Revelation 10 1 and I saw another
mighty angel come down from heaven Clothed with a cloud and a rainbow
was upon his head And his face was as it were the Sun And his
feet as pillars of fire And we know from the way this angel
is described what he does and what he says in this Chapter
that this is Christ Jesus our Lord None of these other angels,
we've seen Satan pictured as an angel. Of course, those who
we consider angels by nature, they have a different nature,
of course, than any other creature, they're angels. And of course,
they're called angels, but we've seen our Lord called an angel.
A messenger is what the word means, messenger. And of course,
that word is used in different contexts in the scripture. But
none of these other angels or messengers are called mighty
angels, only the Lord. How can you be a mighty angel? Think about that for a minute.
Now, does it mean someone who is mighty in other ways and just
happens to also be an angel? Or does it mean that as an angel,
he's mighty? You see the difference? And of
course, it's both with our Savior. He's the Almighty God. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, but also mighty in his role as messenger, the messenger
of the covenant. So the question again, how can
you be a mighty angel? Well, he has a message that's
mighty. He has the words of eternal life.
The message that he brings is powerful. It's able to make a
sinner wise unto salvation, 2 Timothy 3.15. He's a mighty messenger
also in a second way, and that is when he delivers a message,
whoever he delivers it to gets it. That may not be true of anybody
else, but him now. His sheep hear his voice and
they follow him. Everybody he called and said,
follow me. They rose up from what they were
doing and they followed him. That's a mighty messenger. He
says to Thomas, be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas bows
before him and says, my Lord and my God. He comes down from
heaven, it says in our text. He comes down from the throne
of glory to tend his sheep. His name is Emmanuel, which being
interpreted as God with us. He came down to dwell among us.
The word was made flesh and dwelt among us, or that word is tabernacled
among us. In the same flesh that we dwell in yet without sin. And
as man, he came down and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. This is what he does. He comes
down. He came down to take on him our
nature. He came down. He humbled himself
and became obedient unto the death of the cross. In order
to save us, he comes down from heaven, but he's also highly
exalted. Given a name which is above every
name It says he's clothed with a cloud
We see him often this way in the scripture this cloud reminds
us of who he is to us and for us because when he's mentioned
as being in a cloud or Or with a cloud around him It's in The
various ways he appears that way reminds us here of who he
is. He went before his elect in a
pillar of cloud in the wilderness to shield them from harm, to
protect them from wild beasts, to protect them from the heat
of the sun, which would have been very harmful to them on
such a journey. He descended in a cloud up on
Mount Sinai. And he did that when he gave
his law. He gave us a schoolmaster to
bring us to Christ. And he did so clothed in a cloud. He appeared in a cloud upon the
mercy seat in the tabernacle and in the temple. The mercy
seat is where he said, I will meet with you there and commune
with you. Where the blood is upon the mercy
seat. He was in a cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration when
he gave his disciples a glimpse of his glory and spoke there
with Moses and Elijah concerning the death that he should accomplish.
So it's good to remember him in these scenes where the cloud
is around him. He ascended in a cloud after
his resurrection. And the angel said, this same
Jesus shall so come again in like manner as you've seen him
go into heaven. And in our text, also a rainbow
was upon his head. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord and was shut into the ark by God. And God's wrath
upon all mankind fell. It says that God saw that the
imagination of man's heart was only evil continually, and he
said, I'm gonna wipe them out. He could do that anytime, couldn't
he? Just send a little germ and wipe us all out. Or some other
way. He won't do it by rain, though. He won't do it like that. And when God's wrath fell on
mankind in the form of that flood, Noah found out that finding grace
in God's eyes is not just a doctrine, it's life, it's salvation. Salvation from sin and its punishment,
because that's why God judged the earth, because of sin. And
Noah was as much a sinner as anybody when he was a sinner
in an ark. He was a sinner that couldn't
be touched by the wrath of God. God's judgment fell upon the
ark, which pictures our Lord Jesus Christ and all those who
were in the ark were safe. And when they came out safe from
God's wrath, God's promise that his wrath poured out on Christ
meant there was no wrath for his people. That's his promise. And that promise was given to
Noah, and the symbol of that promise was a rainbow in the
sky. All of us have seen one at one
time or another. The rainbow simply meant God
has punished his son for our sins. and poured out his wrath
upon him as our substitute, and so no wrath will ever fall upon
his people. Those who have found grace in
his sight will never feel a drop of his wrath." That's what the
rainbow means, and so it's beautiful in more ways than one, isn't
it, to see a rainbow? Much more beautiful than its
incredible colors and just the majesty of seeing it in the clouds is the promise that God made
and symbolized with that bow. And that rainbow is on Christ's
head in this vision. This is key. It's where once
the crown of thorns was pressed upon his brow. Because it's his
precious blood that has redeemed us from the curse of God's wrath. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. And
Christ redeeming me om Calvary doesn't mean that it's up to
me now. It means I'm redeemed. That's simply what it means.
The truth of the gospel which almost nobody in this world believes
or even understands is the simplest thing. You know the difference
between the gospel and all the false gospels. It's just simply
that Christ did exactly what he came to do. It's who he is
and what he did. It's on the head of Christ and
this rainbow also surrounds the throne we saw Revelation 4 3
You can't look at God without looking through the colors of
that rainbow without looking through Without seeing him in
light of the covenant that he made With his people who found
grace in his sight And when God looks at us from his throne That
covenant is prominent, isn't it? He sees us in the light of
that covenant, too and sees us in the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the brightness of the light of that covenant. There's no
rainbow without the sun. No rainbow. And think about this now, in
the midst of all these woes pronounced upon the earth, the last three
trumpets are woe, woe, woe. We've seen two of them already.
And before, it's like the pause that took place before the seventh
seal was opened. Remember that? There was a silence
in heaven for a period of time before that seventh seal was
opened. And now before the seventh trumpet blows, Christ appears in his glory and in his grace
with the promise of grace upon his head He promised Noah that he would
not destroy the earth with water again. And of course that symbolizes
no wrath for his people, because Christ has born it. And when he does destroy this
earth with fire, not going to destroy it by water again, but
he is going to burn it up. But when he does that, his people
will be safe. The same rainbow is on his head. We'll be safe in him as Noah
and his family were in the ark, because he's the Lord Jesus Christ. And his promise is not just about
it not raining that much anymore. It's about our safety, our security
in him. And it says here, his face was
as it were the sun. We've seen him like that a few
times in scripture too, haven't we? Turn with me and let's read
some scripture together tonight. Matthew 17. Matthew 17, verses 1 through
8. This is who John saw in our text. The same one that these disciples
saw. in Matthew 17, and after six
days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John, his brother, and bringeth
them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before
them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was
white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias talking with him, Then answered Peter
and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee and
one for Moses and one for Elias. And while he yet spake, behold,
a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, the voice out of
the cloud." So we see the same person here, don't we? The cloud
is there, he's in the cloud. And also the brightness of his
face. as the son. And they behold a
voice out of the cloud which said, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And when the disciples
heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. Simon
forgot all about those tabernacles he was gonna build, didn't he?
Three tabernacles. And Jesus came and touched them.
and said, arise and be not afraid. Oh my. And when they had lifted
up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. When God speaks from heaven and
not just me, you're only gonna see Christ. You're not gonna
see me anymore. Or anybody else, you'll see Christ. Turn to Luke chapter 9 with me.
Verse 28. What were they talking about
when Moses and Elias came and spoke with him? You know the
answer to that, but let's read it together because it's just
wonderful. It's wonderful to read about it. Luke 9, 28. He came to pass. About an eight days after these
sayings, he took Peter and John and James and went up into a
mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and
glistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory
and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. There's only one for whom death
is an accomplishment. For us, it's just proof we were
sinners. The wages of sin is death, though we won't die in
any real sense. This body's gonna die. It's because
it's corrupt. But the Lord Jesus Christ's death
was an accomplishment. His glory is seen in his face. That's what that was shining
forth from him. It was a glimpse of his glory. His glory is what? You ever try to define that?
How would you define that? The glory of Christ. There ain't
but one definition for it. Remember John 17? Let me read
you verse one, and then I'm gonna have you go ahead and start turning
to John 13 if you would, please. But as you're turning over there,
listen to John 17 one. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, father, the hour has come. We
know what hour that is. It's the hour of his death. It's
the hour of his humility. It's the hour that he's going
to offer his soul for the sins of his sheep. The hour has come, and remember
what he said next? Glorify. That's what's gonna
happen in that hour. Glorify thy son that thy son
also may glorify thee. This is the definition of the
glory of Christ. You wanna know what it was shining
from his face? It appeared as a bright light,
but his glory is spiritual. John 13 now y'all are already
there. Let me get over there and we'll
start in verse 21 John 13 21 When Jesus Had thus said he was
troubled in spirit and testified and said verily verily I Say
unto you that one of you shall betray me Now here they are at
the last final supper that he had the final communion of that
he had with his disciples, and he's broken bread and handed
it to them, and they drink wine together. And listen, verse 22,
then the disciples looked on one another, doubting of whom
he spake. That'd be kind of startling, wouldn't it? One of you's gonna
betray me. And these men had walked with him for what, three
years, I guess, roughly. That's a good while. They had
become friends, and they'd experienced and come to know one another,
Come to know him a little bit like us, a little bit, you know,
years go by and we might learn something, not much. But boy, that would have been
starting one of you 12. If there'd been a couple of hundred of them,
that's one thing, but there's 12 of them. One of you is going
to betray me. And so they looked at one another,
wouldn't you? If it was somebody here, I'd be looking at y'all
saying, It'd be kind of heartbreaking, wouldn't it? One of these is
going to betray our Lord? Oh. Now there was leaning on Jesus
bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus loved, and Simon Peter
therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be
of whom he spake. Simon figured if he's going to
tell anybody, it'll be John. Let's get John, let's get John.
And so he, He's trying to finagle the answer. They wanted to know
who it was. And the Lord told him and they
still didn't know who it was. He then lying on Jesus' breath
saying unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, he it is
to whom I shall give a sock when I have dipped it. And when he
had dipped the sock, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son
of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered
into him. Then said Jesus unto him, that
thou doest do quickly. There's so much teaching in this,
isn't there? The Lord didn't say, oh, please
don't do that, Judas. Please don't do what you're thinking.
I know what you're thinking, please don't. He said, get it done,
go do it. This is all at the Lord's control.
This is Him doing whatsoever His hand and counsel determined
before to be done, and that's what He's doing tonight with
you and with me. Would you have it any other way
by His grace? Now no man at the table knew
for what intent He spake this. He just told them. Boy, they
were stupid, weren't they? No, not any more than us. It's just telling us who we are,
isn't it? He just told them what was fixing
to happen and then it happened and they didn't know what happened.
Remember we saw that at the end of Luke in our study too. They
had no idea what he had just told them. For some of them thought because
Judas had the bag that Jesus had said unto him, buy those
things that we have need of against the feast or that he should give
something to the poor. Judas must have been a pretty
good guy. You know what I'm saying? Of course he was a devil in his
heart, but on the outside. Don't get me talking about religion
again. They're so nice, aren't they? So sweet. Devils. He then, having received the
sock, went immediately out, and it was night. My pastor in Texas wrote a great
article one time on that. The title of the article was,
It Was Night. What a picture. Therefore, when
he was gone out, Jesus said, now, think about what's fixing
to happen. This devil is about to betray
the son of God, resulting in him being spit on, mocked, beaten,
tortured, ridiculed, and nailed to a cross until he bled out.
And what did our Lord say? Now is the son of man humiliated? No. Now is the son of man murdered? True, both are true. Now is the
Son of Man glorified. You wanna know what the glory
of Christ is? It's his redemptive work on Calvary. It's who he is now, but that's
integral to who he is. He's not who he is without what
he did, and what he did is not what he did without who he is.
Do you see that? And God is glorified in him.
Boy, I wish I could see that better, but I get a little glimpse,
don't you, reading that? My goodness. What a beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful thing that is. Christ is seen in his glory
in heaven as a lamb slain. Isn't that how John saw him?
As the lamb, as it had been slain. That's his glory. Christ crucified. The greatest glory that God has
ever revealed to a sinner is the glory of Christ crucified. That's the light that shines
in our hearts when God turns on the light. For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness in the beginning, when he said,
let there be light, and there was, he shined in our hearts. That was just a picture when
he created this world and shine some light on it before he even
created the sun. That's a picture of what's about
to be said next here. Have shine in our hearts to give
the light. So that means, how did it happen
then? God said, let there be light. And there was light in
here. He commanded it, that's how it
happened. Not because I decided something, but because he's God. To give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God. Where is that light? Brighter
than the noonday sun. It's in the face of his precious
son. That's where God's glory is seen. He's the brightness of the glory
of God and the express image of his person. You see why? The message is so clear and we
want it to be so clear that Christ is indeed the one thing needful. In his feet, as pillars of fire,
it says, the feet in the scripture everywhere signify the walk,
your walk, your way. And this is Christ's righteousness
in action. He said, I must be about my father's
business. What's that? Fulfilling all righteousness
for his people. That's what it is. This is him
doing always those things that pleased his father. His way is perfection. Christ's
righteousness Well, his feet being pillars
of fire is not good for everybody. His righteousness is not good
news. It is in his righteousness that he judges this world and
condemns everyone outside of himself. So his feet being pillars
of fire, that's a frightening thing, but his righteousness
for his elect, his way, his walk, his righteousness is our righteousness. There's nothing scary about being
righteous in him. That's what his righteousness
is to us. It's righteousness for us. Psalm 19, turn with me
to Psalm 19 and hear our text in this. I always want to, when
we turn to scripture and read it together, I don't want to
get off of the subject. I want it to be, I believe this
is an exposition of our text right here in Psalm 19. See if you read it that way.
Psalm 19, one through 10. Think about our text. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth
speech and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone
out through all the earth and their words to the end of the
world In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun. We saw it rise this
morning. Well, it was kind of cloudy this
morning. We didn't see it. We saw its light, didn't we?
Tomorrow morning, maybe we'll see the sun come up. Which is as a bridegroom coming
out of his chamber. What do you think about when
you see the sun? It is beautiful. People say, oh, that's beautiful.
You know, God's much better than, he's the best painter. Okay,
if that's all you see, though, is just the beauty, the physical
beauty of it. I think we've missed the point
of the sun coming up. It's beautiful because it pictures him. and rejoiceth as a strong man
to run a race. His going forth is from the end
of the heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there
is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The heat of his flaming
feet is wrath to many, but it's comfort and warmth and health
to his people, but nobody's hid from it. The law of the Lord is perfect. What a coincidence that he would
talk about the righteousness of the Lord right after this. You see why his feet were as
flames of fire. His face like the sun and his
feet were like fire. The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart." You see that? He's as a bridegroom.
It's the sun, we're picturing the sun, fire, heat, and his
way. The ends of the earth, nobody's
hidden. And everywhere he went, what was he doing? The law of
the Lord is perfect. It's perfect in concept, if I
can even use that word. It's perfect in God's giving of it in and of itself. The law on stone was perfect.
But the perfection of the law, what does it mean unless somebody
does it? He's the one that did it. Converting this of the testimony,
sure, making wise, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing
the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever, the
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether, more
to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter
also than honey, The honeycomb you see he didn't just fulfill
the Ten Commandments. He fulfilled every word in this
Sweeter than honey the gospel of our Savior And speaking of
books he had in his hand a little book open We know why it's open
because he opened it when no one else could and he set his
right foot picture this now and Picture him in that, his face
like the sun, a rainbow on his head. And these are all, we know
this is spiritual language. Wasn't a, he appeared that way
though to John for reasons as we've talked about. But what
do you think this pictures? His right foot is on the sea
and his left foot on the earth. Prophet said it is he that sitteth
on the circle of the earth the whole earth is his footstool
That's that's incredible isn't it to see him do we see this
earth that way as his footstool Christ's feet being set upon
earth and sea at once just says he rules over all the earth It's
all under his reign and authority and It's that simple, isn't it? Acts chapter four, look at that
with me, Acts 4, 23. First, yeah, Acts 4, 23. And
being let go, remember the disciples
were threatened, They were straightly charged
that they shouldn't preach anymore in the name of Christ. And being let go, they went to
their own company. That's what we do when this world
lets us go. I like to be with y'all. And reported all that the chief
priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, you're God. Your God, that's a good thing
to say. He knows that, you reckon? But
I suspect that glorifies him when his creatures declare it
unto him. Your God, which has made heaven
and earth and the sea and all that in them is. His right foot is on the sea
and his left foot is on the earth who by the mouth of thy servant
David has said why did the heathen rage? The people imagine a vain
thing vain things The kings of the earth stood up and the rulers
were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus whom thou hast anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. I never put verse
24 and 28 together like this before, but he made everything
and he runs everything. That's what those two verses
say. He made heaven and earth. It's all his footstool and whatever
happens in it happens by his will and counsel. even the worst
thing that ever happened, which is also the best thing that ever
happened. He made it all and everything
that happens in earth and sea is according to his hand and
his counsel. This little book is the one that
he took and opened in chapter five. It's a little book opened
in his hand. It's the same book. And remember
what made him worthy to open that book? We shouldn't talk
about his worthiness to open it, the fact that it was open
in his hand. Without remembering this, Revelation 5, 9, and they
sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof. Do you remember the next part?
For thou was slain. What's his glory? How is his
glory revealed? His glory, don't get me wrong,
it's integral to his person. It's his character, who he is
is his glory. But again, his person and his
work are inseparable. You're worthy to take the book
and open the seals for you were slain and Everybody in the world knows
about and probably believes that a Jesus died on a cross somewhere.
What about this part? And has redeemed us. Well, he
made redemption, that's not what it says. And has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. It's interesting, it's just a
little book now. There was a lot of buildup about
that book in chapter five. That book seemed so imposing
when it was first mentioned, didn't it? They looked throughout
heaven and earth to see if anyone could open it. It required a
level of worthiness that nobody had. And so that book, we're thinking
about that book. What kind of book is that? What
a book. And John wept much because no
one was worthy to open it. What a book that must be. But
we're not saying what a book anymore. We're saying what a
savior. It's just a little book in his
hand now because of whose hand it's in. It's just a little book. What
kind of savior? counts it a small thing. To endure the wrath of God and
redeem a multitude of sinners which no man can number. What
kind of Savior? My Savior. Looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him And during the cross, you remember the next
word? Despising the shame. It doesn't
mean he hated it. We use that word. That word despising
means to think nothing of. To think nothing of the shame. And it's set down at the right
hand of the throne of God. It's a little book in his hand,
though it be all of God's purposes and will contained in that book. It's a wonderful book, but don't
set your eyes on the book. We don't glory in events. We glory in the one who did them.
We don't trust in the resurrection. He is the resurrection. Verse
three, and he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth.
And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
You couldn't miss that, could you? When he speaks, it's the lion of the tribe of
Judah speaking. And when he speaks, he's heard.
He's always heard. Not by everybody. He's heard
by who he's speaking to. You remember when Paul said when
he was, when the Lord met him on the road to Damascus, the
Lord spoke to him. And the others could hear a voice,
but they didn't know what was, they didn't know what, you know
why? Because he wasn't talking to them. He was talking to Saul. When a lion roars, it's a warning,
isn't it? At times, it's a warning to any creature
that might be destroyed by that lion. But to his family, it's a call. He roars and his prey flees,
but he roars and his family runs to him. Like the centurion said in Matthew
8, he says to some, go, and they go. He says to some, though, come,
and they come. I've never seen that picture
there in that story. The Lord keeps, he keeps revealing
himself, doesn't he, in such beautiful ways. That centurion
said, when I say to one, go, he goes, and when I say to one,
come, he comes. And you, you just have to say the word. He
says to some, go, didn't he? He said, depart from me, you
that work iniquity. I never knew you, and they go. But bless God, he says to some,
come, and they do. He says, let there be light,
and there is. He says to the sun, be still, and it stops.
in the sky. He says to a fisherman, follow
me. And he leaves everything, his
nets, his boat and his father and follows him. He says to the
leper, be clean and to the dead arise. And they do, they are. He roars and he speaks in a still
small voice. And either way, every time, his
will is done. And whoever he's speaking to
hears him. I just heard somebody today say,
well, I just feel like the Lord is leading me to do this. Forget
it. Forget it. When the Lord speaks, you're
going to hear him. You're going to hear him. He said, I could
call for more than 12 legions of angels and they'd come. And you know, I thought when
I thought of that, because it is his voice, he just speaks.
If he had asked for 12 legions of angels, the father would have
given it to him. That's his voice thundering,
seven thunders, perfect thunder. I don't know what that sounds
like except, I know it's his voice. But I think it says there, remember
when he said, I think not that I could ask and more than 12
legions of angels would be sent? Why do you think he said more
than 12? I think maybe, and this is just me speculating, don't
take this as confirmed or anything. I think it may be because 12
legions were already there. You think? Don't you think I
could call him even more if I needed more? I know this, all of heaven
waits for his voice. He says, peace be still and the
winds and the waves obey. All other thunder ceases at the
sound of his thunder. And he can say that in your heart
tonight and mine, if he's pleased to do so. He can say, peace,
be still. And there will be peace. Peace,
which passeth all understanding. Why don't we ask him? Let's ask
him.