Seven and older can stay for the preaching. Six and younger can go. Of course, six and younger can stay if they like, when they want to go in the nursery. Now's the time to go. The rest of us can open our Bibles to the book of Revelation, Chapter 6. Book of Revelation, Chapter 6. We finished Chapter 5 last week, and tonight we're going to start in Chapter 6. The first four seals, the seven seals, Tonight, we'll get to the first four of them. Chapter 6, we'll read, oh, let's see how far down we'll read tonight. Maybe we'll just get down to verse number 8, and then we'll pick up the rest of the chapter, Lord willing, next week. But let's start right now in Revelation 6, verse number 1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red. And power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine and when he had opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth beast say come and see and I looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was death and hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, help me do my best to expound the word of God this evening, and I pray you'll speak to our hearts tonight. If anybody in this room is not saved, I pray you'll save them tonight. I mean, I pray they'll get genuinely saved tonight. And may the Spirit of God move in our midst, and may the Spirit of God fill me and direct my thoughts and words as I preach. May Jesus be exalted and glorified and lifted up and magnified tonight. For it is in His name we ask. Amen. Now, we saw that in Revelation chapter 4 and Revelation chapter 5, there were these four beasts, and I said I prefer calling them four living creatures. In fact, some of the translations do call them four living creatures. And they would be the same four living creatures that are in the book of Ezekiel. And we also notice that in chapter 5, John saw a seven... By the way, these four living creatures are like angelic beings, angels. And we saw last week in chapter 5 that John saw a seven-sealed book in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's do a little bit of reviewing. Chapter 5 and verse 1 is up in heaven. Chapters 4 and 5 are in heaven. And in chapter 5, I saw in the right hand of Him, that's God the Father, I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside. So it's written on both sides. I mentioned last week, it's really like a scroll. It's like a scroll. And it's written on both sides of the scroll. And it's sealed with seven seals. And it's in the right hand of God. And in verse 2, I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? So it's got seven seals. And a strong angel Asked this question, who is worthy to open the book and to lose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much. So John says in verse 4 of chapter 5, he was weeping over this, he wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and read the book, neither to look thereon. And then verse 5, and one of the elders, that's one of the four and twenty elders, sayeth unto me, weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals on it." So here we see that the Lord Jesus is the only one who's able to open up the seals. He's the only one worthy to open the book. He's referred to as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, of course Christ is from the tribe of Judah, and the Root of David, he's descended from King Now, we went over all of that last week. I don't want to spend too much time with it. I just want to kind of review a little bit and lay the foundation for Chapter 6. Here in Chapter 6, the first six seals are open with the resulting catastrophic events occurring here on earth. So, Chapters 4 and 5 are up in heaven. Now, Chapter 6, we're back on earth. And the seals are open in heaven, but we see what happens down on earth. In Revelation 6, the tribulation has now begun, and we are introduced to the four horsemen of the apocalypse. There's four living creatures. The first living creature says, in chapter 6, verse 1, come and see, and then we see the first seal is open. Chapter 6, verse 3, the second living creature says, come and see, and the second seal is open. In chapter 5, the 3rd living creature says, come and see, and the 3rd seal is open. And then in chapter 6, verse 7, the 4th living creature says, come and see, and the 4th seal is open. Tonight, I think we'll just stick to the 4 seals tonight, and Lord willing, next week we'll look at the 5th seal and follow it. So the 7 seals, and we see the first 4 we're going to look at tonight, The six seals are opened here in chapter 6. The seventh seal is opened later. If you go to chapter 8, verse 1, and we open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. So, the six seals are opened in chapter 6. Chapter 7 is what we call parenthetical. What we mean by that is, In Book of Revelation, it's in chronological sequence. But in Chapter 7, God kind of takes the spotlight off of what's going on with the seals being opened and shows us something entirely different. Same time period, it's during the tribulation, but Chapter 7 deals with 144,000 angels, I mean 144,000 servants that are sealed. We see in chapter 7, verse 1, as we say, there are four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, and so on, and then they seal these 144,000 witnesses. Now, I want to get back at the four seals tonight, because when the first four seals are open, the tribulation has begun. Many Bible teachers say the tribulation will begin when the Antichrist makes his peace treaty with Israel. And I concur. That event is, or I should say that prophecy, is referred to in Daniel chapter 9. In Daniel 9.26, the Antichrist is called the Prince that shall come, and he makes a covenant, or we could say a peace treaty, with the nation of Israel. I'll give you my take on that. I believe there's going to continue to be turmoil in the Middle East. There's going to continue to be tension over there between the Muslims and the Israelis. And as you know, as you're surrounded by all of these hostile Muslim nations, as you know, it's very tumultuous over there. The latest being what happened in Libya, and of course there's a lot of turmoil in Syria, and as I mentioned, Iraq and Afghanistan. The whole Middle East is a mess. This so-called Arab Spring, someone said, is really a Muslim tsunami. It's really a mess. You know, some of these Muslim dictators were pushed out of the way, but what's coming along next is worse. We're seeing that in Egypt. and uh... in libya and so on the muslim brotherhood of these muslim fanatics are now going to run the country but anyway uh... it's going to get worse and worse over there in the middle east and i believe what's going to happen according to my understanding of bible prophecy particularly daniel chapter nine is the antichrist will emerge on the scene and he'll have all the answers and uh... he'll make a peace treaty with israel it'll seem like everything's going to be okay now but of course he's a deceiver and he'll deceive israel and he'll deceive the world and then the tribulation will begin. Now, that event, the Antichrist making the peace treaty with Israel, is not mentioned in the book of Revelation. It's only mentioned in Daniel chapter 9. So that covenant that Daniel talks about is not seen here. But here the Antichrist is seen at the very beginning of the tribulation, and I believe that's who is the rider on the white horse. In chapter 6, verse 2, And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer." I believe that rider on the white horse, notice that's the very first seal. It's the beginning of the tribulation now. I believe that rider is none other than the Antichrist. The Antichrist appears going forth conquering and to conquer. He appears when the Lord Jesus Christ opens the first seal. in chapter six, verse one. So the opening of the seven seals ushers in the seven-year tribulation period, and the terrible judgments that are going to come upon the earth after the rapture. I want to make sure we understand that, because some people get nervous. Oh, this sounds frightening. This sounds terrible. Oh, this is going to be horrible. Well, it will be, but not for us, because we'll be out of here by the rapture will take place before these. That's why, if you look at 1 Thessalonians, if you go to 1 Thessalonians, in chapter 4, and the rapture is described in verses 13 and following, and then he gets to verse 18, where Paul comforts one another with these words. Why does Paul say comfort one another? Because we're not going to be here. And it is comforting to know that we'll be raptured out before the tribulation begins. Also look at 2 Thessalonians. I'm sorry, go back to 1 Thessalonians. Something else I want to point out. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 9. 1 Thessalonians 5, 9. For God hath not appointed us, meaning us believers, to wrath. but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in the context here, the wrath is not referring to hell, it's referring to the tribulation. You go back to verse 1, "...for the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write them to you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night, when they shall say, Peace and safety, that sudden destruction shall come upon them." So Paul's talking about the tribulation coming. And then he says in verse 9, God has not appointed us to rap, but to obtain salvation, or deliverance, if he's willing to be raptured out before the tribulation. So the events that we're going to look at tonight, the seven seals, and the Antichrist, and the terrible judgments that are going to come upon this world, I want to make it clear that these events will take place during the tribulation, which will be after the rapture. we're not going to be here. The rapture would take place before chapter 4, verse 1. If you look at chapter 4, verse 1, John said to this, I looked, and behold, the door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. It could be tonight, it could be tomorrow, it could be next week, it could be next year, I don't know, but we're going to hear a voice saying, Come on, Heather! And we're going up, amen? And then the seals will be opened. And then the tribulation will begin. It's significant that the Church, which is so prominent in Revelation chapter 2 and Revelation chapter 3, is not mentioned at all. in the following chapters. You don't see the church mentioned at all in chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, all those chapters which vividly describe the tribulation period. The church is not mentioned. The church is not mentioned at all. The church is not mentioned again until chapter 19, in verses 7 to 9, where we see the church pictured as the bride of Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb. The marriage supper of the Lamb, of course, takes place at the end of the Tribulation. We're going to come back with the Lord at the end of the Tribulation. Now, the marriage of the Church takes place between Revelation chapter 3 and Revelation chapter 4. Now, there's a remarkable similarity between the prophecies of Revelation chapter 6, which we're going to look at tonight, and those given by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Olivet Discourse. If you study the Bible, and maybe you've noticed this already, maybe you haven't, but if you haven't, you might want to check this out, maybe this week when you're having your devotions or your Bible study time. Compare Revelation 6 with Matthew 24. It's amazing how they line up together. It's remarkable. It's basically going over the same processing, the same events. Let me give you some examples how Matthew 24 parallels the events described here in Revelation 6. The order is the same. First, the order is this. War. Revelation 6, verse 3. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was rammed. And power was given to him that sat there on a cape, peace on the earth. So, peace on the earth. War. Alright? Oh, wait a minute. I forgot the very first thing. Revelation 6, verse 2. The Antichrist. Alright, Antichrist comes first, and what happens in the Antichrist? War. He sends a man of peace, but it's not real peace, it's false peace. He brings in war. Alright, the first comes False Christ. Specifically, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. Now look at Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Verse 4. We'll go back to verse 3. Verse 3, the disciples said to the Lord, What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Or you could say, the end of the age. What will be the signs when the second coming of Christ? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. The very first sign, he said, is deception. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. So the very first sign our Lord gave, false Christ. false prophets, deceivers. He says something very similar in verse 11, and many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many. That's the first sign. Now you go to Revelation 6, and the first seal is open, and verse 2, on a white horse comes the Antichrist. So you see the orders are the same. Then you go to Matthew 24, verse 6. Matthew 24, verse 6. This is what we call the Olivet Discourse, as it takes place on the Mount of Olives. In verse 3, he sat upon the Mount of Olives. We call it the Olivet Discourse. Verse 6, and ye shall hear wars, and rumors of wars. Alright, now go to Revelation chapter 6, and verse 3, the second seal is open. Verse 4, a horse, a rider on a red horse. What does the red signify? Blood. Bloodshed. War. He's taking peace from the earth. Right? That they should kill one another. All right, third thing we see in the Oliver Discourse is famine. Matthew 24, verse number 7. Matthew 24, verse number 7. For nations shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines. Famines. Go to Revelation, chapter 6, verse 5, the third seal's open. And there's a rider on a black horse and a pair of bouncers in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four feet say, measure the wheat for a penny. Measure the wheat for a penny. A guy can buy no times. A penny was like a day's wages. Work all day, you just get a little bit of meat. Work all day, you get a loaf of bread. See, that's not so bad. At least I get a loaf of bread. What about your own bills? How do you put gas in the car? How are you going to pay the rent for your mortgage? How are you going to pay your insurance or whatever? If you're working all day long, all you get is a loaf of bread. No, it's going to be famine. It's going to be a scarcity of food. That's what happens, by the way, after war comes famine. Next sign. Martyrdom. Matthew 24, verse 9. Then they shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all natures for my name's sake. Well, look at the next seal. The fourth seal. I'm sorry, I keep on skipping some of these things. Death. I forgot about it. The fourth seal is death. The fifth seal is martyrdom. Look at death, it's in there too. The fourth seal. Come and see, verse 8. I looked, behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was death. All right, Matthew 24, verse 7. A nation shall rise against nations, a kingdom against a kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. What happens when you have pestilence and earthquakes? Death. Death. And then we see death and hell. Revelation 6, 8. Then it comes to martyrdom. Jesus said many are going to be betrayed and many are going to be delivered up to be afflicted and killed and be hated. Now look at the fifth seal, Revelation 6, verse 9. When he opened up 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 had. Revelation 6.10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little while, a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that it should be killed, that it should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. So we have martyrs, many people being martyred. In fact, this verse indicates more to come. More martyrdom to come. This is until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were. Now, so look at the sequence, the order. False Christ in both Revelation 6 and Matthew 24. War, same way. Famine and then death. Then martyrdom. How about this one? The sun darkened The moon darkening and stars falling from the sky. I remember a while back, Mr. Camping said, we're already in the tribulation. How did we miss all this? I don't know how I missed that. Sun darkening, moon darkening, stars falling from the sky. I don't know how I missed that one. But look at Matthew 24, verse 29. Matthew 24, verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heaven shall be shaken." Now look at what Revelation 6 says, where the sixth seal is open. in verse number 12, And I beheld, when he opened the sixth seal, lo, there was great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree catcheth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. It's absurd to say we're in the tribulation. If every island was moved out of its place, we're living on an island. We would have noticed it, amen? Long Island would have started moving around. Or it's Manhattan Island. Or Staten Island. Or all the other islands around here. We'd notice it. I think so. Regis would probably come popling down, right? Sure. So we see these interesting parallels between the sealed judgments And what our Lord said would happen in the Olivet Discourse. How about this one? A time of divine judgment. Look at what we see in Revelation 6, when the sixth seal is opened. Go down to verse number 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens of the rocks and the mountains. And they said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Notice that. The great day of God's wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand? And in fact, it's called the wrath of the Lamb. Unusual term. Now go to what our Lord said in Matthew 24 and verse number 32. Matthew 24, verse 32. Now learn a parable of a fig tree, when its branches yet tender, and put it forth leaves, you know that summer's nigh. So likewise ye, when you shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. And then he gives all these descriptions of the coming judgment. He said it's going to be like the days of Noah. What happened in the days of Noah? Well, God sent a flood upon the whole world, destroyed the whole world. And they said it's going to become like the days of Lot. What happened in the days of Lot? Well, you don't have the days of Lot. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, and so on. So we see here that It's going to be tremendous judgments coming. Now, looking at the seven seals, it's more than I can handle in one message, so tonight we're going to limit ourselves to the first four seals, and that would mean the four riders, the four horsemen. of the apocalypse they're often referred to. We're going to look at them tonight. The first seal, let's spend a few minutes with the first seal. The first seal is the most important, so I'll probably spend more time with the first one, and then not as much time with the second, third, and fourth. You say, why is the first one most important? Well, at the beginning. Now the tribulations begin. So the first one is very important, very significant. First, the first one is the Antichrist. You cannot understand Bible prophecy without understanding a little bit about the Antichrist. In fact, I believe with all my heart, our world right now is being prepared for the Antichrist. I believe that. My wife and I, yesterday, went out and got a bite to eat. We went to this little Mexican place near our house and just got a quick bite to eat. And on the wall was a big TV screen with some MTV or some kind of foolishness. Now, fortunately, it was very low. The volume was down, so it didn't give me indigestion. I could eat without getting sick. Just looking at it. I was trying to look, but I couldn't help but look. And it was some nasty looking rock singer. He had real long hair. He had tattoos all over. He was screaming and playing guitar. And I don't know how many people you think were there. Thousands. Thousands of young people. Some university in Florida. They were all going like this. And they were going like this. And going like that. And he had that crowd in his hand. And just singing some kind of crazy rock song. And they were all under his control. Me and my wife. I said to my wife. I said to my wife. you see when the anti-christ comes, how he's going to be able to control people like that, right? Here's some mangy rock singer. I mean, the kind of guy you want to kick and put him by the curb like some old mangy dog. And he's got these people all under his control. They're like, they're screaming, they're sobbing, they're crying, they're holding cameras up, they're going crazy. When the anti-christ comes along, he'll have them right back, you see? That's just one example. I remember a few years back, Ross Perot ran for president. I said, that guy's a cook. I mean, he looks like he escaped from Creedmoor. And yet, that guy, that guy got such a huge following. I mean, oh, Ross Perot, he's got all... How about Ron Paul? That guy, he looks like he stumbled out of Creedmoor too, that guy. And yet, he's got such followers. They're devoted to them. If people don't follow people like Russ Perot, or Ron Paul, or Donald Trump, how about that guy? With the weird hair doing his, you know? The Donald, you know? I mean, these guys get such large followings. Can you imagine when the Antichrist comes along? Sure. People are being programmed for it right now. They're being prepared for it right now. They're being misinformed through television. They're getting miseducated in our schools. They get their brains scrambled through rock music and TV and all this other foolishness? Yeah! Well, let's look at the first seal. The first seal. Alright. And when the Lamb opened... I'm sorry, verse... chapter 6, verse 1. And I saw, when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, come and see. So, as the first seal is open, John saw in his vision here, in his vision he sees and he hears the noise of thunder. The noise of thunder symbolizes a coming storm, but in this case, the storm of judgment. John Waldburg said this on a warm, by the way, if you want to get a good book on Revelation, I suppose John Waldburg should be the best. I've got a lot of books on Revelation, read many of them, and his, to me, seems to be the best all around. But he says, on a warm summer day, one can hear thunder in the distance, even though the sun is still shining where he is. The approaching dark clouds and the roar of the thunder presage the beginning of the storm. Now again, let me repeat, the book of Revelation is in chronological sequence. And the events given here indicate a succession of events. The six seals unfold successively in a chronological pattern. Out of the seventh seal will come the seven trumpets. And I think I mentioned that in a previous message. And out of the seventh trumpet will come the seven vials of the wrath of God. You with me? Seven seals. Seals come first, then trumpets, then vials. Some people say the seven vials, seven bowls. And some of the different versions say that. But in any event, first come the seven seals. And out of the seven seals, which we'll see in chapter 8, verse 1, out of the seven seals comes the seven trumpets. And out of the seven trumpets comes the seven vials. And they're in chronological sequence. Again, I'll quote Dr. Waldborn. He says, different actors are prominent namely the lamb opening the seal, the angels sounding the trumpets, and God himself pouring out the vials. Actually, however, the seven seals comprehend the whole, as all the trumpets and all the vials are comprehended in the seventh seal. The seventh seal book, therefore, is the comprehensive program of God culminating in the second coming of Christ. That's a good summary of what we're talking about tonight. Again, I'll repeat that last statement. The seven-sealed book, therefore, is the comprehensive program of God culminating in the second coming of Christ. Remember, because in that seventh seal are the seven trumpets. And in that seventh trumpet are the seven vials. So you could say the seven seal book is the comprehensive program of God leading up to the second coming of Christ. Now in verse two, John sees a white horse on which a man is said carrying a bow. The rider on the white horse, to whom a crown is given, is pictured as going forth conquering and to conquer. In biblical times, it was customary for a conqueror to ride in triumph seated on a white horse. Some commentaries, some Bible teachers, especially those who follow what they call a historical method of interpretation, believe that the rider on the white horse, here in Revelation 6 verse 2, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I don't believe that at all. I believe it's the anti-Christ. It's a counterfeit of Christ. But I want to let you know, some people hold that view. I don't think they're right. Now, if you study Revelation and read different books and listen to different people, you'll find there's a lot of debate over some of these things, a difference of opinion, different interpretations. And that's okay. I'll give you the right interpretation. Amen? Well, preacher, what if you're wrong? Well, I'll find out when I get into heaven, amen? But I'm quite sure I'm not wrong. I believe this is the Antichrist. I don't think it's the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be seen coming on his horse until Revelation 19, at the end of the Tribulation. Now, I want to say this, too. Some of these people who take the historical method... Now, the historical method, by the way, the biggest problem with the historical method of interpretation, when you're talking about the book of Revelation, is they see the book of Revelation as history, not prophecy. That's why they call it the historical method, and I believe it's a mistake to interpret it that way. But anyway, some who hold this position do regard these prophecies as future, and they interpret Revelation chapter 6, verse 2, as a picture of Christ as the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Which, again, we see that picture of Him in Revelation 19. And we're not going to read Revelation 19 now, we'll have to wait until we get there later on, but Revelation 19 verse 11 and following shows the Lord Jesus coming back on his white horses and so on. I believe the correct interpretation is that the rider on the white horse is the prince that shall come, as Daniel calls him in chapter 9 verse 26, who will head up the revived Roman Empire and ultimately become a world dictator, a world ruler. And again, I think the world's being prepared for that. I believe that. And I'll tell you why in a few minutes. I'll give you some more reasons. But I believe in all my heart the world is yearning for the Antichrist to come. They might not express it in those words. They might say, oh, I can't wait for the Antichrist. They might be a little confused in their thinking. Very confused. But they are looking for the Antichrist, though they don't realize he's the Antichrist. To be deceived, you see. The person doesn't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He'll fall for the Antichrist. That's the bottom line. So the rider on the white horse appears at the beginning of the tribulation, what we call the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. He is not the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a counterfeit. And that's why he's the Antichrist. He's the counterfeit of all that Christ is or claims to be. And that's why he's seen as the role of a conqueror, riding on a white horse. Now remember what Jesus said in the Gospel of John, chapter 5, and verse 43. Jesus said this, and I quote, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. That's why the world is being prepared for the Antichrist. They don't want Jesus, they'll take the Antichrist. We go out to the neighborhood and get our tracks, knock on doors, and preach the gospel. Most people, I shouldn't say most, but many people, I guess it would be better, many people slam the door in our faces. But I believe with all my heart, when the Antichrist comes, they'll be jumping for joy. That's just a fact. They don't want the Lord Jesus Christ. But when the Antichrist comes, they'll say, now that's the kind of guy, I admire him. He's talking like it is. You see, he's going to solve the world's problems. Boy, he can really speak, huh? That guy's got something going. You see, they're going to be impressed with him. And I get it. People are being prepared for that right now. I'll tell you, there's many reasons I can get for that. You know the main reason why people are being prepared for it? Biblical ignorance. Biblical literacy. People don't know the Bible. It is shocking to me how little people understand the Scripture. I mean, I'm talking about even churchgoing people. Yeah, I saw something in this morning's paper. I couldn't believe it. There's a church only a couple of miles from here in Rosedale, meeting at a public school. The pastor had people come up to the front and start making out in the church. I'll show you the article. I should have cut it out and brought it. My wife saw it. he had them smooching, and they were making out for five minutes straight. And then he had the members all clap who was the best. He goes, this couple here. This couple here. And the one that got the most applause, they won the contest. I'm not making this up. It happened right here in Rosedale. Now, do you believe that church is getting the right kind of doctrine? Do you think that preacher's preaching the gospel over there? What kind of foolishness? They call it the winner church. subject which alludes to me and the pastor defended that he goes well we have to be imaginative and creative nowadays what? how do people out there smooching and making out? even the person who wrote the article in the paper was a little skeptical and said this doesn't sound like christianity to me well this is not christianity carnality is what it is but this is what's going on so people who go to these kind of churches they don't know anything about the bible I meet people like that all the time. You go to church? Oh yeah, I go to Allen A and B, or I go to CCC, or I go to ABC, Mickey Mouse. They all go to church. And I say, are you saved? What does that mean? Are you born again? What does that mean? Do you believe Jesus Christ died for your sins? Well, what? They don't know anything about the gospel. I'm like that. It happens all the time. Sure. Well, the Antichrist is coming. And the world is being set up to receive him. People are being prepared for that. He's referred to in the book of Revelation as the beast. That's one of the many reasons why I prefer saying the four beasts are the four living creatures. And I went over all that already back in Revelation 4, so I'm not going to get into it now. Revelation 13, 4 says they worship the beast, saying, who is like unto the beast? And who was able to make war with him? Do you see that? Who's like him? Nobody can take his place. He's the greatest, you see? People are being prepared. Being prepared for beast worship. Beast worship. Again, I'll quote that. Revelation 13, 4. They worshipped the beast. Not just they admired the beast. Not just they were impressed with the beast. They worshipped the beast. They worshipped the Antichrist. The same people today, you couldn't get them into a church like this. If you dragged them with a rope, they won't come. But when the Antichrist comes, they'll worship him. Sad, but that's what the Bible says. Furthermore, that same scripture, Revelation 13, verse 4, says this, And they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast. And they worshipped the beast. Now, who's the dragon? the devil. So they're going to worship the Antichrist, and they're going to worship the devil. In fact, just yesterday, the ladies were out knocking on doors. Some guy was yelling at them, go away, I'm a Satan worshipper. He was yelling at them. You say, well, you think he meant it? I don't know, but still a pretty terrible thing to say, right? Now, the rider on the white horse cannot be the Lord Jesus Christ. Because his return to earth will not bring in war, and famine, and strife. Right? So we know it can't be the Lord. War, and strife, and famine will not follow his return. When he returns, he's setting up his kingdom. It's going to be a beautiful kingdom. We call the money a kingdom. You see the difference? Now, by comparing Revelation 6 to with the prophecies of the book of Daniel, particularly Daniel chapter 7 verse 8, and Daniel chapter 7 verse 20, and Daniel chapter 8 verse 9, and Daniel chapter 11 verses 36 to 43, we can see from these prophecies that the Antichrist is going to conquer the world by warfare. He's going to be a man of war, though he claims to be a man of peace. coming in on his white horse. He's really going to deceive everybody and be a man of warfare. The first rider, the Antichrist, just like the three other riders, is a personification of the judgment that's to come. The judgment of God to be set upon the earth. Today the world is not only being set up in preparation for the Antichrist, the world is being set up and prepared for the battle of Armageddon. It's coming. And sinners are being programmed to receive the Antichrist. They're being programmed by the politicians, being programmed by the United Nations, being programmed through the schools, being programmed through these liberal churches, and so on. Let me give you some quotes to prove what I'm saying. This is a quote from a man named P.H. Bach. He was the premier of Belgium. So he's a leader, a premier of Belgium. He's not just some, you know, clown who writes for the New York Times. This is a picture. He said this, the truth is that the method of international committees has failed. What we need is a person, someone of the highest order or of great experience, of great authority, of wide influence, of great energy. Let him come, and let him come quickly. either a civilian or a military man, no matter what his nationality, who will cut all the red tape, shove out of the way all the committees, wake up all the people, and galvanize all governments into action. Let him come quickly. This man we need, and for whom we wait, will take charge of the defense of the West. Once more I say, it is not too late, but it is high time. Doesn't it sound like he's just just waiting for the Antichrist to appear. Notice that this Mr. Spock said his coming Superman will take charge of the defense of the West. According to the Book of Daniel, the Antichrist will emerge as the head of the revived Roman Empire, what they call to now the European Union, the United States of Europe. Let me give you some more quotes to try to illustrate my point, and then we'll move on. One of the leaders of the European Common Market, a man by the name of Henry Speck, kind of funny getting a quote from Spock and Speck, he said this, we don't need another committee. We want a man of stature to hold the allegiance of the people and to lift us up out of the economic morass we have gotten ourselves into. Send us a man, whether he be God or a devil, send him. Wow! Would you agree the world's being prepared for the Antichrist? Send us this great leader. We don't care if he's God or a devil. The historian A.J. Toynbee said this, by forcing on mankind more and more lethal weapons, at the same time making the whole world more and more interdependent economically, Technology has brought mankind to such a degree of distress that we are ripe for deifying any new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace." Now again, A. J. Toynbee is a very well-respected historian. That's quite a statement coming from him. Notice, the world is ripe for deifying any new Caesar who might succeed in giving the world unity and peace. Unity and peace are what the world is looking for today, and the Antichrist will give them exactly what they want. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 3 says, For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. Now I spent a lot of time with the first beast, or I should say the first seal and the rider on the white horse, who's the Antichrist, known as the beast in the book of Revelation, because that's the most important. But the second seal is also very important. Let's look at the second seal now. Chapter 6, verse 3, And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast, or the second living creature, say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red. And Paul was given a hint that sat there on it, take peace in the earth, that they should kill one another, and it was given unto him a great sword. So notice immediately after the end of that crisis comes what happens next. War. Bloodshed. Killing. John observes the second horse, described as red, and bearing a rider to whom it is given to take peace in the earth, and the course meant to kill one another. The second rider, you notice, is given a great sword. Sword always refers to judgment, and death, and so on. So the first seal signifies a period of peace, though it's obviously a false peace. But when the second seal is broken, warfare breaks out, and peace is taken from the world. Again, I mean, if I take on things, and I want to preface my remarks by acknowledging that when we talk about prophecy, there's a little bit of speculation. No one can be dogmatic about it. But the way I look at it is, right after the tribulation begins, right after the rapture, and the tribulation begins, the Antichrist will make a peace treaty. And for a short period of time, there will be peace on earth. And people are being deceived by the Antichrist. Oh, this is what we've been waiting for. But then the war will come. So how long? I don't know. The Bible doesn't say. But I don't think it will take too long, because the whole tribulation period is only seven years. So it could be within months, or even sooner than that. But we see the second rider signifies war. Jesus, of course, said that days leading up to a second coming would be characterized by wars and rumors of wars. Matthew 24, verse 6. And as I said earlier, if you compare Revelation 6 with Matthew 24, they line up perfectly. Every day we read in the paper about wars and rumors of wars. Turmoil in Israel, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, all over the world. This constant tension among nations and these ambitions of dangerous men will culminate in the Battle of Armageddon. The other day, President Obama announced he'll deploy 2,500 Marines in Australia. I think that's a good move on his part. I agree with that. Maybe he should send more, maybe. I don't know. But our Asian allies, of course, are in danger, and they're very happy that we're helping them. But there were some critical comments from China and Indonesia. They don't like that. Of course, the big problem over there is China. Over a billion strong, and by the way, China's referred to in the Book of Revelation. We'll get to that in future weeks as we get to that point. But they're a dangerous enemy. China has been a great menace to our allies over in Asia. Indonesia, of course, is the largest Muslim country in the world. The president said this, and I quote, America intends to project power and deter threats to peace in that region. And again, I'm thankful for that. Now, think about how things could rapidly change after the rapture, though. Just think how things could change. And let me say this, too. The hope of permanent peace by the United Nations and other human organizations is doomed to failure. Just not going to happen. There'll be no peace on earth until the Prince of Peace comes. You can mark that down. All right, quickly, the third seal. Chapter 6, verse 5. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, or the third living creature say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four feet say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. So in verses five and six, the aftermath of war is seen and a great famine is revealed. Famine always follows war. John sees a black horse and one sitting on the horse with a pair of balances, or you could say a pair of scales. in his hand. That indicates a careful rationing of food. And a voice is heard in the midst of the four living creatures saying this, a measure of wheat for a penny! And three measures of barley for a penny! This indicates a worldwide famine. And I believe that it's probably affecting the United States of America. I do believe so. A penny, literally a denarius, was a day's wages when John wrote the Book of Revelation. You might remember what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20, verse 2. He said this, and when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny, or a denarius, a day, he sent them into his vineyard. Now, why would he pay them a penny a day? That was the average pay back in those days. So, applying this to today is saying it's going to take a whole day's pay just to buy a little bit of barley. Or like I said earlier, a loaf of bread. That's it. Or for some of you youngsters, work all day for a happy meal. That's it. Without a toy. No toys. Things will be pretty tough. So you say, well, at least you got a meal. One meal? Most people are used to three meals a day, right? Hello? Not to mention your other expenses. Forget about car payments, or insurance on the car, or gasoline in the car, or these exorbitant tolls driving back and forth. Remember the road? Yeah. All these other, clothes, tuition, and maybe go on and on, all the other expenses. But you're going to spend all your money just for one meal. So it's going to be a time of famine. Revelation 6, verse 6 is saying it's going to cost a day's wages for a measure of wheat. In other words, a man will have to work hard all day for a loaf of bread or for a bowl of barley soup. One can only imagine how difficult it's going to be to pay for the other necessities of life. At the end of Revelation 6, 6 it says this, this is in verse 2, look at the end of verse 6. And see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. What does that mean? I'll tell you what I think it means. Working-class people are not going to be able to make ends meet. Working-class people are going to find it extremely difficult to make ends meet. The hard-working family man will find it extremely difficult to put food on the table for his wife and children. But the rich, they'll still have their oil and their wine. The rich will still have their luxury items and their wine. While I think this indicates the rich will not be affected right away in the beginning of the tribulation. After all, we're only looking at the third seal right now. When you get down to the sixth seal, look what happens. Verse 12. Well, to save time, go to verse 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, every bondman, every free man, hid themselves in the dens and the rocks and the mountains. So when you get down to the to the sixth seal, down here in verse 15, the rich are going to be hiding out in the caves, hiding out in the mountains, destitute and crying to the mountains and rocks, And hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the great day of the... Hide us from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath is coming. Who shall be able to stand?" And the answer, of course, is no one. So, my understanding is, when the third seal is open, they're going to say, don't touch the oil and the wine. They'll still be doing okay. But by the time you get to the sixth seal, no more oil, no more wine. No more food. No more money. No more Cadillac car. No more yacht. And they're going to be hiding out in the caves, in the mountains, crying it out. Can you imagine saying to the mountains and the rocks, Fall on us! So that's what's going to happen. So let's look at the fourth shield. We have a few minutes left. The fourth shield. Verse number seven. Went up to the fourth shield. I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, is what it is. for people to say i think and i don't think a lot of help or anything that's not it was death so what happens here anti-christ war that's not all look at that and help all of them and i was given up to them over the fourth part of the earth i think about that twenty five percent of the earth one quarter of the earth to kill with sword with hunger, people starving to death, and with death and with the beasts of the earth. What does that mean, the beasts of the earth? People being torn apart by wild beasts? Well, that's not a horrible way to die, eh? The pale horse is actually a yellowish green. If you go to the original Greek text and study it out in the Word, it's a yellowish green, a sickly color of death. The pale horse is a divine It's divine judgment. It's a dramatic picture of God's judgment upon the world. Death is the rider on the fourth horse, and hell is following him. Death is for the body of the unsaved, and hell is where their spirit goes. The Bible says that both body and soul will be reunited to be cast into the lake of fire. We'll get to that when we get to Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 and 15. According to the Bible, what we see here in verse 8, one-fourth of the world's population will be wiped out by warfare, murder, hunger, famine, pestilence, plagues, disease. I think maybe something worse than AIDS is going to come out. Who knows? With all this immorality going on, maybe something worse than AIDS will come along. That's what this is saying here. One quarter of the world's population is going to be wiped out. Now you think about that. That's nearly two billion people. Wild beasts are going to roam around unrestrained at this time and will attack and kill anyone who gets in their way. So it says, wild and with the beasts of the earth. The end of verse eight. I believe, I don't want to try to get too nasty tonight, but I believe this could include vermin such as rats. since they will be widespread with all the poverty and famine, diseases and pestilence. There'll probably be a lot of rodents running around, rats. Can you imagine people being killed that way? I tell you, if you're not saved tonight, you better get saved. It's not a very pretty picture. Our Lord said in Matthew 24, verse 8, that this is only the beginning of sorrows. In other words, it's going to get worse. It's going to get worse. It'll be so bad that in Revelation 9, verse 6, it says, men shall seek death and shall not find it. It'll be so bad they're going to want to die. They won't be able to die. Don't talk to Kevorkian around to help him. John of Walvoord said, if one-fourth of the world population is destroyed at the fourth seal, It would represent the greatest destruction of human life ever recorded in history. The population of the human race in Noah's day undoubtedly was far less than the figure here cited as dying. In other words, the population was smaller in Noah's day. More and more, far more people will die in the tribulation that died when God wiped out the entire earth in Noah's day. You think about that. If this prophecy were to be fulfilled next year or the year after, it would mean 1,750,000,000 people would die. Because right now we have 7,000,000,000 people in this world. These prophecies are terrible. They're awful beyond any words. Yet you know and I know most worldly people ignore them or scoff at them. How many times have we heard people say, oh, you believe that scary stuff in the book of Revelation? Ha, ha, ha. They won't be laughing and scoffing when these things are fulfilled. No, they won't be laughing then. It'll be a period without precedent in its character and extent. Far worse than World War I and World War II combined, and all the other world wars and major wars. Of course, there's only two world wars. There's only other major wars. In our lifetime, we've seen so many. I'm all about the caution of Vietnam. Some of you remember the Korean War. If you add them all up together, it's going to be far worse. Again, I'll quote from Walport. From this introduction to the judgments portrayed in the book of Revelation, it should be evident that the world is facing a time of trouble such as man has never known before. The dream of the optimist for a world becoming increasingly better scientifically, intellectually, morally and religiously does not fit the pattern of God's prophetic word. The ultimate triumph of God is assured, and as the book of Revelation makes plain, Christ will reign over the earth and bring in a kingdom of peace and righteousness after the time of trouble has run its course. First, however, there must be this awful time of the Great Tribulation. In other words, When Christ comes back, he's going to set up a kingdom of peace. It'll be a time of peace and prosperity, what we call the Millennial Kingdom. It'll be a wonderful time of peace and righteousness. That's another reason why I believe the rider on the white horse cannot be the Lord Jesus, because when that rider comes, peace doesn't follow, but war, and famine, and death, and horrible things follow. So that's the Antichrist, the counterfeit. When Christ comes to set up his kingdom, it will be a wonderful time. But before Christ sets up his kingdom, are these seven years of tribulation. People are complaining now. The economy's in bad shape. And there's a lot of turmoil in this world. And the people are bickering and complaining and griping. It's going to be all so much worse when these prophecies are fulfilled. Again, if you're here tonight and you're not saved, I wouldn't put it off any longer. I'd make sure tonight you're right with God and you're saved. Heavenly Father, we're thankful for the opportunity to preach tonight. What an amazing, amazing prophecy we have here at Revelation 6, when the seals are opened, and the tribulation begins, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse come. Oh, it's a frightening picture, awful beyond words, but I pray that some good will come out of it. Namely, that we'll be more burdened to reach people with the gospel, warn them to flee from the wrath that comes. And if there's anybody here in our church that's not saved, they'll get saved, get this thing settled before it's too late.