The Mystery of God and the Two Witnesses
Sermon Transcript
0:00:15.3
Well, if you love mystery and intrigue, the book of Revelation will never disappoint you. At every turn of the prophetic page there seems to be a new “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” to borrow the words of Winston Churchill during World War I when he was describing, of all things, the Nation of Russia. Revelation is mysterious. It stokes our curiosity, does it not? But if that's all it does—as I mentioned earlier in the series—if that's all it does, then we've missed the purpose of bible prophecy and we've missed the purpose of the book of Revelation. Bible prophecy, as God unveils the future to us, is meant to purify believers, it's meant to provoke unbelievers and it's meant to prepare the entire world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
0:01:06.3
And Revelation chapters 10 and 11 do that in a remarkable way. It is mysterious what we learn about in these two chapters, which are almost like a parenthesis in a writer’s prose. Revelation chapters 10 and 11, within the flow of the entire book, are a parenthesis in the sense that they give us additional detail as to what's happening during this seven-year period of time on earth known as the Tribulation. And I read just a little bit of it at the beginning here, but this entire chapter—these two chapters are fraught with all kinds of mystery. Mysteries of the Apocalypse.
0:01:44.7
For example, get ready to meet a mighty angel wrapped in a cloud, and with a crown shaped like a rainbow. We will hear seven thunders. We will watch John consume an “Incredible Edible Scroll.” And we will observe two prophetic witnesses from the Old Testament come to life again on this earth, live, die, rise again from the dead and ascend to heaven. John also shows us the future Jewish temple rebuilt on planet Earth in the City of Jerusalem. He sounds forth the seven trumpet, and he piques our curiosity by mentioning something known as “the mystery of God.” What is that all about?
0:02:26.7
And then, if all of that is not enough to, you know, get us sitting forward in our seats and leaning into the message a little bit today, Revelation chapters 10 and 11 do what Indiana Jones could not do in Raiders of the Lost Ark. He could not solve the mystery of the missing Ark of the Covenant. Well, I'm here to say today, I am Indiana Jones. My name is Jones and I'm from Indiana. That's the idea there, right? Come on now. And before the message ends today—you're gonna stay for the whole thing—I'm gonna tell you where the Ark is. The Bible’s gonna show us that. So let’s get started here.
0:03:09.7
John finds and sees a mighty angel from heaven who possesses great power and authority. And that power and authority is pictured by this angel who is standing on the earth with one foot on the land and another foot on the sea. Now, many Bible teachers and scholars have, I believe, misinterpreted this to be Jesus. Some have said, “Well, this is a picture of Jesus.” But the problem is, later in verses 1-7, this mighty angel, who possesses great power and great authority, raises his right hand like a witness in a courtroom and swears by One who is greater than he. Well, that couldn't be Jesus. At best this could be another mighty angel. And I'm comfortable with it being exactly what John says; that “another mighty angel coming down from heaven” appeared. Because angels are mentioned 66 times in the book of Revelation. They are messengers of God, sometimes bringing great comfort and messages of joy, but at other times in the Bible, his agents of judgment and tribulation.
0:04:17.9
This particular mighty angel, again, has great power and authority. And John says he roars like a lion, and then what follows are the seven thunders. Ooh. Mystery and intrigue. What are the seven thunders? Well, we don't know, because, kind of untrue to form here, John, as he gets ready to write down the content and the meaning of the seven thunders that follow the roar of this mighty angel, he’s told not to write it down. I mean, everything up to this point, going back to chapter 1, John is told, “Get ready. Write down everything you see, everything you hear.” We have the book of Revelation today because John obeyed the Lord on the Island of Patmos while he was in exile. He wrote down the vision. But suddenly, heaven’s transparency policy changes here. And it's a reminder of Deuteronomy chapter 29:29 that says, “The secret things belong to the Lord.” Yes, God is a great revealer of mysteries and secrets, even mysteries of the Apocalypse. But He and He alone will sovereignly decide when to reveal something and when to conceal something. And we just get a little reminder here at the beginning of chapter 10, the Lord says, “No, there are some secrets I want to keep to Myself.” The mystery of the seven thunders—the content, the meaning of that—we'll have to wait 'til we get to heaven to decide upon that. Some want to speculate it's meaning, let’s just leave it where the Scripture leaves it and where the angel leaves it. And that is, “John, you're not gonna write this down. You're not gonna reveal this part.”
0:05:57.7
But the angel goes on to raise his right hand like a witness in a courtroom and declare, “No more delay.” What an ominous three words. “No more delay because now the judgment of God and the wrath of God is about to pour out. Now, we are closer and closer to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.” And this declaration, this swearing, “No more delay,” reminds me of those who, really, over 2,000 years have scoffed at the idea. “Where is the promise of His coming? Oh, Jesus said He was coming again, but it's been 2,000 years. Where is the promise of His coming?” To which Peter responds, in 2 Peter chapter 3, “Do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day.” In other words, He's not on the same timetable that we are. Peter goes on to say, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
0:07:12.2
Aren't you glad that the Lord is patient? Aren't you glad that He is delayed at least one more day? Because every day that He delays sending His Son, Jesus, a second time gives another opportunity for people just like you and me to repent of our sins and to embrace the gospel. But Revelation chapter 10 tells us there's coming a day where this mighty and powerful angel who is given great authority will raise his right hand and said, “No more delay, no more delay.” And out pours the wrath of God and the plan of God during this time known as the Tribulation.
0:07:55.0
And then John says in verse 7, “But 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 and the prophets.” The mystery of God. Again, one of the 39 or 40 times that the word “mystery” is mentioned in the Bible. God is a God of mystery and sacred secrets, is he not? And he chooses to reveal some, he chooses to conceal others. What is the mystery of God that He’s been talking about from ages past? Well, one scholar, named Warren Wiersbe, says that “the mystery of God has to do with the age-old problem of evil in the world.” Why is there both moral and natural evil in the world? Why doesn't god do something about it? That is a, kind of, theological conundrum, isn’t it? How can a holy God allow and even use evil for His own righteous purposes without compromising His holiness? Why doesn't God do something about it?
0:09:00.1
Of course, Wiersbe says, “the Christians know that God did do something about it at Calvary, when Jesus Christ was made sin and experienced Divine wrath for a sinful world.” We understand God is not not doing something. He already did something. And a new world is coming because of what Jesus did on the cross and through His resurrection. He says, “We also know that God is permitting evil to increase until the world is ripe for judgment. And since God has already paid the price for sin, He is free to delay His judgment, and He cannot be accused of injustice or a lack of concern.” I would add to that, it is a mystery how and why a holy God would even pursue a relationship with sinful man.
0:09:50.8
You ever though about that? You ever thought the way the ancient psalmist did in Psalm chapter 8, when he said, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Oh, the mystery of God, that a holy and righteous God would even car about the rags of humanity that we are. Except that He created us, and He created in His image and He loves us. And he didn't create us a robots, He created us with a free will. And the story of the Bible, His story, is that we sinned against Him. Our spiritual and physical forefathers, Adam and Eve, chose poorly, and we are inheritors of that sin nature. But God sent a Redeemer, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and to rise from the dead. And that same Jesus who came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, promised to come again. And He will come this time as a conquering Lion, and the wrath of the Lamb will pour out upon this earth.
0:11:03.8
Well, just great mystery, great intrigue and great interest just in the first seven verses of chapter 10. But we come to verse 8 and John says this, “Then the voice that I had heard from heaven speak 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.’ And 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.’ 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. And I was told, ‘You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.’”
0:11:51.2
Well, how mysterious is this? That angel, that mighty angel who is straddling Earth with one foot on the land and another on the sea is holding a tiny little scroll in his hands. And John is told to take the scroll and to eat it. I call it the “Incredible Edible Scroll.” He eats—we might say—he eats the Word of God. And that may sound kind of weird and kind of strange until you understand that other prophets of God in other places throughout the Scripture were told to do a similar thing. For example, both the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, in the Old Testament, were told to eat the Word of God. They both found it to be delightful. Ezekiel says, “Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth, as sweet as honey.” Even David, King David, in the Old Testament, in Psalm chapter 19 he describes the Law of the Lord. He says it's “perfect, it converts the soul.” And he goes on to describe just how perfect and how righteous and how awesome is the Word of God. And later he says, “It's sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb.”
0:12:58.1
In other places in the Bible the Word of God is compared to food. It's called bread, it's called milk, it's called meat. Jesus even said, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” I mean, how weird and how strange is that? But it's all a picture of us consuming the Word of God until it becomes a part of our being. Warren Wiersbe says it this way, he says, “The Word must always become flesh before it can ever be given to those who need it.” And he says this to teachers and preachers of the Word of God, “Woe unto that preacher or teacher who merely echoes God’s Word and does not incarnate it, making it a living part of his being.” And that's an important word to those of us who handle the Word of God. Whether you're a Sunday School teacher or a Vacation Bible School teacher, become the living incarnation of the Word of God that you're teaching and passing on to somebody else.
0:13:55.2
But I think there's more to the taste of this “Incredible Edible Scroll.” John is told that “when you eat it, it will be sweet to your taste, but when it reaches your belly, it will be bitter.” And in one sense that's a description of the Christian life, isn’t it? It's sweet to follow Jesus. It's sweeter than anything you could possibly imagine. And John understood that as one of the 12 Disciples, and even the beloved disciple of Jesus. He had a special relationship with Jesus, and Jesus did with John and his family. But there was something also bitter about how John followed Jesus faithfully, and ended up in the Patmos prison. And isn’t that true as it relates to anything in the Christian life? It can be sweet to follow Jesus, but He may say, “Follow me this way.” And you follow Him into difficulty and challenge and something that’s very bitter in your life. But you learn to follow Jesus even in the bitter times and the difficult times of life.
0:14:54.6
This reference to a scroll that is both sweet and bitter also suggests that the Word of God is sweet to some people and it's bitter to other people. And you may be here this morning, and you say, “Wow, Pastor, I love it when you take the Bible and you open up the Word of God. It is sweetness to my ears. I love it, I digest it into my life.” Others of you are sitting there grinding your teeth, saying, “I can't wait to get out of here and get to the Luby’s Buffet.” Because there's something about the Word of God that, to those who believe, it is life. To those who are skeptical, to those who are indifferent to the Word of God, to those who are hostile to the things of Jesus, it is not life, it is death.
0:15:37.9
Kind of reminds me of Noah during his day when he was building his ark. Took Noah 100 years to build the ark, did you know that? And as he built it, he walked by faith. He had never seen a rainstorm or a flood. Are you kidding me? He had all kinds of people come by, scoffing, “Noah, what are you doing? Silly seaman building that stupid boat over there.” And here’s what the writer of Hebrews says about Noah; “By faith, Noah, when warned about things not seen, in holy fear, built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” So the writer of Hebrews tells us the same ark that saved Noah and his family condemned the watching world that scoffed at him, that was skeptical, that even remained indifferent to him. And so it is true about the gospel. The same gospel that saves some…for if “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What good news that is, John 3:16. But have you read verse 17 and verse 18? “To those who believe, they are not condemned, but to those who do not believe, they are condemned already.” So the same gospel that saves those who believe, condemns those who does not believe. That's the bitterness and the sweetness of the Word of God. And I believe it has something to do with John eating the scroll. It was sweet for a moment, but it had a bitter taste afterwards. It may be sweet to some today who believe, but it can bitter—and ultimately bitter—one day to those who choose not to believe.
0:17:32.4
Well, that's enough right there in Revelation chapter 10 to just pique our curiosity and get us leaning forward a little bit. Again, Revelation is mysterious, it piques our curiosity. But we read on in chapter 11. This is one of the most mysterious chapters in all of the book of Revelation. John begins with these words; “Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
0:18:23.2
What is this all about? John is told to take out a measuring rod and measure the temple of God. Remember the last time you bought a house, and part of the sales process you got a survey, a survey that measured and marked out the land that you were gonna claim as your own at closing? The Lord’s doing a similar thing here. I believe this is a literal temple. The temple, the Jewish temple that will be rebuilt in Jerusalem one day. Some want to try to spiritualize the temple here. That's kind of hard to do, to make (0:19:00.0) all the descriptive things work in a spiritualized temple. Because they find it hard to imagine how the Jewish temple that was once built by Solomon and destroyed by the Babylonians, rebuilt by Herod in the first century and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., a temple that has never been rebuilt on planet Earth. So it's hard for them to imagine that Jewish being rebuilt in the future in the City of Jerusalem, especially when the Dome of the Rock sits on top of Mount Moriah, the Temple of the Mount. It's a Muslim mosque today. So for this temple to get rebuilt in the Holy City, something has to happen to that mosque. I don't know how that's gonna happen, but I believe the rebuilding of the temple has something to do with the Antichrist peace treaty that he negotiates on behalf of Israel. Something happens to that temple, and he gives them the okay to rebuild their temple there.
0:19:58.5
And besides this future (0:20:00.0) Jewish temple is spoken of in at least three other places in the Bible. Jesus mentioned it in His Olivet discourse, in Matthew 24:15, when He draws upon Daniel’s Old Testament prophecy, in Daniel chapter 9, and talks about “the abomination that causes desolation.” This is a time when the Antichrist goes into the Jewish temple, establishes himself as God and demands worship. Well, that temple has to be rebuilt for him to do that. And then Paul, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, gives a very lengthy description of the “man of lawlessness,” this one we call the Antichrist. And again, he talks about how he goes into the temple of God, establishes himself as God and demands worship. Well, scholars have said for years that temple has to be rebuilt for the Antichrist to move in and to do such things. And I believe that's what John is giving us a picture of here in Revelation chapter 11. “Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told to rise and measure the temple of God.
0:21:09.0
Why measure it? Well, like that survey, and like the seller in a real estate transaction claims, “This is the property I own.” This is God’s way of saying, “The people who worship here, and this building belong to Me.” And He’s claiming it as His own by measuring out the boundaries. But it's interesting that John is told to leave out the outside temple. You know, the temple under Solomon, and later under Herod, had a footprint, a very large footprint. And there was an outer part called the “Court of the Gentiles.” John is told to “leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months.” Given over to the Gentile nations, who at this point in the Tribulation move in on Israel, move in on the holy city and trample it for 42 months. This is probably a reference to the second half of the tribulation period, that part that Jesus called a “great tribulation.” And during that time, and even the time leading up to that, God never leaves this earth without a gospel witness.
0:22:19.4
Aren't you glad for that? That in wrath He remembers mercy. Don’t ever forget that. In fact, remember the angel of the Lord in chapter 10, he has a rainbow for a crown. Why a rainbow? Because a rainbow always points back to Noah and that time that God put a bow in the sky and promised Noah never to judge the earth with a worldwide flood again. In wrath God always remembers mercy. And even during the tribulation period He does not leave this earth without a gospel witness. Verse 3, “and I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” Another reference to a three and a half year period of time, if you use the Jewish calendar.
0:23:09.2
Who are these mysterious witnesses? Why did they return to planet Earth, and what are they doing? Well, let’s read on in verse 4. “These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed.”—now, listen to this—“They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.”
0:23:53.2
Who does that sound like? I mean, this is a little bit like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. We're just given some clues as to the identity of the two witnesses. If you read those descriptions carefully, they sound eerily like the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament, and Moses. Because it was Elijah who was able to pray and it didn’t rain for three and a half years, and then to pray again and it rained. He experienced the power of God in his ministry that way. And it was Moses who, through the plagues and other things, God used to fill the rivers and the water supplies with blood. Is it possible that these two witnesses that come to planet Earth during the tribulation period are none other than Elijah, the prophet from the Old Testament, and Moses? I mean, how mysterious is that? Well, it's not so mysterious when you understand that it was Moses and Elijah that appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Maybe a foreshadowing of this. And both Moses and Elijah, there's mystery around both of their deaths. Elijah never actually died, he was translated. Remember? Caught up in the chariot of fire and just caught up into heaven. Wouldn't you like to go like that one day, not have to go through the death experience? Well, that was Elijah, the prophet. And even Moses’ death is a little bit mysterious in the Scriptures. The Bible says that when Moses died, God Himself personally buried him somewhere. We don’t know where. Nobody knows to this day where Moses is buried. But these two prophets of God, these two men of God, these holy heroes of the faith appear on planet Earth as another way of God not leaving planet Earth without a gospel witness. Who were the other witnesses on planet Earth during this time? The 144,000 Jewish evangelists we talked about a few weeks ago. And it's through these 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the two witnesses, these heroes of the faith, Moses and Elijah, that the greatest spiritual awakening happens on planet Earth in the history of all of mankind. Again, God, in the midst of wrath, remembering mercy, giving the earth a gospel witness.
0:26:11.1
Now, what happens to these witnesses, though, not to mention the other 144,000, is quite astonishing. Let’s read on in verse 7. “And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.” So Moses and Elijah reappear on planet Earth. They're part of the gospel witness. That gospel is sweet to some and bitter to others. And particularly bitter to this one who is called the “beast that rises from the bottomless pit.”
0:27:20.6
Now, the book of Revelation talks about three different beats. One that rises from a bottomless pit, here in chapter 11. And then in chapter 13, one that rises from the sea, and another that rises from the earth. We refer to this as the “unholy trinity.” The one rising from the beast is probably none other than the devil himself, Satan. The one that rises from the earth is his chief emissary, the Antichrist, we call him. The one that rises from the sea, in Revelation 13:11, is what we call the false prophet who leads a worldwide religion—a one-world religion—during the tribulation period. But in Revelation chapter 11, when the two witnesses are doing their work for the Lord on planet earth, this beast from the bottomless pit, Satan himself, strikes them, makes war with them and kills them. And their bodies, according to the vision here, their bodies lay in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days. Now, can you imagine with the technology we have today, with the smart phones, with the social media platforms, every eye in the world will see these two corpses, Elijah and Moses, lying in the streets of Jerusalem. And if that isn’t mysterious enough, John goes on to say, “After three and a half days, the breath of God comes into these two bodies, and they rise from the dead.” Can you imagine, can you imagine this? I mean, how many times people will watch these videos on their smartphones over and over and over again. And just as they rise from the dead, they hear a voice from heaven that says, “Come on up here.” And they get another one of those chariot rides. This is a second one for Elijah, first for Moses. And they take the chariot to heaven. And then John says what follows is an earthquake that just shakes the holy city. 7,000 people in Jerusalem die from the earthquake that shakes in this place.
0:29:37.8
I said earlier that God always leaves a gospel witness on His planet, and it's an indication that in wrath He remembers mercy. And we should be glad for that. But before the 144,000 Jewish evangelists show up, and before Elijah and Moses show up, who is God’s witness on the earth? Well, it's His Church, it's His Church. Hold your place here in Revelation chapters 10 and 11, and go with me to Acts chapter 1. Real quickly, Acts chapter 1. Acts 1:8, lay it alongside the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 and you get the engine that is the evangelistic thrust of the Church. Acts 1:8 is very familiar. Jesus talks about, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and the uttermost parts.” But did you know He answered with that in response to a question the disciples had about the end of the age and about the future? “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And you know what Jesus said the them at this time? “Guys, don’t waste your time thinking about things like that right now. Okay?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons that your Father has fixed by his own authority.” That's kind of a New Testament way of saying, “The secret things belong to the Lord.”
0:31:00.7
Now, let me get you focused on what you really need to focus on, disciples. And he goes on to say, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” From this time forward until the day that the trumpet sounds and the dead in Christ rise first, and we, the true Church who are alive and remain, are caught up together with Him in the air…I'm describing that event known as the “rapture.” From the first century to the moment that trumpet sounds and the Bride of Christ is raptured from this earth, we are His witnesses. And you can either be a good witness for Jesus or a lousy witness for Jesus in the sphere of influence that He has given to you.
0:31:55.2
I had a professor in seminary who, every time we talked about Acts 1:8, he used to say, “Evangelism is a gift given to the few, but witnessing is a responsibility given to every one of us.” Jesus didn't say, “Hey, if you think about it and you want to try it out a little bit, you can be My witness.” No, he says, “You are My witness.” Us and the Holy Spirit is all He’s got on this earth. The witness, the gospel witness that God leaves on planet Earth right now when Jesus went back to the Father is the Church. And the burning question for us every day, as a church corporately in this location, and as you and me, or individual members of the Church scattered throughout this region and across the city and around the world, is what kind of gospel witness are leaving? What kind of witnesses are we in the sphere of influence that God has given to us? That's a question you have to answer for yourself, that I have to answer as a pastor. And not just as pastor, but as a member of a neighborhood, a family, an extended family, in whatever sphere of influence that God has given to me. We are his witnesses. And when the witness that is the Church of Jesus Christ is raptured out of this earth, God doesn't leave us without a witness on the earth. That's when the 144,000 come. That's when the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, come. And through that, and through, I'll say, an adjusted ministry of the Holy Spirit, this great spiritual awakening takes place. In wrath God remembers mercy. Isn’t an awesome thing?
0:33:31.5
But these two witnesses pay the ultimate price, do they not? And they are martyred by the beast that rises up out of the bottomless pit. I don't have time to read verses 15 through 18 or so, but then John pictures a scene in heaven again with the seventh trumpet sounding and great worship taking place in heaven. And then he brings us to this Raiders of the Lost Ark scene. I know you've been waiting for that part, right? Indiana Jones. I wish I had a hat and a whip. Verse 19, “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within the temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.”
0:34:23.1
What Indiana Jones could never figure out, what Stephen Spielberg so wanted to script into his movie, but never could, the bible reveals the mystery here of the missing ark of the covenant. That representation of the presence of God that followed the Jewish people around for all those years in the Old Testament, it's in the temple of God. Don’t confuse the temple mentioned here in heaven with the temple at the beginning of chapter 11. You got to know whether you're on earth or heaven as you kind of read through the book of Revelation. But the scene shifts to heaven in verse 15, and John is given a glimpse of the ark, the missing Ark of the Covenant. God knew where it was all the time. He's got it safely secured in the temple in heaven.
0:35:13.1
Now, what do we do with a message like this? Again, it piques our curiosity, as Revelation does. And we could just walk away from a message like this, saying, “Wow, isn’t that interesting. It's fascinating. A riddle…many riddles “wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” as Churchill says. But we do nothing with the truth. And I don’t want us to leave that way. As believers in Jesus Christ, getting a glimpse into the future like this should encourage us and spur us to walk by faith. Yes, when the times are sweet to follow Jesus, and even in times when it's bitter and difficult and hard to follow Him. Is to walk by faith, and as you walk by faith to share your faith. Like Noah, who was building that ark for 100 years and there were people laughing at him and scoffing at him and saying what an idiot he was, he walked by faith. Every nail he pounded into the wood was marked by faith. And we walk by faith as well even as we share our faith.
0:36:18.5
If you're here this morning and you're among those are still hostile, skeptical or maybe just a bit indifferent to the claims of Jesus Christ, I want to leave you with just one word from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah. And we could drop this into any place in our study of the book of Revelation. Just a moment of application, a wake-up call that goes beyond just curiosity seeking to apply these Scriptures into our life. Isaiah said so many centuries ago, “Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Seek the Lord while He may be found, because there's coming a day when the angel of the Lord will say, “No more delay.” Call upon Him while He is near, while your heart is softened to the things of God. While you have a moment that is in your hands, and you can't guarantee that you'll have a second, let alone another day, let alone another week or a year or a month, because time is not ours. Call upon Him while He is near, and what you will find is a god who desires to pour His compassion upon you. Yes, in the midst of wrath, He remembers mercy, He remembers compassion. He will abundantly pardon your sins and mine if we just call upon Him, and if we simply reach out to Him while he is near and while He may be found.
0:38:03.0
Will you bow your heads with me in an attitude of prayer? And I want to give you an opportunity to do that right now. Just to call upon Him by faith and say, “God, my heavenly Father, I'm beyond curious about what I've learned today and in this study of Revelation. I'm a little shaken to the core, and I want to know You. I want to be on the receiving end of Your compassion, and be abundantly pardoned for my sin. God, thank You that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. That He was buried, that He rose again from the dead. I believe that. I receive Him today as my savior. I do that by faith not understanding every theological I or able to cross every T, but by faith I just say, ‘Yes’ to Jesus. Help me the rest of my life to walk by faith in sweet times and in bitter times, but to walk by faith until You come to take me home.”
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And Father, to that end, we all pray this morning, believers and unbelievers alike, just reaffirming our commitment to You. Father, do Your work in our midst. We give You permission to do that, Holy Spirit. To fill us with Your presence, to convict us and convince us of the truth. And we pray this in Jesus name and for His sake, Amen.
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