The Gospel Goes Forth to Conquer Text: Revelation 6:1-2
Introduction: The Lamb in Charge of History
We come now to one of the most famous, and consequently one of the most butchered, portions of the book of Revelation. The four horsemen of the apocalypse. For many, these images conjure up pictures of terror, doom, and the end of the world as orchestrated by some future antichrist. This is what happens when you let your eschatology be shaped by newspaper headlines and dispensationalist charts instead of the whole counsel of God. They see these seals being opened and assume it must be a portrait of the church being overwhelmed by the forces of evil. But this is to read the passage upside down and backwards.
We must remember the context. Who is in charge here? Who holds the scroll? The Lion of the tribe of Judah. Who is opening the seals? The Lamb who was slain. The one orchestrating these events is not the devil, not some tinpot dictator in the Middle East, and not a cabal of globalist elites. The one unleashing the horsemen is Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Lord of history. These are not descriptions of what the world does to the church, but rather what the enthroned Christ does to the world. These are His judgments, His actions, His royal decrees going forth into the world He has conquered.
If we get this wrong, we will misread everything that follows. We will be tempted to fear, to retreat, and to see the church as a beleaguered minority huddled in a bunker, waiting for the rapture helicopter to pull us out of this mess. But that is the opposite of the picture Revelation paints. The picture is one of cosmic victory. The Lamb has conquered, He is reigning, and He is now executing the claims of His victory throughout the world. The opening of the seals is the reading of the will. It is the announcement and enforcement of the terms of surrender that Christ won at the cross and resurrection.
The first seal, the rider on the white horse, is the key that unlocks the meaning of the others. The popular view sees this rider as the antichrist, a deceptive figure who brings a false peace. But this interpretation imports all sorts of foreign ideas into the text and ignores the potent biblical symbolism that John is using. As we will see, this first rider is none other than the victorious advance of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.
The Text
Then I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." Then I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to overcome.
(Revelation 6:1-2 LSB)
The Lamb Opens the Seal (v. 1)
We begin with the action that sets everything in motion.
"Then I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, 'Come.'" (Revelation 6:1)
John's vision is riveted on the Lamb. This is crucial. The Lamb, who is also the Lion, is the agent. History does not unfold by accident, nor is it driven by the machinations of sinful men. It is governed from the throne room of heaven by the crucified and risen Christ. He opens the seal. What follows is His will, His plan, His decree.
Upon the opening of the seal, one of the four living creatures, these high-ranking cherubim who attend the throne of God, speaks. And his voice is not a whisper; it is like thunder. This is a voice of immense power and authority. This is not a suggestion. It is a royal summons. The command is "Come." This is not an invitation for John to "come and see," as some translations have it. The command is directed to the rider who is about to appear. It is a divine dispatch, an order to ride out.
The entire scene is one of sovereign, heavenly authority. The Lamb initiates, the cherubim command, and history obeys. This is the framework we must keep in mind. The chaos we see on earth is not ultimate. Above it all, Christ is on His throne, calmly and deliberately executing His perfect plan.
The Victorious Rider (v. 2)
Now we are introduced to the first rider.
"Then I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out overcoming and to overcome." (Revelation 6:2)
Let's break down the symbolism here, because it is rich with Old Testament meaning. First, the horse is white. Throughout Scripture, and especially in Revelation, white is the color of righteousness, purity, and victory. When Christ returns in glory in Revelation 19, He is riding a white horse. To argue that this white horse is a symbol of a counterfeit Christ is to ignore the consistent use of the symbol. It is to let a preconceived system dictate the meaning of the text. The color points to a righteous, victorious conquest.
Second, the rider has a bow. Some have made much of the fact that he has a bow but no arrows are mentioned, suggesting a bloodless conquest or a threat of war that brings about a false peace. But this is to press the symbol too far. The bow is a weapon of long-range conquest. It is an instrument of victory. In the Old Testament, the bow is frequently a symbol of God's judgment and power. In Habakkuk 3, God goes forth for the salvation of His people, and the prophet says, "Your bow was made quite ready" (Hab. 3:9). The bow represents the power of God to strike His enemies and save His people from afar. What is the gospel but a bow that sends the arrow of truth into the hearts of men across the globe?
Third, a crown was given to him. The Greek word here is stephanos, which is the victor's crown, the wreath given to a conquering hero or a winning athlete. It is not the diadema, the crown of a ruling monarch, which Christ wears in Revelation 19. This is significant. This rider is a conqueror who has been granted His victory. And who gives him this crown? The context makes it clear: the Lamb who opened the seal. This is a delegated victory, a granted authority. This is precisely what Christ said to the church: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore..." (Matthew 28:18-19). The church goes forth in the authority of Christ's victory.
Fourth, his mission is "overcoming and to overcome." This is a continuous, ongoing conquest. He rides out with victory already secured, and his purpose is to extend that victory. This is a perfect description of the Great Commission. The gospel goes out into a world that has already been conquered by Christ at Calvary. The outcome is not in doubt. The mission of the church is to announce and apply that victory, to go out conquering in the name of the great Conqueror.
The Gospel Conquest
So, when we put all the pieces together, the identity of this rider becomes clear. This is not the antichrist. This is the triumphant advance of the gospel of Jesus Christ, unleashed upon the world after His ascension. The Lamb opens the seal, and the first thing that happens is the proclamation of His victory goes forth into all the earth.
This sets the stage for the other three horsemen. They are not unrelated calamities. They are the necessary consequences and judgments that follow in the wake of the gospel's advance. When the gospel goes out, it does not bring a cheap peace. Jesus said, "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34). The advance of the kingdom of light necessarily provokes the kingdom of darkness. Therefore, the white horse of the gospel is followed by the red horse of war and bloodshed, the black horse of famine and economic disruption, and the pale horse of death and pestilence. These are not signs that the gospel is failing; they are signs that it is succeeding. They are the convulsions of a dying world order as it reels under the assault of the kingdom of God.
The gospel is a declaration of war. It confronts every idol, every false religion, every tyrannical state, and every rebellious heart. It demands unconditional surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And when men and nations refuse to bow the knee, judgment follows. The other horsemen are the judgments that Christ sends upon a world that rejects the message of the first horseman.
Our Place in the Conquest
What does this mean for us? It means we are not on the losing side of history. It means that the central, driving force in the world since the ascension of Christ is the victorious, conquering advance of His gospel. This is the main event. Everything else, the rise and fall of empires, the wars, the famines, it is all the backdrop for this great conquest.
We are not called to a strategy of retreat, but to a life of faithful conquest. We are soldiers under the command of this victorious rider. Our weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). We have the bow of the gospel, and we are to send the arrows of truth into the world with confidence, knowing that the victory has already been won.
This should fill us with an unshakeable, optimistic courage. We are not fighting for victory; we are fighting from victory. The crown has already been given. The rider is already on the move. He is going out "overcoming and to overcome." Our task is simply to ride with Him, to proclaim His crown rights over every area of life, and to watch as He brings all His enemies under His feet.
Therefore, do not be dismayed by the headlines. Do not fear the rumbling of the other horses. They are simply the sound of the old world groaning and cracking under the pressure of the new world that is being born. The white horse rides first, and the white horse will ride last. The gospel is the tip of the spear of Christ's kingdom, and it will not stop, it will not be thwarted, until the knowledge of the glory of the Lord covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.