Revelation chapter six. And we looked last week at the
opening of the first two seals of the book, you remember, we
saw this is our Lord Jesus Christ opens the different seals of
this book. What he's revealing is God's
will for everything that his people will ever go through upon
this earth. That book that sealed with seven seals that he's opening
is the book of God's purpose, all of his purpose for his people. And the first seal, when it was
opened, revealed God's purpose of redemption in Christ. The
second seal revealed God's purpose for trials and tribulations for
his people. And the third seal is opened
here in verse five of Revelation chapter six. And when he'd opened
the third seal, I heard the third beast say, come and see. And
I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him had a
pair of balances in his hand. I heard a voice in the midst
of the four beasts 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. The opening of the third seal
reveals that it's God's will that his people be kept through
economic hardship. God's people will have economic
hardship in this life, but we can trust that the Lord will
provide through all of them. The black horse here represents
famine. because of God's judgment on
the earth for our sin. Now, there's still going to be
bread to eat, but it's going to take all day to earn enough
money to buy bread for just one day. That's what the penny represents. You remember in the parable,
our Lord told in Matthew chapter 20, the workers went out and
worked and for a day's work, they received a penny. They had
to work all day for this penny. Well, then it's going to take
that penny to buy enough bread for just one day. Now there's
still going to be oil and wine available too, but the poor people
are never going to be able to afford it. You know, they're
doing everything they can do just to get bread. They're not going
to be able to afford the oil and the wine. And this is real
economic hardship. You know, if you're working all
day just to get enough food for the day, then what are you going
to do to earn clothes and shelter and utilities and things? It's
going to be hard to make ends meet. This is talking about economic
hardship. And this is not just something,
this is what we see in each of these seals. This is not just
something that happens at the, you know, these horrible, awful,
scary things happen right before our Lord returns. This has been
happening all through man's history on this earth. Most of God's
people have always lived hand to mouth. They live paycheck
to paycheck. It's always been that way. Not
many mighty, not many noble are called. And this is the Lord's
will for his people, so we learn this. so that we learn to be
dependent upon the Lord to provide. And more importantly, this is
what we learn from this God's will of economic hardship. We
learn what the real blessing is for God's people. It's not
physical things. It's spiritual blessings. The
real blessing is the forgiveness of our sin. The real blessing
is salvation from our sin. The real blessing is righteousness
in Christ. The real blessing is not more
stuff from this cursed world. The real blessing is eternal
life. The real blessing is not being rich in the things of this
world. The real blessing is having a life, a spiritual life that's
rich in God's grace. The real blessing is not knowing
how to live and how to get more stuff from this world. The real
blessing is knowing who spiritual life is. That's the blessing.
That's what we learn from this. And this economic hardship is
a fact of life for God's people. And it's a very real fact of
life for the people to whom John was immediately writing this
letter. These folks were in dire economic straits. They would
lose their jobs if they didn't join a trade union. And it was
more than just being part of the union. To be part of the
union in that day meant you had to worship their idol. Each individual
union had their idol you had to worship. If you wouldn't worship
the idol, You lost your job. And in a sense, it's still that
way for God's people. You know, you lose your job,
you lose chances for promotions and pay increases. If you insist
on dealing with honesty and integrity with people, you're not willing
to cheat people and lie to them and do whatever you can do. You
know, you lose opportunities for promotion. You give up pay
raises so that you don't go someplace where the gospel is not preached.
And you tell people that's why you're turning down a transfer
and a promotion. They think you're crazy. They
think you done lost your mind. They say, look at all the churches
that are around. There are plenty of places you can go to church.
But you know better. And you're willing to sacrifice
those things because this is what you know. The Lord's going
to provide. He provides for his people. Look
at Psalm 37. See, these are not things that
just happen in the very last days. This is the way it's always
been for God's people. They always endure economic hardship. And the Lord has always provided
for his people. Now he's not changed, so he's
going to keep providing for his people. Psalm 37, verse 25. David says, I've been young and
now I'm old. Yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken nor his seed begging bread. See, God's always gonna
provide for his people. And then thirdly, this is something
that's probably, or not probably, definitely, this is the most
important thing we learn from this third seal. This reveals
that God's will for his people is that they live in a land of
spiritual famine, a famine of spiritual bread. And even though
they live in that land of spiritual famine, a famine of spiritual
bread, God's elect are still going to have food to eat. They're
still going to have spiritual bread of life to eat. They're
still going to have an abundant supply of spiritual healing and
joy of the spirit. That's what the oil and wine
represent. The oil represents healing and
anointing. They used oil as medicine for
healing and they used it to anoint kings and priests. And the wine
represents joy. God's people are going to have
abundant supply of spiritual bread. Christ is the living bread. If you have him, you have plenty
to eat. If you have him, you have abundant supply of healing
and joy. So don't be mistaken about this
now. God's children are exposed to everything the unbeliever
is exposed to in this world. God does not save his people
from suffering in this world. He saves them from sin. He blesses
them with every spiritual blessing, but he does not save His people
from suffering in this life. It's His will that His people
suffer in this world. We have to suffer the effects
of the sin that's in our body. But His children, while they
will suffer in this life, He's not saved them from suffering
in this life. They will have no suffering in the next life.
When this life ends, their suffering will end because Christ already
suffered for their sins. So this health and wealth and
happiness religion that is just so popular in our day. Now you
write this down. It's a lie. It's just an absolute
lie. Just the opposite is true. God's
people are promised hardship, suffering in this life. And that's
a good thing for us to know. So then when we suffer hardship
and we suffer economic hardship and difficulty, it doesn't mean
God's quit loving us. God's people suffer everything
an unbeliever suffers in this life. As a matter of fact, oftentimes
unbelievers suffer them less. David said that. He said, they're
wicked, they're just fat, they got everything the heart could
desire. They oftentimes enjoy more times of happiness and less
times of suffering. They have more earthly blessings
many times than God's people. But in the next life, they will
know nothing but suffering. And believers, we enjoy times
of happiness in this life. Nobody has reason for happiness
in this life like a child of God. But it does seem like, especially
as we get older, they become fewer and fewer, and the times
of suffering become more and more. But you remember this,
there'll be none of that in the next life. There'll be none of
that. This life's gonna be full of
sorrow and suffering and pain and persecution, but all that's
gonna be over for the believer. and there'll be none of that
there. That ends in this life. All right, verse seven, here's
the fourth seal. And when he'd opened the fourth
seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, come and see.
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 fourth part of the earth to kill with sword
and with hunger and with death and with the beast of the earth.
Now this fourth seal reveals it's God's will there be death
in this world. There's no avoiding death in
this life. This pale horse that John sees,
it's a sickly, gruesome looking horse. It's a pale greenish color,
the color of disease and death. And this horse, death, death
as its rider, comes for all men without exception, all men. And
John saw hell closely followed with death. You know, hell is
a real place of eternal suffering that follows death. Now it's
not God's will to deliver his people from the death of our
bodies. We've got to die to get rid of this body of sin. Flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does
corruption inherit incorruption. We've either got to die so this
body can be laid down and we get a new body, or it's got to
be changed in the twinkling of an eye when Christ returns. But
either way, it's got to be changed. It's got to be. And more than
likely, all of us here are going to face death. We're all going
to die. And that's okay. For the believer, that's okay.
We want to be changed, don't we? Who wants to live in this
body of sin forever anyway? The longer you live in it, the
more anxious you are to get rid of it. Death is coming for every
one of us. But for the believer, there's
no fear in death. Now, there's just no reason to
fear death, because this is what this seal reveals to us, being
open. Death and hell have no power
over God's people. So there's no reason for us to
fear it. Now, death and hell have power, don't they? They
have power. But their power is limited to what God gave them.
John said that God gave death and hell power over just a quarter
of the earth. One quarter of it. And no more. There was a set boundary. And
death and hell can't touch anybody on the outside of that boundary.
And I tell you what that boundary is. It's the boundary of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Death and hell cannot reach past
it. It's a set boundary. So when death kills the body
of a believer, there's cause for rejoicing. There really is
cause for rejoicing. Because no harm's been done.
No harm has been done. Now we who are left, we don't
rejoice like we should, do we? No, we're brokenhearted at our
loss. But that departed child of God
is rejoicing. Now they're rejoicing. And I'll
tell you who else rejoices. God Himself. God Himself rejoices
when one of His children is brought home. Precious in the sight of
the Lord is the death of His saints. Because now that child
has been brought home to be with Him, fulfilling His will for
His people. Our Lord in his great high priestly
prayer said, Father, it's my will that all those that thou
has given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory, which you've given me. And every single time the body
of one of his saints dies, that prayer is answered. They're brought
home to be with him forever to behold his glory. So there's
no reason to fear death. Death is the way God has ordained
for his children to leave this world and go be with him. And that's all the power that
they have. Hell has no power over God's people. And the only
power that death has over them is they kill this body to set
us free to go be with the Lord. All right, verse nine, here's
the fifth seal. 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. Now this seal, the opening of
this seal, reveals that it's God's will for his people to
be martyrs. Now the word martyr, every single
time it's used in scripture, means witness. So in that sense,
every believer is a martyr. Every believer witnesses of the
same person, witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ. We witness
that it's his righteousness, that it's his blood, that it's
his salvation, that it's his will, that it's his power, that
it's his grace. That's the witness of every child
of God. But some of these witnesses are
martyrs in the sense that we use the word. They have lost
their life witnessing for Christ. The wicked put them to death
because they refused to change their witness that salvation
is in Christ alone. And they are put to death in
awful, horrible ways because they refused to recant. Christ
arose. Oh, that was an issue in John's
day, the resurrection of Christ. They refused to recant their
witness. Salvation is by grace alone.
through faith alone, by the work of Christ alone, without our
deeds to the law. And when that happens, when some
of the wicked from the world take one of God's children and
put them to death, now that's awful. That's wicked. It's better
for that person than a millstone were hanged about his neck and
he were dropped in the depths of the sea that he harmed one
of God's little ones. But God at times allows it to happen.
And when it does, when that happens, the world's not gone off its
rails. Now, it's God's will that that happened. Look back at Hebrews
chapter 11. If it wasn't God's will, it wouldn't
happen, would it? Hebrews chapter 11, verse 35. Women received their dead raised
to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance
that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, Yea, moreover, bonds and imprisonment,
they were stone. They were sawn asunder. They
were sawed in half, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They
wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They
wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the
earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through
faith, received not the promise. They didn't receive the fulfillment
of this promise in this life. God having provided some better
thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
And in Revelation chapter six, John sees the fulfillment of
what we read about in Hebrews chapter 11. God has brought those
martyrs, those who were killed for his name, they're in glory.
Now, where are they? They were put to death for believing
Christ. They were put to death for refusing to recant faith
in Christ. Well, where are they now? John
says, at the feet of Christ under the altar of incense. And what
are they doing now? They're resting in Christ. The
Lord tells them, just rest. Your race is run. Your course
is finished. They rest in Christ. And how
are they clothed now? These martyrs are clothed in
white robes. They're covered in the righteousness
of Christ given to them. You see, it's not their death
that made them righteous. Their death didn't add anything
to them in glory. Their death's got nothing to
do with it, does it? No, it's the death of Christ that made
them righteous. It's the death of Christ that gave them life.
They're there at His feet because Christ died for them. Their robes
are white, not because they did anything good, but because they
washed them white in the blood of the Lamb. And these martyrs died a horrible,
horrible death. But now their trouble and suffering
is over. Their enemies killed their bodies,
yes. But all they accomplished when they killed their body was
sending them to eternal bliss. They're not in sinful bodies
anymore. They're perfectly righteous and holy. They're in the presence
of Christ. They don't require faith anymore.
Now they see by sight. See, whatever touches these bodies,
can't touch the believer's relationship with Christ. No matter what they
do, no man can take away what God's given you. No man can do
it. So these martyrs, they're clothed
in the righteousness of Christ. They're at the feet of Christ.
They're resting. And what's their cry? What is their cry in glory? Their cry is for the glory of
Christ. Now, they're not asking the Lord
to take revenge. for their death. That's not what
they're asking. You remember when Stephen was being stoned
to death, he didn't ask the Lord, come take vengeance on these
people, did he? No, just the opposite. Stephen said, Lord,
forgive him. The Lord forgives sin. He forgives
sin. I know one person in that crowd
that was forgiven, Saul of Tarsus, holding the coats of those who
stoned Stephen, one of God's precious children. Saul held
their coats while that child of God was stoned. God forgave
him. God forgives sin. So they're
not asking that the Lord take revenge for their death. They're
asking that the Lord reveal his glory, that he vindicate his
name on the earth. And the Lord tells them, I will.
I will. But I'm not going to do it before
all my people have been brought safely home. This world is not
going to be destroyed with fire until all of God's people have
been delivered out of it. Just like this world was not
destroyed with water until Noah and his family were safe in the
earth. God's not going to destroy this earth until his people are
brought safely out of it. Now, when's that going to be?
How long is the Lord going to delay vindicating his name? I
don't have any idea, but he's going to delay until all of his
people have been saved and brought out of this earth. All right,
now verse 12, here's the sixth seal. The sixth seal reveals
the day of judgment, verse 12. 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. 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 was rolled together, and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places. Now, this is the
day of judgment. This is the day. This is the
day in the future when Christ returns. And in that day, when
Christ returns, the earth is going to be shaken. It's going
to be shaken because there was no foundation here to begin with.
Those who are built on the rock Christ Jesus, they won't be shaken
because their foundation won't be shaken. But if our foundation
is something on this earth, it's going to be shaken because it's
no foundation to begin with. Building eternal hope on the
things of this life, just like thinking, you know, good religion
is and I do good, then God blesses me with more things in this cursed
world. We'll find out that's no foundation at all. That's
going to be shaken. It's going to be that foundation is an illusion. The only things that will stand
and not be shaken off of their foundation in that day is everything
that's built on Christ, the eternal rock. And that day that Christ
returns, all natural light, men's natural understanding is going
to be revealed as spiritual darkness. That's what the sun and the moon
being darkened represents. That physical light is darkened,
revealing to us all natural light and natural understanding as
spiritual darkness. The only light there is, is Christ
the light of the world. And that day that Christ returns,
everything that man thinks is a constant is going to be removed. Everything that man thinks he
can really count on always being there is going to be removed.
That's what the stars falling out of heaven, they're not all
going to fall and hit the earth, but they probably will all be
gone. And it represents this, those constants have been removed.
since they began sailing the seas, have navigated by the stars. You can just always look at the
North Star. It's always in the same place. You can tell where
you're going looking at that constant. Not in that day. All those things men think are
constants are going to be removed. And when Christ returns, what's
going to be revealed is when we see Him, we'll say, Oh, He
was the only constant ever. He's the one who never changes. We look to Him. And all this
sounds very, very frightening and people use these verses to
try to scare people half to death. But if you believe Christ, you
do not have to fear this day. Matter of fact, we look forward
to it. What's going to be done in that day when Christ returns? All that's happening is God is
folding up this creation and he's putting it away so he can
create new heavens and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.
then the believer doesn't have to fear the folding up of this
creation, do we? Because there's nothing here
for us anyway. Now read on, verse 15. 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 free man 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 land.
For the great day of His wrath has come, and who shall be able
to stand? Now when Christ returns, judgment
and fear are going to fall on all men on the earth equally.
It doesn't matter who you were on this earth. It doesn't matter
whether you were a great man or a small man, whether you were
a rich man and a captain, or whether you were a peon, whether
you were a slave or a free man. Earthly distinctions and classes
don't matter at all. The only thing that matters,
both now and in that day, there's just one thing that matters.
Are you in Christ? Do you believe Him? That's the
only thing that matters. And Christ returns. And here, there's
a strange prayer meeting in the day that Christ returns. Men
are going to be praying, but they're not going to be saved
men that's praying. Lost men. In this strange prayer meeting,
they're going to pray. But in their prayer, they don't
ask to see the face of Christ. Jonathan, his prayer asks that
Christ be revealed to us today. That's not what they're asking.
They're asking that his face be hidden from them. They're
going to pray, but they're not going to pray to live. They're
going to pray to die. And they're not going to be praying
to God. They don't pray to God now. And they're not going to
be praying to him then. They're praying on the rocks
and mountains to fall on them. They're not praying to God. You
see, the problem is their nature. They're still going to be looking
for shelter, but they're looking for shelter in things of this
earth. They're still seeking things, but they're not seeking
spiritual blessings. They're not seeking a person. They're
still seeking physical things, aren't they? But God's people
in that day won't be praying like that. No, they don't have
to because they believe Christ. They're not going to be looking
for a shelter. They're already in a shelter. They're already
in Christ. They're not going to be looking
for a rock. They've already got one. The Lord Jesus Christ. They're
not going to be wondering who shall stand in that day. Christ
is the only one that's going to stand. And if we stand, it's
because we're standing in him. Now that's what's revealed in
these seals. And in closing, let me give you this. This can't
be stressed. I don't think too much because
of the way these verses are misused. These events are not recorded
in God's word to scare somebody into doing something. These are
not written to scare you to make it a profession of faith. That
wouldn't work. Nobody is ever scared into a
profession of faith because of God's wrath and God's judgment.
Sinners are drawn to Christ. What does scripture say? Sinners
are drawn to Christ by his grace to forgive sin. We're drawn to
Christ by the power of his blood to cleanse us from our sin, not
because we're scared to death. So these things aren't written
to scare God's people. They're written to comfort the
hearts of God's people. Don't be scared by these things,
be comforted by them. The day of judgment, the day
when Christ returns, that will be the end of the church age,
the age in which we do what we're doing right now, preaching the
gospel. When Christ returns, there'll
be no more preaching. But until that day, by God's grace, we're
going to continue to preach Christ, aren't we? Because that's God's
will, how God saves His people. And while we preach Him, we look,
we wait for His return. And when He returns, we won't
be full of fear. It's going to be a time of rejoicing. We're
going to rejoice. This is the day. Our Lord has
come to gather His people to Himself. to be with Him in perfection
eternally. There's no fear for the believer
in that day. You don't have to fear judgment,
not if you believe Christ. He was already judged for you.
You don't have to fear death. Not if you believe Christ, you
don't. He's already died for His people
so that they'll live. And when Christ returns, He's
gonna return to judge the earth. He will be the judge. But now
listen, for the believer, you don't fear the judge. Christ
the judge has sworn his love for his people. He proved it
by coming to be the propitiation for their sins. He's not going
to harm those he loves. The judge won't. This judge knows
his people are innocent. He knows it better than anybody
else because he's the one that took their guilt away from them
and made them innocent. This judge knows the sins of
his people are paid for. He knows it better than anybody
else. He paid for it with his own blood. He knows the debt's
paid. So there's no need for the believer to fear standing
before the judgment seat of Christ. He knows you're innocent. He
made you innocent. He knows your debt's paid. He
paid it. And when we see this is what the scripture is teaching
us, can't we say, hasten, Lord, the debt. Hasten, Lord, the day.
You know, we're not we're not fearing these awful, horrible
days that are coming, you know, right before Christ returns.
We're already living them, aren't we? Hasten, Lord, the day when
he comes and wraps this thing up and creates new heavens and
a new earth. And we see him face to face.
That's what this is teaching. All right. I hope the Lord will
bless that to our hearts.