Congregation, please take your Bibles and let us turn to the book of Revelation. Our text this morning is the first five verses of Revelation 8, but we will read a larger portion of Scripture today, beginning with Revelation 6, verse 1. So it's on page 1031 of the Pew Bible. We'll start reading with Revelation 6, verse 1. And why should we read such a large chunk of Revelation all at once? I would remind you that Revelation 1.3 says, blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it. for the time is near. I've said before that the key to understanding the book of Revelation is keeping our eyes on the big picture. In chapters 6-8, the big picture is the seven seals. Six of those seals are described in chapter 6. Chapter 7 is an interlude. It is a pause before the seventh seal is opened. But then in our text today, in the first verse of Revelation 8, the seventh seal is finally opened. And so this is why we're going to read from chapter 6, verse 1, because it is all tied together in the seven seals. Therefore, congregation, please hear now the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, Come. And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come. And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth so that men should slay one another. And he was given a great sword. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come. And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine. When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, Come. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And its rider's name was Death. And Hades followed Him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth. When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before You will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. When he opened the sixth seal, I looked. And behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth. The full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful And everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come. And who can stand? After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun with the seal of the living God. And he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, do not harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons. of Israel. 12,000 from each of the tribes, Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin were sealed. After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are these clothed in white robes? And from where have they come? I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer. And he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. And there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. May God bless the reading of his holy word. A beloved congregation and our Lord Jesus Christ, as we once again make the transition from the beginning back to the end, from Genesis to Revelation, it is my hope that we are reminded by this extra reading of all that we have seen so far, of the ground that we have already covered. You remember the Apostle John has been telling us the things he saw in this Spirit-inspired vision. He has related to us what he beheld when the Lamb opened the seals. of the scroll. At the opening of the first four seals, he saw these four horsemen of the apocalypse riding out into the earth. Then he saw the souls of the martyrs crying out to God for justice. And finally, with the opening of that sixth seal, it carried with it a great earthquake. Or rather, a quaking of the entire universe. The sun went dark. The moon became blood red. The stars themselves began crashing down to the earth. And the people of the earth cried out in terror, asking, who can stand on this, the great day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb? And in the opening of these seals, we see a progression. It is all leading up to the Dies Irae, the day of wrath. How strange then. at the opening of the seventh seal does not immediately follow the sixth, which begins to tell us of the day of wrath. Instead, we run into an interlude. We run into this break in the opening of the seven seals. In fact, in Revelation 7, John relates another vision entirely. A vision of all of God's people receiving the seal of His protection. John related the number of the army of God numbering 144,000, a perfect number, a number of completion which was meant to show us that not one is missing from God's people, from the army of the saints. And then the vision of the 144,000 was followed by another vision where John sees a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, tribe, people, and language loudly glorifying God for His salvation. Now, the placement of these two visions of the church, their placement in the midst of the opening of the seven seals, is meant to tell us something. To teach us something. First, it tells us that God's people are safe. Even in the midst of the judgments that God pours out upon the earth, God's people are safe. In fact, we are protected even from the great day of judgment itself, that great day of wrath. We are protected from it in Christ. But this interlude in chapter 7, this delay between the six seals and the seventh is also meant to increase our anticipation. We should be wondering what is going to happen at the opening of the seventh seal. Don't you want to know what happens next? Our interest has been piqued by this delay. And yet when we come to chapter 8, verse 1, are we not a little disappointed? In verse 1, we read that when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. What? How strange, isn't it? That with the opening of the seventh seal, nothing seems to happen. How disappointing. How anticlimactic. After all of this build-up in the first six seals, the four horsemen, the prayers of the martyrs, that earthquake, the sky itself falling from heaven. After all of that, when the seventh seal is opened, we get this. We get a half hour of silence in heaven. That's it. This is the culmination of God's judgment in the opening of the seven seals. Well, congregation, actually, it's very important for us to understand that this silence is no small matter. The idea that heaven could go silent is actually a stunning thing. Something that should shock us in light of what we have already seen in the book of Revelation. Do you remember what we saw back in Revelation 4? Why don't you turn there with me for a moment? Revelation 4 described God upon the throne And we're told in Revelation 4, verse 8, how John saw four living creatures who day and night never ceased to say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty Who was and is and is to come. They never ceased. They never stopped proclaiming these words. In fact, we are also told that whenever the living creatures Profess these words, the 24 elders fall down before Him who is seated on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. In verse 10, we're told that. And actually, if you remember all the way back to Revelation 4 and 5, we saw a pattern between these two chapters. There was a constant build-up as more and more voices were added until we reached the end of chapter 5 with all the angels gathered around the throne saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain. And next thing you know, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, every creature was found to be saying to God and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. Amen. All creation. singing loudly the praise of God. Thus in Revelation 4 and 5 we're given a picture of the worship of heaven, a crescendo of ever-increasing praise to God and to the Lamb. But here in chapter 8, We run into a subito pianissimo. A sudden quiet. Heaven, which has thus far resounded abundantly with the vocal praise of God, is suddenly overwhelmed with a breathless silence. Isn't this amazing? Those four living creatures who day and night never cease to say, Holy, Holy, Holy, apparently do fall silent for half an hour. Does that send a chill down your spine or what? What a momentous occasion that heaven itself could fall silent. And it begs the question, what is happening? Or what is going to happen? The silence marks the arrival of the day of judgment. See, God is not wrong to be angry with sin. God is right to bring His judgment on sin. Nevertheless, the judgment of God is so terrifying, so sobering, even terrible, that heaven itself goes silent. In the Old Testament, David wrote a song which forces us to think about who this God is to whom we pray for deliverance. In 2 Samuel 22, David writes, In my distress I called upon the Lord. To my God I called. From His temple He heard my voice. And my cry came to his ears." And what happened when God heard David's cry? Then the earth reeled and rocked. The foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth. Glowing coals flamed forth. from Him. God is concerned about the salvation of His people from His enemies. God is concerned about the salvation of those martyrs who are praying to Him for justice. He is concerned that justice be served. And a God who cares so much about justice is a terrifying thing for sinners. And in light of this, in light of the coming judgment of God upon sinners, is it any surprise that heaven falls silent at the coming day of the wrath of God? And as the words of the prophets make clear in Scripture, silence is an appropriate response to God's judgment. Zephaniah commands, be silent before the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near. And Zechariah writes, be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling. However, silence is not only an appropriate response for the hosts of heaven. The prophet Habakkuk directs this to the inhabitants of the earth. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. See, congregation, there are times when our lips should be closed. There are times when we should be still and quietly reflect upon the glories of our awesome Creator God, our Holy God, the Judge of all the earth. There is a time for silence. And one other thing we notice about the silence we see in verse 1 is that this silence lasts for about half an hour. And as a number of commentators point out, it is important for us to see the significance that here we have a broken number. Later in Revelation, we will see some other examples of broken numbers in chapter 11, three and a half days. In other words, a week divided in two. And in chapter 12, we'll run into this phrase, this famous phrase, time, times, and half a time. And we'll deal with those broken numbers when we get to them, but this should help you to see the significance of what we have here, this half hour. After all, earlier in our study of the book, we've seen the prevalence and importance of numbers of completion, such as 3, 7, and 10. Here we do not have a number of completion. This period of time is fractured. The hour is cut in half. It is divided. The silence lasts for a broken hour. So what's the point? Well, the point is that another half hour remains before the hour is complete. In other words, we're urged to look onward. This silence occurs in anticipation of what is to come, of what will happen next in the context of our text, especially in the blowing of the seven trumpets. And if heaven waits in breathless silence in anticipation for the sounding of those trumpets, for the fullness of the judgment of God, the return of Christ, then certainly so should we. Congregation, do we stand in silent awe of God, eagerly looking for what He will do next? So I think it is fitting for us to pause at this point and ask the question, how do we apply this text in our own lives? What does it mean for us to be silent before God? I think we know that our culture is not very good at this. Our culture is not very good at silence. We find ourselves constantly surrounded by distractions, by noise. There's little time for reflection, little time for thinking about spiritual things like the majesty, glory, power, and holiness of our God. Our culture especially neglects to think about His coming judgment on sin. In fact, our culture seems to be actively working to avoid situations of silence, whether you're getting a haircut, visiting the dentist, or going out to buy some groceries. The radio's constantly on. Even here at church, if there's ever been too long of a pause or a break in the order of worship, we might become to feel a little antsy, or feel a little awkward. We all know that phrase, right? An awkward silence. And so in general, our culture, and perhaps even we ourselves, tend to see silence as a bad thing. As something awkward. As something to be avoided at all costs. But Scripture exhorts us that we need to take some time in silence. We need to especially spend some time in silence before our God. In Psalm 46, God exhorts us to be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. And so do you. Take that time to be still before God. To listen to Him. To reflect on His character. His holiness. His justice. His grace and His mercy. Congregation, I think the more that we understand of our sin and the punishment that we deserve, the more we know of the judgment of God that is coming upon sinful man, the more I think we will be willing to stand in silence before God. To reflect upon the things of God. Especially His grace. For we deserve, each one of us, to be cast into judgment. cast into hell as a punishment for our sins. And the only reason we may trust in a better future is because of the grace that God has shown us in Christ. That if we believe in Him, that Christ's righteousness covers all of our sins. If we believe in Jesus, then the day of wrath, the day of judgment is already passed for us. For Christ descended into hell. in our place on the cross. I think that is certainly worthy of some reflection in silence. And if this is true, if God has given us so great a salvation in Christ, then the least we can do in gratitude to Him and thankfulness to Him for this salvation is to spend some time in silence before Him. We must perceive the gravity of His glory. must think about who is this God who rules the world and the universe. Now when we take that time of silence, when we take some time to be still and reflect upon who God is, on His holiness, His justice, His grace, all of His attributes, then our reflections, our silence, should lead us to prayer. The more we stand in silence before God, the more we open our eyes and our ears to His Word, the more we will see the importance of praying to our almighty, powerful, and merciful God. In fact, verses 2 through 5 of our text show us how our mighty God powerfully uses our prayers. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. We read that in verse 2, and here is the transition between the seven seals into the seven trumpets. We'll begin to look at those trumpets next Lord's Day, but for now look at verse 3. And another angel came. and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel." The first thing I want you to notice about these verses is the comfort and the assurance that we are given here. Notice how verse 3 says that the prayers of all the saints come before God. God will not overlook the prayers of any of His people. If you are His child, then you may know for certain that your prayers come to Him in heaven. But let us carefully consider what is happening here. What is Scripture describing in these verses in verses 3 and 4? See how this angel comes to the altar in front of the throne of God carrying this golden censer. And for those of you who do not know what a censer is, it is like a bull used for burning incense. We read that this angel was given much incense to offer. And here we have an example of what theologians call a divine passive. Our text says that the angel was given much incense and by this we are supposed to understand that God is the one who gives the incense to this angel to be offered together with the prayers of the saints. You probably know that incense is like a perfume, and when incense is burned, it releases a fragrant smoke, a pleasing aroma. But let's think about this imagery before us. Why must this incense be added to the prayers of the saints before those prayers may be presented before God? Well, if we want to understand this, we have to remember who the saints are. Saints are not people who are holy in themselves. Saints are not people who in themselves deserve to have God, the King of all the universe, hear their requests, their petitions. Saints are redeemed sinners. And so saints are not sinless, but they are made holy by Christ. And so the prayers, these prayers that are coming up to God, these are the prayers of sinful people. Will God listen? to the prayers of sinful people? Well, yes, He will, but only if they are made pleasing in His sight by adding a fragrant aroma. Only the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, finished on the cross, can make our prayers acceptable, pleasing in God's sight. And thus, when Scripture speaks of incense here, we're meant to think of Christ's accomplished work. of His sacrifice offered on the cross. Scripture elsewhere says this of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. And so this imagery instructs us that God provides in Christ what is necessary for our prayers to be acceptable to Him, for Him to receive them as our Father in Heaven. Yes, it is because of Christ that God is our Father in Heaven. And because of Christ's offering of Himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins, God listens to our prayers. But what does God do with our prayers? Some of us may not understand why we are supposed to pray. After all, God knows everything. He knows what is on our mind and on our hearts. He knows all of our desires. So why should we have to express all of these things to Him. Does it even matter at all whether or not we pray? Well, we are taught here very clearly that our prayers do matter. Look at verse five, then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. And there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Now, of course, this angel is not acting on his own whims. He is acting as a minister of God. He is acting on God's authority and God's name. And this is certainly a striking image as we see here how God uses our prayers for His purposes. In fact, the way in which these prayers are used seems to be a response to what we saw back in the fifth seal. You remember, under the altar, those saints who had been slain for their witness and their proclamation of the Word of God. Remember how they were crying out with a loud voice to God, asking, O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Well, here is part of God's response. God responds to His people's cries for justice and deliverance. His answer comes in judgment with fire being hurled down from heaven to shake the earth. Certainly God's judgment, which is depicted here as fire coming down from heaven, certainly that judgment takes many different forms. But isn't it amazing how we are taught here that God truly receives our prayers and then puts those prayers to use to accomplish His sovereign purposes. As one commentator points out, prayer is one of the most important tactics, even one of the most important weapons of the soldiers, of the cross, of that army of 144,000. It's one of the most important tools we have at our disposal that we should be using when we face persecution and challenges in this world. For when we pray to our sovereign God who is in control of all things, who is able to do all things, is able to act on our behalf, respond to our prayers, when we look to Him, He takes our prayers. He uses those prayers to fight for us. This is why when we pray to God as He has commanded us saying, Thy kingdom come. And we need to know that when we pray this, our prayers are not in vain. God truly uses our prayers for His glory. Why then are we so slow to pray a lot of the time? Why is prayer often seen by God's people as a last resort, something only to turn to when you cannot accomplish it by other means? Prayer should be something we turn to always and often and first thing. Well, as we consider the imagery that we're given here about how God uses our prayers, though, perhaps it is somewhat troubling to us. After all, it appears that God uses our prayers to pour out His judgments on the world. It's kind of a scary thing to think that our prayers may be connected with God's judgment. And especially with the culmination of His judgment on the last day in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory and in power. Nevertheless, while God may truly send judgment because of our prayers, Isn't it true that God sometimes brings salvation through judgment? Through the hard times that He sends us in this world? When we pray for an unbelieving friend or family member, that they might come to faith, that they might be saved, that they might believe in the Gospel, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, we shouldn't be surprised if God first sends hardship their way. If He sends a storm into their life to get their attention, to help them see their sin and misery, and to warn them of the wrath to come, that there's something much worse than whatever they face. right now. How important it is that sinners see their need of salvation and how urgent that they perceive this need before the coming of the fullness of what is described in our text as peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. How important it is that they see their need of Christ before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. The day of wrath of God and of the Lamb. After all, how can a sinner ever perceive his need of salvation if he is constantly distracted by all of the noise of this world? God has to get through to him. And as the sovereign of the universe, as the one who is in control of all things, who controls whatsoever comes to pass, our God is able to do this. He's able to pierce into the darkness of a sinner's heart. Yes, our God is able to do things that we tend to think are impossible. Even bringing salvation to a person whom we perhaps think is too far gone. Therefore, congregation, let us be intentional in our prayers. Let us also spend some time in silent reflection remembering who our God is. His unfathomable power. That He is an awesome God. And then, after spending time in silence before Him, reflecting on who He is, may we turn to Him in prayer, recognizing that He is truly able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think. For indeed, our God is an awesome God in both His judgment and in His grace. Let us always trust in Him. Amen. Let's pray.