The white horseman of the four horsemen of the apocalypse is perhaps the most insidious because it produces universal religious deception. His followers go forth conquering and to conquer based on the false belief that the white horseman is Christ Himself, when in reallity it is Satan in disguise! Their minds and doctrines are so warped that they are preaching 'another gospel' (Gal 1:6-9) and following 'another Christ' (2 Cor 11:4) without even knowing it. They will buy into the lies of the false prophet and false Christ (always looking for signs and wonders) and ignore the warnings of the true prophets. Instead, they will be busy looking for signs and wonders (spiritual toys) and compromise the truth with the nations (such as joining the ecumenical Charismatic Movements) to fight the true Christ when He returns (Rev 19: 15). They are unable to distinguish the truth from falsehood. The Lord Christ will then say to these people, 'I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (those churches that are outside the Governmental Authority of Christ - Luke 19:27)!' All who refused to be ruled by Christ in the church age will be disqualified to rule in His coming kingdom.
The second seal opens with the red horseman waging religious wars on mankind all in the name of religion! The six thousand years of human history is plagued by conflicts and wars with sufferings and destructions beyond imagination. Was Christ referring to wars in general or any specific war? The answer is both. Mankind has undergone alternating periods of war and peace. But the red horseman refers to a very serious war (probably a nuclear WW III) that could wipe out all humans on earth if not for the divine intervention of Christ Himself (Matt 24:22)!
The key to understanding bible prophecy is to let the bible interprets itself. The Olivet prophecy spoken of by the Lord Christ in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 interprets the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelation 6 penned by the Apostle John. Only those who are under the Government and rule of Christ can understands because only the Lord Christ can open the seal. In Matthew 24:6-7, Christ taught His disciples, 'And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.' In A.D. 70, the city of Jerusalem was ravished by the Roman army with the Jewish population almost decimated and the temple destroyed. Duality of bible prophecy tells us that the anti-type of this will happen again during the Great Tribulation just before Chrust returns!
Many politicians had hoped that World War II was the war to end all wars. But that was not to be. Today the hydrogen bomb can be a thousand times more deadlly and destructive than the atomic bomb. What Christ warned in Matthew 24:22 and in Revelation 6 could not be fulfilled at any other period in human's history. Satan is the mastermind behind all human conflicts when he took away peace at the Garden of Eden. He knew his days are numbered (Rev 12:12) and he is unleashing disasters during the Great Tribulation to do maximum damage before he surrendered the throne to Christ. The damage will be so devastating that even cities will be laid waste, without inhabitant (Jeremiah 4:7).
The first 10 verses of Joel chapter 2 and Revelation 9:17-18 paint a gruesome picture of what lays ahead. The very elect of God who are not taken in by deception will be provided a place of safety (Rev 3:10 ;12:14). The rest will suffer immeasurably worse than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined in August 1945! The very thought of this made prophet Habakkuk sick (Habakkuk 3:16). God in His mercy will intervene at the last minute to prevent total annihilation of mankind. This will happen at the blast of the seventh and final trumpet by the seventh angel with a loud voice declaring, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!' (Revelation 11:15). Jesus Christ will then become the King and Ruler over all nations of the world.
The Good News that follow after the cataclysmic events was the gospel that Jesus Christ came to preach (Luke 4:43- initiated by the Heavenly Father) and expect all His true disciples to do likewise (Mark 1:14-15;16:15). All implements of war will be destroyed (Isaiah 2: 2-4) and converted to useful tools for unimagined productivity. Even the cruel nature of the animal kingdom will be changed (Isaiah 11: 6-9). Deserts and wastland will blossom (Isaiah 35: 1-2) and the weak, the blind, the lame and the deaf will be healed (Isaiah 35:3-6) and much more! The true saints will be in the First Resurrection to minister and preach the whole truth to all the human beings that survived the cataclysmic events ('The people who survived the sword' -Jeremiah 31:2). What a wonderful world that would be.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
THE FIRST SEAL OF REVELATION
Bible prophecy is history written in advance. Looking at world events unfolding before our very eyes, the end-time prophecies are nearer than we think. Mankind can know and understand because the Revelation of bible prophecy comes from God the Father Who gave it to Jesus Christ. Christ then sent it to His angel who in turn gave it to the Apostle John (Revelation 1:1). Blessed are those we reads and obey the very Word of God (1:3). The Apostle John recorded these events which have great relevance for God's servants of the end-time church. The end-time bible prophecies were sealed for our times (Daniel 12:9) and only the wise shall understand (Daniel 12:10).
John was in a vision at the island of Patmos where he was in exile. Only Christ was found worthy to open the seven seals. The first seal that John saw was a white horse. The rider of this white horse must not be confused with the rider depicted in Revelation 19:11. The one in Revelation 19:11 is Jesus Christ Who will return to earth to establish the kingdom of God at His Second Coming. The rider of the white horse in Revelation 6:2 represents false Christ, false Christianity and counterfeit church which will go forth to deceive the majority before the Lord's return! The fact that it resembles the true Christ and true Christianity shows that the false one looks and sounds convincing. The counterfeit is hard at work in deceiving the masses -For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2 Thess 2:7).
The false prophets and preachers are gone out into the world to ensnare the naive and gullible (1 Tim 4:1-2). The rider of the white horse in Revelation 6 had a bow while the horseman in chapter 19 goes forth with a sharp sword that strikes the nations (19:15). This signifies that the true Christ will return with power to judge the world with the Word, for the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The counterfeit white horseman comes with a different source of power derived from the great deceiver. The real Christ wears many crowns (19:12) whereas the counterfeit one wears only one crown (6:2). The one crown probably represents his mastery of the art of deception. The false Christ looks and sounds so convincing that many servants of the Lord were also being deceived!
The first four seals represents a prelude to the Great Tribulation. The fifth and sixth seals usher in the cataclysmic events of the Great Tribulation while the seventh seal brings in the Day of the Lord - the last one year of the Great Tribulation when God will judge His people. After that Christ will return to set up the kingdom of God on earth with Jerusalem as the Headquarters. These two white horses depict different events in different time setting - the false Christ and counterfeit Christianity intensifying at the beginning of the end-times and the true Christ appears in person with His resurrected saints at the end of the Great Tribulation (Zechariah 14:5b).
Many Christians today are taken in by 'signs and wonders'. They forsake the warnings of Christ, 'For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.' (Matthew 24:24-25). Human beings are so fickle-minded and gullible that they will follow with a herd instinct to where the glamour and glories are! They will be punished during the Day of the Lord for those who are still living. Some will repent and turn to God for mercy but at the price of severe sufferings and even the cost of their lives (Isaiah 13:6,9).
The false Christianity started at the time of Nimrod and his wife Semiramis. Their followers practise the Babylonian Mystery Religion which till today, their doctrines and practices have taken roots in many churches. The false doctrine of the immortal soul is one such false doctrine - the belief that one who is dead has a soul that lives on in the spirit realm. This gives rise to the false doctrine of 'going to heaven if you believe in Christ when you die or forever burn in hell if you do not.' This is contrary to the teachings of Scriptures. 'The soul who sins shall die' (Ezekiel 18:4 and 20). 'But the dead know nothing' (Eccl 9:5). 'For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth' (Psalm 37:9,11,18,22,29,34). Christ Himself affirmed this truth, ' No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven' (John 3:13). Is it any surprise then when Christ told His people that where He goes you cannot come (John 8:21)? At the Mount of Olives, Christ told His disciples, 'Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth' (Matthew 5:5). The wicked do not have eternal life in hell, they will simply be annihilated at the lake of fire (Malachi 4:1).
Shortly after the first Apostles died at the close of the first century A.D., the counterfeit Christianity movement went into overdrive. Christian and fiction writers alike think up creative ideas and myths to propel Christianity into a popular religion accepted by the masses. Many of the Christian writers were influenced by Greek philosophers, thinkers and writers and their ideas were readily accepted by the Catholic church of the early centuries as part of their doctrines. Church history shows that only a small miniority were kept pure to the teachings of Christ and His Apostles. Many of these saints were persecuted and martyred in cruel deaths throughout the centuries of the early church.
As prophesied in Revelation 12:6, the true church of God had to flee in the midst of severe persecution. The council of Nicea was formed in 325 A.D. to resolve the differences in Christian doctrines. The end result was that even the council condemned the practice of true Christianity. The Roman Emperor Constantine, a sun-worshiper, enforced the decree of compliance mainly for political reasons.
The true gospel of the kingdom of God was suppressed for fear of coup d'etat by the Jewish people who were largely mistaken in believing that the kingdom of God would be ushered in during their time to overthrow the Roman Empire. They were expecting a Messiah with supernatural power and charisma to deliver them from their oppressive masters - the Roman authorities. Little did they know that the meek and gentle Jesus Christ's first advent was to deliver the good news of the gospel of His coming kingdom (to displace Satan from the throne of this world), to die for the sins of mankind to cancel out the death penalty (through resurrection) and found a church of called-out saints (to qualify as sons of God in the divine Royal Family) for His eventual return to save all of mankind who has ever lived with the hope of life in eternity!
Just like a watchman (Ezekiel 3:16; 33:1-33), my role is to inform and warn as the Scriptures command. Those who reads these prophecies, let him/her understands (Matthew 24:15). We have to be vigilant as bible prophecy states that during the last days, the Babylonian Mystery Religion will again surface with greater intensity to dominate the world's religious scene. The Ezekiel warning (Ezekiel 33) is timely for Christians living in our times to guard against religious deceptions. However, all of us have to account to God someday for the truth made available to us. Those found to be faithful stewards of all that are entrusted to them (including the Word of truth) will be amply rewarded.
John was in a vision at the island of Patmos where he was in exile. Only Christ was found worthy to open the seven seals. The first seal that John saw was a white horse. The rider of this white horse must not be confused with the rider depicted in Revelation 19:11. The one in Revelation 19:11 is Jesus Christ Who will return to earth to establish the kingdom of God at His Second Coming. The rider of the white horse in Revelation 6:2 represents false Christ, false Christianity and counterfeit church which will go forth to deceive the majority before the Lord's return! The fact that it resembles the true Christ and true Christianity shows that the false one looks and sounds convincing. The counterfeit is hard at work in deceiving the masses -For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2 Thess 2:7).
The false prophets and preachers are gone out into the world to ensnare the naive and gullible (1 Tim 4:1-2). The rider of the white horse in Revelation 6 had a bow while the horseman in chapter 19 goes forth with a sharp sword that strikes the nations (19:15). This signifies that the true Christ will return with power to judge the world with the Word, for the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The counterfeit white horseman comes with a different source of power derived from the great deceiver. The real Christ wears many crowns (19:12) whereas the counterfeit one wears only one crown (6:2). The one crown probably represents his mastery of the art of deception. The false Christ looks and sounds so convincing that many servants of the Lord were also being deceived!
The first four seals represents a prelude to the Great Tribulation. The fifth and sixth seals usher in the cataclysmic events of the Great Tribulation while the seventh seal brings in the Day of the Lord - the last one year of the Great Tribulation when God will judge His people. After that Christ will return to set up the kingdom of God on earth with Jerusalem as the Headquarters. These two white horses depict different events in different time setting - the false Christ and counterfeit Christianity intensifying at the beginning of the end-times and the true Christ appears in person with His resurrected saints at the end of the Great Tribulation (Zechariah 14:5b).
Many Christians today are taken in by 'signs and wonders'. They forsake the warnings of Christ, 'For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.' (Matthew 24:24-25). Human beings are so fickle-minded and gullible that they will follow with a herd instinct to where the glamour and glories are! They will be punished during the Day of the Lord for those who are still living. Some will repent and turn to God for mercy but at the price of severe sufferings and even the cost of their lives (Isaiah 13:6,9).
The false Christianity started at the time of Nimrod and his wife Semiramis. Their followers practise the Babylonian Mystery Religion which till today, their doctrines and practices have taken roots in many churches. The false doctrine of the immortal soul is one such false doctrine - the belief that one who is dead has a soul that lives on in the spirit realm. This gives rise to the false doctrine of 'going to heaven if you believe in Christ when you die or forever burn in hell if you do not.' This is contrary to the teachings of Scriptures. 'The soul who sins shall die' (Ezekiel 18:4 and 20). 'But the dead know nothing' (Eccl 9:5). 'For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth' (Psalm 37:9,11,18,22,29,34). Christ Himself affirmed this truth, ' No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven' (John 3:13). Is it any surprise then when Christ told His people that where He goes you cannot come (John 8:21)? At the Mount of Olives, Christ told His disciples, 'Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth' (Matthew 5:5). The wicked do not have eternal life in hell, they will simply be annihilated at the lake of fire (Malachi 4:1).
Shortly after the first Apostles died at the close of the first century A.D., the counterfeit Christianity movement went into overdrive. Christian and fiction writers alike think up creative ideas and myths to propel Christianity into a popular religion accepted by the masses. Many of the Christian writers were influenced by Greek philosophers, thinkers and writers and their ideas were readily accepted by the Catholic church of the early centuries as part of their doctrines. Church history shows that only a small miniority were kept pure to the teachings of Christ and His Apostles. Many of these saints were persecuted and martyred in cruel deaths throughout the centuries of the early church.
As prophesied in Revelation 12:6, the true church of God had to flee in the midst of severe persecution. The council of Nicea was formed in 325 A.D. to resolve the differences in Christian doctrines. The end result was that even the council condemned the practice of true Christianity. The Roman Emperor Constantine, a sun-worshiper, enforced the decree of compliance mainly for political reasons.
The true gospel of the kingdom of God was suppressed for fear of coup d'etat by the Jewish people who were largely mistaken in believing that the kingdom of God would be ushered in during their time to overthrow the Roman Empire. They were expecting a Messiah with supernatural power and charisma to deliver them from their oppressive masters - the Roman authorities. Little did they know that the meek and gentle Jesus Christ's first advent was to deliver the good news of the gospel of His coming kingdom (to displace Satan from the throne of this world), to die for the sins of mankind to cancel out the death penalty (through resurrection) and found a church of called-out saints (to qualify as sons of God in the divine Royal Family) for His eventual return to save all of mankind who has ever lived with the hope of life in eternity!
Just like a watchman (Ezekiel 3:16; 33:1-33), my role is to inform and warn as the Scriptures command. Those who reads these prophecies, let him/her understands (Matthew 24:15). We have to be vigilant as bible prophecy states that during the last days, the Babylonian Mystery Religion will again surface with greater intensity to dominate the world's religious scene. The Ezekiel warning (Ezekiel 33) is timely for Christians living in our times to guard against religious deceptions. However, all of us have to account to God someday for the truth made available to us. Those found to be faithful stewards of all that are entrusted to them (including the Word of truth) will be amply rewarded.
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