Okay, Revelation chapter 6 this
morning. I'm taking the title from the
words found in verse 2. And I think if we get a hold
of what is said here in verse 2, I believe this is the key
verse in all this study in the Revelation. And I saw and beheld
a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown.
A bow and a crown was given unto him as a mediator, as a God-man
mediator. And he went forth, conquering
and to conquer. He is a mighty, conquering king. Has never lost a battle. Has
won over and conquered every enemy. Remember Psalm 110? The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou at my right hand, until I make all thine enemies to bow
at your footstool. He is the conquering Lord Jesus
Christ. One thing that we absolutely
are sure of, the Lord Jesus Christ is a mighty warrior, has never
lost a fight, has never lost a battle. He's called in the
book of Hebrews, the captain of our salvation. He is the captain
and Lord of our salvation. Remember when the children of
Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage, and they came up to
the Red Sea, and Moses declared, Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. Remember? And the sea parted,
and they went across on dry ground. And here's a song that they sung
on the other side in Exodus 15. Here's what they said. It was
their song. The Lord is my strength and my
song. He has become my salvation. He is my God. The Lord is a man
of war. He never lost a battle. What
happened to Pharaoh? Pharaoh had some pretty big ambitions,
didn't he? God raised him up. and then killed
him, drowned him and his army in the Red Sea. The Lord is a
man of war. The Lord is his name. This is
the one that we worship, God who is God over all things. The
blessing of that to every believer is this, that the Lord Jesus
Christ has fought and won every battle for us. We read in the
book of Romans, we are more than conquerors through Him, we are
more than conquerors through Him that loved us. And then when
Paul writes that 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, he said, thanks
be unto God. Where he tells about everything
that Christ had done for us. His resurrection glory, and our
resurrection glory in Him. He said, thanks be unto God,
who has given us a victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And this
word here, conquer and conquering, is the same word, and I didn't
realize this, maybe I've seen this before and forgotten. But
we often quote that verse in John 16, 33, where our Lord said,
these words have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have
peace, ah, but be of good cheer. I have overcome. It's the same
exact word in the original as conquer. I have overcome. I have conquered. Through Christ, we are more than
conquerors through Him that loved us. Everything we have seen in
our studies so far in the first five chapters of the revelation
of Jesus Christ has been leading up to this point, preparing us
for the opening of the seven seals of that book of God's eternal
decrees. Chapter 1, we saw the Lord Jesus
Christ in the splendor of His majestic power. You can turn
and read with me if you want to. Chapter 1. At verse 13, in
the midst of the seven candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man,
clothed with garment down to the foot, girded about the pipes
with a golden girdle, His head and his hairs were white like
wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were a flame of fire, his
feet like undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace,
and his voice had the sound of many, many waters." We see the
splendor and majesty of his glorious person. There's none like him.
He said, I'm God beside me, there is no other. And then we studied
in chapter 2 and chapter 3, the letters of instruction to those
seven churches to remain faithful to the Lord, and to persevere
in faith, and then warnings were given about apostasy. God hedges
His people about with warnings, lest they presume, and promises,
lest they despair. He's given to us exceeding great
and precious promises in the gospel of God's grace. All the promises of God in Christ
are, yes, and in Him, and amen, unto the glory of God. And then
in chapter 4 of the Revelation, we see the glory of the sovereign
throne of Christ, and the elect of God, and the ministers of
God giving Him all the honor and glory. Remember back in chapter
4, turn over there. Verse 9 and 10 and 11. And when the beast give glory
and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever and ever, The four and twenty elders, there's the ministers
of God, those four beasts, the four and twenty elders representing
all the elective God of all ages, they fall down before Him and
sit on the throne and worship Him that liveth forever and ever.
They cast their crown before the throne, saying, Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou
hast created all things, and for that pleasure they are and
were created. Everything God does, He does
for His pleasure and His purpose. Then in chapter 5, we saw the
vision of the Lamb upon the throne that was sacrificed the lamb upon the
throne that was sacrificed for us, and by the virtue and power
of his blood, to take the book of God's decrees and to execute
God's purpose for us and to rule the universe. Notice Revelation
5, verse 5. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed. Now, it's interesting. And I didn't know this either
until I got looking at this more closely. That word prevailed
right there is the same word that means conquered. He conquered,
he's prevailed, he's overcome. He prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals, and I beheld and lo in the midst
of the throne, and the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders,
to the Lamb as it had been slain or slaughtered, having seven
horns, all power, seven eyes, all knowing, and the seven spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth. He came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne." Now,
in chapter 6, we see the seals beginning to be opened. Everything
that God does is by His sovereign will and purpose for the glory
of His own name and the good of His church. He worketh all
things, we read it a moment ago, after the counsel of His own
will. Now, when we come to chapter
6, we see the opening of those six of those seven seals, and
then in chapter eight, we see the opening of the seventh seal,
and then those seven trumpets of judgment that follow. All
these things that happen in time, and you can look back through
man's history, Everything that's happened in man's history, including
the fall of Adam in the garden, all those things are the creed
of God, and they all are in this book of God's eternal, immutable,
decrees that do not change. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Our dear brother
Don Fortner wrote a book, a commentary on the revelation, and he did
so 20 years ago, and I've read it several times, and I'm rereading
it again, and I found this statement on chapter 6. But the Don says
this, it's a mistake to make the seals and the horsemen represent
different times through history, past or future. But rather they refer to the
many trials and difficulties which through God's people must
pass through on their pilgrimage through this world to the glorious
inheritance we have in Christ. Ultimately, the church will triumph. And that's the message of this
revelation. If you read over to the end of the book, We see
who wins. All enemies are destroyed and
consumed with the brightness of His coming, and He wins. And
we are winners in Him. We are winners in Him. The Lord
Jesus Christ will triumph, and because He is the triumphant
Lord, we are triumphant in Him. We're not losers. You're not
a loser being a believer. You're on the winning team. When
you were a kid, didn't you used to choose up sides? We used to
play a game called Rover, Red Rover. Send somebody right over. Remember, you'd hold hands and
you'd try to break through that chain. Didn't you always want
to be on the winning team? Believers are on the winning
side because the Lord is for us. Who can be against us? Who
can be against us? Now, in verses 1 and 2, We see
the opening of the first seal, and the victory of the Lamb is
declared. The Lamb opens the seal and fulfills the decrees
of God for us. What a mighty Savior we have,
one who cannot fail, one who cannot be defeated. Isaiah 63
says, I speak in righteousness, I am mighty to save. In Isaiah
45, 17, he said he saved with an everlasting salvation. We
have here the glorious vision of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ,
riding upon the white horse of victory. And notice the minister
of the Gospel says unto John, John, you come and see. You see
the last part of verse 1? The Lamb opened one of the seals,
and I heard, as it were, a noise of thunder, and one of the four
beasts said, you come over and see. Look at this. Just come
here and behold this. You remember when the Lord revealed
himself to Philip. And Philip said to Nathanael,
we found the Messiah. And then he said, come and see.
Come and see, we found him. We found him of whom the scripture
had said would come. Remember the woman at the well
when the Lord dealt with her in mercy and grace. And she said
to the men, come and see a man that told me all things ever
I did. Is not this the Christ? Come
and see. Come and behold the Lord Jesus
Christ. Come and see, behold His glory,
the glory of the gospel, how He's accomplished all things
for us. To you who believe, He's altogether
lovely. To you who believe, He is our
precious Lord Jesus Christ. Now Isaiah 45, He said, look
unto Me. And be ye saved. And then John,
the prophet, John the Baptist, he's known as, he said in John
1, 29, Behold the Lamb of God that takes away our sin by bearing
our sin away in His own body on the tree. Now, it's not what
we must do for Jesus. The gospel is what He has done
for us. It's not do, it's done. It's
finished. He accomplished all of our salvation
by His doing, His dying, in our room and in our stead, and He
did so to bring us to God. And that's the only way He can
justify the ungodly, by being the just God and Savior through
His blood and through His righteousness. Now what did John see? Look at
verse 2, And I saw, and behold, a white horse, And he that sat
on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him, and he went
forth overcoming and overcoming, conquering and conquering, prevailing
and prevailing over all things. And he saw the Lord Jesus Christ,
the mighty, commanding general, riding victoriously upon this
white horse. Now hold your place there, and
we're going to see this again in chapter 19. Turn to Revelation
19, verse 11. Revelation 19, 11. And I saw
heaven open, and behold, here's that white horse. And He that
sat upon Him is called faithful and true. That's our Lord Jesus
Christ, faithful and true. And in righteousness, He does
judge and He does make war. He makes war with the enemies.
He went to war against our sin and defeated it. His eyes were
as a flame of fire, on his head were many crowns, and he had
a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed
with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word
of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses clothed fine linen, clean and white, out of his mouth
goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.
He shall rule them with a rod of iron and tread them with wine
presses in the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And
he hath on his vesture and on his side a name written, King
of kings and Lord of lords. Ruler of all nations, we just
sang a moment ago. The Lord Jesus Christ rides victoriously
as we read in Psalm 45 a moment ago. And then the one who sits
on this horse is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. White
horse. What is this horse? What is it
a symbol of? It's a symbol of power. It's
a symbol of power. Those mighty armies of days gone
by They fearful of the cavalry because of the fierceness of
those horses in battle. The horse is a symbol of power.
And we know that Christ has all power in heaven and in earth. He prayed in John 17, I thank
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You've hid these things
from the wise and prudent, revealed them unto babes. Father, you've
given me power over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given to me. So the horse is a symbol
of his power. And he rides upon this horse. in all absolute power. And notice, it's a white horse.
White is a symbol of his righteousness and his holiness. Turn back to
chapter 4, look at verse 8. It's a symbol of his white holiness,
superiority. Look at Revelation 4, verse 8. And the four beasts, each of
them had six wings, and about him they were full of eyes, within,
and they rest not day and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. White is a symbol
of His righteousness, of His holiness. Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty. And He sits in judgment upon
a throne. You know what kind of throne
it is? Turn to Revelation 20 verse 11.
What kind of throne it is? It's the throne of absolute sovereignty. But it's called here in Revelation
20 verse 7, I saw a great white throne. And him that sat on it,
from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was
found no more place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And
another book was opened, called the book of life. And the dead
were judged out of those things which are written in the books.
according to their deeds. And they were all found guilty,
and they were all judged and sentenced unto death and hell,
and they were cast into the lake of fire. Whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into that lake of fire,
eternal condemnation. The Lord Jesus Christ sits upon
a white throne. The Lord Jesus Christ gives His
church a white arraignment. We are clothed in His righteousness.
Look across the page in chapter 7, verse 13. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, what are these? which are arrayed in white robes,
and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest, this is chapter seven, verse 14, and he said to me,
these are they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore are they before God,
before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his
temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among
them, And they shall hunger no more, thirst no more, neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which
is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, lead them unto
living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears."
No more tears. No more sorrow. No more death. Aren't you glad that we have
such a Lord who loves us and gave Himself for us? And I saw
and behold this horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and
a crown was given on him, and he went forth conquering and
to conquer." The Lord Jesus Christ, second thing we see is this,
He had a bow. He had a bow in his hand. What is a bow a symbol
of? It's a symbol of the power of
the gospel. Now, the gospel is not a shotgun
gospel. The gospel is not a scattered
gospel. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is like a bow. A bow has an arrow, right? When you put that arrow in that
bow and you pull that back, you have a target, right? bow of the gospel and the arrow
of the gospel never misses the target of the heart of a sinner
to whom God aims it at. That's what we read in Psalm
45. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O Most Mighty, with glory and majesty, and ride in thy majesty,
ride prosperously because of truth, meekness, righteousness,
and thy right hand shall teach thee tremendous things. Thine
arrows are sharp. in the heart of the king's enemies,
whereby the people, they fall under him." I tell you, when
God shoots the arrow of the gospel into the heart of a convicted
sinner, he takes the fight out. And he causes us to bow in submission
unto his sovereign throne. That's what this is a picture
of. And that's why we're commanded
to go preach the gospel, and when the gospel is blessed by
the power of God the Holy Spirit. God sends the message of the
gospel to the intended target, and he never misses the target
of the heart of a sinner. And he always conquers them with
the truth. And they bow in submission. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of his power. And then the third thing we see
He had a crown, was given unto Him a crown, a crown of glory
and honor, a crown with all power and might, crowned as King of
kings and Lord of lords, crowned because He's won the victory
for us. Who wears the crown? The King! And He's won the crown
rights to our soul. by His grace. And then it says,
and I love this statement, He went forth, the last part, this
One who is the majestic Lord God Almighty, He went forth conquering
and to conquer. Our Lord didn't come to call
the righteous but sinners to repentant. The Son of Man came
to seek and to save that which is lost. The Lord Jesus Christ
will cross the path of all of His elect with the preaching
of the gospel, and He will send that message and conquer their
heart." He'll conquer us. He went forth conquering and
to conquer. God never tries to do anything. God doesn't try to save sinners. People say, well, God's trying
to save you, but you won't let Him. You've got the wrong God.
Our God is almighty, all-powerful. He'll have mercy on whom He will.
He went forth conquering and to conquer. This word here, conquer,
is the same word in verse 5 of Revelation 5 where it says, He
hath prevailed. He hath prevailed. The same exact
word. One of the elders said to me,
John, don't cry. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, he hath prevailed, he hath conquered
to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is a mighty conqueror. Turn to Revelation
17, 14. Turn there, Revelation 17, 14. These shall make war with the
Lamb. The Lamb has some real enemies.
Revelation 17, 14. And the Lamb shall conquer them. See that word overcome? Same
word. He shall conquer them. For His
Lord of lords, King of kings, and they that are with Him are
called His people chosen and faithful. He went forth conquering
and to conquer. He overcomes. He has prevailed. I think this is one of the keys
to this revelation of Jesus Christ. He's a mighty conquering King.
He wins the battle. He wins the battle. Every battle
He enters into, He cannot fail. Remember Isaiah 42, verse 4,
talks about the elect of God, whom God upholds Him in all things,
and He went forth conquering and to conquer, and He shall
not fail. Our God's not a failure. Everything he does is successful. With him, failure's not even
a possibility. A possibility. With God, all
things are possible. When the Lord Jesus Christ died
at Calvary, our sins were judged in him and put away. Put away. He hath prevailed by Himself,
you remember Colossians 2.15, having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them Himself. He's won the battle for us. Over
sin, He put it away. How about the accuser of the
brethren who comes forth to accuse us as a roaring, mighty lion
to accuse us? The Lord Jesus Christ has crushed
His dominion. They overcome Him by the blood
of the Lamb. the one who accuses us, the one
who make accusations against us. The Lord Jesus Christ has
crushed his dominion, and he did so on Calvary Street. He spoiled principalities and
powers. He made a show of him openly,
triumphing over them. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He defeated Satan's purpose to
deceive. God's elect, they cannot be deceived.
The Lord Jesus Christ had prevailed and conquered the law of God
that was contrary to us, that was against us. The Lord Jesus
Christ, he said, I didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets,
I came to fulfill them. And he did. Now he can save us
in a just way by honoring God's law, not diminishing God's law. Now he can be a just God and
a savior, just and the justifier. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. How about that last enemy
that shall be destroyed? The Lord Jesus Christ has conquered
death. He's conquered death. He said,
I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore.
You remember? I have the keys of hell and death.
Oh, death, the apostle writes. So when this corruption shall
put on incorruption, this mortal shall put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory. Death is victory? It is for the
believer. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law. Thanks be to God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that comforting
to your heart? We have a conquering, almighty
Savior in the Lord Jesus Christ. No wonder The messenger said
to John, where he said in chapter 5, I wept much because no man
was found worthy to open a book and to read thereon, to look
thereon. And one of the elders said, don't
weep. Weep not. The lion of the tribe
of Judah hath prevailed. There is a time to weep, my friend,
but there is a time to rejoice. And we do rejoice in our conquering,
victorious Lord Jesus Christ. He hath prevailed. And he is
prevailing now and forever. He is our conquering king.