Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Revelation chapter 8. Revelation chapter 8. I was talking with my mother this morning. And she related to me that one
in my family had passed away, a cousin of mine. And when she told me what had
happened, he had just been sick a while. And the first thing that went
through my mind Because he never made any. Religious, yes. Very religious. But never made
any profession concerning Christ as he's revealed in the Gospel. And the first thing that I thought
when she told me that was, a member of my family that left
this world without a substitute. And we are here this morning
and we are assembled together. And I don't know. I don't know
anyone's heart. By the grace of God, He would
give me a heart that would long after him. But I just wanted
to say I kind of struggled with this. I just didn't know what
to say, but I kept having that on my mind. I just wanted to
share it with you. I pray God be pleased to bless
this message to the calling out of His people. I know He's going
to call them out. I know He will. But it's such
serious business. We are dealing this morning with
serious matters. There is nothing else that matters. Nothing else matters. Your job,
your family, nothing else matters. This is it. The hearing of the gospel. The
hearing of the gospel. that Almighty God would give
a man a heart, a woman a heart that would want to come, sit,
and hear. I pray God be pleased to bless
that message to our heart. Revelation chapter 8, the seventh
seal, that's what I entitled this, the seventh seal said Verse 1 of chapter 8, And when
he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about
the space of half an hour. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, I
know. We know that. We know that it
is Christ Himself that has opened the seventh seal. We are told
that when John Saul heard one ask this question, who is worthy?
To open the book and to loose the seals thereof. It said that
no man in heaven or earth was found worthy to open the book. And John wept much. Now you remember what the seven
seals represent. The seals are representative
of the declaration of the decree of Almighty God that would reveal
to His people their surety being kept in the midst of the judgment
of God. Do I know that God has kept me? And if one be not found worthy
to declare that, John did that which a man would do. He wept
much. But the opening of this seventh
seal does something along with That which has already been done,
which I'll explain what I'm talking about, but it does one other
thing. It does two things. The opening of this seventh seal
accomplishes two things. Number one, it is a reminder
of the security of the sealed saints. This is what I must be
told over and over and over. Remind me. Give me some comfort. and tell me one more time how
the Lord has put away my guilt. Remind me of that. If God's people
are not comforted, then they leave discomforted, without comfort. So it does that, first of all.
Secondly, the opening of this seventh seal ushers in the judgment
that is sent forth by God Himself through the agency of what the
Scripture reveals in the seventh chapter as four angels that were
upon the four corners of the earth. And they held, the Scripture
says, in their hands the four winds of heaven. And these are
the judgment of Almighty God. These four angels were to send
forth the winds of the earth, and it was to afflict all who
had not the seal of God in their foreheads. That's what we dealt
with last time. Now, as soon as the seal, that
is the hidden decree, sealed, kept, hidden, decree of God was
opened, The Scripture says, as soon as the Lord opened it, broke
it, loosed it from the book, there was silence in heaven about
the space of a half hour. Now, it doesn't mean that there
was a ceasing of praise that was in heaven from the four beasts,
the cherubim. We learned that because Revelation
4.8 says, in the four beasts, had each of them six wings about
him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day
and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which
was and is and is to come." So they never cease praising Him
and declaring the holiness of Almighty God. But this silence
that is spoken of when it says there was silence in heaven about
the space of a half an hour, its silence means that there
was a suspension of revelation that was given to John. John
had been told some things. Every time something happened,
he was told something. And this seventh seal opened,
and just as soon as it opened, there was silence in heaven concerning
the revelation. all of these other seals that
were broken. When they'd be broken, there
were lightnings and thunderings and voices. There was the vision
of the four horses. There was the vision of the souls
that were slain for the Word of God. And there was the great
earthquake when one of the seals was opened and the sun was turned
black and the moon became as blood. And now the seventh seal
is opened and all of a sudden, there's silence. And John is
not told anything for the Scripture reveals half an hour. Now, this
was a time of sobering reflection. It would be very, well, it would
cause an alarming time if I would be speaking right now and then
for just 30 minutes. I just don't say anything. I
just stand here. And we'd all just think about
it. Just think. Just reflect. Thirty minutes, nothing was said. Great anticipation. This was
the final seal before the judgment of God is poured out. God Almighty is about to pour
out judgment. Now, this is not the final judgment,
but this is judgment that is being poured out on this earth
nonetheless upon all who love not the truth. Now, listen. I
want you to understand something. Judgment is being poured out
on this world right now. This is the judgment. This is
the condemnation. Light has come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light. If you leave this world without
Almighty God giving you a new heart, I'm talking about a heart
that loves Christ, that loves the gospel. that will not be
without it, that will faithfully love it. Faithfully because He's
given you a heart to love it. You leave this world without
a heart. I know every believer in this
room today says this, yes, but I don't see myself being faithful
as I ought to be. You never will. But I'll tell
you this, God's people are faithful. They love it. They love Christ.
They love the truth. You leave this world without
Him. You leave under the judgment of God. This is the condemnation. This is the judgment. Light came
into this world, and you love darkness rather than light. Is
that too hard? It's the truth. Zephaniah 1, 7 says, Hold thy
peace at the presence of the Lord God, for the day of the
Lord is at hand. hath prepared a sacrifice, and
he hath bid, or that word bid there means sanctified or prepared,
set apart his guest. He's prepared them. Zechariah
2.13 says, Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he is risen
up out of his holy habitation. Be quiet. Be quiet. That heart of rebellion that
raises up in every one of us. That old heart. Be quiet. Push. I told you a moment ago, I had
a cousin that left this world without God. I don't know. I cannot even imagine. My mind, my heart is at a loss
to understand what He knows now. But the only thing I can say
is this, is just be quiet. This silence is a wonderful silence. When you consider the multitude
that is in the place, in the presence of this silence, Nothing
said. Nothing in the sense of revelation
being said. Just quiet. He that sits on the
throne is there. The four beasts are there. The Lamb is being slain. The four and twenty elders, the
entire army of the elect angels are there and there is nothing
said. And in this silence, We can learn a few things. Number
one, we learn this, nothing with God is done in haste or in a
moment of passion. That's the way I do things. One
of my kids called me up. Tell me something. Something's
going wrong. Dad, let me tell you what happened. Let me tell you what so-and-so
said. It's the way I do it. Hang up just a minute, baby.
Hold on, I'll call you right back. It's Marvin Stoniker. That's
the way I do it, you know. Is that the way you do it? Yeah,
I know you do. With him, nothing's done in a
moment of passion. Time for thought and reflection
upon God Almighty's long-suffering is given. God, has He not been
merciful in long-suffering with us? Has He not? But the shortness
of the silence, about a half an hour, tells us something else. The surety of God's judgment
is near. Rest assured, Almighty God is just. I'm a just God. Men say, well, I think God's
a God of love, and I don't think that God's going to do anything. I think He's going to understand.
I think He's going to this. I think He's going to that. Let
me tell you this. This is what He's going to do.
God's going to be just. I'm a just God. Verse 2 says, And I saw the seven
angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven
trumpets. Now, these seven angels, seven
messengers which stood before God are given, the Scripture
says, seven trumpets. Now, these trumpets are symbolic,
obviously. And exactly who these seven angels
were, or even who gave them the seven trumpets, we are not told. Probably given by Him who sits
upon the throne, who is God Almighty. But we're not told that. I know
that there were seven spirits that were spoken of before the
throne, but this is not told exactly. But we can assume this. They are the messengers of God. The reason for these trumpets
vary according to the Scriptures. The reason for trumpets. In Ezekiel
33, let me just read this to you. If you want to turn there,
that's okay. It's Ezekiel 33, verses 3 and 4. And it says this,
a watchman was being spoken of, a preacher. If when he seeth
the sword come upon the land, and he blow the trumpet and warn
the people, now you know this is speaking of the preaching
of the gospel. A trumpet is a picture or type
of warning people. This is the trumpet, the trumpet
of the gospel. It says, If when he, the watchman,
seeth the sword come upon the land, and he blow the trumpet,
and warn the people, then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet,
and taketh not warning, if the sword come, and take him away,
His blood shall be upon his own head." Now this is the way it
is. If I preach the truth as has
been preached in this pulpit faithfully for fifty years, if
I by God's grace preach that which our pastor has preached
all these years, and a man or a woman hears the sound of it
and doesn't heed the warning, then his blood is on his own
head." He heard. Today, by God's grace, we blow
the trumpet of the gospel. But there was another reason
for a trumpet. Turn with me to Leviticus 25.
I want you to look at this. Leviticus chapter 25. Leviticus
25, beginning in verse This passage of Scripture tells
us of another reason for the blowing of a trumpet. Number
one is a blowing of a trumpet for the warning. But number two,
in Leviticus 25, in verse 8, it says, And thou shalt number
seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years,
and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee,
forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet
of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month
in the day of atonement. Shall ye make the trumpet sound
throughout all your land, and ye shall hallow the fiftieth
year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants
thereof. And it shall be a jubilee unto
you, and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and
ye shall return every man unto his family. Now this trumpet
that is being spoken of here is a trumpet of jubilee. Now the sound of this trumpet
was a joy to every servant that was bound to a rigorous master. The sound of the trumpet of freedom. Jubilee, the fiftieth year. This fiftieth year was the year
of liberation. God Almighty had so arranged
and ordained that the fiftieth year would be called Jubilee. Every poor captive among the
Jews was freed. Every mortgaged inheritance was
returned to its original owner. Spiritually, we behold the liberation
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ for every poor sinner,
given Him in electing grace." That's what that trumpet of Jubilee
pictured. Liberation. The poor soul that
had lost his inheritance because of sin was freed by the blood
of Christ to all that heard the sound of that trumpet. Here in
verse 2, seven angels are going to sound these seven trumpets. And these trumpets speak of two
things. Number one, it's a warning. What
they're going to say is this, God Almighty is just. He's going
to do that which is right. But also these trumpets are going
to blow. And I tell you this, all those
have been sealed. sealed in their foreheads, kept
by the power and mercy of Almighty God, they're going to hear jubilee,
liberation. He's kept me. That sound, the
same gospel that I preach right now, it does the same thing. You set forth the gospel of free
grace and here's what it says, to those that believe not, It's
what they hear. God's just. He's going to deal
with sin. He's not kidding. And those that
He's given a heart after the Lord Jesus Christ, they hear
in the sound of that trumpet, freedom, mercy, grace. It warns that rebel of impending
judgment. And it proclaims liberty to the
captive and safety from the One who sits upon the throne. But
before those trumpets sound, and they will start sounding
in verse 7, but before they sound, the Scripture says, another angel
in verse 3 and 4 comes forth. Verse 3, And another angel came
and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. And there was
given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before
the throne. And the smoke of the incense
which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before
God out of the angels' hands." Now before judgment is poured
out upon this earth, we behold the Son of God, our Savior, in
his office as our great high priest. Now, I want you to just
stop and just turn back to chapter 7 in verse 2 and remember what
happened. The same thing happened in Revelation
7 in verse 2. Verse 1 says, John said, I saw
these things, four angels standing on the four corners of the earth
holding the four winds of the earth. That the wind should not
blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Now what
was happening? We looked last week and you remember
these four winds are the pouring out of the judgment of God which
finds itself in this world today in heresies that are believed. You remember that scripture that
I brought out? It says, Because they believe not the truth, God. God. will send them strong delusion
that they should believe a lie. Who sent it? God sent it. Somebody
says, well, I don't think God would do that. Well, God said
He would. But before these four winds were
poured out, look what happened in verse 2. I saw another angel
ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and
he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was
given, to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the
earth, Neither the seed nor the trees till we've sealed the servants
of our God in their foreheads." I want you to notice every time
when we're told that Almighty God is going to pour out judgment,
up steps our intercessor, our mediator. And the Scripture says
that He came back in chapter 8 and stood before the altar. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ
standing before God. as our daysman, our umpire, our
intercessor. And He's got a golden censer
full of incense. Now this incense here is the
merit of His blood and His righteousness. That's the incense. That's that
sweet smell that Almighty God smelled that was pictured Back
in the book of Leviticus, when Aaron the high priest would come
and he would take the incense and put it on the golden altar
there that was before the veil, and the smoke would go up. That's
a picture of the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ
when He would intercede for His people. And God would smell that. And it was a sweet smell to the
Father. And here, He's there to offer. The Scripture says this angel,
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, He is there to offer
incense. Remember, the incense is the
merit of His blood and His righteousness. And He's there to offer that
incense with the prayers of all the saints before God. Now, it
is the incense itself. His blood and His righteousness
that makes the prayers of God's people accepted and well-pleasing
in God's sight. Ephesians 1, 6 says, "...to the
praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." When we pray, when we ask, It is not the merit
of our asking. It's not our ability to be able
to speak to God Almighty and Him hear what we have to say.
It is the merit of the blood and righteousness of Him who
intercedes for us. That incense, that beaten small
thing is what it is. It's a picture of His suffering. His body that was given. His
body that was broken. His body that was bruised. The
coals that that incense was put upon from the brazen altar. Coals from the brazen altar were
brought and they were put into the golden altar. And that's
where the incense was dropped upon those hot coals and the
smoke would go up. The coals from that brazen altar
speak and says that God's wrath was poured out on Him for us. So when the incense was poured
upon those coals from the brazen altar, what it was saying was
this, He suffered. He died. He paid. And that broken, ground-up incense
would smell. And that golden altar that it
was put upon was a picture of His divine nature. The smoke
set forth His intercession to God Almighty for His elect. And
the Scripture says back, it says, there was given to Him much incense. Much incense. All the work of
being our Mediator was laid upon Him. There was nothing left for
His people to do. Much incense. And he offered
it, the Scripture says, with the prayers of all saints upon
the golden altar which was before the throne." Now, the incense
or the prayers or the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ, remember,
is what makes the prayers of God's saints factual. In James 5.16, This Scripture is set forth,
ìThe effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.î Please donít fall into the lie
that thinks that youíre the one that has been the fervent, that
has prayed the effectual prayer. of a righteous man as one that
is righteous. We are righteous on His merit,
the imputed righteousness of Christ. We are in this world
as He is, but it is He who is righteous. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man, His prayers for us, what he prays. Now here it says
that this angel, the Lord Jesus Christ, stood at the altar and
had a golden censer. There was given to him much incense
that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon
the golden altar. Let me tell you. Turn with me
to John 17. This is the high priestly prayer
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you what he prays. John 17. Verse 9. Here is the Lord Jesus. I pray, He said, for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. Look at verse 20. Neither pray
I for these only, but for them also which shall believe on Me
through their Word. Here is what He prays. He prays
for the elect's conversion. God has given Him a people from
the foundation of the world. They are the fathers. And gave
them to the Son. And the Son prays for them. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. I pray for them that You have
given Me. They are Yours. They are Thine. I pray, He says,
But not these alone. I pray for them which shall believe
on Me through their word." Oh, listen. Listen to the prayer
of Him who intercedes. And His prayer goes up with the
incense, the merit of His blood and righteousness. And He prays
for all that the Father has given Him from the foundation of the
world. And He prays for those that shall believe. I don't know. As I've said before, I don't
know. I don't know who's in this community. I don't know who they
are. But I do know this, if Almighty God has got a people in this
community, it doesn't matter what they think right now, God
Almighty will give them a new heart. And He'll give them a
heart for this gospel right here, this truth right here. If any
man preach not this truth, this truth right here, let him be
accursed. This Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
He prays for the elect's conversion. And He prays also, there in John
17, for the glorification of His own. This is what He's praying. When we leave this earth, when
we take our last breath and die in Christ, you know why we'll
be with Him? because He prayed for us. Let
me show you this. John 17, verse 22, "...and the
glory which Thou gavest Me." The Lord Jesus Christ, a body
was prepared for Him. Here He is, the God-Man, the
Messiah, all God, all man. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh
and glory that was given Him. The Spirit was given Him without
measure. The Lord says, "...the glory
which you gave Me." Now you think about this, Carl. The glory that
was given the Son of God, the Messiah. Emmanuel, God with us. The Word that was made flesh. The glory which Thou gavest Me,
I have given them, that they may be one even as We are one,
I in them and Thou in Me, that they may be perfect in one, and
that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me and has loved
them as Thou hast loved Me. Father, I will that they also
whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am, that they may
behold My glory which Thou hast given Me, for Thou lovest Me
before the foundation of the world." He prays, first of all,
for the conversion of His people. He prays also for their glorification. In just a few pages back in 1
John 2, verse 1 and 2, He prays for the non-imputation of sin to His own. My little children,
1 John 2, 1, my little children, these things write I unto you
that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, for He
is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. Christ Himself prays for the
elect's conversion. for their glorification and for
the non-imputation of their sin. Now, the prayers being offered
by the saints are referred to in Hebrews 13 and 15 as sacrifices
of praise. These are the prayers of faith
for that which no man can please God. And the Lord Jesus Christ
takes the prayers of His people, perfumes them with the merit
of His blood and righteousness, and offers them to Almighty God,
and they are accepted for His sake. And what have the saints
been praying? That's what I've got to think
of. What have they been praying? Well, back in Revelation 6, 10,
when one of the seals was opened, it says, and they cried with
a loud voice. saying, How long, O Lord, holy
and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? That's what the Scripture says
that John saw when one of the seals was opened. He said, I
saw the souls of them that were under the altar. And this is
what they were praying. How long? How long? But you say,
I don't remember praying like that. Scripture says that we
do. Scripture says that's what they
do pray. But you say, I don't remember.
First of all, sadly to say, I don't remember really praying as I
ought. And then as I think back on the things that I prayed,
I don't remember praying like that. Well, turn over to Romans
8. Let me read something to you
that you've read before. Romans 8, 22. Romans chapter 8, verse 22. Romans 8, 22. For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption
of our body. For we are saved by hope, but
hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? But if we hope, for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise, or in
this manner, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities You know,
I just said we pray, but you say, I don't remember praying
like Scriptures reveal that I do. The Spirit also helpeth thy infirmities,
for we knoweth not what we should pray, far as we ought. But the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. And he that searches the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God. We don't know what
we ought to be praying for. We don't know how to pray. I
began to ask a few moments ago, sitting here, and the only way
I know how, I say, Lord, I need you. I need you today's the day. I've spent a few hours looking
over these Scriptures and I've tried to find out what the message
of this Scripture is. And your people are going to
be here in just a little while. They're going to be sitting out
there. They're going to be listening. And I need some help. I don't
even know what to ask for. Would you help me? And I think
back when I prayed and I asked myself, did I even really mean
that? Did I really? I think I did. Lord, help me. Surely nothing could be more
comforting to the saints before the sounding of the trumpets
than the person of their great High Priest standing before the
throne of God as their mediator. How can I fall? How can I fail when I'm accepted
by God's only way? the Lord Jesus Christ, my acceptance,
my hope before Almighty God. I know what's getting ready to
happen. I've read to the end of this chapter. I know what's
getting ready to happen. I don't know what it ought to.
But I know the judgment is getting ready to be poured out. And I
see in myself frailty. I see inability. I need Him. I know that the judgment
of God is going to be sounded by those trumpets, but for all
that He sealed in their forehead, when these trumpets begin to
blow and the judgment of God falls on this earth, a believer,
because he is taught by the Spirit of God in his heart, there is
jubilee to you. There is liberty to you. There
is freedom You're sealed by the Spirit of God and you're kept.
Lord willing, tonight we'll pick up right where we left off and
we'll hear as these trumpets sound and what happens when God
Almighty sends judgment into this world of the seven judgments,
I think it's four of them, that's going to be dealt with in this
chapter. And then we'll go from there. I pray the Lord be pleased
to bless this message to our heart.