A Song of Triumph (The Seventh Trumpet) | Revelation 11:15-19 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series)

The Bible teaches that God Almighty has appointed 7

trumpets to signal a remarkable series of events in the last

days. When the first trumpet is

sounded, 1/3 of this very planet will be consumed by hail and

fire. The second alarm will call for

something like a great mountain that will crash into the sea,

turning it into blood and destroying a third of its

creatures and even the ships on it.

The third sound will invite a star from heaven to destroy 1/3

of the rivers and the springs of water that will make it deadly

to drink. The 4th, the Bible tells us,

will actually dim 1/3 of the sun, moon, and stars.

The 5th trumpet will actually summon some of the most vicious

and heinous demons to torment the inhabitants of the earth for

a total of five months. And the 6th summons 4

high-ranking fallen angels to lead the charge in slaying 1/3

of the human population. As unimaginable as these things

are, there is yet one more trumpet to be sounded.

And unlike the previous ones, the 7th trumpet will not set

into motion, at least directly, any cataclysmic event.

Instead, this final climactic blast will awaken the hearts of

those in heaven to offer exuberant praise and worship.

For what reason? Well, as we are about to read,

because something is about to transpire that the redeemed have

been waiting and praying for across the ages.

And we're going to see that together in Revelation Chapter

Revelation 11 · chapter mention

11, beginning in verse 15. And I invite you to look at it

with me as we seek to complete this chapter this afternoon.

Here's what the word of God says.

Then the 7th Angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud

voices in heaven saying, the Kingdom of the world has become

the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall reign

forever and ever. And the 24 elders who sit on

their Thrones before God fell on their faces and worship God,

saying, We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and

who was. For you have taken your great

power and begun to reign the nation's rage.

But your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and Saints, and

those who fear your name, both small and great.

And for destroying the destroyers of the earth.

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of His

covenant was seen within His temple.

There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of Thunder, an

earthquake, and heavy hail. Pray with me, Lord, You've been

with us. We pray that you would go before

us in the reading and the explanation of Your Word.

We pray that Your Son would be exalted.

We pray that our hearts would be uplifted.

And we pray that in all these things Your will would be done,

that you would be blessed as we receive your blessing.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Well, you know that on Friday nights we're studying Ezra.

But before that we've spent many, many months studying the

books of first and second kings. And if you were there for those

studies, then you would recall that on many occasions whenever

a new ruler was coronated, it was sometimes accompanied by the

sound of a trumpet to announce his enthronement.

And that is precisely what we are seeing here, that that's the

reflection that there is an announcement being made with

this 7 trumpet and it is one that focuses on the person of

Jesus Christ. You see, the reason why there is

such a strong and joyful reaction to the sound is because

there is this long-awaited promise that is ready to be

fulfilled, the promise of God's eternal Kingdom coming to earth

and being established forever and ever.

And this is so imminent, this is so near that it's being

recognized in this very moment. Christ is about to return.

In this description of God's prophetic timeline of the last

days, by this moment, at this juncture, we are being told that

Christ is about to bring the full manifestation of His

Kingdom to this world. And this is something that stirs

the hearts of these worshippers in obvious and even subtle ways.

And I want you to see something as we look at the song of

triumph and compare it to other portions of the Book of

Revelation. So if you have Revelation open,

go back to chapter 1. I want you to see something here

in verse 4, Revelation 1, Revelation one, verse 4, John to

the seven churches that are in Asia.

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to

come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne.

Go down to verse 8 of chapter 1. I am the Alpha and the Omega

says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come the

Almighty. Go to chapter 4 verse 8 now and

the four living creatures, each of them with six wings are full

of eyes all around and within and the and day and night.

They never cease to say holy, holy, holy is the Lord God

Almighty who was and is and is to come.

This declaration of the eternality of God and the wide

span of His ways is repeated in the same way as we just saw in

all these occurrences. Right.

But did you notice what was omitted in that similar phrase

in the act of worship of Chapter 11?

Look at it again with me, Revelation 11 verse 16 and the

Revelation 11:16

24 elders who sit on their Thrones before God fell in their

faces and worship God saying we give thanks to you, Lord God

Almighty, who is and who was full stop for you have taken

your great power and begun to reign.

What's missing this time? Who is to come?

Why, because he's about to come. Christ is about to fulfill that

very part. He's about to make his way into

this world, and the 7th trumpet announces his enthronement.

It's preparing us for it. But the coronation of the Lord

Jesus is not the only thing that's being celebrated here.

You have to understand that this celestial choir has a

comprehensive understanding of the things that will follow as a

result of Christ establishing His throne on the earth.

And there are at least five things, at least five things

that we can examine from these verses that we read together.

And we're going to look at it. But before we look at it, I, I

want to present something. I want to present by way of

example, what I pray and hope our response to these truths

will be look at the 24 elders and see what happens to them.

Again, in verse 16, it says here.

And the 24 elders who sit on the Thrones before God fell on their

faces and worship God. So the revelation of the return

of Christ was so profound, so forceful, that it catapulted

these high-ranking beings off their seats of honor and planted

them on the lowest place possible on their faces before

the presence of God. And I can't help but think that

our hearts should respond in a similar way as we hear this

message that we too would experience a fresh sense of

surrender, A rush of adoration towards Christ, as we are going

to remember that this Jesus that we love, this Jesus that has

saved us from our sins is going to come back.

And we will see him, we will behold him, and we will see at

least five things happening as a result of it.

And so let's consider this now together.

The first thing that we can expect at the return of Christ

is that this world will be conquered by His Kingdom.

This world will be conquered by His Kingdom.

I find it fascinating that the voices in verse 15 do not say

the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord

and of His Christ. It doesn't say kingdoms.

Look again. What does it say in verse 15?

The Kingdom singular? He's not Speaking of the plural

here. And this detail reminds us of a

crucial truth of the world that we live in, that although there

are diverse nations and there are unique governments and there

are, there are different ideas of politics being implemented.

There are diverse cultures, absolutely.

But in reality, everything is ultimately ruled under one

Kingdom, and that is Satan's. That is Satan's Kingdom, and

this is something that the apostle John who wrote the Book

of Revelation always believed and always taught.

Let me remind you of a known verse from his first epistle.

In first John 519 John says we know that we are from God and

the whole world lies in the power of the evil. 1 The whole

world lies in the power of the evil.

What a jolting thought that the world you and I live in is

dominated by Satan only because God has permitted him to

administer a large amount of influence in this present age.

But what's very heartbreaking about this statement John makes

in first John 519 is the word that he uses concerning our

world. It lies in the power of the evil

one. That word lies in the original

language denotes the posture of a baby, which means that the

world is not struggling, resisting or fighting against

this invisible evil spiritual reign.

It voluntarily rests in the grip of Satan.

It lies in the power of the evil. 1 Moreover, John tells us

that not just part of the world, not just certain nations, but

the whole world is under his domain.

That means our politics, our entertainment, our economy, our

cultures, alternative religions and expressions of spirituality

have a level of satanic influence behind them.

And if it wasn't for God's common grace of operating in our

world, then we would see hell on earth.

But even with God's grace being dispensed every single day, we

still have to understand and comprehend that Satan is at work

in every sphere of society. And that is not meant to cause

any of us to live in paranoia, because it easily can.

What we are told, according to John, is that we should know

this so that we can be discerning, that we can be

cautious, that that we should be alert as we navigate through

this life dependent on the Lord. Understanding this.

Believer, please hear me. You and I are living in enemy

territory. Every single moment of our lives

we are living in enemy territory.

This world is not neutral towards Christians.

It is hostile. Temptations, deceptions, and

even persecutions are lurking all around us from the moment

you wake up and get out of your bed to the moment you return to

lay your heavy head on that pillow.

You and I are always at war, and that warlike mentality should

change the way you approach everything, including your

relationship with the Lord and the Church, how you engage with

everything that comes your way. But here's the good news about

Christ, that there is an appointed hour when he will

actually physically, bodily invade this world, overthrow

Satan's tyranny, plant his flag on every single hill, and we're

going to see an awesome thing. The whole world will be under

his influence. Every corner of our culture,

every facet of our society will be under his authority.

And I'm afraid that many Christians have an overly

simplistic understanding of the last days, summarized usually in

Well, there's a day coming where Christ is going to come snatch

us all the way, judge the world to hell while we're tucked away

safe in eternity. The doctrine of the return of

Christ is much more triumphant than that.

And here's a hint, Christ is coming for his bride, but he's

going to do much more than that. He's going to again come and

terminate Satan's reign. And then with the redeemed, he

is going to promote many of his church to actually live in

positions of authority to rule and reign with him.

According to Revelation 24, a 1000 years as we witness what

the world has never seen. And that is a perfect

government, where Christ will for that length of time declare

to the generations that He is the true king, and that only His

government can bring true peace and true justice.

And when Christ does come to take over the Kingdom of this

world, he will fulfill what Zechariah 14-9 prophesied, that

the Lord will become the king over all the earth.

And in that day the Lord will be 1 and his name 1.

The first thing that we can expect when Christ comes back is

that he's going to conquer this world.

But #2 the dead will be judged. That's what we find near the

start of verse 18. Look again with me.

The nations raged, but your wrath came.

And the time for the dead to be judged.

So in the same way that the the rule of Christ will be

universal, so will his judgement be every single person, man or

woman. They will stand before the

tribunal of God, and in that moment he will determine their

eternal faith with perfect justice.

And so extensive is this judgment that even the dead will

not be able to escape. And in fact, they've sealed

their faith once they have died. Now, what's this judgment going

to be about exactly? I believe this.

The same verse gives us a clue. Look again at the beginning of

verse 18. The nation's raged, but your

wrath came. And then he speaks about

judgement. So what are the nations so angry

about? Well, we're going to find out in

a moment here. But this is what it shows us

thus far, that God's judgement, his scrutiny will confront a

raging world, an infuriated people.

And the reason why they are so enraged is because of God and

his reign. That's the context, is it not?

Christ's Kingdom is coming, the nations at the thought of Christ

coming and ruling has caused them to be inflamed with such

anger and he will judge them for it.

These lyrics are very reminiscent of Psalm 2, are they

not? Remember how much of Revelation

is absolutely saturated with the Old Testament?

What did Psalm 2 say in the beginning?

Well, the psalmist asked the question, why do the nation's

rage and the people's plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take

counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed,

saying, Let us burst their bonds apart and castaway their cords

from us. Here's the translation.

The nations are enraged because they cannot fathom that the Lord

and His anointed would seek to place their yoke upon them.

They view His leadership as intolerable.

They understand that his His lordship is an unwelcome divine

restraint, and so they will oppose Him.

The world will actually oppose Christ up to the very moment

that He makes himself visible in all His glory and power.

And yes, it is true that the world abhors the thought of

Christ material reign, but let me remind you something.

They deny and reject His spiritual reign just as much as

you and I experienced his reign today.

Christ is not going to become King when He comes back.

He is King now, but His kingship will be in full display, and the

way He rules and reigns now is spiritually in our hearts

through His Church. And I want to make the case that

the world is just as vehemently upset and opposed to the concept

of Christ ruling over them now as they will be when He comes

back. And here's a test for you and I

to know if we're worldly, if we're like the world.

Do you desire his rule and reign?

Do you desire his kingship over your life that determines if you

truly belong to Him? And and the way we prove it

ultimately is by the way we live.

So when Christ comes back, He will meet the unholy, rebellious

rage of the world with His holy, unstoppable wrath.

The essence of this judgement is Christ confronting the living of

the dead who did not joyfully surrender to His lordship when

they had the chance. The dead will be judged #3 the

redeemed will be rewarded. Look again at the middle of

verse 18. It's right in the middle,

actually. And four, rewarding your

servants, the prophets and Saints.

What a wonderful promise. So while an angry world should

expect wrath, the redeemed anticipates rewards, not wrath

rewards. And in case you're listening to

this message and you're unfamiliar with the the central

message of our faith, Christ is not coming back with the

possible reward of our salvation depending on how you lived.

No, no, no, no, no. His salvation is a free gift

that has already been given and received by your faith.

That being said, the rewards that He will come with are for

the redeemed who have already experienced His grace and

received it by faith. But we'll know either more or

fewer rewards based on their commitment to Christ and their

faithfulness to Him. That's what's in view here.

So it's the rewards for those who have been redeemed, His

servants, the prophets, the Saints, those who fear your

name. So we're not waiting, hoping

that Christ is going to save us. I hope that my name is written

in the Lamb's book of life. That's been said and done.

However, there will be an evaluation about how you and I

lived with the truths that we have in the word of God as

Christ being our Lord. This is what we have to

anticipate. And this is so marvelous because

God's way of judging is so different than man's.

Look at the last phrase of this verse.

We see here that it will be, yes, the servants, the prophets,

the Saints, and those who fear your name.

But he mentions the small and great.

Do you see that? Both small and great.

What does he mean by that? Well, it's the encouraging truth

that the Lord is ready to honor both those who are widely

recognized, highly praised and appreciated, and those who go

largely unnoticed by the world and especially the church, both

small and great. You may be here today as a

genuine follower of Christ. You love him, you adore him, you

serve him, you are steadfast. You, you, you come to church and

you, you love the Bride of Christ.

And at the same time you from time to time look at your own

life and think, I'm just, I'm very ordinary.

And I don't know if my contributions to the Kingdom

actually matter much. In fact, they might be meager

actually. And if that is you, I want you

to be so encouraged today with this truth in this verse that if

you are faithful, God will reward you.

God will reward you. You know, you and I were

reflecting last time we were together in this book about how

the great city of Jerusalem in God's eyes was condemned, was

vile, was morally bankrupt, great in the sight of man, but

in God's view, so found wanting, so lacking.

The way God perceives things is extremely humbling and sobering.

And I was reflecting on this earlier this week of how the

Lord looks at people way differently than you and I do.

And what came to mind was what the Angel told Zechariah, who'd

be the father of that great man of God, John the Baptist.

And I want to read to you what the Angel told Zechariah, and

it's for you as well. And Luke 114 listen to these

words, and you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice

at his birth, verse 15 For he will be great before the Lord,

and he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be

filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.

So many today are pursuing an understanding of greatness that

is worldly, that are tirelessly disciplining themselves because

they are motivated by a secular notion of legacy.

I want to leave a legacy for my family.

I want to leave a legacy for my generation.

And what you find here instead is that if you and I want to

attain unfading, everlasting reward, all you have to do in

your ambition is seek to be great before the Lord.

Do you see that in verse 15? He shall be great before the

Lord? And how God views greatness is a

strong contrast to how the world measures it.

And all I have to be preoccupied with on a daily basis is to

understand how the Lord esteems greatness, and then to pursue

it, trusting that though I may be overlooked, though I may be

underappreciated, though I made me ignored, Oh, there's a day

coming where He will personally reward me.

And His reward will outweigh the prizes of 10 thousands of your

companions who may express their gratitude for you.

It will be from the Prince of Peace himself.

And I'm reminded from this that oh God, you must be my primary

audience all the time. You are the one that I am

seeking to please. And when you listen, when you

live in that reality, I assure you this, the back breaking

pressures of worldly success and the agonizing lies of being a

failure will roll off your shoulders.

He will come to reward the redeemed.

But fourthly, the last part of verse 18, we read an interesting

declaration. And for destroying the

destroyers of the earth. The fourth thing that we can

expect when Christ comes back is a destruction of the wicked.

The wicked will be destroyed. Listen, we're all sinners.

Each of us have fallen short of the glory of God.

And yet, the Bible tells us that there are different categories

of evil that can be committed, and what's being highlighted

here is not those who pollute the environment or who are

careless towards the ecosystem, but those who are ambitiously

seeking to corrupt the world through their evil, especially

those in powerful positions and platforms of influence.

God is going to target the destroyers of the earth, meaning

in context, He's going to come after the Antichrist, his

minions, and his evil empire. Absolutely.

But this also encompasses anyone who has promoted or encouraged

sin in ways that disintegrate the fabric of society.

Christ is keeping in mind those who are leading the charge or

adding fuel to the fire that is destroying this world.

So let me be very clear. Anyone who advocates for the

murder of children in the womb is a destroyer of the earth.

Anyone who encourages someone to believe that they are not the

gender God assigned at birth is a destroyer of the earth.

Anybody who teaches and advocates and encourages people

to marry of the same sex is assaulting the very bedrock of

civilization and is a destroyer of the earth.

Anybody who has haunted down or harassed a Christian or the

church who by the word of God is identified as the salt and the

light of the earth, is a destroyer of the earth.

Christ is coming for those who destroy the earth.

And here's hope, if you have played a part in that, that even

if you have done something to harm God's intended world, what

God has designed for His creation, you can call out to

Him and he will forgive you completely, totally.

And not only will He forgive you, He will adopt you.

And not only will He adopt you, He will crown you and reward you

should you remain faithful to Him.

But all for those who are adamant and stubborn and

convinced that they are doing a world of favor by destroying it

according to the authority of God's Word.

I say to you, you will be destroyed.

Christ himself will destroy you. Wrath is looming over your head,

and you must flee the wrath to come and hide yourself in Christ

while you have life. The wicked will be destroyed.

Finally, and what I'm looking forward to the most is what we

find in verse 19. And God's temple in heaven was

opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his

temple. There were flashes of lightning,

rumblings, peals of Thunder and earthquake and heavy hail.

The fullness of God's presence will be restored.

This is symbolically portrayed by John's words in this verse as

he sees the unthinkable. You have to understand that John

has a Jewish mind. He is a Jew and he understands

that for centuries the Ark of the Covenant was veiled.

It was designed to be hidden. It was not meant for the

onlooker or the common gaze. Even the most privileged in

Israel, the high priest, only had a single day to get a glance

of this golden chess piece that symbolized God's presence on

earth. And yet at this point in this

vision, as he hears this amazing song being sung, he also sees

the temple in heaven opening and the Ark of the Covenant in

complete view, signifying what? That at Christ's coronation we

will know the fullness of His presence.

What was commonly known to be concealed now emerges for all to

behold. And so here's the message of

this The nations can expect God's wrath, but you and I, who

are righteous in Christ, are being prepared to have full

access and unending enjoyment of communion with God himself.

Listen, whatever testimonies that you have known of the

reality of God, whatever sweetness you have tasted in

your relationship with Christ, are but a few drops of a passing

cloud in comparison to the cascade of glory that awaits you

as you enter into this realm and are washed by it endlessly.

This is what you and I get to have.

This is our inheritance. This is what awaits all of those

who are in Christ, whether they die and enter into that world or

if Christ comes back and brings that world to us.

And this is something that the Bible looks forward to over and

over again. Again, in the same way that I

believe that many believers, precious believers, have a very

limited understanding of the last days, they also have a very

limited understanding of heaven and the heaven that Christ will

bring. If you look at the language of

the New Testament, what the greatest men of God look forward

to the most was Christ himself, an unhindered fellowship with

man. Let me give you familiar verses

that many failed to meditate on. Listen to Paul's words.

You don't have to turn there, but just soak this in.

In Philippians 123, he says, I am hard pressed between the two,

My desires to depart and not be in heaven.

But what Be with Christ, be with Christ, for that is far better.

What's far better? Being with Christ, Whoever

Christ is, that's where heaven is.

And Paul says as he is contemplating his potential

martyrdom, I just, I can't wait to be with him.

Listen to how he encourages the believers in First Thessalonians

417. Then we who are alive, who are

left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet

the Lord in the air. So we will always be with the

Lord. Do you see that?

With him, with him, with him? So that's why we are, we are

really strange as Christians because we can actually smile at

death because it's the portal to being with Christ.

But what we're being told here is ready or not, Christ is going

to come with all His glory and we will marvel at it and we will

enjoy it. We will savor it and we will sit

there. Never bore with the company of

Christ. Never.

I'm sure there are some people in your life, even for the

severe introvert, that you enjoy being with, with all their

limitations and all their problems and all their

imperfections. But there is One who will

radiate so much joy and peace and power that it will keep you

captivated for eons. That's what heaven is, and John

gets a symbolic picture of it. This arc now is in full view.

And as Christ comes back, He's going to bring a measure of His

glory that you cannot even understand with your mind today.

Do we long for the same? Do we yearn for it?

Can we echo this refrain of this song, the song of triumph?

Can I ask you this very pointed question?

Do you find yourself yearning for it?

Do you find yourself meditating on it?

Do you find yourself praying for it?

I always enjoy my Bible reading about the introduction of any

individual in Holy Writ because the Bible has a principle that

whenever we are introduced to a person in the Scriptures, what

we find at first impression is very telling.

And my mind, as I am just chewing on these truths, went to

an obscure figure by the name of Simeon Simeon.

Simeon, Simeon, that old man who had the privilege of carrying in

his arms the Messiah as a baby. But let me remind you what the

Holy Spirit says about Simeon in Luke chapter 2 verse 25.

Luke 2:25

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this

man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of

Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

What a way to introduce this man.

His righteousness and his devotion is connected to his

patient waiting for the everlasting Kingdom of the Son

of David to arrive in his lifetime.

So if you were to open up Simeon's heart, what you would

find is a heartbeat that continually was beating for the

manifest reality of the Kingdom that God spoke of in the Holy

Scriptures. And I can't help but look at my

own life and ask, do I find myself waiting for the same?

When my mind goes into a default state, does it ever visit the

thought that Christ will come back with His Kingdom and

furnish me for it? He'll make everything right.

He'll make me right, and I will see Him face to face and enjoy

Him for eternity. Do I ever think about that?

And Simeon knew it. In part, he got to explore the

the reality of Christ's coming in his first advent, but the

fullness of it is yet to come. And according to the Book of

Revelation, before it does come, though it is around the corner

that the seven trump of this blast it's about to happen.

There's still awaits a full set of judgements before it does.

Final observation before we break bread, look back at verse

19 after we learn about the Ark of His covenant.

The last sentence there, there were flashes of lightning,

rumblings, peel of Thunder and earthquake and heavy hail.

What's happening here? A storm is brewing.

Why? Because yes, the 7th trumpet

announces the coronation of Christ, but it also calls for

the pouring out of the seven bowls of God's wrath to make it

happen. And that is what you and I will

study in the coming weeks. And the fact that Christ's

inauguration is being announced here shows that the final sets

of judgments have to be very quick.

It will be a short sequence. It will happen perhaps in a

matter of days, at longest weeks.

And you're going to get that sense when we read these bowls

being poured out, that they are rapid fire, which makes sense in

our understanding of why Christ's coming is announced.

It's not going to be very long, and we're going to see that

together. Let's prepare our hearts.

We thank You, Father, that this song of triumph belongs to us as

well. Lord, we can't wait for the day

where You do conquer this world and that You will show the world

that You are the true King. We thank you that you will make

everything right. We thank you that you'll reward

those who have served you, even even the small and

insignificant. We thank you, O God, that you

will end Satan's reign and that you will clean up everything

that he has destroyed. You will restore it, You'll

regenerate it. And that we thank you that the

ultimate prize belongs to each of us.

And that is the complete realization of Your presence

before us. We may not understand how that

will be, but we believe Your word and look forward to it.

And Lord, as we come to this table, we are reminded of how

that is made possible. That before you come a second

time, You came the first time, and that you shed your blood,

and that you lived out our obedience, and that you

transmitted your righteousness. You imputed it unto us.

And that we are made perfect and fit for eternity because of your

grace. Help us rejoice in this promise

that has become our reality. Today.

We give you glory and thanks in Jesus name, Amen.

As the praised team comes, we're ready to sing and rejoice over

these things. Just examine your heart, take

your time to really reflect on what we're about to do, and in a

moment we will come and eat together.

Let's stand.