Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to serve as your Bible teacher every day on this great radio station.
On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. How do you renew your mind and therefore transform your life? Remember the thesis of the message today, you are what you eat. Well, we're going to discover a very practical way to change your spiritual diet and therefore change your life in a very strange passage of scripture we're going to look at today. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, the Book of Revelation is known for its elaborate imagery and mysterious metaphors.
Unraveling the end times, it's not for the faint of heart, but even the strangest events can have practical application for us right now. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress draws helpful lessons from an unusual passage about a mighty angel. Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.
Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. I've been studying the Book of Revelation and preaching sermons from this last book in the Bible for my entire adult life. And our comprehensive teaching series on Revelation represents the culmination of what I've learned through the years. My study on the Book of Revelation is called Final Conquest.
As we prepared to broadcast my teaching series on this program, I wrote two brand new resources just for you. First, please take a moment to get in touch and ask for my new book called Mysteries of the End Times. This book was inspired by common questions people ask me about five of the peculiar references in Scripture to God's plan. For example, if you're uncertain about the marriage of the Lamb or even the reference to the day of the Lord, you're not alone. Ask for a copy of Mysteries of the End Times.
It's yours when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. The second resource I'll send you today is my new booklet called The Major Characters of the End Times. It's about 50 pages in length, so it doesn't take long to read. But it will help you understand 15 of the major figures in God's prophetic timeline. We'll say more about these two resources later in today's program. And David will also explain how you can receive my entire teaching series for Revelation called Final Conquest on CD and DVD.
But right now, let's give our complete attention to Revelation chapter 10. I titled today's message, You Are What You Eat. You are what you eat.
Have you heard that before? Maybe you've even used it with your own kids to try to encourage them toward better nutritional choices. You are what you eat.
We understand what that means. What you consume affects you physiologically. That's also true in the spiritual realm. You become spiritually what you consume.
What you watch, what you listen to, what flows into your life really does determine the kind of person you are. By the way, advertisers understand the power of images and thoughts to change our behavior. The former CEO of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles used to say, we don't sell motorcycles. What we sell is the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to drive through a small town dressed in black leather and have people be afraid of him. It's an image.
Something he sees changes his behavior, makes him want to buy a motorcycle. You know, Christian philosopher Peter Kreft once wrote, the world's oldest profession is advertising. It was invented by the devil in Eden.
See this apple? Eat it, and you will be like God. God is so concerned about what comes into our life and affects our life that he gave Paul this direction. He told him to write in Romans 12 two, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
How do you renew your mind and therefore transform your life? Well, we're going to discover a very practical way to change your spiritual diet and therefore change your life in a very strange passage of scripture we're going to look at today. If you have your Bibles, turn to Revelation chapter 10. Revelation chapter 10.
Look at verse 1. And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven. Now, what's the identity of this strong angel who's the theme of this passage?
Some people say it must be Jesus Christ. No, Jesus is never described as an angel. Sometimes he is called the angel of the Lord, but not an angel.
He wasn't a created being. He has charge over the angels, but he's not an angel. This word another, Alan in Greek, means another of the same kind. In other words, John saw another angel who was coming down out of heaven.
Notice the description. And he was clothed with a cloud. That's a reference to his celestial origin. And the rainbow was upon his head.
Remember the rainbow is a sign of both God's judgment and his mercy. And his face was like the sun and his feet like pillars of fire. But the most interesting thing about this angel is the action that he takes. And he had in his hand a little book which was opened. Now, I've read theory after theory about what this little book the mighty angel had in his hand was. I think the best answer to it is it's the same book we've looked at earlier, the seventh seal book from chapter five, the book of redemption. Remember that book or scroll of redemption that had on it the terms by which this world was lost to Satan and the terms of redemption that will end in the reclamation of this world for God, that seventh seal book, by the time we get to the seventh seal and it is broken, the book is completely open. And that's what this book was described as being.
It was open, this seventh seal book which was open. In what sense was this book a little book? Well, compared to the mighty angel we're going to look at just by perspective, it was a small book. And look at how large this angel is. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. Now, that's one big angel, one foot on the land, one foot on the sea.
This isn't just a reference to his size but to his authority. In the Bible, whenever you read about the land and the sea, the land and the sea, that's a description of the totality of God's creation. And for this angel to put one foot on the land and one foot on the sea is a sign that he is claiming this world for God.
It's a sign of ownership. On behalf of God, he is saying this world is under the foot, under the domain of God himself. Now, it won't seem that way at this point in the tribulation.
Remember, we've got a whole other series of judgments to come, the worst of all, the bold judgments. Many people on the earth will think the world is out of control, but it's not out of control. It is under God's control. There's not one square inch of this entire universe that is not completely under the control of God. And by the way, that is true of your life. There is no part of what is happening to you right now that's not under the control of God.
Your life may seem out of control, but take heart. It is under God's control. It doesn't matter whether it appears to be a random cancer cell or an unfair employer or a mate who wants to leave or a child who has wandered away from God or a financial need that's come up unexpectedly. You may think these things are random circumstances.
No, every part of your life is under the control, the power of Almighty God. Isn't that a great truth? That's what this angel is representing. This whole world belongs to God.
After he takes his claim upon the earth, notice what John is forbidden to do. Verse three, And he, that is the angel, cried out with a loud voice as when a lion roars. Can you imagine the sound of this majestic angel, the roar that he'll let out? When a lion roars, it's a sign of conquest.
It's a sign of victory. That's what this roar of the lion is. He cried out with a loud voice. And when he had cried out, the seven peals of thunder uttered their voices. And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, John says, I was about to write, and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them. Apparently, when the thunder sounded, John could hear a human voice in that thunder. There was a revelation, more information about the tribulation that was given to John, and he was about to write it down.
And that made sense. After all, in Revelation 1, Jesus told John to write down the things that he saw and send it to the churches. But this same voice, perhaps that of Christ, said, what you just heard, don't write down. Don't share this revelation with anyone. There are some things, there are some truths of God, which are a mystery still. They're not to be shared.
We shouldn't be surprised by that. Remember in the book of Daniel, the prophet was told several times to seal up the things that are in the book. In Daniel chapter 12, verse four, Daniel was told to conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time.
And then in verse nine, Daniel was told to go about your business because God has concealed and sealed up truths that would not be revealed until the end of time. Why does God do that? Why doesn't God tell us everything we might want to know? Perhaps it's because God knows we can't comprehend every truth of God. In Isaiah 55, verses eight and nine, God said, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says the secret things belong to the Lord. But God has revealed to us everything we need to know. But there are some things we can't know, especially about the end times.
John was forbidden to write the things that he heard in the peals of thunder. And then you see this announcement of the strong angel in verse five. Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven and he swore by him who is forever and ever who created heavens and the things in it and the earth and the things in it and the sea and the things that are in it. And what did he swear? That there should be delay no longer. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished as he preached to his servants the prophets. This angel raised his hand toward heaven and by God's authority he swore two things. First of all, he swore that there would be delay no longer.
What does that mean? That word delay is the Greek word kronos. We get the word time from it. Chronology, time, the study of time.
Some have speculated perhaps the angel is saying that there is no more time from this point on. We know time is really just a concept. We're trapped in time. God is not trapped in time. He's eternal and one day we'll be in a world in which there is no time. But right now we do measure our existence by time. So could he be talking about the end of time literally? That doesn't make sense because the tribulation isn't over yet.
There's still time. In fact, as we'll see next week, God measures time by the days that are left in the tribulation, 1260 of them. By the months, 42 months. By the years, three and a half years. That's all the same period of time. 1260 days, 42 months, three and a half years. Time is still measured, so that's not the right understanding.
I think the New American Standard has it right. There shall be delay no longer. There'll no longer be a delay.
What does that mean? Christ's coming will no longer be delayed. You see, from our perspective, Christ's second coming has been delayed. The first century Christians thought he would come back in their lifetime. Every group of Christians have thought the Lord was returning in their lifetime. People from our perspective believe there has been a delay in his coming. Even in some of the parables Jesus taught, he indicated that the master who went off on a journey was gone longer than his servants expected him to be gone. But don't confuse God's delay with a revocation of his promise. You know, 2 Peter 3 says, In the last days, mockers will come with their mocking, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the days of the fathers, the earth has remained the way it has always been. In other words, people in every generation have thought Jesus is coming back, and he hasn't come back, and he's not coming back.
I hear that all the time today. You Christians are just living in a dream world thinking about a literal Christ literally coming back to earth again. Just because he is delayed doesn't mean that he's not coming. The fact is God has written an indelible ink on his calendar.
The year, the month, the day, the hour, the second that Jesus is coming back, everything is right on schedule. And the only reason he hasn't come back yet is to give people, perhaps to give you today, an opportunity to repent before it's too late. In 2 Peter 3, 9, that same passage, Peter says, For the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
There will one day be a time when there will no longer be a delay, and that means there'll no longer be a time for repentance. And then the angel says, Not only will there be no longer a delay, but the mystery will be finished, verse seven. What does he mean the mystery is finished? In the Bible, a mystery is a truth of God that's been hidden in previous generations but is now being made known to man. Ephesians 1, 9, and 10, Paul talks about the mystery of God, that in the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and on the earth, there's going to come a time when everything comes to an end and people are going to understand the mystery. What is the mystery?
It's one you've probably wondered about before or you've had people ask you about before. If there really is a God and he's really all loving and all powerful, why is there evil in the world? If God is really who he says he is, why does he allow children to be abused, to starve to death? Why does he allow the prayers of God's saints to go unanswered? Why does he allow the same heartache in the lives of believers that he does in the lives of unbelievers? Why does he allow those who are preaching the truth to be persecuted like that Nigerian pastor who was beheaded because he refused to deny Jesus Christ as his savior?
If God is really who he says he is, why does evil have reign over this earth? That is a mystery, but it is a mystery that will be finished when the Lord Jesus returns and that's what the angel is talking about here. The mystery of Christ will be finished. And then when we get to verse eight, we see something very strange. We see John who up to this point has been an observer of the revelation.
He becomes a participant in it. Now stay with me on this beginning with verse eight. Then the voice which I heard from heaven, that is God, then the voice I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me and saying, go take the book, the little book, which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land.
Now underline that word take. God tells John to go take the book out of the angel's hand. John's a little reluctant to do that. If you saw a gargantuan angel, you might be a little hesitant to take something from him. And so John says I went to the angel telling him to give me the little book and he said to me, no, you take it and then eat it and it will make your stomach bitter but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey and so I took, underline that, I took the little book out of the angel's hand and I ate it and in my mouth was sweet as honey and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter and then they said to me, you must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
John had to take the book. The angel didn't give it to him. God doesn't cram his message to us down our throats. We have to willingly take it but it's not just enough to take it. We have to eat it. Now don't get hung up on whether John literally ate this entire book. Remember Jeremiah was commanded, Ezekiel was commanded to eat the scroll of God. Whether or not he ate it literally is unimportant. The point is it was a picture of assimilating God's word into his own life. Remember you are what you eat. Make God's word a part of your life and so John did that.
He assimilated. He digested the truth of that little book into his life before he could go out and prophesy to the nations and when he ate the word of God, either literally or figuratively, it first of all made his stomach bitter. It was bitter in taste but then it became as sweet as honey. In what sense is God's word both bitter as well as sweet? There are three aspects of the bitterness and sweetness of God's word. First of all, in terms of its audience.
In terms of its audience. To unbelievers, this message, especially the message of revelation is bitter news. Jesus Christ is coming back to judge the unrighteous. That is not good news if you're not a Christian. It is bitter to unbelievers but to believers it's good news.
Jesus is coming back to reward the righteous. So in that aspect, according to its audience, it is bitter and sweet. But secondly, it's bitter and sweet in terms of its content regardless of whether you're a Christian or not a Christian. In the book of Revelation, there are some terrible events that are recorded but in the very same Revelation, there are triumphant events like the visible return of Jesus, his millennial kingdom in which perfect justice will reign, our home in heaven, the new heaven and the new earth.
Those are all triumphant events as well. And then finally, God's word is both bitter and sweet in terms of its effect on our own life, its effect on our life. When we make God's word a part of our life, when we allow God's word to speak to us, it causes both hurt and it also causes healing. At Pathway to Victory, we make it our mission to teach whatever the Bible presents, the bitter and the sweet, the tragedy and the triumph. You have my promise that I will never sugar coat what God teaches about the future just to make it palatable to a broad audience. I've been granted this privilege to teach God's word with boldness because people like you invest financially in our mission to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word.
And I'm deeply grateful for you. In fact, today I want to say thanks for your generous gift by providing a brand new book I've written called Mysteries of the End Times, five little known truths about God's plan for the future. Over the years, I've discovered that Pathway to Victory listeners and viewers have a healthy appetite for learning more about biblical prophecy.
And this book addresses five common areas of confusion such as the mystery of America in the end times and the mystery of the tree of life. There are five chapters in my new book and I want to send you a copy today. Again, the book is called Mysteries of the End Times and I'll send it to your home today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. In fact, when you get in touch right away, I'll be sure to include the booklet I mentioned earlier called The Major Characters of the End Times. In my new booklet, I describe 15 of the prominent Bible characters that are associated with God's plan for the future. Now here's David with all the details.
Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. You're invited to request a copy of Mysteries of the End Times, the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress, when you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory. Plus, we'll send you the booklet called The Major Characters of the End Times. To request your copy of these resources, call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org. And when your gift is $100 or more, we'll also send you the complete CD and DVD teaching sets for this month's series on the book of Revelation.
In addition, you'll receive a copy of the best-selling book by Dr. Jeffress called Final Conquest. To request these resources, call 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You can also send your request by mail. Just write to P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.
Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us again next time for part two of the message called You Are What You Eat. That's Thursday here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. The Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska with Dr. Robert Jeffress set sail from Vancouver, British Columbia on June 15, 2024. Join me along with musical artists Rebecca St. James and Michael O'Brien and comedian Dennis Swanberg for a vacation you'll never forget. I promise you will come back spiritually, physically and emotionally refreshed. Book your spot on the 7-day Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska at ptv.org.
