{"id":18971,"date":"2018-12-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-023-our-deepest-longing\/"},"modified":"2018-12-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16T06:00:00","slug":"revelation-023-our-deepest-longing","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-023-our-deepest-longing\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 023 – Our Deepest Longing"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18971","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 023 - Our Deepest Longing","sermon_date":"20181216","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":6294,"sermon_slides":6297,"sermon_mp3":6299,"sermon_id":"121618135474127","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"6:1-8","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nOur Deepest Longing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 12-16-18\n\nRevelation 6:1-8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 23\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 6. \u00a0\u00a0The title \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of\u00a0 our message this morning is Our Deepest Longing.\u00a0 What is the deepest longing of the human heart?\u00a0 And if you\u2019re visiting with us for the very first time we\u2019re continuing to move through the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 We\u2019ve covered in this series at the beginning some background issues of the book. We took a look at the prologue or introduction of the book, chapter 1.\u00a0 And then we have this verse that gives us the outline of the whole book in a verse.\u00a0 John is told on Patmos at the close of the first century to \u201cwrite\u00a0the things which you have seen,\u201d that\u2019s part one, \u201cand the things which are,\u201d that\u2019s part two, \u201cand the things which will take place\u00a0after these things\u201d that\u2019s part three.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [Revelation 1:19]\n\nThe things that John has seen is recorded in chapter 1, the image that you saw of the glorified Christ \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0on Patmos when Jesus appeared to John in a vision.\u00a0 The \u201cthings that are\u201d are the seven letters to the seven churches, written by John, given to Jesus to John, written by John on Patmos to those seven churches.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Revelation 2 and 3 is all about and we spent several weeks working through that section.\u00a0 And then part three of the book, write down the things that \u201cwill take place after these things.\u201d\u00a0 The Greek words for \u201cafter these things\u201d is \u201cmeta tauta<\/em>.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[\u201cTherefore\u00a0write\u00a0the things which you have seen<\/u>, and the things which are<\/u>, and the things which will take place\u00a0after these things [meta tauta<\/em>]<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 1:19]\n\nAnd so we know we\u2019re in that section because how does chapter 4, verse 1 begin?\u00a0 \u201cAfter these things.\u201d\u00a0 How does the verse end,\u00a0 \u201cafter these things.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s our clue that we\u2019re in part 3 of the book, chapters 4-22, the largest section of the book dealing with the future.\u00a0 We spent probably about four Sundays working our way through chapters 4 and 5 which is the heavenly scene.\u00a0 And here we\u2019re told that Jesus, God the Father, Jesus the Son, in heaven are qualified to bring the judgments to the earth that we\u2019re going to start to read about today in chapter 6 because God the Father is our Creator, chapter 4, Jesus the Son is our Redeemer, chapter 5.\u00a0 Can you get higher credentials than that?\u00a0\u00a0 Who better to judge planet earth than the One who created it and redeemed it through His death?\n\nAnd this is why Jesus, in chapter 5, is portrayed, chapter 5, verse 7, as taking that seven sealed scroll which represents the title deed to the earth, and as that scroll is progressively opened what is happening is this world that we\u2019re living in is being vindicated.\u00a0 Satan is being evicted gradually.\u00a0 [Revelation 5:7, \u201cAnd He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.\u201d] \u00a0But to get that scroll to open the seals have to be broken and whenever there is a seal broken another judgment will come to the earth.\u00a0 And so since we know that this world is about to be redeemed, Satan is about to be evicted, what can heaven do other than to explode into praise to Jesus Christ who is worthy to open this scroll.\n\nAnd so that transitions us now into the part of the Book of Revelation that most people know the most about, chapters 6-19 where we see these judgments manifested.\u00a0 And we are, and I\u2019ll be explaining this chart as we go, we\u2019re towards the beginning now of the seven year tribulation period; it\u2019s just started and what starts it is the seal judgments.\u00a0 So here are the seal judgments that we\u2019re going to look at today and most likely into next week as well.\n\nNotice, if you will, Revelation 6:1-2 and notice what it says.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThen I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, \u2018Come.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now you\u2019ll notice that there is a reference here to these seven seals, it\u2019s part of this seven sealed scroll which is gradually being opened.\u00a0 To open it each seal has to be broken so that the scroll can be progressively unrolled and is it\u2019s being unrolled the title deed to the earth, which has been under Satan\u2019s domain since the fall in Eden, it\u2019s being reclaimed.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice also in verse 1 it says, \u201cThen I saw when the Lamb,\u201d now who would \u201cthe Lamb\u201d be?\u00a0 Jesus Christ! \u201c\u2026when the Lamb broke one of the\u201d seals.\u00a0 Keep in mind that back in chapter 5, verse 7, as we have studied, it says, \u201cHe\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201ccame and took the Book\u201d that\u2019s the scroll, \u201cout of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.\u201d\u00a0 So it\u2019s very clear here that Jesus is in heaven opening these seals which are bringing forth God\u2019s judgments to the earth.\n\nYou say well why is that important?\u00a0 Because there are an awful lot of voices out there and they\u2019re growing in volume level as time progresses and with the ability that they have on social media and Facebook and You tube, they are arguing vociferously that really the first part of the tribulation period isn\u2019t God\u2019s wrath at all.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s bad but it\u2019s really not that bad.\u00a0 And they will tell you that these judgments are really the result of the devil or the antichrist or human beings, and they really don\u2019t believe these judgments are orchestrated by God; and after all, the word \u201cwrath\u201d doesn\u2019t even appear here early on in chapter 6, so therefore the church is probably going to be around for the first half of these judgments because they are not coming from God Himself, they\u2019re coming from Satan.\u00a0 Some call this midtribulationalism, we\u2019re going to be here for three and a half years when this starts.\u00a0 Others are moving into what\u2019s called prewrath rapturism there at the bottom of the screen, we\u2019re going to be here for three-quarters of the tribulation roughly.\n\nAnd the logic of their belief is yes, the church has been promised an exemption from divine wrath but you know, here in chapter six early on this isn\u2019t God\u2019s wrath; I mean it\u2019s bad but it\u2019s not that bad.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why just some reading comprehension ability sets us straight on this. What does it say?\u00a0 Then I saw when\u2026 who? Satan broke one of the seals.\u00a0\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that, does it.\u00a0 \u201cThen I saw when antichrist broke one of the seals.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that!\u00a0 It says, \u201cThen when I saw\u201d what? \u201cthe Lamb\u201d broke one of the seven seals.\u00a0 It\u2019s very, very clear that Jesus is the One who is qualified to open the seven sealed scroll. He has retained that seven sealed scroll, chapter 5, verse 7, and He\u00a0 exactly is the One that is opening the scroll which is bringing all of these horrific judgments to the earth.\n\nGod is able to work through what I would call an indirect object to accomplish His work.\u00a0 Sometimes He works through people; people are very wicked, and we say well, the person is causing the problem when in reality it\u2019s God allowing the person to cause the problem.\u00a0 Yes, Satan is very active in the tribulation period; the antichrist is very active in the tribulation period but none of them would be going forward to do these things that we\u2019re going to read about had Jesus not authorized it through the opening of the seven sealed scroll.\u00a0 \u201cThen I saw when the Lamb\u201d Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, John 1:29, that\u2019s who Jesus is, \u201cbroke one of the seven seals,\u201d you say well, are we going to be here for the wrath of God?\u00a0 No we\u2019re not.\u00a0 Well when does the wrath of God start?\u00a0 It starts right away in the tribulation.\u00a0 We are not destined for wrath; we are not appointed for wrath and what people do is they play games with God\u2019s wrath and they pretend like these early judgments don\u2019t represent God\u2019s wrath.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very clear here that they do because Jesus is the one opening this scroll, breaking these seals which bring these judgments to the earth.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll recall back in chapter 4 and chapter 5 that there was a group of angels called the four living creatures, a special category we said of the angelic realm.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that he (John) hears the voice of living creature number one.\u00a0 And when the second seal is opened he will hear the voice of living creature number two.\u00a0 When the third seal is opened he will hear the voice of living creature number three. When the fourth seal is opened then he will hear the voice of living creature number four.\u00a0 In other words, these high ranking specialized angels themselves are announcing these judgments.\u00a0 The angels are not causing the judgments; they\u2019re simply announcing their reality.\u00a0 Jesus is causing these judgments.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll also notice, and I appreciated as Ed was reading the verses earlier he put a special emphasis on the word \u201ccome.\u201d\u00a0 Look at the end of verse 1, \u201cwith a voice of thunder, come,\u201d that\u2019s the Greek verb erchomai<\/em>.\u00a0 [Revelation 6:1, \u201cThen I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, \u2018Come.\u2019]\u00a0 Verse 3, \u201cWhen He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, \u2018Come.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Verse \u00a05, \u201cWhen He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, \u2018Come.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 My goodness, I\u2019m seeing a pattern here.\u00a0 Verse 7, \u201cWhen the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, \u2018Come.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 The repetition of \u201cCome\u201d over and over and over again until you get to the end of the chapter and the pagans, the unbelievers finally figure out what is happening and they say this, verse 17, end of the chapter, \u201cfor the great day of their wrath has\u201d what? \u201ccome\u201d [and who is able to stand?]\u201d\n\nThe repetition of \u201ccome\u201d and how it\u2019s summarized at the end of the chapter, how its connected to the wrath of God at the end of the chapter demonstrates that that repetition of the word \u201ccome\u201d over and over again is clearly the wrath of God.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s true the word \u201cwrath\u201d is not mentioned until the end of the chapter but the word \u201ccome\u201d is mentioned early on in the chapter and the word \u201ccome\u201d is connected to the wrath of God early on in the chapter. \u00a0The whole tribulation period itself is the wrath of God.\u00a0 And the mistake that people make is they say well part of it is the wrath of God and part of it is not, and they use some kind of fallacious arguments that I\u2019ll refer to as we progress.\n\nBut I want us to understand that the whole thing is the wrath of God.\u00a0 The whole thing is the day of the Lord.\u00a0 And so since the church, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 is exempted from the wrath of God the church will not be in any of these judgments.\u00a0 [1 Thessalonians 1:10, \u201cand to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.\u201d\u00a0 1 Thessalonians 5:9, \u201cFor God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d]\n\nIf a person is unsaved then they run the risk of entering this terrible time period following the rapture and experiencing these things; but not so Christ\u2019s bride!\u00a0 Not so Christ\u2019s church!\u00a0 God is not a spousal abuser; He does not beat up His bride prior to the wedding day.\u00a0 And very clearly here Jesus, the Lamb, is bringing forth these judgments.\u00a0 The church has no part in these judgments by virtue of the fact of who we are and our divine promises.\u00a0 And the reason I have to highlight these kinds of things is if you spend a lot of time on technology, You-tube social media there\u2019s a lot of voices that will confuse you very fast on this, and make you feel like we\u2019re destined for some of these judgments.\n\nSo we have an announcer, the first of the four living creatures announcing this judgment and that is quickly followed by the action.\u00a0 I mean, what exactly happens?\u00a0 Verse 2, John says, \u201cI looked and behold a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.\u201d\u00a0 John says I looked in this vision and I saw in this vision a white horse.\u00a0 Now what we\u2019re going to be introduced to here in these first four seal judgments is the four horsemen of the apocalypse.\u00a0 The first horse is white; the second horse is red; the third horse is black, the fourth horse is ashen, which is sort of a light green sort of color.\n\nAnd the reason the first judgment is someone riding on a white horse is this first individual brings peace to the earth.\u00a0 Now he is portrayed here as conquering, holding a bow and a crown on his head and it\u2019s very clearly that this figure here is bringing world peace because in the second seal judgment it says this, verse 4, \u201cAnd another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to\u201d what? \u201ctake peace from the earth\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, you can\u2019t take peace from the earth unless the earth is first established in peace.\n\nSo this first figure appears, he\u2019s represented on this white horse with this crown and this bow and he comes forward and he really begins to solve, in almost a nanosecond all of the problems of planet earth.\u00a0 He even solves that pesky thorny question in the Middle East that nobody has been able to get a handle on, the Arab-Israeli conflict.\u00a0 How do you allow the Muslims, who think that Jerusalem is a holy site, to live side by side with the Jews who also think Jerusalem is a holy site? How do you allow them to build their temple in that part of the world without causing World War III.\u00a0 How do you have those two holy sites and holy groups existing side by side?\u00a0 Presidents in the United States of America have come and gone trying to figure this thing out.\u00a0 In fact, our current President looks at this as the ultimate real estate deal.\u00a0 He calls it the deal of the century.\u00a0 Now are saying Trump is the antichrist?\u00a0 No, I did not say that.\n\nWhat I\u2019m saying, and by the way, Trump is in the Bible, it talks about the last trump so there we go.\u00a0 [Laughter] What I\u2019m saying is this is an issue that no human mind has been able to figure out and resolve and this man comes forward, this rider on the white horse, and he figures this whole thing out.\u00a0 And he actually, according to Daniel 9:27 enters into a peace treaty with the nation of Israel. \u00a0[Daniel 9:27, \u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d]\n\nAnd as we have studied in the Book of Daniel once he enters into that peace treaty with Israel the seven year tribulation period starts to begin at that point.\u00a0 He brings forth world peace; he puts the nation of Israel into a state of peace where they will be living in security, Ezekiel 38:8.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 38:8, \u201cAfter many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.\u201d]\n\nThey will be at rest, Ezekiel 38:11, \u00a0[and you will say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,\u201d]\u00a0 living in security, \u201call of them living without walls\u201d or \u201cbars or gates.\u201d\u00a0 Think about that.\u00a0 I mean, this man is so capable of crafting the deal of the century, the ultimate real estate deal that the Jews don\u2019t even feel that they need walls any more for self-defense.\n\nAnd as someone who has traveled in Israel three times I can tell you that those walls and those security gates are a very big deal for the nation.\u00a0 You know it\u2019s sort of interesting here in our country we can\u2019t even figure out if we need a wall around this country or not because of terrorism.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you one thing, the Israelis have got this thing figured out a long time ago.\u00a0 You need a wall,\u00a0 you need border security because there are people that are going to come into you country and try to wreak havoc and use all kinds of things to kill mass amounts of people.\n\nAnd so the Israelis understand border security ant this rider on the white horse comes forward and crafts this deal where the Jews don\u2019t even they feel they need border security any more.\u00a0 All those walls and gates which are so necessary for the protection of the nation disappear.\u00a0 And this man brings forth peace, Daniel 9:27.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:27, \u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d]\n\nHe solves Zechariah 12:2-3 where God says He will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling which will send all the nations reeling.\u00a0 [Zechariah 12:2, \u201cBehold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah.\u00a0 [3] It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.\u201d]\n\nI can\u2019t think of a more accurate prophecy today because what\u2019s on the minds of all world leaders\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 is what are we going to do about this thorny question of the nation of Israel and the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the Arab\/Israeli conflict.\u00a0 In fact, the United nations, most of the time when they meet that\u2019s what\u2019s on their mind and that\u2019s what they vote on.\u00a0 I think most of their solutions are probably wrong.\u00a0 The Israeli\u2019s call the U.N. the United Nothing.\u00a0 But my point is this is what everybody is concerned about.\u00a0 This is where all of the anxiety is and think of the guy that can come on the scene and fix this problem where the Hebrews don\u2019t even think that they need military borders any more.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s happening here with this rider on the white horse.\n\nAnd the antichrist, that\u2019s who this rider on the white horse is, gives to humanity what humanity has always wanted.\u00a0 The deepest longing of the human heart, what is it?\u00a0 It\u2019s to fix the world.\u00a0 The problem is the Bible says you\u2019re not going to have lasting political peace until you have what first? Spiritual peace.\u00a0 Spiritual peace with God always takes precedence and is a necessary prerequisite for lasting political peace.\u00a0 That\u2019s the solution of God to the world\u2019s problems.\n\nBut think of a man that can come on the scene and give people what they think they need and what they want without ever changing their human heart through the new birth.\u00a0 What is Jesus about?\u00a0 He\u2019s all about an internal transformation called the new birth, the new nature, the birth from above, being born spiritually which is the only way to gain right standing before God.\u00a0 Jesus says to Nicodemus \u201cyou MUST be born again.\u201d\n\nBut think of someone that could fix the world\u2019s problems, health care, alleged global warming, terrorism, poverty, without making any demands of their internal change first.\u00a0 No moral requirements on them at all.\u00a0 No spiritual birth is necessary.\u00a0 No talk about how the Holy Spirit has to come and live inside of you first.\u00a0 No talk about the gospel.\u00a0 No talk about the sin nature that we have.\u00a0 By the way, where does murder, terrorism, drive by shootings, violence, where does all of that come from?\u00a0 Jesus is very clear, Mark 7:20-23 He talks about murder and He says \u201call these things precede from within and defile the man.\u201d\n\n[Mark 7:20-23, \u201cAnd He was saying, \u201cThat which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. [21] \u201cFor from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22] deeds of coveting and<\/em> wickedness, as well<\/em> as<\/em> deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and<\/em> foolishness. [23] All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.\u201d]\n\nIn that context Jesus\u2019s disciples are being criticized for eating on the Sabbath by the Pharisees.\u00a0 And Jesus makes the point there that it\u2019s not what comes into you that defiles\u00a0 you, it\u2019s what comes out of\u00a0 you!\u00a0 The problem with human beings is not their environment but it\u2019s human beings, that\u2019s the problem, because we all have a corrupted nature that we have inherited from our forbearers from Adam.\u00a0 And until that corrupted nature is brought under control of the Holy Spirit and people begin to live their lives according to the new nature which they received at spiritual birth, and learn to reckon dead deeds of the old nature war and all of the problems of this earth will continue on and on and on and on.\n\nThe problem is people don\u2019t want to hear that message; they want the easy fix.\u00a0 They\u2019re focused on the symptom rather than the root of the problem.\u00a0 Jesus Christ is all about dealing with the foundation, the root of the problem.\u00a0 And people get tired of hearing that.\u00a0 And so what if someone comes on the scene and fixes the symptoms without dealing with the ultimate problem?\u00a0 Think how popular such a person would be. \u00a0And that\u2019s who this rider on the white horse is; this is the antichrist bringing in a temporal peace, a pseudo peace, a peace that really won\u2019t last very long as we\u2019ll see.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because you can\u2019t have lasting political peace until you first have spiritual peace in the human heart.\n\nAnd the nation of Israel in their unbelieving state, they want absolutely nothing to do with Jesus Christ, will gladly enter into that treaty.\u00a0 And the moment they enter into that treaty the prophet Isaiah, chapter 28 and verse 18 says of that treaty to Israel, \u201cYou have just made a covenant with hell itself, with Sheol.\u00a0 [Isaiah 28:18, \u201c\"Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.\u201d]\n\nAnd according to Daniel 9:27 the moment that treaty is entered into\u00a0 is the moment this seven year tribulation period starts and that\u2019s where these judgments that we read about here in the Book of Revelation begin to take place.\n\nThere are many, many people, and I was sort of shocked to learn this when you study the commentaries on this, that think this rider on the white horse is Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Even one of my heroes, one of the greats from Dallas Seminary argued in a book, Zane Hodges, that this rider on the white horse is Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Of course Zane Hodges is in the presence of the Lord now so guess now he knows better and maybe the Lord will give him a chance in heaven to change his book.\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is it\u2019s amazing to me how many voices are out there in the world of theology, in the world of Bible commentaries telling us that this rider on the white horse is Jesus Christ.\u00a0 This is NOT Jesus Christ. This is an imitation of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Jesus is in heaven. Didn\u2019t we just read that, chapter 6, verse 1?\u00a0 Jesus is the one opening the scroll so how could Jesus be in heaven and the rider on the white horse coming to the earth simultaneously?\u00a0 It really doesn\u2019t work.\n\nAnd by the way, when Jesus Christ returns and sets up His kingdom it\u2019s not going to be a pseudo peace; it\u2019s not going to be a false peace, it\u2019s going to be a peace that will last a thousand\u00a0 years.\u00a0 And after that thousand years it will give way to the eternal state which will last forever.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Isaiah 9:6-7 is proclaiming.\u00a0 You know this verse, it\u2019s on all of your Christmas cards this time of year.\u00a0 \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.\u201d\n\nLook at this, verse 7, \u201cThere will be no end to the increase of His<\/em> government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteous\u00adness,\u201d anybody here interested in justice and righteousness? Anybody here tired of looking at the legal system and the political system and seeing constant scams and manipulation?\u00a0 Anybody tired of the bad guys always finding the loophole and gaining ascendency?\u00a0 All that ends when Christ returns because He upholds it from David\u2019s throne with justice and righteousness.\u00a0 From how long?\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to wait four years to see if he\u2019s going to get voted back in.\u00a0 NO, \u201cforever more.\u201d\n\nAnd yet what happens here with this rider on the white horse?\u00a0 He brings in his temporal peace that looks good on the surface but there\u2019s major problems within it because it never really dealt with the root of the problem, human nature; it just dealt with symptoms and it collapses. You\u2019ll see that collapse with the second seal judgment.\u00a0 So how could this rider on the white horse be Jesus?\u00a0 Jesus doesn\u2019t bring temporary solutions, He brings eternal lasting solutions.\n\nBut you say well, wait a minute, Andy, He\u2019s the rider on the white horse and when Jesus comes back in Revelation 19 He\u2019s the rider on the white horse, right?\u00a0 So these two riders on the white horse have to be the same, right?\u00a0 That\u2019s the logic.\u00a0 There are differences between the two riders spoken of in Revelation 6 and Revelation 19. The rider in chapter 6 has a crown while the rider in chapter 19 has many crowns.\u00a0 The rider in chapter 6 has a bow while the rider in chapter 19 has a sword.\n\nWhy is the coming of the antichrist portrayed as a white horse, I mean, that looks so spiritual.\u00a0 That is the nature of how Satan operates; he is a mimicker, an imitator of God.\u00a0 Satan comes as an angel of light; all of this stuff about Satan having red horns and a red cape and a pitchfork, that may do well to sell Halloween costumes to the kids but the fact of the matter is there\u2019s not a shred of biblical evidence for any of that.\u00a0 Satan is attractive, he is appealing. Study how Satan is described as the light bearer in Isaiah 14:12-15, as that beautiful rainbow colored object in Ezekiel 28:12-17.\n\n[Isaiah 14:12-15, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\u00a0\u00a0 You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! \u00a0[13] But you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly ln the recesses of the north. \u00a0[14]\u00a0 \u2018I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019 \u00a0[15] Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.\u201d\n\nEzekiel 28:12-17, \u201cSon of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, \u2018Thus says the Lord GOD, \u2018You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. \u00a0[13] \u201cYou were in Eden, the garden of God; \u00a0Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. \u00a0On the day that you were created they were prepared. \u00a0[14] You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. <\/em>You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[15] You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you. \u00a0[16] By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. [17] Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.\u00a0 I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you.\u201d]\n\nAs his light was reflecting and refracting the glory of God He was one of the most beautiful objects to behold.\u00a0 And to a large extent I believe that beauty continues and that\u2019s why so many people are deceived by Satan because he looks so good, and it feels so right. What could be wrong with it?\u00a0 You study these examples of people that have these out of body experiences, I\u2019ve been reading about these people probably from a very early age, prior to the age of ten I was interested in this.\u00a0 And the story is always the same.\u00a0 The story almost never changes.\u00a0 They die, they\u2019re outside of their body and they\u2019re passing through a tunnel, they all describe a tunnel, and what\u2019s at the other side of the tunnel?\u00a0 A beautiful light and they\u2019re drawn to the light, and after the light is God, right?\u00a0 And this being gives them a message about go back to the earth, go back into your body and preach tolerance to all.\u00a0 Get away from the Bible, get away from narrow dogma, get away from \u201cI am the way, the truth and the life\u201d and just go back and preach love and tolerance to all.\n\nAnd that\u2019s what a lot of these folks do when you study them, and they believe in their minds that they\u2019ve had a contact from God Himself.\u00a0 I\u2019m here to tell you that\u2019s not God.\u00a0 That\u2019s a counterfeit; that\u2019s who this rider on the white horse is, he is a counterfeit. Satan says well look in this book, many times counterfeits God.\u00a0 It counterfeits Jesus Christ, as we\u2019ll see in Revelation 13, right down to the resurrection of Jesus.\u00a0 I mean, God even has a trinity, right\u2014God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Did you notice there\u2019s a satanic trinity in this book?\u00a0 The antichrist, the dragon, the false prophet.\n\nThe whole thing is a duplication without talking about the new birth.\u00a0 The whole thing is a duplication to deal with the symptoms of a problem without dealing with the root cause.\u00a0 What\u2019s the root cause?\u00a0 And you\u2019re not going to get this from Satan,\u00a0 you\u2019re not going to get it from the antichrist, you\u2019re not going to get it from a glib world leader.\u00a0 The real problem is our nature that\u2019s at war with God.\u00a0 I am born into the world an enemy of God, Romans 5:10.\u00a0 [Romans 5:10, \u201cFor if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.\u201d]\n\nI need to be forgiven of my sin, I need the new nature inside of me and the power of the Holy Spirit and if someone is coming along talking about a bunch of social type things without dealing with that problem, beloved, as God is my witness, that\u2019s a false gospel.\u00a0 And yet this is what the writer on the white horse is seemingly able to deliver.\n\nAnd that leads us now into verses 3-4 where you can see the advent of the antichrist is quickly equipped by global warfare.\u00a0 The peace didn\u2019t last long, did it?\u00a0 Notice if you will verse 3, \u201cWhen he,\u201d who\u2019s the \u201che\u201d?\u00a0 The Lamb, \u201cWhen He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying,\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Come.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now notice it says \u201cthe second seal.\u201d\u00a0 Now \u201cthe second seal\u201d follows the what?\u00a0 The first seal.\u00a0 Now pastor, are you telling me that the Book of Revelation is meant to be understood chronologically?\u00a0 Yes I am because second comes after first.\u00a0 You with me on that?\n\nAnd I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m sorry to take out my little email battles on you all who don\u2019t even know why I\u2019m amped up about this, [laughter] but I have all of these people telling me well, I can just go to the Book of Revelation and take it in any order I want.\u00a0 And my response is well is that how you treat the Book of Exodus, you just go in there, there\u2019s ten plagues, you take them in any order\u00a0 you want?\u00a0\u00a0 Well let\u2019s take plague three before plague one\u2026\u00a0 you would NEVER do that in any other book of the Bible.\u00a0 In fact, to do that is disrespectful to the Word of God.\u00a0 The Bible is laying out a chronology here and I\u2019ll be showing you that chronology as we progress.\n\nBut second seal, \u201cHe\u201d the Lamb \u201cbroke the second seal,\u201d now we have the second voice or the second who is the second of the four living creatures once again, verse 3, saying what?\u00a0 \u201cCome.\u201d\u00a0 And then take a look at verse 4, look at the action, look at what materializes.\u00a0 \u201cAnd another red horse went out and to him who sat on it was granted to take peace from the earth,\u201d well where did this peace come from originally?\u00a0 It\u2019s the pseudo peace, the false peace brought into existence by the antichrist.\u00a0 It\u2019s a false peace because it deals with a symptom without dealing with the problem.\u00a0 \u201cAnd another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Peace is now taken from the earth.\u00a0 The peace is temporary.\u00a0 Only Jesus can bring in lasting peace as we saw in Isaiah 9:6-7.\n\nIf you believe that you have bought into some new teaching or some new guru or some political leader or someone\u2019s promise of utopia who has never made you right with God through the new birth then the peace that you are experiencing from that artificial substitute will disappear the moment the first trial hits.\u00a0 You know that Christianity is true because when the trial hits your life the peace of God continues.\u00a0 Anybody ever experience that in the midst of trial?\u00a0 It\u2019s got to be true because no other entity, Satan or whomever, antichrist or whomever can give such a delivery.\n\nAnd so peace is taken from the earth.\u00a0 I would put it this way: World War III at this point breaks out.\u00a0 You say well are we going to have a third world war?\u00a0 At least one war that I\u2019m reading about here, I don\u2019t know how many precede that, maybe this is World War IV for all I know.\u00a0 I just know that the world wars of the human race are not something in our rear view mirror; they are something yet future through the manifestation of the opening of\u00a0 this second seal.\u00a0 That\u2019s why this writer has a sword, symbolizing warfare.\u00a0 That\u2019s why this writer is on a horse that\u2019s red; red of course reminds us of blood, the blood being spilled from this warfare.\u00a0 You say well I came to church today to hear a nice Christmas message.\u00a0 [Laughter] That\u2019s the problem with teaching verse by verse is\u00a0 you have to deal with what\u2019s there.\u00a0 And he brings in utopia which disappears.\n\nBack to my sermon title, The Deepest Longing of the Human Heart, what is it? What is it we want?\u00a0 We want to live in peaceful conditions again.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s how God made\u00a0 us. That was God\u2019s design for man in Genesis 1 and 2 before sin ever entered this world.\u00a0 They were living in\u00a0 utopia, they were living in peace, and the whole thing got thrown away in Genesis 3.\u00a0 And the deepest longing or ache of the human heart is to get back to Eden.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we want?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we were designed for that, we\u2019re programmed for that.\u00a0 Jesus offers a way back.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see it in Revelation 21 and 22, the new heavens and new earth.\n\nWell what if I don\u2019t know anything about Jesus or don\u2019t believe in Jesus, then what do I do?\u00a0 Then you\u2019re left to the whim of anybody with the gift of gab that can promise you Eden-like conditions without an eternal change.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the antichrist and false teachers are so unbelievably popular, because they\u2019re able to appeal to something that we all long for, Eden conditions, because that\u2019s how we were designed, to live in Eden.\u00a0 But all that stuff about righteousness, morality, the transferred righteousness of Jesus, the new birth, don\u2019t worry about that, I\u2019ll give you the package without that.\u00a0 That\u2019s the teachings of the antichrist.\n\nSo this second seal is opened and global warfare breaks out. By the way, a lot of people have some big issue with where you put Ezekiel 38 and 39. I wrote a whole book on that called The Middle East Meltdown<\/em>.\u00a0 I have a view on it; I believe that chapter 38, the invasion of Israel by these foreign powers that are described in Ezekiel 38, Turkey, Russia, Central Asia, the Sudan and Libya, which Ezekiel 38 and 39 name, I believe that that invasion happens right here with seal 2.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s a transition from peace to war.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Ezekiel 38 is talking about, peace to war.\u00a0 And I believe chapter 39 of Ezekiel is sort of a mopping up campaign making reference to things at the end of the tribulation period.\n\nBut we move now into the third seal, this is the famine that breaks out.\u00a0 Look at verses 5 and 6, \u201cWhen He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying,\u201d what? \u201c\u2018Come.\u201d And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.\u201d\u00a0 Seal number three, third living creature makes the announcement, he says \u201cCome\u201d and John sees now a black horse with its rider holding scales.\u00a0 Why black?\u00a0 Because something terrible is about to happen called worldwide famine.\u00a0 Worldwide global economic collapse takes place when seal number three is broken and\u00a0 you see that collapse described in verse 6.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I heard something like\u201d John says, \u201ca voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, \u2018A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.\u2019\u201d\n\nNow what is this business about \u201ca denarius,\u201d plural denarii, it\u2019s a silver coin.\u00a0 And according to a note in\u00a0 my Bible study,\u00a0 a Bible study not, the Ryrie Study Bible, he makes a point here that a denarius, one denarius could buy ten quarts of wheat and thirty quarts of barley.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice how rapidly the purchasing power of a denarius is evaporated when this seal judgment is opened and takes place; now it only is able to buy one quart of wheat. And instead of thirty quarts of barley three quarts of barley So what has happened is this currency, which used to have all of this tremendous purchasing power is eviscerated and famine breaks out, the rider on the black horse.\n\nAnd it says here, it\u2019s very interesting, \u201cand do not damage the oil and the wine,\u201d I\u2019m not entirely sure what that means.\u00a0 In other words, gosh, you know, don\u2019t touch that or it\u2019s all over because the economies of the world have just moved into a massive collapse.\n\nI believe this, that the world system today is being set up for that global collapse, with seal judgment number three.\u00a0 I see it in a lot of different ways.\u00a0 One of them is through the national debt clock in Times Square, there\u2019s a picture of it, it\u2019s very depressing to watch.\u00a0 By the way, that number is not even right any more.\u00a0 [slide says: NATIONAL DEBT: 17626820318567]\u00a0 In the good old days we used to be 17 trillion dollars in debt; now we\u2019re what? 21 or 22 trillion dollars in debt.\u00a0 I\u2019m not even talking here about the other nations of the world, I\u2019m just talking about our own nation, which obviously is very significant in terms of the other economies of the earth.\u00a0 What happens to the United States happens to the world.\n\nThe country that we are living in, and I\u2019m not here to get political and start assigning blame, I\u2019m just here to give you a fact; it\u2019s 21 to 22 trillion with a T, dollars in debt.\u00a0 How much is that?\u00a0 I think it was Tip O\u2019Neill that said, \u201ca million here and a million there and pretty soon you\u2019re talking about real money.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, a trillion dollars is an amount of money that is so big it\u2019s hard for the human mind to wrap itself around it without the help of pictures.\u00a0 So here\u2019s some pictures.\u00a0 That\u2019s what a hundred dollars looks like.\u00a0 And then you keep stacking up those hundred dollar bills, that\u2019s what ten thousand dollars looks like.\u00a0 Keep on stacking those hundred dollar bills, that\u2019s what about a million dollars looks like.\u00a0 Keep stacking and that\u2019s what a hundred million dollars looks like.\u00a0 Look at the original bill down there, about the size of a man.\u00a0 But keep stacking, there\u2019s a billion dollars, but I didn\u2019t say billion, did I? I said trillion; I mean what exactly does one trillion dollars look like.\u00a0 That\u2019s a trillion dollars. \u00a0Look at it relative to a truck.\u00a0 See the man down there, you can\u2019t even see him any more.\u00a0 The original bill of Ben Franklin,\u00a0 you can\u2019t even see any more.\u00a0 One trillion dollars, there it is relative to a soccer field; there it is relative to a football field, there it is relative to a 747 airplane, and we keep stacking and that\u2019s fifteen trillion.\u00a0 It looks like it\u2019s getting close to half of the height of the Statue of Liberty, the original truck, the original man, the original bill is now nonexistent.\n\nAnd the two biggest liars in the world are number one, lawyers [laughter] and I am a lawyer so I know something about that, because lawyers can make words sound however they want.\u00a0 And\u00a0 the second biggest liar in the world are accountants because accountants can make numbers however you want them to sound.\u00a0 I mean, accountants are just amazing, they have the ability to take bad news and make it good news.\u00a0 The manipulation of numbers, the manipulation of language, and so what we have in our culture, and these figures I think aren\u2019t even accurate any more, the numbers I\u2019m giving have far exceeded these figures.\n\nWhat happens if we take debt and we shift it to off budget where no one sees it any more, so they\u2019re not counted in the national debt figure any more of twenty-one and twenty-two trillion.\u00a0 If you look at all of our off budget debt, unfunded liabilities the number is probably close to a hundred and fourteen to a hundred and fifteen trillion dollars in debt.\u00a0\u00a0 And you see how high that is relative to the original bill, man, airline, (can you see the airline?\u00a0 You can barely see it) football stadium, Empire State Building which I was just in not long ago, that\u2019s high, I was on the top floor, how it looks relative to our former twin towers, which as we all know were toppled on 9-11.\n\nI mean, when you start getting into trillions of dollars you say well how in the world do you pay this back?\u00a0\u00a0 You can\u2019t, it is a problem hanging over the United States and hanging over the world that\u2019s unsolvable.\u00a0 In fact, and I\u2019m really trying to stay hard out of politics, nobody seems interested in fixing this.. NOBODY!\u00a0 You voted in one party and they spend, and you vote out the rascals and vote in the next party and they spend even more.\u00a0 And the idea of Republican, Democrat, big party government, little party government, I mean, the parties are losing their identity.\n\nAnd here is the deal, you cannot suspend the laws of gravity forever because this is what you would call artificial prosperity.\u00a0 You see, your average American today thinks that America is the richest country in the world.\u00a0 Well, we live like we\u2019re kings but we\u2019re really not that rich at all, we\u2019ve just learned how to spend the next generation\u2019s money, which is called generational theft.\u00a0 We have learned the art and the science spending the next generation\u2019s money before the next generation is even born to give us their perspective on how things should go.\u00a0 We\u2019re piling debt mindlessly\u2026 mindlessly on our children and our grandchildren thinking it\u2019s normal.\n\nAnd why is it that almost presidential cycle no one addresses this issue aggressively; it\u2019s always some tangential issue about this or that, people are distracted by some minor thing and no one is talking about this issue that\u2019s hanging over all of our heads.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because the world is being set up through its artificial prosperity for the collapse that will happen with seal judgment number three.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is judgments of this magnitude are not just going to come into existence instantaneously.\u00a0 To some extent maybe they could but there\u2019s preparation happening.\u00a0 Jesus, when He came into this world the first time didn\u2019t just show up; there was preparation that happened.\u00a0 The Greek language was in place, one of the fullest dialects, to record the revelation of God\u2019s Son.\u00a0 Roman roads were in place, Pax Romana was in place, there was a Messianic hunger which was in place.\u00a0 The stage was set for the first coming of Christ.\n\nBeloved, as God is my witness there\u2019s a stage being set for the second coming of Christ.\u00a0 And part of it involves the opening of this third seal of a global economic collapse. Artificial prosperity!\u00a0 Why is it that we, as Americans, like debt so much?\u00a0 We can all point the finger at Washington D.C. but how about your personal life?\u00a0 I mean, are you living way beyond your means?\u00a0 It\u2019s unbiblical to do that; in fact, it\u2019s a lie to do that.\u00a0 But debt allows us to do that because we can spend money on things that we want now when in fact we don\u2019t have that money.\u00a0 And anybody, any politician that stands up and says I want to give you more we vote for them.\u00a0 May God help us understand this is not a political problem, this is not a national problem, this is an individual problem.\u00a0 And yet I believe it\u2019s largely predicted.\u00a0 It takes false prosperity, you want true prosperity, you want a prosperity that breaks out all over the world that doesn\u2019t defy the laws of gravity the way these folks are doing?\u00a0 It\u2019s the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to get\u00a0 your prosperity.\n\nAmos 9:13 says, \u201c\u2019Behold, days are coming,\u2019 declares the LORD, \u2018When the plowman will overtake the reaper And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; When the mountains will drip sweet wine and all the hills will be dissolved.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I say Lord, bring it on!\u00a0 Let me live in that kingdom of true prosperity and not false prosperity and empty promises and that\u2019s why we should pray \u201cThy kingdom\u201d what? \u201ccome.\u201d\u00a0 All of this stuff is false that we\u2019re learning here; it comes to a crashing halt with the third seal judgment.\n\nWell, cheer up, it gets worse; we have seal number four, verses 7 and 8.\u00a0 Look at verse 7, \u201cWhen the Lamb\u201d it\u2019s very clear Jesus is causing this, right?\u00a0 \u201cWhen the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying,\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201c\u2018saying Come.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So now we have verse 7, the Lamb breaking the fourth seal, the fourth living creature again saying \u201cCome\u201d and the announcement is given in verse 6, the action is given in verse 8. What happens?\u00a0 John says, \u00a0\u201cI looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.\u201d\n\nJohn looks, he sees \u201can ashen horse\u201d which is a pale green, it\u2019s sort of sickly, because I think it\u2019s largely showing the sickness that is going to come into the human race claiming a quarter of the population.\u00a0 And what happens to people when they die?\u00a0 They go into Hades, that\u2019s where their souls are, waiting for that forever judgment.\u00a0 That\u2019s why death and Hades are referenced here.\u00a0 It\u2019s where the rich man went in Luke 16:19-31, in torments, in Hades, waiting that final judgment.\u00a0 Revelation 20:13 talks about the final resurrection and it says, \u201cAnd the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Eventually this compartment of souls is emptied out, people are brought before the Lord and as their name is not found written in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life their thrown forever into the Lake of Fire.\u00a0 That\u2019s pure Bible!\n\nYou know, I don\u2019t think as horrific as this is, a human mind could ever concoct this; it\u2019s got to come from God Himself who\u2019s warning us of this terrible place.\u00a0 And aren\u2019t you glad that Revelation 1:18 earlier said, \u201cand the living One;\u201d Jesus, \u201cand I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You say well pastor, I don\u2019t want to go into \u201cdeath and Hades.\u201d\u00a0 Well join the club, neither do I.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it great that someone has the keys to death and Hades.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it great that somebody through personal faith in Him gives us a way out, where our soul does not go into this terrible place that souls will go into with the destruction of a quarter of the world\u2019s population, with the coming forth of this ashen colored horse.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice what it says here, it\u2019s very clear, a quarter of the world\u2019s population is killed.\u00a0 Well how did a quarter of the world\u2019s population get killed? We just had through seals two and three world war and global economic collapse and famine.\u00a0 I mean I think those two judgments in themselves would be very effective of wiping out a quarter of the world\u2019s population.\u00a0 If you look at verse 8 very carefully God says He has some other judgments, not just sword and famine but also pestilence, and the wild beasts of the earth.\u00a0 [Revelation 6:8, \u201cI looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.\u201d]\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that the early Christians, by the Romans, were thrown into the coliseum to be devoured by wild beasts?\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting how God is allowing this wicked world to receive the exact judgment that it put early Christianity through and in some parts of the world is putting Christians through as I speak.\n\nI guess this would be as good a point as any to talk about the four views for interpreting the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 As you study this material you\u2019re quick to discover that our view of it is not the only view out there taught by Christians.\u00a0 There\u2019s a view called preterism; preterism is a Latin word that means past, and these folks will tell you that these judgments already happened.\u00a0 When?\u00a0 In the events of A.D. 70 when Rome invaded Jerusalem.\u00a0 There\u2019s another view out there and this is the dominant view in church history, called historicism and they link these events to events in the last 2,000 years of church history.\u00a0 There\u2019s another view out there called idealism where these judgments reoccur in every generation.\u00a0 And then there is what I would call the correct view, futurism, which indicates that these judgments are yet future.\n\nYou say well what does Sugar Land Bible Church believe?\u00a0 Futurism.\u00a0 What angle are\u00a0 you teaching this book from?\u00a0 Futurism.\u00a0 What is your personal belief?\u00a0 Futurism.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Why aren\u2019t you a preterist?\u00a0 Or a historicist?\u00a0 Or an idealist?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple, I take the judgments literally.\u00a0 You can search in human history all you want and you\u2019ll never find anything like this.\u00a0 I mean, there\u2019s some bad things that happened, the San Francisco earth quake in the 80\u2019s, in history the Black Plague, I mean, there\u2019s terrible things that have happened but not like this.\u00a0 You start taking this at face value and you start studying history and you realize this has to be future.\u00a0 Things like this, an immediate destruction of a quarter of the world\u2019s population happening just like that?\u00a0 That has never happened.\u00a0 And by the way, this destruction of the world\u2019s population doesn\u2019t stop because Revelation 9:18 says, \u201cA third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.\u201d\n\nWell how can a quarter of the world\u2019s population be destroyed and then later on it says a third of the world population is destroyed?\u00a0 A lot of people say these judgments are concurrent, they happen at the same time.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s mathematically impossible.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have a quarter and a third being destroyed simultaneously because those are different numbers.\u00a0 These judgments re meant to be understood chronologically.\n\nThink of a pie, I just had some knish at our house, so I take that knish, that pie, I divide it up into quarters, I take a quarter out, that\u2019s my piece, that leaves how many quarters?\u00a0 Three quarters, three quarters are left.\u00a0 Well then Revelation 9:18 says, a third of the world is destroyed.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Revelation 8:9, \u201cand a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 9:18, \u201cA third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths.\u201d]\n\nSo my wife comes on the scene and she says this second quarter is mine and what does that leave of the knish?\u00a0 Half; half of the world\u2019s population is destroyed by the time you reach trumpet number six.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have a quarter and a third disappearing concurrently and simultaneously.\u00a0 This is why Jesus said of those days there has never been anything like it nor shall there ever be.\u00a0 Half of the world\u2019s population is annihilated.\n\nWe continue to move on and look at seal number five and we\u2019ll stop with this.\u00a0 Look, if you will, at verse 9, \u201cWhen the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;\u201d martyrdom takes place on a massive scale as John sees a Lamb breaking a fifth seal and under the altar of God in heaven are the martyrs themselves.\u00a0 How did they get martyred exactly?\u00a0 I mean, what did they to do get martyred.\u00a0 It\u2019s right there in the text, it says it in verse 9, they got into trouble because of two things, the Word of God and their testimony.\n\nIn fact, the word \u201ctestimony\u201d is a translation from the Greek word marturios<\/em>, where we get the word martyr.\u00a0 There are two things in this world that\u2019ll get\u00a0 you into trouble every single time you employ them.\u00a0 Number one, the Word of God.\u00a0 You want to stand on the Word of God, you want to build your life on the Word of God, expect persecution.\u00a0 In fact, 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul says, \u201cIndeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.\u201d\u00a0 That goes with the territory of discipleship.\n\nAnd you want the other thing that\u2019s going to get you into trouble?\u00a0 Your testimony.\u00a0 You start telling people what Jesus has done for you and what He therefore can do for someone else, some will receive it, some won\u2019t want to listen.\u00a0\u00a0 Some will even oppose you because of it.\u00a0 The Word of God and their testimony are troublemakers every time they\u2019re\u00a0 used.\u00a0 And yet (may I say this) those are the two things Satan is trying to keep you away from. Right now as I speak in the midst of the holiday season and the pressures of life I could very well guestimate, because I know it\u2019s true in my own personal life, that the greatest struggle in your life right now as a Christian is staying faithful to those two things, the Word of God, understanding the Word of God, building your life on the Word of God, sharing the Word of God, getting behind people that teach the Word of God, and your personal testimony.\u00a0 Satan does not want\u00a0 you to tell\u00a0 your neighbors, your coworkers, all the folks that are coming over to your house on Christmas that are family members that are unsaved, he doesn\u2019t want\u00a0 you to talk about your testimony because you start talking about your testimony other people are going to listen and say well, you know, maybe what Jesus did for you He can do for me?\u00a0\u00a0 And the gospel message starts to circulate that way.\n\nThat\u2019s what got these martyrs into trouble, under the altar, because of the Word of God and their testimony.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting that when you go down to verse 10 and 11, and we don\u2019t have time to get there, we\u2019ll pick it up there so we\u2019ll pick it up there next time, that the martyrs themselves are conscious in the presence of God crying out for vindication.\n\nI hope you don\u2019t have a concept of the afterlife that it\u2019s some kind of nebulous, nonconscious, ethereal existence which is not as real as this life. \u00a0What your Bible teaches is the next life is just as real as this one.\u00a0 It\u2019s just as physical, it\u2019s just as visible, and the great question, of course, is well where are you going to spend that after life at?\u00a0 That\u2019s the question.\u00a0 You can go the way of the world system.\u00a0 You can go the way of Satan, go the way of the antichrist and never deal with the root cause of your problem and you\u2019ll go into the next life in a state of conscious torment.\n\nThe good news is you can trust what Jesus has done in your place, what He\u2019s done in my place.\u00a0 How He\u2019s bridged the gap, solved the problem through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.\u00a0 And how you can trust in what He\u2019s done for you.\u00a0 That\u2019s the gospel. That\u2019s something you can do right now as I\u2019m talking, it\u2019s not something you have to raise a hand to do, join a church to do, fill out a card to do, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you trust, which is another word for believe, in the One who actually has the key of death and Hades.\u00a0 He\u2019s got the answer but the solution is not to fix a symptom, the solution is to deal with the root of the problem which is the fact that we are enmities because of the original sin, the sin nature with the God that made us.\u00a0 We desperately need that state of warfare called off and it\u2019s called off through the gospel because Jesus absorbed the wrath of a holy God in our place.\n\nAnd even while we are still living with these fallen vessel bodies with feet of clay God gives us the new nature, He gives us the Holy Spirit which comes inside of\u00a0 us, it\u2019s a new birth, being born again.\u00a0 And we learn to live according to the desires of that new nature as we live a godly life in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 I hope this Christmas [can't understand word] we see the greatest Christmas present\u00a0 that you can receive, the free gift, this new nature, forgiveness of sin, access by faith alone, in a moment of privacy and quietness of your heart and mind you trust in what Jesus has done for you.\u00a0 You allow Him to fix really what\u2019s wrong and may God help us to be the kind of people to do that here at Sugar Land Bible Church.\u00a0 And hold out to the world not the artificial cures of the true cure.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for the Book of Revelation and the things that it speaks and reveals.\u00a0 I pray, Father, that some of these things can be intimidating but You want us to know these things and help us to walk these things out as we continue to trust You this week. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t