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We turn in the copy of the Scriptures to Revelation 8. We continue this morning thinking of it. Well, I’ll read one to the end of the chapter, verse 13. But let’s ask the Lord’s blessing in prayer before we do so. Let’s pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we do thank You once more that You’ve come to us in the power of Your Spirit, that You’ve enabled us to praise You and to give ourselves to You. We, Lord, come now as not merely listeners, but as those We desire to hear from You and be changed through Your Spirit by Your Word as we do so. Lord, it is the posture of our hearts to be challenged and changed, to submit to this Your Word. And Lord, we pray that You would indeed soften our callous hearts. Lord, help us to hear and believe and to trust You as we hear Your Word.

And so we ask, Lord, You bless the reading, the preaching, the hearing of this Word. And may we all have hearts that desire to receive from You and Your blessings. And we ask this all for Your glory and our good in the name of our Savior Jesus. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Revelation 8, beginning at verse 1, where we left off last time. Please be at full attention. This is the Word of God.

And when the land opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and the seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and it was given much incense to offer with the prayers of the saints on the golden altar before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. And 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, flashings of lightning and earthquake. And now the seven angels who had seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpets. And there followed hail and fire mixed with blood. And these were thrown upon the earth.

And a third of the earth was burned up and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of the water, The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became Wormwood, and many people died from the water because it had been made bitter.

The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, and a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise, a third of the night. And then he looked, and he heard an eagle crying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth at the blast of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow.

So far the reading of God’s Word. Again, may He add His blessing upon it at this time. We’ll recall when the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven. And now a new cycle of judgment is about to begin as John sees seven angels with seven trumpets God has heard the prayers of His saints, and He will crush all those who oppose His kingdom and His Christ. And we left off last time with that opening verse, 8-1, when the Lamb opened the seventh seal of the mysterious scroll. And then there was silence in heaven for a short time.

And at first glance, on first reading, it might seem that the grand finale or climax of the cycle of the seventh seal judgment becomes kind of a dud. It becomes the great anti-climax. And yet, as we have seen, there’s extensive background in the Old Testament connecting these very things. The day of the Lord to a period of silence after God’s judgment has fallen upon a wicked and unbelieving world.

So the silence in heaven is not at all anticlimactic. It simply means that when the sealed judgments have run their course to the end, and Jesus Christ has returned to judge the world, to raise the dead, and make all things new, there’s nothing left to say. The entire universe is left speechless. All of creation remains silent before the Lamb and the One seated on the throne.

Before we look at the next cycle of judgments, the trumpet judgments, it’s important that we revisit, that we remember the nature of the literature we’re reading in Revelation. Apocalyptic literature. This book is not historical narrative. We’re not to read the book of Revelation like we would the historical books of the Old Testament. Those historical books and narratives are rather straightforward and chronological. Apocalyptic literature is not like that. Things arranged in Revelation are so by topic, not so much by order, chronology, the way that they occur in history. And we need to remind ourselves and remember that John does not in any sense intend for us to take the things he writes down about literally.

The Apostle is using highly symbolic language to describe the theological meaning and the ongoing struggle that exists between Christ and his defeated enemy, the devil. John uses this symbolic language to paint word pictures of the final goal of redemptive history. The interpretive key to understanding this language, this symbolic language, is the Old Testament.

This is the most evident in the series of trumpet judgments we’re about to read about. Here there are many allusions to Old Testament context and themes. And recall as well that these three cycles of judgment in Revelation that we encounter here, what are they? The first cycle of judgments are the seven seals that we’ve just gone through. And in there we saw this series of judgments from the perspective of the throne room of God and the worthiness of the Lamb who redeemed his people and who through a series of judgment vindicates their cause even as they suffer at the hands of the beast during this great tribulation period. And when the Lamb opened the first four seals, we read of those four horsemen going forth.

And what do they do? Remove peace from the earth and bring famine and sickness and economic hardship on one-fourth of the population of the earth. But that fifth seal contained a vision of the saints in heaven before the throne, crying out how long O Lord, as they await the return of Christ and the resurrection at the end of the age. When the beast kills one of Christ’s saints during this time, that saint comes to life and reigns with Christ.

When the Lamb opens that sixth seal, the great day of judgment has come. And the entire cosmos, as a result, shakes and is shattered with the second coming of Jesus. The wrath of the Lamb. Remember that great earthquake which is connected throughout the Old Testament and the book of Revelation to final judgment. So using this imagery, this apocalyptic imagery, John describes how the skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and how the sun will cease to give light, and how the moon will turn to blood and the stars will fall from the sky. And then God’s judgment comes upon all the earth’s unbelieving inhabitants. Remember, they’re listed, great and small, poor and rich, kings, generals. They are terrified by the wrath of the Lamb. and the one who sits upon the throne. And they would rather what? Remember, they’re calling out, fall on us. They’d rather the rocks crush them and hide them than behold Christ coming in judgment.

And after that sixth scroll is opened and the judgment comes upon the earth and the Lord returns, there’s this dramatic interlude where John describes the fate of God’s people while the seal judgments are executed upon the earth. And in Revelation 7, John described that vision the 140,000, which is symbolic of the church militant upon the earth.

They are what? Sealed by God with the name of Christ and therefore what? Protected from His wrath during this devastating time. And though the world may attack them, they need never fear the wrath of God depicted, described in the sixth seal judgment or in the trumpet or bowl judgments to follow. Remember as well, in addition to this, John sees a great multitude in heaven. so numerous that no one can count.

They’re those that Christ has redeemed by the shedding of His blood. And they come from where? Every race, tribe, and tongue under heaven. But not only are they washed in His blood, they wear white robes, since justified sinners are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Together with the elders and the living creatures, they praise the Lamb who has redeemed them. And after John, has assured his readers that they will be spared from God’s wrath. It’s then that we come to the seventh and final seal in the opening of v. 1, chapter 8, which is that silence in heaven.

And so the way to see the seven seal judgments unfold in human history is important because the seven trumpet judgments in Revelation 8-2 and following follow much the same pattern. Like the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments also cover that entire period between Christ’s first advent and his second coming.

But they do not view things from the same perspective as before, as the perspective from the heavenly throne and the worthiness of the lamb. The trumpet judgments describe the present unfolding of history from the perspective of the plight of the unbelieving inhabitants of the earth. Because of the prayers of the saints ascending to the throne now face what they face, the series of judgments from God, much like those faced by Pharaoh in Egypt. And so because of these direct connections to a number of Old Testament themes, we’re given here in these judgments a picture of the church, right, in the new exodus, in the middle of a new exodus from bondage to captivity and captivity to sin, now on the way to what? The glorious freedom awaiting them in the heavenly city to which they belong and are citizens. even while they remain in the midst of this tribulation going on during these last days on the earth.

And so as we work our way through the trumpet judgments, we have to keep in mind that these judgments cover the same period of time as the other judgments, the seals as well. And as we’ve seen with the seal judgments, right, there are six trumpet judgments, and then comes an interlude. And like the seven seal judgments, when the seven trumpet judgments have run their course God’s wrath is complete with what? When we arrive at the end, the second coming of Christ. So even though the trumpet judgments come after the seals in our book, and indeed more intense than the seals, they’re nevertheless describing that same period of time as the seal judgments, the time between the comings of Christ, known variously as the church age, the last days, the thousand years.

And it might be helpful to think of these cycles of judgments like this, right? Each of these judgments views the same events from different perspectives, as we talked about before, and tells the same story from a different angle. And we know something of this in our own lives.

Perhaps you’ve seen a concert, right? Imagine viewing a concert through the lens of one camera, right? Maybe from the nosebleed section of the seats, right? You’ll see the show from a particular perspective. Think of watching that same exact concert from a camera hard left or right, midway down. Because the change of perspective, you might think it’s a different concert, but it’s the same thing from a different angle. Or think of that same concert, viewing it through a camera on stage, changing and moving. That also would give you a very different look, view, perspective of the same show.

And it’s very much like all apocalyptic literature here that we find. Each vision is describing the same period of time but from a different perspective or angle. And we add to this the fact that each vision intensifies as it moves closer to the return of Christ. And then the visions move from the seals to the trumpets to the bowls. The visions become more intense and the imagery more dramatic, frankly.

And John does this to remind us that human history is running towards a divinely appointed end. and that it’s the second coming of Christ at the end of the age. And so human history has a final goal. And everything that happens to Christ, his church and his people is bringing this to pass and working towards this end. Okay, so with that setting, let us now turn to 8.2 this morning, our passage.

And you may have, from your knowledge and your history and your reading or even just hearing, Today, if you know scriptures, you know that the sounding of a trumpet has an important place throughout the biblical narrative. Remember when Yahweh descends upon Mount Zion to give Moses the law, trumpets announce this great event. Or in Numbers 10, we read of these two silver trumpets that are made to summon the people of Israel to assemble before the Lord outside the tent of meeting. The year of Jubilee was announced with the sound of a trumpet. The coronation of kings was announced blast of a trumpet, and in Joel 2, we read that a trumpet will announce, what, the day of the Lord. On three occasions in the New Testament, the second coming of Christ, we read, will be heralded by the sound of a trumpet.

But when we read in Revelation 8-2 that John saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets, we are immediately brought to another Old Testament text, an event involving seven trumpets. And of course, that’s the fall of Jericho, that’s why we read it. in our Old Testament, reading, this fortified city, Jericho, blocked the entry of God’s people into the promised land.

And to remove this obstacle, God commanded that for six days, the army of Israel, with the Ark of Covenant in the front, were to march around the city, sounding their trumpets. And on the seventh day, the Israelites encircled the city seven times. And when the trumpet sounded on that final lap, we read what happened. The city’s walls collapsed, and Jericho is utterly defeated. So it’s not an accident, then, that the seven trumpet judgments mirror the actions at Jericho. And we see what’s being paralleled here for us and told to us.

When the seventh trumpet sounds, the city of man, built in opposition to the kingdom of God and later identified as Babylon the Great, falls as a direct result of the judgment of God. And just as Jericho blocked the entrance God’s people into the promised land, so also the city of man stands in the way of the new Jerusalem. And like Jericho, Babylon the Great will also fall under the hand of God’s judgment. And later on, we’ll read in chapter nine, Revelation 9, 19, it says, God’s temple in heaven was opened and within his temple was seen the Ark of the Covenant. And so we are once again reminded of the actions of Jericho There, when the priests, right, what do they have?

When they sound the trumpets, the ark is present. But it’s not the last connection that we see directly between the trumpets, the judgment, and the Old Testament. Revelation, continuing on in verse 3, 8-3, John sees another angel, came and stood in the altar with golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints rose before God from the hand of the angel. And the angel took a censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder and rumblings and flashes of lightning and an earthquake. And so remember with the seal judgments, the setting was the throne in heaven. In John’s lament, remember that no one was worthy to open the scroll. Well, with the trumpet judgments, The prelude to that judgment takes place before the altar of heaven. In this time, it’s the prayers of the saints suffering upon the earth, which now ascend to the throne and cause the angel to fill his censer with fire and throw it to the earth.

So in this cycle of judgment, it is the prayers of Christ’s church which lead to the end, the downfall of the city of man, even while the beast persecutes God’s people. and the city of man seeks to seduce and exploit and destroy them. God hears their cries and will come to avenge them. The peals of thunder and the flashes of lightning and the earthquake, they remind us that the next cycle of judgment is about to begin. In verse 6, it says, now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

And you may have noticed as well that six of the trumpet judgments are direct parallels to the plagues that God sent on Pharaoh in Egypt long ago. Just as God raised up Pharaoh and hardened his heart so that his glory might be displayed to the people of Israel and to Pharaoh’s pagan magicians, in the same way the trumpet judgments are designed to show that the destruction to come upon the earth during these cycles is the outworking of God’s, the sovereign Lord’s hand in response to the prayers of his people.

That’s what’s happening in Egypt. Well, in Israel, right? Well, they are in captivity in Egypt, right? He hears their prayers raised to the Lord. He hears their prayers and he protects and he preserves his people even while he judges his enemies. And like in the seal judgments, God’s wrath is restrained until the end of time. And we should learn from this also, right? The obvious parallels between the trumpet judgments and the plagues God sent upon Egypt, right?

They rule out interpreting these images in light of modern technology. John is not talking about it. He’s not depicting specific things like a particular kind of war or surface-to-air rockets or modern theories of environmental disaster. It’s not what he’s doing.

Throughout apocalyptic liturgy, the use of these images are taken straight from the Old Testament. John’s describing in broad terms these many tragedies, plagues, wars, economic hardship, and so on, which come upon the world as a result of human sin. And therefore, the purpose of this vision is not to foretell of things about modern technology or our headlines that John has no knowledge of. Rather, the purpose is to tell us that as a result of the prayers of his people, whom he loves and he protects, God brings judgment upon the earth while he does so, protecting them. So the key to interpreting this book is not those theories and ways put forward by many that point to the current headlines or fantastic visions and speculation. The correct interpretive key of the book of Revelation is God’s word. It’s the Old Testament. This is apocalyptic language and it’s given in terms of very generalized, not specific. And so let’s look now at the first trumpet judgment. And we see that it mirrors what?

Those seven plagues upon Egypt. The first angel blew his trumpet and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood and they were thrown upon the earth and a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned and all the green grass was burned up. And so think of that and now listen to Exodus 9, 23. Then Moses stretched out his staff towards heaven and the Lord sent thunder and hail and fire ran down to the earth and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt And there was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as has never been in the history, in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And so we see these direct parallels, it’s very obvious.

And remember the damage, right, back to the seal judgments, extended to what, one-fourth of the earth and the things described. And here now, the trumpets, they increase to one-third, right, one-third is being damaged of the earth and so forth. And not only does John have in mind those plagues upon Egypt, but the fact that the fire is mixed with blood also recalls the first seal judgment. Remember the rider of the red horse who brings war upon the earth. And so the first trumpet judgment includes war and the damage which results from the continual strife upon the earth. This time it is one third of the earth that is devastated. The second trumpet parallels the first plague of Egypt when the Nile turns to blood. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and one third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures of the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Again, remember the genre, and we’re reminded by John’s own words here, the genre of literature that we’re reading. What does he qualify? He says, something like, something like a great mountain fell. It means we’re not to take him literally. He’s speaking in a certain way that we have to respect and submit to. And of course, his reference to this, right, what might he have had in mind? What might he be referring to?

Well, the entire Roman world in John’s day knew of the destruction of Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 1879. It’s likely the source of this image behind, right, this fiery mountain wreaking havoc on the ships in the waters there of Naples. And this volcanic eruption is likely behind what John describes as the fate of those empires of the Mediterranean world, like Rome, who dominate commerce in the ancient world, who persecute Christ’s people. But God’s judgment will come upon Babylon the Great, beginning with the city of Rome, and will bring about her destruction. And just like the Nile turned to blood, ruining Egypt’s agriculture, ruining Egypt’s commerce, God will also bring judgment upon the seas, restraining the city of man’s power over the people. The third judgment does not have a direct link to the plagues of Egypt, perhaps, but it does echo the first plague of the Nile in another event from the Exodus.

If you remember your Old Testament, the Exodus in 15, when Moses, remember, threw wood into bitter water and it became sweet. It’s the opposite here. There’s a reversal of that, right? Warm wood is what? It’s a strong, bitter-tasting plant. It’s thrown into the earth’s water, and it becomes bitter, we read. And as this happens, the name of that star is Wormwood. A third of the water becomes Wormwood, and many people died from the water because they had been made bitter. And the key here is not to take John literally, but to look at Old Testament passages and explain what he sees.

And we read also in the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 9.15, He announces the poisoning of the water.

Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will feed this people with bitter food and give them poisonous water to drink. What is the Lord doing? Jeremiah is announcing this event which brought to death certain Israelites and also brought about famine and killing of the vines and the fig trees in Israel. Why?

It’s a direct judgment upon Israel because of her gross idolatry. And so this poisoning of the water is a judgment. on the idolatrous nations of the earth. Again, typified throughout Revelation as the Babylon the Great. And so to drink the water made bitter by wormwood would over time poison a person and bring death following great suffering to the person.

It also points to famine and starvation. And so the image of the third trumpet is God bringing judgment upon the city of man by causing that which is pure to become bitter and poisonous. The rivers and springs are no longer pure. The water is no longer Good people suffer and die, crops and vegetation wither and dry up, and fruitfulness becomes famine. And then with the fourth trumpet, we have a direct parallel to the ninth plague upon Egypt, darkness.

Here John, as he says, the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sky was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, but their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.”

This judgment is on the skies and the amount of light shining upon the earth. And this sounds similar to those cosmic signs that we saw on the sixth seal, but they have some major differences. In the sixth seal, what did we see? The effects were universal and total. Here in the fourth trumpet, the judgment is limited to one-third of the light.

This judgment is not referring to final judgment, but the trials that affect a third of the earth, trials that come before that final judgment. We have to remember scripture interprets scripture, brothers and sisters. It’s God’s word. And the Old Testament is the interpretive key of John’s language, specifically here, Exodus 10, right? In regard to the plagues.

Then the Lord said to Moses, stretch out your hand towards heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt. a darkness to be felt. God’s judgment upon Egypt was this gravity, this weight of darkness that could be felt. Darkness, three days of darkness in Egypt. It’s localized, particularly intended to humiliate and expose those who worshipped. You remember Ra, the sun god of the Egyptians. Pharaoh and his magicians and all of Egypt We’re shown once and for all, Yahweh made this on, it’s his creation, Yahweh. And Yahweh, not Ra, is to be worshiped. And the same thing must be seen here with the fourth trumpet judgment.

This momentary interruption of light and cosmic events that are seen throughout the course of this age are continuous reminders that on the coming great day of judgment, God himself will shake his creation, the cosmos, and a third of it, Not just a third of it, but all of it, ultimately. And so despite the seeming power and splendor and greatness of the city of man, the downturn of light and the signs in the sky are constant reminders that it is God who is creator.

He, and not man, controls all things. He is to be worshiped, nothing of his creation. And so God controls the earth and the produce. God reigns over the skies and the seas, and through the course that He is of the world since the fall of man and the curse that brought the earth into decay and brokenness and bondage. These judgments remind us that one day God will make all things new. He will make things right according to His plan and His purposes. He is sovereign and in sovereign control over the heavens and the earth. And the judgments He inflicts upon unbelievers through them points ahead to the great climax of revelation in chapter 21, the new creation.

And so once the first four trumpets have sounded, all the inhabitants of the city of man, Babylon the Great, have been warned. Because of their idolatry and their unbelief, the final judgment of God, it is coming. And that one day it will extend to all of the earth, not just a third of it.

Through these trumpet judgments, and we’ll look at the rest of them next week, God reminds His people that He heard the prayers of His saints. He hears their prayers. And that He will punish all idolaters. He will spare his own people while he does so. But after that fourth judgment sounds, John sees something else in 8.13. You hear what he says.

Then I looked and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead. Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth at the blast of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow. Three more blasts yet to come. And unlike the first four trumpets, which are much like the four horsemen of the seal judgments, limited in scope, these final three trumpets affect all unbelievers and describe in great detail the sufferings that awaits those who will not worship the one seated on the throne and the lamb. And indeed, the eagle gives this triple warning, woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth.

When the idolatrous city of man stands opposed to the kingdom of God, And when the beast raises its dreadful head and wages war upon the saints, God’s people cry out to Him in prayer. In the first four trumpet judgments, we are reminded that God hears. He hears and He answers the prayers of His people. He hears the prayer that our Lord taught us to pray that will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And isn’t that awesome? Isn’t that an amazing thing? We need to be careful not to take these glorious, grand truths and disconnect our own lives from them. You believe in Christ. You belong to Him. He is your Savior. You are His. We cry out to Him in prayer. And He hears. He hears. He is a God who hears. He is a God who cares. He is a God who is there.

And if this doesn’t convince us of the power and significance of prayer, even what we see specifically in this text, whatever will. Just as the city of Jericho was destroyed on that seventh day at the seventh trumpet blast, so too when the seventh trumpet judgments are completed on the last day and the city of man will collapse, and then the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it’s the prayers of the saints we learn here which bring down pagan empires. God has given to His people a great and a mighty weapon in their battle against Satan and the beast. And that weapon is prayer.

Believe that in your lives, brothers and sisters. It’s so hard. We are so tethered to this earth and so tethered to the flesh and the things of this reality that we live. It’s hard for us to believe these things. It’s hard for us to trust and ascend. Accept that they’re true. They’re true, brothers and sisters.

It’s what God’s Word says. It is not a small thing to pray to our God. He is a God who hears. He is a God who cares. He is a God who protects. And He is a sovereign God who is and will work out His plan in the lives of all creation, including your very lives who love Him.

So trust Him, brothers and sisters. Believe His Word to you. Be guided in comfort and assured by this Word of God. Submit to it as such. And find rest and hope and praise our mighty Savior for His life, death, and resurrection. For by them, You are His and You have life and a home in glory. What an amazing King and Redeemer we have in our Savior Jesus Christ. May we praise Him always. Amen. Let’s pray.

Holy Father, we thank You for this, Your Word. We thank You that You have given us minds to use. We thank You that You have given us guidance by Your Spirit and Your Word. Lord, we thank You that we can understand and draw hope and comfort from the truths of what You’ve given us, even in a book like this, Lord.

Give us eyes to see. Give us hearts that are willing to understand. Lord, we thank You for the reality and the truth that we ask that You would help us to believe and increase our faith that we have died to sin and that we’ve been raised to newness of life. We’re no longer in bondage. We’re no longer shackled to our flesh. slaves to our sins. Lord, help us to walk in the freedom of life that You’ve given us and freed us into and united us to our Savior, Jesus.

Lord, we do pray for this church. We pray that You would continue to grant to us Your love and blessing. Lord, we praise You and thank You for Your sparing us the many things that are possible in this life. Lord, we ask that You would especially bless those who suffer in particular ways, physically or otherwise, Lord.

Help us to know that You are sovereign. Help us to look beyond the pains of this world and the disappointments and the struggles that we go through as a result of being fallen people in a fallen world, though saved. Help us to look to You and to trust in You. And even though we don’t understand all that Your sovereign dealings We know that You love us. We know that You care for us. And we trust the promise that You are working all things for our good according to Your purpose. Lord, we pray that You would bless the families of this church.

Bless the many children whom we love so dearly. And Lord, we thank You that You love them even more than we do. And we pray that You would guide them and lead them and along their lives as they develop, that You would grant them faith that they would name Christ as their Savior and they would truly commit their lives to live for Him in His service, in the service of the truth, for Your glory. Lord, we thank You that You have fed us through Your Word. We ask, Lord, that You would bless us now as we move to the sacrament that You’ve given to us in the supper and that You would feed us there as well. We trust You. We love You and we praise You, Lord. Help us to live our lives in accordance with Your leading through Your Word and through Your Spirit. And we praise You for the accomplishment of our redemption through our faithful God and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.