HopeLives365

Mark Finley: He indeed is coming soon. The sky is receded as a scroll as it would be rolled up. Every mountain and island would be moved out of their places. God powerfully is speaking to His people.

Guest (Female): This is Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: Revelation's 7 Seals. Enjoy, and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with Hope Lives 365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: Our studies in the book of Revelation focus every chapter on the centrality of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the heart of the book of Revelation. And again, I want to repeat it for emphasis: wherever you start in the book of Revelation, you have to end with Jesus.

The word Revelation comes from the Greek word "apokalypsis." It means an unveiling or an unsealing. The book of Revelation is not a sealed book; indeed, it is an open book. It's a book that reveals Jesus' plans to unmask Satan's deceptions at the end time, and it reveals how Jesus wants to get us through these last days of earth's history.

We go now in our studies in Revelation to Revelation chapter six. In Revelation chapter six, you have the four horsemen. Many people have tried to interpret those horsemen in different ways. But remember, the master key of Revelation is found in Revelation chapter one. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.

But then also, you come down to Revelation chapter one and look there in the first chapter and it says, verse 19, "Write the things which you have seen, the things that are, and the things that will take place after this." The book of Revelation is closely linked to the book of Daniel. The prophecies of Daniel always begin where the prophet is, and they take you from that period of time down the stream of time.

The same with the prophecies of Revelation. If you look at the seven churches, they begin with Ephesus, the church of the apostles, and they move through a historical sequence and take you down to the end, the church of the judgment hour, Laodicea. In Revelation chapter six, you have the same principle.

The church is a historical continuum, and in Revelation chapter six, in the vision of the four horsemen and the subsequent seals in Revelation six, we find the impact of the church on the world and the world on the church. So let's jump right into it. We go to Revelation six, starting with verse one. It says, "Now I saw as the Lamb opened one of the seals."

Now, who is opening the seals? The Lamb. And who is the Lamb? It's, of course, Jesus. So if Jesus is opening the seals, I certainly am interested in what Jesus has to say, aren't you? We have the first of the four horsemen. The first of these seals are opened. He says, "I saw the Lamb open one of the seals."

Jesus is opening the seals of history. Jesus Christ Himself is revealing to us how history is going to play out. And if Jesus is opening these seals, it means the seals are not closed; they are open. And if Jesus is opening the seals—these seals of history—I want to know what Jesus has to say about the church, about history, and about the impact of the church on history.

Now we continue. I heard one of the living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." Jesus opened the seals, and when the angelic voices say, "Come and see," that's worth studying, isn't it? Somebody says, "Well, you can't understand it." If Jesus is opening it, you can understand it. If the angels are saying, "Come and see," they're not saying, "Come and be blinded," but "Come and see."

First, we look, and what do we see? The scripture tells us. John says, "I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given him, and he went out conquering and to conquer." Now throughout the New Testament, white is a symbol of apostolic purity. And throughout the New Testament, a rider on a horse symbolizes conquest.

Remember that the prophecies always begin with where the prophet is. In the first century, God gives to John a picture of conquest—a rider on a white horse. He gives him a picture of that rider with a bow shooting the arrows of God's word into the hearts of the heathen, and they die to the old life and they come alive to a new life.

The first horse galloping across the sky in white represents the apostolic New Testament church. It represents a powerful, pure faith that invades marketplaces, universities, and Caesar's household. The white horse period was approximately from AD 31 to AD 100. It was the days of Jesus, the days of the apostles in the first century.

In fact, one secular Roman writer, writing about Christianity, said this. He said, "You Christians are everywhere. You're in our armies, you're in our navies, you're in our universities, you're in our marketplaces. There's no place we can go that you're not there." In fact, Paul, writing in the book of Philippians about the journey in a Roman dungeon, writes about Christians in the household of Caesar.

In Caesar's own house, the gospel found lodgment, and there many were converted. The apostle Paul talks about the gospel in his day going to the entire known world. In fact, you can read about it in Colossians chapter one. In the Bible, it says in Acts chapter five verse 14, "Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of men and women."

The church historian Eusebius puts it this way: "We saw the most marvelous inspiration of force which was truly divine." That's the force of early Christianity, the white horse period. "And the readiness of those who had faith in the Christ of God," Eusebius says. "Immediately, when one sentence had been pronounced upon one group, another party came forth before the tribunal acknowledging themselves Christians."

This is Eusebius talking. "And remaining unmoved before the dangers and torments of all kind. Indeed, they received with joy the final sentence of death." Eusebius said the Christian church in the first century was a powerful force because it had a pure faith. Now, the devil knew he had to do something about that.

Even at death, these Christians, according to Eusebius, sang hymns and offered thanksgiving to the God of all until their last breath. Colossians one verse 23, the apostle Paul says, "If indeed you continue in faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, have become a minister."

The gospel was so powerful in the New Testament time that it was preached by the unction of the Holy Spirit to the entire then-known world. The devil had to do something. So the Lamb opens the second seal, showing the second phase of church history. A red horse gallops across the sky.

Revelation six verse four: "Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, that people should kill one another; and there was given a great sword." The devil saw the church growing rapidly. The red horse period with the rider with the sword, the devil raised up a period of pagan persecution.

Christians were thrown to the lions; they were burned at the stake; they were massacred with the sword. The devil wanted to destroy the church. But when these Christians were being burned, they still sang praises to God. When they were thrown to lions at the Colosseum, they sang praises to God. The blood-stained faith carried the banner of truth high.

The devil knew he had to do something else. You see, this red horse period did not shake their faith at all. I think of one of the experiences that took place in early Christianity. There was a very faithful Christian in the city of Smyrna called Polycarp. Polycarp was one of the leaders of the church there.

And the Roman government was quite tolerable of a variety of religions. But it required at least once a year loyalty to Rome by burning incense to Caesar or incense to the Roman emperor. The Roman emperor claimed that many of these Roman emperors claimed that they were God himself. So the Christians refused to burn incense to Caesar because it would have been worshipping a false God. They refused to burn incense to the emperors.

Polycarp refused. He was eating supper one night; the Roman soldiers came into his home and they said, "We're taking you to the marketplace to burn incense." He said, "I can't do that." He said, "But you sit down and eat." They ate; he prayed. But then he was taken to the marketplace. And as he went to the marketplace, the great statues of the pagan Roman gods were there.

And the crowd cried out, "This is the father of the Christians! This is the father of the Christians!" The proconsul in the marketplace said, "Just take a little incense and burn it to Caesar and you can save your life." He said, "God has preserved me for 86 years and He has done me no wrong. How can I betray Him now?" And Polycarp was burned at the stake. But as one Christian, Tertullian, said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the gospel." The more they destroy us, the more we grow. And Christianity did grow in that period of persecution.

Guest (Female): You're listening to Hope Lives 365. We'll be right back. And if you like what you're hearing, we invite you to check out our website, hopelives365.com. There you can find many ministry resources, encouraging messages, and even a link to our Hope Lives 365 YouTube ministry. And of course, an opportunity to sow into this valuable ministry. Find out more by going to hopelives365.com. That's hopelives365.com. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.

Mark Finley: You have the red horse of persecution. So the devil could not destroy the church through persecution, so he tried to do that through the black horse period. Where the apostolic faith was represented in a white horse that went forth with a bow to shoot evil and destroy it through the word of God, the black horse period is a compromised faith in which the church and state unite, and the balance scales say they're weighed in the balances and found wanting.

What predictions does the Bible give that there would be a compromise of faith? Well, the apostle Paul met with the early Christian leaders in Acts chapter 20 verse eight, and he said, "Therefore take heed to yourself and to all the flock among you, which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers." So he's meeting with the leading Christian pastors of his day.

"Shepherd the church of God that He's purchased with His own blood." Then he says, "I know that after my departure, that's after my death," Paul's saying, "savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." The savage wolf period was the period of Roman persecution and the black horse blood-stained period. And it was this period of tremendous persecution in the red horse period.

And now we follow that with the black horse period that's still blood-stained, where Satan tried to destroy the church. But the apostle goes on, "But also from among yourselves." Now, who's he talking to here? Christian leaders. We read about it. "The shepherds of the flock," he says. But he says, "Among yourselves, among these leaders, there'll arise up those among you speaking perverse things."

What's perverse? Is perverse straight or crooked? It's crooked, right? They will rise up speaking crooked things, not in harmony with the word of God but in harmony with the world, to draw away disciples after themselves. We would expect Satan in the black horse period, after the period of persecution, to try to bring pagan doctrines into the church.

Pagans would be baptized and brought into the church in large numbers. Large church edifices would take the place of the simplicity of God's word. So the outer ornaments of faith would be substituted for the inner power of the gospel. The Bible says in Daniel eight verse 12 that during this period—it's the very same period that Daniel's speaking about—that truth would be cast down to the ground.

Where would the truth be cast down to the ground? Now in the book, *The Development of Christian Doctrine*, page 371, probably the greatest historian of the early church, speaking of Eusebius, we're told by Eusebius that Constantine—who was Constantine? He was the Roman emperor. When did he live? AD 313 to AD 321. In that period is when he reigned.

So Constantine, in order to recommend—I'm quoting now the *Development of Christian Doctrine*, page 372—Constantine, in order to recommend the new religion to the heathen—what's the new religion? It's Christianity. What does he do? He transfers, according to Eusebius, he transfers into Christianity the outward ornaments to which they had been accustomed in their own.

The pagans were accustomed to certain ways of worship. When these pagans became Christians, in an attempt to make them feel comfortable, they would have a god called Jupiter, for example. Back in those early centuries, Constantine and the church leaders united. They wanted unity in the empire. They then brought pagan images and renamed these pagan images in the church with saints' names.

The pagans were worshipping on a day called the Sunday, the day of the sun. You bring that into the church, rename it in honor of the resurrection, contrary to what the Bible says about the Sabbath. Salvation through Christ would be replaced by the requirements of the church with all the duties and obligations of the church.

Church prelates would take the place of Jesus. Salvation by grace would be substituted by the teachings of men. The commandments of God given to Moses on Mount Sinai that God wrote with His own finger on tables of stone, those commandments would be compromised to make Christianity more attractive to the pagans.

Exodus 20 verse four says, "You shall not make yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that's in heaven above, or that's in earth beneath, or that's in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them." Why did God forbid image worship? For this reason: if you worship the image, you limit your concept of who God is.

Your concept of God is limited to the smallness of the image. Secondly, if you worship the image, the image can receive the glory that's only due to God alone. So He says, "Thou shalt not make any image, thou shalt not bow down to them." But there's a problem: the pagans are all worshipping images. So what do you do?

Well, come with me to some of these great churches throughout the medieval period. And what do you see images of? You see images of the saints, whether it's St. Peter or James or Mary, whatever it is. But if I ask you, "What's the origin of that statue? Where did it come from?" You might not be able to tell me. But many of those statues came directly from pagan culture.

You can take Jupiter and rename it Peter; you can take any of those pagan statues and bring them into the church. You see, what's happening is this: there would be an attempt, according to the book of Daniel, to change the times and laws. If you go back to the earliest apostolic creed—I want to read to you from the earliest apostolic creed.

It's found in book seven, page two of the apostles' early writings. This is the earliest version of the apostles' creed we have. It says, "Oh Lord Almighty, Thou hast created the world by Jesus Christ and hast appointed the Sabbath in memory thereof." So the earliest apostle creed talks about the Sabbath in the memory of creation.

But when the pagans are coming into the church and they're worshipping on the Sun Day, what happens? Many of these practices are brought into the church. And this is taking place in the black horse period. In a book called *The History of the Eastern Church*, page 124, this well-known fact of history is brought out.

And I'm simply quoting *The History of the Eastern Church*. It says, "The retention of the old pagan name *Dies Solis*, that is, the day of the sun, for Sunday is in a great measure owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects, making Christianity more like paganism."

See, we find this all through early church history. The white horse period represents apostolic purity, a church that's powerful, that goes out to witness to the world and moves the world. The red horse period, the church is moving the world, so the blood of the martyrs is being shed, but the church is continuing to grow.

Satan has to do something. He brings pagans into the church. He waters down the Christian faith. Images come in. Earthly priests take the place of the priesthood of Jesus. Big churches come in; candles are lit. There are pilgrimages on the knees. The simple gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace of Christ is compromised. And, of course, Sabbath is compromised during this period too.

But then John looks and he sees what? A pale horse right across the sky. Revelation six verse eight: "And I beheld and looked, and behold a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed him." Now, the rider is death. By the time you come to this period we call the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages, why?

Because church and state unite. The church has lost its spiritual power. Power was given over them, over a fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, the Bible says, by the beasts of the earth. When church and state united after AD 538 during the Dark Ages—600, 700, 800, 900—under this period, if you didn't go along with the church-state union, you could be persecuted.

There was indeed death and the earth; many were killed with the sword. If you go to history, there's an amazing statement in church history by James Wharing, century two, chapter two, section seven. His book talks about Christianity in the Dark Ages. And it says, "Christianity became an established religion in the Roman Empire and took the place of paganism."

Now listen to what this historian says. "Christianity as it existed in the Dark Ages might be termed baptized paganism." Here you have a secular historian talking about Christianity as what? Baptized paganism. That's the fourth seal, a dead faith from the pure apostolic faith where churches were empowered and powerful, to the dead faith because it compromised the integrity of God's word.

It becomes baptized paganism. But now the fifth seal opens. Remember, during the period of the fourth seal, church and state united; God's people are being persecuted. But now the fifth seal opens. There's the cry of the martyrs. Revelation six verse nine and 10: "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held."

And they cried with a loud voice saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Now there are a lot of questions about this verse we need to look at. When we look at the text, we need to ask some questions. What is the altar? Who are the souls under the altar?

The text said that I saw the souls under the altar and I saw them crying out, "How long, O Lord, before You avenge our death?" What is the altar? Who are the souls under the altar? Let's go back to the ancient sanctuary of Israel. In ancient Israel, if somebody sinned, they brought their sacrifice to the sanctuary.

A lamb or one of the animals without spot or blemish, and they placed that animal upon the altar. So what's the altar? The altar is the place where the sacrifice is slain. So if you have these martyrs who are under the altar, the altar is the place where they're slain. So what's the altar? It's the earth. Just like the lamb was sacrificed on the altar, so these martyrs were sacrificed on the earth.

Now, what does it mean that their souls are crying out? In the Bible, a soul is often described as not some immortal entity that leaves the body, but as a living person. Genesis two verse seven says, "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul or a living being."

God creates man out of the dust of the ground, breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living person. So the soul is not some kind of immortal entity that lives outside the body. The Bible does not say God put a soul in man; it says he was a living soul. The souls under the altar are the lives of the martyrs who were martyred here on earth, but their voices still symbolically cry out for God's justice to be done.

It's not that they are literally under the altar crying out, but the altar is the earth; the souls represent their lives. And the testimony of their lives through the centuries says to God, "Avenge our blood." Can you think of anybody else whose blood is crying out that says, "God, avenge our blood"? Just like Abel's blood cried out for God's vengeance.

Remember, God came and He said to Cain, "Abel's blood cries out from the earth." Just like Abel's blood cries out for God's vengeance upon evil, so the blood of the martyrs cries out for the reign of God's justice. So we come to the fifth seal; it's opened. And here we see all those who were persecuted down through history saying, "Look, you've had the white horse period of apostolic purity from AD 31 to 100."

"You've had the red horse period with the martyrs for the faith of God. They were slain, but hang on to God's word from 100 to AD 313. You have the black horse period of compromise from AD 313 during the days of Constantine to AD 538. You have the Dark Ages of 1260 years from 538 to 1798."

And God's judgment hour is about ready to strike. Revelation 14 verse seven says, "The hour of God's judgment is come." And crying out down through the ages are those faithful men and women; symbolically, their blood cries out as they rest in their tombs. It says, "Lord, judge quickly. Lord, put an end to evil. Lord, put an end to wickedness."

It is not that they literally cry out; it's this symbolic blood that is crying out for God's justice. It's this cry of all the persecuted saints in their lives in ages past. It's this cry that Jesus will come. It's their cry that they will be resurrected from their graves, the cry that one day righteousness will reign forever and ever.

The fifth seal ends and the sixth seal opens. There are those cosmic disturbances. John says, "I looked. I looked, and when he opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became blood." Here's something very fascinating: at the opening of the judgment just before God's final judgment in heaven, just before heaven's court sits in heaven, just before the destinies of all humanity are settled in heaven.

God indeed says that the heavenly signs reveal that He indeed is coming soon. The sky is receded as a scroll as it would be rolled up. Every mountain and island would be moved out of their places. God powerfully is speaking to His people.

Guest (Female): You've been listening to Hope Lives 365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message, and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.

Mark Finley: The heavens and the earth are telling of God's soon return. These symbols tell us of the church's history. But the ultimate message is that Jesus is coming. The question for each of us today is: are we ready for that great day when the heavens will be rolled back and the Son of Man will appear in all of His glory? May we be ready when He comes.