God’s promises never fail, and His purpose will be fulfilled. Today is our opportunity to repent and serve faithfully.
By Paul Zhang
AI-generated narration; not Paul Zhang’s recorded voice · The Day of No More Delay
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Scripture: Revelation 10:5–7
Preached: October 25, 2026
Preacher: Rev. Paul Zhang (Chongzhu Zhang)
Church: First Chinese Free Methodist Church, Indianapolis
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
—Revelation 10:5–7, KJV
Lord, we thank You. On this Lord's Day, we come before You with reverence and awe to worship You. Please accept the praise and prayers we offer. May everything we offer in spirit and in truth be pleasing to You.
You have prepared this very moment for us to listen together to Your holy and precious Word. Open our hearts and our understanding. Use Your servant as well. Cleanse him and take him up for Your service. May the Holy Spirit anoint him and fill his mouth with Your power.
Bless this precious time this morning. May Your glory shine upon this place. May our gathering on earth reflect heaven, and may we see no one but Jesus here.
We thank You and praise You. In the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, before we consider today's passage, I want to invite you to think about a serious question: When we look at this world, filled with sin, tears, and death, how much longer will things go on like this?
Someone suffering oppression and longing for justice may ask, “Lord, how much longer must I wait?” Someone lying in a hospital bed, suffering and hoping for healing, may ask the same question: “Lord, how much longer?”
We pray for our family members. We long for them to receive God's grace, to be saved, and to be willing to hear the gospel. Yet year after year passes, and we are still waiting. We too may ask, “Lord, how much longer must I wait?” I am no exception. I also bring many prayers before the Lord, and I often ask Him, “Lord, how much longer?”
This question appears repeatedly in Revelation. In chapter 6, the souls of those who were killed for God's Word and for their testimony cry out from beneath the altar:
“How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10, KJV)
Their question is the cry of suffering people throughout the generations. We wait in hardship. We wait in prayer. We wait in situations where justice seems absent. Our hearts grow weary, and we cannot help asking, “How much longer?”
In today's three verses, we see an angel standing on the sea and the earth. He raises his right hand and swears by the living Creator, declaring “that there should be time no longer.” The Chinese Union Version includes an alternative rendering: “There will be no more delay.”
These words tell us that God's appointed plan will reach its fulfillment. He has not forgotten those who wait in suffering, and He has not forgotten His promises.
Today we will consider The Day of No More Delay from three directions: God's promises will never fail; God's patience is not an indefinite postponement; and God's mystery will be fulfilled, as history finally reaches the purpose He has ordained.
Verses 5 and 6 unfold a solemn scene. The angel standing on the sea and the earth raises his right hand toward heaven. He swears by the Lord who created heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them—the One who lives forever and ever.
Notice that the angel is not guessing what might happen in the future. Nor is he presenting one possible outcome. He is making a certain declaration in God's name and with the authority God has given him.
Raising a hand in an oath expresses the solemnity and trustworthiness of these words. We can build our hope on this declaration because the One by whom the angel swears is not a government that will decline or a human being with limited ability. He is the Creator who lives forever.
If we read Scripture regularly, this scene will sound familiar. Daniel 12:7 records:
“And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.” (KJV)
Daniel saw a messenger clothed in linen, standing above the waters of the river and raising both hands toward heaven. John saw an angel standing on the sea and the earth, raising his right hand. These two scenes echo one another. Both point to the same Lord, who lives forever and governs history.
Daniel lived through a time of national collapse and exile. The people of Judah experienced the destruction of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple. Many were carried away to Babylon and lived under foreign power. It was a painful and discouraging situation.
Yet through the vision, God reminded His people that earthly kingdoms would not rule forever. He had already determined His plan for history.
In Revelation, the church was living under the rule of the Roman Empire. Some believers suffered persecution. Some even gave their lives for the name of Jesus Christ. They too were asking, “Lord, when will the day of Your justice come?”
It was in such a setting that John saw the angel raise his hand in an oath and declare that God's plan would certainly come to pass. In Daniel's time and in John's time alike, God had not forgotten His promises. Nor had He forgotten those who suffered for Him.
Our waiting may feel very long, but God's promises do not lose their force while we wait.
Why does verse 6 emphasize that God created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it?
Because God is not merely an observer standing outside history, watching without acting. He is the Creator of everything, and everything is under His sovereignty. He made the heavens. He made the earth. He made the sea. The Lord who created all things also governs the course of history.
Earthly rulers are replaced. Governments change. Empires decline. Consider a United States president's term of office: one term is four years, and ordinarily two terms amount to eight years. However great an office may be, it does not belong to one person forever. The Soviet Union, once a superpower alongside the United States, dissolved in 1991.
Human power passes away. The strength of empires passes away. God alone lives forever. He is the Creator of the universe.
His promises are reliable, then, because the Lord who gives them is faithful—not because our circumstances are always stable. The One who created all these things can also accomplish what He has said.
This comforted the suffering church of that time, and it comforts us today. Sometimes we cannot see when God will bring justice. Our prayers still seem unanswered, and we wonder, “Has God forgotten?”
God has not forgotten. The waiting feels very long to us, but His promises have not changed. The fact that He allows us to wait does not mean that He will let His promises fail.
Brothers and sisters, believe this: God's promises will never fail. Waiting takes time, but God's faithfulness does not change.
At the end of verse 6, the angel declares “that there should be time no longer.” What does that mean?
If we stop at the surface of those words and conclude that the universe will immediately have no more time, we have not read the context carefully. We must read verse 6 together with verse 7:
“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” (Revelation 10:7, KJV, excerpt)
The emphasis is not on explaining how cosmic time disappears. It is on declaring that God's final, appointed plan will not be delayed indefinitely. When His appointed moment comes, His mystery will be fulfilled.
Think of someone waiting in line to have a matter taken care of. When his turn comes, someone says, “You do not need to wait any longer. We can take care of it now.” That does not mean time has ceased to exist. It means the waiting has ended, and what he has been waiting for is about to happen.
These words therefore point first to the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. They are not permission for us to speculate about our personal schedules. They declare that evil will not run unchecked forever, judgment will not be postponed without end, and God's kingdom will certainly be revealed.
When we see a world full of sin, when those who do evil still seem to prosper, and when injustice continues while judgment has not yet come, our hearts grow anxious. “Lord, why is this happening? Why has Your judgment not yet arrived?”
Yet Scripture tells us:
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, KJV)
God allows people to go on living and gives them time because He wants them to repent. His patience is not indifference to evil. The fact that He does not judge immediately does not mean that He approves of human sin.
But Revelation 9 shows us people who face disasters and warnings of judgment yet still refuse to repent. They continue to worship idols, do evil, and turn away from God:
“And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” (Revelation 9:20–21, KJV)
Here is a deeply serious contrast: God patiently waits and gives people an opportunity to repent, while people continue to harden their hearts and may become even more determined to sin.
Brothers and sisters, God's patience is grace, but it is not a license to keep on sinning.
We deceive ourselves so easily. We do not necessarily deny our sin or say that we have no need to change. More often, we say, “I know—but I will change later.”
Someone knows that dishonesty in business is sin and offends God, but tells himself, “Once I have made money on this deal, I will stop.” Someone else puts money, power, or reputation in God's place, but says, “When I have earned enough, I will follow the Lord seriously.” Another says, “I am still young. When I am older, I will take my faith seriously.”
We turn the time of God's patient forbearance into time for indulging ourselves. This is a great danger.
After preaching last Sunday, when the service was over, my wife and I went for a walk that evening. I spoke with her about something that had been on my mind. While preaching, I had looked into the faces of the brothers and sisters and felt that everyone understood. They all seemed to know what I meant. So if they already understood, why did I need to keep preaching it?
I thought further about why God continues to use these messages to remind us. Knowing something is not the same as repenting. Understanding is not the same as obeying.
Many people read Revelation and think only about how frightening the final events will be and how dangerous the disasters are. But Revelation also calls us to repent, turn back, and love the Lord sincerely while He is still giving us time. God keeps sending His servants to bring us His Word because He is still reminding us: “Turn back. Repent.”
This message is not only for other people.
Last night, I knelt before the Lord and prayed about today's sermon. I said, “Lord, as I preach tomorrow, please use me. Move me deeply. I know that if this message is to move the brothers and sisters, it must first move me. Let Your Word speak to me first.”
I asked myself: After so many years of believing in the Lord, has my heart grown numb? Are there still many things I should be doing today that I keep postponing until later?
All of us can fall into delay, always saying, “Later, later.” But I too need to say before the Lord, “Lord, while You are giving me time today, I want to repent and receive renewed strength.”
Do not merely say, “Pastor, I already know everything you are saying.” Ask yourself instead, “If I know it, why am I still not doing it?” Do not continually set obedience to God aside while putting the things you consider most important ahead of Him.
Here is a question worth considering seriously: What gives you the right to assume that tomorrow will certainly be yours?
In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of a foolish rich man. His land produced abundantly, so he planned to pull down his barns and build larger ones to store all his grain and possessions. Then he would say to his soul:
“Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” (Luke 12:19, KJV, excerpt)
But God said to him:
“Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20, KJV, excerpt)
This man was not ignorant of business. He was not unable to manage his affairs. Judging from his accumulated possessions, he was very capable. His fundamental mistake, however, was assuming that because he possessed wealth, he also possessed tomorrow.
He calculated his assets but forgot that his life was not under his own control. He arranged his future but neglected his relationship with God.
This is a reminder for us as well. We Chinese are often good at planning ahead. We calculate costs, analyze markets, arrange investments, and plan for retirement. We may do all of these things quite carefully. But there is one thing none of us can calculate: where, exactly, our own life will end.
We can plan what shop we will open tomorrow or what company we will start, but we cannot guarantee that we will see the sun tomorrow. We can work out how much retirement income we expect to receive, but we cannot guarantee that we will live to retire.
We can calculate wealth, but we cannot hold life and eternity in our hands. To overlook that is one of life's greatest dangers.
Yet the most frightening thing is not simply death. It is a person's persistent refusal to repent. What is so shocking in Revelation 9 is not only the death caused by the disasters, but the fact that the survivors still do not repent. The human problem is not merely a lack of knowledge. It is a heart unwilling to turn to God.
So we need to ask: I know some biblical truth, but am I willing to obey God's Word? I have heard many sermons, but am I willing to let go of the sin in my heart? I say that I believe in the Lord, but who truly rules within me—God, or my desires, my money, and my self-centeredness?
Do not say, “In a little while, I will repent. In a little while, I will really love the Lord. When my circumstances change, I will follow Him seriously.” God gives us today so that we may turn to Him today.
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Romans 2:4, KJV)
Do not treat God's forbearance as evidence that He will never judge. Do not use today's peace as a reason to keep sinning. And do not assume that a judgment that has not yet arrived is one you can escape forever.
When I was still in China, our church would put on biblical dramas at Christmas, alongside singing and dance. I remember a drama about Noah that our church once performed.
In the play, Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their three daughters-in-law prepared the ark together. Noah kept urging people to repent and enter the ark to escape the coming flood. But people mocked them. They thought the whole family was foolish for devoting so much of their effort to building an ark.
The play also included people mocking them for building a ship on a mountain: “Other people build ships beside the water. You are building yours on a mountain. How will you ever get it into the water?” These were dramatic scenes intended to portray unbelief, not dialogue directly recorded in Scripture.
I also remember some artistic additions the playwright made. The families of Noah's sons' wives initially listened to his warning and moved into the ark for a time. But when they looked outside and saw fine weather, with neither heavy rain nor a flood, they felt there was no need to keep waiting. One family left, then another, until all had gone. Those who had initially supported Noah eventually joined the people mocking him.
These scenes of the in-laws moving in and out were artistic elements of the drama. We must not treat them as biblical history. Yet the question the play raised is very real: because no disaster has yet occurred, people may dismiss a warning they have already heard and assume they can wait indefinitely.
God's patience, however, does not allow us to stretch time without limit. When His appointed time came, Noah's family and the living creatures God had commanded him to bring aboard entered the ark. Scripture says:
“And the LORD shut him in.” (Genesis 7:16, KJV, excerpt)
At the end of the drama, the flood arrived, and people outside the ark knocked on the door, begging to be let in. They called on Noah to open it, but he could not open that door for them again. He had not closed it by his own decision, and he could not reopen it simply because he wished to.
Brothers and sisters, this is a solemn warning for us. Today, God still gives us a season of patience and forbearance. But if we keep saying, “When I have earned enough money, when I retire, when I have finished helping raise my grandchildren, when life settles down a little, then I will believe wholeheartedly and serve the Lord,” we are postponing obedience indefinitely.
We do not know when the Lord will come, nor do we know when we will go to meet Him. Tomorrow is not in our hands.
God's patience gives people an opportunity to repent. It does not give them an excuse to keep sinning. For the suffering church, “no more delay” is comfort. For those who continue to indulge themselves, it is also a warning. May the Lord help us grasp the opportunity He gives us today, rather than discover its value only after we have lost it.
Verse 7 says:
“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” (Revelation 10:7, KJV)
What does “no more delay” ultimately point toward? Not the final success of our own plans, nor the final triumph of an earthly empire. It points toward the fulfillment of God's mystery.
What, then, is God's mystery?
It is not a mysterious code we are supposed to crack, nor secret knowledge available only to a select few. It is God's purpose and plan of redemption, once hidden and later made known through revelation.
In the Old Testament, God communicated His promises through the prophets from different perspectives. In the New Testament, through the Holy Spirit, He made His mystery known to the apostles and prophets. The apostle Paul writes:
“How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.” (Ephesians 3:3–6, KJV)
This is the mystery of the gospel: in Christ Jesus, the Gentiles too become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in God's promise. In Christ our sins are forgiven. We become one family and share in God's promise. As Ephesians 2:19 says:
“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” (KJV)
The mystery therefore calls us to recognize the salvation God has already revealed in Christ, rather than to keep guessing. Revelation tells us that this redemptive plan will reach its final fulfillment: God will judge evil, save His people, and fully reveal His righteousness.
Isaiah 52:7 says:
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (KJV)
This good news declares, “Thy God reigneth!” The fulfillment of God's mystery is the moment when the good news He proclaimed to the prophets, and the gospel preached by the apostles, will be fully revealed.
God's salvation was not an improvised solution. The birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the final revelation of His kingdom, are all within God's purpose and plan.
So when the seventh angel sounds, a great voice in heaven declares:
“The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15, KJV, excerpt)
This is the true direction of history.
Sin will not triumph forever. Death will not rule forever. No empire will govern forever. At present, evil may seem rampant, as though it has the final word. But all of this will pass away, and Christ will reign forever and ever.
We therefore do not read Revelation in order to tremble with fear or fall into despair. It certainly contains scenes of disaster, war, and judgment, but all of them point ultimately toward the fulfillment of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
History is not an endless cycle without a destination. Humanity is not condemned to struggle forever in chaos. God has revealed His redemptive plan in Christ, and that plan will certainly be fulfilled.
People sometimes say that after a few generations, the traces a person leaves in this world may gradually disappear. Children remember their parents. Grandchildren may still remember their grandparents. But later generations know less and less about their ancestors and may eventually forget even their names.
In human memory, we are indeed easily forgotten. But it is not so with God.
Jesus said, “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:7, KJV, excerpt) He also promises to give the one who overcomes a white stone with a new name written on it (see Revelation 2:17). We have not come into this world by chance, only to disappear meaninglessly into history. Our lives are known and cared for before God.
The final fulfillment of God's purpose therefore brings comfort to the suffering church: God will not forget us, and He will not forget our tears.
Revelation warns those whose hearts are hard. At the same time, it comforts Christians who suffer.
Think about the suffering of the first-century church. Think also about churches that still live under persecution today.
I think of believers in North Korea. Accounts of their lives describe people who dare not let anyone notice them praying, so they pray beneath a blanket; people who read the Bible under their bedding by the light of a flashlight; and believers who seek secluded places, even caves, where they can meet in secret. These accounts remind us how difficult it is for persecuted brothers and sisters to remain faithful. [1]
Do not assume that there is no church of God in such places. Pyongyang was historically called the “Jerusalem of the East.” Today people also speak of Wenzhou as “China's Jerusalem,” but we must not forget the church history of the Korean Peninsula.
I also think about Korean churches rising early in the morning to pray, and the familiar Chinese hymn Five O'Clock in the Morning in China. These practices of prayer invite us to consider how the church waits for God and depends on Him. [2]
Open Doors has long cared for persecuted churches and has also helped bring Bibles into China. I remember receiving traditional-character Chinese Bibles sent from overseas in earlier years. I had several copies myself. That is a precious part of our memory. [3]
Today we must continue to remember those who remain faithful to Jesus Christ under persecution. They face poverty, danger, and even death, yet they hold fast to their faith.
They too may cry out to the Lord: “Lord, do You see our tears? Do You see our pain? Do You see the persecution we endure? When will the day of Your justice come?”
Revelation tells them: God knows. God sees. God has not forgotten. His plan will certainly be fulfilled.
You too may be living through a long season of pain. Perhaps you have prayed for your family for years, wept for your children for years, endured illness for years, or suffered in an unjust situation for years. Through this passage, God reminds you that He has not forgotten what you have endured. His plan of redemption will reach its conclusion, and His people will not be forgotten.
Christians do not passively wait for the end of the world. Nor do we stop doing anything because the world will one day come to an end. Our hope is in the Lord's return and the fulfillment of God's mystery.
Those who truly believe that Christ will return should work for Him more faithfully and diligently. We are not to spend every day investigating the date of the end, nor are we to sit still and wait for God to do everything for us.
Proclaiming the gospel today has eternal value. Living a holy Christian life has eternal value. Caring for the poor and the weak has eternal value. Persevering through hardship and persecution also has eternal value.
We do not stop working because the world is coming to an end. We work more faithfully for the Lord today because Jesus Christ will return and will reign.
Brothers and sisters, God's mystery will be fulfilled, and history will finally reach His purpose. This does not call us to escape the present. It calls us to love Him more deeply and serve Him more faithfully today.
Brothers and sisters, all of us have weaknesses and failings. While God is still giving us the opportunity to repent, let us repent and return to Him.
If you have not truly repented, stop saying, “Later.” If you have repented and believe in Jesus, work for Him diligently and faithfully. Our hope is that when He returns, or when we stand before Him, we will be able to meet Him with confidence and hear His commendation:
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant: … enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matthew 25:21, KJV, excerpt)
This is where the true value of our lives is found. This is what we should pursue.
One day, God will declare, “No more delay.” On that day, will we be ready to meet the Lord? Will we stand before Him empty-handed, or will we be like the servant who received five talents and said, “Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.” (Matthew 25:20, KJV, excerpt)
God gives us grace and time today. In His patience, He waits for us to repent, and He also gives us an opportunity to serve faithfully.
Do not stake the today God has given you on a tomorrow you cannot guarantee.
If you need to repent today, repent today. If you should be working for the Lord today, act today. If you should be faithful today, do not postpone it until tomorrow. Today is the opportunity God has given us.
May the Lord keep reminding and awakening us through His Word, turning our hard hearts back to Him and rekindling the fire of the Holy Spirit within us.
Merciful and glorious Father, holy and righteous Lord, we thank You. You are the Lord who created heaven and earth and governs history. Your promises never fail, and Your purpose will certainly be fulfilled.
Lord, we confess that we often take Your patience and forbearance lightly. We know we should repent while You give us this time. We should work diligently and serve You faithfully, yet we keep thinking we can do it later. Forgive us, and make us willing to obey You today.
Our hearts are often occupied by this world, by money, by desires, and by our many plans. Shine Your light upon us through Your Holy Spirit. Keep us from hardening our hearts. Help us face our sins honestly and turn truly to Jesus Christ.
Stir us to rise and work for You, no longer making excuses for our laziness. Kindle the Holy Spirit's fire in our hearts and give us a fervent spirit, as Your Word says: “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:11, KJV)
Comfort the brothers and sisters who wait for You amid suffering. Let them know that You have not forgotten their tears and that Your righteousness will surely be revealed.
Lord Jesus, thank You for giving Your life and shedding Your blood for us, and for rising again and ascending into heaven. As we wait for Your return, may we be watchful, holy, and faithful until You come.
We offer this prayer in the precious and holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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