A Strong Angel & A Strange Assignment
Unveiled Hope • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 8 viewsAfter the events of Revelation 8-9…God gives to John and to you and I the reader an interlude…where He instills in us courage and confidence to face a difficult world. He gives John adn us a glimpse of His glory and recommissions him for further service.
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“We live in a hard & difficult time…” Men’s Study: “Faith in Hostile Times”.
Zedekiah was king over Judah…the 20th and last “king” Judah would have…
Not much of a king…more of a puppet of Nebuchadnezzar…the king of Babylon.
It would be another 10 years before Jerusalem fell and the kingdom of Judah was completely wiped out and the exile was already underway…beginning in 597 some of the Israelites were deported East to the Euphrates…
God was punishing His people for their disobedience and rebellion.
The prophet who was working in those days was…Jeremiah… (Jeremiah 26-28)
The message God gave Jeremiah to give to the people from God…was a HARD message of judgement.
He had to give the word of the Lord…to a rebellious & idolatrous people.
His word was: “You have sinned. Now Babylon is coming to take you away and you will be their slaves. If any nation refuses to serve Nebuchadnezzar they will be destroyed, sword, pestilence and famine.” That was Jeremiah’s message…year after year in many different ways.
On one occasion God had him make a wooden yoke…and put it on his shoulders around his neck…
He went to the people and said: “This is a symbol of what God is going to do…you will be under the yoke of Babylon.”
So Jeremiah did not have a very easy job.
But this is what he was called to do!
Imagine if I was called to this church and my only message was…You’re all sinners…idolatrous & rebellious…in a few years this building will be destroyed and you’ll be taken into captivity in Iran.
It would not be a popular message…and so Jeremiah was not a popular preacher.
As a result, other preachers came along…with a more upbeat message…
Hananiah was one…who publicly confronted Jeremiah.
Hananiah’s message was different…
“In 2 years everything will be back to normal…and you won’t have to worry about Nebuchadnezzar…so do not submit to Babylon…God will break his yoke.”
That was a much more popular message…at the time.
People wanted to hear it.
So Jeremiah responds to Hananiah’s message with
“Amen! That’s great! May it be so as you have said.”
In other words, Jeremiah was saying: “I hope you’re right…but I know that you are dead wrong…and If the people listen to you they will be dead to. The Lord has not sent peace to you…and He has not sent this prophet Hananiah.”
Hananiah then broke the yoke saying: “This is what God’s going to do…you will not serve Nebuchadnezzar.”
What does Jeremiah do? If I was him…I’d probably say: “God I have told your message, been as clear as possible…I am ready to go somewhere safer…just move me along.”
But God said to Jeremiah: “Go back to Hananiah…and tell him: “You broke the yoke…fine…I will give you yoke of iron…My people will serve Nebuchadnezzar…and you Hananiah will die this year because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.”
And that’s exactly what happened…the people went into exile…served Nebuchadnezzar…Jerusalem was destroyed…and Hananiah was killed.
Jeremiah was called to prophecy a message of judgement to stubborn, rebellious hearts.
How did he do it for all those years?
How do WE do it? How are we to remain faithful?
How can we hold on to God’s difficult words…in a difficult world…who don’t want to hear it?
That’s what Revelation 10:1-11 is all about.
CONTEXT…John on isle of Patmos…
He sees a glorious vision of Jesus Christ…the Lamb of God who is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals.
The scroll is God’s plan for final redemption…His final victory redeeming all creation back to Himself.
But it includes:
7 Seal judgments…
Followed by 7 Trumpet judgements…all of them increasing in horrific intensity.…they are not pretty.
[This is a hard message]
Recall…we had 6 SEALS…and then an INTERLUDE before the opening of the 7th SEAL..
That interlude (Revelation 7) gave us a glimpse of God’s people…saved & worshipping in heaven.
The same pattern takes place with the 7 Trumpets…
6 Trumpets described and then a interlude before the end comes in the seventh trumpet…which will announce the return & reign of the Lord Jesus!
This interlude…(10:1-11:14) provides for us…
4 ESSENTIALS for the believer to live in a hostile world.
How can God’s people remain steadfast in the midst of hostility?
How can we hold on to God’s difficult word…in a difficult world that doesn’t want to hear it?
It’d be easy if everyone just loved Jesus & believed & submitted to Jesus & His Word.
It’d be different if the Bible was full of easy words but there are difficult words & we live in a difficult world.
4 ESSENTIAL…that (hopefully) will help us hold on to the difficult words of God in a difficult world.
ESSENTIAL #1 Our God is ALL-MIGHTY!…Revelation 10:1-2, 5
1 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.
v.1 John sees “another mighty angel coming down from heaven…”
Stands in contrast with Rev. 9.
The first mighty angel was in Revelation 5:2…this is another…and again in Revelation 18:21
[Some believe (with good reason) that this is the Angel of the Lord of the OT…who is Christ Himself.]
Many times throughout the Bible God visited His people…the pre-incarnate Christ…theophany…
Look how John describes him:
“wrapped (robed) in a cloud”…similar to the OT description of the Lord in the OT.
This is a picture of the Lord…who leads His people with a cloud…who saves and promises.
With a rainbow over his head…
His face was like the sun…radiant…
Legs like pillars of fire…like we have in Revelation 1
He is holding an open scroll…
He is straddling on Sea and on Land
He roars like a lion…
2 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,”
This angel is more than an ordinary angel…he is quite an extraordinary sight to see…
WOW FACTOR!!
We are meant to get the picture of greatness & awesomeness here…
It is meant to be STRIKING…to the one who has just finsihed hearing/reading the previous judgments
The cloud! The heavenly dwelling! The rainbow! All speak of his glory…his radiant face…
He is straddling the earth!…Like a giant colossus…
Right foot ON the sea and left foot on the land…=
This speaks of His DOMINSION, RULERSHIP…SOVEREIGNTY.
“The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains!” 1 Corinthians 10:26
Wow! He’s got some power!…He roars like a lion!…as if to say: “I am the king!”
3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded…”
If this is Jesus…This is no small Christ…
And even if this is an angel…at the very least He represents no small God.
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,
v.5 imagine…angel takes an oath…like a court of law…swears an oath by Him who lives forever & ever.
So the God he swears by is not a small God,
He is not a spirit of nature…He is not one option among many…
This God lives forever and ever…who created the heavens…the earth and the sea… and everything that is in it.
When God wants us to have courage…and confidence…
He doesn’t say: “You can do this!…Find your strength! Be true to yourself…
Look a little deeper…summon up your inner strength…believe in yourself.”
He is going to give John a re-commission…you gotta keep prophesying against these people!
How does he give John courage & confidence?
…He gives him another glimpse of His glory.
Who we strive for….who is on our side?
God is!…the God whose mighty angel straddles the earth…
The God who created everything & rules…He stands with us, behind us and goes before us…
If this is just a mighty angel who reflects God’s glory…how much more impressive must the Jesus be?
Do you want to be encouraged?
Look at this mighty angel and multiply his greatness, size, power, and authority by infinity!
Behold your God! Behold your Saviour!
God says “Stand fast…hold on to my hard words…I am with you! I am ALL-MIGHTY”
ESSENTIAL #2 God’s Word will NOT FAIL…Revelation 10:3-7
…and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded.
4 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.”
John heard the mighty angel call out…then “seven thunders sounded…”
A couple interesting things to point out here:
We know the number 7 is significant…means perfect, completion…
Here in Revelation…God chooses to use #7…7 seals…7 trumpets…and 7 bowls.
Recall Leviticus 26…4x speaks of God giving a seven fold judgement to the people…v18, 21, 24, 28
a. v.3-4 “…the seven thunders…” John is about to write down what he heard…
But a voice from heaven says: “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.”
For God’s own wise reasons they are not revealed…[the only part of Revelation that remains sealed]
Wouldn’t you like to know what the seven thunders told John? Only John knows. (maybe too terrifying)
There are some things God has chosen not to reveal. Deuteronomy 29:29 (See also Job 37:5)
“God thunders wondrously with His voice…He does great things we cannot comprehend.”
b. v.5-6 “…the promise of the Mighty Angel…"
…And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 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,
Imagine the scene…the mighty angel straddling on the sea and on the land…raises his right hand to ehaven
He makes a promise…on the authority of God Almighty…there will be no more delay.
Remember the souls under the altar in Revelation 6 who are crying out How long Lord How long?”
How many times have you said: Come Lord Jesus Come!
In Acts the early Christians expected Jesus to return in their day.
The apostle Paul expected it in his lifetime.
Every generation of Christians since…have expected Jesus to return in their life time.
Today we are expecting the Lord to return in our lifetime…and yet He may not.
But when the seventh angel sounds, the Angel says, “…there will be no more delay!"
7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to His servants the prophets.
c. v.7 “…the mystery of God will be fulfilled (accomplished)…”
This points us ahead to the seventh and final trumpet…
The mystery of God…will be completed, fulfilled…
Just as He announced to His servants the prophets.” …the Gospel announcement will be finished…
Going all the way back to Genesis 3:15 …
And the message of every prophet…Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Amos, Joel & Zechariah…all spoke of end time events.
Ephesians 3 speaks of the “mystery of God” referring to Jews & Gentiles are both saved in Christ.
Romans 16:25-27…
God’s Word is true…God’s Word will not fail…God’s Word will abide forever.
Are there things we don’t understand? Absolutely!
Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever."
That is why we are to study carefully the things already revealed in His Word.
God is ALL-MIGHTY…God’s Word will Not Fail!! Thirdly,
ESSENTIAL #3 God’s Word is SWEET…Revelation 10:8-10
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.”
10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter.
John was told to eat the little scroll…
The scroll of God’s judgement…God’s Word for the world…John is told to eat it.
“eating God’s word” is a symbolic way of saying the truth written on the scroll becomes personal.
It becomes part of us. That’s what happens when you eat food…called metabolism.
When a prophet eats the scroll it is symbolic…he is taking it into himself and becoming personally involved with it.
“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey t my mouth.” Psalm 119:103
“…sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honey comb.” Psalm 19:10
Many times in your Bible reading: “Wow! That’s a good word!”
Other times you read a passage: “I don’t like it…but the Bible says it…so I will believe it.”
(i.e. Unequally yoked…Hell…gender roles…)
God does say some HARD things…but beware of acquiring a distaste for God’s Word…
Jeremiah 15:16 “Your words were found and I ate them…
We should read God’s Word…and take it in…that is sweet…even hard words are still a sweet word…
The glory of Christ to save sinners…we are redeemed to be kept safe.
The disciples even said to Jesus one day: “Lord this is a hard saying who can accept it?” John 6:60
God’s Word should be sweet in our mouth…but it is also a scroll of judgement
The Word of God…though sweet…can leave a bad (bitter) aftertaste.
People will not like to hear it.
We love Isaiah 6…vision of God’s holiness…missionary call Who will go? Here I am! Send me!
But then it turns hard and difficult…you will preach to a people with hard, stubborn hearts.
Ezekiel…was also told to eat the scroll and then give it to hard people. Ezekiel 2:10
He is given no guarantee of success…but God will be pleased.
See: Ezekiel 2:1-3:11
All that to say…we need to learn from the prophets…We need to hold fast to the Word of God.
We should taste something of the goodness of God even in the doctrine of hell…
Especially the parts that don’t jive with our culture.
even then the divinely designed beauty of God’s designed sexuality and heterosexual marriage…also a hard word
God says to John…Hold on to the difficult words of God…let them become part of you.
The Word of God will always be a bitter pill for some to swallow…
But we must never avoid or twist what God has said.
Please pray for your pastor…any power that comes from this pulpit…
There is no power from this pulpit unless we speak of what God has said.
I cannot come up with my own topics…that’s why I do expositional sermons…whole books of Bible
I want you to get the whole counsel of God…we need to hear what God has said…infinitely more than what we want to hear about our self.
ESSENTIAL #4 We Have a Part to Play In God’s Ultimate Plan…
Revelation 10:11 John is told to prophesy…this applied to John…but it also applies to everyone…
11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
I.e. “John…people still need to hear the hard words of God…”
No…We can’t call ourselves “apostles”…
We also do not receive literal visions & revelations from God.
No…We are not required to swallow prophetic books and utter inspired words.
However Jesus has given to us a crucial mission to SHARE the Good News of Salvation with the world Matthew 28:19-20
And like John. we must first internalize God’s message…allowing it to become part of our own lives
But…we are all prophets in a sense.
Revelation 19:10…the testimony of Jesus is the the Spirit of Prophecy…
So everyone who bears witness to Jesus has the prophetic mantel.
The fact is…We carry a DIFFICULT message to a DIFFICULT WORLD…just like John did…Jeremiah & Ezekiel
See: Ezekiel 3:4-5
Many have been lulled into thinking Christian life should…be easy…
But the fact is…people are not always going to like you…
If you are living right…people will accuse you of not…those who want to live Godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
You may even die…but you will hear Jesus say “Well done good and faithful servant…”
Even a church can be a hard place to serve God.
Our God is ALL-MIGHTY…
His Word will not FAIL…
His Words are SWEET…
We have a PART to PLAY
I close with Joshua 1:9
Be strong and courageous…for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go
and you may not be liked…successful…get over it…God will be with you.
But God and His Word will be true…and right…and sweet.
PERSONAL REFLECTION & ACTION…
We can have COURAGE and CONFIDENCE in the face of a Hard World …who do not want Jesus
God is the One who is ALL-Mighty. His angels straddles the earth and sea.
Nothing is too difficult for Him. No one is too HARD.
Much of God’s WORD tastes sweet to those who are His…
Many may turn their nose up at God’s Word…but the sweetness of His promises often depends on our relationship with the Lord.
2 Corinthians 2:15-16
We can trust that all of God’s ways…the sweet and the bitter…are right and reliable.
Because God is sovereign, nothing is ever out of His control.
Because He is good, we can be confident that He will use all things.even the evil deeds of people to accomplish His ultimate purpose.
We are to keep presenting God’s Word to our world…Christ to our community!
