God’s Word is Bittersweet

Transcript

GR 2018
10/22/2017
God's Word Is Bittersweet
Revelation 10:7-11
Gil Rugh

We're going to the book of Revelation, the last book in your Bibles, the book of Revelation. All the Bible is of great importance; it is the Word of God, but when we come to the book of Revelation, we come to God's last word to man. This completes His revelation to us. To have a grasp of what He has said, to see everything put together, it's important that we understand the book of Revelation. It is sad that for so many the book of Revelation is just somewhat a confusing book, hard to understand, when God gave it as a revelation, something to reveal and make important matters known to us, to understand God's purposes and plans and how they will all culminate. It is important to understand the book of Revelation.

There is an order to the book; it flows rather simply. There is a sequence, it follows in a pattern, one event after another. So if we keep some of these things in our mind, we won't get confused. It's not just a jumble. People open the book of Revelation and say, I don't know, it's a lot of symbols and hard to understand. It started out with the revelation of Christ, then we unfolded the churches, the letters to them in chapters 2-3. We had a scene set in heaven that prepares us for the rest of the book in chapters 4-5, chapter 6 we begin with the judgments of the book of Revelation. And we are moving through that section. That will take us from chapter 6 through chapter 19. They follow in order. It's not just a mixture or collection of judgments. They are one, following another, following another.

We are going to take a break in those judgments. We had the first two series, we had seal judgments, basically chapter 6. Then we had an interlude, a break. We got information that would help us to understand what was coming, like the 144,000 Jews that were sealed. Then in chapter 8 we had the next series of judgments. The seventh seal is opened and out of that come seven trumpet judgments. The first six trumpets are blown and we cover chapters 8-9. Every time a trumpet is blown, a judgment came. Now we are into a break again, an interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets. And really we won't have the content of the seventh trumpet until we get to chapter 16. And what is going to happen in chapters 10-14, basically, is we are going to get more details on information that is necessary for us to understand the last half of this seven-year period.

If you could put up the chart on the 70 Weeks again, and if you've been here, many of you have this memorized. The “70 Weeks of Daniel” comes from Daniel 9, 70 sevens are determined upon your people in Jerusalem—490 years. They are seven-year periods. Started about 444 - 445 B.C. The date there varies about a year but we know when it began. Those first 69 weeks ended just about a week before the crucifixion of Christ. Then there was a break, the Church Age. So when we talk about the 70th Week of Daniel, we're talking about this last seven-year period. That's important because we are going to be talking a lot about half of that period, the last half of the 70th Week of Daniel.

I always want people to know what we are talking about. The Church will no longer be on earth, the Church will have been removed at the beginning, basically, of this seven-year period. Then we have the seven-year period. We are going to be talking about things that will help us understand what happens during this period and particularly what happens in the middle is where we are going. When we get to the middle, events happen that impact the last half and are of special importance. So we will be talking about those for awhile. Then we'll get to chapter 19 where the arrow comes down and Christ returns to earth, then we move into the kingdom.

So the book of Revelation follows a rather logical pattern and it is sequential. Most of it takes place, chapter 10 prepares us, then chapter 11 we begin to talk about what happens in that last 3½ -year period. Remember the end of Revelation 11:2, “they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months.” Forty-two months is one half of seven years, that last half is what we are talking about. The end of verse 3, “They will prophesy for 1260 days,” again referring to the last 3½ years. Down at the end of Revelation 12:6, “that she would be nourished for 1260 days,” 3½ years. Down at the end of Revelation 13:5, “authority to act for 42 months.” We can talk about all the details but all of this is relating to what will take place in this last 3½ years. And we will see some dramatic things that take place right in the middle that will prepare the way and unfold what happens before we get to the judgments, the last series of judgments.

So my understanding of the book of Revelation, we've come to the middle of the tribulation with chapter 10, this interlude. We are in the middle of that seven-year period. If we are just going to take the book in sequential order, it seems to me that is where we are. We had the sixth trumpet in the last part of chapter 9, then we have a break. The seventh trumpet will be sounded in Revelation 11:15. But the content of that trumpet, the judgments that come out of it, won't begin until Revelation 16:1. So this is such a key time, particularly in God's program for Israel, that we have this extended break and it is sort of building the anticipation of the importance of where we are.

Let's look at Revelation 10. We looked down through the first 6-7 verses, remember we sort of have a break in the flow so we can be prepared for what is going to be taking place in these momentous events. A strong angel appears from heaven and he comes with the glory that you would expect from an angel that served in the presence of God. We noted this is an angel but the angels do radiate the glory of being in the presence of God. We looked back and saw Moses, when he went into the presence of God on behalf of Israel, he came out and his face was shining. So it is not unusual that you would expect that the angels who serve continually before the throne of God would reflect something and radiate something of the glory of His presence.

This angel has a little book in his hand. It's important for what we are going to cover at the end of this chapter in a moment. So he has a book and it is open. And then he has a foot that he plants on the land and the sea. We noted something portraying his authority over the earth. And he comes as God's representative, and of course God is the One who is the Creator and the God who is sovereign over all. So his feet are planted on the earth and on the sea. And that will be stated three times in chapter 10, denoting his absolute authority and the surety of what is going to happen that will be prophesied.

Verse 4, there was a voice like thunder that comes out but John is not allowed to record that. And it is a reminder, everything God intends us to know, everything necessary for His purposes for us, has been revealed to us. But everything that God is going to do has not been made known to us. So John is instructed not to write what was told to him by these seven thunderous voices. Just a reminder that there is more to what God is going to do than has necessarily been revealed, but what we are responsible to know and live in light of has been revealed.

This “angel who stands with a foot on the land and on the sea swore by Him who lives forever,” verse 6, this is the eternal God, “the Creator of heaven and everything in heaven, the earth and everything in it, the sea and everything in it.” This is God's sovereignty over all; this is an oath taken. There will be delay no longer. We are ready for the final chapter. And the last 3½ years of this final seven-year period before the return of Christ is the last chapter. When these events have unfolded, Christ will return to earth, we'll have Armageddon and then we will have the establishing of His earthly kingdom.

You might come back to Daniel 12, to see the connection with what is said in Revelation 10. Remember the book of Revelation is filled with hundreds of references and allusions to the Old Testament. That's why sometimes people struggle in the book of Revelation, with their lack of familiarity with the prophetic portions of the Old Testament in particular. In Daniel 12:1, “Now at that time,” in the context, the end of chapter 11 was what was going on in the last 3½ years of that seven-period. Now at that time, when you get to the middle, “Michael the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people will arise.” We'll get to this in detail in Revelation 12 where he talks about what takes place here. “There will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.” You see we begin the time of greatest tribulation or the “great tribulation.” The whole seven-year period is a time of tribulation, but the last 3½ years really are a time of great tribulation, particularly as relates to the nation Israel. And again we will be in this in Revelation 12. Jesus talked about it in Matthew 24, said at this time there will break out tribulation against the nation Israel such as the world has never seen. And Israel will be in danger of being annihilated but for the grace of God.

You come down, verse 4 tells us that Daniel is to “conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time. Many will go back and forth, knowledge will increase.” There he is talking about the knowledge, what we are getting in the book of Revelation. In other words the book of Daniel could not be fully and clearly understood in these prophetic portions until a later time. This is progressive revelation. We'll talk more about that in a little bit, where God progressively revealed more of His purposes. But with the giving of the book of Revelation, now we will understand these prophetic portions of the book of Daniel in a way that could not be understood before. It will not change anything in the book of Daniel but it will add to it and clarify it. It's important, the later revelation, that's progressive revelation, God progressively revealed, the last of God's revelation is the book we call the book of Revelation. So that ties it all together and gives the greatest clarity.

So the book of Daniel, many of these things, when Michael the prince will stand? What does that all mean? Well it is concealed and sealed. Down in verse 8 Daniel even wants to know. “As for me I heard but I could not understand. I said,” as he addressed the angel, “my lord, what will be the outcome of these events?” Verse 9, “Go your way, Daniel, these words are concealed and sealed up.” It is revelation but there is not enough of it yet to put it all together. With the book of Revelation, remember at the end of the book of Revelation, John is told, “do not seal up this book.” So now we will have the added knowledge that enables us to understand the book of Daniel and other prophetic portions as well.

At the end of Daniel 12:6 you have this angel stands and “how long will it be until the end of these wonders? I heard the man dressed in linen who was above the waters of the river, he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, swore by Him who lives forever and ever.” See the similarity to what we have in Revelation 10. “It would be for a time, two times and a half time.” So again you see the connection with Revelation 10. “The angel stood and swore by Him who lives forever and ever,” then in Revelation 10 he adds, “the One who created all things, there will be no more delay.” That's what he says here, “It will be for a time, times and a half time.” We are at the point for the last phase, a time, two times and a half time, 1260 days, 42 months, the last half of the seven years. We are in the last of the last. Now you think the 70 Weeks, 490 years of Daniel began in 444 B.C., we are in 2000 A.D. We are roughly 2500 years along. All that has happened, empires come and go, people have died, there have been wars, there have been disasters. We are moving right along on God's schedule. Now we are ready for the last of the last, the last 3½ years. We are intended, now we can understand what Daniel could not understand.

Come back to Daniel 7:25, we'll get into this when we get into Revelation 12-13, but you have the first beast out of the sea when we get further into those chapters I just mentioned in Revelation. You are going to see the rising of the one we call the Antichrist and you'll note at the end of verse 25 that people “will be given into his hand for a time, times,” or two times, “and a half time.” So we have these prophecies that have been given that are coming together.

Come back to Revelation 10. You'll note, “there will be delay no longer,” this is where we left off in our study last time, we just came into verse 7, “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel.” This is the seventh angel, the voice will be the sound of the trumpet that he will blow. “When he is about to sound,” or when he shall sound, perhaps a clearer translation, “then the mystery of God is finished.” What is he saying? We have come to that last 3½ years. So 490 years determined in God's program for Israel. Remember the church age is not included, that was a break after the 69th week, 483 years, Messiah was crucified. It will pick up again after the rapture of the church with the signing of an agreement between Israel and the western world leader. We'll talk about that in the future.

So 490 years, we're at the last 3½ years and they will unfold with a series of judgments and climactic events, the climax of the climax is Christ's return in Revelation 19. The voice of the seventh angel, when he shall sound, then the mystery of God is finished. You see the sovereignty of God, He has been in complete control all along the way. In the most chaotic times everything was under His control. Our finite minds cannot grasp the greatness of our God. We get concerned, what is going to happen? What is going to happen in these days? What is going on? And everything is under control. It will be finished not a day early, not an hour early. Exactly on His schedule.

“As He preached to His servants the prophets,” like Daniel. Before Daniel we go back to Isaiah. They prophesied these things, they will come about. The purpose and plans of God cannot be frustrated. Man fights against God and we think, what will be the end of this? The end of this is God wins, you can't fight against God. You can oppose Him but it is futile. We sang the song, the nations are like less than a speck of dust on a scale; they are nothing to God. He raises them up, He puts them down; He brings men to power, He removes them from power. He is sovereign. This is “as He preached to His servants the prophets.” So this is additional information but Isaiah talks about the kingdom, Isaiah talks about coming judgment. That will all begin to be finally realized. There is a conclusion. Now Isaiah couldn't understand.

Jump back to Isaiah 2. Isaiah 2 says “It will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains.” A mountain symbolizes representing a kingdom, and the kingdom that God will establish on the earth through His Son will rule over all. “All the nations will stream to it, many people will come and say let's go to the mountain of the Lord,” which will be at Mt. Zion, “to the house of the God of Jacob that He may teach us concerning His ways. We will walk in His paths.” Verse 4, “He will judge between the nations, render decisions between many people. They will hammer their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, never again will they learn war.” We have part of that verse printed, I believe, on the United Nations building. The problem is they just pick out what they like. The prophet Joel says before this “you should beat your plowshares into swords” because we have the battle and the war before the peace. And peace will only be brought by Christ. So this was prophesied. We are hundreds of years before Christ.

Come over to Isaiah 11, there are verses in between but we will go to chapter 11. And you have something of the first coming of Christ in the opening couple of verses and then you jump to what will be true of the Second Coming of Christ. This is why the prophets couldn't put things together. You see the Old Testament, everything Isaiah said is exactly true and when Christ came at the first coming the Spirit of the Lord rested upon Him and so on. But He didn't exercise judgment. Verse 6, “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the young goat,” and so on. “A little boy will lead them.” Verse 9, “They will not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as waters . . .” That didn't happen.

This is what confused John the Baptist, remember. He sent some of his followers to Christ to ask, are you really the Messiah? Because John the Baptist was in prison. He had been announcing, the Messiah is coming, “when He comes He will exercise judgment on all His enemies. He will establish a kingdom that will never end.” And John is in prison. Something has gone wrong. He is not rebuked for that because he is an Old Testament prophet. He couldn't sort it out. He believed Christ would rule and reign and I guess He had to suffer and die, but Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1 that the prophets couldn't sort that out. Now what they said was true.

We now know there are two comings of Christ, the first coming to suffer and die. Two thousand years later, whatever, we are already about 2,000 years along, He is going to come again!

So later revelation clarifies it, puts things in order. Over in Isaiah 53, Isaiah is going to prophecy about the suffering and death of the Messiah with great clarity. Wait, that's not what we read in Isaiah 11, we have a perfect kingdom. Now we have him dead and buried and raised. Then you get to Isaiah 13:6, “Wail, for the day of the Lord is near, it is coming with fury.” And we've looked at that. So you see the mixture. What the book of Revelation is doing is sorting things out finally. There has been a process. With the coming of Christ certain clarity has been given, now greater clarity.

The mystery of God is finished. On your way back to Revelation stop at Romans 1625, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel,” Paul writing here, “and the preaching of Jesus Christ,” now note this, “according to the revelation of the mystery.” What do you mean a mystery? Something hard to understand? No, something that cannot be understood apart from revelation from God. So the “mystery which has been kept secret for long ages but now is manifested,” made known.

So that's what a mystery is in the Bible. The New Testament uses this word “mystery” a number of times. It refers to something that God is revealing that was not revealed before. It was concealed, it was hidden. It doesn't mean there was no information given because he goes on to say, “but now is manifested and by the Scriptures of the prophets.” But what the prophets had said took additional revelation. He's talking about that the Messiah came, suffered, died on the cross, was raised in glory and now is seated at the right hand of the Father until the time He returns to earth.

Well, that's additional information. But now the Scriptures of the prophets can be understood. Isaiah wrote about the Messiah ruling and reigning in glory when He comes and suffering and dying when He comes. They could never sort it out. If you had asked Isaiah, are you writing about the first coming or the Second Coming of Christ? What do you mean? I don't know what you are talking about, I'm writing about the coming of the Messiah. He didn't have any idea He would come twice, 2,000 years or so apart. So that's what a mystery is, something that hadn't been revealed before but now is being revealed.

So come back here to Revelation 10. When the seventh trumpet is sounded we are ready for finishing the mystery of God. All that God revealed now will unfold because….. do you know what will happen? Chapter 19, we'll have Christ returning to earth in glory. Well, after everything is fulfilled it is as clear as a bell and we are finding out in Revelation just how that is going to happen. And that's what finishes it because when He returns to earth He can judge His enemies and set up a kingdom. Then we'll learn more about the kingdom that had not been revealed with clarity when we get there. So this ongoing unfolding. It's “the mystery of God is finished which He preached to His servants the prophets.” He gave them information about the future that couldn't have been known otherwise, but now we are getting that completed information.

So verse 8 then, “Then the voice which I heard from heaven I heard again speaking with me.” John had heard the voice earlier, now he hears it again. The voice coming out, probably the voice of God here addressing him and giving him instruction. Says, “Go take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.” This is awesome. Now John, for the first time, is drawn in to these visions and so on that he is seeing. He is not just an observer. And here you have this strong angel standing with a foot on the land and on the sea and holding this book. And a voice comes out from heaven, go take the book out of the hand of the angel. That could be a little intimidating. What if he doesn't want to give me the book? He is standing on the land and on the sea, I imagine he could step on me.

But it's the voice of God, there is no hesitation here. John realizes that is God's will, go take the book out of his hand. “So I went to the angel telling him to give me the little book.” As I work through these things, sitting at my desk, close my eyes and picture John walking up to the angel, give me the book. Probably said it more nicely, please, could I have the book. No, he just says give me the little book. And the angel is prepared. Obviously God has sent him, he is aware, he tells John what he is to do with the book. Again, you see God's sovereignty in moving in every way, our finite minds cannot grasp His grasp of every detail. Give me the little book.

“He said to me, take it and eat it.” He was holding it, he brought it because it was for John. “It will make your stomach bitter, in your mouth it will be sweet as honey. I took the little book out of the angel's hand, ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey. And when I had eaten it, my stomach was bitter.” Now why do we bring that in here? Well John is being prepared for the rest of his prophesying. So that's where verse 11 will carry us. You must prophesy again, you're not done. So what is going to unfold here in the rest of the book of Revelation is what he is going to be given.

Again, the background for this ties John in his prophesying to the Old Testament prophets. Come back to Ezekiel. Remember in Ezekiel 1, Ezekiel was given a vision of the glory of God, he was brought into His presence. And the end of verse 28, “he fell on his face.” We saw that in Revelation 1 when John had the vision of the resurrected Christ, he falls on his face as a dead man. Then he is helped up. Ezekiel 2 opens up, “Then He said to me, son of man stand on your feet that I may speak with you. As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me, set me on my feet and I heard Him speaking to me.” Now you are getting the commission of Ezekiel, even as John is being recommissioned, if I can say that. He has already been serving, but John now being prepared for the rest of the prophetic ministry he has in recording the rest of the book of Revelation.

So God tells Ezekiel, “son of man,” favorite name for Ezekiel, the favorite title that Christ used for Himself, you remember, during His earthly ministry, Son of Man. “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me.” Much of what John is going to have to say from this point on is going to have a lot to do with Israel and the punishment of a rebellious people. “They have rebelled against Me, they and their fathers transgressed against Me to this day. I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children. You shall sat to them, thus says the Lord.” What if they don't listen? “As for them, whether they listen or not, for they are a rebellious house, they will know that a prophet has been among them.” And you are not to fear them, doesn't matter. “Though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions, neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence. They are a rebellious house.”

In other word, Ezekiel, you are being sent with My word, the word of the living God. They have rejected Me and rebel against My word. Now what kind of response do you expect to get? If they reject the Lord, they will reject you. Remember what Jesus told His disciples? “If they hear My word, they will hear yours; if they reject Me, they will reject you.” We somehow have the idea that we can get the enemies of the Lord to love us. So that was the goal. Or we can present the word that they reject and we'll just massage it and alter it and change it and they won't recognize it. And now they will accept it and they will like us.

Verse 7, “You shall speak My words to them, whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” Ezekiel just had the simplest ministry you could want. Here are My words, tell them. We do studies on what people like and don't like and we know they don't want to hear this so we are going to . . . That's not the ministry of those who are entrusted with the Word of God, which includes all of us. We'll see in a moment. “But you son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you. Do not be rebellious.” The danger is Ezekiel will get caught up with the rest of Israel, I don't like this and I don't like not being liked and so he becomes rebellious by not telling then exactly what God said.

So he says, note the end of verse 8, this is our connection, “Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you. I looked and behold a hand was extended to me, lo, a scroll was in it. Spread it out, it was written on the front and the back, were lamentations and mourning. He said to me, son of man eat what you find, eat this scroll and go speak to the house of Israel. I opened my mouth, he fed me the scroll. He said, son of man feed your stomach, fill your body with this scroll I am giving to you. I ate it, it was sweet as honey in my mouth.”

Sounds like what the angel says to John, right? So you can see the connection going back to the Old Testament prophets. And this will fulfill what the Old Testament prophets said. You know where Ezekiel's prophecy is going to end, most of you, with a description of the temple that will be in existence during the first thousand years of the kingdom. It was sweet as honey in his mouth. There are prophecies of blessing and salvation but there also are lamentations and mourning.

So down in Ezekiel 3:14, “The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, I went embittered.” Remember the word for John was sweet as honey in his mouth and bitter in his stomach. Here the Word as he takes it in is sweet in his mouth but the end result God says preach about judgment. He goes away “embittered in the rage of my spirit.” The Word of God working on him, having that impact. It's the prophetic task and responsibility to take in the Word. That's the picture of eating it, to take it in, assimilate it into your heart. Ezekiel 3:10 says, “Moreover he said to me, son of man take into your heart all My words which I speak to you. Listen closely.” Important for us today, we come and our minds are on a hundred different things…..God says…..pay attention. Think about it! The eternal God speaking and we just…can't we move this along? I'm getting restless, I'm not used to paying attention.

We have to recondition ourselves in our thinking when we come to approach the Word of God. God is holding us accountable. Was Ezekiel going to be able to say, Lord I wasn't paying attention, I had other things on my mind and a lot of troubles come along in these days. He's in Babylon, he had been deported from Israel. He can’t say, “Lord, I didn't get that all so I probably didn't get it all right but I'm sure you understand.” God doesn't understand, He makes it clear. Verse 11, “Speak to them and tell them whether they listen or not.” Then he goes away, ready to do what he has been told to do.

One more passage, Jeremiah 1:5, God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” And Jeremiah, “I can't do that, I'm too young. And I don't know how to speak.” Sounds like Moses in some ways, doesn't know how to speak. And I'm too young. As though God needed information.

You know how often we bargain with God and say, “Lord you put me in this situation, it's not a good place for me.” As though God put you in a situation He didn't know wasn't a good place for you? Me? He says simple and God says don't tell Me you are a youth. Didn't God know him from the womb? Before he was born He had appointed him to this ministry. “Because everywhere I send you, you shall go; all that I command you, you shall speak.” So I didn't pick you for your intellect, I didn't pick you for your age, because all you have to do is tell them what I told you in the places I send you. So any dimwit can do that. I'm not saying Jeremiah was a dimwit, but I'm saying he didn't have to come up with some kind of plan—what's my strategy here? And I know I'm a prophet and you know they didn't like what Jeremiah had to say. But God says you don't have to worry about those things, all you have to be concerned about is do what I tell you. You tell them what I told you wherever I send you.

Verse 9, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth,” now note this, this is where he is going in Revelation 10:11, “I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up, to break down, to destroy, to overthrow, to build, to plant.” That dual ministry of the prophet, the sweet and the bitter. And the authority is over all creation. God's Word reigns supreme, here it is. Presidents are not greater, senators are not greater, kings are not greater. The Word of God is supreme, it has absolute authority. Jeremiah has to have the courage and the boldness, he'll have to tell the king what God said. The king won't want to hear it but the Word of God has authority over the king. Doesn't mean there is not respect, Jeremiah is always respectful, but there is no compromising. Well, this is not just an average person that I would tell what God said, I have to think about this, this is the king. I don't have to think about it in that sense, I have to tell them what God said. So he has to eat the Word, he has to take it in, he has to assimilate it, it has to become part of him.

Stop at 1 Corinthians 3 on your way back to Revelation. The same analogies are used for us as believers, we have been entrusted with the Word. I don't want to leave this and think this is just for the prophets. The prophets were given the Word and they had the responsibility so they could give that same Word to you and me. And Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink not solid food, you were not able to receive it. Indeed you are not able even yet, for you are still fleshly.”

I mean, frustrated. It's all right to have baby food for babies. I still remember when my youngest brother was born, I liked that little vanilla pudding that came in the baby food jars. So I would go help myself to that, give him the crushed peas or whatever that green gook is. But I liked that. My mother said, “that's not for you.” I like it. You have to outgrow the baby stage, I was slow. The Corinthians were slow spiritually. No excuse for it, Paul said. We should be maturing. No excuse for a person to have been a believer for 20 years and I don't know about the book of Revelation, I don't understand that. What are you saying? You are a fleshly Christian and you have stunted growth? We think it is all right to just have a general knowledge.

People go to church and as long as the pastor presented the Gospel somewhere along the line it is fine and besides he talked about having a healthy marriage and he talked about raising kids. And all those things are practical and helpful.

Remember, we don't have the liberty to alter the message. And you don't have the liberty to decide whether you want to hear it or not. That doesn't mean the teachers don't have a responsibility in trying to prepare it and present it, but we are stuck with the content. I don't say that disrespectfully. This is the only thing. The church is the pillar and support of the truth and you just can't fly in and pick up a few thoughts and get on your way. It's like church is interrupting. Next weekend, we've gotten information, they are going to be having some kind of race so know that traffic patterns will be different. It's in your newsletter.

Do you notice everything gets moved to Sunday? Well people are doing important things the other six days of the week and Sunday is free. We don't do anything important Sunday. And the pressure comes to us as believers, we don't either. And less is better. How are we going to get a grasp so that we have really, literally devoured the Word “as newborn babes longing for the pure milk of the Word that we might grow with respect to salvation, applying ourselves diligently that we might handle accurately the Word of truth so we might be approved by God” if we can do it in 15-20 minute segments or something that doesn't make me concentrate? I'm tired when we come together. I understand it is hard work, we have to focus, we have to concentrate. What is more important than knowing this?

Come back to Revelation 10. Why? “He said to me, you must prophesy again.” You are not done, John. Verse 11, “Many peoples, nations, tongues, kings” and he has the authority over them because the angel who was given authority over all the earth holding the book passed it on. John has the authority, here is what you tell them. So we will pick up with chapter 11 and he'll tell us what he tells them. And now we have been entrusted with it. It's not a dead end of the Word, he prophesied . . . Remember how the book starts, the book ends? “Blessed is he who reads, those who hear and heed” what is in the book. Now we are entrusted with this.

Think about it. We have the completed revelation and you have it in a form now, you can just tuck under your arm, take with you. You have it on your computer, we have it in various sizes wherever we are. And we're going to tell the Lord, you know, life is busy. Well, you are My child, you are My slave, you have My Word. What in the world could be more important than this? God has spoken. As His children He has given us His Spirit to understand it. And we find ourselves bored, uninterested, trying to squeeze in as little as possible? I'm thankful to pastor in a church where people do listen for an hour and encourage me in the study.

We have to wrap up, I have some summary points for you to help your memory.

1. The plans of God revealed to the prophets will be finished. Sort of where we left off last week, we picked up this week. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel when he sounds his trumpet, then they mystery of God is finished.” And everything God said, you can go back to the earliest Old Testament prophecies, Moses prophesied God would raise up a prophet like him. We go back to the beginning, things in Genesis. The plans of God revealed to the prophets will be finished.

2. The Word of God is to be assimilated into our hearts and lives. There is no way to do that without discipline, hard work, study, concentration. It's just the way it is. I'd like to be a rocket scientist, can't do it. But we have the ability. I can say I'm not intellectual enough to do certain things, but that's not an excuse with the Word because do you know what the Bible says? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is your teacher. The human teachers are instruments He uses but it's the Holy Spirit using the human teacher with the Word and the Holy Spirit using your concentration and submission to the Spirit's ministry that enables us to grow. Builds it into our hearts and lives. So we are to assimilate it, we are to devour it, we are to be passionate about it. We ought to be looking for more, not less.

3. The Word of God is sweet, it proclaims the joys of our salvation, God's mercy, God's grace. It tells us of the final victory. That's exciting!

4. The Word of God is bitter, it tells of wrath and judgment. We can talk about the love of God to all kinds of people. Yes, God is love. You talk about the judgment of God, the wrath of God, the seriousness of sin—who are you to be judging? I'm a nobody. If it is just my opinion, you ought to ignore it. But when God speaks we have to listen or we are in rebellion. So the Word of God is bitter. Don't be discouraged, we can't alter the message. It is sweet in what it promises, it is bitter in what it promises.

5. And the Word of God rules over all, it rules over kings, it rules over nations. You know in a world that seems to be more chaotic, I don't know whether it's more chaotic but it is chaotic in our day and we have to deal with terrorism, and we have to deal with this, that and the other thing. The Word of God rules, it is sovereign. That's what we bring. That's why we don't want to get distracted and caught up in what the world says is important. The world can do some of those things, that's fine. We have to do what only we can do.

The church is the pillar and support of the truth. If the church of Jesus Christ is not being faithful with the truth, where will the world go to hear truth? This is what God says He has established. We are His family, a family where the truth is foundational, central and the focus of all we do. There are a lot of “good” things the world does—helping other people, meeting need. But we get distracted in all of that. I get a lot of missionary information, I'm saddened because much of what I get I find very little missions material coming to me talking about people who have heard the Gospel and been saved or they are teaching the truth. They talk about who they are helping, whom they have given medicine to, how they are trying to improve their living condition, what they've done here. And then they invite if you would like to give and help in this.

I'm not condemning this, but somewhere we have lost our way. I expect the church is where we seriously deal with the truth. I understand the unbeliever is going to come and unless the Spirit of God is working in a special way in their heart, they certainly won't want to come back any more than the unbeliever who is in rebellion against God wanted to listen to the prophets. That doesn't mean we don't want to be kind and thoughtful in our presentation of the truth, but we must be faithful to the truth.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. We would not take for granted the greatness of the privilege that has been given to us to have experienced the salvation You have provided in Jesus Christ and Lord, to live in this day in which You have placed us. Your revelation to us is complete and Lord, we have been blessed with many faithful servants who have studied the Word, taught the Word. We have our own copies of the precious truth. Lord, we have no excuse not to thoroughly understand the Word, take it in and live in light of it. May we be faithful as a church body, as individuals, may our light shine as we give forth the truth wherever we are. Bless this day, bless the Word as we have been in it together. We pray in Christ's name, amen.