Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Dawn of The End (The Second, Third & Fourth Seals) | Revelation 6:3-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

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The Dawn of The End (The Second, Third & Fourth Seals) | Revelation 6:3-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Revelation chapter 6. Last week we read from verse one
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down to verse 8 and we primarily focus on the 1st 2 verses.
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Today by the grace of God, we will consider verses 3 down to
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verse 8, but I'd like for us to read from the beginning in order
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to recenter ourselves in this incredible vision that John
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recorded and was given by the Spirit.
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Revelation 6 beginning in verse one.
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Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals,
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and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a
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voice like Thunder, come. And I looked and behold, a White
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Horse and it's rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him,
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and he came out conquering and to conquer.
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When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living
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creature say come, and out came another horse, bright red.
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It's rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that
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people should slay one another. And he was given a great sword.
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When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature
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say come, and I looked and behold, a Black Horse.
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And it's right, I had a pair of scales in his hand.
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And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four
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living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius, and
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three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the
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oil and wine. When he opened the 4th seal, I
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heard the voice of the 4th living creature say, Come.
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And I looked and behold A pale horse, and it's rider's name was
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Death. And Hades followed him, and they
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were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with
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sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and by wild beasts
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of the earth. Father, we are completely aware
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that if you do not help us by the power of the Spirit, we will
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be left in the dark, we will be confused, and even worse, we
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will dare to interpret these things subjectively.
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But Lord, you are the great Teacher.
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Your Word promises us that you've given us an anointing, an
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anointing within to help us know your Word.
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So we pray, Lord, that we would sense your guidance, that we
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would know the truth, and that it would set us more and more
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free. We ask these things in the
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matchless name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Hopefully you remember that these 4 horsemen, commonly known
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as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, are symbolic
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depictions of the events that will mark the beginning of the
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Tribulation Period. The Tribulation period is an era
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that Jesus Christ himself spoke of in the Gospels.
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And in essence, they describe the moments, the episodes, the
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events that will precede the bodily return of the Lord Jesus
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Christ. And they are characterized by
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distress and destruction in a manner that the world has never
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experienced. And as we come here to the Book
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of Revelation, we are granted by the goodness of God an outline
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of the Tribulation period. And what God does in His wisdom
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is that He organizes these events in three sets of seven
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judgments. Three sets of seven judgments.
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We are introduced to the first here with the seven seals, and
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we already started studying it beginning last week.
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Following the seven seals, we will then explore the seven
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trumpets. And then after the seven
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trumpets, we will look at the seven bowls of God's wrath that
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will be poured out. Leading to what?
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The culminating point of Jesus Christ coming back to this
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world, confronting his enemies, and claiming everything
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victoriously. But there's a long journey ahead
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before we get to that climactic moment in our study.
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Because we have just begun examining the beginning of the
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end. Here's what we learned so far.
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Before Christ returns, Antichrist will appear.
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We've concluded that the White Horse here in verse 2 is a
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representation of the man of lawlessness who will come as a
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real man possessed by unusual satanic power.
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And he will influence the world while simultaneously opposing
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Christ and his followers as he acts as a counterfeit savior for
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a chaotic and confused generation.
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We are not told the exact timing of the arrival of the
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Antichrist, but we can be sure that he will come at the right
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time, at a time when there will be such a need for leadership
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and while nations are in turmoil.
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We will learn much more about the Antichrist in Revelation
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chapter 13, but what we've discovered so far is that his
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desire to eliminate true worship from the earth and receive
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worship to himself will be realized in great part due to
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his introduction as a universal peacemaker.
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He will come to seemingly do what no politician or religious
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figurehead has able to accomplish in the past, usher in
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global peace and security. He will be loved.
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He will be adored. He will be worshipped, and in
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great part because he will seem to bring to rest areas and
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conflicts that have never known a hint of serenity.
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That includes peace. In the Middle East, by the way,
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nobody seems to be able to figure out how to bring
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reconciliation, how to bring calm Antichrist.
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We'll do it, and we'll explore that as we approach Revelation
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13. But whatever peace this man will
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bring, it will not last, and the reason why it will not endure is
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because the Bible on more than one occasion assures us that
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there is no peace for the wicked.
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Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, puts us in his
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own way when he gives a general comment about the last days.
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And this is a known passage in First Thessalonians 513.
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First Thessalonians 5. Three rather while people are
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saying there is peace and security, then sudden
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destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a
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pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
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Paul foresees a time where everybody will be saying there
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is peace, there is security, but he tells the believers and us
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that whatever peace and tranquility is enjoyed, it will
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suddenly be broken by an eruption of violence and
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turmoil. And this general comment
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perfectly fits the sequence of the seals that we will look at.
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Today. We explored the first one.
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We will complete the rest of the vision of the four Horsemen as
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we continue. So let's come back to Revelation
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6. If you're a note taker, be ready
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to organize your thoughts by using the horses as your
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headings. And it's important to note this
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from the outset. Not every rider of these horses
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represents an actual human being that will cause these events.
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In fact, the second, third, and fourth horses and their horsemen
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are much easier to interpret than the first one.
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The first one was a little bit difficult to decode, but once we
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were able to do some work, we were able to see that it it
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perfectly parallels Christ teaching about the last days in
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the all about discourse. And that will continue to be the
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case. But what we find here as we just
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read, is that these horses, these riders symbolize
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impersonal agents. They're personifications.
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They're not distinct individuals, but they are
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representations of forces and of things that will happen.
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And the meaning of the bright red horse here in verse 3 and
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verse 4 is quite obvious. Let's read it again.
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When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living
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creature say come, and out came another horse, bright red.
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It's rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that
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people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
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Here's what this horse means. The Lord will permit World Peace
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to disappear and be replaced by worldwide conflict.
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Again, I can't help but say it. This perfectly corresponds with
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Jesus teaching about the signs of the last days in Matthew 24.
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After Christ told us that there will be false Christs who will
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emerge and deceive the masses, ultimately leading to the
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ultimate false Christ. What does he follow it up with?
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Well, let me remind you in Matthew 24 verse 6 and 7, and
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you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.
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See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place.
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But the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation
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and Kingdom against Kingdom, and there will be famines and
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earthquakes in various places. So it's a play by play.
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We see it in Matthew 24 and it lines up perfectly with
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Revelation chapter 6, wars and rumors of wars, nations against
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nations. And I know I can hear the
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skeptic. We've always had wars.
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We've even had world wars. Sure, we're not saying that
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that's not the case. We're not saying that leading up
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to the Tribulation, there won't be great calamities.
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There won't be skirmishes and battles and civil problems.
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We know that. But as Jesus qualified, what we
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will see in the Tribulation period will be unprecedented.
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It'll be things that we've never considered were possible, and
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that's what we find here. There are actually things about
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what Jesus says and what John sees that indicate to us how
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this will be different. Let's consider a couple of
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insights. Come back to our main text.
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First, consider how swiftly the international violence will
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erupt. If you look closely, what you'll
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notice is that every time a horse is summoned, John has the
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same recorded response. And I looked and behold, let me
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prove it. Look at verse 2 and I looked and
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behold a White Horse. Scroll down to verse 5.
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When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature
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say come and I looked and behold.
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Look down at verse 8 after the 4th seal was opened and I looked
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and behold, he does this every time.
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Or does he? For some reason this is not
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recorded after the second seal is opened.
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Look at verse 3 and 4 when he opened the second seal.
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I heard the second living creature say come and out came
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another horse, bright red. There's no mention of I looked
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and behold. Why is that?
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I believe it's to suggest just how sudden the violence will
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come and crash into the world as it is enjoying supposed peace.
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It's as though the red horse is just behind the white one.
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What that tells us is this global conflict will not
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escalate incrementally. You know, everybody's on edge
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today because we we see wars, but we're also concerned.
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Not us believers, hopefully, but the general population is is
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worried that things can reach a breaking point and it seems to
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be boiling in different regions of the world.
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I think with this, with the mention of the absence of I look
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and behold, because it was so swift, it was just right there,
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means that this global war will come explosively, almost like
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overnight. It won't even really make sense.
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One day, one week, one month, we're all enjoying tranquility.
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How is this possible? And then the script will change
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in the blink of an eye. It will be alarming.
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It will be shocking in a sense. It will only be deemed as
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something supernatural to the discerning eye at least.
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But a second thing we must highlight is how the rider of
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the bright red horse was given. Look at the last part of verse
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4. A great sword.
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A great sword. Not just a sword, but a great
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one. Emphasizing the scale and the
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severity of this all inclusive conflict.
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This future World War will bring mass carnage.
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It will bring battles breaking out in virtually every nation.
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There will be civil wars and casualties will be realized on a
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massive scale, and no doubt the weaponry that will be developed
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by then will make all of this destruction the more possible.
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Additionally, this transition from a false peace to all of
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this chaos will be the opportunity for the Antichrist
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to rear his ugly head and to seek and maintain control by
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using and resolving to violence. This is where the evil of this
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man, apart from deception, will be realized, and we'll explore
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that more in the coming weeks. And while we can spend time
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trying to speculate all the human reasons for this outbreak
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of World War and trying to determine the Antichrist exact
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movements at this stage of the Tribulation, we won't because
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there's one truth that is undeniably clear from this.
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You ready? God is the source and sustainer
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of peace. We want to worship in our series
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in Revelation. We want to see the godness of
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God, if I may use that terminology.
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What do we take from this? That He is the source and the
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sustainer of peace. Revisit verse 4 again and notice
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the language. And out came another horse,
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bright red. It's rider was permitted to take
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peace from the earth. Permitted by who?
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We don't have to guess. Here's how this truth should
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inspire awe and all of us right now.
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The only reason why we're not seeing bloodshed in every street
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and are not trying to flee for shelter because nuclear weapons
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are being shot out into space from coast to coast.
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It's because God is gracious. One of the things about God's
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common grace that I think we overlook is how humanity is
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restrained from their iniquity, breaking out without limit
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because of God's grace, without violating human will and the
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great mastery of God's sovereignty he restricts.
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He holds back from self destruction being a reality on a
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global scale in a matter of hours.
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Have you considered that about the grace of God that he is able
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to extend peace to an undeserving world?
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And that while this evil world has incredible potential to
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destroy itself and accelerate apocalyptic events, any level of
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serenity and security that we enjoy is a result of God's
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goodness on any level. And let's not limit this now to
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the idea of national security or crimes decreasing in our urban
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cities. Let's expand our understanding
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of the mercy of God and how He gives peace.
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Yes, He supervises the world and He offers peace, but He's also
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able to grant it on a personal level.
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The God of peace, the Bible calls him the God of peace.
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See what I take from this, and I hope you see it as well, is that
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there is a spiritual dimension to violence.
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Do you see that, That God permits peace to be removed?
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And it really exposes our depravity.
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God is not necessarily acting directly.
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He's just removing His hand and letting us have at it.
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And even in this we see that He doesn't let it go too far.
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So what we find here is that God himself is peace.
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He gives peace. He can take peace.
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But for the believer and the one who wants to be a believer,
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understand that Christ qualifies the kind of peace that we get to
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inherit if we trust Him. This is a famous passage.
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Let me remind you of it in John 14 and verse 27.
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Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.
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Not as the world gives do I give to you.
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Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
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I think most people will be content if Jesus had just said
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peace I leave with you, but he gloriously goes on to tell us
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the quality of this peace. My peace I give to you.
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Meditate on that. Jesus says my peace I give to
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you. Here's what that means.
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The peace that Jesus Christ experienced throughout his
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earthly ministry is something available to you and I My peace.
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It's almost too good to be true. Are you saying that the calm and
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the composure that characterized Christ's attitude and
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disposition when faced with threats and slander and danger
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and the disappointment of his own disciples and the various
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challenges of ministry is something that I can actually
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know for myself? Yes, because Jesus said it.
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My peace I give to you. Now here's the wonderful thing
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about Jesus peace. We learn how we're able to
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mature and strengthen it in our own lives.
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It's found in John, another famous passage, John 1633.
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Jesus says I have said these things to you, that in me you
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may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation.
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But take heart, I've overcome the world.
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We learn here that the peace of Christ isn't automatically
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produced in us. It's available, but it's not
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automatic. And Jesus here tells us that
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this peace that is in Him, that is His, is only experienced and
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dependent on knowing what He said to us.
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Did you see that I have said these things to you?
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Why, that in me you may have peace?
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Here's the main point of this, that the channel by which Christ
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allows this piece of His to flow into our shaky hearts is by no
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other than understanding and believing what He already had
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spoken. I have said these things to you
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so that in me you may have peace.
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You can't have peace unless you know what He said.
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And He's given us the full counsel of God before us.
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And so the more I expose myself to these truths and digest these
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truths and chew on them by faith, it feeds a peace.
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What kind of a peace? The same peace that Jesus had
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and notice here also that he says in me, you may have peace.
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The starting point is by first giving your life to Christ.
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There's so much talk about peace these days on podcast political
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platforms, even between leaders in the world today.
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Peace, peace. How do we achieve peace?
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They're tweeting about it. They're interviewing about it.
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They're meaning behind closed doors to try to make it happen.
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And yet it will never be known unless the Prince of Peace is
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embraced. And unfortunately, as we learn
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here, that Jesus Christ will continually be rejected by the
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world to the point that another will come in His own name and
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they will receive him. He will come promising peace,
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and they will take the offer, not realizing that it will
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suddenly be shattered because there is no peace for the
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wicked. And that's what we find here
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with a third seal. We come back now to Revelation 6
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and read in verse 5 what happens when he opened the third seal.
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I heard the third living creature say, come, and I looked
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and behold, a Black Horse and it's rider had a pair of scales
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in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a
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voice in the midst of the four living creature saying a quart
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of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a
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denarius and do not harm the oil and wine.
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So like the red horse, the black 1 is not so difficult to
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interpret. He represents famine.
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And this is no natural famine. This is a man made economic
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collapse. It follows the global war that
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that we just read about, that we just looked at.
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And so we see that famine and poverty are often companions and
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the consequences of war. And that's exactly what we're
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being told here. And this will lay an even
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greater burden on the wider population, especially ordinary
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people. We see here that the
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international economy, economy will take a devastating blow
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during the early stages of the Tribulation.
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That's what's coming. And we've seen this in history,
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surely. But the severity of this has to
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be understood, and that accompanies the arrival of the
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Antichrist. Now before I get there, I want
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you to consider how this voice among the living creatures
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determines the prices of goods. He gives the prices for wheat,
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and he gives the prices here for barley.
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Now notice here that a quart of wheat is for denarius, and three
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quarts of barley for a denarius. Now, according to Matthew 20,
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verse 2A, denarius was the wage for a full days of an average
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man's work. So what?
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What's happening here that a man will have to work all day to
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simplify it, just for a loaf of bread?
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We're talking about intense inflammation here.
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We're talking about something here that is extreme.
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It is radical, it is horrifying. I mean, put yourself in the
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position of a father or a husband who has to Labor Day
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after day and for all that work every day.
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He only gets really a small under nutritional meal.
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What kind of decisions does he have to make for his wife, for
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his children? Will he eat most of it so that
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he can be energized to work the next morning, promising his
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family that they will eat the following night?
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Will he give it up all together for the for the sake of the
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survival of his loved ones? Will we have to succumb to
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thievery and violence to try to make it another another week?
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We're supposed to think deeper about the implications of these
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devastations. And what we find here is that
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there will be scarce resources. It will be extremely
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challenging. And listen, although there are
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places in the world that are suffering today, and I'm sure
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and I know that there are times in history when even more severe
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famines have been recorded, As I said earlier, what makes this
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particular season of inflation unique is that it is accompanied
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by the Antichrist and his leadership.
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And here's what I want to make known to you.
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He will surely capitalize on this growing economic hardship.
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He will take advantage of it. It will be leveraged to compel
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the people to do what worship him.
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This sheds light on how the mark of the beast will gain success
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over time. In Revelation 1317, we're told
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there that no one is able to buy or sell apart from having this
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mark. And you think, how is that going
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to happen? Well if you have something like
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this, an all out meltdown, people trying to even find a
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loaf of bread, long lines, people dying in the streets and
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homes, then it makes sense how there will be many who will
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consider their physical well-being and giving no thought
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to the eternal consequences of their Pledge of Allegiance to
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the Antichrist. It's horrific to think about,
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it's devastating, it's heart crushing, and if any generation
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should have zero doubt of the possibility of this concept,
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it's ours. It wasn't too long ago where for
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a few short years you and I had to wear certain things and
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inject certain things in our bodies if we want to do basic
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things in life. Say what you want, argue what
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you want. I seek to interpret the world
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through the lens of the Bible, and if that period of time was
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anything, my conclusion, my conviction is that it was a
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wonderful dress rehearsal for the Tribulation period.
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This is what we find, and it's not so far fetched now, is it?
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It's very possible, we've seen it, especially now as we
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consider the advancement of technology, that our resources
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globally are so interconnected. What happens in one nation
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doesn't just affect that nation, it affects the world, depending
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really on the nation. So we understand how things are
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becoming more and more connected and we're not so separate as we
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thought, and we can't really get off the grid as much as we'd
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like to. Things are traceable, things are
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interwoven. Things are lining up to the
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fulfillment of this book. It's all being prepared.
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And what I find so interesting about what we read here is that
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the voice that commanded the rider of the Black Horse to
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inflate the price of wheat and barley also tells them not to do
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what? Don't harm the oil or the wine.
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Isn't that interesting? Don't touch the oil of their
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wine. Why?
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Well, you can imagine the conversations around this, the
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ideas that have been generated. Here's my goal and I hope it's
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yours. I don't want to speculate.
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I don't want to imagine. I want to be as close as
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possible to what God intended by it.
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And I believe the main point of this is this, that through this
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there is a measure of mercy in the midst of judgement.
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Do not harm the oil and wine. Why do I say that?
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Because this happens more than once in the Book of Revelation.
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Let me give you one example. Turn to Revelation 7, verse 2.
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This is dealing with another act of judgement that follows what
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we're reading here, Revelation 6, if we honor it
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chronologically and notice what it said here in Revelation 7,
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verse 2. Then I saw another Angel
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ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living
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God, and he called with a loud voice of the four angels who had
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been given power to harm the earth.
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And see saying, verse 3, do not harm the earth or the sea or the
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trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their
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foreheads. Here we have an example of the
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Lord withholding judgment, one that comes after what we're
29:51
studying here because He first wants to accomplish a redemptive
29:56
thing. We still have to seal the
29:59
foreheads of those who belong to God before we let these things
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loose. And so I bring this up to
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suggest that it's possible that similarly as severe as this man
30:10
made famine will be, God and his goodness won't allow there to be
30:14
a total drought to drive the world into complete extinction.
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Touch these basic necessities. Don't touch the oil and the
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wine. And I believe it's totally
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appropriate to rejoice in the mercy of God in a very unlikely
30:35
text. That's what we're supposed to
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recognize here, that God here is merciful.
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And God here is giving, even in the final lapse of human
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history, drops of grace so that people can taste it and have
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enough of sensibility to cry out to Him and listen.
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As we rejoice in the mercy of God in a text like this, we
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should also not lose sight of His sovereignty.
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How's the sovereignty shown? It's really shown with every
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single horse. God doesn't just give and take
31:13
away peace. God also is the supreme manager
31:17
of every asset, every item in this world.
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God supervises, God sees, God determines.
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Even with things that we often take for granted.
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Notice how He determines the quantity, right?
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He's talking about measurements here.
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A quart of wheat, 3 quarts of barley.
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I mean, how much more specific can you get than that?
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He's talking about the quantity. He's determining the quantity
31:47
and the availability. Now listen, here's the point.
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It's one thing to talk and counsel and sing about how God
31:54
is in control. It's an entirely different thing
31:57
when we realize just how much He is in control.
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This is so specific, this is so precise, and it's something that
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we have to understand as a means to be in constant awe of Him.
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And if we don't, if we don't see just how God is in control, is
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sovereign, we are one step closer to being idolaters.
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Am I exaggerating? I'm not exaggerating because
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that is the very reason, at least one of the reasons why God
32:32
condemns the people Israel. They lost sight of the true
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source of every good. Let me give you the example that
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I am thinking about. And Hosea, notice what the Lord
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says to the people Israel, chapter 2, verse 8.
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And as you're prepared to hear these words, what were the main
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resources that he highlights in Revelation?
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6 Grain, oil, wine, right? Listen to his words.
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And Hosea 28 And she, being Israel, did not know that it was
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I who gave her the grain, the wine and the oil, and who
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lavished on her silver and gold, which they use for bail.
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Israel lost sight that I was the one who gave her the grain that
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she ate, the oil that they used to prepare their food, the wine
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to make their hearts merry and to sanitize.
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I am the one who gave it. Isn't that what he says?
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And Revelation 6, He's the one who controls it.
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But notice what he says in Hosea 29.
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Therefore, I will take back my grain and it's time and my wine
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and it's season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which
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were to cover her nakedness. So he gives it and he can take
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it. What does this show?
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That both in the Old and New Testaments, God is the one who
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influences, who supervises, who brings change and shifts to the
34:20
economy of the world, to the things that we see happening.
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And here's what else I see. That his control is not a cruel
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1. Can you imagine being able to
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control absolutely everything? And yet what we find here is
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that even while Israel was worshipping Baal, God gave them
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grain, oil, and wine. I'm still going to provide for
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you. I'm still going to nourish you.
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I'm still going to give you meals and joyful feasts, even
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though with much of it Israel took it and use it to worship
35:02
false gods. That's grace, That's grace.
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Keep in mind the holiness of God.
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Wouldn't he have taken at the moment that they gave a glance
35:14
to Baal, and yet for an extended period of time He still supplied
35:19
them with what they needed? But what we learned here is that
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God's common grace will not be so common in the Tribulation
35:26
period. It will be less and less common.
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And one of the ways we see this is how he will let loose a Black
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Horse who will strike the economy of the world and
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everyone will feel it and Antichrist will take advantage
35:46
of it and so many other things will follow, especially what we
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see here with the final horse. Let's come back to Revelation 6
35:53
as we conclude with these two verses.
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Verse 7 when he opened the 4th seal, I heard the voice of the
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4th living creature say come. And I looked and behold A pale
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horse, and it's rider's name was Death.
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And Hades followed him, and they were given authority over a
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fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, and with famine, and
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with pestilence, and by wild beasts of the earth.
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Now we might be tempted to see this horse similar in color to
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the first one, a different shade of white, but we have to
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understand it in the original text.
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When you actually look at the original, the word depicts the
36:36
color green. In fact, the only time the
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original word chlorose is used in the New Testament is to
36:43
describe vegetation. So more accurately, what we're
36:48
seeing here is a horse that has a pale green hue, the color of a
36:54
sickly corpse of a dying man. This is what this horse looks
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like. And immediately we understand
37:06
here who the rider is. There's no mystery.
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The rider on this horse is death.
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That's his name. And this is of importance
37:16
because he follows. We see the sequence here, global
37:19
war and global famine. What follows those things
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inevitably death on a massive scale.
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So here's what we learned in the early stages of the tribulation.
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There will be incredible death, loss of life, and we're told the
37:34
exact amount over a fourth of the earth will be killed.
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Now if we use today's number, the population of the world, 8.2
37:45
billion, then we're talking about at this point just over 2
37:51
billion people will die in a short amount of time.
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This is startling, and we're told exactly how it would be
38:00
accomplished by sword and through famine.
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We already covered that. But there are two things that
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are added by pestilence and by the wild beast of the earth.
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And perhaps the most curious thing out of the four is the
38:14
last one, right? The wild beast of the earth.
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Now, I think a surface level reading of that would spur the
38:23
thought of big animals running out of forests and jungles and
38:27
just chasing people down and devouring them.
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But it's a little bit more complex than that.
38:35
Consider the transmission of diseases from animals even
38:39
today. Consider some of the greatest
38:42
plagues in history that have been caused by rodents.
38:46
Think about what bugs can do, like mosquitoes, serpents and
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dogs, mice. I don't think there's one animal
38:55
in view here. I think it's going to be the
38:58
collection of catastrophes and calamities.
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You have mass war, meaning there will be bodies, you'll have
39:06
famine, there will be again, such a lack and and many areas,
39:10
including sanitation. So this will invite animals and
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beasts to invade and to pollute and to bring even more harm to
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the world as we know it. The Bible is so specific, and
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whatever way you look at it, it is absolutely astounding.
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And listen, we're only in the fourth seal of the first set of
39:36
judgments. We're not even finished the
39:39
seals yet. And this is what we will see.
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No wonder Jesus said there will be tribulation, great
39:45
tribulation, like the world has never known.
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And this judgment, by the way, is just one of the many reasons
39:54
why I hold to a futurist interpretation of the Book of
39:56
Revelation. Because others would see this in
40:02
a different way. The details of what we just read
40:04
in these two verses would be applied and taught much
40:08
differently. For example, the preterist.
40:10
Remember we talked about this in the intro in the overview of the
40:12
Book of Revelation. The preterist sees the events in
40:16
the Book of Revelation as something of the past, more
40:19
specifically, things that have been happening leading up to
40:23
primarily 70AD. And so how would the preterist
40:29
interpret a verse like this? Well, well, they say it.
40:31
It's no secret. This is just apocalyptic
40:34
language. This is just symbolic imagery to
40:37
describe the devastation of the Jewish people when they were
40:40
surrounded by the Romans and when Rome invaded.
40:47
And as I mentioned in the introduction, the problem of
40:49
this is that we fail to consider the global scale that is defined
40:55
by both Christ and the Book of Revelation.
40:58
Even in the Olivet Discourse, you see Jesus talking about
41:01
things that will happen on a larger, more widespread platform
41:04
and things that will be more narrow pertaining to the Jewish
41:06
people. And so all of that is mixed up,
41:10
all of that is blurred unless you take it in a historical,
41:14
literal sense, unless you just take it plainly.
41:16
When, when it says here that a fourth of the earth will die,
41:20
it's a fourth of the earth. To interpret it otherwise, to
41:25
localize it, to allegorize it, is to minimize the severity and
41:29
the enormity of what's to come. Here's how we're going to end.
41:37
The last horseman is unlike the first 3 in this, he has no
41:42
accessory. The White Horse had what a bow,
41:48
the bright red horse. What a great sword.
41:50
The Black Horse scale in his hand.
41:55
The rider on the White Horse or the pale horse?
41:56
Rather nothing. But here is also where this
42:03
horse stands out. Though he possesses no
42:07
accessory, he is accompanied by someone else.
42:09
Hades and Hades followed him. So this is where this vision is
42:17
unique. Here's this rider on this pale
42:20
horse, and immediately trailing him is Hades.
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Was he walking? Was he on his own horse?
42:29
We're not told. That's not what's important
42:31
here. What's important is how more
42:34
than once in Revelation, Death and Hades are paired together.
42:39
Why is that? What's death?
42:44
Biblically, death is when the spirit is separate from the
42:48
body, when it is taken from the body, when the body becomes soul
42:53
less, spirit less that is death. What is Hades?
42:59
Hades is the realm where these disembodied spirits go as they
43:04
await their final resurrection. To say that Hades is simply the
43:09
grave miscommunicates the actual reality of it.
43:13
It's not you being buried. It's not the graveyard in your
43:16
neighborhood. It's it's speaking about a
43:18
shadowy realm. If I can use that imagery, it's
43:21
speaking about a compartment in the world to come that will
43:24
contain the disembodied spirits as they await the sealing of
43:30
their eternal faith, the judgment of their everlasting
43:34
destination. So this is how we make sense of
43:39
death being followed by Hades. It's so profound when you think
43:42
about it. What this vision is trying to
43:45
communicate is that death will come and he will gather people,
43:51
but death is not the final state of man.
43:55
Yes, they will cease to live physically, but Hades is right
44:00
behind death, meaning 1/4 of the world will not just die, they
44:07
will slip into eternity. So if we just read this as wow,
44:15
1/4 of the world will die. Yeah, that's tragic.
44:20
But it's even more tragic. 1/4 of the world will enter into a
44:26
world more real than this one. 1/4 of the world in such a short
44:32
amount of time will enter into the next World.
44:36
They can't change anything. They can't confess anything,
44:42
however, and whatever they did in their lives will seal their
44:47
fate. And so we're supposed to sense
44:51
the gravity of this death simply escorts you and I to another
44:56
world, one that is more real and permanent than this one.
45:03
And here's what we have to do as we are studying about the
45:06
future, I think it's totally appropriate to pause here and to
45:09
reflect on our own mortality. You know, the preacher has many,
45:14
many things that he has to do. One of his primary tasks is to
45:19
regularly remind people about eternity.
45:26
And any faithful church will regularly remind the people that
45:30
come to receive the word of God of the world to come and how
45:35
transient this world is and not to lose focus.
45:39
As I alluded to during the announcements, there's many ways
45:43
of comparing this world and the next.
45:49
You know, this world is really like a stage as significant, as
45:55
important as as wonderful as it is by way of comparison is just
45:59
a play. And we all have our costumes and
46:04
we all have our roles. But there's a time coming with
46:08
where the play will end, where the final scene will be
46:14
executed, where you will have your final line.
46:18
You will give your final performance, so to speak, and
46:23
you will go backstage, you will take off your costume, you'll
46:27
remove your makeup, and you will push through a door with an exit
46:32
sign above it. And that's the real world.
46:36
So it is with eternity. There's a time coming where we
46:39
will take off this flesh, where we will leave behind all these
46:43
props, all the things that we played with, all the things I
46:46
brought laughter, all the things I brought tears, and we will
46:50
exit through a back door, so to speak.
46:53
And that's where life really begins.
46:58
Do you know where you're going when you die?
47:01
It's inevitable. Look, I'm not trying to scare
47:03
you here. I'll help you.
47:04
I'm going to die. Does that help?
47:07
You can't do anything about it. And I believe it's one of the
47:11
greatest apologetics for the truth of the Bible.
47:14
Only the Bible has the most comprehensive explanation of
47:18
what death is, what it leads to, where it came from, more
47:24
importantly, how it was defeated.
47:28
And so here's the thing. I mean, to be honest, you can
47:31
get so caught up in the details and trying to be accurate, and
47:33
you have to be. When you interpret the Bible,
47:35
especially with a book like Revelation, you don't want to
47:37
get it wrong, right? You want to be faithful.
47:39
You don't be too fanciful. You want to be, you want to be
47:41
right, sure. But I praise God that even in
47:45
the midst of this, and hopefully and prayerfully by His grace, we
47:48
remain with the same heart posture.
47:50
I want to take advantage of this study to be as evangelistic as
47:52
possible. We're talking about the end
47:54
here. We're talking about the fate of
47:57
every single one of us, whether it will occur in our generation
48:01
or not. Death will visit you and I, and
48:05
Hades is right behind him. But here's the beauty of this
48:12
book, that we don't have to wonder what will happen with our
48:17
souls, with our spirits, when they leave these bodies.
48:21
We, because of Christ, will not enter into a shadowy realm.
48:26
We don't have to question what's going to happen with our eternal
48:29
state. No, if you're in Christ, to be
48:33
absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord, that's
48:37
the hope that we have. Surely that is a reason why we
48:41
can know the supernatural peace. I know where I'm going, OK?
48:46
Whatever my fate might bring. Is it sword?
48:50
Is it famine? Is it pestilence?
48:53
Is that a wild beast? Is it a snake bite?
48:57
I don't know what it is, but if I'm in him, it doesn't matter
49:02
because Death will escort me into his loving arms and I will
49:06
be with him, and I'll be more alive, more filled with joy,
49:13
more captivated by beauty that this world could never portray.
49:21
And so death as an advantage to the believer, I, I just wonder,
49:28
I really do. And I'm, I'm ending here, I
49:30
assure you, even if one person here doesn't know where they're
49:36
going, why would you risk it? Why would you gamble with your
49:39
soul? As we're studying revelation, I
49:42
want to remind you that this is ultimately about the revelation
49:44
of Jesus Christ. Do you know him?
49:47
Have you made a conscious decision of placing your faith
49:49
and trust in Him? Have you said at any point in
49:52
your life, I renounce my sin and I choose to be washed by the
49:56
blood of Jesus Christ? Do you realize that if you're in
49:59
Christ, you're not destined for wrath and nothing can change
50:02
your future? I want to give you the gospel of
50:07
the grace of God, the good news of Jesus.
50:09
Here's what you must do. You must acknowledge that you're
50:12
a Sinner. You must realize that in
50:15
comparison to God, you fall so short of his glory.
50:18
It would be pathetic to even try to open your mouth and defend
50:22
your righteousness. And at the same time, you also
50:28
realize the depth of his love. We're the same Christ who opens
50:34
these seals at a future time before that, long before that
50:38
set aside judgment, suspended it, so that He can enter into
50:43
this world and drink your judgement and drink the wrath
50:47
that deserves to be poured on me.
50:50
Why? Because He doesn't want us to
50:52
endure these things, and He doesn't want to want to launch
50:55
us into an eternal separated state.
50:58
He wants to embrace you, receive you, forgive you, renew you, and
51:02
give you life. You say, but what?
51:05
What do I have to do? You acknowledge your need for
51:07
Him, you embrace Him. In that moment you will
51:12
understand freedom, you understand forgiveness, and He
51:17
will impart and infusing you the Holy Spirit and you will be born
51:20
again. That's what is available to you.
51:23
And so I invite you at this time as we pray that if you don't
51:26
know Christ, that you would call out to Him and believe what He's
51:30
done for you and what He can do for you today.
51:32
Father, we thank you for helping us thus far.
51:36
We ask God with whatever was said, it would be retained and
51:40
it would be used to worship you. We pray for the one who doesn't
51:43
know you that today would be the day for those who know you that
51:49
we would worship You in light of all the things that we saw.
51:52
Lord, your absolute sovereignty, how you gave that great sword,
51:57
how you determined the economy, how you permitted death in Hades
52:03
to only go so far. Lord, thank you that you are our
52:06
Father. Thank you that you are not cruel
52:09
with your control. Thank you, Lord, that you give
52:13
us so much more than we deserve. And for this we sing to you with
52:18
glad hearts in Jesus name, Amen. Let's give him thanks.