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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(48) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation8:1-5 |
Date |
2007-12-14 |
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Revelation 8:1-5
[1] And when He broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
[2] And I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and seven trumpets were given to them.
[3] And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
[4] And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.
[5] And the angel took the censer; and he 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.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Apostle John saw a book which is sealed with seven seals in the right hand of God.
As each seal is broken, calamities of the 7 Year Great Tribulation take place in this earth.
In the 6th chapter of Book of Revelation, the 1st to the 6th seals were broken.
During the 7 Year Great Tribulation, this earth becomes nothing but a place of anguish, pain, horror, and sorrow.
The more seals that are broken, the more severe the calamities become with wars, famine, and environmental destruction from terrible storms and other natural disasters.
Even in this situation, however, there is a gleam of hope.
God's mercy comes upon this earth one more time.
This is through the 144,000 sealed bond-servants of God mentioned in the 7th chapter.
And then, there comes a great multitude that reaches salvation through these bond-servants.
I told you that it's not easy for chaff-like believers to be saved through martyrdom during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Those who can die as a martyr have a different center-of-heart from the other chaff-like believers.
They have a heart that they could have been saved if they had been given a chance to listen to the gospel properly before the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
They just didn't meet with a guide who could teach them the truth.
Or they met a false guide and it was as if they were blind being led by a blind man.
They finally come to understand the truth while witnessing the Rapture.
Then, they accept the Lord as their savior, and they change; they are not what they used to be.
And they repent of their past wrongdoings in tears, and live their lives even sacrificing their life for the Lord.
On the other hand, the remaining chaff-like believers are those who fall down because they haven't practiced the truth that they already heard.
Many of the chaff-like believers lived their believing lives loosely compromising with the world.
In this case, even if they repent after falling down to the 7 Year Great Tribulation, it's extremely hard to die as a martyr.
For example, those who lost their first love for God, betrayed God, and went back to the world, they are the ones who cannot receive strength even though they want to turn back.
Because of fear, they lose the strength remained.
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit has already been taken away in the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Therefore, without the help of the Holy Spirit, they have to repent and turn back only by their own will and strength.
Even if they repent for a while, when they are faced with temptation or severe persecution, chances are they will collapse again.
You must understand this clearly and correctly.
As you have heard the truth, and experienced the truth; you must never fall down into the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Instead of worrying about falling down to the 7 Year Great Tribulation, you must live a blissful life with hope for the good of heaven everyday.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Tonight's scripture verses 1 & 2 say, "When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them."
Here, "there was silence in heaven for about half an hour" indicates a state like the calm before the storm.
Up to this point there have been many disasters through the 6 seals that have been broken.
But considering what is to come, dealing with these disasters is just the beginning.
The real full-scale 7 Year Great Tribulation is going to take place from the moment the 7th seal is broken.
Therefore, the 'calm' is not the calm of peace and tranquility.
It is just a temporal 'dreary' moment before the actual judgment of God.
In this peaceful-looking moment, people plot more and more evil schemes in their minds.
"What kind of weapon should be used to defeat the enemy?" "With whom should we be allied?" "How should we threat the other?" They think about these plans and prepare for them.
At the same time, they make progress in preparing for the persecution to be brought against the believers.
Of course, there have previously been persecutions, torments, and killing of the believers.
But, the full-scale persecution and martyrdom haven't started yet.
As I told you before, as the EU takes the leadership in the world, its true identity is finally revealed.
And now the works of persecution against believers and their martyrdom begins in earnest.
Even though it appears to be peaceful, in this deserted moment, the preparation for the real persecution is in progress behind the scenes.
Therefore, people become more tensed and feel more horror on this situation.
That's because they can vaguely feel the upcoming severe calamity and persecution.
When there is this dreary moment in this earth, the preparation for the real 7 Year Great Tribulation begins in heaven as well.
Now, the seven angels who stand before God, are given seven trumpets.
The seven trumpets refer to the 7 Year Great Tribulation that will soon take place in full-scale.
As we will look into it in more detail, angels will blow the trumpets one by one. As the angels blow the trumpets one by one, on earth are all the more terrible disasters that are by-far surpassing the previous ones.
There are 'the seven angels who stand before God.' They 'stand' before God 'guarding & escorting' God.
If someone is 'guarding and escorting' a king or a boss, it means the position and authority of the man is great.
Since these seven angels are guarding and escorting God, how great are their positions and authority?
Especially, the seven angels have different atmospheres from other angels.
Because they are the angels who are in charge of the calamities of the 7 Year Great Tribulation, such a great overpowering feeling comes from them.
Such seven angels are given seven trumpets.
A trumpet was a must as a communication device in a battle field.
By blowing a trumpet, not only an invasion of an enemy was alerted, but also orders of attack, advance, and retreat were given to the troops.
Likewise, the seven trumpets in tonight's scripture also play a role of alerting disasters.
It indicates that new disasters will come down on the earth as angels blow the trumpets one by one.
By the way, why is the number 7 used here?
Number '7' is a perfect number. Therefore it tells us how terrible the disasters will become from now on.
As the 7 Year Great Tribulation progresses, evils are add to evils to an extreme in this world.
As its result, people don't realize they are driving themselves toward death, and they ever increasingly put more evil into practice.
People are using the phrase, 'all or nothing.'
Beyond any limits, people do things with this attitude of 'all or nothing.'
They are too pre-occupied to think that terrible harm can also come on them if they practice such intense evil.
They just pour out their evil for the moment.
In this situation, where can they find goodness? Where can they find mercy and compassion?
The world becomes so cruel that all people frantically try to kill each other.
Now, what is the reason that the world becomes like this during the 7 Year Great Tribulation?
That's because the countless evils that have been piled up so far finally yield their fruit in accordance with justice.
The God of love has enduringly given chances to mankind over and over again during the period of human cultivation.
While looking at countless evils of people, in His mercy and compassion, He has endured, and given His forgiveness and love.
But there is a situation that God cannot forgive any more.
It is the situation that people cross the limit that God has set in His justice.
Of course there is love that transcends the justice, and because of this, many people can hold onto the line of salvation during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
But this love that transcends the justice can apply only to those who are worthy to receive it.
No matter how much God wants to give love, if people don't accept it, it will be useless.
Most of the people of those who fall down to the 7 Year Great Tribulation are those who piled evils on top of evils so much that they cannot even expect the last love of God.
Therefore, the fact is that there aren't many who reach salvation through Gleaning Salvation among them.
If some of them don't even receive Gleaning Salvation, how much is the evil they must have in their hearts?
Such people fall down to this earth and live their lives during the 7 Year Great Tribulation.
Just imagine the world where such people with extreme evil practice their evilness on each other.
They do evil things seeking only for their own benefits.
They all seek for their own benefits; between family members, between neighbors, and between colleagues.
Therefore during the 7 Year Great Tribulation, people suffer not only from wars and natural disasters.
Their life itself is painful; it's like the life in hell.
You must never fall down into this situation.
Now, the verse 3 & 4 says, "Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand."
Also, Revelation 5:8 also says, "When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."
Likewise, also in tonight's scripture, "the incense that fills the golden censer" is 'the prayers of saints.'
And there is the smoke of the incense that goes up before God.
Here, 'the smoke' refers to the heart of the saints who give prayers.
When saints pray before God, angels take the prayers to heaven.
And these prayers are handed over to the angels who are higher in positions.
Through these steps, the prayers are brought up before the throne of God by archangels.
Angels also have different positions, and there are lower and higher ranks.
There are angels who are in charge of rain and wind, and there are angels who convey messages of God.
Also in tonight's scripture, there are angels who stand before the throne of God, and there is another angel who brings the incense of prayers to God.
There are countless angels in the spiritual realm, and their duties are clearly classified.
In given duties, their orders are clearly set.
The children of God will also have clear orders and ranks in heaven.
The more they resemble God by sanctifying themselves and being faithful in all God's house, the higher their position will be.
And the higher their position is, the closer they can come to God.
In the same manner, if an angel can come close to God, it means that the angel is in a very high position.
The lower ranks of angels cannot bring the prayers that they have received before God by themselves.
The incense of the prayers that they received are handed to archangels, and then brought before God.
In this way, the prayers of saints are brought before God in the form of incense, and once the prayers reach the measure that has set, answers to the prayers can be given.
By the way, in a broader sense, the incense that God takes in includes not only prayers but also the praise and confession of lips.
The heartfelt thanks and joy, and confession of faith; they all become beautiful incense and can be taken by God.
Therefore, you should be sure that not only your prayers but also the words out of your lips are beautiful before God.
In tonight's scripture, the censer that an angel puts the incense in is not just an ordinary censer but a golden censer.
And the altar before God is also the golden altar.
Many things in the world perish and decay, but pure gold doesn't change.
In the same manner, the glory and authority of God never changes forever.
The incense is given to such God. That's why the scripture says that they are a golden censer and a golden altar.
In addition, since the censer and the altar are made of gold, it means they will hold such precious things.
When you serve a guest, if the guest is very precious, you will use vessels that you value most.
And the more valuable and the more precious the vessel is, the better food that is put in the vessel.
Likewise, to have the incense of your prayers put into a golden censer, your prayers must be suitable.
Therefore, this golden censer plays the role of a device that measures the prayers.
For example, there is a machine that separates stones from rice.
Like this machine, the proper prayers before God will be put into a golden censer, but improper prayers cannot.
Then, what is the prayer that is proper before God?
It is the prayer with all the heart, will, and strength from the heart that reveres God.
It must be the prayer of the unchanging heart like pure gold.
It must also be the prayer while living by the word of God.
Tonight's scripture clearly says that it is the prayers of all the 'saints.'
Saints refer to a group of holy people.
They are the holy children of God who live by the word of God and follow the will of God.
However, there are some who don't make an effort to sanctify themselves and resemble God no matter how long they go to church.
They are just church-goers.
Then, no matter what they pray for, it's difficult for their prayers to become the incense.
Now, the prayer that can be put into the golden censer is the prayer of the heart of love.
It must be spiritual love, not fleshly love.
In other words, it must be the prayer from the heart of love for God and souls.
In Matthew 6:33, the Lord says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
If you have spiritual love and spiritual faith, you will pray for the spiritual things more than for fleshly things.
You will pray for God's righteousness and His kingdom, and for the souls before you pray for your family, food, and health.
You will pray for these spiritual things first, and then for your fleshly things.
On the other hand, there are people who pray for themselves, but not for the kingdom of God.
Of course, if they are novice believers, they don't even know what to pray for God's kingdom.
They can pray more for God's kingdom as their faith grows up.
But what if you still pray for your fleshly things even though you are told that you have faith and you have lived long believing years.
In other words, what if you don't have much to pray for God's kingdom and you aren't even earnest for it?
Can your prayer truly become the incense and be brought before God?
Even novice believers fervently pray for God's kingdom when they follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
In my case, even though I just became a believer, I prayed fervently whenever I had time to pray.
I piled up fervent prayers through mountain prayers and over-night prayers. But the prayers were not for me.
The prayers were for the church and the shepherd that I served, and for church construction, for brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the kingdom of God.
I fervently prayed in tears. I even prayed soaked in sweat in winter.
Since the Holy Spirit inspired me, limitless prayer subjects were given to me all through the night.
Now, look back on your prayers that you gave in the Daniel Prayer Meetings this week.
You prayed and sang praises for 2 to 3 hours. What kind of incense do you think they have become before God?
The prayers in irrelevant thoughts, the prayers of murmuring lips, or the prayers that only look good to people's eyes cannot be put into the golden censer.
Prayers and praises that look different inside and outside cannot be put into the golden censer, either.
No matter how much you cry in your prayer and praises, as long as they are habitual, they cannot become thick incense before God.
The prayers with meaningless repetition cannot even come near incense.
Some people have all kinds of irrelevant and idle thoughts while giving prayers in tongues or singing praises.
How can they become the incense and put into the golden censer?
No matter how much you give, your prayers must be from your sincere heart. Only then can they become the incense that can be put into the golden censer.
You must realize that what God accepts is truly the incense of your sincere heart.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Even though everyone gives the prayers of heart, the size of the censer that contains the incense varies.
The prayers of those with great faith and spirit can become thick and dense incense even if they are short prayers.
On the other hand, the incense of prayers of those who haven't cast off much flesh is not thick but weak.
Even if both of them pray for the same amount of time, the size of the vessels that angels put their incense in is different.
In addition, the amount of the prayers that should fill the censer is also different according to the prayer wish.
If you desire to receive an answer for a relatively simple thing, when a small censer is filled, the answer will be given.
But if you want to receive pretty big and important answer, you must fill a greater censer with your prayers.
There are many different cases like this. However, once the prayers are proper to be put into the censer, the incense of the prayers will never be in vain.
Father God will surely remember the prayers and give answers and blessings when the time comes.
By the way, tonight's scripture says that an angel 'adds much incense to the prayers of all the saints.'
What is the meaning by 'adding to the prayers' here?
It means that an angel settles the accounts of prayers of all the saints at the moment of the conclusion of human cultivation.
When the human cultivation is over, all prayers received will be 'settled on account'.
Not only the prayers, but also the praises and confessions of faith; all the things on account that have become incense will be settled.
The prayers you gave to cast off sin and to sanctify yourself, the prayers to stand against the enemy devil and Satan in order to enlarge the kingdom of God, the prayers for God's kingdom and righteousness, and the prayers and praises as your confession of love and thankful heart for God. . .
. . .can you imagine how much incense all the saints have given to God during the long period of the human cultivation?
The 21 day prayers of Daniel, the confession of goodness that Deacon Stephen gave when he was dying martyrdom; all these were not given in vain.
The melody of the harp that King David played, the praises of Apostle Paul when he was in prison; all these were brought up before God as the incense.
The accounts of all the incense will be settled without loss, and it will become the proof of faith before God.
The prayers and praises that you have given so far will also be collected and settled.
The prayers given that have become incense and for which answers that have been received for them and the prayers in which you gave glory to God are also recorded.
All of these will be settled and become the measure of your judgment and reward.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
What you sow by faith in this earth never disappears in vain.
I'm just not talking about financial things.
They include all the things you sow by faith such as prayers, praises, service, devotion, and faithfulness.
By the way, sowing by faith means that doing them with the heart.
No matter how diligently you did things outwardly, if you didn't do with your heart, then they are nothing more than flesh.
Only when there is a sincere heart involved, can God accept them.
It is the incense of the heart that God accepts.
Then, what kind of incense are you giving to Father God now?
When praying, singing praises, or doing your duty, how beautifully is the incense of your heart being brought up before God?
Also, how much incense have you piled up so far since you began living the believing life?
A long believing life doesn't necessarily mean a great amount of incense.
Even though you have piled up the incense for a long time with fleshly faith, when compared with the incense of those who live with spiritual faith, your incense is so little.
Therefore, please come into spirit all the more quickly!
May everything you do in the Lord such as your prayers, praises, confession of faith, faithfulness, service and devotion be piled up and overflow before God as the beautiful incense, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Amen |
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