REVELATION 4-6
SEGMENT IV
PAGE 1 of 2
The Seven Seals
Examined
Root Problem
The seven seals are
carefully laid campaigns that address
certain problems and issues. Before
we examine the first seal, a short
review about man’s condition and
position before God is necessary;
otherwise, the first three seals may
not mean as much to you as they
should.
Adam and Eve were
created in God’s image, but
after they sinned, they lost the
nature of God. (This is why we have
to be born again – to receive
God’s nature.) Instead of
having a propensity for righteousness
(like our Creator), they suddenly had
a propensity for rebellion against
God’s way (like the devil). The
curse of sin was conveyed to Cain,
the first child of Adam and Eve. It
is ironic that Lucifer was the first
of God’s creation and Cain was
the first of Adam’s creation.
Jesus said of Lucifer, “He
was a murderer from the
beginning.” (John 8:44) What
comparison can be drawn between the
two murderers? Why does sin produce
murderers? Murder is the only
thing among mortals that resolves the
question of authority. Sinners cannot
tolerate anyone, including God, who
constantly thwarts the demands of a
self-seeking heart. Therefore, murder
is sin’s solution to the
question of sovereign authority.
When people justify
murder in the name of God, their
actions prove that Lucifer is their
God. Jesus said to the Jews, “You
belong to your father, the devil, and
you want to carry out your
father’s desire. He was a
murderer from the beginning, not
holding to the truth, for there is no
truth in him….” (John
8:44) Distorted views of God are
formed in ignorance and defended by
arrogance. History reveals that more
wars have been fought in the name of
God than for any other reason. The
root problem with religion is
man’s “egocentric view of
God.” Every religious system is
both arrogant and ignorant, and these
components can ruin an otherwise
decent person. When pressed to its
core belief, the egocentric view of
God says, “My understanding of
God and His will is better than your
understanding of God and His will. My
church has the truth about God and
yours does not. My God is the
greatest God and He is more powerful
than your God. If you insult my god
or my beliefs, I will defend my God
by inflicting harm on you so that an
unbeliever will not diminish my God.
I know God best. My God is only true
God, and therefore, I will defend my
the name of God from infidels and
blasphemers.” These comments
reflect pure ignorance and arrogance.
The last resort of false religion is
force. Any person would have to agree
that a God who depends on human
protection is very weak.
The population of the
world has become very dense in some
areas and because human beings have
cherished ideas about God, religious
tensions are erupting with increasing
violence. It is very difficult for
religiously diverse people to discuss
religious differences without
denigrating each other. Egocentric
religion causes people to look on
others with contempt and hatred.
Religion is a powerful force in the
world and most people would rather
die for their religion than change
it. In fact, I have seen statistics
indicating that less than five
percent of the world’s
population changes religious systems.
If this were true, it indicates that
religion is the second most powerful
force on Earth. Of course, the most
powerful force on earth is death.
We Cannot Hear Each
Other
Can a Jew tell a
Catholic the truth about God? Can a
Moslem tell a Jew the truth about
God? Can a Hindu tell a Baptist the
truth about God? Can a Mormon tell a
Jehovah’s Witness about God? Of
course not! Contrary to what
evangelicals say, Jesus is not
frustrated or distressed by
man’s religious diversity
because He takes full responsibility
for it. When He separated the people
of Earth at the Tower of Babel, Jesus
knew what He was doing and He
foreknew the outcome of His actions.
(Genesis 11:8; Acts 17:26,27)
This section on the
first seal includes these issues
because the first seal is a campaign
to rescue the sheep of God, and we
know from the Scripture that there
are sincere and honest people in
every religious system on Earth.
The Bible indicates the ratio is
one-third sheep and two-thirds goats.
(Zechariah 13:8,9) Human beings
cannot accurately read the motives of
the heart; therefore, they cannot
tell sheep from goats. (God alone
knows our hearts. 1 Kings 8:39) Jesus
began a campaign in 1798 that will
ultimately allow the final generation
to determine whether they are sheep
or goats. This is interesting because
Jesus does not judge who is a sheep
and who is a goat during the Great
Tribulation. Instead, a series of
tests will determine the answer!
A person might ask,
“Since God already knows the
contents of our hearts, why does He
insist on putting us through the test
that is coming upon the whole
world?” (Revelation 3:10) The
answer is simple. How could Jesus
condemn anyone to death on the basis
of foreknowledge? Can you imagine
Jesus saying to a wicked person at
the Great White Throne judgment scene
in Revelation 20, “Well, I could
not save you because I knew what your
choices would be if I tested you
during the Great Tribulation?”
Of course not. Jesus said, “Behold,
I am coming soon! My reward is with
me, and I will give to everyone
according to what he has done.” (Revelation
22:12) Notice that Jesus does not
reward people for what they believe.
We will be rewarded for what we do
because our faith is revealed by our
actions. (James 2:26) Paul wrote, “For
we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each
one may receive what is due him for
the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad.” (2
Corinthians 5:10) Notice that Paul
said we will receive our reward for
things “done” instead of
things “believed.” The
point is that the inhabitants of
Earth will be tested during the Great
Tribulation, with the terms and
conditions of salvation, because
God’s generous offer is ours to
accept or reject.
According to
Revelation, the separation of sheep
and goats will occur during the Great
Tribulation. At the appointed time,
Jesus will select and empower 144,000
people who will come from every
religious group on Earth. These
people will be selected and chosen on
the basis of their hearts – not
their religion. Their love for God
and man will be the basis of their
selection. These people are
identified as coming from the twelve
tribes of Israel in Revelation 7:4
because they will have the hearts
like Abraham. You may recall that
Jacob was renamed “Israel”
after he became humble and showed
true remorse for his sins. (Genesis
32:28) This is why the redeemed are
called the children of Abraham!
(Genesis 15:5) You may also recall
that Jesus defined our genealogy
according to our actions. In other
words, if we humbly put our faith in
Christ as Abraham did, “to go
– to be – to do” as
Jesus directs, then we are the sons
of Abraham! (John 8:38-44; Galatians
3:28,29) The point is that there are
“sons of Abraham” in every
religious system on Earth, although
they are not formally called Jews.
(Romans 2:13-29)
Jesus will personally
appear to the 144,000 in a glorious
vision, and He will give them a
prepared script, a book of words, to
speak during the Great Tribulation.
(Revelation 10:1-7) The 144,000 will
not speak their own words. They will
speak like Ezekiel, who was given a
prepared script, a book containing
words that he was to speak to Israel.
(Ezekiel 2 & 3) As a result of
their encounter with Jesus, some of
the 144,000 will suddenly become
“Hindu believer in Christ”
and they will speak to their fellow
Hindus about the terms and conditions
of salvation through Jesus.
Similarly, “Moslem believers in
Christ” will speak to their
Moslem brothers about the terms and
conditions of salvation through
Jesus, just as “Jewish believers
in Christ” will speak to their
Jewish brothers about the terms and
conditions of salvation through
Jesus. The irony is that
“Protestant believers in
Christ” will speak to their
Protestant brothers about the terms
and conditions of salvation through
Jesus, and most of them (about
two-thirds) will refuse the testimony
of Jesus at the same rate as Moslems,
Hindus and Jews! Because one religion
cannot speak to another, Jesus will
avoid man’s egocentric view of
God by having “brothers”
speak to brothers. I call this end
time solution to presenting the
gospel a “theo-centric view of
God” because it is God-centered.
In essence, it robs denominations of
their arrogance and highlights their
ignorance. No religious system will
be able to claim or receive credit
for presenting the gospel of Jesus to
the world!
Given the enormous
prejudice against Jesus found in the
world’s religions, you may
wonder, “How will the 144,000 be
able to speak to their brothers about
Jesus?” The answer is simple. A
sudden outbreak of God’s
horrific judgments (the first four
trumpets) will kill hundreds of
millions of people, and the crisis
that follows will humble the whole
world to a point where every ear will
thoughtfully consider the powerful
declarations and miracle working
powers of the 144,000. By empowering
“enlightened” brothers to
speak to their brothers in darkness,
God will have 144,000 servants who
understand the culture, religion and
language of each nation. By ignoring
the pompous claims and bamboozle of
religious systems, Jesus will be able
to speak to each religious group
within its own mindset. The 144,000
will deliver the testimony of Jesus
and they will declare that Jesus
Christ is coming soon to gather up
His sheep. They will explain that
Jesus is profoundly concerned about
our response to His authority. Our
response to truth reveals whether we
are submissive to God or rebellious
against God. Theo-centric sheep will
say, “Lord, whatever you want me
to do, I will gladly do.”
Egocentric goats will say, “This
is not the voice of God. There is
safety in numbers. I will obey my
leader.”
Humanity’s
egocentric ways will be completely
revealed during the Great
Tribulation. When God’s
judgments begin, the religions of the
world will be forced to swallow some
pride (arrogance). Their silence on
these coming judgments will prove
they knew nothing about God’s
Word or His plans. To cover up their
ignorance, they will participate in a
crisis government that will form to
appease God. (If religious leaders
understood the prophecies of Daniel
and Revelation, they would not
participate in the crisis government
that will form as a result of
God’s coming judgments!) In an
attempt to justify God’s
actions, self-righteous people from
each religious system will declare
wicked people are responsible for
God’s wrath, and with hundreds
of millions of people lying dead in
the streets, what will the wicked
people be able to say?
Self-righteous,
churchgoing people will insist that
laws with severe penalties must be
implemented to reduce sinful
behaviors, and befuddled politicians
will quickly oblige. In light of the
overwhelming destruction all around,
what else can they do? The religious
leaders of the world will conclude
that God must be worshiped and
revered, and in the context, they
will seek laws demanding respect for
God and the worship of God. When the
144,000 and their followers refuse to
obey the laws implemented to appease
God, they will be associated with
“the wicked people” who
have angered God. Both groups will be
persecuted with harsh civil penalties
for refusing to worship God according
to the laws demanded by the religious
leaders.
The message of the
144,000 will be hard to obey because
the testimony of Jesus will stand in
direct opposition to the laws that
have been established. Catholics,
Protestants, Hindus, Moslems, Jews,
and pagans alike will struggle with
the testimony of the 144,000, because
the demands of Jesus will be
powerfully clear, but contrary to
what is traditionally believed and
taught. Even more, the demands of
Jesus will be contrary to the laws of
the land. In this juxtaposition of
conflicting laws, a large number of
people will prove to be sheep. The
net result is that Moslems will not
become Protestants, and Protestants
will not become Hindus, etc. Many
people will become
“believers” in Christ
through the testimony of the 144,000,
just like many early Jews became
Jewish “believers” in
Christ through the testimony of His
disciples. God has carefully designed
the separation of sheep and goats so
that the playing field during the
Great Tribulation will be level for
everyone. Every person on Earth will
experience the same level of
difficulty of living by faith in
Christ. Winning the heart of the
Hindu will be no easier than winning
the heart of the Protestant.
Trusteeship of the
Gospel Changes
When Jesus delivered
Israel from Egyptian slavery, He had
a glorious purpose for them. Israel
was to be a light unto the Gentiles,
but Israel repeatedly failed.
Therefore, Jesus took the trusteeship
of the gospel from the Jews (Matthew
23:38) and gave it to the Christians.
(Matthew 28:19,20) Unfortunately,
Christians have also failed. So,
Jesus took the trusteeship of the
gospel from the Catholic Church and
gave it to the Protestant Church in
1798. However, Protestants have
failed, too. The final trusteeship of
the gospel will be given to the
144,000. Like Gideon’s tiny band
of three hundred, the 144,000 will
succeed in their mission because they
will be sealed. (The sealing
mentioned in Revelation 7 is the
removal of the sinful nature. For a
discussion on the importance and
meaning of the sealing, please go to
the Bible study room and click on the
lesson 30, The Sealing.)
After the 144,000 are
sealed, the Holy Spirit will work
through them in a most dramatic way
for 1,260 days. (Revelation 11:3)
Remember that God has
sheep and goats in every religious
system, and He has been able to bring
good things out of religious systems
that fell into apostasy. For example,
the Jews gave us the Old Testament.
The Catholics gave us the New
Testament and the Protestants
discovered the five essential
teachings of Jesus. The 144,000 will
use the Old Testament, the New
Testament and the teachings of Jesus
to lead God’s Sheep through the
Great Tribulation, helping them pass
the test of faith and receive the
seal of God!
For reasons that are
forthcoming, the first three seals
have been broken and, as a result, we
now have information about Jesus, our
King and High Priest, that is as
fresh as manna from Heaven! This
information comes to us in the form
of five essential Bible doctrines.
Protestants began globally preaching
the first of these five doctrines
after the fall of the papacy in 1798.
I am not saying these five essential
doctrines suddenly became true in
1798. Truth is always true, but truth
is not always known or widely
understood. For example, salvation
through faith in Jesus has always
been true, but not always known or
widely understood.
Even though these five
doctrines have been true for ages,
they could not be widely known or
understood until Jesus began
campaigning to overcome man’s
arrogance and ignorance.
Unfortunately, the Catholic Church
does not endorse the five essential
doctrines, and in fact, most
Protestant churches today do not
endorse all five doctrines either.
Just because Hindus, Moslems, Jews,
Catholics and Protestants do not
understand them or accept them, does
not prevent these five teachings of
Jesus from being true. During the
Great Tribulation, these five
essential Bible truths will be
presented to the world. The five
essential Bible doctrines (or the
five S’s) are:
1.
Salvation through faith in Christ
2.
The State of man in death
3.
The Second Coming
4.
God’s seventh day Sabbath
5.
God’s use of parallel
Sanctuaries or temples
Seventy-Three Percent of the World is
Not Christian
When Jesus broke the
first seal, the Holy Spirit came to
Earth and gave power to the message
that salvation comes through faith in
Jesus. How can this message be a new
revelation in 1798 if salvation
through faith in Jesus has been
proclaimed ever since He returned to
Heaven? The answer may surprise you.
At the present time, the American
Bible Society says approximately 73%
of the world does not recognize Jesus
Christ as the Son of God. Other
Christian organizations estimate the
number to be close to 66%.
Nevertheless, the actual statistic
speaks volumes Christians have been
telling the world that Jesus is the
Son of God, the Savior of the world,
for almost 2,000 years, and at the
present time, less than one-third of
the people alive on Earth right now
have not had a chance to thoughtfully
consider the gospel of Christ, or if
they have heard it, why did they
reject it? The answer to this
question is simple. The power of
religion keeps people from
considering ideas that are
religiously different. Moslems cannot
tell Baptists about God and Mormons
cannot tell Episcopalians about God,
etc.
You may say, “But
the idea that salvation comes through
faith in Christ was not a new
revelation in 1798.” A review of
church history reveals otherwise.
When a person surveys the history of
the Christian Church, the doctrine of
salvation through faith in Christ was
missing for more than a thousand
years. In its place, the Catholic
Church substituted a doctrine that
salvation comes through the Church
of Christ. This subtle but deadly
deflection from the truth began
shortly after Jesus returned to
Heaven. For centuries, the truth
about salvation was buried in the
traditions and teachings of the
Church, and it was not until military
power broke the authority of the
Catholic Church in 1798 that the
truth about salvation, through
faith in Christ, could be widely
proclaimed to the world!
The doctrine of
salvation through faith in Christ
began unfolding the day Adam and Eve
sinned. Abel was the first casualty
of faith in Christ. (Hebrews 11:4)
Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses put
their faith in Christ. (Hebrews
11:6-26) Christ led out of Egypt and
provided food and water for His
people in the wilderness. (1
Corinthians 10:4) From the beginning
of sin until the end of
salvation’s offer (Revelation
22:11), everyone who willfully
surrenders to the authority of Jesus
receives the gift of righteousness,
and through His righteousness,
salvation is possible. (Genesis 3:21;
Romans 1:17; 3:21,22; 6:23;
Revelation 19:8) During the Jewish
era (1437 B.C. – A.D.33) and
Catholic era (A.D. 538 – 1798),
this sublime truth was alive, but it
was underground. After the Jews and
Catholics were taken out of the way,
and the Protestants received the
trusteeship of the gospel, the
message of salvation through faith in
Jesus came out of hiding. It
subsequently claimed six percent of
the world’s population. (Today,
400 million Protestants make up six
percent of the world’s
population. Of course, the actual
number of born again Protestants is
substantially less than 400 million.)
In this respect, church history
reflects the corporate actions of the
Christian Church whose headquarters
were in Rome. It was not
the church invisible, or the
underground believers who faithfully
obeyed the Word of God through the
ages.
“And on This Rock
I Will Build My Church”
Between A.D. 538 and
1798, the clergy of the Catholic
Church lorded “divine
authority” over the nations of
Europe by imposing two false
doctrines on the people. (A brief
discussion on the meaning of Matthew
16: 13-19, one of the texts used by
Catholics to defend claims of papal
authority, is located at the end of
the discussion on this third seal.)
- First, the
pope claimed to be the
appointed successor of Peter
and so he held the highest
and most honorable position
on earth. The Church
claimed that God spoke only
through the pope because he
was the Vicar of Christ on
Earth. (Later on, this claim
became the foundation of
papal infallibility.) The
Church also claimed that
Jesus had given Peter and his
successors “the keys of
the kingdom.”
Eventually, Pope Gregory VII
(1028-1085) defined “the
keys of the kingdom” to
mean that everyone on Earth,
including kings and queens,
were subservient to the
authority of the pope. In
other words, the pope and his
priests had authority over
eternal life.
- The second
false doctrine was the
necessity of sacraments. The
church taught that if a
person refused to receive the
sacraments or was
excommunicated so that he
could not receive the
sacraments, that person would
go to Hell and burn forever.
Therefore, ignorant laymen
submitted to the outlandish
demands of Catholic clergy to
avoid being sent to Hell. In
effect, the clergy held the
laity hostage and any ransom
demanded by the clergy was
produced. This situation was
the straw that broke the
camel’s back. When
Tetzel offered forgiveness of
sins for money, Martin Luther
could not tolerate the
tactics of the Church any
longer and he protested by
nailing his complaints to the
church door (the ninety-five
theses).
History confirms the
Church aggressively defended these
two doctrines because together, they
secured enormous power and advantage
for the Church over kings and
nations. The actions of the Church of
Rome should not be surprising.
Whether in matters pertaining to
church or state, those who have
possession of power will do whatever
it takes to hold on to power. This is
the selfish egocentric nature of man.
The history of the Jews and the
history of Christianity share an
interesting parallel. God gave both
populations the trusteeship of the
gospel. Both endured for more than a
thousand years. Both religions began
with good-hearted people, and both
ended in apostasy and in opposition
to God’s truth. This is not a
statement about Jews and Catholics.
This is a statement about human
nature. I have often said that if God
had chosen Ishmael instead of Isaac,
the names of the people would have
changed, but the results would have
been identical.
Salvation through
Faith in Christ Rediscovered
When Martin Luther
(1483-1546) nailed his ninety-five
theses to the church door in 1517,
the Roman Catholic was stirred, but
not alarmed. How could a priest in
Germany threaten the mighty Church of
Rome? However, Luther’s protest
against Rome can be compared to
Samson’s destruction of the
Philistine temple. (Judges 16:30)
When Samson gained enough strength to
push the main pillars of the
Philistine temple out of their
places, the temple collapsed.
Similarly, when Protestantism gained
enough strength, it pushed the two
main pillars of Catholicism (papal
authority and the necessity of
sacraments) out of their places and
the Catholic Church fell. On the
basis of Bible discovery, Protestants
denied the claims of the pope and
this explains, in part, the
historical conflict between
Protestants and Catholics today.
The Apostle Paul of
the Protestant Reformation
Protestant historians
have conferred the title;
“Father of the Protestant
reformation” on John Wycliff
(1330- 1384) because Wycliff was the
first reformer within the Catholic
Church to significantly challenge
Rome’s departure from Bible
truth. If Wycliff is the father of
Protestantism, then Martin Luther
should be called “the Apostle
Paul” of the Reformation. I say
this because Paul and Luther were
highly educated and they stand out in
history for having accomplished the
same thing. Both men created an
exodus from two corrupt religious
systems. Judaism and Catholicism,
respectively, using the authority of
Scripture.
Luther entered the
Augustinian monastery at Erfurt in
1505 and he took the vow of
obedience, poverty and chastity in
the following year. By 1512, Luther
had earned a doctoral degree. In
1515, at the age of 32, he was made
vicar over eleven Augustinian
monasteries. Luther was serious about
serving the Lord and His Church. As
Luther matured in his understanding
of the Bible, he became concerned
about the number of doctrines that
the Church endorsed. Eventually, a
wedge of discernment divided the
devotions of Luther. Even though he
loved the Lord and the Church, Luther
had carefully documented ninety-four
issues within the Church that needed
reform. When the priest, Tetzel, came
to town in 1517 boastfully offering
to sell forgiveness of sins for a
price, Luther was outraged. Tetzel
was raising money to pay for the
construction of St. Peter’s
Basilica by selling salvation for a
price. This was too much. Luther
added this behavior to the long list
and with a soul full of disgust; he
nailed his ninety-five complaints to
the church door in Wittenberg on
October 31, 1517.
As a young priest,
Luther did not question the idea that
Church authority was greater and
higher than the teaching of the
Bible. However, after comparing the
teachings of the Church with the
Bible, Luther realized the Bible must
be continually asserted and exalted
above the authority of the church.
Otherwise, the carnal nature of man
would eventually manipulate or
corrupt the teachings of Christ.
Luther also became convinced that
mankind is justified before God
through Christ without the necessity
of works and a shocking experience
confirmed his belief. Sometime
between 1512 and 1515, Pope Leo X
offered an indulgence (the
forgiveness of sins) to people who
would climb Pilate’s staircase
on their knees. Because Luther
sincerely wanted freedom from the
guilt of sin, he decided to climb the
staircase even though he was already
struggling with the relationship
between faith and works. While
climbing the staircase, he heard a
thunderous voice say, “The just
shall live by faith.” (Romans
1:7) It was an epiphany! Suddenly,
everything he had been studying in
the Bible connected. In a flash, he
realized that salvation came through
faith in Christ alone – without
sacraments or works of penance –
and he stood to his feet and departed
the building in shame and haste.
In April 1521, Luther
was summoned before Church officials
at Worms to defend his radical
teachings and behavior. He was
accused of forty-one errors and given
sixty days to recant. Of course, the
Church could not accept Luther’s
call for reform because his
reformation would weaken the
“God Given” authority of
the Church. When Luther saw that
church officials had not examined his
books and they would never accept the
plainest teachings of Scripture, he
spoke to the assembly saying,
“Here I stand. I can do no
other…my conscience is captive
to the Word of God.” Luther was
condemned to death, but he escaped
with his life.
Even though
Luther’s call for reformation
did not reform the Church, he did
catch the ear of the laity. Laymen
were weary of the fear and the
burdens that the Church imposed on
them. Luther knew the laymen were in
spiritual darkness because they did
not have access to the Bible.
Therefore, Luther translated the New
Testament into the vernacular
language of the German people in
1522. This was the dawning of a new
day. The Church had forbidden
possession of the bible and people
caught with bibles were severely
punished, tortured, or killed.
Luther’s
activities in Germany added to the
swell across Europe for the
reformation within the Church. Two
hundred eighty-one years after the
posting his ninety-five theses to the
church door at Wittenberg, the
authority of the Catholic Church was
toppled because it would not reform.
In February 1798, Napoleon’s
forces captured the area currently
known as Vatican City; the pope was
dethroned, and was taken prisoner by
General Waller and Berthier. The
elimination of papal power enabled
Protestants to speak freely about
salvation through faith in Christ. At
last, they could teach and preach
without intimidation or threat from
the Catholic Church. Protestants
began to share the good news that
salvation was not dependant on church
or priest! Salvation came through
faith in Jesus alone. There is
nothing more powerful than truth
whose time has come. When we remember
that the Church of Rome fell because
“judgment was pronounced in
favor of the saints of the Most
High” (Daniel 7:22), and that
Jesus was found worthy to receive the
Book of Life in 1798, we find an
interesting effect on Earth. Jesus
broke the first seal on the Book of
Life and the power of Jesus’
gospel broke out of the tomb of
darkness where it had been sealed for
1,260 years!
: RETURN TO
PRIOR PAGE :
