The Prayers of the Saints - 23

I want to turn your attention to Revelation chapter 8, and we'll consider...I think I'll read the entire chapter, but we're just going to consider the first five verses tonight.

Revelation chapter 8, beginning at verse 1. When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar.

He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.

The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water because it was made bitter. Then the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.

A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. May God add His blessing to the reading and our consideration of His word tonight. The chapter opens with these words. When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. You remember that chapter six concluded with the opening of the sixth seal, and then there was this interlude in chapter seven. In chapter seven, we saw the focus was upon the church. The first part of the chapter was the church militant upon the earth. The 144,000 symbolizing the church in its completeness, that they were sealed and preserved unto the day of the Lord. And then the latter half of the chapter, also dealing with the church, but not the church militant, but the church triumphant. The church gathered in heaven, a great multitude which no man can number. And there was one seal that remains to be opened of the seven seals.

You remember, back to the early chapters of the book, that there was the scroll in the right hand of God Almighty, and it was the Son, the Lamb, who came and took the scroll and had the authority to open the scroll and the seals and reveal its content. And of those seven seals, six have been opened and their content has been revealed, and only the seventh seal remains. Silence. Silence in heaven for about half an hour. John MacArthur in his commentary says the half hour of silence is the calm before the storm. It is the silence of foreboding, of intense expectation, of awe of what God is about to do.

And that is not an uncommon theme. We find that in Old Testament scriptures. I'll cite a few of them for you just to remind you that silence is something that God employs in His purposes of communicating truth and communicating His purposes to His people. Psalm 76 verses 8 and 9 say this, quote, The earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment. The earth feared and was still when God arose to judgment.

Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 20, The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him. And then Zephaniah 1.7, Be silent before the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near. Silence in heaven for about half an hour. That's quite a contrast to the thundering noise of worship that concluded chapter 7. Can you imagine being gathered with people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, a multitude which no man can number, singing in worship to God, how loud, how thundering loud that must have been? And then in contrast, chapter 8 begins with silence, a pause, an anticipation of the outpouring of God's wrath that is yet to come.

It would seem to me to be appropriate for us to just to take a pause for a moment, not to be silent, but to reflect and to think about what we have looked at and covered up to this point. Chapter 8 begins the third major section of the book of the Revelation. Chapters 1 and 3, the first section presented to us the glory of Christ as the Lord of His church, presented Christ standing in the midst of His church and exhorting and instructing and admonishing His church. And His church, the seven churches of Asia Minor, representative of all the churches that existed and have existed any time in history.

Not just a word for the churches of Asia Minor of John's day, but a message for the church of our day. That was chapters 1 through 3. Chapters 4 and 5, there were these pictures of the throne of God in heaven in the worship there.

First of God the Father for His work in creation, and then secondly, worship of the Lamb for His work in redemption. And then chapter 6, the calamities on the world. The seals are broken in the first and the second and the third and the fourth seals, the four horsemen. And the first horseman, the one on the white horse, I believe is characteristic of the gospel, marching through this world and triumphing and being victorious in His conquest. And then the second and the third and the fourth horse, the oppositions that come against Christ and against His church and against His people. The fifth seal there in chapter 6, the cry of the martyrs as they cry with a loud voice, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth.

And God takes note of their cry for justice and vengeance. The final judgment of the world began in chapter 6, and very quickly we looked at the six seals. And if you did not have a copy of the book of the Revelation and were just hearing this and knew something about the content of the book of the Revelation and how it's an unfolding of God's judgment and there are seven seals that make up that judgment and we'd come to the end of the sixth seal and in chapter 6 you'd think, well, this must be about a seven or eight chapter book, but it's not.

There's 22 chapters in this book, so we're nowhere near the end. Chapter 7 was that interlude that I'd made mention to between the sixth and the seventh seals. And then this third major section that begins here in chapter 8, it will present the seven trumpet judgments. If you remember the way the book of the Revelation is constructed, there are the seven seals. The seventh seal leads into the seven trumpet judgments. You get to the end of the trumpet judgments, the seventh trumpet judgment leads into the seven bowl judgments.

Just a continuation. More descriptions, more revisiting of these times in history where God will pour out His judgment. But this third major section, again that will present the seven trumpet judgments, will run from chapter 8 through chapter 11. Then there's a fourth section in chapters 12 through 14 where we will deal with the dragon and the beast.

Interesting material there to consider. There's a fifth section, and that fifth section is in chapters 15 and 16, and there we find the seven bowl judgments. So again, we have the seven seals, the seven trumpets that are blown, the seven bowl judgments that are poured out.

And the relationship between the three is that they are not building on each other in terms of sequence. We're not to read the book of the Revelation chronologically, but John is giving us visions. He's giving us visions without commentary, without explanation.

We wish there was more commentary, divine commentary would eliminate a lot of confusion and bring a lot of clarity. If John were to say, I saw this and it means that, but he doesn't do that. He just gives us the vision, describes it for us, and we have these recorded for us. But I believe the book of the Revelation is not to be understood chronologically, but to be understood as a sequence of cycles, that there is judgment that's described. And then John revisits that in concentric circles and goes out a little bit more with a little more detail. And he continues to do that throughout the book of the Revelation. He explains why we can get to the end of chapter six and six of the seven seals are opened, and why we continue to move on for another thirteen or fourteen chapters. It's because John is going to give us more detail. And with each vision that he describes for us, going over the same period of time in the church history, it will culminate in the coming of Christ in the day of His wrath. But there is an intensification, there is greater detail that continues to unfold as he describes these visions, these cycles. So it's almost as though he gives us a glimpse of it, revisits it again with another angle, more detail. But it's repetition with increased detail.

Let me just try and point out to you, there's some I think that are still struggling, thinking that no, I'm not going to buy this. I think that I've always understood that it's to be read chronologically, and I'm having a hard time letting go of that. Let me show you something. You remember, in the sixth seal, we have this language. Chapter six, verse twelve. I looked, and when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll, which is when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place, and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders of the mighty men, every slave, every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Now that is a description, not of temporal judgment, but that is a description of final judgment. When Christ comes to judge this wicked, unbelieving, ungodly world.

Now, I've said that before, and you're saying okay. When we get to the trumpet seals, notice what's said, I read the entire chapter for a reason, we're only going to look at the first five verses, but I wanted to make reference to, notice what he says. Verse 8 of chapter 8, then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the living creatures of the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Verse 10, then the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. I say, now wait a minute, we just read in chapter 6 in the sixth seal that the stars, the stars of heaven fell to the earth. Well, if the stars in heaven fell to the earth, why are the stars falling in chapter 8 verse 10 in the sounding of the third trumpet?

You see, if you're going to insist on reading it chronologically, you're going to run into difficulty. And again, what John is describing in this vision is a revisiting of what he described in the sixth seal. The stars falling. Similarly, he gets down there, the cataclysmic fall of the cosmos there in chapter 6 in the sixth seal.

There's no recovery from that. When the sky rolls up like a scroll, and when the mountains, and there's earthquakes like is described. Chapter 8 verse 12, then the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.

And I looked and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, whoa. You see again, that's language that is already been given earlier. So it's again revisiting, it really makes no sense to insist on chronology here.

Okay. These seven seals, we've looked at six of them. The seven seals as a whole in collection highlight the judgment of God with a particular emphasis on God's restraint of judgment for the sake of the salvation of His church. The seven trumpets, what will they highlight? They will highlight the victory of God's judgment over the world.

And then there's another switch, another nuance where the bulls are considered and the bull judgments, they will depict the just wrath of God's judgment over all of His enemies that will usher in the new heaven and the new earth. So let's go back and again we're going to consider the first five verses. And as we do, let me ask you some questions. I want to ask you some questions about how you view your prayer life. Do you view your prayer life as something that is effectual? Do you view your prayer life as something that really does matter? Do you view your prayer life as something that God takes into account and works in concert with to accomplish His will and purposes on the earth? I wonder how many of us really do think that way about our prayer life, because I think if we did think that way about our prayer life, we would be far more consistent, far more faithful, far more fervent, far more zealous in our prayer life. But I think too often we think, well, what difference is my prayers making? If God is sovereign, He's determined the beginning from the end, then what purpose do my prayers have? How do my prayers work into all of that? And it's mysterious for certain, but it is because we believe God is sovereign that we pray. You wouldn't pray to a God who wasn't sovereign or you wouldn't be inclined to pray if there were obstacles in the way of God accomplishing His purposes.

No, we are encouraged and motivated to pray because we believe that God is sovereign and the God who has determined the end, whatever that might be, has also determined the means to the end and the means to His purposes in this world include the prayers of His saints. And we have some lessons here about prayer in what seems to be a very strange place, a very unusual place, as the trumpet judgments are about to be unleashed. Here at the beginning of chapter 8 where we have this pause, we notice in verse 2, And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. Seven angels. We don't know their names. Many commentators believe that they are archangels. Well, if they are archangels, we know the names of two of the archangels. There's Michael the archangel and there's Gabriel the archangel.

And beyond that, Jewish tradition tells us of some other names that are drawing on extra biblical material that doesn't really weigh on our discussion here tonight. But seven angels who stand before God, they serve God, they do His bidding, they are before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And what's the anticipation? Well, the anticipation is that these angels are going to sound forth those trumpets and announce the seven trumpet judgments. But before that happens, there's something else that happens.

And what is that? Verse 3 says, Then another angel, unnamed, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. So this singular angel, another angel, causes an interruption. Here are seven angels with trumpets ready to blow and they are interrupted by the activity in the presence of another angel. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel, that same singular angel, took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth and there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Strange language, but not all that strange when we consider the gospel accounts and what we find in Luke chapter 12 and verse 49 where Jesus said, I came to send fire on the earth.

I came to send fire on the earth. That's a prophetic statement about judgment. And again, this is in answer to the prayers of the church there in the fifth seal, in chapter 6, remember? The saints under the altar, how long, O Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

Well, here's the answer to that. Here we have the final judgment of the seventh seal. Christ is responding to the prayers of his church and he is answering the martyred church, those who are spoken of there in chapter 6 in the fifth seal. Now I want you to notice that the prayers of the saints is mentioned two times in conjunction with the activity of this angel in verses 3 through 5. Notice verse 3, he was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints. And then again in verse 4, in the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.

So what is going on here? Well, we have the picture of the activity of the high priest that's being referred to here. Let me remind you of what is told us in Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1.

Listen to Luke chapter 1 verse 8 through 10. This is Zacharias and his priestly activity. So it was that while he was serving, while he, Zacharias, was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. While the people stood outside praying, Zacharias burned incense inside.

What's the connection there? Well, his burning of the incense symbolizes the ascending of those prayers before God. And that's what is being referred to back here in Revelation chapter 8. So I have two lessons for you tonight about prayer.

Number one, and I've already alluded to this, but let me tease it out a bit more. Prayer is the means by which God accomplishes his purposes in history. Prayer is the means by which God accomplishes his purposes in history. This is not some peripheral time in history. This is the end of human history. This is on the precipice of God pouring out his final judgment. And there's a pause, and it's an intentional pause, and there's an interruption here to remind us of the significance of the prayers of God's people and the accomplishment of God's purposes on the earth. Prayer is an earthly means whereby God is going to accomplish his will.

And again, let me read it. Then another angel, verse 3, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth, and there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. What really does matter in this world? Prayer really does matter in this world. Prayer really does make a difference. God is going to use the prayers of the saints.

And again, saints is not a category for super saints. The prayers of all the saints, that's all the children of God, all the blood-bought people of God, all without exception. This is what we are to give ourselves to.

This is how we do warfare. This is how we participate in the purposes of God in history, through prayer. Now, I don't know about your prayer life. You may be very content, very satisfied with your prayer life.

But my hunch is that most of us see room for improvement. We need reasons to be motivated to pray, to give ourselves to extended times for prayer. And I don't know of a passage more appropriate to encourage us, to motivate us in prayer than this one. So, they prayed. The saints prayed. And I wonder what they were praying. The angel took the prayers of all the saints. What do you suppose those prayers were in light of the action God took through the angel in verse 5? Well, I believe we don't have their prayers recorded, but I think those prayers probably covered at least four categories. I think those prayers were for Satan to be destroyed, for sin to be defeated, for their deaths, that is the martyr's deaths, to be avenged, and number four, for the coming of Christ. I think at least those four, no doubt, were part of the prayers of the saints that are being referred to there in verses 3 and 4. When Christians pray, God sent fire upon the earth. When the saints prayed, God sent fire upon the earth. Prayers. The prayers of the saints were decisive. They were instrumental.

They were necessary in God's ordering of things for the accomplishment of His will. I don't know how you think, but at times we can feel pretty hopeless and helpless in the face of the adversity that we're seeing in our day. What are we to do in the face of threats to our religious liberty? What are we to do in the face of the moral erosion that's going on all around us? What are we to do in the face of the proliferation of attacks upon Christians far and near?

I heard language this week of talking heads that were drawing parallels and similarities between right-wing Christians and the Taliban. We're being viewed, we're being portrayed in the media as dangerous. We need to be on alert. These people are terrorists.

They're a threat to the security of the nation. Oh really? That's what's going on in our day. Now back to the passage. What is the function of the incense in the passage in verses 3 and 4? The angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar, was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints.

And in verse 4, in the smoke of the incense. Incense is added to the prayers and offered then to God. And the lesson here, I think, for us is that something needs to be done with our weak, feeble, sometimes selfish, and misguided prayers to make them acceptable before God. You know the Bible says the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much, but prayer is hard work. Prayer is not easy. Prayer is often met with difficulty. So the question is, what will make our prayers powerful and effectual? If the fervent, effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much, what will make our prayers powerful and effectual? Well, the answer for us is not an angel. Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to pray to an angel.

Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to pray to a departed saint, Saint Christopher or Saint whoever. Now what will make our prayers powerful and effectual is the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says we have one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And I like what Paul says about this matter of prayer in Romans chapter 8 and verse 26. There's a lot of things I like about it, but one of the things I like about it is the fact that Paul identifies himself in this dilemma, in this struggle, in this difficulty, in this need for the mediation of God to make our prayers effectual. Listen to what he says, and I'll put emphasis on the plural pronouns. He says, likewise the Spirit, not an angel, but the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.

What are those weaknesses? He says, for we do not know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Verse 27, for he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So there should be some encouragement for us here on a couple of levels. Number one, the fact that God is going to take our weak and feeble and selfish and misguided prayers and they're going to be mediated through the ministry of the Spirit of God to make them acceptable before God.

That is a great encouragement. And a further encouragement here is that this isn't just for weak Christians, newbies. This is for all of us because if Paul says this identifies himself in this with we and our, then there's hope for you and me. This language is language from the Day of Atonement. Leviticus chapter 16 and verses 12 and 13.

In fact, I want to turn there and read those couple of verses to you because of the similarity. You remember the Day of Atonement. One day a year when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and he would bring blood and offer it for himself and for his people.

Listen to Leviticus chapter 16 verse 12. This is again talking about the high priest. Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine and bring it inside the veil and he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the testimony lest he die. That's the activity of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. He was to take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and do what?

Add two handfuls of incense and bring it inside the veil and put the incense on the fire before the Lord. It was God's appointed way to purify the offering. And it is pointing forward, the Day of Atonement, this ritual is pointing forward to the time when Jesus Christ will come and shed his blood for the cleansing of our sins. And it's the same cleansing blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses our prayers and makes them acceptable and a sweet smelling aroma before God.

You see that? This angel is symbolically taking incense, mixing it with the prayers of the saints and offering it before God. Again, now it's not the mediation of the angel as I've already made reference, it's the Spirit of God who is the one who intercedes on our behalf and makes our prayers acceptable before God. So lessons about prayer, wonderful lessons. God is going to accomplish his purposes through our prayers and God is going to, we have this confidence that God is going to hear our prayers and God is going to receive our prayers.

See, these two lessons. One, God is going to accomplish his purposes on the earth through our prayers and here is great encouragement. God hears our prayers and God receives our prayers. This seems so elementary to us, but there aren't there times where we think, you know, has God heard me?

Am I talking to myself? Are my prayers hitting the ceiling and bouncing back at me? No, dear saint.

There's no special category here. This is the prayers of all the saints in verse 3. This is the prayers of the saints in verse 4. All the prayers of all the saints God takes notice of. And they are sanctified by the Spirit of God and they come before God as a sweet aroma, acceptable to Him.

Why? Because we are acknowledging our dependence upon Him, our confidence in Him. We're praying to Him.

And what good will that do? Well, it is the prayers of the saints that God is going to use to further bring about His purposes on the earth. So, here's a cause and effect here in verse 5. God has heard, God has received the prayers of His saints, and what is He going to do in response to that?

He's going to send judgment in the form of punishment upon the inhabitants of the earth. Verse 5, then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth, and there were noises, thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. God has taken to heart the cry of the saints at the foot of His altar. And again, I made mention to you of Luke chapter 12, verse 49, where Jesus said, when He was on this earth, I have come to bring fire on the earth.

Here it is. Here is the manifestation of that. The angel is only a servant sent forth by God to do His bidding.

May God prepare us and make us that willing, that able to serve Him, to do His bidding and to represent Him. But you see, it's not an angel. It's not an angel, but it's the Almighty that causes what? An earthquake. An earthquake. The angels took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, threw it to the earth, and there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

Same language over there in chapter 6 in the sixth seal. Through a great earthquake, 7,000 people were killed. It's going to tell us in chapter 11 and verse 13 as we make our way further into the book. Earthquakes are among all the other signs that usher in the end times. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24 verses 7 and 8, there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

And then He said, all these are the beginning of birth pangs. So, we're seeing more clarity about God's judgment. Not only more clarity, but greater intensity, greater manifestations of judgment that await an unbelieving, rejecting of Christ and His gospel. May God help us to not be in that company, but to be faithful to Him and to represent Him in this world. And the main lesson tonight is an encouragement to our prayer life.

It is, I think, significant that we find that here in the beginning of chapter 8. This interlude in chapter 7, this pause at the beginning of chapter 8, because God wants to reinforce in our minds and to our understanding the ministry of prayer. So, may God help us. It's a sad day that more and more churches are dispensing from a prayer meeting, a night for the church to gather for prayer. Why? Because people won't come.

That's a sad commentary. If there was ever a time to pray, folks, it's now. And don't think, don't entertain thoughts. Well, what's the use? Why pray? Here's the reason why we pray. Here's the reason.

Here's the incentive. God is going to use the prayers of His people in the accomplishment of His purposes on this earth. And we have right here, recorded for us, through the ministry of the Spirit of God, that God not only hears our prayers, but God receives our prayers, is weak and is feeble and selfish and ill-advised and is as they are at times. So, may God grow us and challenge us and motivate us in the days to come. God has called a lot of elderly saints away from us. And I don't know in every case, but I know in some cases, some of whom God called away from us were prayer warriors. One of the concerns I have as a pastor is who is going to step in and fill that role?

Who is going to answer the call? Who's going to say, you know what, I may not have the gift of teaching. I may not be able to do this.

I may not be able to do that. Maybe even for some who haven't been able to come and be a part of people present services at Beacon because of COVID. Are you on the sidelines? Are you just relegated to another day? Maybe there will be a time when you can come and be back involved? No.

Give yourself to the ministry of prayer. It's vital. It's important.

It's effectual. May God help us in the days to come. Let us pray. Father, we bow to thank you for the privilege of prayer, for instructing us in this matter. We ask our God that you would challenge us and grow us in this vital area. How we thank you for preserving this force and giving this force that we might be encouraged. That in some mysterious way you accomplish your purposes on this earth through the prayers of your people.

As weak and sinful and lacking as we might be. And those prayers would be all of that apart from the ministry of your spirit who takes our prayers, mediates them, purifies them, and presents them before you as a sweet and holy aroma before you. Thank you, Spirit of God, for your ministry on our behalf. Now may the church add their amen to this benediction. Blessing in glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Amen.