I invite you to turn with me
this morning to Revelation chapter 10. We've been looking at the seven
trumpet judgments of God, all of which come to pass during
this gospel age. And these judgments, they come
in the form of Satan, who've given permission and authority
to open the bottomless pit and let all of its hellish wickedness
rise up. Rise up and influence and deceive
a cursed world. one thing of which i have become
aware years ago and more aware of now and that is that this
world is cursed of god that's just so men don't recognize it
they don't know what the curse is all they've ever known is
what they are and what men and women are around them that's
all they've ever known they're not aware of how satan works
or of god's judgments but these judgments they come first in
god allowing if you will by his authority to influence this world
and that's a judgment on this world that's god's judgment and
these judgments also come in the form of great storms leaving
behind them a trail of death and destruction i think we'll
learn that when this when here comes out of Florida. And we've
seen that in Houston and other places. We have a missionary
on St. Croix, which was 45 miles south
of the eye of that thing when it was traveling at 185 mile
an hour. And that island on which he used
to minister, and people over there who would not hear him,
That eye went right over top of it and just wiped it out. Hardly anything lived. These
are judgments, judgments of God. And these judgments come in the
form of providential disasters like drought and earthquakes
and floods and plagues. And these judgments come in the
form of an organized swarm of spiritual locusts. modern denominational
free will works religion. That's what it is. It's locusts.
Locusts. And these judgments come in the
form of wars. Wars, one writer said, are killing
machines. That's what they're sent forth
to do. They're sent forth of God to kill one third of men. And these judgments come in the
form of wars, and wars are killing machines sent of God to kill
those who love darkness rather than light. These are judgments
of God. And these judgments come in the
form of anti-Christ religion, causing all the waters to become
bitter. Famous evangelists, great and
renowned speakers, causing a great portion of the light to be hidden
from men. Paul said, if our gospel be hid,
it's hid to the lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded
the minds of them that believe not. He's blinded their minds, lest the light of the glory of
Christ should shine unto them. Now six trumpets have sounded,
and the seventh is about to sound. And I cannot imagine the seventh
judgment to be anything less than the final judgment of God. But before this trumpet sounds,
another angel appears. Revelation 10 verse 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 before that great and terrible
day of the Lord shall come to pass, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
shall come with a final warning and an exhortation to all who
believe. Now I'm not talking about another
appearance on this earth, but I'm talking about the Spirit
of Christ being preached on this earth as a warning, His voice. He that heareth you, heareth
me, he saith. And it's not unusual that the
word angel here is used to describe our Redeemer. It's used often
throughout the Scriptures. I'll give you an example over
in Isaiah 63, 9. And speaking of our Savior, it
says, In all their affliction, He was afflicted. And the angel
of His presence saved them. And in his love and in his pity
he redeemed them and he bared them and carried them all the
days of old. Now, no angel, no angel except
for this one could save any man's soul. Could not save any man from,
save his soul or redeem them from their sins. What angel could
redeem you from your sins? This one, that's the one. This
one, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then carry them in his person
all the days of old. That speaks of our union with
him. An angel is a ministering spirit
sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation.
And they are in fact sometimes called messengers. A lot of times
you can find that word messenger, the messenger of the covenant.
I think it's Malachi who speaks of the messenger of the covenant
coming. You can substitute angel in the place of messenger. It
means the same thing. Christ being the messenger of
the covenant is also the angel of the covenant. And Christ is
an angel in that he was sent to minister salvation to those
for whom he was sent. This is why he came. He came
seeking to save that which was lost. And he is an angel of God
in that everything God has to tell men is communicated by him. And before this seventh angel
sounds his trumpet judgment, the Spirit of Christ, through
the preaching of the gospel, shall be heard throughout the
world. Now, if you read Matthew chapter
24, our Lord gives a long list of things that will be coming
to pass right up until the end of time, but he said the end
is not yet. The end is not yet. He just keeps
telling you, but the end, there's wars and rumors of war, but the
end is not yet. Gonna be famines, gonna be all
of these things, but the end is not yet. And then finally
he says, when this gospel shall be preached in all the world. Then shall the end be. So before this seventh angel
sounds his trumpet judgment, the spirit of Christ through
the preaching of the gospel shall be heard throughout the world.
Now I'm gonna tell you something. I don't know what you're looking
for. I don't know what's on your heart this morning. You may know
the Lord, you may not. I don't know. You may be here
just a young person growing up and hearing these things and
wondering what's true and what's not. But I'm going to tell you
something. I don't have anything for you
except Jesus Christ. I don't have anything. There's
nothing up in the front of the church that can help you. You
can sign your name all day long on a church log, it's not going
to do you any good. I can bury you in the water. I'm not going
to do a thing for you. I don't have anything for sinners
except the Lord Jesus Christ. They're just one man. One mediator between God and
me and the man, Christ Jesus. I don't have anything else for
men. They say, well why don't you talk about this? Because
there's no salvation in that. Salvation's in Him. Let's talk
about Him. And I guarantee you this other
thing will disappear. Jesus Christ and him crucified. Jesus Christ, our great mediator
and covenant surety. Jesus Christ, our righteousness
and redemption. Jesus Christ, our resurrection.
Jesus Christ, our reigning intercessor. Jesus Christ, our sovereign king. Now this world has a Jesus who
don't reign. They have a Jesus who has no
power. He wants to save, but his hands
are tied. He wants to save, but he can't
violate men's wills. But children of God have a sovereign
mediator. He's able to do what they ask
him to do. And that's why they go to him.
That's why they come before him. He's a sovereign intercessor. And He's our King. And there's
nothing or no one who can save your soul from the judgment of
God, past, present, or future, but Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. His appearance here in verses
1 and 2 of Revelation 9 is not as judge, but as an angel of
mercy He appears. He's clothed with a cloud. What's that mean? What's the
significance of him being clothed with a cloud? What does that
say to you? Well, if you go back in the Old
Testament where the pictures are established, you go back
there with Israel, and they, God delivered them out of Egypt,
they never raised a sword. They didn't fight a battle. It
was all done through the preaching of the gospel. That's how they
were delivered. Moses told him what the Lord
said, and he eventually let them go. And they came out of Egypt,
and the Lord made his presence known by a cloud. And during
the day it stood between them and that hot sun, and it guided
them. At night it was seen as a pillar
of fire. When the tabernacle was built,
the cloud came and filled the tabernacle with the Shekinah
glory of God. So when it says he's clothed
in a cloud, it's talking about our Savior. Our Savior. The cloud is a picture of his
presence with us. He said, Lord, I'm with you always,
even unto the end of the world. So he's clothed with a cloud.
And then it says a rainbow was upon his head. What's that mean? Well, the rainbow was put in
the sky to remind those who were delivered from the judgment of
God on that ark, it was to remind them that according to God's
promising decree, he'd never again destroy that earth with
water. And he said, I'm going to put my bow in the cloud. Every
time it's going to rain, you're going to have, I imagine people
in Florida is looking for a rainbow right now, that rain coming down.
uh... but he said you look up my bow
will be in the sky what's that got to do with us
and what's that got to do with the lord jesus christ he has
that rainbow around his head and he bore our judgment and
that's a sign of his faithfulness that he'll never again punish
us with destruction he'll never again destroy us there is therefore paul said
Now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit. And then thirdly,
his face was as the sun. Paul described salvation and
conversion as God commanding the light of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ to shine into our hearts. And Peter
tells us to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place until the day dawn, that is, the sun, the day star arise
in our hearts. His face was as the sun. And then fourthly, his feet as
pillars of fire. Pillars. You know, when I saw
up in Washington, D.C., when we were up there on those buildings,
Basically back where Abraham Lincoln was, there was pillars
there, I guess four or five feet in diameter. Huge pillars that
held up all that granite and marble and all that stuff stood
there holding it up. Well, his feet is like pillars. Like pillars. They hold up all
that God has put in his hands. And they're pillars of fire.
as a shield between us and the enemies of God. All right, Revelation
10 verse 2. And he had in his hand a little
book open. And he set his right foot upon
the sea, and his left foot upon the earth. And he cried with
a loud voice, as when the lion roareth. And when he cried, seven
thunders, uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders uttered
their voices, John said, I was about to write and I heard a
voice from heaven saying unto me, shut up those things which
the seven thunders uttered and write them not. The angel which
I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his
hand to heaven and swore by him that liveth forever and ever
who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth
and the things that therein are, and the sea and the things which
are therein, that there should be no time no longer." Now let's
begin with this. He had in his hand a little book
open. This is the book of God's eternal
decrees, the same book he received from his father and the same
book of which he loosed the seals and is open and has begun to
fulfill. So what does this book say? It
says this is the last time. That's what it says. This is
the last time. It says that the time of no time
is at hand. It says today, if you hear his
voice, harden not your hearts. Does God speak through his gospel? Then harden not your hearts. It says that the person whose
presence now appears as an angel of mercy shall soon be revealed
as an angel of judgment. Did you know God's angels do
both? Sure they do. God's angels brought
destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah. But before they did, they appeared
as angels of mercy and led Lot out. My friend is holding this open
book, speaks to us of a purpose, not yet having its full manifestation. All things are not yet fulfilled. It's not yet fully accomplished.
There's yet a remnant according to the election of grace. A people
sealed in their hearts and heads. A people chosen and redeemed
but not yet called. His voice, it says, is when a
lion roars. He roars as a warning. As a warning. And he roars out
a warning to all those who are by nature children of wrath,
but he assures in that roar his own cubs that no enemy is going
to touch them. And then watch this. John said
he was just about ready to write about these seven thunders, but
the Lord forbid him and said, don't write them. Put your pen
up. Now the angel who holds the book,
he shall declare the end of time and the end of revelation. He
alone. We don't have power to do that.
The holy angels don't have power to do that. He has power to do
that. And he governs what is to be
said and what is to be kept secret. He said to his disciples concerning
those Pharisees whom his disciples talked to and talked to and talked
to and talked to, he turned and he looked at them and he said,
leave them alone. Isn't that what he said? Leave
them alone. All right, Revelation 10 and
7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he
shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished as
he has declared to his saints, the prophets. Now remember now
that John had just seen days of darkness and apostasy and
false religion and great swarms. He'd seen the death and destruction
of wars and plagues and disasters. And in such times as these, God
hides himself sometimes from men. And he sends them strong delusion
to believe a lie and be damned. I was listening to people talk
in the news interviews and different things down there, and the things
were so pitiful that they said they hoped in, talking about
their hope of not being destroyed and so on. Not one of them ever
mentioned God. Not one. They were confident
that their structure It's a strong structure, it's made out of concrete,
it's doing this, and they've got a, I guess he's a national, he represents the National
Weather Service, but he's in a bunker, a concrete bunker out
on Key West, and they turned a live film on this morning of
him inside that bunker, and that concrete bunker was doing this.
Can you imagine what a wood house is doing about this time? Men think they know. You talk
to them. They think they know. They know the facts about His
birth and His death and His resurrection, but they don't know what He accomplished
by it. They know that Christ is in heaven.
Ask them. They'll tell you, yes, He's in
heaven. Christ is in heaven. But they
can't tell you why. They can't tell you what He's
doing there. They can't tell you the implications
of His presence there. And they know He intercedes.
But they're ignorant of the efficacy of that intercession. They know
the words, redeeming blood. We used to sing all about the
redeeming blood when I was raised in religion. We used to sing,
amazing grace. They know these terms, redeeming
blood, saving grace, and matchless love, but they're ignorant of
the end of that redemption, of the power of His grace, and of
the immutability of His love. Those He loves, He loves forever. It never changes. We change,
but He don't change. The eye of faith sees the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and His presence, His Spirit,
and His person and work give us great comfort and hope in
these last days. Nothing's going to come to an
end until the mystery of God is finished. That's what John
said. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, 7, we speak the wisdom of
God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world under our glory. What God's doing
and revealing in His Son and in His Gospel is a mystery to
all except to whom the Spirit of God will reveal it. Total
mystery. Total mystery. What do you mean
we're not under the law? Well, what's going to keep this
man straight? Something you can't see, the
Spirit of God in him. Grace reigning under righteousness. This world believes God's attempting
to save everybody because he loves everybody. They believe
God votes for you and Satan votes against you and the vote that
really counts is yours. That's the deciding vote. They
believe that salvation and blessing come by moral reform. Teach a
man how to walk right, God will save him. They believe men are
free and unbiased in their will. They believe that providence
is governed by chance and circumstance. They believe that if a man or
a woman does the best they can do, God will accept it and bless
them. Everything about God and his
purpose of grace is a total mystery to this world. But it doesn't
mean God's not accomplishing all that is a mystery. And there's
not gonna be an end until that mystery's finished. That's what
John's telling us. And then this apostle is given
a strange command, Revelation 10, verse 8. And the voice which I heard from
heaven spake unto me again. Now we've already seen the angel
and in his hands an open book, this little book, and it's open.
And there he stands and he's holding this book. He's fulfilling
all God's eternal decrees, this man Christ Jesus. And the voice
which I heard from heaven spoke unto me again and said, Go and
take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel
which standeth upon the sea and the earth. And I went unto the
angel and I said unto him, give me the little book. Now you remember
when that book was taken by Christ, there was no angel, no elder,
nobody in heaven, earth, or hell worthy to take that book. Just
him. And in his hand it's open. It's now open. The seals are
broken, the book is open. It's in his hand. Now the Lord
said, you go You go tell him, give you the book. Give you the
book. The open book. And he said unto
me, take it. Take it. And eat it up. Eat it up. Digest it. Let it become a part of you.
And it shall make the belly bitter, but it should be in thy mouth.
Sweet as honey. God's counsels and decrees are
sweet to the taste, but they're bitter in the belly. You know,
it's so sweet to think upon His everlasting promises and accomplishments,
upon His present reign and glory. But it's upsetting to the belly
as we experience the effects of His judgment upon this world
and those we know in it. It's upsetting, isn't it? The
way God moves in our lives sometimes upsets us. It upsets us. I've got sisters and brothers
and aunts and uncles and friends and even children who will receive
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. That's bitter
for me to think on. Bitter. And by his decrees, we
suffer disease and disasters and persecution and death. All
these things are bitter. They're bitter in the belly and
they're difficult to digest. But I believe they must be eaten
and swallowed and digested by all who believe. And I believe
this is what John's 10th, he said, now you go take the book.
I've showed you what's in it. The seals have all been loosed.
He even showed him some things that he told him he couldn't
write about that we'll never know until we're in glory. And now he said, you eat it up.
You don't read it and put it back up on the shelf. You digest
it. You eat it. And when we're gathered
in here this morning, this same thing going on here today was
going on back there in the book of Revelation when God showed
him all those things. That's why you're here this morning.
God's gonna open his book to you. He's gonna show you his
eternal decrees. He's gonna show you his promises.
He's gonna show you all these things. And we're not just to
sit here and, wow, that was a good message. Now, let's go fishing. No, eat it up. Eat it up. Digest it. Let it become a part
of you. Let it benefit you. It'll be
bitter, but it'll be sweet too.