What does God do with our prayers? How do our prayers relate to the return of Jesus the Messiah to our world, and how do they relate to the culmination, the consummation of history? I don't know if you've ever thought about these questions, but I'd like for you to think about them with me today. What does God do with our prayers? And how do our prayers relate to the return of Jesus and the end of the ages, the consummation of history? Well, John's apocalypse, or revelation, which means the unveiling, answers these questions. Revelation chapter five in verse eight, we have the elders in heaven, 24 of them, 12 representing Israel of old, and 12 representing the 12 apostles of the new covenant. Each one is seen in heaven as having golden bowls filled with incense, which are identified as the prayers of the saints. This language recalls for us the words of Psalm 141, verse 2, where the psalmist says, my prayer is set before you as incense, the rising or the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. So the lifting up of the hands in worship and in prayer was a physical manifestation of the lifting up of our request to God and the lifting up of our praises to God as incense. Our guiding text, in particular, answers the question of what God does with our prayers, and that's gonna be found in Revelation chapter eight, verses one through five, and how the ordained purposes of God and the prayers of God's people relate. So let me repeat, our guiding text, which is found in Revelation 8 and Revelation 6, answers or gives particular answers to the question of what does God do with our prayers and how do the ordained purposes of God, the four ordained purposes of God, that is his predestinating, and the prayers of God's people relate? How do they fit together? So I invite your attention first to the text, the guiding text of today, Revelation chapter eight, beginning at verse one. When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and he threw it on the earth. And there were pills of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. Now in reading the book of Revelation, we need to take to heart certain guidelines that will help us so that we don't become lost by means of faulty reading, faulty interpretation. The book of Revelation is not a narrative. So it's not just a straight story such as the Gospels. We'll be looking at this Luke and Matthew as they relate about the first coming of Christ in the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he goes from there to his ministry, to his death, to his resurrection, to his ascension. It tells about his deeds, about his teaching. It's a narrative. It's not a full biography, but it is a partial interpretive biography of the certain events and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the book of Revelation, the apocalypse, is not like that. but there are those who read it like that. And since they read it like that, they're always trying to identify all the different characters and how each one relates in a straight timeline. But I submit to you that the book of Revelation is not about a straight timeline. Now this is important interpretive principle I'm giving you. The book of Revelation follows a cyclical pattern, not a straight chronological timeline. What I mean by cyclical is that it's sort of like a circle, it sort of repeats, maybe half a circle, but it goes back and repeats. We're gonna see that, hopefully, as we look at the text today. When we read Revelation chapter eight, one through five, that I just read, And we come down to verse five. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth. And there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and earthquake. Well, what comes to your mind? This is some kind of cataclysmic event, is it not? In answer to the prayers of God's people. We're going to see that again because Revelation chapter 8 verses 1 through 5 is a response to the prayer that's first given in Revelation chapter 6. verse nine through 11. So you might want to turn there in your Bible. Revelation chapter six, verses nine through 11. And here we have the five, I mean the seven seals, but we're picking up on seal five and six. Because the seals are given to us under two patterns. There's the full horseman of the apocalypse. First four seals see a horse coming forth with riders and certain things following them. But Revelation chapter six, verse nine begins with the opening of the fifth seal, which is different. It's no longer a horseman, but instead what John sees is under the altar. So what altar? What is an altar? Well, you have to go back to the first covenant. The altar is found in the service of the tabernacle and the temple. So you have two altars. There's the altar on the outside of the tent. It's called the altar of burnt offering. There's where the animals were sacrificed and then they were offered up. parts of them were burned. Sometimes the whole animal was burned. But blood was collected and from the blood there was application of it inside the temple or the tabernacle. So this is the altar. An altar then is a place where a sacrifice has been made, a sacrifice of blood. So John says, I saw under the altar So he's not talking about the altar on earth, he's talking about a vision of an altar in heaven. When he, that is, the son of God, the lamb that was slain, opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. Now what do we call those kind of people? We call them martyrs. And they cried out with a loud voice saying, here's their prayer. Here's the prayer in Revelation. Oh sovereign Lord, our sovereign master, king, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And then what makes this a prayer? Well, it's addressed to God, is it not? Oh, sovereign Lord, holy and true. So there is attributing to God some attributes, some characteristics that are true of him. He is holy and true. He is the sovereign master. And their question to God is how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Now in the book of Psalms, there are a number of Psalms that we call them imprecatory Psalms. There are Psalms in which the Psalmist asks God to vindicate him. And in the vindication of him, sometimes he's asking for the enemies of God, the enemies of God and his anointed to be judged, to be avenged. This is that kind of prayer. So here's the answer. Then they were each given a white robe. They were told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete. So that's telling us there's more people who are to join the circle of those who give their life for Christ. Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete. who are to be killed as they themselves had been. Martyrs, that's what we just sing about in the hymn before the sermon. So what is Revelation 6, 9 through 11, and combined with Revelation 8, 1 through 5? Revelation 8 is the answer to the prayer that's offered in Revelation 6, 9 through 11. Well, all of these are an answer to the petition that our Lord taught his disciples, including us, to pray. And that is this petition. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Now, though there is a phase The first phase of the kingdom of God is here, the spiritual phase of the kingdom of God in the hearts of men and women who have Christ in their lives, who has been enthroned in their hearts by the operation of the Holy Spirit in regeneration and the indwelling of the Spirit. But the kingdom of God is not simply spiritual in a present mixed world. It's also physical in a new order, a reconstituted earth in which righteousness and peace will reign as the waters cover the sea. There is the day coming when God in the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall return to earth, and here He shall live. For heaven and earth shall be combined into one, the glorious consummation of the kingdom of God, which is described for us in Revelation 21 and 22. So I want us to see today basically two things. I want us to see what prayer is and how our prayers relate to the eschaton, that is, to last things, to the culmination of history in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and all that that includes, which is the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of all, and the settling up of God's score against his enemies, and the rewarding of those who are his own through his most powerful sovereign grace. So to do this, to unfold these related truths, we need to look first at a definition of prayer, and then we need to look at how the prayers of God's people are answered by the return of Jesus at the end of the age. The return of Jesus at the end of the age is presented to us in the book of Revelation a number of times. So if you read through the book of Revelation and you reach certain parts of the book, it appears as if the world has come to an end. Well, it has. And then it starts up again with a new series. Well, what's happening? Well, first of all, we need to remember, first negatively, the Book of Revelation is not a timeline chronology. It's not a narrative of history. It is presented to us as a drama. It's like a play being acted out on the stage. Because it's what? It consists of visions. visions that John sees. There are principally four visions, I think, it's four. The first vision, the first one could actually be divided, because John is introduced to the whole thing in a vision, he sees the Lord. And then in that vision, there is a dictation of letters to the seven churches. But following that vision, John's invited up into heaven. And there he goes. In the vision, he sees the heavenly courtroom where God is being worshiped in chapter four, and God and the Lamb equally are being worshiped in chapter five. And there we have Christ given the scroll. Scroll is the destiny of the world. It's the activity, God's purposes being worked out in history. It's given to Christ and he opens up the scroll. He alone has the power to open up the scroll. And as he opens up the scroll, there comes then new visions. First of all, he sees in his vision the seals with the four horsemen. And then what we just read, the souls under the altar, and another one that we will read shortly. And then after that, there are various pauses or interludes. For instance, after we have the coming of Christ presented for us in Revelation chapter six, beginning at verse 12, at the end of it, there's a pause in heaven. Why is that pause there? It's because the answer to the question that's asked needs to be answered. Who can stand? Who can stand? Well, let's just turn to that. Revelation chapter six and verse 12. Revelation chapter six and verse 12. The text in front of me is the English Standard. It's gonna vary maybe a little bit from the ESV in front of you because this is the one that is easier for me to handle. Well, here, let me read. This is after what we just saw in the fifth seal. John continues, then I saw him, that is Christ, opened the sixth seal. A violent earthquake occurred. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of hair. The entire moon became like blood. The stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when shaken by a high wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up and every mountain and island were moved from its place. Wouldn't you call that the consummation, the end of the world? Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and every slave and every free person hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come. And who is able to stand? Well, here's the answer. The ones that are able to stand are those that are sealed by God. And so Revelation 7 speaks about them under the two forms, the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of the church, that is, the redeemed people of God of both the old and new covenants. And then we go back to the seventh seal. What is the seventh seal? When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. So what's happening? The end of the world has come, yes. But then there's the question, who can stand at the end of the world? Only those sealed by God. Only those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb can stand. But then, There's silence. It's like the curtain has come down and there's silence, a brief interlude, a pause, and then the curtain reopens. And as it reopens, there are seven angels who stand in the presence of God and seven trumpets given to them. So then there's the series of trumpets. And as they go through these trumpets, there's a repetition of some of the same things that happened under the seals. But it's a closer view. So what's happening? Each time you come to the same climax, but you've gone back for a repetition, and the camera's focused into a new perspective, and maybe a little closer, and a little closer view. Again, it comes up to the end. What's the end? Well here, turn to the seventh trumpet. Again, you get to the sixth trumpet, okay? The sixth trumpet, the angel blew from the four horns of the golden altar before God. And so these are like culminating events, like a final battle that's occurring on earth. And then all of a sudden again, there's a mighty interlude. Why? Because God must answer again. Who can stand? Who will be able to endure the day of his coming, as Malachi asks? And then what appears before all this? Well, we have the witness of the gospel that goes forth under the example of the two witnesses. And the witnesses are what? They're martyred. Chapter 11, verse 7. And then there's a resurrection. But here's the seventh trumpet, Revelation chapter 11, verse 15. Angel blew his trumpet. 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 will reign forever. The 24 elders who were seated before God on their thrones fell face down and worshiped God, saying, we give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is, who was, because you've taken your great power, and it begun to reign. The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants, the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great. And the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth. The temple of God in heaven was opened. The ark of his covenant appeared in his temple. There were what? Flashes of lightning. The rumblings and peals of thunder and earthquakes and severe hail. What is that? It's the coming of Christ. It's the same kind of language found at the end of the sixth seal. It's the same kind of language mentioned in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 and Luke 21. The immediate things happen at the return of Christ. Then the book of Revelation enters into a next scene. John sees a great sign appearing in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun. And we have the birthing of Christ in this image and the battle with the dragon, which is Satan. So we have a preview of both the incarnation of Christ, the ministry of the church that leads in to the ultimate conflict of the ages between the Antichrist and the Lord himself. Again, we have our preparation for the reaping of the earth's harvest in chapter 14, and then we have the bowl judgments that come. And as the bowls are poured out, we come to the seventh bowl in chapter 16, verses 17 to the end. And as you do, again, You see a picture of the great cataclysmic event of the second coming, but this time it's a picture of it as a great judgment. The last image in the book of Revelation, the culminating image of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ is found in Revelation chapter And here we have the rider on the great white horse. So Revelation chapter 19 beginning at verse 11. Then I saw heaven opened and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True. and he judges and makes war with justice. His eyes were like a fiery flame and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses wearing pure white linen. A sharp sword came from his mouth so that he might strike the nations with it. He'll ruin them with a rod, iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God the Almighty. He is a name written on his robe and on his thigh. King of kings, Lord of lords. So I'm submitting to you that in the book of Revelation, when you read it more like a drama, more like a stage play of visions, comes several times to the return of Christ at the culmination. The first one which is, excuse me, under the sixth seal in Revelation 6.12 and following, under the seventh seal in Revelation 11.15 and following, under the seventh bowl in Revelation 16 verse 17 and following. And finally in Revelation 19 verse 11 and following where we see the rider on the white horse. Behold, he is coming. All of this you see relates back to Revelation chapter one in verse 17. Because the entire book of Revelation is answer to the prologue of what John sees in the initial vision of Christ, who physically in this beginning appears to John on the island and touches him, and then shows him these visions. But as he opens up his book, we have a prologue. You know, John did this in his gospel, he does it in his first epistle, and here he does it in the book of Revelation. A prologue is an opening word that sort of gives you a preview of what's to come. And so there, as John begins the letter to the seven churches, which would be the letter to all of the churches through all the ages, he talks about Christ himself. And then in verse seven, he says, look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. And from this, then John is granted visions of the risen Lord and of the work of God in the world and in his people, the church, in the overview of the revelation that I just gave to you. So, my opening statement was that The four ordained events of history and of the culmination of history at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ are related to the prayers of God's people. So what am I saying here? Excuse me, I'm having difficulty with my sinuses. For me to answer this question, I need to back up a little bit and talk to you about what prayer is. I'm afraid many Christians have a wrong concept of prayer. They think that prayer is only asking things of God. That's a faulty teaching. There have been those who actually have taught that in the church, but it's very faulty. Remember, how did Christ teach us to pray? Did he teach us just to run into the presence of God and start telling him what we want or what we need? He teaches us to pray by acknowledging a relationship. Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. And then we take up the concerns of God. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Only then do we turn to tell him of our needs and look to him to provide for those needs. Why? Because he is our father. So let's think about this. If you think that prayer is only like running into God and saying, I want this and I want that. Think about yourself as a parent. If you're a father or mother, and the only talk your children ever have with you is to come and demand that you cook for them, that you wash their clothes, that you buy them something. That's the only time you hear them speak. Otherwise, they never have a conversation with you. They never share what's going on in their hearts or with their minds. They never give gratitude or thanksgiving to you. They never engage in real communication. only demands of give me this and give me that. That is not the Christian concept of prayer. That's more a pagan concept of prayer in which we try to placate a God so that he will either protect us from some kind of harm or give us something that we want. We cannot rub God like he's a genie in the box or jar. He is a great person to whom we relate as our father. And he longs for us to communicate with him, to just be in his presence, to think about him, to read what his word says, that's being with him, letting him speak to us, and then responding by that word, telling him of what our thoughts are, expressing praise and gratitude to him. And then, yes, presenting to him what we have need of as his children. So let's turn to a brief definition of prayer. One that is too broad, but is often given. Wayne Grudem also relates it. Prayer is personal communication with God. It's true, but it's extremely broad. The Westminster Longer Catechism says, prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God in the name of Christ by the help of his spirit with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgement of his mercy. I think that's a very good definition that embraces all the different aspects of prayer. But this morning I wrote out my own. So here is my statements. Prayer is communication with God involving the mind and the spirit by which we acknowledge God in his greatness and our dependence upon him. Christian prayer is offered to God the Father through the mediation of Jesus Christ, our mediator and high priest, by the enablement and participation of the Holy Spirit, in which by words thought or spoken, we express praise, adoration, confession, supplication, and gratitude. That's mine. Two sentence, definition of Christian prayer. So essentially the first sentence, prayer is communication with God involving the mind and spirit by which we acknowledge God in his greatness and we acknowledge him in our dependence upon him as our provider, our creator, our benefactor, our provider our Lord and King and Master. This is my concept of the Christian prayer. Well, how does that then relate to what we've been talking about? Well, at the heart of the Christian prayer that Christ taught us to pray is a desire for God's name to be honored, to be hallowed, to be held sacred, to be worshiped. God to be worshipped in all of his glorious attributes and characteristics. That's the desire of the heart of the child of God because it's God's desire. R.C. Spruill in his Essential Truths of the Christian Faith writes, we commune with God through prayer. And he cites Charles Hodge who declared that prayer is the converse of the soul with God. So in and through prayer, we express our reverence and our adoration for God. We bear our souls before him in contrite confession, both the confessions of our sin, needing him as our savior to cleanse us and renew us daily, and in our confession of Him as our great King, Lord, and Master, as we confess our faith and the elements of it. And we pour out our hearts of thanksgiving with gratitude, and only then, in this context, we offer up our petitions and our supplications to Him. Now, it's true that God has predestined things, and he has predestined and foreordained the end of the ages. The Lord Jesus Christ will come back to this earth and he will come back in the time appointed by the Father. How does God work out his purposes on earth? Does he simply say it and it comes to pass? No, he works through the agency secondary agency of the people he's created. So scripture teaches both the sovereign full ordination of God and the efficacy, the effectiveness of prayer. The two are not inconsistent with one another. They join hands because God ordains the means as well as the ends for his divine purposes. So prayer is the means God uses to bring His sovereign will to pass. For instance, God chooses a people for His namesake. He has given them to the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity, but they're born into this world sinners under the condemnation and judgment of Almighty God. They're lost. But in time, under God's movements, the witness of the gospel, the witness of the word of God comes to them and at times, sometimes quickly, sometimes a long time, they're awakened from death and they call upon God in repentance of sin and total dependence upon Christ to take them to the Father, accepted in Him. So what Revelation 8, three through four tells us is that our prayers are heard. that our prayers are remembered, our prayers are held very precious to God, and they will be answered, either here and now, or later in God's time and God's way. The martyrs in heaven, even today, cry out to God, Sovereign Lord, how long, how long before you avenge our blood and justify your name before men? What is the answer? He tells them to wait a little longer until the number of those who will give their life for Christ is completed, and then the end shall come. The prayers of the church, especially of the ones who have given their lives for the gospel, either in a living sacrifice, which all of us are called to do, or even in the ultimate sacrifice of our death, being put to death because of our witness to Christ, will be answered in great power and in unspeakable glory. The answering to the prayer, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, is given to us in divisions of the book of Revelation, and it will come to pass in our history, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, the shout of the archangel, the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we who are alive, raised to meet the Lord in the air. As he returns to earth as a great king, his foot shall land on the Mount of Olives. And the end of all things shall commence with the recreation of the earth, and the last judgment, and the establishment of the new heaven and the new earth. Thus our prayer should be joined with the prayer of the people in the book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 22, the very end of the Revelation. We have the picture of the new Jerusalem, the new creation, chapter 21, the new Jerusalem, and then in chapter 22, it ends, the very end of the verses, he who testifies about these things, that's the Lord Jesus says, yes, I'm coming soon. And what's the response of the people of God? Amen. come Lord Jesus or in Aramaic Meranatha. So the book of Revelation chapter 1 verse 17 opens with behold I'm coming and it ends in Revelation 22 in those last few words. He who testifies these things says behold I'm coming and the responsive prayer of the church is Maranatha, amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Though we may have fears and though we may have longings, remember that when Christ comes, your fears will be removed. For you will see God's holiness and justice in all its glory. You will know that our good God does all things right. And anything you were hoped would bring fulfillment in life will be so swallowed up in the greater glory that any pleasure we have on earth will be a blip of nothing in the great sea of living with God in the new heaven and new earth with all the redeemed in physical, resurrected, immortal bodies. Wow, we have a great future. Behold, I come, says Jesus. And in prayer, the church says what? Maranatha, even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen. Let us pray. Our gracious God and Father, we are amazed at this book of the revelation that you have given in answer to the prayers of your people. That Christ shall come in all of his glory, and you will set all things right. We long for that, but Lord, teach us even more how to long and pray for that. Give us your perspective, your viewpoint, so that we can understand both our lives and the history of the world from your perspective. And we can pray as your children here in our lifetime expressing our dependence upon you and our relationship with you as children who love you because we've been redeemed by the blood of Christ and who rejoice to spend time mentally, verbally, physically in your presence. Also, Lord, so put within us a longing for your return that we will love the appearing of our Lord even as He longs to come. He longs to be with us and we long to be with Him in the eternal situation that is our great and bright future. Hear the prayers of your church that we offer up to you, Lord. The prayers that are temporal in nature and that are answered in the here and now, sometimes immediately, sometimes put off, sometimes with a no. But also, Lord, for the great prayer of the whole church, that your name would be honored and sanctified, that your kingdom would come and your will be done in us, now, through us, and for the world. in that great day of your return. Hear our prayer we've offered to you, Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We're gonna sing. We always sing, don't we? Again, we're gonna answer or sing a responsive hymn. It's called Behold the Glories of the Lamb. I'm not so sure we've ever sung this before, but the tune is, I don't think, difficult, and it is, Larry tells me, pretty. We have sung the tune before on a couple of other hymns in the hymn book, we just don't remember them, but we have actually sung the tune before. It's called Saint, Savior, but if you'll play through it first, Larry, that will help us.