We're gonna get a little peek another little peek into the throne room of heaven and If you want to follow along with the majority text, it's on page 20 Otherwise revelation 8 1 through 6 here the Word of God And when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stood before God and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer. He was given lots of incense so that he could offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of 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 voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to trumpet." Amen. Father, we thank you for your word. And we desire to have our lives transformed week by week as we look into your word. Sanctify us through your truth. Your word is truth, Lord, and we love it, and it is our desire to grow in terms of it. We continue to worship you in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. Now, historically, Reformed people have always considered corporate prayer to be very important, and it's true that there have been critics, and I've repeatedly had critics tell me, well, if God is sovereign over everything, why pray? Why not just let God do it? If God is sovereign over everything, and my response immediately is, if God is not sovereign, why pray? If God can't control every circumstance, why would I ask him to control every circumstance, right? So historically, we foreign people have never had any disjunction whatsoever between prayer and the sovereignty of God. We have felt that they fit together like hand and glove. In fact, John Kelvin said that prayer is the distinguishing mark of a true believer. It is like the breath of a new baby. Prayer shows we have life. He said this, the principal exercise, which the children of God have is to pray for in this way, they give a true proof of their faith. He said that a prayerless church is a faithless church. And Calvin also said that the same gospel that produces faith within his people is going to produce and train us to be a praying people. And I could quote any number of Reformers and Puritans who insisted on the necessity of prayer. Now the reason I'm mentioning this is I'm going to start with a quotation that may seem audacious to you, extremely audacious. It's by another Calvinist by the name of Charles Spurgeon. Spurgeon said, my own soul's conviction is that prayer is the grandest power in the entire universe, that it has more omnipotent force than electricity, attraction, gravitation, or any of those other secret forces which men have called by name, but which they do not understand. And of course he's talking about the greatest power in the created universe, But even there, you might think, surely he's engaging in hyperbole. But if you were to accuse Spurgeon of engaging in hyperbole, he would say no. And you could read his sermon and see that. But he would say no. God has ordained that prayer be one of the means toward the end in his eternal counsels in the past. And God has ordained, when prayer is a true prayer, that he is the one who would stir up that prayer. True prayer is commanded by God. It is made possible by the inward intercession of the Holy Spirit. It is made acceptable by the intercession of Christ in heaven. It's grounded on God's word itself. And therefore, if we engage in prayer the way God wants us to engage in prayer, It cannot be answered with anything except for God's omnipotence. And the reason the scripture gives is God cannot deny himself. The Puritan writer Thomas Lye said, I'd rather stand against the canons of the wicked than against the prayers of the righteous. Now, I used to cringe when I would see the title by E.M. Bounds and his book, Power Through Prayer, because it just seemed like that was something that exalted man. But the more I have studied the subject, the more I have realized it debases man and it exalts God. Now unbiblical prayer has zero power. Why? Because it arises from our flesh. But prayer that is moved by God himself has God's omnipotence behind it. So that's the basic thesis for today's sermon. And I hope you find it to be a very encouraging sermon that will encourage your prayer life. Who moved the prayers in this chapter? Look at verse one. Verse one says, when he opened the seventh seal. Now the he is referring to Jesus. As Jesus opened each of the seven seals in the previous chapters, it was indicating that everything under that seal was under his sovereign control, okay? The opening of the seal shows he's in control. So this first phrase indicates that Christ is the sovereign who moves the church to prayer. never pit divine sovereignty against our human responsibility in prayer. Romans 8 says we don't even know how to pray as we ought, and that's why we need the Holy Spirit's inward intercession to help us to pray as we ought, but pray we must. Prayer is a work of both God and man, so we're not talking about any prayer. We're talking about what the Bible refers to as praying in the Spirit. We're talking about the kind of prayer God produced that roused up revivals in history, that turned nations around, the kind of prayer that humbles man and that exalts God. And it is my hope that this sermon would be used by God to stir up a longing that Jesus would open a seal today and would move the church to prayer. There is a desperate need. for the church to be so moved. Verse one goes on to say, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Many people have been puzzled over that half hour of silence. After all, the opening of the seal indicates Jesus is ready to move. You know, if he's given permission, if he's opened the seal, you would expect that there would be a buzz of activity in heaven as angels respond and they carry out his will. He's opening up a new chapter of history. In the past, this is what happened. He would open a seal, boom, immediately there's activity that results from that. But even though the seal is opened, nothing happens. There is silence. We're going to see in a moment that the silence is the weight of heaven for the prayers of the saints. And this is the human responsibility part of the equation on prayer. Point one shows that God sovereignly moves prayer as a part of His covenant lawsuit process. Point two shows that without prayer nothing is going to happen. It is one of God's ordained means to the end and you have not because you ask not. Until the church begins to pray in earnest we will not see major changes in our culture. But why does he say that the silence was for about half an hour? I think that the Jewish scholar Alfred Edersheim has the best explanation of this. He says that it's because of the patterning relationship between the earthly temple and the heavenly temple. And let me explain. Verse three speaks of the golden censer representing the prayers of Christ being offered up together with the prayers of all of the saints upon the golden altar. And here's how it happened on earth. The congregation would gather outside of the holy place at the temple, waiting for the priest to enter the holy place to prepare for worship. And Milt and Terry and Edersheim both point out that it took about half an hour to accomplish this. And verse one alludes to silence for about half an hour. Let me quote from Edersheim. He says, slowly, the incensing priest and his assistants ascended the steps to the holy place, preceded by the two priests who had formerly dressed the altar in the candlestick, and who now removed the vessels they had left behind, and worshiping, withdrew. Next, one of the assistants reverently spread the coals on the golden altar. The other arranged the incense and then the chief officiating priest was left alone within the holy place to await the signal of the president before burning the incense. It is this most solemn period when throughout the vast temple buildings deep silence rested on the worshiping multitude. While within the sanctuary itself, the priest laid the incense on the golden altar, and the cloud of odors rose up before the Lord, which serves as the image of heavenly things. So when that cloud would go up over the curtain, they could see it billowing up over top, then immediately the whole congregation would start engaging in audible prayer. That incense was the signal that the prayer meeting was to begin. Now here's the point. Having silence on earth before the prayer meeting, that's totally understandable. What is amazing is that there was a corresponding silence in heaven. Verse one says, when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. That is an absolutely amazing statement when you realize the enormous activity and the noise and the undulating power that proceeds like a stream from the throne of God. Heaven is usually described in Revelation as being abuzz with activity. And let me give you just a tiny sampling. Take a look at chapter four and verse five. which is in the middle of his description of the throne room. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. It was not silent, okay, it was the noise of activity. Look at verses eight through 11 of chapter four. And the four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within, and they do not rest day or night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created. And you can go through the rest of the book and you can see other noises, the sound of beating wings, the sound of mighty rushing waters. But during the preparation time before the temple's prayer meeting began, all was hushed and completely silent in heaven. Heaven's armies are waiting. Heaven is waiting on the corporate prayers of the church. They're waiting not just for one or two prayers to ascend to God. The prayers of individuals do ascend night and day before God, but they're waiting for the whole body of Christ to unite in prayer. Corporate prayer is given a special significance that individual prayer does not have. And you see this all through the scripture. And I'll just give you one example from Psalm 76 it says that Israel's battles were not won on the battlefield Israel's battles were won in the temple speaking of the temple It says there he broke the arrows of the bow the shield and the sword of battle It was in the house of prayer that the definitive difference was made in Israel's battles now don't get me wrong individuals prayers are powerful as well. He gives even greater power to the corporate prayer meetings of local churches. But God has chosen to unleash all of the powers of heaven when the church as a whole rises up to pray. And statistics bear this out. You've probably seen the statistics. When an entire church of a city gathers in prayer, you see, statistically, crime going down. You see conversion rates going up. Heaven is waiting. Verse 1 is an enormously significant statement. As Graham Kendrick's song says, all heaven waits with bated breath for saints on earth to pray. Have you ever wondered why in the world God, who hates evil and iniquity far worse than we do, why God does not do anything about the national apostasy in America? Have you ever wondered about that? Well, the church's lack of united prayer may help to explain that silence. And Jay Grimstead longs to see church leaders in every city uniting the church in solemn assemblies of repentance and prayer and commitment to God's word. Well, Kendrick's song not only says that all heaven waits with bated breath for saints on earth to pray, but it goes on to say, majestic angels ready stand with swords of fiery blade. If we long for the angelic battle trumpets to sound, then we must take corporate prayer meeting seriously. Verse two says, and I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. Now again, these angels are eager to go to war. They're eager to sound their trumpets, but nothing happens. They're given those trumpets for a purpose. It's to call all of their legions of armies to battle, but no sound comes forth until verse six after the prayer meeting. But this is also a very specific kind of prayer. It involves angels. It involves judgments. It comes in connection with fire falling out of heaven. And once you understand these images, the spiritual warfare dynamic, I think, really comes to the surface. Let me quote from Vic Reasoner's commentary. He said, this imagery is also based upon the concept of holy war. Under the Old Covenant, a holy war was initiated at God's command against extreme cases of immorality and blasphemy. Such peoples were placed under a ban. Fire was taken from the temple altar and used to burn up cities conquered in a holy war. And he gives some scriptures. This fire had originally fallen from heaven, Leviticus 9 verse 25, and was to be maintained. God did not accept strange fire, Leviticus 10, 1-4. Under the new covenant, the principle of holy warfare is advanced through prayer. Fire is taken from the heavenly altar and cast down. In this instance, it is Jerusalem herself which is under the ban. Nothing under this curse will survive. However, under the new covenant, we are now God's temple, and what is voluntarily dedicated to God is spared as a living sacrifice. Romans 12 verse 1. The true fire first fell at Pentecost, and the fire on the altar in the old temple had become strange fire. See Leviticus 10 verse 1. And so the fire from heaven cleanses us, see Isaiah 6 verse 6, and that fire of the spirit is not to be quenched. 1 Thessalonians 5, 19, 2 Timothy 1, 6. Thus fire from heaven either destroys or sanctifies. That's a mouthful. It's a pretty long quote, but I think he nails it. This passage has all of the earmarks of holy war, covenant lawsuit, and God's heavenly judgments. What makes this a holy war passage? Well, the connection between prayer and the warfare of angels, I think, is seen in the fact that the moment they pray, God's answer is to allow the angels to sound those seven trumpets, and each trumpet is unleashing new regiments of angels and bringing judgments. And until the church as a whole recognizes we are in an all-out spiritual warfare for planet Earth, we're not gonna see the advancements in America that we see in the book of Revelation. But these are battle trumpets that were especially symbolized at the Festival of Trumpets. Now is fire thrown to the earth? Yes it is. In fact commentators point out that the background here is no longer Jericho and the other cities of Canaan. that it were dedicated to fire. The background is Ezekiel 10, where the angel takes coals from the heavenly altar, scatters the coals all over Jerusalem as a symbol that Jerusalem is the new Jericho that's going to be destroyed by Babylon, by God. Babylon was just God's tool or instrument of judgment. So just as in our passage, Jerusalem had become a harlot city that was under God's ban. Does God require the incense to be lit with coals from the altar? Yes, he does. Just as strange fire was unacceptable in Leviticus 10, one through four, the only fire that is acceptable here is fire that comes off of his altar. Politics is not gonna make these changes. Revolution will not make these changes. Our prayers must be lit by Christ's sacrifice and by his incense. As Calvin puts it, the gospel is the means to train us to battle and warfare. Do the same judgments happen in chapter 8 and following as happen in Ezekiel 10 and following? Yes they do. And I'm going to be looking at the connection between those two passages later on when we look at the fulfillment of this passage. But for now I just want you to see that all of the imagery of holy warfare is present. The specific kind of prayers that this passage is talking about are spiritual warfare prayers. They're imprecatory prayers. And here's the next cool point. Verse four shows the eagerness of the angels to answer such prayer. There's an angel right there when the prayers are being offered, and he's involved in some way in taking the prayers up before the throne of God. We're not told how or why God involves angels in our prayers, but it says very clearly here these angels are involved. And so in the same way, Kendrick's hymn says majestic angels ready, stand with swords of fiery blade. I've often wondered how frequently angels are disappointed that they can't go into battle because the church is not gathered in prayer. in warfare prayer specifically. I've talked to pastor after pastor about the importance of using the imprecatory psalms and they just will not use them. The church desperately needs a reformation of its theology of prayer. In scripture, you find that angelic warfare is directly related to our own warfare in prayer. In Daniel, for example, you see Daniel fasting and praying for 21 days, and it says the moment he started praying, this angel had come traveling, and he's battling through all of these other forces that were hindering him, but he was battling for the entire 21 days that Daniel was battling in prayer. There's a real sense in which majestic angels ready stand with swords of fiery blade But you will not find their trumpet blast to advance the cause of the kingdom until you come for prayer All heaven waits Now, it's not a discouraged way It's an expectant wait. The angels know God's purposes and his plans will be accomplished. The angels know that God's people will be stirred up to prayer in God's due time, and God often uses persecution and trouble to stir up such prayer. Kendrick's song goes on to say, astounding power awaits a word from God's resplendent throne, but God demands our prayer of faith that cries your will be done. Isn't that exactly the message of verse four? Text says, in the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. Now, if you could see your prayers being actually carried, like you could visibly see, here's a prayer and there's a package here, and your prayers are being visibly carried by these incredibly powerful angels before the throne of God, which is just incredible power, undulating power coming from that throne, I think you'd realize prayer enters into astounding power. It's not just the power of angels that is unleashed, it is the power of Almighty God himself. And while God continues to uphold all things by the word of his power without our prayers, there are some things that God has chosen to unleash only at the request of the church. The church in 8066 had prayed for God's vengeance to be poured out upon the church's enemies, and as we'll see, those prayers were like a switch to several nuclear missiles, seven to be precise, seven trumpets, okay? Astounding power awaits a word from God's resplendent throne, but God demands our prayer of faith that cries, your will be done. He has commissioned the church to stand ready to throw the switch and ask for God's judgments. Now theoretically, some people might think that Christ's prayers are sufficient for all of that. God always hears the prayers of His Son. We're not so sure that He always hears our prayers. So we don't necessarily always feel that our prayers are so necessary. Some Christians feel like their prayers are redundant. But Hebrews 2, 12 through 13 indicates that Christ has chosen to pray some things only through the congregation. He has chosen to sing the imprecatory psalms through, in the midst of the congregation. Jesus says, in the midst of the congregation, I will sing praise to you. Very next verse speaks of Christ's faith in the midst of the brethren. So Christ's faith is like an iron rod bound together with a broken stick of our faith that strengthens our faith and makes it possible. Kendrick's song says, come, blend your prayers with Jesus' own before the Father's throne. So it's not Christ's prayers as a substitute for our own or ours as a substitute for Christ's, but it's Christ's prayers making ours acceptable. Verse four says, the smoke of the incense, so that's the symbol of Christ's prayers. But it says, the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angels' hands. So do not ever think that Christ's intercession makes your own irrelevant. His intercession blended with yours makes yours acceptable, makes yours powerful. Now obviously, Christ's intercession goes way, way, way beyond anything that we ever bring. But your own is said to be essential for some things, specifically the things that are listed in this chapter, which I believe are imprecations against God's enemies. Sometime I would encourage you, we only have time to deal with this so much, but sometime I would encourage you to compare this passage together with Luke chapter 18, where you got the parable of the unfortunate widow. And in that parable, it talks about the saints offering up their prayers that God would avenge them And he says that he will avenge them, not like that unjust judge, slowly. He will avenge them.