes on the battle against
our imaginations and our reasonings. He takes a battle against the
knowledge of God and he brings into captivity and obedience
every thought to Christ. Now he does more than we could
ever dream of. He works where we can't work.
And this is the one John saw sitting on a white horse with
a crown on his head and a bow in his hand and going forth conquering
and to conquer. And you know who is in the trail
behind him? All the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. They're just dotted behind this
one who goes forth conquering and to conquer. This sovereign
king who uses only the gospel to move people from where they
are to where he is. He uses only the gospel. Now,
of course he uses means, but it's only the gospel that moves
them off of their spot. He uses means. He gets people's
attention. He moves us across the country
for various reasons or moves someone across the country. He's
going to move us or move the mountain. And he does that, but
it's the gospel that strikes our heart. It's the gospel that's
the cord that moves in us. And so he says, our weapons of
our warfare are not carnal. We're not trying to convince
anybody of anything. We're not trying to become psychological
here We're not going to put plants in the congregation to get people
to move. We're not going to sing Just
As I Am 17 times. We're not going to try to impress
people into doing something that only is a human decision anyway. And he says, but it is mighty,
but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations, We could write a book, couldn't
we, each one of us, on our thoughts about God before he saved us.
Our imaginations, our reasonings, how people are saved. Just get
on the internet and type in how people are saved, and you can
get the strangest, it's what you've heard all your life, and
very, very seldom do you find down there anywhere by the grace
of God. by the grace of God. I got a
letter yesterday, some couple here in town. They decided not
to go visit all the churches, they just send out a letter,
an inquiry, a questionnaire, and go down through and check
yes or no, yes or no, yes or no, yes or no, and they're supposed
to send it back to them, and then they're gonna make up their
mind where they're gonna go to church. I thought, oh my goodness. And
what got me was they wanted an opinion on a question, but they
didn't want any scripture. I can't tell you all I thought.
I don't understand it all the time.
I just don't understand it. Anyway, this one, the Lord, he
cast down our imaginations and every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God. This king with his crown
and his authority works where no man can work and brings down
every ill thought about God. Now this is this king, this is
this one riding on this white horse and he goes forth conquering
and to conquer and right behind him Doesn't say there, but we
know right behind him is all the sheep that he's found and
conquered and defeated in the battle, spiritual battle. With
the weapon of his warfare, the gospel, he conquers all his enemies. The everlasting gospel, and it's
preached by his servants, and that's what he uses. Romans chapter
1 verse 16 long time ago. We studied this passage of scripture
As we went through the book of Romans a couple three years,
but just notice with me again. I'm not ashamed Paul is saying
this for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ What is it? It goes forth conquering and
to conquer. I It bothers me that we have so many parachurch organizations
that are trying to make God successful. When the Bible teaches us he's
on his throne, riding his white horse, going through the land,
conquering and to conquer, and he will always win. He just beats the parachurch
organizations all to pieces. Our responsibility is not try
to make God successful. He already is. Our responsibility
is to preach the gospel. Give the gospel. Lay out the
gospel. Plant the seed. And he'll bring
forth fruit when he wants to bring forth fruit, where he wants
to bring forth fruit, and how he wants to bring it forth, he
will do that. Because he is in the business of conquering and
to conquer. He is the conquering king. And
he conquers souls. We are resistant by nature. But I like what the old church
fathers term. We don't find the term in the
Bible, but it's just such a good term. God has irresistible grace. It cannot be resisted. We may
talk against it, we may push against it, but he's gonna overcome. And when he does, we're thankful.
When he does. When he's doing it, we may not
be, but when he does, we're thankful. Romans there, chapter 1, verse
16, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. It's the power. And when I discovered
that that word power comes to us from the same word we get
our word dynamite from, it added power to that. It is like dynamite
in the soul. Now to some, it doesn't seem
to have any effect on. I don't know how long after Paul,
Saul of Tarsus, heard the word of God, God worked a work of
grace in him. Someone preached the gospel to him. It may have
been the account we read of Stephen. It's so likely. He heard it then,
but God worked a work of grace. That gospel just kept pounding
on him. And the scriptures tell us that
his word is like a hammer that breaks the rock to pieces. He goes forth conquering and
to conquer. And he has never relinquished
an attack yet. In the book of 1 Corinthians,
1 Corinthians chapter 1, Let's go over there if you will. 1
Corinthians chapter 1. This is that king on his throne.
And this king is represented riding a horse. It's a powerful,
powerful. Riding his horse, going through.
glorious righteousness that the Lord has. King got a crown and
he has his only weapon is the gospel. And he goes forth speaking
to people and he is conquering and to conquer. He'll look back
and see every victory, every victory. Now 1 Corinthians chapter
1 verse 21, 1 Corinthians. Chapter one, verse 21, for after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after
wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling
block and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom
of God. He's just a conquering king. And he goes forth to conquer. We can see in his own lifetime
that he just conquered who he willed. Conquered who he willed. That's
what he said. I'll have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. and whom I will, I'll harden.
That's his purpose. Now, and one other verse, 2 Corinthians
chapter 10, 2 Corinthians chapter 10, this is that great king. Just one verse is under that
seal, one revelation of Jesus Christ under that one seal, that
first seal. He's on a white horse, he's got
a crown, he has a bow, and he's going forth conquering and to
conquer. And we could just sit back and ruminate on that for
the rest of our life. Going for conquering and to conquer.
Now, I know one he conquered. And he had lots of reasonings.
Didn't have any reasons, but he had lots of reasonings. And
a lot of ideas about how God does things. You're looking at
him, but he conquered. Now, 2 Corinthians chapter 10.
2 Corinthians 10, verses 3, 4, and 5. I just read that, sorry,
but I'm gonna read it again. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ, and having in a readiness
to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
casting down strongholds and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. I'm glad he's the conqueror because
he does a good job. He just goes down to the soul
and wins victorious. A king that has no one that can
overthrow him. No one can vote him out. We read
there in the psalm too, a lot of people tried to vote him out,
but he's still sitting, a king sitting on a throne, high and
lifted up, and he's going forth as one riding on a magnificent,
magnificent white horse, and it says here, he sat on him,
had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering
and to conquer, and then the second seal. And we'll look at
that next time.