Yesterday
it was a very uplifting time to share with God’s people about how the first of
the seven seals uses the imagery of a rider on a white horse going forth
conquering, and to conquer,[1] to
remind us of the way the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the
whole world before the coming of Christ.[2]
The book of Revelation engages the children of God as conquerors,[3]
not victims of a mad, and sinful world.
However,
today I focused my meditation on the second seal, which tells us that another
characteristic of this “last hour”,[4] is
likened to a rider on a fiery red horse who “was
permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another.”[5]
This
imagery made me wonder how the revelation of a peaceless earth would encourage the
church to be the conquerors the first seal revealed. After all, part of the
whole armor of God[6]
includes, “as shoes for your feet, having
put on the readiness given by the gospel
of peace.”[7]If
the gospel that goes out conquering, and to conquer, is a gospel of peace, why
are we immediately told that another rider will accompany the spread of the
gospel by taking peace from the earth?
At
least part of this picture is to encourage God’s conquerors, whom Jesus referred
to as “peacemakers”,[8]
that they will lead people to have “peace
with God”, but will never bring the world to have peace.[9] This
protects God’s children from the frustration and confusion of thinking that we
must be failing at our conquering mission of bringing people to have peace with
God if our proclamation of the gospel of peace causes all kinds of trouble and
turmoil.
After
all, the greatest peacemaker of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of
Peace, God with us, the word become flesh, deity in bodily form, stirred up
such opposition and hatred from the descendants of God’s friend, Abraham, that
they would not feel any rest until they had crucified their Messiah. And yet,
in the midst of their murderous violence, Jesus laid down his life for his
friends so that, through the animosity of his enemies, he secured peace for all
God’s children. Peace with God came through the violence of people who hated
the Prince of Peace.
I
encourage people to spend enough time with God in his word each day that we
leave our time knowing that God has applied his word to our hearts in such a
way that we know how to put his word into practice, or, to join him in what he
is doing. How does that work for me today?
It
reminds me that the church that goes out conquering, and to conquer, will have
a dual experience in the world. On one side, the conquering church will bear
much fruit by bringing people to have peace with God. On the other side, the
conquering church will see a world that cries out, “‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”[10]
The world will call for tolerance, while showing hateful intolerance of God’s
children. The world will call for a peace after the manner of John Lennon’s, “Imagine”,
that wants peace without God, and will fight to get rid of those who know there
can only be peace with God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It
is significant, after encouraging the peacemakers that, “they shall be called sons of God,”[11] he adds one more blessing, “Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.”[12] There is blessing in being the peacemaking conquerors that bring people
to have peace with God, and there is blessing when being persecuted for doing
so.
A rider on a white horse going out conquering, and to
conquer, gives us a timeless picture of the peacemaking church. A rider on a
fiery red horse going forth in war, stealing peace from the earth, tells us
that we will never see a world at peace no matter how many people come to faith
in Jesus Christ during this last hour.
The conclusion is simple: be part of a church that puts on
the whole armor of God to stand against the schemes of the peace-destroyer,
Satan,[13] including, “as shoes for
your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”[14] There will be no peace in the world throughout
this last hour, but the peacemakers of God will be blessed in their conquering,
as they bring the POW’s of sin to have peace with God.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~
Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise
noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible,
English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway
Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
[1] Revelation 6:1-2
[2] Matthew 24:14
[3] Each of the letters to
the seven churches concludes with a message to “the one who conquers”.
[4] I John 2:18
[5] Revelation 6:3-4
[6] Ephesians 6:10-20
[7] Ephesians 6:15
[8] Matthew 5:9
[9] Romans 5:1-5
[10] Jeremiah 6:14
[11] Matthew 5:9
[12] Matthew 5:10
[13] Ephesians 6:10-20
[14] Ephesians 6:15
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