Using Our Time To Share The Gospel
Sermon Notes
Today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Revelation, and it’s a series about finding peace in a world of chaos. Anyone else feeling like these past few weeks has you a bit like a character in an “end of the world” movie staring at the incoming tsunami wave accepting your fate? Me too. Pastor Louis has done an incredible job of navigating all these horrific upcoming events and yet still helping us find peace amid the chaos and has used every week to remind us of the importance and urgency we need to feel sharing the Gospel with others. Last time I preached, I joked that Louis seems to enjoy giving me the more difficult texts to preach but this week he gave me a text that will hopefully be encouraging to us all this morning.
This morning, we will be taking a break from the trumpets and pausing before the 7th and final trumpet. As Louis mentioned last week, there was another opportunity for the population that remains to repent and turn to Jesus during the 6th trumpet. For believers, the pause in chapters 10 and 11 of Revelation serves as another reminder to preach the Gospel and share the truth of God’s word with those who have not repented. And for those here this morning who are skeptics, see the grace that God continues to show. In my own life, I think of how many times I have rejected God and the prompting of his spirit to choose the things of this world and yet, he still shows me grace and mercy and calls me to repentance.
In this passage, God once again shows that he is in charge and in control and is giving the world another opportunity to return to him. So let’s turn to Revelation 10 and check it out. You’ll find Revelation in the back of the bible, it’s the very last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation 10:1-11. Title of the message is Using Our Time to Share the Gospel. The big idea of the message is if we love the Word of God, we should love others by sharing the Word of God... if we love the Word of God, we should love others by sharing the Word of God...
Context:
Here’s your context. The book of revelation is about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and what will happen at the end of history when he finally returns. We divided the entire book into four major sections based on four major visions Jesus gives to John the author, and right now we’re in the 2nd vision which is of Jesus and the Cosmos. It’s of Jesus ruling over the entire cosmos, and his wrath being poured out against sin and evil. In ch 8 we learned that John heard 7 trumpets, which implies there’s 7 stages to God’s final judgement. It won’t happen all it once, it’ll happen in 7 stages, and last week, we studied the sixth trumpet and today we will be looking at a pause before the final trumpet.
Let’s read Chapter 10 together. Verse 1 says: “Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from Heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head.” We are entering chapter 10 on the heels of what has been an excruciating demonstration of God’s power and judgement. We have seen an unleashing of disaster and demons and destructive armies eliminating a third of the population. And as John sees this next incredibly large angel descending from Heaven, he describes him as being wrapped in a cloud which would’ve signified more judgement. But instead, as his head comes into frame, John sees a rainbow. A rainbow of course, represents God’s covenant faithfulness. So, while the cloud would have represented judgement continuing, the rainbow over this angel’s head would have represented God’s mercy in the midst of this judgement.
As we have been discussing for weeks, God is showing not just his control over all things but his watchful care over his people amidst these disastrous times. This angel is meant to be Jesus’ representative and while this break between trumpets is giving pause to the chaos surrounding, it is also meant to remind us that Jesus is in charge.
Verse 1 continues: “His face was like the sun, his legs were like pillars of fire…” We know that this angel is the direct representative of Christ because when it mentions his face being like the sun, we can know that he had just been in the presence of God. God’s glory was reflecting off this angel’s face as he delivers this message. His legs being like pillars of fire showed his stability and uncompromising holiness. A few weeks ago, in the Bible class I teach, we were talking about Paul’s first missionary journeys and I read this quote to my students: “The integrity of the Gospel is tied directly to the integrity of the messenger.” Paul, Peter, Barnabus, and the rest of those early messengers of the Gospel understood the importance of their mission and hand in hand with that, the importance of their integrity.
The way we live our lives, can affect the way people hear our message. If we live our lives in ways that aren't in alignment with Jesus, it can affect the way people HEAR the message of Jesus. If we live our lives in ways that aren't in alignment with Jesus, it can affect the way people VIEW Jesus and HEAR the message of Jesus. It can cause distort their view of Jesus and distort what they think the message of Jesus is."
We see a biblical example of this when the Apostle Peter wasn't willing to eat with Gentiles, with those who weren't Messianic Christians, and the Apostle Paul confronted Peter on it because Peter's life was distorting the message of the gospel since Jesus was willing to save both Jews and Gentiles. We also see an example of this happening right now with the famous boxer and Youtuber Ryan Garcia who drops a barrage of F-bombs against his opponents, and then praises Jesus Christ all in the same sentence. I'm like "Yes Ryan! Praise Jesus! Amen!" But then I'm like "No Ryan! Don't start dropping a barrage of F-bombs at your opponent, because it's giving people a distorted image of the very God you just praised."
The reality is every person who's a Christian will stumble to represent Christ well, including myself. But we should strive to live our lives in ways that align with Christ as much as possible, so it can positively affect the way people VIEW Jesus and HEAR the message of Jesus. How is your life affecting the way people view Jesus and hear the message of Jesus? What needs to change in your life, so the message of Jesus can spread more effectively through your life? What would it look like for you to live the kind of life that would cause people to say, "I want what they have? I want to know the Jesus they know?" The integrity of the gospel, is tired directly to the integrity of the messenger. The way we live our lives, can affect the way people view Jesus and hear the message of Jesus. Let's strive to live the kind of lives that would cause people to want to know the Savior.
We live in a world today where we see messengers of the Gospel caught in illicit affairs, unrepentant sin, and bickering with each other. Thankfully God still uses imperfect people to deliver his message, but the description of the angel here would’ve assured John and is meant to ensure us of the integrity of the messenger.
Verse 2 says: “And he held a little scroll opened in his hand. He put his right foot on the sea his left on the land, and he called out with a loud voice like a roaring lion.”
John continues in verse 4: “And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from Heaven, saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders said and do not write it down!” This voice from Heaven is most likely the voice of God. And he is instructing John to not tell anyone about what it is the seven thunders have said and revealed to him. We can’t be certain why God wanted John to seal this message up and keep it a secret and it may be frustrating to us that this would not be revealed to us. We may ask ourselves Why would God keep information from us? How are we supposed to find peace in chaos if we don’t have all the answers? We cannot be assured of the answers to these questions but let me assure you of two things church: Number one, God’s mystery is a part of his God-ness. There is probably a better and more theological way of saying that but as I have said and as I have heard said for years, “If we knew everything about God, he would cease to be God.” We have an epidemic in our world today of people trying to be God. The amount of access we have to knowledge and information these days is astounding and it has brought us to a place where we no longer need to sit and think or meditate any longer. What is the answer to this? Google it. Who was the founder of X? Ask AI. What is happening in Israel this morning? Check Twitter. We jokingly get mad at Adam and Eve for their initial sin that plunged humanity into chaos, but there is proof every second that we would reach for the forbidden fruit just as quickly as Eve did. And it stems from our desire to be like God and acquire knowledge. We do not need to know everything Church. I have off and on tried to delete social media and more importantly, the news from my phone. And in the seasons where I’ve been successful in it, it has been so refreshing when I have been asked, “Did you hear about?...” and my answer is “No.” It is okay for us to not know everything. This brings us to our second assurance: God is in control and we are not. Even though it may be frustrating to feel like things are being kept from us, we can know that he is in control and we do not need to worry. There is a phrase that I’ve used and repeated to myself over the years and I thought of it while backpacking in Yosemite park with some of my buddies from college. We were in the middle of our adoption process and awaiting answers and getting frustrated with how long it was taking. At the end of our backpacking trip, we walked over to El Capitan which is an exposed face of Yosemite granite that sits over 3,000 feet tall. As we laid in front of El Capitan and watched climbers scaling it, I thought about the fact that the tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It rests just under 3000 feet high which means if you set that building in front of El Capitan, the tallest point of it would not poke above the surface. It was in this moment God whispered to me: “I’m big, you’re small, I’ve got this.” Any time in my life that I have been discouraged or anxious about what lies ahead or any time that I have wondered why things are spinning out of control or any time that I have thought I had the answers to everything only to find out I don’t, God pushes me back in my seat, tells me to gird myself up like a man as he does with Job, and tells me “I’m big, you’re small, I’ve got this.” This secret message from the voice of the seven thunders serves as a good reminder to the church and our world today that we do not need to have everything figured out. We don’t need the answers to everything. I would argue that life gets more complicated the more knowledge we acquire for the sake of knowledge acquisition. For those of you who are believers, where in your life are you waiting on answers from God? As frustrating as it is to wait for answers, it's possible God's using this season of waiting because he wants you to come to the place where you realize he's big and your small. If you're a skeptic are you waiting for all your questions about God to be answered before you're willing to put your faith in God? If that's the case, then you're seeking a God who's too small. A God who's small enough for you to fully comprehend, is a man made God that falls ways short in comparison to the real God. It's a small man made Burj Khalifa. The real God is far greater than any human can comprehend, but also far more loving and approachable than we could ever desire. So if you're a skeptic you'll never have enough answers to fully comprehend God, but in Jesus you can have enough answers to have a relationship with Jesus who's far greater than any man made God.) At the very least, John being instructed to leave out what is said may improve vigilance and strengthen interest in what follows next.
Verse 5: Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “There will be no more delay.” Once again, we see another description of this angel, and he is massive. His stance stretches from the sea to land. The angel’s size signifies that his message will reach everyone. As Louis mentioned last week, this is another opportunity for people to repent before the 7th and final trumpet and the angel is making it clear for everyone that the time is now. Another interesting point in verse 6 regarding the reach of the angel’s message is the angel swears an oath to the one who created heaven, earth and sea. What is being said here is that God is caring for all of his creation. He is foreshadowing the coming restoration of all of his creation and what he says next brings forth the timetable. There will be no more delay. Since the fall, all of creation has been groaning for God to redeem his creation. David talks about his surrounding enemies and justice coming for them, the prophets talk about the impending judgement of Babylon and the captors of Israel. Even Jesus’ instruction to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Even the how long oh, Lord?” of the martyrs. This is the announcement that this prayer has been answered. The cosmic battle is about to begin.
Verse 7, When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced to his servants and the prophets. Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again, “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” God is now bringing his glorious kingdom in Christ to fulfillment. This mystery is a truth previously concealed that is now going to be revealed. What we can know here is that we can trust God to complete his work. Just a couple verses after the seven thunders mystery and God withholding that information from us, he tells John that once the 7th trumpet sounds, God’s mystery will be revealed and we will understand. What was announced by the prophets and God’s servants throughout the years will finally be clear to us.
Verse 9: So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. There are three other times in scripture where the instruction to take and eat is given. One is a prophesy of this moment in Ezekiel. The difference there is the Israelites do not listen to the message that Ezekiel has for them then. Like many who still will at the end of it all, the Israelites reject the word Ezekiel gives them. The other two moments are foreshadowing this great cosmic battle that is about to begin. In the beginning, the serpent instructs Eve to take and eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and Good and Evil and she will be like God. This instruction to take and eat set the events of the world and God’s masterful and mysterious plan into motion with a choice to understand and attempt to know the mind of God. Many years later, God sends Jesus to earth and as he nears the end of his life on earth, he sits with his disciples for a final meal and instructs them to take and eat the bread that is his body. The contrast between Adam and Eve wanting to eat the fruit because they felt like they were missing out on something and God was holding back from them to then Jesus instructing his disciples and us to share in his body because he is all we need is astounding. And we can imagine that John would’ve remembered Jesus’ parting words to them that night gathered together as the angel was giving this instruction to take and eat the scroll. It’s a beautiful parallel to what comes as our final instruction from Chapter 10.
Verse 9b-11: “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.” In these final verses, we see what the scroll will taste like. This instruction to eat the scroll is an instruction to devour the Word of God. The contents of this scroll are the Gospel and we are to proclaim it to the world. This is the diet for spiritual nourishment in our lives – absorbing and assimilating the word of God into our very beings. There is a common denominator in everyone I personally know who has walked away from their faith or deconstructed and it is that they stop reading their Bibles. It could be because of the inconvenience of it or they just lose their passion for it or disagree with the truth in it, but we cannot stop reading and ingesting and believing the words of God if we hope to remain loyal and close to God. The good news for us is we don’t have to actually eat our bibles this morning to know and be able to preach the Gospel to others. But this is the challenge to us this morning… that we must know the Gospel and be able share it with others. The scroll is sweet on John’s tongue because as believers, knowing the truth and being marked as followers of Jesus protects us and provides our eternal sustenance and nourishment. It becomes bitter going into our stomachs because of the realization that there are going to be people who reject God and are separated from him and the persecution and suffering for believers. We must stay devoted to and love God’s word and then we must take that and share it with others. “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”
The big idea of the message is if we love the Word of God, we should love others by sharing the Word of God. This is the instruction to preach this with everyone else we meet. If we look at the instruction to take and eat and the parallels between the serpents instruction to take and eat and Jesus’ instruction to take and eat, we first recognize our need for the salvation Jesus gives us and turn away from trying to acquire what knowledge we feel like we are missing from God.