The Seventh Trumpet

INTRODUCTION

We are picking back up in Revelation chapter 11 today. And we are discussing the seventh trumpet.

The judgements in Revelation come in cycles

The seals

The trumpets

The bowls

In between each cycle is an interlude which gives detail about the church on earth during this time period

The first interlude was the sealing of the 144,000 of God’s people

The second interlude was about the suffering and triumph of the church

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Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.””

The seventh angel sounded which concludes the trumpet judgments and there is this heavenly announcement: “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ”

When the seventh seal was removed from the scroll, there was silence for about a half an hour. It was like the calm before the storm of God’s judgement that was coming.

Here, we see the seventh trumpet blast and instead of silence, we have singing and this great announcement that the Kingdom of God has come to this world.

Notice the great transformation that happens = The Kingdom of the world BECOMES The Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ

THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD IS WHAT WE SEE NOW

All of humanity are born into the kingdom of this world. This kingdom is made up of everything we see going on in the world.

Power

The exaltation of man, knowledge, and power.

It is the age of sin where sin reigns and rules.

The kingdom of this world is in opposition to Jesus. The ideas, pursuits, worldly philosophies are all in opposition to Jesus.

Psalm 2:2 “The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed”

1 John 2:15–17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

John 18:36 “Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.””

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WHAT IS COMING TO EARTH WITH THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS

This means that as sin and rebellion characterizes the worldly kingdom, righteousness characterizes the heavenly kingdom

In the world’s kingdom men rule by their standards, but in the heavenly kingdom God rules

In the worldly kingdom people get hurt, get sick, experience death and disease, but in God’s Kingdom we live forever

God’s kingdom is sinless, it is without tears, it is in perfection as humanity was created to live

We live in the ALREADY BUT NOT YET KINGDOM OF GOD

That means we are in the kingdom of God, but the Kingdom of God has not come in its fullness yet.

When we are born again, we are born into the kingdom of God.

We no longer live like the world does, or by its philosophies, or by its pursuits, or by its lusts. We now live by Kingdom principles.

What this verse is telling us that one day, the world’s system, thinking, and sinfulness will all be replaced fully by God’s Kingdom.

What does it mean to you to live in this Christian paradox?

Struggles?

Lessons?

How do you follow Jesus in a who world who follows man?

What would you say to new believers who are born into God’s kingdom here on earth?

Then “And He will reign forever and ever”

Every Kingdom has a king. When God’s kingdom comes in its fullness, Christ will reign forever and ever.

There will never be another fall, or another crucifixion, or another election for president, or another world war, but stability forever and ever in a kingdom marked by righteousness.

Revelation 11:16–18 “And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.””

The 24 elders along with the living creatures are like the worship leaders of this book

Each time we see them, they are singing heavenly hymns

This scene is no different.

They fall on their faces and worship God

QUESTION: What does your worship of God Entail?

There are all sorts of different aspects of worship

We worship through praise and singing as we see here

We worship by presenting ourselves at the service of God

We worship through giving

But one thing that stands out with these elder is they always fall down on their faces before they worship

I think to truly worship God ALWAYS requires our submission before Him

When these elders fall on their faces, this is expressing complete submission and surrender to the Lord

Submission is far more than an outward posture, but to recognize God’s position

Notice how they describe God:

“Almighty”

“Who are and who were”

“You have taken Your great power and begun to reign”

True worship is to live in humble submission to God because of who He is

QUESTION: What part of submitting to God do you struggle with?

Staying in difficult situations

Repetition because God said to

One more point from these verses: (v 18) “the time to reward your bond servants”

This scene is a brief description of the return of Christ. It is not the end of the book, but serves as a division in the book.

This return will be more fully described in the end of the book and we will get to that.

When Christ comes again, and He brings the kingdom of God to this earth, He will bring His reward for all His bond-servants with Him

It may feel like you serve God on this earth without much reward if we compare it to our the difficulties, but it is that eternal reward that will make everything worth it

Paul said it like this

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Revelation 11:19 “And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.”

One the mysteries of the Bible is where the ark of God has gone.

The Bible never says what happened to it, and what a great discovery it would be to find it!

It is possible that it was destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem and burned the temple.

There has been movies written about it, and some even believe the Jews have passion of it today.

The ark in this verse is not the actual ark, but it represents the presence of God

As we will see later, this vision signifies the presence of God with His people.

This is the real reward that is to come. It is being freed from sin, from the penalty of sin, from eternal death, but the true reward is being with God, in the presence of God forever and ever.

John 14:1–3 ““Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

The great blessing of this life is that we get to have fellowship with God in this life.

Through prayer

Reading of His Word

The ministry of the Holy Spirit

We so not walk alone through this world, but with God