Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: RJC
Program Code: RJC000010
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00:21 Welcome to The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
00:25 Glad that all of you are here tonight. 00:27 We want to welcome all of you that are watching by television 00:31 or listening on the radio or even on the Internet. 00:34 We're glad that you're tuning in this evening 00:36 as we take a look at this subject of the seven seals. 00:42 Now in our last presentation 00:45 we talked about the Lamb and the opening... 00:49 how He had the power to take the scroll from His Father's hand 00:54 and to open the seals. 00:56 And so tonight we're looking at these seals 01:00 that He's opening. That's what we're looking at tonight. 01:03 And so our subject tonight is 01:05 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 01:08 because the first four of those seals are horsemen. 01:13 We're going to talk about those four horsemen. 01:16 But actually the seals that you read there 01:20 you need to understand as you read your Bible 01:22 that it covers the 6th and 7th chapter of Revelation 01:27 and the first verse of the 8th chapter. 01:30 That's what's involved in the seals. 01:33 Tonight we're just looking at the 6th chapter 01:37 and that one verse in the 8th chapter. 01:40 Tomorrow night we'll take a look at the 7th chapter. 01:44 But that all has to do with the seals. 01:47 So that's what we're looking at. 01:48 And tomorrow night our subject is entitled The 144,000. 01:53 And that's what the 7th chapter is about: 01:57 the 144,000 and the sealing of God's people. 02:02 That's what it deals with, and so that's what we're looking at 02:05 tonight and tomorrow night. 02:08 And we hope that it will help you begin to see 02:11 what is happening and what's taking place 02:14 as God reveals in His Word and to John 02:19 what is to take place on this earth with mankind. 02:23 And so tonight we'll go and take a look at the four horsemen 02:27 of the apocalypse and the other three seals that are 02:31 mentioned there. And it will help you get a view 02:36 of what God is saying and what, really, transpires 02:42 and takes place in the rest of the book of Revelation. 02:45 So we're glad each of you are here. 02:47 God bless you as we study God's Word tonight. 02:50 We're happy this evening to have with us Pam and Jimmy Rhodes. 02:54 They're guests of ours and friends of ours. 02:58 And we dearly love them and appreciate you being here, Jim. 03:02 They're going to bring the music to us this evening. 03:06 And Jim will be playing - accompanying - and Dona will be 03:10 accompanying Pam. And she's going to sing a song entitled 03:14 My Forever Friend. 03:17 And you'll be blessed by that in a very special way. 03:20 But before she does, Chuck Allgaier is going to come 03:24 and he's going to read the scripture to you 03:27 that deals with what we're talking about tonight: 03:30 the 6th chapter of the book of Revelation. 03:34 So follow in your Bible as he reads it. 03:40 Good evening. 03:42 We had an exciting night last night 03:44 and we're going to have another one tonight. 03:46 So if you have your Bible, 03:48 we're going to go straight to the book of Revelation... 03:51 Revelation chapter 6. 03:52 We're going to read Revelation chapter 6 and then 03:55 we're going to read the first verse of Revelation 03:58 chapter 8... verse 1. 04:00 So if you have your Bibles, let's read together. 07:12 May God add His blessing to His Word tonight. 07:32 Everybody needs a Savior's love and grace... 07:38 no one stands alone. 07:44 Makes no difference if you're just a child like me 07:51 or a king upon a throne. 07:55 For there are no 07:59 exceptions, 08:02 we all stand in the night. 08:08 Everybody needs a friend... 08:14 let me tell you of mine. 08:20 He's my forever friend. 08:27 My leave me never friend. 08:33 From darkest night 08:36 to rainbow's end... 08:40 He's my forever friend. 08:48 Even when I turn away He cares for me... 08:54 His love no one can shake. 09:00 Even as I walk away He's by my side 09:06 with every breath I take. 09:11 And sometimes I forget Him... 09:18 my halo fails to shine. 09:24 Sometimes I'm not His friend 09:30 but He is always mine. 09:36 He's my forever friend. 09:43 My leave me never friend. 09:49 From darkest night 09:52 to rainbow's end... 09:56 He's my forever friend. 10:04 If you still don't know the one I'm speaking of, 10:10 I think it's time you knew... 10:16 Long ago and far away upon a cross 10:22 my friend died for you. 10:28 So if you'd like to meet Him 10:34 and don't know what to do, 10:40 ask my friend into your heart 10:46 and He'll be your friend too. 10:53 He's my forever friend. 10:59 My leave me never friend. 11:05 From darkest night 11:08 to rainbow's end... 11:12 He's my forever friend. 11:18 He's my forever 11:24 friend. 11:51 Father in Heaven, tonight as we open Your Word 11:56 we pray that You would help us 12:00 to open our hearts. May the Holy Spirit be present. 12:06 May it fill our lives. 12:09 Reveal unto us Your Word. 12:14 Give us wisdom; give us understanding 12:18 that we might see and know 12:23 what You have revealed in Your Book. 12:26 We pray in Christ's name, Amen. 12:36 Well, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. 12:40 This has had a lot of discussion - 12:45 the seals have - over the years. 12:46 But I think the scripture lays it out quite clearly 12:50 and we're going to start out by reading the text here that says: 13:03 Now Christ - or the Lamb - 13:07 has... is opening the seals. 13:10 This is what He's doing. 13:11 Uh, these seals - how should I explain? - 13:15 they have some very important things that you and I 13:18 need to know about them. 13:20 One: you find the first four are four horsemen. 13:24 And those four horsemen tell about conditions on the earth. 13:29 But the last three are not horsemen, 13:32 and there is a decided change after the fourth horseman. 13:38 Then you have three seals that deal with 13:42 God's judgment upon the wicked. 13:46 And that's what we'll be looking at tonight. 13:48 But the reason I mention that is 13:50 there are four horsemen and then three seals 13:56 and there's a separation and difference. 13:58 You'll find that same scenario carried on 14:04 with the seven trumpets. 14:05 And you'll find the same scenario carried on 14:08 with the seven last plagues. 14:10 So as we get into those, watch for that because 14:13 you're going to find the Lord divides them: the first four 14:17 and then the last three. 14:18 Does that, and you'll see that taking place 14:21 as we study those different ones. 14:23 So we hope that as we continue on here... 14:26 But John's there, and one of the living creatures 14:30 which is the very first one, the lion - 14:34 has spoken with a voice like what? 14:37 Thunder... and he's told John 14:40 "Come and see. " 14:43 Now evidently with Christ opening these seals 14:47 the living creature has invited John to come and take a look 14:51 in there and John sees what is revealed in that seal. 14:56 That's what happens here. 14:58 So let's see what he sees in this seal. 15:02 It says: 15:12 So here he sees this man on a white horse. 15:18 Has on his head a crown and a bow, 15:21 and he's going out to conquer and to conquer. 15:24 Now let me start out by saying 15:27 that white is used in the scripture over and over and over 15:32 and over again. 15:33 Not only does it talk about a white horse 15:36 but it talks about all kinds of things being white. 15:39 It talks about having white robes. 15:40 It talks about white garments. 15:42 Talks about a white throne; talks about white hair. 15:45 Talks about a white stone; talks about a white cloud. 15:48 All those. White represents purity. 15:51 Represents righteousness. 15:53 Put it down, friends... there is no place, 15:57 no place anywhere in God's Word without exception... 16:01 never is there a place where God uses white 16:04 to apply to the antichrist. 16:08 Did you follow me? 16:10 And those people that take this white horse 16:13 and try to apply it to the antichrist 16:15 are totally out of place 16:17 because He never applies white to an antichrist... 16:21 just does not do that. 16:23 It represents purity; represents righteousness. 16:27 And so this rider is coming forth on a white horse 16:32 to conquer and to conquer. 16:35 He's going forth. This represents the gospel. 16:39 The gospel is pure - it's righteousness - and God has 16:44 given it to be preached to the world. 16:47 And Paul gives a little indication of what's happening 16:50 here because he talks about this. Listen: 17:00 And by the way, the crown that's on his head is a laurel wreath 17:04 which represents victory. This is what is happening there. 17:08 This is what Paul said: 17:26 Paul is saying that in his day 17:30 the gospel had been preached to everyone at that time. 17:35 Folks, the gospel went out with such tremendous victory - 17:41 and was accepted - that by the end of the 1st century 17:45 there were 5,000,000 Christians. 17:49 Now you stop and think that in 70 years 17:53 it has gone from twelve to 5,000,000. 17:59 That's how many people have accepted... So 18:01 when it talks about Him going out to conquer and to conquer 18:04 indeed it has done that. It's gone forth with great power 18:08 and many many people have accepted it and believed. 18:12 That's why this horse is white. 18:15 That's why he goes out to conquer and to conquer. 18:18 All right, let's go on. 18:25 This covers the date from about 31 AD to 100 AD. 18:30 And let me caution you about this. 18:32 The Bible gives periods of time here. 18:36 We put these dates in because they seem to 18:39 cover that period of time. But don't tie those dates down 18:44 in stone because they overlap one another, 18:47 and that's talking about a section of time... 18:51 not trying to put a date on each end of it. 18:53 Are you with me? So give room there for there to be 18:56 some overlapping... because there will be. 18:59 All right, the second one: 19:22 This horse is red, 19:25 and he's gone out and he's going to do what? 19:28 He's going to take peace from the earth and kill people. 19:34 Has a great sword. Let me just say a word about the sword. 19:38 Back in those days there were two types of swords. 19:42 There was one sword that they used that was a short sword 19:47 and that was used for hand-to-hand fighting close up. 19:51 But they also had a long sword that was about 4' long 19:55 that was used by those that rode on horses. 19:59 And when it speaks of a sword here 20:02 that's the kind of sword that it's talking about. 20:04 And he went out here to take peace from the earth; 20:07 should kill many... and he had a great sword. 20:10 Folks, any time in history 20:15 that the gospel has moved with great rapidity across the earth 20:20 and there has been a revival and people have reached out 20:23 and accepted the Lord and there's been a tremendous influx 20:27 in Christianity there has always been persecution. 20:32 I mean the devil - every time it's ever happened - 20:36 the devil has been there to persecute the church. 20:39 And here as the church grew with such rapidity 20:42 in the first century, all of a sudden Rome 20:47 turned her hatred upon the church because it looked like 20:50 Christianity was going to take over 20:53 because it had moved with such rapidity. 20:55 And so they turned their wrath upon the church 20:58 and they began to persecute the people. 21:00 If you were a Christian, you could be hauled in 21:05 before the magistrate. If you did not 21:11 offer as a sign of worship your allegiance to the Roman Empire, 21:17 then you were taken... taken to the arena. 21:21 And there in the arena were those people who had stood firm 21:27 for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and Christianity. 21:32 And lions that hadn't eaten in days were turned loose 21:36 upon those people... they became food for lions. 21:39 It talks about it as a terrible time. 21:44 This was the period of time from about 100 AD to 313 AD. 21:50 There was a period of time in there under Diocletian... 21:54 talks about ten years in which 21:57 he fiercely persecuted the church. 22:13 From about 310 AD... 22:17 or excuse me, 300 AD to about 310 AD, 22:22 this is the time that Diocletian persecuted the church 22:25 with such great, great hated and literally 22:31 thousands gave their life for what they believed. 22:35 And by the way, if you notice that text in Revelation 22:38 the 2nd chapter, the time - as we studied the 7 churches - 22:41 the time of Smyrna parallels this same period of time. 22:45 That's what it's talking about. 22:47 OK, this was a time of persecution. 22:50 Then we come to this next horse. It says: 23:24 Now, 23:28 you'll find almost invariably 23:31 not only when Christianity advances 23:35 and many many people reach out and accept the Lord 23:39 and it grows, that the devil has persecuted it. 23:42 But if he cannot accomplish his means 23:47 by persecution he uses something that, as far as I know, 23:52 has never failed... 23:54 and that is by compromise, flattery, 24:00 enticement, he has been able to lead people away. 24:06 That's why the Lord Jesus Christ says to each one of you: 24:10 "Be careful, watch out, for the cares of this life. " 24:16 If he can just get you... you... you remember when 24:19 the children of Israel were on their way to the Promised Land 24:24 and you remember the king there - Moab - 24:28 was afraid of them. And he went and hired this prophet 24:32 by the name of Baal... Balaam, excuse me, 24:35 Balaam and ask him to come and to curse 24:39 the children of Israel. 24:41 And you remember he went up there on the mountain 24:43 and got everything ready and tried to curse them... 24:46 but instead of cursing them he wound up blessing them. 24:49 Three times tried... 24:52 three times wound up blessing them. 24:54 And finally the king was so distraught with him 24:57 he said: "Get out of here. You're not doing... helping me 25:00 at all. You're making it worse! " 25:01 But Balaam wasn't dumb, folks. 25:05 Balaam knew what he couldn't accomplish 25:08 by blessing them - or by cursing them - 25:14 he could accomplish another way. 25:17 And listen to what happened: 25:37 Uh, he got these Moabite women 25:40 to go down and to lead these people astray. 25:45 Sexual immorality... worship of their god. 25:49 Anything he could do to get them to turn from their God 25:53 he was able to accomplish. 25:55 And so that's the reason you have this third horse 25:59 that's black. 26:02 See? Black representing just the opposite of white. 26:06 Where white was purity, black was just the opposite of that. 26:10 And so he's riding on this black horse, 26:13 and this is what he's accomplishing through it. 26:16 Woodhouse in his book on the Apocalypse 26:21 had this to say: 26:30 Let me just stop right there. 26:32 That's a danger, folks, that we face so much. 26:37 That the forefathers were believers... 26:43 staunch in their belief. And they believed it and they 26:45 held to it and they gave their life for it 26:48 and they preached it with everything they had. 26:50 But as it gets farther and farther from its foundation 26:58 we lose the sense of urgency. 27:03 It became more and more corrupt. 27:37 This is what happened to the church: it moved. 27:40 Lost all the thing that it had, and so he said: 27:54 Well, let me start out by talking about a denarius. 27:57 A denarius was a day's wage. 28:01 That was a coin... that's a denarius 28:04 and it was a day's wage. And so a day's wage 28:09 you could buy a quart of wheat. 28:14 But drought, folks, 28:18 drought definitely affects strongly grain. 28:23 And so what they couldn't buy... 28:26 and if they couldn't they could buy something that was not as 28:30 nourishing and not as good... and that was barley. 28:34 They could buy three quarts of barley for it. 28:37 What does that mean spiritually? 28:39 It means these people were being served spiritually 28:42 not very good food. 28:44 In fact, just the opposite of what they needed. 28:47 It wasn't giving them the nourishment, and that's why 28:49 he's talking about receiving a quart of wheat 28:53 or three quarts of barley for a denarius. 28:57 Hurt not the oil or the wine. 28:59 The oil represented the Holy Spirit. 29:05 The wine represented the covenant between God 29:10 and His people. 29:12 You see, a drought affects grain 29:18 very, very strongly but it doesn't hurt 29:21 as much oil and wine. 29:25 They're much stronger. 29:27 And so He said: "Don't hurt it. " 29:30 Make the Holy Spirit available to the people. 29:34 Those that want it... it should be there for them. 29:37 And this is what the oil and the wine stood for. 29:43 It was available to the people. So to you and me today 29:47 the Holy Spirit is available. 29:51 That relationship - the covenant between you and the Savior - 29:55 is available to each one of us. 29:58 This represented the period of time from 313 AD 30:02 to 538 AD. 30:05 That was the period of time that it covered. 30:08 Let's go to the fourth horse. 30:38 So this fourth rider is Death. 30:42 Hades or the grave is following him, 30:45 and he's there and he's killing a fourth of the earth. 30:49 Now when I was a boy 30:55 uh, in the fall when we harvested potatoes - 31:00 Went out and dug up the potatoes and cleaned them - 31:05 my father would have us clean them all off as best we could 31:10 and then he would have me go and crawl under the house 31:13 and he would have me lay those potatoes out 31:18 on the ground under the house so that they didn't 31:21 touch one another but all over the ground there. 31:25 And that way they would stay all winter long. 31:29 And... but they would sometimes put out sprouts 31:33 and all. And if you went in there and got one of those 31:37 potatoes that had sprouted, it was pale green 31:43 because it didn't have any light. 31:47 See? And that's the same thing here. 31:49 It says this horse was pale because it represented no light. 31:55 You see, darkness was the one before. 31:59 They had taken away the truth of God's Word. 32:01 The people couldn't get it... they couldn't lay hold of it. 32:03 Now, darkness has brought about death. 32:08 Death's riding on this horse followed by the grave and all. 32:13 This was what was taking place. 32:15 And it says that "power was given him 32:18 over a fourth of the earth. " 32:20 Let me explain what happened here. 32:24 By the time we came to 500 AD - 32:30 OK? - Christianity had exploded across the Roman Empire. 32:37 I mean millions of people had accepted it. 32:40 It had exploded so much 32:42 that the scripture... the scripture had been interpreted - 32:47 I shouldn't say interpreted - translated 32:50 into over 500 different languages. 32:56 By 500 AD it had been translated 33:00 into over 500 different languages. 33:06 By 100 years later 33:11 there was only one translation, and that was in Latin. 33:17 And if you couldn't read Latin, 33:20 you were out of luck to read the Word of God. 33:23 The scripture was taken... chained to library walls 33:27 and the people were told they were too ignorant to read it. 33:30 And all of a sudden, that which would have been lacked 33:35 the Word of God had been brought to them and they didn't 33:39 understand it or was weak in that 33:42 now all of a sudden was death. 33:44 There was NO WORD... they didn't have it. 33:47 And dear friends, you know how long that went on? 33:50 For 1,000 years. 33:54 One thousand years 33:57 the people basically were without the Word of God. 34:02 So death came to reign. 34:14 Not only did the people die - 34:18 how should I put it? - 34:20 did they die spiritually - it was taken away from them - 34:23 but this text also applies to physically. 34:26 You go back and read that period of time, 34:30 and it's during that period of time when 34:36 plagues came across the nation, particularly in Europe. 34:41 Have you ever read about the Black Death? 34:46 Came on Europe... In a matter of three years 34:52 it killed 20,000,000 people. 34:56 This was in 1508 AD. 35:01 Killed 20,000,000 people. 35:04 Died... A fourth, if you please, of the population died. 35:11 Just as the scripture said it would take place, it happened. 35:16 This was a time in which 35:20 the people didn't have the Word of God. 35:23 A time in which there was ignorance. 35:26 A time that we refer to in history as the Dark Ages 35:30 when things went backwards. 35:34 This was the fourth seal... 35:40 the fourth horse. 35:41 Period of time from 538 AD to 1517 AD. 35:46 That was the period of time that it covered. 35:50 Well, let's go to the fifth. 35:53 Now please notice, all of a sudden we no longer have 35:57 horsemen. We no longer have one of the living creatures 36:01 that we talked about last night... 36:03 we no longer have those saying: "Come and see. " 36:07 It's been a decided change here in what is happening. 36:21 I should take the time right here... 36:25 When it talks about the altar, 36:29 the altar here that's talked about is the altar of sacrifice 36:34 that was out in the court. 36:37 That's what it was talking about. 36:39 And when they brought a sacrifice and offered it 36:43 and it was slain, they took the blood 36:46 and they poured it at the base of the altar here. 36:51 Very important: they poured the blood at the base of that altar. 36:55 And so it says: "These had been slain for" what? 37:00 The Word of God and for "the testimony which they had. " 37:13 They said: "How long... how long is this going to be 37:16 until you're going to avenge our blood? " 37:37 So it said God told them: "Listen, 37:41 you've got to rest a little while longer. " 37:44 White robes were given to them. 37:48 He said: "Rest a little while longer. " 37:52 Why is it telling them that they are to rest? 37:55 Well you remember that this is the same application you find 37:59 in the book of Genesis when it says: 38:08 It's not saying that there were souls literally under the altar. 38:13 It's saying like Abel's blood was a witness 38:17 crying out against them. 38:19 They said: "The blood of these. " 38:21 These were the people, folks, that were killed 38:25 during the time of the Reformation 38:28 where they were slain by the thousands by the Inquisition. 38:34 Massacre of St. Bartholomew where 60,000 38:37 were killed in one day. 38:39 This... this is what it's talking about. 38:42 And they're crying out: "Lord, how long is this going to go on 38:45 until You judge? Avenge our blood that we died for? " 38:50 "How long is this going to take place? " 38:52 Well, there's a reason why He said to them 38:56 "You've got to rest a little while longer. " 39:13 The time of the resurrection had not come. 39:16 It was not time for the dead to be resurrected, 39:19 and so He said: "You've got to rest a little while longer. " 39:22 This... this has to take place. 39:32 They... So He said, you know, "Here's white robes. 39:35 Rest until Jesus comes back. " 39:38 How long is it going to be until they're judged? 39:41 Daniel answered that question because he said here: 39:55 Said: "How long is it going to be? " 39:57 And the angel answered here: 40:06 We're not going to go into that prophecy tonight. 40:09 But he told him a definite period of time 40:12 how long it would be. And that's the reason 40:15 it says here in Revelation 22:12: 40:24 In other words, God's saying that the judgment 40:27 had to take place first. 40:31 The judgment had to happen 40:34 before you could have the resurrection. 40:36 And so he said: "How long till this... 40:40 until You're going to judge and avenge our blood? " 40:43 And he said: "Well, it's going to be for 2,300 days; 40:46 THEN it's going to cleansed. " 40:49 And so they are asleep 40:53 and will remain so until the resurrection. 40:56 This is how long they were to be there. 40:58 This represented the period of time from 1517 AD 41:04 to 1844 AD. 41:07 This was the time that you and I refer to 41:12 as the time of the Reformation. 41:13 This is the time in which the gospel was preached 41:18 to the world and thousands of people reached out 41:22 and accepted the gospel and gave their hearts to the Lord 41:26 and followed Him. 41:27 Marvelous time of history 41:29 because the earth - or the world - was coming out 41:33 of the Dark Ages. 41:35 And they were... first time many of them had gotten a view 41:38 or a glimpse of the gospel and what it really meant. 41:42 So it was a time in which they were able to see this. 41:46 But folks, what he's saying here, 41:48 and this is why it's the fifth seal, 41:51 you see he's changed. We had those four horsemen 41:55 that said what was going to happen on the earth. 41:58 But all of a sudden when you get to that 5th seal 42:01 now he's going to tell you what's going to be the result 42:04 in the judgment of the wicked. 42:07 That's what he's dealing with here. 42:09 He's telling the wicked: "OK, here we're giving you 42:11 this period of time to repent but now, if you don't, 42:16 this is what's going to happen. " 42:18 And I hope that as we go through this tonight 42:22 you're beginning to see a timeline of where we are 42:27 and what's happening. OK. 42:30 1560 AD men like John Calvin, 42:36 Martin Luther, Zwingli... 42:40 all these great reformers stood up and preached. 42:43 And out of that, like with John Calvin, folks, 42:47 500,000 Frenchmen gave their hearts to the Lord. 42:52 500,000 through his preaching. 42:56 And many of those people paid with their lives. 43:02 They died. That's why it says here: 43:14 You see, again the gospel spread 43:17 and the devil turned his wrath 43:21 upon those who accepted the gospel 43:23 and followed Jesus Christ. 43:29 He's going to give them a white robe. 43:32 Again, white is a sign of what? 43:35 Purity... righteousness. 43:39 How wonderful this is 43:41 that the Lord Jesus Christ says: "Here... " 43:44 "To each of them was given a white robe. " 43:48 Christ says that to you... 43:51 to each of you... He will give you a white robe. 43:54 So it doesn't make any difference, folks, 43:58 it doesn't make any difference how bad you may have been. 44:02 It doesn't make any difference 44:05 how dark your sins may have been. 44:08 When the Lord Jesus Christ gives you that white robe 44:14 of His righteousness, then, dear friend, 44:17 you're clean, you're pure in the eyes of God... 44:22 no matter who you are! 44:36 See it represents righteousness. 44:38 That fine linen is given to that person. And says: 44:43 "This is the righteousness of Christ" that He's given to you 44:46 and to me. 44:57 They came out of great tribulation. 45:00 Remember that word "great tribulation" 45:02 because it's important. 45:03 "They washed their robes and made them white 45:05 in the blood of the Lamb. " 45:16 And this is out of tomorrow night's presentation. 45:19 Great multitude... look what they have. 45:31 That's all of God's people 45:33 clothed in white robes because it represents purity 45:37 and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 45:40 Listen: 45:48 "Immediately after the tribulation. " In other words, 45:51 this was the time of persecution 45:53 during the time of the Reformation 45:55 and it fell off... fell off in the late 1700s. 46:01 And it says: 46:11 This is what Christ said. 46:13 These are His words here in Matthew 24. Watch: 46:30 In other words, we're down here now folks 46:33 to the sixth seal... 46:35 and with that is the coming of Jesus Christ. 47:04 Now He said: "Immediately after the tribulation 47:07 of those days" which were coming to an end in the late 1700s 47:12 He said: "All of a sudden, the sun's going to go dark. 47:17 The moon's going to turn to blood. 47:19 The stars are going to fall from heaven. " 47:52 This represents the period of time from 1844 AD 47:56 to the coming of Jesus Christ. 47:58 That represents the period of time in which what? 48:02 You're living in. Yeah, so you need to know where you are 48:06 in the stream of time. 48:22 Said when it came to the end of the tribulation of those days 48:27 these things would happen. 48:28 And just exactly as it said, 1755 AD 48:31 you have the Lisbon Earthquake: one of the greatest earthquakes 48:36 that's ever happened. 49:04 1755 AD the earthquake. Watch: 49:13 What happened? And by the way, there's no explanation for this. 49:26 I've read people's attempts to explain it. 49:58 Just exactly as God said. 50:01 We hit that sixth seal, and it says 50:04 this is what's going to happen. And it happened! 50:07 Said that the stars would fall from heaven. 50:51 And so the stars fell as thick as snow. 50:55 I've read accounts of this where it says that people 50:58 literally went out and laid on the ground and cried 51:02 because they thought that judgment had come. 51:05 But He said these were to be signs that were to happen 51:09 that marked... that marked the period of time 51:13 that we had moved into. Dear friend, those same signs 51:16 it says will happen at the coming of Jesus. 51:20 So we are living... what the scripture refers to 51:25 as the Time of the End. 51:27 That's what we are living... during that time 51:30 this sixth seal is being poured out. 51:42 In other words, after these signs the next momentous event 51:46 is the coming of Jesus Christ. 51:48 It says the heaven's going to split right down the middle. 51:51 Roll back like a scroll. 51:54 Islands and mountains are going to move out of their place. 52:21 Jesus Christ comes back 52:27 at the end of the sixth seal. 52:31 That's what happens. 52:34 That's the time in which you and I are living. 52:38 This is the time in which you and I can expect 52:43 the coming of the Lord. 52:44 You see, people might say: "Oh, they've been saying that 52:46 for a thousand years. " Oh I agree... they have. 52:50 But they haven't had the signs that you and I have had. 52:55 We have seen things that nobody else has seen. 53:01 We have seen things that without question, undeniable, 53:05 fulfill the Word of God. 53:07 We're living when Jesus is going to come back. 53:18 Said: "Opened the seventh seal 53:22 and there was silence in heaven for about 1/2 hour. " 53:27 Why? 53:35 How many? 53:42 In other words, all the angels and the Father and Christ 53:45 have left heaven. 53:47 They've come to gather His children home. 53:50 They're the ones there. 53:52 He's calling them to be ready, prepare. 53:55 So there's silence in heaven for about 1/2 hour. 53:59 "And when the Son of Man comes in His glory... 54:04 all the holy angels with Him. " 54:06 That's the time in which you and I are living today. 54:11 Time in which Jesus Christ is coming back. 54:15 And so those 7 seals have ful- filled one right after another. 54:21 Tomorrow night we're going to take a look at the sealing 54:25 of God's people. 54:27 Because we've talked about what's going to happen here... 54:30 what's going to happen to the wicked. 54:32 How does God's people fare during this time? 54:34 And how does the sealing take place 54:37 as we take a look at the 144,000? 54:42 Let's pray. 54:43 Father in Heaven, As we have seen Your hand 54:47 and Your leading in the history of mankind 54:53 and we can understand that we're right down at the close 54:58 when Jesus is coming back, 55:01 we pray tonight that our hearts might be surrendered. 55:05 That we'll lay everything in this old world aside 55:09 and we'll cling to Jesus Christ. 55:14 That we will walk with Him, follow Him, 55:17 reach out in faith and take hold of His hand... 55:20 follow Him into the kingdom. 55:23 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. 55:28 May God bless you; have a good night. 55:35 Every day thousands risk their lives to protect and serve 55:39 their fellow man. 55:41 They have a deep commitment to excellency in teamwork 55:44 and when others run from danger, they run to it... 55:48 even if it means personal sacrifice. 55:51 Even if it means making the supreme sacrifice for another. 55:55 They're always on call, ready to serve no matter what. 56:00 Friends, you and I can learn a lot from firefighters. 56:03 In the United States, the majority of them are volunteers. 56:07 That's right... volunteers. 56:09 But even for those who are paid it's more than a job... 56:12 it's a calling. 56:14 Jesus said in John 15 verses 12 and 13: 56:18 "This is My commandment: 56:20 that you love one another as I have loved you. 56:23 Greater love has no one than this: 56:26 than to lay down one's life for his friends. " 56:29 Those who follow the words of Jesus are His friends. 56:32 But Romans 5:8 says that "God demonstrated His own love 56:36 towards us in that while we were still sinners 56:39 Christ died for us. " 56:41 What an amazing thought! 56:43 Christ laid down His life for us 56:45 even though we were not His friends. 56:49 A firefighter is willing to do the same. 56:51 He's constantly preparing for his next mission 56:54 because his own life and the life of others 56:57 depends on his training and qualifications. 57:00 My friends, that's what we're doing right now 57:04 with this series: we are preparing you 57:07 for what is to come. 57:08 Our goal is to make you skilled in the Word 57:11 so that by the power of God you can bring others to safety - 57:15 the safety that can be found only 57:17 in the arms of a loving Savior. 57:20 Won't you help us to train and prepare others 57:22 to fulfill this mission? 57:24 Please consider what you can for for those who 57:27 still don't know about Jesus. 57:29 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:30 please send your tax-deductible gifts to: 57:46 Thank you for helping us spread the light of God's Word 57:49 through television. Your gifts bring the blessed hope 57:52 of salvation to millions around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17