Well, turn, if you will, to Revelation chapter 6. Revelation chapter 6, found on page 1314 of your Pew Bibles. Over the last couple of weeks, we have been attending the throne of God, looking at that vision begun in chapter 4 of the throne room of God. And there we saw God sitting upon his throne and in his grasp was a scroll written both inside and out and yet sealed with seven seals. And you recall how last week when a mighty angel came forth and asked, who is worthy to open the scroll, to break these seals? None in heaven or on earth or under the earth. were able to come forward, and John wept that no one was worthy to open this which God had set down from the beginning of time until he was comforted by a brother, an elder, who said, The Lion of Judah has arrived. The root of David has come. And he saw a lamb standing there by the throne who looked as though he had been slain and yet was alive. And he was worthy to take out his hand and take to himself that scroll. And it yielded great worship. Worship amongst the creatures and the elders and the myriads upon myriads of angels all fell down to worship that one who is worthy to execute God's judgment, to open the scroll. And today we're going to see him doing just that as he begins to open the scroll. So look here at Revelation chapter 6 beginning with verse 1. Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, Come. And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him. And he came out conquering, and to conquer. And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come. And out came another horse, bright red, Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another. And he was given a great sword. Then he opened the third seal. And I heard the third living creature say, come. And I looked, and behold, a black horse. And its rider had a pair of scales in its hand. And I heard what seemed to be the voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, a quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine. When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, come. And I looked and behold a pale horse, and its writer's name was Death, and Hades followed him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe. and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth. And the full moon became like blood. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up. And every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful and every one slave and free hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne. and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" This morning we're going to be looking at three things. First, we'll be looking in particular at these, the four horsemen of the apocalypse that are laid out before us. during the opening of these first four seals. Second, we'll be looking at the cries of the martyrs as they are put before us when the fifth seal is opened. And then lastly, at what occurs when the sixth great seal is broken by the Lamb, where we see Every foundation is shaken. And where we see amongst those who are apart from Christ, fear is awakened. Dread of that great last and terrible day of judgment is described. So first, let's look at these first four seals opened by the Lamb. Throughout these visions, it is important that we would return again and again to those other portions of God's Word where we would see similar visions arise that we might better understand these things and we'll be less likely to lean upon our own creative ideas, to understand what is intended by Christ to be comfort-giving words to those who are His. And so as we think about these first four seals and the apocalypse, these four horsemen of the apocalypse, it would take our minds back to that which was uttered by Zechariah. That vision of Zechariah found in chapter six, for example, or even in chapter one. But here in chapter six, verses one to eight, we see something similar in the vision of the four chariots. Here we read, again, I lifted my eyes and saw and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses, all of them strong. Then I answered and said to the angel who walked with me, what are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said to me, these are going out to the four winds of heaven after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country. The white ones go after them. The dappled ones go toward the south country. And when the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth He said, Go patrol the earth. So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my spirit at rest in the north country. Well, here in Revelation, when the first of the seals is broken, we see a white horse and a rider upon him. This rider is described as one who possesses a bow and a crown is given to him and he goes forth conquering and to conquer. We have here pictured in this first one that goes forth none other than that one who is throughout Revelation described as victorious. There are only two things within the book of Revelation described as those who conquer or are a conqueror. They are one, either the people of God, whom Christ has called to remain faithful that they might be labeled as conquerors, but more likely it is not the people of God here. But Jesus Christ himself, that one who already reigns victorious, that one who has already been declared the conqueror, for he has overcome sin and death on our behalves. So what is it that we have pictured in this first horseman that is to go forth who is described as one who is conquering and to conquer? None other than Jesus Christ going forth to build his church, to extend his kingdom throughout all of creation. He rides forth. And for you and I who are his people, this serves as a pleasant and helpful and encouraging reminder of what will be the future of the Church of Jesus Christ. And certainly we can see this attested to over these last 2,000 years of the Church of Jesus Christ. Even those who would have been alive at the time of John were marveling at the power with which the gospel of Jesus Christ was already going forth. Throughout that great realm of Rome, Christ was establishing His church, what had begun in Jerusalem and Judea through Samaria, and now had begun to establish itself securely within Asia Minor and throughout all of the empire of Rome and even beyond by these the latter days of John, the servant of Christ. And yet we go throughout church history and what do we see? But the church continues to grow and to extend despite those who would war against it. A clear testimony to the fact that that one whom we place our trust and our hope continues to ride forth with a crown upon his head, conquering. We regularly pray for the persecuted church. We think of our brothers and sisters in China who over these last many decades Though a communist government has been in power and has at many times and in many extensive ways sought to exterminate the church of Jesus Christ. Christ has shown himself a true victor, a true conqueror, establishing even in the midst of such as are bent upon the destruction of his church. there to plant a most powerful and glorious church. Some 200 million members it is estimated within that land. Again, these things are to evoke within us a recognition that even though we may look about us and today see evidences that are saddening to us of a nation that is increasingly moving away from those Christian moorings that once were more commonplace. As we see the efforts from those who occupy the highest offices of our land to those who are our neighbors, warring against God, that we might be reminded Christ reigns. He is not here described as one who merely makes war with hopes of winning. But he is a conqueror and he will ultimately conquer. And so at the very beginning of what is often described as the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Christ would have his church know that as we have been called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, he is pleased to work through his church to continue to extend his fame around the world. And thus it gives us hope to continue to faithfully engage in those works which he's called us to, following after that one who by necessity has to go before us to prepare hearts to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they might be enabled to respond. And so it is as the Church of Jesus Christ, each time as we hear brothers and sisters profess faith in Jesus Christ, we rejoice and we worship God, an acknowledgement of his ongoing work as he builds his church. And so those in the first century would have been able to attest to the fact that as they existed within Asia Minor, a testimony to the power of Christ and a power of the gospel to build the church of Christ, that they would not despair. These are the same churches that he is here sharing this vision with initially, who many of which are already Feeling the pressure of the thumb of Rome upon them. Many who have already seen their dear brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, or perhaps even their children martyred for the faith. Being reminded at first out of the gate of heaven is Christ to go before his church. And he is a conqueror. Next we see the second seal is broken. And this horse is described as a bright red horse whose rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that people should slay one another. And he was given a great sword. This next horse that goes forth stands in contrast to that first horse that went out to establish the Church of Jesus Christ. And this red horse serves as a reminder for you and I, for all of God's people, of that which often comes in the wake of the establishment of the Church of Christ. Certainly those who existed within the seven churches were familiar with the pressures and the warrings against the things of Christ that erupted after a faithful body of Christ was sown, was established within those communities. We read of such in the letters to the seven churches. There were many ways in which these pressures were caused to befall the people of God. We see that peace was not long lived in the wake of the gospel. Certainly the Covenanters were familiar with this as they were blessed to rediscover God's Word and the truths within it. And to lay off to the side those things that had corrupted the message of the gospel, those things that had been implemented as artificial barriers between the people of God and their one mediator, Jesus Christ. When the authority of Rome or the authority of those rulers and monarchs were shown to be far below that authority of Christ, it brought with it threatenings, wars, persecution, even death. And so we see That following after this victorious and conquering horse as the gospel goes forward and the church of Christ is established. Christ is here preparing us for what will be the response of a godless world to the things of Christ. That we would not be naive to how the world will treat the things of Christ. But we will be prepared and will rightly know the kinds of difficulties that will be a part of the age of the church. And as we're reading about these seals being broken, we're reading about something that describes the time from Christ's ascension to his return triumphantly. These will be things that will typify the time and life of the church. Not all of these things will necessarily be fully present at all times. There may be seasons of greater and lesser war and famines and pestilence and death as we see described within these things. But he says we should be prepared as those who cling to Christ, as those who fix their eyes upon him, to expect an absence of peace. Over the last couple of years as we have gone through what for all of us was our first experience with pandemic, there wasn't a lot of Peace to be found short of our schedules, right? They were cleared. They were peaceful. There was nothing going on. But in our hearts and our minds, we weren't very peaceful. We reflected upon what historic pandemics had befallen man in the centuries that preceded us. And some of those were extremely grim. With enormous loss of life, you think back to the Spanish flu or the Black Death and the millions upon millions who died and how little was known then about how one could protect themselves from such infections, such plagues. And so we were unsettled. fearful, not knowing if we could do those things we knew we ought to do, those things that had typified our lives to that point, fearful for our lives. And here in this country we have enjoyed an extended period of peace. Or for the most part, we have been able to exercise that great privilege of worshiping God and doing his will and proclaiming his name without any threat of our lives being forfeit, our freedoms being hampered or taken away. And yet here is Christ reminding us, brothers and sisters in Christ, That is a gracious gift of God and that an absence of peace is not to be thought of as a stranger to the Christian situation or the Christian life. And so we see the red horse has been set free following after that victorious one who is establishing the Church of Christ. Next we come to the third seal. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come and looked and behold, a black horse and its rider had a pair of scales on his head, you know, in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, a quart of wheat for a Daenerys and three quarts of barley for a Daenerys. Do not harm the oil and the wine. Not only do we see here that these horses have gone forth, one to establish the church, one to take away peace, and that would lead to the slaying of one another. But now we have one who seems to have within his command and his authority The economic situation of the world. That one who has in his grasp a scale who will be responsible for the measuring out of and the valuation of those things that are essential. Again, this comes from Christ. As a word of instruction to his people that in this period until he comes again, there will be seasons of famine. There will be hardships that will be endured and be faced by God's people to endure. Again, we go back to those letters of the seven churches. What is it that we saw was often the consequence of those who sought to remain faithful to Christ. You remember the example of those who found themselves living in the city that was known for its guilds. If you wanted to practice your art, your particular skill set, if you wanted to be gainfully employed, you were to be a member of that particular guild. You were to participate in those pagan practices and feasts. You were to offer sacrifice to those pagan gods of the guild in order for you to work. And if you wouldn't participate in the things of the world, you would be relegated to the unemployment line, to the basest and most menial of labors in an effort to squeak out a living for yourself and your family. Here's Christ warning his church again of some of the consequences that will attend those who will follow after that one who conquers. You need to be prepared. Again, we have in large measure through our lifetime enjoyed a season of great prosperity where we haven't had to give significant thought to where we will work and whether or not we or our children will eat. And yet here is Christ. That same one who was pictured in Revelation chapter one, standing in the midst of his churches, attending those lamps, trimming them, filling them, preparing them that they might do their work. Speaking to you, saying, prepare yourselves. Think about that commitment which you have made, that profession of faith that you have made in the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that that one who awakened in you that new capability to hear the gospel and to know it to be true, that that same one will prepare you to continue in faithfulness throughout your days in service to him come what may. Whether it be war or whether it be economic hardship, whether it would be a taking away of your freedoms, whether it will be famine. Next we see the fourth seal being broken. I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, come. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And its rider's name was Death. And Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence. And by wild beasts of the earth. This is a pretty scary picture. When we think in terms of the casualties of the loss of life, which this, this one who rides a sickly greenish colored horse, whose rider is death. It's described here as having authority over a quarter of all of those alive upon the earth. A quarter. There are kids here, I'm sure, that could do this math in their head. When you think in terms of the current population of the earth being, what, some seven and a half billion? people, a quarter of those given into his control to be slain. And yet there's also some encouragement for us as the people of God as we read of this. One is that there is a limitation. Just as we saw in the third seal That one who carried the scales was limited in those economic hardships in which he could bring about. We see that it is none other than our loving Savior who assigns the value of a denarius. That was often pictured as the day's wage, that which was necessary in order for one to live. And here is Christ putting a limitation as to how extensive those hardships can be. And here he is saying one quarter you may have authority over, but not the other three quarter of those who exist. And we see that this death may come by many different ways from wars, famines, from the sword, from pestilence, or even from the beasts, our fellow creatures, who would turn upon the pinnacle of God's creation and be responsible for the death of men and women and children. So all of these things represent the consequences, the beginning of God's judgments being meted out, the contents of this great scroll becoming known to the church of Jesus Christ. And we read earlier from Matthew chapter 24, where Christ was asked, how will we know when it is that you will come again? What are the signs that you can give to us? And yet in Matthew 24, we see a picture that is very similar to that which is here before us in Revelation chapter 6. These things are in accord, how God's Word works together to help us better grasp these signs that will lead to Christ coming again. And after he has dealt with these four horsemen of the apocalypse, he turns his attention then to those who have been martyred. The fifth seal, verses 9 through 11. When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? As we see here pictured under this altar in heaven, the souls of those who had been martyred, it's important for us to realize this is not a gathering of those martyrs crying out in sadness, crying out in a desire for themselves to be vindicated. It's important we realize that all of those who occupy heaven And certainly we know that the souls of those who die go immediately to be with Jesus Christ and are made glorified, are made perfect in him. That means that even these souls who we have here crying out in a loud voice are not crying out weeping and sad. But instead, these are the souls of those who have been made perfect, crying out that the perfect justice of God might be executed. Their desire is for nothing less than the glory of God. To see his wonderful plan fully carried out. And so they cry out to him, God, how long until You will finish what you have started. And again, we have pictured here the kind attendance of Jesus Christ to those who are most precious to Him, those who have been given to Him by the Father, who have in faithfulness laid down their life for Christ in submission to Him. We see our loving Savior go to them and give to them those wonderful white robes, a testimony to the fact that those who reside there, those souls are those who are conquerors in Christ. And he says, be patient yet a little longer. until the full number of those whom are here accounted for within this scroll have themselves forfeit their lives in service to Christ. He says, just not yet. There may be days in which you watch the news and you hear of the atrocious things that are happening in the world around you. And you sound very much like the souls of these martyrs. Those who say, how long, Lord? How much longer, Lord, until you come again? How much longer must this sin abound? Must The evil ones go unpunished around us. How much longer will these pains and sufferings and sadnesses and losses exist? And Christ's word to you is the same as to those of those souls under the altar. Wait yet a little while. until my work is done. Until all that I have planned to do as I ride throughout the earth in conquering form, that one who bears upon his head a crown, establish my church. That every nation and every tribe, every people will hear Of the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ that I might establish my name in those places. And then I'll come again. And then I'll deliver you. Just as I have promised to deliver those who have gone before you. By bringing about full justice. So he offers these comforting words to the souls and he offers them as a comfort to you, his church, his brothers and sisters in faith. Wait but a while. And then he moves lastly to the sixth seal. Notice this isn't the seventh and we'll deal with that at another time. But we see here the sixth seal is broken. And when he opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth. The full moon became like blood. The stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the great ones, the generals and the rich, the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling on the mountains and rocks, fall on us, hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For a great day of their wrath has come. Who can stand? We come now to this sixth seal, at which time we see those evidences of the imminent arrival of that great day of judgment. And again, as we read through those few verses and you think about the magnitude of those signs, which represent the coming of Christ again in power to judge the earth. Do you think you'll miss it? I mean, you note the things that he here describes as being taken away. Are they not all of those things that we take for granted as being foundational to our day-to-day lives? Those things that we feel are ultimately and forever established. You wake up each morning, despite the fact we're in Western PA, expecting to see the sun. A comfort each morning when it arises and gives forth its light. Or you're comforted at night when you know the sun is still there because the moon illumines the night. It's more common for us to contend with or hear of earthquakes. And yet just this last week, I remember reading of another earthquake that hit the northern part of Japan, something like a 7.4 or 7.6, which is no small earthquake. And yet that earthquake reopened a lot of old wounds and traumas from that 9.6 earthquake that occurred back in 2011. tend to think of the ground upon which we stand as being permanent, lasting, dependable. And yet here on this great day of the Lord, what do we see? But the earth is shaken. We see the sun goes dark. We see the moon goes and turns to red like blood. We see the stars of the sky, those instruments by which those who are skilled can even navigate because of their dependability falling down from the heavens. The sky, which continually is above us, rolled up like a scroll. And yet all of these things give evidence to the coming of Christ, something bigger that is about to come. These are huge things, and yet there is comfort found even in the midst of these great calamities. We find described here not God's people, But he describes all of those things that are dependable, solid, unchanging, things that seem to always be present. And then he goes on and he moves to those that we tend to think are the powerful in this life, the kings, the rulers, the generals, the rich. He says, even these things will be unsettled when Christ comes again. Those who today may walk among us, around us, those who it may seem walk with impunity in their sin around us, flaunting their sinfulness before the face of God. So extensive is their sin and depravity. But they'll be so unsettled that they are here described as uttering forth Fall upon us, hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. How do we know that you're not included in this? That we are not included in this? Because there is no wrath of the Lamb for those whose hope and faith is in him. Remember what was the response of God's people, those representatives of God's people when that lamb who was slain appeared at the throne of God and laid forth, took forth his hand, reached forth his hand and took for himself the scroll. Worship. Praise. joy, comfort, delight in that one who is the fulfillment of what God had promised. And so, brothers and sisters, as we read of these seven seals, as we read of the horsemen of the apocalypse, Christ's reason for this, his revelation, has not changed. He intends for you to be encouraged, comforted, that you may remain steadfast even in the face of that sin and persecution and those trials or low even those threats to your own life that could yet come till he would come again. This is a lot for us to undertake. This was a lot for even John to be confronted with in this portion of this second vision. And Christ knew that and he provides a pause. And so next week we're going to look at the pause that Christ gives in the midst of the opening of these seals. That we might catch our breath, that we might think and pray about these things, that we might rightly understand the encouragement he intends for us, his people, those purchased at great price. And so, next week we'll look at chapter 7. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Almighty God, again, as we begin to explore these various visions, Lord, it is so often in the world around us that these things are misunderstood, misapplied, and used, Lord, as things to evoke fear and dread. for the coming of Christ. And yet, Lord, for all those who are yours, there is nothing in this life which we desire more than Christ coming again and our being firmly and forever established with you and being made glorified by you. Lord, as we read through this and we are reminded that it is Christ who goes before his church preparing a way for her to carry out that ministry which he has given. For Lord, we'll not persuade anyone to faith in Christ by our mere words or intellect. No, Lord, you must go before preparing and renewing hearts that when they are confronted with the truth of your word, Lord, they may respond. And so, Lord, we pray that you would continue to bless the work of this your congregation. Lord, that you would cause us to keep our gaze fixed upon you. Lord, we would not become akin to and familiar with sins. But rather, Lord, we would seek you and follow in that path laid out by you, doing those things which you have commanded, for we know them to be true and good. And Lord, we pray that you would bring these words of encouragement to our minds. Whether we would in our lifetime experience wars or the threatenings of war, whether, Lord, we may face calamity in an economic fashion, Lord, that we may be reminded that just as you attend to the needs of your little ones, your birds, providing what they need, how much more, Lord, will you provide what is needed as it's needed for those who are yours? Lord, as we think in terms of the other things that may threaten our comfort in this life. Lord, may we always know you reign and we are securely in your grasp if we have our faith in you. None can be taken from you. So, Lord, may we wait patiently. Doing those things as faithful servants before you till you would come again. That you may say to your servants, well done, good and faithful servant. You conquerors who remained faithful to the end. Bear now your crown. Stand as pillars in my house. Sit upon my throne with me. Come and reside with me and never depart for Lord you've promised these things to all who conquer. Keep our eyes fixed upon these things we pray in Jesus name, amen.