Voices

Intro:

Good morning! Welcome.

Since becoming a Christian 15 years ago, I’ve served in many ministries. And one of my favorite things to do is to run sound. I believe God has called me to be a pastor. When needed, I believe God gifted me with abilities to lead worship. But one thing I personally enjoy doing is mixing sound on Sunday morning.

I don’t get to do it often and I’m thankful for that. I’m glad God brought us a good sound person. But when he goes on vacation, you don’t have to pull my arm to take over.

I don’t get to do it often, but when I do, I love the process of mixing the sound in just the right way so that when it hits my ears, it sounds full and pleasant. And I’m in no way claiming to be great at it, but I really enjoy it.

If you didn’t know, mixing sound isn’t just pressing on and turning the volume up. Doing it correctly can be quite complex. It’s almost a science.

For example, many times making a voice or instrument more noticeable doesn’t require turning up the volume, but turning down the volume of all the other voices and instruments.

It also requires equalizing the individual channels and total mix. What I mean is that sound operates on a frequency spectrum. High is can be ear piercing. Low is the bass sound. Sometimes mixing sound requires adjusting the frequencies to make certain parts standout and others cut out.

Additionally, it requires both knowing the song and always listening. Even if I feel like I have a good mix during practice, that can change during performance. I have to be ready to listen and mix on the fly. I have to know what singer is leading the song so their voice stands out.

And while this is probably giving some of you a headache (or putting some of you to sleep), I really enjoy it. More than that, I love when worship music does what it’s designed to do. A poorly mixed sound can be a distraction. But with a good mix, people focus on God. They can hear the voices the way they are supposed to and join the song.

If you have your Bible/app, turn to . Last week, we read about the 2nd set of judgments called the trumpet judgments. And by the end of chapter 9, the 6th judgment was released. But in chapter 10, we once again arrive a parenthesis in the story.

Throughout the book of revelation, God includes parenthesis in his vision to the apostle John. Moments where the revelation doesn’t advance in time, but information is added to give us a better perspective.

That’s what happens here. Right before the 7th trumpet, God hits pause and John gets extra information. starts out...

Exegesis:

Exegesis:

Revelation 10:1–3 ESV

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.

Rev. 10:

What voices are we listening to?

Here in chapter 10, John sees an awesome sight. A mighty angel comes down from heaven with glorious attributes...

He’s wrapped in a cloud and has legs like a pillar of fire. Similar to the way the Lord is described when He leads Israel out of Egypt.

He’s got a rainbow over his head - the symbol of God’s promise of mercy - but also matching other heavenly descriptions of God.

His face shines like the sun, just like Jesus.

And he has a scroll, symbolic of God’s plans, which Jesus also had in chapters 4-5. It might even be the same scroll...

And when we put all of this together, it seems like this angel may be Jesus. Especially considering that many times in the OT, Jesus appeared as the “Angel of the Lord.”

And it very well could be! Many theologians think so. However, I don’t believe it is Jesus. I believe it is truly a “mighty angel” who is presented with divine attributes so people realize, “This guy is on official God-business. We better pay attention!” That’s what happens in verses 2 & 3...

John says the mighty angel, “set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land...” This is a power-move. He’s claiming authority over the entire creation (both land and sea). It’s kinda like what happened at Life Group this past Thursday...

Janelle and I host one of the Community Life Groups at our home. In our living room we have a sectional couch. Last Life Group, Michelle walked in and put her baby bag on one of the cushions. She was saving her seat. Understandable. Our condo isn’t very big and there aren’t many places to sit. Michelle’s just making sure she and baby Myrtle have somewhere to sit.

Michelle then goes to grab food. However, when she comes back, she doesn’t move her baby bag and sit in the spot she was saving. She sits next to her baby bag. What’s more, she doesn’t sit on the next cushion. She sits inbetween cushions - claiming multiple cushions. Michelle was letting everyone know that she was claiming the entire couch!

… Michelle goes to grab food. When she comes back, she doesn’t move her baby bag

That’s what the angel is doing. By placing his foot on both land and sea, he’s exercising authority over all of the earth. Not his own authority, but as a representative of God. He’s on official God-business and all the earth needs to pay attention. That’s why he also cries out with the voice of a lion.

I’ve been to Africa, but I didn’t see any lions. But if I knew we were in an area that had lions, and I heard a roar, it would instantly have my attention. That’s the sense here. The angel has a message that is for all the earth and it’s time to pay attention. So, what’s the message?

Part of it includes what’s described as the “seven thunders.” Based on ancient literature, and even a possible reference to , it’s likely the “seven thunders” describes the voice of God. As the mighty angel cries out, God thunders an extremely important message. We go onto read...

Revelation 10:4 ESV

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 hears what God says and is like, “Oh, that seems important. I better write this down!”

But then, God says, “Don’t write it down. Keep it a secret!”

Isn’t that frustrating? It’s like watching a series on Netflix and the last episode ends with more questions instead of answers. And now you got to wait until the next season is released!

At the same time, there’s an important lesson here. It’s a lesson that involves a main theme of Revelation: God’s sovereignty. That’s a fancy word for saying God has everything perfectly under control. And one lesson God’s sovereignty teaches us is, “We don’t need to know everything.”

Do we need to know everything (listening to the wrong voices or too many voices)?

We live at a time where information is literally at our fingertips. Because of the internet and smart phones, I can look up almost anything at anytime. And it’s awesome. Technology is an amazing tool.

We also live in a culture that values information. We even have sayings like, “Knowledge is power!” I agree. Information fights ignorance. Information is a good thing.

But like many good things, we have this natural ability to take something good and turn it into an idol. Instead of information being good, it becomes an idol. We begin to value knowledge over God. And we believe the lie that if we don’t know everything, we’re going to miss out. That’s why our culture suffers from a complex called FOMO (fear of missing out). We think that if we know everything, it’ll make our lives better. So we HAVE to KNOW! But let me submit two things to you:

God did not design us to know everything. He designed us to trust the One who KNOWS everything. Isn’t that what faith is? Plus, we can’t handle knowing everything. Eve been on Facebook (which is a major source of information today) and thought, “I need to get off Facebook. It’s too much. It’s too overwhelming. There are too many voices, too many opinions speaking?” You know why that happens? Because we aren’t designed to know everything. We aren’t God! (Say - I’m not God).

It’d be like bringing the worship team up to do another song and me turning up all of the individual channels (including the pre/post service music). Letting all that sound come at you at once. It’d be too much sound for your ears to process. You’d quickly become overwhelmed because your ears aren’t designed to process sound that way. Likewise, we aren’t designed to take in information that way either.

Even if we could take in all that information, we couldn’t do anything about it. Again, we’re not God. We aren’t supposed to know everything. And even if we did, we couldn’t do anything about it. Am I saying we should KNOW NOTHING and DO NOTHING? No, of course not! But I do believe we need to understand how God has designed us to live.

And doing that correctly involves understanding there are things in life God has determined we don’t NEED to know. And that involves faith. It involves being humble and trusting our good God who DOES know everything!

What did the “seven thunders speak?” I have no idea. No human except John does. It was probably something amazing, but it wasn’t for us to know. When God wants us to know something, He will tell us.

And that’s what we see next...

Revelation 10:5–7 ESV

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 call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

Revelation 10:6–7 ESV

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 call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

Rev. 10:

The mighty angel swears an oath in the name of the Eternal One (say: This is really important), and he says: At the sound of the 7th trumpet, it’s over!

Regardless of your view of the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments, the 7th trumpet is the last judgment. If you believe that the judgments describe a triple-progressive intensification - the 7th trumpet is right before Jesus comes back. Or, if you believe there are 21 separate judgments, the 7th judgment contains the 7 final bowl judgments. And those who hold this view believe the bowl judgments are poured out in rapid-fire, then the end happens - Jesus comes back! Either way, the 7th trumpet signals “it’s over!”

Everything God promised, for thousands of years, is going to happen. It’s finally going to be fulfilled. There will be “No more delay!”

That’s what God wants us to know!

Then, John goes onto write...

Revelation 10:8–11 ESV

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 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.”

Rev. 10:

What’s our voice/message?

We finally arrive at point when John gets to know the contents of the scroll he saw in chapter 5- God’s plan for how it all ends. Therefore, God instructs him to take possession of the scroll. And as he does, the angels says, “Take and eat it...”

This was a sort of prophetic commissioning. It’s very similar to the way Ezekiel became God’s prophet. And like an OT prophet, it was John’s turn to give God’s important message to the world!

Therefore, John can’t take this lightly. He’s got to eat the scroll. Symbolically, it represents internalizing the message. John was to let this message go deep into his heart and become one with it.

When God called the prophet Jonah to preach to Ninevah, he ran from it because the message wasn’t rooted in his heart. Even when he finally arrived at Ninevah (after being swallowed and spit up by Shamu), his heart still wasn’t in it. He basically showed up and said, “God said 40 days and this city will be destroyed.” But this wasn’t like Jonah’s message… this is more like Jeremiah’s message.

When God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, Jeremiah wept over the people. God’s message was so deep in his heart that even when he tried to keep it in, it was like fire in his bones. He had to let it out!

The apostle Paul felt the same way about the gospel...

1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

God wanted John to treat this “revelation” the same way. He had to understand that he MUST preach this. He could not keep it in. In fact, verse 11 says...

Revelation 10:11 ESV

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

The word “must” in the Greek means God has “ordained it to happen.” It is a God-given obligation. And God’s telling John this, not just because it was an important message, but because it was a hard message.

We are going to read the contents of this scroll over the next 12 chapters. Some of it is going to be amazing! It’s going to be “sweet” to hear! Other parts, like the remaining bowl judgments and the Great White Throne judgement, are going to be scary - “bitter and make our stomach sick.” It’ll be the type of stuff you won’t want to talk about! Regardless, the message won’t be complete unless it’s preached in it’s entirety.

It’s like the gospel. You may have heard that, “The good news (Gospel) isn’t truly good news until we’ve heard that bad news too.” The fact that Jesus died for our sins on the cross and offers us salvation by grace through faith is truly good news when I first understand that, by nature, I’m a sinner deserving the wrath of a holy God. & 22 (salvation and eternal perfection) is truly sweet when we understand that Jesus saved us from the bitter truth of (the Great White Throne judgment and hell).

Before John receives the rest of the revelation, God gives John a necessary perspective. John must understand his prophetic responsibility. God is calling John to be His voice to the earth He loves and wants to save. It’s a hard message to speak, but he MUST give it. It’s too important not to.

Response:

As we close, I want us to consider three things based on chapter 10:

What voices do we listen to? We live in a world with a lot of voices coming at us all the time. How do we determine which ones to listen to? As Christians, I believe we got to look for, and listen to, God’s message. Like the mighty angel, we need to look for voices that represent God’s will and pay attention to that. And just like in sound ministry, sometimes that requires us turning down other voices, so we can clearly listen to God’s voice. What are the voices you need to turn down in your life?

Do we need to know everything? Sometimes we let too many voices into our life because we feel like we need to know everything or we fear missing out. But the reality is we’re not designed to know everything. It just creates stress and anxiety. We simply need to trust the One who does know everything. We need to put our faith in God and trust He will tell us what we need to know.

Finally, what kind of voice do we have? What message does our life speak? Are we using the voice God’s given us to speak His important message. As Christians, in a sense, we are all prophets. What I mean is we have the responsibility of sharing God’s message. We live where we live, we go to school were we go to school, we work where we work, because God has sent us there with His message. Are we ready and willing to be His voice to a world that needs it?

And I get it. The gospel is sweet to us. We personally enjoy coming to church. But, the thought of sharing the gospel with a family member or inviting a coworker or neighbor to church can make our stomach turn - it’s bitter. But the message God’s given us is too important to keep to ourselves! We MUST tell everyone! Because one day, it’s going to be over. And if people don’t hear and respond to the gospel, it’s going to be “over” for them.

Our life is always speaking something. If our life is a song, what frequencies do we need to equalize in order for people to hear what God wants to say. Are there things breaking through the mix that are drowning out God’s voice?

Do people hear more about hobbies we like than the God we love?

Can people hear the gospel we preach over the politics we hold?

Will we invite people to have a good time but unwilling to invite them into the hope of Jesus?

I’m not sure if you ever noticed, but our worship team has personal monitors. They have a personal mix, of the sound, that they hear through headphones. And when I say “personal,” I mean they hear what they WANT to hear.

For instance, I can guarantee the loudest thing in Janelle’s personal mix is Janelle’s voice. That’s what she WANTS to hear in order to lead worship well. But I can also guarantee that if I copied her personal mix for the main mix… it would sound terrible to you. Things would sound out of balance. You wouldn’t hear the song the right way.

Sometimes our lives are like that. We project too much of our personal kingdom that people can’t hear God’s kingdom in our life song.

As the church, as God’s children, maybe it’s time we adjust the frequencies of our song so that people hear God’s loving voice calling out to them. Because we’ve got a message people MUST hear!

I’m going to call the worship team up. As they come up I hope we’d consider these three questions. And family - these are questions for me too! I chicken out inviting people to church. In sharing the gospel with people. Sometimes, people hear more about my running than my Jesus. That’s not right. I need to be ready to adjust the mix of my life song, so people can hear God’s voice.

And before we pray… maybe today you’re finally hearing God’s voice clearly. Maybe for the first time. You realize it’s time to get right with God. To find salvation in Jesus.