The second vision of Revelation begins with a description of the heavenly throne and worship of God, and it climaxes in the opening of seven seals of a scroll by the Messiah. The first four of these seals describe the famous Seven Horsemen of the Apocalypse. As we will see in today's message, it is reasonable to view the imagery of these horsemen as descriptive of the activity of mankind as we respond to the condition of sin (the same imagery is found in Mark 13, and the context is strongly aligned with Paul's writings in Romans 1).

What is this response? Some indulge in a self-centered approach to life, and they create havoc and damage in the world, contributing to the misery of others as they trample over them in an attempt to find peace for themselves. Others of mankind respond to God's call to love others and deny themselves, and they do good for the world, bringing about healing, restoration and peace. Life then becomes like a centrifuge where we side with God or against Him.

In the first of seven visions given to John, he is presented with seven lampstands, that literally are identified as seven churches in Asia. However, understanding that Revelation is a symbolic book, the seven churches could also represent the complete church (at the time, or at any time) since the number "seven" is the number of completeness.

Persecution is often thought of a physical threats and harm intended to hold back or impede the mission of God through the Church. There are other ways that the Church can be impeded, and the descriptions of the seven churches of Revelation seem to imply seven different ways that the Church's mission can be dimmed.

Persecution and suffering can come in different ways. It is important to recognize how and when it is present.

You have likely heard of the terrifying future in store for those who are not in Christ. This tribulation is forecast to last seven years - dozens of books, scores of television preachers, and uncountable web sites seek to tell us when it is about to happen.

Why do we pay attention to these messages, particularly when Jesus was quite clear that the end of time will come like a thief in the night ... like the flood of Noah ... and even the Angels do not know the time or day? Are these messages of the end of the world, then, distractions? Are we just consuming messages that have been proposed for generations and generations, yet have never panned out?

Trials face us every day. Christ quite clearly tells us not to focus on some future trouble or tribulation, but on the chaos of our daily tribulations (Matthew 6:34).

The human is the only creature of our world that thinks about the future.

We dream for a more pleasurable future or a less painful future. This imagination is typically borne out of a dissatisfaction with our present circumstances. But, can we discover the joy of "today"?

The people of God have always been aware of certain "obedience" that is required. But, so often this becomes burdensome and unproductive ... even distasteful. How are we to obey? What are we to obey? Why are we to obey?

For the wealthy, a spiritual life that results in generosity will produce the happiness that hedonism always promised, but never delivered upon.

Money Principle #2 - It is insanity to believe that more money will solve your money problems if you are already wealthy. It may temporarily smooth your problems, but it won't overcome them.

Many financial troubles are due to rampant, self-indulging, and irresponsible spending. More money just means more irresponsible spending, but on a larger scale. For the Christian, those spending patterns are often due to the fact that they don't recognize and respect the true owner of their money: God. This attitude can actually sabotage one's spiritual growth.

Money Principle #1 - Most people have money problems because they spend too much on necessities - well, at least what they think are necessities.

Luxury creep is the phenomena where a luxury somehow becomes thought of as a necessity of life. Most Americans consider things like their television or air conditioning to be absolute necessities of life, even though the vast majority of humanity gets along just fine without them.

Because we do not instill discipline in our lives to be able to discern between a need and a luxury, we become entrapped in a constant cycle of coveting that feels as if we are never happy or never fulfilled. It is an affair, and we may have lost our true love.