White Horse Rider, ready To ride...
The White Horse Rider
Is ready to Ride…..
By Pastor F. M. Riley
May 2, 2015
“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts [living creatures] saying, Come and see.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer,” Revelation 6:1-2.
Introduction
This will be the third Bible Study I have written dealing with this particular Scripture passage and subject. The previous studies are entitled, “Behold, a White Horse,” and “A White Knight…?? Not hardly!” I will be glad to send either or both of these previous studies to any reader upon request.
This study is an “update” on the previous two studies, for end-time prophecy is now falling into place at a pace not previously known. It is, or should be, obvious that the fulfillment of many of these end-time prophecies is right now staring mankind in the face.
A Relevant Question
This passage in Revelation 6:1-2 is a prophecy of the anti-christ coming on the world scene as a public figure immediately after the beginning of the Tribulation period.
What well known public figure in the world today is going to fill the role of the prophesied “anti-christ?” We are explicitly told in God’s Word that those who have “wisdom” can identify him by counting his number, Revelation 13:18. While this number can, and has been, attached to a number of prominent people over the past 20 to 30 years, what person in the past, during or shortly after the time of John the Revelator, was this number attached to? I would point out that Revelation 13:18 was written in the present tense, clearly indicating that some living back in or near the time of John could count “the number of the beast” even back then. This rather implies that the person who will serve as the end-time anti-christ is a historical figure from the past. Hello!
A Brief Review
In my two previous studies, I emphasized that the inspired description of this man should help in identifying him. And how is he described here in Revelation 6:1-2 ?
As the Lord Jesus Christ opens the very first seal on the little book, right after the beginning of the Tribulation period, this man riding a white horse comes forth.
[1] For many centuries it was the custom of kings to ride before their subjects on a white horse in order to receive their adulation and praise. So this man obviously fancies himself to be a king ruling over a vast kingdom.
[2] The color “white” has long been regarded in human history as a symbol of “purity,” so this man also regards himself as being a pure and honorable man above reproach.
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[3] It is specifically stated that this man is carrying a “bow.” Many commentators on this Scripture have made much ado about this “bow,” claiming it to be “the weapon” he
will use in his rise to power to quietly and secretly slay his opposition. Hogwash!
It is a fact of history that nearly every king in history, in their public appearances, carried a staff [or scepter] of some sort, as an emblem of their authority. This rider on the white horse is no different than those who have preceded him. He carries a staff also as the emblem of his authority, which is referred to as a “bow.” Now what could that possibly be?
[4] He is not wearing a crown when he comes forth. The Scripture explicitly says that “a crown was given unto him,” apparently sometime after he comes on the world scene.
[5] He then goes forth “conquering, and to conquer.” Our readers should be aware that the New World Order one-world government, will not become a reality until the middle of the Tribulation period, Revelation 13:1-2. In order to make it a reality, the present borders of every nation on earth have to be dissolved. Convincing the nations of the earth to give up their national identity for the “greater good” of mankind [Sic!] is the major problem that is going to occupy the anti-christ and the “one world” planners during the first half of the Tribulation period. Some of the people in some of the nations are going to violently resist the dissolution of their countries. That is why “peace” is taken from the earth under the opening of the second seal, Revelation 6:3-4. The anti-christ will then play a great role in convincing the peoples of the earth to submit to their countries becoming a part of the New World Order Kingdom.
A Closer Examination
[1] While the Pope of the Holy Roman Catholic Church does not refer to himself as a king, yet he rules over the largest religion in the entire world today, making his influence reach into every country and area in the entire earth. This gives him the characteristics of a king, even though, at this present time, he has not yet been declared as such.
[2] What one man on the earth today is regarded and revered by the general populace as a “holy man” above every other man on earth? Even the news media, when reporting on the Pope, refers to him as “The Holy Father.” Sic!
[3] Every time the Pope appears in public, he is carrying with him a grotesque staff, the emblem of his authority as the leader of a billion and a half of his devoted followers. This staff is designed as a “shepherd’s staff,” with a large “bow” at the top on which is depicted the cross of Christ, with Christ still on the cross. The official name of this staff which is carried by the Pope is “the Papal bow.” Is this clear enough for some of our readers?
[4] The Pope is regarded by millions as “a man of peace.” In other words, he is not regarded as one of the warring “kings” of the nations today. But if our readers will carefully STUDY Daniel 11:21-45, it is easily seen that the “vile person” being described, right on through the remainder of the chapter, is the future prophesied anti-christ. Notice that in 11:21-24, he is not given the honor of ruling over the kingdom, but the inspired Word explicitly states that “he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.” There is obviously more than one way to deceive people. Hello!
As our readers STUDY this passage in Daniel, don’t fail to notice 11:45. I will be
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referring to this Scripture shortly.
[5] Who in the world today, other than the Pope, would be better qualified to influence and convince millions of people in every nation on earth, to lay down their arms and not resist the political leaders who are hell-bent on dissolving all present national borders and establishing a one world government? Well…??
Facts From Biblical History
Many Christians today do not realize that before the New Testament was even completed by John’s vision in Revelation, there had already been at least three serious splits or divisions in the ranks of “Christianity.”
[1] The first split or division in the churches and the ranks of Christianity was over the question of Christian believers having to keep the Law of Moses. Read Acts 15. This chapter first describes “certain men” which came to the church at Antioch, telling the believers in that church that they could not be saved unless their men were circumcised according to the Law of Moses. The result was the first council of churches called in Acts 15 where the Apostles were called upon to decide this question. Remember that the Lord’s church was built “upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,” Ephesians 2:19-22. Therefore it was up to the Apostles, under the leadership of the Lord, to decide this very important question.
STUDY Acts 15 carefully. Notice that in the church at Jerusalem there were Pharisees which had professed to believe, 15:5. After that council of churches, we never read anywhere again in the New Testament of Pharisees being in any of the Lord’s churches. The Pharisees apparently didn’t like the decision the Apostles handed down that day, and they completely withdrew from the Christian movement. I would to God that some of these preachers and pastors today, who keep trying to put New Testament believers back under the Mosiac Law would likewise withdraw, and stop spreading their confusion among the churches and in the ranks of Christianity. This question of Law and Grace was settled for all true New Covenant churches and believers in Acts 15 nearly 2,000 years ago. PERIOD!
[2] Nevertheless some wicked unbelievers persisted in trying to destroy the Lord’s churches from within. We read about them in 2 Corinthians 6:11-18. In these Scriptures is found one of the most clear clarion calls for true believers to “separate” themselves from unbelievers to be found in all of the New Testament. And again today, we have those who “profess” to be Christians, trying to get all denominations of churches to come together in one amalgamated mess of doctrinal confusion. Folks, if you don’t stand for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of God’s Word, you will fall for anything. Christian history reveals that the true churches took heed to Paul’s admonition, and separated themselves to the truth of God’s Word and kept it faithfully right through the centuries. The Lord Himself said so, Revelation 3:10.
[3] The third division, or proof of a division, in the churches and the ranks of Christianity is recorded in 1 John 2:18-19. Here John was inspired to explicitly state that there were some which claimed to be the followers of Christ, which had gone out from the true followers of Christ, and writing by Divine Inspiration, John plainly states that “They went out from us…..that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
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What then happened to these Apostates?
Folks, Christian history reveals that many of these apostates who departed from the true churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, continued to call themselves “Christians” and even assemble together as a “church,” even though they were teaching “false doctrines” and living contrary to the teachings of God’s Word. I would point out that the Lord Himself referred to them as “the synagogue [assembly] of Satan, Revelation 2:9; 3:9. As time passed these wicked “religionists” were presented with a golden opportunity to “take revenge” on the true churches who were so “narrow” minded [Matthew 7:13-14] in their doctrinal teachings, that they refused to have fellowship with these unbelieving apostates who had departed from the truth of God’s Word.
Just as Judas sought an opportunity to betray Christ into the hands of those who hated Him, so these apostate “religionists” sought an opportunity to betray the true churches and people of the Lord Jesus into the hands of the Roman Empire who hated the whole Christian movement. The Roman Empire had sought again and again to destroy and purge early Christianity from the Empire, but the more they persecuted Christians, the more the Christian movement grew. Glory to God!
Then in 312 A.D. Constantine ascended to the throne of the Roman Empire. He was well aware of the efforts that Rome had made to wipe Christianity out of the Roman Empire, and how every effort had failed. Constantine was a wicked and shrewd politician with a brilliant depraved mind. So he loudly proclaimed throughout the Roman Empire that he had witnessed a vision in the heavens; a cross bearing the Latin words, “By this sign thou shalt conquer.” Whether Constantine ever had such a vision is highly doubtful, but his claim well served his purpose. Constantine had decided that if Christianity could not be defeated by persecution from without, that he would join the movement and destroy it from within. So in 313 A.D. he called for a Council of all the Christian churches and pastors in the Roman Empire to convene in the city of Nicaea.
Right here I want our readers to know that the historian, Eusebius, plainly records in his Ecclesiastical History, that the true Godly pastors and churches at that time refused to attend Constantine’s Council. It was the apostate churches and compromising pastors who went to the Council. At that council Constantine established “Christianity” as the “official” religion of the Roman Empire. As an incentive to the churches and pastors, he granted large amounts of money out of the Roman Treasury to build fine huge church buildings, and to finance the “work” of the churches in making converts. Sic! The Holy Roman Catholic [Universal] Church had been born.
In reality, this was the marriage between the old pagan Roman gods imported from the ancient Babylonian religion, and apostate “Christianity.” See the Lord’s letter to the church at Pergamos, Revelation 2:12-17.
And guess who rushed to join Constantine’s new “religion”? The descendants of the very same apostates who had departed from the true churches as recorded by John in 1 John 2:18-19. Plus, since it was made the “official” religion of the Roman Empire by law, thousands of unsaved Roman citizens rushed to “join the church” in order to display their patriotic duty to Rome. To begin with, Constantine regarded himself as the “Papa” of his new “church.” The Papal system of a Pope ruling over the whole “church” was developed by Constantine’s organization over the next 500 years, and is still in use today.
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Now that you have a brief history of how this organization came to be, let’s move forward to…..
What is Happening Today.
As I write this study I have three news reports laying on my desk about the Pope and his plans for the immediate future. I think these reports are “dynamite” in relation to the prophecies of God’s inspired Word.
[1] The Pope is moving to Jerusalem…..I have known since 1972 of the Pope’s plans to move the entire Vatican to the city of Jerusalem, and now here comes a news report that moving the Vatican to Jerusalem is imminent. I know that for the past ten years or more the Vatican has been in negotiations with the government of Israel to obtain land in
Jerusalem upon which to build a second Vatican.
Why in Jerusalem? Hey, the Popes may be wicked, but they are not stupid! The Word of God explicitly and repeatedly states that Jerusalem is the city chosen by God from which He will rule the world. Now what man on earth today claims to be “The Vicar of Christ;” in other words, the very embodiment of Christ upon the earth?
I understand that these negotiations between the Vatican and Israel were approved by the Israeli government over two years ago, or perhaps longer, and construction has been going on ever since. Now the residence of the Pope; the Papal “palace,” and other buildings for the second Vatican are complete or nearly so. Where is this construction taking place? On Mt. Zion, exactly where the inspired Word says that the anti-christ will locate his “palace,” Daniel 11:45. Hello!
[2] A Call to Abandon Capitalism…..According to the Vatican newspaper this past week, the Pope is calling upon all the nations of the world to abandon Capitalism in order to bring an end to “Global Warming.” In other words, the “infallible” Pope has bought the lie that global warming is being caused by the masses of people living on the earth today polluting the atmosphere of the earth by their world commerce. This means that there are too many factories polluting the air as the goods needed and wanted by mankind are being manufactured and distributed. It also means that there are entirely too many automobiles, burning “fossil” fuels, which also pollute the atmosphere of the earth. And on and on and on.
Folks, “global warming” today is a reality, but not for the reasons that Al Gore and other promoters of this idiotic “we must save the earth” movement claim. It has been proven that there was more pollution of the atmosphere a hundred years ago when most of mankind was burning coal and wood for both heating and cooking. But the promoters of this present “global warming” movement don’t appreciate being confused with the facts. They don’t want to hear them.
What is the real cause of “global warming?” The real cause is that the Sun has been throwing off electro-magnetic energy into space, more than at any previous time in human history since men have been keeping records on it. The magnetic iron core of the earth absorbs this electro-magnetic energy, and is heating up the interior of the earth far above what it has normally been in the past. This heat in the interior then filters upward to the surface and is causing the melting of the ice caps and glaciers all over the earth. Mankind living on the earth today has nothing to do with this, other than Almighty God has watched mankind turn away from Him, and is preparing to bring judgment upon the
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nations. Hello!
But what one man on the earth today is in a better position to convince millions of people to abandon “capitalism,” than the Pope? And if the masses of people pay attention to him, what are they going to get in exchange? If capitalism is abandoned, that will play right into the hands of the world planners who want to establish a New World Order Kingdom on Socialist-Marxist-Communist teachings and principles. Are the prophecies of God’s Word being fulfilled…..or not?
[3] The Vatican-Muslim Connection…..I have known for several years that the leaders of the Muslim religion were meeting with the Pope in an attempt to reach some agreement between the two religions. I have realized that a working agreement between these two “religions” is absolutely necessary. Otherwise they would be forced to destroy each other, for these are the two largest religions in the world, and both of them have the same goal of ruling over all of mankind. Well guess what?
Now comes a report that an agreement has been reached between the Pope and the Muslim leaders. The major details of the agreement are being kept secret. Why? Do either one or both of them have something to hide? You better believe they do!
Most of mankind today is not aware of the true relationship between Catholicism and the Muslim religion. Whether some want to believe it or not, it is a “Mother-Daughter” relationship. The Pope who was ruling over “the church” in the days of Muhammed, was directly or indirectly responsible for the establishment of the whole religion of Islam. The details of this can be found in a book, and a tract, published by Chick Publications. I am not going to take the time to reprint all these details in this study. But the Muslim religion was born out of Catholicism, therefore it should be no great surprise for these two pagan religions to come together again as one.
What has been reported is that when the Pope moves to Jerusalem, his Papal throne will likely be set up in the Muslim’s Dome of the Rock! Wow! I wonder what concessions the Pope had to make to the Muslim leaders, for them to agree to this arrangement?
The White Horse Rider is ready to Ride
Dear readers, with all these things coming together right now, and the Pope preparing to move the Vatican to Jerusalem imminently, it should be glaringly obvious that we are at, or very close, to the end of this present dispensation; “the fullness of the Gentiles,” Romans 11:25. It is time for the dear Lord Jesus to come and remove His bride; His Church, out of this present evil world, exactly as He promised to do, Galatians 1:4; Revelation 3:10. This could happen at any minute of any day now. Are you ready?
Immediately following the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, the Lord Jesus in Heaven will begin opening the Seals on “the little book,” the Title Deed to the whole earth, and the rider on the white horse [the anti-christ] will come forth. Will this be a Roman Pope? Our true Christian forefathers certainly believe it would be, and it appears that there is a good case for it set forth in the inspired Word. Hello!
Conclusion
Dear readers, our Christian forefathers who lived during the “Dark Ages” believed and taught that a future Roman Pope would be the anti-christ who would bring death and destruction upon the whole world during the end-time Tribulation period. That this was
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a commonly held belief and teaching in the churches and the ranks of Christianity can be easily verified by a little serious study of Christian history. During the 1.000 years of the “Dark Ages,” the so-called “church” established by Constantine robbed, looted, burned, raped, tortured, inprisoned, and brutally murdered true Bible believing Christians who refused to bow to the edicts and teachings of the Roman Pope. There are numerous books in print which verify these truths for those readers who really want to know the truth. Obtain a copy of “Foxes Book of Martyrs,” and read the accounts for yourself. Or more recently, Dave Hunt’s “A Woman rides the beast.”
After the Protestant Reformation brought an end to the vicious persecution of true churches and believers, this teaching was gradually abandoned. But was it the truth? Did true believers and churches during the “Dark Ages” have a Scriptural reason for believing and teaching that the future anti-christ would be a Pope? Read Revelation 13:18 again. It is a fact that one can take the title assigned to the Pope, and the Latin letters in his title add up to a numerical value of Six hundred threescore and six; 666. More “coincidence?” Well…??
And some “willingly ignorant” people today don’t think Bible prophecy is being fulfilled, and it is not yet time for our Lord to come? Read it for yourself in 2 Peter 3:3-7. What more “signs” do some people today need of the SOON coming of the Lord, and the beginning of the Tribulation period? Perhaps they would like for the Lord to set up a gigantic billboard in space with a flashing neon sign, announcing His coming. Well, it isn’t going to happen! Those who claim to be “Christians” who are too lazy to get serious about studying theWord, will be taken by surprise when the Lord comes, and will suffer the consequences of their apathy, Revelation 3:3. Think about it!
Any reader who needs spiritual help is invited, yea, even urged, to contact me at once. Hurry! Time is swiftly running out. By the grace of God, I do know Him who is the Savior, and the only way of salvation, John 14:6; Acts 4:12. I will count it a blessing to study with you, pray with you, and help any reader to come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, or to assurance of salvation in Christ. God bless you all.
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Permission is granted to any true believer, or Bible believing Christian ministry, to reproduce this study to share with others, or to quote from it in context as written.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the struggle here below is about over. It is completely in the hands and will of our Lord, whether I ever write out anymore Bible Studies. I thank each one who has supported this ministry with your prayers and your gifts. Thank each of your dear folks so very much. May your rewards be great in glory, as we rejoice together in the presence of our Lord and those precious souls that you have had a part in bringing to a saving knowledge of Christ. Please continue to pray for me.
Please address all comments, questions, and correspondence to: Pastor F. M. Riley, Last Call Gospel Ministry, 184 County Road 108, Harrisburg, Missouri 65256. Or I can be contacted by email at: fmr7sngn@centurylink.net
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