Living Room Study

The Revelation 10

“Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it.  It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter.  And I was told, “You must prophesy again against many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”  Revelation 10:10-11

So, I’m lying on an emergency room gurney a few years ago, bright lights & hospital staff swarming around me. My heart is beating, like a zillion-miles-an-hour, and there’s a tight pain in my chest. A nurse says, “Mr. Wiggins, put this little pill under your tongue” so I did.

Then the nurse asks, “Mr. Wiggins, can you tell me exactly what you’re feelinnnnnzzzzzzzzz…”

Her voice became metallic and my vision diminished to a pin-sized hole. I was fading fast. Then slowly the world started coming back like a boomerang:

“….zzzzznnnnnnaaaare you with us Mr. Wiggins?”, the nurse asked.

I was back. I nodded, “Yes.” One nurse turns to another, “He’s not having a heart attack. Must be stress.”

I felt a little embarrassed for taking up their vital ER time, but I was relieved to know my bitter concerns were invalidated by the sweet news that all I needed was a vacation! Sadly, that was not the case for others in the cardiac unit that night. Many folks had developed serious symptoms that they sweetly passed-off as heartburn. Later they were rushed by ambulance to the hospital, where family members were given the bitter news of their loved-ones’ passing.

I have shared in the sweet experience, alongside the Apostle John, of having received the Gospel. I have received the sweet gift of salvation (the Gospel offers through faith in Jesus) with great joy! But salvation has a bitter aftertaste, in that it carries with it, the reality that many will reject it. It is bitter, because I know that on the Day of the Lord, bitter judgment awaits all who are found without Messiah’s atonement. It is bitter, because the means of deliverance was so easily obtainable: God’s Grace is offered freely to all who would accept it!

Often times, people will violently reject the messenger of the Gospel. That is the bitter downside of having received God’s Word. Yet, we press on, because our own salvation experience is proof that people are out there, hungry to taste the Gospel’s sweetness.

Blessings.

Steve Wiggins