I trust you have had time to take a look at the world and what is going on.  Alarming, isn't it!  The recent incident at the Minneapolis International Airport where six Muslim immans were detained because of the concerns of airline personnel and passengers is just the tip of the iceberg of what is happening in our world.  We are just now finding out that the media has not given us the whole story of what happened at that gate of US Airways in Minneapolis.  Now, I must admit that I have prayed often with groups at the gates before boarding a plane, but it is always done in a corner and in a voice that is not threatening to anyone around us.  These immans spoke in loud voices, using those words of "Allahu Akbar" that were heard as the planes crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11.  I don't blame airline personnel and passengers for being alarmed.  I have recently read a book that you all should read.  It is titled, "The Next World War," and was written by Grant Jeffrey.  Wow!  This book really has confirmed what I had already known was the the strategies of the Islamic Extremists and Iran, Syria, and Russia.  Read this book as you are reading the closing chapters of Ezekiel and you will see how God is behind what is happening.  But I believe we are in for a very bumpy ride.

 

Yesterday the Iraq Study Committee released its report.  As I have read portions of it, the only enemy that I can see declared is Israel.  Somehow Israel is made to be the bad guy in the Middle East.  As one editorialist I read this morning stated, "Isn't amazing how Israel is the cause for all the problems in the world today!"  My friends, I still believe strongly in the covenant promise God made to Abraham and recorded for us in Genesis 12 - "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you."  Friends, just look at Europe today.  Europe as we have known it teeters on the brink of extinction.  It has no religious foundations any more.  It will soon be dominated by those who sought to dominate Europe back in the Middle Ages, but were driven back because of the influence of the Church.  America needs to be reawakened and realize the we need to get right with God.  It is time to stop watering down the gospel so that it loses its power to convince people of their sin and of their need for a Savior.  I am not OK and neither are you!  Unless we know the One who came that first Christmas so many years ago, we are at war with God...and God is always the winner.  It is time we get believers to hunger for the deeper things of the word of God.  Friends, I say this passionately because I believe there is not much time left.  It is time we stop playing at serving the Lord and really get down to business with God.  Well, please excuse me for my ramblings.  It is just that I am tired of people going to church and not getting fed anything of a spiritual nature.  I am tired of hearing reports from people who have been tossed out of churches because they dared to question what was being taught.  I am tired of hearing others say that the Bible cannot be taught unless it meets with the approval of a denominational standard.   Well, enough said.

 

Now for some thoughts from Revelation 10;  This is the chapter that describes a mighty angel with a little scroll.  Let's see if we can make some sense of this little chapter.

 

I.  The character of the angel - Revelation 10:1-2

 

    A.  The special uniform of this angel

 

          1.  Clothed with a cloud - and speak of the second coming of Christ in glory (Acts 1:9, 11 and Matthew 24:30)

          2.  Rainbow was upon his head - emphasizes the mercy of God

          3.  His face was like the sun - his authority as a delegate of the Lord Jesus Christ is emphasized

          4.  His feet like pillars of fire - symbolizes the coming judgment

 

    B.  In his hand was an open book

 

          What was this book?  It was Christ's title deed to the earth and its possessions.  It contains the judgments by which Christ uses His power and authority to take over the earth.  Some scholars believe it is the book that had been sealed with the seven seals, while other scholars claim that it is the Bible.  The angel  is seen revealing the final stages of God's program for the nations and for Israel.

 

II.  The cry of the angel - Revelation 10:3-4

 

    A.  The cry was like the voice of a lion to emphasize the strength of the cry

    B.  Two things happened:

 

           1.  Seven thunders uttered their voice - Psalm 29:3-9

           2.  John was restrained from revealing what the thunders said.  There are still secrets which God has not seen fit to reveal to men.

 

III.  The confirmation by the angel - Revelation 10:5-7

 

    A.  The angel now confirms with an oath the purpose of God to take His rightful inheritance.  The basis of his oath is God who is described here as the eternal One and as the all-powerful Creator

    B.  The affirmation made in the oath is that the mystery of God will be finished soon.  Time has run out, there will be no delay.  God's mercy and grace, even in the midst of judgment, is now ceased.

    C.  What is the mystery of God in Revelation 10:7?

 

           1.  This mystery will be finished when the seventh trumpet is sounded - Rev 11:15

           2.  This mystery has to do with when the kingdom will be established on earth

 

IV.  Command concerning the angel - Revelation 10:8-10

 

    A.  Christ told John to take and eat this little book.  This is a command for the Apostle John to eat up the little book so as to thoroughly understand its contents and make the necessary applications to his life.  In other words, John was to let the Word of God affect him first before he was to minister it to others.

 

    B.  This book was sweet to the taste, but bitter to digest.  It is sweet to think of God as love, but it is bitter to think of God as judge.  As John sees what it will cost the world and what it will cost the nation Israel for the kingdom to be set up on earth, it becomes bitter for him.

 

V.  The commission of the angel - Revelation 10:11

 

    John was told to prophesy to the nations and against the peoples of the world.  The worst was yet to come.

 

Thoughts to Ponder:  God is patient and long-suffering.  He is not willing for any to perish.  His desire is that all men might be saved.  But there will indeed come that moment in time when God's patience with the evils of mankind will once again be exhausted.  As He judged a sinful world during the days of Noah, so He will judge a sinful world once again as He prepares to come and establish His kingdom.  But until that day comes, we have a responsibility to proclaim the gospel to the world.  We need to warn the lost of God's impending wrath.  We need to alert them to God's unlimited love as shown through Christ's death on a cross.  Our task is not to sit and wait, but to work as we wait.  Yes, we need to eat of God's Word so that we can proclaim it faithfully. 

 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.  (Abraham Lincoln)

 

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