Would you please open your Bibles to the Book of Revelation
chapter 10 please? The title of this morning's
message is A Bittersweet Message from God.
A bittersweet message from God in our journey through the Book
of Revelation, we come to, we've had the 7th seals, we're in the
trumpets now we come to a particular passage where there's
three messages we're going to look at this morning. 3
messages, a message from God to John the Apostle.
John is on the island of Patmos. He's in his late 90s, nineties.
He's caught up on the Lord's Day, has his vision, and he
begins writing down all the things that he sees.
And this is what we're reading today, the vision that God
revealed to him. And then we'll see that God has
a bittersweet message for the world during the Tribulation
period. And that is a world that is
against God, rejecting God, a world that is going through the
judgement of God. Cataclysmic events are falling
upon the planet. Half of the population is now
gone, leaving around 4 billion people only and less.
And then there is a message to you and I third part, final
message, a bittersweet message to you and I this morning,
August 2025 here in Secret Harbour.
Throughout the Book of Revelation, angels are spoken of
more than 70 times. Angels are God's messengers.
And this morning we're introduced to another mighty
Angel. It says coming down from heaven.
Let's look at verse one. I saw still another mighty
Angel. So notice the the description of
this Angel. This is no ordinary Angel coming
down from heaven clothed with a cloud.
A rainbow was on his head, his face.
John is describing him. His face is like the sun.
It's so bright. Brightness because he's been
before the throne of God, like Moses.
When Moses went up and met God, Moses came down and put a veil
over his face, not because it was too bright, but because the
the brightness was fading away. His face was glowing.
The Angel, the here, this mighty Angel, his face is glowing
because he's been in the presence of God and his feet
like pillars of fire. And he had a little book open in
his hand. This is how big he is.
And he set his right foot on the sea.
This is a very large Angel and he's left foot on the land, so
he's huge. And he cried with a loud voice.
How loud, Just like a lion roars.
It's loud like a Ryan, a lion. And when he cried out, seven
thunders uttered their voices. Now when the seven thunders
uttered their voices, I was about to write down.
John is about to write down what he's hearing and what he's
seeing. But then I heard a voice from
heaven, from the throne of God, saying to me, seal up the things
which the seven thunders uttered, the things that the
Angel and the seven thunders uttered.
Don't write them down. Don't write them down.
This mighty Angel has a little book in his hands.
I believe it's still a scroll, but the scroll is smaller now
because the we've had the seven seals.
We're nearly through the seven trumpets.
The seven balls are starting to come.
So it's getting smaller. He has a loud voices when a lion
roars. Now Helen and I had an
experience which was frightening.
We went to Singapore quite a number of years ago.
And at night we went through the Singapore Zoo and you hop on a
little train sort of thing and go around the zoo.
And we stopped where the lion was king of the jungle.
And there's no fence. It's just like a a bit of a gap.
And the lions kind of like where that doorway is.
And it was at night. And the lion roared.
And I thought it was terrifying. It was the loudest terrifying
thing I ever heard. And I thought, he can jump.
That's not very far. And I felt like a sardine in a
can. So I pushed Helen over there and
said, Helen, you need to pray now.
Seriously. It was the loudest.
It it was terrifying. So this is what John's hearing
the mind of this this this Angel crying out, is this the Lord
Jesus? Some Bible commentators say it
is. I disagree.
I believe the Bible tells us it's not.
Jesus Christ is not anywhere described as an Angel in the
Book of Revelation. He is Lord of the angels, using
them to execute his judgement and purposes on the earth.
Also, this Angel, you'll note it describes in the context and
that's what we need to see. What does the text tell us?
What is the truth of the text? It says he's described as
another mighty Angel. It's pretty clear then, which
means he is another of the same kind of the Angel, the seven
trumpets, 7 angels that were given the seven trumpets.
So he's he's another Angel. We're told that this mighty
Angel has 1 foot on the sea and these other on the land,
picturing the sovereignty of God's authority over all that is
on the land. He has gone as control of the
oceans, which covers 3/4 of the earth and over the and all over
the land pieces, the seal judgements have taken place
beginning with the four horsemen.
And here we have come to another interlude, a a pause during the
judgments. And this scroll contains the
remaining judgments still yet to fall upon the earth because
remember, John is now describing, he's caught up into
heaven. Chapter 4 describes the throne
of God, Chapter 5 where they're with them praising the Lord.
And now so he's looking down upon the earth.
The judgments that are coming down upon the earth.
He's not looking up and describing the judgments.
So these are the judgments yet to fall upon the earth.
And a voice from heaven, from the throne of God is heard by
both John and the mighty Angel as John is about to write down
what he heard the seven thunders say and what he's seeing before
him. So that's the first point of
taking notes. It's a message for John.
He says, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven
saying to me, Seal up the things.
Don't write them which the seven thunders uttered.
Do not write them, John. Don't write down the things
which you just heard, which the seven thunders uttered.
Instead seal them up. These are the only words in the
Book of Revelation, we are told that are sealed.
What was spoken, what was said, we have no idea.
Don't guess I hate Bible studies and people gathering.
So what do you think the seven thunders were the 7th seals.
I think they were talking about the Wallabies finally winning
against the British Lions. You could be right.
Don't go when the Bible is silent.
Be silent. Don't get into a habit or to a
spin a thon. What do we think it says?
What It doesn't matter what you think it says.
It doesn't say anything. So we're not told they're sealed
up. Don't bother with that.
The message in verse 4 is for John only.
Then verse 5, the Angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on
the land, raised up his hand to heaven, swore by him who lives
forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are
in it. That's the Lord, the earth and
the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are
in it that there should be. Here's the message.
The lie no longer. The the lie no longer.
It's time. Now he's swearing by heaven, the
mighty Angel. This mighty Angel raises his
hand to heaven. It's believed the practise of
swearing on the Bible in a court of law to speak the truth comes
from this very passage of Scripture.
The Angel swears by the Creator, emphasising God's authority
behind what is about to take place.
God will not lie. God is not a man that he should
lie. The Bible says the end is
coming. We're part way through the
tribulation period. Then lie no longer.
You know, all of human history operates according to divine
plan. In Psalm 135, verse 6, the Bible
says whatever the Lord pleases, He does in heaven and in earth,
in the seas, and in all deep places.
Now, up to this point, and we're in the Tribulation period, the
church has been raptured, judgements have fallen.
We've had the seven seals. The Antichrist is there, yet the
world is still not repenting of their sins.
It's still living in rebellion. But up to this time, God has
been very patient. He's been long suffering.
What does that mean? Suffering long with what's going
on in the earth to a lost world at this time in the Tribulation
period. You know that patience, which is
a fruit, part of the fruit of the Spirit is also part of the
character of God. It's who he is, what he, what's
he's made up of. In the book of Nehemiah, Chapter
9, verse 17, Nehemiah writes, but you are God ready to pardon.
You know that God is always ready for you to repent.
I believe that last song that we sang this morning, that the
words of that song, the impact of that song was for some of you
here this morning, you've lived dangerously.
You've been doing things that you shouldn't be doing.
And God in that last song, and you know it by the Holy Spirit
was convicting you and saying, I know about you, I know what
you've done, but I love you. But you need to repent, not
tomorrow, right now where you are.
You need to repent right now of what the things that you've
said, the things that you've done, the things that you've
sought not to leave it after, not to put it behind and then go
away. Now, as we sang that song, I was
moved while the Holy Spirit to say what I'm saying now, that
repentance is what you need to do.
Now the Bible tells us that repentance is not just how we
get saved, but in one, John 19 and 10, it tells us that
repentance is also for you and I as believers, you know, we can
wander off, we can stumble, we can sin before God.
We can say the wrong thing. We can be a horrible husband, a
horrible wife, a terrible father, a terrible mother, a
disappointing son or a daughter. We can do those things, but the
beauty of God and his grace to a believer is that if you would
just repent right now and believe and ask Jesus Christ to
forgive you right now of what you've done and don't cover it
up. Don't snow job it don't go well.
I was a bit angry. I said things that I shouldn't
have said No, say it like it is God.
I I said wicked things. I did some wicked acts, say it
like it is because that's the reality of it.
But as you do that, the Bible says in one John 9 and 10, He is
faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all our
unrighteousness. Right this moment where you are,
you can come in with a load of sin and you can cast it away
right this moment if you'll do what the Holy Spirit ask you to
do. And so God is always ready to to
pardon. Nehemiah 917 but you are God
ready to pardon Now it says of God, this is his character,
gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and
did not forsake them. And he was speaking specifically
there to the nation of Israel. In Psalm 103, verse 8, the
psalmist writes the Lord is and it's the description of God, His
character, the Lord is merciful. What is mercy?
Not getting judgement, getting what you don't deserve.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, gracious, slow to
anger, abounding in mercy, abounding in mercy.
But Psalm always says, Psalmist always says, right, that God's
mercy is what new every morning it's fresh, it's waiting for
you. Psalm 145 verse 8 says the Lord
is gracious, gracious and full of compassion.
When Jesus saw the crowd coming towards him, thousands and
thousands and they hadn't eaten, it says his stomach ache.
He went, oh, look at these poor people, sheep without a
shepherd. We got to feed them, we got to
care for them. That's the God that you worship.
Slow to anger, great mercy. Now, many people have a twisted
mindset of what God is like. People who have an incorrect
mindset of what God is like. This only comes from an
ignorance of the Bible. When I hear people speak to me
about what they believe God is like or they say something, they
might even go to church a lot, but they're not reading the
Bible. The only church doesn't make you
a Christian. No, no more than going to
McDonald's. Make sure a big whopper having a
twisted mindset of what God is like comes from and ignorance of
the Bible. When I began to read the Bible,
and I mean seriously read it, Not just a bit here and a bit
there, spin the wheel bit there, bit there, but read through it
book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, I found
out that God is always saying His grace, His mercy.
It starts in Genesis and goes all the way through the
revelation, grace and mercy. I find out that there's very
little that I have to do, that all I have to do is accept God's
graciousness and His love and that the Bible is 99.9
recurring, telling me what God has done for me.
And so people who have a twisted mindset of what God is like are
people who are ignorant of God's word, never read God's word,
because as you read the Bible, you can't have that mindset.
People think that he is just waiting to judge us all.
God's, you know, if I go to church, the walls are falling.
No, but he doesn't want us to enjoy life.
He just wants me to, you know, be boring and dull.
And that's what church is about. Now, if that's what church is
about for you, you're not, you're not born again.
You don't know the Spirit of God because Jesus has come to give
you life and that abundantly. But this could not be further
from the truth, especially if you look at the life of Jesus
Christ, how he lived. What is God like?
Philip says Jesus, can you just give us a snapshot, do a
drawing, pull out a, you know, have you got a camera shot or a
photo of what the Father's like? Philip, have I been so long with
you? If you've seen me, you've seen
the Father. So what is God like?
Read the Gospels. How did Jesus live, how he
loved? Who did He love?
He loved everyone else, everyone that everyone else rejected, and
how he died. How did he die as a suffering
servant, sacrificing, not thinking of himself, but
obedient unto the Father, even unto death?
The cross of Calvary speaks loudly of God's love for you and
his desire that you have life abundantly.
You see, if you think well, you know, but for getting into
church too much, for being reading the Bible too much, you
know, my life is just. I got, I got life.
Now you're missing the point. You don't know God, you don't
know the Bible, you don't know the truth.
The cross of Calvary speaks loudly of God's love for you,
and God's desire is that you have life abundantly.
You think you've got a good now? No, you don't.
If you don't know Christ, you don't have life like you think
you can have. We settle for what we think is
good. God has a life that will blow
your mind when you give your life to Him and allow Him to
guide you and to use you. He wants to give you eternal
life, that life forever if you'll receive it.
But there comes a time, and this is happening in the period of
the tribulation where we're at now, when a person's rebellion
against the Lord and their constant, constant refusal to
repent of their sins eventually brings judgement upon
themselves. They bring judgement upon
themselves. In Genesis chapter 6, verse 3,
prior to the flood, it says, and the Lord said, My Spirit shall
not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh.
In other words, you can't just go on living in sin and God just
go, I'm not going to do anything.
It says. Then the Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the Lord was sorry in the old king Jimmy, it says,
repented, was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and God
was grieved in his heart. He's a loving father.
So the Lord said, I'll destroy man whom I've created from the
face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things, birds of
the air, for I am sorry that I've made them.
In the book of Romans, chapter one, verse 22, it speaks of the
world today. That is, we see it in mass
protests, protesting for a terrorist group called Hamas.
Can't fathom that. Who's been to the Holocaust
Museum here, arms up next to a group that's going to Israel.
We're going there. How could this ever happen
again? How could such vile venomous
hatred be against the people of Israel?
How could the Holocaust it could happen once again.
How could this stirring be about because there's a spiritual war
going on in Romans chapter one verse 22, people professing to
be wise. It says they became fools and
change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image
made like corruptible man and they began to worship the birds,
4 footed animals, creeping things and Mother Nature.
It says in Romans one verse 24, because of the repressing of the
truth, I don't want God, I'll worship my God my way.
Because of that God says OK verse 24.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness.
You want to live that way is the worst thing that can happen that
God allows you to live that way that you you feel no conscience
anymore. Your conscience is seared.
You don't care about your immorality.
You don't care about what you put into your body.
Then it says in verse 26, for this reason again, God gave them
up to vile passions. People think, well look, on the
way that I'm living, if God was real, he would strike me down.
How foolish that is. When men and women persistently
abandoned God, Eventually there is a line God will abandoned
them. When God abandons men and women
to their own devices, His protection is withdrawn, His
restraining and protective hand upon their lives is withdrawn,
and then allows the consequences of their sin to take their
inevitable destructive course. What's the consequences of sin?
The wages of sin is death. Wherever sin is operating in
your life, whenever you're operating in that area, it's
going to die. It's going to rot.
Sin degrades man. It devices the image of God who
you made it. It strips.
Man, woman, of their dignity. It removes.
Any Peace of Mind? And you have no clear.
Conscience. It says God gave.
Over. That's the Greek word
parodynamo. It's an intense.
Verb. The word is used in.
The New Testament of giving one's body to be burned totally
it's the same word Paul used in one Corinthians 13 three it says
and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I
give my body an intense. To be burned, but I have not
loved. It profits me nothing.
It's the same word used also in a judicial sense.
Of a man. Being committed to prison
judgement. Mark 1/14.
Now, after John was put in prison, given over, Jesus came
to Galilee. So that's the message to John.
Don't write these things down, John.
And now there's a message to the world, to the fallen world, a
Christ rejecting world. How bad is this world?
Let's go back. Just remind us of who this
message is to back in Chapter 9. Look with me to verse 20.
Read along. But the rest of mankind, and
that is after all the judgments that occurred, the demonic
beings had come out. The rest of mankind who were not
killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their
hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of God,
silver, brass, and stone and wood, which can neither see nor
hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their
murders or their sorceries member Pharmakia, their drug
abuse or their sexual immorality or their thefts, stealing.
They didn't repent. These are people on the earth at
this moment. They don't care what God does.
They're not quitting living an evil life.
So now this message, the Angel has this for these people.
The 7th trumpet is about to sound.
The final judgments are about to unfold.
No more delay. This at this point is.
God's message to a rebellious hearted world it says in verse
7. But in the days of the sounding
of the 7th Angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of
God would be finished, as He declared to His servants and the
prophets. Therefore, the mystery.
Of God would be finished, we'll go.
What is that? Now in the Old Testament.
The word mystery often referred to Old Testament plans and
purposes not previously understood but are explained in
the New Testament. For example, the church is not
in the Old Testament. It was a mystery.
The prophets didn't see you and I.
The church was a mystery revealed in the New Testament.
Another example was God's plan of salvation to include
Gentiles, people who weren't Jewish.
But it was not understood how Gentiles, non Jewish, not part
of God's chosen people, Israel, could be saved.
How is that possible? But now in the.
New Testament. We know now that Christ's death
and resurrection provided forgiveness.
The vile was torn open, the temple came destroyed later, and
the door was open for all to come to Christ, To come to the
Father through Christ, through the forgiveness of sins,
salvation to all hell because of your birthright.
I'm Jewish. No, had nothing to do with that.
Paul talked to that all throughout his letters,
particularly in Romans. Whether Jew or Gentile, that
doesn't count anymore. The Book of Acts chapter. 10 our
first port of call on our tour. We leave where we're staying.
We head straight to Caesarea. Caesarea was where the Roman
soldiers lived and the Roman heads, captains, etcetera, lived
in Caesarea. We head up from Joppa from where
we are, head up to Caesarea. And as we come to Caesarea, it's
the location of Acts chapter 10. In Acts chapter 10 verse 34, you
remember Peter down in Joppa, He's he's having a snooze on the
top of Simon the tennis house. We go to Simon the tennis house
in Joppa. How do we know it's Simon the
tennis house? Because it's the only house in
Joppa which is looks a lot like the Fremantle Fish Markets
Joppa. It's the only house that has its
own well and you need water to do tanning.
So Peter is on the top of Simon the Tanner's house having a
snooze and memory sees that blanket come down, take, eat,
and there's all the stuff on there.
And he says I'm not eating that, I can't eat that.
And eventually God tells me, no, no, what I call clean don't you
call unclean. Then someone knocks on the door.
Hey, come with us. Peter heads up.
The Joppa comes to Caesarea. And then Peter arrives and he
comes to a Roman Cornelius of the Italian band, Roman Soldier.
Peter's there. He's LED because God's told him
to go there. And it says in verse 34 and
Peter opened his mouth and said in truth, I perceive that God
shows no partiality. In other words, salvation has
gone beyond the Jews, but in every nation, whoever, whoever
fears God and works righteousness is accepted by
him. The Word which God sent to the
children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ.
He is Lord of all. While Peter was still speaking
these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who had
gathered to hear the word in Caesarea.
Those of the circumcision Jews who believed were astonished, as
many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had
been poured out on the Gentiles. And for they heard them.
Speak with tongues and magnify God.
And Peter answered, can anyone forbid water that these should
be baptised who have received the Holy Spirit just as us, and
he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord.
So that's the mystery wasn't told in the Old Testament.
This mystery, the mystery here in the Book of Revelation refers
to the last days, the second coming of Jesus Christ and the
establishment of God's Kingdom on the earth, the thousand year
reign which will occur when Jesus returns his second coming.
Revelation chapter 19. Now the tribulation is often
called and referred to in the Old Testament as the day of the
Lord, the day of Jacob's trouble.
It's spoken of in the Old Testament, whereas the rapture
of the church it's not spoken in the Old Testament.
But as a mystery. Revealed in the New Testament,
as Paul tells us in one Corinthians 1551 behold, I tell
you a mystery, something new. We shall not all sleep and.
Sleep is only. Mentioned to believers.
It's never mentioned of non believers.
Sleep. We shall not all sleep talking
to Christians, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
So the message we've had to John and a message to the world.
The delay is. Over and now the message to us.
Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again,
and said, Go and take the little book, which is open in the hand
of the Angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.
So I went to the Angel, This is John speaking, and said to him,
Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take, eat it.
It will make your stomach. Bitter, but it will be sweet as
honey in your mouth, so. I took the little book.
Out of the angel's hand. And I ate it and it was sweet as
honey in my mouth, yes, but when I had eaten it in my stomach it
became bitter. And he said to me, You must
prophecy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and
kings. In Psalm 119, verse 103, David
writes, How sweet are your words to my taste?
Sweeter than honey to my mouth. You must prophecy.
Again, it's the same word. The word must hear is the Greek
word and it's pronounced die, just like die D i.e., but it's,
it's spelled DEI, die. It's, it's a necessity, it's a
duty. You've got to do this.
You must prophecy. The voice from heaven, the voice
of God now instructs John, take the book.
The Angel tells John to eat it. John eats it.
Initially it tastes sweet, but then as it hits his stomach and
overwhelming bitterness strikes John.
As you and I are. Ingesting this morning the Book
of Revelation ourselves today in our hearts and in our minds.
It's having the very same effect the word of God.
It's sweet in our mouths. Keith how how do you mean that
as we read, we grow excited don't in the Book of Revelation,
you know what's going to happen. Christ soon coming.
Maranatha, we so want the Lord to return to come back, don't
we? We still want him to come back.
We want him to judge the evil. I mean, that judge of the
Supreme Court of Australia that allowed the protest to go ahead
today, She's going to be judged. She's going to stand before the
judge of judges and she'll be judged on that decision that
she's allowed the Sydney Harbour Bridge to be closed and people
to protest. Hamas a must.
Supporting people to March across the Sydney Bridge, Sydney
Harbour Bridge in protest. I can't fathom that.
We want God to judge the evil of this world.
We want God to get his hand on Satan and cast him down into the
lake of fire. We want all the wrongs to be
made right, don't we? But, and there's a big but.
As we. Consume as we ponder, as we
meditate, as we chew over and reflect upon the words of this
prophetic book and the growing reality of the time in which we
live. Never has Israel occupied the
focus of the world. Even Australia now, I mean
Starmer PM of England has said by September I'll recognise
Palestine. Palestine doesn't exist.
There's no such people as Palestinians.
They're refugees from. All different nations.
There's no Palestinian history, no Palestinian nation.
Yet this is the plan of Satan and God's allowing it at this
time. And as we we look at this and we
see these events happening, the growing reality of the time in
which we live, it's we're living in the last days.
Things begin to grow bitter in our stomachs too, don't they?
How? Because as we each personally
realise that Christ returned, the rapture is at any moment
there is no prophetic event that needs to occur.
The Bible tells us before the rapture is to occur, the rapture
is on hold. It's going to happen.
At any moment, at the hour that God says now.
The Great. Suffering unknown to our world
like never before. Jesus says you have no idea
what's going to hit. This world is about to fall upon
the unsaved. Family members.
We have don't know the Lord friends that we play sport with
or or know across neighbourhood. Don't know the Lord, Classmates,
work colleagues, sporting partners.
The sweet truths. Begin to turn bitter in our
stomachs because they don't know Christ.
The judgments that are laid out here are going to fall upon
those who. Do not know the Lord, but
there's another reason. Also, why This is God's message
for each of us gathered here this morning and those watching
online. Verse 11.
The Angel said to me, You must prophecy again about many
peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.
This is a reminder. To preachers and every believer,
every born again believer that believes in the promises on the
Word of God, we cannot compromise God's Word.
God's word must be. Proclaimed.
And here's the deal, No matter how it affects or.
Offends people. I.
Know people have come. Here and have been been offended
upon me, but by the words of God you watch soon as we continue
down that path. It happened to Israel Folau.
It'll happen to every preacher who preaches the word of God.
Should the Lord Tarry will be identified as those giving off
hate speech. You know what hate speech is?
Speaking the truth, that. People hate.
John, you must prophecy. Again, we cannot compromise.
We cannot be concerned about how it affects or offends people.
Yes, however, we should always speak God's truth in love.
Bible tells us that, of course. But there is too.
Much compromise in too many pulpits of our churches across
the Nation Today. John needed to.
Complete his Commission from the Lord to record all the events
destined for the last days. John did it.
We have this in our hands today, the Book of Revelation as an.
Exile. And Patmos John had no immediate
opportunity to preach to all nations, but he was to write the
prophecies and distribute them so as to warn all people of the.
Bitterness of the. Judgments to come, and of death
and hell. Have you ever mentioned hell?
To a relative I. Don't want him to go.
There, you know Jesus spoke more on hell than he did on heaven.
Sinners everywhere. May know because John recorded
these prophecies that whilst judgement is presently
restrained. 2nd Thessalonians. Until the church is raptured, a
future day is coming. When the 7th Angel.
Will sound his trumpet. No more delay as commanded by
the voice in heaven and sins. Dominion will be broken, the
freedom of Satan and his demons will come to an end, and godless
men will be judged and believers will be glorified so.
Where does that leave you? And I 2025 August.
You and I must. Remain faithful.
To the proclamation. Of the good news on the
surfboard, there is the Great Commission.
Each and every one of us have been commanded by our Lord Jesus
Christ to go into the world. That's the command to each and
every one of us. Every one of us.
And proclaim the gospel. To every creature.
But you know, proclaiming the good news is also proclaiming
the bad news of the gospel that if you reject Christ, do you
know what will happen to you? It's a 2 edged sword, the word
of God. We must.
Include the bitter truths. Too many people come to church
and they've never heard the word repentance or the need to
repent. It's fascinating as you read the
gospels as Jesus started his ministry.
You know what his message was? Repent and believe.
You know what he told his disciples to preach?
Repent and believe. You know, it hasn't changed.
You know, that's still the Great Commission.
But to go into the world and tell people to repent and
believe. It says, as written by John,
that these words are for all people.
Nations tongues. And kings all positions.
That means every person, saved and unsaved, the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Is very great.
And it is good news. That's what the word gospel
means. It's good news indeed to the
person who receives it, repents and believes and surrenders
their life to Jesus Christ. But it is also.
The Book of Revelation. It's terrifying bad news.
For the person. Who refuses to receive God's
forgiveness and the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ.
It's terrifying. Those who reject.
The conviction of the Holy Spirit, and in doing so you
commit the unforgivable sin. But Revelation?
10. Tells us we have a.
Responsibility you must prophecy.
To tell people that God. Does love them and that this is
the truth of the matter. John 316 For God so loved the
world, He doesn't want anyone to go into the Tribulation period.
He would have all people. Come to knowledge of the of of
the gospel of Christ. He finds.
No death and no joy in the death of the wicked.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. Today there are far.
Too many pulpits in our land and churches that are telling people
that God loves them and that that's great, that's good, we
know that's true. But they are not telling people
they are sinners in need of a Saviour.
As I reflect upon. This and I close this think
about this. It is.
Cruel and unloving, to allow sinners we know and careful.
Not to know that each. One of us must repent and fall
on our knees before God and seek His forgiveness.
How could I do that? To remain quiet, To keep silent,
to ignore, to share the gift of the good news of the Gospel to
someone, when you think about it, is unthinkable.
When we put it into. Perspective.
Why? Would we not tell them because
we know we've been there? Those of you have received
Christ each Sinner, What do they do?
They sit alone, broken, lost. And I don't know that.
Jesus Christ died for them. It's the Great Commission.
Just like the Apostle. John, as you and I consume the
Word of God, we must speak the complete word, a truth that is
bittersweet. Maybe you say, well, Keith, if I
ever said that to my dad, to my mom, to my brother, to my
sister, do this. Pray.
Pray with all your heart. God give me an opportunity and
then work out. To say it in love, I wrote my
dad a. Letter in love I've spoken to my
my brothers are older than I. They're in their 80s.
And I've spoken to both of them in love.
It's it's how you say it. It's how you wrap.
It. And you share.
Your heart, the heart of God. With them I cannot, cannot not
say anything. How could?
We and you know, it's interesting, you can't say them.
And here's the deal. God wants them saved.
Your vest, you're the vessel. It's the holy.
Spirit that works upon their heart.
It's not up to. Us in that sense, oh, you know,
I've got to do this. It's you being open and being
used by God. That's the Great Commission.
Say it and love. Say it.
We.
Live in a. Time you can build memories.
Don't build regrets. How often have you had God open
the door for you with someone? You've gone.
I didn't. God give me the courage.
Let's exchange that. God increase my love for them to
share the gospel. That is good news.