Opening the Scroll
Notes
Transcript
Preparing to Endure
Structure
10 Plagues + Red Sea + Conquering Canaan
3 series of 7 + Return of Christ + Great White Throne
Trinitarian, Complete, Preventative, Repentance-option, All of Humanity/Creation
1st Seal: Imperial Peace
1st Seal: Imperial Peace
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!”
2 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.
1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.
2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
War
War
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
4 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.
Famine
Famine
5 When he opened the third seal, 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 his hand.
6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”
Death & Disease
Death & Disease
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
8 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.
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Saints and Martyrs Waiting
Saints and Martyrs Waiting
9 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.
10 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?”
11 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.
Earthquake + Fleeing from God’s Wrath
Earthquake + Fleeing from God’s Wrath
12 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,
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
16 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,
17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Interlude: Who can Stand? 144,000 + Great Multitude
Interlude: Who can Stand? 144,000 + Great Multitude
4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
12,000 per tribe - Figurative (Dan not mentioned here but in Ezekiel)
Literal - 144,000 for a specific purpose not mentioned here but echoing Ezekiel’s group
Church
10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.
Protection and Shepherding
7 Trumpets + Prayers of the Saints
7 Trumpets + Prayers of the Saints
1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne,
4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.
5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Applications
We should expect injustice and tribulation rather than utopia.
We should expect injustice and tribulation rather than utopia.
If and when a rapture will take place is not the main concern God has for our endurance. It’s our expectations for how things will go. The ambiguity of the timing is designed to focus your attention not on some specific event but your response to the injustices of the world. Do you echo “how long?” or 1) are you searching for some alternative utopia? or 2) participating in the wickedness of the world. Option 3 - saying how could a good God let all this evil happen? is not really an option. He’s deliberately stirring up the forces of injustice at various times and in various ways to keep peace from the earth until the Prince of Peace comes.
Mormonism - started by Joseph Smith with utopian dreams
Socialism- Government control will bring peace
Karl Marx - Scientific socialism - Communism
Democracy -
Imperialism/Nationalism
Radical Individualism
As we long for God’s justice, we should focus on the Gospel.
As we long for God’s justice, we should focus on the Gospel.
The focus is not on how God’s kingdom will be brought to this earth by believers in God. The focus is on how the Lamb will bring God’s kingdom to earth. The Lamb is the one opening the seals and ultimately reading the scroll.
We should focus our own and other’s attention on the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
But be praying for God to right the wrongs of this world.
We should be confident in where we will stand.
We should be confident in where we will stand.
Being indecisive
He will wipe every tear from our eyes.
8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Questions
Where do you see the hoofbeats of the 4 horsemen now?
Where do you long to see God’s justice?
What are you praying for right now?
How can we pray for our missionaries?
How can we pray for each other?
What gives you confidence that you are in the multitude of the redeemed?