“The Seventh Trumpet: The Future is Now”

Bible Text: Revelation 10 & 11 | Preacher: Pastor Mark Verbruggen | Series: The Book of Revelation | Our reading today concludes the first half of Revelation, and in a way, it is the conclusion of
everything. With the sounding of the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15-19, the Kingdom of
God is revealed and the End has come. What follows in Chapters 12-22 of the book of
Revelation is a retelling of the same Story from a different perspective, all with the same
conclusion: God returns to establish his Kingdom on earth in fullness and glory.
In the beginning God created the Kingdom of God and ever since this Kingdom has been the
goal of everything. Revelation 10 and 11 leads to a picture of “Homecoming” which, in the
biblical sense, means God and humanity together. Every time the Church prays “Thy Kingdom
come” we are praying for homecoming because we are praying for God’s dwelling to be among
us. This is why Jesus came as the “Immanuel” which means “God with us”. “Homecoming” is
why Christ is able to say that with his arrival the Kingdom of God is at hand.
However, all this talk of the Kingdom and Christ being present among us, is often
misunderstood. Too often the Church preaches a gospel of “escape”. We consider our present
sufferings to be a prelude to a great and glorious escape from this earthly place to some
ethereal, matter-less “heavenly existence”. We denigrate bodily life and the Creation. This is
wrong. This is not in keeping with the Revelation that shows the Kingdom of God among us
through the Risen and Victorious, Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is King and the future is now.