and look at verse number 14.
And if you remember, chapter 8 started the wrath of God, and there are going to be seven
angels that are going to be sounding.
And so in chapter 8, we went through four of those angels.
In chapter 9, you go through two angels, and I want you to notice in verse number
14, Revelation 9, verse 14, which we covered last week, saying to the sixth angel which
had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
And so in chapter 9, in verse 14, the sixth angel sounds, so there's only one more angel
to sound.
Now if you remember, the book of Revelation is 22 chapters, and it's basically divided
into two halves, 1 through 11, and 12 through 22.
So when we get to the end of chapter 11, what's going to happen is, we're going
to go way back in time to the story of Adam and Eve.
Way back in time, and then it's going to kind of cover different details of the
end times, and then it's going to go to more details of the millennial reign and things
such as that.
And so that's going to start in Revelation chapter 12, so we have two more chapters here,
chapter 10 and 11, and we're only going to see one more angel, and the angel's going
to come in next week's sermon, chapter 11.
But anyways, go back to chapter 10, and kind of the theme of this chapter is basically
that the time is just coming to an end for these wicked people.
So I named the sermon Time's Up, I wasn't really quite sure what to name it, although
there is a little bit of time left, God kind of speaks about things that are not as
if they already were to happen, as He's basically taking command, and we're going to hit a few
highlights here in this chapter, it's only 11 verses.
Verse 1, and I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud,
and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet
as pillars of fire.
Now this doesn't really cover what we're talking about in the sermon, but let me just
say this, the rainbow here in verse 1 has seven colors, okay?
It does not have six colors, okay?
You can show my son a rainbow, he'll start saying, red, orange, yellow, green, blue,
indigo, violet, okay?
It's not blue-purple, there's seven colors in a rainbow, and I know the sodomites have
their six-colored rainbow that's out there, that's not what you see in the Bible or
an actual rainbow, it's actually seven colors, indigo and violet, it's not just purple.
So my son is not even three years old, he can tell you the seven colors in a rainbow,
so us that are adults, we ought to be able to figure it out, okay?
This rainbow here has seven colors, and notice what it says in verse 2, and he had in his
hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on
the earth.
Now there's a lot of symbolism in these verses, and I don't pretend to say that I
know every single thing the Bible's trying to tell us, but I do find it significant
where it says he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.
You say, why?
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 11, Deuteronomy chapter 11.
And so the first point here is just explaining why he has one foot on the sea and one on
the earth.
Now, in the Bible, you'll see this expression sometimes where we'll say something
like the ends of the earth, or something such as that, and some people try to take
that and say, well see, you could like walk off the earth and boom, because they
believe in a flat earth, okay?
They believe there's an actual end of the earth where you walk off, but if you actually
study the Bible, when the Bible says the ends of the earth, what it means is there's
water right on the other side, because what the Bible says is there's the seas
and there's the earth, okay?
So the end of the earth means you're in the seas.
It doesn't mean, oh whoops, I just stepped off the planet.
Now I'm dead, okay?
That's not what it's saying.
The end of the earth is talking about the seas.
So basically the earth and the seas represent everything.
The part of the world that we live in, part of this planet that we live on, that's underwater,
the seas, and then the part that's just the ground, the earth, okay?
Notice what it says in Deuteronomy 11, verse 24.
Deuteronomy 11, verse 24.
Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours.
Notice this, from the wilderness in Lebanon, from the river Euphrates, even on the
uttermost seas shall your coast be.
So what he says is everywhere where your feet tread upon, everywhere where your feet walk
belongs to you, okay?
And so then what he says is he mentions basically the land, and he mentions the seas
here in Deuteronomy.
You say, what am I trying to tell you?
Here's what I'm trying to tell you.
I believe that in Revelation chapter 10, what he's declaring is all of this planet belongs
to me, the waters and the earth.
Now you say, doesn't it already belong to God?
The Bible says Satan is the god of this world, and God does allow Satan to basically
deceive people, and he allows him to persecute people.
He allows the antichrist to come.
He allows the false prophet to come, but that's gonna run out of time.
Time's gonna be up on the devil, and basically God's gonna take command of this planet,
okay?
And so this is just a little bit before the millennial reign of Jesus, but what the
Bible's trying to show you is, hey, I am now taking command.
You're done, okay?
Now back to Revelation chapter 10.
Revelation chapter 10.
If you remember, the Bible says the antichrist, he was given 1260 days is what his power
was, and so his time is up at this point.
God is taking command.
And then once the seventh seal sounds in Revelation chapter 11, there's a few things
that are left to take place, but a 30-day period there.
But basically right here we see in verse number two what I believe is that he has one
foot upon the sea and his other foot on the earth, because he's trying to say, all
of the waters, all of the land, it all belongs to me now, okay?
We're done with you, antichrist.
We're done with you, devil, okay?
Verse number three, and cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth.
And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
So the Bible says here that seven thunders uttered their voices, and we talked about
those seven thunders earlier in the Revelation series here, but it says they're gonna
utter their voices, okay?
So you might ask, what is it that they say?
What is it that they utter?
Verse number four, and when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to
write.
So John, here's what is said, and he's about to write down, but then notice what
it says, and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, seal up those things which
the seven thunders uttered and write them not.
So what the Bible says is what those seven thunders uttered, I don't want you to write
them because I don't want people to know.
You say, brother, what are those seven thunders?
I have no idea.
I mean, the Bible says that it's not supposed to be written.
We're actually not supposed to know that, okay?
You say, why does the Bible even mention this if we're not even supposed to know this?
Okay, well, go back to Daniel chapter 12, Daniel chapter 12.
And here's what I would say.
I would say that whatever was uttered, it's not something that God says that we that
live here today need to know, okay?
Now this will come into play obviously during that time period, but look, it's obviously
something God says, you know, we just don't need to know, okay?
And there's many applications we can make from this.
This is not just in this place in the Bible, but going to Daniel chapter 12, which
is referring to the end times, Daniel chapter 12, verse 4, Daniel 12, verse 4.
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even at the time of
the end.
And he shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
So he says, I want you to shut up the words and seal the book.
He says, knowledge is going to be increased.
As we get closer to the end times, knowledge is going to be increased.
We're going to understand the end times better, okay?
We understand the end times, or you should, better than Daniel did, okay?
It's like, for example, you know, this is just my opinion, but I believe the false prophet
in the Bible is actually going to be the pope.
But you know, if I had told that to Daniel, he'd be like, what's a pope, okay?
There's just things that have happened today that Daniel was just not aware of, okay?
He didn't know that all these empires were going to take over the world.
I mean, he knew some empires, but he didn't know about Babylon, USA, and things such
as that.
He's not aware of that.
So us that live today, we should have more knowledge than Daniel about the end times.
Why?
Because this is the book of Revelation.
It's being revealed to you.
It wasn't revealed to Daniel, okay?
And so notice what it says in verse 5.
Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of
the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river,
how long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he
held up his right hand and his left hand onto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever,
that it shall be for a time, times, and in half.
And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things
shall be finished.
Now, look, we've talked about the time, times, and a half.
That's three and a half years.
Time is one, times is two, so one plus two, and a half is 0.5, so that's three
and a half years.
And look, we understand the timeline.
We've mentioned it during the Bible that the first three and a half years are the beginning
of sorrows.
The Antichrist is going to be revealed or claimed to be God, and then basically that's
going to set off the whole time period of the end times, the mark of the beast, and everything
such as that.
There's a 75-day period where basically before the rapture, then the rapture takes
place.
We've given the timeframe, but I want you to understand that we have access to parts
of the Bible that Daniel just didn't have.
He didn't have Matthew 24.
And I understand some things in the New Testament were things that were preached or quoted
that they would have had access to, but I don't believe he had a deep understanding
of the end times like we can have today.
I mean, he didn't have the book of Revelation, or Matthew 24, or 2 Thessalonians chapter
2, or all these passages on the end times, so he's kind of basically looking at a glass
just and not fully comprehending and seeing the other side, whereas us that live today,
we can see much more clearly to the other side.
But I don't believe we can see 100% clearly to the other side of that.
Why?
Because we're not in the end times yet.
At least I don't believe we're in the end times yet.
I mean, if we're in the end times, it's going to have to get really bad really quickly,
okay?
Because the beginning of sorrows is bad.
But as time goes by, people can understand better, okay?
When you think of the mark of the beast, I mean, we think of things as putting like
a chip in your hand and things such as that, and it kind of makes sense to us how
that could take place, but that wouldn't have made sense to people that lived all
the way back then.
Or it talks about how during the end times, basically the false prophet's going to make
it where basically everyone has to worship the image of the beast, the antichrist.
Well, here's the thing.
People live all over the world.
So how are they going to force people to worship this image?
Well, they're going to be able to set this up where it's basically everywhere.
And we understand with modern technology how some of these things might be possible,
okay?
And so look at verse number eight.
And I heard, but I understood not.
Then said I, oh my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
So Daniel wants to know, hey, what is this talking about?
I want to know what's going to take place.
Daniel was obviously a great man of God.
From my recollection, he's about the only character I can think of in the Bible where
it doesn't even mention him committing a sin.
It doesn't even mention him doing anything wrong.
He was a great man of God.
And he's asking, hey, what's the truth of this?
Verse nine.
And he said, go thy way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time
of the end.
Basically, Daniel, you just don't need to know.
Now obviously he wants to know, but God's saying, you know what, you just don't need
to know.
One application we can make, especially if you're a newer Christian or you haven't
read the Bible that much, you might read through the Bible and every five seconds you
stop and say, what is that talking about?
What's this talking about?
And you say, I'm just going to stay here and just meditate on this verse and just
look it up on Google and watch all these videos.
No, just keep reading the Bible, okay?
Because you always run into things that you do not understand.
Okay?
It doesn't matter how well you know the Bible.
You could memorize every single word in this book.
There would still be parts where you're not quite sure because the Bible's an infinite
book with eternal knowledge, so much information and you know what, sometimes I believe
God says, you know what, this information is just not the most important thing for
you as a new believer.
And maybe God's going to give you knowledge as time goes by according to his will,
because sometimes some knowledge is just not necessary for us.
Okay?
That's what's being told to Daniel.
Now, I understand when I was a newer Christian, how you're frustrated.
There's all these things you don't know and you keep stopping.
The problem is this book is more than five pages.
This book is a long book, okay?
And if you stop at everything you don't understand, here's the thing, you're never
going to move on throughout the entire Bible, but also you're going to end up believing
wrong things about the Bible.
Okay?
So if you stop and look at a phrase and just say, well, I'm going to figure this
out without reading the entire Bible, you'll start believing wrong things.
Why?
Because sometimes the answer is somewhere else in the Bible.
The Bible says you compare spiritual things with spiritual, which means you look up the
Word of God and you can look at the way the wording is and sometimes some of
these cryptic Old Testament verses are actually quoted in the New Testament and then
you're like, oh, okay, this is how Jesus applied that verse.
This is how I can apply that verse, okay?
And so when you're reading the Bible, don't just get hung up on a verse that you don't
understand and say, I'm going to read all these commentaries and listen to these
sermons.
You're going to end up learning wrong information and you know what?
Maybe God just doesn't want you to know that information yet.
Now obviously pray about it and think about it for a little while, but you can't
just stop every time you don't understand something or you're never going to get through
the Bible.
Okay?
Revelation chapter 10.
Revelation 10.
And so why is it, you know, I can't tell you what is it that was uttered, but you
know, why is it sealed up?
A couple of theories I would have is one, maybe it's something we would just really
not be able to comprehend unless we were there and sought ourselves.
So maybe if it was written, we'd just be like, man, I'm in algebra.
What's this calculus problem?
What's a derivative?
It's like, I don't know how to do this.
Or it could just be something where maybe it's a really painful thing that maybe God
says, you know what?
It's just not good information for people to know.
I'm not sure, but we know it's sealed up and so we shouldn't, and look, I promise
you, you could go online and I'm sure there's videos trying to explain what was uttered.
I promise you that I haven't done that, but I promise you because whenever there's
some complicated passage that nobody understands or something that very few people understand
or something the Bible does not give us the answer, there's always a million opinions
out there.
When God doesn't give you a direct answer, this is what it's saying.
And I'm sure there's all kinds of videos, but look, if God doesn't want you to know
it, you're wasting your time watching those videos.
So Daniel chapter 10, or not Daniel 10, Revelation 10.
So the first point we had was, why does it say the sea and the earth?
Secondly, what is it that's sealed up?
What is it that was uttered?
Thirdly, we're going to look at this phrase where it says time no longer in Revelation
chapter 10, verse five, 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 there and are, and the earth and the things that there
and are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time
no longer.
Okay?
Now this is speaking towards a future time where he says there's going to be time no
longer.
Okay?
He's not going to be at that time, but he's saying this is going to be taking place where
there is time no longer.
Okay?
You say, what does that mean?
Well, notice at the end of the word longer, okay?
You should have a colon in your Bible.
You see those two dots?
What that means is it's going to connect what's before the colon with what's after.
So the first word after is but.
That serves as a conjunction which is going to tie together what's before the colon with
what's after the colon.
Okay?
So he's going to clarify what does it mean there should be time no longer because this
is kind of a cryptic phrase, and some people would say, well, this means that once we
get to heaven, there is no longer time.
Well, the problem with this, we're going to cross reference this and see, but the
time period this is talking about where there's time no longer right after it's the millennial
reign of Jesus.
So there still is time.
The Bible is not saying that time will no longer exist at this point because we're going
to have the millennial reign of Jesus right after this point that he's talking about.
Okay?
But notice this.
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound.
Okay?
Remember, we have had six angels sound in chapters eight and nine, okay?
So we're going to look up when the seventh angel actually sounds here in a second, okay?
But also it says this, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.
So the phrase there should be time no longer is basically saying the mystery of God should
be finished.
So that time period is done of what he's going to be talking about.
Okay?
We're going to look up what that's talking about, but it's not saying there's no time
because when the mystery of God is finished, there's still going to be the millennial
reign of Jesus after that point.
So the time no longer is linking to the mystery of God should be finished.
This is similar to when Jesus said it is finished in the book of John, okay?
Now a lot of people take that and they say, well, see, it's finished.
Nothing else had to happen.
Now we're saved and on our way to heaven if we believe.
No, wait a minute.
Jesus hadn't risen again yet at that point.
Okay?
It is finished was not saying, well, everything that needs to be done is done because here's
the thing, because people try to use that phrase and they say, well, see, Jesus didn't
go to hell because he said it is finished before.
Well, I mean, he hadn't been resurrected yet either.
So apparently you're saying that the resurrection means nothing too.
Okay?
When it says it is finished in John, what it's referring to is a specific thing that's
finished within his timeframe.
Okay?
But he still had to die and be buried and rise again from the dead before we could
be saved.
Okay?
So when it says there should be time no longer here in Revelation chapter 10, we can see
with the colon there that's linking to what's said afterwards that the mystery of God should
be finished.
Then he says, as he hath declared to his servants, the prophets, okay?
So there's three statements we need to dissect here.
One is when does the seventh angel sound, right?
Because he said when the seventh angel begins to sound, we have to figure out when
does the seventh angel sound.
We also have to figure out what is this mystery.
And we also needed to figure out where does he declare this in the prophets or the Old
Testament because he says it's declared to his servants, the prophets.
Okay?
So go to Revelation chapter 11, Revelation chapter 11.
Revelation chapter 11.
And the seventh angel is the last.
There's seven angels to sound, obviously God's number of perfection, seven, and in Revelation
chapter 11 verse 15, so this is the next chapter.
Revelation chapter 11 verse 15, and the seventh angel sounded and there are great voices in
heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of
his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.
Now the statement in Revelation chapter 11 verse 15, when the seventh angel sounds,
he says the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord.
Remember Satan is the God of this world right now, but eventually Jesus will take
the throne.
Okay?
And we'll have the millennial reign of Jesus and the kingdoms will belong to him.
He does allow the devil to basically, you know, operate or do whatever well to some
degree do whatever he wants at this point, persecute believers and things like that.
But eventually Jesus is going to take the kingdom.
Now a lot of Christians, they have like a political mindset where they think it's
our job to take the kingdom.
Okay?
They want to fight all these political battles.
It's like we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against all principalities and
powers.
It's a spiritual battle and God is the one who's going to take the kingdom.
Okay?
We don't have to try to fight a political battle to try to take the kingdom because
God's going to take it when it's time.
Okay?
We fight a spiritual battle and it's said in Revelation 11 verse 15, the kingdoms
of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord.
That also shows us that at the end of Revelation chapter 11, you're at the end basically.
That's why we're going to see in Revelation chapter 12, it's going to cycle back
and go back to the beginning.
Okay?
We're going to go to Revelation chapter 16.
Revelation 16.
So remember, there's seven angels, the seven angels sound, but then in Revelation
chapter 16, we're also going to see the seventh angel sound.
You say, why?
Because of the fact the book of Revelation is split in two halves.
Okay?
And so it's similar to the book of Daniel.
Right?
I mean the first six chapters of Daniel are some of the most exciting parts of the Bible.
When you first get saved, right?
Those chapters of Daniel, Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you're
like, man, this is awesome.
You get to chapter seven and you're like, I don't understand a word that's being said.
Right?
Because the last half of Daniel is prophecy.
It's kind of divided into six chapters and six chapters, Revelation 11 and 11.
Okay?
So it makes sense.
Well, Revelation chapter 16 verse 17, and the seventh angel poured out his vial into
the earth, and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the throne
saying, it is done.
Remember, that kind of links to there should be time no longer.
Okay?
So we're seeing this in Revelation chapter 16, because at Revelation 12, it goes back
in time and it's going to go through events.
Okay?
And so then look at verse number 18.
Revelation chapter 16 gives us more insight on what happens when the seventh angel sounds.
Because in Revelation 11, it just kind of quickly passes over.
Revelation 16 verse 18, and there are voices and thunderings and lightnings, and there
was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty
an earthquake and so great.
So in verse 18, we're seeing this is the biggest earthquake in the history of
the world.
Okay?
Revelation chapter 16 verse 18, the biggest earthquake in the history of the world.
Man, I've only lived through one earthquake.
That was last year when we were in our big condo unit.
I don't know, what was it, like a 6.0 or something like something small?
And that alone, I was like, man, this is kind of scary.
Things are shaking.
I'm like, man, this is terrible.
Imagine what's going to take place here.
Okay?
Because I don't understand the exact formula for how they do it, but I want you to understand
when you have an earthquake that's 4.0 and then you have an earthquake that's 8.0,
8.0 is not twice of 4.0 in terms of how they measure it.
It's like 55 gazillion times, because the 4.0 is nothing.
Okay?
8.0 is pretty big.
Okay?
And I have more information on that.
I haven't written down the formula in a future sermon here with earthquakes.
But just know that in Revelation 16, we're looking at the biggest earthquake that has
ever existed.
Okay?
There's no telling how many people that could kill, and we don't really know where that
location is.
I mean, what if it caused a massive tsunami as well?
I mean, that's a possibility.
We don't know where the earthquake is located.
I mean, this is going to be very, very massive.
Okay?
And the great city was divided into three parts.
And the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to
give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of
a talent, and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague
thereof was exceeding great.
So when is it the seventh angel sounds?
Well, we see that in Revelation chapter 11.
We see that in Revelation chapter 16.
And basically, that's linking to when God's going to take the kingdom.
Okay?
Now, go to Romans chapter 11, Romans chapter 11, not Revelation, Romans chapter 11, okay?
So we saw when it's going to sound, when the seventh angel is going to sound.
But next, we have to ask ourselves, what is the mystery of God that was referred
to?
Okay?
Because that's what it said.
That's where the mystery comes.
What is that mystery referring to, okay?
What is the mystery of God that's mentioned in Revelation chapter 10?
Well, Romans chapter 11, verse 23, and they also, if they abide not still in unbelief,
shall be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Now, throughout the book of Romans, in case you're not aware, the first eight chapters
really focus on salvation and then living a holy life.
And then chapters nine through 11 are what's known as a parenthetical chapters, okay?
Basically, if you're reading it, you can put a giant parentheses around chapters
nine through 11, because you could take those out of the book of Romans, and it
would make sense going chapters one through eight, and then 12 to 16, it would make
perfect sense.
But basically, for three chapters, Paul kind of takes a break in what he's talking about,
as he's showing his heart for Israel, okay?
He's showing his heart for his heritage, that he wants them to be saved, and so chapters
nine through 11 in the book of Romans are very different than chapters one through
eight, okay?
And he's gonna focus on Israel, and chapters nine through 11, they basically tie together.
So in chapter 11, when we're at verse 23, this is kind of toward the end of that.
What he's basically talked about is how the Jews have been rejected.
Israel's been rejected, okay?
And he even mentions that he would be willing to be accursed from Christ.
He'd be willing to go to hell for their sakes so they could go to heaven.
Why?
Because Paul knows they've been rejected.
He knows that, okay?
It's also interesting, because Paul talks about Israel, Israel, Israel.
Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, which means when there's the northern and southern
kingdom, he would have lined up with the godly southern kingdom of Judah, Judah and
Benjamin.
And what Paul is talking about as he's talking about Israel, he goes back in time as he uses
Moses as an example, and he uses Jacob and Esau as examples.
What he's saying is, not even just my tribe of Judah and Benjamin, he's like, I wish
that God's people had never turned against God.
He's going way back in time to the book of Genesis to come up with examples and
then to the book of Exodus, okay?
As he uses Moses and Pharaoh and Jacob and Esau.
So he's showing his heart for them, but what he's making very clear in chapters nine
through 11 is Israel's done.
He's like, they've been rejected.
That's why he's saying, I would be willing to be accursed from Christ.
I wish they weren't rejected, but they've been rejected, okay?
But what you have to understand is that one day, okay, New Jerusalem's going to
come down and basically all of Israel are going to be saved people.
Not saying all the Jews are going to magically get saved, but all the people of Israel
are going to be spiritually saved, the Bible says.
Because the unbelievers, their wrath's being poured out, we're seeing in Revelation.
They're done.
They're dying.
They're going to hell.
But those that are in the New Jerusalem, okay, notice what it says in verse 24.
For if thou were cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature and were grafted
contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these which be the
natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery.
Okay?
Remember, he talked about when this mystery is done, okay?
The Bible says Jerusalem's going to be trodden underfoot of the Gentiles, okay?
But eventually that is going to be over, okay?
It's going to be trodden underfoot, but eventually that's going to be over.
So he speaks about this mystery.
He says, I don't want you to be ignorant, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits
that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be
come in.
Now, what Paul has talked about in chapters 9 through 11 is he says, you know what?
Not all of Israel has been rejected.
He's like, I'm also an Israelite.
He's like, I'm saved.
I haven't been rejected.
But by and large, Israel was rejected.
Why?
Because they became wicked, okay?
The examples he gave with Jacob and Esau, he chose Jacob from the womb, that Jacob
was going to be the one whose lineage, his heritage was going to be used, okay?
Now that doesn't mean that basically Esau was damned to hell like a Calvinist would
say.
It just means God chose to use the lineage of Jacob, probably because he figured he'd
be more godly, okay?
And he used that lineage and he talked about Moses and Pharaoh.
You say, why?
Because of the fact God spared the Hebrews from Egypt, okay?
And what he drives home to Israel in those chapters is, hey, I spared you with Jacob
and Esau.
If I spared you with Moses and Pharaoh, he's like, I'm not unjust to basically take it
away from you because you become wicked, okay?
The whole reason why God used them to begin with is because of the fact they were godly.
They were obeying God's rules to some degree, and it was their job to reach the world
with the Gospel, and eventually Jesus came to that tree and he said, guess what?
I don't see any fruit on this tree.
The example he said to say, you know what, I'm done with Israel, okay?
So he mentions this mystery in verse 25.
He said, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part has happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, there shall come out of Zion
the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
So what's been taking place in the book of Revelation is ungodliness is being turned away, okay?
The wicked people are being turned away, and eventually Jesus is gonna reign in the millennial
reign, okay?
It's gonna be God's rules that are in place.
And the people that are left, the saved people, look, they're saved and ungodliness
has been turned away, why?
Because of the fact it's Jesus' rules.
Ungodliness is gonna be turned away.
This does not say that every single Jew will just magically say, I now believe in Jesus.
That's ridiculous.
It doesn't say that.
All Israel shall be saved, ungodliness will be turned away from Jacob, which is referencing
to Israel his lineage, okay?
So we see the mystery of God, which is basically the times of the Gentiles, or the fullness
of the Gentiles.
We saw this took place in the 11th chapter, in the 16th chapter with the seventh angel.
And you say, well, we'll turn to Revelation 11.
Revelation 11.
Revelation chapter 11.
And so let me prove to you this to you, where it talks about Gentiles trotting underfoot
the holy city.
And there's a lot of places in the Bible.
I don't have time to go into those.
And we've mentioned it here already in Revelation.
But in Revelation chapter 11, verse one, notice what it says.
And there was given me a reed like onto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, rise
and measure the temple of God and the altar in them that worship therein.
But the court which is without the temple, leave out and measure it not, for it is given
unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months.
Okay?
Now this is referencing starting at the midpoint of Daniel's 70th week, and basically
it's going to last for 42 months.
And then what we see is the fact that Jesus is going to take control.
Now remember, there's 43 months in the last half of Daniel's 70th week, because as
time has gone by, one month is added.
So when the seventh angel sounds, you have 30 days left.
But basically, Jesus speaks about things, or the Bible speaks about things that have
not taken place yet that are about to take place, because he's basically taking his
kingdom and there's 30 days left, and then you've got the millennial reign of Jesus.
Okay?
Now go back to Revelation chapter 10.
Revelation 10.
So you say, well, where did it declare that in the prophets in the Old Testament?
Many books of the Old Testament talk about the end times.
Okay?
I mean, tons of books talk about it.
Probably everyone does, at least in some form or another, give some sort of reference
or symbolism.
It's not just the book of Daniel.
In the book of Daniel, the book of Zechariah, obviously the book of Isaiah, the book of
Ezekiel, they give us the timing on these things.
Now what Revelation does is it reveals the information, and it can fully make sense
to us.
Okay?
But these are mentioned throughout the Old Testament.
Notice what it says in Revelation chapter 10, verse 8.
And it says in verse 8, and the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again and
said, go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth
upon the sea and upon the earth.
So it talks about taking this little book, verse 9, and I went on to the angel and
said unto him, give me the little book.
And he said unto me, take it and eat it up.
So he's asked to take this book, and he takes this book and he eats it up.
Then it says this, and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth
sweet as honey.
And what the Bible's trying to tell us here is that when you take this book, which
we can link to the word of God, it's going to make your belly bitter, but your
mouth is going to be sweet as honey.
You say, what in the world is that talking about?
Okay?
Now let me say this.
He said, take it and eat it up.
Right?
When it comes to God's word, truth does not fear investigation.
That's why we encourage you to read the Bible.
Truth does not fear investigation, and this is the pillar and ground of the truth, which
means I encourage you to read the Bible and memorize the Bible because I'm not afraid
of the things I'm saying, whether or not you fact check me, whether or not I'm correct.
When you go to churches that don't want you to read the Bible, why is that?
Because of the fact they're afraid you're going to come to a different conclusion than them.
They're afraid you're going to come to a verse in Matthew 24 and say, man, I thought
the word after meant like, you know, like, like after, you know, and they don't know
how to answer it.
They don't want you to ask questions, and so look, they're not preaching the truth.
Right?
Truth does not fear investigation, and so you're going to notice this because whenever
you have cults, because people try to say that a church like ours is a cult, and
the reason why they say that is because we preach really hard standards.
Okay?
Look, a cult tries to prevent people from having knowledge.
We don't try to prevent you from having knowledge.
I mean, I'm trying to get you to memorize the entire book of Romans, okay?
And I was just preaching through Romans, so hey, memorize it and check it out for yourself.
I'm trying to get you to memorize the entire book of Romans.
We try to get you to read.
I mean, the first month of the year, we have the New Testament Bible reading challenge.
We try to get you to read the Bible and memorize the Bible around here.
Why?
I'm not afraid of being investigated because I know the things that I'm saying are correct.
Now, I'm not saying I'm 100% perfect, but here's what I am saying.
If I say something that's wrong, and I'm just a little bit ignorant about a topic, or
I'm misled, I would be happy to know it was wrong, and then I can correct it, okay?
But I'll say this, that when you've read the Bible a lot, most stuff is just like
2 plus 2 equals 4.
There are topics people can have different opinions, but most stuff in the Bible is
just really very obvious, okay?
And so the truth does not fear investigation, and He said, take it and eat it up, and
that would be the same message God would have to anybody.
Take this book and eat it up as much as you can.
Read the Bible as a saved person.
You don't need a priest or a prophet to explain this book to you.
You can understand and read it for yourself, but it said it will make thy belly bitter,
but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
You say, what does that mean?
Well, here's the thing.
We want you to read the Bible.
We want to encourage you to read the Bible, and here's the thing.
It will be sweet in your mouth, but it will make your belly bitter from time to time.
You say, what are you talking about?
Here's what I'm talking about.
Go to Psalms 19.
I mean, we love God's Word.
We love learning things from God's Word.
We love the laws of God's Word.
We love all parts of the Bible.
They're great.
And here's the thing.
When you're in church and you're learning things, man, you're excited.
You're like, this tastes good.
That's coming because isn't honey one of the best tasting things?
The reason why none of us eat honey that much is because it's expensive, right?
I mean, it's very expensive honey, okay?
But man, the Bible always lists honey as being one of the great things, right?
A land that flows with milk and honey.
Why?
It's a great commodity, okay?
Honey is a very sweet and very great tasting thing, okay?
And so when we read the Bible, when we hear God's Word preached, it's in our mouth
sweet as honey.
We're like, man, amen, that's good.
There have been so many people that have visited this church one time, and they heard
a sermon and they're like, man, that was good.
I learned.
That was interesting.
They never came back.
You say, why?
Because it was in their mouth sweet as honey, but when they got home, it was bitter in their
belly.
Why?
Because of the fact when you preach a sermon against listening to rock music, man, when
you hear the sermon, you're like, man, that makes sense.
But then when you go home and you say, man, I still want to listen to this music,
all of a sudden it's a little bit bitter in your belly, right?
I mean, that's the application God's trying to make.
We want everybody to read the Word of God, and it is sweet in your mouth, the Bible says.
But you know, from time to time, the Word of God will expect you and ask you to make changes
in your life.
Okay.
And look, this is true with anybody.
When I read the Bible and memorize the Bible, I come across things where I'm like,
man, it's good.
It tastes like honey, but it's starting to be like an umpelaya in my stomach, right?
Like the bitter board.
It's a little bit bitter.
Okay.
Why?
Because God's Word, it's sweet in your mouth, but it can be bitter in your belly.
And look, everyone who's been at this church, I mean, you know, that's true, right?
I mean, if you're at this church, you've been here for a while because we preach
everything that the Bible says, and sometimes those sermons, it's like, man, that hurts.
And it's like, you like it because you love the Word of God, you're happy to learn.
It doesn't mean it's easy to make all those changes, though.
I mean, if it was easy to make these changes, everybody would love this church, right?
I mean, because we like to learn.
I mean, if people were willing to make changes when they heard it preached or they read it
in the Bible, they would love this church.
The problem is people hear sermons like this preached, and not really specifically
this sermon, because I'm not really going on to anything controversial, at least I don't think.
Okay?
At least not yet.
Okay?
But here's the thing.
I mean, people, you know, they hear sermons where you're preaching against things or
trying to motivate people to make changes, and the reality is most people just don't
want to make changes.
Now, I mean, there's 7,000 people that have not bowed the knee to Baal, and we got
plenty of people here today.
I mean, even considering the lockdown, we're still relatively packed on Sunday.
All of our tables are full at lunch and everything like that.
And you know, we'll probably have a lot of people when we get back here, but by and
large people don't want to hear what the Word of God says.
Psalms 19 verse 7.
Psalms is right in the middle of your Bible.
Psalms chapter 19 verse 7, and it says in Psalms 19 verse 7, the law of the Lord
is perfect, converting the soul.
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
Now, this verse has been taken out of context quite a bit.
There's a popular TV show that really takes it out of context, you know, Ray Comfort
and the Way of the Master series that he has, and what he teaches is that when you
preach the Gospel to people, what you do, because he says the law of the Lord's
perfect, converting the soul, and he's saying what he says with this verse is basically
God's law is the perfect way to get somebody saved.
So that's why they'll go through the Ten Commandments and say, well, you know, have you ever
stolen before?
And then they'll say, you know this, like a guy will answer the door.
He's in front of his wife.
Have you ever lusted after another woman before?
They'll say that right in front of the guy with his wife there.
It's like, look, we're not trying to embarrass people when we go soul winning.
We're trying to get them saved.
And here's the thing.
How can the law of the Lord, if that's referring to the Ten Commandments, as he says,
how can the Ten Commandments be perfect getting somebody saved?
Because I don't remember believing the Lord Jesus Christ mentioned in the Ten Commandments.
Do you?
How could that be perfect converting the soul?
I mean, it doesn't mention anything about believing on Jesus.
I mean, I think John 3 16 is a pretty good verse to convert the soul.
I mean, to say, though, that, you know, basically the Ten Commandments is the perfect way to
get somebody saved.
It doesn't mention anything about believing.
That's ridiculous.
Thou shalt not covet.
Yeah, that's going to get somebody saved.
I guess if you believe that you have to turn from all your sins to be saved, though,
that makes sense, which is what he believes.
What we believe is John 3 16, whosoever believeth in him should not perish but of everlasting
life.
We're happy when people do turn from their sins.
Let me tell you something.
There's plenty of people out there that are saved that are still living a very sinful
life.
Okay?
And all of us do from time to time.
No, when it says the law of the Lord is perfect, okay, and perfect in the Bible
basically means complete.
But the law of the Lord, if you look up every time in the Bible, this is referred
to, it's referring to all the Bible.
Every single word in this Bible is the law of the Lord.
There's many ways.
I mean, it says his testimonies, his statutes, his judgments, it refers to it many different
ways.
But the law of the Lord is referring to basically all of God's word.
Okay?
And so look, it is perfect.
And then it says, one of the things it does, it's complete.
The law of the Lord is complete.
God's word.
It's everything we need.
And one of the things it does, because there's a come after perfect is it converts the soul.
That's true because you must use the Bible to get somebody saved.
So yeah, I mean, the law of the Lord, all God's word, it does convert the soul.
We show people what the Bible says and they have the opportunity to respond to it,
to believe.
Okay?
It does convert the soul.
It says the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise and simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
So you notice he's rephrasing the law of the Lord, the testimony, the statutes,
in different ways.
Okay?
Basically saying this is God's word.
Okay?
He says in verse 10, more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold,
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Now when you eat something, let's say you eat honey.
Does it enter your belly or your mouth first?
Your mouth.
Right?
And see, when you hear God's word, it's like, man, this is great.
But it can become bitter if you don't want to abide by what God says.
It can become bitter if you're not willing to make the changes.
That's why it's saying it's in your mouth sweet as honey.
It tastes great, but then it becomes bitter in your belly.
Imagine that, you know, you love desserts and you just say, I'm gonna eat like four
bowls of ice cream.
Okay?
I'm in the mood for ice cream.
You eat four bowls of ice cream.
Hey, that's gonna be sweet in your mouth.
And you're gonna be sick to your stomach afterwards, right?
And so what the Bible says, and look, there's nothing sweeter than God's word, reading
God's word.
But you know what?
It can make your belly bitter if you're not willing to make the changes.
Now, here's the thing.
The Bible says God's word is good to those that do right.
But if people aren't willing to make the changes, it can frustrate them.
And they could just make excuses for leaving a church like this or not wanting to read
God's word or whatever.
Okay, now turn to Ezekiel chapter three, Ezekiel chapter three.
I mean, see, here's the thing.
I mean, God expects you to apply the things that you learn in church, right?
I mean, what's the point of coming here if you're not gonna make any changes?
I mean, it doesn't make any sense to me.
I've never really understood it because I'll be honest, when I got saved and started going
to church, I had so many problems in my life.
I mean, it's like, I mean, I got saved in college.
I live like, you know, most college students.
I wasn't really into the partying like, you know, most people.
I hadn't gone down that road.
I was a freshman in college.
But it's not like I was living, you know, a very godly life, okay?
It's not like I was just, you know, reading the Bible an hour every day and going to
church.
I was just living like a college student, right?
We'd go to all the football games and things like that, just hang out and stuff
like that.
And so here's the thing, though.
When I started going to church and reading the Bible, I wanted to hear the changes I
needed to make in my life.
I enjoyed the sermons where my toes got stepped on.
I enjoyed the sermons where I learned something new and I was like, man, and you know what?
You just apply it to your life.
Nobody when they get saved is just a very spiritual person already.
It takes time to reach that point.
It doesn't make sense to me why people would want to go to a church where they
learn nothing.
Why go to church at all?
I mean, literally, if you show up to church on a Sunday morning and you learn nothing,
absolutely nothing, and you show up on Sunday night and learn nothing, and you show
up on Wednesday night and learn nothing, what's the point of going?
I mean, obviously there's fellowship and obviously there's other benefits of church,
but one of the primary aspects of church, perhaps the most primary, is it's the pillar
and ground of the truth.
And if you're not learning anything, then why do you even show up?
And I would say the same thing here.
If I preach sermons and there reaches a day where you're like, I don't learn anything
from Brother Stuckey, it's obvious he doesn't spend time on his sermons anymore and
there's much better churches down the road, go to the church where you're going to learn.
That was a philosophy always applied to my life.
Go to the church that's preaching hard and you're learning.
And those are the people that I decided to line up with.
And look, at this church, we try to preach as much of the Bible as possible.
We want you to learn.
Why?
Because you know what?
God's word is sweet as honey and learning God's word is great and it will change your
life if you're willing to let it change your life.
Ezekiel chapter three, Ezekiel chapter three.
And so notice what it says in Ezekiel chapter three, and this concept is in plenty of
places in the Bible, but we're going to see here in Ezekiel chapter three about
how God's word is sweet, okay?
Ezekiel chapter three, verse one, moreover, he said unto me, son of man, eat that thou
findest, eat this roll and go speak unto the house of Israel.
So I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll.
Now this role is it's not pandesal.
It's not a cinnamon roll.
This is actually referring to a scroll, okay?
So this role is not food, padkah, and it's referring to a scroll.
So it's basically words that are being written.
So obviously there's symbolism there with obviously something you're partaking God's
word, but obviously not literally are you eating God's word.
Verse three, and he said unto me, son of man, cause thy belly to eat and fill thy
bowels with this roll that I give thee.
Then did I eat it and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
And so basically the Bible keeps telling you this concept over and over again, that
God's word is as honey.
And so look, when you're reading God's word, you ought to pay attention to what
you're reading.
You're going to learn something from God's word and it is sweet as honey.
So look, when you're doing your Bible reading during the day, don't just say, well, you
know, I'm just, you know, checking my cell phone for everything.
I got the TV on and this and that, and I'll just kind of, you know, catch things
here and there in the background.
No, actually pay attention to what you're reading.
It's sweet in your mouth as honey, which means it's going to be better than anything
else you're doing with your time.
Okay.
Turn back to Revelation chapter 10, Revelation 10, Revelation chapter 10.
We'll look at one last place, verse 10, Revelation chapter 10, verse 10.
And it says, and I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it up and
it was in my mouth sweet as honey.
And as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
And so right when he eats it, it's sweet as honey as God said it would be.
And then it's bitter to his belly.
And that's the way the word of God is going to beat it to us from time to time.
Okay, but you're, look, if you're not willing to accept that you need to make changes in
your life, then you're never going to grow as a Christian.
You have to just decide, I'm willing to learn what the Bible says and make changes.
Okay.
Last verse, verse 11, and he said unto me, thou must prophesy again before many peoples
and nations and tongues and kings.
So verse number 11, I won't really talk too much about it, but there's a couple
of different opinions you could have on this.
I believe basically he's prophesying before many kings and nations because of the fact
the Book of Revelation is basically preached in plenty of kingdoms throughout the world.
People are reading God's word.
They've heard God's word.
I think that's how he's going to prophesy again before them.
Although some people do believe, and I personally believe we'll talk about it next week, that
Elijah and Moses are the two witnesses.
Some people believe it's Elijah and the apostle John, and they would use that verse
in verse number 11 to say he's going to prophesy before many kings and nations.
That's not the stance I take.
I think he's prophesying before them because God's word is basically being preached before
people in the Book of Revelation.
But some people do have that opinion.
We'll talk about that more next week.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and just getting to
see your word and help us to apply this to our life, God, especially reading your word.
It is sweet in our mouth as honey, God.
Help us to apply this and even the things we don't understand, God, help us to try
to learn your word and we can just move on to the next topic and read through
your word and eventually we'll come to the answers on these things.
But help us to realize all of the Bible is worthwhile.
We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.