The Revelation of Christ – Part 16:
The Fourth Seal – HOFC
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON
INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most difficult book in
the bible.
Because
of this fact, many avoid it, or ignore it all together. Some fear lack of
understanding, others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to
avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.
Many
times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right
into Revelation and find out what’s to come.
This
is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author
a novel in Chinese that very same day.
Or,
a kindergartner learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum
mechanics calculations.
The
words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgement, even some
who claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than
Jesus Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.
A
special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.
Although
it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this
is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the
Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by
little.
SERMON SERIES
THE THINGS WHICH
ARE – The Church Age (Age of Grace)
Part 3 – Ephesus The Backsliding
Church
Part 4 – Smyrna The
Steadfast Church
Part 5 – Pergamos The Immoral Church
Part 6 – Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church
Part 7 – Sardis The Spiritless Church
Part 8 – Philadelphia The Favored Church
Part 9 – Laodicea The Church God Hates
THE THINGS WHICH
SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Scroll and Seven Seals
Part 12 – The Lamb is Worthy
Part 13 –
The First Seal
Part 14 – The Second Seal
Part 15 – The Third Seal
Part 16 – The Fourth
Seal
TODAY’S SERMON -
THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 16 – The Fourth Seal
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation
6:7, 8
When
the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature
say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was
named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power
over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild
beasts of the earth.
I.
Voice of the Fourth Living Creature says, “COME!”
a.
There are Four Living Creatures surrounding the Throne
of God
i. Lion – The Lord’s Kingship
ii. Calf – The Lord as a Perfect
Sacrifice
iii. Man – The Lord as Jesus
iv. Eagle – The Lord as God
b.
Each time John goes to “see” the results of a broken
seal
i. One of the Four living
Creatures says, “COME!”
ii. This is where John
“time-skips” to the ACTUAL event unfolding
iii. John describes the event the
best he can with his lifetime of experience
c.
This is the Fourth seal, and the fourth time he has
time-skipped
i. Each time, one of the Living
Creatures “call to him to COME!”
ii. Causing the event of John
skipping forward through time
II.
Upon a Pale Horse
a.
Before John is the fourth horse
i. First was the white horse,
representing the antichrist appearing to come in peace as the savior
ii. The second horse was fiery
red representing the antichrist turning to war as he had planned from the
beginning
iii. The third horse is black,
representing the dark times in a Christ-less world (the manna, bread from
heaven removed, though the oil and wine remain untouched)
1. The Holy Spirit can still
save, and the blood of Christ (New Covenant) still in effect
2. There will be “tribulation
saints”
iv. Now the Fourth horse
appears, and he is pale
b.
Pale
i. Pale is only used once in
the New Testament
ii. In the Old Testament it was
used five times to describe people as one would expect
iii. Sickly, alive but looking
ill or dead
iv. This horse probably appeared
gaunt
c.
Its rider is named Death
i. Here we see Death
personified
ii. Not as a state of being,
rather, as a person
iii. And, Hades followed close
behind, also personified
III.
THEY were given power over 1/4th of the
earth
a.
Again, we see Death and Hades presented to us as
persons
i. Instead of a state of being,
or location
ii. “They”
b.
They were given power
i. We see the first rider was “given”
a crown over nations
ii. The second rider was “given”
a large sword and power to cause people to kill one another
iii. The third rider was “restricted”
from touching the oil and wine
iv. And the fourth rider and his
companion are “given” power over ¼ of the earth
c.
They use this power to kill
i. By sword – war, violence,
crime
ii. By famine – starvation,
drought, inability to farm, poverty
iii. By plague – as a noun,
disease, as a verb, torture, torment, afflict, cause suffering
iv. By wild beasts – perhaps
wild animals stop fearing humans? Perhaps the shortage of prey causes the
predators to begin hunting humans? Perhaps there is a population explosion of
wolves, tigers, bears, etc., and the demand for food causes them to begin
hunting us?
CONCLUSION
–
What
does this mean?
Is Death and Hades actual
people? Probably not, but manifestations of what was happening when the fourth
seal was broken.
Just as the rider of the
first horse represented the antichrist coming in peace but preparing for war.
Some things to remember;
·
Sheol/Hades
(Hebrew/Greek) is the place of departed spirits
o Wicked wait here for final judgment in torment
o Righteous waited here for Jesus to die on the cross
in Abrahams bosom (Paradise)
o NOW to be absent from the body is to be present with
the Lord
·
Gehenna (Lake
of Fire) is the final hell
o Once judgment takes place, Gehenna is where the
wicked will go (the second death) and exist for eternity in torment (Body &
Soul)
·
In Revelation 20:10 we see the Devil (Satan) is cast into Gehenna
o Then the Beast (antichrist) and the False Prophet
(Imitation of Holy Spirit, whether spiritual power of Satan or person acting
like a Spiritual Leader on earth)
·
After this
takes place, it states that Death and Hades give up the dead in THEM
o Then books are opened including the Lambs book of
life
o Before the Great White Throne, the dead are judged
according to their works (the books)
o The dead from Death and Hades are judged according
to their works (the books)
o But then, whomsoever name is in the Lambs Book of
Life is saved from the Lake of Fire!
o All others are cast into the Lake of Fire (Gehenna)
along with
§ Death and Hades
·
Why Death and
Hades cast into the Lake of Fire?
o Because there will never again be the state of
Death…Those whose name is in the Lambs Book of Life shall NEVER die!
o Hades (the place of departed spirits) is no longer
needed, because there will be no more death, no holding place needed for the
wicked, because judgment has taken place!
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