Revelation 10
As a disciple there are two
striking features in this chapter that we need to apply to our lives. The first
is a lesson about boundaries. John hears voices of seven peals of thunder.
These voices say something dramatic and important and powerful and as John is
about to record them he is told, “Do not write them.” I suppose there is no end
concerning guesses about what the voices said, news wonderful, news terrible,
dates, times, judgments, etc. But that is not the point. One of the lessons
that we can take from this is some things are none of our business. In the
great mystery of Revelation and of eschatology we learn that some stuff is none
of our concern. In an age where we often feel we should have an opinion on
every subject and express that opinion on every social media platform we need
to learn there are some things that are beyond the bounds of our expertise and
learn to be content with that. That's enough for us to live in faith trusting
to God what is sealed away from us.
There's a second lesson desperately
needed in Christianity today from this passage. John takes the book, eats it
and then finds it is sweet to the taste and then bitter or upsetting to his
stomach. This book is, like the scroll in chapter 5, God's plan or will. When
we follow or submit to God’s will there's a delight, sweetness, and a profound
joy. But part of following is the inescapable suffering of discipleship. This
picture reminded this early suffering disciple and us as well that bitterness
was an inevitable part of following Christ. In many parts of the world today to follow
Christ is a matter of life and death in the most immediate and physical
terms. On average a follower of Christ
dies for their Lord every 6 minutes, and that is to say nothing of the beating,
privations, kidnappings and efforts of the enemy to silence the Gospel message. When Jesus calls us to follow Him he doesn’t
deceive us about the cost of being a disciple.
When He calls us He calls us to come and die. The cost of following can be high, it can be
bitter.
We have lost that message in
American Christianity. Many of us have never heard that there is a cost to being
a disciple. We were never told that to come to the cross of Christ means we
must also take up a cross. We have too often been told we can have the life we
want with the Gospel as icing on our cake. We can’t name and claim our way
around the message of the little book that following Christ is sweet, but it
will cost us bitterly.
We need to take these two
lessons together. First there are things
we do not know. Second, suffering and
hardship are part of being a disciple.
These two are not placed together randomly. As a disciple we must learn to anticipate the
unknown future which may include bitter suffering with the faith that God is
the author of history and He is in control.
Questions to ponder
How comfortable are you with
knowing there are some things about your life, future, and world you are never
meant to know? We say we can accept them
in faith, but how do you feel knowing that unknown experiences of bitter
suffering maybe part of God’s plan for you?
How would the full
disclosure of the cost of being a follower of Christ before we became a
Christian make us better more fully committed disciples? Do you believe that the promise of a better
life now results in followers of Christ lacking commitment to Him when times
are tough? Why or why not?
