I'm gonna ask you to turn to two books of the Bible, and as you turn there, I'm going to simply mention two individuals. I want you to turn to the book of Revelation chapter six, and we're simply gonna read that. But I also want you to turn to the Old Testament, and this is where we're gonna concentrate tonight, is the book of Zechariah. And when you turn to the Old Testament, you have Zechariah, Malachi, and then Matthew in the New Testament. That's how you can easily find it. But I'm going to concentrate on Zechariah, but I do want to read from Revelation chapter 6. And as you find that, I want to mention here tonight two very special ladies that have just gone to be with the Lord. And I think most of you know, but just to say a word about them. I have been deeply impacted by certain people in my lifetime. I mean straight up until this year. And some of these ladies, that I've had to do with, I assure you, no preacher that I know will get a reward like they're going to get as they enter the presence of God. One of them is Janice Clendenin, sister Clendenin, brother Clendenin's wife, who went to be with the Lord last Saturday. She was a lady of 95 years old. Brother Clendenin died 12 years ago. And she stood by his side to put this school of Christ in 150 nations over a period of 18 years. A phenomenal work and she was a phenomenal woman. I mean she was the embodiment of what scripture teaches. She was a meek lady, a woman of real faith. A woman of great stature and character. But I believe she embodies what the Bible talks about meekness and quietness in a lady. And yet she was a remarkably strong lady who stood for the Lord all through those years. And we have the utter highest regard for her. Every time we ran a school, we always sent her a bunch of flowers and a card from the school, thanking her for the sacrifices that she made that are still affecting lives. And I'm so glad for her life. She lived faithfully. She's now gone to her reward. Ladies, you have a challenge to fill the boots. of some of the greatest ladies that I've ever known in my life, who are now departing. Their prayers are no longer going to be in this earth. Their testimony has gone to be with the Lord. They've gone to their reward, but it leaves a gap in the wall, a breach. There's those that must stand up, come forth through the kingdom of God and take their place. The second lady only got a letter yesterday from her niece, and that is Una McMillan, who she just recently turned 100 years old. She lived to one day enter her 100th birthday to celebrate it. When Candice prayed with her last year, she said, pray that I'll reach my 100th birthday. And she was a remarkable lady. We told you about her before. She actually served, her dad was a pastor with George Jeffries many years ago. She is a young girl of 13 years old, was baptized in the Holy Ghost at a George Jeffries campaign. She was healed, I think about 13 as well. She had TB. She shouldn't have been out of her bed, but she said, I must get baptized in water. And her mum says, you can't get out of your bed. She says, I must, I must obey the Lord and be baptised. Well, as she went down into the waters of baptism in that river, the Lord totally healed her and she was raised up. She lived to a hundred years old, walking with the Lord. And you know, I could have just wept yesterday as I received that letter and opened it. and for the first time heard that she'd gone to be with the Lord. I'm not sorry for her. My tears are not for her. But it's that human, natural element. I grieved. I could have wept to hear that my sister that I love, I'm going to see her very soon again. These saints are leaving and going home. They have served their generation very, very well. But ladies, and you men as well, but you ladies, will you not walk in the truth of God and take up the mantle? When my great grandmother died at a very great age, my mother had only got saved a few hours before. And three days later, as my mom, only saved three days, stood at the graveside of her grandmother, my great-grandmother, and she stood there, the only member of the entire family born again. She felt like the mantle of her grandmother had now been passed to her. She was saved hours before her grandmother went to be with the Lord. And now she had the responsibility to pray for every family member, to pray for salvation. Saints, I pray that even in hearing about these great ladies, I mean, they're very normal. They're the most normal ladies you'd ever meet. But they were women that marked the kingdom of God worldwide. Do you know Sister McMillan? She phoned us when we were in the midst of great crisis and trial with School of Christ. I mean, we were in a crisis and a phone call came and said, I need to speak to you. First time I ever met her said, I heard Brother Clendenin preach and I need to speak to you. Said, he is a man of God just like George Jeffries. And she phoned us incessantly for a period of 15 years. Every time something was happening with Candice or me, she would phone, leave a message, and say, now what's going on? And she'd always be very specific, says, now something's going on with Candice. What is it? I'm praying. Now, you need to phone me back and tell me. Every time, it was... I mean, without fail, for a period of 10, 15 years, it was remarkable. A woman who said, I pray for you every single day. Do you know what? With a couple of other older believers in their late 80s, they would gather up their pension, what they had of a pension, and send a check, maybe 100 pounds, maybe 200 pounds, and say, we want this to go to the work of the Lord. They didn't have much. They had very little in this world, but you know what? They sacrificed and they gave. And I tell you, we've got shoes to fill in a remarkable way. I do pray the Lord will challenge you and encourage you in these days. Turning here tonight in our message, the first in this new series, to Revelation chapter 6 and also the book of Zechariah. You're going to realize tonight the importance of what I'm going to do and teach in going and spending time in Zechariah in order to understand the book of Revelation. And here tonight I had three points, I've set aside two of them, because the one point I'm going to bring you tonight is so vital to understand Revelation 6. I actually believe without what I preach tonight, if I don't teach this, From Zechariah, you could never truly understand Revelation 6. What I'm doing is giving you a foundation. I'm giving you the keys, the ability to understand Revelation 6. And there's no point me teaching or preaching on Revelation 6 and the four horses. of the apocalypse unless I begin to show you how to understand it. And so that's what I had three points to help you to understand the whole context. But there, just an hour ago, I went, you know what? I'm going to lose tonight if I try to preach these three points. I'm only going to concentrate on one single point. But as you well know, as we go into this one point, I'm going to give you an awful lot in this one point. And as we begin to deal with Revelation 6 next week, this message tonight is going to help you. This will totally change your view of Revelation 6. And you know what? It will set aside many teachings of men and begin to help you to understand it. Reading, first of all, here from Revelation 6, and as the message goes on, I'm going to take you to Zechariah, to find Zechariah, Zechariah, Malachi, and then Matthew. But I'm going to preach from Zechariah chapter 1 and chapter 6, and I want you to follow closely. But we're going to read here from Revelation 6. Our series on my first message tonight, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Revelation chapter 6 and verse 1, reading through to verse 8. And I saw the lamb Sorry, let me start again. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold, a white horse, and he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering and to conquer. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red, and 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. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see, and behold, And lo, a black horse, and he that sat on him, had a pair of balances in his hand. And I 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. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death. And hell followed with him, and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death. And with the beasts of the earth, let's pray together as we come to the Word here tonight. Father, I do thank you, God, for the Word of God, for the hour that you brought us, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to. Lord God, what a pivotal hour. We're so glad for the saints that have lived prior to us in this previous generation that preached to us, that prayed for us, that encouraged us, that remembered us before the throne of God. Lord God, my heart breaks tonight and grieves. It mourns for those that are leaving us in the body of Christ and going into your presence. And yet I say that with great joy. knowing that they have received of their reward. Will you help us tonight to play our part in the body of Christ, in our generation, in this unique time in history? Will you help us in this church, listening tonight to this message? Will you help us to be upright, to walk faithfully, to play our part? Lord God, and to do the will of God in our generation before we see you face to face. We do love you and we thank you for such a unique hour that we have the privilege, the blessing of seeing the entire stage of history set, of biblical prophecy being come to its absolute fulfilment. Lord God, I pray tonight's message would put a sense of urgency and yet rest in the Lord, not being scared of what we see happening in the nations, but oh God, as we see all that's happening in our world, Lord God, that our eyes would be fixed on Jesus with an assurance of faith that you are about to bring all things to fulfilment. and the earth, that Jesus Christ might be glorified. In Jesus' name, amen. My message to the four horsemen of the apocalypse. We are going to deal with the first four seals of the seven seals in Revelation 6. We're not going to deal with the other three seals. We're only going to deal with four seals, because the first four seals uniquely have within them four horses. Each of the first four seals, when they're open, have a horse that rides out. And in order to understand this, which we're going to begin to deal with, with each of these four horses, we need to understand the time, because there's so many wrong teachings about this. You see, I've heard for several years, and especially since the beginning of COVID for a year and a half, that the white horse has already ridden out, that all these things are already in place, are happening. I'm going to tell you they're not happening yet. And that's why I want to teach you clearly that you understand it, that you know the hour that you're actually living in. I don't want you to be confused. But here tonight I want to lay the foundation before we go to the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Revelation chapter 6. It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 13, and we've said this before, the Holy Ghost teaches. How does the Holy Spirit teach you? Comparing spiritual thing with spiritual. The word comparing there is subkrino. It's made up of two words. It means to compare one thing with another. It means to combine them, to collate them, and to make them one thing, not two things. You see, how does the Holy Spirit teach us about any subject in the Bible? It is comparing Scripture with Scripture. You see, I cannot just teach you about Revelation 6 by only preaching from Revelation 6. I've got to compare Scripture with Scripture. If the Holy Spirit is to teach you in this series, you won't understand it. That's why there's so many wrong teachings about Revelation 6. They go to it with their own mind, with their own understanding, or with what a popular preacher has taught. They say, it is this or it is that. I want to tell you we need the Holy Spirit to teach us. But how does he teach us about Revelation 6? He actually says go and compare Scripture with Scripture. Gather Scriptures together. Go to other places in the Bible. Let the Bible interpret the Bible. Don't bring your own understanding to bear. Let the Bible speak. Let it teach you. Let it show you what I mean in Revelation 6. I'm tired of people with Bible prophecy giving their opinion, their ideas, their thoughts. I think, I mean people who don't know, don't have a clue, and yet they'll try to teach you when they don't know themselves. But we want the Holy Spirit to teach us. How does he teach us? by comparing Scripture with Scripture. It says in 2 Timothy 2 and 14, listen, there's Paul writing to a young preacher in the church in Ephesus, a young man that he trained up who's right in the heart of ministry. He says there in Timothy, of these things put them, the church, in remembrance. Charge in them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no prophet, but the subverting of the hearers. Paul is telling Timothy, you need to stop all of this talk in the church. There is striving about words and it's not profitable. Arguing about scripture, about things that aren't important. And it subverts or turns over the faith of individuals or those who are hearing the Word of God. An awful lot less needs to be said in the church, I mean worldwide. an awful lot less. There's too many voices, and you've got to be very careful who you listen to. So Paul says that. Then listen to the next verse. He says to Timothy, study to show thyself approved unto God. You're a young preacher. Study. You need to study. You need to lay out the Word. You need to spend time in the Word of God. in order to be approved of God, a workman. That means when you study the Word of God, you're a workman. I want to tell you, I'll work as hard as anyone to prepare for a message. It is involving hours. hours, days, years, decades of toil and labor. It is an intensive job to study the Scripture. And so Paul is telling Timothy here, if you're going to be approved, be a good workman that needeth not to be ashamed. How do you do that? Rightly dividing the word of truth. I'm talking about comparing Scripture with Scripture, gathering the teaching of the Bible to be taught of the Holy Spirit. Paul says to Timothy, if you're not going to be ashamed on that day before Christ, you need to rightly divide the word of truth. What does rightly divide in it mean? It means to cut a straight line. As you study the Bible, as you labor over it as a workman, You're to cut a straight line or to find a path through Scripture. Use the study of Scripture to find a path, to hold a straight course, to make a straight line and to handle it rightly and teach in the church. So, Timothy, as you gather Scripture, as you study, as you research, as you pray over the Word of God, I want you out of that to actually steer a straight course that you can teach the church. and keep them away from error. And it's practical. Then this in the next verse, after Paul tells Timothy about rightly dividing the word of truth, because there's an awful lot of preachers do not rightly divide the word of God. They will teach you things that will harm you. They actually don't know what they're confused themselves. They actually split up the word of God rather than unifying it. And if you listen to them, it will have serious consequences. That's why so many in the church, they don't know what Aarod is. They listen all the preachers and they do not know what Aarod is, because those preachers do not know what Aarod is. Those preachers are wrongly dividing the Word of God. But here he's told, rightly divide the Word of God. Then the next verse, but shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. Now much talk, debate, arguments, theological strivings in the church, it leads to ungodliness. Any talking over scripture that leads you to go, hey, I can live as I want, is a very dangerous thing. And there's a lot that goes on in the church. It doesn't lead you to holiness and purity and perfection and sanctification. It is very dangerous. You've got to be very careful. And so, when we come to these things, it's not to create arguments. I don't care about arguments of Scripture. I want to know truth and to handle it rightly, because I don't want to be ashamed one day. I really don't. But I believe that even these messages can be to your holiness, your sanctification, to lead you closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Revelation 6, as we see the four seals open and the four horsemen of the apocalypse ride out, how are we to interpret them? I'm going to take you to the book of Zechariah here tonight. We want to understand the horses and the horsemen on these four horses. The Bible mentions horses well over 300 times in our Bible. Sometimes they're symbolic, sometimes they're prophetic, sometimes they are literal. And so we want to compare Scripture with Scripture. We don't want to just read Revelation and try and understand it. That's not good to do. I want to read Revelation 6, then compare Scripture with Scripture so I understand it. This is how the Holy Spirit will teach you. And tonight we're going to look at horses elsewhere that are similar to Revelation chapter 6. If you go to Zechariah chapter 1 here tonight and chapter 6, you're going to see that there's a similar vision to what we find in Revelation chapter 6. Zechariah the prophet, his name means the Lord remembers. It's an entire prophecy of hope of 14 chapters. And Zechariah was a remarkable prophet. And I want to show you that in bringing Zechariah to bear, we're going to understand Revelation 6. Do you remember how earlier in the year we looked at Daniel? And to understand Daniel, the beasts, you've got to go to Revelation. And to understand Revelation, the beasts in Revelation, you've got to go back to Daniel. You can't understand the book of Revelation without Daniel. You cannot do that. You will come out with crazy ideas as you see the beasts and the horns. And as you see all of these things, you will have very strange ideas. You won't know how to apply it. But if you go back to Daniel and compare and put all of this together, collate it together, combine it under the help of the Holy Spirit, you begin to understand what is happening in this hour of history. It's the same with Zechariah, we're going to bring it in and let the Holy Spirit simply, I'm not going to teach a lot, I'm literally laying it out, you can actually tell me by the end of this message, what does this begin to tell us about Revelation 6? I want you to be convinced in your own heart, not me giving ideas and opinions and telling you what I think. I want you to become convinced in your own heart of what the Bible says about it. In Zechariah 1 and chapter 6, we see different colored horses and chariots. We have two visions, and it's a spiritual vision, but they also need interpreted. When we go to Zechariah 1 and verse 1, listen to what it says, in the eighth month, in the second year of Darius. came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah. This was his first prophecy that the Lord began to speak to Zechariah. If you're going to speak to the church, you better have God speak to you. Why give something if God hasn't given it to you? I don't want to preach if God doesn't speak to me. I really don't. But here in Zechariah 1, we get the date. Not the day, but the month and the year that God spoke the first prophecy unto Zechariah. It was the second year of Darius. This is the first prophecy, and it was a message of repentance. Then look at verse 7. We have the second prophecy coming to Zechariah. It says, upon the fourth and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Sabbat, in the second year of Darius came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah. This second vision and prophecy that Zachariah received was three months later than the first prophecy. He had a prophecy and a vision, and he spoke that prophecy. Three months later, here he is. And we actually get the date of the prophecy, and it's very important for what I'm going to say. He gives us the date. Now, so that you can understand it tonight in our time scale, the date of it is the 15th of February. 519 B.C. 15th of February, 519 B.C. We're given the date when this vision is actually given to Zechariah. He had a prophecy three months before, but now he is receiving his first vision from God, and it involves horses, actual spiritual horses. In fact, from chapter 1 all the way through to chapter 6, we read that there's eight distinct visions that Zechariah receives, eight different visions. He receives them all in one night, one single night on this date, and they're all different. It begins with horses and it ends with horses and chariots. And I believe these two visions at the beginning and end will help you to understand Revelation 6. Let's look at us here tonight. We have the first vision of Zechariah. In chapter 1 verse 17 to verse, sorry, verse 7 to verse 17. Read with me, follow with me in verse 8. It says, I saw by night and behold, a man riding upon a red horse. And he stood amongst the myrtle trees that were in the bottom, and behind him were their three horses, speckled and white. Then said I, O my Lord, what are these horses? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these be. Do not make up your own interpretation of Bible prophecy. Listen to what it says. The prophet Zechariah didn't say, now I think this is what I'm seeing. He never done that. He didn't say, I've had years of experience and I know what I'm seeing. Do you know what he said? He said, he asked, he said, what am I looking at? I don't understand this. If you try to be smart with the Word of God, you'll come out with an awful lot of foolishness. With Bible prophecy, you've got to inquire of the Lord. Teach me what I'm looking at here. He had a vision of these horses, and they were not natural horses. In verse 8 it says, first of all, a man riding upon a red horse. This is why we're here. It's very similar to the red horse in Revelation 6. There's a horse there with a man on it. And here in Zechariah 1, we have a man riding a red horse, and it's not natural. It's in a vision. It's spiritual. It is God showing something that is happening in the nations. And so we see that there is a comparison here. In verse 11, just a few verses later in verse 11, listen to what it says. It explains who this man is on the red horse. And they answered the angel of the Lord. Who is the man on the red horse? If you read this in context, he is the angel of the Lord. In other words, the man on the red horse in Zechariah 1, what is he? Is he a man? Is he a prophet? Is he a demon? He is an angel of the Lord. He's not a fallen angel. He's not a mystical spirit. It's not just a picture in a dream. It is an actual angel of the Lord that is in this vision that he is seeing. And it says that the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees. You see, what is an angel? He is a messenger. He is one dispatched by God on a mission, on a task to fulfill it in the world. That's what this angel is. And so we see the man on the red horse is an actual angel in the midst of this. It goes further and it says, among the myrtle trees in a hollow. That's where you see him on his horse. He's in a hollow. That means a deep valley, a glen, or a ravine. So I want you to see this. A man on a red horse in a valley, or a hollow, or a ravine, and he's on his horse. And you know what it says? Among the myrtle trees in the hollow, inside that hollow, inside that valley, were all of these myrtle trees. Now if you know anything from the past year and a half with Candice with her oils and all that we've spoken about in this church, the myrtle tree has a very fragrant perfume that comes off it. It has beautiful blossoms, white blossoms on it, and beautiful berries that are medicinal. So look at this man, this angel of the Lord, in the midst of a valley, surrounded by all these myrtle trees, and you can smell this fragrance. This is not a bad vision, it's a good vision. And in fact, the myrtle tree is evergreen. In other words, it blossoms all through the year, in winter as well as springtime. And it brings forth its blossom and it brings forth its berries. What does the myrtle tree represent? It represents humility. I think it doesn't grow more than eight feet. That's not a big tree. That's not a tall tree as far as trees go. So you have a very short tree, a medicinal tree, a beautiful tree. Imagine being in this valley and you smell the fragrance, but you've got an angel on a red horse literally seated in the midst of all of this. Do you know Esther? Do you know the book of Esther in the Old Testament? You know another name for her is Hadassah. Do you know Adassa is the same word for myrtle tree, the exact same word. That lady embodied humility, loneliness, meekness, carefulness. In fact she is a beautiful picture of the myrtle tree. So the myrtle tree is not a bad thing. It is actually a beautiful thing. And you have this man on the red horse surrounded by these beautiful, humble trees. And so we know this is a good picture. It is a good vision that we are seeing here. It is something that we want to admire. In verse 9, the prophet says, what are these? Nine times in Zechariah, he said, what are these? He's shown a vision. He said, what are these? Oh, saints, that we'd be humble in the house of God. That we'd be taught of the Holy Spirit. That we'd be slow to speak. If you don't know something, don't try to teach others. If you're merely learning ABCs, don't you go and confuse other people. Just sit on it. It's better to listen. You know, if you keep your mouth shut, you sound wise. Do you realize that? Even a fool, if he keeps his mouth shut, will say, man, isn't she wise? Isn't he wise? No, it's just they keep their mouth shut, so you don't know. Oh, we need an awful lot more of it, I can assure you. People giving, well, I think. You know nothing, that's what you think. Your thoughts chew an awful lot. But look at this vision. We see three different colours of horses. Three different colours. And I believe these colours represent three different groups. In verse 8 we read about red, speckled and white in order. What is this speckled? We know what red and we know what white is, but what is this speckled? Speckled means dappled or colored gray. Just imagine the horse for a second, a horse that's colored gray, but it's many colored or it's white spotted. That's what this horse is. So you've got a red horse, and that red represents something. You've got a white horse, the white represents something. But you've got this many-colored horse, or speckled horse. He also represents something. All of this has meaning. I'm not going to teach you everything in Zechariah. I'm only giving you enough so you understand Revelation 6. And this will help you. Who are these various horses, these three groups of horses? We don't have all the details here, but they're all in the myrtle trees in the valley, and we know that the riders on these horses are angels of the Lord. That's what they are. That's the interpretation here. It says in verse 10, these are they. whom the Lord has sent to walk to and through, through the earth. We're actually seeing them at the end of their mission. You see, their mission has just been finished. They were sent into all of the earth, all of the nations of the earth, not just Israel. Not just to Jerusalem. These horses, these that we see in this vision, had been sent out into all of the nations to go to and through. They're angelic beings on horses and they're riding to and through. They've been given a mission. Now they've finished the mission. Who are they? They are emissaries sent out onto the world stage of history and politics. They are patrolling the earth. They are the Lord's scouts to go and investigate. They actually affect and control world history and politics and world society. They represent God's activity in the earth in our generation. They are supernatural forces used to accomplish God's purpose on the earth. Do you understand why we're going to Zachariah to understand Revelation 6? I hope you see this here tonight. You see, they represent God. They're sent out and now they've finished their mission. They speak about His worldwide dominion, His control, His plan on the earth. And what we see when we look at these horses is the future purpose of God for Jerusalem and Judea. So when you see these four horses, they're all related to Jerusalem, but it's what happens in the nations. That's why they're riding out across the world. So what report do they come back to? To the Lord with. We read here at the end of this verse, They're reporting back to the Lord. And they're saying the entire earth Very few times the world's been at peace or at rest in all of world history, but it was at this point. They're saying, we've investigated, we've gone from nation to nation, government to government, society to society, continent to continent. We've gone through all the earth, and now we're reporting to the Lord. And do you know what we have found at this time in history? This is our report, and it's a spiritual report. All of the earth sits still. It is seated down like it's sitting in a seat. It's not out at war. It's sitting down in its home, and it is at rest. This word rest in the Hebrew means to lay back on a couch. It means inactivity. It means you're really enjoying ease of life and idleness. It is the embodiment of laziness and idleness and of no activity. They're reporting to the Lord what the nations are doing. And you know what he's saying? The nations are at peace. There's no war. It's a unique art. There's no war. Everything is at peace. In fact, the armies of the world, the politicians are lying back in utter idleness. You remember, in Jeremiah 48, it speaks about Moab. And it talks about Moab being at ease, being at rest, lounging around. And you know what? Because of that, there was no spiritual work in Moab's heart. You know what God said to Moab? I'm going to have to pour you from vessel to vessel because there's a smell about you, you stink. The wine that is in your vessel really is becoming stinking. Whereas if you'd been poured from vessel to vessel, you'd have a sweet taste and a sweet smell. That's what he's saying about Moab. Do you know what God is saying here? All the nations are at rest, but it's not good. The nations are inactive. I have a plan for my people, for Jerusalem, for Judea. And you know what? All the earth is at peace, and that is not good. I can prove it here, it says in verse 15, the Lord says, I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease. So notice all the nations are at peace. They're all settled, they're utterly inactive. All the great emperors and leaders, there's no action. And you know what? The Lord says He is actually displeased or angry with us. Isn't this remarkable what we're seeing here? Look at verse 12, it says, Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem? So all the nations are at peace. There's no activity. There's nothing going on. These horsemen have come back to report. And it says, you know what, in this time where God is angry with the nations, Do you know what the angel of the Lord is saying? How long will you not have? It's a moment in time. Something is going on here. And he says, how long will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judea? Do you know what's happening in Jerusalem? Some of Israel 20 years before had come back to rebuild the temple and they laid the foundation. Then they were opposed and the temple construction stopped. All the work of God stopped. And God's people for the next 20 years said, I'm going to build my house. I'm going to look after my affairs. It's not time. And Haggai preached at the same time as Zechariah. Do you know what God's people are saying? It's not time to build God's house. It's not time for revival. It's no time to have a move of God. All the nations are still at this time. And you know what? God's people, they hadn't built anything in 20 years. No revival in 20 years. No move of God in 20 years. And they were all saying, hey, nothing's going to happen. It's not time. Maybe in 10 years time, maybe in 20 years time. And that's what we're seeing here. It's a remarkable thing that we're actually seeing. The nations are still. An angel is saying, isn't it time to have mercy on Jerusalem again? 20 years and the prophetic plan of God hasn't moved forward. Nothing for 20 years. The enemy stopped it 20 years ago. Remember when they started, it was 70 years from the captivity. Now here at this time, you've just reached the point of 70 years. This is where we're at. It's time for the building of God's house. And that's why Zechariah is prophesying. That's why he is given this remarkable vision. He goes on and says, isn't it time to have mercy? How long, O Lord, on Israel? Then listen to what he says. against which thou hast had indignation these three score and ten years." Seventy years. This entire prophecy is about 70 years is up. The 70 years is over. You said through Jeremiah, at the end of 70 years, That temple's going to be destroyed. 70 years. It's time to rebuild again. And these horses have been sent into the earth at this 70-year point to investigate the nations. You know what? When the nations get stirred up, God's plan comes to pass. I'm telling you something very important here. And if you understand this, you're going to look at Afghanistan and world politics and everything that's been happening for a year and a half very, very differently. I want to tell you, we live in an era where all isn't still and at peace in the world. Nations are being stirred up in a remarkable way. But that's a good thing. That's not a negative thing. So you think, oh, that all would be at peace. Actually, that when these horses go out in the world, do you know what? Everything is going to get stirred up to bring forth God's plan and His purpose. What was happening in Zechariah 1 here? Who was the great leader, world leader at the time? It was Darius I or Darius the Great. He was the king of the Medo-Persian Empire. He was a great Persian leader and we dealt with him in the Daniel series. Do you know what Darius used to do in his large empire in that day? He had imperial inspectors and he called them his eyes and his ears. And they got mounted up on their horses and chariots and they went out into the nations And they brought him back reports every single year about what was happening. They had an annual tour of Judah going through this nation, and this nation, and this city, and this town, and this village, and this culture of people. And they brought it back to Darius. And Darius got a great view of his entire empire. Do you know that's the sort of picture that we get here? But listen, we're given the date of this vision of the horses in the valley. You remember what it was, the 15th of February. Listen to the year, 519 BC, before Christ. 519. What was Darius doing at this time? Well, Darius, three years before this, in the year 522, three years before what we're seeing here, he became the king of the empire. There was a lot of turmoil and he came to sit as Darius the Great, the king of the Persian worldwide government. When he became king, the entire empire was in upheaval. There were civil wars, rebellions, riots in the streets. In fact, for the first two years of his reign, there was terrible turmoil right across the known world. Listen to what happened between him becoming king and this prophecy. Listen to what happened in that short period of time. Two years, the first two years of him being king, he defeated nine great kings, had 19 battles, and subdued the greatest nations of the world in that hour. Finally in the year 520, just a year before this, He had peace. His throne was secured. One year later, Zechariah's going to have this vision of the horses going out to investigate. What do they say? Everything's peaceful. Everything's secure. All the great leaders, all the armies are resting, going, you know what? Everything's just perfect now. Everything is settled. But God's going, I'm angry at this. What about my house? What about my people? What about my prophetic plan? Do you realize why the horses are there? They're going out investigating. You see, Haggai was preaching at the very same time. Listen to what God's plan was in Haggai. We know in chapter 1 he said, you're thinking about your own houses, what about God's house? In Haggai chapter 2 and 6 it says, for thus saith the Lord of hosts, yet once, it is a little while and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. Do you see what God was saying here? I'm going to shake everything. Everything. The next verse says, and I will shake all nations. Everything is at rest. But do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to start shaking nations and governments and society and culture. I'm going to begin to shake it. Why would God do that? Well, he says, and the desire of all nations shall come. He then goes on to prophesy, the glory of the latter house is going to be greater than the former. You know what it's talking about? I'm going to shake the nations. Do you know why? I want the glory of God to fill my house again. I want the temple to be reared up again. I want my people to be revived again. And I'm going to shake the very nations, all nations. In fact, he says here, I'm going to shake the heavens and the earth. Is it any wonder when we come into the Gospels then and read what Jesus prophesied, that we're living in an hour when the heavens and the earth is going to be shook, when all nations are going to be shook? Why do you think that is? You see, in the church we get scared. We know the Bible, we know the Gospel, we know about having faith, but we see all of these things happen, and we begin to tremor. We get scared and go, what's happening here? You need to understand what I'm saying here tonight. Do you understand? Before we begin on Revelation 6, you need to understand why these things happen in a remarkable way. At the end of chapter 1, we have the second vision. The second vision from verse 18 to 21. It's about four horns. And you know horns are kings. Four horns that scatter Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. These are, in verse 19, these are the four horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. He's seeing a vision of four horns. What does it mean? These four horns are kings that have scattered the people of God. No revival. What's behind that? God's people subdued. What's behind that? These four horns. He then said, these are the horns which have scattered Judah so that no man did lift up his head. Have you ever seen churches or a time in church where it seems like God's people can't even lift up their heads? There's certain times because of what's happening in the world and in the nations and in our culture and the worldliness, then God's people can hardly lift up their heads in the church. They can hardly look up. They're all downcast. Well, God deals with this. You see, it was in there for 20 years. God's people couldn't lift up their heads. They'd taken their eye off the ball. They were concerned about their own houses. There's no revival in God's house. And it's these four horns that were responsible. They'd scattered God's people. But these are come. Notice the next part of it. These are come to free them. And they cast down the horns of the Gentiles which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah and scattered them. He not only sees a vision of four horns but then four carpenters, four carpenters. carpenters come along who deal with wood and you know what they start doing? They start cutting down the four horns. There's four wooden horns and these carpenters come with their planes and begin, you know I used to do woodwork many years ago and we'd get those wooden planes and you'd have a block of wood and you're planing it, you're trying to make that thing flat. And I tell you, it took some work to get that blade ready, and you're going to plane it until it's a flat plane. That's what's happening here. Those four horns are four kings in Gentile nations which have scattered God's people, and here God's people are all downtrodden. God says, I'm going to raise up four carpenters, it's in a vision, and they're going to begin to cut down those four horns, and I'm going to gather my people once again. Hold that for a second, all that I've just said. Now I want you to turn to chapter six. Chapter six and verse one. And it says there in chapter six, this is the eighth and last vision of Zachariah. And I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked and behold and there came four chariots out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of brass, they weren't normal mountains. In the first chariot were red horses, and in the second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot white horses, and in the fourth chariot grizzled and bay horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that talk with me, What are these, my lord? And the angel said unto me, these are the four spirits of the heaven which go forth from standing before the Lord of all of the earth. Let me explain this. This is going to change your whole view of Revelation 6. It says that these four chariots go forth from between two mountains, and the mountains are made of brass. As Brother Jerr just said there, the brass always represents judgment. Silver in the Bible always represents redemption. But these two mountains of brass, they're immovable, overwhelming hindrances, these mountains, but they're of God. They're from God's kingdom. They are spiritual. And they're mountains of brass. The four chariots ride out from between the two mountains of brass. In other words, these four chariots, it's a time of judgment. They're not just gathering information now that the world is in peace. These four chariots ride out with judgment for the nations. That's what it represents. Look at these chariots, four chariots. That means each chariot had a team of horses, not one horse, an entire team of horses. And the horses were a certain color. The first was red, the second black, the third white, and the fourth was gristled and bay. Do you realize there are spiritual horses and chariots in the Word of God? In Psalm 68 verse 17, listen, the chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels. So you can number the chariots, you can't number the angels. So you actually have angels with chariots, with horses. When we see these four teams of horses riding out, representing it's a time of judgment in the nations. They are spiritual beings going forth to judge the earth in a very real way. You see, they're embarking on a mission. They've been commissioned by God. What do chariots represent? In the Bible days, a chariot was the storm troops of any nation. I mean, when you brought out chariots with horses and horsemen, it's not just now a man and a horse. When you bring out the chariots, This is the heavy duty warfare. This means you're not playing games. You're not going to stop until you defeat the enemy. This is real warfare. And that's what God has shown us here. It's a time of real warfare. God is going to war against the nations to perform His work internationally in the affairs of men with world politics. Do you remember in 2 Kings chapter 2 and 11 when the Lord came to pick up Elijah? And Elisha is walking with Elijah and he says, you're not going to leave me without giving me a blessing here. You know the story. And it says, and as it came to pass, as they went still on and talked together, can you imagine this happening? Ian's talking to me and we're walking along the road. There appeared In other words, it had appeared, it was there before but it had to appear. Suddenly there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Chariots of fire, horses of fire, angelic beings. We're seeing something spiritual here. In order to get Elijah caught up to heaven, a chariot, a fiery chariot is sent for him. You're seeing something angelic here. And again, a little bit later in the same book, remember when all the armies were come to get Elisha, and he was there with his servant, and the purse servants trembling, saying, look at all the armies, look at all the Gentile nations, look at our enemies. Remember the man of God prayed for him and said, Lord, open the eyes of this young man. And instantly the young man saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. You know, when we see these chariots and we see these men riding out in judgment, you're seeing angelic pains. That's what you're looking at here. This is something supernatural. It's not natural. This is God now. It's not like Zechariah 1. This is Zechariah 6, the last 8th vision. And now God is saying, I'm going to stir everything up in the nations. That's why when we go to Revelation 6, you begin to see the stirring of the nations. Why? God has a plan. God actually has a plan on the earth. We have four chariots, red, black, white, and the fourth is gristled and bay. What is gristled and bay? What do gristled and bay horses look like? Someone has said it's gray and bay. Bay is that brownish, reddish look of a horse. You know, normally when we see a horse, we go, that is a bay horse. It's a reddy, brown horse. That's what it looks like. But this is a gristled and a bay horse. That's why the red horse is in bay. Red horse is bright blood red. It's a different color than the bay. But this fourth horse is gristled and bay. And that means dappled gray, light colored, many colored, more than one colors. Or listen to this, spotted with red dots. This fourth horse is two colours, grizzled and grey. It's basically a greyish horse with this bay brown, red colour speckled all over its body. It represents something. I'm not going to tell you all it represents. But look at verse 5, what it says about these four chariots. What are they? Who do they represent? Four spirits of the heavens. Don't interpret it yourself. Do you hear me? What was chapter 1? The angel of the Lord on the red horse. Here, what are these four chariots and their horses? They are the four spirits of the heavens. The word spirits there is the word for winds, winds. It's talking about angelic beings, agents of God's judgment. In Hebrews 1, verse 7, it says, and the angels, to the angels, he's saying, talking about the angels of God, he says to them, who maketh his angels Spirits are winds. The same word for wind is the same word for spirits here. So an angel is a spirit or a wind, and his ministers a flame of fire. So look at angels. They are spirits They are ministers or messengers of God, but they're also flames of fire. God has made His angels flames of fire. He's made them winds or spirits, but they're also His messengers. They're flames of fire. That's who the angels are. God's angels are flames of fire. Remember in Daniel chapter 7 verse 2, when God's going to give a prophecy about the nations and what is going to happen in the nations. Daniel 7.2, Daniel spake and said, I saw my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea, or the nations of the world. What do you think those four winds are? When God begins to prophesy about the nations, what's going to happen? And the four winds begin to blow on the water. Do you know what it's shown us? These four spirits of the Lord, These four angelic beings and creatures are going to begin to move on world affairs to stir the waters up, to bring forth God's plan in the earth. That's what it's saying. So these four chariots of horses ride out in judgment. What happens to them? Chapter 6, verse 6, it says, the black horses which are therein go forth into the north country. Notice the direction of them. The black horse, and we're going to deal with it in the weeks ahead, what does the black horse represent? We'll do an entire message on it because it's about to happen. A black horse is going to be released on the nations. It represents something. Here in this vision, this black horse of judgment goes forth to the north. In chapter 2 of Zechariah, the land of the north is the daughter of Babylon. That's who the North country is. So a black horse is dispatched to Babylon, and the white goes forth after them. So you see the white horse also following. First a black horse, then a white horse. Whatever the white horse represents is going to come after the black horse. I'm shrouding this in mystery until the weeks ahead. So first they're going to be impacted by black, then white. And the gristle go forth towards the south country. They go in the opposite direction. They go down south towards Egypt in the south. And what about the bay horse? It says in verse 7, And the bay went forth and sought to go that they might walk to and through in the earth. Just like Zechariah chapter 1. And he said, get you hens, walk to and fro through the earth. But they're not gathering information now, they're bringing judgment. They are traveling through the nations, these four chariots. And where they go, they bring judgment from God. They're stirring everything up. You've been at peace too long. God is going to stir the Gentile nations up. You know why? He wants his house rebuilt in Jerusalem. He's going to see glory amongst his people once again. But the horses have to go forth to Babylon and to Egypt and to other nations. And they're going to go forth in all of the earth. Then cried he upon me and spake unto me saying, Behold, these go toward the north country and have quieted my spirit in the north country. And so we see here in this prophecy before I close. The red horse, the black horse, the white horse, the gristled horse, they're going in different directions, but then we're told they all go out into all of the earth. This is going to be worldwide, international. These judgments are going to spread from nation to nation. First Babylon, that black horse is going to start something, trigger it in Babylon. That white horse is going to... Sorry, that... Gristled horse is going to trigger something in Egypt. So all these things are going on. And God says, then it's going to sweep around the world, and all of this is going to bring forth My plan on the earth. All of them go into the earth patrolling to execute judgment on Gentile nations. These angelic spirits will stir up events amongst the nations to bring about God's plan for the restoration of Israel and His glory. Do you know what this vision in Zechariah 6, what it's followed by? It's followed by a symbolic prophetic act. The crowning of Joshua, the high priest, to be king in Israel. You know what was happening in Jerusalem at this time? Zerubbabel was the governor, a man of God. 20 years before, he led them back. Then you have Joshua who is the high priest. But look what happens here. After all this judgment goes forth, God symbolically announced the high priest to be king. Very strange action. So now you have a king priest anointed of God to bring forth God's will in the earth. Something very strange is happening here, very unusual. After all of this, from Zechariah chapter 8 to chapter 14, you have all end day prophecy. Beginning with chapter 8, we move to our day. And from now until the end of the millennium, that's what you see in Zechariah. We've had all these visions about God working in the nations. Now he looks off into the distant future to our day and to what is going to happen in the near future. Let me just tell you, when these four chariot horses rode out between the brass mountains, what happened in history? What do you think happened in actual history? We have the Bible prophecy, we have the story. What happened in Darius' kingdom? He's put down all the rebellions, took him two years, his throne is secure, everything is at rest, no war. Isn't it great? All the heathen nations are saying, this is brilliant. All the kings like Darius are saying, shoo, what a ruler I am. I've got everything under control. No, you don't. You think you're under control, Darius. You think you've got great armies, great power. I want to tell you God is in control, not you, Darius. You're not in control. You remember I gave you the date. of when the prophecy is given. What happened after that in Darius' kingdom? I don't have time to go into all of this. You can look it up for yourself. It's extraordinary. There's been a time of peace, finally. That same year in 519, after the four chariots ride forth, we read that something happened in Egypt to the south that led to Darius traveling there and conquering Egypt. Then he attacked the Scythians east of the Caspian Sea. A few years, that's to the north, going north of where he was in Babylon. And a few years later, he conquered the Indus Valley to the east in India. What you see here is when these four chariots ride forth, all of a sudden wars break out in Egypt. with the Scythians up to the north into what we know as Russia now. And it begins to spread into India. Then in 516, just three years later, he is invading Afghanistan, Pakistan. In 513, he is subduing eastern Thrace and he travels through onto the Danube River into Europe. and conquers Bulgaria. He brings all of his army in. We also read that Darius the Great then invaded Greece twice with two great attacks, 20,000 men. And his son Darius II leads the army. Do you know who this is going to lead to? Darius III. to his grandson invading Greece and what happens? Because of that the Grecian nation rises up in the plan and the purpose of God. Do you know that after these four chariots ride out you have war after war after war, you have major situations happening right across the world. Do you realize that God's plan was coming forth and as all of this broke out, God's house began to get built again and God's glory came down and filled his people once more. Let me finish. Do you see why I stuck with one point instead of three points tonight? I only gave you one point. Let me finish with Revelation 6 and we start on this next week. So what are the four horses and the four horsemen of Revelation 6? Oh, I've heard all the opinions. We say the white horse with the white rider, it's a coronavirus. We know it is because it's got a crown, corona, you know? Actually, I think the rider, the literal rider on the horse is a man called Antichrist. That's who I think he is. No, no, no, no. I think it's Jesus on the white horse of the gospel going forth to conquer with the preaching of the gospel. You hear idea after idea after idea. Well, I'm not going to tell you this week. But let me point to the fourth horse in Revelation 6 as we close. We need to understand what the horses are. Revelation 6 verse 8, and I looked, you need to look. I looked and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. Who is this rider on the horse called death? Is it a thing? Is it a movement? Is it an experience? Is it a power? Or is it a fallen angel? See death here, it says death is riding the horse. In other words, where this horse goes, death is gonna come to men. Who's behind him? Hades, hell. Hades or hell is right behind him. He doesn't have a separate horse. He goes with this fourth horse of death. Do you realize death is seated on this horse? Who is this death? In Revelation 20 verse 13, it explains, and the sea gave up, at the end of the millennium, the sea gave up the dead which were in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And listen this carefully as we close. And I'm allowed to say that at least 15 times. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. You don't throw a thing into the lake of fire. You throw persons. into the lake of fire. In Revelation 19, 20, we read that the beast, the antichrist, who is a man, gets cast into the lake of fire. We read that the false prophet, who is a man, got cast into the lake of fire. In chapter 20, verse 10, we read that the devil, who wasn't a man, he's an angelic being, an ancient being, Lucifer, he gets cast into the lake of fire. So here we have death and hell getting cast into the lake of fire. You either have to be a man or an angel, a fallen angel. So we see the fourth rider of the fourth horse is actually called death, and death is going to be cast into the lake of fire. In other words, he's an angelic being. He's not one of God's angels. He is a fallen angel, and he's riding the fourth horse. And this horse is going to get let loose on the earth in a remarkable way one day. In this generation, I believe, death embodied is going to be let loose to bring judgment on the nations. Do you realize how close we are to the end? Do you realize as we look at all of these things over the next weeks, do not be afraid. Don't you realize that God stirs up all these things? Even death is under the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil does not have power to do anything. We look at world events, death, famine, wars, and we see disaster. If you really understand God's purpose, you're going to begin to see that he builds his church in dark days. I believe this fourth rider is an angelic being, not a man, not a movement, not events, but he's going to fulfill prophecies that are given here. And it says in chapter 20, 15, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. If your name is not written in the book of life, you are going to be cast in the lake of fire with death as a person, and with the devil, and with antichrist, and with the false prophet, and everyone who loveth the lie. Hell, an eternity, an eternal judgment is very, very real. But do you realize that these four horses are going to be let loose? Do you know what's coming after all of this? It says in Revelation 11, 15, and the seventh angel sounded the trumpet, the last angel. And there were great voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. As we go to the book of Revelation and see the first seal opened that triggers the entire book of Revelation, the book of Revelation From chapter 6, it all begins with the first seal that we're going to deal with next week. It all begins then, and it happens at a certain time, and it hasn't happened yet. Because once that first seal gets open, and the white horse rides out, everything is going to happen, and God's judgment is going to come on the nations straight through until every single nation is going to become the Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. That's why I'm excited saints. That's why when I see the horses ride out, I know it looks disastrous in the world. But do you realize God is just about to fulfill His everlasting plan. Will you pray with me here tonight? Father, we thank you for your Word and your truth, O God. We want the teaching of the Holy Spirit over these coming weeks. We don't want the teachings of man. Will you help us to be careful Lord God, to not interpret it with our own understanding, with our own mind. Lord God, we're asking that the Holy Spirit would teach us as we compare, as we rightly divide the Word of God, comparing one scripture with another, one book of the Bible with another. Lord God, we seek, O God, and we ask that the Holy Spirit would actually begin to teach us that as we see everything happening in our world, from the Corona crisis all the way through to Afghanistan. As we see these things all begin to happen, that our hearts aren't going to be trembling or afraid, but we shall look up because our redemption draws nigh. Lord God, thank you, Lord Jesus. We worship you, we bless you, we thank you. that you were found worthy, you have been found worthy to open up the seals and to reveal these prophecies. And I thank you that you're sovereignly in control, that you're seated at the right hand of the Father. And we love you. One of these days, all the nations of the world are going to become yours and you shall reign forever and ever. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. We love you. We bless you. We praise you. Amen. Amen. God bless you.