The Trumpets: Part 1

That's the countdown. It's good to see everybody this evening. If you guys want to go ahead and stand with me, we'll pray and we'll get started.

Father, I thank you for the day. Lord, I just thank you for who you are, for how much you love us, Lord, for what you've done for us, God, through your son, Jesus. Lord, I just pray that you would just move mightily tonight, Lord, as we open up your word and as we lift praise to you, God. Just work in our hearts. Do something awesome tonight. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen. You guys go ahead and have a seat if you like. My sorrow and dead in my sin Lost without hope with no place to begin To let mercy come in When death was arrested and my life began Hush was redeemed, only beauty My orphan heart was given a name Morning grew quiet and my feet rose to dance When death was arrested And my life began Wash his own My shame was a ransom Faithfully born He canceled my death And he called me Rested Darkness rejoiced As though heaven had lost Rested Forever No demons to His death and resurrection Have paid my Father, God, I just thank you, free son Jesus, for what he's done for us on the cross, Lord, that he's purchased me with his blood. He's made his wretch, or made a wretch, his treasure, Lord.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for all you've done.

Lord, I just pray that tonight as Pastor Ryan comes, I pray that the word go out with power, God, and do its mighty work. Lord, we love you, God, and we praise you, and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Good evening. If you would, please open up in your Bibles to the book of Revelation, chapter 8. Revelation, chapter 8. As we come to chapter 8, we move into a new section of the judgment. Actually, chapters 8 and 9, both encompass what we call the trumpet judgments. Just to catch us all up, make sure that we're all on the same page. Starting in chapter 6, we saw the unsealing of the scroll.

The scroll had been presented. The only one that was worthy to open it was the lamb who had been slain. And so in chapter 6, he begins opening the first six seals. And the first six seals were these, we saw, first of all, the four horsemen, the first of which was the Antichrist. And then we saw violence or war. And then we saw famine or inflation or a little bit of both.

We saw death. And then, of course, from there, we saw the martyrs underneath of the throne, before the altar, excuse me, crying out to God for when he was going to, when he was going to bring vengeance upon their death. And then we saw what I termed as catastrophic destruction, earthquakes that were so powerful, unlike anything that we had seen before. But then we moved into chapter 7.

We saw a merciful interlude. Because before the unsealing of that seventh seal, we saw that there was just this moment. In this moment where we saw the 144,000 that were sealed, those 144,000 that were of the nation of Israel, 12,000 from every tribe. And then we saw the tribulation saints, those who had been slain for their faith, before the throne of God.

And they did what it seems like we've seen happen a lot throughout the book of Revelation. They just simply worshiped God. They worshiped him for who he is. They worshiped him for the salvation that he had brought. And it really just praised him. Only now that merciful interlude has finished, and it's time to get back to the work of the book of Revelation, which while is the unveiling of the son of God,

it also is the judgment upon an unbelieving earth. And so we pick up in chapter eight, verse one, and it says this. When the lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. They saw the angels who stand before God and the seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar holding a golden censer and much incense was given to him

so that he might added to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar, which was before him. And so the angels went up before the throne and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. And then the angel took the golden censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth. And there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

The first thing that we see is really the unsealing of the seventh seal. And something somewhat awe inspiring happens as the seventh, the seal is broken because as this seventh seal is broken, we're told that there was a period of silence. As a matter of fact, it was a specific period of silence because it says that there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. Now, I don't know if you've ever sat in silence for that long, especially after there had been such great noise.

I want you to think about the way the scene plays out because the, the very end of chapter seven has them before the throne, crying out to God, praising God for who he is. And previous to that was all of the things that were unleashed in chapter six. So if you will, there was a great noise that was taking place in heaven, undoubtedly somewhat awe inspiring to John. And then he looks and he sees the lamb, by the way, remember who this lamb is, the one who's unsealing it.

It's the lamb of God who had been slain, who looked as a, who looked as if he was a lamb that was slain, unsealing it. And so you can just see the nail scarred hand of Jesus unsealing that last seal in what was opened up was so awe inspiring that all of heaven went quiet and the silence would have been deafening. One of the things I've noticed as I've gotten a little bit older is I don't like lots of background noise anymore. I just, it's my old man thing now, right?

Like I did, I did a wedding one time and at the wedding they had this DJ there, which is not, not an uncommon thing. Most weddings that I do have a DJ, but this DJ felt like if level eight was good, level 12 was better, right? And so, so he had everything at level 12 and, and it was just so loud and the noise was just like, right? And so my highly auditory ears were just taking this all in.

And then on top of that, you have people that want to come up and talk to you, right? Which is, which is normal. I have no problem with that. I love talking to people, but when they're talking to me while the music is at level 12 and I'm going, I'm sorry, come again. What'd you say? Right? And they're yelling and the noise is yelling and everybody's talking.

It was like, I walked out and everything was just quiet. It was the most peaceful thing in the world. And yet the quiet is almost a noise in and of itself, right? It's almost like you can just feel the silence. I think that's how it was in heaven at this point in time. All of heaven was in awe of what was about to take place on planet earth. Because of the things that they were seeing unleashed,

the things that they would see unleashed. And because of that, all of heaven simply fell silent. I find it fascinating that John put a timestamp on this. I mean, he said that all of heaven was silent for about a half an hour because here's what I want to know. How do you know it was a half an hour, right? I mean, it's not like he had his Apple watch with the timer going,

right? He just somehow, he just knew that's how long it was with silence for about a half an hour. It completely fell over the entire place. And as that deafening silence fell over the entire place, we see a new group of people, a new group of angels introduced to us. It says in verse two, and I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given

to them. Now, again, I don't know how this scene actually played out, but here's how I picture the scene being played out. I picture someone walking around and distributing a trumpet to each of these, seven angels that are standing before the presence of God. That's probably not how it happened. Perhaps the trumpet just showed up in their hand, whatever it is.

It says that they were each given a trumpet. And now we have these seven angels that are always standing before God that apparently have been there this whole time. It's just that John has now really noticed that these angels are there and they're holding these seven trumpets. But before these angels with these seven trumpets do anything, something else takes place.

There's another angel that we see. It says, and another angel came. Now, some say that this is actually Jesus himself. Actually, don't agree with that interpretation because this is the word in the Greek for another is another of the same kind. And so it's another angel that comes along and it stood at the altar and it was holding a golden sensor. Now, the last time we've really seen anyone hold a sensor was in the old Testament

when we talked about the priesthood, right? The sensor that would have been some sort of a golden pot that held a burning, uh, burning coals in it that were probably smoking that they would use as a part of their ceremonies would hold this, this golden sensor. And that's what he has in his hand. And then the second thing is given to him. It says in much incense was given to him.

And this incense that was given to him, according to first three was given so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar, which was before the throne. So picture this, if you will, he's holding a golden sensor and he's handed a bunch of incense and he's handed a bunch of incense to do something specific with it. He's given it to add it to the prayers of the saints that are on the throne. The golden altar that's before the throne.

Now, remember we said that the golden altar was a picture or was actually also in the tabernacle itself, the altar of incense that was in the tabernacle that was always burning. And it always pictured those prayers of the saints. And so what he has is this handful of incense that he's going to add to all the prayers of the saints. Now, I personally believe that the incense that he's adding to all the prayers of the saints are all of those prayers that we heard back in chapter six of those saints underneath of the altar who are praying, Lord, how long until you bring vengeance upon the earth?

And I think, and I think that's what it is because of what's about to take place. He adds this incense to the golden altar that's before the Lord. And then notice the next thing that this angel does. It says, so the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. I don't think we can skip by this without pointing out once again,

that all of this burning incense added to the prayers of the saints are none other than more of the prayers of the saints. And where do those, where do all of those prayers find their ultimate end coming right before the throne of God? I'll bring this up again at the very end, because I think it's, it's a point that begs to be made over and over again, that we forget that every single one of our prayers that's made does not hit the ceiling. It doesn't hit the atmosphere.

It does not stop until it has actually reached the very throne room of God. And it comes before him like that sweet smelling aroma. I don't know about you, but there's a good number of prayers that I pray that it really genuinely feels like it hits the ceiling. Do you ever feel that way? Are you ever like, did, did that even do anything? Did God even know that that took place?

It says he does because all of those prayers find their ultimate end before the very throne of God. And that's a promise that we can rest in. Listen, we may not always feel it, but just because I don't feel it doesn't mean it isn't true. All of those prayers ultimately end up before God. And they went up before God out of the angel's hand. And then in verse five,

the angel took the sensor and filled it with the fire of the altar. So all of those prayers of the saints that were on the altar. And then what I think are the prayers of those saints before the throne who are praying, Lord, how long until you bring judgment? How long until you avenge our blood? And he says, not just yet, give it some time. All of those are added to the golden altar.

And now this other angel takes his sensor and fills up his sensor with the fire that is on this altar. All of these prayers. I want you to notice what he does with it. It says he takes the fire and he threw it to the earth and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Ooh, listen, it may take a while for our prayers to be answered,

but when they're answered, they are answered with power because that's exactly what takes place here. All of these prayers that had been burning before the very throne room of God coming up to the very nostrils of God were now gathered up and thrown to the earth. And it had such an effect upon the earth that it brought peals of thunder and lightnings and listen, earthquakes. Don't ever underestimate the power of prayer.

Don't ever underestimate the power of your prayer life because God certainly does not. Well, we see this seventh seal loose and this seventh seal we're going to find is going to lead into seven trumpets that are going to be sounded. They will unleash more, uh, unleash more judgment. But I think that there's something that we need to keep in mind because through all of this, I have tried to determine, okay, are these three separate sets of judgments or are these an unfolding of the exact same set of judgments?

Where the, the six seals are an overview and the trumpets and the bowls are actually an addition to, or an explanation of the first six seals. Oh no, what are they? What, what exactly is this? And I was reminded of something, something that we all should keep in mind. And I think I had her put this quote up there. That was a great quote from, from my studying today.

It says this in the study of prophecy. It is good to remember that there are many things that, that will not be clear until they actually take place. You know, I may not be able to solve the riddle. I may not be able to tell you exactly what the timing of some of these things are, what the exact timing of some of the things that will take place, or even the exact details of some of the things that take place.

Because within each of these different judgments, there's going to be some things that people debate on what they actually are. And it's easy to get caught in the weeds. It's easy for me to get caught in the weeds. But when I read this today, by William McDonald out of Believer's Bible Commentary, that doesn't mean British Broadcasting Company. It's Believer's Bible Commentary.

He's not a part of the BBC. I just didn't want to write all that out. What he had to say there was such a comfort to my heart because it reminded me. It's true. I guarantee that all of the Old Testament prophets that prophesied about the coming of the Messiah were like, son of a gun. I have no idea how that's going to work. I have no idea what the timing of that is going to look like.

But that's okay. I don't need to understand all of the details. I just need to know the reality and let God work out the details himself. And so we keep this in mind as we move into another set of the judgments. And so now we move into these first six of the trumpets. And we'll actually probably only cover the first four tonight. In verse six, it says this.

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound, them and the first sounded and there came hail and fire mixed with blood and there were thrown and they were thrown to the earth and a third of the earth was burned up and a third of the trees were burned up and all the green grass was burned up. 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 creatures, which were in the sea and had life died and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded and the great star fell from heaven burning like a torch and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters.

The name of the star is called Wormwood and a third of the waters became Wormwood and many men died from the waters because they were made bitter. The fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun and a third of the moon. And a third of the stars were struck so that a third of them would be darkened. The day would not shine for a third of it and the night in the same way.

And then I looked and I heard an eagle flying in mid heaven saying with a loud voice, Whoa, whoa, whoa. To those who dwell on the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. Those first six or those first four are very interesting. It says that the seven angels prepared themselves to blow the trumpets. You can just imagine something that they'd all been waiting for.

After all, all of creation has been what? All the creation has been groaning to be revealed for the son of God to be revealed. And this is the process of it. And so they prepare themselves to sound these trumpets in the first trumpet sounded. And what's the first thing he sees? Hail and fire mixed with blood. This is an interesting scene. That's presented to us here.

We all know what hail is here in Kansas, right? Because every time you hear those little ice pellets hit the windows, I won't use my typical joke here. It's probably wrong. You're like hail. Oh no. Right. And so, so when you hear that hitting the windows, we all know what that is. Right. And so we understand what these hail storms are. And there's this hail is coming in great power.

And we all know what fire is. After all, we've seen the prairies burn. Have we not? But something interesting. Interesting happens with the hail and the fire, which by the way, can you imagine hail and fire coming down together from the sky? I've never actually seen fire fall out of the sky. Although one of these days I would like to see that. I hope it's really long ways away.

Kind of fascinating to watch it happen. But something's with the hail and the fire. It says it's mingled with blood. Now, I don't know what it means by the fact that it's mingled with blood. As a matter of fact, almost every commentator that even gave an inkling of an idea, what they thought the blood meant said, but we're not real sure if this is actual literal blood

that comes out of the sky or if because of the great destruction of the hail and the fire, that there's blood mingled with it because of the great destruction, whatever it is, it's catastrophic in nature. And it's so catastrophic that it says a third of the earth was burned up. And a third of the trees were burned up. And all of the green grass was burned up.

Now, as a man who really enjoys the lawn and having a really nice looking lawn, this is the saddest thing I can ever imagine happening, right? It's like California in the middle of summer. All of the grass just completely burned up. But the vegetation is just destroyed. But did you notice how much of it's destroyed besides the green grass? Why he opted for all of the green grass?

I don't know. But only a third, a third of the earth and a third of all of the trees, but can you imagine losing a third of all of the trees? You know, we think deforestation is an issue now. Wait till the tribulation. All of this vegetation is burned up. Now, here's what I, the other thing I want you to think. I want you to think about the effect on the ecology of the world

for that much of the green plant life to be burned up. Plant life, while I'm not a particular green head when it comes to the way that I think about things, plant life is not a particular thing. Plant life is really, really important because God designed our earth for us to produce carbon dioxide and for the plant life to take in carbon dioxide. We inhale oxygen.

Plant life puts off oxygen. So I want you to think about what that's going to do to the air quality of the earth. First of all, if everything's burning up the way that it is, which, by the way, we've seen what can happen when things are burning in certain parts of the country and how much it affects us. If you remember a few years ago, we had those terrible grasslands.

We had those fires out in western Kansas and even in eastern Colorado. And we had a really hazy day. Do you guys remember that? Hazy days came because of it because west winds picked up and it blew the smoke from western Kansas and it covered us here. I read a little bit of an article. Did anybody else wake up with dust all over their car after a rainstorm?

Apparently, probably you all know this, that that was actually from a dust storm in New Mexico that ended up getting mixed with the rain that we had here that caused the issue. Your car waking up looking like it rained mud. It's fascinating how the ecology of the earth all kind of works together. And so if all that vegetation is destroyed, what is that going to do to the air quality on the world?

Well, it's just going to make it horrific, right? And so this destruction of the earth begins to take place. And the first thing that we see is all of the vegetation chewed up. But that's just the first trumpet. Verse 8, 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 creatures which were in the sea and had life died. And a third of the ships were destroyed. Now, I'd like for you to take note of the fact that we know this is symbolic language because he says it was something like a great mountain. So what was it? Potentially a meteor. Potentially some sort of a great mountain. Whatever it was, it was a large mass.

And did you notice what was going on with this large mass? It was on fire. And it's thrown where? Into the sea. And it says a third of the sea became blood. In other words, it just absolutely polluted the ocean. Now, there is some conjecture among Bible scholars whether or not this is intended to just mean the Mediterranean Sea. After all, that was what most everybody of the biblical scholars

that wrote at that point in time talked about when they mentioned the sea. Or if this is all of the oceans, I have no problem either way. Although I do lean towards it being all of the oceans simply because this will be a global issue, not just a local issue. But it will cover the sea, a third of it, with something that's like blood. Again, some commentators said that perhaps if it's a meteor coming through the atmosphere,

there is a dust that forms on those that has a red tint. And so when it hits the sea, it turns the sea a blood-like color. I have no problem with that. I also have no problem with it actually turning the sea into blood. Because what's the next thing that happens? A third of the sea. A third of the sea creatures die. Well, if that's the case, I have no problem believing

that that would turn a third of the sea into blood. But then it says another thing takes place in the oceans. A third of the ships were destroyed. And I forgot the number. I had this in my head all day long as to how many ships are on the ocean at any given time right now. I want to say 55,000 is what it said. But I could be way off on that. Don't quote me on it.

At any rate, it would be catastrophic. And nature to much of the economy of coastal regions if a third of their ships were destroyed, right? At this point in time, Forrest Gump and Lieutenant Dan are the only guys that are going to make it through this whole thing, right? We know that because we've watched Forrest Gump. But a third of all of these things are destroyed.

God destroys so much of the ecology of the ocean. And that's, again, just the second trumpet. Now comes the third. It says, verse 10, Now, this next one that we see, I do believe, is some form of a meteor because of the language that's used. Because he says, Bear in mind, all of these start with the sound of a trumpet. I want you to think about that. Each of these starts off in John's ear with the sound of a trumpet blowing.

So this is a violent beginning to what takes place. And then he sees the thing take place. But it says, Now, we know that if there is a meteor that comes through our atmosphere, it does burn up, usually, on its way through the atmosphere. So whatever this was, it was big enough that it could make it all the way through our atmosphere and still affect the water.

Only there seems to be something more than just a natural meteor that comes about. Because do you notice that it hits one particular type of water? It hits all of the streams and the springs of water. In other words, it hits all of our freshwater sources. This is not just ocean water that's not drinkable. Not just ocean water that's destroyed maybe some of our food sources

and some of our economic resources. This is something that destroys our drinking water. Our ability to actually preserve life. After all, you can only make it so long without water. And it destroys a third of the fresh water. As a matter of fact, this particular star was given a name. And the name that this particular star was given is Wormwood. The word Wormwood means a bitter desert plant.

Now, there's not very much evidence of the word Wormwood being used in too many other places in the New Testament. However, it is used multiple places in the Old Testament. And every time the term Wormwood is used in the Old Testament, it speaks of sorrow, bitter judgment. Because whatever is coming upon the people is referred to as Wormwood, bitter judgment.

And it's destroyed all of the drinking water. Now, I want you to think about the two things that just took place. And those last two trumpets. First of all, we saw the ecology of the sea destroyed, but we also saw the economy of the sea destroyed. What's one of the big issues that we've dealt with over the past three years after the COVID pandemic and after our president did not a very good job

of making sure that ships could make it into port. We dealt with shipping issues, right? Can you imagine how much of a supply chain issue there's going to be when it's not just that a third of the ships are stuck at the port and they can't get in. It's that a third of the ships are stuck at the port and they can't get in. ships are actually destroyed. Think about the shipping issues that they're going to be. Now,

I want you to think about the fact that most of us probably don't have enough drinking water stored up to last us very long. I actually try to store a certain amount of water and I've determined that my family could survive for about two weeks on the water that I have stored in my basement, right? Those of us that grew up in Kansas know that when a tornado hits, who of you were ever told to fill up your bathtub with water if there was a tornado? I have no idea why I would ever want to drink the water from my bathtub, but apparently that's what we were supposed to do when I was a little kid. But I bet most of us would not survive very long on the drinking water

that we had. So not only are there supply chain issues because you can't get things places, but now you have no drinking water left anymore. And then if the water is wormwood, if it's bitter, it's also going to destroy some of the creatures within all of the living water as well. The world is in a bad situation at this point in time. Well, then comes the storm.

Then comes the fourth trumpet. It says, then the fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it and the night in the same way. Of all of them, this one fascinates me the most because this is the one I have the most questions about. Is a third of the sun just gone at this point in time?

And again, there's some conjecture depending upon who you read, because if a third of the sun goes away, like it's shining at a third of its strength. Well, we as the earth are going to go through a massive cooling, right? Because we need the sun shining exactly like it is to keep our earth warmed to the way that it's supposed to be warmed. This will cause major issues to our weather.

Not to mention the fact that if there's only a third of the sun shining, then only a third of the sun is going to be darkened. If the moon shines at night and a third of the stars are, it says gone. It says a third of the stars have been struck. So again, does this mean that all of those things shine at a third less of their power? Or does it simply just mean that now we have less daylight?

Because it goes on to say, and the day would not shine for a third of it and the night in the same way. So does that mean that the day is simply shortened by a third? I can't fully give you the answers to that. Here's what I do know for sure. It will affect the everyday life of everything because it will affect our light sources. This fourth angel, this fourth trumpet that has sounded

has affected our earth in such a degree that the day is no longer like it was. The sun is no longer shining the way that it was. The moon is no longer shining the way that it was. And a third of the stars are struck. Now, think about the effect that that is going to have on planet earth. The chaos that it's going to cause among people knowing that it has affected our light sources so drastically.

I want you just to think about the amount of chaos that there's going to be on earth because of all of this. A third of the vegetation has already been burned up, right? And now there's maybe potentially not enough sunlight to make vegetation grow back. Do you know why in the fall, all of our grass and stuff starts to go dormant? It's not just because of cool temperatures,

because if you'll notice a lot of times our falls are a little later than they used to be. And yet the grass still goes dormant. You know why that is? It's because there's less sunlight. The day is actually shortened, not just because we put an hour on a different end of the day, but because we actually have less sunlight in the wintertime than we do in the summertime.

And all of the green grass and the trees that we have that are deciduous, they need a certain amount of sunlight. And so since they don't get that amount of sunlight, they go dormant because they just can't last in that kind of light. Now, a third of the vegetation has been destroyed and now there's not enough light to regrow it. The world will be in chaos because they can no longer sustainably feed everybody in the world.

And wait, that's not all. Because I want you to notice what happens next. Verse 13. Then I looked and I heard an eagle flying in mid, in heaven, saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. So in between the fourth and the fifth trumpet, there's this amazing thing that takes place.

He sees an eagle flying across the sky. Now, if you're reading the new King James, well, maybe just the old King James, some of the other translations use the word angel. And again, there's a little conjecture, but it does seem like the accurate translation here should be eagle. There was an eagle flying across the sky and the eagle is actually talking. Now, the moment I see an eagle talk,

that's when I know it's a bad day, right? You watch out for anything else that happens because once an eagle starts talking, game over, right? And I'm not talking, the eagle's just shouting USA. This eagle is like saying something really serious that we need to pay attention to. I don't know if y'all ever driven out by Silverdale or not, but they have eagles.

They have eagles out there and it's fascinating to watch them fly. Giant birds that go flying around. And as you watch them fly by, the moment one of them starts saying, whoa, I go, whoa, right? But that's exactly what this eagle does. This eagle is flying over and it gives a warning to the people that are on planet earth because it says, the eagle was flying in mid heaven

and it said with a loud voice, notice the three words, whoa, whoa, whoa. This should remind us of two things. Number one, it should remind us of what Jesus had to say to the religious leaders. When he said, whoa, to you, the word, whoa, was a pronouncement of judgment. And we should pay attention to that because this eagle is warning of a greater judgment that's to come.

In other words, if you think what you just saw is bad in those first four trumpets, you ain't seen nothing yet, brother, because more is coming. And as a matter of fact, he uses the word three times. And we're reminded that when anything is repeated in scripture, we should pay attention. But if it's repeated three times in scripture, you should really pay attention because God is trying to remind us of that.

He's trying to get the attention of people. But the third thing that I take note of about the fact that these three woes are mentioned is we said that there were seven trumpets and we've only seen four. That means that the three that are coming are worse than the first because the first four, they had to do with the destruction of planet earth. The next three will have to do with the destruction of man.

And God and his mercy is sending out an eagle to fly across the sky to say, whoa, pay attention to what's coming up. What's coming? There is judgment coming. Repentance is what's necessary. As a matter of fact, at the end of chapter nine, he's going to say, and the people still would not repent because did you notice that the mercy of God was even wrapped in this judgment?

Because at any time, at any point in time, God could have unleashed all of the judgment and not just destroyed a third of the vegetation. He could have destroyed all of the vegetation. He could have not just destroyed a third of the ships on the sea. He could have destroyed all of the ships and creatures in the sea. He could have not just destroyed a third of the drinking water.

He could have destroyed all of the drinking water. And yet God, even in the midst of his judgment, is still merciful because God's judgment, listen, is still with the heart to bring about judgment. about repentance. And we are reminded of that as we see this. A couple of observations that I have, because I don't want to go into chapter nine. I worked on it today, but I'm like, there's just

too much in chapter nine for me to go into. But there's a couple of observations that I would like to make that I think should be pointed out to all of us. Number one is this. Those first four have to do with the destruction of nature. And I want to point out a couple of things about that. Do any of these judgments sound familiar to you? Do they sound a little bit like what God did to

the nation of Egypt? Thinking about the water being turned to blood, the freshwater being destroyed, creatures being destroyed, those kinds of things. Well, it's because they are very similar. As a matter of fact, in the next three judgments, we'll see even that locusts, albeit demonic locusts, locusts are going to be unleashed as well. But this is very reminiscent of God's

judgment upon the nation of Egypt. And if you know anything about the nation of Egypt, from our study in the book of Exodus, you know that who did the nation of Egypt worship? Well, they worshiped nature. And so God, while setting his people free from the people of Egypt through the plagues, was also judging a nation who had had the revelation of God through Joseph presented to them, and yet they still chose to worship nature. I'm reminded of what's going on

in our world right now, because we're not a lot different than the nation of Egypt. Because we are still a people who worship nature. That's what the Green Movement is all about. Believe it or not, Al Gore is not just a climatologist because it gives him political prowess. The climate things that he believes in are because he believes that we are spiritually, cosmically connected to Mother Earth.

It's called New Age thinking. And that's what most of the people that really push the Green agenda actually believe, that we are spiritually connected to the earth, therefore we must take care of the earth. It is worshiping the creation rather than the creator. And one of the things that we will see unleashed in the book of Revelation is that God says, if that's going to be your idol, then let me show you that I'm greater than your idol. If that's going to be what you

worship, let me show you how much greater I am than the things that you worship. Because listen, brothers and sisters, God is so good at destroying our idols. God is so good at destroying the things that we put in place of him. And I find it interesting that those first four, especially of these trumpets, have to do with the destruction of nature. But the second thing that I would like

to point out to us is this, and that's kind of what I started with. Prayer plays such a huge role. God really impressed upon me just how much prayer has played a role in the book of Revelation. I really have noticed worship as we've gone through this book, but this particular chapter, it's like God hit me in the face and said, you don't realize how powerful prayer is.

I'm reminded, first of all, that our prayers are like sweet smelling aromas to the Lord. And again, I don't always know that I view prayer that way. I know that in my head, but God's really working that into my heart right now, that this is a powerful prayer. And I'm reminded, first of all, that God loves the prayers of his people. It's like he breathes them in and says,

because it's such a sweet smell to him, because there is nothing that creates a dependence upon God in our hearts more than coming before him in prayer. There's nothing that displays our humility and dependence upon the Lord more than our prayer life. And prayer plays such a huge role in the book of Revelation. It has been referenced several times throughout the book.

It's been referenced several times throughout the book. It's been referenced several times throughout the book. It's almost from the very beginning of the book of Revelation, just how important our prayer is. And it seems to be that what moves these trumpet judgments are the very prayers of the saints, that what ushers in these trumpet judgments are the very prayers of the saints.

And I was reminded by several different commentators that I read, what was the greatest prayer of the saints that we're to be praying? Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth. As a matter of fact, at the very end of the book of Revelation, it closes with, even so, Lord Jesus, come. And I wonder if we think about that when we pray. Are we praying, Lord, your kingdom come? Oh, it's so easy to get caught up with the things of this earth.

It's so easy to get distracted with the things of this earth and forget that our goal is not the things of this earth. Our goal is the coming kingdom of God. I don't think we put enough strength into it. I don't think we put enough strength into it. I don't think we put enough in the power of prayer. I went to a ministerial alliance meeting today and I was blessed to be

there with a couple of brothers who are a little more Pentecostal in nature than I am. And sometimes I just plain old appreciate that because I'm kind of an emotional person. And so I enjoy sitting in a prayer meeting with Pentecostal people because as I'm praying, they are agreeing. Like they had me close in prayer. We always talk about prayer needs either within our churches or maybe within

our lives. And as we're praying, dude, they're like, they're not just agreeing in prayer. They are agreeing in prayer. Yes, Lord Jesus, bring it now. And I mean the agreement in the prayer, but you know why? It's because they believe in the power of prayer. And sometimes in my conservative thinking, I'm like, well, Lord, you do what you want to do, which is good. We should

pray your will be done. But sometimes it's time to storm the throne room of God and say, Lord, do it. Father, bring it. That's why I kind of like the amens in church. Thank you for those that do that. I really appreciate that. It geeks me up a little bit. And so, I just think we need to remember the power of prayer in our lives and the power of prayer in the overall scheme of things. Listen, our world is going to hell in a handbasket right now.

I don't know if y'all knew what happened today, but I get a text at about, oh, like maybe 1230. Maybe it's earlier than that. It was before lunch. It's about 1030, 11 o'clock. And I get this text and it's like, hey, Dexter School District just went on lockdown. No need to worry. There's just a bunch of active shooter threats throughout the entire state. So, there's a statewide lockdown

of all schools. I'm like, no need to worry. You're locked my kid's school down. My wife and my daughter are there. What's going on? So, I immediately get on the news to figure out what's going on. Do you know, I think there were at least 10 school districts today that basically got false calls about active school shooters to get the SWAT teams to show up to school. SWAT teams literally showed up at schools today throughout the state of Kansas.

Udall was one of them. I don't know if the SWAT team showed up in Udall. I don't know if Udall has a SWAT team, right? Probably Earl showed up, right? And he was just like, what's going on? But all that to say, like, maybe Barney was with him. I don't know. All that to say, folks, our world's going crazy and we need people that are going to pray. We need people that are going

to pray for our kids. We need people that are going to pray for the craziness that's going on in the world. And not just go, well, Lord, it's going to happen anyway. So, you know, do what you're going to do. No, I don't want it just to happen anyway. I want to be praying that God's will will be done in everything that takes place because, brothers and sisters, Jesus is coming

soon. Let's take as many people with us as we can, right? And that's going to require some powerful prayer on our part. And again, sometimes we just so excuse it. I say we because I could be that way and I project that onto all of us. But I think sometimes it's easy to do that. So I'm just here to tell you, prayer is a powerful thing. And God is calling us to a

greater depth of that in our lives. Amen. That being said, let's close in prayer. Father, we come to you now. Lord, loving you for who you are. What I praise you for who you are being the God of the heavens and the earth. Lord, the creator and the sustainer of life. Father, the one in whom we live, move and have our being. And Father, I just pray that you would move in our

hearts and lives. Father, start with the people that are in this room right now. Lord, move in our hearts to give us a greater understanding of who you are. Move in our hearts to give us a greater understanding of the power that we have through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and give us a greater understanding of what you want to do through us in the world around us. Father,

I want to lift up the young people in our community. And the young people in our world, that it does seem like you're moving in right now. Father, I just keep seeing more things pop up on social media about what you're doing with young people throughout the country right now. And I know that you want to pour out your spirit because I know that it's your desire that none should perish.

And so, Lord, I just want to lift up these young people right now whose lives are hopeless. Father, they've been sold lies. They've been told untruths. They've been told destructive things. And many of them have been left with unfettered access to the internet, unsupervised access to the internet. And it has absolutely poisoned them and left them hopeless. Father, you know that it's just, you can almost cut it

with a knife. And so, Lord, we just pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would send out workers into your harvest. And Lord, maybe those workers will even be us to show the love of Jesus to a very unbelieving and hopeless world right now. Father, I want to lift up all those who feel like they're not being loved. I want to lift up all those who feel like they're not being loved.

I want to lift up all those who feel like they're not being loved. I want to lift up all those who their life has no meaning. It has no purpose. And so, Lord, they're making destructive decisions in their lives. Father, I just pray that you would set them free. Father, I pray for those that live under the guilt of things done wrong, the guilt of sins that have been committed. And I just pray

that you would set them free. Father, I pray that you would be with those whose lives have been affected by the sins of others. And now they live with the shame of things that have been done to them, and they need to be set free. Father, I pray for those who have been affected by the sins of those whose lives are trapped in addictions, and they need to be set free. Father, move in these

different people. Move in our young people. Move in the old people. Move in the middle-aged people. Father, we all just need a greater work of your Holy Spirit. And so, Lord, use us as you see fit. And Father, may we never forget that there is great power in the name of Jesus and that there is great power in prayer. And so, Lord, do your work. In our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.