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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…”]
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