His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): The third and fourth seal judgments break out in a Christ rejecting world. That's next on His Perfect Life.

Guest (Male): This is His perfect love. The word goes out. It's what real love looks like in truth and grace. This is His perfect love.

Guest (Male): Imagine one quarter of the world's population perishing in a short amount of time. That's hard to grasp, but it will become a reality during the tribulation. Today on His Perfect Love, we turn back to Revelation chapter 6 and the seal judgments. We've come to seals three and four. The third seal will bring famine, more severe than we've ever seen before, and the fourth seal will be widespread death. All of this is part of God's plan to bring an end to evil once and for all. Here's Pastor Matt Vanderven with all the details.

Guest (Male): This is His perfect love.

Matt VanderVen: So, Revelation chapter 6, I'm going to pick up in reading here because we've gone through the first seal and second seal. If you weren't with us last week, I invite you to listen to the uh teaching on the website, on the radio, or you can grab the church app on one of the Play Stores and please catch up and join us and make sure you're up to date where we're at. Beautiful time as we go through these together. But this morning, I'd like to spend time going through the third seal and fourth seal. And then I'm going to do something a little different than what I normally do.

I'm going to kind of break out into instead of a parenthetical chapter, I'm going to break out into like a parenthetical topical teaching in regards to the examination of the church today, and I mean worldwide. And some of that's important because we are in the last of the last days. Everybody understand that? I think we all do. We're in the last of the last days. Some of the things going on. But because of that, it's really important for current events. We we also need to be wise and gentle. The Holy Spirit says wise as serpents, gentle as doves.

And so we need to be aware of these things. Jesus went to great lengths to make sure we had his apocalypsis. That's the Greek word for unveiling. That what he's showing us here this morning so that we don't need to be fearful, so that we don't need to have anxiety or worry, but we could know the things that will be. And I truly believe as 1 Thessalonians 5 teaches, the church is not given unto this wrath. This is judgment and punishment to a Christ rejecting world, and it's all part of God's plan to bring an end to wickedness, to evil.

Basically, to put things back in its right order of a theocracy. That's how this all began. We call them dispensations. I'll talk a little bit about that theologically in a moment when we get there should we have time today. So, chapter 6, I'm going to begin in verse 5 and like I said, we'll go through the third and fourth seal this morning. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come and see. So, I looked and behold a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat, a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius. Do not harm the oil and the wine. You know, as we've been studying this, and I'll pick up here in verse 7 in a moment, remember the things that Jesus has wanted us to see, the rider of the horse, the characteristics of that, also the color of the horse. It's all communicating something interpretively to us so that we would have understanding. And these supernatural beings, there's four creatures, they're helping with the interpretation.

Is it come and see? Talking to the Apostle John. John comes over, he looks at it, and then gives John meaning and understanding to some of these things because I imagine like most of us, John is probably overstimulated with all the senses and everything going on as he's seeing these visions. And then verse 7, when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come and see. So, I looked and behold a pale horse, and on the name of him who sat on it was death. And Hades followed behind him or with him.

And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth. Please underline that in your Bibles. Very important. This is not something usurped or taken. This is given um to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Very very important here because this all goes back lest we misunderstand these first four seals, the four horsemen. The first seal, if you remember, I believe is the Antichrist as we see it because of the language. But lest we forget and think this is all the work of Satan or an Antichrist or evil, we we we'd be wrong in that.

God uses that, God allows that, but verse 16 in chapter 6 makes it very clear. And he said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath, okay, has come. Who He asks a question, who is able to stand? So, do you see what he's trying to point out here? He's trying to draw our attention to the fact that the author of all of this is Jesus Christ himself. The wrath is of the lamb.

The lamb of God is Jesus. Lest we be confused and start thinking these horsemen are are are of a different nature or it's evil or some No, no. This is God judging as a just judge the wickedness and evil of this world. And these things needs be. So, the third seal, like I mentioned, it's a black horse. We see that here. The rider of the black horse, he he holds a balance, a a a scale in his hand. You and I don't typically use those anymore, but to draw your attention back to the time of ancient, you would have had scales that kind of did this.

Uh we don't I don't know about you. Maybe you have some in your house, but uh most of us use like a measuring thing that's digital and you kind of put something on it. It's got grams, cups, the whole thing, and that's how we measure. But interestingly, this horse and this rider is giving so he's showing us that he's measuring out. Very important because he's talking about famine. He's giving us understanding to the depth and the severity of the famine and death that's coming, okay? So, he wants us to see this. And then John hears this voice from heaven and he helps this uh you know, helps John the Apostle to understand this supernatural being that comes to him.

He says, a quart of a wheat, a quart of wheat for a denarius, three quarts of barley for a denarius. He says, do not harm the oil and the wine. So, again, what we're to understand here, what he's trying to point out to us is that the rider of the black horse is going to cause famine. Food shortages are going to come upon the earth like we have never ever seen in human history. Let me help you understand how I know that because a denarius in the times of ancient was a day's wage. One day's wage was a denarius.

So, you'd work a whole day, put in 10, 12, 14 hours a day, and at the end of that day, you were paid daily back then. At the end of the day, you would be given a denarius. Now, you could transform that denarius into a quart of wheat. What I mean by that is you could pay someone and they would then give you a quart of wheat and they would give you a portion of barley, okay? Now, this is important. When we think about that because today we are so accustomed to going down to the piggly wiggly and we just pay out some denarius and we get chicken and we get beef and we get vegetables and we get rice and we get a And I want you to think about it right now.

You might work or your wife or husband might work and you go out and much of the money you are able to bring back in, you can feed a family of two, four, maybe even six, eight people depending on the size of your family with two people working. Many people today can do that, okay? What this is saying, if you read right between the lines of what Jesus is telling us is coming, this is going to be so severe that one person is going to go out to work and the amount of money that they're going to have is going to be only transacting that they are going to buy enough for just themselves.

So, if you have two people in the family working and the rest are are are you know, unable to work at that age, that means that two people are going to go work, but they are only going to get two denari. They're going to come home and two denari can only feed a small amount. By the way, a minimal amount. Very minimal amount to two people. Well, what's going to happen with families of four, six, and eight? You're talking about massive starvation on a global scale in a way we have never seen. Never seen. And then he says also here he gives us some additional detail.

He talks about barley, right? So, he was Many of us just think of that as a grain today, but he says a quart of wheat. So, you know what a quart is. It's not It's not a whole lot. And three quarts of barley. So, you're talking about barley. Barley is normally what you would use in times of ancient to feed animals. Only people that consumed barley as humans would have been the very very poor. And when I say poor, I mean unlike anything we've even seen in regards to poverty. I 'm talking a level of poverty that even in third world nations, we don't see where you might be eating once every five or so days.

And you 're going to have literally a few uh quarts of barley. It's It's It's not enough to really sustain you. Obviously, you'd have you know, water, but even the water is going to get contaminated later on. But it was predominantly to feed animals, and it was eaten by the poor. Then it says oil and wine. Well, in those days of ancient, oil and wine were used as luxuries in some capacity, but also they were used in cooking. So, don't touch the oil and wine. In other words, it's it's off the table. It's not even a possibility.

There There's no amount of money. People are not going to have the wherewithal even in their cooking, the way we think about cooking and I mean the Cooking Channel and all the oh do this and you know, the cupcakes and the Nothing. Nothing like that. That That That's all going to cease. None of that's even going to be possibility. And And the scales that are carried by the black horses uh this this black horse here, this rider represents a measuring system that will give again a person barely enough to eat for a full day's labor.

If you equate this and I I tried to do the math and I I I hope I've done it right, we've just experienced an enormous inflation. Our food and the cost of our food and items have gone up in the last four or five, even six years. And we've looked at this increasing in many families today. I know even within the church or outside, you know, you from a benevolence request and different things we're hearing about you know, it's tough to make ends meet. People are really struggling just to buy groceries. It's It's not about uh you know, oh let's get the the filet mignon.

I'm talking people just trying to survive, just being able to have enough money to be able to eat. According to this, if I've looked at the math correctly from a quart um of wheat and barley, that means that the prices from what we understand today Just think about when you go out to the supermarket, you buy a carton of eggs, dozen eggs, or you buy a gallon of milk. We're talking about an eight times eight to 10 times price increase. So, if you're paying $6, $4 for uh a dozen eggs, do the math on that.

10 times that price. Just let that sink in for a moment. You know, and if you had a family, how It's incredible. Clearly, the famine and the conditions showcased here by the third horseman of the apocalypse is not sustainable. And that's exactly what Christ is trying to show us and point us out. Then there's the fourth seal, verse 7. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come and see. So, I looked and behold a pale horse, and the name of him who sat on it was death.

The name of that horse, his rider is called Death. And he says and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them Please circle that word them. I'll come back to that in a moment. Given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, and death. And interestingly here, something new by the beasts or and by the beasts of the earth. So, even the animal kingdom is going to be in somehow this. So, think about people that have chickens or coops or maybe you have uh you know, animals, oxen, cows, different things.

Even the animal kingdom is going to rebel in some capacity or begin to be uh turning on what we would think of domesticated am, turning on their owners that even the beasts of the earth It says by. So, circle that by the beasts of the earth. So, even things as we understand it today, you know, uh maybe you'd have sheep or maybe you'd have cows or something, they would no longer want to you know, be domesticated. They're going to turn, you know. Who knows what that means, but they're going to start consuming humans in some capacity because they're going to be part of this.

Uh we're not told a a whole tremendous amount of detail here. But what he's teaching us and telling us here is that Jesus is opening Remember, this is all progressive. He opens one seal at a time. So, on this fourth seal, he's opened three already, and this is done in a way to show mercy, right? Not all seven at once or it wouldn't be a a soul left alive if he did that with all the um seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments. Nobody would be alive left on the earth. So, he's doing this all in a hope that people will wake up.

The unbelievers, those that are not saved, their eyes will be illuminated. They'll no longer be captive to uh materialism, all the things of this earth. There'll be no such thing as an atheist in the great tribulation. I promise you that. Just like you've heard in war, there are no atheists in foxholes. You've heard that saying. Well, I assure you there's no atheists in the great tribulation. And you know how I know that? Look at verse 16. And said to the mountains and the rocks, who's this? The people that are the kings of the earth, great men, rich men, commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man.

He says they hid themselves in caves in the rocks in the mountains. That was verse 15. And he said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the faith of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. Everybody alive at that time knows he just covered the whole gamut of the human population in that. Everybody's going to know it's Jesus that's pouring this judgment out for a Christ rejecting world. There's nobody that's walking around going, I don't know if God is real. Please see that with me.

They know it's the wrath, judgment, punishment of the lamb, Jesus Christ. Nobody's confused about this. There will be no such thing as an atheist in the great tribulation. I just want us all to understand that. So, he opens this this seal and he unleashes this pale green horse. And again, the the rider The rider's name is Death, right? The name Death is is very indicative that the horse and its rider plan to bring death, right? This is confirmed by the text because he says and Hades followed him. Now, Hades is the place of the dead in scripture.

We understand that. It's the grave. It's the place of dead. Confirming that the rider of the pale green horse will cause many on earth to die. As a matter of fact, many means a quarter of the population. Now, the word pale is actually more accurately in translation the word ashen, a s h e n. You and I don't really use that, but if you were to look at a Greek manuscript, you might see the translation of that word in the Greek if you can read the Greek. It's colores. It's the word we get our chlorophyll, the word chlorophyll in English.

Think of a plant, chlorophyll kind of green, pale, yellowish. It's where that word is derived. So, this yellowish green horse is the color of what? A corpse. That's also intended to be communicated to us. Not so much for us because we're going to be in the great tribulation. We will not. But for us to communicate to those that have scales upon their eyes so that they can see what's coming, so that they would simply just call out to Jesus Christ. No one has to go through the great tribulation. It's always been a matter of choice.

Well, death is the natural result of war. We saw that in the first seal and second seal, pestilence, famine and and and Hades obviously representing the grave here. He says a full one quarter of the earth's population will perish from the four horsemen which showcases why Jesus said in Matthew 24:21 that the trial or the time of the tribulation uh will be something that the world has not been seen at this point. Hold your finger here. Turning your Bibles to Matthew 24, please. I just like to look at that together. I like to list to look at verse 21.

You can read Matthew, Mark, you can even look at Luke's Gospel. All three Gospels will go through and parallel, okay? Uh it's Matthew obviously 24 where we're at right now in verse 21, but you could look at Mark 13:3 through uh 13. You could look at Luke chapter 21 verse um 7 through 12. All of this describes exactly what you and I are reading in the first four seals here and more, obviously and more that's going to happen. But I bring this to your attention because there's no we we don't lack information. We don't lack data.

God Jesus is very uh descriptive of what's coming and what's so descriptive if we were to read Matthew 24 from the beginning to this point is he tells us something that literally causes me to get the chicken skin or the goose bumps, which is this idea of He says, this is the beginning. This is just the beginning. This isn't even him pouring out yet what's coming in the trumpet and bowl judgments or the latter three of the seal judgments. This is sort of him getting warmed up to just say, wake up. Wake up, creation. I'm here and a theocracy is coming.

I am going to set all things right again and there will be the king on the throne. And that king is not going to be a man made king, but it's going to be the king Jesus. And he's trying to as powerfully and gently in some ways I know you think, oh boy, a quarter of the population. Please understand, he could have wiped the whole population out. He told us that not even one soul would survive. His goal is to can have people call out to Jesus even during the tribulation and get saved. But look with me at Matthew chapter 24 verse 21.

This is Jesus's words. He said, for then there will be a great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time. Well, what about the flood? Nothing compared to this. No, nor ever shall be. Jesus Christ does not exaggerate. Jesus Christ is literal. He's not grammatically challenged. And he says on to say, look at this in verse 22. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. In other words, for those that get saved in the great tribulation, for their sake because of martyrdom and what have you, that the time would be shortened, but if there wasn't, there wouldn't be a single soul alive, not not even a remnant if it wasn't God allowing in the great tribulation this progressive judgment that's coming, okay?

Again, you and I are not going to be here. We're going to be in heaven looking down from the mezzanines if you're born again. That's what he's teaching and confirming to us here. So, this fourth horse and rider are really I believe the natural culmination of the first three. They They were given authority over the fourth of the earth to kill with the sword uh with famine, with uh pestilence and wild beasts of the earth. And what's worth again is this is only the beginning of the judgments that's going to come upon the earth. And And And however, I I just want to because this is so sober mining and I don't want anybody to be afraid here this morning or those that are listening on the radio, those that are listening online, um God very clearly describes as we get to Revelation chapter 7 that that there are those that if you all find yourself in the great tribulation because you're not a believer right now, that you will be able to escape the rest of it by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, but it will result in martyrdom.

You will be martyred. And more importantly, how about this? Today is the day of salvation. Ask Jesus Christ to come in your heart and believe upon him today, and nobody needs to go through the great tribulation. I think that's the best news ever. Amen. Hallelujah. So, it it's only through Christ's death and resurrection that deliverance can be found. But for those who reject Christ, there there is no deliverance. Only certain judgment which is the truth of what the writer of Hebrews tried to tell us when you look at Hebrews chapter 2 verse 3 and I'll just read it to you.

How shall we escape? He said that. How shall we escape? Talking to those that may not know Christ as Lord and Savior. If we neglect such a great salvation, he understood. Even before the book of Revelation was written in 80 95, Hebrews would have been written sometime in the '60s or '50s, maybe even 7 AD. Even before Revelation, he it was known. Thessalonians were asking the question, Paul, what's going to happen next? Chapter 4, there's going to be a harpazo, a parousia, right? A coming of Jesus Christ again in the in uh touching down. That's the parousia that'll be at the end of the great tribulation, but there's going to be a harpazo before it.

That's that word in the Greek that you see right in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 right around verse 16 through 20 and he says it's caught up. That word caught is harpazo. If you if you've ever looked for that word rapture, you'd have to go to a Latin Vulgate for rapturo for the word that actually we get our English word rapture from, but the Greek word is harpazo and it's right there and it's in the same passage. Did you ever notice that? Parousia, harpazo so that nobody can come Oh, he's talking about the same thing. Oh, no, he's not.

He used two different Greek words to talk very clearly that the church And then he says in 1 Thessalonians 5, he uses that term again, is not given unto wrath, exactly what we just read in Revelation 6:16. He's making it very clear so nobody misunderstands God here. And even the writer of Hebrews said, how we shall we escape if we neglect? That word neglect such a great salvation. Neglect the gift that has been poured out freely.

Guest (Male): This is His perfect love.

Guest (Male): That is Pastor Matt Vanderven on His Perfect Love. We're going through Revelation at the present time, and I'll remind you that you can hear the program again when you visit His Perfect Love dot org. That's His Perfect Love dot org. We're also at oneplace.com and look for us wherever you get your podcasts. We also offer a mobile app. This is a great way to take Pastor Matt's teachings with you on the go. You can learn more about the mobile app then start your download when you visit our website, His Perfect Love dot org. We can't thank you enough for your prayers for this ministry.

Please pray that as God's word goes forth, that lives will be greatly impacted for the glory of God and people would grow by his grace and love or even enter into a relationship with him. And if you have a prayer request, please send that our way. You can email that to us through our website at His Perfect Love dot org. If you live in the Mechanicsburg, PA area, we hope you'll stop by for a visit. Just like you hear on the radio, Pastor Matt teaches verse by verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg, West Shore.

Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek gathering on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. We're located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to ccharrisburg.org for more information. Are you looking for a Christian school that offers a quality education and a nurturing environment for your children? If so, you might be interested in Calvary Chapel Christian Academy, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Harrisburg, West Shore. Calvary Chapel Christian Academy is a non-denominational Christian school that serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The academy's mission is to provide a Christ-centered education that equips students to love God, love others, and serve the world.

The academy offers a rigorous academic curriculum, a variety of extracurricular activities, and a caring and supportive staff. The academy is located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. For more information, please visit our website at ccharrisburg.org/academy. That's ccharrisburg.org/academy. And then join us next time when Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Revelation here on His Perfect Love.

Guest (Male): This is His perfect love.

Guest (Male): His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg, West Shore.

Guest (Male): Let the word go out. The perfect love of Christ to shine. Our lives will shout. I am my beloved's and He is mine. Every heart is in His hands. We'll never stop reaching out. This is His perfect love. The word goes out. This is what real love looks like in truth and grace. This is His perfect love.