Sermon Notes | 5.26.24

Revelation 10

The Angel and the Little Scroll

[1] Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. [2] He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, [3] and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. [4] And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” [5] And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven [6] and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, [7] but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

[8] Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” [9] So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” [10] And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. [11] And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

Revelation 11

The Two Witnesses

[1] 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, [2] 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. [3] And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

[4] These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. [5] 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. [6] 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. [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, [8] 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. [9] 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, [10] 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. [11] But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. [12] Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. [13] And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

[14] The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

The Seventh Trumpet

[15] Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” [16] And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, [17] saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,

who is and who was,

for you have taken your great power

and begun to reign.

[18] The nations raged,

but your wrath came,

and the time for the dead to be judged,

and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,

and those who fear your name,

both small and great,

and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

[19] Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. (ESV)

WITNESSING IN A WORLD GONE MAD

Disciples are made by the proclamation of the word of God, by the people of God, in prayerful dependence on the Spirit of God, persevering in obedience to God. – The Vine Project

PREPARING FOR WITNESS

Revelation 10

Will you consume the Word?

St. John is told not only to take the open book but to eat it. Eating a book takes it all in, assimilating it into the tissues of your life. Witnesses first become what they then say. If witness is to be anything more than gossip about God, it must be the word internalized. Most people have opinions about God which they are not hesitant to voice. Such talk is worthless, or worse. Just because a conversation (or sermon!) has the word God in it, does not qualify it as Christian witness. St. John is not instructed to pass on information about God, he is commanded to assimilate the word of God so that when he does speak it will express itself artlessly in his syntax just as the food we eat is, when we are healthy, unconsciously assimilated into our nerves and muscles. – Eugene Peterson

THE TRIALS OF WITNESS

Revelation 11:1-14

Temple. Two Witnesses. Time. (v. 1-6)

Did you notice what the witnesses wear?

We carry out the prophetic witness clothed in repentance because the truth always calls for repentance. How can I follow a new Master without walking away from the old? How can I live the value system of a new kingdom without turning from the value system of the old? And we wear the sign of repentance because we carry out the prophetic witness as repentant and repenting people. We cannot announce the gospel of the in-breaking kingdom of God unless we ourselves are seeking to live in that in-breaking kingdom. And we can only live in it if we ourselves are repenting, constantly turning from idolatry, which is why the church in our time is not impacting the city as it ought. We are too enmeshed in the idolatry. We are not repenting deeply enough. Jesus, through John, is saying that the witness that wins the world is a witness born of deep repentance.  – Darrell Johnson

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:3

Tormented by Truth (v. 7-10)

Three and a half days

Merciful Math (v. 12-14)

THE END OF WITNESS

Revelation 11:15-19

The Pattern Breaks

What remains now is ‘to destroy the destroyers of earth’. This is the ultimate meaning of God’s judgment. So often that judgment is seen as negative, ‘destructive’, thwarting the things which humans really enjoy and want to do. This is one of the biggest lies there is. God’s judgment is the judgment of the creator on all that spoils his creation. His purposes…are for his wonderful creation to be rescued from the forces of anti-matter, of anti-creation, of anti-life. It is time for death to die. – N.T. Wright

Barrier Removed (v. 19)

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. – Matthew 27:51

A Prayer for Salvation

“Heavenly Father, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but through your Son Jesus I can be more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you that he lived the life I should have lived and paid the debt and punishment I owed. Receive me now for his sake. I turn from my sins and receive him as Savior. Amen.”