Today’s message summary of October 25, 2015 from Pastor Gus Brown:
Revelation 6:7-8
When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come! And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. The horseman on it was named Death, and Hades was following after him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.
Death is coming eventually. It is comes in many different ways, but God is greater than death.
Jeremiah 14:14-17
But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit of their own minds. “Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end. The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them—they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.” You are to speak this word to them:
Let my eyes overflow with tears;
day and night may they not stop,
for the virgin daughter of my people
has been destroyed by a great disaster,
an extremely severe wound.
Hosea 13:12-14
Ephraim’s guilt is preserved;
his sin is stored up.
Labor pains come on him.
He is not a wise son;
when the time comes,
he will not be born.
I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.
I will redeem them from death.
Death, where are your barbs?
Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
People need to be able to turn the right way to the Lord in order to live. Without the Lord, they are lost. God will rescue those who seek Him and declare Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
God is so close to coming back, and many do not know what to do. Even though God has compassion for those who have sought for Him, He will show no compassion for those who do not know Him.
The pale green horse referred to in Revelation 6 is noted as a sickly color. In the Phillips translation it uses the word “grave” instead of “Hades.”
Deuteronomy 32:34-43
“Is it not stored up with Me,
sealed up in My vaults?
Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay.
In time their foot will slip,
for their day of disaster is near,
and their doom is coming quickly.”
The Lord will indeed vindicate His people
and have compassion on His servants
when He sees that their strength is gone
and no one is left—slave or free.
He will say: “Where are their gods,
the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?
Who ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you;
let it be a shelter for you.
See now that I alone am He;
there is no God but Me.
I bring death and I give life;
I wound and I heal.
No one can rescue anyone from My hand.
I raise My hand to heaven and declare:
As surely as I live forever,
when I sharpen My flashing sword,
and My hand takes hold of judgment,
I will take vengeance on My adversaries
and repay those who hate Me.
I will make My arrows drunk with blood
while My sword devours flesh—
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
Rejoice, you nations, concerning His people,
for He will avenge the blood of His servants.
He will take vengeance on His adversaries;
He will purify His land and His people.
As noted in this passage, the day of the world’s disaster is coming soon.
Note that the book of Revelation is not a book of doom, but a book of revelation, salvation and how God is to be glorified in how He will keep His people.
Referring back to Revelation 6:7-8…the pale horse’s rider is Death. Death is coming in such a way that it is unforeseen and in an unprecedented way.
The fourth seal talks about a mass death, or one-fourth of the world’s population. In 2009, the world population was reported to be 6,783,421,727 people. One fourth of that number would be 1.8 billion people, which is about the same number of people as in the United States and in China.
Matthew 24:22
Unless those days were limited, no one would survive. But those days will be limited because of the elect.
It is still the time of God’s salvation. Today is the day of salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says:
I heard you in an acceptable time,
and I helped you in the day of salvation.
Isaiah 49:8-9
This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
saying to the prisoners: Come out,
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.
The first seal represents conquest.
The second seal removed peace and men were to slay one another.
The third seal represents famine.
Death is the fourth seal.
With the seal of death following the first three seals, Revelation reflects the emergence of different types of death to be experienced by different people.
Today, death is taking place in a variety of ways that we have not seen before.
Death may come about:
- By the sword. The weapon of that day. Note that the weapons of today are guns, bombs, knives, etc.
- By famine. People will be unable to eat–there will be no farming. There will be food shortages. War will destroy farmland, and there will be no one to work the land.
- By plague. Gangrene, infection, bacteria that ravages the body, including new diseases not previously experienced.
Because of man’s disobedience, death is naturally happening.
Revelation also notes that there will be death by wild beasts, as well. Wild animals normally follow their own food chain, but there will be a need for food by bears, rats, bobcats, wolves, etc. This is another way that people will experience death because of disobedience. God will give correction and grab the attention of others who are witnesses.
Ezekiel 14:21
“For this is what the Lord God says: How much worse will it be when I send My four devastating judgments against Jerusalem—sword, famine, dangerous animals, and plague—in order to wipe out both man and animal from it!”
Leviticus 26:23-24
“If in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but act with hostility toward Me, then I will act with hostility toward you; I also will strike you seven times for your sins.”
Christians at that time will also experience death in this same way, but God is able to rescue them from the grave!
In Revelation Chapter 6, Hades follows death. Hades refers to the grave, which is not a place of punishment or torment. While the body goes to the grave:
2 Corinthians 5:7-9
For we walk by faith, not by sight, and we are confident and satisfied to be out of the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him.
Philippians 1:21-24
For me, living is Christ and dying is gain. Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am pressured by both. I have the desire to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.
Psalm 49:15
But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol, for He will take me. Selah
Revelation 1:17-18
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. He laid His right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
Who is in control of it all? God is.
Job 19:25-27
But I know my living Redeemer,
and He will stand on the dust at last,
Even after my skin has been destroyed,
yet I will see God in my flesh.
I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.
My heart longs within me.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 