In 1893, James Milton Black penned the hymn when the Roll Is
Called Up Yonder.
Black was a Methodist Episcopalian.
He was a Sunday school teacher, and he was inspired to write
this hymn based on the absence of a child from his Sunday school
class when the attendance was taken.
The idea of someone being not in attendance in heaven haunted Black,
and after visiting the child's home and calling on a doctor to attend
her for pneumonia, he went home and he wrote the song after
not finding one on a similar topic in his hymn collection.
And the song's lyrics were first published in a collection titled
Songs of the Soul.
And the song has since been translated into at least 14 languages
and sung all over the world in a variety of Christian denominations.
And although, yes, it comes from the Book of Revelation, it is
based on the Book of Life mentioned seven times in Revelation,
particularly in the latter chapters that we'll come to.
But it is the sounding of the seventh trumpet that draws us into
the opening verse, because Black writes, when the trumpet of
the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more when the morning
breaks eternal bright and fair when the saved of earth shall gather
over on the other shore and the rule
is called up yonder, I'll be there.
And we had one lady in our choir in kedy that when it came
to sing the chorus of when the
Rule is called up yonder, she gave her all, whether in tune or
not, she belted out the chorus when the rule is called up yonder
as it finishes, I'll be there.
And we do sing this hymn, and particularly this first verse with
great gusto to the tune that we know for it.
And before anyone starts to guess if we're going to be singing
it as our closing hymn this evening, we won't.
But we do get to see in
this opening verse some hope and some
urgency, an urgency to ensure that our names are written in the
Lamb's book of life and the hope that springs eternal of being
welcomed into home heaven.
And that's what we see in verse 15 as we hear the seventh trumpet
sound.
And this is what John records for us in verse 15.
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 he shall reign forever
and ever.
So as these seven trumpets have been sounded, taking us from
chapter eight through the end of chapter 11, we've been told what
is to occur in these last days, where the seven seals opened
in chapters six to eight.
And there we were introduced to the warmth of God being brought.
Sorry, the wrath of God being brought on those who rejected him.
And from a different perspective now, the sounding of
the trumpets, we see in this same time period the wrath of God
intensifying.
But there was a warmth to God, to his people, because with all of
this, we see the martyrdom of God's people, but also his care for
them.
And in the opening of the seals, we hear the voice of the martyrs
as the fifth seal is opened.
And we hear them cry, how long before the Lord will act his judgment
on the nations for their disobedience and their sin?
And as the sixth seal is opened, we see the persecution.
Sorry.
The sixth trumpet is sounded.
We see the persecution against the two witnesses of God as they
take their stand for the truth of the Gospel.
And so through their martyrdom, they are risen then from
death.
And in verse 12, they hear these gracious words.
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come
up here.
And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched
them.
That's how we ended.
That's the scene of those witnesses who had been martyred for
their witness of the Gospel, taken up into heaven, and who watched
on but their enemies.
And so now, just like the opening of the seventh seal, as the
seventh trumpet is sounded, we are brought into heaven to witness
an act of worship
of the host of heaven.
And human history comes to an end in this sounding of the seventh
trumpet.
And the kingdom now belongs to the Lord and his Christ forever.
Again, verse 15 tells us that 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 he shall reign forever and ever.
And so the blasting of the final trumpet represents the third
and final woe, signifying that the final judgment is at hand and
history has reached its conclusion.
And in this third and final woe, the wicked will face just as
much
hardship as they have done before, because
the last judgment has arrived.
And loud voices in heaven declare the time of fulfilled promises
that it now has come, the kingdom is now the Lord's.
And the kingdom of the world has been transferred to the kingdom
of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever.
And in Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts, chapter
two, he declares to the people that Christ already reigns at the
Father's right hand, but in the seventh trumpet his enemies are
vanquished and are made his footstool.
That's the Beauty of Psalm 110 and of what it foretells when the
psalm is right, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.
The Lord sends forth from Zion your
mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies.
And so long before the coming of Christ, the psalmist foretold
of this end time reality when the trumpet of the Lord would sound.
And as the reality of this moment is recognized in heaven, so
it in a way pulsates with joy as the elders fall on their faces
and they worship God.
Now this isn't new to us.
We've seen them do this before.
But their worship is filled with thanksgiving to God because
his reign has begun.
And this is what they declare in verse 17.
We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was.
For you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
Now we've heard part of this praise before.
In chapter one and John's greeting to the seven churches, he
speaks of the Lord in this I am the Alpha and the Omega, says
the Lord who is and who was and who is to come?
The Almighty.
Well, we've already heard of thanksgiving given to the Lord God
Almighty, and we've also heard of the one who is and who was.
But here in chapter 11, we see that the truth of the eternal nature
of God is seen before us.
We don't need to use the future tense of what's here in chapter
one of the One who Is to Come, because that time has now come.
God is now with his people.
His reign has begun.
And the 24 elders give their praise to God because he has taken
the power he has always had and has begun his reign for all eternity.
Revelation regularly identifies God as Almighty, and this
should draw us back to Exodus 3 and verse 14 in identifying God
as the one who is and who was.
He is the God of the universe.
He always was the God of the universe, and now he reigns forevermore.
And we see that the reign of Christ also means the reign of God.
God and Christ are not in competition, but reign, as it were,
in concert, in that being in a concert hall with those different
instruments coming together to give us this beautiful sound.
And so, as the praise of the elders continues, their song becomes
a testimony of the work of God, because those who hated the
rule of God here called the nations, are now punished for their
disobedience of his laws and their dishonoring of his name.
They sing of his judgment of the sinful and the blessing given
to his servants who are described as prophets and saints
who fear God's name.
Now, it's difficult to know how many different groups are actually
being talked about here.
So they've been categorized for us as
his servants, described as prophets and saints.
And so we'll take these two groups, prophets and saints, because
often in the Old Testament, the prophets are identified as God's
servants, and so they are probably the group that is being
referred to here.
The saints then are described as those who fear God's name.
And the words small and great probably further describe the saints
who do fear the name of God.
But what we're learning about God is that he is impartial and grants
the same reward whether one is deemed important or unimportant in
society.
And we'll see this again in Revelation 19.
But on the other hand, as opposed to those who are his servants,
we hear about the wicked and what's going to happen to them.
Well, they're going to be judged.
Those who destroyed the earth will themselves be destroyed.
When the kingdom comes, everything will be set right.
The righteous will be vindicated and the wicked will receive
what they deserve.
So the reign of Christ means the wicked are judged for the righteous
reward and the righteous rewarded.
And this judgment of the wicked then explains why this is
the third woe.
Although a wonderful day in heaven it will be for those who believe
in Christ.
It will be a terrible day for those who do not know the forgiveness
of the sin Savior, who do not know the forgiveness of their sins
because they refuse to come to the Lord
and that salvation that he offers.
And Jesus warns of this day and hits hard against those who think
that because they are Jewish, they will be okay.
He says this in Matthew 8, 10, 12.
When Jesus heard this, he marveled and
said to those who followed him, truly,
I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at
table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven, while the sons of
the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Now, you may be familiar with the common joke about this place,
particular passage from Matthew chapter 8.
And one preacher is asked, but what about those of us who have no
teeth?
And the reply came, teeth will be provided.
But that's not the point of this.
It's the image, it's the picture.
It's a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It is a place of dire destruction.
But it is a place that is deserved.
And it is deserved because people do not come to the Lord for
the forgiveness of sins.
And what a terrible day of woe it will be for those who think
they're okay, but are really not.
And that's what this verse is getting at.
Because whenever Jesus says that while sons of the kingdom will
be thrown into outer darkness, he's describing those whom he sees
in front of him.
The religious leaders who were charged to lead the people, but were
not.
They thought they were okay because of their oversight of others,
because of their so called authority, because people looked
to them to tell them what scripture meant, and so they thought
they were okay.
And they who should have known better completely rejected the Savior.
And so those who thought they were going to be in heaven are actually
going to be the ones who will
be found in the outer darkness, that place of weeping and
that place of the gnashing of teeth.
And so at this point, we should be forced to stop and ask
ourselves the question, am I truly a member of the Kingdom of
God?
That's what we're confronted with here as we learn from this song
of heaven from the 24 angels, that punishment will be wrought on
those who do not trust in the Savior.
And so the question is, am I truly a kingdom of God?
And only you can answer that.
But you can't fool yourself because you know deep down whether
it is a true answer or not.
And God knows your heart better than you know it.
And he knows the true answer.
You see, the only way to know is if you're trusting in Jesus every
day for your salvation.
It's every day looking to the Savior to guide you and to lead you.
And if you think that you're good enough or it'll work out in
the end, then you're not truly part of the kingdom of God.
There's only one way, and Jesus himself told us that he is
the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father, except through him alone.
See, this is what is at stake here.
Eternal light
or outer darkness.
One of the movies that we've enjoyed
at Home is the 1990s Disney movie the Lion King.
And Simba is told that everything that the light touches
is his Father's kingdom, and that one day it will be his.
And Simba looks standing at the top of Pride Rock, looking across
to the shadowlands.
And he says, but what about that land over there?
And his father tells him, that's beyond
our borders, never go there.
Of course, Simba goes under the encouragement of his Uncle Scar.
And what he finds there is a place of darkness, of coldness, of
death and torment.
Now, if you've seen the movie, you'll know something of that.
And that's just an image of what we're describing here.
Last week we described it as the
Shadowlands as well, and here again, stronger terms, outer darkness.
So are you truly a member of the Kingdom of God, or are you still
in the Shadowlands?
Because to remain there means a day will come when Christ will
come and you will be thrown into outer darkness.
Even though you think you'll be okay, you will not.
It will be a place of great torment and great sorrow and great
pain, where indeed there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And the only way to come to the Kingdom of God, that kingdom
of light, is through the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
So be warned, to be without Christ is woe to you, and a terrible
woe it is to be in Christ is one of great blessing.
As he looks to his servants, his prophets and his saints to bless
them, he thinks of them, he regards them
so that they will be welcomed into his glorious eternity.
And so, as this chapter concludes in John's account of the
events of that seventh trumpet blast, we read in verse 19, he then
sees God's temple in heaven 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 heel.
So here we have now a new picture of what's going on in heaven,
and we see God's temple in heaven opened up.
Now, what that looks like, we do not know.
But what John sees then is the Ark of His Covenant, and it represents
the full and final access to God.
But there's also a thunderous storm of judgment for those who have
refused his rule.
Now, this kind of mixed image that we're looking at here presents
to us the closing scene of the seven trumpets and the closing scene
of human history.
And perhaps we're surprised here to see the Ark of the Covenant.
If we recall, it was lost.
And of course, it had its own tremendous journey as it made its
way
through the wilderness and into the promised
land and into the temple.
And then through exile, was taken and never to be found.
But what is the Ark of His Covenant?
Well, throughout the Old Testament, the Ark of His Covenant
always represented his presence with his people.
And that presence was to be found within his temple.
And so, as we see this image now of the Temple of Heaven opened
and the Ark of His Covenant inside, we see now that he will come
to dwell amongst his People, that's what God will do.
That's where his kingdom comes.
And all of those who have ignored the warnings, who raged against
the God of heaven, who hardened their hearts against the
God of grace, who rejected and sought to silence the gospel of grace
declared by God's people, will finally and fully receive what they
rightly deserve.
The cries of the martyrs will have been heard coming under from
with under the altar.
How long will now we see?
God hears and God answers.
But all those who have come under King Jesus will enter into
the blessing that Jesus gives to his people and
has granted to us by his grace.
That's the image we get of knowing that this ark of the covenant
of the Lord is there, telling us his presence is with us.
And so as his people, this is
the great hope that we have as
we see this passage before us.
And what we have then in this seventh trumpet is a wonderful truth
that we need to know deep within.
And this is what it is.
History won't last forever.
Evil won't triumph.
Good will triumph and God and Christ will reign and forever.
Now, don't we need to hear that on a day, particularly like
today, where we're hearing of ballistic missiles, where we're
hearing of countries being attacked, not just one against the
other, but multiple countries?
Well, history won't last forever and evil won't triumph.
They will take the reins of history into their hands and dispense
justice to everyone.
God and His Son will reward the righteous and will punish the
wicked.
Things are currently off kilter and evil often profits the
wicked.
Believers are tempted to despair and discouragement.
But we should be full of optimism and hope, for the triumph
of evil is short lived.
The end is coming.
The perfect world that we long for, the world where Christ reigns
will become a reality.
But we must live this reality now, while the enemies of Christ
must stand in his terrible judgment.
The time for believers to stand is now.
If the 24 elders in heaven who fell on their faces praising God
are any indication, we will fall down in adoration of our Savior
on that day, casting at his feet the crowns that has given us.
But now, as we await his coming, we are to stand as those
who know what song will be playing when history comes to its
end.
We are to stand for God's truth in our teaching and living,
stand for his mercy in our gospel outreach, and stand for his
glory and kingdom by living holy lives and refusing to swear
allegiance to the kingdom of this world
in of spite sin.
And if we stand in faith by his grace, we will hear the Joy.
Or we will hear with joy the trumpet sounding on that day and
the voices of heaven crying out in wonder, as we too will declare
when the
rule is called up yonder, I'll be
there, as the writer of Hebrews encourages us in Hebrews
12 and verse 28.
Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot
be shaken.
And thus let us offer to God
acceptable worship with reverence and awe.
This idea in Hebrews of offering to God acceptable worship
is not simply singing.
This acceptable worship of God is living for Him.
It's what we're to do now, to take our stand now for what is true
and what is right, so that while there is still time, those
who are lost in their sin will come to know the Savior and join
us in that joy of salvation, knowing sins, forgiveness.
So, as we conclude this chapter, this evening we once again
fall one side or the other.
This third woe will be of great hope to believers.
Not that we will delight in what
will happen those who don't believe, but
that we are given a picture of what our future will be of what is
the song we will sing when gathered around the throne and bowing
down in adoration before God?
We will declare the truths of who he is.
We will declare the truths and wonders and awesomeness of our God.
We will recall his righteous punishment on those who have rejected
Him.
And we will be his forever.
Evil will not win.
History will come to an end.
Therefore, my brother and sister, take hope, take heart.
The best is yet to come.
Don't fear the missile.
Don't fear the bomb.
Don't fear the attacks of the evil one, as hard as they may be
to endure.
But Christ is coming, and he's coming soon.
And we have been given a beautiful picture of what our future
with him will be.
That's one side.
The other side, sadly, is a side of woe.
Woe to you who reject Christ.
Woe to you who think you're okay, but are not.
For a day is coming not of joy and jubilation, but a day of great
weeping and gnashing of teeth, a place of outer darkness.
My heart yearns for you, and I
cry to you to repent of sin, to receive this kingdom that is being
made ready for us.
A kingdom that you can be assured tonight that as you place
your trust in Jesus cannot be shaken.
And as his child, you can offer acceptable worship to him with
reverence and with honor, awe because of his goodness to you, while
there is yet time.
Because time will run out once the clock of human history stops.
That is it.
There is no more.
But what is foretold, the punishment of those who have rejected,
and what a place that will be.
The words of Jesus himself, as I've said now repeatedly, of weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
And it's all foretold here in Revelation 11.
As the sounding of the seventh trumpet ends human history, and we
are given these two pictures of great hope and great woe.
Which side do you fall on?
It's one or the other.
There's no middle ground.
Only in Christ can you be sure of a heavenly home.
And as we sung those words this morning, a hope that springs
eternal trust in the Savior.
Do not delay so that when the role is called up yonder, indeed
you can say that you will be there.
Let's pray.
Our Father God, we thank you for this.
Your word.
Your word that opened to us, shows us what is the end of human
history.
And it presents us with a song that's around your throne, of giving
thanks to you, the Lord God Almighty, the one of power whose
reign has begun.
But it also tells us of those who have raged against you, those
who have denied you and have not gone your ways, of your wrath
that will come upon them, where indeed they will be judged.
And those who have destroyed the earth will be destroyed themselves.
Father, that is a warning, a stark warning.
A third woe to those who reject you.
But what hope it is for your people.
What great hope that as we take the next step, we need not fear
the world around us, but we look
ever to Christ, whose kingdom is coming.
And we will delight in that day when we are brought home.
So, Father, may we respond well to you this night, as we seek
you and as we seek to know you more.
In Jesus name, amen.