The First Seal

The rider here has been thought by many to be Christ, because He is sitting upon a white horse, and is so successful. Hence they speak of the Lord’s now going forth in His gospel chariot conquering and to conquer. Blessed be God, Christ does subdue proud and rebellious hearts to Himself; but it is not by the bow, or any other carnal weapon, but by
the word of His grace {Acts 14:3, 20:32}
It is His love, His redeeming, exhaustless love! This, this alone subdued and won us to Himself; and
“True pleasures abound
In the rapturous sound;
And whoever hath found it
Hath Paradise found.

My Jesus to know,
And feel His love flow,
’Tis life everlasting,
’Tis heaven below.”
That the rider in this first seal cannot be Christ is further proved, because He is seen as having His place in heaven, at this very time, as the Lamb opening the seal, while the vision of the white horse and its rider relates to the earth. It is quite true, that when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, He is presented to us as riding a white horse: but then heaven will be opened; He will be publicly manifested; there will be no possibility of mistaking Him; for
every eye shall see Him {Rev. 1:7}.
His saints also will follow in the train; and judgments under the iron rod of the Lord’s personal reign will go forth. Whereas the opening of the other seals that follow this one show that the judgments are of a providential character, and not immediately from the Lord’s own presence.
When the Lamb in heaven opens this seal, a
noise of thunder
is heard, for it is God dealing in righteousness, not in grace; and one of the living creatures says,
Come and see {Rev. 6:1}!
or rather,
Come,
and not
Come and see;
that is, one of the living creatures calls the rider on a white horse, and he immediately appears on the scene. The seer then says,
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 {Rev. 1:2}.
This is evidently a mighty subduing power put forth in the earth, and not only successful, but increasingly so; and accomplished not in man’s ordinary mode of overcoming, as by the sword, but by the exertion of a more quiet yet more powerful influence. He is shown as having a crown given unto him, not many diadems of power and glory, which Jesus will wear when He is revealed from heaven, but a wreath, a chaplet, such as men award to each other, like the conqueror’s wreath at the public games.
The question is, What does this mean? May it not he the mighty, subduing anti-christian power which is to arise after the Church has been removed? The apostle Paul speaks of something now hindering the full development of the
mystery of iniquity {2 Thess. 2:7};
but when the hindrance is removed,
then shall that wicked [or lawless] one be revealed . . . whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power, and signs, and lying wonders {2 Thess. 2:8, 9}
By the rider on the white horse, then, in this first seal, we understand the mighty anti-christian deceiving and subduing power which our Lord foretold:
There shall arise false Christs, and shall deceive many {see Matt. 24:24}.
He rides not only a horse, the emblem of power in the earth; but as Satan always tries to deceive men by imitating God, this rider is on a white horse, because Christ will be symbolized as on a white horse; as Christ will appear wearing many crowns or diadems, this great deceiving power will have a crown given to it; and as Christ will subdue all to Himself, this mimic of Satan will go forth conquering and to conquer; and, alas!
with all power, and signs, and lying wonders.
Then God will send men strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Then will our Lord’s words be fulfilled:
If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive {John 5:43}.
What a solemn lesson this reads us; for we are told that
the mystery of iniquity doth already work {2 Thess. 2:7}.
It is around us on almost every side! How important to distinguish now between truth and error, between the holy principles and ways of Christ, and the mimicry and counterfeits of Satanic deception. Surely Satan is the deceiver of the world, as well as the accuser of the brethren. How we need to abide in God’s presence at the blood-sprinkled mercy seat! How much we require of the anointing with spiritual eye-salve, to distinguish between things which differ! How we need to visit Calvary, and to feed on the flesh and blood of the Son of man, to be strengthened against the devil’s cheats! Let none of us suppose that bare knowledge of the letter of Scripture is enough for this. Nothing less than abiding in the love of God — communion with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ — will enable us to keep our garments unspotted from the world, or to avoid the snares of the fowler. May God graciously use the knowledge of these
things which must shortly come to pass {Rev. 1:1},
to make us watchful, prayerful, earnest, and humble saints!