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The
Lamb Opened The Sealed Book
– Revelation Six –
Revelation chapter six gives an account of the Lamb opening six of
the seven seals on the little book. It is at this point that we begin to hear
many of the wild and fanatic things that are taught by men concerning the
Revelation. There is no disagreement as to the first chapters in the book. The
Lord addressed the churches, showed both their good and their evils and
explained to them how to have God's approval.
Now the attention of the book turns to that which was future at
the time John wrote. The book began with the words, "The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants
things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his
angel unto his servant John." (Revelation 1:1) The things John saw dealt
with things that would shortly come to pass, but the principles would last
throughout the history of man.
The book of Revelation does not name people and places. It gives
principles of victory for God's persecuted people. John wrote his mes-sage primarily for the encouragement of the people of
his own day. Much of the book was fulfilled shortly after John wrote it by inspira-tion. However, the principles of the book were not
exhausted then. In the time that followed John there would be many events to
which these symbols
and principles might well be applied.
God intended us to understand this great book. It contains 278
references to the Old Testament. Prophecy must be obscure by its nature. It is
much easier to explain prophecy looking back on it than it is to explain it
looking forward. Revelation six pictured Jesus opening the sealed book which
dealt with the future of man.
Six seals are revealed in this chapter. (1) The first seal
revealed a white horse with a rider that had a bow and a crown. (Revelation
6:1-2) (2) The second seal revealed a
red horse with a rider that had power to
take peace from the earth. (Revelation 6:3-4) (3)
The third seal revealed a black horse with a rider that had a pair of balance
scales in his hand. (Revelation 6:5-6) (4) The fourth seal revealed a pale
horse with a rider that is named Death, and Hell followed him. (Revelation
6:7-8) (5) The fifth seal revealed souls of those that were slain for the word
of God praying to God that He would avenge their blood. (Revelation 6:9-11) (6)
The sixth seal revealed a time of public commotion and calamity. As Jesus
opened the sealed book we observe God's purpose for the persecuted church.
Seals one and two were opened - Revelation
6:1-4: The first seal is a picture of victory for God's people. The
victor always rode a white horse after the battle. The one on the horse is
royalty. He had a crown on His head. Jesus said, "All power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth." (Matthew 28:18) The one on the white horse carried a bow. The
picture of the Christ was that
The second seal revealed a rider on a red horse. Red represents
danger. You can see war or bloodshed in this symbol. Here is a picture of what
the Devil did to try to stop the work of the gospel. "Power was given to
him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill
one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." The Devil did
not have this power on his on. He was "given" or allowed to have this
power. The power of the Devil was not ultimate power because the power of God
is greater.
Seals three and four were opened – Revelation 6:5-8:
The third seal revealed a rider on a black horse. John "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."
The picture here is that of economic discrimination in a time of prosperity. A Christian
man was allowed to buy only a meager amount of food for one person with his
day's earnings. What about the needs of his family for food and the need for
things other than food? The persecution meant that Chris-tians
had nothing beyond the necessities of life. However, on life’s
other side Christians have an abundance and those that persecuted them have
nothing.
The fourth seal revealed a pale horse and a rider named Death and
Hell followed him. The pale horse gave us a picture of death itself. Death
killed and Hell (Hades – the grave) followed to gather the slain. God's people
are given hope because there is not a complete destruction. God limited how far
the destruction could go. This fact is often seen in others visions. Christians
should take courage. All is not lost!
Seal five was opened – Revelation 6:9-11: The fifth
seal pictured souls under the alter crying for vindication. The soul is the
real person. Our body is only a temporary house.
These precious ones have died in the Lord and now they are in His
presence. They were "faithful" to God under all circumstances. They
were concerned, not for themselves but for the cause of Christ. God promised
that He would judge those that opposed His cause. The saints were to wait
patiently in white robes until that time.
Seal six was opened – Revelation 6:12-17: The sixth
seal pictured the day of the Lord as a day of judgment upon a wicked nation.
John used the same idea the prophets had used to picture the judgment of God. "Alas for the day! for the day
of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it
come." (Joel 1:15) This is just a picture or promise of that coming
judgment.
The Christian would think in this way, "For the great day of
his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" They would wonder what
would happen to Christians when God brought that terrible judgment. Revelation
seven helped to answer that question. The believer can stand in the face of
this great wrath of God because Jesus bore the wrath the believer deserved.
God's destructive power will come against those that do not obey
the gospel and serve faithfully. To obey the gospel one must hear God's truth
(Romans
- - - - Charles Box
News & Notes
1. Prayer
List: In Need Of Prayers: Bill Autrey, Malachi Beauchamp, Al Brannon,
Charlie Brown, Gene Buck, Gene Davis, Carolyn Duncan, Ethel Gafford, Terry
Gafford, Roy Goodwin, Ramona Gravely, Ron Green, R.E. Hall, Evan Hartsell, Darlene
Herring, Frank Johnson, Mary Lawrence, Raymond Lowery, Margaret Munro, Clay
Newton, Margaret Pierce (following surgery), Mary Powell, Don Reynolds
(following surgery), Anna Salter, Deborah Stallings, and
Garrett Zorn. Crowne Health Care: Ila Ruth Callins,
Laura Ellis, Kathy Johnson, Myrtle Perdue, Bertha Phelps, and Iva Lou Wright.
2. Remember To Pray:
Eric Bagents needs our prayers as he serves in
3. Birthdays:
Celebrating birthdays this week are: November 15th Joan Barr, November
18th Alaina Bagents, and November 19th Thomas
Till.
4. Stacy
Harrell To Preach: Stacy and his family will
visit the Walnut Street Church of Christ on November 20th. He will
preach on Sunday morning. Stacy is one of several young men
5. Sunday
Morning Young Adult Bible Class: Our Sunday morning young adult Bible
class will resume on December 4th. The class will be taught by
Charles Box in the Multipurpose room.
6. Area
Events: (a) November 13th
– Area-Wide Devotional – University Church of Christ – Time 6:00 p.m. (b) November 13th - 16th
– Gospel Meeting – County Line Church of Christ – Speakers: Richard Sport
(Sunday), Charles Box (Monday), Bryon Benson (Tuesday) and Jackie Bozeman
(Wednesday) – Time: Sunday 10:00 & 11:00 a.m., Singing 2:30 p.m., Worship
4:00 p.m. and weeknights 7:30.
7. Thank
You: (a) Again I want to
thank all of you for your prayers, calls and cards. Thanks to the yard man also
for the tomatoes, chicken salad, fruit salads, pound cakes, turnip greens,
apples, cabbage, fruit, ice cream, candy, lotions, camp stew – even the soap
dish sprouts money, the placemats under them have money too. A special thanks
to these children who sent cards and art drawings! Belle, Jacob Till, Hannah
Owens, Adrianna Bagents, Mack Thomas, Tiera Nall, Chase Black, Wyatt
Fullington, Baker Bozeman, Brooklyn Acree, and Autrey. Love all of you, Mr.
Charlie Brown (b) Dear
Christian Family, Thank you so much for “wipe and dipe”
basket given to me for my new grandchild. It meant a lot to my family and was
and still is very useful. It is a blessing to be part of such a caring church
family. Love, Patsy Nall (c) Your
gift was very much appreciated. We have lost most of our material possessions
but they have been replaced with more blessings than we can count. We are
forever comforted by His love which was shown through you. In Christian Love, Mike
& Linda Swanner –
8. Dishes In Multipurpose Room: There are a number of dishes in the multipurpose room. Please check to see if they are yours. Thanks!
9. Van Driver Needed: A driver is needed for the van on Sunday during the month of December. Please sign up now! Thanks.
10. Weekly Budget: Just a reminder that our weekly budget is $6,135.64. If each family gives as God has prospered us we will far exceed this amount. Your giving is a proof of your love for God. (II Corinthians 8:18)
11. Good
Works Continue: The Walnut Street
The Journey
Home
Have you ever
noticed that the people who seem to have everything they could possibly want
are often the most depressed? Movie
stars, singers, and billionaires have everything, don’t they? Then why all the long faces on those made-for-TV movies about their
lives? It’s because their hopes and
dreams have been fulfilled, yet there’s still something missing...God is
missing! This world is not our home. This life is really no more than a trial
period...to decide where our true home will be.
True happiness
can only be found with God. The road to
heaven won’t always be easy, but it is always the best road. Jesus said, “Enter
by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to
destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and
difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”
(Matthew
When we first
choose to follow Christ, we take off on that strait and narrow road, we plow
through obstacles, and we won’t let anything stand in the way of our love for
God. But then, the devil shows up! Especially after you become a Christian, he
works hard to change your mind. He will put forks in the road. As you travel
along you WILL come upon some other paths that look tempting. But these things
are not part of God’s instructions. But don’t fear, Jesus said
that whatever we give up for His sake, he will repay us a hundredfold...and He
will give us eternal life! (Matthew 19:29). Life is a journey...one that can
take us home to heaven with God...if we will just hold on (Hebrews
- - - - Darrell Powell
Be careful of
your thoughts, they may break into actions anytime.
Don’t just own a Bible; read it!
(334-382-3001)