The Trumpets

Have your Bibles with you the truth if you would Revelation chapter 8 will be looking at verses five through 13 Revelation chapter 8 starting at verse five and the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth. There were peals of thunder rumbling flashes of lightning, and an earthquake of seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood. There were thrown down upon the earth. The third of the earth was burned up and 1/3 of the trees were burned up all the green grass was burned up.

Second angel blew his trumpet is something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and 1/3 of the sea became blood third of the living creatures of the sea died in 1/3 of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell 1/3 of the rivers and on the springs of water.

The name of the star is wormwood third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet on the third of the sun was struck in 1/3 of the moon. 1/3 of the stars. So, the third of their light might be darkened.

The third of the night might be kept from shining. Likewise, 1/3 of the night that I looked and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice, as it flew directly overhead whoa whoa whoa to those who dwell on the earth is a blast of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow spray heavenly father. What a passage we have before us today. And Lord, we praise you and we thank you for the passage of Scripture that that we read that comfort us in and show your compassion to send and Lord have glorious those passages are to know that you're a God, God of love and a God of of great goodness and a God who desires to do good to his children, we rejoice in those passages lorded and they comfort us, and they encourage us. They help us to walk in the past that we should yet.

Passages like this. Lord, we tremble at this is a passage Lord that explains the, the judgment on the unrighteous in heavenly father, we would ask that you help us that we might truly tremble. If we might realize Lord, how great the grace was that saved us how precious the blood of Jesus was that washed away our sins. Lord, we know that we are none, deserving people and father the grace that we had might have been withheld from us, except for your sovereign mercy and we praise you for today got us and direct us Lord through this passage. May Christ be uplifted in it by this congregation be benefited by and it's in Jesus holy and wonderful and precious name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Last week we finished viewing the seven seals. This week we start viewing the seven trumpets now and last week we looked at the seven seals and what happened there. It was a picture of God, restraining his judgment on believers and ceiling them. Now what does that mean well, that means that no matter what is going on in your life here on this earth.

God has promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you. If you're if you're hurting he is with you if you're in prison. He is with you if you're before a firing squad. He is with you. So this passage does not tell us that as we go through this life as a Christian that we will not experience tribulation or persecution or suffering, but it does tell us that we will not suffer those things alone, but it's our God is a sovereign God, but we need to realize this.

He is a good God, and CS Lewis's great books outline the witch and the wardrobe. Aslan is the great lion and he is a picture or symbol of Christ, and Mr. Beaver is describing the great line to the children and telling them about his glory and his power, his magnificence and Susan, one of the children look over to Mr. Beaver is telling them all this and she says I'm quite nervous about meeting a lion is he safe.

Mr. Beaver says of course he's not saying, but he's good but he's good and he says he's the king you know I love that story. I love that passage because it tells us this great truth that the God we serve is a good God. He's a glorious God in the seventh seven seals that were opened are there to shout this truth out to us, telling us, do not be discouraged. Do not give up because no matter what takes place in your life on this earth. It will ultimately be for your good and for God's glory. Several years ago when I was in my former church. I had a young lady to early and early 20s to start visiting at our church and she was dating a man he was coming with her and I had the opportunity to sit down with them and share the gospel with them. And as I was sharing about the magnanimous love of God with them. I saw this lady cringe and I said what's the matter, and she said you called God our father and you said that God was good. She said my father was not good. She said my father beat me when I was a little girl and then verbally abuse me all through my teenage years when I was 16. Came home expecting a baby kick me out of the house told me never to come back and he never wanted to see me again. He disowned me. She said I have sending letters he sends him back says I call he hangs up.

I try to approach him, he will have absolutely nothing to do with me whatsoever so I got on the phone call this man and I talked doing so, don't you know that your daughter loves you very much and she is very sorry that she has been a disappointment to you and she deeply needs a father's love. She deeply said that man cursed me up and down.

He told me to mind my own business and he said you tell her to never speak to me again to never try to contact me again. I disowned her I don't thing to do with her. I took a reverse Scripture after that Psalm chapter 27 verse 10 is is when your father and mother reject you. The Lord will lift you up.

She didn't come to Christ. But I want you know it was a struggle for every day because of her father's influence on her to believe that our God is truly a good God now realize that the prosperity teachers. The antinomian theologians down through history have kinda put a bad taste in our mouth about God's goodness for they have said that they God's goodness will express itself this way that you will be financially wealthy and that you will be just reveling in the worldly pleasures and so what have we done. I think in many cases what we have gotten so angry with their air of theology and their licentiousness that we have swung too far the other way and so often we get into radical legalism that tells us that God is just angry and that God is just wrath, but that's very, very dangerous, our God, if there is wrath in our God, there is anger against sin. We need understand that our God is a good God.

Everything that he does is good, everything that he does. John Piper in his devotionals solid Joyce this week spoke on a passage in Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse nine old you read you the passage and I want you to listen what John Piper had to say about this and spoke to my heart.just Deuteronomy chapter 30 verse nine says the Lord will again take delight in prospering. You are does not bless us begrudgingly.

There is a kind of eagerness about the been efficiency of God. He does not wait for us to come to him.

He seeks us out because it is his pleasure to do us good.

God is not waiting for us. He is pursuing us that in fact is the literal translation of Psalm 23, six surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life. God loves to show mercy, let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people's anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but by his mercy and has but his mercy has a hairtrigger that's what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai, and said to Moses, the Lord, the Lord, a good, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. It's what we it's what he meant when he said in Jeremiah 924 I am the Lord who practices steadfast love and righteousness in the earth bring these things I delight the players the Lord God is never irritable or Aji is anger never has a short fuse.

Instead, he is infinitely energetic with absolutely unbounded and unending enthusiasm for the fulfillment of his delights. This is hard for us to comprehend because we have to sleep every day just to cope, not to mention thrive. Our emotions go up and down.

We get bored and discouraged one day and feel hopeful and excited. Another we are like little geysers that gurgle and sputter and pop erratically, but God is like a great Niagara Falls you look at hundred 86,000 tons of water crashing over the precipice. Every minute and think surely this can't keep going on at this force year after year after year, yet it does. That's the way God is about doing as good.

He never grows weary of it.

It never gets boring to him.

The Niagara of his grace has no in. I want you know that's what the seven seals were written to teach us that God restrains judgment against us that he might protect us and that he might assure us of eternity with him for things only share with you in the passage that were looking at today. The first is the trumpets of the Lord of verse six of the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them how are trumpets used in the Bible only share with your couple ways.

Number one, they sound the call to the people of God to gather them together for a particular occasion when the feast of Israel were beginning the way they initiated those feast was the blowing of the trumpet when when King Saul was ascending to the throne of his father David. They blew the trumpet when Jesus Christ returns what is the Scripture say that the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice lark under Angel and the trumpet of God.

Joel chapter 2 verse one a Joel connects the trumpets blowing with the coming of the Lord, and he says this blow a trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm on my holy mountain. The day of the Lord is coming, number two trumpets were sanded in the Old Testament to gather God's people together to prepare them for battle. I think what John is doing here is he going all the way back into the Old Testament is going back to Joshua chapter 6 and he's helping us that we might parallel what he saying about the trumpets with what happened in Joshua six and what is it that happened in Joshua six, as the passage about the about the battle of Jericho and that you remember Jericho was a wall city all the way around this huge wall and that the instructions were given to the people of Israel at they were not to march around all the wall city once every day for six days. I had the priest had the trumpets, but they were not to be blown. The people were not to say a word. They were not to talk six days. They walked around the city.

Only one time but then on the seventh day on the seventh day they walked around the city marched around it. Not one time but seven times and when they made that last lap that last lap came to an end. Then the trumpets were blown and the people would shout, and the walls fail down flat. The children of Israel went into the into the city and took the city for the name of the Lord, folks, that's exactly what John is telling us about the trumpets here. He is describing them force he's given us this background because John wants us to remember this at those first six trumpets were were blown in order to get us ready for the last trumpet that great trumpet, the seventh trumpet and what does that represent the second coming of Jesus Christ the Lord himself shall dissent from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall be right race first and then we who are alive and remain shall be called up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Paul Gardner writes this.

Certainly the holy war. Joshua six has its final counterpoint in Revelation is God wages war against Satan and all that is evil and against those who refuse to repent. Now remember were not reading the book of Revelation as a chronological sequential history or a chronological sequential prophecy we are reading it as a is 22 chapters broken down into seven different divisions or seven different sections. They represent the same thing. They represent the church age. From the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ in each one of those sections tells us something different shows is a different perspective. A different angle about what to take place and then is each one is coming to an end, we see everything intensifying in that second section we saw the seal judgments in the seal judgments what's happening. God is pouring out his love and protecting his people. He's protecting the believers that we look at the trumpet judgments and what is happening. God is pouring out his judgment upon the unbelievers, so it's the same picture but it's saying from a different perspective. The seals are saying from the perspective of the believer. The trumpets are seen from this perspective of the unbeliever. Point number two interpreting the trumpet visions. Look at verse six again as a seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them their plethora people who love the book of Revelation, because I think the book of Revelation was was written only for that last generation of Christians who will be living on this earth, so they read the book of Revelation with the book in one hand and the newspaper in the other a look of a few woody verse 11 for just a moment the name of the star is wormwood.

1/3 of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made better in 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster took place so so-called prophecy experts. During that time went absolutely crazy and they begin to to say this is this one of the signs that were given us to warn us of the soon coming of Christ and they said the word Chernobyl was a a a Ukrainian word and the Ukrainian word actually is Chernobyl and that's the word is taken here for wormwood and so they said when this event took place. The Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster that was signaling us that the second coming of Christ was going to happen at any moment in time but so were Chernobyl and Ukrainian does not exactly say Chernobyl. It does not say wormwood.

It does not say that in the event falls way short of the trumpet judgment that is mentioned here. It's much, much greater than just that little event that took place and if you take that kind of view, and that kind of perspective toward the book of Revelation, then that means that all the Christians who lived in the church age for the first, 1950 years that it was totally meaningless to them that it could only have meaning to that last generation. It is amazing what some of the preachers do as I twist Scripture to make us believe that Christ has to come back right now while I remember a few months after my conversion. A friend of mine invited me to go to revival service and the preacher was preaching and he's preaching on the antichrist and he was able preaching about this great dictator that will be ruling over all of the world and that he is ruling would come when Christ would return and of all scriptures to use use John chapter 21 human.

What going on in John chapter 21 John 21 is where Jesus is coming back to me with his disciples after his resurrection, and there's the story they are of Peter the and is coupled disciples. I don't have on the boat they been fishing all night and they came back and they not call the thing all night long they see somebody that's there on the shore and low man on the shore hollers out to them says just go back out take your nets to them on the rights of the boat you catch fish. And so they did and when they did, they called 153 large fish. I mean it was so much they can hardly get the fish back into the boat that this is the passage that he used to teach on antichrist, while John chapter 21 verse 11 to 12 says this so Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish hundred 53 of them and although there were so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them come and have breakfast now. None of the disciples dared ask you who are you, they knew it was a Lord. The preacher said what is that passage tell us I thought myself. Will Attila tells us that Jesus did America that Jesus was on the shore and he told the disciples to to to take their nets and foam on the right side and I can't hundred 53 big fish. It was a great miracle of Jesus. And because of that the disciples knew that this man on the shore was in fact the Lord is not his approach. This man said the antichrist is going to work for the United Nations and how many countries do we have in the United Nations now hundred and 53 PA says so this picture of the hundred and 53 fish is a picture of how many how many countries will have to come in to the United Nations before Christ returns and I thought what what's that got to do with it. Now I was a brand-new Christian.

I knew very little theology, almost no eschatology but I tell you what I knew that that interpretation was filled with baloney and was nothing to it all, folks don't read the book of Revelation with the book of Revelation in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Instead, read it with the book of Revelation in one hand and the rest of Scripture. In the other and let Scripture explain Scripture. So one of these four trumpets depict then they show God's judgment in the form of upheavals in nature that God uses to bring judgment upon his enemies only give you few biblical examples over in Joshua 10, five great kings came against Joshua and the people of of of Israel and they came to try to destroy him and what did God do God sent down hail from heaven, and the Scripture says it destroyed more enemy soldiers than were killed by the sword's a picture of what's going on here. I think of the 10 plagues of Israel. Did you realize that every play. Every one of those 10 plagues of Israel was an attack was attack on the on the country of the false gods of Egypt.

Every single one of them. Every one of them that the people in Egypt worshiped the Nile River is a God.

So what did God do we turn it into blood of the people worship the sun is a God. So what did God do. He blotted out the spine.

The darkness was so dark it was like darkness.

It could be failed blotted it out for days.

The people in Egypt worshiped a frog.

I took a made a frog and made a little statue of a frog. They worshiped it and what a God bubonic plague of flop frogs.

They were all in the houses in the back in the bathrooms in the bedrooms everywhere. The frogs died they took him out like a pile them up big piles in the stitch was unbelievable, just absolutely nauseating like God was saying you want to worship a frog or you go and worship that if you want to God that you have that smells like a sewage. Dump and then they worship Pharaoh as a God I worship the Pharaoh and what did God do. He brought death on the firstborn of all of Egypt. They died in Pharaoh's son died, who was heir to the throne folks God's attacks to nature that God did on all these brought all these plagues only Egypt God was saying your gods are fake and phony, and I'm proving that he folks God has used nature, his nature, he is use that all the way down to our history to wake the world up and make us realize that our God is God whom you stop here and say something one of the great political issues of our day and time is climate change.

We have politicians today that are telling us that we only got 12 years left to all on this earth and the earth can be destroyed at the earth is going to heat up the solar caps are going to melt in the waters of the oceans are going to rise up in the earth is going to be destroyed.

We only got 12 more years to live, and so what is the culprit. The culprit is fossil fuels and car exhaust and cow flatulence and folks like look for culprit to blame instead of looking to the God that they offended and every time there's a hurricane or tornado or snowstorm or hair terrible heat wave immediately like pointed out try to point out there's a political calls that brought it about. When we see God powerfully moving through the nature that he created and the nature that he controls, we need to quit looking for someone to blame it on, and we need to see it as a warning for us to repent public libraries across our land or inviting transgender people to come in and teach little six-year-old children and teach them that transgender is him is natural. It's normal and it's it's good, I saw a video the other day where they are in one of these public libraries they had taken a little, five and six-year-old Down syndrome children, boys, and they dress them up like girls and they put makeup on them at lipstick on them and then they stood back and they clapped and applauded as if this was good. In Deuteronomy 22 the Scripture says that this is an abomination before God. Folks, we need to understand that the babies that we are killing in the womb is an abomination before God, and now it's not just abortion but if the abortion doesn't work and the baby is actually born just set it aside and let the baby die just with the baby die brothers and sisters. America is thumbing our noses in God's face back in the Old Testament times, there was a God false God name Oleg he was a God that was built out of bronze huge idol was hollow and they had adorned in the bottom of it. They would take more than they put in the bottom of that, and that bottom that idle and they would heated up like a furnace and it would get quite hot. You could see it from miles away at night. It was an idol and held his arms out like this. This is the way they worship there that idle. They took their newborn babies and they placed him in the white-hot arms of of that of Moak and they burn today fixes America is America not doing pretty much the same thing but what we say to God, we don't care what you call an abomination.

We don't care about your commandments, we can do what we want to do. We do live like we want to live and we don't care about what you think. Galatians chapter 6 and verse seven says be not deceived for God is not mocked.

For whatsoever a man so with that shall he also reap.

Folks, this is not just politics. This is not politics. This is an issue between right and wrong between moral and immoral between God's word and man's wickedness. Richard Phillips of the following one of the points emphasized by the plagues only Egypt was a supernatural intervention that could be attributed only to God, Pharaoh sent his magicians to oppose Moses, but the magicians despaired saying this is the finger of God, so also the upheavals described in Revelation 8 depict God's supernatural judgment on the unbelieving world. Just as God acted through Moses to break Pharaoh's grip of slavery on Israel.

The plagues of the first four trumpets show God is humbling unbelieving powers punishing the world for its persecution of the church. Moreover, it is often observed that the plagues that Moses announced against Pharaoh were targeted at the false gods worshiped in Egypt. Likewise, Revelation 8 shows God is judging the idols of this world that man trust while the plagues against Egypt should have moved Pharaoh to repentance. Instead they only hardened his heart and consigned him to final destruction so it is in general with God's judgment in history .3 is the four trumpets of rebel. Look at verse seven through 12.

The first angel blew his trumpet in their fallen hail and fire mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth, and 1/3 of the earth was burned up and 1/3 of the trees were burned up all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and 1/3 of the sea became blood, 1/3 of the living creatures in the sea died in 1/3 of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on 1/3 of the rivers and springs of water.

The name of the star is wormwood third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, 1/3 of the sun was struck in the third of the moon, and 1/3 of the stars, so that 1/3 of the light might be darkened in 1/3 of the day might be kept from shining. Likewise, 1/3 of the night with John getting all this from where were you see getting these wild apocalyptic images that we see here is getting from the Holy Spirit. He is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God and where does the Holy Spirit of God draw this information from from the word of God, particularly the Old Testament knowingly quickly point out these judgments from the first four trumpets and make the parallel back to the Old Testament. Trumpet one is a plague of hail a plague of hail fire that were that were thrown upon this earth. The Old Testament parallel is a plague of hail that fell into Egypt in Exodus chapter 9 verse 24 and 25 in the Scriptures tell us that when that happened it destroyed both man and beast was that a freak accident of nature.

There are no freak accidents of nature.

God is in control of nature totally in control of nature in that day, God was using it to to bring judgment upon Egypt. In Revelation chapter 8 God is using it to show us how he will use nature to take to judge unbelievers all the way from the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ. The secular world today says mankind can control climate change we can control that we just have to put rules and regulations and restrictions and governmental regulations and everything will be fine but that is as wrong as it can be no man can stay the hand of God's judgment trumpet number two.

This trumpet announces an attack on the sea, where 1/3 of the fish in the sea creatures die and the ships are destroyed. This echoes the. The first plague against Egypt. When God told Moses to take his staff and plunge it into the river Nile that it did in the water turned to blood, and they lost their and the fish died like lost a water supply. But the Scripture speaks here of a great mountain that is thrown into the sea of that imagery comes from the book of Jeremiah, and Jeremiah calls babbling a destroying mountain and God is ready to destroy babbling because of the burnt mountain. The babbling in Moses time was Egypt. The babbling in in John's time was Rome, but John uses the Bert mountain analogy in Revelation chapter 8 verse eight at to tell us about how God is going to bring destruction against all the wicked nations on this face of this earth trumpet three tells us of the great star name wormwood that falls to the earth is probably a reference back to Isaiah 14 where Isaiah is comparing the king of babbling to Satan himself. Isaiah 1402. Listen to this and tells us not only about what Satan doesn't have. Satan thinks and what he please but also about his destruction.

How are you fallen from heaven. No dice are some of Don how are you cut down to the ground.

You laid the nations load you said in your heart. I will see in the heaven above the stars of God.

I will set my throne on how I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the North.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the most high, but you were brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit, those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you. Is this the one who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities who did not let his prisoners go home. What is the point here. The point is that God judges idolatrous imperial regimes like Egypt and babbling in Rome and Nazi Germany, communist Russia and secularist America. Wormwood is a catchphrase for sin ruin in all of life before trumpet speaks of judgment in the sky that brings darkness on the earth.I read some commentators say this is a and the clips that takes place. This is not a clips is much greater than that John hears drawing a picture is not right in an astronomy book darkness describes the, the, the removal of God's blessings in the Scripture teaches us about God's common grace that God that it rains on the just and the unjust, that the that the believers have air to breathe with unbelievers have air to breathe, to and what we see in this judgment is even removal of some of the common grace that we see here on earth. My last point is a trumpet summoning in this in verse 13 that I looked, I heard an eagle crying for lack of voice as it flew directly over overhead whoa whoa whoa to those who dwell on the earth at the blast of the other trumpets at the three angels are about to blood. I'll close with the words of Richard Phillips.

He said I've stressed and that the images resulting from the four trumpets are not to be interpreted literally. Yet the judgment of God on history if they depict is very real. The intention of these calamities is to show that the utopian schemes of man are doomed to fail and to warn idolatrous people of the bitterness that CN earns nail and the final judgment that will come at the end of the age to make this point clear. Revelation 813 presents an eagle flying high above the world circling for pray and warning that even worse, judgments are yet to come.

Then I looked, I heard a eagle crying is a loud voice, as it flew directly overhead whoa whoa whoa to those who dwell on the earth at the blast of the other trumpet trumpets that the three angels are about to blow the word for Eagle can also mean vulture that is a carry-on consuming bird, looking down on the earth expecting to eat man's flesh is food history was one of the great judgment in the final three trumpets.

The eagle represents how the up evils of nature warn mankind to the wire. The greater spiritual consequences of sin. How does this help us. I think it helps us to get serious about our relationship with God. It helps us to appreciate the grace and mercy that God has bestowed upon us as believers in all the help us to get dead serious about witnessing to our families, our friends and our loved ones who do not know yet Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior spray heavenly father we come before you today just almost trembling Lord as we looked at this passage that speaks of such powerful judgment that's coming on this earth, much of it is already here. We pray heavenly father that you would help us to tremble with excitement over the fact that we one day her to see you face-to-face.

Not as the one who will judge us and condemn us to hail, but the one who will usher us into a a Christ filled eternity.

How glorious that will be heavenly father, we would ask that you help us, that we might have a deeper burden for those who don't know you that we might take the gospel to a lost and hurting world. I pray for our brothers Eric and Ann Alex is there heading off to do mission work in a foreign land in Congo would ask your protection against them.

They're going to a place where there is political upheaval is dangerous. We pray for their protection that you would protect them physically. And Lord, that you would give them spiritual courage to share the gospel every opportunity they get in. May that be true knowledge of staring Alex, but may it be true of us. Jesus we love you today. Thank you for loving us.

Thank you for dying for us on the cross and it's your precious and holy name we pray. Amen