Take the Word, Eat It, It is Sweet and Bitter (Revelation 10:8-11)

This is my typed recollection of a part of what I preached extemporaneously.

Yesterday (9/29/13), I preached on the Seven Trumpets (Rev 8:1-11:19) with the title of The Two Kingdoms, and the theme of "The Kingdom of This World Becomes The Kingdom of Christ." In a vision John was told to take and eat a scroll that was in the hand of the angel (Rev 10:8-9), which he did (Rev 10:10), and then he was told to prophesy (Rev 10:11). This is similar to what Ezekial was told to do (Eze 2:8-3:3, 10). Though the scroll Ezekial ate tasted as sweet as honey in his mouth (Eze 3:3), it caused him to be deeply distressed (Eze 3:15).

In my sermon I explained four aspects of how to prophesy, i.e., how to communicate Christ well through Scripture.

1. Take it
2. Eat it
3. It is Sweet
4. It is Bitter

1) Take It. John asked the angel to give him the scroll, but the angel said, "Take it and eat it" (Rev 10:9). Often our attitude as Christians might be to sit under the apple tree waiting for the apple to fall off the tree into our mouth. Obviously, this is not the optimal way to eat apples. Perhaps, sometimes we Christians are waiting for something to happen in the name of prayer, passivity and prudence, rather than making something happen. John should not wait until the scroll was given to him; he must take the initiative to actively take it from the angel.

2) Eat It. It is as easy as eating apple pie to impose and apply what the Bible says on others: "Don't commit adultery. Don't flirt. Don't be legalistic. Don't be self-righteous. Love others. Humble yourself." But the angel did not tell John to simply share or prophecy what the scroll says to others. Instead he said, "eat it." This clearly teaches us that we share and communicate best what we ourselves have internalized and "eaten," so that what we share comes from what has become a part of us. The words I preach and teach is best communicated when I have personally applied it and taken it in to myself. I must eat the word personally, and not just spit it out at others. Simply applying the Bible to others is what Pharisees do. They teach others, but not themselves (Rom 2:21). They fail to understand the dreadful deadly deceitfulness of their own hearts (Jer 17:9).

3) It is Sweet. Ps 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." When we take to heart the good news of the gospel, it is as sweet as honey (Rev 10:9-10; Eze 3:3). We come to truly know ourselves. We know that all have sinned and that there is no one righteous, not even one (Rom 3:10-12, 23)--and especially not even I. Despite the horridness, horribleness and hideousness of our very selves, God loves us deeply and dearly. There is no sweeter experience in all of life than the sweetness of the love of God for us in spite of all our sins.

4) It is Bitter. Why is the word that is eaten sweet in the mouth and sour (NIV) and bitter (ESV) in the stomach? It is bitter because the gospel is an offense and a stumbling block to the unregenerate (1 Cor 1:23). Even after some have tasted the bitter ravages and consequences of their own sin, yet they still refuse to hear the words of Scripture that will comfort their weary souls (Mt 11:29). They refuse to repent and resolutely cling to their idolatries to the bitter end (Rev 9:20-21)--to their own demise. Sadly, when some Christians experience the hardness of heart of those who rebel against God, they denounce them with anger, impatience and self-righteousness. But Jesus taught the word of God with tears as he wept for Jerusalem (Lk 19:41-44); he became a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering (Isa 53:2). Likewise, though the gospel is sweet to our souls, yet when we prophesy and share the word with a world in rebellion against God, our souls should be broken with tears and sorrow.