Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Lent
Revelation 4:1-8:1
March 12th 2006
Last we covered the letters to the seven churches. Today we will be mainly concerned with a scroll and its seven seals. However, scene two must be set, and it is set dramatically by door standing open in heaven. Did you know there are basically three heavens referred to in the Bible? There’s the first heaven where the birds fly and the clouds float. There’s the second heaven where the moon and stars live. Then there’s the third heaven where God resides. John is taken up to the third heaven, the home of God.
John hears the same voice in the first part of the book, and the voice say, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Whoa! What in the world does that mean? Of course it means the future, but whose future? John’s future? Future of the church? Your future?
I’m an ex-football player that never got hurt playing football. I hurt myself getting cats out of trees, playing golf, walking. Anyway, I like to think John has been summoned to the office of the coach to look at plays. Imagine a room filled with black boards with X’s and O’s all them. It’s time for the playoffs and the X’s and O’s represent the movement of players and play calling.
Now the movement can mean one of three things. I could mean we examining plays from the past and seeing what went wrong and what went right. I could be the play we want to run at this moment. It could be a play we want to run in the future and so we look at all our options. So these visions can mean either what has already happened,(the past) what’s happening now,(the present) or what is about to happen,(the future). Revealed Knowledge—Revelation!
John sees all kinds of things—a crystal sea, four strange living creatures, a rainbow, with lightning and thunder. He also sees 24 elders—the twelve tribes of Israel—along with the 12 apostle’s of the Lamb. The two 12’s serve as a valuable link between the people of God in the Old Testament and the people of the same God in the New Testament. All God’s people are worshiping at the throne along with the four living creatures, representing the four corners of the earth, or all of nature, from North, South, East, and West.
They worship by singing, singing hymns, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty.” This my friends is what you call worship, and worship is an important part of Revelation. You see, worship is totally incompatible with idolatry, a theme we saw in the letters to the churches. Worship is not an escape from life. Worship is an expression of worthiness, glory, and honor. It must be done from the heart, out of the same sense of the 24 elders and four living creatures. “You alone are worthy!”
John sees much more! He sees the One sitting on the throne with a scroll sealed with seven seals. Revelation chapter 5 is a pivotal chapter in the book. Of all creation, who is worthy to open the seals and reveal the events that must take place? Of all creation, who is worth to open the seals and explain our history and our purpose? And of all creation there is no one! But one!
With what has happen so far, one might picture some powerful, mighty, awesome, larger than life type character to be the only one to explain what is called life, but No! John sees a Lamb. A Lamb that looks like it has already been slaughtered. And this slaughtered Lamb with the power of God stands between the One sitting on the throne (God) and the four living creatures (Nature) serving as a type of bridge between heaven and earth.
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Like I said, that’s what you call Worship.
The outburst of praise at the Lamb’s coming to open the scroll brings forth a voice like thunder from nature announcing four riders, or what has been called “the four riders of the apocalypse.” Many have claimed and much has been written about these riders being the bearers of gloom and doom, or even the end of world. But they are simply four riders that have been riding out since the beginning of time, they are riding out now, and they will ride out in the future.
When the first seal is open we see the first rider on the white horse who is identified later in chapter 19 as King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Word of God, that is Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel that has been riding out since the Adam and Eve and before.
So the first rider represents the spread of the conquering gospel, and this conquering gospel has two sides. One side we accept and are giving a crown. The other side we reject and there await a bow, or death. The question throughout Revelation is how does one respond to the first rider on the white horse?
When the second seal is opened we see a horseman on a bright red horse who is the warfare of the world with a great sword, not the two sided one mind you. The second red horseman is a type of division between humans caused when the gospel is accepted by some and rejected by others. It is a vision not only of war, but strife, terrorism, and conflict, and it bright red like the blood shed of violence.
When the third seal is opened we see a horseman who is on a black horse holding a pair of scales in his hand. It describes an economic situation. It is referring to a type of famine, not strictly famine, but certainly widespread scarcity. The verses talk about a ration of corn for a full day’s wages, or three rations of barley for a day’s work. Decent food at the price of a person’s full day’s work, or more of a lesser quality of food at the same price. Times are hard!
However, notice the supply of olive oil and wine is not affected. These commodities are the luxuries, the caviar and champagne, which even in the hardest times still furnish the tables of the rich and famous. So the third rider stands for a time of great economic difficulty and inequality.
When the fourth seal is opened we are told the meaning of the fourth rider, Death. Hades the place of dead where we rot and turn green. We see the results of turning away from the gospel, war and terrorism, famine and economic injustice of the first three seals, resulting in death wiping out a quarter of the human race. Did you know from the beginning of time, or recorded history, up to 25% of the population die as the result of war and poverty?
Like I said the four horsemen are not a prediction of the future as some have us to believe. They are not a representation of the end of the world, but the truth of what has happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future.
When the fifth seal is opened we see the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God crying out for justice. It is sad but we see that the church must endure the suffering of riders 2-4. It is a fact. Some may want to believe that just because you become a Christian you are exempt from any type of suffering, but the book of Revelation says, No! You may even suffer more! Yet one interesting thing surfaces. It seems when you die you still may have a say so in what happens on earth.
When the sixth seal is opened we see the end of times as we know it. The great day of wrath is the end of the entire universe. However, those who are sealed, those who are baptized, those who have faith will not have to endure the pain and suffering of the end times.
We who have been marked, our safety is assured. When the four horsemen ride out, when the winds begin to blow, the servants of God are found to have been sealed against their power, not against their suffering, but against their ultimate power.
While the horsemen ride out in a destructive path, the church and those inside have been made indestructible, because of our Baptism and because Christ stands in the midst of the churches.
So if anyone ever ask you what the past, present, and future holds, you can tell them you know. God does not leave us in the dark. The message of the gospel, the good news that God loves us all has been riding out since the beginning of time. However, we reject the good news and therefore war and terrorism, economic injustice and famine take the place of the gospel.
And trust me, the church is not exempt. She too will suffer like the rest of the world. And sooner or later all this will come to an end. Yet those who worship the slaughter Lamp will not experience this disaster. Those who have faith will not be harm. Those who have washed their robes will be among the 24 elders and 4 living creatures worshiping the one on the throne forever and ever.
I don’t know about you but I think God has given me a wonderful opportunity to live life and live it abundantly. How do I respond to the gospel?
When the seventh seal was opened there was silence in heaven for about ½ hour. We will be told what is to come in this book but not yet. Let anyone with ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen.
