The opening of the seals in Revelation 6

Sermon notes from Sunday 10 June 2018

Revelation 6

As you read through the book of Revelation, Daniel and Thessalonians there are so many prophecies contained within each that you start to wonder if there is any point in reading them.  There is so much you don`t understand within each but books of prophecy are of the utmost importance.  They hold a value to our souls.  Here in these books God is giving to us a scene that will take place on this earth in coming days.  As we study prophecy and see things that will take place in the future we should be encouraged and comforted by these words.  As people who have been saved by God`s grace, we will not be on earth when these words take place.  We will be in heaven with the Lord.  Paul when writing to the Thessalonians, who were disheartened because there were certain loved ones who had passed away and therefore in their opinion had missed out, told them about the Lord`s coming again.  At the end of it all he told them "wherefore comfort ye one another with these words."  The first thing we receive from words of prophecy is comfort.  They also come as a challenge to us.  What about our loved ones, family members, those we love on this earth - they are going to be left on this earth, to the onslaught of the anti-Christ.  In chapter 5 we saw something happening, saw the title deeds of earth in a book.  The Lord takes them out of the hand of the one sitting on the throne.  He begins to open the seals, only he could do that.  He is the Redeemer and the coming king.  In chapter 6 we see these seals opened but the seventh is not opened until chapter 8.  Notice here because the Lord is in heaven, as he opens the seals, the consequences are seen on earth.  Wrath and judgment is being poured out here on earth.  People would rather not talk about the judgment and wrath of God.  They would rather hear about God as the one who loves us - John 3 verse 16.  "For God commendeth his love to us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."  Jesus does say to those who knock on his door "I never knew you."

The delusion that is happening here.  The first seal that is opened brings great deception onto the whole earth.  The apostle Paul said in Thessalonians that people will believe a lie through the lips of the anti-Christ because he has the answer.  In verses 1 and 2 we read that this call "come and see" is not made to John.  The beast is not saying to John "come and see what will happen."  The beast is speaking to the rider on the white horse.  It is a war like picture.  These are not the beasts of the anti-Christ.  Each beast has a commission and they are around the throne of God.  The beast calls each horse into action.  This is the white horse.  Some have confused him with Christ.  In chapter 19 Jesus is coming on a white horse.  Remember the Lord is in heaven and he is opening the seals and the results are seen on earth.  The rider on the white horse is a victor, he has accomplished things, he is covering ground, making a name for himself.  Matthew 24 "let no man deceive you."  Even in the world in which we live there is a great deception.  Even in churches today people are being deceived.  They say "I have my own church and that is enough" or "there is no need for that preaching you do."  People do not want the truth today.  We are living in the age of deception.  This man is going forth to conquer.  1 Timothy 4 verses 1 - 4.  2 Timothy 3 verses 1 - 5.  Paul is telling Timothy "do not be deceived, you are going to meet religious men but it is only a form of godliness."  This man on the first horse has a bow but no armour.  There is no blood shed, it is a peaceful regime that will be brought in.  Revelation 13 verse 2.  The devil gave them the power and authority.  The world will be deluded by him.  Daniel 8 verse 24 "And his power shalll be mighty, but not by his own power and he shall destroy wonderfully and shall prosper and practise and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."  This is the person that is coming.  Here is a man coming when the church of Jesus Christ has gone home.  This is the man we will look up to.  When that happens here on earth he will gather all the leaders of the world, set them down.  The whole world will follow after him.  2 Thessalonians 2 verses 4 and 5 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."

In verses 3 and 4 we see the devastation.  There has been peace in the land because of this man.  Daniel 9 verses 26 and 27.  He makes peace in the Middle East but worse is coming.  This peace treaty will be set up during this 3 1/2 year period but it will be broken.  A tremendous war will break out.  The mask will be taken off and the people will see a ruthless leader.  They will kill one another.  That refers to civil war.  There will be anarchy on the streets.  This is not something we can set aside.  This is coming, it is all part of the future.  

There will be a time of dearth - verses 5 and 6 the Lord takes this book into his hand and opens the third seal.  There will be a time of delusion and then a time of devastation followed by a time of dearth on the earth.  This time the rider is not holding a sword but a pair of balances in his hand.  Starvation will come upon the earth.  The scales are for measuring the wheat.  The cost of living will soar.  There will be a time when food sources will be scarce.  During the time of war money will be used to buy weapons.  People are forgotten about.  In Jesus` day a penny was the wages for a man for a full days work.  Here we read one penny will only buy enough for one meal in the day.  That will only be for one person - there will be nothing left for the rest of the family.  There will come a day when people will not be able to work and therefore not able to buy food.  There is also a reference to 3 measures of barley for a penny.  That surely is better value but the barley was used to feed animals.  The people will be buying the food for animals and using it to feed their families because it will be of more value or so they think.  The comfort from prophecy is that we will not be here during this time if we are saved, have trusted Christ for sins forgiven.  What about the challenge though?  Am I prepared to go to heaven on my own, without my loved ones?  We cannot do anything to save them but are we doing all to ensure they are saved, are we praying for them, seeking God for their salvation?  In this verse 6 we read that the oil and wine were not to touched but under these circumstances will anyone be able to afford them?

In verse 8 we see that wrath  follows hard.  When we read of war we know there will be rationing.  Famine brings poverty, disease and sickness.  A quarter of the world will be killed through this time.  There is a tremendous challenge on us all to reach the lost for Christ today.  Wouldn`t it be awful to miss out on God`s call today?

Psalm 42

Sermon notes from Sunday 3 June 2018 

Psalm 42

As Christians we are on a pilgrimage.  The world tells us we are missing this and that but we are not.  They are always striving and straining, never happy.  We however are a satisfied people.  You can enjoy the Lord and have fun and fellowship with others.  Isn`t it good to meet with God`s people.  You are happy to meet them and rejoice with them.  We are going onward and forward each time but there are times when we have conflicts, trials, physical or mental or spiritual difficulties.  We need to get through these difficulties, need to overcome them.  Sometimes our difficulties are more easy to overcome than others. There will be trials like David suffered.  We could say that this  man was going through the furnace of affliction to be refined.  The Bible talks about the refiners fire.  God doesn`t want to melt us, he melts us to refine us, to make us better, to draw us closer to him.  The refiner heats metal, heats it as long as is necessary for all the dross to come to the top and to be scraped away then left with the pure metal.  When he sees his reflection in the metal he knows it has been refined.  That is a powerful picture of what God does in our lives.  Trials are hard to come through.  We would wish they wouldn`t come but God wants to refine us through them.  He wants us to be more like him.  Some of us take more refining than others.  We are called out of the world, brought out of a rough state.  There is more refining to be done.  The Lord has a work to do in and through us.  We are always growing in grace and in the knowledge of God, always wanting to be more like him, closer to him, growing all the time.  David is being refined here in this portion.  The general subject matter is about God`s people.  David is under affliction.  Driven from his throne in Jerusalem not by Chaldeans or Philistines but by his own son Absalom.  Absalom has raised up men and is going to put his father out of the throne.  David is getting it rough in his own home.  A terrible shame for David, for him to be taken off the throne.  He was the anointed king.  God had anointed him.  Samuel when he anointed him asked Jesse "is this all the sons you have?"  Jesse told him "no there is one more who is looking after the sheep."  Jesse was told to bring him in and he was then anointed king.   David could legitimately ask "why is this happening to me?"  Sometimes we cannot understand our trials like David was here.  David has been separated from his home, taken from the throne, afllicted.  He has doubts and fears.  What will tomorrow hold?  How am I going to get through this?  Yet he is holding his ground by faith in a living God.  He is just holding on.  Maybe you have been there, there have been times when you have been just holding on.  Pain, suffering, affliction, asking "why me Lord?"  You can hardly pray.  I am just holding on.  Don`t you think that is strange?  That is the affliction God`s people go through.  We can learn from David`s experience how to cope in each trial.  

First of I want to say David had a thirst - verse 1.  A deer needs about 2 pints of water a day.  Some of that can come from the food they eat but they need water and they will take it from anywhere as long as they get it.  The deer is thirsty.  Maybe they haven`t had water for days.  Its nose can smell the air, smell the moisture in the air.  Amazing how God has made it so.  Am I thirsty for God today?  I am reading God`s word and there seems to be a leanness.  The heavens seem to be as brass.  I can hardly pray.  There is a hardness.  There was a leanness in his soul, a craving after God.  David is longing for the Lord.  You and I have a connection with heaven today.  There was a day when we came as sinners and came into the family of God.  We have a connection.  All David wanted was communion with God.  God`s presence was the urgent need of his soul.  There can be those times of drought in our souls.  Have you suffered that?  It is not because you are out living in the world or doing things wrong.  There is a leanness in the soul.  We all suffer it.  How has your communion been with God lately?  I want to know I am in God`s presence.  I want the Lord to bear witness with my Spirit, to sense you there, to feel like I have reached heaven when I pray.  David was suffering a leanness of soul but he sought the Lord despite the danger he found himself in, despite the reproach of the enemy.  Verse 3 what does the devil say to us at times - "you are some Christian, are you really saved at all?"  Does the devil ever give up?  No.  In David`s case he was dethroned.  His enemy was saying "you are not a worthy king."  Yes we have this enemy Satan.  1 Peter 5 verse 8.  He goes about seeking whom he may devour.  He is real today.  It is you and I he is after today.  We are not strong enough for him.  We cannot take him on ourselves.  The Lord broke his power at Calvary.  There is a thirsting for the Lord.  There is a leaness in his soul.

David`s tears - verses 2 and 3 "day and night".  David was suffering dearly.  He was brought to tears.  There are tears in suffering.  Only have to look at the TV and see that today.  Tears where his only meat.  That means he was suffering.  As he fled Jerusalem he cried.  False accusations were made against David yet he was the anointed king.  You are a man of Belial.  I am sure there are times in your life when you have been falsely accused.  David was falsely accused.  Matthew 5 verse 11 "blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake."  The Bible goes on to say "rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."  You are not a man or woman of Belial, you are a child of God today.  God`s people are going to suffer when we take our stand for the Lord.  The battle here presenting itself.  Although David was king and strong in faith, he was shattered when something happened in his own home.  Absalom was after his very life.  He would have put him to death.  There must have been a great hatred in that young man`s heart.  Is it any wonder David was in tears?  Maybe there are people in our homes who will know great sorrow in their lives.  David was in tears because of the situation at home, because of his family.  I am sure we have known similar times when we have been brought to tears.    But we must continue to hold onto the Lord, to continue to pray.  Verse 4 "I pour out my soul in me."  It is good to do just that.  So often we are toiling and are close to tears.  It is good to get alone with God and pour out our souls to the Lord.  Verse 5 is the devil going to get the victory in his life because of his tears?  He has learned to weep.  He is in a vulnerable place in his Christian life.

There is also trust - verse 5 "hope thou in God."  Why is there so much pain and suffering, why is there leanness in my life?  Surely I should have seen this coming.  Keep trusting in God.  Don`t trust in your circumstances, not in what you can see happening.  God knows the heart, hold onto the almighty.  It doesn`t matter how low we feel or how far removed from God, we should continue to hope in God.  He begins to remember what the Lord has done for him.  That often happens.  Your eyes are lifted to the Lord.  Verse 8 he sees God`s lovingkindness in the day time and in the night.  Notice his song, begins to sing within himself.  His soul begins to fill with joy.  He begins to sing.  Now he is beginning to sing but also to pray.  He is starting to do all this now but God has got hold of him.  You really come into the place of prayer, sense God`s lovingkindness, hope in prayer.  "My rock" he is in a good place with the Lord.  If you are coming through a trial you will find yourself on the rock, never really be off the rock, it just seemed that way.  We think we are alone, going through it by ourselves but God is in control all the time.  He is always there all the time.  Because we are earthly we cannot see him all the time.  David begins to sing, pray and realises God is with him despite all that is happening around him.  Here`s David counting his blessings.  We cannot deny our circumstances, they may not be bright but we have to face them all, go through with God by his grace.  We will always end in the victory.  We will always come through in the end.  Notice in verse 11 the back stabbing but we have come through.  You are here today because of God`s grace and the victory he has given us.  He is coming through this trial with the smile of God on him.  If we face our problems we will also have the smile of God on us.  Maybe you are suffering silently.  Maybe it is something really small to others but big to you.  A decision you have to make.  God knows all about it.  Trust in God.  A time of leanness.  You have wept over it.  Listen there`s a time of confiding in God.  Verse 11 is a liberating verse.  He is talking to himself again.  "I shall yet praise him."  I am coming through victorious.  You will do the same.  Are we thirsty today?  God is able to take you through it all.  Romans 8 verse 28 "and we know that all things work together for good to them that love him."  Our cirumstances may seem small but God is working them out.