Temple Baptist Church - 11-22-2020
Revelation 6:12-17
Introduction:
A. The Seven Sealed Book of the Judgments of God is now being opened by THE Judge, Christ Jesus.
Revelation 5:5-7 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (6) And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (7) And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
1. The First Seal – The White Horse – Antichrist. The Great Pretender who is GIVEN a crown by the masses of unsaved.
2. The Second Seal – The Red Horse – Dictatorship and Socialism. Big government with uncontrolled power and little people with no power.
3. The Third Seal – The Black Horse – The Famine. Socialism is “Robin Hood Economics: rob from the rich who have excelled in business through hard work and give to the poor who sit at home and live off the government.
4. The Fourth Seal – The Pale Horse – Death and Hell. Socialism ALWAYS maligns or destroys the voices and people who oppose its policies.
5. The Fifth Seal – The Souls of the Martyrs – Those who held to the Word of God and the Testimony of Christ Jesus. As the world hated Christ and tries to destroy His people, Antichrist hates Christ and tries to destroy His people.
B. Will the Judge of the earth do right? As the Angel of the Lord approached Sodom, where Lot chose to live, Abraham bargained with God over the impending judgment. In his bargaining with the Lord, Abraham asked a question that he already knew the answer to:
1) Abraham’s Question – Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
2) The Martyred Saints Question – 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?
C. The Judge of all the earth will do right!
Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. (17) I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
1. The Place of Judgment speaks of the final judgment of the unrighteous. Found temporally hell individually for those who are lost but have died and in temporally but corporately in the Tribulation Period for those who are lost but remain. But also, individually, and eternally at the Great White Throne.
2. The Place of the Righteous speaks of the final judgment of their iniquity. Found in the precious blood of Christ for those who have died in the Lord and are in Paradise (to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord) zwith Him but also for those who live in the Tribulation Period and have washed their garments in the Blood of the Lamb.
D. As these seals begin to open, one of the four beasts says, “Come and see.”
Revelation 6:1 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.
1. It is important to the Judge of all the earth that God’s people see that He has not forgotten them and that every sin and situation on earth will be ultimately dealt with. God has not forgotten! I want to look at a couple of important things found in the Sixth Seal. We find in this Seal a great contrast.
2. A Great Earthquake and Signs in the heavens. The Words earthquake and earthquakes are found 19x in 16 verses in your King James Bible.
a) First Mention: Earthquakes are not generally a sign for the saved as the Lord told Elijah that He was not found in the wind or the earthquake or the fire but in a still small inner voice.
1 Kings 19:11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
b) The Earthquake is the judgment of God upon the wicked. Isaiah 29:6 Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
c) There are other notable mentions of earthquakes that I will not take the time do deal with but with simply reference them for your information.
1) The Great Earthquake during Uzziah’s reign and the prophecy of Isaiah. Amos 1:1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
(This Earthquake was referenced in Zachariah’s prophecy of the Second Coming of Christ at the end of Jacob’s Trouble or the Tribulation Period.)
Zechariah 14:1-9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. (2) For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. (3) Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. (4) And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. (5) And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (6) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: (7) But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. (8) And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. (9) And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.
2) Earthquakes, a Sign of the end-time and impending judgment of God. Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
3) Earthquake, the Judgment for sin found in the death of Christ on the cross. Matthew 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
4) Earthquake at the Resurrection of Christ. Matthew 28:2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
5) Earthquake of Deliverance. Acts 16:25-26 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (26) And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
6) Earthquakes of Judgement during the Tribulation Period – Revelation, chapters 6,8,11, and 16.
E. Now, the Great Earthquake of the Sixth Seal. It shows a couple of things:
1. The Lord is still in control of His Creation. The world has accepted the Antichrist and his kingdom, but the Lord shows Antichrist and his followers that He is still and always will be in control!
a) Power over the Elements. God sends an earthquake so powerful that the sun is darkened, and the moon looks like blood because of the dust it causes.
Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
b) Power over the Heavens. I take these verses literally. God created these heavenly lights and placed the stars in place and can cause them to fall to the earth and the heavens depart as a scroll when it is rolled together.
Revelation 6:13-14a And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. (14) And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together …
Matthew 24:29-31 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 heavens shall be shaken: (30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (31) And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
c) Power over the Earth. As the Lord created the earth, He can also rearrange the topography of the earth at His command.
Psalms 33:8-9 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. (9) For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Revelation 6:14b … and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
2. The Lord is still in control over Men.
a) The Tribulation Saints resting in Peace.
Job 3:17 There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest.
Hebrews 4:9-10 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. (10) For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
b) The Tribulation Sinners restless without Peace.
Isaiah 48:22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
3. The Question is asked, “Who shall be able to stand?”
Revelation 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
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