The Seven Trumpets

Good morning, church. Happy Memorial Day weekend.

Welcome to those of you who are here every week.

Welcome to those of you who are maybe visiting family, friends for the first time.

You are here in the middle of a series that we started some time ago,

looking at this fascinating book at the end of the Bible called Revelation.

The book of Revelation has provoked probably more speculation

and more works of fiction than any other book in Scripture.

It's a fascinating book. The entire book is a vision that is given to the Apostle John

while he's in exile on the prison island of Patmos.

And it's a wild vision.

I mean, I have to say, if you're here, especially if you're not a Christian

or have never really spent much time reading the Bible,

this is very unique even for the Bible.

I mean, you read the passage that we just heard

and it's easy to think that John's just kind of wandering around,

comes across some wild mushrooms, digs in,

and this is everything that comes out of that.

It's kind of mind-boggling.

And it's easy to just kind of write it off because it's so bizarre

and to think this is just crazy.

You know, when we talk about this in our weekly staff Bible study,

that's the sort of common reaction is just,

this sounds crazy.

And yet, what we've seen is that Revelation is a book

that is actually aimed at our imaginations.

It's aimed at the way we imagine the world.

And it's meant to help us reimagine the world.

So we read it the way that we would read any poetry.

There's an enormous amount of vivid imagery.

Most of it's drawn directly out of the Old Testament.

And this imagery has a purpose.

In other words, Revelation uses the extraordinary

to help us understand and perceive the ordinary.

It uses the extraordinary to help us understand

and accurately perceive the ordinary,

the everyday stuff of our mundane lives.

And Revelation is continually reminding us of this fact

that things are not as they appear.

Things are not as they appear.

And that's what we're going to see this week

when it comes to things like prayer

or suffering or evangelism.

Things are not as they appear.

And often, faith means trusting God's vision of reality

more than our own perception of reality.

And so that's what we're going to see.

We're looking at Revelation chapters 8 and 9.

Revelation 8 · chapter mention

We heard part of it read just for the sake of time.

We couldn't read all of it.

We heard part of it read,

but we're going to be focusing on all of chapter 8

and all of chapter 9.

We're going to be seeing God's vision of reality.

And this entire section of Revelation

is organized around seven trumpet blasts.

And so it's interesting if you think about a trumpet

and the meaning that a trumpet has in the Old Testament.

Trumpets essentially had three connotations.

And these are actually the three themes

that show up in chapters 8 and 9 of Revelation.

First of all, a trumpet signaled a call to worship.

So we'll see something about worship.

Second of all, a trumpet signaled a warning.

It was a warning to God's people.

And so, and then thirdly, a trumpet was a call to war.

So this is our outline as we look at this passage together.

Worship, warning, and warfare.

Let's pray and then we'll open God's word together.

Lord, we thank you for your word.

We thank you that we can open your word

knowing that even when there are parts of it that are bizarre

or parts that we don't understand

or parts that are offensive or challenging,

we know that we open your word trusting you to speak.

And that's what we need.

Not just words on a page,

but the living God speaking to his beloved children.

And we pray this, Lord, for our good,

but ultimately that you would be glorified

as we proclaim and receive your word.

In your son's name, amen.

So first of all, a trumpet blast signals a call to worship.

And these passages show us something about worship.

Trumpets were used to summon all of God's people,

especially on the day known as the Feast of Trumpets.

Now, I want to give you a little context,

especially if this is your first time

diving into Revelation with us.

All the way back in chapter four,

we see that John is taken up into the heavenly throne room

where worship is underway.

So this entire vision is happening

in the context of a worship service.

And so John is invited to the heavenly worship service.

In that sanctuary, everything is oriented

toward the throne of God.

The lamb of God, Jesus, arrives on the scene.

This is the ascension.

And then Jesus takes this sealed scroll,

which is sort of God's plan for the world,

and he begins to break open the seals.

And that's what we looked at a couple of weeks ago.

But here's what I want to focus on.

When you get to chapter eight

and the seventh seal is open,

look at what it says in verse one.

There was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

In fact, I'm going to pull this up on the screen.

It's so much that I want to make sure we're all tracking.

When the lamb opened the seventh seal,

there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

We ask, well, why does the heavenly worship service stop?

It goes on in verse two to say,

then I saw the seven angels who stand before God

and seven trumpets were given to them.

And we're asking, so something big is about to happen.

All of the singing stops, all of the praise stops,

everything halts.

You could hear a pin drop.

Everybody's holding their breath.

The angels get ready.

They have their trumpets,

but everybody's waiting for something.

You say, well, what are they waiting on?

Well, we go forward.

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 the saints

on the golden altar before the throne.

Here's the answer.

Why does the heavenly worship service stop?

Why does everything go silent?

In order to hear the prayers of the saints.

They're waiting for the prayers of the saints

to be offered before the altar.

And this is an amazing scene as we continue to read.

And it says,

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.

Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets

prepared to blow them.

So this is what they were waiting for.

They were waiting for the prayers of the saints

to fill up this bowl,

which God then mixes with incense and fire,

and then casts it back on the earth.

And this is,

I want to stop here

and just reflect on what this is showing us.

Remember we said that revelation

helps us to see things the way they really are

and encourages us to trust God's vision of reality

rather than our own perception of reality.

Well, when it comes to prayer,

I think this is something we really need.

Because I don't know if you're anything like me,

but often when I pray,

and I'm a pastor, right?

I'm like a professional prayer.

And I get paid to pray, right?

And yet often when I,

not really,

but often when,

often if you want to be totally frank,

often when I pray,

there's this little voice that thinks,

what am I doing?

Am I just a guy sitting in a room

talking to myself?

Right?

There's that little voice that says,

is this utterly meaningless and pointless?

Or if I am sure that God is there,

am I thinking,

well, you know,

God's going to do what God's going to do?

And I'm just saying this little prayer,

but does this have any bearing

on what God is going to do?

Or is this just more of a therapeutic exercise for me?

You know,

am I just praying because it helps me feel better?

But God's really going to do what God's going to do.

These are the kinds of thoughts

that I hear.

And I don't know if I'm the only one.

I hope not.

I don't think so.

And what this is showing us,

I mean,

you could preach a whole series

just on this passage.

There's an entire theology of prayer here.

And we don't have time to draw it all out,

but I just want to show you a few things

that this shows us about prayer.

Number one,

this image shows us

that God delights in prayer.

I mean,

God delights in your prayer.

This says that

when we pray,

our prayers are like

incense to the Lord.

They're a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Incense is a good thing.

And so our prayer

delights the Lord.

And you know,

I was thinking about this

and I was thinking about my own kids.

I was thinking about my boys

who are sitting right there.

And I think that,

you know,

there they are.

And oftentimes,

and oftentimes,

you know,

all throughout the day,

from different places in the house,

I hear their voices crying out,

Dada!

Dada!

You know,

and sometimes they're wanting something

that I can give them

because it's a right thing to want.

Other times,

they're wanting something

that I have to say no.

You know,

if I let you do that,

you would die.

You know,

there are things,

all kinds of requests coming in,

right?

But I'll tell you this,

I'll tell you this,

every single time

I hear their little voices

say my name,

it delights me.

These are my boys

who I love,

who I would die for,

I'm crazy about.

and every time

I hear their voices

call my name,

it fills me with delight.

It doesn't matter

what they're asking for.

And this is what

it's telling us about God.

If that's true about me,

how much more

does God delight

to hear your voices

when you call out

to your heavenly Father?

Prayer delights God,

right?

So it shows us that.

It's like a pleasing aroma.

Number two,

this is very important,

it shows us that

there's no such thing

as wasted prayer.

There's no such thing

as wasted prayer.

We are so time bound

that, you know,

I'll pray for this or that

on a Tuesday

and if God hasn't done anything

by like the next Tuesday,

then I assume that,

well, maybe God just,

that request came onto God's desk,

you know,

he kind of stamped,

declined,

and he kind of pushed it

into the trash pile

and then he just says next,

you know,

what's the next request, right?

And he forgets about it.

And this is a very different way

of understanding prayer.

This shows us that,

it gives us this poetic image,

I don't think it's literal,

but it's a poetic image

of all of the prayers

of God's people

across the centuries

being gathered together.

Every single word,

every single syllable

is carefully gathered

into this bowl,

into this heavenly censer.

And what we see here

is that everything

is kept safe.

Every prayer,

every word is kept safe.

And you recognize

that even though God

doesn't always do

what we want him to do

when we want him to do it,

one day God will answer

all the prayers of the saints.

Every prayer ever uttered.

It may not be in our timing.

It may not be the way we want.

But no prayer is lost

or forgotten

or rejected.

They're all carefully

gathered together.

And that leads to the third thing

that this shows us about prayer.

And this is the most amazing to me.

God's kingdom

advances through prayer.

God's kingdom

advances through prayer.

And we have to understand,

God is sovereign,

which means God can do

whatever he wants.

God doesn't need us

for anything.

This is unlike

the Greco-Roman gods

and goddesses

who sort of needed

the worship and service

of human beings.

Our God doesn't need anything.

His plan

doesn't need

to hinge on us.

And yet what this shows us

is that God

has so designed

his world

and us

that our prayers

actually do

become necessary

for the unfolding

of God's plan.

All of heaven

holds its breath

while the prayers

of the saints

are gathered

and offered.

And here's the thing

we need to see.

Only when the bowl

is full,

only when the bowl

is full

does God then

mix it with incense

and the fire

of the Holy Spirit

and then cast

the prayers

for vindication

and judgment

and renewal

back down on the earth.

This shows us

that prayer

matters.

Right?

So Charles Spurgeon,

one of the greatest

preachers who ever lived,

lived in the 19th century,

had a ministry

that transformed

thousands upon

thousands of lives.

Most people would agree

just one of the most

gifted preachers

who ever lived.

Often people would come

to visit him

in his church

and they would want

to sit down

with this great man

and say,

what is the secret

to your success?

You know,

what's your preaching strategy?

Who did you learn from?

Who do you listen to?

You know,

how do you do it?

And he'd stand up

and he'd lead them down

into the basement

of the church

to the basement prayer room

where most often

you would find

parishioners

from his congregation

praying.

There were people

in there praying

almost all the time.

And Spurgeon would say,

this is the secret

to our success.

Prayer,

and this prayer room,

is the powerhouse

of the church.

And he would compare it

to a mill.

He says,

you know,

if the engine room

in a mill

shuts down,

the whole mill

grinds to a halt.

And he says,

it's the same with prayer.

Prayer is the engine room

of the church.

It all is driven by

and hinges on prayer.

Prayer drives the church.

Prayer is also

the engine room

of God's kingdom.

This is how the kingdom

advances in the world.

And so what this is showing us

is that we're not

sideline spectators

in God's plan.

We're not just here to say,

good job,

keep it up.

Now we could be,

God would be perfectly just

in designing it that way.

But this shows us

that God actually

gives us

a causal role.

And you know,

Blaise Pascal wrote

that prayer

is God's way

of giving human beings

the dignity

of causality.

And I love that.

God,

he doesn't have to,

but he says,

I'm going to give you

the dignity

of playing a causal role

in the coming of the kingdom.

Only when you pray,

only when you pray

will the kingdom advance.

And this is just

kind of blowing my mind

when it comes to

how I think about

my own prayer life.

God doesn't have to rely on us,

but he chooses to rely on us.

And so,

you know,

here's the so what

before we move on.

I think we often think

of prayer as the thing

we do before we do

the real work.

You know,

like I'm going to go

do the important things.

I'm going to go

have this meeting

and all my brilliance

is going to come out

and it's going to change lives.

But before I do that,

I should probably pray.

And that's just

a complete backwards way

of thinking about it.

Prayer is the real work

of God's people.

Everything else we do,

all the things

that we think we have to offer,

all of our degrees

and gifts and training,

all that is very secondary

and it's very subordinate.

The real work

that we are given to do

is the work of prayer.

Prayer is the engine room

of the kingdom of God.

So God has been teaching me

this this past year.

He sets me up

in situations

where I try everything I got

and it all fails.

And then in desperation,

I pray and God

does something amazing.

And again and again and again,

I feel like I've just been

humbled to remember

prayer is the real work

that we've been given to do.

So I think this is why

we should be praying regularly

for our friends,

for our marriages,

for our kids,

for our community,

for our government leaders.

This is why every week

when we gather,

we set aside time

to pray as a church.

And so I want to challenge you,

if you just take a moment

and think,

is there some part

of your life

or something

that you feel like

you have come to the Lord

and you've prayed to God

and you feel like God

just hit declined

and he just kind of shifted

your request off his desk

and he turned his attention elsewhere,

if that's what you feel like

about that part of your life,

I want you to consider

taking up that prayer again.

Take that thing

and I want you to commit

to praying every day for that.

Do it for a month.

Do it for two months.

And just see what God might do

if you resume that prayer.

So this is what the trumpets

teach us first

is the importance of worship,

the importance of prayer,

and the way that prayer

is the engine room

of the kingdom of God.

That's number one.

Number two,

the trumpets offer us

a warning.

They give us a warning

that we all need to heed.

It says,

as the trumpets begin to sound,

hail and fire and blood

come and they destroy

a third of the earth.

It says that there's

a burning mountain

that collapses.

It says that the sea

turns to blood.

And then it tells us

that demonic locust hordes

are unleashed

to torment human beings.

Sounds like a horror movie.

You know,

and I don't think anybody

thinks that really

there will,

well there's probably

some people who think this,

but I think most people

agree that this is not

literally talking about

a hole opening in the ground

and demonic locusts

coming out.

This is all metaphor

and imagery.

It sounds bizarre to us,

but what we need to understand

is if you were

in the first century

and you were hearing this

and you were hearing

about all of these things,

you would immediately

go to one place

in your mind.

You would think

of the Exodus.

You would think

of the greatest story

of deliverance

in Israel's history.

The Exodus was

the primary defining event

in Israel's history.

It defined them

as a people.

And so once we recognize

that this is meant

to evoke memories

of the Exodus,

then we realize

the way to interpret this

is to look at it

through the lens

of the Exodus.

That's how we're meant

to read this.

And so we say,

oh this is talking

about biblical plagues.

What was going on

in Egypt

a long time ago

when God sent plagues

on Pharaoh?

Remember,

God's people

were enslaved

by the Egyptians

and so God sent plagues

to set them free.

And you ask,

okay, well back then

what was the point

of the plagues?

Why did God send

ten awful plagues

on the Egyptians?

And if you go back

to Exodus 5,

the starting point,

you see why.

Moses goes

for the first time

to Pharaoh

and Moses says,

the Lord says,

let my people go

that they may worship me.

And here's Pharaoh's response.

This sets the whole thing off.

Who is the Lord

that I should obey

his voice?

And you say,

wrong answer, Pharaoh.

Right?

Everything that comes

after that

for chapter upon chapter

upon chapter

of nightmare,

it all is a result

of those fatal words.

Who is the Lord

that I should obey

his voice?

And so what we see

is the purpose

of the plagues

is this.

God is wanting

to demonstrate

to the whole world

there is only one God

and there is no one

like that God.

And you see that refrain

throughout all of the plagues.

Before each of the plagues,

God says

that they may know

that I am the Lord.

That they may know

that there is no one

like me.

That they may know

that I am the only God.

Plague after plague

after plague

to teach the same point.

Right?

So the purpose

of the plagues

is this.

There's only one God,

Yahweh,

and there's no one

like him.

And so,

okay,

so that's our lens

and so we say,

okay,

well if Revelation

is telling us

that God will send

more plagues

on the earth,

not just to Egypt

but on the whole earth,

that more plagues

come,

they have come

throughout history,

they will continue

to come.

If this is what

we're seeing here,

then what does that

tell us?

If you put on

your sort of

exegetical hat,

well,

it tells us

that the Exodus

never ended.

It tells us

that we are still

in Exodus.

It tells us

that the whole world

is enslaved

and that God

is calling out,

let my people go,

but that is going

out over all the earth.

The entire unbelieving

world is like Pharaoh

saying,

who is the Lord

that I should obey

his voice?

Right?

And we're all slaves

and we're not slaves

to Egypt,

we're slaves

to idols.

And idol worship

is the thing

that sits behind

both Exodus

and Revelation.

The core problem

with human beings

is that we worship

idols.

And if you say,

well,

how do you get there

in Revelation?

How could you possibly

say it's actually

all about idol worship?

Actually,

the end of chapter 9

tells us

that very thing.

No, no, no,

chapter 9.

Let's see.

For the power

of the horses

is in their mouths

and in their tails.

Verse 20,

the rest of mankind

who were not killed

by these plagues

did not repent

of the works

of their hands

nor give up

worshiping demons

and idols of gold

and silver

and bronze

and stone

and wood

which cannot see

or hear

or walk.

So this entire section

is summed up there.

All of this was meant

to get the people

to repent of their idol worship

and they didn't repent.

And so we know

that it's all about idols.

So all of these plagues,

as awful as they sound,

and here's kind of

a challenging idea,

these plagues

are actually acts of mercy.

They're acts of mercy.

God allows a finite amount

of suffering and calamity

in order to wake people up

to the truth

that they're enslaved to idols.

And you say,

well, God would cause harm

to bring healing?

Yeah, it's hard to understand,

but not crazy.

I mean, that happens

at the doctor's office

all the time.

Right?

Doctors know that sometimes

they have to cause pain

in order to bring healing.

That's how we are meant

to understand the plagues.

So God uses suffering

like a crowbar

to pry our hearts free

from the grip of idols.

So I want to give

a couple of examples

of what this might look like.

You say,

well, why would I need that

in order to see the idols

that I worship?

And here's the problem.

It's very hard to see

the idols that we are worshiping

when everything's going well.

Like when life is good

and I'm happy

and my needs are met,

it's hard to see the things

that I'm really depending on

because I'm not really aware of it.

It's only when the bottom

drops out of life

that you really begin to see

what you worship

and what you rely on.

And so just to give

a couple of examples,

let's say that you tend

to make an idol

out of the admiration

of other people.

I don't know if anybody

wants to admit that,

but for some of us,

that's an idol.

It's something that we rely on.

I am nothing.

I am worthless.

My life is empty

unless people admire me,

unless I can be respected,

unless I have prestige, right?

So normally people

who worship that

are pretty good

at getting it.

You know,

so somebody really wants

the admiration

of other people,

so you learn how

to gain admiration

and you're used to being

the kind of standout person,

the smartest person

in the room,

the most impressive resume, right?

And so normally

that need is getting met

and so you're not aware

of how much you need it.

But then imagine

something really embarrassing

happens, right?

You're publicly humiliated.

Something awful happens

and you're humiliated.

Some people,

when they have

an embarrassing experience,

they can just kind of

brush it off,

laugh at themselves

and move on.

Other people,

if they're publicly embarrassed,

will be devastated.

Now,

if you are devastated

by something like that,

it's worth asking,

is there an idol

under the surface?

You know,

I can't laugh it off.

I can't move on.

That thing that happened

four years ago,

I'm still ruminating on it

at night

as I lay in bed.

Chances are,

there's an idol there

and you didn't realize

how much you needed

the affirmation

until after you lost it

and then you realized

how much you were

depending on it.

So that's an example

of how God can bring a plague.

The embarrassment

is God trying

to wake you up.

God trying to liberate you.

One more example,

let's say we make an idol

out of our work.

Some of us do

make an idol

out of our work.

And you say,

well, you know,

I don't really need

to be told,

I don't need to suffer

to know that I make

an idol out of my work.

I mean,

I'll admit it freely

right now.

Yes,

I work too much.

It's too important to me.

I don't need to suffer

to realize that.

Well, here's the thing

we need to realize.

A lot of our idols

like work

are surface level idols.

Yeah,

I know I work too much.

But under that idol,

there are deeper,

more core idols.

And you're not going

to know what those

core idols are

through simply

self-reflection.

Often it takes

a plague

to awaken us

to the truth

of those deeper

core idols.

So think about why

people make an idol

out of work.

Well,

lots of different reasons.

Some people make

an idol out of work

because it's a way

to gain prestige

and self-respect.

I work a lot

because I want prestige.

Other people work a lot

because making money

is what gives them

a sense of safety

and security.

And the only way

I feel safe in the world

is if I'm making money.

Some people worship work

because it gives them

a sense of power

and control

over other people.

Some people worship work

as a way of avoiding

painful feelings.

Those are four

completely different reasons

to work

and to make an idol

out of work.

very different idols

that look the same

on the surface.

And so the only way

to know what is

really driving you

is if God sends a plague.

You lose your job.

You go for months

and months and months

unemployed.

You can't find another job.

You know,

I've known people

over the years

in a place like D.C.

that happens a lot.

You get laid off

or you finish school

and you're looking

for a job

and people can just spend

months and months looking.

And I see some people

are able to endure that

and they're okay.

Ultimately,

they know they're

going to be okay.

Other people are just

wrecked by it.

They don't know

who they are.

They're devastated.

They have no sense

of self or worth.

If that is you,

it may be that

there's an idol at work.

Right?

So these trumpets

in Revelation

are waking us up

to the reality

of the world we live in.

They call us to worship,

reminding us

that prayer matters

and they serve

as a warning.

The Exodus never ended.

God is continuing

to visit plagues upon us

to allow a limited

amount of suffering

so that we will wake up

to the idols

that we serve.

Third and final point,

we'll make this quickly.

For the sake of time,

trumpets signal warfare.

They're a call to battle.

And the sixth trumpet,

we see that the focus

shifts away from evil plagues

to a heavenly army.

And, you know,

this is just so rich

that we just have to read it.

I mean, just...

Release the four angels

who were bound

to the great river Euphrates.

So the four angels

who had been prepared

for the hour,

the day,

the month,

and the year

were released

to kill a third of mankind.

The number of mounted troops

was twice 10,000 times 10,000.

I'm pretty sure

that's like 2 million.

I heard their number

and this is how I saw

the horses in my vision

and those who rode them.

They wore breastplates

of color of fire

and of sapphire

and of sulfur

and the heads of the horses

were like lion's heads.

That's pretty consistent

with Revelation, right?

The fire and smoke

and sulfur

came out of their mouths.

By these three plagues,

a third of mankind

was killed

by the fire and smoke

and sulfur

coming out of their mouths.

For the power of the horses

is in their mouths

and in their tails.

For the tails

are like serpents

with heads

and by means of them

they wound.

I mean, again,

fantastic imagery

but what we are

to understand is this.

This is a heavenly cavalry

of 200 million

fire-breathing warriors

with lion heads.

Again, it's like

right out of a kids movie, right?

It's like, you know.

And yet the commentator

Peter Lightheart

makes a convincing argument

that this is in fact

another representation

of the spirit-filled church.

So you say,

well, who is this big

lion-headed

fire-breathing cavalry?

Well, it's you.

This is Revelation's

depiction of you

and me.

This is the church

and the world.

The fire that they breathe

is the spirit-filled

preaching of the gospel.

The lion heads

show us that they bear

the image of the lion of Judah.

So this is the church

and the church

is going to war

against the idols

and the idol worshipers

in the world.

And you say,

well, are we killing people?

No, not literally.

Again, this is metaphor.

We are killing, you know,

in verse 6,

it tells us

that the people

who are being tormented

by the demonic

locust hordes,

remember that?

Those people

are suffering

and they're longing to die.

They're longing for freedom.

And so then God

sends the cavalry

to set these people free.

They're not actually

killing these people.

They are turning them

into living sacrifices.

When people hear

the preaching of the gospel,

they die to themselves,

they die to the power of idols,

and they are raised

to new life

in Jesus Christ

as living sacrifices.

And so this is not

literal killing.

It is actually saving people

from the torment

of idols

and the demons

behind them.

And you say,

well, what about

the snake-headed tails?

I mean,

again,

it's bizarre

and here's how

we would read this.

The church has the power

to bless and to curse.

That's something

we don't often talk about.

The church has the power

to bless and to curse.

You have an opportunity

to hear and to respond

to the gospel.

If you reject the gospel,

if you let it pass you by,

then you are given over

to the serpent.

The church has that authority

in the world.

And so this scene

reveals the truth

about the church

in the world

that we are at war.

Now you may right now

feel like you're at war

with your kids

trying to keep them from,

and we don't often

think of that,

and you think

the biggest battle

that you're fighting

is just keeping

your kids quiet.

I feel that all the time.

My wife feels it

all the time.

But don't be fooled.

Right now,

sitting in this room,

we are at war.

There is a battle

taking place,

and human beings

hang in the balance.

But as Paul says

in Ephesians 6,

lest we get the wrong idea,

we do not wrestle

against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers,

against the authorities,

against the cosmic powers

over this present darkness,

against the spiritual forces

of evil

in the heavenly places.

We are fighting

a spiritual war

against idols

and the demonic forces

behind those idols.

So here's the quick point

I want to make.

When it comes to evangelism,

I think often

we feel squeamish about it.

We feel like

in this day and age,

sharing your faith

with other people

is closed-minded

and backwards.

Nobody does that anymore.

We live in a morally

and religiously pluralistic society.

Everybody should just

believe what they believe.

But we need to see

evangelism

through the lens

of Revelation chapters 8

Revelation 8 · chapter mention

and 9.

We should not think of this

as just one worldview

versus another

or one set of ideas

versus another.

The trumpet reminds us

that we are at war

because we're still

in the Exodus.

And all around us,

human beings

are enslaved

to idols.

The people who come

and worship here

are coming

as slaves to idols.

And so God calls

his church

to be like Moses.

You know,

the church is like Moses

confronting Pharaoh,

confronting

the unbelieving world

and saying,

let my people go.

So every time

we share the gospel,

we're giving someone

a chance

at freedom.

That's what you're doing.

You're speaking to a slave

and you're saying,

this is how to be free.

And you know,

I love the words

from Penn Jillette,

you know,

the kind of performer,

magician.

He's a well-known atheist.

But at one point

he said this in an interview.

He said,

you know,

even though he's an atheist,

he says,

I don't respect people

who don't proselytize.

He says,

I don't respect that at all.

He says,

you believe that there's a heaven

and eternal life

or whatever

and you think that it's not

really worth telling people

because it would make it

socially awkward?

And then he says this,

how much do you have

to hate somebody

to believe that everlasting life

is possible

and to not tell them that?

And I love,

it's so true,

you know,

I'm a slave.

I am tormented

by the things

that I've given my life to.

I'm tormented

by my need to be beautiful.

I'm tormented

by my need to be smart.

I'm tormented

by my need to be successful.

I'm tormented

by my need to be comfortable.

And in every case,

I'm a slave.

And you actually have

the good news

that could liberate me

from these things?

And you're just not

going to tell me

because you don't want

me to be offended?

That's what he's saying.

So we need to see

that faith means

trusting God's vision

of reality

more than our own perception.

And the trumpets

show us three things.

Worship and the prayers

of the saints

advance the kingdom

of God.

Warning

needs to be spoken

to the world

that we are still

in the exodus

and that we are still

slaves to idols

unless we fight.

And so finally

the trumpets show us

that even though

it seems benign,

everything seems peaceful,

we are at war.

That God's vision

of the church

is that we are

a fire-breathing

lion-headed cavalry.

And as crazy

as that sounds,

when we speak

the gospel,

we are speaking

in the fiery power

of the Spirit.

And this is God's means

of setting people free

for his glory.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.