Stop... Listen... Watch This!

 

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and she shall reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (Revelation 11:15-19 ESV).

 

One of the techniques I often used to call the audience to really focus on a particular point was to pause in the sermon and say, “Stop… listen… watch this…” It was my way of simply saying, “Now listen carefully to what comes next.” I did this because some parts of a story are key to under­standing the whole. John records this next event of the sounding of the last trumpet with the same technique.

 

As we read the story of the seventh trumpet call, we need to pay close attention and listen carefully. This part of God’s story is key to understanding who we are and what we are called to do in this world. As God’s witnesses, we need to know that God’s kingdom is advancing right now, even though it may seem at times that the world is thoroughly corrupt and controlled by the forces of evil.

 

This part of God’s story is shouted by “loud voices in heaven” and reinforced by the twenty-four elders seated around God’s throne. Listen carefully to what heaven announces: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” We need to listen carefully because heaven’s reason for rejoicing is often missed. In our everyday lives, we tend to think that God’s kingdom will come someday and that Jesus, the Messiah, will then “reign forever and ever.” But the announcement is not in the future tense. The seventh trumpet call announces that God’s kingdom claims the kingdom of this world now. And this present reality changes everything for all who live by faith in Jesus.