Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20010513.htm

REVELATION: CALL TO HOLINESS IN VIEW OF PROPHECY
Part III: The Things Hereafter'
"D. The Seal Judgments: God's Vengeance On Believers' Persecutors"
(Revelation 6:1-17)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

When we consider the persecutions Christians both have faced and currently face for their faith, one can become distraught over the sheer intensity and size of it all:

(1) Under the city of Rome, there are between 1.75 and 4 million graves in the Christian catacombes, graves of believers who were fed to Rome's lions for sport in the Roman colliseum, cf. Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s. v. "Catacombs."

(2) Lest we think such suffering should be delegated to the back pages of ancient history, keep in mind that reputable authorities believe it is likely that more Christians have have died for their faith in the 20th century alone than in all the previous centuries of Church History combined, cf. James & Marti Hefley, By Their Blood, p. 637!

(3) Persecution hits believers we know right here in America:

(a) One Christian woman who attended our Church before she went to be with the Lord shared with me that her extended family would ridicule and mock her on Sundays when she returned from Church here at Nepaug because she attended a Gospel-preaching Church like ours!

(b) Another believer is constantly ridiculed by a relative for her faith in Christ when the relative drives her to and from our Church. Just to show up on our Church's steps is itself a trial for this believer!

(c) I have had people on occasion call here at the Church and ask for counsel. When I respond I would be willing to talk with them, they would then mock, saying things like, "I need to know if I will go to hell for putting a cat in the microwave and turning the oven on!" Though I am a pastor, there is no fear of shame in this, either!

(d) A cousin I have once took a Biology course in high school in which the teacher promoted evolution. On one test paper, my cousin answered all the questions correctly, but at the bottom of the paper wrote: "I personally do not believe in evolution!" For writing what he did there, he received an "F" on the test though he had correctly answered all the test questions!

When we consider the persecutions believers have endured over the centuries, or even what we OURSELVES experience, how can we find the motivation to keep STRONG in our faith?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "As a believer, I have been wronged for my FAITH in school, business, government, etc. I know GOD must be the One to even' the score, but WHEN will it COME? I need encouragement here!"
  1. When Christ gave His revelation to John, he suffered governmental banishment on Patmos for his Christian faith and ministry, 1:9.
  2. In accord with John's persecution, Jesus gave the vision of this Revelation to bless John and all such servants of God, Rev. 1:1-3.
  3. Hence, the opening of the Revelation 6 seals encourage persecuted believers in revealing God's future VENGEANCE in their behalf!
    1. The opening of the seals by Christ expose horsemen riding different colored horses, Revelation 6:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 etc.
    2. From John's Hebrew perspective, these horsemen recalled Zechariah 1:7-15 where a picture of horsemen on colored horses appear to signify God's anger against unjust Gentile oppression of His people:
      1. Zechariah 1:10 identifies the horsemen as angelic beings in God's forces who were on a military reconnaissance patrol of the earth.
      2. What these horsemen found were Gentile nations still unfairly oppressing God's people after Israel's disciplining captivity was supposed to be over, Zechariah 1:12, 15 NIV!
    3. Well, we know from 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 Christ's judgments on the world will take vengeance upon the world's persecuting Christians!
    4. Summary: Revelation 6:1-17 then details the vengeance of God on the unsaved world for its persecution of believers through the ages!
  4. Detailing the judgments of this divine vengeance, we understand the ISSUES God will address to our CURRENT encouragement:
    1. Seal One - God wants us to know He will allot the pressures of cold war on the world for its oppressive posturing against believers, 6:1-2:
      1. The first seal contains a rider on a white, conqueror's horse who wears a crown with a threatening bow in his hand.
      2. This pictures cold war, and likely pictures antichrist's gain of power via the threat of war, Bible Know. Com., N.T., p. 947.
      3. Hence, God will revenge the oppressive political and cultural pressures the world exerted in persecuting His people via cold war.
    2. Seal Two - God wants us to know He will allot the pressure of open warfare on the world for its wars against His people, Rev. 6:3-4.
      1. The second seal revealed a horseman on a red horse who had power to destroy peace by bringing warfare and bloodshed, 6:3-4.
      2. God will thus revenge the oppression of war and bloodshed against believers down through the ages by immersing the world into war.
    3. Seal Three - God wants us to know He will give the world financial and food shortages for its oppressing believers by like pressures, 6:5f.
      1. The third seal's horseman rides a black horse associated with financial oppression and famine, 6:5-6. [A "penny" (KJV) was a denarius, a laborer's daily wage in that day, so one's income will earn him one meal's staples per day, Ryr. St. B., KJV, ftn. to 6:6.]
      2. God will thus revenge the believer's being financially and even nutritionally oppressed by persecutors, and that by such shortages!
    4. Seal Four - God wants us to know He will cause 25% of the world's population to die by these plagues, Rev. 6:7-8. The fourth seal has a rider on a pale horse, the color of death. [Note how animals slay men in vengeance for Christians being fed to lions in John's era, cf. 6:8b!]
    5. Seal Five - God wants us to know He will make His wrath excel even more by allowing antichrist's forces to martyr Tribulation saints at the time of this demonstration of this wrath, Rev. 6:9-11. The fifth seal reveals how the souls of martyred Tribulation Period saints of the time will call out for vengeance to the Father; this will give cause for God's wrath to have even greater expression upon these persecutors!
    6. Seal Six - God wants us to know He will cause huge, fearful changes in nature to terrify and intimidate the powerful rulers who have used their powers to terrify and intimidate His people for their faith, Rev. 6:12-17. The sixth seal doesn't even mention a horseman, but goes directly to descriptions of terrifying, intimidating natural catastrophes which will terrify and intimidate ruling oppressors of His people. [We recall when God's prophets hid in caves from wicked Jezebel in 1 Kings 18:4, and Christians in John's era hid in catacombs under Rome in the era around the Apostle John's writing of the Revelation!]
Application: To ESCAPE the future world Tribulation, (1) trust in Christ as Savior from sin, Jn. 3:16; 2 Thess. 2:8-10. (2) As a believer, if we suffer persecution for our faith in any form, we must (a) NOT give up our STAND, but (b) take heart from the prophecy of God's coming vengeance in Revelation 6ff, and (c) joyfully endure in hope of joyful rewards, 2 Peter 4:12-14!

Lesson: God wants us to know that all the persecutions we believers face for our FAITH will be AVENGED by Christ in RIGHTEOUSNESS in the coming Great Tribulation. Thus, we must endure the pain without giving up our stand in hope of rewards, 2 Peter 4:12-14! >

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Last Sunday, Ray Baldwin in our church handed me a copy of the April, 2000 issue of Automatic Machining, a trade magazine he receives at his machine tooling company, Cobal Tool Inc. It has quite an article from the editor, Don Wood on dealing with persecution.

Mr. Wood writes about how Jesus handled unjust persecution, saying: "Come, then, to a hill outside Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. A Man who did nothing but good is being executed in the most painful way that Roman ingenuity can devise. Having already suffered an unjust trial, beatings and public humiliation, Jesus of Nazareth is nailed on a cross to die as slowly as is possible. If anyone ever had a right to feel misused it was He. Moreover, it was in His power to call down the wrath of Heaven to wipe His tormenters off the face of the earth.

Instead, our Lord looked down and said, Father, forgive them for they know now what they do.'

. . . But the rest of the story is that three days later, early in the morning, He came out of the grave and walked among His disciples in a Resurrection scene which would not have occurred had He taken revenge into His own hands during the crucifixion. Think on it . . . the best way to handle resentment is to pray for those who misuse us and leave the getting-even to God." (cf. 1 Peter 2:21-23)



God wants us to know that our FACING persecution WELL is VERY IMPORTANT to HIM: HE will recompense both the persecuted believer who suffers persecution with upright responses, and that with GREAT REWARD, Matthew 5:11-12. He will also deal out GREAT JUDGMENT to the persecuting parties in the end, Revelation 6:1-17; 20:11-15!