Our theme is, “Behold, I come quickly.”
I am happy about this theme. I am fearful about this theme. The Lord wants to speak final things, which means something is going to happen soon.
It is a bit of a challenge because we are beginning at the end. Revelation 22 is where we find our verses for this week, and it is hard to start at the end at the beginning.
I know some people read books and cheat. They read a couple of chapters, and then they read the last chapter. Well, I do not think I have to offer a spoiler alert: God wins. The Lord Jesus is glorified, and God’s perfect will is done.
I remember years ago there was a gospel song that was quite popular. The name of the song was “He Wins.”
He wins, hallelujah, He wins.
I read the back of the Book, and He wins.
So we all know: the Lord says, “Behold, I come quickly.” But sometimes, if we just start with that, we miss all that is involved. Just to read the back of the Book may be to miss the feeling of the Book.
John was brought through some amazing revelations, and he came to the end. Then the Lord spoke.
Somehow, we need to ask the Lord, for myself and for you as well, that during this week we could be caught up in the Spirit; that we could find ourselves so deeply in His throne room that we can hear His voice and respond with a full heart of faith.
This is what we are asking, and it is a bit of a challenge. You and I have just come from all over the place. We gather here a bit distracted. So I want us, even as we begin tonight, to ask the Lord to help us as we pray together, that He might speak to us by His Spirit in this time.
Our Father, we come to You, and we are so thankful for Your precious Word. We are aware of the fact that You specifically spoke to us in Revelation 2 and 3, speaking to the churches, but knowing that there were only those who had an ear to hear.
Lord, we want to be those who have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches. Do help us, Lord, as we come in at the end and gather up all that needs to be gathered for us to understand and hear these precious, intimate, wonderful words of our Lord: “Behold, I come quickly.”
May this be written in our hearts, as well as our response:
The Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Even as we are gathered together here this week, come, Lord Jesus.
We know that Your Holy Spirit will help us enter in and come into a greater fullness of understanding as we are together. We depend upon Him, and we know that when we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus, all the resources of heaven are granted unto us to fully understand what You are speaking to us in these final days.
We thank You, Lord, that we are gathered together. Now gather our hearts before Thy throne. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Let us turn to Revelation 22 tonight. I am just going to give, as it were, an introduction to the theme. I want us to read specifically what is called the epilogue, or the final words, of this book.
After the revelations, after the historic events have all been spoken, we find, beginning in Revelation 22:6, the final words of the book. The New Jerusalem has now been revealed in all of its beauty, with the river of life flowing from the throne. Then, after this great vision of the Lord Jesus has been given, we begin to read.
And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true: and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show unto His servants the things which must shortly come to pass.
And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book.
And I John am he that heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things.
And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.
And he saith unto me, Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand. He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.
Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.
I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come: he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
He that testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.
We know that our three theme verses—“Behold, I come quickly,” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come,” and “Let him who hears say, Come”—are very special words. They are intimate words. They are words that you just cannot take in a simple way. We have to have our hearts and spirits tuned to hear what God is saying in this message.
I read this epilogue because I wanted to take the context around which these three verses are written. There is a single predominant burden in this epilogue, this final word, and it is this: it is absolutely essential that you and I believe the Word of God.
We see that the final emphasis before the end of this book is that unless we believe with living faith this living Word, we cannot enter in.
These words are familiar to many of us. You have read this book a number of times, and sometimes even the familiarity we have with this Word can prevent us from hearing what the Spirit is saying through the words.
The interesting thing is that it is not enough just to have some kind of vision. The visions that the Lord would grant to us by a spirit of wisdom and revelation are based upon the Word of God—the Scriptures that we have been given.
Brothers and sisters, we live in an unbelieving and wicked generation. Jesus spoke about His generation as wicked and unbelieving. How much more unbelieving is the present generation in which we live?
If we are honest with ourselves, that unbelief has infiltrated the hearts of so many Christians. There is so much doubt that it is possible to read this great revelation of Jesus Christ, given to us here in this last book, and frankly not believe it.
To me, it is impossible for anybody to read this book without repenting. One thing I hope we can do is rethink, repent, and turn around in this matter of believing the words that are spoken in this book.
Now, we have to back up for just a second to realize how overwhelming this revelation of Jesus Christ must have been to the Apostle John.
Whatever John saw of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, whatever John saw of Jesus on the Mount of Olives as He ascended into heaven, was eclipsed by the Jesus he saw there on the Isle of Patmos, in the Spirit, when God revealed the Son of God in amazing ways.
John was overwhelmed. We do not know how long it took John to write it down, but John himself says, “I wrote all this down.” He was an old man. We have to assume that he wrote for a while, saw some more, and wrote for a while. Whether he wrote it all in one sitting or it took him a while, we know these things were written in his heart.
There he was on the Isle of Patmos, and suddenly he heard a voice, turned around, and saw a Jesus he had never seen before. Yes, it was Jesus: glorious High Priest and King, with eyes of fire and a voice like many waters—so full of glory that John fell down like a dead man. And that was just the beginning.
Then an angel caught him up into heaven. The next thing he knew, through his tears of weeping, he saw the Lamb come out of the midst of the throne. He says, “That is my Jesus. That is the One I love, the One who says He loves me. And look at Him, coming out with celebration and angels, taking the scroll of history.”
It is in His hands. Destiny is in His hands. The Lamb of God is ruler over the kingdoms of this world.
Then John sees Him as a mighty angel, with His feet astride the earth and the sea, saying, “There will be no more delay.” The angels say, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ.” What a mighty revelation.
Then he is caught up once again, and he sees the Lamb of God standing on Mount Zion with the overcomers. Wow.
Only a few visions later, John sees this Lord Jesus, the mighty conquering warrior, coming down on a white horse to take His kingdom with the host of an army from heaven. That is just about overwhelming.
Then he sees Jesus sitting on the white throne of judgment, finally taking care of all that has needed to be taken care of since the beginning of time.
Finally, an angel takes him up to a high place, and he sees the New Jerusalem coming down. There is Jesus in the midst of the throne with God. Now you can see God. Now you can see Jesus. They are in the middle of the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem is made out of stones that are totally transparent.
Everybody is a living stone, and all these stones radiate Jesus—Jews, Gentiles, all who have been saved. Every aspect of New Jerusalem is full of Jesus. Why, it is overwhelming.
Then, out of the throne of Jesus comes this river, and there are trees, healing, and life. Is there any wonder that John fell down and worshiped the angel? What an overwhelming vision.
Listen to what was said to him at that moment in Revelation 22:6:
These words are faithful and true.
All that he had seen—faithful and true.
“The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show unto His bondservants the things which must soon take place.” Then Jesus speaks in Revelation 22:7:
Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.
John hears that, and he falls down to worship. The angel says, “No, it is just me.” A little confusing.
“I am coming quickly.” It was not the angel; it was Jesus speaking. But John was in such a place that he could hear, even through the ministration of an angel, as if it were God Himself. So he fell down.
This was the second time it happened. The other time was when the angel said, “These words are faithful and true. The bride has made herself ready.” John fell down. “No, no, no—do not worship me. It is God who has done all this.”
I hope you forgive John for falling down on this one. But when you hear, “I am coming quickly,” I think John made a quick equation in his mind and fell before the Lord Jesus. My, my, my—what a revelation.
Every one of those amazing revelations was a seeing of that which John knew by faith. He knew Jesus was the High Priest, but he had never seen how glorious this High Priest was over His church.
He knew, of course, that Jesus was the Lamb of God. From the very beginning he followed because John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” But now he sees the Lamb of God coming out of the midst of the throne. Now he sees the Lamb of God standing on Mount Zion. This is the Lamb of God in a fullness he had never seen before.
Whether it was His mightiness, or whether it was His coming again a second time as Messiah to claim His kingdom, John had seen all that by faith. Now he was seeing visions, as it were—fleshing out that which he had seen by faith and was now seeing by sight.
It is an amazing revelation. God basically gathered up all the prophecies of the Old Testament—final things that needed to be done, judgments that needed to happen before the Messiah would come—and John saw all that as well.
What a book: to see trials, to see martyrs, to see the Antichrist, and to see fleshed out what he had read in Daniel. Now he could see him for the beast that he was: the harlot Babylon, the war in heaven, and all these tremendous things gathering up the prophecies of the Scriptures.
This is my first point regarding the Word of God: visions upon visions of Jesus Christ, and the background of final things taking place, require knowledge of the Word of God.
When the angel revealed these things to John, if John had not known the Word of God, he would not have understood the revelations. This is how important knowing the Word of God is.
When you go through the Book of Revelation, you only find perhaps one or two places where the Old Testament is directly quoted. But, in fact, John alludes—or the Book of Revelation makes more than five hundred allusions—to the Old Testament.
What do I mean by that? You need to be steeped in the Old Testament to understand some of the visions in the New Testament. John was such a man. He loved the Word of God. When he saw these visions, there was enough connection with that which had been foreshadowed in the Old Testament that he could understand what he was seeing.
The Word of God is that important to us.
What I want to say tonight is that this precious Scripture, these precious statements—“Behold, I come quickly,” and all of these things—are based on prophetic meat meant for bondservants and martyrs.
This is a powerful Word. It cannot be entered into lightly. These words are meant to encourage men and women who were dying and suffering persecution for their faith.
For some reason, God has laid upon our hearts to speak these words now among us, which seems to indicate that He is preparing us for final things.
This is not a book of speculations for scholars: “I think this vision means this, and this, and this.” This is not meant to be movie plots for Hollywood. This is meat for men.
As our brother began tonight, this is the stuff that bondservants understand. This is consolation, comfort, and edification for those who are going through it for Jesus Christ.
Are you of that band? Do you believe these things?
As we look in this context, there are three very simple things that the angel has to say about the Word of God and believing the Word of God.
First of all, Revelation 22 is very unique. It is not very often in the Word of God that you find the Word of God saying, “This is the Word of God.” But the revelation given to us is so important that the angel underscores the faithfulness and truth of the Word and the revelations John has already seen.
When it comes to believing the Word of God, we need to see what the angel says in Revelation 22:6:
These words are faithful and true.
The Lord attests to this Word of God. Historically, this Book of Revelation has been attacked, disbelieved, mocked, and scoffed at more than almost any other book in the Bible. The challenge to us in this last day, in the midst of an unbelieving generation, is this: these words are faithful and true.
That is for us to stand on. This is very important. God revealed these words to help us, but unless we believe them, they are just simple words.
What does He mean when He says, “These words are faithful and true”? First of all, “faithful” means that this Word given through these revelations of Jesus Christ is sincere. It has not been added to. This is not hyperbole.
The angel has faithfully delivered the message. “Take it down, John. Depend on it. Live by it. Believe in it. These words are faithful.”
And not only faithful, but true. John means objectively true and real—the spiritual reality. These words are faithful and true. Can you believe it? All these things about Jesus, seeing Him in His glory and as large as all these things you have seen—mark it down. These words are faithful and true. Believe it.
Let me put it in the reverse and the negative: Revelation is not fantasy.
I do not know if it is a sign of the end of a civilization that people opt out for fantasy rather than reality. People have decided marriage is too difficult, so they would rather live with a fantasy online. Kids do not bother with relationships; they are too busy having some fantasy relationship. Life has become fantasy.
You read the Book of Revelation, and you can almost say, “Hey, I saw that movie.” I do not know how many fantasy movies, mythological movies, and completely phantasmagorical movies in the last ten or fifteen years have found their source somewhere in this. There is even a television show called Apocalypse.
But it is all fable, fiction, and fantasy. This is not fantasy. We need to make that clear distinction.
At the end of the first century, the religions of the world were rife with mythology—fables, made-up stories of gods coming down, having relationships with women, producing people who were half-god and half-man, gods fighting one another, the river Styx, demons, and hierarchies of angelic beings.
This was common in John’s day, even as it seems more common today. But the angel says, “John, this is not fantasy. This is the real stuff.”
It is true that there is a great deal of imagery in the Book of Revelation. But you must understand this: apocalyptic literature, as the Book of Revelation is called, does not mean it is less true. Actually, it means there is a reality so intense that we cannot understand it, but we are given imagery in order to try to understand something that is more real than the imagery.
Did John see the great dragon in the sky in Revelation 12? The reality is even greater than a red dragon. Satan is real and powerful.
Do you think Babylon was bad in the Book of Revelation? Babylon is worse than is portrayed. The harlot Babylon is worse than is portrayed. The Antichrist is worse than is portrayed. Jesus Christ is more glorious than can be portrayed.
We are dealing with something that our minds cannot fully embrace. So the angel gives us visions and images of a reality greater than we could possibly understand right now.
We are in a much greater spiritual conflict than most of us are aware of. Sometimes we feel like the devil is bothering us a little bit. Actually, the devil is trying to condemn us day and night. He is working out schemes against us.
If it were not for the blood of Jesus and God’s restraining power, you and I would be all on the ground—sick, weary, doubting, and defeated. But thank God for His great power that withholds from us the tremendous spiritual opposition. That is the present reality.
It is important for saints to have their eyes open to that reality, not so that we can be fearful, but so that we can stand on the side of the King of kings and Lord of lords who is gaining the victory. But that takes faith—living faith.
There has been some controversy in modern days about the Book of Revelation. The early fathers were unanimous when they made it part of the New Testament canon.
When this book was written, there were testimonies outside of the Bible attesting to the fact that these things were written by John even as he saw them, as he says in Revelation 22:8: “I saw them. I wrote them down.”
People from those seven churches in Asia Minor attested to it and said, “John did write these down, and John did see these.” One example is Papias, the overseer in Hierapolis, the sister city of Laodicea. He was a disciple of John and was martyred for his faith.
One of the things he enjoyed doing in his lifetime was collecting everything he could that the Apostle John had written. He loved his elder brother John, and Papias attests in literature that this book was indeed written by John according to the experiences the Lord showed him on the Island of Patmos.
But do you know what, to me, is the greatest attestation to the truth of the Word of God? The fact that John himself wrote it.
John is the brother who tells us so much about the importance of walking in the light. John was a man who gave us a revelation of what it meant for Jesus to be the truth. If there was a disciple who had a particular message regarding truth, we would say, “It is John.”
These are not lies. These are not fictions. These are not hyperboles. They are not things made up by an old man who was drowsy one day and thought he saw something.
No. This is John who says these things are faithful and true.
The angel testified these things to John, and John fell down when he heard, “Behold, I am coming.” But as if that were not enough, in Revelation 22:16 Jesus interposes and speaks Himself:
I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches.
This book, this message, this Word—“Behold, I come quickly”—is attested to by Jesus Himself. Can we have any greater attestation than that? First the angel says it. Then Jesus says it. And it is written down.
Now the question is: Do you believe it?
Can you break through all the puzzling things, break through all the skepticism of this modern age, and believe what Jesus says?
Do you believe? Do you have a hearing heart?
He says He is coming. Is that extraneous, or do you believe that? You say, “Well, it has been over two thousand years.” That is not the point. The point is, when we are caught up in spirit and before the Lord, can we hear Him saying, “I am coming quickly”?
Are we in that position even to hear that? Or are we yet so full of unbelief that we hear it, but it is more than hearing, is it not?
There is a need for readiness and a perfecting in our lives in order to hear these words. Jesus says:
I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according as his work is.
The first question and aspect we need to lay hold of is this: Do we believe this Word? Is it faithful? Is it true?
The Spirit wants to convince us of that fact.
The second thing that has to do with the Word of God is the blessedness of believing this Word. Notice what He says in Revelation 22:7:
Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.
Oh, wait a minute—there is that word heeds. Maybe that is the catch.
If you go all the way back to Revelation 1:3, when the Lord first comes to John by an angel, He says:
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand.
I do not know if you want to say that is three different levels of believing, but here we are. Blessed is the person who reads this. Well, praise God. Have you read it? Blessed be you.
But wait a minute: what is the difference between reading it and hearing it? Ah, how many people have read this book? Have you heard what the Spirit is saying as you have read it? Now you are blessed.
But it is not only somebody who has read it. Here is the third one: “He who heeds the words of this prophecy.” Now there is some kind of response. There is something to do.
Actually, the Greek word is, “He who holds this prophecy.” How well do you hold this? There is faith. You have read it, you have heard it, and you are holding it.
This Word has become a word of life to you. To hold it means that this Word is now influencing and changing your life. Something changes in our lives when we have seen it, heard it, and are now holding it.
What does holding this Word do? Here is a Word: “Behold, I come quickly.” Do you hear it? Now do you hold it?
If you hold that Word, you draw near to the Lord, and He draws nearer to you. He says, “Behold, I am coming quickly.” What is necessary here? You have faith.
You have read the words, “Behold, I come quickly.” Now what do you do? Do you say, “Wow, that is fantastic. Oh, wow, that would really be something”?
No. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of the book. So why do we not start here? The Lord says, “Behold, I come quickly.” The first thing we should say is, “Lord, I believe it.”
Now, that is a statement of faith. Do you see it completely yet? Maybe not. Let us start with faith. You believe His Word. Even if you have not seen these visions as John saw the visions, can you just believe the Word of God?
“Behold, I am coming quickly.” “I believe it.”
Then you read this Word: “Let him who hears say, Come.” Now you say, “I have heard: come.” That is a statement of faith.
Are you responding to this Word by saying that, or are you merely going, “Hmm”? Are you saying, “Come, Lord Jesus. I believe it. Come”?
That truth is made real to you by standing in faith on the truth and veracity of these words.
He says, “I am coming quickly.” What will we do about it? Blessed is he who holds on to that Word. Let him who hears say, “Come,” and say, “That is me. I hear. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord.”
Something happens. There is something in your life—this blessed hope—that arises in you because you are responding by faith to a reality that you cannot see. The Lord is pleased with faith in His Son.
Blessed are those who read, hear, and heed. How wonderful that Word is.
In the context of the last chapters of Revelation, this is really saying that all of us as Christians need to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation. All of us need a prophetic spirit.
Listen to what the angel says in Revelation 22:6:
The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets.
What does that mean? Thank God, we have been born again. We have a spirit that is alive. The Lord wants us, through exercise, to become prophetically aware of what is going on.
Even as young Christians, we see things in this world, and we pretty much think, “This is what is going on.” But as the Lord develops a prophetic spirit in us—which is the testimony of Jesus in us—we begin to see the news at night and see the prophecies being fulfilled.
This kind of prophetic spirit is the right and inheritance of every Christian.
It is not for us to say, “Oh, I cannot understand this stuff. All these wild things—bowls and trumpets—it is too much for me. I will close the Book. Hallelujah, He wins.”
There is something in these words that prepares us and makes us ready as His bride for His coming. There is something worth holding on to here that will keep us from being taken by surprise by the things happening in the world today, and even in our country.
If you are surprised by any of that, you need to reread Revelation with a prophetic spirit and with understanding. The Lord, the God who made that spirit in you and made you able to discern these things, says, “Blessed is he who heeds, who holds these words.”
What a tremendous blessing He pronounces on us.
It means to me, secondarily, that every believer should be able to heed and hold onto this Word.
I know that there are many interpretations of the Book of Revelation. There are people who study these things their whole lives. There are charts and interpretations. But frankly, to hear the Lord say, “I am coming quickly,” and for us to respond, “Lord, come,” does not take an understanding of charts and interpretations.
Whatever your interpretation is, I do not care. But do not let that get in the way of hearing a rhema. As we are caught in the Spirit together and the Lord speaks to us this week, do not get distracted and say, “No, no, no, that cannot happen until this happens.”
Let all those things go to the side for a moment. If this blessedness is true, it is for any believer who hears and holds this Word of God.
Nobody understands this completely. As a matter of fact, I hope you do have an interpretation because you have been digging in the Word of God. You believe this is going to happen and that is going to happen. But I will guarantee you: I do not care what interpretation you have, there are parts of the Book of Revelation that do not fit into your system.
So hold on to your interpretation, but do not get too smug about it. In the end, we may all have to repent of some crazy idea we had.
But one thing we can all do is this: when the Lord finally comes, there will be some people who have been believers for decades and some who have just become new believers. But the new believer is not disqualified.
We just read:
Let him that is athirst come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely.
The youngest believer can have a heart that holds on to this. Jesus says He is coming quickly, and that believer says, “Come, Lord Jesus,” and holds that Word in such a way that he or she will be blessed with the same blessing as those who have known the Lord for decades.
Do you see how important it is to believe this Word now and hold fast? These are the blessings assured to us.
In Revelation 22:14, blessings are mentioned:
Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
I do not want to go into detail here, but I believe this is speaking of something more than having our robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, which happened at our salvation. This is speaking about a sanctifying work in your life.
Blessed is he who has washed his robes. As Jesus speaks to the seven churches, He mentions the need for washed robes—some sanctifying work going on in your life.
There is a process. There is something going on. Something has to do with preparation that makes us blessed and welcomes us into the tree of life and the gates of this city.
So our first responsibility as we come to this Word, and as we go through the week, is this: Do you really believe it? If you do not, say, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” But start with a statement of faith.
The least child of God can be blessed. That is the second point: do you want to be blessed by this Word of God? Then you need to hold on to it. Read it until you hear it, and hear it until you hold it.
You will be blessed. It will change your life. It will draw you closer to Jesus. You will be ready for His coming because you will be sensitized to this reality—this unseen reality. Something is going on just over our heads. The Lord is coming. He is at the doors.
The third thing in this context around these great words is the warnings. There are two warnings regarding treating the Word of God in the wrong way.
First, in Revelation 22:10, John is warned:
Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.
Then the angel says:
He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him do righteousness still: and he that is holy, let him be made holy still.
That is the first warning: do not seal up this Word, this prophecy.
There were times when prophets were asked to seal something up because it was not time to reveal what it meant. It was like a secret to be treasured and later explained. The context would explain it.
But now the angel is saying, “We are so near the end, it is time to open it all up and speak the full counsel of God.”
That is why many people shy away from the Book of Revelation. You know why? Because it is a powerful Word. It is a Word regarding rewards and loss, trials and warfare, blessings and martyrdom, and repentance.
This is a Word from the Lord—a Word for us to see and hear. Do not seal it up. Share the whole Word of God.
At this point, it is not a question of hiding anything or being subtle in any way, thinking perhaps some sinner will change his mind because of your subtlety. Share the whole counsel of God.
Let those who get saved get saved. Let those who continue in sin continue in sin. But the time is near, and the full counsel needs to be revealed regarding the nearness of His coming and the final events of world history.
Finally, the second warning begins in Revelation 22:18:
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
This is a Word we have all heard—a warning against selecting, adding, and subtracting.
In this day, we want to love everybody. I do not know how you make this Book of Revelation palatable for everyone. “Oh, do not worry about the Antichrist. It is just a story.” Do not take away the reality of the story, and do not add craziness to it.
I went to college and seminary, preparing to be a pastor. In seminary, we studied the Book of Revelation for one semester, and I was required to read a commentary on Revelation written by one of the professors of that denomination.
It was the worst commentary I have ever read. It was so watered down. It relegated these tremendous revelations of Jesus to moments of history that were almost insignificant. It twisted and redefined, and by the time you went through the Book of Revelation, it was like a comic book.
I was only two years old as a Christian, but I knew it was wrong.
Of course, now I have read men like Govett. Have you ever seen his commentary on Revelation? It is two volumes, and it is this thick. I still do not understand it, but I like what he has to say. I think he is on the right track. I will tell you one thing about him: he is not watering anything down.
Here is a great warning to us: let us share it like it is.
I know that in this day of mockers and scoffers, for you to say, “I believe what the Book of Revelation says,” puts you on the track for the crazy house. Most people think, “How can you believe it? How can you believe there is a devil? What is heaven and hell?”
It is all right here.
You can be a fool for Christ now, or you can be a fool later. Do you believe these things?
Do not add to it. Do not subtract from it. Do not make it palatable. Do not reinterpret it. Do not fluff it up and make it all flowery.
We are protecting people too much these days. I think it is time to speak the truth.
You heard about the teacher who gave a commencement address to graduating students and said, “You are not exceptional.” He told them the truth: most of you will just be average. It was one of the most popular commencement addresses ever given. He wrote a book about it.
Nobody tells kids the truth. They say, “Oh, you can be anything you want. You could be President of the United States.” Everybody believes they can be everything, and every kid in Little League won, even if they lost. I do not get it.
But when we do this to the Word of God, now we are asking for trouble. How can the Holy Spirit speak to our hearts, convict us, and bring us to repentance if we do not really think our problem is that we have lost our first love? If we do not realize that we are lukewarm?
There is a wonderful saving realization and revelation that comes to us when we read this Book, if we will hear what the Spirit is saying to us.
This simple introduction is simply to say that this precious Word of God, which is going to be spoken for the next several days, speaks three things:
Behold, I come quickly.
The Spirit and the bride say, Come.
Let him who hears say, Come.
Now, do you believe that? Do you desire that? Will you be speaking that by faith as we gather together this week?
What a wonderful assembly of people—folks who know the Lord, and yet He wants to reveal something more to us. These are the intimate things of who He is. He is speaking to your heart. He is not speaking to your doctrine. He is speaking to your heart, hoping that we will hear and respond.
I believe that throughout history, whenever there has been some real recovery of the Lord’s testimony, it has been marked, among other things, by a renewed heart-belief in the Lord’s soon coming.
No matter where you read in history, when there is a reviving of God’s people and a recovery of His work, suddenly they feel like He is going to come at any moment. What is that?
When those brethren were raised up in the 1840s, they had such a clear sense that the Lord was right at the door. It is part of when the Lord recovers something, and we suddenly realize how near He is and start calling out to Him.
I hope we can recover that in our assemblies. I know we gather many times to take the Lord’s table, but I think part of the Lord’s table is asking the Lord to come. Do we do that with all our hearts? Do we sense that He is so near?
His second coming needs to be recovered. May He recover it among these choice people gathered together this week. May the Lord stir up people who can really hear Him and respond to Him.
What is it going to take? How many more saints are going to have to join that bride and issue this desire—“Oh, come, Lord Jesus”—before He finally comes?
May everyone here be caught up in the blessed hope, with a heart pulsating with these words.
John told us in 1 John that there is a dialogue going on, a fellowship between the Father, the Son, and us who believe. It is only in terms of that fellowship with Father and Son that we can hear these words: “Behold, I am coming quickly.”
It is only in this living fellowship that we have with the Word of life that we can say, “Yes, come. Come.”
Not as a matter of doctrine, but in living fellowship.
I wonder what will happen if we all find ourselves there by the end of the week, saying, “Oh yes, come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus.”
Lord, we pray that You will do something in our hearts this week. We realize in these final things that it is not really a matter of more doctrine, but a matter of a heart that is prepared for Your coming.
We thank You for all those who have been gathered here. We do believe that You want to send forth this Word by the power of Your Spirit.
So we ask that, Lord, You begin to deal with our hearts and bring us into a living relationship, into a tug of war with the Word of God. May we hear Your voice and repent, hear Your voice and respond, and say, “Yes, Lord, come.”
May that be the fruit of our gathering this week. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Well, we do thank the Lord for speaking to us. I know our bodies need to be quickened, and our spirits, but the Lord is able. May we take heed to what He has shared with us tonight, brothers and sisters.
A few announcements before we leave need to be taken care of.
First of all, really, most everything that we would have to say comes out in this little pink book. It is this color on purpose. It means you can find it in the middle of the night, you know, when it is dark, and whatever you need is there.
Page four in this book tells you where your dorm hostess is. They have extra linens, blankets, and toilet paper in case you did not get any—which is very necessary.
Curry, 322. Frasier, 246.