Sweet and Sour Sauce Bible – Part 4
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I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, “You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” [Revelation 10:10-11]
As Christians we are called to new life. This life begins with justification, but it continues with sanctification. We are to stop being conformed to the world and its thinking. In its place we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This means we are to feed on the Word of God daily, all of it a little each day, while it forms our thinking to that of God Himself.
The Apostle John was a diligent servant of the Lord, as we are to be too. The Lord gave him His Word and told him to proclaim it. The Lord warned John that the Word would be enjoyable in the eating, but not so much in the doing. Still, John remained faithful to His Lord.
The Word of God, you see, contains both sweet and sour, dear friends. When the Apostle John was told to take the scroll and eat it, the symbolism is that he was to feed on the truth of God’s Word. Once he assimilated it into his very being, then he was to go and spread it around to the rest of mankind, to preach it from the rooftops.
John did so in the following chapters of the Book of Revelation. Those chapters contain the sweet promises of God to mankind, and they contain the bitter and sour judgments of God on mankind.
Because of the two classes of people in the world—believers and unbelievers—the Word is both sweet and sour. John would enjoy learning the good Word of God, to be sure. But once he assimilated it into his being and had to follow through with spreading the Word, he would encounter bitterness from the Word. It would turn his stomach sour because it isn’t a pleasant thing to pronounce God’s judgment on sinners…and sinners aren’t exactly appreciative of it either!
Folks, this is spiritual reality. For the spiritual person the Word of God is life itself. He cannot live without it. It brings him such joy and blessing to hear His God speak to him the truths of both time and eternity.
However, some Christians get pleasure out of proclaiming judgment and condemnation on other people. This is a sign of carnality, of pride in the forefront. God desires for all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (cf., 1 Timothy 2:4). God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He would rather the wicked turn from their sins and live (cf., Ezekiel 33:11).
Just as it was with the Apostle John in the First Century A.D., so is it with us Christians today. We are given the Word of God to feed on, and we are to assimilate it into our beings. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (cf., Romans 12:2) by means of the Word of God. Then we are to proclaim salvation in Jesus’ name to all mankind. The Word today is what is was back in the day. It is both sweet and sour.
Will we draw back at the sour parts and refrain from obeying the Word of God? Or will our failure be in proclaiming God’s judgments with relish and glee? I have a great idea. Let’s refrain from both of those approaches.
Instead, let’s take the good Word of God to all men, savoring the sweetness of the Word while not withholding the sour and bitter portion of the meal. But let us be sure to feed the sour portion with fear and trepidation, receiving no pleasure from the death of the wicked. May Jesus Christ be praised by our obedience!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
