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Past Ponderings

Sunday, May 28, 2017

PONDERING... Will You Remember Your Mission? (Revelation 10:5-11)

Will You Remember Your Mission?
GIST: In the midst of tribulation, we need reminded of the brevity of our time and the nature of our mission.
SCRIPTURE: Revelation 10:5-11
5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets. 8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

I am always blown away by God’s timing. Last week, a bit too ambitiously, I planned to preach through all of Revelation 10. About 5am Sunday morning, God made it very clear that was too much for one setting, so it became a two-parter. Now we’re coming to the second half, and it happens to be memorial day--which I did not remember until midway through this week, and which I realize is actually pretty terrible and ironic--and as we honor those who faithfully served and are serving our country, our topic today is Will you remember your mission? I couldn’t have planned this, and didn’t.
Again, these next couple Sunday mornings we’re going to be looking at few things the Bible tells us about living in the face of trials. If you were here last week, we looked at the context of this passage a bit. John is given this vision right before the end. There is persecution and turmoil all around, but right before we see Jesus returning, John is given some perspective: don’t forget these truths. Last week, we looked at our need for remembering who God is and who we are not. Today, we’ll look at the other two truths he is presented with: In the midst of tribulation, we need reminded of the brevity of our time and the nature of our mission.

  1. A REMINDER OF THE TIME
5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.
The end is coming. That is one of the central messages of Revelation; it might seem like chaos prevails, but Jesus is coming. Here the messenger swears by the God of creation that there will be “no more delay, but when the time comes for the 7th trumpet (the end of the world as we know it), “the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.” So, what is this mystery? Well Paul uses similar language in his letters. Here are a few examples:
  • For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. -Colossians 2:1-3 (emphasis added)
  • At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prisonColossians 4:3 (emphasis added)
  • 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. - 1 Tim 3:16
The mystery of God is the Gospel: the Good News of Jesus’ accomplished mission. The end is coming. Sin will be defeated. Looking around at the world, it often doesn’t seem like that can possibly be true. It is easy to be bogged down by life. Don’t be. Here’s another one of those verses I quote all the time, but we need this truth seared into us. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.- 2 Corinthians 4:16-17. Everything here is temporary. Not only is that an encouragement as we face trials, but it also adds urgency to this final reminder-->

  1. A REMINDER OF OUR BITTER-SWEET MISSION
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”
After being reminded of God’s person, his own limitations (that is, John’s, not God’s), and the temporary nature of the times; John is reminded of his (and our) mission. He hears the voice from Heaven which has been speaking to him throughout this revelation and has always been identified as God. And God tells him to get this scroll from the mighty angel who, again, represents God’s person and power. And again, as we saw last week, this scroll is God’s plan to save the world and destroy sin: the Gospel.
He is then told to eat it. This is not the first time someone is told to eat a scroll in the Bible. It happens to Ezekiel, too (Ezekiel 3:1), and we still talk like this today. He’s meant to consume it, to take it in, to feed off it. It is the bread of life, the living water. We’re meant to do the same. Before we can ever understand our mission, we have to get into God’s Word. 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. -Romans 10:17.
John eats the scroll, but he’s given a warning before he does: it will be sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach. And...it was. There is a two-fold point here about the message of the Gospel we need to understand.
1. We should love it. It’s sweet in his mouth because it’s desirous. Psalm 119:103- How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! There may be parts of the Bible we struggle with, or don’t understand. That’s part of taking it seriously. However, if it’s not sweet to our mouths, if it’s not precious to us, if we don’t look forward to reading God’s word and hearing it taught--then there is a problem. Remember the gist from last week? In the face of tribulation, we need to be reminded of God’s person and our position. We could reword it to just say: We need God. We need to hear what God has to say, and He’s given us His Word. It will be the hardest thing you do each day because your sin nature and Satan himself do not want you to consume the Word of God. Nevertheless, if you’re stranded in the desert and you know where there is water, it doesn’t matter how hard it is to get there, you’re going to find a way. Right? Because you know your life depends on it. We cannot face trials without Him, and we don’t have to. Read His Word. As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God… -Psalm 42: 1-2b
2. It is hard. There is a second point here, as well. It was sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach. It’s bitter because it reveals sin (in ourselves and others) and points to judgment. This message brings life; it’s wonderful, but it is not easy. It won’t be easy for us because the more we dig into God’s Word the more we will see our own sinfulness and the more we will weep for the lost. And, it won’t be easily received. No one is “talked into” being saved because no one wants to hear this message. People don’t want to hear that there is a final judgment, or that accepting Jesus will change everything about how you live your life. The Holy Spirit changes hearts--then people are saved. We need to be aware of this. If we share this message, people will sometimes be angry with us. We should not be brash or indignant. The message is hard, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…(1 Peter 3:15).

TAKEAWAYS
I’ll say what I said last week. In the face of final judgment, people need reminded of these truths. In the midst of your personal trials, you do too. I’ll be brief in our application today because we really need to let these sink in.
  1. Our time here is short. So will be our trials. Be encouraged. So will be our chances to turn to Him and reach those around us. Don’t squander the time you’ve been given.
  2. We have a bitter-sweet mission. Eat His Word and faithfully, and patiently, share it with those around you.

If you do not have this perspective and are not driven by this purpose, you’ll be wandering aimlessly through your trials. God is God. We are not. Time is short. Dive into His Word. Live it so the world sees that: God is God. They are not. Time is short. And they need to dive into His Word, and live it so… repeat.

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