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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 42

TITLE: THE MIGHTY ANGEL AND THE LITTLE BOOK

TEXT: REVELATION 10:1-7

INTRODUCTION: (1) PUBLIC SPEAKERS USE A COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE CALLED…THE POWER OF THE PAUSE.

* NOW THIS PAUSE IS USED AS AN ATTENTION GETTER, THE PAUSE PLACES EMPHASIS UPON SOMETHING, IT COMMUNICATES IMPORTANCE, IT RAISES THE IMPACT OF WHAT WAS SAID AND ALLOWS THE BRAIN TO TAKE A BREAK TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WAS SAID AND WILL BE SAID.

** MARK TWAIN ONCE SAID: “THE RIGHT WORD MAY BE EFFECTIVE, BUT NOTHING IS AS EFFECTIVE AS A RIGHTLY TIMED PAUSE.”

*** AND HE WAS RIGHT. FOR THE PAUSE IN SPEAKING IS EQUIVALENT TO THE PARAGRAPH IN WRITING.

**** BY GIVING THE EYE SOME WHITE SPACE AT THE END OF ONE CONCEPT, THE BRAIN IS GIVEN A BREAK TO PROCESS, TO TAKE IN THE THOUGHT THAT WAS JUST COMMUNICATED.

(2) LIKEWISE THE PAUSE IN PUBLIC SPEAKING. AND YOU KNOW WHAT FORMER PRESIDENT WAS A MASTER AT THAT? (AND I’M NOT ENDORSING HIS BEHAVIOR OR POLITICS) BUT FORMER PRESIDENT CLINTON MASTERED THE PAUSE.

* HE KNEW HOW TO CRAFT A PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT THROUGH THE USE OF A SIMPLE PAUSE BETWEEN SMALL GROUPS OF WORDS. HE WAS A MASTER AT THAT.

** NOW AS I SHIFT FROM PUBLIC SPEAKING TO GOD’S REVELATION, THE BIBLE, GOD ALMIGHTY IS A MASTER OF USING SILENCE, PARENTHESIS AND INTERLUDE TO GET HIS DIVINE TRUTHS ACROSS.

** IF YOU RECALL AFTER THE LORD JESUS OPENED THE SEVENTH SEAL THERE WAS SILENCE IN HEAVEN FOR ABOUT HALF AN HOUR IN REVELATION 8:1.

** IN REVELATION CHAPTER 7, WE SAW A PARENTHESIS, AN INTERLUDE, A PAUSE BETWEEN THE SIXTH SEAL THAT WAS OPENED AT THE END OF REVELATION 6 TO THE OPENING OF THE SEVENTH SEAL IN REVELATION 8.

*** AND TODAY AS WE EMBARK ON OUR STUDY OF REVELATION 10, WE COME TO ANOTHER PARENTHESIS, AN INTERLUDE, A PAUSE BETWEEN THE 6TH TRUMPET WHICH WAS BLOWN AT THE END OF REVELATION 9 UNTIL THE SEVENTH TRUMPET IS BLOWN IN REVELATION 11:15.

**** AND WHEREAS THE PAUSE WAS FAIRLY BRIEF IN REVELATION CHAPTER 7 YET POWERFUL.

(3) THE PAUSE IN REVELATION 10:1 – 11:14 IS LONGER AND YET EQUALLY POWERFUL.

* FOR THE LONGER PARENTHESIS OR PAUSE BETWEEN THE 6TH AND 7TH TRUMPETS WILL SHOW THAT GOD HAS NOT ABANDONED HIS PURPOSE AND PLAN WITH HIS EARTH AND THAT THE TIME HAS ARRIVED WHEN THERE SHOULD BE NO LONGER DELAY IN THE WORKING OUT OF HIS PLANS.

** IN A SENSE THE GROAN OF CREATION HAS BEEN HEARD AND GOD WILL VINDICATE HIS PURPOSE IN CREATION AND HIS PLAN FOR THE EARTH AND THOSE WHO DWELL ON IT.

*** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, GOD WILL NEVER ABANDON HIS PROMISES TO HIS PEOPLE AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THIS EARTH IN POURING OUT JUDGMENT AND CREATING A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.

*** FOR UNDER THE SIXTH TRUMPET JUDGMENT IN REVELATION 9:13-21 ONE THIRD OF MANKIND DIES AND SURVIVORS OF THAT JUDGMENT DO NOT REPENT.

**** BUT GOD WILL BE FAITHFUL TO HIS REMNANT, HIS CHOSEN ONES WHO SURVIVE THAT HAVE BEEN SAVED IN REVELATION 7.

(4) AND THIS POWERFUL PAUSE, THIS INTERLUDE ENCOURAGES GOD’S PEOPLE NOW AND THEN THAT IN THE MIDST OF GOD’S HOLY FURY UPON THE EARTH, GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. GOD’S PLAN IS UNFOLDING. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE.

* AND DURING THIS INTERLUDE OR PAUSE THE LORD GOD COMFORTS HIS PEOPLE WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE HAS NOT FORGOTTEN THEM AND THAT THEY WILL ULTIMATELY BE VICTORIOUS.

** AND WE NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THAT IN THE MIDST OF CATASTROPHE AND PAIN, OUR GOD HAS NOT FORGOTTEN US AND WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US. (READ ROMANS 8:18A, 28&29, V. 31-39)

*** NOW WITH THOSE TRUTHS IN MIND, AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 10, OUR GREAT GOD WILL USE A MIGHTY ANGEL TO REMIND US THAT THE WAITING TIME IS ABOUT OVER.

**** THE PLAN OF GOD WILL UNFOLD, HE HAS NOT FORGOT ABOUT HIS OWN, TRIBULATION SAINTS WHO HAVE GONE THROUGH THE DARKEST TIME IN HISTORY.

(5) CHRIST WILL COME TO RULE AND REIGN AND GOD’S PLAN WILL BE FULFILLED.

* AND THIS WILL START TO BE COMMUNICATED BY A MIGHTY ANGEL WITH A LITTLE BOOK IN REVELATION 10:1-7, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF OUR MESSAGE TODAY.

** AND UNDER THAT TITLE WE’LL LOOK AT 3 THINGS. NO. 1 THE APPEARANCE OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL, V. 1&2A; NO. 2 THE ACTION OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL, VV. 2B-6A; AND NO. 3 THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL, VV. 6B-7.

** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE AS OUR PATH TO FOLLOW, LOOK AT V. 1 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE APPEARANCE OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL. LOOK AT REVELATION 10:1 PLEASE.

I. THE APPEARANCE OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW AT THE BEGINNING OF V. 1 THE WORD “I SAW” COMMUNICATE TO US THAT A NEW VISION IS STARTING FOR JOHN.

* FOR IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION JOHN THE APOSTLE, WHILE EXILED ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS FOR HIS FAITH, HAS A SERIES OF VISIONS THAT LAID OUT THE FUTURE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

** AND IN REVELATION 1:11, JOHN IS TOLD TO WRITE DOWN WHAT HE SEES AND SEND THESE INSPIRED WRITINGS TO THE 7 CHURCHES OF ASIA MINOR.

*** REVELATION 1:9-11 SAYS:

V. 9 – I, JOHN, YOUR BROTHER AND FELLOW PARTAKER IN THE TRIBULATION AND KINGDOM AND PERSEVERANCE WHICH ARE IN JESUS, WAS ON THE ISLAND CALLED PATMOS BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF GOD AND THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.

V. 10 – I WAS IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD’S DAY, AND I HEARD BEHIND ME A LOUD VOICE LIKE THE SOUND OF A TRUMPET,

V. 11 – SAYING, “WRITE IN A BOOK WHAT YOU SEE, AND SEND IT TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES: TO EPHESUS AND TO SMYRNA AND TO PERGAMUM AND TO THYATIRA AND TO SARDIS AND TO PHILADELPHIA AND TO LAODICEA.”

**** NOW IT APPEARS THAT AFTER JOHN HAS A VISION FROM THE LORD, HE WRITES IT DOWN.

1. AND IT APPEARS HIS LAST VISION COVERED THE 7TH SEAL AND THE FIRST 6 TRUMPET JUDGMENTS IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 8&9.

* FOR IN REVELATION 8:2 HE USES THE PHRASE “I SAW” TO DENOTE, TO MARK A NEW VISION.

** GOING BACK TO REVELATION 10:1 WE HAVE THE 15TH USE OF THE PHRASE “I SAW” IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION IN MY BIBLE.

*** AND MANY TIMES DESIGNATES A NEW VISION. WELL, IN REVELATION 10:1 WE HAVE A NEW VISION FOR JOHN.

*** AND IN THIS VISION, WHICH SEEMS TO HAPPEN TO HIM WHILE HE IS ACTUALLY ON THE EARTH, NO LONGER IN HEAVEN, HE SEES A “STRONG ANGEL COMING DOWN OUT OF HEAVEN.”

**** AND FOR JOHN TO SEE THIS ANGEL COMING DOWN REMINDS US HE IS PROBABLY ON THE EARTH, NOT IN HEAVEN AS HE WAS TRANSPORTED THERE IN REVELATION 4:1 AND WAS THERE FOR THE VISION OF REVELATION 8&9 FOR THE SEVENTH SEAL AND THE FIRST 6 TRUMPETS.

2. BUT BACK ON EARTH, A NEW VISION JOHN SEES ANOTHER STRONG ANGEL, ANOTHER MIGHTY ANGEL.

* NOW THE WORDS “STRONG ANGEL” APPEARS 3 TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. THE FIRST TIME IN REVELATION 5:2 WHERE IT SAYS: AND I SAW A STRONG ANGEL PROCLAIMING WITH A LOUD VOICE, “WHO IS WORTHY TO OPEN THE BOOK AND TO BREAK ITS SEALS?”

** NOW THE THIRD USE IS FOUND IN REVELATION 18:21.

*** SO THREE TIMES A STRONG ANGEL, A POWERFUL EXTRAORDINARY MIGHTY ANGEL IS REFERRED TO IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

**** AND HERE IN REVELATION 10:1, THE ADJECTIVE “ANOTHER” IS USED, MEANING ANOTHER OF THE SAME KIND, AN ANGEL SIMILAR TO THE ONE IN MY MIND REFERENCED TO IN REVELATION 5:2, ANOTHER STRONG OR MIGHTY ANGEL.

3. NOW IN THE REST OF V. 1, 4 THINGS ARE SAID ABOUT THIS ANGEL SPECIAL, UNIQUE STRONG ANGEL.

* AND SOME USE THOSE THINGS TO COMMUNICATE THAT THIS ANGEL IS CHRIST AND GIVE SOME GOOD ARGUMENTS.

** BUT TO ME THE WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE TAKEN FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION COMMUNICATES THAT THIS ANGEL IS A UNIQUE STRONG POWERFUL ANGEL, SOME SUGGEST GABRIEL OR MICHAEL, BUT IN MY MIND, AN ANGEL.

*** THE REASON BEING THIS IS “ANOTHER” STRONG ANGEL, OF THE SAME KIND. AND THE REFERENCE IN REVELATION 5:2 AND 18:21 ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT CHRIST.

**** SO ANOTHER OF THE SAME KIND IS ANOTHER ANGEL.

4. NO. 2 WHEN CHRIST APPEARS IN REVELATION THE TEXT IS NORMALLY NOT AMBIGUOUS OR LACKING CLARITY, JOHN NORMALLY GIVES HIM A CLEAR TITLE LIKE “THE FAITH WITNESS”, “THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD”, “THE FIRST AND THE LAST”, “THE SON OF MAN”, “THE AMEN”, “THE ROOT OF DAVID”, “THE LAMB”, “THE KING OF KINGS”, “THE LION THAT IS FROM THE TRIBE OF JUDAH” AND OTHERS.

* THIRD, UNLESS THIS IS AN EXCEPTION, CHRIST IS NEVER CALLED AN ANGEL IN REVELATION.

** FOURTH, THIS ANGEL MAKES AN OATH TO GOD IN VERSES 5&6. AND SINCE CHRIST IS GOD, HE WOULD SWEAR BY HIMSELF.

*** FIFTH, IF THIS WERE CHRIST, WE WOULD BE ADDING ANOTHER COMING TO HIS 2’D COMING TO EARTH FOUND IN REVELATION 19. FOR IN THE RAPTURE HE COMES IN THE AIR WHEN WE MEET HIM, IN REVELATION 19, HE COMES TO THE EARTH, AND WE WOULD BE ADDING ANOTHER COMING TO THE EARTH, HERE WOULD BE HIS 2’D COMING AND IN REVELATION 19, WE WOULD HAVE HIS 3’D COMING.

**** NOW I DON’T HAVE TIME TO DEVELOP IT ANY MORE THAN WHAT I HAVE, I BELIEVE THERE IS ANOTHER STRONG POWERFUL ANGEL WITH DESCRIPTIONS THAT APPEAR CHRIST-LIKE BECAUSE HE IS GIVEN POWER TO SERVE CHRIST.

5. AND QUICKLY 4 THINGS ARE SAID ABOUT THIS ANGEL IN THE REST OF V. 1.

* NO. 1 HE IS CLOTHED WITH A CLOUD AS HEAVENLY MESSENGER.

** NO. 2 THERE IS A RAINBOW UPON HIS HEAD, WHICH RECALLS THE PROMISE THAT GOD MADE TO NOAH IN GENESIS 9:12-17, AND THAT GOD WILL FULFILL HIS PROMISES MADE TO HIS PEOPLE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. THERE WILL BE MERCY IN THE MIDST OF HIS JUDGMENT FOR HIS ELECT.

*** NO. 3 HIS FACE WAS “LIKE” THE SUN, BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS AS A HOLY HEAVENLY BEING.

**** AND NO. 4, HIS FEET WERE “LIKE” PILLARS OF FIRE, NOT PILLARS OF FIRE, BUT LOOKED LIKE IT AND WE TIE IN FIRE TO JUDGMENT AND MORE JUDGMENT WILL FOLLOW WITH THE 7TH TRUMPET WHICH ROLLS OUT THE 7 BOWL JUDGMENTS.

***** AND WITH THOSE DESCRIPTIONS WE HAVE A POWERFUL, STRONG MIGHTY ANGEL WITH SPECTACULAR ATTIRE THAT APPEARS TO JOHN.

6. AND JOHN WILL SEE ONE THING IN HIS APPEARANCE OR THAT IS TIED TO HIS PERSON IN V. 2A, SOMETHING IN HIS HAND. LOOK AT V. 2A PLEASE.

B. READ V. 2A. NOW THIS MIGHTY ANGEL HAS IN HIS LEFT HAND (FOR HE WILL RAISE HIS RIGHT HAND FOR AN OATH IN VV. 5&6) IN HIS LEFT HAND IS A LITTLE BOOK THAT IS OPEN.

* NOW THERE IS A LOT OF SPECULATION ABOUT WHAT IS IN THIS LITTLE BOOK AND SOME SUGGEST THAT THIS IS THE BOOK, THE SCROLL TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 5:2 THAT IS HELD BY THE ONE ON THE THRONE SEALED UP WITH THE 7 SEALS.

** BUT I WOULD SEE THE BOOK IN REVELATION 10:2 AS ANOTHER BOOK, ONE THAT IS SMALLER, WITH NO SEALS, THAT JOHN WILL ACTUALLY EAT AT THE END OF REVELATION 10.

*** AND THIS LITTLE BOOK IN WHICH IS OPEN APPEARS TO ME TO TALK ABOUT THE JUDGMENTS THAT ARE LEFT FROM THIS POINT, THE PROPHECIES THAT NEED TO BE FULFILLED, THE MYSTERIES THAT THE PROPHETS PROPHESIED ABOUT IN THE O.T. ABOUT THE KINGDOM AS WE’LL SEE IN V. 7.

**** SO IN ESSENCE THE LITTLE BOOK THAT IS OPEN COMMUNICATES GOD’S FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHESIES AHEAD WHICH WILL BE SWEET TO JOHN IN HIS MOUTH, BUT BITTER IN HIS STOMACH FOR THEY WILL BE SEVERE. TERRIBLE DOOM AWAITS UNBELIEVERS AND THAT INITIAL SWEET TASTE TURNS TO BITTERNESS.

- SO THIS MIGHTY STRONG ANGEL HAS THIS LITTLE BOOK OPEN IN HIS HAND, AND AS JOHN SAW HIM, THAT WAS HIS APPEARANCE IN V. 1 & 2A, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE ACTION OF THIS MIGHTY ANGEL, TO BEGIN WITH, LOOK BACK AT V. 2 TO SEE WHAT HE DOES.

II. THE ACTION OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW THE FIRST THING THIS MIGHTY ANGEL DOES IS HE PLACES HIS RIGHT FOOT ON THE SEA AND HIS LEFT FOOT ON THE LAND.

* AND THIS ACT SHOWS US IN JOHN’S VISION THIS ANGEL IS MASSIVE IN SIZE TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS. AGAIN HE IS A UNIQUE STRONG MIGHTY ANGEL.

** AND THIS ACTION APPEARS TO SHOW GOD’S OWNERSHIP OF THE LAND AND THE SEA – THE EARTH UNDER THE FOOT OF THIS MIGHTY ANGEL OF HIS.

*** AND PAUL SAID IN I CORINTHIANS 10:26, “FOR THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND ALL IT CONTAINS.”

**** AND PSALM 24:1 COMMUNICATES THE SAME TRUTH ALONG WITH PSALM 50:12 AND WE SING THAT AS A CHORUS, THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND THAT IS IN IT.

1. AND WHAT A GREAT TRUTH THAT IS, THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S AND EVERYTHING IN IT, FOR PSALM 50:10 SAYS: (READ IT).

* NOW IN THE CHORUS WE SING, OUR RESPONSE IS, I WILL PRAISE YOU, PRAISE YOU, I WILL PRAISE THE SOVEREIGN LORD!!

** SO WE PRAISE THE LORD FOR HIS OWNERSHIP OF EVERYTHING AND SHOULD BE CHALLENGED, HOW ARE WE USING WHAT HE OWNS, EVERYTHING IN IT? WHAT KIND OF STEWARD ARE YOU OF WHAT GOD OWNS WHICH IS EVERYTHING?

*** ARE YOU AN OWNER OR A STEWARD?

**** WELL, GOING TO REVELATION 10:2, THIS MIGHTY ANGEL PLACES HIS RIGHT FOOT ON THE SEA AND HIS LEFT FOOT ON THE LAND AND HIS NEXT ACTION IS A CRY, LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 3. NOW THE NEXT ACTION BY THIS STRONG ANGEL IS HE CRIES OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE AS WHEN A LION ROARS.

* AND IN KEEPING WITH HIS HUGE SIZE, HE LOUDLY CRIES OUT TO CAPTURE THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WHO HEAR HIM.

** AND BEYOND THAT, ALL THE MAJESTY AND AUTHORITY OF THE KING OF BEASTS – THE LION IS IN THIS LOUD CRY.

*** AND NO DOUBT THAT ROAR CAUSES PEOPLE TO TREMBLE AS GOD IS ABOUT TO ACT IN JUDGMENT AGAIN.

**** BUT NOTICE AS WE GO BACK TO V. 3, THAT AS THIS STRONG ANGEL CRIES OUT, “THE SEVEN PEALS OF THUNDER UTTERED THEIR VOICES.”

1. NOW I HAVE BEEN READING OVER THIS FOR A GOOD PERIOD OF TIME AND IT IS STRIKING AND UNUSUAL TO ME.

* FOR THESE SEVEN THUNDERS UTTER THEIR VOICES AND BY THE ARTICLE “THE” IN MOST TRANSLATIONS WE HAVE A DEFINITE GROUP AND IT SAYS THEY “UTTERED THEIR VOICES” AND I EMPHASIZE THE PRONOUN THEIR.

** AND IT APPEARS THAT WHEN THE ANGEL CRIES OUT, HEAVEN’S RESPONSE TO HIS CRY IS SEVEN SOUNDS OF THUNDER RESPOND WITH SOMETHING AUDIBLE THAT IS UNDERSTANDABLE.

*** FOR IN V. 4 THIS IS CLEAR. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 4. NOW JOHN UNDERSTANDS WHAT THOSE SEVEN THUNDER SOUNDS ARE SAYING, FOR WHEN THEY “HAD SPOKEN” IT SAYS, JOHN WAS ABOUT TO WRITE DOWN AS HIS NORMAL CUSTOM WAS OF WHAT HE SAW AND HEARD IN HIS VISIONS, HE WAS ABOUT TO WRITE DOWN WHAT THEY SAID.

* BUT A VOICE FROM HEAVEN, PROBABLY THE LORD’S SAYS, SEAL UP THE THINGS THEY HAVE SPOKEN, THEIR INTELLIGIBLE WORDS AND DO NOT WRITE THEM DOWN.

** AND BELOVED JOHN IS GIVEN A COMMAND TO SEAL UP, TO KEEP HIDDEN, TO NOT REVEAL AND WRITE DOWN WHAT HE HEARD THEM SAY.

*** AND THE REASON FOR SEALING UP WHAT THEY HAD SAID IS NOT GIVEN. BUT THE LORD IS GOING TO KEEP THIS INFORMATION BACK FROM US, JOHN KNEW IT, BUT WE ARE NOT TO KNOW IT, WHICH REMINDS US, GOD HAS NOT REVEALED EVERYTHING IN HIS PROPHETIC PLAN TO US.

**** WE HAVE WHAT IS REVEALED, BUT ONLY WHAT IS REVEALED, ALL THE SECRET COUNSELS OF GOD HAVE NOT BEEN REVEALED TO US IN SCRIPTURE AS ALL THE THINGS WHICH JESUS DID ON THE EARTH ARE NOT RECORDED FOR US.

1. AS JOHN SAID IN JOHN 21:25 THE LAST VERSE OF HIS GOSPEL – “AND THERE ARE ALSO MANY OTHER THINGS WHICH JESUS DID, WHICH IF THEY WERE WRITTEN IN DETAIL, I SUPPOSE THAT EVEN THE WORLD ITSELF WOULD NOT CONTAIN THE BOOKS THAT WOULD BE WRITTEN.”

* BELOVED, NOT ALL OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST HAS BEEN REVEALED TO US AS WELL AS ALL THE MIND OF GOD HAS NOT BEEN REVEALED TO US, BUT WHAT WE HAVE IS ENOUGH AND ABSOLUTELY SUFFICIENT FOR NOW, READ DEUTERONOMY 29:29 AND II TIMOTHY 3:16&17.

** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO V. 4, THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION THAT JOHN IS TOLD TO SEAL UP SOMETHING HE SAW OR HEARD, FOR THE NORM IS REVELATION 22:10 – AND HE SAID TO ME, “DO NOT SEAL UP THE WORDS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS BOOK, FOR THE TIME IS NEAR.”

*** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 10:4, WE HAVE ONE EXCEPTION, FOR THE BOOK OF REVELATION WAS GIVEN TO JOHN TO REVEAL, NOT TO CONCEAL, WITH AGAIN THAT ONE EXCEPTION.

**** AND I’M NOT GOING TO SPECULATE ON THE WHY BUT MOVE ON TO V. 5. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE.

D. READ V. 5. NOW THE ACTIONS OF THE STRONG ANGEL CONTINUE IN V. 5, FOR THIS STRONG MIGHTY ANGEL WHO IS STANDING ON THE SEA AND LAND LIFTS UP HIS RIGHT HAND TO HEAVEN.

* AND THIS SOLEMN ACTION SIGNIFIES AN OATH, A SOLEMN VOW BEFORE THE LORD AS THE LORD ABOVE IS HIS WITNESS, FOR HIS RIGHT HAND IS RAISED TO HEAVEN WHERE GOD DWELLS, AND MOST LIKELY THE LITTLE BOOK IS IN HIS LEFT HAND.

** AND WHAT HE SAYS IS RECORDED IN V. 6. LOOK AT V. 6A PLEASE.

E. READ V. 6A. NOW THE WORD “SWORE” OR “SWEAR” LIT. MEANS TO AFFIRM, TO PROMISE, TO MAKE AN OATH.

* AND THE SOLEMN OATH OR PROMISE IS MADE TO THE ETERNAL GOD WHO IS THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING.

** IN OTHER WORDS, THIS MIGHTY ANGEL PROMISES, SWEARS BY HIM WHO LIVES FOREVER AND EVERY, WHICH REVEAL REFERENCE TO THE ETERNITY OF GOD, THE ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF GOD, TO THE GOD WHO HAS ALWAYS EXISTED AND WILL ALWAYS EXIST, THE ETERNAL ONE.

*** BUT NOT THE ETERNAL ONE, THE CREATOR, FOR GOD ALMIGHTY CREATED THE HEAVENS, THE EARTH, THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN THE HEAVENS, THE EARTH AND THE SEA.

**** AND HERE WITH A QUICK STATEMENT, THE EVOLUTIONARY LIE THAT HAS BEEN PROPAGATED BY QUOTE THE “SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY” IS DISMISSED HERE IN REVELATION AS IT WAS IN THE FIRST VERSE OF THE BIBLE IN GENESIS 1:1 (READ IT AND OUR RESPONSE IN PSALM 33:8&9 AND REVELATION 4:11).

1. NOW THIS MIGHTY ANGEL IN AN ACTION TO HEAVEN, RAISES HIS HAND AND SWEARS BY THE GOD WHO IS ALL-MIGHTY, ALL-POWERFUL AND THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE THAT WHAT HE IS ABOUT TO ANNOUNCE IS TRUE.

* AND HIS ANNOUNCEMENT BEGINS IN THE LAST PART OF V. 6 WHICH IS OUR THIRD AND LAST POINT TODAY, THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL. LOOK AT V. 6 AGAIN PLEASE.

III. THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MIGHTY ANGEL, (READ V. 6)

A. NOW THE SPECIFIC CONTENT OF THE ANGEL’S OATH WAS THAT THERE WOULD BE DELAY NO LONGER, THAT THE TIME OF WAITING IS OVER, THE END IS COMING, THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S JUDGMENT ON THE EARTH IS COMING.

* AND IN ANSWERING THE CRIES OF THE MARTYRS IN REVELATION 6:10 HOW LONG, OH LORD AND THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS IN REVELATION 8:3 THE DELAY IS OVER, THE END IS NEAR AND IS ABOUT TO BE CONSUMMATED AND SPECIFICALLY WILL BE FULFILLED.

** AND THAT ANNOUNCEMENT IS SPECIFIC IN V. 7 OF WHEN THE END WILL COME, LOOK AT V. 7 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 7. NOW SPECIFICALLY THE WAITING TIME IS TO CONTINUE ONLY UNTIL THE BLOWING OF THE SEVENTH TRUMPET.

* AND WHEN THE SEVENTH TRUMPET BLOWS HIS TRUMPET, THEN THE MYSTERY OF GOD IS FINISHED.

** NOW UNDERSTAND THAT THE SEVENTH TRUMPET JUDGMENT ROLLS OUT THE SEVEN BOWL JUDGMENTS. AND THE SEVENTH TRUMPET SOUNDS IN REVELATION 11:15 AND THE SEVEN BOWL JUDGMENT TAKES PLACE IN REVELATION 16 AND IN REVELATION 17&18 AS POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS BABYLON IS JUDGED AND AT THE END OF REVELATION 18, THE TRIBULATION IS OVER AND IN REVELATION 19 CHRIST COMES BACK TO THE EARTH AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TIME.

*** SO THE 7TH TRUMPET IS NOT A SINGLE EVENT, BUT COVERS DAYS PLURAL IN V.7, BUT IN THE DAYS PLURAL NOT DAY SINGULAR.

**** AND DAYS INDICATES A PERIOD OF TIME. SO THE 7TH TRUMPET BRINGS THE FINAL JUDGMENT PORTRAYED, REPRESENTED IN THE BOWLS OF FURY POURED OUT ON THE EARTH.

2. FOR WHEN THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDS IN REVELATION 11:15, THE PAUSE IS OVER, THE PARENTHESIS IS FINISHED, THE INTERLUDE IS OVER FOR IT SAYS IN REVELATION 11:15 – THEN THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED; AND THERE WERE LOUD VOICES IN HEAVEN, SAYING, “THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD HAS BECOME THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST; AND HE WILL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER.”

* NOW AT THAT TIME THE MYSTERY OF GOD TALKED ABOUT IN THE LAST PART OF REVELATION 10:7 WILL BE FINISHED AS HE PREACHED TO HIS SERVANTS.

** AND THE MYSTERY OF GOD OF WHICH THE ANGEL SPOKE IS THAT SUMMING UP OF ALL THINGS IN CHRIST, IN EPHESIANS 1:10.

*** IT IS THE FULFILLMENT OF GOD’S PLAN IN BRINGING HIS GLORIOUS AND GREAT KINGDOM IN CHRIST TO CONSUMMATION.

**** JOHN MACARTHUR SAID IN HIS COMMENTARY IN REVELATION 1-11 AND I READ: “THE MYSTERY PREVIOUSLY HIDDEN REFERS TO ALL THE UNKNOWN DETAILS THAT ARE REVEALED FROM THIS POINT TO THE END OF REVELATION, WHEN THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH ARE CREATED.”

3. MACARTHUR WENT ON TO SAY: “GOD HAD PREACHED THAT MYSTERY (WITHOUT ALL THE DETAILS REVEALED IN THE N.T.) TO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS IN THE O.T. AND MEN LIKE DANIEL, EZEKIEL, ISAIAH, JEREMIAH, JOEL, AMOS, AND ZECHARIAH WROTE OF END TIME EVENTS.”

* LAST JOHN MACARTHUR SAID: “MUCH OF THE DETAIL, HOWEVER WAS HIDDEN AND NOT REVEALED UNTIL THE N.T. (FOR EXAMPLE MATTHEW 24, 25 AND II THESSALONIANS 1:5–2:12), AND MORE PARTICULARLY IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS OF REVELATION.”

** “TO BELIEVERS LIVING AT THAT TIME IN A WORLD RUN BY DEMONS, MURDER, SEXUAL IMMORALITY, DRUG ABUSE, THEFTS AND UNPARALLELED NATURAL DISASTERS, THE REALIZATION THAT GOD’S GLORIOUS PLAN IS ON SCHEDULE, THE PROMISED KINGDOM IS NEAR, WHERE “THE EARTH WILL BE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA (HAB. 2:14) WILL BRING GREAT COMFORT AND HOPE IN THE MIDST OF JUDGMENT.” (END QUOTE AND I SAY AMEN!)

*** BELOVED, ONE DAY GOD’S PLAN THAT HE HAS LAID OUT IN THE O.T AND N.T. OF FINAL THINGS WILL BE FULFILLED!

IN CONCLUSION: (1) IT’S INTERESTING THAT THE PHRASE “HOW LONG” IS USED 61 TIMES IN THE NAS UPDATE.

* AND IT’S A QUESTION ASKED TO THE LORD AND OF THE LORD AND TO OTHERS FROM EXODUS 10:3 TO REVELATION 6:10.

** IT’S A QUESTION MOST OF US HAVE ASKED. HOW LONG, LORD, WILL MY PAIN CONTINUE? HOW LONG, LORD, WILL MY GRIEF GO ON? HOW LONG, OH LORD, WILL INJUSTICE AND CRIME CONTINUE TO SPIRAL OUT OF HAND?

*** HOW LONG, OH LORD, WILL THE UNJUST PROSPER? HOW LONG, OH LORD, UNTIL YOUR SON RETURNS?

**** AND HOW LONG, OH LORD, UNTIL YOUR KINGDOM COMES?

(2) NOW THESE ARE LEGITIMATE QUESTIONS THAT WE ASK WHEN WE ARE HURTING AND IS GRIEF, PAIN AND SUFFERING.

* AND THE ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS IS THE END IS NEAR WITH DEATH OR THE RAPTURE FOR CHRIST’S CHURCH. BUT ONE DAY THERE WILL BE DELAY NO LONGER.

** THE PLAN OF GOD WILL BE FULFILLED, THE FULLNESS OF TIME WILL COME AND THE MYSTERIES OF GOD WILL BE FINISHED AND OUR FAITH WILL BE SIGHT.

*** BUT UNTIL THEN WHAT DO WE DO?

**** WAIT PATIENTLY, WAIT EXPECTANTLY, WAIT WITH EXCITEMENT, AND WORK FOR THE DAY IS COMING WHEN WE WILL WORK NO MORE FOR OUR LORD ON THIS EARTH.

(3) AND OUR HOPE IS THIS BOOK. OUR HOPE COMES FROM TRUTH, OUR HOPE COMES FROM THE PROMISES OF GOD WHO IS FAITHFUL, WHO CANNOT LIE, WHO CANNOT CHANGE WHO IS THE ETERNAL ONE AND THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE, THE ALMIGHTY SOVEREIGN.

* AND BELIEVER TODAY, RUN TO HIM, RUN TO HIS WORD, RUN IN WORSHIP AND IN PRAYER TO HIM, AND KNOW HIM IN A GREATER WAY AND YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED, FOR HIS WORD IS TRUE AND HIS SOVEREIGN PLAN IS BEING FULFILLED AND WILL BE FULFILLED. IT WON’T BE LONG.

** THREE TEXTS AND I’LL PRAY. IN LIGHT OF THAT, JOHN 9:4, I CORINTHIANS 15:58 AND TITUS 2:11-14. (READ THESE).