Revelation: Seven Trumpets - Week 5 - Sermons - Mason King

hi guys pastor matt chandler here pray uh that this sermon this resource uh be used by god in conjunction with you belonging to a local church to grow you and sanctify you in your faith if these resources bless you would you consider giving back to us here at tbc you can do that either through the app or you can go online to tbc resources and give there again pray that this blesses you and grows you in your love for jesus christ there is a battle coming the war has already begun it is raged unseen for millennia and though we often struggle to see the conflict for what it really is all of us can feel its effects we wrestle with the powers of sin and death on a daily basis and sometimes in our darkest moments it can feel like we're losing but the word of the lord tells a different story hope echoes throughout the pages of scripture despite the mystery that surrounds it the book of revelation offers the people of god a clear message fear not tomorrow tomorrow is 1. good morning my name is luke boblett and i serve in berlin germany with my wife amanda where we are sent by the village to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples and it's great to be with you let me read to you from revelation 9 verses 20-21 the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the work of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood which cannot see or hear or walk nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts this is the word of the lord thanks well good morning good morning to you at home my name is mason king i serve as one of the pastors and elders here i'm also the director the executive director of the village church institute which where we work to make the bible and theology accessible to everyone and contrary to popular belief i am not grant mccarty's brother lot of people think that so we're going to be in that cheery passage in revelation 9 this morning if you want to go ahead and turn there but as we begin this morning i want to do something with you which is a little different but this is how i want to start we are in the middle of what for many across the world has been one of the mod like one of the more difficult times in the last half century endless opinions decisions news cycles disappointments suffering loneliness loss anxiety fear and death we have faced and carried those things and we will continue to carry those things and that is a lot of weight to bear and the truth is in the middle of all that you and i have just done the best we can to get by we have tried to cope with anxiety fear loneliness loss death and the like and we have done it in healthy and unhealthy ways haven't we and so this morning i just want to invite you to take a hand and put on your chest where you can feel your heartbeat put your shoulders down because you're kind of sitting like this so put them down then i want you to take a deep breath in through your nose and hold it and exhale through your mouth okay now do it again okay drop your shoulders more alright one more time okay i'm going to remind you of a few things this morning and some of them are going to be hard truths because that's just how it is when you preach the book you don't get to skip over the hard things and before that i want to remind you that the heart that's beating in your chest that you just felt the air that you brought into your lungs they are all gifts of god to you today christian or not like you're not sustaining your heartbeat and you're not creating the air you're breathing in those are all gifts of god to you today and so would you just remind yourself that he is good and you can trust him because listen you might feel shame over how you've handled things and people in the middle of all this or you might be fearful of how you're going to handle things and people in the days to come or you might just think man this has been awesome it's fine but i want to encourage you that many of us have felt like the world is on our shoulders but right now as you feel that heartbeat as you take that breath we just know that we can trust him come what may because the may's going to come right there's grace in this moment to be reminded of what is true good and beautiful because it's who we just sing about the two we're going to talk about it's who we're going to proclaim in the cup and it's who invites you to life and he is good and true and can be trusted so let's talk about revelation last week last week we looked at the seven seals and we asked the final question who can stand like who can who has confidence not to run in terror but can stand in peace and we said those who are in christ jesus can stand those who are in christ jesus can stand because empires have come they have risen against the people of god and they have fallen time and again but jesus who has created sustained and carries forth the church throughout history gives us hope that we respond to all of those things and we sing and stand and this week we're in chapters 8 through 11 which are another window into reality and we're seeing in this passage judgment but from a different perspective and i don't want you to forget this apocalyptic literature it is connective and prophetic tissue like it remembers itself from other places it uses well-known things from memory to make sense of what it sees it does that to proclaim reality which is why the whole book is just chock full of the old testament so if you don't know your old testament well you might be thinking where is that that's different that's new it's probably old and you might just want to use the guide that we made with some of the references in it of what happens in the old testament you know it makes sense of things now the seals are a window under the church's experience we talked about last week the trumpets this week are a window on the experience of those outside of christ those of the world those who are invited and offered the chance to humble themselves repent and be saved by christ before judgment is final i mean judgment is a word that our culture does not like right now because it's just it's synonymous with intolerance and i'm a history guy i know that's nerdy it's just my thing i look over trends of the centuries and try to understand how we've been shaped by those before us then i try to think about our response and what it should be in light of the culture we inherit like the stuff you and i have to deal with just because of where we woke up in the timeline and then what our choices and our lives should be in response to those things that we have to handle because it's our lot there are inherent struggles for each generation as they wrestle with culture and god's reality and to think that we have less struggles than those before us is to believe the false story of progressivism because humanity is not continually on an upward trajectory to perfection and you are less of an individual than you think by the time you're able to make decisions for yourself you have been discipled by the spirit of your age in countless ways and there are a lot of benefits to being in modern society don't get me wrong but being downstream of the enlightenment has its drawbacks when reality goes from objective capital t god revealed truth outside of you to subjective inside of you based on what you think feel and see and what's good for you is good for me you do you we can all have our own opinion many ways to truth is pluralistic what we have done is we have created that throne for our culture we have stopped being creatures we have denied our reality we have declared ourselves the creator and you and i do this all the while while we nurse caffeine addictions because we get tired and have to go to sleep at night we deny these limits that we have and we deny god's word which unveils reality to us we want our conscience to be free from the sting of sin we want to feel okay about ourselves and then we make god's presence in our lives like that of the deist god of our american forefathers who round the clock of the world set it down and then went for a bit of a nap and with god napping whom many of us believe is disinterested in our daily lives and many of us distrust to be loving we act like there's no no accountability for our choices and that we're tolerated but maybe not maybe not really wanted in remaking god into the image of our insecurities and circumstances we remain blind to the fact that we have a real enemy literal not figurative named satan who has been prowling around like a lion devouring and trying to devour those made in the image of god one author says satan may be no doctor of theology but he's very well trained in philosophy and he said thousands of years to practice his craft this is partly why we struggle to believe in the unseen reality spoken of the bible because we are fascinated by the idea of the supernatural we ignore our we ignore that sin has active power behind it and we can't get enough of the battle between good and evil between lightness and dark just watch one division i did i stayed up late the other night to watch the series series finale watch harry potter those are all modern reeds on our desire for eternity that's desire for eternity in our hearts and they also downplay supernatural darkness as entertaining fiction and i'm not calling for a boycott what i'm saying is that when we only accept unseen realities as entertainment and fail to see them as a very real part of this world we reject the worldview of the bible and we are in need of a reality check you don't focus too much or too little on them but you sure don't treat them like fiction so i've set the table for revelation for the trumpets this way for a few reasons first because the trumpets are a window into the mercy of god toward those who have yet to repent they are a window into the mercy of god for those who have yet to repent and believe in jesus they are a view from the world's perspective second because there are many of us christian and non who think that god is an angry father who had to be appeased by the son dying and we ignore the fact that christ himself christ himself and john tells us that he came to reveal the heart of the father if you have seen jesus you've seen the father and the heart of that father is loving and desires for his children to be saved to be freed from death born anew to know him to walk in life as it's designed to be and experience his beauty for all time and lastly i've set it up this way because our culture has trained us to think that judgment is wrong the highest value of our time is tolerance and our culture says that truth is subjective to what we think feel and see the world and the powers behind it are aggressive in the disorientation of those made in the image of god and i mean those being conformed to the image of christ and those being deformed in their humanity because the goal of the enemy is to trap all of us and not believing in the reality of god's world and i'm not sure if it's ever been easier for us to choose our own reality and feel little to no accountability and consequence for our actions than right now and i gotta tell you i get so sad i get so sad when i think of the gospel being proclaimed and that it is it's just insurance against hell i get so sad when i think you take the beauty and the riches of jesus and you just make it about avoiding hell because that is fear-based calling into the kingdom of god and what awaits you and me in revelation and 22 like what awaits us at the end of the book when we get there at the end of time it is the longing of our hearts it is the beauty meaning fulfillment friendship joy connection and vocation that we are looking for here at every turn and jesus will be there and we will be united to him gosh that is just so much more beautiful so much more true and right than scaring someone into believing in jesus to get a hall pass when we know what is offered to us now and ahead in jesus we want others to know him now and for all time when joy is offered to you not just a quiet conscience but a new heart is given to you when life and love and acceptance at your core are placed in you and you are sealed by the power of the holy spirit how could you not want to share with other people it is good conviction to think about how our cultural discipleship has kept us from sharing the hope we have in jesus it is also good for us to grow in empathy and compassion for what is at stake now and for those and to come for those who do not humble themselves repent and believe in jesus so let's talk about the trumpets beginning of chapter eight the seventh seal is opened and john tells us there's silence in heaven for half an hour seven seals seal open something happens all the way to seven seal seven is opened it goes quiet like the heavenlies silent for half an hour in awe at what just got revealed and what is to come there was silence at the realization of what was about to happen and the seventh seal is realized as the trumpets announced coming judgment and offer repentance to the world god employs the trumpets to unveil reality to those outside of christ in hopes of getting their attention when all their idols fail to finally deliver them if that seems familiar to you then you'd be in good company with the first readers of revelation who would read this and think about egypt and the plagues where god unveiled reality and used plagues to free his people so like many of you who are in a bible reading plan you got to exodus middle the end of january maybe middle of february and as i read these descriptions of these plagues i was reminded how with the flies the dying livestock the hail the boils the locusts that the people of god were protected from all of them like even when it went pinch pitch black you could not see in front of your face for three days this ginger would have gotten burned in the land of goshen where the people of god were the sun was out in exodus 11 god tells moses about the final plague and he says there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of egypt such as there has never been nor ever will be again but not a dog shall growl against any people of israel either man or beast that you may know that the lord makes a distinction between egypt and israel between egypt and israel between those in christ and those of the world who have not repented god makes a distinction and it is his right to do so for he alone rules the heavens he alone is god and he alone is trustworthy in our infallible authority god shows his mercy through restrained judgment both in egypt and here in revelation he offers repentance because he is a compassionate god and i want you to hear me this morning god is not just a nicer bigger version of you god is god as he is in himself he is merciful patient kind slow to anger wishing for none to perish but he disciplines those he loves and here he offers repentance to the unbeliever in the language that we all seem to pay attention to the most pain he uses plagues to show people that all they trust for in their sense of self their peace comfort meaning that all the things that can be made and bought with their talents are blind deaf and lame idols that cannot save them they're actually tied to demonic deceits that deform them from the image of god that make them less than human these idols and the powers behind them gladly receive the worship of people who are made to worship god and then they turn and destroy these people in the end so with the trumpets the first four centered around creation hail and fire mixed with blood burn up a third of the earth in its vegetation just take for a second just use your imagination i'm gonna read these again okay hail and fire mixed with blood burn up a third of the earth and it's vegetation a burning mountain is hurled into the sea and a third of all living things in the ocean die a third of all living things in the ocean die and a third of all the ships on the seas are affected the food supply chain takes a massive hit and then a star falls from heaven and poisons a third of the water supply for all the earth and then a third of the sun moon and stars go dark now for a world without a light bulb without grocery pickup and without a west texas meat plant their way of living has been severely hindered right hindered but not completely destroyed man has proven dependent and helpless pretty quickly when the very thing he needs to physically survive survive is taken from him like when you if you lost power during the freeze how uncomfortable was it to feel out of control how uncomfortable was it to feel dependent and then there's the numbers so many numbers so many books written about the numbers this is the book that we'll stick with that a third could have been all hear me a third could have been a hundred percent and god would still be just with complete judgment but a third is mercy a third is mercy it's a costly shot across the bow to say wake up humble yourself repent live in reality you think about jesus looking at the crowds in matthew 9. the text says when he saw the crowds he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd this this is the heart of god who restrains judgment that people might come to their senses humble themselves repent and believe and after the fourth plague an eagle goes overhead and pronounces whoa whoa whoa to those of the earth four trumpets down and three woes to come and i want you to think for a second these people who have persecuted christians rejected the truth of christ trusted in what they think feel and see to save them the physical world turns upside down in the first four plagues and they do not humble themselves repent and believe in the fifth trumpet it's a bit of a turn it is sobering and scary an angel is giving keys to the pit below earth which billows with smoke when opened and out of the pit in the underworld come hellish creatures bent on terror absolute terror they are led by one whose name means destruction and destroyer the description of these beasts is incredibly detailed and it has one main purpose to describe a demonic power and suffering loosed on humanity like your worst nightmare multiplied by the highest number you can think of and you end up with these demonic beasts with scorpion tails and they drive man mankind to the point of longing for death for five months without relief trust in your body to save you pretty strong not going to happen trust in your diet gone your bunker and your canned goods gone your stockpiled ammo i know where we live gone your social media presence gone the power of your stuff gone whatever's in your bank account won't even buy you death because the text says they longed for death and god would not let them die why because there is a death worse than physical death because the offer to repent is still there it's still available and yet people don't humble themselves repent and turn to the light they hold under the darkness then we get to the sixth trumpet second to last in these calls to repent and it comes with what would be what would be the greatest death toll in all of human history so i did the numbers yesterday that's 2.6 billion people the four angels are lose from the borders of the land and lead an army dreamed of by tyrants like it's a horse mounted cavalry of two million riders at the time of riding would have been like the entire population of rome was russell crowe coming for you and a third of the population of earth is killed a third of the population of mankind is killed the description of these horses and their writers if you read and try to imagine it it should show you that the judgment of god is serious weighty and merciful as again only a third of mankind is killed leaving two-thirds the opportunity to humble themselves turn from their idols and worship the living god which brings us to what we read earlier chapter 9 the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood which cannot see or hear or walk nor do they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual morality or their thefts two-thirds of mankind having lived through the terrifying restrained and merciful judgment of god having been offered life and deliverance not just from a hurting conscience but from pain and suffering and death they don't turn they don't turn they don't humble themselves they don't repent they refuse to live in reality and the text shows us why because they're bound they're looking for purpose meaning fulfillment in the things they can make or buy offering themselves made in the image of god as worshipers to these things because they offer the most valuable thing they have their attention in their idol worship and in that they give themselves over to demonic power which has friend it has never actively stopped seeking to destroy those made in the image of god these idols turn on their worshipers and destroy them and these people become like what they worship blind death and lame before the beauty of christ so between the sixth and seventh trumpets is a passage about god's two witnesses and this section is kind of a best of using symbols from the old testament so again if you read it you're like this is weird this is all new it's old okay just it's pointing to god's work through his prophets through the old testament and the two witnesses are proclaiming jesus in front of the world and they're calling people to humble themselves repent and turn from their idols and believe the good news and the beast gets introduced here which matt that's for you for another week so uh he the beast eventually kills the prophets and the people rejoices their death because the text says these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth so just let's not miss that it says the people of god who were speaking the truth of god and declaring the need to repent of idols were accused of tormenting those opposed to god and his kingdom then god raises the witnesses from the dead calls them to heaven in front of everyone and it says in chapter 11 verse 13 and at that hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the god of heaven you could miss that because it's short and it involves math but stick with me because with six trumpets the world was turned into a living nightmare right physical and mental suffering terror and death and people would not humble themselves and repent the wicked witnesses speak and they're killed and these people literally had a party and gave gave gifts to each other around their dead bodies and god showed his mercy again in sending an earthquake and only killing one tenth of the people you say well that's a weird number what's that about you see there were times in the old testament where god only lets one tenth survive it's flipped here to show you the mercy the nine tenths of these people finally humble themselves repent and worship god the numbers point to the mercy and then the final woe which when read as a christian is hopeful but if you read it as one outside of jesus it is terrible in the truest sense of the word because it is the end of the age of man and the coming of the kingdom of god this is chapter 11 verse 15. then the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our lord and of his christ and he shall reign forever and ever and the elders worshiped and god's temple was open so that's 26 minutes and a busy three chapters with a lot of reality if you're willing to bear it you see god is our creator we have sinned against him and been cut off from the life we were made for he has made a way for us through his son jesus to be reunited with him and made whole he has offered us life with him both now and to come but we must humble ourselves we must humble ourselves repent from offering our worship to things other than god and believe in christ if we do not repent once and continually from sin if we do not endure to the end we will be judged if we reject him or think we can repent later friend we have just read that the mercy of god is greater than any human mercy and it has an end so christian or not what are you trusting in to bring you meaning and value like in that moment when you feel down or you feel tired or you feel lonely what are you trusting in to bring you meaning and value that is not god what are the idols that you think you own but in the quiet moments if you were honest with yourself you realize you try to quit and you can't quit you delete the app you put it away you put the bottle away you do this you try and change you just can't change you think you own them but in reality they own you what are those things is it how you is it how you're seen by others so wanting to be competent successful needed enviable you're working for what is already yours in christ is it whatever gives you control over your feelings escaping or suppressing them like brownies just me or alcohol or sex or meds or drugs or exercise or another show or another thing that you can buy these are compulsions to give you a grip when things get hard and they do not stay neutral they take your attention and leave you thirsty for more because they are not what they promise to be they're not or is it that your cultural discipleship has led you to doubt and disbelieve the reality of god's word of his goodness and the offer of mercy to you are you too sophisticated for the worldview of the bible i think that many of us say we want to repent but we are unwilling to be displeasing to ourselves in any measure and if you won't be displeasing to yourself you have no hope of actually knowing you need to repent we avoid our inner life by numbing distracting and busying ourselves so that you and i don't have to slow down long enough to recognize and consider the iceberg under the surface the fact that things are not okay and we need help it is no surprise to god that you need help and he's willing to go to great lengths to get you to admit it what pain will he need to employ to get your attention how how bad does it have to get before you will be displeasing enough to yourself to recognize what reality is and repent before god how long before you just stop acting like it's okay and confess it's not christian believer in jesus you are to be marked by a life of repentance all of our lives should be an ongoing effort to be repenting before the lord in worship and to be conformed to who he designed us to be for his glory and our good your life this is this ties to the two witnesses your life of ongoing repentance joy in christ and turning from idols it is the witness to the world that will feel like torment to some and to others it will be the aroma of life to others it will bring them to know and see jesus the passage is good space for us to consider our compassion and longing for others to know jesus like are you willing to be spoken poorly of so that you can speak well of the savior are you willing to be uncomfortable that others might be comforted by christ active repentance and active sharing of our hope in christ active repentance and active sharing of our hope in christ that is our witness to the world and if you're here today or you listen to me on the stream and you don't believe in jesus like you're not sure are you know for sure you don't i'm so glad that you're listening and you're here i've been praying for you because the offer to you is all of the longing and fulfillment you were looking for life given to you by the one who created and designed and sustains life like he knows how it's supposed to go and he wants you to flourish it is freedom from sin from god's judgment from being bound to things that never deliver on what they promise your rebellion against god your active defiance and your passive indifference can be forgiven in jesus because god is good and to be trusted he is merciful and slow to anger and desires that you would come inside be part of the family and find a new home he only asked that you humble yourself repent from worshiping things that are idols and that will own you that will destroy you that you come to life you see i think we all need to know this that repentance is not regret repentance is not a sad feeling in your conscience about how you shouldn't do that bad thing anymore that's a beginning to it it could be godly sorrow if it pans out and you follow through but repentance is actively turning from a false way of being to a true one in jesus again and again actively turning from a false way of being to a true one in jesus again and again so if you want to know more about what that is but how to repent what it looks like how to follow jesus what we're talking about that life can be afforded to you man we'd love to talk to you like we're here for that find one of us for the silver name tag on find the prayer team go to connection central contact us through the website we'd love to have that conversation with you now christian no matter what is ahead of you no matter what is ahead of you may we be marked by lives of active repentance and active sharing of our hope in christ that is our witness to the world he is good and beautiful and true and there is life to be found in him let's pray father i thank you i thank you that you are merciful that you are slow to anger that you restrain judgment that you have provided for us in jesus that you have given time to repent so even now may we repent before you where we are harboring sin we are thinking we've got it under control where we need to let go of idols and turn from you would you expose the darkness for what it is would you give us eyes and clarity to see where the power of your spirit where we have let ourselves walk away from you and turn to idols and then for those who don't know you are bound to idols would you free them in the name of jesus would you grant repentance to them when they believe and see christ in his beauty where he is more beautiful and more delightful to the soul than honey would you do it lord we want you to do it would you please we pray in christ's name amen

Channel: The Village Church Resources

Views: 21,417

Rating: 4.8636365 out of 5

Keywords: Matt Chandler, The Village Church

Id: rKFFScCwPAw

Length: 37min 34sec (2254 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 08 2021