The Book of Revelation
In
Words of Understanding
Part 7
We are now at the point where John writes of the 7 Seals as Christ reveals their meaning.
Revelation 6
The Seals
1 I
watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard
one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" 2 I
looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow,
and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on
conquest.
The
Lamb is Jesus Christ who was sacrificed for the sins of man. The
“thunder’ heard is the Word of God. In opening the first of 7 seals it
is revealed that the Holy Spirit is the guide that allows any Christian
to discern the truth of what God is revealing in His Word, our Bible.
Without the Holy Spirit granting the wisdom to understand what lays
within God’s Word it would merely be looked upon as an interesting Book.
With the Holy Spirit within you God’s Word not only takes on a
different meaning but the reader gains insight and learns things that
will utterly thrill his heart!
The
“living creature,” The Lion,” is the group of redeemed representing the
‘morning of the church,’ as set forth in my last sermon.
John
saw a “white horse” that is the Holy Spirit as He supports true
Christianity. The “Rider” is the church with Jesus Christ being the head
of the church and believers as the body.
John
spoke as directed and used words that were reflective of warfare. When a
Christian considers that the seals each represent a period of time
during which revelations are pertinent to, then that Christian comes to
realize that there is a constant battle for the souls of men.
As
you may recall when God promised to never flood the world any longer He
gave a sign. That sign is the rainbow. As we learned the rainbow is
made up of the 7 colors that represent the attributes of God. Those
attributes can also be seen as necessaries of Christianity. That “bow”
can be seen as God’s covenant with man as His Word as written in the New
Testament as well. In addition, the “bow” seen by John as an instrument
of war, is representative of an instrument able to shoot the arrows of
truth.
The “crown” is the glory and honor bestowed upon Christ by His followers.
Christ, “rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest,” can
be understood as Him, as the Head of the church (us) seeking aggressive
Christians to aggressively teach God’s Word with strengthened hearts
This time period can be seen as 33 AD until 270 AD.
Revelation 6: 3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" 4 Then
another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to
take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was
given a large sword.
“The
Calf,” represents the martyred servants of God. Christianity, although
embraced, was beset by, ‘unbelief,’ which is represented by the ‘red
horse’ ridden by the evil Pagans of the Roman Empire . Their ‘red horse’
is the sinfulness of unbelief and red in color with the martyr’s blood.
The sword is representative of the civil power God allowed to those that rule.
The time period is also of 33 AD until 270 AD.
Revelation 6: 5 When
the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say,
"Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was
holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what
sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart
of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's
wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
The
third seal is representative of the dark ages. The ‘third living
creature,’ was the Banner of a Man, flown by the followers of Ephriam,
representing man’s attempt to supplant God. This attempt is represented
by the ‘black horse,’ of apostasy.
The
rider, initially the Emperors of Rome were later to be the successors
going by the name of the Holy Roman Empire . Soon they assumed the name
of the Roman Catholic Church. There rule was a rule of apostasy and most
oppressive. The time frame here is AD 530 until AD 1530.
The scales held were the rider’s false claims to have the power to determine the fate of a man’s soul. It
was and continues until the present day, the position of Rome that by a
ceremony they could excommunicate, throw out or oust, anyone from the
body of the church they chose to for going against a man made Doctrine.
What
must be realized is that only God can remove anyone’s soul from His
body. Man can place himself in peril of God removing his by continual
and unrepentant sinfulness. For any man to assume that he is so pious
and holy that he can act in God’s stead is outright foolish. But, that
is what was happening in this time frame and for years thereafter.
God
delivered His Word to men, that Word being truth. Apostate spirits came
and said, “God only gives His truths through Priests, Bishops, People
of the Cloth and the Pope. For many years the Catholic
services, the Mass, repeatedly used the phrase, Dominus Deus Nostra
Papa. This Latin phrase translates to say: Out Lord God the Pope.
During
this time period and for years thereafter a common phrase was heard;
‘be Catholic or die.’ It is difficult to imagine and most telling of the
sheer arrogance held.
True
blasphemy is ‘claiming equality with God.’ Posing as Christian it is
easy to understand the confusion of many that we seek to tell of God’s
love.
For God’s Word on apostasy refer to Acts 20:29-30.
Further
apostasy was to exist as people fell away from true Christianity (just
as they do today) as apostasy starts from within the church. God gave
sound Doctrine but all too many sought to improve on God’s Ward and
began to teach false interpretations. See 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Men began to
listen to preachers that would tell them what they liked to hear and not
God’s Word.
The
‘wheat and barley’ are the false offerings made to men under the guise
of supposed doctrines. There is a measure of good teaching
(Christianity) in Papalism and two measures of barley in
Protestantism. I revealing this you learn that the RCC preaches false
doctrine as well as the Protestant denominations. But the warning of,
“Do not damage the oil and wine,” is saying, ‘do not think anyone can
harm the oil (Holy Spirit) or the wine (Jesus Christ).
When
you think of ‘oil’ you realize that it is with oil that kings are
anointed. Oil keeps the lamps lit. The, “wine,” is representative of the
Word, the true vine. John 15:1.
I
suggest that you read the Scripture I pointed out as well as this
sermon again after praying to God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so as
to gain Christian understanding.
(Closing prayer)
Heavenly
Father we bow our heads to You and we offer all the praise and words of
admiration and love we have for You. We worship you and ask that You
forgive us our sins and lead us to gain understanding of Your Word. You
are our God and it in You that we place our faith.
Lord
we ask that You protect our military; we ask that You guide the actions
of our elected officials and judges and see to the safety of our police
and those who look after our nation’s security.
Lord,
there are all so many people throughout the world that live under
oppressive governments. Lord, see to their welfare and ease their
burdens. Please shower Your mercies upon those in need and allow them to
witness the fullness of Your love.
In Jesus’ name we pray, who is One with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever,
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