The Big Reveal
Notes
Transcript
Revelation 10
The Big Reveal
Intro: In a lot of the mystery or detective shows, you spend about 50 minutes trying to figure out who committed the crime or how the cops are going to catch the person who. And then there is a big reveal on how the detectives interpreted the evidence enough to solve the case. In many shows, we have the narrators perspective so we as the audience, know who did it. So sometimes it is a matter of watching the detectives gather clues and catch the culprit.
John has this front row seat to watch what is going on, and some of that has flashbacks or flash forwards to see not only what is going on but how it is happening. But for many of us, the question that is unanswered is “Why?”
When detectives are trying to solve the case, they use the why to find out The Who. Motive, means, and opportunity. Figure these out and you can usually pinpoint the crook.
Likewise, once you have the Holy Spirit, it’s as if the light bulb is switched on and you see things with a different viewpoint. And we can start to answer a little bit of the why.
But in our verses today, we see that the mystery is almost completely revealed. We are coming to the end of the show.
Read verses: Revelation 10:5-7 5 Then the angel that I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 He swore by the one 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, “There will no longer be a delay, 7 but in the days when the seventh angel will blow his trumpet, then the mystery of God will be completed, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
Main Point: All will be revealed at the correct time in the end times as well as events in our times.
The Mystery will be Revealed
7 but in the days when the seventh angel will blow his trumpet, then the mystery of God will be completed, as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
The word Greek word apocalypse means revealing. The mystery is the secret that is hidden. The angel after this fantastic description gives John a small scroll or little book
The “mystery of God” which was unknown to the prophets, was why God allowed Satan to cause man to fall and thus bring sin and all its consequences into the world. The Old Testament prophets were told only that in God’s own time He would reveal the mystery. Here, with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery is finished.
And the rest of the book is how this mystery ends and how it is revealed and resolved.
But the answer to the question why, is that Everything happens to demonstrate God’s Holiness, Power, Grace, and Love. Now, God did not start the fire just to get called in to put it out. He allows things to happen because he does not want to interfere with our free will, as one as that does not prohibit his Will.
As we see sin enter into the world, people ask why, and then throughout the Old Testament God gives his people clues but they struggled to realize the deeper meaning. Things remained a mystery. Like we covered in our Exodus study this past week. The Israelites thought they were just having a meal before they were freed from the clutches of the Egyptians. That the Passover lamb was just a lamb and the blood on the doorposts and lintel was just a sign for the angel of death to Passover them.
But those things mean more when you fast forward a few thousand years and see that Jesus was the lamb of the world, and that His blood is what protects you from this destruction and wrath. The Passover is foreshadowing the end times.
One commentator says There is no understanding of God apart from a personal relationship with His Son (Matthew 12:50; John 14:23; 2 John 1:6). Christ is the “mystery” revealed to those who believe—as is the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The key to having the “full riches of complete understanding” (Colossians 2:2) is to be born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).
Paul tells us that, “beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great.” Then he records what may be an early hymn of the church: “He [Jesus] appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). In that short paragraph, the Bible reveals the heart of the gospel, the mystery of “true godliness.” The secret of being godly was hidden but is now revealed. It is to those who believe in Christ that the mystery is made known (1 Corinthians 2:7–14; Colossians 1:27). We come to learn that we of our own volition cannot please God; we must depend on Christ (2 Corinthians 3:5). As a man, Jesus lived a perfect life (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:21), and so He is a perfect example of how to live. As God, Jesus gives us the power to do what is right. It is possible to live a godly life—through the power of Christ (Philippians 4:13).
Application
Be Patient
It is easy to say woe is me, why God, Why? But it is harder to wait for the answer
Romans 5:1-5
5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Be Aware
The book of revelation tells us about the coming judgment and wrath. We have seen the people who are wiped out and that the people who are sealed remain protected.
So if we are aware of the events that happen, it helps us answer the why question a bit as well. We know that there is a Mover who is controlling the events. This is because he is putting things into motion
Paul instructs Timothy in his second letter 2 Timothy 3:1-7 3 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people.
6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions, 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
And in 2 Peter chapter three Peter Explains the end times to his churches 3 Dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you; in both letters, I want to stir up your sincere understanding by way of reminder, 2 so that you recall the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. 3 Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, 4 saying, “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” 5 They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief;on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming.Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Conclusion:
So why did God allow Satan to rebel against Him and then allow Satan to disrupt the garden of Eden and sin to enter the world? The answer is For God so loved the world,he gave his only begotten son in Ryder to restore the world to Himself.
God is in the process of showing us the clues as he is getting to the big reveal of whodunit. God is the narrator guiding us through the story. He is gathering his people to himself so the great multitudes will watch and participate in the final battles.