Revelation chapter 10, and with
your finger there, turn back to the first chapter for just
a moment. I want to just remind me of something. When we're going through the
book of Revelation, there are several things that I need to
be reminded of. That is, that this is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. This is not speculation. This
is not modern thinking. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ is referred to as
the lamb in this book more than any other place in the Bible.
There are symbolic statements about him throughout the Old
Testament, but he is referred to as the Lamb. And we have the
word revelation here in the second word of this book. And so often
when we use the word apocalypse, people think of war, rumors of
war, the end of the world. and yet we found out that the
same word was found in the book of Luke Chapter 2. So would you
turn over there with me, Luke Chapter 2, the same word apocalypse
is mentioned over there in Luke Chapter 2, and this certainly
adds a great deal of meaning to what this book is about. It's
not talking about the end of the world, it's talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ and his great rule over this world. It's
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ as being the sovereign
king, and he's going to demonstrate that in the 10th chapter tonight
so clearly as it's spoken of him there. But notice here in
Luke chapter 2, I believe it's verse 32, Let me get there. Luke chapter
2 verse 32, the word lighten in this verse of scripture, Luke
chapter 2 and verse 32, is the same word that we find over in
the book of Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1. Lighten. Now, lighten means to expose. Lighten means to open up. A light
to lighten the Gentiles. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the light that lightens the Gentiles. We are in darkness by nature,
just like all the other peoples of the world, but this light,
as it's referred to here in this book of, this is Simeon, a light
to lighten the Gentiles. He is the apocalypse. for the
Gentiles, and that means he's our enlightenment. He's our revelation. He's the one that opens up the
truths of the gospel. He's the one that opens up the
truths about God. He's the one that reveals the
Godhead to us. Great is the mystery of godliness. God come in the flesh. That's
a mystery, but this is opened up. And as we go on, the Lord
Jesus uses a similar word when he shared with the apostle Peter.
Peter said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And
the Lord Jesus said, flesh and blood did not reveal this unto
you, but my father, which is in heaven. So it's a revelation,
it's an opening up, it's an enlightenment, it's a turning on of the lights.
As we go through the book of Revelation, we have found out
that this book shares with us the opening up of Jesus Christ,
the opening up of Jesus Christ to his church, the opening up
of Jesus Christ to the individuals that make up the church, his
constant and abiding care. When we see great, a disaster
or circumstances, there is revealed the glories of the Lord Jesus
Christ protecting the church. Now, as we go over here to chapter
10 tonight, we find that in between some symbolic language The Lord
Jesus Christ is revealed and John writes this for our benefit
and shares with us what he saw. And in fact, he is told not to
write some of the things that he saw. There are some things
about the Lord Jesus Christ we'll never know this side of glory.
He has purposed it that way. It's not going to come by research,
and it's not going to come by reading. In fact, there are many
times in the scriptures that the Lord Jesus said, He hid these
things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes.
It's a revelation. It's an enlightenment. There
are going to be people go through their life and hear the name
of the Lord Jesus and never know the meaning of it. They'll hear
the word salvation and never understand what it means. So
it's a revelation. It's the opening up. It's the
taking off of the lid. It's the pulling back of the
curtains. It's opening up the Lord Jesus Christ to his people.
He's the manna which came down from heaven. Now, in chapter
10, verse 1, it says, and I saw another mighty angel come down
from heaven. Now, if we just stop there, we
might have a thought of an angel, but this goes on and shares with
us that this angel is not just any angel. This angel is the
messenger of God. This angel is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look how he appears as John was
used to describe him. came 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 were pillars of fire and he had
in his hand a little book open and he set and he set his right
foot upon the sea and his left foot upon the earth and cried
with a loud voice as when a lion roars And when he cried, seven
thunders uttered their voices. Now, there's a number of times
in the scriptures we find that the prophets and the apostles
referred to the Lord Jesus Christ as an angel. Turn with me, if
you would, to the book of Acts, chapter 27, when the apostle
Paul was used to write these words with regard to who visited
him. It's the angel of the Lord. It's
the messenger of the Lord. And there's only one true messenger
of the Lord. We represent him, we do the best
we can, but there is only one that truly represents all the
interests of God. Only one messenger truly represents
all the interests of God. And thanks be unto God, he also
represents, and he's the only one that clearly represents all
that will ever make up the church. He has the interest of God and
he has the interest of his people at heart. There's only one. Now,
we're self-interested. We are interested and we like
to have ourself get the biggest piece of pie. The Lord Jesus
is interested in all of us. All his interest is in God, in
the kingdom of God, in the purpose of God, in the mercy of God,
in the love of God. But that is also transferred
to the church. His whole interest is in the
church. And for his glory and for the
glory of the church, he has done all things. Now here in the book
of Acts chapter 27, the apostle Paul shares with a group of scared
sailors. They're at wit's end. Their boat's
gonna be tore up. They've thrown over all the grain.
They've thrown over all the wares. They're caught in a storm. And
yet we find out that there is one who is in charge of all storms.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is in charge. Now notice here,
Acts chapter 27, verse 23. The scriptures share this. For
there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am
and whom I serve. Now he's saying this angel, this
messenger that came and appeared to me tonight with regard to
the circumstances that are here right now in our life, is the
angel of the Lord. And in fact, he clarifies whose
I am. I belong to him. He's mine and
I'm his. And then he goes on to say there
in that verse, and whom I serve. Now, no angel, God has never
asked any man to ever bow down to an angel. Now there's going
to be an account in the book of Revelation where John bows.
He did that. And that angel says, stop. Don't
do that. Don't do that. We're never called
on to bow before angels. We're never called to bow before
created beings. But we are called on to bow before
the messenger, the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's who Paul is writing of here. Turn with me back to
the Old Testament, where we see the prophets were mentioning.
It was the angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham. It's the
angel of the Lord appeared to Moses. It's the angel of the
Lord that appeared unto Joshua. But here in the book of Isaiah
chapter 69, excuse me, chapter 63, Isaiah chapter 63, we find
here that this angel is the angel of his presence. He is the minister
of the presence of God. He is the one that represents
God. Jesus said to his disciples,
how long have I been with you? And you do not know that he that
has seen me has seen the Father. If you've seen the son, you've
seen the father. You've seen every aspect about
him. You've seen all his power. You've seen all his glory. You've
seen the covenant of grace. You've seen the covenant of mercy.
You've seen the interest that God has had in his people before
the world began. If you've seen the father or
seen the son, you've seen the father. Now, here it shares with
us in Isaiah chapter 63 that the prophet Isaiah was used to
write these words by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, God, The
Holy Ghost gave him these words to be written down for our benefit,
for his benefit, for the people of God's benefit at that time.
But for our benefit, it says here in Isaiah 63 and verse 9,
in all their affliction, he was afflicted, and the angel of his
presence saved them. The angel of his presence saved
them, and in his love and in his pity, he redeemed them. And
he bare them and carry them all the days of old, the angel of
his presence. There's no greater representation
that we could have in heaven or on earth than to have the
angel of his presence, God's presence, as our representative
and as our redeemer and as our savior. And as our covenant bearer,
this one, the angel of the presence of the Lord, he is in the presence
of God. He's always been in the presence
of God. He is God. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit has no time of beginning and no time of ending. They have
been co-equal for eternity. I found comfort the other day,
I was reading in the Psalms, it says, from eternity past,
That gives me comfort. You know, we look for words how
to explain it. Well, the Holy Spirit gave those words, eternity
to eternity, from eternity past to eternity future. So we have
this God, and he is the covenant carrier. He's the angel of the
presence. Now turn with me to the book
of Malachi. So we think about this angel
coming, great angel coming down from heaven. This great angel
coming down from heaven had a rainbow upon his head. Well, it doesn't
necessarily mean that he had a piece of ornament that looked
like he is the covenant carrier. Rainbow was used in the Old Testament
as a statement of the covenant. I will never. And we take great
comfort when God says, I will never. And we take great comfort
when he says, I will. I will. He has a covenant. Now notice here, in this book,
Malachi chapter three, we find that the prophet Malachi was
used, he was a penman, he was a secretary. And he wrote these
words, Malachi chapter three, and verse one, behold, I will
send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me. And
the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant. This messenger, the angel of
the Lord, the messenger of the covenant, he's the one that comes
and reveals what the covenant is about. He's the one that comes
and shares with us that it's an everlasting covenant, that
it was sure and true, that it was made in the council halls
of eternity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
We've discussed many times, shared many times the difference between
the covenant made at Sinai and the covenant made in heaven.
The covenant made at Sinai was between God and men. And men
failed it. The book of Hebrews says it was
weak through the flesh. It's the only weakness about
it, it was weak through the flesh. They could not keep it. And that's
the way with any covenant. Adam couldn't keep his covenant.
He didn't keep it, couldn't keep it. And we find that any man-made
covenant is destined, usually destined to failure. We hire
thousands and thousands of lawyers to either keep it or break it,
whichever is the interest of the people in mind. And we have
a covenant that was made on our behalf in heaven between the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And we stood by in silence
as the recipients of this covenant but never as the participants
in this covenant. The Old Testament covenant, the
covenant Sinai, those people were participants. They voluntarily
said, we will keep this covenant, and couldn't. And we know we
could not keep this covenant. And he did on our behalf. He
is the, what's it say here in the book of Malachi? This great
angel, this messenger that come down from heaven, this one with
the covenant symbol, this symbolic statement about him being able
and willing to keep his word on the behalf of his people.
He says, I'll send my messenger and he shall prepare the way
before me. Angel means messenger. That's what the word means. And
the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. And this one, the Lord
Jesus, has come. He's the minister of the covenant. He's the messenger of the covenant.
He is the revealer of the covenant. He is the covenant maker. He
has all interest in God. and the interest of his people
at heart. And in that, he is the messenger
comes to reveal that he's the messenger of the Lord. He is
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when the Lord comes down
from heaven, he does not come in physical form. We find he's
sitting at the right hand of the father. How does he come
today? He comes in the power of the gospel. He comes, he came,
Paul says, I came not in word only, but in power of the Holy
Spirit. He comes not down in a physical
form. You know, people may say, I saw
a physical form of the Lord Jesus, and I'll be honest with you,
I'll never argue with him. But the scriptures tell us he comes
much more powerful than that. He's sitting at the right hand
of the Father. He comes to us in our night seasons. What do
we come? He comes in his word. He comes in power of the gospel.
He comes in the grace of providence. How God has protected his people,
oversaw his people, led his people, directed his people, stood in
the way of his people doing foolish things. There was a man that
was going to do such a foolish thing. God stood up against him.
He used a mule. to prohibit things. He in his
providence, we see his almighty power and his grace in his providence,
and he comes in the mercy of comfort. He comes in so many
ways as his word is used as he comes down from heaven. Yes,
he does. He comes in his word. He comes
in the gospel. He comes in his mercy. He comes
in his hope. But he's still sitting at the
right hand of the Father making intercession for us. He's the
one there as testimony of what he accomplished in his ministry
and the fulfillment of the covenant of grace. On the cross, he fulfilled
it. He was able to say it is finished.
He rose the third day. And that, to us, is a great event
because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
was pleased with his ministry. So pleased in his resurrection
that he could return back to the Father and have the glory
restored unto him that he had before the world was. So this
is the covenant bearer. This is the minister and messenger
of God Almighty. Now, here he comes, clothed in
a cloud. It tells us over there in Revelation
chapter 10, clothed with a cloud. The other day, Nathan and I were
going down through the gorge, and it looked like a fall cloud
because it was up on the tops of the mountain. You know what
that cloud did? It hid from view some things of the mountain.
Now, there's some things hidden about God. We'll never know all
about God. He has, now it doesn't mean he
doesn't have that. It just means that we can't see
that. And sometimes the cloud rises and we get to see what
we didn't see before. But he comes in a cloud. He is
hidden to the world. To the world he was just a man
that had been born. He was a carpenter's son. We
have all of the statements made in the New Testament with regard
to him. We know his father and we know his mother and we know
his brothers and we know his sisters. This is the carpenter's
son. But then there's the other side
that have got to see what the cloud hides, partially at least,
the art the Christ, the son of the living God. Another man said, my Lord and
my God. One man said, that soldier there,
he said, truly this was a son of God. And Thomas said, My Lord and my God. There's a lot of difference between
the two statements. Some said, thou art the Christ.
Some says that thou art Elijah. Some say that you're Isaiah.
Some say, who do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the
son of the living God. A lot of difference between having
a biblical figure and knowing Jesus Christ. He's hidden to
most. They cannot see his glory. The
church sees his work of providence. But to many, this is just a disturbing
event. That's what most events are to
most people. It's just a disturbing event.
The church looks at it. Thank God we can see a little
bit about it. We can say this is the providence
of God. I don't understand it. It's hidden
from me. But God does all things after
the counsel of his own will. He does all things well. He does all things. So whatever
it is, it's disturbing to us to see what's going on in the
world. But we rest assured that he is the providential king of
all things. He has one foot on the sea and
one foot on the land, and he oversees all events. He has a rainbow on his head,
a rainbow of his covenant upon his head. And he has a people,
and he will not lose. His covenant means this. I have
a people, I will not lose any. This covenant means I have a
people and I'll not forget them. I'll not forget them. And he
has a people and he will protect them. He is absolute in control
of all things. Now, this covenant, because of
his covenant, because of his covenant, we can hear David say,
we can hear the church say, we can hear God's people say, He
hath made with me an everlasting covenant. I like what David said,
his last words. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Sure, it's sure. Turn with me
over there, 2 Samuel chapter 23. This is that gray rainbow. Great rainbow, it's a promise,
it's a sign of a promise, a sign of a covenant. 2 Samuel chapter
23 verse 5, we read these words, the last words of David, he hath
made with me an everlasting covenant. David said, this is a personal
influence of Almighty God upon me. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Now, he's made it with a church,
but thanks be unto God, he allows the people that make up that
great body, the body of believers, they are permitted to know that
this covenant is theirs. 2 Samuel 23 verse 5, although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for this is all my
salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
Now, some of his family didn't know it. Some of his servants
didn't know it. Some of his kingdom didn't know
it. But for him, he knew it. This is the covenant, God and
his covenant mercy, an agreement. I just delight to hear about
this great everlasting covenant because I get to be the recipient
of it. I want to know more about it.
I want to know what was involved. Who was involved? Well, we know
this. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit
in agreement and purpose and desire and delight agreed wholeheartedly
to redeem a people for the glory of God and for the glory of those
people. Without this covenant, without
this agreement, no one would ever say, our Father who art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We might mouth the words, but
we'd never know the truth of that when Jesus Christ reveals
himself. And it tells us there in the
book of Revelation chapter 10, in that first verse, so it's
just so full, he's come down from heaven, this mighty angel,
clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his face, this face,
or upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun. Well,
we had some friends Bible friends that got to see a site similar
to this. We refer to it as the Mount of
Transfiguration. There are those three disciples
that got to go up on that mountain. Peter, James, and John. The Lord
Jesus shares with us constantly in all of his ministry that he
has a people known to himself. And he even had chosen people
among his chosen people. He had 12 disciples. One of them
is a murderer. One of them is a liar. One of
them is a thief. One of them he knew from the
beginning. Then he has Peter, James, and John. Several times
they got to go alone with him. Now they're the reporters. They
brought back the word. They brought back the message.
Then we find that John himself said, of whom we handled the
word of life. John got to do things that others
didn't get to do. Physically, he did. We do spiritually,
but physically, he got to do things that the other 12 did
not get to do. The Lord just shared with us,
I'm sovereign, I'm king. I'll have favor upon whom I'll
have favor, and I'll reveal whom I'll reveal, and I'll have my
covenant towards whom I'll have my covenant, and whom I'll have
mercy, I'll have mercy, and whom I won't, I won't. That's just
it. Don't expect any more, don't
expect any less. What we have has been given.
What do we have that has not been given? That's it. And if
he sees fit, If he sees fit, he'll open up
some more. The revelation of Jesus Christ.
If he doesn't, enjoy what you have. Make the best use of what
you have. Speak highly of what you have.
If it reveals more, oh, enjoy it. Enjoy what you have. Enjoy
every bit that you have. But don't complain if someone
else has something else, because he's sovereign over that, too.
His face was shining as the sun. His clothing, it says, it was
so white, and his face shined as the sun. The neat thing about
that is those disciples got to look on it. Over in the Old Testament,
they asked to cover up. Oh, Moses' face. In the New Testament,
those disciples, whoa, this is bright. This is glorious. Now
Peter's made fun of so often for doing what he did. Let's
make three tabernacles here. My friends, left to ourself,
what would we do? We'd do no different. Oh, Lord,
keep our eyes on the Lord. Lift our eyes on the Lord. Let's
not get off over here to buildings. Let's get up to to looking on
the Lord. And then it tells us here that
his feet were as pillars of fire. Now, I like pillars. Over in
the book of Song of Solomon, it shares with us that his legs
or feet are like pillars of ivory or marble. That just shares with
the church that he is able. He has pillars. Pillars. There were two pillars outside
the temple. I remember reading over there
how they tore them down, but they were pillars. That temple
rested on them. We're resting on the pillars
of grace. We're resting on the pillars
of mercy. We're resting on the pillars of Christ. We're resting
on Christ. He is our pillar. He is our pillar
and ground of the truth. And it tells us here His feet
are pillars of fire. The world, they may stand in
awe, but they'll stand in judgment too. They're pillars of fire.
Now let's look at that verse two. Verse two of the 10th chapter. He had in his hand a little book
open. Now previous to this, we found
this book was closed, but he opened it. He's the one that
opened it. He's the only one that can open
it. This book of his providence or book of his scriptures, whatever
it is, it's still, he's gonna have to open it for us. And it
tells us there, he set his right foot upon the sea. Do you notice
that? Upon the sea. and his left foot
upon the earth. He is demonstrating to us what
our great friend Nebuchadnezzar said. He rulest in the armies of heaven,
among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his
hand or say what doest thou. If you want to watch the providence
of God, He directed a great fish to be at the right place at the
right time to swallow his profit. He directed a donkey to talk. He directed a fish to collect
his taxes. He directed a great wind. He
directed a great harvest. He directed a great drought.
He directed a great redemption. He is in charge. His government,
the government, shall be upon his shoulders. All things are
under his feet. Nothing is left out. He rules
among the armies of heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his hand. And then it tells us here in
verse three that he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion
roareth. I liked over there when he was
given that book, it says, the lion of the tribe of Judah hath
prevailed. Now the lion speaks. This lion
speaks, the church listens. Lost sheep listen. They're caused
to hear. Now, it may not mean much to
a whole lot of people. In fact, we find there was one
time there was a, well, turn with me to John 12, John 12. I was visiting with a fellow today
and I think he heard some thunder. He wouldn't let me know how much
he knew, but when he spoke, I think he just heard some thunder. What's important? I think he
just heard some thunder. Notice here in John chapter 12,
verse 27, John 12. Now is my soul troubled, and
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I into this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And the people therefore that
stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Another said, an
angel spake to him. And Jesus answered and said,
this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Some
thought they heard an angel, and some thought they heard thunder,
and some heard God Almighty speak from heaven. I have both glorified
it and will glorify it again. Oh, how valuable it is when God
gives his people ears that can discern between the voice of
God and thunder. That can discern God speaking. There was a whole bunch of people
on the road to Damascus. And only one heard, Paul, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? The rest of them were glad to
get him into town. He's in a terrible fix. Blind
as a bat. Had something happen to him.
If he was around today, people would say he had a nervous breakdown.
He went into town. He was a different man because
God had spoken to him. It wasn't thunder. It was the
voice of God speaking to him. Out of his word, he spoke to
him. This, he cried. This voice cried. It's the message of grace in
a loud voice. It's the message of mercy in
a loud voice. It's the message of judgment
in a loud voice. As we find here, there was a
voice. And there were seven thunders
uttered their voices. Now, I'm ready to hear what they
had to say, aren't you? What did these seven thunders
say? Verse four, and when the seven thunders had uttered their
voices, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, seal up those things which the seven thunders
uttered, and write them not. Now we find known unto God are
all his works from the beginning of the world. Turn with me to
Acts 15, if you would. Acts 15 and verse 18. God knows. I'm glad he does. It's like riding
in the backseat of someone who knows how to drive. If you're going to ride in the backseat,
you want someone to know how to drive. Yeah. If all these things are going
on, it's good to know there's someone at the helm. There's
someone at the wheel. There's someone in charge. It's
God Almighty in charge. Notice here in Acts 15, it's
sealed up. God said, don't talk about it,
don't write about it, don't give the message of it, don't give
the sign of it, don't talk about the seven thunders. He brought
it up, but we don't know any more about it. Here in Acts chapter
15 and verse 18, the scriptures share this, known unto God are
all his works from the beginning of the world, clearly laid out
in the purpose of God. His covenant mercies is all known
to him. Every bit of providence, every
move he's ever made. He's never been caught off guard.
He's never been surprised. That's one thing about God. Now,
we like to be surprised once in a while, but God's never been
surprised. When we're surprised, it means
we gain knowledge, we gain something, we gain an understanding. God's
never had to gain knowledge. That means he'd change, and it
says he changes not. He has never been surprised. He's never been caught off guard. He's never been, never. It's always God has perfect knowledge
of all things, and some things he says, shut up. To whom is
the arm of the Lord revealed? To some it's revealed and some
it is not. And even to the church there
are some things about God we will not know in this life and
maybe not in the life to come. We don't know. But he is God
and beside him there is none else and known unto him are all
his works from the very beginning to the very end. Everything is
known to God. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. There's a mystery. There's a mystery. God reveals
the mystery to some. Known unto God is why he reveals
it to them. I think this is a clear statement. Charles Spurgeon had to say about,
and we've mentioned this before, about Jacob have I loved and
Esau have I hated. Now, the world and religious
world are upset with God for hating Esau, but I like what
Charles Spurgeon had to say about it. Charles Spurgeon said he
understood how God could hate Esau. We just read in the Psalms,
he's a hater of all wickedness, all workers of wickedness. He
has the right to be angry with the wicked daily, but for anybody, And most of all, for God to ever
love Jacob, that takes grace. That's grace, a supplanter, a
liar, a thief. We look at him as Israel. My
goodness, Israel? Well, he was Jacob for a long
time before he was ever Israel. He was a scoundrel for a long
time before God ever met him and wrestled him down. His name
shall be Israel. We count 12 tribes of Israel. Not all Israel is of Israel. Israel represents the church.
My goodness, we had a name that we're not too proud of, but we
like our new name. We like the name that God gave
us, Christ our righteousness. All
right, now notice here, in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 7, it says here, but
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Hidden wisdom. A mystery, so
often we find the Apostle Paul, I think he uses the word mystery
seven times. It's a mystery, it's not open
to everyone. Jesus told, I speak to you in
parables so that the world doesn't understand it, but you could
understand it. It's known to God. How many different
places, he mentions this. And it's only by his grace he
revealed the parables to his disciples. It's only by his grace
he reveals himself to the church. It's only by his grace, for no
other reason than that. Going back to the book of Revelation
chapter 10, we see this great angel of the Lord Jesus come
down, clothed with a cloud, hidden to many. Just, oh, Paul says,
we look through a glass darkly. There's some things we just barely
see. We think we have a lot of understanding,
but compared to what he is and who he is and what we'll see
when we see him face to face, we just look through a glass
darkly. And I think that sometimes that's
like a welder's glass. You know, it's so dark. We just see the bare outlines. Then it says here in Revelation
10, This angel, verse five, which
I saw, stood upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his
hand to heaven, and swore by him that liveth forever and ever.
In Hebrew it says he could swear by no greater. He swore by himself.
There's nobody, no heaven, no earth, nobody I can take this
authority to. So he just took the authority
of himself. He lifted up his eyes to heaven,
his hands to heaven, swearing to him that liveth forever and
ever, who created heaven and the things that are therein,
and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea
and the things therein, that there should be time no longer. He's the creator of all things,
sovereign king over all things, has his feet on the water and
feet on the land. He is an absolute monarch, king
and ruler over all things. He has no one that he bows to.
I like what it says in the scripture, the government shall be upon
his shoulder. He has all things in his hand,
all things in his control. This is the Lord. And finally,
would you turn with me to Matthew 11, Matthew 11, 25. Matthew 11, 25, at that time
Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered
unto me and my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. Well, we're out. We're lost.
We'll never know, except for the last phrase. It says right
there, and he to whomsoever the sun will reveal him in a light
to lighten the Gentiles. Then we go on to that passage
of scripture that's so often used as an invitation. We got
to get through this before we can get there. Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest." Well,
those to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him, they'll find themselves
coming because they're laboring and are heavy laden, and they
want rest, and they want this yoke of the Lord because it's
easy. Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall
find rest to your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light." Why is that? I took it all. I cried from the
cross. It's finished. It's over. Sin
is paid for. So the Lord, as he reveals himself
again in the book of Revelation, it's not speculation, it's the
declaration. It's the Lord glorified. It's
the Lord in service to the church. It's the Lord declaring his providence
and watching care over all. Judgment, yes, but protection
for the church. He will watch over them as a
shepherd does keep his eye on his flock. This is the Lord and
glorious to our eyes. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Unlike a God's got a rainbow. He's a covenant.