And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld below 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. That's the word of God tonight. people of God we are as a country and probably as a world in the worst economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s there are a few members of this congregation who remember that Great Depression they were children or young people Our country came close to reduplicating that great and terrible depression. And even though the banks have not failed as then, many of us, perhaps all of us in one way or another, are feeling the effects of what's taking place in our country and the world economically. There are businessmen here who are struggling might and main to keep their business afloat and have to lay off many of their workers. There are others here who are unemployed because of this economic recession or underemployed. There are others who are struggling because of this economic recession to pay the bills to make ends meet. Perhaps all of us are tightening the belt to one degree or another. These are not joyous times economically. What we're experiencing is the result of the running of the black horse that we're considering tonight. Let's review quickly what we've so far learned in this chapter. The book of Revelation deals in the main with the opening of seven seals. In chapter 5, John the Apostle sees a book sealed shut with seven seals. That book represents the living decrees of God for the future. As the seven seals are loosed one by one and the book is opened, the eternal decrees of God are carried out. And Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of God's people, is the only one that was found worthy to open the book. The book is given to him. He is the one who loses the seals, opens the book, and executes the counsel of God for the future. The future is in the hands of Christ, who sits at God's right hand. With the opening of the first four seals, four horses with their riders are released to run through the history of the New Testament era. We've seen that these four horses and their riders represent various powers given to the exalted Christ to shape the history of the world according to the counsel and predetermination of the living God. The white horse represents in this chapter the power, the cleansing power of the cross of Jesus Christ which reaches out throughout the world by the power of the preaching of the gospel reforming, sanctifying, bringing salvation generation after generation to the Church of Jesus Christ. Last week we considered the running of the red horse which represents war and rumors of wars and now this evening we have the running of the black horse which we will see represents the power of Christ to create a sharp distinction between the rich and the poor and to maintain that distinction in spite of all the efforts of the poor to become rich. And the ultimate goal of Christ as he unleashes these powers and also the power of the black horse is the destruction of the kingdom of darkness under Satan and the ultimate victory and completion of his own kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. With that in mind we call attention to the opening of this third seal and the black horse. We notice its identity, secondly its run through history, and finally its purpose. with the opening of this third seal John the Apostle sees a black horse with a rider and that rider has a pair of balances in his hands a scale to measure now let's understand what that is that's a beam or a rod perhaps of this length balanced in the middle on some fulcrum and from each side hangs a pan this is a balance or a scale to measure weight this brings us back way before our time back to the time of the Bible when in the marketplace When you bought and sold, you put a weight on the one side of that scale, and then you started filling the other side, the other pan, with whatever you wanted to buy or sell, and when they equaled out, you had the weight you desired. This horse, this rider in the black horse has a pair of scales in his hand. And as John sees this horse and this rider, he hears a voice from the midst of the four beasts, or living creatures, saying, 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. That's what John sees. That's what he hears. We're dealing here obviously with symbolism. What does this black horse and his rider with the scales represent? They represent the power given to Jesus Christ to create a sharp distinction among men between the very rich and the very poor. and then to maintain that distinction through history. That's evident first of all from the color of this horse, it's black. Black is the color of scarcity and want, of having hardly enough to meet the basic needs of life. Jeremiah the prophet wrote to Judah, in her days of trouble under the judgment of God. There was famine, there was drought. Jeremiah writes chapter 14 verse 2, Judah mourneth and the gates thereof languish, they are black unto the ground. The same Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations and we read in chapter 5 verse 10 of Lamentations, our skin is black. like an oven because of the terrible famine. The idea of scarcity and want pictured by the color black is further explained by the pair of balances the writer holds in his hands and the voice that speaks from among the four living creatures and explains the significance The balances in the rider's hand reminds us of an ancient marketplace where food was bought and sold, weighed out carefully. From the voice that speaks from among the four living creatures, we learn the price of food in the marketplace. A measure of wheat for a penny. Three measures of barley for a penny. Now a measure was just a little bit smaller than our court. A measure of wheat was just enough to sustain a normal man for one day. It was really a slave's ration for one day. That's being sold for a penny. Literally a denarius and a denarius was the normal wage of a working man. That's what's going on in the marketplace. Also three measures of barley for a denarius. Barley was animals feed. It wasn't as nutritious as wheat. Three measures of barley were equivalent in nourishment to one measure of wheat. That also was sold for a denarius. The working day wages of a man. The idea therefore is barely enough to meet the needs of man. One works. He works all day long. And all he's able to earn is enough food just to survive. And nothing more. Enough to eat. Where will he get his clothing? Where will he find resources for shelter? Just enough to eat. And certainly not enough for the luxuries of life. That's the picture that's presented here by this black horse. However, this scarcity, if we continue looking on and listening to what the voice is saying, this scarcity is not due to a lack of food, not due to a lack of resources, because the voice also speaks of wine and oil. Oil, which is olive oil, along with wine are in the Bible symbols of plenty, of prosperity, and riches. And the voice that speaks from among the four living creatures is this, and hurt not the oil and the wine. That's spoken to those who can make just enough to eat and they have nothing left don't hurt the oil and the wine that suggests that there are those who have riches great riches wine and oil there are those who are living on the brink of starvation just making do hardly and then there are those who are very rich and those who are just living at a subsistence level according to the words here of the voice from among the four beasts are trying to get some of the riches that they want the wine they want the oil they're striving for it they're struggling for it but the voice says don't hurt it leave it alone it's not yours belongs to the rich and they will have it and you will not and so it is that the black horse and its writers represents the power given to Jesus Christ to create a sharp distinction between the rich and the poor shall we say the few rich and the many poor and to maintain that distinction and now John is told to observe come and see as Jesus opens the third seal and sends this black horse riding through history. And the ride of this black horse through history represents the work of Christ in the New Testament era until the very end of time actually to create and to maintain this distinction between the rich and the poor. And so that brings us to our second point. It's run through history. Are you a student of history? You don't even have to be a student of history. All you have to do is be an observer of what's happening today in our own world. we see the running of this black horse very very prominent but if we look in history up until the present there have always been the many poor and the few rich and there's always been the attempt of the poor to reach out and to gain for themselves some of the riches of those who hold the wealth of the world. But somehow the rich always succeed in outmaneuvering the poor and retaining their wealth. So there are the few rich and the many poor. Now, this also coordinates with what we talked about last week, the running of the red horse, which is war and conflict. As the poor reach out to gain for themselves the riches of the wealthy, and the wealthy seek to protect their wealth, their struggles, there's conflict, there's war. All this takes place in the context of sinful greed. Fallen man who doesn't know Jesus Christ is greedy for earthly gain and earthly riches and he will have them if at all possible no matter what it means for those around him no matter what suffering it causes for his fellow man he will have as much of this world's goods as he can possess you know that's the problem with fallen man in Jesus Christ we have something much better than houses and land and money and all that it affords in Christ we have riches which are eternal they're laid up for us in heaven we can begin to enjoy them now in Christ we'll enjoy them perfectly one day in heaven and the riches that are ours in Christ which we are able to taste, far exceed in value and in joy the riches of this world but you see if you don't have Christ you don't know that in fact you're not interested in those and so you have only earthly things and the sinful nature of man is greedy to attain them, to have them, to enjoy them, to live them and down through history as Christ carries out the counsel of God you will find that normally there are a few wealthy that have amassed to themselves great riches and the many poor how is it that these few have gained all the riches now of course we're talking about God's providential control but in that context we're talking about people of great ability who know how to make money they know how to run businesses but sadly it's more than that Often it's those who have no scruples and who are willing to use any dishonest means necessary to grow and increase their empires. And they're not above using judges and paying off government to attain and to keep their wealth. but the poor are also greedy it's not just the rich who are greedy the poor are just as greedy as the rich but in the providence of God they don't have the ability to grab the riches of others and so they often try to attain the riches of others through dishonest sinful means stealing There's a reason why the Lord says in the Ten Commandments, Thou shalt not steal. It's not just the rich who steal, not just the poor who steal, but they do steal. And they steal from the rich. Home invasions, robbery, embezzlements, robberies and stealing of many different kinds. Governments have been overthrown. in revolution as the poor masses finally have had enough and they want the riches of the few in power. How do you explain the French Revolution? How do you explain the fall of the Tsars in Russia? The poor seeking the riches of the few and even the wars among nations always involves earthly material resources and greed. And the poor nations always want a share of what the rich have. That's part of the struggles of our own culture and world today. At the bottom of all politics in the world, the struggle of the poor nations to have what the rich have, and the rich to keep that which they've amassed. and behind it all is Jesus Christ and the running of this black horse no Jesus Christ is not the author of sinful greed nor is he the one who is responsible for the stealing and the dishonesty and all the tricks and all the abuses that you find in history as the rich grow richer and the poor are kept in their place Nevertheless, behind all this sinful struggling between the rich and the poor is Jesus Christ who sits at God's right hand executing the counsel of God with the running of this black horse. And we are told with the ride of this black horse that all these things that we have seen so far in history and we see today around us are going to continue until the very end of time. We are dealing here with prophecy. Through the opening of these seals and the running of these horses we're being told what's going to take place for the rest of history until the Lord comes. And through the run of this black horse we are told that for the remainder of history there will continue to be under the rule of Christ this distinction between the rich and the poor. occasioned by the greed of man and accompanied by social ills and sins that are prevalent because of this greed and struggle. There's going to be one exception in history and that's going to be and the book of Revelation tells us it's going to be with the coming of the Antichrist at the very end of history God and his providence is going to allow the devil to establish what he's always wanted all through history a kingdom a worldwide kingdom under one government where there is peace and prosperity for all under the providence of God there is going to come a time when the poor in every society and the poor nations are going to receive from the rich enough to satisfy them for a short time and the rich are going to give it up the Bible indicates that there's going to come a time when the problems of society and the world are so great there's going to be only one solution one government one man or perhaps a small group of men will step forward as the saviors of the world as the saviors of society and will convince the rich to share with the poor enough to satisfy them and for a short time at the end of history there will be peace and prosperity and a sharing of wealth and the devil will have his short day just before the end comes and we'll come to that in a moment it's important finally for the church to know the purpose of the running of this black horse And the church must know because she suffers as a result of the running of this black horse. As Christ through the running of the black horse creates the distinction between the rich and the poor, God's people have more often than not found themselves among the poor masses. Yes, there are God's people who have been extremely wealthy, but they're the exception. More often, God's people have found themselves numbered among the poor. They earn a denarius and they can buy with it a measure of wheat or three measures of barley and they can just get by. There are two reasons for that. First of all, well let me say this, the ultimate reason of course is God's providence. God's providence. But in the context of God's providence, we must bear in mind that God's people are not the covetous people of the world. Ordinarily. Sometimes we fall into covetous, don't we? It's very easy to do that, but in Christ, we know that we have greater riches, better riches, lasting riches in Christ. So that our heart is not set on the things here below, but on above. Well, that doesn't usually translate into accumulating great wealth. Those who seek the things which are above, rather than the things that are here below. don't tend normally to amass great fortunes. They're treasures in heaven. Also, the rich amass their wealth also often through dishonest means. Paying off governments, bribery, dishonest business practices. The children of God normally don't stoop to that. Often they find themselves therefore on the short end of the stick when it comes to the distribution of physical wealth. They're not usually among the rich. They're often among the poor and often suffer with poverty. And so the question is very valid, why? Why Does God in his providence, why does Christ as he executes the counsel of God make this distinction and bring these things even upon his church? There is threefold answer. And it's the same answer essentially that we gave for the purpose of the running of the red horse, which creates war and also creates great distress for the people of God. In the first place, through the running of the black horse, the world fills the cup of iniquity and becomes ripe for final judgment and destruction. Remember, Christ is not going to come and complete the great kingdom that he has begun at his exaltation until the world is ripe for judgment. The world must fall in judgment before the kingdom is complete. God will have it very clear, Christ will have it very clear when he comes to judge the ungodly that his judgment which is horrible and terrible is just and fair and right. That means that space must be given to the world to show the true character of their hearts and the true character of their sin. Remember, all of sin, even our sin, partakes of the character of the original sin. When Adam and Eve said, let's join with the devil and let's push God aside and take the universe over with the devil, we will become his God. That's the essence of all sin, but it's not always evident, is it? The world must show the true character of its sin. must show the potential of sin grow in it's sin until it's obvious what it really is and all of it's hideousness well we saw last Sunday that by sending war and rumors of wars the world grows in sin and shows it's true character what butchery, what What evil is in war? But it's the same also with the conflict between the rich and the poor. Oh, how terrible is the greed of man. Turns his back upon the riches of heaven. Wants only these earthly riches. Is willing to run roughshod over anyone and everyone to attain it and to protect it. What sins develop as Christ sends this black horse riding through history and the rich are getting richer and trotting underfoot the poor and the poor are growing in sin as they reach out more and more for the riches they cannot attain. through the riding of this black horse sin abounds and the world becomes ripe for judgment so that Christ can come and judge this world and bring about the completion of his kingdom. Secondly, through the running of this black horse Christ also prevents the premature of the Antichrist and the destruction which would mean the destruction of the church. Remember, not only does Christ have his kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, which is proclaimed throughout the whole world by the gospel, but the devil also is struggling to maintain and to establish a kingdom. He has the vast majority of mankind under his spiritual domain. His work is to bring them all together in a worldwide kingdom and he will succeed under the providence of God he will have his day as we said there will be one government one kingdom there will be peace and prosperity in differing measures prosperity for all and a worldwide peace and what happens When the ungodly finally put away their warfare among themselves and are at peace, they turn viciously against the church. So the Bible warns that when the Antichrist comes, there will be the great tribulation for the church such as has never been before. So that if the days were not shortened, the very elect would perish off the face of the earth. that anti-christian kingdom must not come early must not come prematurely and so Christ with the riding of this black horse makes the few rich the many poor so that the poor are always struggling against the rich and the rich are always suppressing the poor and there is conflict and there's revolution and there's war among nations preventing the dream of Satan until the very very end when the Lord will let him have his day but through the riding of the black horse as the red horse the church is preserved There's room yet in this world for the church until the very end. One more purpose of the riding of this black horse Christ uses it to purify his church. Remember we in Christ belong to the great kingdom of God. We are citizens of that kingdom. We even begin now to enjoy its treasures and its riches. But it's a kingdom of righteousness. It's not for the wicked, the vile, the sinful. That's why through the riding of the white horse Christ has come and through the power of the preaching has brought us to Him and to the cross where our sins have been washed away and we have been cleansed. in the sight of God we are as white as snow but the work of salvation the cleansing work of Christ has not been finished and it won't be until finally we're taken from this earth and taken to glory we're a work in progress Christ is continuing to purify us and to cleanse us in this life through many means and one of them is through suffering and pain and sorrow. We saw last Sunday that he uses the pain of war to accomplish that. He also uses the pain of poverty, of struggling, struggling financially. It was Asaph. No, it wasn't Asaph. Proverbs 30. The writer of that chapter made a prayer. Give me neither riches nor poverty because if I am rich I will forget thee and say who is God? But if I am poor and I don't have enough to eat I will steal and I will curse God give me food that's convenient give me just enough to get by well that's what the Lord does to purify us to lead us to depend upon him that's the purpose of the black horse the black horse is running through history The black horse is running through our lives. The black horse has been running this last year and a half or two years through our lives. Creating a great deal of distress for a number of us. Don't despair. Don't worry. What did Jesus say? We read it on the Sermon on the Mount. Seek those things which are above. Lay up for yourself treasures not on earth, but in heaven. And don't worry. Don't worry about your life. Don't worry. What am I going to eat? What am I going to drink? What am I going to wear? The birds. They don't sow in the spring and harvest in the fall, yet God feeds them, the lilies of the field. They don't work and spin cloth for themselves and make clothes, but even Solomon was not dressed as wonderfully as the lily of the field. Your father knows what you have need of, what you must drink, what you should wear. seek first the kingdom of heaven and God's righteousness and God said I'll add all these other things to you what you're going to eat what you're going to drink what you're going to wear as the black horse runs through our life and continues to run through history let's have our eyes on the treasures which are above and our faith in the God who promises to care for our every need. Amen. Father in heaven, we are thankful for thy word tonight, for its instruction, for its comfort, for its guidance. Now bless us in this word. Open our hearts to hear it, to embrace it, to live by faith in Jesus Christ and to rejoice and the work of Christ in history. In whose name we pray, Amen.