Will you please turn to the book of Revelation? Revelation Chapter 10. To begin with, the first verse:
And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and a rainbow upon His head, and His countenance as the sun, and His feet as pillars of fire.
And having in His hand a little open book.
And He set His right foot on the sea, and the left on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as a lion roareth.
And when He cried, the seven thunders uttered their own voices. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; and I heard a voice out of heaven saying, “Seal the things which the seven thunders have spoken, and write them not.”
And the angel whom I saw stand on the sea and on the earth lifted up His right hand to heaven, and swore by Him that liveth to the ages of ages, Who created the heaven, and the things that are therein, and the earth, and the things that are therein, and the sea, and the things that are therein, that there should be delay no longer.
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound the trumpet, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which He declared to His servants the prophets.—Revelation 10:1-7
Lately, we have been considering together the book of Revelation. First of all, we see that this book is called the Revelation. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His bond-servants.
In other words, in this book God intends to reveal His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to us. When God reveals, we see. So to us, it is a vision. Through the revelation of God, we see the Lord Jesus in a new way—in a way that we may never have seen before. And that is what the book of Revelation really is.
Now, in the past two times, we have considered the first vision of our Lord Jesus, recorded in the first chapter of this book. We see Him as One like the Son of Man in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
In other words, we see the risen Lord as Head over His church, His body. We see the Lord as the great High Priest ministering in the true sanctuary, His church.
Then we also see, in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Revelation, the second vision of our Lord Jesus: the Lamb in the midst of the throne. He is in the midst of the throne because He is the Lamb.
It is because of His emptying Himself. It is because of His humbling Himself, being obedient to the Father even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. And because of this, the Lamb is today in the midst of the throne, in the place of authority and power.
Now, this morning, we would like to come to the third vision of our Lord Jesus in this book of Revelation. In the third vision, you find that it is a continuation.
Why? Because in Revelation 5, we see the Lamb in the midst of the throne receiving a book sealed with seven seals. He received the book because He is worthy. He received the book in order to open the seals.
So there you find, immediately after the fifth chapter, the Lamb begins to open the seals. And when you come to Revelation 10, all the seven seals have been opened. Here we find a strong angel coming down out of heaven.
In Revelation 5, we find the Lamb in the midst of the throne. This depicts the ascension of our Lord Jesus. After He accomplished salvation, He ascended up on high and received from the Father the earth as His inheritance.
But here we find the strong angel descending out of heaven. In Revelation 5, it is ascending to heaven; but in Revelation 10, it is descending out of heaven. In Revelation 5, it is the beginning of the restoration of all things to God’s purpose. But here in Revelation 10, it is toward the ending of the work of restoring all things to the Father.
We know this strong angel is none other than our Lord Jesus.
Now, how do we know that the strong angel in Revelation 10 is our Lord Jesus? By the way this angel is described.
First of all, we find that He is called an angel. Now, in the Old Testament, we find the Lord Jesus, before He came to this earth. Whenever you find in the Old Testament “the angel of the Lord,” you know that it is referring to the second Person of the Godhead. It is the Lord.
But here again in Revelation, you find that He is called an angel. Why? Angels are ministering spirits. They are sent by God to serve God’s purpose.
In one sense, you find our Lord Jesus is sent by the Father to minister to the Father’s will. While He was on earth, He said, “I can do nothing by Myself.” Whatever He did, He did according to the Father.
Throughout His life on earth, He served the Father’s will. And even here, you find He is called an angel. He is still serving His Father’s will. He will continue to serve His Father’s will until His Father’s will is completed.
And here He is called a strong angel. Why is He called a strong angel? Because He is the strongest of all angels. He is the only One in heaven and on earth and under the earth who is worthy to take the book and open the seals. There is His strength.
He comes down out of heaven because He had ascended, and now He is ready to come down, clothed with a cloud.
You know, in Psalm 18, when the psalmist describes God as coming forth, he says:
And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly;
Yea, He soared upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness His hiding place, His pavilion round about Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
At the brightness before Him His thick clouds passed,
Hailstones and coals of fire.—Psalm 18:10-12
We find that when God travels, He travels with the clouds. In other words, there is brightness within—the glory of the Lord is within—but the glory of the Lord is shrouded with thick clouds.
So from the outside, you cannot see anything. It is a mystery. But, of course, within the cloud there is brightness.
When God appeared on Mount Sinai, He came with clouds. And our Lord Jesus testified to the high priest and to the council that judged Him, saying that they would see the Son of Man coming from heaven with the clouds. So we know that our Lord Jesus will come back with the clouds.
And because He will come back with a cloud, there is still a certain amount of mystery there, until He breaks the cloud and, like lightning, descends upon the earth. Then the mystery is completely fulfilled.
And a rainbow upon His head. In Revelation 4, we see the throne of God in heaven, and there is a rainbow around the throne.
Of course, we usually see perhaps only part of a rainbow, or at most half of a rainbow. But there, around the throne, you see a circle—a whole circle of the rainbow—there at the throne of God. But here you find a rainbow upon His head, like a crown upon the head of our Lord Jesus.
Even in judgment, there is the remembrance of mercy, because the rainbow speaks of mercy. You remember, after God punished this earth with water, and after the water subsided, God made a covenant with Noah and his children. God put a rainbow in the sky to alleviate the fear of man, that God is the God of mercy.
So even though this strong angel comes to execute God’s judgment upon this earth, yet in judgment He remembers mercy.
And His countenance as the sun. We see that in the first chapter. The Lord Jesus there, in the first chapter, as One like the Son of Man, has His countenance as the sun shining in its strength. And here again you find His countenance as the sun.
In other words, His inner beauty, His inward beauty, is fully manifested in His life.
And His feet as pillars of fire. Again, we see that in the first vision: His feet as burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. And here His feet are as pillars of fire.
Now, brothers and sisters, when you think of pillars of fire, what picture comes back to you? Naturally, it is Exodus. There you find God leading the children of Israel out of Egypt, through the wilderness, with pillars of fire and cloud.
Now, to the children of Israel, the pillar of fire was protection, guidance, the presence of the Lord, and blessing. But to the Egyptians, the pillar of fire was judgment and condemnation.
So here you find the Lord, as the strong angel, has His feet like pillars of fire. So far as His own are concerned, it is blessing, presence, protection, and guidance. But so far as His enemies are concerned, it speaks of judgment and condemnation.
And having in His hand a little open book. In Revelation 5, when the Lamb stepped forward to receive the book from God on the throne, it was a sealed book.
In other words, it was a scroll. It was a book rolled together and sealed, so you did not really know how big or how small it was. But after the seals are all opened, then the book is an open book—and it is a small book, a little open book.
Of course, we know this book speaks of the title deed. It is the title deed of the earth. God has that in His hand, and the angel—our Lord as the strong angel—comes to execute the deed of God, to claim the earth as His inheritance.
Now, to us it is a tremendous book, but so far as God is concerned, it is a little book, because our God is so much greater. So even this is just a little open book.
And He cried with a loud voice, as a lion roars. Of course, in Revelation 5, we find that our Lord Jesus is like a Lamb, and yet the angel said, “Behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah.”
So here you find He roars as a lion. It speaks of His strength. It is by His strength, by His victory on Calvary’s cross, that He executes the will of God upon this earth, to bring all things back to the original design of God.
And thank God, our Lord Jesus is doing that. We know that this is what He began to do after His ascension, and we know that it is what He is still doing today, until He brings all things to God, to the glory of His Father.
Then the thunders began to utter their voices—the seven thunders uttered their own voices. Now evidently John understood what the seven thunders said, because otherwise he would not have been able to write them down. He was going to write them down, so he understood.
But he was not allowed. So we call it something kept in secret.
You know, the same thing happened to Paul. Paul was caught up to the third heaven, and then he was caught away to paradise. He heard things that people should not know, and he was not allowed to tell us what he heard in paradise.
So, dear brothers and sisters, today there are still things that we do not know. There are still things God may reveal to some, but God does not allow them to be known by all. We are still living in a time of mystery. There are still things that are concealed and hidden.
But thank God, whatever has been made known is for us. It is for us to listen and to obey.
And this strong angel, as He descends from heaven, sets His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the earth. You know, whenever you put your foot down, it means that you take possession of it.
When the children of Israel entered into the promised land, wherever the sole of their foot stepped, it was theirs. So here you find this strong angel putting His right foot on the land and His left foot on the sea. In other words, here He comes to take possession of His possession.
In Psalm 2, speaking of the ascension of our Lord Jesus, the Father says:
Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine inheritance,
And the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession.—Psalm 2:8
That happened at the ascension of our Lord Jesus. But now you find it is describing the descent of our Lord Jesus. He puts His foot on the land and on the sea. In other words, He now comes to take full possession of this universe.
He lifts up His right hand and swears by Him Who lives to the ages of ages, Who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be no longer delay.
In this vision, you find the strong angel taking possession of this earth, and then He proclaims, “There should be no longer delay.”
You know, dear brothers and sisters, the cry of the ages is, “How long?” Since our Lord Jesus ascended up to heaven, the church has been waiting on earth for twenty centuries. And every century, it is the cry of the saints: “How long? How long?”
Especially when the going is difficult, especially when the times are very hot, especially where there are persecutions, then you find the cry of God’s people on this earth is always, “How long? How long?”
It appears as if He has delayed His return. But we know He does not want to postpone His return. Is there any bridegroom who is not anxious to receive his bride?
Certainly, so far as our Lord Jesus is concerned, He is ever ready, and He is most anxious to return to claim His body as His bride. But for twenty centuries, He has not yet come. It seems as if everything is being postponed and delayed.
Why? There are two reasons. So far as the world is concerned, it is because of the long-suffering of God. We know in 2 Peter 3:
In the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
—2 Peter 3:3-4
They are mockers, and they keep on mocking. They say, “Where is the promise of His coming? He is not coming back. The world today is as it was yesterday. It is the same thing, and we will live like this endlessly.”
But in verse 8:
But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.
—2 Peter 3:8-9
Outwardly, it appears as if the Lord has delayed His promise. But the Word of God says the Lord does not delay His promise on account of slackness, but is long-suffering toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
One reason why it appears to be delayed is because of the long-suffering of God. God does not want any to perish, but God wants all to repent. It is the patience, the long-suffering, of God.
And yet, how the world misunderstands. They even mock God. They even ridicule the Lord. And yet He is still patiently waiting—waiting for repentance. That is one reason.
And there is another reason for it. The other reason is that He is anxiously, patiently waiting for His body to be completed.
He cannot come back if His bride is not yet ready, if the body is not fully matured, if the body is not fully grown into the fullness of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Then He has no way to claim this body as His bride.
In other words, He does not delay; we delay Him.
How important it is for us to see this. Oftentimes we think that we are crying out, “How long? How long?” And yet the Lord in heaven is saying, “How long? How long?”
Do you think that the responsibility is His? We should have come long ago, but no, the responsibility is with us. He is patiently giving us time.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, if the Lord should return today, if there is no more time—suppose there is no more time today—no more time for us to mature, no more time for us to be obedient, no more time for us to grow up, no more time for us to finish the work that God has committed to us, what will happen?
He gives us time that we may grow, that we may fully grow and mature.
Our Lord Jesus uses a few parables. He says there is an evil servant, and the evil servant says in his heart, “My master delays his coming.”
The evil servant does not deny that the master will come, but the evil servant says in his heart, “The master certainly will not come soon. He will be delayed.” And because of that, you find he begins to drink, he begins to beat his fellow servants, and he begins to be careless.
At a time that he does not expect, the master comes. But a good servant is ever ready. A good servant will be faithful in all the things that the Lord has assigned him to do. Why? Because he will be watching and waiting.
And in whatever hour the Master should come back, the servant is ready for Him. He says, “Good servant, well done. Come into the joy of the Lord.”
Here, brothers and sisters, may the Lord examine our hearts: whether in our hearts there is evil or there is good. Is there a heart that is saying, “The Lord will not come yet”? Or are we expecting Him to come?
You know, sometimes it is such a paradox. On the one hand, sometimes we pray, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Yet secretly in the heart, we say, “Oh Lord, do not come now. I am not ready yet.”
That is the heart of an evil servant. We need to be watchful and to be ready at any moment.
And here, brothers and sisters, what good news it is when the strong angel swears unto God, Who made the heaven and earth, and says, “There shall be no longer delay.” There will be no more delay. He is coming. He is arising. That is good news.
Oh, brothers and sisters, just a little while, and He that is promised to come will come. As it is said:
But My righteous one shall live by faith.
—Hebrews 10:38
No longer delay.
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound the trumpet, the mystery of God also shall be completed.
All the seven seals have been opened. The sixth trumpet has been blown. It remains only for the sounding of the last trumpet, and then the mystery of God shall be completed.
Now, what is the mystery of God? The mystery of God, as He has made known the glad tidings to His own bond-servants the prophets—in other words, the mystery of God is being revealed in the glad tidings, the gospel of Jesus Christ. The glad tidings that we receive reveal the mystery of God.
And the mystery of God shall be completed at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Then, if you turn to Revelation 11, beginning with verse 15:
And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign to the ages of ages.”
And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, “We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, Who art and Who wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign.”—Revelation 11:15-17
At the sounding of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God shall be completed. And the mystery of God is described in Revelation 11 in several things.
Number one: the first thing in the mystery of God that shall be completed is that the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of God and of His Christ.
This world today is under the usurper. Satan is temporarily called the ruler, the prince, of this world. The kingdoms on this earth join together and plot against God and His Anointed.
If you read Psalm 2, you will find how the nations, the princes of this earth, and the kingdoms of this earth join together to plot against God and His Anointed, Christ. And this is what the world is.
But thank God, one day there shall be no longer delay. It is coming soon. The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. His kingdom shall come. His way upon this earth, His power and authority, shall be manifested.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how often we feel, “Why is it that God does not manifest His authority and power today?” Yes, He does, but not fully.
How we hope that God will stretch out His hand and show forth His strength, authority, and power over all things upon this earth. And soon that will come.
When the kingdom shall become His, then His authority and power shall be fully manifested. But today, even though there are many evidences of His authority and power, and all power in heaven and earth belongs to Him, yet we see evil seemingly ruling over this earth. We still see the kingdoms of this world in conspiracy against God.
Again, we find the great patience of God, the long-suffering of God. But the day is coming. His kingdom shall come upon this earth. His power and authority shall be fully manifested. What a day it will be. We look forward to that day.
Then the second element in the mystery of God is, “And the nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came.”
You know, the nations are angry. They are angry against God and against the Anointed of God. But their wrath has no cause. They have no reason to be angry, and yet they are angry.
But the day is coming for the wrath of God. Yes, today, positionally speaking, the wrath of God is already upon all who do not believe. You remember John 3:36:
He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
—John 3:36
Positionally speaking, the wrath of God is already upon all who do not believe. But the wrath of God has not been executed. It is upon them, yet it is waiting to be executed. Why? Because God desires that all should repent.
But the day is coming. The wrath of God shall be executed. And when the wrath of God comes, it is also a mystery of God. It is a mystery today: why there is the wrath of God, and yet it is not executed. Why does God allow the wrath of the nations? It is a mystery.
But the mystery will be over. No longer delay. The wrath of God shall come.
And third: the time of the dead to be judged. Of course, this looks forward beyond the millennium, because we know the judgment of the dead does not come until after the millennium.
In Revelation 20, there will be the great white throne, and all the dead shall be given up, shall be resurrected, and shall all stand before the great white throne. All will be judged according to the books.
But at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, this mystery opens up. So it looks forward even beyond the millennium, for a thousand years is as one day to the Lord. One day—and the day is coming—all the dead shall be judged.
And number four: “To give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great.”
It is not only judgment to the dead, but it is also reward to the prophets, to the saints, and to all who fear the name of the Lord.
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, it is more than just the gift of eternal life. How we thank God for the gift of eternal life. Eternal life is the gift of God. It is not something that we earn. It is not something that we get by our merit. It is not something related to the work we have done. Not at all. Eternal life is a free gift of God.
But, dear brothers and sisters, there is more. There is more. He will not only give us the gift of eternal life, but heavenly life—the gift of eternal life—that life in us has such a potential that it will work out unto reward.
Without the eternal life in us, we cannot do the will of God. We cannot please God. But with the eternal life of God given to us, we have the ability, we have the potentiality, and there is a possibility in us to do the will of God, to obey Him, and to do His work.
And when we are faithful, He says there is a reward. He will reward us. There will be recompense. There will be rewards.
What is the reward? The reward is the glory of reigning with Christ for a thousand years. Those who are faithful to the Lord shall reign with Christ. Those who suffer with Him today shall reign and rule with Him in the kingdom.
They shall receive the crown of life, the crown of righteousness. They shall sit on a throne. They shall receive five cities, ten cities. We will rule. Now think of that.
You know, sometimes people get confused. You get the reward—people may think, “Do you earn your salvation?” No, no. Eternal life is still the gift of God.
But the glory in the kingdom is something that is rewarded only to those who are faithful. You may think it is your work. You may think it is you who earned that reward. And yet, no—it is eternal life in you. It is still the gift of God. It is still the grace of God.
But you allow the grace of God to complete its work through you, instead of wasting the grace of God. So, dear brothers and sisters, in the final analysis, it is still God.
Even though it is a reward, and reward means that you deserve it, so you are rewarded, how do you deserve it? Not because of what you are. It is because of what you receive.
Oh, how we look forward to that day.
And then finally: “To destroy them that destroy the earth.”
How Satan has destroyed this earth. How the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the evil ones have destroyed the earth. But the day is coming, and there shall be no longer delay. He will destroy the destroyers of the earth.
And at that time, you find all things shall be restored. All things shall be restored to God’s original purpose, because all things were created according to His will and for His pleasure.
And that day is coming. All things that have fallen will be restored. It is through our Lord Jesus that He reconciles all things back to the fullness of God.
But here is the honor of the church, because the church here is to work in restoring all things. God has made Christ Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who filleth all in all.
So the church today is to carry out what the Lord has accomplished—in our own life, in our lives together, and in all things that have any relationship to us. We are to bring all things to the feet of our Lord Jesus.
And this is the way, this is the process, that Christ is doing the work of restoring all things to the Father.
And the word here is, “There should be no longer delay.” No longer delay.
Here, brothers and sisters, this is a great encouragement to us. No longer delay. He is coming.
He is the strong angel. He will not delay. Even though outwardly the world is getting worse and worse, further and further away from God, yet, dear brothers and sisters, we know that it is the Lord, as the strong angel, Who is reclaiming all things. He is restoring all things to God, and He cannot fail.
And at the same time, how we need to really seize the time. This is the time, the opportunity, that we have to seize upon, that we may grow fully mature, that we may do the will of God, and that we may please Him.
Because there shall be no longer delay. Dear brothers and sisters, again, if He says there should be no longer delay, there will be no longer delay. Let us be there and be ready.
Shall we pray?
Oh, Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee for showing us that Thy Son, our Lord Jesus, is the One Who is carrying out Thy will upon this earth and in all things. He is the strong One Who is restoring all things according to Thy original design.
Oh, how we praise and thank Thee, knowing that this work is in His hand. We know that it shall be done. And we do praise and thank Thee that Thou dost draw us unto Thyself to join with Thee in this work of restoration.
Oh, Lord, we pray that all things may be first restored in us, and then through us, unto the praise of Thy glory.
Jesus, we ask Thee to show us Thy mercy, Thy patience with us. And we do pray that, by Thy grace, we may be faithful. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.