THE FIRST SEAL continued.

As further evidence that although the first church possessed the white horse (the pure doctrine of Christ) in its possession, nevertheless those who were soon to be riding (controlling and directing) this doctrine were already aspiring to do so.

“The apostle Paul declares that; The Mystery of Iniquity (“Mystic Babylon“) was already beginning to work amongst the Lord’s people IN HIS DAY; but the working was evidently but slight until after the death of Paul and the other apostles. While the apostles remained with the Church, they were able to point out some of the false teachers through whom the Adversary was seeking privily, privately, secretly, to bring in damnable heresies to undermine the faith and to turn the faithful aside from the hopes and promises and simplicity of the Gospel. (2 Pet. 2:1)

The Apostle Paul speaks also of some of these in general terms, as beginning the workings of iniquity; but he names some of them personally, Hymenaeus and Philetus, and etc., “who concerning the truth have erred” and are, “overthrowing the faith of some.” (2 Tim. 2:17)

Respecting these false teachers and their errors, he again warned the Church through the elders at Ephesus, especially pointing out that these would flourish after his death–grievous wolves, they would not spare the flock. (Acts 20:29)

This last is remarkably in accord with our Lord’s prediction in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares”. (Matt. 13:25,39) Our Lord clearly shows that these false teachers and their false doctrines were the agencies of the Adversary who sowed the tares amongst the wheat that he and the apostles had planted. He says, “While men [the special servants, the apostles] slept, an enemy came and sowed tares.”

It was not long after the apostles fell asleep, we may be sure, until the spirit of rivalry under the guidance of the Adversary led step by step to the ultimate organization of the great Antichrist system–Papacy.” (F201, edited)

The apostle John likewise warned the church at that time that the antichrist was coming, and that even then many antichrists had come. (1 John 2:18,19) Not that the great antichrist system itself (the Papacy) had come, that would have to wait until the one who restrains or inhibits its full development was taken out of the way, i.e., the Roman government (2 Thess 2:7), no but those who imbibed “the spirit (the character) of the antichrist” were already amongst them at that time.

Now let us take a closer look at the first seal.

Revelation Chapter 6

VERSE 1 and 2 “Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”

BEHOLD A WHITE HORSE:

“In a spiritual sense a “horse” represents a doctrine or a teaching. Since the color white usually denotes purity, truth, or righteousness, the first impression rendered is that in some manner the white horse indicates a satisfactory state of affairs—whatever the interpretation given. Yet there are extenuating circumstances connected with the vision which teach otherwise. It is to be observed that the next three horses are of obvious evil import. Does this not suggest the possibility that all four, including the first horse, are of a foreboding and threatening nature?”

HE WHO SAT ON IT:

The one who sat on the horse is the one who controls or directs the horse. From the very beginning it was the it was the Lord and the apostles who directed the doctrines and maintained their purity, but we were warned by both the Lord and the apostles that soon an ambitious class would come to power and take control of the church and the horse, steering it down the wrong path, regarding the conquering spirit!

HAD A BOW: Had evil devices in which to forward their conquests

“The man, or the group the man represents, has a bow, which is an instrument of war, and he is setting out as a conqueror bent on conquest. This definitely shows that the rider had too much of a conquering attitude, and he was willing to use force, and coercion, to convince others on doctrinal matters or to get others to join the church.

AND A CROWN WAS GIVEN HIM: Authority was given him (the apostate element). This authority to rein was given not by men, but by the Lord in order to test the true Church.

It’s interesting to see that the crown was “given” to him, but the bow, he already had.

AND HE WENT OUT CONQUERING AND TO CONQUER:

If we look carefully at the main thing that this rider was doing, conquering and to conquer, we should understand that he should not have been doing that. The Church was not commissioned to conquer the world, but to wait upon the Lord and due time he would establish the kingdom.

“This rider is almost two thousand years ahead of the time in which the reign should have begun. This rider therefore is not exercising legal power, but is running ahead of the Lord. The rider on the white horse can for that reason be identified with the beginnings of the abomination (the spirit of the antichrist), and the forces that sought by stealth and deceit, to force others to either their opinion or even to force them to accept Christ.”

We will take a look at the First Trumpet in our next post.