The God Who Listens
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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· 16 viewsBelievers can be assured that God hears their prayer and he will answer.
Notes
Transcript
Read Revelation 8:1-13
Introduction
How many of you believe in the power of prayer?
Illustration: A few years back, my wife was at home alone with the kids on the weekend because I had been called into work. It was during the middle of July and, let me tell you, it was HOT outside, and my father-in-law just happens to have an in-ground pool at his house that we all really like to swim in. So, she asked the kids if they wanted to go, and naturally they said, “Yes”! The only problem was that when she decided to leave no one could find the van keys. My wife was beside herself (she refuses to put a hide-a-key under the van hint, hint) and so there she was stuck, with three kids and no way to make to make it down to that nice cool swimming pool. So, being the type of person my wife is she saw a teaching moment and told the kids that they would pray and ask God to help them find the van keys. (Pause) Now, picture this, my wife and my three children got down in the kitchen floor and each one of them prayed that God would help them find those keys. Do you want to take a wild guess at what happened next? --- A few minutes later they found the van keys. There’s power in prayer, even in the small things of life!
I’ve often wondered at what point in our lives as adults many of us seem to lose that childlike approach (and faith in) the power of prayer. You know James tells us, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (Jas. 5:16b, KJV). That’s a powerful statement when you think about it, and certainly it lets us know with that prayer is powerful! But what of it when we, as believers, face trials or even persecution? When tough times find their way into my life, I’ll be the first to tell you that I hit my prayer closet and I get on the horn with the good Lord. And then I wait, watch, and wonder at how he will answer. I bet many of you do that too!
Have you ever written down your prayer requests and then prayer over them daily, and simply watched God at work? You should try it sometime. One of my friends at seminary took a class where all of the students, the class as a whole, did this over an entire semester. He said that in the first few days of class the professor asked them to write down their requests on a whiteboard at the back of the classroom. They would leave them up and mark them off as they were answered. Well, it didn’t take long for the board to be filled up, but it also didn’t take God long to start answering either. One day one request was answered, and then the next day another. Others took weeks to be answered, and some even a couple months. Still, others remained unanswered even at the end of the semester. *Do you know what the one common theme on all of those prayer requests was? Anticipation. My friend said it was as if each day when they walked into that class there was a holy hush of anticipation because they were learning that God listens to his people; he hears their prayers, and make no mistake about it, he will answer. In Revelation 8:1-6 the Apostle John gives some insight into this that I would like to share with you today. First, in v.1 there’s anticipation, then, in vv.2-6 we’re reassured that God hears the prayers of his people. Let’s take a look at this.
8:1 “Anticipation”
When my wife and kids prayed that God would help them find those van keys, my wife said that it was obvious that our children prayed with the anticipation that God would do exactly that. (Pause) Do you pray anticipating that God is going to act? (Pause) The vast majority of commentators see, to agree that verse one of chapter eight is about anticipation. I would add that this anticipation finds its foundation in prayer because of verse one’s connection to what follows in vv.2-6. John writes, “1 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” John’s use of the word “silence” points us back to the OT (Hab. 2:20; Zph. 1:7; Zch. 2:13) where the prophets would call God’s people to be silent in anticipation of the coming Day of the Lord when God would act on their behalf. It’s interesting that the “silence” mentioned here in 8:1 seems to parallel the lack of wind mentioned in Revelation 7:1. In 7:1 John saw four angels holding back the winds of judgement in order that God’s servants might be sealed. Now, if I’m correct here, and there’s some form of parallelism, a connection, between 7:1 and 8:1, it means that at least part of the anticipation called for in the “silence” John mentions, this holy hush, is that right before the end-time events begin God will sovereignly act to preserve a remnant who will be present on earth and active during the very last days of human history, and that remnant will persevere to see the return of Christ. When Jesus said, “… the gates of hell will not prevail … (KJV)” against his church, he meant exactly what he said! And let me ask the question, when we pray, do we pray with the anticipation that God will follow through and act on our prayers because what John says next in vv.2-6 tell us that he’s going to?
(Appeal) If you’re listening this morning and you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you should be praying with this anticipation I’m talking about, knowing full-well that God will act to preserve those who are his, even through the worst of times. On the other hand, if you’re not a believer you do not have this hope, but God’s word makes it clear that there is a way for you take hold of it. The Bible says you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Call out to him today and be saved! He will most certainly hear!
8:2-6 “God Hears the Prayers of His People”
-Let’s turn now to vv.2-6. These verses build on v.1 by advancing the plotline of Revelation. Notice that v.2 begins with the words, depending on your English translation, “Then I saw, or And I saw”. This one vision that begins here in 8:2, runs all the way to 8:12, and verses 2-6 prepare and set the stage for what happens in vv.7-12.
In vv.2-6 we’re reassured that God hears the prayers of his people. Let’s take a look at what John says. (Pause) John tells us that he “saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.” This would have resonated with anyone in John’s audience who might have come from a Jewish background because Jewish tradition held that there were seven archangels authorized to act directly by God himself.[1] Then, after that, John saw another angel who had a “golden incense burner/censer”, and that angel came and stood at the alter where “much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints …”
-An incense burner or a censer is a container that holds a material made from aromatic gum from the frankincense tree and it gives off a sweet smell when it’s burned. Now, the question I have when I read v.3 is this, why does the angel have to be given incense to add to the prayers of the saints? That just seems odd to me, however, it’s in God’s word so it has to be there for a reason, but why? (Pause) If you turn to the Psalms and read Psalm 140, you’ll read a Psalm written by David as a prayer for rescue and protection. Then, right after that, in Psalm 141 you read in the first couple verses, “1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” Then, right after that, in vv.3 and 4 David asks God to “guard his mouth” and not let his “heart turn to any evil thing or perform wicked acts with men who commit sin. (CSB)” The point in the first few verses of Psalm 141, after David’s prayer for protection in Ps.140, seems to be that David recognizes his sinfulness before God and he knows that his prayers are deficient; they incomplete and faulty. Therefore, they must be mixed with incense before they make their way into the presence of God.[2] And church, the Bible says that David was a man after God’s on heart! Let that sink in for a minute. (Pause) When we pray our prayers are often deficient and self-centered; they are faulty, but even in all of that we are reassured in this text that God still hears when we call out to him!
Back in Revelation, after the prayers of the saints have been mixed with incense John tells us in 8:4 that the “smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in before God out of the angel’s hand.” Now, I want you to think back to Ch. 6 where we saw, in the 5th seal, the martyrs under that alter calling out to God. They were saying, “O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” One of the reasons many interpreters think the seals, at least the first five seals, span the whole period between the ascension and right before the second coming is because of what’s said by those martyrs. Ever sense the church began to branch out from Jerusalem shortly after Pentecost this has been the consistent prayer of those in the church who are persecuted. Now, what’s amazing about this is that you might expect there to be instant retribution. I mean, after all, these people have given their lives for the cause of Christ, have they not? (Pause) But instead, in Revelation 5:11 we’re told that these martyrs were given white robes and told to wait until the rest of those who are to be killed for the sake of the gospel are also called upon to give their lives. *Now that’s a sobering statement! But think about what it tells us about God! It reassures me and you, and especially those who are severely persecuted for their faith, that we serve a God who hears the prayers of his people. Our Heavenly Father listens, and he doesn’t miss a single thing that happens to his children, and I promise you this, there WILL come a day when he says, “That’s it, my people have suffered long enough!” And let me tell you something, when that day comes, you had better pray to God that you belong to him because there’s going to come a time on this earth when God’s patience will finally come to an end. Friends, people may scoff now and say where is God(?); it really doesn’t look like he's doing much. Oh, I promise you, he’s there where he's always been, on his throne, and he hears every single one of the prayers of his people. If you’re listening to me today, and you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, you can rest assured, and be completely confident that there is power in prayer, and that a day will come when God will act decisively and finally. “… Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom. 12.19b, KJV). Church, do you believe in the power of prayer?
Invitation
Closing Prayer
[1] Keener, Revelation: 254.
[2] Kistemaker: Revelation, 269-270.