Worthy is the Lamb: Look Out Below!

Most biblical scholars consider chapter 7 something of an intermission in the unfolding story of God’s judgments upon the earth. For a moment we need to return all the way back to chapter five and that seven-sealed scroll that figures so prominently in end-time events.

The first six seals, which were broken in chapter 6, represent the ongoing events of our age, and corresponds with what Jesus said “are the beginning of birth pangs,” (Matthew 24:8). The actual end of the age, and the beginning of what Jesus called Great Tribulation is announced with the breaking of the 6th Seal. That seal introduces a number of cosmic catastrophes.“I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”” (Revelation 6:12–17, NIV84).

But before the end is revealed and further details are given concerning the nature of the great tribulation, chapter 7 pictures the fate of the church in this fearful period. The 144,000 represent the church on the threshold of the Great Day of the Lord. The Great Multitude in that chapter picture the church on the other side of the Great Tribulation, bloodied but strong and standing before the Lord in worship.

Chapters eight and nine now tell us what the seventh seal contains. It is a series of world-shattering judgments, each announced by an Angel’s blast on a trumpet.

I. THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL

1. I would encourage you at some point to go back and re-read chapter 6, skipping chapter 7, and moving right on into chapter 8

a. it will give you a sense of the flow in the breaking of the seven seals

b. our passage begins with, “When he opened the seventh seal, ... “ (Revelation 8:1, NIV84)

2. the “he” of that verse is the Lord Jesus Christ

a. in chapter 5 the call goes out, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”

b. the answer is revealed…

“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Revelation 5:6–9, NIV84)

c. the Lamb of God, slain since the creation of the world, is the one—the only one— who is worthy to open the scroll that contains the record of end-time events and how they will unfold

1) Jesus is worthy because he died, and in dying he ransomed a great multitude of saints from all the nations

3. with the breaking of the seventh seal, the scroll is opened, and what it reveals are the judgments of God to be poured out upon a sinful, and defiant humanity and the antichrist who leads them

4. this morning, I want to deal with just the first five verses of this chapter

a. It breaks up into three easy parts

1) the pause

2) the prayers

3) the preview

II. THE PAUSE IN HEAVEN’S PRAISE (8:1)

“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” (Revelation 8:1, NIV84)

1. there is a 30-minute silence in heaven at the opening of the seventh seal

a. if you want to make an audience nervous and fidgety let there be a prolonged silence

1) in a visually–oriented society, Americans do not take silence well

ILLUS. Grady Nutt, a Christian comedian, once quipped, “If you have more than 30 seconds worth of silence in a Baptist worship service everyone begins peeking around to see who forgot something.”

2. silence makes people uncomfortable

a. I believe this 30 minutes silence in heaven represents the proverbial “calm before the storm”

ILLUS. We’ve all experienced it. You’re in the backyard, maybe grilling or enjoying a game of catch with the kids, when suddenly you notice that everything goes quiet. The air seems dead still, and even the birds stop singing and quickly return to their nests. After a few minutes, you feel a change in the air, and suddenly a line of clouds ominously appears on the horizon—clouds with a look that tells you they aren't fooling around. You quickly dash in the house and narrowly miss the first fat raindrops that fall right before the downpour. It's an intriguing phenomenon that people have recognized for centuries, and the idom the calm before the storm, has come to refer to a period of tranquility before something chaotic begins.

1) chaotic does not even begin to describe the conditions during the Great Tribulation

b. at the opening of this last seal everything in heaven becomes absolutely still and heaven become deathly silent

1) what could possibly silence heaven?

2) it’s nothing less than the certainty of God’s judgment and wrath that are about to be poured out

c. it stuns both saint, and angel, and cherub into silence

1) the Old Testament said this would happen

“Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near. ... .” (Zephaniah 1:7, NIV84)

2) when the Prophet Zephaniah wrote those words, Israel’s spiritual condition was precarious

a) they have no interest in following the Lord

b) they abandoned His will, His law, and His ways, refusing to seek or inquire of Him

c) they reverted back to ancient religious superstitions, and

d) they brought into their homes false gods

d. mankind has followed this general pattern of sinful rebelliousness

3. today ... right now, we’re seeing the groundwork being laid in Western culture for the normalizing of everything God has outlawed and declared unholy, and the outlawing of everything that is holy and righteous

a. confessing Christianity is becoming less and less tolerated in today’s anti-Christian western society

ILLUS. Consider. Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down two closely watched decisions. They were both related to one university, Trinity Western University. That's the major evangelical university in Canada, a university that in 2012 established what it hoped to become a recognized national law school. The Canadian High Court essentially said that since Trinity Western University, which holds to biblical convictions concerning marriage, sexuality, and gender, it’s law graduates cannot possibly adequately represent people in the LGBT community, and therefore, Canadian law societies can legally discriminate against Trinity Western graduates, and not licence them to practice law. The University’s Law School will have to close down. Justices sided 7-2 against TWU, calling it “proportionate and reasonable” to favor the rights of the LGBT community over the religious convictions of the school’s students. The bottom line in these two decisions by the Canadian Supreme Court is that it is now virtually impossible for any kind of Christian educational institution, any college or university in Canada that would hold to Christian biblical values to have its graduates recognized as professionals. And here's where we have to understand that the arguments that won in Canada are arguments that are gaining in traction in the United States.

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2, NIV84)

b. if ever there was a verse that presently describes Western Culture, it’s that one

4. The Sound of Silence in Heaven Is the Calm Before the Storm

III. THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS (8:2–4)

“And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” (Revelation 8:2–4, NIV84)

1. everywhere in the Scriptures, the burning of incense is a symbol of the prayers of God’s people

a. the smoke is a symbol of our prayers wafting up to God

b. the aroma is a symbol that our prayers are a sweet smell to God

2. in this passage, an angel offers up much incense on the golden altar to represent the prayers of the saints

A. GOD’S JUDGMENT AN ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS

1. in Matthew’s Gospel we find the disciples coming to Jesus with the request, Lord, teach us how to pray

a. the result was what we’ve come to call The Lord’s Prayer

b. the very first petition is a request for God’s judgment to fall upon the enemies of the Gospel

c. most Christians never think about this petition that way

1) “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” is a prayer that petitions God for the perfectly righteous and sovereign justice of God that reigns in Heaven to be instituted on Earth

2) the utterly astonishing thing about this text is that it portrays the prayers of the saints as the instrument God uses to usher in the end of the world with great divine judgments

ILLUS. John Piper writes, “ ... what we have in this text is an explanation of what has happened to the millions upon millions of prayers over the last 2,000 years as the saints have cried out again and again, “Thy kingdom come … Thy kingdom come.” Not one of these prayers, prayed in faith, has been ignored. Not one is lost or forgotten. Not one has been ineffectual or pointless. They have all been gathering on the altar before the throne of God.”

J. Ramsey Michaels, in his commentary on Revelation, writes: “Prayer is the engine driving the plan of God toward completion.”

2. God’s perfectly righteous and sovereign justice, of necessity, demands God’s judgment, which involves His wrath

a. during the silence in Heaven, God’s people are praying that God’s perfect will now be accomplished on the earth

b. the immediate results that follow the prayers of the saints that went up before God from the angel’s hand are the Trumpet Judgements of God that we’re about to read about

c. in Revelation chapter 6, the breaking of the fifth seal reveals a sea of martyrs who also are waiting for God’s justice to prevail

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.” (Revelation 6:9–11, NIV84)

1) vs 11 is fulfilled during the Great Tribulation as millions of people come to Christ despite the reign of the AntiChrist

2) when the Apostle John asks about the identity of the Great Multitude of believers he sees before God’s throne in chapter seven, he’s told “... “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14, NIV84)

3. the time will come when God will command his holy angel to take his mighty censer and fill it with fire from the altar where the prayers burn before the Lord, and pour it out on the world to bring all God’s great and holy purposes to completion

a. which means that the consummation of history will be owing to the supplication of the saints who cry to God day and night

b. not one God-exalting prayer has ever been in vain

c. this is an astonishing tribute to the enormous historical importance of prayer

B. GOD’S ANGELS ARE MINISTERS OF OUR PRAYERS

1. vv. 3-4 are verses we need to be careful with—we cannot ignore them, but neither should we read too much into them

a. in some way, angels are involved in our prayers

b. the Bible calls angels "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14)

1) if nothing else they offer incense along with our prayers so that they become a sweet-smelling sacrifice before God

c. prayer is not the lonely venture it so often feels like—there is heavenly assistance and our prayers do reach God

2. now let me quickly say that the angels were created by God for one purpose: to carry out His will

“Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. 21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.” (Psalm 103:20–21, NIV84)

a. angels protect us, provide for us, proclaim God’s truth and will to us, and they punish and carry out God’s judgments

b. but they are created spiritual beings, and someday we will judge them according to 1 Corinthians 6:3

1) we are not to worship them

2) we are not to pray to them because One far greater than the angels already is praying for us: the Lord Jesus Christ

a) he alone is the divine Son of God, who even now sits in heaven interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25)

3) they do not pray for us

3. The Prayers of the Saints Culminate in the Coming of the Kingdom

IV. THE PREVIEW OF JUDGMENT (8:5)

“Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” (Revelation 8:5, NIV84)

1. a sample of the frightful judgments to come is seen as the angel casts fire from his censer upon the earth

a. the Great Tribulation is about to get under way

b. will this be a “storm to end all storms”?

1) I don’t know

c. will this earthquake be “the big one” California seismologists have repeatedly warned about?

1) I don’t know

2. but in some way this storm and this earthquake signal the beginning of God’s judgments

a. if you go back to Exodus where the people of God are standing before the Mountain of God, they also experienced peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake

1) the Hebrews knew this was God and they feared

b. in vs. 5 we witness the fulfillment of Jesus’ word of judgment in Luke 12:49, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled”

3. an unbelieving world rejected Jesus when He came, it rejects the life-giving message of the gospel now, and will continue to reject the truth even during the future outpouring of God’s wrath and judgment

a. and, as we shall see, that judgment shall be fierce

b. but God’s people need not fear that wrath

“They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” (Revelation 9:4, NIV84)

c. those who worship the Lamb have been sealed so that they are sheltered from God’s wrath

V. APPLICATION

1. what are we to take away from all this?

a. let me talk to you briefly about prayer, and holiness, and then more extensively about God’s wrath

A. WE OUGHT TO ALWAYS PRAY AND NOT TO LOSE HEART

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. ... ”” (Luke 18:1–8, NIV84)

1. the 1st application for us is that our prayers matter— and especially those prayers that line up with God’s known will

a. it is never pointless to pray!

b. around the world— 24-7— God’s chosen ones are crying out for justice

2. Jesus knew that there would be a long—by human reckoning—interval between his first and second advents, so far lasting two millennia

a. during that time Christ’s has been continually dishonored and denied his rightful place

b. the word of God has been unappreciated, assaulted, and denied

c. Christians have faced rejection, hostility, persecution, and martyrdom at the hands of Satan and an evil world system

3. it is only natural that God’s people should long for the Lord Jesus Christ to return and judge the ungodly, destroy sin, and the reign of Satan, and set up his earthly kingdom

a. until that time comes, Christians must not lose heart, nor stop praying Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ...

B. WE OUGHT TO SEEK TO LIVE HOLY LIVES

1. the 2nd application for us is the necessity of holy living

a. to know that God is always watching, and will return to reward Christians for what they’ve done in the body while on earth, encourages us to live righteously

2. knowing that Christ will return drives our hearts to leave the things of this passing world, and to live for Christ

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24–25, NIV84)

a. so then, in light of our Lord’s return let me encourage you to live righteously, setting an example for the brethren in holy living

C. WE OUGHT NOT TO FEAR GOD’S WRATH

1. the 3rd application for us is the need to understand the nature of God’s wratn

2. 1st, God’s wrath is just

a. in the history of the world—and even today—there are biblical critics who have argued that the God of the Old Testament is a moral monster who is by no means worthy of worship, while the God of the New Testament is a kindly father who winks at the moral indiscretions of his children because, after all, “God is love”

b. Biblicists understand that God’s wrath is in perfect accord with God’s justice

c. the apostle Paul writes, “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Romans 2:5, NIV84)

ILLUS. J.I. Packer summarizes God’s judgment this way: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil”

3. 2nd, God’s wrath is to be feared (if you’re not a believer)

a. God’s wrath is to be feared because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

b. God’s wrath is to be feared because we are justly condemned sinners apart from Christ (Romans 5:1)

c. God’s wrath is to be feared because he is powerful enough to cast both body and soul into hell (Luke 12:5)

d. God’s wrath is to be feared because God promises eternal punishment for all those not in Christ (Matthew 25:46).

4. 3rd, God’s wrath is consistent in both Old and New Testaments

a. God does not delight in the death of the wicked

"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!" (Ezekiel 18:32, NIV84)

b. but if men do not repent his wrath rests upon them

“Behold the storm of the Lord! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked.” (Jeremiah 30:23)

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18)

“From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.” (Revelation 19:15)

5. 4th, God’s wrath is his love in action against sin

a. God is love, and God Loves His glory above all (and that is a good thing!)

b. therefore, God rules the world in such a way that brings himself maximum glory

c. this means that God must act justly and judge sin otherwise God would not be God 1) it is God’s love for his glory motivates his wrath against sin

d. admittedly, God’s love for his own glory is a most sobering reality for those sinners who have not come to him by faith

1) it is after all, “a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31)

6. 5th, God’s wrath against sinners is satisfied for those who are in Christ

a. here we have the ultimate good news: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15)

b. because of Christ, God can rightly call sinners justified (Romans 3:26)

c. God has done what we could not do, and He offers what we don’t deserve

ILLUS. Charles Wesley rightly exulted in this good news.

And can it be that I should gain

An interest in the Saviour’s blood?

Died he for me, who caused his pain!

For me, who him to death pursued?

Amazing love! How can it be

That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Refrain:

Amazing love! how can it be

That Thou, my God, should die for me!

The apostle John sees a day when the forces of righteousness and of evil will be so open and clear that every man must declare himself: either for Christ or for Antichrist. who have you declared for?

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