Well, if you haven't done so, open to the book of Revelation. It's right in the... if you're new or you're not sure where that's at, it's at the very end of your Bible. There's a Bible right in front of you, a black one, if you don't have one. And we're in chapter 10. By way of introduction, You know, there are there are moments in our lives where something that was very, very small ends up being very, very important. But usually you don't know that it was really important. If you're fortunate later on, you can go back in your mind and you can realize, wow, I had no idea how important that decision or that action or inaction really was. Example for me personally would be not able to get a job where I lived in Idaho because of my own foolishness and sin. A call from my brother who lived in Houston, Texas and owned a bakery and he said, why don't you learn the trade of being a baker? You can kind of reboot your life and Why don't you? And being a young man, 21, and pretty stupid, in fact, incredibly stupid, I thought, well, why not? And so I packed up and moved to Houston, Texas. In that process, I went through no special decision-making process of finding a church. I found one that was close. That was about it. It was a Baptist church. Didn't know much about Baptists. But my dad had said it would probably be a safe bet. And so I ended up going to this church. I began to learn to be a baker. And in all of that, I worked nighttime. And being a guy who worked through the night, I was frustrated all the time because everyone else worked during the daytime. You know how that is if you work that kind of a shift. And they would frequently wake me up when I was trying to sleep and mess with my sleep schedule. And so I was basically always functioning in a state of exhaustion. But I was also starting to come alive, if you will, again. again, renew my faith in Christ, and things were starting to open up in my heart, and it was a very rich time. And I remember praying this little prayer. I wanted to serve the people. I didn't really know what all that meant, but I wanted to serve people at the church. And so I said to God, you know, I need sleep. I need sleep badly. But I also need to be a servant. And so I'm asking you, Father, if you would be willing, let no one call me. and let me sleep, but if somebody does call, let me be kind, because I was starting to get irritated and frustrated with people that they would not think about the fact that they're calling during my sleep. And and so I just that was my prayer. It was no big deal. It was nothing awesome Amazing. It was just one of those little things that I chose to do and That night or that day. I fell asleep and about an hour later the phone rang just like seriously and I picked it up and I said hello and This young lady said hi, I don't know if you Remember me. My name is Kim and But I need help. I can't get this bolt loose on my car. And it's not mine. It's my friend's car. And I got to get it loose. And everyone else is working. So I thought maybe you'd be willing to help me. And I'm trying to remember, who is this Kim? I don't. And then I remember my prayer. And I'm like, sure. Like, first of all, I should not be under the hood of any car. But, you know, I prayed. And so I told her, sure, where should I meet you? And I went and I picked her up and I drove her to the car and I loosened this bolt. We got the battery out, replaced the battery, and I met this young woman named Kim Selzer. And 32 years later, four children and six grandchildren, you know, a simple decision, a small decision, right? That you would, at that point, it was just a simple thing of wanting to try to serve. And I know that somehow maybe comes across like I'm trying to be spiritual. It's not. It's just a simple decision, but it has lifelong impact. And all of you have those kind of things in your life where you never really realize what was going to be set into motion. You know, I think of my son-in-law Tom and moving all the way from Texas up to here and knowing some of the situations that led him to help me Work on my garage and then from there a young lady in my household who suddenly became really helpful And wanted to serve tea and offer sandwiches things never never done but all of a sudden she was so helpful and such a servant and Yeah, and now Look at them. You know again. We all have those stories. We all know how that works Some of it can be you know hard things maybe it's a A time where you can remember your dad telling you in passing that him and your mom are having a hard time and you're too busy playing games and you're not really listening until later you realize he was just trying to tell you that things are bad in the marriage, right? And all of a sudden you find the marriage is dissolving and you're like, what happened? And you realize that was, you wish you had been listening more carefully and understanding what was going on. It could be things that are much bigger than just you, right? Remember when the Twin Towers came down? I remember we got a phone call of what was happening, and I couldn't believe it. I'm like, no way. And went downstairs and turned the TV on and watched just with shock. And I remember my mind thinking, what is this going to look like? What is our world going to look like? And if you think about it, since that time, all of the various events that have occurred worldwide, Think of the number of deaths, the amount of warfare and political intrigue and issues that are going on around our world all simply because of that simple event. And then you can go into the Bible and you can think about all sorts of images and situations that took place that at first looked very innocuous, but they were in fact major. Jesus himself said to his disciples time and time and time again, look, I have come so that I might suffer and die and rise again. That was a message he gave to his disciples over and over again. And they heard it, but they were just words and they did not grasp that this actually was going to happen. And then when they watched it start to unfold and then actually happen, they ran away. They could not believe what they were seeing, even though they had been told, look, this is what's supposed to happen. And even then, they still didn't really understand the import of what actually was occurring on that cross. It wasn't just a man dying. It wasn't just a resurrection, which those are pretty amazing things, what happened during the crucifixion and resurrection. But what they didn't grasp at that point was truly the transference of our sin and guilt upon Jesus Christ to be a willing and perfect sacrifice for sin. Of the fact that he was conquering death in his resurrection. where he was establishing himself as king. All of this was happening, and there's this huge, huge event that they didn't understand. In fact, even afterward, they didn't understand. Think about in Revelation, in chapter 5, where the scroll, remember the scroll was there, and the angel said, who is worthy to open the scroll? And no one was worthy to open the scroll. So what did John start to do? Do you remember? He began to weep. because there is no one worthy. And then they're like, stop weeping. Behold, the Lamb, the Lamb of God is worthy to open this. So even there, because and the reason he was worthy was his death and resurrection. So even that part, John didn't fully grasp how important his death and resurrection actually was. And he was still seeing ways that it was playing itself out. Well, Jesus tells you and I in John chapter 14 that He is preparing a place for us. and that he will come again, and he will receive us to himself. But my question to you, with no attempt to try to guilt you or anything, just my question to you is how often does that capture your thinking? How often are you thinking about the fact that Jesus left, but he is not just gone, he is preparing a place for us, and that he will come back and receive us to himself, and we will be with him forevermore. That ought to capture us, that ought to color how we live our lives and how we make our decisions and how we spend our money and whatnot. But oftentimes it doesn't. It's just little events and little statements that we don't really grasp the bigness of what really is going on. Well, that's what I tried to do for you last week. In chapter 10, I introduced you this chapter by showing you what looks like some just some passing statements in verses 6 and 7 were in fact huge statements. There is massive reality behind those and that's what I tried to introduce to you over the last week's hour. So what I'm going to do is I want us to read again chapter 10 and look at those two key verses and then all we're going to do today is go through the actual chapter and just take it step by step and unfold it and try to show you what's going on here. Hear now the word of the Lord. I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven clothed with a cloud and a rain and the rainbow was upon his head and his face was like the Sun and his feet like pillars of fire and He had in his hand a little book or scroll which was open and he placed his right foot on the sea his left on the land and he cried out with a loud voice and as when a lion roars and when he had cried out the seven peels of thunder uttered their voices and then and when the seven peels of thunder had spoken I was about to write and I heard a voice from heaven saying seal up the things which the seven peels of thunder has spoken and do not write them and the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever who created heaven and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and the things in it and that there shall be delay no longer. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished as he preached to his servants, the prophets. and the voice which I heard from heaven I heard again speaking with me saying go take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land and when I went to the angel telling him to give me the little book he said to me take it and eat it and it will make your stomach bitter but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey and I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it. And it was in my mouth, sweet as honey. And when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, you must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. May the Lord bless his word. As I said, that's chapter 10, and there's stuff going on. We've got angels and thunder and a book, and he's got to eat the book, and so you can get caught up in all of that and miss the point of what's really happening. So what I want to do is explain to you what's taking place. The key verses, again, are verses 6 and 7, specifically right at the end of verse 6 where it says that there shall be delay no longer. And so that is giving us a time frame. Now remember, all of this is a vision and it's not yet happened. And yet he is telling him in this vision as he's unfolding what will take place in the future that now we are coming to the point where no more delay. then he gives it more clarity and he says that it's going to happen in verse 7 at the voice of the seventh angel when he's about to sound he's talking about the seventh trumpet and we'll look at that in a moment and it said he says in there then and This is just for your purposes, maybe a little bit of help. I look for things like that, and those are the kinds of things I tend to underline or circle in my Bible, is words that give us a sense of time or flow. And so for me, if I were you, I would circle that word, then, or underline it, something like that, something to mark it out so that you can see that that's a key point that's taking place. Because he says, then, The mystery of God is finished As he had preached to his servants the prop the prophets so he says There's not going to be any more delay, but when that seventh trumpet is sounded then at that point Things are done the mystery of God is finished now if you don't know what the mystery of God is that doesn't help you a lot, but I It's certainly important enough that it involves a strong angel and speaking to this man, John, and he has to eat the scroll and all this other stuff. So whatever he's talking about there is important, even though you may not really understand it at this point. Now what I then did last week, as you recall, is I started in the book of Genesis and I took it all the way back to the book of Revelation and just showed you for 40 minutes the flow of the story. That there is this one common thread of reality where we learned about creation and ruin, where sin comes into the world, and redemption in the promise of the one who would bruise the head of Satan, and then we find that that is found and wrapped up and bound up in the person and work of Jesus himself. And then ultimately, it's not just redemption, but the story ends with restoration, where all things are made new, where the heavens and the earth are reborn, and we're able to have sin, and Satan and death are great enemies that we can never defeat. They're gone. They're done. They're resolved. That's the story. And that's what is happening here in verses 6 and 7. He's talking about this idea that from the beginning of time, since sin entered into this world, mankind has sought some resolution to the problems that he lives in. And we deal with them in so many different ways, but the ultimate reality is that we can never resolve them, right? Apart from Jesus Christ, we cannot resolve sin, sin within us, but also sin that happens in the world and sin that's done to us. So it's weird because sin is one of those strange things where we are sinners by our nature and we commit sin, but we're also victims in the sense that sin is committed upon us and acted upon us. unfortunately receive that. And for some, that expression of sin in their lives being done to them is of the most horrific sense. From there, I showed you in Colossians chapter 3 how the message of the apostles was one where we are to be looking for the new. And we talked about it, that God is describing throughout the Bible the idea that everything will become new. And so that in the end, we will drink a new wine with a new song, we'll have a new name, and there'll be the new heavens and the new earth and on and on and on. But most important is, he said in Colossians 3, that we laid aside the old man. And we have taken on the new man. And I explained to you that that is not just you. It's not that you became a new person, which is sadly how too many people take it. But it's much bigger than that. It's that we belong to Adam. We belong to a world that's under the dominion of sin. And that we are under the representative of this world, which is Adam himself. And in him is sin and death. And that's the old man, and we belong to him because we're all humans. And so as we're born, we're born in Adam, if you will. He is our representative. But when we have, by faith, believe in Jesus Christ and we trust Jesus Christ for our salvation, no longer are we called in Adam, but the Bible says that we're now in Christ. And now we have taken on a new man, and this new man makes us fit and we're being prepared now to enter into the new age and the new time. So all of that is there and Paul says there we ought to have that mindset. We have to have a heavenly mindset. We have to keep our mind upon the reality that we don't belong here. That we're in this awkward Place where we're here and not here that we live here But we don't belong here and every Christian in this room understands that you understand that because you try to fit in I know you do and Because you're human. And you try to make things work in this world. And you will even give in and play some of the games that you ought not to play that this world plays. All of it because you're trying to fit in. But you also realize that you don't. It doesn't work. It's not right. You can't. And so then you have to repent and draw away. And then you try over here. And then it's repenting again. And it's just a life where you're slowly, painfully learning that there's nothing in this world, ultimately, that matters. There's nothing that's worth pursuing. Certainly, there's no ultimate good in this age. It's passing away. And that is the message that I wanted you to see because all of that is found here in chapter 10. And so what I want to do today is we're going to look at this, we're going to see the good message that's for us in it. I want you to remember that chapters 10 and 11 are an interlude, a pause. So we've been having the seven, we had the scroll with the seven seals and each one was broken open and when it was broken, that portion of the scroll would be read and certain things happen, bad things. And as it was finally unfolded, just before the seventh seal was broken, there was an interlude back then. Now, after that, they broke the seventh seal, and that unleashed, if you remember, the seven trumpets. Now we've had six of those trumpets blown, and each one of those unleashed even greater woe and greater difficulty. In fact, the last three trumpets were literally called woes. And woe is a horrible, difficult undoing of all things, that this was great devastation upon humanity and this earth. Now we're at the point where the seventh one is yet to be blown, and just like with the scroll, we have this interlude, this little pause where additional information in chapters 10 and 11 are given to. And we're gonna see, once the seventh trumpet goes, you're gonna see seven bowls. And each bowl will be poured out, and with it will be the wrath of God. These will occur in a very quick fashion, but you're gonna see, again, the same pattern being laid out. So with that, let's look at the details, and I'll try to make sense, and also show you the things that probably aren't that important, that sometimes we try to make really important. In verse one, we first of all see this angel. It's another strong angel. That's how he's described. Now, I just want to take a quick moment to explain that many people see this angel as being actually Christ himself. And the reason for it is the imagery that's given, that he's clothed with a cloud. and the rainbow was upon his head that would be like a crown, an iridescent crown that's upon him, and then his face is like the sun, and his feet is like pillars of fire, and so they think back on some of the other images they've had of Jesus Christ in this book, and they think this must be Jesus Christ as well. Especially because, like in Daniel, the book of Daniel, which is a very important prophetic book in the Old Testament, in chapter 7, verse 13, the Son of Man is said to come with clouds of heaven. and there's many other examples of Jesus and the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. The rainbow is seen as, like I said, a crown or a halo, and we don't really know the symbolism. In fact, I don't think there is a lot of symbolism in it, but some think that it's of the promise of the flood, and of divine mercy, and so here is Christ, and he's coming in his power, but he's also coming in his mercy. And so this is just the idea of what they see when they say, I think that this is Jesus Christ. But I'm going to argue that that's not a good way to see it, and that we ought not to try to see it as Jesus Christ, but simply as an angel. Let me just give you four simple reasons. The first is that he's called another strong angel, right? And you see in my notes, there's two words in the Greek language that you can use for another. One is heteros and the other one is alas. Heteros means different. different kind. And Allah simply emphasizes sameness. So if I told you get me another, I was eating an apple, and if I said get me another fruit, If I use heteros, you would know that I don't want an apple. I want some other kind of a fruit, something that's different. But if I said alas, you would understand that the kind of fruit I want is another apple because the use of that that phrase or term. Well, that's what he's being called. He's being called another angel of the same kind. Well, Jesus, first of all, is not just merely an angel, and he certainly wouldn't be like another angel. He wouldn't be of the same type because he is God himself. So right there is enough to dispense with that. But also we have the mention of this other strong angel back in chapter 5. It's interesting because You don't think that it would be that important of a job, I guess. At least in my mind, I don't think of it. But apparently it's a very important job, something to do with scrolls and books. In chapter 5, it says that a strong angel held up that scroll that was sealed and said, who is worthy to open? this scroll. And remember, no one was able to accept Jesus Christ. Well, that was the first mention of a strong or mighty angel. Now we have another one, not the same one, but another one of the same kind. Now he's holding the open scroll or open book and he is bringing it down and he's going to give it to John. Secondly, when you see Jesus referred to in Revelation, he is always being given very specific titles, whereas here it's a broad, vague one of just simply a strong angel. A third reason to reject Jesus as being in this passage is that this angel actually swears an oath by invoking the character and being of God, and Jesus would not do that because he is God. So he would just simply swear by himself, not swear by God and then finally and this one I think is also very important to note is that this angel actually literally comes down out of heaven and he is on the earth and that would require than Jesus to have more than two comings remember he came first to be our Savior and he was born as a child and he died and then the promises that he will come again and when he comes again everything is finished And so to have him coming here would just violate everything else that the Bible tells us about it. So if your study Bible says it's Jesus Christ, I would just commend to you those thoughts and consider that. If maybe that's what you grew up with or you heard or thought, that's why you should probably, it's best to not see this as Jesus. What it is designed to do, though, is show the greatness of this angel. He is still a mighty angel, a powerful angel. And he was sent to God to bring this scroll to John, and by placing his feet on both the water and the sea and on the land, what he is showing is total dominion, total authority over this world. What's happening is God is saying, it's time go, he comes down and he does this and all of this is unfolding before John. Well, as I said, he's got this little book or little scroll in verse 2 and I want you to notice that it's already open. Again, if I were marking in my Bible, and by the way, remember if you mark in your Bible, always use pencil. because later on you find out you're a heretic and you wanna be able to erase your heresy, okay? Trust me, I've got some old Bibles where I'm like, ooh, ooh, that's not, you know, I thought I really had a really good thing. Yeah, he's like, wow, that's deep. And now I'm just embarrassed by him. So always do it in pencil, that way you can erase later on when you find out that you're not maybe as smart as you thought you were. But here's a place that I would underline again. It's a little book that was open. And so what why is that significant? What is this book? Well, there's all kinds of ideas on that again, like everything in the book of Revelation. But I think the simplest is the best. And that is that the same scroll that the first strong angel held in chapter five that was sealed up and said who can open this, it's now this one. It's now been fully open, and the front of the scroll has been read, and all of these events are happening, or have happened. And so now it's open, and this strong angel now possesses that scroll, and that scroll, if you remember, it's a few weeks ago, but the scroll contained the fullness of God's plan. It contained the promises of what would happen in the end, how all time and and humanity and this universe both seen and unseen would be resolved and dealt with so it's a very important scroll and that's probably what he's holding so it's open it's it's the unfolding of the judgments and the plans of God in the imagery given here we have this mighty angel feet planted, showing his authority over the world. He's crying out with his loud voice like that of a lion. And so it's all designed to show fear. And this is a frightening, serious, major event. It's a fearful time that there are things that have already happened, but it's not all that is to happen. In other words, think about all of the terrible things that have occurred. Think of the fact that mankind were being tormented by these horrendous demonic hordes. We just finished listening and reading about that two weeks ago. And how they were not even able to die. They were being tormented by it and they wanted to die. They wanted the mountains to fall upon them and just die and think that they would find release. They curse God. They hate God. There's just this misery across the earth. And what he's saying here is, it's not done. You thought that was bad. Wait until you see what comes next. So with this, we have then the revelation of verses three and four. And so in this crying out, this noise, all of the sudden we have the statement in verse four about, or three and four, about the seven peals of thunder. The seven peels of thunder spoke or uttered their voices. And when the seven peels of thunder had spoken, I was about ready to write. Once you notice what's being said there, because it's very unique. Some try to simply say that it was thunder. and that behind that there were words or something, but I don't think so. It's actually assigning the thunder as having speech, and that somehow they're able to convey information. And so I would argue that very possibly what you have is just another class of angels known as the seven thunders. You know, if you don't agree with me, that's fine. But but then you have to explain what the thunder is doing that is sounding and it's speaking. And not only is it speaking, but it has a message. It's a message that John actually attempts to write down. And so like I said, I think that what you're looking at is just another class of angels. And as I've said before, I'll say it again, the Book of Revelation is an interesting book on multiple levels, but one of them is how it shows us the workings and interactions of the spiritual beings, of both angels and demons. You see more actions and activities by demons and angels in this book than any other one. So if you're ever wanting to do a study on those, This would be a book that you would spend a lot of time in. And so I think that what you have is just like you have the seraphim and the cherubim and you have the 24 elders which are angelic beings. Here you have strong angels, mighty angels, archangels. You also have the seven thunders. What do we know about them? Nothing. And so that's all we can speak to that. But what's most fascinating is that what they spoke was something that John then tries to write down. Remember, that's his job. His job was to come up, see these visions, write them down, and then, of course, we get the book of Revelation from it. And so as he writes it down, he's forbidden to share it. God actually tells him, seal up the things which the seven peels of thunder have spoken and do not write them. He says, you're not allowed to reveal this. You're not allowed to tell us or tell anyone what it is that you heard. This is very similar, if you have the time to look back in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, this is very similar to a situation that happened to Paul. Now, he writes in a very strange way, but it's actually him that he's speaking to. In chapter 12 of 2 Corinthians, verses 1 through 4, it says this, boasting is necessary, though it's not profitable. But I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. Now, we don't have time to go into the fullness of what's taking place in 2 Corinthians, but Paul is on the attack. It's a very strong attack that this whole book is. In fact, 2 Corinthians is a good lesson on spiritual sarcasm. because it's filled with sarcasm, where he is just nailing these people to the wall. These are enemies. These are men who have come into this church who are trying to usurp the authority of him as apostle. They're bringing in false teaching and problems. They're creating divisions. And as a result, Paul is having to deal with them in a very hard manner. And so he is showing himself to be the guy that he really is. And so he talks about the need to boast. for himself, even though it's not profitable. And so he's going to talk about visions and revelations. And then he speaks of this man, but he's actually speaking of himself. He says, I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago, whether in the body, I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know. God knows. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven. Understand what what that means you have the heaven which is what we would call space and sky and What we you and I would look up in the air and we see that includes the universe Okay, then you have the second heaven, which is the realm of the spiritual beings angels demons things like that The third heaven is then the abode of God. That's what is mentioned here So he brought up into the very presence of God, and I know how such a man, whether in the body or apart from the body, I do not know, God knows, was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak. Here, he is given this vision. He's not even certain how it all worked. All he knows is that it happened, and he saw things, and he heard things, but he's not allowed to talk about it. In fact, to keep him humble, he was given a thorn in the flesh, it's described, that will keep him and torment and basically make his life miserable to keep him in a state of humility. So, you know, personally, if I was given that revelation, I'd rather not have the revelation, you know, to be shown something that you're not allowed to talk about, and then you're tormented as a result of it. It's like, just keep your revelation. I'd rather be ignorant. Well, that's what's happening here with John. He hears these things, and he wants to share them, and he's not allowed to. Now, in there, you can pull out a few simple lessons that I think are worth pulling out. The first thing is that you and I really don't understand how utterly dependent we are on God to reveal things for us to exist. All aspects of revelation is God's choice. If He wants you to know, you know. In fact, everything you do know, everything that you understand, and every time there's a new discovery, it's simply God just allowing us to see a little bit more of how His creation works. We really ought to contemplate how much we are dependent upon Him. But even more important than that is that we need to learn and come to grips with the fact that there are simply some things that are not ours to know. And I speak of this only because as a pastor, this is consistently a challenge that I find people face. They want to know the will of God. They want to know what God would have them to do. And so they will go through all sorts of actions and activities and practices in an effort to divine or discern God's will for their life. What should I do? Should I move to this state? Should I take this job? Should I do this? Should I do that? And they want to know, God, what do you want me to do? In fact, there's frequently that people will say things like, well, we should pray. And I'm a firm believer of prayer. And I would certainly not tell you not to pray. But you're like, well, we're trying to decide what we're going to do about, let's say, a move, whether we should move or not. Well, have you prayed about it? And I'll tell a person, yes. And they're like, well, I think you should pray more. OK, I'll pray more. But I'm just curious. How will I know I get the answer? You know, okay, I'm praying, but how do I know? And what happens is, in many ways, they never thought it through that much. They know that you should pray about these things, but they've not thought about how, then, is God going to give you or show you what you ought to do, or is that even the way God works with these things? I want you to understand that God has certain things that are His and they belong to Him and they're not for us to know. We're in fact forbidden to know some of these things. And yet we practice various forms of what is simply divination, which is forbidden for the Christian. all in an effort to try to discern what it is that God would have us to know. When in fact God doesn't want us to know because if he did he would have revealed it. Remember that key passage in Deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 29 he says that the secret things belong where? Belong to the Lord. But the things revealed belong to us. And so he says, that which I revealed to you, you are responsible for. You should become an expert in knowing what I've revealed. But you must understand that that is not everything. I have not told you everything. And so therefore, even though you know what God has revealed in his word and you have the word of God and you can study it and learn it, you have to always understand that there's a lot more going on that you don't know about. And it's God and it belongs to God. And it's called the secret things. Listen to how it's written in Job in Job 42 verses 1 through 3 This is at the end of of all of the horrors that Job went through and now he's been confronted by God and he is shown to be who he is and he is made to become very small because he began to complain about God and against God that it wasn't fair what happened to him and And now out of all of this, now that he's been taught, it says, then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I have declared that which I did not understand things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. I would argue that a lot of people in their effort to try to tell you what God. Is doing. are really just simply uttering things that they do not understand, which are too wonderful for them to understand, and all they do is create problems because they speak as if they know. In Isaiah 55, we forget these words too often. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and he will have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. So all of this is a call to repent and to turn and come to God and you will find forgiveness. And then he explains, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. And yet frequently we will have the arrogance to think that we understand how God should act, that we think that we understand what God is doing and why these things are happening in our life. Beloved, frankly, you don't know. None of us know, and it's okay. It's good enough to simply know that God is at work, and he's doing what he's doing. What it is, we don't understand, but we have been told to be found faithful. All of that, I'm just, my point is this. Here is this, here is John. He's in heaven. He has this vision. He hears things that he wants to declare, and God says, no, you don't get to share these things. These are not for the people to know. Beloved if you can become content in that I think you'll find One a lot of you who struggle with anxiety your anxiety will be resolved because you just realize it's okay I don't need to worry about those things. God is at work and God will resolve these things Well with that we see the revelation itself in verses 5 through 7 now before the angel gives him the scroll he does a classic oath taking and The content of the oath is very revealing in my mind because it focuses on two things, that God is eternal and that God is the creator of all things. And I think that's important because it really is Romans chapter 1 all over again. I go to this passage all the time. Your Bible should almost fall open to this passage because I make you look at it so many times. But in Romans chapter 1 verse 18, he says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." So God's wrath is flowing out of heaven and it's because mankind is suppressing truth. What is the truth? Because that which is known about God is evident within them. Within them. That each person has a knowledge of God. Why? For God has made it evident to them. So what is it that he's made evident to them? He says, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood through that what has been made so that they are without excuse. Now, look at what the angel is declaring here. He swore by him who lives forever and ever, his eternality, but also inherent in that is his power. who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it. Simply, he is declaring, I am declaring that what I am about ready to say, I declare is true by the one who is eternal and the one who made all things. And yet, if you think about it, what are the two things, even today, everyone who rejects Jesus Christ ultimately is trying to do? In some way or another, they're trying to make God not exist, and that God is not the creator. And here again, the angel just affirms, he is the maker of all things. He is the maker of all things. He is the one in which everything finds its purpose and being. And he says, it's this one that I'm now ready to make these statements. So the point of it is that because he has declared this and he's invoked the name of God in this, he says, there shall be no more delay. Again, it's another instance of the sovereignty of God in all things. No one can delay his hand. No one can stay his hand. The only way that anything is delayed of God is because God chooses to delay it. But when he says there is no more delay, there is no more delay. In Revelation, all you see is God rising up in his time and in his way to act as he has planned. And so what the seventh angel is to bring about would fulfill, now this is where it gets important, it's to fulfill the purposes and the mysteries of God. In other words, everything that the Old Testament prophesied and the New Testament spoke of, everything is being wrapped up in this. And one of the primary aspects of this mystery, and we'll talk about it here in just a moment, will be the establishing of the kingdom of God. In fact, look over in chapter 11 and you'll see just that. In chapter 11, verse 15, this is where the seventh trumpet Sounded and There arose loud voices saying What is the saying the kingdom of the world? has become The kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and ever and at that point heaven just breaks out there's yelling and screaming and worshiping and joy and 24 elders are on their faces, they're worshiping God, and that's exactly what's happening. So he is saying, look, there's no more delay. Instead, what we're going to see is that the mystery of God, at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God is finished. It's all taken care of. Now when you talk about that, you need to realize that the kingdom of God is a huge subject, and it's also a controversial subject. We won't go into the depths of that today. But all the way back in Acts, keep your finger where you're at, but look at Acts chapter 1. One of the issues that the disciples understood is they believed that Jesus was the anointed one which we would translate that word another way and that is the Christ or Messiah and when they when they understood him to be that they were understanding the Old Testament they were looking to that day where God would give us his anointed and he would resolve all of these problems. And so the Old Testament in various ways promised that and they were looking forward to that event. And so when Christ came and he started to do the things that he did, he did all of those miracles and whatnot, what you were seeing was him showing himself to be truly the Messiah. In fact, some of you may remember when John the Baptist was put in jail. Remember shortly afterward he's going to have his head cut off? Here is John the Baptist the prophet. He is the one who went before Christ and said make way for the Christ He's the one who says I am NOT worthy to untie his sandal He's the one that said behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world John the Baptist a prophet you'd think he'd know right, but now he's sitting in prison and He sends some of his disciples to go and ask Jesus are you really the one it's really a very Touching moment because you can see the reality here. He is the prophet of God. Yeah, he's scared. It's dark. It's hard He's about ready to lose his life. Is he gonna lose his life for the right reason? That's the question He's asking and what Jesus says is you go back and tell him that the lame walk the blind see and what he's doing is he's quoting out of Isaiah of the Messiah and He is saying yes. I'm the Messiah. I am that one and And so it was okay if he was going to die because he was going to die in the Lord and it would be all fine. Well, with all of that was this anticipation, because the prophet spoke of it, that the Messiah would reign and he would have his kingdom. And that this kingdom would be in Jerusalem. And not only that, but that all of the nations would therefore come and bow before him. And that the nations would come to Israel and Israel would be restored. All of these are the promises of the Old Testament. And that's what the disciples were thinking was going to happen. That's why they couldn't understand why he would die. You're the king. You don't need to die. Even though Jesus kept telling them, I have to die and then rise again, they're like, no, you don't. And they just didn't believe it. Then after he died and rose again, I want you to notice what they do again at the beginning of Acts. In verse three, it says, to these, he, Jesus, also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of 40 days. And then notice what he was talking about, speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Because that was the next big event, if you will. It's where all things are finally made right. And then in verse 6 it says, And so when they, the disciples, had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? Now why are they asking that? Well, because the entire Old Testament's been promising that. And they thought he was going to do it And he didn't. Instead, he died and he rose again. So now they're like, OK, now we see things better. We realize that he really did have to die and rise again. So maybe now now is going to be the time that he establishes it. And instead, he says, it's not for you to know the times or epochs which the father has fixed in his own authority. Instead, he says, you will receive power by the Holy Spirit and you will go and you will do the work of the gospel. He doesn't say, no, there is no kingdom of God or the kingdom of God is a spiritual one or anything else. He just simply says, it's not for you to know. And since that time, we have not yet witnessed the kingdom of God take place. What we have is a promise of the kingdom of God. And finally, here in chapter 11, verse 16 or 15, we see that kingdom of God coming to pass. And that is the mystery that he is speaking of. So when we talk about the mystery of God, I'm just going to read off several passages. I think they're going to be on the screen as well. But you have your notes and I'll just make some brief comments. But when the Bible talks about mysteries, it's not something weird. It's not something deep or arcane. It's just simply that there are things that belong only to God, the secret things. Some ways that you can call this is that it's His decrees. They're the secret things that God has until he chooses to unveil them. So just listen in Mark chapter 4 is one of the mentions of mentioning and he Jesus was saying to them to you to the disciples has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. So again, it's about the kingdom of God and it's been given to you. I want you to know this though, but to those who are outside meaning the non-believer. But to those outside who are outside get everything in parables. Why? So that they can understand? No. So that while seeing they may see and not perceive. And while hearing they may hear and not understand. Otherwise they might return and be forgiven. Let that one sit in your head for a while. He says, I mean, it always drives me crazy when people say, well, God, Jesus spoke in parables because this was a good teaching style. It was so that you can understand things by telling them in a story. Then you can understand. No, the Bible expressly says that Jesus spoke in parables so that he would hide the truth. And he says to the disciples has been granted the ability to know about the mysteries of the kingdom or the mystery of the kingdom of God. The next one I wanna just point out is in Romans. He says, for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery. So again, here's this mystery, I want you to know about it. For what purpose? So that you will not be wise in your own estimation. He's talking to the Gentile believers here, you and I and others. He says, I don't want you to think too highly of yourself. I want you to understand there's a mystery here that God has been doing. What is that mystery? That a partial hardening has happened to who? To Israel. Until when? Until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so he says that right now we live in this time called the time of the Gentiles where Gentiles, you and I, are coming in and coming to faith and believing in Jesus and are being saved. And the reason this is happening is because God has willfully, purposely hardened Israel. The nation as a whole, their hearts are hardened. Not all of them. Paul is an example of that. But then he says, and then so all Israel will be saved. And so here he's saying that at the end of the in-gathering of the Gentiles, then God will come again to visit His grace upon Israel and Israel will be saved. Just as it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion and He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. So he says, here's the mystery that you don't want to miss. Don't get too cocky and look down upon Israel as if they're this or that. He says the only reason that they don't believe is because God has hardened their heart. And the reason he's done that is so that he can gather you in as well. Romans 16 another aspect of the mystery 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 again, which has been kept secret for long ages past So he's saying look this is not clearly seen in the Old Testament. It's something that was kept secret but now is manifested and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandments of the eternal God has been made known to all the nations leading to obedience of faith and obedience of faith is what he talks about in chapter one of Romans about having believed the gospel and out of that then there is the faith that produces obedience as you follow Jesus Christ and so the mystery is that this gospel would go forth to the nations Then in Ephesians chapter 1, this one is really important. He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his kind intention which he purposed in Christ, in him, with a view to the administration suitable to the fullness of the times. That is, the summing up of all things in Christ. Things in the heavens and things on the earth. This is what John is hearing. He is hearing that the mystery of God is finished. And his mind can go back to Ephesians and the words of Paul, where all things shall be summed up on heaven and on earth in Christ. We're in the now and not yet stage. We still see parts of that happening, but we still live in a broken and simple world. But we're waiting for that mystery, that time when all things become summed up. And then again in Ephesians 3, by referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men. So again, you see how it was hidden, as it has now been revealed. to his holy apostles and prophets in the spirit. So what is this mystery of Christ? To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. He says that because the Gentile, you and I, believe the gospel, we also become partakers of these promises given to Israel. He says that was not something that was clear in the Old Testament. There were indications and hints of it. You could see some of it, but never did you understand the fullness of what the Gentile was going to be able to enjoy and participate in through the gospel. and then finally one more that's essentially the same thing in Ephesians in Colossians 1 the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations but now has been manifested to his saints to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. What is that mystery? It's Christ in you. That you and I are bearers of the person of Christ and that we are now the church is called the temple of God All of this is the idea of the mystery and there's other passages we could go to but I think that this is enough for you to get a sense of how huge This little statement is when it says then the mystery of God is finished the one the mystery that he preached to his prophets and All of this truth, all of this idea and this promise and mystery involved. He says it's all going to get summed up right now. This is what's happening. And so what is happening is that God is summing all things up to Himself. That's the mystery. And so this is the fullness of the plan and program of God. It's really cool. It's the summing up of all things. Everything becomes finally resolved. No more loose ends. And in that time, it's going to show His wisdom, even though we call it foolishness. In that time, it's going to show His power, even though the world declares it to be weakness right now. In that time, it's going to show His sovereignty, he is seen to be nothing right now and every question that you have will cease and everything will become clear and he will reign and the kingdoms of this world according to verse 15 of chapter 11 the kingdoms of this world will all be rolled up under his kingdom and he will rule now there are different opinions and again we're not getting into this some will argue that that kingdom is already occurred I'm going to argue very strongly that it has not yet occurred, that this is all yet future. We're waiting for that to come. Well, from there, he has to eat this book. In verses 8 through 10, now go take the book and he has to take it and he has to eat it. Why? Why? I mean, that's kind of weird. Well, first of all, if you know your Bible, you'll remember Ezekiel, chapter 2 and 3. In chapter 2, God tells Ezekiel, you have to take this scroll, the scroll that has on the front and back of it written lamentations and mournings and woe, he says, and eat it. And so in chapter 3, he says, eat it and let it fill his body. And then he was commanded to go as a result of it and speak those words to the people. The people of Israel were to hear what he had just eaten. And it's an imagery of assimilation, of fully taking it upon himself. And it's the same idea here for John, as he is taking this scroll. Remember what the scroll is, or this book is. It's that one that was sealed up. and now is completely unsealed and open, and he is to take it, and now he is to eat it, and he is to own all of what it is. And on one level it's sweet, and yet it's also very bitter, very similar to what happened in Ezekiel. And so he is to take, absorb the fullness of what's written there, and then he would be going to speak. And so it's sweet, first of all, because it is the Word of God. It is where God resolves this broken world where everything is just messed up. This is where sin and Satan and death get destroyed. So that's sweet, isn't it? It's salvation in the fullest sense of the word in a way that you and I don't even have words to describe how saved you're going to be and what that rescuing and deliverance really will look like. That's good. That's sweet. But it's also bitter because it involves great judgment. It involves the outpouring of the fullness of God's judicial wrath. And if you remember the description of what hell is like, it's the outer darkness where the worm never dies as it devours you, but it never fully devours you. And the worm never dies and you're described as the gnashing of teeth. That this is what awaits countless who reject Jesus Christ. And so you have a sweetness and a bitterness. Now with that, he's then given this commission. I won't spend time on it because really the commission is going to be laid out for us in chapters 11 and following. And they said to me, you must prophesy again. So he's eaten the scroll and now what he has eaten he is to speak. You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings. And so he's telling John, you need to now go and tell what is to come, and you are to proclaim the kingdom of God. It's here. It's coming. And all of the people and all of the nations and all the kingdoms, it doesn't matter, all of them are going to come and they're going to bow before the true king. And that's the way it is. So let me just wrap all of what we just learned up. Very simple, but huge. First of all, understand then that God is moving in and through history for his purposes. I know you know that, but I don't think you do know that. Just saying. I mean, we recognize it and we acknowledge it theologically, but then we get freaked out, right? You turn on the TV and you got North Korea doing that. President Trump is tweeting this. The, I don't even know how to pronounce it. It's the Antifa or whatever. They're doing this stuff. And over there, we got the white supremacists doing their junk. I mean, it just goes on and on. And you're like, man, this thing is just relentless and it can capture your soul. Do you believe and understand that God is moving in and through history, even now, even in all of this, and that's all going toward His end? Second lesson I see in this is that God really is the promise-keeping God who is always faithful. He will sum everything up. He will resolve everything. There won't be loose ends. All of the enemies will be abolished. Third thing I learned in this chapter is that there are things we're just not going to know and we have to learn to be content. How many things do we find anxiety and frustration over simply because we don't know? And all I can tell you is I have no hope help for you if you can't resolve that in your own mind. I can only tell you to go and think about God. You're filled with anxiety, go think about God. Think about his works as you know them, the things he's shown. He's always been faithful, hasn't he? He's always been faithful. And he's showing here that he will be faithful. It will come to pass. And so you can trust him, even in the things he says you don't get to know. And believe me, if you're one that's given to anxiety, you don't want to know. Trust me, you don't want to know. Just let it happen. and then God will show the grace sufficient for that time. If you and I were to know everything, I think we'd lose it. Two more brief lessons. We see that God's Word has both a pleasantness to it and a bitterness. I think the better we embrace both of those realities, the better off we'll function in our life. Understand that there will be times as you're looking at the Word that it will just be a balm to your soul. It'll encourage you and strengthen you. It'll clarify things. And there are other times where it will be like a kick in the teeth. It'll be hard because it will confront you and show you what you are and what needs to be dealt with. And then finally, we see that every king and every people group is under God's authority and care, including North Korea. And all shall be addressed. And all shall acknowledge his lordship. So it's OK. It's OK. Doesn't make it easy, but it makes it OK. So that's chapter 10. We're going to, Lord willing, next week get into Chapter 11, the second part of this interlude. And as I told you last week, Chapter 11 is one of the two most controversial chapters in all of Revelation. And so be prepared for controversy.