The seventh trumpet and the happy ending

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 2

Revelation 11:15-19

It’s been a challenging journey so far through the book of Revelation. Throughout the book so far, but especially in the vision of the seven trumpets, we’ve seen many pictures and symbols that are hard to interpret with much certainty. We’ve seen scary images of destruction and violence, including the destructive force of false doctrine as it ravages the Christian Church on earth, destroying the false Christians and causing much tribulation for true believers.

It’s time for a little break from all that. It’s time to skip ahead to the end of the story. Every story has an outline, with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and each of those main parts is divided up into smaller parts. The end part of the outline for a thriller, for example, is made up of the crisis, the climax (which is like the final showdown), and the resolution, after the hero comes out victorious.

This evening we have before us only five verses, the sounding of the seventh and final trumpet. They’re clear, straightforward, and easy to understand. And, even though this isn’t the last chapter of the book of Revelation, these verses take us to the very end of the world—as each series of visions does. They take us to the resolution and show us the final victory of God over His enemies and ours, and the everlasting joy of God’s people.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”

You may recognize these words from Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. When the final angel sounds his trumpet, it signals the end of the world, the day of judgment, and the beginning of the open, visible, glorious reign of “our Lord and of His Christ.” The Father has entrusted the reign to His Son, to “His Christ” during this New Testament period, as the One who died and rose again, as the Head of the Church, as the Bridegroom in heaven ruling for the benefit of His Bride still on earth. But in the end, St. Paul writes that Then comes the end, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

That’s in keeping with what we confess in the Athanasian Creed, that the Son of God comes from the Father, not the other way around, and that He is equal to the Father with regard to His divinity, and lesser than the Father with regard to His humanity. Christ reigns now at the Father’s right hand, with the Father’s complete approval. He will still reign at the end, together with the Father, but somehow (and we don’t need to know how) His role will change at the end after He wins the final victory for His Church, and the Father will reassert His primary role as King of kings and Lord of lords. All the power of the powerful people of this world will vanish. And, willingly or unwillingly, the kings and presidents and rulers of the world will lay down their crowns at the feet of God.

And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

If you recall, we identified the twenty-four elders earlier in the book of Revelation as the sum total of all believers from the Old Testament and the New Testament. They describe themselves a few verses later as Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great. Once God wins the final victory over all the forces of evil in this world, the Church will give thanks. We give thanks now, of course, and rightly so. But that final thanksgiving will be the most joyful of all, because now, to our thanksgiving, we inevitably add a, “Lord, have mercy!” Now, to our thanksgiving, we tack on a prayer for God’s help and for His continued providence and preservation during this time of tribulation. But then, at the end, when our God has finally removed every harmful and painful thing from our lives, every danger, every hardship, every sorrow, our joy and thanks will be unending and perfect.

The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

The nations were angry. We see it even now. The nations rage against the Lord and against His Christ. Everything Christianity has touched is right now, at this very moment, being dismantled by the rulers of the world. Western society, Biblical morality, the Bible’s version of creation and the history of the world, Christianity’s condemnation of sin and its insistence that there is only one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

But if you compare the anger of the nations with the wrath of God—well, there is no comparison. As Jesus once said, do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The prophet Zephaniah spoke of this day, and his : The great day of the LORD is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the LORD is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the LORD; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.” Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the LORD’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.

So let the nations be angry with God and with His people. God’s anger is far worse, and it’s about to be revealed against all those who failed to take refuge in Christ. He will destroy those who destroy the earth. That’s not talking about climate change or environmental impact. It’s talking about how men destroy the earth with their pride, with their violence, with their deception and crookedness, and, yes, with their destructive wars. They themselves will be destroyed—not wiped out of existence, not annihilated, but punished eternally in hell, even as God destroys this present earth and replaces it with the new heavens and the new earth.

As for believers in Christ, the time has come that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great. This is when Jesus’ words in the Beatitudes are fulfilled: Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. Or as Peter wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The reward of our eternal inheritance, the reward of God’s visible presence among His people, the reward of happiness untinged by sadness, the reward of eternal life unthreatened by death will be handed out to each one of those who have remained faithful until death. That’s what the Last Day will be like for believers in Christ Jesus.

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Even as the earth is destroyed, God’s temple in heaven is opened for believers. And the ark of the covenant, which symbolized God’s presence with Israel on earth but which was covered up 24/7 by a veil, will not be covered in heaven. In other words, God will no longer hide His presence from His people or restrict access to Himself. Terror will strike the unbelieving as they are escorted to their doom, even as God’s people sit down with our Father and with His Son at the heavenly table, where we will dwell with Him forever.

You and I have lived our entire lives in the end-part of the story, in the climax section, where things are at their worst in the world. But it’s all building up to the Hero’s victory over every evil, and tonight we’ve seen just a brief preview of what life will be like after that. It isn’t cheating for us to skip to the end and read how things turn out. No, it’s God’s gift to you, to show you how things turn out so that you have renewed strength to remain steadfast in the faith until then. Amen.