Moving right along in our study
in the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 10, I'm taking the title
for the message from the words found in verse 1, verse 1 of
Revelation 10, and I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven. What would you think if you saw
a mighty angel come down from heaven? I've never seen an angel
as far as I know. Sometimes the angels appeared
under the saints of old in the form of a man. In Abraham Day
and others. But I've never seen an angel.
But John here, by way of revelation, sees this mighty angel come down
from the very throne of God from heaven. So I saw another mighty
angel. That's the title of the message.
I've noticed a pattern here about these certain angels that are
mentioned here. Remember, this is a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn back to Revelation chapter
1 and then we'll turn to chapter 7 and chapter 8, but look back
at Revelation chapter 1 verse 1. These mighty angels that appear
are appearances of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this is the revelation
of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servant
the things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and
signified by his angel unto his servant John. Now an angel is
a messenger sent of God, who bear record of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ and all things that he saw."
Now, look at verse 3. "...Blessed is he that readeth,
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein, for the time is at hand." Now,
you're a blessed man, if you're hearing and reading this Word
of God, and receiving it, hearing it as such, believing it as such,
as the Word of God. Now, notice about these mighty
angels. If you look back to Revelation
chapter 7, Look at verse 2. We've seen this before. All these
appearances of these mighty angels are appearances of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I saw, Revelation 7 verse
2, another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of
a living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying,
hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the tree, till we have
sealed the servants of God." Till we have sealed the servants
of God in their foreheads. So there's this angel here and
we know this is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at Revelation
chapter 8 verse 3. And another angel came and stood
at the altar." Again, here's another appearance of the Lord
Jesus Christ as a messenger of the covenant of God, having a
golden censer. Remember, we talked about his
priesthood, and he's the king priest, given unto him much incense,
that he should offer with it the prayers of all the saints
upon the golden altar, that's the altar of incense. It goes
back to the picture and type was fulfilled of that altar of
incense in the tabernacle before the throne of God, and the smoke
of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended
up before God out of the mediator's hand, out of the angel's hand."
Now, again, that is a picture and type and vision of the Lord
Jesus Christ. These are not created angels.
This angel here is a messenger of the covenant of grace. We
studied in Wednesday night, Isaiah, we read this verse, Isaiah 63,
9, where the Lord Jesus Christ is called the angel of God's
presence, the messenger of God's presence. This is a messenger
of the covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ as he's as
it says of him in Malachi chapter 3. He's the messenger of the
covenant. He's the surety of the covenant.
He is the sacrifice of the covenant, the blood of the everlasting
covenant, the God of peace that brought again from the dead the
Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. Hebrews 13 verse 20. Now let's review for a moment. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ
received the book of God's decree sealed with seven seals. Remember
that? Turn back to chapter 5. Chapter
5. And I saw in the right hand of
him, verse 1, that set upon the throne a book written within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Now that book there
is the same book that we read about in chapter 10, the little
book. It's the same book. It's in the hand of the Father,
God the Father, and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud
voice who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof,
and no man in heaven nor on the earth, neither under the earth,
was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy to open the book." Now what we
read up in chapter 10, that little book is opened in his hand. And
I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book,
and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the
elders says unto me, weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah hath prevailed, to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, in the midst of the four beasts, in the midst
of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven
horns, that is all power, seven eyes, all-knowing, which are
the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. And
he came, and he took the book, out of the right hand of him
that sat upon the throne of God." So, this little book turned back
to Revelation 10, and he had in his right hand, verse 2, a
little book opened, and he set his right foot upon the sea and
his left foot upon the earth. Now, we saw in chapter 6, 7, Chapter 6, we saw in chapter 6, 6 of the
7 seals opened by the decree of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
opened the book. He opened the book. The book of God. The book of
God's decree. In chapter 6 we saw that. And
then in chapter 8, when the 7th seal was opened, there the 7
angels which had the 7 trumpets of judgment should be sounded
Remember, and four of those were sounded in chapter 8. Then in
chapter 9, the fifth and sixth trumpets were sounded, and yet
it says in chapter 9, the last part, the ungodly world, still
in rebellion against God, would not repent. They were not granted
repentance. Look at Revelation 9 verse 20.
And the rest of men, which were not killed by these plagues,
repented not of the works of their hands, that they should
not worship devils, idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, wood,
which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented they
of their murders, their sorceries, nor their thievery, nor their
idolatry, nor their fornication." Idolatry. Chapter 9, the 5th
and 6th trumpets were sounded, and yet this ungodly world repented
not. Under the wrath and judgment
of God, they would not repent. You see, it's not the wrath of
God that brings repentance, it's the goodness of God that brings
repentance unto us. Now, the 7th trumpet of judgment is not sounded
until we get to chapter 11, verse 15. Chapter 11, verse 15, Then the
seventh angel sounded, and there was a great voice in heaven,
and there was a great voice in heaven. The kingdoms of this
world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and
He shall reign forever and ever. Now, back to chapter 10. We see
another picture of our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. pictured
here as the almighty ruling Lord of heaven and earth before that
seventh trumpet is sounded. And what a glorious picture is
painted for us by the chosen inspired words of God the Holy
Spirit and we have the privilege this morning as his people to
behold in the word of the Lord the beauty and glory of our Lord
the Lord Jesus Christ who is the ruling, conquering King of
heaven and earth. He rules all things by his eternal
purpose and power for the good of this church and for his ultimate
glory, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I saw, verse
1, another mighty angel. Now make no mistake, this is
the Lord Jesus Christ. the uncreated, only begotten
Son of God. Who is this mighty angel? Well,
it's none other than the mighty God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in our study we've seen many
other angels mentioned, haven't we? Good angels, elect angels,
fallen angels, evil angels. We've seen even their leader
of these fallen angels, they had a king over them. You remember
in chapter 9 verse 11? These evil spirits and these
evil angels, they had a king over them, which is the angel
of the bottomless pit, Satan himself, whose name in the Hebrew
is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue his name is Apollyon.
Both those things mean death, destruction, and destruction. These were all created angels,
but they're all under the rule of the sovereign Lord Jesus Christ. But this angel here that's mentioned
in verse 1 is not a created angel. He's the everlasting messenger
of the covenant of grace. He's the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, in the book of Malachi,
don't turn, let me just read it to you. In the book of Malachi,
chapter 1, There's a prophecy about the coming of John the
Baptist. He's the forerunner to the Lord
Jesus Christ, who said, Behold, the Lamb of God which shall take
away the sin of God's people. And here's what we read in Malachi
3. 1. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before thee, and the Lord And the Lord Jesus Christ
did come, didn't he? God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
mighty messenger sent of God to be our God and our Savior. Now, I love what it says of Him
over here. Turn back a few pages to the
book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews chapter 1. Who is the
Lord Jesus Christ? He's a mighty, almighty God our
Savior, the messenger of the covenant of grace. He's the sacrifice
of the covenant. He's the surety of the covenant.
He is God Almighty manifest in the flesh. Hebrews chapter 1.
Hebrews chapter 1. Verse 1. God who in sundry times
and diverse manners Spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, the express image
of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. Who is this mighty angel? None
other. than the Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, remember? And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. He's called in Isaiah 63, He's
called the Mighty Savior. And then Isaiah 9 verse 6, where
it says unto us, A son is given, a child is born, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. And His government shall rule
and reign forever. He is the mighty Savior who is
able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him.
He's the almighty messenger, Son of God. He has God's message. The message of grace in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he's mighty to defend his
church, isn't he? He's mighty to defend. He said,
I built my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
my church. He prevails in all things. Now
notice this mighty one that came down to accomplish our salvation. And this is a vision and revelation
of the mighty, conquering King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came
down from heaven, clothed in humanity when he came, but here
it says this is a vision of the exalted, enthroned Lord Jesus Christ,
clothed with a cloud. Clothed with a cloud. Now the
clouds are immense, aren't they? You know, on those days when
we have a bright blue sky and those big white puffy clouds,
aren't they amazing to look at? They're all created by our God. His clouds do His bidding. We have thunderstorm clouds,
we have whirlwind clouds, we have all these different clouds.
But here, the Lord Jesus Christ is clothed with a cloud. Now
this is a vision, a symbolic, these clouds are symbolic of
his majesty and the glory of his person. The cloud of his
glory back in the Old Testament time in the wilderness journey
for 40 years, the cloud of his glory overshadowed the tabernacle
in the wilderness. The cloud of His glory, His Shekinah
glory was upon the mercy seat. You remember those 40 years in
the wilderness, how the cloud went with them? The Lord went
with them? Listen to this scripture, Exodus
13. And the Lord went before them by day in the pillar of
the cloud. He's clothed with a cloud. To
lead them the way, to lead them in the way, and by night That
same cloud was a pillar of fire. The fire was there all the time.
But just when the sun went down, you could see that fire, that
fire. It's like when you see a brush
fire during the day up on the hills, all you see is the smoke.
But when it becomes nighttime, you see the same thing, but you
see the fire. This cloud has a fire, like we're
going to see here in a minute about his feet, a fiery pillar. In Matthew 17 verse 5, when he
was transfigured before them, in his transfiguration, a bright
cloud overshadowed him, and the Lord spake out of that cloud,
God the Father speaks to God the Son. He said, this is my
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So there we see him
clothed in a cloud. He ascended to glory in a cloud. Turn back to Acts chapter 1.
When he ascended to glory, he ascended to glory in a cloud.
Look at Acts chapter 1. And they ask him, verse 6, saying,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Israel? And he says to them, it's not for you to know the
times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power.
But he shall receive power, you shall receive power after the
Holy Ghost has come upon you. You shall be witnesses unto me,
both unto me and Jerusalem. and in Judea, and Samaria, and
the outermost parts of the earth. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel." Now, here's two angels that appeared as two
men. "...which also said, You men of Galilee, why stand ye
gazing up at heaven? This same Jesus which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you
see Him go into heaven." Now, He's coming back, so He ascended
to glory in a cloud. And then in Mark 14, verse 62,
we read the Lord is coming back. When He comes back, He's coming
back in a cloud. They asked Him, the Pharisees
did that day, aren't thou the Christ? Are you the one that
we're... the Scripture said that If the
Christ, then the Lord said, I am. Are you the Christ? He said,
I am. I am. And then He said this, you shall
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming
in the clouds of heaven. You see all these clouds. He
clothed with the cloud. And then the cloud of His glory,
the cloud of His presence, the cloud of His reigning power.
And then it said there's a rainbow on his head. A rainbow is on
his head. This rainbow is symbolic and
a symbol that God uses to declare his covenant mercy, just as he
put a rainbow in the sky after the flood in Noah's day. Read
about that in Genesis 9, remember? God said, I'm going to no more
destroy this earth with a flood. Next time, it's going to be a
fire. But he said, to signify that, I'm going to put a rainbow
in the sky. And when you see that rainbow,
you remember that I'm the God of covenant mercies. And every
time we see a rainbow, even today, we should be reminded that God
is the God of covenant mercies in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even
so, this rainbow here is a stark reminder of all the covenant
promises of God in the Lord Jesus Christ that are certain and sure
and everlasting. Remember, Paul writes this to
the Corinthians. All the promises of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ are yes, and in Him, and amen, and to the
glory of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. David, upon his deathbed,
King David, said, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and is sure. We have all the sure promises
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. That rainbow is a token symbol
of God's unchanging covenant mercies unto us. Every time we
see a rainbow, I love to see a rainbow. Sometimes you see
a double rainbow, can't you? That's a double promise. God
says, I'm going to be true to every promise I made. All the
promises He has made, not one promise will fail. We're going
to study in a couple weeks in Isaiah 54 about this covenant.
Let me read it, verse 2. of the church, the Lord God Almighty
of all things. And then it mentions His face.
You see that next? In verse 1, His face. His face
was as it were the sun. The sun shining through the clouds. What does that make? A rainbow,
doesn't it? So the Lord Jesus Christ, His
face, as it were, likened to the sun. Now how bright and brilliant
is the sun? The face of the Lord Jesus Christ
shines like a brilliant, brilliant sun. Again, this is talking about
the glory of His person, the glory of His person, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the sunshine of God's love. In the book of Malachi, in the
book of Malachi, Let me read it to you. The book of Malachi
chapter 4, the Lord Jesus Christ. Malachi is the last Old Testament
prophet. Malachi chapter 4, we read this,
But unto you that fear my name shall the Son of Righteousness
arise with healing in his wings, and you shall go forth and grow
up as calves out of the stall. special, special children. Blessed
of God. As a mediator of the covenant,
the Lord Jesus Christ imparts light unto us, doesn't he? As
the mediator of the covenant, he imparts light unto us. He
commands the light to shine. Turn to this scripture, John
chapter 8. He commands the light to shine out of darkness. He
shined in our hearts, John chapter 8, to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
His face as the sun that shines, as the sun, a bright Brilliant
light. He is the light. We're darkness. He must shine in our hearts.
John 8, Luke 12. The Lord said, I am the light
of the world. He that followeth Me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." He must shine
in this dark, dead heart, that we might see the glory of God
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look back to the
text again. Revelation 10 verse 1, "...and
His feet as pillars of fire." Now, our feet, talking about
a natural body, our feet give us what? A foundation, don't
they? It's impossible to walk without
good feet. You've got to have good feet
to walk. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
foundation upon which we rest. His feet as pillars of fire. Pillars of fire, strong, bold
pillars. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
devouring fire to his enemy. but a wall of fire round about
his church to protect them, feet like undefined brass, as it were,
that burned in the furnace." Remember from Revelation 1, verse
6. And here's the point. The Lord
Jesus Christ is that foundation that God has laid upon which
we rest. To some, He's a stumbling stone.
To some, He's a rock of a fence. Remember? But to us, who have
been given faith to believe, He is that sure foundation upon
which we rest. His feet as pillars of fire,
foundation stone, certain and sure." Now, having said all that
in verse 1, now let's go to verse 2. And I'm not getting too far
along in this message today, but it's okay. We'll come back
and take another hitch at it. I'll finish up chapter 10. And
he had in his hand... Now, we're talking about the
hand of God. How big is His hand? We read in Leviticus, Nebuchadnezzar
said, There's none can stay in my hand, nor say unto me, Lord
God, what doest thou? The sheep are in His hand. That's
where I want to be. But he had in his hand this little
book. And it's the same book that he
received before. The book of God's decree. in
which no one could open the book, no one could receive the book,
but the Lord Jesus Christ. And he prevailed to open that
book. And he had in his hand a little
book open. Now that book is the book of
God's decrees. All of God's decrees from all
eternity, He decreed everything that comes to pass. And included
in those decrees is the covenant of grace. Included in those decrees
is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For He comes by what? The decree of God. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken and by wicked hands have crucified the Lord
of glory." And this little book, this book of God's decree is
opened in the hand of our Lord. And he set his right foot upon
the sea, and his left foot upon the earth,
and he cried with a loud voice. And when he cried, seven thunders
uttered there. Now, the book of God's decrees
is still in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ, who took the book
that was sealed, and now He opens the book. He opened those seven
seals, didn't He? Notice it's called the little
book, and I wondered about that. I thought to myself, is this
a different book? It couldn't be a different book,
because it's still this same book that's in His hand. Why is it called a little book?
Why isn't it called a big book? It would seem to us that way,
that it would be a big book of God's decree. It's little in
the sense of this because whose hands it's in. It's in the hand
of our great and eternal God. Christ had big hands. No one
can stay his hand. It's little in the sense that
the Lord Jesus Christ had prevailed to open the book. All the purposes
of God are fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ, who worked all
things after the counsel of his own will. The Lord Jesus Christ
as the sovereign Lord, notice, with this book of God's decrees,
He set his right foot on the sea, again this is symbolic language,
and his left foot upon the earth, and then he cried with a loud
voice. As a lion roars, and when he cried, seven thunders uttered
their voices. Now the Lord Jesus Christ has
dominion from sea to sea. That's what it says in the book
of Psalms. He has dominion over all the earth. His dominion,
His rule, His reign, His sovereignty is an everlasting dominion. Now
let me read this to you. It's found in Daniel chapter
7, verse 13 and 14. He says, I saw in the night visions,
and behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of
heaven to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before
him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom,
that all people, nations, languages should serve him. And his dominion
is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom, which shall not be destroyed." He has an everlasting dominion. He rules and reigns everywhere. We read in Psalm 90, before the
mountains were brought forth, wherever thou hast formed the
earth or the world, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 93 says that He reigns
everywhere. He reigns everywhere. This is
most comforting to every believer, but most terrifying to the enemies
of God. Remember what the enemies of
God cried to the Lord? They didn't cry out for mercy.
Look back at chapter 6. When that sixth seal was opened,
verse 14, the heaven departed as a scroll. This is talking
about the end of this world as we know it. When it was rolled
together, and every mountain and island were moved out of
their places, and the kings of the earth, and great men, and
rich men, and the cheap captains, and mighty men, and every bondman,
every free man hid themselves. in the rocks and the mountains
and said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us
from the face of him that sits upon the throne from the wrath
of the lamb for the great day of his wrath has come who is
able to stand he rules and reigns over all men everywhere his dominion
is an everlasting dominion This is comforting to believers. He
rules all things for our good and His glory. But it's most
terrifying to those who are enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
God is before us, who can be against us? I tell you, if you're
against Him... Oh, how sad that day. Look at
verse 3. When the Lord speaks, He speaks
with all power and authority. Revelation 10 verse 3. And he
cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. And when he cried, seven thunders
were uttered. Now who is this one turned to
Revelation 19? We see again affirmation, a reaffirmation
that this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. In Revelation 19 verse 11, And
I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
he did judge and make war. In his eyes was the flame of
fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written
that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with vesture
dipped in blood. His name is called the Word of
God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his
mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nation.
He shall rule them with a rod. of iron, and he treadeth the
winepress of the fiercest of the wrath of Almighty God. And
he had on his vesture and on his thigh a name, King of kings
and Lord of lords." He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Now, Revelation 10. He is the
Lion, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, let me give you
this and I'll quit. And when the seven thunders had
uttered their voices, I was about to write it down. And I heard
a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal up those things which
the seven thunders uttered and write them not. And the angel
which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up
his hand to heaven and swear by him that liveth forever and
ever who created heaven, and the things that therein are,
and earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and
the things which are therein, that there should be time no
longer." One day, we're creatures of time, right? One day there'll
be no more time. No more delay. The end will come.
The end will come. As John was about to write, he
was told to stop. We read in Scripture, the secret
things belong to the Lord, our God, but those things which are
revealed belong unto us and to our children forever and ever,
that we may do believe His Word. One commentator of old said,
there are many things working in God's universe that we know
nothing about. Isn't that so? What they are, we do not know.
Let us be very careful in making predictions regarding things
in the future. We may be leaving out some very
important factors. God knows all things, directs
all things, and accomplishes all things. So let us be careful
about saying what this will be in the future, other than what
we read in the book. The revealed things belong to
God. The secret things belong to the Lord. There is a deep,
profound mystery to the providence of God that finite creatures
cannot comprehend. We cannot comprehend it. God
does all things in heaven, earth, and sea whatsoever the Lord please. That's what He does in heaven
and in earth. Now let's close by reading this
scripture here. I think this would be a good
place to stop. Turn to the book of Romans chapter 11. Here's
what we do know. The secret things belong to the
Lord. Oh, the deep mystery of God's
providence. We know the things that are revealed
to us by the word, but let's read Romans 11, look at verse
33. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out? Who has known the
mind of the Lord? Who has been his counselor? Do
you know the mind of the Lord? Who has known the mind of the
Lord? We only know what he's revealed to us. Who has been
his counselor? Well, he doesn't ask us for advice,
does he? For who hath first given to him, that it shall be recompensed
unto him again? Are you going to strike a bargain
with God? Not at all. Look at verse 36.
For of him, and through him, and to him are all things. That covers everything, doesn't
it? Of him, and through him, and
to him are all things. To whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen.