This sermon explores how God invites and challenges us to take in his word, to the point of internalizing it into the depths of our souls. When we do this, we allow that truth to flow through us to others, specifically those who have not become followers of Jesus.
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The Importance of Our Witness
• Cedrick Baker
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In this sermon by Cedrick Baker, gives a two-fold challenge. First, we see the command to receive the word of God, and secondly, we take that word we have been given and prophesy to the world about God’s goodness. Cedrick shows us what this means in our world today.
In these verses, we see the angel (God’s emissary) standing on sea and land, which symbolizes authority over the whole Earth. Then John takes the scroll and is told that while it will taste sweet, it will actually be sour in his stomach. This is a reference to passages found in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In Ezekiel 2:9-10 and 10:1-2, we read how the word was sweet, but lament and mourning were written on it. In Jeremiah 15:16-17, the truth of God is a joy and a delight, and therefore is sweet. At the same time Jeremiah was alone and therefore there were bitter aspects to it. These are examples of how the word of God comes as something that is both sweet and bitter at the same time.
John eats the scroll, serving as a metaphor for internalizing the truth of God’s word. This is more than reading the words. This is what occurs when we meditate and reflect on what we read. In meditation the Word becomes part of our innermost being and that’s where the Spirit does his transforming work. Arthur Pink once wrote, “Meditation stands to reading—as digestion does to eating. It is as God’s Word is pondered by the mind, turned over and over in the thoughts, and mixed with faith.”
After he “ate” the scroll, he is told to prophesy to the whole world. One aspect of prophesying is to evangelize, to share the good news of Jesus with those who have not heard and/or embraced it. We are called to proclaim God’s word and testify to the Good News and the power of Jesus Christ that transformed our lives. The Spirit of God uses the church (individuals that have submitted their life to Christ) in spreading the Good News.
This work of prophetic evangelism is not coercion or manipulation. It does not require ministerial credentials. And it need not be weird. Instead, it is merely following the way of the Lamb, were we internalize the truth to the extent that it manifests in and through us, as we have a heart that cares for others who need God’s love.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Evangelism, Relationships
Sermon Series: Testify!
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The MuseCast: August 12
Focus Scripture:
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Revelation 10:8-10
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the head of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and at it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many people, nations, languages, and kings.”
