Revelation 11v15-19

If you’re able, please stand for the reading of God’s word. Today we read the third woe and the seventh trumpet. Revelation 11:15-19

Revelation 11:15–19 (CSB)

The seventh angel blew his trumpet, 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 twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail.

Pray with me. Please be seated.

-

There’s been something on my heart recently: what is the disposition of most believers? Like what is the outflow of our hearts? How do our neighbors and families perceive us? What is our sustenance in this life? What does success look like in this life?

Oftentimes when we view in our minds what a mature person or a learned person looks like, we think of someone who is maybe a bit somber, quiet, even, reserved even. Someone who is wise to the ways of the world and quick to be able to have a good response.

Success from a worldly perspective is often tied to money, sex, and power. Having no need or perceived need or want. Being able to satiate all the deep carnal desires of the flesh. And exerting control and influence over others. And there’s then status symbols that go along with that - but that’s like the caricature of success in our culture.

But in a Christian world view it’s a totally different story. Totally different aim. What does success look like? Jesus. He is the victorious king over sin, death, and the grave. He has won for his church life, love, and salvation.

And so our goal is to become more and more like Jesus for the sake of other people.

so the question becomes - what does Jesus look like and how do I measure it?

Interestingly, a lot of people think of knowledge and power, even signs and wonders. But i think a lot of people still view jesus as a quiet and maybe a little judgmental though kind person. But who is very very serious.

Thankfully we have scripture to guide us in this pursuit, and one of the most important passages when it comes to this is the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22–23 CSB

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

This list, is crazy to me.

If we become more in step with the Spirit, we are going to be more loving, that checks out, peaceful, checks out, patient - amen, kind - absolutely, faithful yep, gentle that makes sense, and self control - those all in my mind seem like what I’d expect a quote unquote HOLY MATURE person to look like.

But I skipped one - and that’s Joy.

Y’all - if Jesus lived a perfect life, living a life that where the Spirits power and presence was known - that means that Jesus was the most joyful man to ever live. Like Kind and compassionate, but joyful. Big smiles.

So when the kids would run up to Jesus to be blessed, he didn’t roll his eyes and wish their parents would control the kids - know I bet he’d let out belly laugh and pick em up.

Oftentimes people will push back and say that joy isn’t the same thing as happiness, and yes, i agree. Joy is much deeper, and happiness is the external expression. but typically if you are experiencing deep joy, happiness is soon to follow.

So that has lead some scholars and thinkers to consider that Jesus was likely not only the most joyful man to live, but the happiest too.

And that doesn’t mean he didn’t suffer, and weep, and mourn, and get angry - but he was kind and compassionate and joyful! I bet meals with Jesus were not just good, but fun.

So my question is this - why is it that we do not think of joy as the mark of maturity. Why is it that people who are happy, sometimes silly, are seen as immature or childish.

It is troubling to me that believers can be more motivated by fear and scarcity rather then joy and abundance. And it’s that fear, its that despondence that can lead us to being captured and used by nefarious powers.

I know so many believers that do not seem to have the joy of the Lord as their strength. That are rare to smile. That feel the persecution, but not the salvation that has been won for them in Jesus.

Church! We ought to be the people the the most joy. EVER. Period. Full stop. We need not fear death, condemnation, isolation, anything- for those who are in Jesus by grace through faith are adopted as sons and daughters of God and the holiness and inheritance that Jesus rightly deserves he places on us in a scandalous exchange.

I think often times our lack of joy comes from bad christology. bad theology. And shows places where we need to increase our focus and hear the most common command from heaven to earth: Fear Not!

For when we know the end and how glorious eternal life is AND will be. we have so many reasons for joy.

Remember this passage in Revelation 11 was written to real churches with real people going through real persecution. They had legitimate reason to be afraid. And we read that the prayers of God’s people ascended into heaven, and in response God’s angels sounded the trumpets. And the first six unleashed great judgment, and the people of earth did not seem to want to repent.

And now we get to the glorious seventh trumpet. Revelation 11:15

Revelation 11:15 (CSB)

The seventh angel blew his trumpet, 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 trumpet doesn’t bring the same kind judgment - but a proclamation - voices in heaven proclaim that the kingdom of the world has now become the kingdom of God, and now there will be a forever reign.

Chronologically, this trumpet seems to be describing the moments leading up to or at the coming of Jesus Christ. This is victory. This is triumph. This is consummation!

And it, as glorious as it seems to us, is indeed also the third woe! As we will see, after the patience of God for thousands of years in seeking and saving the lost and the proclamation of the Gospel to all peoples, the end has come. And the final judgment is upon us.

But as much as that is troubling for those who have not followed Christ, who have not repented - for those who have, this is the ultimate joy.

One of the main reasons I have been so motivated to preach from Revelation is for so many, we think of the death and the end and even revelation as pure terror. And so we go through life, feeling persecuted, and then live in fear and speculate as to who and what is going to happen next. So Christians, who ought to be the most confident and joyous, end up being fearful and coy.

We need to consistently remember that THIS, the state of our world as it currently is, is NOT the end. And Christ will come and right every wrong. Pain will be no more. No more sickness or cancer. Death will be defeated. Sin will be vanquished forevermore. And we will live on new earth in the presence of God forever.

Friend - does that not fill you with joy? It should! Our faith made tangible sight. Surrounded by the saints through the ages. To enjoy life and the Lord forevermore.

And the craziness of the Christian life is that when we talk about eternal life, and how we read about it in Scripture, it’s not ONLY some future Idilic state. But In Christ, when we join with him in baptism and his death and resurrection, when we are born again - eternal life starts now!

We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We are Forgiven. We are, in a very REAL sense, made into the new humanity in which Jesus Christ is our forefather.

And the dissonance we often feel is when that old self, that old man who though defeated still remains in part, and wars against the new man, the redeemed man that was won for us and given to us through faith in Christ.

But we are reading about the proclamation of the trumpet call when the kingdom of God comes and moves into earth, routing all evil and old, and the perfect coming. And that will be the most glorious and joyful day for us.

And that’s what we see, Heaven responds in grateful chorus. Look at verses 16 & 17

Revelation 11:16–17 (CSB)

The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.

The twenty four elders, we first saw them in chapter four, now go full facedown and start praising God.

That’s full pentecostal mode folks. They’ve gone past the hand raising and shouting to full on face down worship!

And in their joyful praise they proclaim thanksgiving to God who has all the power, who is and was, and will reign forever, why? BECAUSE he has now begun to reign in his great power.

Then they go into a bit of a story telling mode, recounting in exceptional brevity what has gone one. Look at verse 18.

Revelation 11:18 (CSB)

The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

There is some brilliant word play at work in these verses. First part of verse 18 says

Revelation 11:18 (CSB)

The nations were angry,

but your wrath has come.

The word for angry in greek and the word wrath in greek have the same root. The nations brought their anger - and now your wrath as come in return.

I think it’s fair to say that in our world and in our history we can positively say that the nations have been angry and wrathful. We have seen wars and rumors of was. The rebellion that began in the garden and the idolatry at the tower of Babel is still at work.

And it’s important to note - in the deep parts of humanity - it’s not just anger the nations have towards each other - but against the very truths of God. Against morality and generosity, and goodness.

But Now it’s been reversed - the wrath of God has come.

That word for wrath - orge, is not some flaring tantrum kind of anger - but as one scholar describe - a settled disposition of God against ALL that corrupts and distorts his creation.

It’s the same wrath Paul wrote about in Romans 2:5

Romans 2:5 CSB

Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.

So this is not some flared up random anger of God - but a measured and settled justice.

This wrath, we read in Romans, but also in Revelation stis most manifest in the judgement of the dead. Looking back at the later half of verse 18

Revelation 11:18 (CSB)

The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.

The time - there are multiple words for time in greek - there’s time as in what time is it - and that’s chronos. But then there is a metaphysical time - like the time is NOW. And that’s kairos.

That’s the word here - the time, the culmination of all history has come. Kairos.

the dead will be judged - which we first see in the positive - to give reward to servants, prophets, saints, and those who fear God small and great.

Reward! Yes, the ultimate reward is the eternal life and presence of God for all eternity - but there are apparently other kinds of rewards. We can read of that in the Gospels and Corinthians - but I think what is most in view here is the reward of the forever promised land of life with God in new creation forever.

And how do we come out of that judgement on the right side? Is it by holding up all our accomplishments?

NO! It’s only by our life in Christ. Jesus alone is our hope in life and death. JEsus ONLY JESUS.

but it’s not just reward - the time has also come to destroy those who destroy the earth. Those who conspire to bend creation in their own image, and leave chaos and destruction in their wake. Friends - this is humanity in its fallen state.

God doesn’t hate earth, he doesn’t despise humanity. He loves creation. And humans were to be the representatives of God over this creation - and we just messed up and messed up again. And we distorted in sin all creation. And God is coming to make things new.

This brings us to verse 19, final verse of this section

Revelation 11:19 CSB

Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and severe hail.

Love this - the temple of God in heaven is opened, with the implication of now the kingdom of God is coming to earth to fully consumate all things - and in the entourage, we see the ark of his covenant make a dramatic reappearance.

Here’s a picture of an artistic representation of the Ark. If you are familiar with the Old Testament, the Ark was exceptionally important for the Jewish people. it contained the tablets of the law, Aarons staff with buds, and manna from the wilderness. The lid was the mercy seat, with Cherubim on each side.

We don’t know what happened to the Ark historically, but it is most probable that like most of the items and valuables of the temple and the tabernacle were destroyed and taken when the Babylonians invaded Israel.

It’s reappearance here is important for many reasons - first and foremost was that it was a symbol of God’s promises, and with the image of the mercy church, the focus was specifically on the day of atonement which finds its Amen in Jesus Christ.

When the Ark was present, it often brought with it victory in battle. And perhaps in view here is Jericho - with the trumpets marching around the walls, with the ark - till the walls came down, and the Israelites went into the land of promise.

Here - we see now as the trumpets sound - and the Kingdom of Heaven has come in the broken walls of the evil empires of earth. The King has arrived in mercy, and judgement accompanied by lightning, thunder, and other manifestations of God’s presence.

Thus ends the seven trumpets in Revelation 11. Revelation will continue with the introduction of the woman and child and dragon, and the seven bowls, and ultimately the millennial kingdom - but for us, we will be taking a bit of a step back from revelation as we turn our eyes to advent, and our advent series will begin next week with a Novembering Service. But rest assured, we will be back in this glorious book with the new year.

But for now, as we consider this seventh trumpet:

So What?

Friends - when I consider how Great God is, and how amazing his plan, and the joy of forgiveness, and the hope of eternity with him - I truly can’t help but just get fired up!

Remember the seven churches - going through the hardship, like christian churches have through the centuries, some years good, some bad - but all faithful churches marked with the expectant hope of Salvation and everlasting and overwhelming life and joy forever in JEsus Christ!

That should bring just an everlasting and unbelievable joy! No matter what happens, if I’m in Christ, I’m not just good - I’m spectacular! So we can eat, and drink, and be merry - even in objectively hard times for the Joy of the Lord is my strength!

So - why is it in my own mind, and in most peoples mind, when we think of mature, holy, revered people - we think of reserved stoic people? Instead of people marked by an everlasting and true JOY!?

Friends, our culture is going through an epidemic of despair. Mental health issues climb higher in all ages and sexes. We put our hope in political parties and leaders. We think if we can just work a bit harder, and get just a bit more money we can be good and THEN we can be happy.

In Jesus Name, ENOUGH! Friend, of all the peoples of the world, we have the most reason to be filled with joy, to rejoice, and yes, even to be glad and happy and celebrate!

Not in a fake it till you make it, but when i survey the wonderous cross, on which the prince of Glory died - when I consider how great his love is for me, and how because of that I get to live with him forever - man that’s worth going just a little charismatic is worship now and again! The elders in heaven do, but we can be so focused on appearing respectable and mature I think we quench the Holy Spirit but not claiming the joy that is ours in Christ!

I truly believe that the Church is set up to meet the needs of our ailing culture for such a time as this. Not with a false happy happy joy joy veneer - but with true deep everlasting joy and rest and life. That is what Jesus did.

So no matter what happens, I can be joyful.

So what? Friends if this is true - that the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ is coming to reclaim the earth in full and it will be forever more - let’s be marked by JOY!

Historically speaking, early on, Christians started meeting on Sunday mornings because that was the day on which JEsus was raised from the dead, AND because it was the first day of the week - and in a sense, they now partner with God in recreating the world! We live a new life! Early Christians were not to mourn or fast on Sundays - that was a day of celebration, worship, feasting, communion, and love. Every Sunday was to be a mini Easter Sunday where we rejoice that evil is defeated.

Here’s my question, what is our church known for? I hear LOTS of good things about our church. Honestly, I do! We are known to be loving, compassionate, welcoming, accepting, faithful to the word, misisonal. These are all good things!

BUT: are we known to be joyful? Search your own heart, are you a joyful person? are we marked by the joy of the Lord? But we have good reason to be joyful. And people are hungry for the life and joy of Christ.

So why do we get despondant? Well there is real mental illness and depression - all of that’s true, and there are seasons of grief and sadness, yes - but we can’t be marked by stress and loss. We have gained all there is to gain in Jesus Christ.

To grow in this way, as joyful people, we need to remember that like faith, it’s a gift. A fruit of the Spirit. We need to refocus on Christ and his kingdom. We need proper vision to see things correctly. We need to remember salvation, we need to remember the end of all evil. And we need to long for the consummation of all things. And we OUGHT to experience that in the here and now in bits and pieces.

But some times I would argue, we quench the joyful Spirit because it’s not respectable.

Man, if David can strip to his under-tunic and dance undignified before the ark of the Lord - why do I struggle to emote at ALL in worship? We need to in faith receive the truths of Christ - and then in faith act.

Friend - there is a place for raising your hands in worship! You can even be face down in worship! You can definitely SMILE when we consider God’s salvation!

There is a part of rejoicing that is a choice.

We spend so much of our lives striving, working, mourning, fretting.

We need to make some time for joy. We need to realize that in Christ we have more than enough.

So what? So choose joy. Rejoice!

And it’s okay to ENJOY things! To smile and be happy! Go on a date with your spouse. Snuggle your kids on the couch and play a game. Go on a walk with your friend. Sing songs. Laugh. Eat and drink and feast to the glory of God - FOR HE HAS WON IT ALL!

And if you’re here today and you don’t have a lot of faith and a lot of joy, it’s okay to borrow from someone else. That’s why the church matters.

But if we want to see the spiritual temperature of south eastern south dakota raised - it’s going to look a lot like a joyful people praising a victorious God. Even in the face of hardship.

And it’s a gift we respond to in faith. And so, we turn to the table. To Communion.

the early church practiced communion each week - but it was part of a feast. Where they celebrated the eternal life of Christ. IT wasn’t individual, but communal.

And that’s how we are going to practice it today.

*read 1 Corinthians 11, then give instructions on how we are going to serve each other.