Revelation chapter 10, we are starting the interlude between the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet, just like we saw with the seals. There's an interlude. And what we just saw in the sixth trumpet was really the intensifying of the judgments that are ongoing now. Keep that in mind. This is not something of the future. It's ongoing now. We saw the despair of the demonic forces under God's control that then torments those who reject him and sin against him and persecute his church. And the despair was they wanted to die, but they couldn't. And they needed to repent, but they wouldn't. And it's kind of tiring. And so God in his graciousness gives us an interlude here to catch our breath. That's what we'll see in verses 1 through 11 in Revelation chapter 10. And really the interlude goes on through chapter 11, but we'll stop in chapter 10. So please hear the word of God as I read chapter 10 of Revelation. And then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with the cloud, and a rainbow is on his head. And his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book or scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he cried out with a loud voice as when a lion roars, when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now in the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them. The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it and the earth and the things that are in it and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer. But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants, the prophets. Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, go take the little book or scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth. So I went to the angel and said to him, give me the little book or scroll. And he said to me, take and eat it, and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth. Then I took the little book, or scroll, out of the angel's hand, and I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, you must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. This is the word of God, and may God, by his spirit, teach us and convict us according to his will. You may be seated. The visions of the seven seals in chapters 5 through 7 and the vision of the seven trumpets in chapters 8 through 11 purposely have much in common. We're about to finish the seven trumpets, but both the seals and the trumpets describe events occurring throughout the same inter-advental age between Christ's ascension and his return, like Revelation does in general. And the first four of each, the seals and the trumpets, are grouped together in a general but increasing judgment against the rebellious world. These judgments are going on now. And when both the seals and the trumpets, the fifth and sixth, are separated out but also increase in intensity. And then the seventh trump and seal brings about the consummation of all things with the coming of Christ and the final judgment. So you see the recapitulation. We have the same things being talked about in Revelation. It's not just a chronological story. And the judgments with the seals and the trumpets are against non-Christians for their sin against God, their rejection of Christ, and their persecution of the church. And Christians, in the midst of all this, are sealed and secured in Christ, and they're called to take the gospel to the nations. But what are the differences between the seals and the trumpets? And these are not an exhaustive list, but these are some of the key ones. The seals have a greater emphasis on the care for the sealed in Christ. Remember, the seals are for the sealed. That's with the perspective from heaven, the saints looking and saying, how long, in a sense. But with the trumpets, the emphasis is on the warning and the judgment against the unsealed, those who are outside of Christ, the idolaters who are rejecting God and Christ. It's with the perspective from heaven, God looking down. That's kind of how judgment works. And we said last time that the trumpets refer to warnings and then the conquerings that we saw in Jericho before the Israelites or as the Israelites were entering the promised land. We saw last week that the trumpets refer to the blaring of the trumpets at Mount Sinai when God was gathering his people to himself. We also said the trumpets refer to the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment to come as the New Testament prophesies. The seven trumpets reflect the judgment of the plagues upon Egypt back in Exodus because of the idolatry and the oppression of God's people. The idolatry of the Egyptians and the oppression of God's people and some of us who are reading a certain reading schedule, we've just read that. It seems all the more clear to me That what's being said here is, why are these plagues coming? Well, it's because of the idolatry of those who are outside of God's favor, but then because they were oppressing his people. And that's the same sort of thing we're seeing with the seven trumpets. In Exodus, God judges Egypt for their idolatry and the oppression of his people, and he delivers his people to the land of freedom. With the fifth and sixth trumpets, we saw the curtain pulled back to show the demonic forces. Under God's control, they're used to bring judgment on the idolaters and the persecutors. And the judgment intensifies from the seals to the trumpets, but it also intensifies when you get to the fifth and sixth trumpets. Remember the last trumpet, a third of mankind, symbolically, was killed. And there's torment and despair and death and destruction. And yet sinners wanted to die, but they could not. They should repent, but they did not. They were turned over to their sin as if in quicksand. And the trumpets are meant to be blast to warn them, to awaken them, to come to repentance. And like the despair of the sixth seal, the death and despair of the sixth trumpet, which we covered last week, could have caused John to be discouraged. Could have caused the readers in John's day to be discouraged. It could have caused us, as we're seeing this over and over again, can we have a happy psalm or something next week so we can do something a little bit less difficult? So in both the seals and the trumpets, God graciously gives an interlude or an intermission before the seventh seal and the seventh trumpet, which represents the final judgment. to comfort and to assure the Christian in time of tribulation, even now, and to encourage and exhort the church to go forth with the gospel at the same time. And so today we'll have our first of at least two sermons on the interlude in the trumpets, Revelation 10 and 11. And today we'll try to cover Revelation 10 and the mighty angel and the little scroll or the little book. And then next week, we'll try then to cover the rest of it in Revelation 11, where we see the vision of the two witnesses, which represents the church. We'll see that next time. And you have an outline in your bulletin. And we'll look at the interlude a little bit more, but what's this interlude trying to say? But then we'll actually look at the text in verses one through seven. We'll see the confidence, I think, this vision is supposed to be giving John and us by the sovereignty and the certainty and the salvation of Christ and his judgment. And then we'll look at verses eight through 11 and see the commission given to John. He's being recommissioned and the scroll or the book that is being shown here is showing that as he'll eat and the effects will be known, but the encouragement is for him and for us to evangelize. That's our outline, it's in your bulletin. You can look there. First of all, this interlude, maybe it's, I think it's helpful to understand what is going on with this interlude and sense the visions of the seven seals and the seven trumpets are very similar. They're meant to be very similar, but just with some things added as we go, it would make sense that the interlude or the intermission here would be similar between the two. And that is true. And because of that, it helps us to understand why it's there. The interludes are not chronological. It's not like, oh no, we just saw the sixth trumpet. Now let's do this next thing that comes after it. No, this interlude is going on at the same time as the trumpets and the same time as the seals. It's concurrent with the judgments. But it comes in the book of Revelation after the intense vision of the judgment. Remember in the sixth seal, the reaction was rocks and mountains fall on us. We want to hide from this. In the sixth trumpet, survivors were in despair. They wanted to die, but they couldn't, but they refused to repent. And Mounts says this about the interludes, he says, these are literary devices by which the church is instructed concerning its role and destiny during the final period of world history. I think that's good. These interludes reveal the identity and the calling of the church in these times, even now. And with the seals, when the interlude was happening with the seven seals, you might remember in chapter seven, Christians were sealed on earth against the harm of the judgments. It doesn't mean they didn't have to suffer, but they were sealed. Their souls were secure. They're sealed by Christ, by his spirit. But then they were secured in the second half of Revelation 7 as they were delivered to their final state in the final state in heaven. And so the interlude in the seven seals was meant to be an encouragement to be faithful and obedience and to continue in your witness in this difficult time. With the trumpets in chapter 11, we won't look at that, but we'll look at it next, next week, hopefully, but with the trumpets chapter 11, which is really the main portion of the intermission, it's really the focus. In chapter 11, we have a measuring of the temple, which represents the marking out and protecting the church. So we're doing the same things of securing the church and sealing the church, and then the two witnesses represent the church going forth with the gospel, and they're faithfully brought home to glory, even those who are martyred. And so you can see the same things are going on in both interludes. We're going to be looking at chapter 10, and chapter 10 is really an introduction to the main content of chapter 11 in this interlude, and chapter 10 is a recommissioning to John to prophesy, with chapter 11 then being the message of that prophesying. And chapter 10 is a recommission to proclaim the gospel and God's judgment, says John may have been getting weak-kneed, and maybe we are too, and so it's good to have this. And so therefore, just like the seals, the interlude and the trumpets, it was meant to be an encouragement to be faithful and to be obedient about our witness for Christ. And so what happens with the interlude that we're gonna be starting looking at here in chapter 10, it teaches of a persevering witness of Christians in this age, which will bring persecution and suffering. Jesus promises this, Paul promises this. So the interlude teaches a persevering witness of Christians in this age, which will bring persecution and suffering, and it will show the related destiny of those who react antagonistically against that witness. It becomes even more clear in the interlude of the trumpets Their major portion of the judgment against the world is their persecution of the church. Beal says these interludes interlock the first half of Revelation with the second half. Chapter 7 shows the Christians sealed against the harm of the first six trumpets. And chapter 11 shows the sealed to bear unending and loyal witness to the gospel. And it will show the necessity of the final judgment that the wicked are punished in part because they persecuted believers throughout this age. And when the full number of suffering believers have been reached, remember Revelation chapter six, verse 11, when the full number of suffering believers has been reached and when impenitence of the world has reached its height, then final judgment comes. And so this interlude of the trumps is before the seventh and final judgment to give John and us, I hope, time to pause and to be comforted and to be challenged and motivated to continue as faithful heralds of God's truth in the midst of a hostile world. This interlude is meant to give reassurance to the people of God who are surrounded by those who are against us and against God, as we bear testimony of the gospel and suffer as a result, and God will protect his people and empower his gospel. This should be a welcome reassurance to us. And so we'll look at the confidence and the commission that's given to John and should be to us. And maybe it's a re-confidence and a re-commission because he already had this. It's basically repeating what was said in the opening chapter of Revelation. So look at verses one through seven, we'll see the confidence that's given. And it's largely focused on the mighty angel and what that angel represents. So let me read verses one through three. And then I saw still another mighty angel or a strong angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book or scroll open in his hand, and he sets his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars, when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. So the main two questions of this chapter is, What is this mighty angel? And the second thing is probably what's in the book, what's in the scroll. Hopefully, we'll get to both of those things. But first, we need to focus on what does this angel represent? We said last week, and we should be repeating every week, that the pictures in Revelation are meant to be symbols. They're not meant to be trying to understand physically what this looks like. And so that's what it's going to be in our interpretation. It's what does it represent in its nature? What's behind the scenes? And so I think it comes in handy here. And if you read those first three verses, do you think that sounds like Christ? Anybody think that? You can nod your head yes, because there's many commentators who would say that. And I can understand why, because the qualities, the characteristics that are described by this angel sounds a lot like the qualities and the characteristics of Christ. But I think it's probably better to see it as an angel that's representing Christ I'm not sure how much it really matters to tell you the truth, but I think that's at least what I would say. And the reason why I would say it's still an angel is because when you look in the book of Revelation, angels in the book of Revelation are almost always just angels. And they act as Christ's servants. That seems to be what you have in the context of the whole book. Nowhere else that I know of is he represented as an angel. He's almost always recognized and symbolized as the conquering lamb who is a lion. I think another thing is this is very similar to Revelation chapter 5, and I wish we had two hours this morning, and we might have to have it. I'll try to watch the clock. But if you go back and read Revelation chapter five, the opening where you had the scroll, the scroll that represented the decrees of God for his judgments and redemption to be carried out in all history. And no one was worthy to open the scrolls. And John is weeping. Do you remember that? So at the beginning of that chapter, which was the beginning of the seven seals, at the beginning of that chapter, then there was a strong or mighty angel. Proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open his scroll? So you have an angel there with that scroll. And it's clear that angel is distinct from the lamb who is on the throne. The lamb on the throne is worshipped. This angel is not worshipped. Even John doesn't bow down before him. He's apt to do that even when he gets it wrong. So it seems more sense that there's a similarity between this angel and the angel in chapter five. We should probably keep it that way. I think also, and if we had three hours, we could go back and look at Daniel chapter 10, 11, and 12, because I think Daniel 10, 11, and 12, this picture is fashioned after that. There's an angelic messenger that comes to Daniel in Daniel 10 through 12, and that messenger is an angel. So I think it's better to see this as an angel who's sent by Christ from his presence to John with a message. and it's part of his recommissioning. And do you remember how the whole book of Revelation starts? You can actually turn to Revelation chapter one if you'd like to. There's so many cross-references we could use today, but I'm just afraid that Isaac might actually have a birthday by the time I get done. It's like three more years before your leap year birthday happens. But in Revelation chapter one, the whole beginning of Revelation, we see this same pattern of God gave this message to his son. His son then sends an angel with his message to John." I think we're seeing the same thing here. In Revelation chapter 1, it says, I'm starting at verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, Jesus, to show his servants things which must shortly take place. And I wish we could remember what happened in Daniel chapter 2. This is language that says, The end times that Daniel said is coming in the latter times, John is using the same language to say they're here now. This age we're in right now is what Daniel was looking forward to, but I won't say that. So it says, and he sent and signified it, which means symbolized it, by his angel to his servant John. So you see, even the book of Revelation, God gave the message to his son. His son sends an angel with that message. He sends it to John so he would know, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, all things that he saw. And blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. And keep those things which are written in it for the time is near." And hopefully now that we're getting kind of the midway through Revelation, you can see why it's a blessing to understand this and to apply the book of Revelation. So I think we see the same thing here in chapter 10. So you can turn back to Revelation 10. It's better to understand that this is an angel who's reflecting the divine Christ-like qualities, and he's representing Christ, but delivering Christ's message to John. Maybe analogy, it's like Moses when he went in God's presence in the tabernacle in Exodus. His face shone and reflected the glory of God in Exodus 34. In the same way, this angel comes from the presence of Christ, reflecting his character and glory. The angel reflects his glory, Christ's glory, to bear his image in quote marks. Not a complete image, obviously, but this is symbolic, and to bring Christ's message to his servant. And I think what we're supposed to do then is see this angel, but then from this we're to admire Christ and how Christ is reflected in this angel and gain confidence from this reflection of Christ. And if you see the outline in your bulletin, In verses 1 through 7, we see the sovereignty of Christ and his judgment. We see the certainty of Christ and his judgment. We see the salvation of Christ and his judgment. So first of all, the sovereignty of Christ and his judgment. And why is this important for John? Well, he's trembling perhaps, and maybe we are too. So it's good to see who Christ is and how he's sovereign over all things. And that gives us a little bit more of maybe a few more vertebrae in our spine. So if you look at verses 1 through 3, I won't read it again, but look at how this is reflecting Christ and his sovereignty. It says that he's coming down from heaven. That does remind us of Christ. And he has authority over heaven and earth and sovereignty. He's clothed with a cloud. Remember in Revelation chapter one, Christ was described as coming with the clouds. In Revelation 14, we'll see Christ is on the cloud executing the final harvest, the final judgment. We will see that later in his sovereignty. In Daniel chapter seven, we see Christ Coming with the clouds, it is ascension to heaven before the throne of God to be coronated as king, sovereign king. So the cloud represents the sovereignty, the rainbow. We said this before, because in Revelation four, there's a rainbow mentioned around the throne of God. We mentioned this is reminiscent of Ezekiel chapter one, where you see the throne of God, and there's a fiery rainbow there around God and Ezekiel chapter one, it represents his splendor, his dominion. I think it also harkens back to his faithfulness, his promise to Noah. In Revelation chapter four, there's a rainbow around the throne there. It's like an emerald represents God's power and his faithfulness. With Noah, the rainbow is a covenant promise, yes, but with Christ, this rainbow is the promises of the new covenant that cannot be broken because it's established by his sovereign blood, if you will. It says his face was like the sun. Well in Revelation chapter 1 verse 16 there Christ was described as having the countenance that was like the sun shining in its full strength. Now when you have an eclipse do you stare directly into the sun or do you have like a little hole and you do that thing. If the sun is at full strength that represents the sovereignty and the power of God this is a representation of Christ. Then it says his feet were like pillars of fire. Well, it does remind us of Revelation chapter 1 verse 15, where Christ's feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace. And his voice was the sound of many waters. Talks about his holiness, his power, his sovereignty. It does remind us this pillars of fire, his feet like pillars of fire, reminds us of Exodus chapter 13, where sovereign God in the wilderness was guiding and protecting his people. as a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day, leading his people through the wilderness, through tribulation, and to the promised land. I think we see the same sovereign role of Christ here in this. And it says, this angel, he was from heaven, and his feet were both on land and sea, one foot on one side, one foot on the other, expresses his absolute conquest over all, his ownership over all. It represents Jesus' lordship from heaven over land and sea and earth. He has the authority over the heavens and the earth. In the Old Testament, kings would put their foot on the neck of the one they conquered. This is representing of this with Christ. In Ephesians chapter one, near the end of Ephesians one, we read that all things are under Christ's feet and he's the head over the church, which is his body. And Jesus even now reigns over all things for the church. and his people, and his glory. And Christ promises to return and put all enemies under his feet. He is sovereign over all, and we can rejoice in this and have confidence over it. Later in the book of Revelation, we'll see that beasts arise out of the land and the sea. So we're reminded here that Christ stands on them. And he has control of even those, so we don't have to fear. He roars like a lion. It reminds us of Revelation 5, where it says, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll. And roaring like a lion speaks of judgment like a lion. It refers to Amos chapter 3, where there it's written that surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets. A lion has roared. Who will not fear the Lord God has spoken? Who can prophesy? When a lion roars, what does that mean? He's bored? When a lion roars, it means he's already committed to attack. Judgment is coming. It's meant to paralyze the person who hears it, like a deer looking into the headlights of a car. The lion is roaring, and he roars in such a way that it's like seven thunders. What is that? I think the best understanding is a display of Psalm 29. Are you familiar with Psalm 29? I wish we had time to go there, but we'd have to have four hours for that. But Psalm 29 has to be one of your favorite Psalms. It's a picture of God's sovereign power and glory, which is meant to give his people comfort and peace in him. Psalm 29 represents the power and glory of God in the picture and the symbol of an unimaginable thunderstorm that comes across Israel from one end to the other. It leaves trees torn apart. People are in fear. And at the end of that psalm, I should say, by the way, the psalm actually uses the phrase, the voice of the Lord thunders seven times. So there you have the seven thunders. And in the end, his people cry out glory and they're given peace and strength. I think all of these things point to Christ and his sovereignty over all things, including the judgment which is imminent, the seventh trumpet is about to sound. And it should give great comfort to John and the original readers, and it should give us great comfort as well in the midst of trial, in the midst of reading about these judgments and persecutions. It should give us great confidence and comfort as well, if you're in Christ. It should make you tremble if you're outside of Christ, but the seventh trumpet is not blared. Come now, but for the Christian be faithful and endure and evangelize his response. And so we see the sovereignty of Christ and his judgment. Then we see the certainty of it in verses four through seven, the certainty of it. Again, this would give confidence and helps to the reader and the listener. So in verse four, you have something odd. Now, when the seven thunders uttered or sounded their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them. It seems odd. And again, there's all sorts of thoughts about what this would mean. What are these seven thunders? And you could stop about every sentence in this particular chapter and say, what does this mean? Well, here's 10 different reasons or answers to it. Maybe the seven thunders are representing a cycle of judgments, another cycle of judgments, seals, trumpets, there'll be bowls. Maybe there's supposed to be another one, but it's too much to handle or to understand, so it's seal it up, you don't need to hear that. And maybe that matches up with Daniel chapter 12 where he's told to seal this up for it's not for you to know. It could be another cycle of judgments that God has determined is now unnecessary because of the impenitence of the wicked. There's no need for any more judgments to be announced. These are all speculations. It may be, as Jesus says in Matthew 24 in verse 22 in the Olivet Discourse, maybe this is him shortening the days for the sake of the elect. Let's not do this judgment. Let's just rush to the end. Let's make the delay be no longer. Maybe it represents that. Maybe it's a lesson for us. To be humble before God and trust in Him, because we're not permitted to know all. In fact, we can't. We can't handle the truth, as somebody maybe once said many years ago. And as we just learned last week, I believe it was, that God's grace, though, is sufficient. We have the example of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12, where he was told things in a vision, but he couldn't speak anything about it. And he had a thorn in the flesh, but the answer was, my grace is sufficient to you. And he was needing to trust in God, and his word revealed. Deuteronomy 29 says, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law. The decrees of God are up to God. We don't know them. We don't have control over them. But what he's revealed to us plainly in his word, we need to hear it and obey it. And we love God and serve him on what we do know. And that's where we put our trust and our humility. I think that's helpful, that last point, because we know in this life we do and we will suffer. But remember what we're learning in the book of Revelation. We are sealed in Christ and we will be avenged at the return of Christ. In this life, we often don't know why things happen. The death of a loved one. A spouse who departs from your marriage. Cancer that comes up. Abuse. Suffering. We all know it, and if you haven't, you will, and you're probably knowing some of it now. There are things that occur in your life that we don't know why, but we have to trust, and it should be easy, that God is sovereign, and he is good and just, and all things are for his glory and for our good. And God has given us all we need to know, and all the grace and the guarantees to handle whatever he gives our way, and Christ has taken our greatest sufferings through the cross, and taken the wrath of God our sin deserves, And therefore, he knows us. He knows what we go through, and he sympathizes with us. Maybe that's the lesson about the seven thunders, because I'm not sure what it is. But I think verses 5 through 7 tells us the basic picture. Why don't we wait and actually see what the angel says? Verses 5 through 7, the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, he raised up his right hand to heaven, and he swore. We keep talking about oaths and swearing. In our confession reading, well, we have it again. So this angel, again, notice how I think four times it mentions heaven, sea, and land, which is representing the sovereignty of Christ over all things. Repetition is a good thing. It makes you remember things and it's focusing on things. But he's raising up his right hand to heaven. He swears this, by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer. So the angel is swearing on God Almighty, there shall be no delay. So whatever the seven thunders are, the point of them being sealed up is there's nothing left to do. The return of Christ and the judgment of Christ is imminent. It could happen now. It could happen before my two-hour sermon is over. I think that's the point. And verse 7. But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets. In Daniel chapter 12, the angelic messenger tells Daniel to seal up the prophecy of the end until the end. And another angel asks, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be, which makes us think of Revelation 6? And then the angelic messenger held up his hands, both of them, in Daniel 12. And he swore by him who lives forever, just like we see here. And he says, he swears that it will be for a time and a time and a half a time. And we'll learn about that in a few chapters. And all these things shall be finished. In other words, seal it up. It's not time now, but these things will be finished. And he says, these things will be sealed up until the end because Daniel's impatient. He keeps saying, yeah, but what is it? Be quiet. They're sealed up for now, wait until the end. What we're seeing in Revelation is the end is here. In this age between Christ's ascension and his return, the end is here and judgments are sounding and the seventh one is imminent and Christ's return is imminent. So the angel here in Revelation 10 swears on the sovereign ruler of the heaven and the earth and the sea. He says, there'll be no delay. The seventh trumpet is about to sound, the final judgment and the mystery of God is about to be finished. We'll talk about that soon. God has revealed his secrets to his servants. So he will now act if you look at Amos 3, verses seven and eight. Back in Revelation 6, the saints cried out, how long? And the reply then was a little while, a little while. But now the answer is there's no delay. The certainty of Christ returned and final judgment is here. When we get the end of the seven trumpets, we'll read in verse 15 of chapter 11. Then the seventh angel sounded and there will be loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. You should say amen. So the certainty of Christ and his promises and his judgment is an encouragement, and it should give us confidence as well, just like his sovereignty. Though there are trials now, we know that every promise of Christ will come to fruition, including these, including our individual and our corporate sanctification. Do you ever struggle with your walk with Christ and say, why am I struggling with this sin? Am I ever going to get loose from this? Christ promises that you will. So do it. Promises of Christ include our individual and our corporate and our sanctification and our glorification that will come and is guaranteed. We sung that in hymn 99. Therefore, as a result, we can confidently serve and love our Savior now and make him known. That's, I think, what the message of this is. So we see the sovereignty of Christ and his judgment and the certainty of it. But then we see the salvation of it in verse 7. When it's mentioning, and the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets. Think, what's the mystery of God? Is that like some kind of a novel? Like the such and such code, if we could just find like a hidden rock someplace or something that would tell us what the answer is. That's not what we're talking about. The mystery of God is merely a way of saying the plan of salvation through Christ and all the benefits that flow from that and the consummation of it have not been fully revealed until now by God's word. And they will not be fully revealed until Christ comes back. It's not some hidden magic code, but it's the truth of God that wasn't revealed in the past. It was still there, but just hadn't been revealed fully and now it is. And we look forward to the day we will know it fully. the redemption of Christ and all the benefits from that. I think here, the mystery of God in Revelation 10 represents the fullness of redemption in Christ at the consummation of all things. When the seventh trumpet sounds, it will be here. No more sin, no more trial, no more tribulation. Perfect fellowship with one another, perfect worship of Christ. We'll see him clearly with nothing between. All of it will be made like him. We just pause there and think about that for a few moments and see if somebody smiles. That's our hope. We'll talk about that in study hour as well. I think this is reflected in Revelation 16, the ending of, I'm sorry, Romans 16, the ending of Romans in chapter 16, starting verse 25. See if this sounds very familiar to what you're seeing in Revelation. Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest. And by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith. That's basically what we're saying. And Paul is saying, it's here, we know it. I'm proclaiming it. You should too, you're commanded to, to God alone, Be wise and to be glory through Jesus Christ forever, amen. That's how Romans ends. You can look at 1 Timothy 3, verse 16. There's a marvelous passage in the heart of 1 Timothy, which is a guidebook for how the church is to be run, written to a pastor. In the middle of it, it's the purpose of the church in chapter 3. In the middle of that, Chapter 3 of 1 Timothy, verse 16, it defines what the mystery of godliness is. Well, it might be a good thing to look at that for our purposes today. The mystery of godliness. Why couldn't you use something that makes more sense? Well, just read what it says. What is the mystery of godliness in 1 Timothy 3, verse 16? He, Christ, was manifested in the flesh. That's his incarnation. This is the gospel you're going to hear. Just to give you the answer before we get through it. He was manifested in the flesh. God became man. The Son of God humbled himself to become man. He was justified in or vindicated by the Spirit. That's the resurrection of Christ. In Romans 1.4 it says he was declared to be the Son of God by the Spirit of God at his resurrection. So he's incarnated, yes. He lives a perfect life. He obeys the law perfectly, the law that you break every moment of your life. And he suffers then the wrath of God for the sins of his people of breaking that law. And then he's resurrected from the dead, which then vindicates him, justifies him. He's indeed the son of God who came and his atonement has been received. His incarnation, his resurrection, trust in this Christ. He's seen by angels. That's his ascension. He comes up on a cloud. The angels see him. The gates of heaven open up. It's rejoicing. He now takes his place as king. He's preached among the Gentiles. That's the commission that's given the mission for the church to go forth by the power of the spirit. He ascends to the angels, to the throne of God, and he sends the spirit to empower his people, to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He's believed on in the world. That's the reception of this gospel, the reception of Christ. The gospel is going forth. The Satan is bound during this time and he's received up in glory. I'm not sure for sure. I'd like this to be a second coming, but I'm not sure I can say that, but I'll say it anyway. It's either his glorification, his exaltation of King, or it's actually referring to his, his second coming. And maybe it's both when all things are made right. And he's completely exalted and glorified, if you will. This mystery of Godliness that will be finished in Revelation 10 verse seven is the redemption of Christ and all of its wonderful eternal benefits and promises will now be complete. The end is here. And those who are in him will rejoice forever and never get weary of rejoicing forever in the midst of it. We can see this even in the first three verses of Revelation 10. I think it's pointing towards this. He's coming down from heaven. Well, Christ came down from heaven as incarnation. He's coming again as a second coming to make all things right. He's in a cloud. Well, in Acts chapter one, he ascended on a cloud to heaven in victory, and he sent the spirit to empower and to seal his people. In 1 Thessalonians 4 we see that a trumpet sounds, the dead are raised and we meet Christ in the air who's in a cloud and we will always be with him, Paul says. The rainbow, the rainbow shows not only Christ's power and glory and faithfulness like we said before, but also shows his covenant mercy and deliverance, his covenant mercy and deliverance. The rainbow represents Christ leading his people out of trouble and into the promised land without sin. We're in tribulation now. He will lead us from us into the security of heaven when the time is right. Just like Noah emerged from the ark to a world cleansed of sin with the rainbow as a sign of that, this rainbow in Revelation 10 promises the church will emerge from the tribulation into the new heavens and new earth without sin. and in the sinless state that we all have to match with it. Glory to God. One writer says, what God did for Noah and the children of Israel by saving them through the judging of their enemies, then bringing them into a new land, he is going to do this again when he saves us through the judgment of the world. It's interesting in John chapter 12, verses 27 through 32, Jesus prays concerning his soon going to the cross. It's like a precursor, a preview of his praying in the garden, the drops of blood that he would sweat. When he gets done praying, he's praying that God would be glorified. When he gets done praying, a voice from heaven responds that he will be glorified. And the crowd heard the voice like thunder, and they feared it, and they thought it was an angel. Does that maybe make you think about Revelation chapter 10? And Jesus answered them when they were saying, this must be an angel. He answered them in verse 30 of John chapter 12. He said, this voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Same thing in Revelation 10. Now is the judgment of this world. Notice he's saying this as he's mentioning the cross. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I'm lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to myself. Speaking of the cross, and of course it says this, he said signifying what death he would die. It's interesting to me that Jesus in John chapter 12 was pronouncing that his death on the cross was the beginning of judgment against the impenitent. He took our judgment on the cross, but that was also the beginning of a judgment against those who would not repent. And judgments have been occurring ever since. until he comes, and then the final one is coming at any time. So our plea to those who are outside of Christ today, come to the one who is lifted up on a cross to take the wrath of sinners like you, if you'd repent and believe. It's wonderful, we talk about the sun shining brightly in Revelation 10, but at that point in the incomes, There's no need for a son, because God and His Lamb will be all the light we need in eternity. So that's the confidence. And the confidence, again, was the sovereignty of Christ, the certainty of Christ in His judgment, and the salvation of Christ in His judgment. That's to give great confidence to John and his readers and to us. I pray that it does. Let's see if I can finish the rest as quickly as I can without sounding like an auctioneer. We then look in verses 8 through 11 and we have the commission that's given. Now that there's confidence given, now you can picture John being, okay, I can do this. And so now maybe he's hungry because now he's going to have to eat something. So now in verses 8 through 11, now there's a recommissioning of John. Which I think, if you understand the whole interlude, chapter 11, we have the church, in a sense, being recommissioned to go out and take the gospel. This is actually a picture of how we are recommissioned as a church to go forth with the gospel in the midst of trial. And so it follows in verses 8 through 11, and the follow, in a sense, is the mystery of God declared to the prophet, John, that we just saw in verse 7. In the midst of his own trials and tribulations, in the midst of seeing trials and tribulations and judgments in these visions, he's been re-confidenced by the truths of Christ and the judgments of Christ, and now he'll be re-commissioned with his task to prophesy the gospel and the judgments of the hostile world. So he's being re-commissioned, and again, so are we. I wish we had time, but I'll just say you should read in Ezekiel chapter two, write this down, Read Ezekiel chapter two, starting in verse nine, and maybe read all the way to verse 15 of chapter three, because really what you're seeing in verses eight through 11 is modeled very clearly after Ezekiel's call to be a prophet and to preach repentance and judgment against a people who are hard-hearted and hard-headed, and they would not repent, and he knew it. It's the same sort of thing. But that's why we have taking a scroll or a book, and you can choose whichever one you like. You know how many times I change the title of the sermon? Should I make it be a scroll or a book? In the New King James, it's a book, but scroll makes more sense, because it's more consistent. Do what you like, but he's going to be eating this just like Ezekiel was called to do that. So in Ezekiel chapter 2, maybe I should just read it quickly. A hand was stretched out to him in verse 9, and behold, a scroll of a book was on this hand, reached out to Ezekiel. It was spread before him, and on that scroll was written, lamentations and mournings and woes. Mourning with a U in it. It's a call to repentance of people who would not, and judgment that would come. Moreover, it says in verse one of chapter three that he was told, son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll and go and speak to the house of Israel. So you see what's going on here. It's the idea of you're being called as a prophet. You're to be taking the message I'm giving you and symbolically you eat it, you internalize it, you make it be your own. So now it's in you and then you can speak it forth what that message is. Do you get that? That's the point. We're not eating books around here. We're not burning books. We're not eating books either, but that's the point. And so he opened his mouth and he was caused to eat the scroll. And he was told, Ezekiel was in chapter three, son of man, feed your belly. and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you. So I ate and it was in my mouth like honey and sweetness. And he was told to go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. So it's the same thing. This is what this is patterned after. And if we could read the rest, we won't. He's told speak to those impotent, hard hearted, hard headed people. It's going to be hard, but I will make you stronger than them. They're hard-headed. I'll make your head harder. I'll make you as strong as Flint and adamant. And so don't fear. Speak whether they hear it or not. And it says then that Ezekiel went in bitterness of soul because the people were in sin. And he knew they would reject his message and even reject him. That's what we're seeing in verses 8 through 11. And John knew his Bible better than we did, and I think he knows this. He knows what's being pictured here. The question might be here in John, what is this scroll represent? What's in it? And again, there's all sorts of answers to that. And maybe some of them are right. Is this the same scroll as what you saw in chapter five? Is it a summary of the scroll we saw in chapter five? Is it a portion of the scroll in chapter five? Is it just the book of Revelation that John was given or is it just the latter half because we've already gotten to chapter 10? These things have been, some people just narrow it down, it's the word of God, or it's just the gospel. I think the idea in my mind is it says it's a little scroll or a little book. That means it's not the same thing, it's smaller. You probably couldn't put the other one in your mouth and eat it. At least it needs to be summarized. And so a little scroll seems to indicate it's the same contents of chapter five and the scrolls that were opened there. but less. It seems to harken back to, you don't need to know everything, John, just like we said earlier, but this is what you need to know. I think it probably makes sense that this is a summary of God's plan of redemption and judgment like chapter five scroll was, but it's a portion of it that is in a sense what's summarized by the book of Revelation itself. I don't know if it matters that much. It's the same message he's being told at the beginning. That's the point. So you take this, you take the message of judgment and redemption that needs to be professed, that needs to be proclaimed during this time of tribulation. You take the gospel of Christ and the judgment against the idolatrous world and you preach on God's use and protection of the church in the midst of it. That's what Revelation is telling us. Eat it so you can know it, internalize it, it becomes part of you so you can speak it forth with confidence. I think that's the idea, symbolically. So John is being recommissioned to prophesy that the final judgment is coming soon. I think it does represent what we do with the scriptures. The truth of God guides and directs and strengthens us as believers. We need to digest it. We need to read it. We need to mark it. We need to learn from it. We need to have it be part of us as we partake of it so we can then speak it back out. It's the word of God. that dispels the satanic deceptions that we saw last week in Revelation chapter nine. It's the word of God that warns the unbeliever of the wrath to come. We should be people of the word. And eventually when we see Revelation chapter 11, we'll see that this is a call to the church, the eating of this book to digest and internalize the word of God and the gospel of Christ to then go forth and speak the gospel to the nations. Here with Verses 8 through 11, the recommissioning of John, we have, he eats it, I've already covered that. Then we see the effects of it, it's bitter and sweet, and then we see the call at the end that we should go forth and evangelize. In verse 10, and I took the little book, or the scroll, out of the angel's hand and I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth, just like Ezekiel was told. But when I had eaten it, it was what? It's like food poisoning, I always hear that. That was really good, but I think I had food poisoning, my stomach's upset, my stomach became bitter. It's revelation that's from God to man. He hands it to John. We must engage in it and digest it. It must become part of us. But then we need to eat it and we need to proclaim it. That's what the last verse, but in the meantime, there's effects of eating this on John and the Christian. It's sweet. Well, very quickly, we could probably have a discussion on this, but the sweetness you think of Psalm 119 and Psalm 19, we hear things like the words of God are sweeter than honey to my mouth. more precious than gold. And so what is sweet? Well, the gospel is obviously sweet. We have the beauty of Christ, his person, his work, the results of the gospel, salvation that brings, sinners being redeemed and joined with us in the church, fellowshipping with us, worshipping with us, and we with them in Christ. Those are sweet things that come from this word. The consummation of all things in Christ and the promises of eternity. and the promises of Christ, those are sweet, we should chew on those a lot. But even judgment is sweet, and this is hard. It's not, because what we're doing with this scroll, it's not just yay, it's the gospel, it's also judgment, it's imminent. It's not that we delight in our enemies getting what they deserve, God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, we learn in Ezekiel. But we can't see even judgment as sweet. Why? Because this judgment to come is the word and the will of God, which is always good and always holy and always right, even if we don't understand. And in the end, we'll proclaim that everything that God has done is perfectly right and just. Even judgment is sweet because it includes vindicating and avenging Christ and his people. And that should be an encouragement to us today, that all things will be made right. And even judgment is sweet because it encourages repentance of those who are outside of Christ. The last trumpet has not sounded. There's still time. Trumpets are blurring right now. Even if you can't hear them, trumpets are blurring even right now. It's a call to salvation at this point. When the last trumpet sounds, it's a call to judgment. Now's the time to come. And there's something sweet in judgment bringing sinners to Christ. But also, judgment is sweet because it will result in ultimate glorification of God. Even the judgment of the wicked brings glory to God, read Romans chapter nine. We'll understand that later. Why is it bitter? Well, to unbelievers, certainly this book is bitter. It's judgment, eternal judgment, repent. But for believers, this book, this scroll is bitter. Because when we read these things, it reminds us of our sin. If you ever noticed Christians, you're still sinners. It reminds us of our sin. It warns us of our own sin, which is a good thing, but it still can be bitter. In the word, in the proclamations of this book, it brings bitterness because we labor for sinners to come to Christ, but they reject the message and they reject us. I think that might be the main emphasis of the bitterness that John gets, the rejection, the suffering, the persecution, even from those we love the most, because we give the gospel and we're being obedient, and we weep over the lost, and we take the pains of those we love most. Even Psalm 4, the pain of Psalm 4 was, these are personal attacks from those I know that hurts the worst. The persecution and rejection of the saints is because there's anger, there's ridicule, there's suffering, even death to the saints because of giving the gospel and living a life of Christ. And then there's the sorrow of seeing needless deception and torment of the lost in this life and knowing what will happen next. That's the sweetness and the bitterness and quickly the last verse. I think the best application of all of this is looking at the confidence that we have in Christ who's sovereign and so is his judgment, it's certain. And the salvation that he brings And we see the recommissioning to eat, knowing the effects, we're called to evangelize. That's the application. Verse 11, and he said to me, you must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings. It doesn't just mean in your household or even in your neighborhood, it means across the land, across the world. John was given a recommand to prophesy to all peoples and nations and so are we. For the Christian, are you ready for the Lord's return? Will you be faithful till he comes? Christ's return is bittersweet to us. We long to see Christ as he is. We long to have all sin eradicated. But why is it bittersweet? because we have dear loved ones who reject Christ, and when Christ comes, the clock no longer ticks, the alarm sounds, and there's judgment, so it's bittersweet. So all the more we should be diligent to eat and digest the word, to be doers of the word, and to pray for loss and prophesy the gospel to a lost and dying world, which is often antagonistic to us, that sinners can be saved and will be saved in Christ. If you're not a Christian, again, hear the trumpet call, Hear the declaration that the delay is no longer. Hear the Savior's call to come to him who lived and died and rose and who reigns even now for sinners like you who come in repentance and faith to him. When the seventh trumpet sounds, the mystery of God will be finished. And judgment is final. May we be faithful and may you know him before this time. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I do pray for the patience of our congregants. These chapters seem like they need to all be at once. Maybe they could be shorter in their exposition. I pray, Lord, you take the depth and the difficulties of these chapters of Revelation and truly make it be a blessing and make it be an encouragement to us. We here in Christ may rejoice and have our confidence renewed and see the recommission of what you've called us to do and to be in Christ, and you give us all of the resources and all the promises to do it. May we be faithful in joy to bring Christ forward. I pray, Lord, for those who are outside of Christ, Lord, that they would hear the trumpet call. Before the final trumpet call. And they'd hear your call with Christ. And Lord, you give them new hearts. They come in repentance and faith and know the sweetness of you, O Christ, who took the bitterness in our place on the cross. In Jesus' name I pray these things. Amen.