7th Seal 1 - Silence In Heaven

Rev 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Before we get into our message for today, let us review very briefly our study of the Revelation up to this point. In the first chapter, John gives us the setting and begins to explain that the vision is one of symbols that have spiritual meaning. He explains what some of those symbols represent. Then in chapter 2 & 3 he records seven letters to the seven churches of Asia. As we studied these letters, we found that they address seven spiritual conditions that exist in the hearts of people: Loveless, Hopeless, Faithless, Overconfident, Permissive, Faithful and Lukewarm. Then in chapter 4 John reveals the throne of God and we got a look into the throne. In chapter 5, John gives us a lesson in how we need Jesus to help us to open up the Bible so that we can understand it. In chapter 6 we have been studying the opening of our understanding of the Bible in a series of seals. As Jesus has opened the seals, we recognize an explanation of the battle of Armageddon. Christ is our Commander and we are fighting Satan to enter and stay in a Kingdom of Righteousness, and peace and joy! The 1^st seal reveals our Lord and His armies. The 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th & 6^th seals have revealed many of the tricks that Satan uses to destroy Christians by destroying their faith in the Lord.

Living a Christian life is likened to fighting a great war. Paul talked about it when he wrote to the Ephesians and to the Corinthians. He told us to put on the whole armor of God and to fight the good fight of faith. Through the ages of time multitudes have been overcome and fell out of the Christian race. One of the lies of the devil is that he wants you to believe that being a Christian is so easy that there are no requirements and you don’t have to do anything because Jesus does everything for you. That is a lie as we have seen for Jesus does have a yoke and He does have a burden for each of His followers to bear. Yes, He saves from sin and yes, He gives forgiveness to all, and yes, He requires every one that comes to Him to serve Him with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength.

The Kingdom of God is a beautiful kingdom. It is filled with righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. As you yield to the Word of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit, you repent of all your sin; you are led in paths of righteousness for His names sake. You begin to enjoy a peace that you never dreamed possible. Your peace passes understanding and you rise to cloud nine. Serving Jesus is wonderful and His presence is so powerful that you can hardly stand it. And then come the battles. The devil in all his fury and rage begins to hit you with every fiery dart imaginable. He throws all kinds of thoughts into your mind. He has every agent of his that he can round up to try and talk you out of serving the Lord. He is relentless, never giving up and

Continually hitting you with every weapon that is in his arsenal. Therefore, Jesus is giving you an understanding of the war. He is offering training so that you can fight as a good soldier of the cross; so that you will be among the overcomers that are dressed in white.

We have just seen in chapter 7 how a great multitude, so great that no man can number them, have overcome great tribulation. They have made it through the war and are victorious in their efforts to win the fight of faith. They are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night. They overcame by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their _testimony_______.

(Rev 12:11 KJV) And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Now with this review and understanding in mind we turn to our message this morning: Silence In Heaven. In our text John said that when He opened the 7^th seal there was silence in Heaven about the space of half and hour. Understanding that we are studying about the revelation of tactics and strategies of the devil in his war to defeat us and cause us to give up serving our Lord, we look at what does he mean by silence in heaven? In chapter 7 he has just shown us the great multitude that overcame the wiles of the devil. In chapter 12 John told us that they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. So let us use these clues to understand the message of silence in heaven.

I don’t think that any serious Bible student would disagree that the only way for a person to be saved is through the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our sacrifice for our sins and it is because of His blood being spilled that we are offered salvation. It is the redemption plan of God. Jesus is the sacrifice for your sins. He was a fit sacrifice seeing He did no sin and no guile was found in His mouth. He died on the cross of Calvary so that you could be freed from the penalty of your sin. He was your sacrifice. He took your place and died in your stead because of His great love for you. And because of this you have the opportunity to be forgiven of your sin and enter into a holy heaven. You have a kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in this world and eternal life in the world to come. Nearly every Bible believing individual recognizes this great fundamental truth and believes it.

But, the second point that John points out brings controversy. By the word of their testimony. Is it really necessary to testify of the salvation that Jesus has given you? _yes_________ Isn’t being a Christian a private matter? _no_______ Maybe you are one of those people that just don’t have the courage to talk about your Lord. Therefore, the message of Rev. 8:1 “There was silence in heaven ..” What does the Word of God teach us about this subject? Let’s look into it this morning and review this great subject.

As a Christian Jesus taught you that you are to be the light of the world. God has done great things for you. He wants you to tell the whole world. Your adversary, the devil, wants you to keep _silent_________. Let’s begin our review with the account in Mark chapter 5 about the man called Legion. Here we find that when Jesus came into Legion’s country, Legion met him. Legion was possessed by thousands of devils; he lived a horrible, tormented life; he lived as a naked, wild man in the graveyard; he often cut himself and cried in his seemingly hopeless condition. Now when Jesus met him, Jesus commanded the devils to come out of him and set him free. In a little while the people of that area came out to see what was going on and there they found Legion, clothed and in his right mind. Now the people of that area were very much shook up and they didn’t want anything to do with this Jesus who has done such a great miracle. So they requested that Jesus leave their country.

So, Jesus began preparations to depart. Now Legion, reviewing the situation came running to the Lord and requested that he be allowed to leave along with the Lord. I imagine in my mind what Legion must have thought. Here is a man that set me free from the hell that I have been living in for many years. The people of this country never did care for me. All they ever did was try to tie me up with chains. I don’t think that I have any friends around here. I think that I’ll go with the one that delivered me and serve him. And so he made the request of the Lord and the Lord gave His reply:

(Mark 5:19 KJV) Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

Why would Jesus give such a command to this poor man? It just doesn’t seem to make any sense. Well, to you or me it may not make much sense, but to Jesus it made sense. Because Legion did just what the Lord told him to do. He went about his country telling everyone what great things the Lord had done for him. And guess what; in time Jesus returned to Legion’s country and the whole country went out to meet him and welcomed him there. Has Jesus done anything for you? Are you telling others about it? They need to hear from you what great things Jesus has done for you.

(Isa 12 KJV) And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. {2} Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. {3} Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. {4} And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. {5} Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. {6} Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Here the prophet Isaiah is reminding us of the process of salvation. As a sinner, God was _angry with you. Now when you repented of your sin and accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are drawing _joy_ out of salvation as a person draws water out of a well. Your burden and guilt of sin are removed, you are following the Lord in paths of righteousness, a great peace has settled upon you and you are drawing joy from your experience of salvation. Now God says, Praise the Lord and _declare___ his doing among the people. You are to testify of what God has done for you. You are to Praise the Lord. You are to exalt His name. You are to sing unto the Lord. You are to shout the Praises of your God.

But the devil says: you are too shy; God does not really expect you to testify; just keep quiet about what God has done for you; others don’t want to hear about God; religion is a private thing; you might offend someone by talking to them about Jesus. And on and on he goes giving you a hundred reasons to be silent.

Think with me a little; how silent is the devil? Is he not always bragging to you how cool it is to get drunk? To get high on drugs? To fill your lungs with smoke? To be sexually promiscuous? To tell a little white lie? To run down your friends by talking about them behind their back? To cheat the government on your taxes? And a host of other sins? Yes, the devil and every person that he controls, which consists of a great multitude, are constantly telling you how cool and neat it is to engage in sinful practices. Every sinner is talking and laughing about the great fun he is getting from his sinful practices. They are talking about it in their homes; they are talking about it in the neighborhood; they are talking about it in the places of business; they are talking about it in the schools; they are talking about it in the news reports; they are talking about it at work; yes, everywhere you turn sinners are exalting the joys of sin. Does it make any sense that as a Christian you should be silent?

Absolutely not! Cry out and shout for great is your God and greatly to be praised. Let no sinner, no legion of devils or power of hell shut you up. Let’s talk about Jesus! I love for people to tell me about their sin for it is my opportunity to say: “let me tell you what Jesus has done for me”. He lifted me up out of the pit of sin and gave me something worth living for. He forgave me my sin and placed in me the power of His Holy Spirit which enables me to live a righteous life full of peace and joy in this present world. Yes, I have found something that is a far greater joy than any sinful pleasure. The pleasures of sin are of short duration and come at a great cost to the sinner. The pleasures of righteousness are everlasting and give great reward.

It is not always easy to talk about Jesus. It is something that you need to learn. I have found that it helps a lot if when I meet someone new, that I immediately tell them that I am a born again Christian. It helps to let others know from the start that when they are talking to me, I am going to be talking about Jesus. I do this because of what Jesus said in:

(Mark 8:38 KJV) Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

I don’t want Jesus to be ashamed of me and therefore, I am determined to not be ashamed of Him! I know that He wants me to be a witness for Him and I intend to do my best. After all He has done great things for me.

(Acts 1:8 KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

(Acts 1:22 KJV) Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

(Acts 5:27-32 KJV) And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, {28} Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. {29} Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. {30} The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. {31} Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. {32} And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Yes, Jesus expects every Christian to be a witness. You are a witness of what God has done for you. You have a story to tell of the goodness and saving power of Jesus Christ. Not because you heard it from others or because you read it in a book or heard it on the TV, but because you have experienced it in your heart and life. There are only two reasons that I can think of where you should not testify of Jesus. One is you have no experience to tell about and the other is you have been deluded by the devil into being silent. If you truly repent of your sin and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord, you will have an experience like nothing that has ever happened to you before. You will know what Christians mean when they talk of being rid of guilt and freed from the bondage of sin. You will experience a peace that is beyond your ability to describe. You will have something to tell your family, your friends and your fellow citizens about. Don’t allow the devil to keep you quiet. Praise your Lord for He is worthy to be praised! You are His witness!

(Acts 18:7-11 KJV) And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. {8} And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. {9} Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: {10} For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. {11} And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

In this passage we see how the Lord instructed Paul to speak and not to hold his peace. He let Paul know that no one could harm him without His, Gods, permission. That has always been true of God’s children. You can read back in the book of Job how the devil had to get permission from God before he could afflict Job. God has a hedge around all His children and He will only allow those things to happen to us that will be for our good and that will bring glory to our Lord. Don’t be afraid to speak up for your Lord! He has the whole world including the devil under His control.

(2 Tim 1:8 KJV) Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Yes, don’t be ashamed to testify of your Lord. Also don’t be ashamed to be a partaker in His suffering. But rather rejoice that your Lord counts you worthy to suffer for His sake. As a Christian you are to be the light of the world. They need to hear of the great power and working of God in your life. They need to hear how salvation has made your life worthwhile. They need to hear about the saving power of Jesus. They need to hear about the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gives to every one that obeys Him. They need to hear of this kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy that you have found. They need to hear because they are mired in the muck and misery of sin.

The devil and his sinners are not telling the people of the misery of sin. They are only telling of the moments of pleasure. They are not telling the drunk of the headache and sickness he will feel in the morning. They are not telling of the addict choking in his own vomit in the gutters of the slums. No, they are only telling of the moments of pleasure, omitting the wages and cost that sin will exact on them. You need to tell them about Jesus; about the glory of his kingdom and about the joy of serving Him; about bearing His yoke and carrying His burden and how it is light compared to the yoke and burden of sin. Is there silence in your presence today? Or are you telling about your Jesus? Of His love and of His goodness? Of His willingness to forgive and to save?