The Revelation of Christ – Part 21:
The Seventh Seal
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON
INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most difficult book in
the bible.
Because
of this fact, many avoid it, or ignore it all together. Some fear lack of
understanding, others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to
avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.
Many
times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right
into Revelation and find out what’s to come.
This
is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author
a novel in Chinese that very same day.
Or,
a kindergartener learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum
mechanics calculations.
The
words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgement, even some
who claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than
Jesus Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.
A
special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.
Although
it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this
is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the
Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by
little.
SERMON SERIES
THE THINGS WHICH
ARE – The Church Age (Age of Grace)
Part 3 – Ephesus The
Backsliding Church
Part 4 – Smyrna The
Steadfast Church
Part 5 – Pergamos The Immoral Church
Part 6 – Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church
Part 7 – Sardis The Spiritless Church
Part 8 – Philadelphia The Favored Church
Part 9 – Laodicea The Church God Hates
THE THINGS WHICH
SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Scroll and Seven Seals
Part 12 – The Lamb is Worthy
Part 13 –
The First Seal
Part 14 – The Second Seal
Part 15 – The Third Seal
Part 16 – The Fourth Seal
Part 17 – The Fifth Seal
Part 18 – The Sixth Seal
Part 19 – The 144,000 Sealed
Part 20 – The Great Multitude
TODAY’S SERMON -
THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 21 – The Seventh Seal
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation
8:1-5
When
he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were
given to them.
3
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was
given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the
golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with
the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then
the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on
the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and
an earthquake.
I.
THE SEVENTH SEAL IS OPENED
a.
The seals on the scroll
i. 1st – White horse
had a bow, given a crown went out conquering
ii. 2nd – Red horse
peace removed, violence breaks out, given great sword
iii. 3rd – Black horse
balance and scales (judgment warning) oil (Holy Spirit and wine (Blood of
Christ) not harmed…calling to Tribulation Saints
iv. 4th – Pale horse
death and hades, ¼ earth killed by sword, famine, death & beasts
v. 5th – Martyrs cry
out, How Long? Not until number of brethren to be killed is complete
vi. 6th – Earth hit
with first meteor, earth quakes, sun darkens, moon turns red, stars fall
(meteor bits, shooting stars), sky rolls back like a scroll (from strike)
vii. This is all leading to the
Second Coming of Christ!
b.
Now the Seventh seal is opened by Christ
i. This number has been called
the symbol of perfection, and also the symbol of rest. "Jacob's seven
years' service to Laban; Pharaoh's seven fat oxen and seven lean ones; the
seven branches of the golden candlestick; the seven trumpets and the seven
priests who sounded them; the seven days' siege of Jericho; the seven churches,
seven spirits, seven stars, seven seals, seven vials, and many others
ii. Feast of the Passover (seven
days)
iii. Feast of Weeks (seven weeks,
on the 50th Day Pentecost)
iv. Year of Jubilee (seven
Sabbaths of years “49 years”, the 50th year is year of jubilee)
v. Seven is the number of
sacrifice (2 Chronicles 29:21; Job 42:8)
vi. Seven is the number of
purification and consecration (Leviticus 42:6, 17; Leviticus 8:11, 33; Leviticus
14:9,51)
vii. Also, forgiveness, reward,
punishment.
viii. Anything seven is attached
to is “perfectly” that.
c.
Silence
i. When Christ breaks open the
seventh and last seal of the scroll, there was silence in heaven for about half
an hour.
ii. Like a court room awaiting
the reading of the verdict, all are in awe and silence.
iii. Coming are the Seven
Trumpets and the Seven Bowls of Wrath
II.
JOHN SEES SEVEN ANGELS
a.
They stand before the throne of God
i. They are awaiting their
orders
b.
Seven trumpets were given to them
i. They are equipped for
service to God
c.
When we stand before God awaiting orders
i. He not only calls to us,
commands us, but He also equips us
ii. We are able, capable,
complete in Him
iii. Philippians
4:13
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
iv. How so we stand before the
throne of God now?
1. “Anyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:13
2. Once saved you have access
to the Holy Spirit. “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know
what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through
wordless groans.” Romans 8:26
3. And God equips us, through
the Holy Spirit with Spiritual Fruits, Spiritual Gifts, the power of the Holy
Spirit, and the Whole Armor of God!
4.
“And
we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who
have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
III.
ANOTHER ANGEL CAME WITH A GOLDEN CENSER
a.
He came and stood at the altar
i. Awaiting his command, his
mission
b.
He was given much incense to offer
i. WITH the prayers of God’s people
on the golden altar in front of the throne
ii. He was GIVEN…much incense
and the prayers of God’s people.
iii. Again, standing before the
throne awaiting orders, God equips him and he is now ready to serve.
c.
The smoke of the incense together with the prayers of
God’s people went up before God from the angel’s hand
i. Who’s prayers are these?
More than likely, the prayers of the Tribulation Saints who, like the already
martyred saints crying out in heaven, are praying to God for an outpouring of
His wrath on the godless of the earth.
CONCLUSION
–
The angel then took the censer, filled
it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth.
The fact that the fire is cast to the earth from the
same censer as was used in offering up the saints’ prayers implies that the
judgments are in response to those prayers.
Here is the answer to the cry of His afflicted ones
down in the scene of Tribulation. The prayers went up to the Father, and the
judgment came down.
The brazen altar the angel took the fire from
represents the death of Jesus. This along with all of the Temple design
foretold the purpose, coming and death of Jesus.
With Salvation through Christ (represented by the
brazen altar) being rejected by the world, we see the fire from that altar now
raining down on it as judgment.
And there came peals of thunder,
rumblings, flashes of lightning & an earth quake.
Next week we look at the First Trumpet
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