The Revelation of Chaos Pt. 1
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We have been studying the throne room for the past couple Sundays.
Last Sunday was all about Christ the Redeemer and the praise that surrounds Him at the throne of God in Heaven because He alone is worthy to take the book and break the seals.
Because Christ is the Redeemer, He is the only One who is able to take the seven–sealed book,
Only Jesus is worthy to take the book and break the seals. Only Jesus is able to judge this earth!
He is the One who is able to judge, not only because of who He is—He is God manifest in the flesh—but also because of what He has done. He created this earth, and that gives Him a right.
He is worshiped in chapter 4 as the Creator. But then He also redeemed this earth, and in chapter 5 He is worshiped as the Redeemer.
Since He is the Creator and the Redeemer, He is the only One worthy to judge this earth,
Charles Swindoll wrote, “Although these ‘four horsemen of the Apocalypse’ have long puzzled commentators, the big picture is apparent: severe judgment is coming, but God has everything under control.”
and with that we move into chapter 6…
• We move from the worship service in heaven to the woeful sights on the earth.
• We move from a time of celebration in heaven to the time of tribulation on earth.
• We move from a time of joy at the throne of God to a time of judgment in the tribulation from God.
• We move from the recognition of the Lamb in heaven to the retribution of the Lamb on earth.
Judgment is coming—chapter six begins the time of God’s judgments unleashed on earth. For many in our modern day these facts are hard to receive and believe.
They have bought into the lie that God will not judge the world—in their messed up theology they only major on the love of God, the grace of God, and the mercy of God and they cannot reconcile God being loving and yet also Just!
Before getting into the passage this morning, I want to say that we are talking about the future in these verses. These judgements have not been fulfilled yet. They are drawing nearer and nearer each passing day, but we are not in the tribulation.
The church will be delivered from this period of judgment. Only those who reject the grace of God go into the Great Tribulation period.
Before moving on, let’s mention how far we’ve come in our study of the book of Revelation.
We’ve seen a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We’ve seen messages to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. That’s the Church Age. Then we said the Church Age will end when our Lord comes for the church and takes the church out to be with Him in Heaven. We call that the Rapture.
Now Jesus said of the church we’re salt and light.
When you take the salt out, things start to decompose, they start to rot. When you take the light out, darkness takes over. And so when salt and light go, darkness and decomposition come, and we move into a time known as The Great Tribulation or the wrath of the Lamb.
At the close of chapter 5, Jesus Christ takes the book and now, we are going to see what happens when He breaks the seals:
The First Seal - Deception
The First Seal - Deception
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
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 conquering, and to conquer.
The White Horseman
The White Horseman
There are many who read this and say that this horseman is Jesus Himself. They believe so because of the similarities in Revelation 19, but let me tell you right now, don’t be deceived, this is not Jesus…The man on this horse is not Christ, but he is the Antichrist!
He is a counterfeit Christ. Notice with me:
• This rider wears a “crown”; Jesus wears “many crowns”.
• This rider wears a “stephanos”, that’s the original Greek, it means a victor’s crown. His crown is a prize. Jesus wears many “diadems”, the many crowns of the King of Kings. Antichrist could never wear the diadem, because it belongs only to the Son of God.
• The rider in these verses has his crown “given unto him”. This man was appointed a king be men. This rider is given a crown that he has earned. Jesus wears His crowns because of Who He is, not what He has done. He is the King of Kings by birthright. Jesus is not given a crown, He “gives” crowns, Rev. 2:10.
• This rider carries a “bow”. Jesus carries a “sword”, Rev. 19:15.
• The similarities between this rider and the Lord Jesus indicate that this man is the Antichrist. We will learn more about him as our study progresses. For now, it is important to note that he is not Jesus Christ.
The Antichrist will use deception and many will believe his lies. Lehman Strauss wrote, “When Antichrist appears he shall deceive many, and have all in subjection to himself … the rider on the white horse sheds no blood. His is a bloodless conquest. His method is deception.”
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
He Is A Man Of Peace—You will notice that this rider has a “bow” in his hand, but he has no arrows.
This implies that he will conquer the world without bloodshed. He will accomplish this by providing the answer to the problems faced by the world today.
He comes on a white horse, bringing a promise of peace to this world. When the Antichrist comes, he will come with the solutions for the world’s problems. He will come with an explanation concerning the disappearance of all the Christians. He will come with a plan to bring peace to this world. When he comes, the world will fall at his feet and honor him as their ruler.
He comes as a Savior to a world desperate to be saved. Our world is in a state of turmoil, and things are only going to get worse. Historian Arnold Toynbee said, “We are ripe for someone who can promise to give peace and to give tranquility to the earth. We will deify that individual if he comes.”
Well, he is coming and the world will love him.
Today the world is a volatile situation—there are rulers and nations today that are set on destruction and domination. North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.… the Middle East is a mess. Russia is a major player behind the scenes—which will one day show their true colors against Israel.
The Antichrist will seemingly bring peace to the Middle East, a false hope to the world, and a false peace in the world!
He Is A Man Of Power—We are told that “he went forth conquering, and to conquer”.
We are also told that “a crown was given to him”.
By whatever means he uses, the Antichrist will be given the key to the world. The leaders of the nations of earth will bow at this man’s feet and grant him the right to rule over the entire world.
They have denied this right to the King of Kings.
They have denied it to the Savior of men.
They have denied it to the Son of God. But, they will grant that privilege to this child of Hell.
He Is A Man Of Pretense—The problem with the Antichrist is that he is not the man he appears to be. He portrays himself to be one person when he is in fact another person altogether. He comes riding a white horse.
7 Mountain Mandate - Churches deceived...According to 7-M theology, Jesus will only return to a world that mirrors the kingdom of God. This idea parallels the New Age teaching that anticipates a cosmic spiritual shift when man becomes a co-redeemer of Planet Earth.
So, we see the false church is deceived, but then the government, our leaders will be deceived.
If you think they are too smart for something like this, I encourage you to get a copy of the book “When A Nation Forgets God” by Erwin Lutzer - The subtitle of the book is “7 lessons we must learn from Nazi Germany.” - When you think our leaders are too smart to be deceived into this, just look at what Hitler did. - AND THE MOST AMAZING THING OF ALL - He had published his book Mein Kampf more than 10 years before WWII began. If someone had read it, though would have been prepared.
I’ve got the Holy Bible right here…People would be prepared if they only read it, and believed it!
The anti-Christ will be the same and do the same as Hitler, only on a world-wide scale.
The world will take the bait hook, line, and sinker!
The world that rejected the true Christ will gladly receive the false Christ...
Conclusion
Conclusion
Those who are here at the tribulation period will be in for more than they bargained for!
We need to pray for the lost—because the conqueror is coming!
We need to witness to the lost—because the white horse of domination will ride on to the scene of history one day!
We need to stay true to the word of God—because the deceiver will come with his deception!
We need to trust the Lord and live for the Lord because many will believe the lie!
Have you received the Lord Jesus Christ or have you rejected Him? If you reject the true Christ you will be primed to receive the false Christ! Believe on the Lord Jesus and be forgiven of all your sins!
Be perceptive—the time is drawing near!