That’s Him!
Revelation 10:1-11
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ThatsHim.html
It’s the darkest time the world has ever known—the Great Tribulation. It’s that 7 yr. period of time after the rapture of the church when hell goes on holiday, demon spirits infest the earth, the antichrist takes rule, and people are tortured and die by the billions.
I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be here! And I won’t! And you don’t have to be either.
But as humanity’s darkest hour looms large a bright beacon appears at the mid point, after 3.5 years. Call it a ‘survey trip’ if you will. This is not just another angel; it’s none other than Jesus Christ Himself executing a divine ‘touchdown’ in the end zone of this life.
I believe that’s Him! Don’t let it bother you that He’s called an angel…many times the Bible refers to Christ as the “angel of the Lord”…though He exists on a completely different level than the created angel beings, for He is their Creator! The Great I Am! Alpha and Omega! He is God!
Remember, “angel” means, simply, messenger…and Jesus Christ is the messenger of the new covenant. He is the gospel, but He also brought that good news to earth.
Gen. 22:15
15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven…
That’s Him!
Is. 63:9 / Judges 2, 6, 21, 22…we see Jesus in these passages in pre-incarnate appearances / II Sam. 24, as well.
A. Because of His Magnificence.
This angel possesses many characteristics which belong exclusively to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice 4 things:
1. Clothed with a cloud
v. 1 In scripture, clouds are the symbol, often, of deity.
Like Ex. 16:10, when God led Israel thru the desert in a pillar of cloud
Ex. 19—dark clouds covered Sinai when the Lord gave Moses the 10 commandments…and the voice of God thundered from the clouds.
Ex. 24 and 34—God appeared unto Moses again in a cloud of glory.
Ps. 104:3—He (God) maketh the clouds His chariot.
In the NT, on the mount of transfiguration…
Mt. 17:5
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased…
In Acts 1, Jesus ascended back to heaven, clothed w/ a cloud.
And Rev. 1:7 says “behold, he cometh with clouds…”
And so I say, That’s Him!
2. Crowned with a rainbow
v. 1 The rainbow is God’s sign to man that He will never again destroy the earth with a flood.
Well, this rainbow also appeared in Rev. 4, when John was called up to heaven, the first thing he saw was the throne of God, encircled by a rainbow.
And here in ch. 10, could it be that though hell is broken loose on earth, Jesus Christ appears w/ clouds, and w/ a rainbow, a reminder that He is the only possible peace in the midst of the storm? I believe so! That’s Him!
3. Countenance like the sun
v. 1 That’s the signature of the glorified Christ
Rev. 1:16—His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength
Mt. Of Transfiguration, Mt. 17:2—His face did shine as the sun
Paul on road to Damascus, saw Jesus as a light of the brightness of the noonday sun
The Prophet Malachi called Jesus the ‘sun of righteousness’
He is the bright and morning star / described as bright and radiant in splendor / the shekinah glory of God Almighty / streets of gold may glimmer, the gates of pearl may radiate, but Jesus will outshine them all! / later in Rev. we’re told there’s no sun or moon in heaven, for the Lamb is the light thereof! Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the most glorious Jesus Christ. That’s Him!
4. Coming in judgment
v. 1b A clear reference to judgment, as brass and fire are both symbols of judgment.
The judgment of the tribulation will become most intense at this half-way point of the tribulation…after 3.5 years.
And Jesus Christ stamps His feet of judgment upon 2 parts of the earth in v. 2…the land and the sea!
Who is He that is clothed w/ a cloud? / crowned w/ a rainbow / countenance as the sun? / coming in judgment?
That’s Him, because of His magnificence…
B. Because of His Might.
v. 2-4 Jesus Christ here holds the same book He held in Rev. 5, the title deed to the earth. Remember?
“Who is worthy to open the book?” / The Lamb!
And in a powerful, mighty gesture of His ownership, in ch. 10, He stamps 1 foot on the land, 1 on the sea, symbolizing that He’s taking possession… “I’m back!”
He owns it all…every drop of water / grain of sand
Col. 1:16
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
1 foot on land, 1 on sea: because from end to end, from pole to pole, it all belongs to Him!
Communist lands belong to Him / capitalist lands / colonial lands. America was His before it belonged to Vikings or Indians, or us! He owns the Far East and every last bit of the Middle East…He owns the camels on a thousand dunes and the oil beneath them! And He owns the great arctic glaciers and is coming back long before Al Gore says they will be gone…so chill! He is coming to claim His rightful possession.
Notice v. 3—He cries out with the voice of a lion…another symbol of His might!
Remember, there’s 2 sides to the character of Christ:
Lamb / Lion (we must receive as Lamb or face as Lion)
Savior / Judge (He that wants to save you today will judge you on that day if you don’t get saved)
I look at Rev. 10 and say that’s Him! Because of His magnificence and His might!
Back in 4:1, prior to the tribulation, the trumpet sounds, and those of us who have been born again will fly away, and meet a mighty, magnificent One in the clouds and we’ll shout: That’s Him!!
Will you be left behind? Saying: That WAS Him. Will you be one saying, I know why many have disappeared from the earth, and I know why I’ve been left behind! And worst of all, I know what’s still to come, a time of great tribulation in which I will be tortured until death…and even that will not compare to the eternity of hell which begins then!
Christian, Rev. 21 says that once the tribulation is over, after the Battle of Armageddon, after the thousand years of the millennial kingdom on earth, the new heaven descends from above, the New Jerusalem, and eternity begins for those of us who have been born again. Then v. 4 says that God wipes away all our tears.
Question: Why are we crying?
Could it be because during the tribulation we look down from the portals of glory, and see that co-worker and say, O my soul, that’s him!
Neighbor…that’s her!/family member…that’s him!/stranger the Holy Spirit led you to witness to, but you never got around to it…and you cry in regret from the depths of your soul…that’s them!!
If you’ve never been born again, you have that opportunity today, and it’s the only opportunity you are promised. If Satan convinces you to say no to the Savior, the Savior will say no to you when He returns…and you’ll know it was true, and left behind you’ll cry out…that’s Him! And it’s too late!
Raise your hand if you want to be born again.
If you have been saved, but know that you’ve got many yet to reach, and God has motivated you to be their soul winner, to beg and plead w/ them if necessary, to give your life to the cause of saving souls, of convincing men and women to accept the Savior, rather than face the Judge; to bow to the Lamb, not be devoured by the Lion, raise your hand…say, preacher, I’m willing to cry the tears now for them, while there’s hope, not later, when it’s too late.
[Ps. 126—“he that goeth forth and weepeth…”] Will you come?
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/ThatsHim.html
