The Silence of Heaven and the Prayers of the Saints

Good morning, everyone.

It's my favorite day of the week

because I get to do my favorite thing in the world,

which is to worship God,

and I get to do it with my favorite people on earth,

and that's the church, that's you guys.

And it's really good to see some of you guys coming back.

We've missed you all.

And if you would please turn with me in your Bibles

to Revelation chapter eight.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to bring one to you.

For those of you who are new, my name is Sean,

and I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church,

and I have the privilege of preaching God's word

to you this morning.

Let me pray.

Revelation is the last book in the Bible,

so you can flip to the back and then find it.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father,

we ask again as we do each week

that you would address us from your word,

that you would humble us

as your people

and impress upon us deeply in our hearts

your glory,

your holiness,

your love,

your grace,

so that our entire lives,

all that we think

and say and do

will be affected and transformed

by who you are

and what you have done.

Meet us now.

Open up your word to us

so that we might understand,

so that it might pierce our hearts.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able,

please stand

for the reading of God's word

from Revelation 8,

chapter 8,

verses 1 through 5.

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal,

there was silence in heaven

for about half an hour.

Then I saw the seven angels

who stand before God

and seven trumpets were given to them.

And another angel came

and stood at the altar

with a golden censer.

And he was given much incense

to offer with the prayers

of all the saints

on the golden altar

before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense

with the prayers of the saints

rose before God

from the hand of the angel.

Then the angel took the censer

and filled it with fire

from the altar

and threw it on the earth.

And there were peals of thunder,

rumblings,

flashes of lightning,

and an earthquake.

This is God's holy

and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

If you've been with us

through our series in Revelation,

we saw earlier in Revelation 6

when the fifth seal was opened,

we saw under the altar

before the throne of God

the souls of those

who had been slain

for the word of God

and for the witness

they had borne.

And they cried out to God

with a loud voice,

O sovereign Lord,

holy and true,

how long before you will judge

and avenge our blood

on those who dwell on the earth?

So it was a prayer

of the saints

who had been martyred

and other saints with them

who had borne

faithful witness to Christ,

crying out for vindication

and for justice.

These ideas of,

you know,

divine vengeance

and martyrdom

might seem foreign to us

because we enjoy

so many freedoms

and so many comforts

here in the United States.

But as I've been saying

throughout our series

in the book of Revelation,

persecution is the norm

and not the exception

for Christians.

And martyrdom

has been the reality

for many Christians

throughout history

all over the world.

We see already

the beginnings of that

in the New Testament.

Tens of thousands

of Christians

were killed

under the Roman Empire.

Genghis Khan

massacred 4 million Christians

in 1214 AD.

Tamerlane,

who styled himself

the sword of Islam,

also killed

4 million Christians

in 1358.

In the late 1800s

and early 1900s,

1.2 Armenians,

most of whom

identify as Christians,

were killed

in the Ottoman Empire.

scholars estimate

that about 12 million Christians

were killed

under the Soviet Union,

which included

106,300 Christian ministers

in Russia alone.

In addition to killing

6 million Jews,

the Nazis killed

1 million Christians

in death camps.

Scholars estimate

that Christians

who died from secular

anti-religious violence

in the 20th century

number over 25 million

worldwide,

which is more than

all previous centuries

of Christian martyrs combined.

According to Open Door USA,

360 million Christians

throughout the world

today face

high levels

of persecution

and discrimination

for their faith.

360 million.

Last year alone,

5,621 Christians

were killed

for their faith

in Jesus Christ.

And you've all seen

in the news

how groups,

militant groups

like Boko Haram

in Nigeria,

the Houthis

in Yemen,

ISIS in Iraq,

Syria in Pakistan,

and al-Shabaab

in Somalia,

and the Taliban

in Afghanistan

have targeted

and killed Christians.

We don't experience

persecution that much

here in the U.S.

to the same degree,

obviously not.

But Christians

do sometimes

get negative publicity

because of our religious

and ethical convictions.

Sometimes churches

get protested against

and Christian groups

get kicked off

of college campuses.

Not only that,

as Christians,

we are witnesses

daily

of how God's

holy name

instead of being

hallowed

is blasphemed

on the streets

and in the workplaces

and on TV

and all over the internet

and of how God's

precious gift

of body and sex

are misused

and abused

by so many

in the world

and of how people

who are created

in the image of God

are mistreated

and enslaved

sometimes even.

we see the idolatry

of money,

of prestige,

power,

wreak havoc

all over the globe.

It's no wonder

that God's people

for thousands of years

have been crying out,

how long?

How long, God?

Psalm 7410,

how long,

oh God,

is the foe

to scoff?

Is the enemy

to revile

your name forever?

Remember?

Psalm 119,

1984,

how long

must your servant endure?

When will you judge

those who persecute me?

If you have felt

this desperate

indignation before,

if you have pleaded

with God

at any point

in your life,

how long

then you have joined

the cry of the saints

under the altar

in Romans,

and in Revelation 6,

9 to 11,

crying out,

how long

before you will judge

and avenge

our blood

on those

who dwell

on the earth?

But we have not yet

in this book

seen God's answer

to that plea yet.

God told them

in chapter 6,

verse 11,

to rest a little longer

until the number

of their fellow Christians,

fellow servants,

and their brothers

should be complete

who are also

to be killed

as they themselves

have been

in bearing witness

to Jesus.

So there's this

build up,

this crescendo

and anticipation

of God's

great justice

right after

the fifth seal,

and that builds

even more

with the sixth seal

where we see

this,

the pan-ultimate seal

where we see

the cosmic

just tremblings

of the sun

and the moon

and the stars

losing their light

and falling

from their places,

and then

that's the moment

we ended,

chapter 6,

and right at that moment

that at the top

of the crescendo,

instead of getting

the climax

of the seventh seal,

we got a cliffhanger.

There was a break

in the scene,

and then we saw

the sealing

of the saints

of God,

the 144,000

in chapter 7.

So that cliffhanger

builds suspense

and conveys

that period

of waiting

a little longer,

God had told

his servants,

a little longer

until I come,

then I'll come

to vindicate you

and to judge

the wicked earth.

Today in chapter 8,

John resumes

that scene,

he resumes

the seven seals

of judgments,

and we return

to the climactic

seventh seal.

The saints

who were resting

a little longer

need not rest

any longer.

The wait

is finally over,

and God has said,

enough is enough.

All the prayers

of the saints

throughout the ages

for God's name

to be hallowed

and for people of God

to be vindicated,

for God's justice

to fill the earth,

his glory

to fill the earth

as the waters

cover the sea.

It's finally

being answered

in this passage.

And we learn

from this

that the prayers

of the saints

rouse the Lord God

to bring his

final judgment

upon the earth.

That's the main point

of this sermon.

And I'm going to talk

about that in two parts.

First, we'll talk

about the silence

in heaven,

and then we'll talk

about the prayers

of the saints.

First, let's look

at the silence

in heaven,

and how that's

actually God's

satisfying answer

to the prayers

of his people.

It says in verse 1,

when the Lamb

opened the seventh seal,

there was silence

in heaven

for about half an hour.

We know that this

is resuming

what we saw

in chapter 6

because it mentions

the seal,

the seventh seal.

And we also know

that this continues

a theme

of the fifth seal

because there,

the souls of the martyrs

under the altar

were crying out

to God

for vengeance,

to vengeance

of their bloodshed

on the earth.

So this verse 3, 4

also mentioned

the same altar.

It says,

and another angel

came and stood

at the altar

with a golden censer,

and he was given

much incense

to offer

with the prayers

of all the saints

on the golden altar

before the throne,

and the smoke

of the incense

with the prayers

of the saints

rose before God

from the hand

of the angel.

So again,

they're connected

by the same key words

and same themes,

and the only altar

that has been mentioned

up to this point

in the book of Revelation

has been that same altar

from chapter 6

before the throne of God.

And so this is not

another altar

or the other altar,

it is the altar

because it's referring

to that same one.

So we're resuming

that scene

where the saints

were crying out to God

and now God

is answering

that prayer

because their prayers

have come up to God

as a pleasing aroma

and incense.

But what kind

of answer

is this?

Silence in heaven.

Is that anticlimactic?

Isn't that

kind of a non-answer?

Some people argue

that the seventh seal

is an empty seal,

that it has no content,

indicating that God

is resting

or pausing

his judgments.

Still others argue

that the seventh seal

is simply the seven trumpets

of judgments

that follow,

since seven angels

receive seven trumpets

in verse 2

which are then blown

in the subsequent chapters

and bring further judgment

from God.

However,

I don't think

either of those options

is quite right.

First,

I don't think

the seventh seal

is an empty seal

because something

does happen

in verses 3 to 5.

In particular,

the smoke of the incense

with the prayers

of the saints

rise up before God

and then the angel

takes the fire

from the altar

and then throws it

upon the earth

which is

God's final judgment.

I mentioned to you

last week

that the sealing

of God's people

on their foreheads

in chapter 7

is an allusion

to Ezekiel 9

and when you follow

that passage

in Ezekiel 9

and chapter 10,

right after the sealing

of God's people,

God putting the mark

on their foreheads

to indicate

that they're protected

from his incoming judgments,

then again,

the angel in Ezekiel 10

takes burning coals

from the altar

that's between

the two cherubims

and then throws it

upon the earth,

scatters them

over the earth.

So it's following

that same sequence.

So that fire

from the altar

represents God's judgment.

It's the judgment

of the seventh seal.

Furthermore,

when the fire

from the altar

is thrown on the earth,

he says in verse 5

that there were

peals of thunder,

rumblings,

and flashes of lightning,

and an earthquake.

If you're familiar

with Old Testament

theophanies,

when God appears

in power,

then you know

exactly what

the thunder,

lightning,

and earthquake signify.

The heavens

and the earth

tremble like this

when the Lord

God Almighty appears.

That's what a theophany

means,

the appearance of God.

We saw this

when we were

in the book of Exodus.

In Exodus chapter 19

Exodus 19 · chapter mention

when the Lord

descended on Mount Sinai

in fire,

it says that the whole

mountain trembled

greatly

and that there were

thunders

and lightnings

and a thick cloud

on the mountain

and a very loud

trumpet blast

so that all the people

in the camp trembled.

When the creator

of the heavens

and the earth

manifests himself

in creation,

when the author

of history

breaks through

and enters

the pages

of history,

the heavens

tremble,

the earth splits,

that's what happens.

And that's precisely

what we see here

with the climactic

seventh seal.

God is here

consummating

his kingdom.

Do you remember

what we saw

in the very throne

of God

in chapter 4?

What emanated

from the throne

of God?

Revelation 4, 5,

from the throne

came flashes

of lightning

and rumblings

and peals

of thunder.

Revelation goes

through cycles

of judgments.

There's three series

of seven judgments

and when each series

concludes,

in the seventh judgment

we always see

flashes of lightning,

rumblings,

and peals

of thunder.

with the seventh seal

and then the seventh trumpet

and the seventh bowl.

So these are all indicators

that tell us

that God himself

is on the move.

That the Lord Almighty

has been roused

from his heavenly throne

to consummate his kingdom

and bring final judgment

upon the earth.

So it's cycling

through these repetitions.

There's slightly more detail

with each one

with the seventh,

from the seventh seal

to the seventh trumpet

to the seventh bowl

and that shows

a progression

and the escalation

of God's judgment

but they're actually

all same pictures,

different angles

and viewpoints

of the final judgment.

How do we know that?

To give you an example,

already when the sixth seal

was open

in Revelation 6, 12 to 14,

we saw that the sun

became black,

the moon became like blood

and the stars of the sky

fell to the earth

and every mountain

and island, it says,

was removed from its place.

But then,

that was in chapter 6,

but then later

in Revelation 8, 12,

when the fourth trumpet

is blown,

it says a third

of the sun was struck

and a third of the moon

and a third of the stars

so that a third

of their light

might be darkened.

So if the sun

has already turned black

and the moon

has already turned into blood

and if all the stars

have already fallen

from the sky,

then how do we darken

a third of them?

There's no stars left

to darken.

These events

do not occur

in linear

chronological fashion.

Furthermore,

Revelation 16, 32,

when the seventh bowl

is poured out,

it says that

every island

fled away

and no mountains

were to be moved.

But as we saw already

in Revelation 6, 12, 14,

every mountain and island

was removed

from its place.

So if there are

no more mountains

and no more islands,

then how do the islands

fly away

and the mountains

fly away again

in Revelation 16, 32?

So these were already removed.

So these three sets

of the judgments,

the seven seals

and the seven trumpets

and the seven bowls

are not chronological

or linear.

They repeat a pattern

in a cyclical way.

They are different viewpoints

of the same series

of divine judgments

throughout the course

of church history.

And the seventh

of each of those

is the climactic judgment

of God.

That's why there's

the theophany,

the peals of thunder

and the lightning

and the rumblings.

So it's like a Russian doll.

I mentioned to you this

before in our introduction.

When you open

a Russian doll,

there's another Russian doll

that looks exactly like it.

You open that one

and there's another one.

It's that cycle

except the analogy

would be perfect

if every time you open

the Russian doll,

the Russian doll

would actually get bigger

instead of getting smaller

because that's what happens

in the book of Revelation.

The judgments get more intense.

It escalates.

And so this is cyclical

but there is a progression.

It's not an endless cycle

like a circle

but rather it's like a spiral

that does eventually

come to an end point.

It circles wider

and widen.

It's wide in the beginning

but then it circles

narrower and narrower

as it gets closer

to the end

and then it reaches

the convergence point

when everything comes

to a climax.

So it's a spiral.

So then Revelation 8,

1 to 5 serves narratively

as the conclusion

to the seven seals

of judgment

but also serves

as an introduction

to the seven trumpets

of judgment.

But the seven seal

is not something

that happens before

the seven trumpets

and the seven bowls

but rather it represents

the last judgment,

the great judgment

that God promises

throughout the scriptures.

And that's precisely why

there is this ponderous

silence in heaven

in verse 1.

If you've been following

the course of Revelation,

the silence is actually shocking

because over the last

several chapters,

we've seen the angelic hosts

and the numberless throng

of God's people

singing endless praises to God.

The four living creatures

before the throne of God

never cease to say

day and night,

holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty

who was and is

and is to come.

The numberless multitude

from every nation,

tribe, people, and tongue,

they're crying out,

salvation belongs to our God

and to the Lamb

who sits on the throne.

And all the angelic hosts

and the 24 elders

around the throne

are exclaiming,

amen, blessing and glory

and wisdom and thanksgiving

and honor and power

and might be to our God

forever and ever.

So all these praises,

all these singing,

endless praises

over the last few chapters

but then when the seventh seal

is opened,

there's this dramatic silence.

Imagine how unnerving

that would have been

from John's perspective

seeing this prophetic vision.

He says it lasts

about half an hour.

We know that that's not

like a precise symbolic number

like the numbers

we've seen so far,

seven, twelve, 144,000.

This is an approximate number,

about half an hour.

Most people in our culture,

here in the US at least,

are uncomfortable

with silence, right?

You're talking to somebody

and if there's silence

for like 10 seconds,

people start to get

a little queasy, right?

This is about half an hour.

So imagine,

climactic building,

fifth seal,

sixth seal,

and then God stands up

from his throne.

It's almost like he's

motioning for silence.

30 minutes.

What is going on?

A survey of scripture passages

that speak of silence

is revealing.

Habakkuk 2.20 says,

Zephaniah 1.7 is especially relevant

because it speaks of silence

that precedes the day

of the Lord's great judgment.

It says,

Be silent before the Lord God,

for the day of the Lord is near.

Similarly,

Zechariah 2.13 says,

Be silent,

all flesh before the Lord,

for he has roused himself

from his holy dwelling.

When the king stands,

everybody falls silent

and looks on in anticipation.

When the living God

rouses himself from his throne

to execute his final judgment

upon the earth,

all of heaven falls silent.

I don't recommend

that you watch this whole movie

because it's really long

and it has some unnecessarily

explicit scenes in it.

But if you look up on YouTube

this particular scene

when the first atomic bomb

is detonated

in Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer,

it helpfully illustrates

the effect of this silence.

First, there's this tense countdown,

five, four, three, two, one.

And all the while,

there's this frenetic buildup

of orchestral instruments

playing and building tension

and drama.

And then it counts down,

finally, to detonation time.

And then everybody's waiting

with bated breath.

But when the bomb finally explodes,

instead of a deafening boom,

there's an unnerving silence.

You don't hear anything

except for maybe the characters

breathing slowly

for like a full minute and a half

until the shock waves

from the explosion

come and reach the characters

in the movie.

It's such a powerful scene

because the silence conveys

what a large, loud explosion

can never convey.

Since you can't possibly convey

the blast of an atomic bomb

through the speakers,

no matter how amazing

your subwoofers are,

this scene leaves that

to your imagination.

And instead of conveying

the deafening sound,

it conveys in that silence

the breathtaking awe

of the experience.

There's no chattering,

there's no cheering,

there's just silent awe

as they behold

the awesome power

of the atomic bomb.

That's what we see here

in the silence of heaven.

Compared to the awesome

power of God

when he rouses himself

and appears

in his final judgment

over his creation,

the atomic bomb

is like backyard fireworks.

So all of heaven

waits and beholds God

in awestruck silence.

The seventh seal

of God's judgment

is so staggering

that it makes all of heaven

cover their mouths

in silence.

And that silent awe

is actually a defining mark

of the Christian.

Commenting on Romans 3.19,

which speaks of

how God's righteous law

makes such demands

so that every mouth

may be stopped.

20th century Welsh pastor

D.E. Martin Lloyd-Jones

writes this.

Paul now points out

that when you realize

what the law

is truly saying to you,

the result is that

every mouth

shall be stopped.

You are rendered speechless.

You are not a Christian

unless you have been

made speechless.

How do you know

whether you are

a Christian or not?

It is that you

stop talking.

The trouble

with the non-Christian

is that he goes

on talking.

How do you know

whether a man

is a Christian?

The answer is

that his mouth

is shut.

You do not begin

to be a Christian

until your mouth

is shut.

It's stopped

and you are speechless

and have nothing

to say.

The parable

of the Pharisee

and the tax collector

in Luke 18

illustrates the same principle.

A Pharisee

and a tax collector

they together go up.

They don't together go up.

They independently

go up to the temple

to pray

and the Pharisee's

words are many.

He says,

God,

I thank you

that I am not like

other men,

extortioners

and unjust,

adulterers

or even like

this tax collector.

I fast twice a week.

I give tithes

of all that I get.

His words are many.

But the tax collector

doesn't even dare

to draw near.

He's standing far off

and he doesn't even dare

to lift up his eyes

to heaven.

He's looking down

and he's just

beating his breast

saying,

God,

be merciful to me,

a sinner.

That's all he can

manage to say.

His words are few

because his heart

is not lifted up.

And Jesus says

that it's the tax collector

who humbled himself

and not the Pharisee

who exalted himself

that goes home

justified before God.

When we truly understand

the gospel of Jesus Christ,

when we really see

the glory of God

in the face

of Jesus Christ,

it stops our mouths.

It stops

our blabbering boasts

of self-righteousness

and self-justification.

It stops

our gabbing bluster

of self-importance

and self-sufficiency.

It stops

all the look

at how great I am

and look at

all the good things

that I've done

and look at

all my experience

and knowledge

and look at

all the great things

that I will do.

The gospel abases us

and it humbles us

into silence

that says

you must increase,

I must decrease.

You are God

and I am not.

Just like Job

complaining

and groaning to God

all throughout the book

because of

the calamities

and the disasters

and the diseases

that he's been inflicted with

but after seeing

the glory

and the awesome

power of God revealed,

this is what Job says.

Job 40,

Job 40:4

verse 4,

Behold,

I am

of small account.

What shall I answer you?

I lay my hand

on my mouth.

Research by neuroscientists

Tomohiro Ishizu

and Samir Zeki

found that

when a person

experiences the sublime,

something awesome

and beautiful,

that the self-referential

regions of the brain,

the regions associated

with self-awareness

get deactivated.

The more we behold God

in his awesome glory,

in his power

and beauty,

the less we are enamored

with ourselves,

the less we are preoccupied

with ourselves

have you experienced

that bliss

of self-forgetfulness.

Beholding God

in his glory

is the only way

that we can escape

our self-righteousness,

self-absorption,

and self-centeredness.

When we believe

that God is

as big as he really is,

then we become small.

How other people

perceive us

or think about us

or talk about us

become insignificant.

The overwhelming

circumstances

of our lives

seem less daunting

and the glories

and the pleasures

of sin

that this world offers

lose their allure.

When is the last time

you fell silent

before God

in awestruck wonder?

So the silence,

heaven,

I think indicates

this awe

and wonder

before the glory

of God

and his awesome judgment

of the seventh seal.

And the rest

of the passage

shows us

that the last judgment

is God's answer

to the prayers

of the saints.

That's my second point.

Verses three to four

make the connection

between the incense

that's being offered

from the altar

before the throne of God

and the prayers

of the saints.

Follow along with me

as I read.

And another angel

came and stood

at the altar

with a golden censer

and he was given

much incense

to offer

with the prayers

of all the saints

on the golden altar

before the throne

and the smoke

of the incense

with the prayers

of the saints

rose before God

from the hand

of the angel.

That connection,

the incense being offered

with the prayers

of the saints

is made even more explicit

in Revelation 5 verse 8.

Revelation 5:8

It says that

the 24 elders

before God's throne

are holding golden bowls

full of incense

which are the prayers

of the saints.

So it equates

the prayers of the saints

with the incense

that's being offered.

And this association

between incense

and prayer

is something that's made

in other parts

of scripture as well.

Psalm 141 verse 2

Psalms 141:2

says let my prayer

be counted as incense

before you.

And when Zechariah,

John the Baptist's father

is doing his priestly duty

and offering incense

at the temple

at the appointed hour

he says in Luke 1,

8 to 11

that the whole multitude

of the people

were praying

outside of the hour

of incense.

Offering up of incense

time for that

is an off time

for offering a prayer.

And when Zechariah

encounters an angel

that appears

beside to the right

of the altar

inside the temple

the angel says to him

your prayer

has been heard.

So Zechariah

apparently is also praying

as he's offering up

incense.

The burning of incense

on the golden altar

before the throne

is an allusion

to the golden altar

of incense

in the tabernacle

in the tent of God

in the Old Testament.

The golden altar

stood immediately

before the tent.

Imagine that tent

being the veil

to the holy of holies

the most holy place.

It would be

the incense

the golden altar

would be right

in front of it.

It would be gold

be square on the top

rectangular

going down

to the bottom

had four horns

on each of its corners

and that's where

a priest had to come

and offer up incense

two times a day.

There would be a censer

which is just a vessel

for holding the incense

the various spices

and then there would be

it would be on the altar

and then underneath

would be some kind of fire

maybe burning coals

so that slowly

as the spices cook

the aroma just wafts

into all

and fills the entire

tabernacle of God.

It was a sweet incense

it's described as

sweet spices

stackedi and annika

and galbanum

sweet spices

with pure frankincense

there to make that

blend that

as by the perfumer

seasoned with salt.

These are spices

that we're not familiar with

but maybe the closest thing

that we're familiar with

we can imagine

is the resinous scent

of the pine trees

and the cinnamony aroma

of mauled wine

and gingerbreads.

Delicious smells

amazing smells.

And that's what our prayers

are like before God.

God is not a tired

and an exasperated parent

that gets annoyed

by yet another request

for help from his or her child.

God never gets tired.

He loves to be entreated.

Our prayers are sweet

incense to God.

He delights in them.

He welcomes them.

He rejoices to answer them

and our prayers

are never far from God.

They're literally

figuratively rather

right under God's nose.

God's love to be entreated.

He is a blessing.

This is the privilege

that Jesus has won for us.

All our prayers

go up directly

to our heavenly father

because we have been united

with Jesus Christ

through faith.

In Old Testament times

it's the high priest

who had to make atonement

on the horns of the altar

in the altar of incense

once a year.

They had to make

a sacrifice

and they had to take

the blood from the sacrifice,

the atoning sacrifice

and then daub it

on the four corners

of the altar of incense

to consecrate it for use.

This was a symbolic foreshadowing

of the atoning work

of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

and he died on the cross

for our sins

once and for all

and was raised from the dead

so that all of us now

because of his atonement

can have direct access

to God the Father

and we can pray

as much as we want

as a pleasing aroma

and incense before God.

And not only are our prayers

pleasing before God,

our prayers are powerful

because of God.

Look at verse five.

Then the angel took the censer

and filled it with fire

from the altar

and threw it on the earth

and there were peals

of thunder,

rumblings,

flashes of lightning

and an earthquake.

The prayers of the saints

were lifted up

on this censer to God

and then the same censer

takes the fire

from the altar

and scatters it

upon the earth

as God's judgment.

That's a clear connection

between the prayers

of the saints

and God's final judgment

upon the sinful world.

I mentioned to you

that the peals

of thunder,

rumblings,

that's theophany,

God himself appearing.

So quite literally,

the almighty God

rises to action

in response

to our prayers.

This is why

19th century English

pastor Charles Spurgeon

was not wrong

when he said,

quote,

prayer is the slender nerve

that moves

the muscle of omnipotence.

When we pray,

you move

the muscle

of omnipotence.

The seventh seal

is God's answer

to the prayers

of the saints

crying out for vengeance

and vindication.

We see this also

because in verse 2,

the seven angels,

it says,

the seven angels

who stand before God

receive the seven trumpets

of judgment

that will ensue.

Who are these seven angels

who are before

the presence of God?

We've seen them before.

In chapter 1,

chapters 2 and 3,

the seven angels

who represent

the seven churches

of God,

who represent them

before God

at his throne,

by his throne.

So these seven angels

then carrying out

the seven judgment

of the trumpets,

there,

it's all happening

in response

to the prayers

of his people.

The seven trumpet judgments

that will ensue

are all modeled

after the plagues,

the plagues

that happened

in the Exodus,

God's judgment

upon Egypt

in Exodus,

and that also makes

the connection

between prayer

and God's judgment

because why did God

decide to intervene

and deliver his people

from their slavery

in Egypt?

In Exodus 2,

it tells us,

23 to 25,

during those many days,

the king of Egypt died

and the people of Israel

groaned because of their slavery

and cried out for help.

Their cry for rescue

from slavery

came up to God

and God heard their groaning

and God remembered

his covenant

with Abraham,

with Isaac,

and with Jacob.

God saw the people of Israel

and God knew

what roused almighty Lord

to rouse himself

from the throne

to rescue his people Israel.

It was the prayers

of the saints,

their cry for help.

That's how powerful

our prayers are.

Do you seek

the repentance

of sinners?

Do you seek

the vindication

of the righteous?

Then we must pray

because God has ordained

that he will accomplish

his sovereign purposes

through the prayers

of his people.

19th century English

pastor J.C. Ryle

puts it this way,

depend upon it,

prayer is power.

prayer obtains fresh

and continued

outpourings of the spirit.

He alone begins

the work of grace

in a man's heart.

He alone can carry it forward

and make it prosper.

But the good spirit

loves to be entreated.

And those who ask most

will have most

of his influence.

Prayer is the surest remedy

against the devil

and besetting sins.

That sin will never stand firm,

which is heartily prayed against.

That devil will never long

keep dominion over us,

which we beseech the Lord

to cast forth.

Do you wish to grow in grace

and be a devoted Christian?

Be very sure if you wish it.

You could not have

a more important question

than this.

Do you pray?

In Ephesians 6,

Paul commands us

to stand firm in the faith

and he tells us

to stand firm

by putting on

the whole armor of God.

And then he tells us

exactly how we're supposed

to don this whole armor of God.

He says in verse 18,

Ephesians 6,

praying at all times

in the spirit

with all prayer

and supplication.

That's how you stand firm

as a believer.

That's how you put on

the armor of God

in prayer.

Sometimes I think

as Christians,

we can act like,

you know,

lost soldiers

stranded in enemy territory

and we're besieged

by enemies

and enemy shots

are being fired

from all over the place

and you look helpless

or maybe you don't even realize

how bad the situation is

and we think

that the situation

is manageable.

We're trying to handle it

on our own

when all this time

we have the radio

in the pocket.

You could just radio in

the headquarters,

call the general,

send in air support.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

When you pray

in accordance with God's will,

when you pray

the things he asks,

he commands us to pray,

God never says no

to your prayers.

He might say wait,

but he never says no

if you pray

in accordance with God's will.

There are many great things

that all of you guys

as church members

can do

to serve God

and to build up our church,

but none of them

is more important

than prayer

and the ministry

of the word.

As John Piper

writes in his book

for pastors,

brothers,

we are not professionals.

Quote,

most interruptions

and most of our busyness

are ministry related,

not worldly.

The great threat

to our prayer

and our meditation

on the word of God

is good ministry activity.

This is so true.

Most of the weeks

when my prayers

are shortened

or interrupted,

it's not because

of some grave sin.

It's just because

of good ministry activity.

The same can be true

for you.

If you offer

to serve the church,

if you told me,

hey,

can I serve the church

two hours less this week

so that I can pray

for the church

two hours more,

I will take that trade

any day of the week.

Let me give you

some practical suggestions

that can help you grow

in your prayer life.

First,

today is New Year's Eve,

so I know many of you

are going to make

New Year's resolutions.

Set a time

and place for prayer.

Mark 1.35 says,

rising very early

in the morning

while it was still dark,

Jesus departed

and went out

to a desolate place

and there he prayed.

Jesus had a time

very early in the morning

and he had a place,

a desolate place.

He set a time

and place

to go and pray

and this was his habit.

There are many Christians

who know

and believe

that prayer is important

and yet do not pray

simply because they

haven't put their intentions

into practice

by choosing a place

and a time to pray.

A study published

in the British Journal

of Health Psychology,

I feel like I'm quoting

a lot of British sources,

it's not because you guys

are here,

the Jenkins,

it's just happened

that way today.

The British Journal

of Health Psychology

asked the control group

to exercise once

in the next week

and 29% of them exercised.

And then they gave

experiment group number one

detailed information

about why exercise

is important for your health

and then told them

to go exercise

and that week,

that group,

39% of them exercised,

only 10% more.

And then in the last group,

experiment group number two,

they told them

to commit to exercising

at a specific place,

on a specific day,

at a specific time

of their choosing

and 91% of them exercised.

The world,

the flesh,

and the devil

already make it hard enough

as it is

for us to pray.

It's not going

to just happen.

So make a plan.

Find a time and place

to pray regularly.

Second,

start praying

through the scriptures.

Seminary professor

Donald Whitney

describes how many Christians

feel about prayer

in his book,

Praying the Bible.

He says,

when prayer is boring,

we don't feel like praying,

and we don't feel like praying,

it's hard to make ourselves pray.

Even five or six minutes

of prayer can feel

like an eternity.

Our mind wanders

half the time.

We'll suddenly come

to ourselves and think,

now, where was I?

I haven't been thinking

of God for the last

several minutes.

And we'll return

to that mental script

we've repeated

countless times,

but almost immediately

our minds begin

to wander again

because we've said

the same old things

about the same old things

so many times.

If you can relate to this,

then praying

through the scriptures

verse by verse

can help.

Because if you don't feel,

if we don't fill our minds

with the word of God,

we're not going to have

very many words

to say back to God.

And this is one way

we can guarantee

that we are praying

in accordance

with God's will,

a prayer that God guarantees

he will answer

in 1 John 5, 14 to 15.

This is his will.

This is the revealed

will of God.

And you pray this,

then you know

that your prayer

is going to be answered.

This is what we do

during our midweek

prayer services.

We always go through

a passage of scripture

verse by verse

and let the word of God

then inform our thoughts

and our words in prayer.

If you do this,

then it keeps

your prayers fresh

because you don't have

to repeat yourself

tirelessly

because we're really

not that creative.

and you never have

a shortage of things

to pray for.

It deepens our prayers

because we can pray

more with greater knowledge

of what God's will

is for us.

It helps us,

it keeps our mind

from wondering.

It helps us to pray

longer

and more concentrated

prayers.

It also makes our prayers

more personal

because it makes

prayer conversational,

right?

When you're having

a conversation

with somebody,

you listen to what

they say to you

and then you process

that information

and then respond back.

When you're praying

through the scriptures,

you listen to what

God has to say

and then you process that

and then you respond

on the basis