Revelation, the book of Revelation. We will look at tonight, Revelation chapter six, only look at the first seven, eight verses here. Revelation chapter six. There's a lot here, particularly when we're talking about the four horsemen of the apocalypse, who they are, what they are, what they stand for, things like that. There's going to be a lot I will warn you there's going to be a lot of Bible reading because we have to set this in its proper context. So just to just to forewarn you we'll read our first first eight verses together and then following that we'll we'll dive in and as I said just get ready to to look at a lot of different scripture tonight as we. begin to put this into its proper context. So, Revelation chapter 6, beginning in verse 1, if you're physically able to do so, let me invite you to stand with me as we honor the reading of God's holy and written word. Revelation chapter 6, beginning in verse 1, please hear the word that is given to us this evening. 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. Power was given to him that he that sat there on to take peace from the earth. They should kill one. They should kill one another. And there was given to him a great sword. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third be say, come and see. And I behold, beheld and a black horse and he that sat on him. had a pair of balances or scales 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 the sword and with the hunger and with death and with the beasts of the earth. Let's pray. Father, as we assemble tonight, bless your word now. Give us wisdom as we look at your scriptures in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Thank you and be seated. Well if we are going to properly understand the passage that we just read there's a lot of scripture that we're going to have to cover because as just like John always does John now again draws heavily from the Old Testament and there are going to be four we'll read four passages and then later on we will get to the fifth passage there's actually five passages in these eight verses that John is quoting and or drawing from here in Revelation 6, 1 through 8. And I think you'll be amazed as you see this and put this in its context. So let's do this. So let's talk about these four horsemen of the apocalypse. And if we're going to properly understand this message, then we're going to have to understand a couple different things. One, we must understand that this passage In light we must understand this passage in light of other Old Testament passages. So let's take a look Let's go back to two passages, but two passages will be in the book of Zechariah Toward the very end of the Old Testament I'm gonna read Zechariah chapter 1 verses 8 through 15 Zechariah 1 8 through 15 and then we'll flip over to Zechariah 6 1 through 8 Zechariah 1 8 through 15 and the Zechariah 6 1 through 8 and So let's take a look at what Zechariah says, and I think you'll see where John is pulling this from. Zechariah 1, beginning in verse 8, this is what the Lord's Word says. Then said I, oh my Lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show you what these are. And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, these are they whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of the Lord that stood among the myrtle trees and said, we have walked to and fro through the earth. And behold, all the earth sits still and is at rest. Then the angel of the Lord Answered and said, Oh, Lord of hosts, how long will thou not have will thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against which thou has had indignation these three score in ten years? And the Lord answered the angel and talked with that, talked with me with good words and comforting, comfortable or comforting words. So the angel that spoke with me said unto me, cry thou, saying, thus says the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. And I am very sore or very greatly displeased with the heathen of the Gentiles that are at ease. For I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction or helped to pass on the affliction or bring about the affliction. But then there's another passage here. In verse Zechariah chapter six beginning in verse one. Zechariah chapter six verse one and it says this and I turned and lifted up my eyes and looked and behold there came four chariots out from between two mountains and the mountains were mountains of brass and the first chariot were red horses and the second chariot black horses and the third chariot white horses and then the fourth chariot grizzled and bay horses or pale like horses. And then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heaven of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses which are therein go forth in the north country and the white go forth after them and the grizzled go forth after toward or go to go forth toward south country. And and the bay or the pale horses went forth and sought to go that they might walk to and fro. through the earth. And he said, get you hints or go get out of here. Walk to and fro through the earth so that they so they walked to and fro through the earth. Then cried he upon me and spake unto me, saying, behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country. Well, I think as you can see, there is some some imagery and symbols here that John is drawing from. The Lord is drawing from here as he's showing John these messages. But there's two more passages I want us to look at before we really dig into this passage. The first one, the third one, excuse me, is found in the book of Ezekiel. There's another passage here in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 14. Look at verses 12 through 23. Ezekiel chapter 14 verses 12 through 23. I told you we'd be flipping a little bit tonight. Ezekiel chapter 14 verses 12 through 23. Listen to what the prophet Ezekiel says. Ezekiel 14, 12 through 23. The word of the Lord came again to me saying, son of man, when the land sins against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it and will break the staff of of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off the man and beast from it. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord. If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be made desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts, Though these three men were in it as I live, says the Lord, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters. They shall only they shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate of it. Or if I bring a sword upon the land and say sword, go through the land so that I cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men were in it as I live, said the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send a pestilence into the land and pour out my fury upon it in the blood in blood excuse me to cut off from it man and beast though Noah Daniel and Job were in it as I live says the Lord God they shall deliver neither son nor daughter they shall but deliver their own souls for their righteousness thus says the Lord of the Lord God how much more when I send my four sword judgments upon Jerusalem the sword and the famine and the noisome beast and the pestilence to cut off from it man and beast Yet behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth both sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you and you shall see their and you shall see their way and their doings. And you shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their doings. And you shall know that I have that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord God. One last passage, and let's go back to Leviticus. Leviticus chapter 26. This will be the last passage that we look at for a little bit. But in Leviticus chapter 26, we find an interesting passage here, beginning in verse 18. And this will be 18 through 28. Listen to what the Lord says to Israel. And if you will not yet for all this, listen to me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power and I will make your heaven as iron and your earth is brass and your strength shall be spent in vain for your land shall not yield her increase. Neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. And if you walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. And I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number, and your highways shall be desolate. And if you will not, and if you will not be reformed by me, by these things, but will walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you that I will avenge the quarrel of my covenant. And when you have gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you and you should be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight, and you shall eat it and not be satisfied." What are we to make of what are commonly referred to as the four horsemen of the apocalypse? And how exactly do they fit into what I have just read to you? Well, clearly the Lord has shown us a couple of different things here in this passage of scripture, whether it be in Leviticus or Ezekiel or Zechariah. or in our book of Revelation here, we have to ask ourselves, what is it that we are seeing now? What is it that we're hearing now? We have to interpret this, right? And we want to do this in accordance with the best ability that God has given to us. But the idea here, even before we get into that, is let me just say this to you. The idea here is, I think, at least three or fourfold. The first idea behind this passage of Revelation chapter 6 is to announce that judgment and punishment is certain. It will come. Judgment and punishment will come. I mean, this is the whole purpose and the whole reason why John was crying. He was crying that no one was found to break the seals and he was sad. And so, and yet the lion of the tribe of Judah had broken the seals. And so the first idea is that God is announcing that judgment and comfort, I'm sorry, judgment and punishment will come. And then I think secondly, there's a second reason behind this passage that the Lord gives to us, and that is to encourage repentance and faith. It is to encourage those who find themselves walking contrary to the Lord, contrary to his to his will and to his word that they need to repent. They need to come underneath the sovereign authority of God himself. They need to flee to Christ. They need to run to Christ. They need to be held by Christ through faith. And so we need. So it is an encouragement to them that because judgment and punishment is coming, they are encouraged to repent. They are encouraged to come to Christ in faith. I think there's a third truth here behind this passage, and that is simply this, to comfort the persecuted believer, right? Because who was the book of Revelation? Who would it have been received by? It would have been received by a persecuted church. It would have been received by seven churches that were suffering under various various persecution under various issues that they would have faced. And so the Lord is writing this and he's telling them these things because in announcing that judgment and punishment is coming, he's also seeking to encourage them that even their persecution serves a purpose, even their persecution serves his will, that this persecution has not come to them and is not coming to them for any other reason than he is in it and he will glorify himself in it and through it. And I would say this, I think in comforting them in their persecution, he is telling them, he's telling us, when we face persecution, that we're not forgotten, right? When our family doesn't want anything to do with us because we are trying to walk in accordance with the word of God, and we love Christ, and they try to shame us, and they try to make fun of us for walking with Christ. So they don't want anything to do with us. we can be reminded that when we're facing that type of persecution, and yes, that is persecution, that we are not forgotten and that we're not alone in the midst of all of this. But also I would say to you that in comforting them and comforting the persecuted believers, both then and now, I would say that he's also reminding them that he's the guardian of our souls. He's the one who guards us. He's the one who guides our souls. He is the one who will not allow our souls to ever be touched, even though he should allow our bodies to be touched. And I think he's also reminding them in comfort that he's going to, should they taste the pains of death and persecution, he will in fact avenge them. He will be the one who will bring justice and avenge his people. And I think even in saying this then what comforts the believer even today though though we may though certainly believers in places like North Korea and Iran and even in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia China other places like that are facing various types of persecution. All of us can be comforted. in our varying degrees of persecution, that Christ is in control. Christ knows what's going on, and Christ is in control even over death, even over persecution. There's nothing outside of His rule, outside of His reign. So let's get to the four horsemen then, shall we? Because these are very interesting creatures, these are very interesting beings. Let's talk about the first horseman. He is simply identified here in verse 2, and it says, So who is this guy? What is his identity? What is the identity of this white horse? Well, let me say this. To a first century believer, as they read this, they would have clearly understood the message of Christ, the message that John is given. You say, well, what do you mean by that? Well, do you know that in the context, this description is none other than a writer that's resembling the Parthian Empire. Now, if you don't know who the Parthian Empire is, it's okay. I'm going to tell you who the Parthian Empire was. Parthians were a fierce empire. They were Rome's one of only two empires that were able to effectively resist Roman control and conquer. The Parthians were fierce warriors. They were along the Eastern Empire of Rome. And when you see them depicted throughout history, you see them depicted just like this. This is the picture of a Parthian that Jesus is now drawing from to give us a description about this type of writer. While the image itself is not a literal reference to the Parthians, it is a reference that does provide background to the meaning of our passage that helps us understand what is exactly being described here about this rider on this white horse. And I will say this, there have been a lot of discussion about who this writer is. If you look up a lot of different commentaries, you're gonna find a lot of different answers about who this writer is. Two of the most common, the first, and this was held by many of the early church fathers, is that this is Christ. This is the Lord Jesus himself going forth, conquering, and leading forth judgment upon the world. I don't think that that is the case, though I do see why they would say that. Others would have honestly, the second large proposal is that of the Antichrist. But I'm gonna say this, don't read into this text what's not there. It doesn't say that this is the Antichrist. It doesn't. So don't read something into this that's not there. allow the text to speak for itself. It doesn't say that it's the Antichrist. And so it does seem, however, when we take this writer into context, into consideration of the other writers, because they are all lumped together, I think the most that we can say about who this writer is, because we don't know who this writer is, is that it does seem, in context, that this writer is a satanic ruler. Whether or not it's the Antichrist or not, the text just simply doesn't tell us. And the Antichrist isn't even mentioned until much later in the revelation. So let's not read something that's not there. So at the most we can say is that this is a satanic writer. And this is the position I take. That this is a satanic writer, a satanic ruler. He's clearly evil. And the white horse is grouped together with the others. And so therefore I don't think you can say that this is Jesus. I just don't think you can make the case for that. He is an evil conquering ruler. I think that's what we can say at this point as we look into our text. That is the most of what we can say. He may be the Antichrist, but he may not be as well. He may just be an evil ruler. But here's his activity, right? Because no matter who he is, his activity is very plain, right? What he's doing here is very clear. Let's look what it says here. And notice here that he was given what? He was given a bow and he was given a crown and he went forth conquering and to conquer. Right? That's his activity. His activity was that he was under the control of God because it was given to him. This crown and this bow was given to him so we know that he was under the control of God. Second is that he rules. Right? That he rules. he rules, he has a crown that's been given to him, right? And so he is a ruler. And the phrase, he conquers, and he's conquering and conquers, right? It means that it is a phrase that reminds us of that this is going to be a thorough conquering that takes place. This is a thorough conquering that's going to take place. That's why the phrase is used. Much like the reputation of the Parthians that preceded him, he's going to be a total conqueror. He's going to be one who is unopposed, at least for a while. In other words, he's going to decimate his enemies, right? He's going to destroy his enemies. He's going to take them and he's going to destroy them. And I would say this to you, without getting into any type of commentary, if you have ever said before, well, I just don't know how that would ever happen, I think I should be able to look at it as the last year and see easily how all of this could easily happen, right? uh... you you don't need to look any further than than than the events of this last year to see how easily when a crisis comes when something happens people are willingly just going to be like all okay well let's just do this And so, particularly when you have one man who is so feared, one man who is so fearful, sorry, to be feared, and people are filled with fear apparently because of his fierceness, how easily it would be to say, well, you know what, I don't want to taste destruction, I don't want to taste any type of, I don't want to get, if he destroys one country, I don't want to get in any of that. let's just rather unify rather than taste that wrath. Second of all, not only does he have, sorry, not only is there this horse, the first horse, the white horse, there's a second horse that appears right immediately after the white horse, and that is the red horse. The red horse. And he says in verse three, 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 there on to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another. And there was given unto him a great sword. So who is this writer? Right. Well, we're not told the name of this writer. Matter of fact, we're not told the name of any writers except one. And we'll talk about him in just a minute. But he is but he is. Interestingly enough, the same color as the great red dragon. You say, well, what do you mean by that? Well, because we've not gotten there, let me just fast forward just for a moment and show you in Revelation chapter 12 verse 3. Revelation chapter 12 verse 3. It says this. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads." And so it is interesting that this rider and this horse, or this horse is the same color and its rider is riding this horse that's the same color as the great red dragon of Revelation chapter 12 verse 3. I think at most what we can say about him is that he is a war horse. He is a horse of war. And the writer upon him, I would even call his name War. He is a war horse because that's what it says. He is given to take peace and that people should kill one another. And we're going to talk about this in just a moment because this is a rather interesting phrase that is used here. But let's look at his activity real quick. his activity. So what is it exactly that he's going to be doing? What is it exactly that God has given him to do? Well, here's the first one. First, he is given the ability to take peace from the earth, right? This is why I said that for a little while, the rider on the white horse, again, whether he's the Antichrist or not, will be given, right, will be given, at least for a time, an unopposed reign, right? This ruler will be given some sort of an unopposed reign. However, at some point, peace will be taken from the earth. Now, notice this. It is God who is taking the peace through the judgment of this red horse. And he says, what is his point is to cause people to kill one another. Right. And that's what he says here. It's that it's to take peace and that people should kill one another. But the idea here in our text isn't just to kill people. OK, that would be bad enough. But that is not the idea of the text. The idea of the text is that of slaughter and massacre. That is that there will be war on the earth of such the likes we have never seen. That war will be unleashed, and we're not just talking about wars and rumors of wars, right? I mean, we've had conflicts all the time since the early 1900s, since World War I, right? We've had great The time between the Civil War, the ending of the Civil War and the Great War, there was an unprecedented time of peace throughout the world. It was a wonderful time. And so because of that, there were many who believed that, well, you know, Jesus is going to set up his kingdom. Things are going so well. Things are going to get better and better and better. And Jesus is going to come and he's going to come back and everything's going to be fine. But with the start of the Great War and thereafter, we have seen nothing but massive conflict after massive conflict after massive conflict. But the massive conflict that is here, that is being unleashed on the earth at this time, truthfully, It says that those who experience this will experience slaughter and massacre upon the earth. This is what's going to happen. The Lord promises that this rider is going to be given to be allowed to slaughter and massacre people. And the sword here, there's also great meaning here in this sword, this idea of the sword. And the sword has been given to accomplish his bloody purpose, hasn't he? What is the bloody purpose, right? The bloody purpose is to slaughter people, to massacre people, right? Through these wars, whether it be a civil war or whatever, some other type of war, just a bunch of wars all together, all at once. But nonetheless, it says, now the King James, in the New King James, translates this, a great sword. The idea here is that of a of a small sword. It was a sword that was often used in sacrificial sacrifices. It was a sword that was often used among the Gentile nations for sacrificial purposes. It is even described back in Genesis where Abraham took the knife and was going to kill Isaac. This is a small sword that he's been given. And this, I think, describes two things. One, just a conglomeration of just horrific war that is unleashed upon the earth. And there's also, I think, a secondary thing, and we'll see this here next week when we talk about the fifth seal. And that is the persecution of believers. And that is, I truly believe, that not only will there be war on the earth, but as a result of the war, there will be great persecution of believers that will be unleashed upon this world. And this is, I think, the whole idea here, the notion of persecution, is clearly apparent when you observe how John uses the word slaughter and kill in this instance without exception throughout the gospel of John and throughout the book of Revelation. When it is in reference to Jesus, it is always used in reference to Jesus, used five times in reference to either Jesus or his saints, and it is only used for us or the Lord Jesus. Right? So this is a horrific time of both war and oppression upon the earth, as well as a great time of persecution for the church. This is a horrific time. John uses this without exception to refer either to the death of Christ or his followers. And so this isn't just in reference to the Gentile nations. This is in reference to the church itself also. And I would even say that this should even be taken into consideration when you look at passages like Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 through 36 or Matthew chapter 24 verses 6 and 7. We should we should see this I think in light of those passages as well or at least allow them to add commentary here. There's a there's a third writer though the third writer and that is the the the black horse right the black horse. And it says here that when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, come and see, and behold, I beheld, and lo, a black horse. And he that sat on him had a pair of balances or scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, or a shekel, and three measures of barley for a penny, or a shekel. And see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. So who is this horse? Who is the rider upon this horse? Well, as you look here, I think you see his identity very clearly. I think there's a threefold identity that's given here. First, he is the rider who produces death, though he is not death. We'll talk about that in just a minute. He is the horse of poverty, and he's the horse of famine. He is, he is the, his rider activates these activities. Why do we, why do I say that? Well, look at the activity. It says rationing. It talks about rationing. So, so he has a scale, but these scales aren't scales of justice, right? We, we know, we know, you know, in, in the courthouses, you know, you have the scales of justice and things like that, but this, this isn't that. This is, this is an idea of, of scales of how they used to measure out wheat and barley and how they, how they would measure out your food. And so you would pay a shekel or a denarii and, and in the, you know, to your merchant and then he would measure you out so much wheat or so much barley or so much of whatever and so then he would give that to you but the idea here is that there's rationing going on because scales have been pulled out and the famine is so severe that it says that a measure of wheat for a penny or a shekel, right, and three measures of barley for a penny or a shekel and he says and see that you do not hurt the oil or the wine So he says, there is great famine here, so much so that you have to ration your food. There's also economic hardships. I mean, the inflation rate here that John mentions to a first century Christian would have been between 8 and 16 times the inflation rate of their current day. And according to our current estimation, it would be about 12 times. it would be 12 times what we would be in the S the inflation rate would be about times 12 for us so no matter what you do right times 12 whatever the inflation rate maybe now times that by 12 it's a massive inflation rate we we we get mad when we we face 1 percent inflation could you imagine facing 12 percent inflation it would be an insane amount but there is a restriction here isn't there I'm that he is not allowed to harm oil or wine now I do find it interesting And this is truly the case, right? So this is true across the board. The nicer things of life will always be available to those who can afford them. The nicer things of life will always be available to those who can afford them. And let me just say it without a shred of sorrow in my voice when I say it. This is how communist and socialist governments work. The politicians and the rich get the best, and everybody else gets the rest, whatever is left over. if you go even today if you go to Russia you will still see the effects of communism upon that nation. And you will see that the government buildings were built beautiful, oh my goodness, they were so beautiful and kept immaculately. And the homes of the politicians and those who were rich, their homes were beautiful. They were almost palace-like and it was beautiful. And yet everybody else had to send their kids to the orphanage in the winter because they couldn't feed them. And this was going on back even, it goes on even today. They send their kids to the orphanages during the winter so that the government can feed them because they can't afford to. And then when it comes to planting season, they go pick them up again and they stay until harvest season. And then they send them back to the orphanage where the state feeds them, right? This is the effect still today of communism and socialism that we see in many communist and socialist governments. But it's not necessarily just restricted to communist and socialist governments, right? This is going on worldwide at this point. This is going on worldwide at this point. And the restriction is not to harm the oil or the wine. And so this is meant to display a common identity or a common struggle for rich or poor at this point. And then there's a fourth rider, and then we'll stop here. The fourth rider is a pale horse. Now, I wish I could tell you pale even begins to describe this horse. But as you look up what this word means, the idea here is not a pale, just a pale horse, right? Like some kind of ghostly white horse. The idea here in this word, pale, is that of a sickly, yellowishly green color. It is the color of death itself. It is the color of a deathly jaundice, so much so that it even has the idea that this horse is in various states of decay as this rider rides upon it. And you'll see why here in just a moment. Because what does it say here about this rider? Well, it says, this fourth rider is, he says, Now, Notice this, right? This rider is riding this deathly, yellowishly, sickly, green horse in various parts of decay and his name is Death. This is the only rider named in the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. This is the only horse, this is the only rider that's named. None of the other writers are named. This is the only writer here. And what is the idea here of this idea? Well, the idea is exactly that he'll do exactly what he says he'll do. People are going to die. What's his activity? Well, he'll be active over a fourth part of the world. The famine will be so bad. I would say that what you see here is generally His sort of mopping up from the first three waves that have gone through, he just comes along and then he just mops up what has already been started under the other three horsemen. And the idea here is, again, it says that, it talks about the sword, that he'll be able to kill through the sword. What's the idea here? Well, the idea is that he is going to take through death by, again, through war. He will cause war to continue to be prolonged and people will die. He clearly says hunger, pestilence, right? And I would even say that that is very clear here about what he's talking about is that the pestilence here is death. But the most interesting one of all of this is here in the very end of this verse When it says, and the beasts of the earth. He's going to kill people by the beasts of the earth. You say, well, what is that? What does that really matter? Well, if you go back to the book of Ezekiel and we'll end here, but back to the book of Ezekiel, to a different passage in Ezekiel 14, you find another passage where God actually brings judgment upon the nation of Israel. And he says here in chapter 14, right? Ezekiel's prophesying against the nation of Israel, chapter 14. And he says in beginning in verse 19 he says or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my fury upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast the Noah Daniel and Job were in it as I live saith the Lord they should deliver neither son nor daughter they show but deliver their own souls by their righteousness for thus saith the Lord God how much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword and famine, the beasts, the noisome beasts, or the beasts and the pestilence. God says He's going to do that to Jerusalem. How much more would He do that to the nations? You see, death is indiscriminate. Death rides throughout the world today, but this isn't describing how death is riding today. This death that is being referenced here has a severity to it. It has a strong severity to all of this. And so these four, quote unquote, four horsemen of the apocalypse, as they're commonly referred to, this is not a good time. This is not a wonderful time. And I believe, while I certainly believe that there have been aspects of all of these that have gone on throughout history, We've seen pestilence, and we've seen famines, we've seen wars, and we've seen all sorts of things, and death, and the bubonic plague, and all of this that killed millions upon millions of people, you know, and all sorts of things that have happened in our world, even with COVID and all the like. They'll pale in comparison to what is happening in these passages, or in this passage. And let me just close by simply saying this, because we're out of time. What should our response be? Well, let me just simply tell you this. One, it should lead us to where we are trusting in Christ and only Christ. We need to have, second of all, a proper perspective in life. I think third, we need to realize that we need to have a passion for the gospel. We need to be sharing the gospel with sinners. Because, I mean, brothers and sisters, let's say this, whether or not we ever taste any of this that's being referenced in this passage, people are going to die today without Jesus. They're going to taste death without Jesus today. And we need to be passionate for the gospel. And I would even say this, brothers and sisters, let us let us find our comfort and praise in God and personally evaluate our lives so that so that we understand and that we're living in accordance with the word and will of God this day, that Christ can be glorified and that that judgment isn't something to be celebrated. To be honest with you, I hear people say, man, I just I can't wait. Man, you should be. We should be broken. over sinners who will taste the wrath and judgment of God. We should weep for those who will taste the wrath of God. We shouldn't be like, man, I can't wait till God pops some smoke and helos me out of here. Man, we should be broken over the souls that are lost and dying and are headed for hell and will taste death and their death will never die. We should be broken over this, brothers and sisters. We should be weeping over this and crying out for souls, pleading with sinners to come to faith in Christ, while all the while finding comfort that our souls are secure with Christ. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your time in the word today that we've just been able to dig in and just to see what's in our text today. We thank you that you have been faithful to us to allow us to see that though testing may come upon this world and trials may come, you may unleash all sorts of hellish judgments upon this earth. God, we are secure in Christ. In the meantime, may we weep over souls who need to know the gospel. May we labor in the harvest fields of souls who need Christ. May we be faithful to proclaim Jesus. May you give us a white-hot passion for the glory of God. May you give us a white-hot passion for the gospel. And may it never be quenched. May we be faithful to proclaim Jesus and His grace that is available to all who would repent and believe now. And we ask this in Christ's name. Amen.