I'm NOT Talking to the Ceiling

Since September, I've been attending First Presbyterian Church in Opelika. Reverend Scott Bowen has been preaching on Revelation since August, and it has been phenomenal. I've heard the Letters to the Churches preached through, and gone through Revelation twice in Bible studies. However, Rev. Scott somehow makes everything so much clearer, using simple words to get across theologically deep and mind-boggling realities. Anyways, today he preached on Revelation 8:2-9:21, six of the seven trumpets. In trying to get across the amazing picture that was presented to me today, I'm going to try to put it in three points that build upon each other.

1) God responds to the prayers of the saints.

The opening verses of Chapter 8 describe the prayers of the saints rising before God, and the immediate response is "then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake." The picture presented is of God responding to the prayers of the saints with obvious images of power and authority. Why? Because God know how much we doubt that He hears our prayers.

2) God responds with power and presence.

Following the opening verses come the first six trumpets. There is a lot to learn from this about the majesty of God. The trumpets should be thought of like the plagues, a response from God to the prayers of his people in the form of natural disasters, basically. God controls all natural disasters and uses them for a specific purpose. Why trumpets? Think back to the Old Testament and to the first chapter of Revelation. Trumpets announce the presence of God. Even if it is a natural disaster. It is God. The blast of a trumpet, a tornado, a hurricane, a flood, announces the presence of a holy God, bigger than our idols, bigger than our president, bigger than everything we put before God. We as the saints are marked by the seal, and so will not be touched by the forces of evil and darkness that God has let into the world. The locusts in Revelation 9 remind us of Joel, and we know that the locusts come to consume everything we hold onto, they come to consume the gladness of men. 

Finally, 3) I am NOT talking to the ceiling.

Think about all this! The power and majesty of God! We are NOT talking to the ceiling, we are talking to the sovereign God, the one who controls the horses! The one who announces His presence as we lose sight of Him and turn to earthly idols. When we pray, this is who we are speaking to. When we ask anything, this is the power that lies in the one who listens to His people. My prayer life is not always the best. Right now, it's pretty bad. This, however, is helping me to think about it in the way I should have already been thinking about it; approaching the throne of the Most High God, who responds with awesome power to the prayers of the saints.

Praise be to God! And thank you Reverend Bowen for helping me to better understand the Word of God as revealed to His saints!

Finding Peace

Let's be honest. Yesterday did not turn out like many of us wanted it to. How can we afford another four years? What's going to happen? How on earth could our President get reelected after four years of failing? What is my future going to look like now? Is liberty dying? These are just a few of the questions running through our minds. I'm not going to deny that I'm scared. That I'm struggling not to picture the worst possible future as a result of this election.
However, this as Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, this is no way to think or act. Romans 13:1-7 (which I'm sure many of you, like me, have read many times since last night) says:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, ⁴ for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

President Obama is president of the United States because God determined it. President Obama is God's servant, elected by God to carry out God's plan for our country, whether we like it or not. This is not a time to complain, but a time to pray. To pray as we should have been doing and as we should continue to do. To pray for our country and our leaders, especially our president. To pray that we would not become angry towards God, but turn to him even more and trust in his sovereignty. It is a time to pray, but also to act. Keep fighting for what you believe in! Fight for the widow, defend the fatherless. Join a campaign, do what you can for your country. Stand up and fight for what you believe in! We still have freedom of speech and religion. Thank God that we can go to church every Sunday without fear of persecution! Do not give up, do not lose hope. Our God is an awesome God, who reigns over heaven and earth. He is in control of the horses! (Revelation 6) Keep living your life to the glory of God on high, praying as he has taught us in his word. 

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. Amen.

Find peace in the sovereignty of God.

"Remember this and stand firm,

recall it to mind, you transgressors,

remember the former things of old,

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me,

declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, 'My counsel shall stand,

and I will accomplish all my purpose,'

calling a bird of prey from the east,

the man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;

I have purposed, and I will do it."- Isaiah 46:8-11

The Picture that Keeps Getting Bigger and Better!

One of the things that I love most about the music at RUF is the use of rich hymn texts. Texts like one of the hymns we sang tonight, "For All the Saints." This is a hymn that never really stood out to me before, probably because I never got to actually sing it in church due to playing an instrument. However, tonight I realized how beautiful and deep these words are! As you read through the lyrics, notice how the picture just keeps getting bigger and more glorious. I basically haven't been able to stop singing this since I left large group tonight. Such an amazing hymn! Glory to God!

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Allelu...

The picture of the church as a whole, the believers, the saints, is introduced in the first line of the hymn.

Thou wast their rock, their fortress and their might;
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Allelu...

Image of God as our rock and fortress. In this verse and the next two, the church militant comes into view, beginning where it should with the description of Jesus as the captain of the saints, our fortress and light.

O may thy soldiers, faithful true, and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor's crown of gold.
Alleluia, Allelu...

Image of an army. The saints are an army marked by God with his seal, engaged in a spiritual battle with Jesus as our captain. It is a war that we already know is won for us, yet we faithfully fight.

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Allelu...

This verse and the next two are where I get extremely teary-eyed! The idea and assurance that the saints, the believers, the blessed, will receive our rest and paradise. Image of the end times, I believe. The golden evening brightening but not here yet, soon to the saints comes their rest.

But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on his way, 
Alleluia, Allelu...

What an amazing picture! The second coming of our King of glory, the saints rising triumphant, what a incredible and encouraging image!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Image of our finally coming home to eternity. What an awesome picture of indescribable glory to God!

Sorry, this wasn't the best writing. I'm a little sleepy. Anyways, one thing that also really stood out to me as I read back over every verse was that I could think of multiple biblical references for each verse, from both testaments. All these images are taken directly from the Scriptures. Especially since at First Pres, Rev. Bowen is preaching through Revelation, everything is in pictures to me!