When we come to the sixth chapter of Revelation, in a sense we have come to the heart of its message. There is a sense in which everything up to this point has been to prepare us for what we are about to see. The Lamb of God has taken the scroll from the hand of the Father and now it is time for the scroll’s CONTENTS to be revealed. The Lamb who came into the world the first time — not to judge the world but to save sinners — is now acting to unleash the wrath of God upon that same world. THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SALVATION BUT THAT NEVER REMOVES THE REALITY OF JUDGMENT IF SALVATION IS REFUSED. The world of humanity — willing to believe what God didn’t say and refusing to believe what God HAS said — will meet with judgments that exceed anything the world has seen previously and that God is telling us in advance are coming. That’s what we begin to meet with in Revelation chapter 6. The events that take place during the tribulation period which will lead up to the second coming of Messiah and the ushering in of His kingdom. Those events are set forth in a visual way — as the scroll is opened one seal at a time. John isn’t TOLD what was written; he is SHOWN what was written. With the breaking of each seal the Lamb enacts another step in God’s plan to judge the world and to usher in the Kingdom of His Son. I. THE FIRST SEAL — DECEPTIVE PEACE (vs.1-2) We learned earlier that these four living creatures appear to be a special order of angels. They are each taking part in this unsealing that Christ performs and the judgments that result. In the first four seals, Christ opens the seal, and one of the four living creatures calls for the activity. And the first seal reminds us that the tribulation period begins with a great deception, a great delusion, which involves a great COUNTERFEIT. A. A MAN OF DECEPTION The angel says COME and John tells us that it was powerful, “as with a voice of thunder.” Events are not just taking place; THEY ARE BEING CALLED FORTH. It is not God weakly acquiescing to world events; it is God POWERFULLY DIRECTING world events. And the result of the first seal is a rider, on a white horse, who goes out to overcome and overcomes. Now, I’m well aware that there are multiple ways that this first rider has been understood. But my task in preaching is not to give an exegetical digest. It is declare the truth of a passage as best I can discern it. And I believe the best explanation for this first rider is that he emerges in a way LIKE CHRIST WILL, but HE DOESN’T REPRESENT CHRIST. It is interesting and instructive how each of these seals coincide with and mirror what Christ taught in the Olivet discourse. And the first thing Jesus mentioned in answer to His disciples who were asking about the signs of His coming at the end of the age, was that the world would mean with many false Christs. ESV Matthew 24:3 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. That, of course, has been the reality ever since Jesus ascended into Heaven. It will continue until He returns, but it will escalate at the end of the age and find its climax in THE MAN OF SIN. ESV 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? WHY DO I SAY THAT THIS RIDER IS LIKE CHRIST? I say this because the return of Christ is pictured in this victorious way in Revelation 19.