Time Is Running Out
Time Is Running Out
08/06/2023
Revelation 10:5-11
I. Introduction
These verses in Revelation 10 announce the end of the age. Every culture and religion teach about the end of time. In 2012, the whole world went crazy over the Mayan calendar which had as its end date 2012. Judaism calls the end of time the End of Days. It was a term the Jews borrowed from a Gentile sorcerer named Balaam. (Numbers 24:14)
Judaism teaches that the age of man is composed of 6,000 years maximum. They believe we are in the year 5,784 with the world beginning in 3,761 BC. They believe that Messiah must come before year 6,000. It is what they call the End of Days. I share that not to put a date on anything but to say that time is running out, and this wonderful passage in Revelation 10 reveals who has authority over what is to come.
II. The Authority of God
Revelation 10:5-7 describe God’s authority over the earth, and in God’s authority, time is running out. Humanity has had plenty of time to get right, but all man can ask is, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:1-10)
Mankind has scoffed at God since Cain made an offering to God that was unacceptable, and in Revelation 10, the point is clearly made that God has authority over this planet. Man just does not believe in God. Mankind, even some Christians, do not believe God is returning, but, dear friend, He is, and He could return any minute. It is one thing for the lost world to doubt Christ’s return but Christians doing so is incredible.
“Well, I have heard about Christ returning my entire life, and He has not come yet. It could be another 1,000 years before He comes.” Dear friend, if you have that attitude, you are a scoffer, and I seriously doubt that if you are saved that you will have boldness in the Day of Judgment. (1 John 4:17) Dear friend, I am telling you that Jesus could return any minute. There are no signs to be fulfilled, and if you and I lived our lives like He could be returning any minute, we might see more lost souls coming to Jesus.
Dear friend, God is in charge, and time is running out. Each passing second draws men closer to that reality, and it ought to motivate us to do more and more because we do not know when the clock is going to stop. (Matthew 24:42-44) But I tell you does know when the clock is going to stop. God knows the day, month, hour, and year because it is God who has the authority. (Matthew 24:36)
Dear friend, the Christian people do not have time for bickering. Christians need to be sharing the Gospel. When the Rapture occurs, those left who have rejected Jesus will have run out of time. Dear friend, when we accept that fact and realize that God has authority, we will share the Gospel motivated by the absolute facts that time is running out and that God is in control, but when we are lackadaisical about the return of Christ, we will be lazy about sharing the Gospel too.
III. The Mystery of God
The mystery of God revealed in the New Testament is Jesus Christ, but in Revelation 10:7 the mystery of God is referring to something that we have all questioned. We have all questioned why God has allowed Satan to have his way for so long and why He has allowed man to seemingly do what mankind wants to do unchecked.
Sin is getting rapidly worse and worse, and the kinds of sin are increasing. Levels of depravity are reaching incredible depths. We cannot fully understand why God allows what He allows, but that mystery is about to be revealed as time is running out.
Revelation 10 probably occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation or a little after the midpoint. BY that time, mankind will have made their choice regarding the mark of the beast and mark of Christ. It is at this pint that the seventh trumpet judgment is sounded, and when that trumpet sounds, the mystery of God will be over as the consummation of the end of the age goes full throttle. Dear friend, nothing can stop it. It is where we are going. I get so amazed at people, especially Christians, who think there are political solutions to the problems we face in this world, but dear friend, there are no political solutions. What man has broken man cannot fix. God knew that, and that is why Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary. He died to fix what man had broken.
Dear friend, I do not know why children are so abused. I do not know why 62 million babies have been aborted in the United States of America, and I do not know why God allows all the abominations that take place in this world. Murder, drug and alcohol addiction, profanity, and immorality are everywhere. We cannot talk to each other in a courteous and respectful tone anymore, and it is a mystery to me why God allows it, but God is in charge, time is running out, and that mystery will be revealed.
IV. The Word of God
In Revelation 10:8-11, the Apostle John is commanded to take the open book from the mighty angel who I believe to be Jesus Christ based on His description in the first four verses of Chapter 10. This mighty angel is standing on the sea and earth. It is the third time in chapter 10 that this phrase has been used. It means God is in control because three is the divine number, the number of the Holy Trinity.
John is told to take the open book from the Mighty Angel. It is God’s way of telling John that he wanted the knowledge contained within the book to become a part of John. This book is the Word of God as it is delivered to men. John consumes the book fulfilling the prophecies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. (Ezekiel 2:9-10, 3:1, 4, and 14, Jeremiah 15:16-18)
John was to be obedient and take the Word of God. The word is sweet to John, but John is in a bitter place as he is exiled on the Isle of Patmos for preaching the Word of God. (Revelation 1:9)
The Word of God had to become part of John just as it is supposed to become part of every Christian, and when it does become part of us, it will be sweet even though we live in a bitter world. Christians need to be in God’s Word daily. God told John to take it and consume it, and that command holds true for Christians today. There are many great Christian authors, but dear friend, we are not to substitute their writings for the Word of God.
If we ingest the Word of God, it will give us a passion for Christ and increase our appetites for more of God’s Word. Passion for Christ must be real to Christians if it is ever going to be real for the lost world. A passion for Christ reveals excitement, energy, and expectancy, but instead of excitement, energy, and expectancy, most church services are like a funeral, and dear friend, I am not talking about the energy and excitement that comes from being entertained. I am talking about the energy and excitement that is generated by a passion for Christ.
It is that passion that will lead others to ask you, “What must I do to be saved?”