Revelation Study – Part 8
The church was styled as a white horse which symbolized warfare, combat and also courage. The church was prepared for warfare. Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is prepared in the day of battle.” The church of God is not in the battle alone; Christ is with his church.
The church of God is adorned in white which symbolize the righteousness of the saints. When a person receives Christ into their life, he forgives them of their sin and washes them “as white as snow.” God’s people are pure and undefiled by sin and the world.
Christ will lead his church forth into the battle conquering and to conquer. A crown was given unto him. Christ had the Word in his hand. The bow is an offensive weapon against an enemy. God’s word is the weapon that enables the church of God to overcome in this great spiritual battle. Christ used the Word of God to defeat the devil while in the wilderness and the morning time church used the Word of God to defeat Paganism and Judaism.
The morning-time church was not a church standing still or barely surviving. The church “went forth.” The New Testament church in the morning or beginning of the Gospel Day took the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The church of God went forth doing the will of the Father. The gospel of Jesus Christ was being sounded throughout the world and souls were brought to Christ and the influence of the devil’s kingdom was brought down through the power of the gospel.
What grieves the Spirit is when the church is not going forth and sitting idle and falling asleep. If a person has the Spirit of God, He will lead them to do the will of God. I Timothy 2:4-6 states, “Who will have all men to be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ramson for all, to be testified in due time.”
The church of God, early in the Gospel Day, possessed the spirit of evangelism. They went forth carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 5:28 says that they filled Jerusalem with the gospel. Phillip preached Jesus Christ in Samaria and the city turned to God. Acts 11:19-21 says, “Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” The word of God was carried to Thessalonica, Ephesus, Corinth, Rome, Macedonia, Berea, Philippi, Syria, Lystra and Iconium.
The devil tried to destroy the church of God through persecution, but the church kept going forth conquering and to conquering. The devil realized that he could not stop God’s church from the outside. So he began to cool the saints off from the inside. The ministry fell asleep and tares were sown among the wheat. St. Matthew 13:25-26 says, "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.” How did the ministry fall asleep? “Thou hast left thy first love.” Their first love was to do the will of God. Their love was to bring souls to Christ, and save a lost and dying world. Their first love and allegiance was to Christ and obeying his command. When the church is not busy on the outside, the devil will sow division on the inside.
