Greg Laurie - Apocalypse Now (06/27/2017)
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Pastor Greg Laurie explores Revelation 8, describing heaven's half-hour silence before the trumpet judgments unleash hail, fire, poisoned waters, and darkened skies on earth during the tribulation. He explains God's loving yet holy judgment on sin, how persistent prayers are treasured in heaven like incense, and stresses being ready for Christ's sudden return through repentance and faith.
Apocalypse Now – Revelation 8
Okay, let's grab our Bibles now. And who wants to hear a Bible study tonight? Okay, good. You've come to the right place. Because that's what we're going to do right now. Revelation chapter 8. Revelation chapter 8. And the title of my message is Apocalypse Now. Next Thursday, we continue in the book of Revelation. And we're in chapter 9. So read again. The title of the message is When All Hell Breaks Loose. Is that an appealing sermon title? Well, I'll tell you what. It's descriptive of what we're going to read about. And what is called the Great Tribulation Period in the Bible.
And we're going to learn a lot in this study about how the devil and demons work. They have an agenda. They follow the same agenda over and over because it's very effective. And they can be defeated. So we want to know more about that. That's next time. But during Revelation 8, why don't we pray together?
Father, we believe Jesus is coming soon. And we want to be ready for his return. But even if he does not come in our lifetime or in the near future, that's really up to you, Lord. We know that life as we know it will stop for us on earth. And then we enter the afterlife. And we want to be ready for that. Every moment of every day. So if that day comes and you call us home, we're ready to go.
So Lord, as we get a glimpse of heaven now, as we see things from an eternal perspective, help us to see things as you see them. Help us to be ready for heaven in every way. And we pray that this message will bring encouragement and motivation to us to live godly lives. We ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.
A Tough TV Question on God's Judgment
A while ago, we did a crusade up in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. So I was booked to be on the Good Morning LA show with Steve Edwards. I don't know if you've ever seen that show on television before. But we had a very nice little interview. And he asked me a lot about the crusade. And they showed some footage from it. It was fantastic. So the interview was almost over. And Steve Edwards turns to me on live television and says, you know, Greg, you believe that most of the world who are not believing Christians will burn in hell for all eternity. What kind of loving God would ever create such a scenario?
Then Steve goes on to say, is that not like a petty boss that some people have created not understanding God? I had two minutes to answer it. And that's not an easy question to answer. It's a very slanted question with a lot of spin on it. Really saying that it's not fair that this loving God would send people to hell and he's like a petty boss and so forth.
So I did the best I could in the two minutes I was allotted. But when the cameras stopped rolling and the show was over, the conversation continued. I won't say everything Steve asked me because it was a private conversation. But I felt like he was now asking questions for himself. And his question was, well, what about the good people? The good people out there, why would God judge them?
And this is a question that is often asked. And of course, my response was, well, what is your definition of a good person? We seem to have a sliding scale on what we call good. Basically, we're always on the right side of that scale, no matter how we look at it, right? No matter how we view the world, no matter where we're at in life, we're always one of the good guys in general.
But here's the problem with just opining on the subject. What if one person's definition of good is another person's definition of bad? The fact is, not only do we reject God's absolute truth about right and wrong, but we break our own rules as we fail to live up to our own arbitrary standards. In other words, I'll meet people and say, well, I believe if I live a good life, I'll get to heaven. Then you ask them to define a good life. And you'll find in most cases, they don't even live up to their standards, much less God's standards.
And when it's all said and done, I hate to break this to you, it doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what I think. You, I, we are not the moral center of the universe. All that matters is, what does God say? So what does God say about good people? Well, Romans 3:10 says, there's not one good, no, not one.
Now does this mean that there are not good, caring, kind people out there? No, it doesn't mean that. Because there are people like that. Does that mean there are not people out there who have engaged in acts of heroism and sacrifice who aren't even necessarily Christians? No, it's true. They've done it. In fact, I'll be honest with you, I've met non-believers that are nicer than some Christians I know.
But we're not talking about being nice enough to get to heaven. We're talking about being good enough to get to heaven. So when we say there's nobody good, we're not saying that there are not nice people, pleasant people, sacrificial people, caring people. What we're saying is no one is good enough. And by good enough we mean no one is good enough to get to heaven on their own merit. And that's where Jesus Christ comes in. Because even while we were yet sinners, the Bible says Christ died for us.
Why God Judges – Because He Loves
Well, now we come to a topic that many people choke on. It's the judgment of God. And as we see God's judgment coming on planet earth, some would say, well, it's about time. And they have no problem whatsoever with seeing God's wrath fall on a world that has little time for Him or His Word. In fact, some would feel it's long overdue. And some might even take a perverse pleasure in that judgment. And I think we need to check our heart if we see people that way.
Because this reminds us a little bit of Jonah. You remember him. Jonah, the original chicken of the sea. He was called by God to go preach to Nineveh. And he did not want to go. Why? Because the Ninevites were the avowed enemies of Israel. And they were an incredibly cruel and barbaric people. So Jonah did not want to go because his fear was God would forgive them of their sin and spare them. And Israel would still have that enemy to contend with.
But he reasoned. If he did not go and preach to them, they would not repent. Therefore, God would judge them. And that would be one less enemy to deal with. So he got on a boat going in the opposite direction. Well, you know the rest of the story. He's swallowed by the great fish, barfed on the shores of Nineveh. He finally did preach his message. And what happens? A full-blown revival breaks out.
But even at the end of the book of Jonah, we find the reluctant prophet hoping that God will sort of change his mind and still judge these people. So he sort of pulls up a ringside seat thinking that maybe fire and brimstone will fall from heaven. He had his popcorn out, you know, and his milk duds and had his little lawn chair. And he was getting kind of hot in the sun. So the Lord caused this plant to grow almost like a little palm tree, giving him a little bit of shade. It's called a gourd in the King James Version.
And so he's under his little tree, you know, waiting for the judgment to come, excited for the judgment to come. And then what happens? The Lord sends a worm to eat the plant or the gourd. So Jonah was literally out of his gourd. You know, we hear about Jonah and the whale. We never talk about Jonah and the worm. But the worm is a part of that story too.
By the way, the whale, the Bible never says it was a whale. It says it was a great fish. Literally translated sea monster. So it may have been a whale. It may have been a fish that has never existed before. That God custom made for Jonah. Or it may have been some beast that no longer is around today. We don't know. It doesn't matter. But Jonah and the worm. It must have been one big gnarly worm to eat something of that size.
And so what happens? Jonah is upset that he lost his plant. And then he says to God, I just wish I were dead. And the Lord says to him in Jonah 4:10, You know, you are so concerned about this plant. You didn't even make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh?
So this is the idea of God saying, I care. And I don't like to judge. And I don't want to judge. But I will judge because I am righteous and I am holy. But I am reluctant to judge because I am loving and I am kind. But there comes a point where enough is enough.
Listen. It is the nature of God to love and forgive. Not to judge and condemn. God loves us. God wants us to know Him. And He does not want to rain judgment on the world that He has made. So why does God judge? Now, you might be surprised by my answer. But I think this is biblical and certainly true, of course. God judges because He is loving.
Well, that doesn't make sense. Well, actually, it does. You know, we can't pick and choose the attributes of God we like. Well, I like a loving God. I like a forgiving God. But I am not so into a righteous and holy God. Well, you know, sorry. It is a package thing here. God is God. And we accept Him on His terms.
And God is righteous and God is holy. In fact, the Scripture repeats this fact many times. We already read of the angels up in heaven. In Revelation 4 that are saying in chapter 4, verse 8, the four angelic beings have six wings and they are full of eyes around and within. And they don't rest day or night. And they say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, who was, who is, and who was to come.
Notice they don't say eternal, eternal, eternal, or faithful, faithful, faithful, or mighty, mighty, mighty. They say, holy, holy, holy. Reminding us God is holy. And because God is holy, God hates sin. Habakkuk 1:13 says, of God, your eyes are too pure to look on evil. You cannot tolerate great wrong.
And that is why the death of Jesus Christ was necessary. It is believed by many that when the Father put the sin of the world on the Son and Christ cried out, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, which is translated, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That that was the moment the sin of the world was placed on Christ. Now we don't know that is exactly the moment, but it probably was.
And therefore when Jesus said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was speaking of what was happening. The Father turns his face away, puts his judgment on the Son. Do you think that God would have caused his own Son to suffer and die if there was any other way for us to be forgiven of our sin?
So judgment has its place. Here is just a few things you should consider that are positive about judgment. Number one, God's judgment should frighten us. God's judgment should frighten us. It is supposed to. It should scare the hell out of us. And I mean it exactly as I said it. Scare the hell out of you. So when you watch somebody who goes out and flagrantly breaks God's laws and they face repercussions, let that be a warning. That could be you.
You know when we talk about fearing God, there's a place for reverence of God and respect of God. So it should scare us. Number two, it should sober us. Sober us up. It forces us to reassess the way we're living. Maybe cause us to change our priorities.
C.S. Lewis said, pain is God's megaphone to reach a deaf world. You know sometimes we're sort of in an altered state of reality. We're under the intoxicating effect of sin. Know this about sin. Sin makes you stupid. People do stupid things under the power of sin.
Look at Samson, this he-man with a she-weakness. This man that could kill Philistines on a whim on the battlefield, but yet succumb to the allure and temptations of a beautiful woman named Delilah in a bedroom. But see, he thought it was a joke. She's saying, Samson, tell me the secret of your great strength that I may afflict you. You know you're in a messed up relationship when someone says it. I don't know if you're going out with some guy or girl and they ask to know the secret of your strength so they may afflict you. Maybe terminate that relationship. Just a thought.
Samson said, you afflict me. By the way, the word Delilah means delicate. You, Delilah, I'm a Samson. So he joked around with her and he got closer to the truth. And one day he finally gave in and told her the secret of his strength, which was his commitment to God, symbolized by his long hair, which was never cut. And so, of course, you know what happened. She had his hair all cut off and the Philistines came and they apprehended him and everything fell apart.
But see, he was under the intoxicating effect of sin. He didn't realize that. So sin destroys us. And so when we see God judge it, it should sober us up. Number three, God's judgment humbles us. It humbles us. It strips away our self-righteousness. It reminds us of how sinful we are. It reminds us that we really are not in control of our own lives and how desperately we need God.
And then finally, God's judgment reassures us. You say, reassures us? Yes. It reassures us that there is justice in the universe. There is a final court of arbitration. Coming back to my conversation with... I told him that there is a place for judgment. Because we all want final justice. I mean, we look at the Adolf Hitlers of the world. The Osama Bin Laden's of the world. Or this group that calls himself Isis. And the horrific, barbaric things they do to people. And you say, one day, they're going to face the judgment of God.
And there are people that commit crimes in this life. And we say, they're going to face consequences one day. So yeah, we want judgment for certain people. But when we come to the subject for ourself, we become very uncomfortable. And people usually want to change the subject. It reminds me of when Paul was standing before Felix. Not the cat. The Roman governor. And in Acts 24, we read that Paul reasoned with Felix about righteousness and self-control. Listen. And the judgment to come. And Felix was terrified and said, go away for now.
That's what a lot of people will say. You can talk all day about God's love and God's forgiveness and God's wonderful plan for a person's life. And then they may ask you, well, what if I don't believe in Jesus? Well, then you should say you'll face a judgment. Well, I don't want to talk about that. It makes people uncomfortable. But we need to talk about it.
Some will say, well, I believe in a God who is not judgmental. You're effectively saying you believe in a God who does not care about right and wrong. If your God is not judgmental, your God doesn't care about right and wrong. And to be more blunt, when you say, I believe in a God that is loving but never judges, here's what you're really saying. A, I'm an idiot. And B, I believe in a God I made up in my own head. Okay? Because you cannot go to the God of the Bible and edit Him.
I know you can go into Instagram and you can do all this airbrushing stuff and make yourself look thinner than you really are. And you can't do that with God. You can't edit God. God is God. And so we need to understand that. And yes, there is judgment because He loves us.
Know this. There's going to be no one in heaven who deserves to be there. Nor will there be anyone in hell who does not deserve to be there. Let me say that again. There will be no one in heaven who deserves to be there. And there will be no one in hell who does not deserve to be there.
There will be no one in heaven who went there unwillingly. And there will be no one in hell who did not go there willingly. In the end, God will be shown as the righteous supreme being He is. G.I. Packer put it this way, and I quote, Scripture sees hell as self-chosen. Hell appears as God's gesture of respect for human choice. All receive what they actually chose. Either to be with God forever, worshiping Him, or without God forever, worshiping themselves.
It's not like God is saying, you're going to heaven, you're going to hell. And by the way, some believe in God predestining people to hell. It's called double predestination. Which means not only did He not choose you for heaven, He chose you for hell. It's like, you're going to heaven, heaven, hell. Hell, hell, heaven, hell. I completely reject that, by the way. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He wants everyone to believe. He has not predestined and chosen a person to go to hell without them wanting to go to that place. He's just giving them what they wanted all along.
Silence in Heaven and the Trumpet Warnings
So now we come to Revelation 8. That was all the ramp up, you see. And we see God's judgment is beginning to fall on planet Earth. A quick recap of what we've seen in Revelation up to this point. Chapter 1 gave us a vision of Jesus Christ in His glory. He's the center of the book. You remember Revelation 1:1 says, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants. And the things that must take place swiftly.
And the idea of that is not that the things John was referring to were going to happen immediately, as in close proximity to the moment he wrote these words. But when it says they will happen swiftly, he means once the first domino falls, the others will fall in rapid succession. So once Antichrist appears, and the tribulation period is officially inaugurated, and all the events that follow, they're going to happen in rapid fashion.
So we have Christ as the center of the book in Revelation 1. Chapters 2 and 3 describe church history as God saw it, starting with the early church. Chapters 4 and 5 show the church being raptured. It shows us worshiping in heaven. And then you don't hear of the church again until His return, until they return, or we return, I should say, with Jesus in Revelation 19.
Then from Revelation 6 to 19, we have a description of the great tribulation period. So that's where we are now. Reminding us of this simple fact, we as believers will not go through the great tribulation period. You say, well, why do you say that? Because 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says of believers, God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
To the last days church of Philadelphia, Jesus says in Revelation 3:10, Because you've kept my command to persevere, I will keep you from the hour of trial, which will come upon the whole world, to test those that dwell on the earth. And someone will say, well, Jesus said in this world, you will have tribulation. I understand that. There's a difference between personal tribulation and the great tribulation.
As Christians, God will allow us to go through trials and hardships and tribulation. Why? Because the Bible says tribulation produces endurance. So it makes us tougher. It makes us stronger. It's like going to the gym. You build up muscle by effectively tearing it down. And that's how you get stronger. And that's how we get stronger spiritually as well.
But there's a big difference between that and the great tribulation period. When God's wrath is poured out upon the planet. And you cannot show me an instance where when God was judging unbelievers, believers were judged with Him. When God decided to destroy the earth with water, what did He do? He got Noah and his family safely in the ark. And as the rain came down, the ark went up.
And before God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, He got Lot and his family safely out of the city. And then the judgment came. And I believe in the same way, before the tribulation will begin, the church will be removed. In fact, I even believe before Antichrist will even be revealed, the church will be removed.
So don't sit around and try to figure out who the Antichrist is. That's just a waste of your time. The Bible does not tell us to be looking for Antichrist. It tells us to be looking for Jesus Christ. That's our hope and that should be our focus. So look, if you want to go through the tribulation, God bless you. Have fun. I'll see you later. I'm going to be in heaven worshiping God. And I think you'll be there too. If you trust Him now.
So now as we come to chapter 8, there's a sudden change. It would be like if you're watching a movie. It's one of those disaster films. You're on the edge of your seat. You've seen the destruction of Revelation 6, including war, famine, and plagues. And then suddenly it's like everything goes into a freeze frame. And what we're looking at now is the calm before the storm.
Revelation 8. We're going to read quite a few verses. So read along with me. I'm reading from the New King James Version. When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
And another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, and He should offer it with the prayers of all the saints. You might underline that. We're going to come back to it. Upon the golden altar, which was before the throne, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.
Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. So the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound.
The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood. And they were thrown to the earth, and the third of the trees were burned up. And the green grass was burned up. Verse eight. Then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died. And a third of the ships were destroyed.
Then the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch. And it fell on a third of the rivers, and on the Springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood. And many men died from the water because it was made bitter.
Then the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, a third of the stars. So a third of them were darkened, and a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. Don't miss verse 13. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels that are about to sound.
We'll stop there. So you read all this, and you say, wow. What does all this mean? Well, it means scary times are coming for planet earth.
Revelation 8 opens with silence in heaven for half an hour. Which has caused some to wonder, will there be women in heaven? Not me. Some. And they're all sitting in the front row. It's these men right here. Yes, there will be women in heaven, guys. Come on. Sorry, I just couldn't avoid that.
Now really, but this silence is very serious. It's like the silence of awe and anticipation of the judgments God is about to unleash. It's so quiet in heaven, you can hear a pin drop.
Have you ever been to a restaurant that gets louder and louder? There's a certain restaurant we like to go to, and we get there early. You know when you're old, you eat early. Did you know that? Early bird specials were made for us, you know. So you sit there, and you like it really quiet. And then, you know, someone moves in the table next to you, and they're kind of noisy. And someone else comes into the other table. Then pretty soon, all the tables are filled, and the restaurant is filled. And then they've got the background music playing and all that. And the noise just begins to elevate. You don't realize how loud it is. You can barely understand each other. But then when you get out of the restaurant, you realize how loud it was. Because it's so quiet outside, it's almost like the silence is deafening.
So, kind of put this in perspective. Heaven is not generally a quiet place. Heaven overall is a... it's a happening place. It's hopping up in heaven, man. We're busy. We're up there worshiping. We're rejoicing. We're serving the Lord. We're having meals together. It's like a party, worship service, and activity all happening simultaneously. It's exciting.
So, if you're one of those people that likes stuff going on, you're going to love heaven. It's not the caricatured version of sitting around in a cloud, plucking a harp of some fat baby angel hovering above you with little wings, you know. Like, how could those little wings hold you up? You're so fat, little baby angel. Well, that's not heaven. Heaven, that's just basically cartoons and some religious paintings.
Now, heaven is a happy, busy place. But now there's silence. Why is there silence? And by the way, this is the only time we read of silence in heaven. Why is there silence? Because God's going to judge the earth. Nobody's happy about it, including God.
Zephaniah 1:7 says, Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord, for the awesome day of the Lord's judgment has come. It's like the silence in the courtroom, as you await the jury foreman to speak. They stand up and say, We, the members of the jury, do fine. And there's silence. What is their verdict going to be?
And the fact that this lasts for a half hour reminds us that God is not in a hurry to do it. See, God's not in a rush to judgment. Oh, I can hardly wait. No. The very opposite. God's like, Man, I don't want to do this. I take no pleasure in this. So you can see that even God is reluctant to bring it. Because He knows it's going to bring a domino effect.
And by the way, there's some high-ranking, heavy-duty angels overseeing this operation. Look at Revelation 8:2. I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. I want you to notice John says, The seven. He doesn't just say seven angels. He says, The seven angels.
I don't know who they were. But it sort of reminds us of, They're like the magnificent seven. They're high-ranking angels. They're important angels. We only know of two high-ranking angels in the Bible. And we know there are thousands and thousands of angels. But we know that there are two that are high in their rank. And that would be Michael and Gabriel.
Michael is uniquely called the archangel. Only he's called that. In fact, it even says of the rapture with the trump of God, The voice of the archangel. So he's a major angel. Then there's Gabriel. He's a major angel too. He has a special role that we see in Scripture.
This is illustrated in the story of Daniel praying. In Daniel chapter 10, The prophet shot a prayer to heaven, And an angel was sent with the answer. But apparently this angel that was sent Was like private first class or something. Because he was outranked by a powerful demon.
So we know that there are rankings of holy angels, And there are rankings of demons. Ephesians 6 talks about principalities and powers And spiritual might in high places. So just like in the military, We have a five-star general, And we have a private first class.
So in the heavenly realm, We have general angels, And we have lieutenant angels, And we have entry-level angels. I mean, they're all powerful, But there are rankings. So apparently not a high-ranking angel Was dispatched to Daniel with the prayer, He's overcome. So the Lord sends a higher-ranking angel, Michael the archangel, And he frees up the other angel To bring the answer to Daniel.
And so who knows when we're praying sometimes, And our prayers are not answered As quickly as we would like. What's going on in the spiritual world? There's a lot going on there.
Also I would mention that Gabriel was dispatched To deliver the news to the aged Zechariah. That he would be the father of the forerunner Of the Messiah. That Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth Would be the parents of the greatest prophet Who ever lived, John the Baptist.
And when he appears to Zechariah, The prophet is not sure if he's totally legit. And I love how the angel says, I'm Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. It's like, buddy, hello. Hello, I'm Gabriel. I stand by God. I've been sent by God on this mission.
And it was also Gabriel that was sent to Mary To announce the birth of Jesus. So here we have the seven angels. Probably including Michael and Gabriel. The seventh trumpet appears to Usher in What Jesus calls the great tribulation. In the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24, And we were just in Israel. And we stood on the Mount of Olives where he gave the Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24. And there he said, There will be great distress or tribulation unequaled from the beginning of the world until now, never to be equaled again.
And the seventh seal is the seven trumpet judgments. And the seven trumpet judgments progress into seven bowl judgments. And the seven trumpet judgments can be divided into two groups. The first four are directed by God against the environment. Against the environment. And they're reminiscent of what happened to Pharaoh in Egypt when he was not listening to God. And God sent a series of plagues on the land. Plagues of lice. Plagues of frogs. Turning the Nile River into blood. They were plagues or judgments on their environment.
And then finally, the final three are falling on humanity in the next three chapters. So one thing we can safely assume, global warming is coming. The first trumpet blast targets Earth's vegetation. In verse seven. Crops and forests are decimated, filling the sky with smoke and ash. This will affect the food supply and no doubt the global economy.
The second trumpet blasts the ocean, verse eight. We read something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. Now, we wonder, what is John saying? Don't forget, John lives in the first century. He's banished to the island of Patmos. He's using his language and his understanding of what he knows to describe what Jesus Christ is showing him.
It's almost as though Jesus put John in sort of a spiritual time machine. Probably not a DeLorean. And it catapulted him into the future. And he's showing him all this phenomena. So, John, with first century language... I was like doing a keyboard. He didn't have a keyboard. He's writing it down, furiously trying to get this.
So, what is John describing? Is this a huge meteor or an asteroid? It could be. That could happen. That could bring this about. You've heard of Krakatoa, the volcanic island in the South Pacific. It erupted and blew apart. And the oceans were rushing into the crater as it exploded. It created a mighty convulsion. And that explosion was heard 2,000 miles away. And the island was obliterated. It literally disappeared. And history tells us that sunsets around the world were colored by dust two years from the first explosion.
So maybe it's sort of like a Krakatoa blowing up. Think of Mount St. Helens. Or maybe it was like just a meteor coming and hitting this place. We don't know exactly, but we know verse 8. One third of the sea became blood. Now, I don't think this literally means blood necessarily. It could be red tides caused by billions of dead microorganisms poisoning the water. In this case, the result of the meteor's explosion.
Then again, maybe John, in first century verbiage, is describing a nuclear explosion. You know, it's interesting when you look at what happens in the aftermath of nuclear weapons being detonated. It actually parallels what we've just read. I read an article in the San Francisco Examiner describing a nuclear winter. We often think the worst thing about a nuclear blast is the explosion. And as horrific as that is, the things that follow are often far worse.
The nuclear winter described as follows from a scientist. Quote, Within a few weeks of an all-out nuclear war, a devastating freeze would settle in the northern hemisphere. Massive amounts of soot from burning cities and forests would diffuse to the atmosphere, blotting out the sun. High noon would look like the dead of night. the average temperature would drop as much as 72 degrees.
So maybe John's describing a nuclear blast. You say, Greg, you're freaking me out. Flashback, we're not going to be here for this. We're going to be in heaven. So just be assured. But look at this. Even as this is coming down, God sends an angel, verse 13, with a divine warning. I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels that are about to sound.
Now there's a succession of judgments that follow, but why does he send the angels? God's still warning people. He's saying, I don't want to do this, but I'm going to do it because I'm righteous and I'm holy and there must be repercussion for sin. However, you can still repent.
You might say, well this is pretty crazy stuff. Well, maybe this is a wake-up call because I do believe there's going to come a moment where we're going to be caught up to meet the Lord. It's going to happen so fast you won't even be able to mark it in time. And I don't want you to miss that moment. I want you to be ready when the Lord comes back for his people. So maybe he's speaking to you right now.
You might say, well, you know, I don't really agree with what you're saying. Sorry, it's the Bible. And the Bible is true. And the Bible says, let God be true and every man a liar. So this is going to come down. Another person might say, well, I'm kind of excited about this. I can't wait. Then you're weird, okay? You need an attitude adjustment. This should break our heart just as it breaks God's heart.
How God Treasures Our Prayers
Now let's look at something a little bit different. Let's look at what happens to our prayers. Look at verse 3. Revelation 8. Another angel having a golden censer came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, and he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.
So what happens to our prayers when they're offered to God? Well, that all depends. Not all prayer, of course, is offered to God. Did you know it's entirely possible to pray even a very long prayer and not have your prayer heard by God? You say, well, how would that be? Well, Jesus told the story of a Pharisee that prayed thus with himself next to a publican who was a sinner, a tax collector.
And so the sinner just said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Wouldn't even look up to heaven. Meanwhile, the Pharisee prayed this eloquent, beautiful prayer and Jesus said, whose prayer do you think God heard? Now, conventional wisdom would be, well, the religious guy, the spiritual guy. You know, it would be like saying Billy Graham and Howard Stern went to pray. Whose prayer got heard? Well, Billy Graham.
And I'm not saying Billy Graham is a Pharisee, obviously, but I am saying Howard Stern's a sinner. Okay. That's clear. Okay, but here's my point. But I'm a sinner as well. We all are. But my point is simply this. Conventional wisdom would say, no, the religious guy, his prayer gets heard. Not the sinner guy, but in this case, Jesus is saying actually the sinner was heard because he was humble before God and acknowledged his true condition. And the religious guy was so filled with pride, his prayer was not heard.
In fact, the Pharisee started his prayer with, I thank you that I'm not like other men, especially him. If you ever start a prayer like that, you're messed up. Okay? And so here's my point. It's possible to pray and not have your prayers heard. I mean, technically, yeah, they're heard, but they're not going to be answered in the affirmative because that's sinful and that will separate you from God.
But what about those prayers that we offer to heaven that are never answered? Well, what do you mean answered? You mean answered in the affirmative? You know, sometimes I'll say, my prayers aren't unanswered. Well, maybe God said no and you just didn't like the answer. No is as much of an answer as yes is, right? God answers prayer three ways. Yes, no, and wait. Wait. And sometimes those wait answers are the hardest of all. But that doesn't mean no. It doesn't mean no. It just means God has his timing.
And so, sometimes we pray our prayers and we wonder, is God aware? Yes, God is aware. He's aware of each and every request made for his glory and in his will. You say, well, that's easy for you to say, but I don't know that God has heard all of my prayers. Well, here's what the Bible says. They're kept in this bowl in heaven. You know, we have the cloud. We put all this stuff in the cloud, right? It's in the cloud. What is the cloud? We don't know, but it's in the cloud.
Well, God is a bowl. A cloud, if you will, if it makes it easier for you to understand. A storage space, if you want to call it that. And your prayers are not forgotten. Your prayers are not ignored. Your prayers are duly noted. And God will answer them as he chooses to answer them in his perfect timing.
Going back to the story of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist. See, the reason he was surprised when Gabriel came and told him he was going to be a dad was because he was a really old dude at this point. Really old. And, by the way, he had been praying for this for 30 years. And so him and his wife Elizabeth, you know, they are going out to dinner at 5 o'clock in the evening. Okay? They are thinking, yeah, the whole answer to the prayer to have children, obviously that is not going to happen.
And now the Lord comes and says, oh yeah, by the way, I am going to give you a son. But I am not going to give you just any son. I am going to give you a super son. I am going to give you the greatest prophet who ever lived. So sometimes God doesn't answer our prayer as quickly as we would like because he wants to do something even better. Because the Bible says God is able to do exceedingly above and beyond that what we could ask or think.
Some of you are young. Some of you think you are young. But let me address those who are young. You know, you fall in love with a girl or a guy. This is the one you say to the Lord. And by the way, I did that all the time. I think I was in love with love when I was a young kid. I wanted to get married in the worst way. I was getting really old. I was like 18, you know. Like when is this going to happen?
And I fell in love or so I thought with a couple of girls and I told God that's the one and God ignored me. Hallelujah. Because he had the right girl waiting for me and me waiting for her. Kathy that I met later. And then, you know, and this isn't a nice thing to say. So I'm not going to say it. How many of you want me to say it anyway? See? What is wrong with you? Okay. I'm just going to in the nicest way say recently I ran into one of the girls I thought I was in love with. Okay. I'm just saying. She's a very nice person. But I looked at her and I looked at my wife and I said, Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Just leave it at that. And if that girl's here I'm really sorry.
So right now God says no, maybe. It's for your own good. Maybe God says wait. Wait. Why wait? You ever tell a child to wait? They hate waiting. They want everything now. No, just wait. It'll be worth it. You'll see. God does that too. So here's my point. Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed something for 30 years and God didn't say yes and then boom out of the blue the answer came. Maybe you've been praying for something for 30 years. Maybe the salvation of a husband, of a wife, of a mother, of a father, of a child. You're praying for something else. 30 years so you're thinking well 30 years forget it. It's not going to happen after 30 years. How do you know?
Here's something to consider. I hope you don't find this depressing but the person you're praying for to come to Christ may come to Christ at your funeral service. That may be what prompts it and you'll rejoice in heaven when you see him later. We need a bigger picture. There's a great theologian, Buzz Lightyear once said to infinity and beyond. Try to get a bigger picture. Don't give up on your prayers.
I want you to notice that this powerful angel mentioned here brings the prayers to God's attention. Verse 3. Another angel having a golden censer came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar. Lord, here's those prayers. Here they are. The Lord's going, I know. So it's duly noted.
And I think sometimes we think if we pray with certain people your prayers are going to be answered more quickly. I've had the occasion to pray a few times with Billy Graham. And I remember every time thinking this prayer is so heard in heaven. I mean, Billy Graham? Come on. It's like, hey, a bunch of people are praying. Billy Graham's praying. I'm going to listen to this in particular.
But you know, as wonderful as Billy Graham is, I've invoked him a couple times in this message. He doesn't have any greater access to heaven than you have. His prayers are not heard more quickly than yours are. Because Billy, just like you, just like me, just like all of us, come to the Father through Jesus Christ. And that's why our prayers are heard in heaven.
But this prayer is brought before the Lord. So let's wrap this message up and just bring a few closing points. Number one, never underestimate the power of prayer. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Listen, when you're praying according to God's will, your prayers are unstoppable. 1 John 5:14 says, this is the confidence that we have in Him. If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And we know that if He hears us, whatever we ask, we will have the petitions we've asked of Him.
That's the key to successful prayer. That's the key to seeing your prayers answered in the affirmative. Get your will in alignment with God's will. The objective is not to wrestle God my way, to get God to do what I want. No. The objective of prayer is to align myself with the will of the Father and pray accordingly.
If I'm on my little boat and I see the dock and I throw the rope on the dock and I pull myself, am I pulling the dock to me or am I pulling myself and my little boat to the dock? So when I'm praying, I'm throwing my rope up and I'm trying to pull myself to the Lord. Lord, what do you want me to pray? How do you want me to see this? How can I get in sync with your will?
You say, well Greg, how do you know the will of God? Well, start by just immersing yourself in Scripture. And you'll start seeing the mind of God, the heart of God, the desires of God. And then you'll start praying the way He wants you to pray. Jesus said, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.
A better translation would put it this way. Jesus speaking, if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you, you can ask it once for yourself, whatever your heart desires, and it's yours. And we immediately gravitate to the latter part of that. What? Whatever my heart desires? Yeah. Whatever you want, you get it. So we immediately think of all those stories of genies granting wishes and we're going to just tell God what we want.
Well, wait. Don't miss the first part. That's a conditional promise. The promise is you'll ask it once for yourself, whatever your heart desires, and it will be yours. But the condition is, Jesus speaking, if you maintain a living communion with me and my word is at home in you, guess what? When you're spending time in the presence of God and understanding His will, you're not going to pray for stupid stuff anymore. You're going to start praying for things that God wants.
And so that's why your prayers will be answered more often in the affirmative. So don't give up or don't back down. You know, I think when you're praying for the salvation of a loved one, don't ever give up. Pray as long as you live. Never give up. I don't care if it takes 30 years, 40 years, never give up. I think when we're praying for a revival in America, don't give up. Don't give up. Keep praying that God would send it.
Number two, God's timing is not always our timing. This is about prayer. God's timing is not always our timing. In Revelation 6, we read of the martyrs in heaven crying to God, asking Him to bring judgment, saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true until you avenge our blood. And God's response is, wait a little longer. I'm going to take care of it. Just wait a little longer.
Sometimes we're, you know, like the kids in the long car ride saying to our parents, are we there yet? Are we there yet? And the Lord says, just a little bit longer. Almost. We're getting close. Remember, God's delays are not necessarily His denials. So, keep praying and don't give up.
Yeah, you know what? Judgment is coming to this world. And when that first domino falls, the next one's going to fall and the next one's going to fall and it's going to be scary. But I'm so thankful that I have hope that I will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And I want to close this message by asking you the question, if Jesus Christ were to come back tonight, would you be ready?
I mean, are you sure you would be ready? You know, when you're right with God, you'll be excited by the fact that Christ could come back. But if you're not right with God, you will be very reluctant to embrace this idea. Sort of like if you did something wrong and your mom gave you that ominous warning, just wait until your father gets home. So you dreaded your dad's arrival. Normally you'd run out to greet him, throw your arms around him, but now you know you're in trouble and a car pulls up in the driveway and you slowly walk out if you walk out at all.
That's how some people greet the return of Christ. Oh man, I messed up. I'm not living in a way that I should. Well then change your ways. Stop doing that thing that you're doing and live in a way that you can say, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
Your reaction to the imminent or the soon return of Jesus is really a spiritual barometer of where you are at. If you embrace this idea, if your heart jumps a little with excitement and anticipation, that would indicate to me you're right with God. If your heart sinks a little and you're filled with dread and even fear, that would indicate to me you're not right with God.
So let's get that fixed. You can get right with God. You say, but how? Just say to God, I know I'm a sinner and I'm sorry and I need Jesus. And Jesus Christ will come and forgive you of every sin you have ever committed in an instant. It doesn't take years. It doesn't take months. It doesn't take hours. He can do it in a nanosecond. Just like that.
Because His death on the cross satisfied the righteous demands of the Father. Jesus faced God's judgment so you don't have to face God's judgment. But if you reject Him, the very Son of God, then when you face judgment in that final day, you'll have no one to blame but yourself.
As I pointed out, you know, there will be no one in hell who did not go there willingly. You know, you made that choice. You charted your course. God doesn't want that for you. He's waiting for you to believe. And there might be a few of you that need to ask Christ to forgive you of your sin right now. And I want to give you an opportunity to do that.
And there might be a few of you that, well, you're sort of living in two worlds. You know, you know it's right but you're doing things that you shouldn't be doing as a follower of Jesus. And maybe this is a warning from God tonight to you. He's saying, don't do that anymore. I'm warning you. Just like He warned these people in Revelation. Just like there was a pause and a silence in heaven. And the angel said, whoa, whoa, whoa, man, don't go there. Don't do this.
God has given you a warning. You say, well, I don't care what He says. I'll do what I want. Okay, you're going to face the consequences. And it ain't going to be pretty. God's saying, come to me now and be forgiven.
Why don't we do that? Father, we hear Your Word now. And we want to respond. And I pray for anybody here, anybody that is listening to this message, wherever they are, if they don't know for sure that Jesus is living in their heart and that they will go to heaven when they die, help them to come to You and believe in You right now.
Now when our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying together, how many of you would say tonight, Greg, I want Jesus in my life. I want my sin forgiven. I don't want to face God's judgment in this world or in the world to come. I want to be forgiven of my sin right now. So pray for me.
If you want Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sin, if you want to go to heaven one day, if you don't want to face God's judgment, wherever you are, raise your hand up and let me pray for you. You want Christ in your life. God bless you. Lift your hand up where I can see it. God bless you. Anybody else? Lift your hand up high, Please. You want His forgiveness. God bless you. And God bless you. Anybody else? Just raise your hand up. Let me pray for you. God bless. Maybe you haven't lifted your hand yet, but you need to make this commitment to Jesus. Do it now. God bless you as well. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. You want Jesus to come in your life? You want to go to heaven when you die? You want to be ready for the Lord's return?
If you haven't, raise your hand yet. Raise it now. I'll pray for you. Wherever you're sitting, Raise your hand up. Let me pray for you. Anybody else? God bless you. While our heads are still bowed, maybe some of you would say, I'm living a compromised life and I know it and I don't want to live this way anymore. I want to turn from this sin that God has convicted me of and I want to start walking closely with Jesus so I can say, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
If that's your desire, raise your hand up wherever you are. Let me pray for you right now. You need to make that recommitment to Christ. God bless. Anybody else? Raise your hand up. Alright. I'm going to ask every one of you, if you would please, that raise your hand to stand to your feet. I'm going to lead you in a prayer right where you are.
You that raise your hand saying that you want Christ to come in your life or you want to make that recommitment, stand up. You heard me right. Stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer. By the way, others are standing. So you're not alone. Others are standing too. Stand up. You want to make this commitment, a recommitment to Jesus Christ. Maybe you did not raise your hand, but you want to make this commitment. Stand up and we're going to pray together. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand to your feet. Let's get this resolved. God bless you. You will not regret this. You'll be glad you did it. Anybody else? I'll wait one more moment. You want God's forgiveness. God bless you. You need to make that recommitment to Christ. You want to be ready for His return. Stand to your feet. Let me pray for you and with you. God bless you. Anybody else? Stand now. Anybody else? And we'll pray together.
All right. Now you that are standing, I'm going to lead you in a simple prayer, and I want you to pray it out loud after me, right where you stand. Again, as I pray, pray this prayer out loud after me, right where you are. Pray this now. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, but I know that you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. Jesus, forgive me of my sin. I turn from it now. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
God bless you guys that prayed that prayer. God bless you. Amen. God bless each one of you. Hey, listen. For you that just prayed that prayer, we want to give you a copy of the New Testament that looks like the one I'm holding here. This is called the Start Bible. It has some notes in it that I wrote that will tell you more about what it means to follow Christ.
If you've made a commitment or a recommitment, we want to talk with you for a few moments. Over to my left, your right, here's one of our counselors, Colt. He's holding up that Start Bible. I want all of you that just stood and prayed their prayer with me to get up out of your seat and walk over to where Colt is. Catch your Bible. We want to talk with you about what it means to follow the Lord. Get up and walk right over there to where Colt is. Right over there. If you're a counselor, go on over there as well. And God bless each one of you. Right over that way. Amen. God bless you guys. Right over there. Don't leave without your Start Bible tonight. Amen. Amen.
All right. Well, let's all stand. It's hard to clap and stand. You just stop clapping. Why? I mean, you can do it. I mean, see? Let's try it again. Sit down. Sit down. Okay, clap. Go ahead and clap. Stand. Look at that. I knew you could do it. Amazing. Amazing. You guys are so talented. Okay. So, heaven. It's a happening place. It's an active place. It's filled with worship, excitement, joy, food. Yes, food. I don't know if Juan's tacos will be there, but something very good will be there. So, we're going to close with a worship song. So, let's get in sync with heaven right now as we close in worship.