TRUE RELIGION

#417                                                 TRUE RELIGION

Scripture: James 1:22-27 NIV                                                                                Orig. 6/24/1962

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 2/5/1987

Passage: 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.  26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Purpose: Preaching in conjunction with a beginning Bible study a message signifying true religion.

Keywords:                  Character                    Love                Religion 

Introduction

            Those who have studied history closely tell us many things.  They tell us of the progress made in discovery.  They tell us of journeys that, over the process of time, brought continual discovery.  They tell us of the discovery of tribes of people even under the most inscrutable of circumstances.

            When explorers went to the far north country, they found a people called Lapps.  People who had lived for centuries beyond the Arctic Circle.  It did not surprise anyone years later to discover that there were people called Eskimos who lived out much of their lives in a land of darkness and ice.

            When other explorers were directed to the south and more humid conditions, tribes were found still.  In the jungles, in the deserts, in the mountains, on  the flood plains.

            Even the most rabid scientist says that these people came from a common source, in fact, beyond that from amoeba, protoplasm, or primitive life form.  There are all kinds, shades, cultures, with a common benefactor in Adam.  Black, white, red,  yellow meet in him, created that way by God.  All the families of the earth from common blood lines.  We are of one blood.

Acts 17:26 “And hath made  of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.”

            Even so, there are many religions.  All of them contain truth.  One is truth.  All have polemists who particularize their truth.  But  only one is the epitome of truth as God revealed it conditionally to especially chosen messengers, Jesus, Himself, being chiefest of all.  It should not be any more surprising to us that there are no more ways out of this world than  into it.  It is erroneously claimed that “there are many ways out of the world, and but one coming into it.”

I.          True Religion Reaches First Inward.  V23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass . . . and . . . forgetteth what manner of man he was.

            There is the mentality of faith:  Emotions have their place.  But one whose faith is expressed only through his emotions is only half a believer.  No doubt the emotions are important: 

·         I  Corinthians 14:15 “I will pray with the spirit, . . . I will pray with understanding also.” 

·         Romans 12:2 “Be ye transformed by the renewing of mind.”

·         Acts 17:11 From Thessalonica to Berea “These [Berean Jews] were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily.”

            But faith is an inducement of the heart as well.  Deuteronomy 6:5 “Thou . . . love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.”  Old Testament example: When Solomon came to throne, he asked for wisdom.  I Kings 3:12 “. . . I have given thee a wise, and an understanding heart.”  New Testament example: Paul had a pretty good case of religion before his Damascus experience.  But it only set him to the task of getting in the way of what God was doing in the lives of people around him.

            I Kings 4:29 “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding, exceeding much, and largeness of heart.” When one begins to practice hearing without doing, then self-deception is practiced.  “Be ye doers of the word.”  How can mind and heart both be involved when one fails to perceive himself in mirror? 

            V21 Paul uses “engrafted word.”  Who has heard of one  using a dead branch?  Bro. Morgan’s living Christmas tree. Lady in Ruston with a peach tree with 7 different __?___.  Dogwood with both pink and white blossoms. Taken into the mind with understanding.  Dedicated with the  heart to committed use.

            Thus, the entire personality becomes emblazoned by what our faith means. 

·         Christians ought to look better--not better than anyone else, [but] look the very best that we can look. 

·         Christians ought to act differently. We know what keeps us  fixed on the Lord, [and are] to be constant in these things. 

·         We ought to feel better.  What is happening when we are doing something that is not in our best interest?  We know that the Lord doesn’t intend it, so we are out of His will.  We are running the risk of taking something precious away from those who love us.

II.         True Religion Reaches Upward.  V25 “. . . whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, . . . this (one) shall be blessed in his deed.” 

            Religion can be a self-made ideal.  Many people are living by such a standard.  It does not necessarily mean their lives are better, just on a margin of acceptance.  Do they give even a passing thought to the sovereignty of God?

            Our lives could be better without God’s intervention. 

·         Psalm 23:5 “Thou preparest a table before me.” 

·         Psalm 78:20 “He shall give His angels charge.” 

·         Psalm 94:19 “. . . Thy comforts delight my soul.” 

·         Lamentations 3:22 “His compassions fail not.” 

·         Romans 5:10 “If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

            True religion must be acknowledged to have come from above.  Not a prepared philosophy.  The world has its fill of philosophers, some sincere in helping others, but at best their schemes seldom outlast their own lives, except in the classroom: René Descartes / Immanuel Kant / Voltaire / Thomas Paine / John Dewey.  But a higher goal of truth.  The prophets left three great marks.  Knowledge of a word from God.  Knowledge of existing conditions.  Will to obedience to higher voice.    

            Thus we remember that such truth transcends the times.  Lady Jane Grey—put to death in 1554 at 27 for her part in intervention against crown by “bloody” Queen Mary.  “I ground my faith on God’s word and not upon the church; for, if the church be a good church, the faith of the church must be tried by God’s Word, and not God’s Word by the church, or yet my faith.”

III.       True Religion Reaches Outward.  V27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

            True, or pure, is a medical term kathara:  Cathartic—purgative, used by psychiatrists for cleansing of the turmoil of emotions; use it here for a religion that keeps the spirit clean.

            The word visit episkeptomai, means to see with purpose:  An act in another’s behalf; the word used by Jesus in Matthew 25:36,43, (35f—“For I was hungered and . . . .”  Acts 6:3 “Look ye out” (deacons).  True religion looks for ways to help others.  It cannot do all things well.  Some things are beyond reach.  But people-help is the magnet of truth.

            And to remain “unspotted” without defilement: Paul and Jude both use it for moral defilement.  Paul to I Timothy 6:14, “That thou keep this commandment without spot.”  No better use can we put to the word than to see it as an enjoinment to live by the Word.  No clearer word comes to us than that of Christ as Lord to whom we are responsible.

Conclusion

            According to a minister who talked with him just before his execution, the German war minister, Adolf Eichmann, had a religion.  He claimed to believe in a “personal God” who “did not judge sin,” and “would not condemn” anyone.

            Ah, but he, himself, judged it a crime to be a Jew, and condemned six million men, women, and children to brutal deaths.  We rightly raise  legitimate questions about such a religion as this.  It is a form, without substance.  What he believed might have even contained some truth, but it was not the truth.  It sought not the betterment  of others, and drew no strength from the unadulterated Word of God.  How secure are we in what we call our religion?

Lady Jane Grey:         https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/grey_lady_jane.shtml

THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

#542                                     THE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

Scripture  James 1:15; Daniel 12:1-13; II Thessalonians 1:6-9, NIV                    Orig. 1/19/1969

                                                                                                                               Rewr. 8/15/1985

Passage:

James 1:15 

15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Daniel 12:1-13  

12 “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise[a] will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, roll up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.”

5 Then I, Daniel, looked, and there before me stood two others, one on this bank of the river and one on the opposite bank. 6 One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?”  7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”

8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?”  9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.  11 “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. 12 Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.  13 “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”

II Thessalonians 1:6-9  

6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might[.]

Purpose: To share with my people for a deeper understanding that there are grievous consequences to sins.

Keywords:                              Death               Hell                 Judgment                   Sin

Timeline/Series:         Deeper Life   

Introduction

            Someone has said  that “Death is the most democratic institution on earth.  It comes to all men, regardless of color, education, wealth, or rank.  It allows no discrimination, tolerates no exceptions.  The mortality rate for mankind is the same the world over: one death per person.”

            There are two questions for which answers are needed.  The first is rhetorical.  It asks: “Why do we die?”  The second, for the believer, is redemptive.  It asks:  “What happens after death?”

            All literature is full of pithy statements of death.  From Shakespeare’s “The weariest and most loathed worldly life that age, ache, penury, and imprisonment can lay on nature is a paradise To what we fear of death.” Measure for Measure, III 1 127. to John Donne’s “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved with mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”  (Devotions XVII)

            But these two questions continue to haunt us:  “Why do we die?” and “What happens after death?”  Searching for answers, we discover that both questions are related to our topic for this morning, “The Consequences of Sin.”  Why do we die? Because death is a consequence of sin.  What happens after death?  Judgment, and heaven and hell are the result of death.

I.          First, We Must Appraise Death. James 1:15 “Then, when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.” (RSV).

            Judge rightly that sin and death go hand in hand.  Paul gave a strong reminder to the Roman Christians. Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.”  Used in plan of salvation; Explain “wages”—pay, or substitute for pay, [or] the fruit of our labor. 

Thus the discovery that before Adam and Eve’s sin, no knowledge of death.  In the garden were two trees. Tree of knowledge; tree of life; invited to tree of life, denied tree of knowledge; warning: “Lest you die,” which Satan challenged, “You shall not die.”  Their disobedience was their sin.

            After their sin a moral directive was given.  Genesis 3:22 “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.  And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.”

            Let it be clear, the first consequence of sin is death. Story of unnamed.  ____ requested a visit. Her brother was involved.  Took 6 to 8 weeks to get courage.  Talked for over an hour. Open, seemed interested and concerned.  That night she died in a drunken stupor with the man.  She was dead before the fire.

            The scripture so warns us.  Ezekiel 18:2 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”  James 1:15 “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

II.         We Must Then Be Warned about Judgment.  II Thessalonians 1:7f “To give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from Heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those . . . who do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            It is a universal judgment.  No distinction of religious culture; the wealthy hold no favoritism with God; education will not be considered as positive or negative factor; time of life, or length of life, will gain no advantage.

            Too many of us have a distorted view of such judgment.  When Amos was sent to prophesy, Amaziah (Amos 7:10) “priest of Bethel” confronted him because he had spoken against the royal family.  Amaziah justified their actions by who they were. It still happens.  We loathe the pervert who molests children, but put him  in a $400 suit and a $30 tie, let him drive up in a BMW—he becomes something else, an unfortunate man needing help.

            It is a judgment on deeds done in flesh.  A judgment on opportunities—Matthew 7:19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire.”  What are we doing with our opportunities?

            A judgment on our activities—II Corinthians 5:10 “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in the body.”  We think of Dante’s Inferno and his Divine Comedy, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  This awful picture of death and hell is only literature.  To the person in hell, they haven’t half pictured it.

            It is a judgment concerning Christ.  II Thessalonians 1:8 “In flaming fire taking [vengeance on them that know not God].”  Imagine chaos of social order without law.  Consider a mechanical world without predictable guidelines. Mull over where the farmer would be without defined limits on seed, chemicals, and fertilizer.  How can we even tolerate a world without moral and spiritual limits.

            Revelation 20:12f “I saw vengeance on them that know not God the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened . . . .  Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

III.       Judgment Must Remind Us that There is a Hell as There is a Heaven.  See Revelation 20:12 above.

            Reason bears witness that there is a judgment, and if judgment then hell also.  What is a court of law without a jail cell for the guilty?  What good comes to the child in the remonstrance of wrong without a rod of correction?

            Even more important than reason is what the Bible says.  Psalm 9:17 “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”  Isaiah 5:14 “Hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure.”  Revelation 21:18 “The fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Closing

            The two questions remain.  “Why do we die?” Because death is the fertile ground through which we pass to that for which we have labored.  “What happens after death?”  Through Christ we pass to eternal life.  Life forever spent in the joy of oneness with God.  Without Christ, we pass to eternal death.  Imagine a forever spent with the pains and hurts of death and dying.

He Leadeth Me: O Blessed Thought

The United Methodist Hymnal Number 128
Text: Joseph H. Gilmore, 1834-1918
Music: William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868
Tune: HE LEADETH ME, Meter: LM with Refrain

1. He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be, still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.

Refrain:
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me;
his faithful follower I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me.

2. Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,
by waters still, o'er troubled sea, still 'tis his hand that leadeth me.
(Refrain)

3. Lord, I would place my hand in thine, nor ever murmur nor repine;
content, whatever lot I see, since 'tis my God that leadeth me.
(Refrain)

4. And when my task on earth is done, when by thy grace the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me.
(Refrain)

Shakespeare: https://shakespeare.mit.edu/measure/measure.3.1.html

Donne: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/23772/23772-h/23772-h.htm   

Gilmore/Bradbury:  http://www.HymnSite.com

THROUGH TRIAL TO TRUTH

#079                                     THROUGH TRIAL TO TRUTH

Scripture James 1:1-27 NIV                                                                                     Orig. 2/9/1987

Passage:

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

Trials and Temptations

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. 9 Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. 10 But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. 11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business. 12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

 

Listening and Doing

19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Purpose:         To lead my people in an in-depth study of The Book of James.   

Introduction

            We have concluded that the letter was written by James, the brother of the Lord.  He was a witness of the resurrection.  Although he was not a follower of Jesus during the years of Jesus’ life, he became a follower in tandem with Christ’s death.  He was a known leader of the church in Jerusalem, and had great influence to the churches as far away as Syria.

            We conclude that the date of writing was early, 48-54 AD.  There is no mention of the Jerusalem council (AD 49), the term “synagogue” is used for church (James 2:2), there is strong expectation of the Lord’s return (James 5:7-9), and the strong accent on poverty.

            The book was written to Christian Jews, primarily, but the message was direct enough to be of benefit to other Jews as well.  Perhaps, those who were entrenched in other parts of the Roman Empire, especially around the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

            James is a significant voice, not because he is the Lord’s brother, but because of the nature of his struggle to believe, and his steady voice as a chosen leader in the church in Jerusalem.

            The epistle reflects some of the economic and social struggles in the church such as treatment of oppressed, and appropriate use of wealth. Dealing with some of the behavioral problems helps us to understand how Martin Luther could come to see James as “an epistle of straw.”

            James’ intent was an appeal to unity.  There are different levels of social activity.  All are to be treated equally.  Materialism could be a problem.  The wealthy were to heed the dangers.  Likewise, the poor were to be careful not to let their poverty be the source of bitterness, disruption and disunity.  It is an appeal to social justice.  It is an institution of prayer as the means of expressing compassion.  It concludes with a call for understanding for the backslider.

1-James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings.

Greeting: James (Jacob)

Servant—bond slave

(grace/obedience, not two masters)

Twelve tribes—Matthew 19:28

2-My brethren, count it all joy when you fill into diverse temptations;

Joy in trial—Psalms 119:67

Greeting/joy (all)—count is imperative

Temptations working to our good.

Matthew 16:24-28 suffering

Romans 5:3-5

See verse 12 (endurance)

3-Knowing this, that the trying of  your faith worketh patience.

Strength from God through prayer.

1)Doesn’t suggest enough

2)For the Jew, from Torah

3)Contrast Hebrew/Greek/Roman

4)For Christian—through prayer

5)See James 3:13-18

6)God gave generously and without reproaching, when last reproached children

7)We must pray, and without doubt

4-But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Doubting is indecision about trusting God or ourselves.  (1)Not without questions; (2)Not without uncertainty. Returns to prayer in James 5:13-18.  Two-souled (dipsuchos)—Jews repeated shema Deuteronomy 6:4f. See Psalm 12:1-2—ex, JCPenney’s suit.

5-But if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given  him.

Consistency of spirit is key.  The two supreme tests—plenty/want, affluence/poverty. (1)Test of poverty—rejoice in richness in Christ: Mary’s Magnificat Luke 1:46f, physically poor/spiritually rich.  (2)Test of affluence—question his being ______; boast in humiliation—funeral coach no trailer hitch; watching soybeans in a.m. Life conditioned for physical will vanish away.  It is much easier for the lowly to boast in exaltation than for the proud to boast of humiliation.

6-But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

Trial and Temptation

1)Trial endured

2)Temptation resisted

Only one Greek word—peirasmos. Remember the Beatitudes—Matthew 5:2-12 (Revelation 2:10) (II Timothy 4:8). “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord . . . will award to me on that day—and not only to me. . . .”  (1)Given in response to trial; (2)Received by the one who victoriously endures (stands the test); (3)Such endurance is the mark of love.

7-For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.

8-A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9-Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

10-But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11-For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12-Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

13-Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted by evil, neither tempteth he any man;

14-But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Is this a contradiction?  God can not be tempted/neither tempteth He. Hebrews 11:17 “Abraham, when put to the test”—same word.  I Corinthians 10:9 “Neither let us tempt Christ as some of them tempted”—same word.   (1)James prior to this refers to “trial” from without.  (2)Here however, doubtless, he speaks of trial of  uncontrolled passions and evil.  (3)Though does not proceed from God are all-the-while under His grace, and He can manifest Himself within.  (4)God permits, tests, that we might gain confidence in faith. Tempting to evil comes from the source of all wickedness.

Enticed—bait—deleazo

Drawn away—lured--exelkomenos

15-Then, when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The link between sin and death:

Contemplation

Consent

Consummation

16-Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17-Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18-Of his own will begat he us the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

All Good v 16/18—God sends inducement to good, not enticement to evil.  There is contrast between good and supposed evil.

V17b A comparison between God and the variables of light and shadow, and waxing and waning of sun and moon.  The Milky Way contains 1 million suns brighter than our sun. One galaxy among millions.

Lessons:

1)Every believer prepared for trial.

2)Affluent Christians controlling, not controlled.

3)Avoid blaming God for social fall.

4)All good from God who doesn’t change.

19-Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20-For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21-Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls

22-But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23-For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24-For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25-But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26-If any man among  you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

27-Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Doing the Word, James 1:19-27

1)The point—to receive the word (v21). Therefore “quick” to hear tachometer, “slow” to speak, “slow” to anger (Moses).  How much is available to us!  Multiplicity of  video tapes in 5 years.  Don’t learn anything while talking. Proverbs 29:20, Psalm 46:10.

2)Is a sermon a thing unto itself, or is [it an] end to lead to action?  Do we read Bible to check ___ or to learn to do?

THE WITNESS AND HEAVENLY UNCTION

#625                            THE WITNESS AND HEAVENLY UNCTION

Scripture  Revelation 22:17, NIV                                                                                           Undated

Passage: 17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Timeline/Series:           Revelation

Introduction   

            A person’s motivation largely determines the kind of job he does, no matter what the area of his interest is.  Observe the efforts of some people who are trying to get out of some actual or psychological ghetto.  They will look for some personal commodity that will accomplish their purpose.  They will bring all their energies to bear on that area which seems to offer the highest percentage of success.

            Athletic prowess has become a means, a motivation if you please, to lift people out of poverty, and into public acclaim.

            The Christian who would be a witness of his faith, must likewise be highly motivated.  We must be able to analyze the directives in our lives that will cause us to be the kind of witnesses that we feel we are supposed to be.

I.          The Standard  of the Holy Spirit

            To call people to eternal life.  Revelation 22:17 LB The spirit and the bride say ‘come.’  Let each one who hears them say ‘come.’  Let the thirsty one come—anyone who wants to, let him drink from the water of life without charge.

            He convicts of sin, judgment, unbelief.  John 16:8 TEV, And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will prove to the people of the world that they are wrong about sin, and about what is right, and about God’s judgment.

            He brings light to people in darkness.  Ephesians 2:1, 22 RSV   And you he made alive when you were dead through the trespasses and sins . . . in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the spirit.

            He is God’s agent for justification and sanctification.  I Corinthians 6:11 NIV  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God.

            He is the one who gives victories over the flesh and the devil.  Romans 8:12, 13 KJV  We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. /  For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye, through the spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.

            “Hinds Feet on High Places”….

II.         The Stirring of the Holy Spirit

            To go before us.  Isaiah 45—To Cyrus: though he doesn’t know Jehovah, God promises to go before him for the purpose of undergirding God’s people, and returning them to Palestine.

            To be behind us.  Isaiah 58:8—if we act in obedient faith, the glory of the Lord will protect us from behind.

            Also beneath us.  Deuteronomy 33:27—The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms.

            With us.  Matthew 28:20—And be assured, I am with you always, to the end of time.

            Within us.  John 14:17, TEV—The world cannot receive him because it cannot see him or know him.  But you know him because he remains with you, and lives in you.

            Paraclete—The “called-beside” one.

III.       The Statutes of the Holy Spirit.

            Open and active appropriation of the Word of God.  More than appreciation.  Billy Graham—would  you make any changes?  I would let God’s word permeate my soul.

            Obedience to the whole will of God.  Judges 6:34 the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon.  Acts 5:34 . . . the Holy Spirit who is God’s gift to those who obey him.

            Willful enthronement of Jesus as Lord.  Revelation 11:15 The kingdom of this world, has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

            Compassion and concern for the lost.  Example of Jesus.  Impassioned concern of early disciples.

            Persistent prayer and supplication for the Holy Spirit’s power.  Note the difference between his presence and his power.  Pentecost came while the disciples were praying.  Luke 11:13 . . . How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

AS TIME RUNS OUT

#600                                                AS TIME RUNS OUT

Scripture  Revelation 9:13-21, NIV                                                                              Orig.  2/4/1979

                                                                                                                                 Rewr.   6/8/1989

Passage: 13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Purpose: Continuing the series from Revelation for class study, here describing the sixth trumpet to show that time is running out.

Keywords:        Bible Study                  Judgment                    Tribulation                  Unbelief

Timeline/Series:           Revelation

Introduction

            In the concluding verse of chapter six, we read the hopeless acknowledgement of those confronting the “wrath of the lamb.”  The sixth seal had just been opened, and calamities of the broadest proportion fell upon men.  They were terrors bespeaking the wrath of God.  The people were heard to cry out:

            “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand?”

            In the next chapter, however, God has His messenger, in the person of one of the elders, to say:

7:14f “These are they which came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the lamb. . . and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.”

            The RSV, by the way, translates that last phrase: “. . . He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.”

            For the unredeemed, the tribulation continues and intensifies.  In chapter eight, the first four trumpet judgments are described.  We read about God’s judgment upon a material universe.  In the following chapter we first viewed the fifth trumpet, called a “woe,” depicting horror [illegible] result in death to one-third of the human [illegible] . . . . way you perceive it, time is running out.

I.          First, We Want to Talk about General Positions Relative to Interpretations.

            Basically, there are four.  Preterist—regards the book as referring to its own day; it pictured the church’s struggle, but it was a struggle with Rome.  Historical—that the book was designed to forecast the whole range of church history: From John’s time—Revelation 1:1 “things which must shortly come to pass” [and] 1:19 “Write . . . the things which are, and the things which shall be”; it is a kind of “vision” of the ages.  Futurist—the book forecasts the time of the Lord’s coming and the end of the world: we hear more about this; position of evangelists, [illegible] preachers.  Spiritualists—that the book has nothing to do with historical event: A depiction in figurative language of the great principles of divine government.

            I want us to spend some time at this point  on the historical position and follow it through.  At the time of John, Rome was in the ascendancy of her power: Begun after the time of Alexander; from 3rd Century B.C., for 600/700 years; reached her zenith about 200 A.D.  She knew no rival or peer for 500 years.  Civil war church persecuted—for 800 years no foreign invader; radical change after 5th Century A.D.

            The historists say that the trumpet judgment assesses the coming decline of the Roman Empire. 

·         The first trumpet:  Read 8:7, “and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and 1/3 of trees, . . . all grass.”  The Goths descended from the north, left behind scorched earth, burned cities, about 409 A.D.

·         The second trumpet: Read 8:8, “And a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and 1/3 part of the sea became blood, and 1/3 ships.”  The vandals entered Italy about 422 A.D.  They swept through Gaul, Spain, North Africa. Built an armada, fought Rome 30 years. After 600 years control, Rome defeated.

·         The third trumpet: Read 8:10, “And there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the rivers and fountains of waters . . . and the name of the star is called Wormwood.”  While still struggling against the Vandals, the Huns arrived about 440 A.D.  From Central Asia, Attila came to the banks of the Danube with 800,000 men.  H.H. Halley writes (p716) “Pushing westward, he met the Roman armies and defeated them in awful slaughter, successively on the River Marne, River Rhone, River Po, so that these rivers actually ran with blood.  Some historians say that the River Danube was actually turned anise and Attila buried in its bed.

·         The fourth trumpet: Read 8:12, “And a third of the sun, . . . moon, . . . and stars were smitten, and day and night affected by one-third.  History records that Odoacer besieged and took Rome in 476 A.D. (Barbarians).  Someone notes “The light of Roman civilization went out and the Dark Ages of the world began.”

·         The fifth trumpet:  Read 9:1, “A star fell . . . and was given the key to the bottomless pit . . . and there came out locusts.”  Equated with rise of Mohammedanism.  Fierce, relentless horsemen, famous for beards, long hair.  Mohammedanism taught them to spare growing things.  Some say it lasted from 630 A.D. to 796 A.D., about 150 years, or five months.

·         The sixth trumpet: Read 9:16, “The number of the army of the horsemen were 200 thousand thousand.”   The Turks did not enter the picture until 1057 A.D., but did they ever.  The Eastern Roman Empire fell at Constantinople in 1453 A.D., or 396 years.  On the day/year theory (see v15), a day, month, year, totals 396.  Nothing has yet been said about the empire being in three parts: Western, Rome; Eastern, Constantinople; and Trans Mediterranean, Alexandria.

            This makes for very interesting theorizing especially to historians.  It disengages the immorality of the Roman Empire.  It even strikes a blow at Roman Catholic.  It does very little, however, to speak to the struggling church of 1st Century.  Which would mean that it means little to the struggles of our own day.

II.         Now Let’s Take a Renewed  Interest in the Sixth Trumpet.  V13, “And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.”

            There is ONE authority as we move toward a final day, and it is God.  Comparing the sixth seal (6:12f), there came the “day of wrath,” (v17).  Messenger is dispatched “having the seal . . . God.” 7:2a.  Believers were to be sealed, identified.  The seventh seal gave way to the seven trumpets.  The first four trumpets reveal Judgment upon man’s habitat.  Have you been to a zoo lately?  A Safari Compound?  They are marvels in artificial habitat.  What we can create for any species of mammal, we cannot create for us.  Our ultimate downfall may stem from the abuse of our environment.  June: dinosaurs; May: Swiss forests.

            The fifth trumpet began the time of “woe.”  A time of real, or imagined, calamity.  I Corinthians 9:16b, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.”

            The sixth trumpet (woe) continues what God absolutely controls.  Remember that God’s people are sealed (7:3).  They are to be removed from, or delivered through, these calamities.  Only the third trumpet mentions human death.  (Seems to be natural.)  The fifth warns against it.  Now, death has become a foregone conclusion (v15) “for to slay the third part of men.”  The voice came from the altar.  See 8:3-5, 6:9 (intercedings).  The voice instructs (v14) that the “four angels” will be loosed.  Euphrates: eastern border; compares with Isaiah 8:5-8; see Ezekiel 47 flood of holy waters, see Psalm 75:1-6.  These are the angels of death. Revelation 6:8 (4th seal), 1 in 4 killed by man’s own ineptitude. 9:15, now 1 in three will be slain in this race to judgment.  Hour, day, month, year, may mean only that perfection at work.

            A cavalry force of 200 million is pictured.  There were never this many Turks, but it looked like it.  They are described with such lethal depiction, could these be indescribable modern weapons.  Fire, smoke, brimstone different.  Could describe war, atomic accident, earthquake, eruption.  Reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19:24.  Whatever else they are, such monsters from the underworld are stylized portrayals of the subversive powers of demonic forces leading people away from God and to destruction.

·         Jim Jones episode in Guyana

·         Displays in China: 6/89

            In v17 John’s only mention “vision.”  With all of the above, there is still no repentance. Every lost person should wince; every believer/lost relative. Sin has become entrenched.  Devil worship; idol worship; murder, sorcery, fornication, the pharmakeia.

PICTURES OF TERROR

#598                                             PICTURES OF TERROR

Scripture Revelation 9:1-12 NIV                                                                                 Orig. 3/18/1973

                                                                                                                      Rewr. 1/1978; 6/4/1989

Passage: 9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

Purpose: Continuing a study from Revelation, here describing the sounding of the fifth trumpet, the first woe.  The race to judgment proceeds.

Keywords:        Hell                 Judgment                    Tribulation

Timeline/Series:           Revelation

Introduction

            Saturday in Tiananmen Square began as many other days of the past month.  The students kept their vigil around the mock-up of the Statue of Liberty.  But terror came to the square before the day was over.  We’ve watched the news filmed secreted out.  We’ve heard the sounds of disbelief and grief from Chinese Americans, from students enrolled in schools here, and from the world’s free press.  Terror came in the form of guns, and tanks, and bullets.  A young woman was run over by a tank. A group of ten, by an armored personnel carrier.  Some 500 are said to be dead.

            This morning’s paper showed a picture of curious on-lookers who had gathered on the outskirts of the square.  It seems that there is an almost sadistic interest in the aftermath of terror.

            We had a ferry disaster near us in New Orleans.  Curious throngs lined both sides of the river awaiting the arrival of bodies brought up by the search team.  [About the same time], elevator across from Ochsner Foundation Hospital blew up, killing several.  One could watch the action through binoculars from the upper floors of the hospital.  Air traffic news reports a leaper on the New Orleans Mississippi River Bridge.  People leave their cars in traffic to get a view, and hopefully to see the plunge.  Some are angry if he doesn’t go.

            Whatever it is that makes us that way, the movie companies are capitalizing on it.  Films zero in on this sadistic interest in other people’s terror, and sell the rights to anyone who has the admission to the picture show.

            The last one I saw was the Poseidon Adventure, but there are dozens of others.  They are becoming more and more entrenched on television.

            John, the Revelator, used six verses to declare the first four trumpet plagues.  He will use all of chapter nine for the next two.  Then, it will take chapters 10 and 11 for the setting and climax of the seventh and final trumpet woe.

I.          The Drama Introduces the Star Angel.  V1 “And I saw a star fall (fallen) from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key . . . .”

            John uses the same root word in the previous chapter.  That star (Revelation 8:10) was a mass of molten material that contaminates fresh water.  Isaiah uses a similar theology (14:12).  The king of Babylon is described as “fallen from heaven” and is called “Lucifer,” and is pictured as “son of the morning”/star.  Jesus uses this word in Luke 10:18 “I beheld Satan as lightning” astrapen.  See Luke 10:19 scorpions.  This star is a person.  He is given a key and opens the abyss.

            Primitive people, including the Hebrews, perceived of the stars as celestial spirits possessing conscious personality.  Judges 5:20 (Deborah’s song)—“The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.”  Job 38:7 “The morning stars sang together.” 

            We need to try to identify this star-angel.  He was seen, not falling in the degraded sense, but as descending.  Some say it is Satan, or his agent as in Revelation 12:4 (great red dragon [whose tail swept] 1/3 of the stars).  It seems more reasonable that this is a divine agent. Revelation 8:2 the seven angels stood before God.  Thus his mission is of God.  Those under indictment were “men without the seal of God” (9:4).  Anthropos generic/aner—man.  God is not without power over Satan, but this divine, not Satanic agent.

II.         Next, the Star-Angel Uses His Key to Open the Abyss (Bottomless Pit).  V1 “To him was given the key of the bottomless pit” KJV.   Abyss/fathomless pit (Phillips).

            The word of designation is abyssos.  Luke 8:31 says the “devils” in the Gadarene demoniac ask to not be sent “into the deep”—this word.  Revelation 11:7 continues thought of bottomless pit.  Should compare 9:11a.  This is different from the pits of gloom. (II Peter 2:4/Jude 6).

            This pit is clearly a place where terror lurks.  More will be learned in chapters 11, 20.  The smoke out of the pit was smoke “like” that out of a furnace.  We have talked about comets—8:10; there has been talk of a volcano—8:8; we may add talk of atomic conflagration.  Whatever it was, it darkened the sun.  Similar darkness over Egypt.  Exodus 10:21 “that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.”

            The purpose seems to be exactly the same as that over Egypt.  The problem of spiritual apathy is an eternal one.  Such action prompts men to attention.  John 3:19 “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men lived in darkness rather than light because [their deeds were evil].”

III.       Suddenly, Out of This Smoke Were Seen Locusts.  V3 “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth.”

            What broader ranging horror can confront any people than the loss of food?  Anguish of people in Civil War when soldiers took all food, mule, Sherman.  Locusts picture such loss.  This was an agricultural society.  Riots in Argentina stealing food.  Joel describes the locust plague, Joel 1:15 “The day of the Lord is at hand.”  A wife loses her husband; the priest loses sacrifice; farmer loses his crop.

            These locusts are not allowed to range over plants and trees (see v4).  They were to serve God’s purpose.  Again, what a similarity with the plagues upon Egypt.  Their purpose to break a selfish will.  The final three plagues were locusts, darkness, death.  There was a seal in blood over the door.  No doubt, the sign of the seal is still blood.  John 6:53  “Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink His blood.”       I John 1:7 “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses [us from all sin].  Revelation 7:14 “These . . . have washed their robes.”

            A further inference of the locusts.  They are not literal: shape of war—horses, men’s faces, women’s hair, lions’ teeth, scorpions’ tails.  Their purpose is not to kill, but to torment.  Sin’s day is marked. Retribution will come.  II Thessalonians 1:6, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.”  Interestingly, the period of tribulation is for five months.  The life cycle of locusts is 5 months.  It does no injustice to scripture to see this as a short term.

IV.       With These Locusts, and Out of This Pit, Came One Identified as Their King.  V11 And they had a king over them which is the angel of the bottomless pit.

            Again, there is a question of agency.  Perhaps, as the star-angel, an agent of God.  Some contend that this is Satan.  He delivers punishment without seal. Part of Satan’s punishment could not be seen as the betrayer.  Part of scoffing humanity’s burden may be recognition that they have allowed him to dupe them.

            His name is “destroyer.”  In Hebrew Abaddon—destruction.  In Greek Apollyon—same.  By now both Hebrew/Greek cultures are touched by the gospel.  Domitian, then on the throne, claimed to be the reincarnation of Apollo.  Beasley-Murray—John’s “last word about the 5th trumpet was master stroke of irony: The destructive host of hell had as its king the emperor of Rome.”1  

V.         We Close the Study with a Word about Tribulation.

            It can begin at any time.

            It will be endured by those believers who acknowledge Christ through the testimony of the preaching evangelists of chapter 7.

            There is nothing to keep this from  happening in our lifetime.

            The worst struggle for believers is what happens to unbelievers.

            A short period.

            Death will not be an allowable alternative (6:15f).

1Beasley-Murray, G.R. (1974).  The book of Revelation.  The New Century Bible Commentary, Grand Rapids: Marshall, Morgan & Scott (Publications) Ltd., 163.

A GLORIOUS ANGEL AND A MYSTERIOUS BOOK

#601                       A GLORIOUS ANGEL AND A MYSTERIOUS BOOK

Scripture  Revelation 10:1-11, NIV                                                                               Orig. 5-5-1973

                                                                                                                                   Rewr. 3-4-1979

Passage: 10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’[a]” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

[Purpose: Continuing the Bible study from Revelation]

Introduction

            Chapter 9 with its sixth trumpet closed in a very strange way.  It called our attention to a fast-approaching day of unequaled terror.  Along the way, it told about a coming time of warfare that would see 200,000,000 warriors massed for battle.  However, these warriors are pictured not dropping atomic bombs on mankind, but moving out on horseback and killing as they go.

            A young man in total seriousness asked me recently if I thought that there might be any connection between these warriors on horseback here in our computer age, and all of the talk going on about the energy crises.  He ventured to suggest that perhaps the reason that they were on horseback, was because all of the mechanized war machines had ground to a halt in the absence of fuel.  Well, I will leave you with that to ponder on your own.  If this could be true, then it would mean that something ‘sans pareil’ is going to happen before nuclear energy and solar energy get sophisticated enough for war machines.

            Our chapter for this evening is a sort of parenthesis between the sixth and seventh trumpet.  Whenever something transactional is about to occur in the book of Revelation, there is always a brief transitional period.  This one is most important because it is marked by the coming end of the age.  Every interpretation of the book of Revelation that is worthy of consideration holds that the Seventh trumpet is the end of the present age.   The historists tell us that on the occasion of the 7th trumpet, Christ will therein come in judgment.  The futurists mark the event as the time when Christ will come to establish His Millennial Kingdom.  Whatever we may choose to believe about that, the year 1979 seems to be positioned not very securely, somewhere in this parenthetical period, between trumpet six and trumpet seven.

            Let’s go on and take a good close look at this GLORIOUS ANGEL AND THE MYSTERIOUS BOOK.

I.          A Revelation of Inexpressible Impact, but Its Meaning is to be Withheld.  V3f “The seven thunders crashed their reply and as I was about to write what they had said, a voice from heaven said, ‘Don’t do it, their words are not to be revealed.’”

            First of all, a look at the angel.  While this angel is not said to be the Lord Himself, the description leads us quickly to understand that it must be either the Lord, or some created being who comes immediately from His presence.  He was seen coming down from  heaven: John 6:38, I came down from heaven; Acts 1:11, This same Jesus which was taken away. 

            The angel was robed in a cloud. Psalm 104:3, God maketh the clouds His chariots; Exodus 14:19, The angel of God and the pillar of the cloud are  pictured as giving light to Israel and  darkness to the Egyptians;  I Kings 8:11, The priests had no room to stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the House; Ezekiel 11:22f, The prophet is instructed to declare the desolation of the once holy temple—he pictures the glory of God leaving the temple, staying a moment over the door, hanging above the east wall of the city reluctant to leave a place sustained so long by His glory, moving from there to the mountain to the east (the Mount of Olives). There was a rainbow over His head—Genesis 9:13, the rainbow was a sign of covenant.  The angel’s face shone like the sun—Revelation 1:16, His face shone like the sun in brilliance; Matthew 17:2 [In] transfiguration His face did shine as “white as the light”; Acts 9:3 and 26:13, A light from heaven brighter than the sun; Matthew 14:2, The SUN of righteousness. His feet were like pillars of fire—Revelation 1:15 His feet were like unto fine brass, tempered by a furnace.

            Have you ever had a confrontation with someone or some occasion of danger?  Do you remember how weak-kneed you were when it was over?

            Now, a quick look at the book.  It was a little book.  Jewish Talmud.  John—the world can’t hold books written about Him.  Easy to major on unimportant details.  It was an open book.  Revelation 5:2-4, You do recall do you not the occasion of John being transported into heaven where he saw the seven-sealed scroll, and his first dismay when it seemed that no one would be able to open it.  The emphasis has turned from an unopened scroll of major proportion to an opened scroll of impact proportion.  The earlier picture of the scroll was that it was the title-deed to the world.  Now not the picture that forms.  The Christ-angel comes.  In His hand is the wide opened title-deed to the world which cannot be refuted.  Around His head is pictured the rainbow which in chapter 4 was seen encircling the throne of God.  He plants His right foot upon the sea, and His left foot upon the land, and He lays claim to what is His.  It was a book of justice.  I sat and talked with one of you recently about all we see about us that just isn’t fair.  In these 13 years in Baptist pastorates I could have written books on what is and isn’t fair, about people who suffered unduly—at least in my interpretation of things—and I have seen people who did not get what they deserved, and I have felt myself thinking “It’s a good thing I am not God, or I’d fix your wagon.”

            Next, note the seven-fold thunderous reply.  There comes to this book of justice the seven thunderous interpretations of judgment.  Psalm 29.  Understand please that this judgment is marked upon those who have usurped the place and the property of God.   And every man who has done this will get exactly what he deserves.  Note the continuing series of sevens: the scroll was sealed with seven seals; the seventh seal opened upon seven trumpets; in the interlude between six and seven there are seven thunders.  The seven thunders are the final act of judgment redemptively the end of the age.  Revelation 9:20f.  Look for a moment at the sealing of the message:  John knew; he was not allowed to reveal; the Christian is sealed off securely from this final act of judgment (II Corinthians 12:4); it is herein established that there will be no more delay—KJV,  time. Revelation 6:10, How long, O Lord, dost thou not judge and avenge?  Hebrews 10:37.

II.         The End is Near and it will be a Glorious Conclusion [to] the Plan of God, but the Time Remaining is to be Used.

            The final fulfillment of God’s plan awaits the seventh seal.  Ephesians 3:21, May he be given glory forever and ever through endless ages because of his master plan of salvation for the church through Jesus Christ.  I Corinthians 1:25, This so-called “foolish” plan of God is far wiser than the wisest plan of the wisest man, and God in His weakness—Christ dying on a cross—is far stronger than any man.

            John and all who walk by faith, walk believing that the end is near, but with resolve to be used of God until the end.  A message about enlightenment about the Word—Go and get the scroll from the angel.  Yes, take it and eat it [Revelation 10:8-9].  The word of spiritual revelation is never forced on any person.  If he comes to possess it, it will be because by faith he has claimed it.

            John is told to assimilate the message of the scroll and that it will be sweet to the mouth and bitter to the stomach.  Psalm 19:10, Sweeter than honey and the honey comb.  A quaint Jewish custom of alphabet being written on the slate with a mixture of flower and honey; he licked it clean.  But look again at the occasion of the prophetic word being delivered to the nations.  Remember Amos—Damascus/ Gaza/ Tyre/ Edom/ Ammon/ Judah/ Israel.  I Peter 4:17, Judgment must first begin with the house of the Lord.

Closing

            Are we as the people of God, ready to take seriously the command of God to assimilate the Word of God for delivery to the peoples, nations, tribes, and kings.  As much as we claim to love, honor, and revere the Word, it may well be necessary for God to lead us through periods of difficulty before we are able to be used of Him.

THE SEVENTH SEAL

#445                                               THE SEVENTH SEAL

Scripture  Revelation 8:1-13, NIV                                                                               Orig. 2-18-1973

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 5-18-1989

Passage: 8 1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

The Trumpets

6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood.[a] A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!

Purpose: Continuing a study for Church Training in Revelation, here focusing in on the opening of the seventh and final seal.

Keywords:        Bible Study                  Judgment                    Deliverance

Timeline/Series:           Revelation

Introduction

            John has been through an emotional buzz-saw.  He encountered the glory of the throne room in chapter four which was quickly turned to consternation as the following chapter opened.  The seven-sealed title-deed suddenly claimed every fiber of his being.  Throughout chapters 5, 6, and 7, we watched as those seals were broken, and as God keeps His hand on His people for good.  Even though the seals were indicative of judgments, and the final seal broods toward a final judgment, God’s patient love sustains.

            Chapter seven has closed on the high note of the purpose of God.

            7:17 “For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

            There is a sudden silence as the seventh seal is severed.  The angels are silent in the agony of expectation.   The  living creatures dare make no sound before the face of the Almighty.  The elders are speechless in their praise for the One  who has kept His promise. 

            Now will begin the transaction that will occupy our attention through chapter eleven.  At that point the final destiny of the world will be marked.  We will consider seven angels with seven trumpets, seven thunders, three woes, and then the dramatic conclusion.

I.          Presenting the Elements of the Final Seal.  V1 “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence.”

            The “he” is the Lamb.  6:1 “When the Lamb opened one of the seals.”

            There was total, unmitigated silence.  Part of the heavenly mystic, thus far, has been the noises.  For first four seals, living creatures call out “with voice of thunder” (6:1, 3, 5, 7).  Fifth seal vents the alarmed cry 6:9-10 “with a “great voice” of the martyrs.  Sixth seal contained the earthquake.  Then the “loud voice” of the multitude.  Now, we are beset with stillness.

            The door is opening for the trumpet blast.  In New Orleans we were staying at the Seminary Guest House.  It was early Saturday morning, silence pervaded our part of [the City].  Suddenly the quietude was broken by some jerk driving by with volume on full.

            The trumpet has long played a part.  Exodus 19:6—Call Hebrews to Sinai.  Isaiah 27:13—Summon the exiles.  Joel 2:1—The day of the Lord “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion . . . sound . . . an alarm.”  I Thessalonians 4:16—The trump of God sounds.  I Corinthians 15:52—The dead in Christ shall come forth.

“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more,

And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair.

And the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,

And the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.” 1

            Then there is an angel priest with a golden censer, incense, and a fire.  The place of angels for the Hebrews was for watchcare.  They have played a major role throughout scripture, again in Revelation: Agents of God’s revelation; to bring protection/reassurance (BI F84p80); agents of judgment; used to foretell the future. 

            The altar is that of incense (Leviticus 16:12, Numbers 16:46 (18” x 18” x 3’—gold):  Burned before the first sacrifice, after the last; offering in envelope of incense; prayers of believers take the place of sacrifices of Israel; prayer is the watchword of obedience.

II.         With that, the First Trumpet is Sounded.  V7 “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.”

            The first declaration of judgment is cast upon the earth.  There is hail, and fire, and blood.  Mindful of the four angels of Chapter 7, restraining the winds.  Trees and grass are destroyed: Adam and Eve account of tree; Daniel 4 tells of Nebuchadnezzar’s tree vision; Ezekiel 31 seems to recount same; Jesus compared Israel to a tree—Matthew 3:10 “Now the ax is laid to the root of the trees; every tree that beareth not good fruit is hewn down”; Grass is the symbol of human frailty—Isaiah 40:6 “All flesh is as grass.” 

            Not all of the earth affected.  But all mankind.  We are genetic equals.  We have the power to reason for/against God.  We have the will to decide.  Therein we are sectarians.

            The opening seal had to do with creation.  “Horseman on white horse with bow and crown came forth conquering.”  He  met with failure.  The derelicts of the world mark this.

III.       Then is Sounded the Second Trumpet.  “A great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.”

            Perhaps we can presume an “as if it were a great mountain.”  How else would a meteor appear?  First possibility is volcanic eruption: Vesuvius—August AD 79; Santorini—we were disallowed to visit because mule tenders were on strike; Surtsey—in our own time.  The second possibility would be that of a gigantic comet, meteor: of tidal wave proportions; harbors would be destroyed; trucking and shipping affected for hundreds, thousands of miles.

            We take a look at the blood.  Literal, as in the Nile plague, Exodus 7:20.  Figurative, as in fine, red sand blown from the Sahara in such a storm.  Joel 2:34 “the sun turned to darkness, and the moon to blood.  Ezekiel 28:23 Zidon, “blood in her streets.”  Hosea:1-3, Zephaniah 1:3, Isaiah 2:16f.

IV.       Next Comes the Third Angel with Trumpet. V10, “There fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp.”

            There has been judgment upon the earth, sea.

            Now there is judgment upon the rivers.  The picture here seems more to the point of a comet.  But the bitterness of the waters is what brings dismay.  We can think of radioactive fallout.  There are ecological concerns such as industrial pollutants.  Even volcanic eruptions: St. Helens.

            We can gain insight about wormwood.  Deuteronomy 29:18 “The day that any of you . . . begins to turn away from the Lord and desires to worship these gods of other nations, that day a root will be planted that will grow bitter and poisonous fruit.”  Jeremiah 9:14-15, 23:15 “wormwood and gall.”                  

V.         The Fourth Angel with Trumpet.  V12 “A third part of sun, moon, and stars.”

            Thus judgment has passed from earth to sea, to fresh waters, to the heavens, [to] galaxies.

            In this manner, light is affected.  At first it seems to be partial.  But then there was total darkness for a third of the day.  Luke 21:25-28. Think of storm darkness or an eclipse.

            II Baruch 77:20-22, “And I called an eagle and said to him these words:  You have been created by YAHWEH the Most High that you should be higher than any other bird.  But now go and do not stay in any place, do not go into a nest, do not sit on any tree until you have flown  over the breadth of the many waters of the river Euphrates and have come to the people that live there and cast down to them this letter.”  Luke 17:37 vultures NIV, [eagles KJV].

            Darkness as a symbol of judgment runs throughout the Old Testament.  Amos 5:18 “Day of the Lord as a day of darkness.”  See II Peter 3:1-10 (3-4, 7, 10).

1 Black, J.M.  1893, “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.”  

GRACE IN TIME OF TRIBULATION

#432                                   GRACE IN TIME OF TRIBULATION

Scripture  Revelation 7:1-17, NIV                                                                  Orig. 2-4-1973 (12-1978)

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 4-30-1989

Passage: 7  1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,

from the tribe of Gad 12,000,

6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,

from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,

from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,

7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,

from the tribe of Levi 12,000,

from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,

8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,

from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,

from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

The Great Multitude in White Robes

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”

Purpose: Continuing a Church Training study in Revelation, here calling attention to the suspension of judgment as the opening of seals reaches its climax.

Keywords:        Bible Study                  Grace               Revelation                   Judgment

Timeline/Series:           Revelation      

Introduction

            The suspension of judgment so clearly seen after the opening of the sixth seal is a place to pause.  Here we are offered a vantage point useful in looking back over where we have been.  This can help us to keep the entire book in focus as we try to grasp an immediate context. Chapter one introduces the author and his work.  Chapters two and three personalize the people for whom the book was first intended: seven letters to seven churches.

            Suddenly, in chapter four, we find John having being transported to the throne room of God.  Around the throne were four “living creatures” and twenty-four lesser thrones.  On and off these thrones were “elders” giving praise to God.  Chapter five introduces a testamental document sealed with seven seals.  The following chapter noted the opening of six of these seals, and represents six phases of judgment through which the world has gone.

1.       The White Horse: an unsuccessful effort to bring order out of the chaos of creation, the rider, with bow and crown, bent on conquest.

2.       The red horse: next we see the personification of evil set free by this zealous spirit of conquest.  Peace is shackled.

3.       Then came the black horse: moral order had been degraded, evil enthroned, peace immobilized.  Sin’s self-gratification brings a social and material imbalance breeding discontent.  Without bow or sword, but with a “balance.”

4.       After this came the pale horse: the final result of sin’s presence on the world’s scene has to be sin’s judgment, and death and destruction are the signs.  The rider was called “death” and followed by something called “Hades.”  Remember that four is the great world number, and three is the divine number.  There have been four judgments relating to the world, but the theme of the seals clearly changes here.

5.       This seal brought into focus the souls of martyrs under the altar.  The Word of God was brought to bear, and man in sin rejects it.

6.       Seal six revealed a cataclysmic event of world proportion adding the sin of rejecting the living word as it had the revealed word.

            Thus, we come to that moment in destiny just before the opening of the seventh seal.  Chapter six concludes:  V7 “The great day of his wrath has come; and who shall be able to stand?”  There is a terrible similarity to other such declarations.  Nahum 1:3f “The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, . . . he rebuketh the sea, . . . the mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, . . . .  Who can stand before his indignation?”  Luke 23:30 “Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, cover us.”

            Chapter seven, then, will become a suspension in judgment.  The time of the end has come, but God, in love, will not cease His grace while time remains.  The hiding place is not “in the rocks” but “on” the ROCK.  “Who will be able to stand?” Those who stand on the ROCK.

·         Matthew 7:25 “And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a ROCK.”

·         Habakkuk’s prayer (3:2) should become our prayer as well.  “O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.”  (V19 “The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”  (See Habakkuk 3:15 for “Thou didst walk through the sea with thine horses.”)

I.          Note the Suspension of Judgment.

            These ancient peoples have us at somewhat of a disadvantage.  They didn’t know about secondary causes.  If an event was beyond human power, it was of the gods.  Or, in the Hebrews’ case, of Jehovah.

            Hail and wind damage, tornadoes and earthquakes would have been acts of God.  We know about atmospheric pressure.  Mountain configurations, weather variations.  The impact of the moon, and sunspots.

            The four angels represent this suspension.  Genesis 19:1f angels delivered Lot from Sodom.  Matthew 2:13 warned Joseph to flee to Egypt.  Hebrews 1:14 angels: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

            This suspension was for the purpose of sealing the believers in safety and security.  Then, a fifth angel (v2) appears on the scene.  From the east as sunrise.  As the star of annunciation.  Prophecy of Zechariah Luke 1:67f, 79 “To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  This angel bears the seal of God.  Same word for “living”  in 5:6,14; “Living” creatures not identified, but God is here identified.  Various exemplifications of god/God: Isaiah 44:14f “He heweth him down cedars . . . warmth, . . . bread . . . he maketh a god, and worshippeth it.”  Joshua 3:10, “Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you.”  Note the conjunctive of purpose: “till.”  Reference to the already saved; others will be saved during this time of suspension.

II.         Note Then the Sealing of the Servants.  V3 “. . . till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” 

            This can, of course be related to a prior _____.  One with an inkhorn is instructed to go through the city marking the ones “who grieve the abominations.”

            Such seals give evidence of authority.  Genesis 41:42 Joseph was given Pharaoh’s seal:  “Without thee shall any many lift up hand or foot in all . . . Egypt.”  Esther 3:10 It was with the king’s seal that Haman ordered the death of Jews.  8:10 likewise Mordecai countermanded the order.

            Note the significance of the number and the identification of those sealed.  Jehovah’s Witnesses declare this number to be the first order of the saved; Others may be saved but supplementary.  Futurists believe that it speaks of Jews to be saved out of the tribulation (144,000 Jewish evangelists).  In the study of numbers this is the equivalent of 12 x 12 x 1000.  And 12 may be thought of as the product of 4 x 3.  Not a number in limitation, but a number in perfection.  12 represents perfection, 1000 complete.

            What we learn of the identification of the sons of Jacob here named.  Judah, the 4th of Leah supplants Reuben; Reuben; Gad, Zilpah’s first; Asher, her second; Naphtali, Bilhah’s second; Manasseh, Joseph’s; Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulon--2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th sons of Leah; Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of Rachel; Dan is omitted:  Genesis 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path;  Leviticus 24:11, Judges 18; I Kings 12:28-30.  Jeremiah 8:16 speaks of “the snorting of horses heard from Dan”—Some believe that the anti-Christ will be a descendant of Dan.

            A final word is spoken relative to the sealing of believers.  Ephesians 1:13 “. . . in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise.”  II Corinthians 1:22 “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts.”  Ephesians 4:30 “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption.”  Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.”

III.       Note, Next, the Glory of the Unnumbered Throng.  V9 “After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number of all nations, kindred, people, tongues, stood before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in white robes, and had palms in their hands.”

            If the prior verses speak of Jews saved during the tribulation, this must speak of Gentiles.  Romans 1:16 “according to the Jew first.”  These Gentiles would be won to salvation through Israel’s restoration.

            Did God know that toward the end believers would lose the thrust of influence?

            Remember also, believers have been taken up and are not in tribulation.

            The angels take up the shout of the unnumbered throng.  V12 “Saying amen, Blessing and glory, and wisdom, and Thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God.”

IV.       Finally, the Bliss of the Redeemed.

            There is angelic praise.  The angels are in a circle about the throne.  Around the elders and living creatures—See 4:6, 5:6.  They fall (again) upon their faces—See 4:10.  The white robes: Victorious faith; Righteousness of Christ; Victory by sacrifice (v14) is regularly stated. The palms were symbols of joy.

            There is washing from sin.  Rewards: Living/serving forever in presence of God; no more hardship imposed by nature (v16); contact forever with the source of life (v17); God will be their Comforter (v17b).

REDEMPTION’S DRAMA: ACT 1

#428                                      REDEMPTION’S DRAMA: ACT 1

Scripture  Revelation 6:1-17, NIV                                                                Orig. 1-28-1973 (11-1978)

                                                                                                                                 Rewr. 4-16-1989

Passage:  6  1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,[b] and six pounds[c] of barley for a day’s wages,[d] and do not damage the oil and the wine!”

7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,[e] were killed just as they had been.

12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

Purpose: Leading a study in Revelation for Church Training, in the seals leading to the opening of the great scroll of redemption.

Keywords:        Bible Study      Judgment        Redemption    Christ the Lamb

Timeline/Series:           Revelation      

Introduction

            Recall that the scene for this drama was set in Revelation 4:1, “. . . a door was opened in heaven: . . . voice . . . said, Come up hither and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.”

            What then fell on John’s gaze in this awesome place was a heavenly throne, upon which Majesty was seated.  This supreme One was surrounded by the trappings of royalty.  There were four “living creatures” representing all created order. There were twenty-four elders, spiritual leaders, on seats of honor.

            These 24 chosen ones leave their places of honor and fall down before the throne.  As they do so, John’s attention is drawn to the One on the throne.  5:1  “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book . . . sealed with seven seals.”

            The One on the throne makes no move to open the “book.”  An angel calls for one “who is worthy” to come forward.  The living creatures make no move.  The angel did not do so much as examine the scroll.  The elders, men of greatness from Old Testament and New Testament traditions held their peace and their place.  And John wept, until the elder said, 5:5 “weep not: behold the lion of the tribe of Judah.”  Then, in the midst of all this pageantry, John saw, not a lion, but a “Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth” (5:6).

            Now the drama begins to unfold.  The Lamb, Jesus, who was worshipped (5:12-14), as the Lord had been worshipped (4:10-11), holds in His hands the scroll, the title-deed to the souls of men.  The seals begin to fall, one by one.  After all seven are removed, the book will be opened.

            At the seventh seal, seven angels and seven trumpets are introduced (8:2), causing an almost interminable delay.  Finally, at the end of chapter 11, the seventh angel sounds.  But the drama resumes in chapter 12 with the inclusion of the “red dragon,” and the “plagues.”  Then read chapter 21.  These are the summations of the two parts of the drama.  Here is the climax.

            Mark Tullow was in L.A. during 60s. Group would meet for delayed broadcast of UCLA games.  Returning from store he accidentally heard the score.  He patted TV, “Don’t worry coach, we’re gonna win.”

I.          Scene I: Seal I: Judgment Underway. “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals.  And I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living creatures saying, Come (and see).  And I saw, and beheld a white horse . . . .”

            An important detail.  Accurate translation not “Come and see.”  Best rendering is “Come.”  A word spoken not to John, but to the rider.

            An important diversion.  Best guides to interpretation are from scripture.  See Zechariah 6:1-8 describes interestingly the same four colors of horses, seen as spirits from God going across earth.  Again, II Kings 6:15f Elisha’s young servant “open the young man’s eyes.”  He saw a mountain covered with horses, chariots.

            A message concerning symbolism.  V1 “As it were” KJ, “like” NIV.

            Note the presence of “thunder.”  First in Bible—Exodus 9:23 in the 7tn plague (hail) Judgment.

            Our main concern here is for the white horse and its rider.  First, could this be Christ?  Some commentators say yes.  But the Lamb is opening seals.  He is giving these instructions, not heeding them.  A different representation than found in 19:11 “a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True.”  He wears a diadema.  Here it is a stephanos. 

            Who then is this rider?  Non-millennialists: conquest, militarism, armed strength.  Millennialist sees the anti-Christ just before the seven-year reign. Judgment coming.  We need keep the people of that day in mind.  A symbol for history’s inception.  Man’s great potential.  Warped by egomania.  (Ref. Zechariah 14:13.)  Rome was the power of the day, but they were intimidated by Parthians.  Coins show horse, bow.

II.         Scene II: Seal II: Man’s Lust for Power Becomes War.  “And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come.’  And there went out another horse that was red:  and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth.”

            To view this as symbolism only, then this evil force follows the symbol of good in v1.

            The Continuous-Historical method:  The seven churches were seven ages.  Seals, trumpets, vials represent progressive historical events.  Also believe the world getting better.  For the non-millennialist: war naturally follows the meism of seal one.  Red is the color of shed blood as for bravery, as white depicts the good guy.

            The millennialist sees this red horse as man’s last vain struggle for peace.  Out of WWI: League of Nations.  Out of WWII: United Nations.  Out of Middle East: Camp David Accord.  Reagan White House: Glasnost.

            Judgment is waiting in the wings, and man’s political machinations are opening the door.

III.       Scene III: Seal III: Famine.  “Come.  And lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand (v5/6).”

            Again, there is little difference in interpretation.  Ezekiel 4:16.  Famine follows in the wake of war.  Black is the color of grief, death.

            Famine is depicted spiritually in terms of a dearth of the Holy Spirit, Word.  Matthew 24:7 “And there shall be famine.”  Amos 8:11 “Behold, the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”    Inflation v6/Warlords.  Plowshares:  Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3, Joel 3:10.

IV.       Scene IV: Seal IV: Justice.  “Come. And lo, a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was death and hell followed with him.”

            There was a warning by the prior rider who carried balances.  “He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword,” Matthew 26:52.

            He is given the name “death,” and “hell” follows in his wake.  Man’s natural instinct is aggression, and thus judgment/justice.  Man’s natural instinct is war, and thus judgment/justice.  Man’s natural instinct is for famine, and thus judgment/justice.  Hell.

            We have watched with interest the reports from Valdez, Alaska, on the progress of the oil slick.  It is part of the price we are paying for the way we are choosing to live.  Capsized barge in Bayou Sorrel.  90% water but the other 10% is toxic.  Today is “Save the Earth Day.”  Sunday Magazine had suggestions for taking toxins out of our homes.  Are we interested?  What will it cost?  Is it hard work?  What are others doing?

V.         Scene V: Seal V:  Martyrs.  V9f “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held.”

            The tribulationists see this as the “tribulation” period.  See 7:14.  These are the “saved” during this time.  Though the saved have been removed from the conflict.  The word is proclaimed and yet others are being saved.  There is great persecution of these.

            Others see it only as judgment underway.  Those who endure call for its end.  They are admonished to be patient for some remain as they once were.  White robes testify of their new nature.

            The meaning of “under the altar.”  Reference to Leviticus 4:7, “blood . . . at the bottom of the altar.”  Their blood not wasted, sacrifice to God.  Paul: II Timothy 4:6, “ready to be offered up.”

            The cry of the martyrs.  The cry of the suffering righteous.  “How long?”  Psalm 74:10/79:5.  Barclay R20p14.  A cry for “vengeance.”  “Vindication.”  Psalm 75:8-10 “all the wicked of the earth shall drink it down to . . . dregs.”  Tertullian Concerning Spectacles1 yearns for such vengeance. A number to be completed, to fulfill.  Anglican Prayer Book—“Accomplish the number of Thine elect.”

VI.       Scene VI: Seal VI: V12f “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake.”

            Some see this as a final judgment.

            For others it is a natural disaster in which portents of judgment may be seen.  Exodus 19:18 “Sinai quaked at the approach of the Lord.”  Matthew 27:551f at Christ’s death/Luke 21:25f signs.

            The great day has come: wrath.

            Sin’s impulse is to hide: Adam/Eve.  Man becomes a fugitive: Cain/Jonah.  The wrath evaded is that of the Lamb.  Revelation 5:6—Lamb, 6:16—wrath of the Lamb, 7:14—saved by the Lamb.

1Tertullian, approximately 160-approximately 230. (1953). Tertullian, Apology, De spectaculis. Cambridge, Mass.: London: Harvard University Press; W. Heineman.