Revelation 10

We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel, and this week we'll continue in our study of Revelation, the last of the 66 books that combine together to make up the Bible.

Good morning, church.

Pastor Matt Pearson here, and it is my privilege to lead us in our study of chapter 10 of Revelation this morning.

We're calling this study the hope of glory with good reason as we read of the revelation given to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos.

We look forward to the new heavens and the new earth, an end to sin and suffering, and the coming eternal kingdom of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we've looked at this outline a few times, but I wanted to remind us again of where we are in the book.

The book is divided into seven different visions that John was given.

And this week and next, we are finishing up the third vision, that of the seven trumpets.

Last week, Pastor Jim took us through chapter nine with the fifth and sixth trumpet.

You remember the locusts that came out of the bottomless pit, big as horses, with tails and stings like scorpions, and the 200 million soldiers on horses with snakes' tails who killed a third of all mankind.

Anyone have bad dreams this week involving locusts or snake-tailed horses?

So this summer, most nights, we'll sit out on our deck around sunset and just look at the clouds and the sky.

But I've got to tell you the sounds of summer this week, since we heard that sermon last week, those sounds are just a little bit more creepy to me.

So this week we are in another interlude, a pause between the sixth and seventh trumpet, following the same pattern as the interlude between the sixth and seventh seal we read about in chapter seven.

It's a breath, a pause in the action before the final trumpet sounds.

And yet we're still moving forwards, still heading towards something.

Even in an interlude, even in a rest or pause, God is still at work, still moving forward towards something.

The pause is just part of the overall plan.

God's plan to give mankind every chance in the world to repent.

Ultimately, this chapter is about God's sovereignty and God's goodness towards mankind.

It is a broad and global message intended for John to prophesy towards many peoples and nations and languages and kings.

We're going to read about both revelation and mystery in this chapter, about God's sovereign right to choose what things to reveal and what things to conceal.

Chris Knight, president of Renovare, an organization associated with people like Dallas Willard and Richard Frost, says God is a revelational mystery who has made himself known precisely as a mystery, precisely as a transcendent reality that does not fit neatly into the logical or linguistic categories we use when we think about anything.

Man, I love that.

A revelational mystery.

Pray with me, church, and then let's read this chapter together.

Lord, we truly long to know you better.

And this morning, as we study your word together, pray that you would truly grant us a clearer vision of your truth, a greater faith in your power, and a more confident assurance of your love in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So read with me, church, in your Bible or on your device.

And I'm going to start in verse 20 of chapter 9, because I'd like us to see how these two chapters fit together.

So starting with the last two verses of chapter 9.

The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Then I saw, chapter 10, then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.

He had a little scroll open in his hand, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and called out with a loud voice like a lion roaring.

When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.

And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.

That was pretty good timing on the thunder, wasn't it?

And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, but that in the days of the trumpet called to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.

So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll, and he said to me, Take and eat it, it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.

And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it.

It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

And I was told, You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.

Whew! Amen.

What a rich passage, right?

So full of technicolor detail.

This is one massive, mighty, giant angel we're reading it, read about.

You know, after reading last week about all the stuff coming out of the bottomless pit, it's nice to read about something giant and massive and powerful coming down from heaven this week, isn't it?

Well, half of the Bible scholars that that I've read in the last couple of weeks on this and commentaries, they think this angel represents Christ, and the other half don't.

And I tend to think that he's just an angel, because nowhere else in the New Testament do you find Jesus represented as an angel.

However, much of the way the angel is described does remind us of the way Jesus is described.

In chapter one of Revelation, Jesus' feet are said to be like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his face is like the shining sun.

And in chapter four, when we read about the throne of God, it was surrounded by a rainbow.

Well, here's what occurs to me when we read about this mighty angel.

He's surrounded by clouds, reminiscent of how God led Israel by night in Exodus.

His legs are like pillars of fire, reminiscent of how God led the Israelites by day in the Exodus.

His voice is like a lion, like the great lion of Judah.

Over his head is a rainbow, which reminds us of Genesis 9:16, where God tells Noah, When the bow is in the cloud, the Lord said, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

Genesis 9:16

Everything about this angel speaks of the sovereign majesty and power of God and of his redemptive covenantal faithfulness to mankind.

And here's why I wanted to start us reading those last couple of verses of chapter nine, because those last two verses they tell us of the response of the survivors of that attack of the 200 million troops on horseback.

And you'd think after seeing a third of all mankind wiped out, the response would be to fall in repentance and pray for forgiveness and relief and deliverance.

And instead, the remnant did not repent or change a thing about the way they were living.

And so, what is God's response to that two-thirds remnant of mankind who continue to be unfaithful at the end of that chapter?

His response is to send a mighty angel from heaven whose appearance is totally steeped in and surrounded by covenantal faithfulness.

God continues to pursue us with relentless grace.

Well, this angel is so massive, it stands with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and we're told he has a little open scroll in his hand, but I'd rather think that any scroll would look little in this giant angel's hand.

He calls out with a voice like a lion roaring.

And I think of that lion, you know, in the MGM movie trailers, you know, that lion just roaring in order to intimidate and freeze his prey.

And I'm thinking that's the kind of effect that this voice is going to have.

We live out in the country and there's plenty of wildlife around.

In the springtime, when we hear the Tom turkeys calling to the hen turkeys, we try and gobble and imitate them to see if we can get them to answer us.

And at nighttime in the summer, you guys probably do this too.

Anytime we hear an owl hooting in the distance, we hoot-hoo, you know, hoot and see if we can get it to answer back.

Well, this massive angel, he calls out in this loud voice, like a lion's roar.

And when he does, in response, the seven thunders sounded.

And I was, as I was working on this sermon late the other night, and actually, right now, while we're recording, there was a really loud thunderstorm that had rolled through.

And the storm was so close that the thunder was literally shaking the house.

And I can only imagine how these seven thunders must have been.

We don't know what these thunders are.

Some scholars uh make a point of making a reference to the seven references to God's voice in Psalm 29, but they have some meaning because they're referred to specifically as the seven thunders.

And I say nobody knows what they are.

Actually, that's not true because John knows what they are.

As the seven thunders rolled, they evidently were clearly communicating something because John was about to write down what they were saying, following Jesus' command from chapter one to write down what he saw.

But as he was about to write down what he saw, though, he heard a voice from heaven, most likely the voice of the Lord, telling him to seal up what the seven thunders said and do not write it down.

So, whatever the thunder said, John took that to his grave with him.

And you gotta wonder when we see John in heaven, will he be able to share at that point what the thunder said?

Well, now the angel gets down to business.

He came with the task, and the first thing is to swear an oath to Almighty God.

He raises his right hand to swear the oath, just like you would do in a court of law.

He swears by the one who lives forever and ever, the creator of heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, the sea and what is in it, reminding us that there is nothing in heaven or on earth that is not created by God.

He is the sovereign one, the holy other creator of all.

And after swearing that oath, the angel relays the message that the time of delay is over.

When the seventh trumpet is sounded, the mystery of God would be fulfilled just as he announced to the prophets.

And the Greek word for announce there is euangelizo, meaning literally gospel or good news.

And so the angel is announcing that when the seventh trumpet sounds, the gospel age will have come to an end, and the delay of God's final judgment on earth will have passed, the day of God's judgment will finally have arrived.

And notice that the angel is not giving us a date or a time because only the Father knows the day and the hour.

This should be an encouragement to us.

Even God's day of judgment is under God's sovereign control and is well thought out.

God's day of wrath is not a result of God losing his temper.

Rather, it is God giving mankind every chance to repent and come to faith.

And there will be come, there will be a moment, a moment will come when God knows that that season has ended and the day of judgment has arrived.

And I know that's a sobering thought, but there's good news even on that day, because the day of judgment is not the end of the story.

Amen.

Now that same voice from heaven, the voice of the Lord, tells John to go and take the scroll out of the hand of the angel.

And John does exactly what God instructs him to do.

He says, So I went up to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll.

And you guys, this thought just cracks me up.

John is about 90 years old at this point, right?

And I have this picture of this scrawny, wisened nine-year-old kind of bent over.

He's got long white hair and a long white beard, and he's in a long tunic.

He's probably using some kind of massive hand-carved walking stick, and he's walking right up to this massive angel spanning both land and sea, who is just roaring like a lion, you know, that angel, and with as much bravado as he can muster, saying, with probably a faltering 90-year-old voice, now see here, Mr.

Angel, give me that little scroll.

That could be an entire sermon unpacking that.

God telling us to do something, and we obey no matter how large the obstacle appears, but that's for another time.

And you know what, though?

The angel gives John the scroll.

He tells John to eat the scroll.

He tells him it will make his stomach bitter, but in his mouth it will be sweet as honey.

John takes the scroll and he eats it, and he finds it just as the angel describes sweet as honey in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach.

And we'll talk more about the scroll in just a minute.

Well, this chapter finishes with John being told, you must prophesy again about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.

Man, what a scene we have just witnessed.

There is a message here that is universal in scope, intended for all to hear and heed.

There are several things that really stuck out to me about this passage that I would like to share.

And the first one is revelation belongs to the Lord.

So the first thing is that revelation belongs to the Lord.

It is the choice of a sovereign God, which things to reveal and which things to conceal.

And the first thing I want us to remember, loved one, God has chosen to reveal himself.

He has revealed himself through his creative and redemptive acts.

He has revealed himself by his spoken word from the very beginning when we read, and God said, and God said, Let there be light.

And he revealed himself to Moses up on the mountain when he said, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

He has revealed himself by his written word.

And finally, he has revealed himself by his incarnate word, his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

So God has revealed himself, but there are things that we're incapable of knowing given our limited understanding.

Eugene Peterson says, mystery is not the absence of meaning, but the presence of more meaning than we can comprehend.

You know, there's things that we're not meant to know this side of heaven.

Each of us is going to experience highs and lows in our earthly life.

And I'd venture to guess that in the last six months, most of us have all experienced a pretty wild ride.

So imagine, if you will, imagine if there was a particular hardship somewhere in your future.

If that was revealed to you, my guess is that you would be, you'd be so focused on being anxious about when this bad thing might happen, you would miss out on life.

You'd go to bed every night, relieved on the one hand, it hadn't happened yet, and yet wondering if the other shoe was going to fall tomorrow.

I mean, I know I would, I'd be fretful all the time, worrying so much about the future that I'd be missing the present.

Now imagine that there was a particular blessing somewhere in your future, and if that was revealed to you, my guess is that you would be so focused on being anxious about when this good thing might happen, you would miss out on life.

You'd go to bed every night wondering why it hadn't happened yet.

Did you miss your opportunity?

Had God given your blessing to someone else because you'd sinned that day?

You'd be so anxious about not missing out on that blessing, you'd miss out on the blessing of the present.

And friends, we're not meant to live that way.

We are meant to walk daily in the tender mercies of a relationship with our loving Creator, Redeemer God, knowing those mercies are new every morning, for great is his faithfulness.

God's mercies will meet us daily, right where we are, in the brightest moments and the darkest moments.

Starting in the garden, Adam and Eve fell prey to the lie that even though God had told them they could eat anything they wanted, with only one exception, they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

But you know what?

What's the one tree they wanted to eat from?

That tree.

And that's how the serpent got the hook into Eve and then Adam, because he told them, Hey, if you eat the fruit from this tree, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing between good and evil.

And ever since then, we have been nagging with this lust for more, for power, for knowledge.

It has just nagged us.

And I'm not I'm not talking about growth in knowledge and wisdom, which is the knowledge of the Holy One.

I'm talking, I'm not talking about natural curiosity.

I'm talking about that thirst for knowledge that knows no boundaries, that says, because I am my own deity, I'm entitled and capable to know everything.

I demand to know everything.

To quote Pastor Jim Thomas, the problem with that is knowledge is more powerful than our morals.

And friends, I seek to persuade you that our problem, it's not knowledge, it's not a lack of knowledge, it's not a knowing thing, it's a doing thing.

God has revealed to us plenty, and as Roy L.

Smith says, more people are troubled by what is plain in Scripture than by what is obscure.

Amen.

Think about it this way: God gave us Ten Commandments, and when we had trouble counting to ten, he whittled it down just to three things, just three told to us by the prophet Micah.

To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.

And then when we had trouble to counting three, Jesus whittled it down even further.

He said the two great commandments were this love.

The Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.

It's not a knowing thing, it's a doing thing.

We have a problem with doing as we're told.

And, friends, I'd like to suggest that if we really want to talk about mystery, the real mystery is the fact that God first loved us, that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners.

That, my friends, is a glorious mystery.

Amen.

So William Jennings Bryan, who was Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson, like 1913 to 1915, says this about the mystery of God.

I love this saying.

I have observed the power of the watermelon seed.

It has the power of drawing from the ground and through itself 200,000 times its weight.

When you can tell me how it takes this material and out of it colors an outside surface beyond the imitation of art, and then forms inside of it a white rind, and within that again a red heart, thickly inlaid with black seeds, each one of which in turn is capable of drawing through itself 200,000 times its weight.

When you can explain to me the mystery of a watermelon, you can ask me to explain the mystery of God.

I just love that.

So the second thing that stuck out to me from this passage was this.

We can respond to delay with trust.

I think if you could do a rapid survey of everyone in the world and you asked them if they had a problem with God or didn't believe in him, or what they struggled with the most about the idea of God and why that was, my guess is that over and above every other reason given for choosing not to believe in God is this.

If God is all good and all powerful, why is there evil in the world?

Why do bad things happen?

Why doesn't He do something about it?

Man, I understand that question because frankly, I think believers and non-believers alike lament with that very same question.

Why does evil exist?

Why does a person's skin color affect the way society treats them?

Why does a virus exist that kills indiscriminately?

Why did my child die from cancer?

I think people struggling struggle with believing in God not because they think he's a tyrant or an ogre.

I don't think that's what most people struggle with, although they might couch their opinion that way on the surface.

I think what we struggle with is that deep down, man, we all want to believe that there is a good God who will dispense justice.

People are aching for things to be set right.

I am.

And sometimes it just seems like there's a delay in that happening.

Is it ever gonna happen?

King David lamented this very thing in Psalm 13.

How long, O Lord?

How long before you hear my cry and come to my aid?

How long, O Lord, before you put an end to disease, to suffering, to human traffic and slavery?

Our cry is, God, are you even there?

God, do you even care?

Old Testament scholar Gerald H.

Williams says this about God's delay.

The absence of God is not a sign of his lack of power or concern, nor is God's delay in coming a necessary indication of the wickedness of those who suffer in the interim.

God is still God and worthy of worship and allegiance, despite the inability of humans to comprehend human suffering fully.

And as we are seeing in our text this week and next week, at some point God must and will deal with what's wrong with the world.

God's wrath is a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil, a settled opposition to all that is evil.

I would seek to persuade you, and myself too, that the cross and resurrection of Jesus is the only lens by which we can properly view human suffering.

Beloved pastor and author Tim Keller says, how you experience your presence, present, is completely shaped by what you believe your ultimate future to be.

We are loved by a God who is worthy of our trust, worthy of taking our broken hearts to for healing, knowing that because he was willing to do whatever it took to save us, including death on a cross, he will do whatever it takes to make things right in the end.

Because we know this, we can respond to delay with trust instead of doubt.

Charles Spurgeon says, God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken, and when you cannot trace his hand, you can trust his heart.

Amen.

He is trustworthy.

So the last thing that stuck out to me from this passage is the significance of the scroll.

Remember that little scroll that John ate?

The scroll represents the word of the Lord.

Again, boy, there could be an entire sermon preached on these two verses about the scroll being sweet like honey in the mouth and then also bitter in the stomach.

But that idea of consuming the scroll, consuming the word, tells me that God's desire for us is to fully take him at his word, to fully take his word into our deepest core and let it become part of us.

Just like eating a chicken sandwich, you know, that chicken sandwich eventually becomes part of you.

What did Jesus say during the disciples' last meal with him?

He took the bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

We're so meant to fully take in and digest God's word, to fully take Jesus into our deepest heart of hearts, that he becomes part of our lives, that we become more and more like him.

The Spirit watches over this holy work that is accomplished day by day by day.

A.W.

Tozer talks about this relationship with God's word and the ultimate purpose for which it is designed.

He says, the sacred page is not meant to be the end, but only the means towards the end, which is knowing God Himself.

Friends, we're meant to taste and see that the Lord is good even when life is hard.

Jesus said to his dearest friends on earth, In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

Friends, man, I know we are all worn out with this COVID pandemic, how it has affected us socially, financially, how it's affected our health, how we have lost friends and loved ones.

I know we are worn out with the burdens of our culture, of a literally constant stream of heartache and strife.

I know we are worn out with the burdens and cares of this world.

But there will be a point when the last trumpet will sound.

And I know plenty of us might wish that last trumpet would sound today, but I want to leave you with the knowledge that our current culture is not the end of the story.

The day of judgment is not the end of the story either.

The real end of the story is the hope of glory, of God making his dwelling with us, of putting a final end to sin and sickness, of wiping away every tear and making things finally and fully right.

Amen.

As the old Puritan Matthew Henry said, the final salvation of the righteous and the final success of true religion on earth are engaged for by the unfailing word of the Lord.

Though the time may not be yet, it cannot be far distant.

Very soon, as to us, time will be no more.

But if we are believers, a happy eternity will follow.

We shall from heaven behold and rejoice in the triumphs of Christ and his cause on earth.

Amen and amen.