Four Aces You Win

 

What? Four Aces and you still lose? Oh, C’mon! What kind of game is this?

In the military, a pilot that can outmaneuver, outflank, outsmart, outfight, and out fly an opponent is often referred to as an Ace. It cements a pilot’s reputation if they have downed several of the opponent’s planes in aerial combat. This is often known as “dog-fighting” and the best in class is often referred to as "Top Gun". Training plays a role in the calculus, but ultimately, the pilot that is quick to adopt various means and methods to obtain superiority in stealth, position, advantage, strategy, superior speed, firepower, courage, and victory is the Ace to be respected and feared.

The Book of Revelation in the Bible has several examples of Aces reigning over any opposition with devastating results. You may be wondering if there were sophisticated aircraft in the Bible thousands of years ago! There were Aces in the Bible that brought carnage and destruction, but they weren’t flying a multi-winged wooden coffin like the famous Red Baron. What were they flying you may be asking. Would you believe they were flying--horses!

Revelation chapter six discusses four Aces of destruction that unleash death and destruction on an unprepared and unrepentant opponent. Verse one says that the Lamb (did you notice the capitalization?) opened the first of the seven seals. A rider on a white horse rode out as a conqueror. Seal number two brought out a second horse, a fiery red one, and its rider had a sword and made people slay each other. Another seal brought another horse, a black one whose rider caused famine. The fourth seal brought a fourth horse a pale horse (a sickly yellowish-green), and its rider was named death and Hades, and he caused a fourth of the population to die by sword, famine, and plague. Four deadly Aces that was ultimately successful in their task. These riders are usually referred to as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The four riders are given power over one-fourth of the earth, hence, indicating that God is still limiting his judgment—it is not yet complete! There is still time for unbelievers to turn to Christ and away from sinful ways. Everything is on God’s timetable.

Does this sound terrible? You can bet your life that it will be worse to be there when things go bad than to simply read about it in the Bible. Many think the Book of Revelation was written to scare people into believing its message before being directly involved in the maelstrom of events. In any event, if you see four Aces closing in on you, it’s never too late to pray.

At the sight of God sitting on the throne, all human beings, great and small, will be terrified, wishing for the mountains to fall on them so that they will not have to face the judgment of the Lamb. These vivid pictures are not intended to frighten believers. For them, the Lamb is a gentle savior. But to those rulers, generals, emperors, dictators, kings, political figures who continue to show no fear of God and arrogantly flaunt their unbelief, deceitfulness, and weight on God’s people will find that they are wrong and will face God’s judgment and wrath. Do you belong to Christ? If so, you need not fear theses final days or any Aces.

“A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil.” Proverbs14:16