Cecil A. Fayard
Elliott Baptist Church
April 25, 2004
The Four Horsemen of Revelation Six
Revelation 6:1-8
INTRO: With chapter six, we enter the strictly prophetic part of the Revelation.
In chapters 4 and 5, praise to God the Father and God the Son is offered in heaven.
1. Rev 4:11- God the Father is praised as the creator.
2. Rev 5:5, 9-10 - God the Son is praised as the resurrected worthy Redeemer.
At chapter six, the scene goes from heaven to earth, from praise to coming judgment. With chapter six, we have the first of three chronological judgments: seals, trumpets, and vials. The judgments do not run concurrently because of the opening of the seventh seal introduces the trumpet judgments and the blowing of the seventh trumpet introduces the seven vials.
"The four horsemen present the picture of man's inhumanity to man" (LaHaye 141).
I. VSS 102, THE FIRST SEAL- THE WHITE HORSE
A. Vs 1, John the Apostle watched as Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, opened the first seal of the scroll.
1. John heard a noise like thunder.
2. One of the four beasts invites him to "come and see" what is happening on earth.
a) What is written on the scroll is not read. It is acted out.
b) As John peers over the portal of heaven, he sees what happens as each of the six seals are opened.
3. With the opening of the seals, God's judgment is unleashed.
B. Vs 2, The white horse comes forth at the call of the heaven. The white horse is bearing a rider.
1. The Rider is not Christ.
a) Christ opens the seal so He is not the rider.
b) The crown of this rider is a stephanos, a crown won as a prize.
c) The crown that Christ wears (19:12) a diadema, a kingly crown. This crown belongs only to the King of Kings (19:16).
d) This rider carries a bow; Christ a sword (19:15).
e) Christ returns at the end of the tribulation, not the beginning. At the beginning of the tribulation, He is in heaven rewarding the saints.
2. Who is the rider?
a) He is an imposter; he is an imitator. The world will embrace an imposter (Jn 5:43).
b) He is one who, in some ways, resembles Christ, but is not.
c) He is the Anti-Christ.
3. He has a bow, but no arrows.
a) He is a peace maker. The world is hungry for peace, and they will fall for the Anti-Christ (Dan 11:21).
b) He promises to solve the problems of the world. He deceives with Satanic power (II Thes 2:1-12).
4. He has a crown.
a) It is not royal; he is not a king.
b) He gets the crown because of his abilities in leading the world to false peace.
c) The world will honor the Anti-Christ with supreme leadership. Yes, the whole world will fall for his lies as did Neville Chamberlain when Hitler pledged peace in 1938.
5. He goes forth to conquer.
a) MacArthur says: "His conquest will be a cold 'war' victory, a peace won by agreement, not conflict (Dan 9:24-27)" (179).
b) Don't fall for a false peace or a false conquer. Jesus is the only way to peace, and He conquered death, hell, and the grave (Col 1:13-14).
II. VSS 3-4, THE SECOND SEAL- THE RED HORSE
A. The false peace besought by the lying Anti-Christ will fall apart and in an effort to hold on to power war will break out (I Thes 5:3).
B. This red horse is a war horse.
1. Red is the color of fire and blood.
2. Red also speaks of war.
C. The rider of the red horse is given power "to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another...."
1. Keep in mind that God is sovereign; He is in control. All He says that will happen in Revelation will take place because of His sovereignty.
2. God will allow the false peace, a peace that will even deceive Israel. And He will bring war to the earth. This will be the greatest of all world wars.
D. What we see here is what Matthew 24:8 describes as the beginning of sorrows.
1. This is the time when "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Mt 24:6-7).
2. Men will "kill one another."
a) Bloody, indescribable war.
b) Modern weaponry will make it terrible (Joel 2:3, 31; Zech 14:12).
III. VSS 5-6, THE THIRD SEAL- THE BLACK HORSE
A. Vs 5, Black is a color standing for famine and destitution in Lamentation 4:8; 5:10.
1. Famine will come because of war that will touch all of the earth, even the US (Mt 24:7).
2. Food suppliers will be destroyed. Farmers and canners will be at war. It will be much worse than Sherman's march to the sea.
3. "A pair of balances in his hand."
a) Rationing of goods.
b) Food lines.
B. Vs 6, The voice in the midst of the four beasts is God Himself (4:6).
1. It will take a day's wage just to feed one person. Folks will not be able to afford any luxuries.
2. Jobs will be scarce and food in short supply. To buy food, you will have to have the mark of the beast.
3. Barley, low in nutrition, will be bought more cheaply and barely feed a small family with a starvation diet.
4. Because of the conditions, God says; "hurt not the oil and the wine."
a) These are used in food preparation and water purification.
b) These are to be carefully protected.
5. All of this is bad, but the worst will come in the second half of the tribulation.
IV. VSS 7-8, THE FOURTH SEAL- THE PALE HORSE
A. Vs 7, The Lamb opens the forth seal and sees death and hell.
B. Vs 8, The pale horse is the horse of death.
1. "Death" is the Greek word chloros from which we get the word "chlorophyll and chlorine." This word means:
a) Sickly
b) Pale
c) Yellow green in color
2. The picture is of bodies in a decomposed state- results of war and famine.
3. "Hades" follows the pale horse. Hades pictures two things here:
a) The unsaved dead of the tribulation in hell.
b) The grave.
c) Death and hell are placed together in Rev 1:18; 20:3, 14.
4. War and famine have already been touched on. Now we see "pestilence." This means disease and also included would be death by biological and chemical weapons. Disease will be very widespread because of health conditions.
5. "Beasts of the earth."
a) Hungry, loose animals.
b) Possibly another, greater bubonic plague.
6. One fourth of the world's population will die. Today that would be about 1.6 billion souls.
CONCLUSION: The saved are gone before the tribulation begins (I Thes 1:10; 5:9). Are you saved?
For additional copies of the sermon CD's, please contact the church office:
Elliott Baptist Church
566 Nat G. Troutt Road
Elliott, Mississippi 38901
Phone: 662-226-4425
Pastors Email: cecilafayard@msn.com