The 7th Seal
Rev. 8:1-6
[please forgive some formatting problems as SermonCentral continues their upgrade work. Remember, you can get a completely formatted version at the web link at the very end of this message.]
In the previous 2 chapters, we’ve seen a description of the 7 year tribulation period as God’s judgment is poured out upon sinful man.
Thru the apostle John, the Lord Jesus reveals to us things about the tribulation period in series of 7’s.
7 seals / 7 trumpets / 7 bowls of wrath
We’ve already seen 6 of the seals broken in God’s scroll, and each one ushered in a specific judgment of a Holy God upon a Christ-rejecting world.
The 4 horsemen of the apocalypse delivered the first 4 judgments: Dominion, Division, Depravation, and Death!
The 5th and 6th seals revealed the people left on earth praying to the rocks of the mountains to fall on them--they were wishing they were dead.
Then in ch. 7 there is a break between the 6th and 7th seals, the lull before the storm, and judgment was withheld from the earth for a space of time that God might seal the 144k Jewish Evangelists, and turn them loose on the earth, winning souls in great numbers, souls who had never heard the gospel before the rapture took the church away!
One seal is yet to be opened, the 7th--and it is by far the most terrible of the tribulation horrors. The opening of the 7th seal brings to pass 3 dramatic results:
Preparation--Desolation--and Liberation
Time will allow us to look at the first tonite, the¡K
Preparation of the 7th seal¡X
Let’s look at the eerie silence, and then the awesome supplication.
The eerie silence:
v. 1 A strange, eerie, but awesome silence. It is no doubt the longest silence that the joyful place of Heaven has ever known. This silence will stand in stark contrast to the Heaven we see in ch’s 4 and 5, as those gathered around the throne cry Thou art worthy, and a choir of 100 million declare: worthy is the Lamb, and they cease not day and night crying holy, holy, holy!
And then for 30 minutes all of heaven is dead silent! What does this silence stand for? [some have suggested there will be no women in Heaven¡Kbut I wouldn¡¦t dare say that! :-)] Seriously--why does heaven come to a standstill? What does this silence represent?
I believe that all of Heaven is holding its breath. I believe that what they see at the opening of the 7th seal is so terrible, so horrendous, so incredibly frightening, that no one in heaven dares to breathe a word--like the silence in the courtroom, just before the verdict is read--it’s like the silence in the executioner’s chamber, just before he pulls the switch, or administers the lethal injection!
It reminds me of Zephaniah 1:7
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand.
Or Zechariah 2:13
13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
Habakkuk 2:20
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
At this point in the book of Revelation, judgment is about to come to the earth like never before. The storm is about to break in all of it’s fury, and the enormity of what is about to happen causes even God to pause--and soberly assess what must be done--and so for 30 minutes, nobody says a word! / takes a breath / moves!
What do they see at the opening of the 7th seal that is so awesome it brings about this eerie, deafening silence? We¡¦re given just a glimpse of it in v. 2¡K
v. 2 In the Bible, a trumpet stands for several things. A trumpet is very significant when it comes to the nation of Israel. The trumpet was used to sound the alarm / call God¡¦s people to work, to war, to worship.
The trumpet sound meant that God was getting ready to intervene into the affairs of men.
It was a trumpet that sounded on Mt. Sinai¡X10 commandments
¡KI and II Kings, when kings were anointed and enthroned
¡Kwhen the walls of Jericho came tumbling down
In Rev. 1, the voice of Christ was like the sound of a trumpet
In ch. 4, the sound of the rapture trumpet called the apostle John to heaven!
No wonder heaven stood still for half an hour, when they saw 7 angels preparing to sound 7 trumpets in a row! Something big was about to happen! / enormous proportions!
Wanna hear those trumpets blow? You¡¦ll have to come back on Wed. night!
Tonite, we¡¦re talking only about the preparation, Wed. we¡¦ll look at the desolation!
We¡¦ve seen the eerie silence¡K
¡Know the awesome supplication:
v. 3-4 after 30 minutes of eerie silence, another angel appears on the scene, and he¡¦s standing at the golden altar in Heaven. We know from the OT that the golden altar is used for burning incense, a picture of prayer ascending to God.
With that in mind, look back at 5:8
Do you realize that our prayers are manifested in Heaven as incense? That is a great encouragement to me. That means that no prayer that I ever pray is wasted. No prayer is unnoticed. My prayers are actually being saved in Heaven in golden bowls, in the form of incense.
Now look at 8:3, at what the angel does w/ our prayers:
This 8th angel, which many Bible scholars believe to be Jesus, functioning in the capacity of our High Priest, takes our incense, our prayers, and He adds to it ¡§much incense¡¨ as He places it on the altar.
Question: Whose incense is being added to our incense? Whose prayers are being added to our prayers? It¡¦s the intercessory prayers of Christ Himself, on our behalf!
Heb. 7:25
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
What an encouragement! / Blessing! / Thrill! To see Him mingle His prayers w/ ours, and offer them to God on the altar!
Let¡¦s never forget, that the purpose of prayer is not to get man¡¦s will done in heaven, it¡¦s to get God¡¦s will done on earth. For centuries now, the prayer of believers has been:
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven!
Now, w/ the opening of the 7th seal, those prayers are answered! They are offered, and they ascend upward into the nostrils of God. And like it or not, the prayers of God¡¦s people are involved w/ the judgments that He¡¦s about to send w/ the 7 trumpets.
The altar of incense teaches us 3 things about our prayers:
1. Our prayers must be passionate
Notice the incense was placed upon burning coals. You will never move the heart of God to action w/ half-hearted, lukewarm prayers¡Kit¡¦s like placing incense on cold, burned out coals. It just sits there, and doesn¡¦t even hit the ceiling, it never rises to heaven.
Jesus prayed in the garden a prayer which brought bloody sweat to His brow. When¡¦s the last time you watered your prayers w/ tears? Agonized? Wept over a lost soul? Put some passion in your prayers.
Ill.¡Xpastor friend tells the story of a little boy saved in VBS / brought dad to church / each invitation, he would tug on his pant leg, looking up at him / dad would just shake his head no / many services in a row this happened / one Sunday, it happened again, and this time the little boy just slumped to the floor, weeping uncontrollably, holding onto the leg of his father / dad leaned down, and nodded yes! / saved that day / went on to be a faithful, dedicated Christian!
When¡¦s the last time you watered your prayers w/ tears? Agonized? Wept over a lost soul? Put some passion in your prayers.
2. Our prayers should be persevering
Ex. 30 says the priest offered the incense every morning and every evening. Just as half-hearted prayers will never move the heart of God, inconsistent prayers will never move God¡¦s heart!
The priest didn¡¦t just offer prayers on the days he felt like it / remembered / had enough time / convenient / fit his schedule¡Khe was consistent, and persistent, and persevering. The Bible has a lot to say about persevering prayer. There¡¦s an entire parable about it in Luke 11.
George Mueller got saved at an early age¡Kand at that time he made a commitment to pray for 5 friends who were lost. He committed to pray for them every day, by name.
After 5 yrs., the 1st man got saved
10 yrs., the 2nd
20 yrs., the 3rd
40 yrs., the 4th¡Kand then George Mueller died¡Kand 6 months after his death, the 5th man was saved! Saved after 52 years of persevering prayer, every day!
If you¡¦ve got lost loved ones, it¡¦s inconceivable to me not to pray every day for them. And some of you have prayed for years, but you¡¦ve about decided that God¡¦s not in it, or you¡¦ve said, it¡¦s in their hands now, and you¡¦ve about given up on it ever becoming a reality¡Klet me encourage you, keep praying, it¡¦s always darkest before the dawn, keep praying, you¡¦re on the verge of a breakthrough, the answer is just around the corner!
Put some perseverance in your prayers, and put some passion in your prayer life¡K
3. Put some praise in your prayers
Heb. 13:15
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
A very interesting verse is the one which says that God inhabits the praise of His people¡Kwhich means, when you praise Him, He¡¦s all over you! That¡¦s a place He likes to be!
When the priest came out of the temple from burning incense, everyone knew where he¡¦d been and what he¡¦d been doing¡Kbecause of the smell! The aroma told the story.
Ill.¡Xvisit in home of smokers¡Kget home¡Kwife says ¡§aha!¡¨
There¡¦s some precious people here, and when you walk in there¡¦s a glow, a radiance, an aura that says, you¡¦ve been w/ God¡Kbut others walk in so gloomy, so negative and critical, they might as well wear a sign that says, ¡§I haven¡¦t been w/ God all week!¡¨
Question: How do you smell?...to God?
Put some praise in your prayers / perseverance / passion
That¡¦s the lesson of the altar of incense. God is storing your prayers and mine in heaven, and v. 3 says they will be offered to God Almighty along w/ the prayers of Jesus Christ for us.
How do you smell to God? How¡¦s your prayer life?
This is just the preparation for the opening of that 7th seal. There¡¦s an eerie silence, and then there¡¦s awesome supplication, and all of the prayers of the ages will be answered thru God¡¦s final judgment, His once-and-for-all vindication of His Holy Name for all eternity! Come back Wednesday and we¡¦ll proceed from the preparation to the desolation¡Kand we¡¦ll see what happens when those trumpets begin to sound!
-----
[the remainder of this sermon as well as the entire Revelation Series can be found by following this link...]
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/7thSeal.html
