Amen. Turn with me, if you would, to
Revelation 22. If my memory serves me correctly,
we started the book of Revelation the first time in February of
2005. Five years we've looked at this
book. And if the Lord wills, we'll
finish it this morning for now. I've entitled this message, Words
to Live and Die By. And second, just hold your place
there in Revelation 22. Let me read you this. passage
out of 2 Samuel 23. 2 Samuel 23 verse 1 says, Now these
be the last words of David. Verse 5 of 2 Samuel 23 says,
Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things, and sure. For this is all My
salvation and all My desire, although He make it not to grow." You know, it would seem that
the last words that a man would say would be those words
that that man wanted folks to hear and to remember. You try to think back on the
last words that you heard someone say that he loved. What was the last thing they
said? The Spirit of God was the one
that moved upon David to say that. These be the last words
of David. He said this, Although my house
be not so with God. Go back and read the account
of David, King David. Oh, the pain that he had to endure
and he witnessed in his graceless children. His family was at odds with him
often. Many of them died in their sins. But this is what David said,
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, For this
is all my salvation and all my desire." This is what David said, Surely
he who shall do all things right has shown mercy to me. David said, If he leaves my house
to themselves, and shows mercy to this sinner. I have all to praise Him for. David said, He is better than
a thousand sons. This is all my salvation. This
is all my desire. Although He make it not to grow,
Salvation, David said, is altogether complete. All my desires are
fully answered. I have Him, and I am in need of nothing.
A man comes down to the end of his life, and you ask him, what
is all your hope? You are going to leave this world.
with nothing of this world. You're going to die. What's all your hope? This is
all my salvation. This is the bottom line right
now. He made with me an everlasting
covenant. Well, those were the last words
of David. And this morning I'd like to
consider for just a minute the last words of David's Lord as
they are recorded in the book of the Revelation. These are
the last words that we have according to this book. These are the words
that the Lord left us with. Verse 20 says, He which testifieth
these things saith." He that speaks forth, this is
the testimony of God. That He might be just when He
judges. He said, this is it. This is the last testimony that
He might be just when He judges the wicked, and also in these
words that He might set forth the mercy of Himself. These are the words, obviously,
to His servants. This book, this whole book, these
whole scriptures, Revelation 1.1. These are words to His servant. Look at Revelation 1.1 again.
Just, you know, the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come
to pass. But these words, every man, every
woman, be held accountable. Not only
are men held accountable for what they've heard or what they
haven't heard, what they could have heard. Every message, every gospel declaration,
men are held accountable. I didn't hear that that day.
You could have. You could have. Why didn't you? Why didn't you? I was busy. Romans 3.19 says, Now we know
that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty. Guilty before God. has given this testimony, he
which testifieth these things saith." And here they are. Here's
the last words. Here's the last words. Surely,
I come quickly. Now, you know, when you think
about these last words, this is what he said. These are his
last words. truthfully, surely, yes, I come. I am to appear. I'm going to appear quickly.
I'm going to appear without delay. I'm going to appear shortly.
I'm going to appear suddenly. Let me endow what the Lord says
Concerned about adding to and taking away from here's the last
word I'm coming. I'm coming quickly. Quickly. And I let me just let me just
bear my heart with you this morning. This word for me. This works
for me. This works for you. But you know
the one that I'm I am mostly aware of me. Here is the Lord saying to Marvin
Stoniker, surely I come quickly. Lord, as I realize the remnants
of that stony heart that You said You removed. I will remove
that heart of stone. Lord, that heart that You said,
I'll take that out. It's not going to reign and rule
anymore. Unchecked. No more. But the remnants
of it, the plague of it, the presence
of it, The warring of it. Paul described it under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God. Oh, wretched man that I am. Not
that I was. He wasn't speaking when he was
unconverted. I've heard men say that. Well,
he was speaking when he was unconverted. No. He was speaking under the
inspiration of the Spirit of God. And he could say, this is
the way I am. The will is present with me.
I've got a new heart. I've got a new desire. I've got
a new love. And I struggle. I struggle. And I'm standing this morning
and I'm reading these words. And here's the words of our Lord. Surely I come quickly. Maybe today. One of these days
it's going to be today. One of these days it's going
to be that the Lord said, in a day when you think not. You
think He's coming back today? I doubt it. I doubt it. That's what we're thinking. That's
what you think. That's what I'm thinking. That's what you're
thinking. We're all sitting here together
this morning. It's not revealed when He'll
come, but the time is appointed by Almighty God, and it quickly
is approaching. And I'm telling you, all of a
sudden, everything that anybody ever thought or said or whatever
men, you know, whatever their opinions were and whatever, just
argued, and I heard, and he told me, and I said, here's what's
going to happen. The books are going to be opened.
And the book. And he who is the inflexible
judge who's going to judge according to absolute righteousness He's
going to judge according to his character. He's going to judge every man according to his works. And everybody whose name was
not found written in the book of life, we're going to cast them out. You know, I think, Lord, don't leave me to myself. Lord,
have mercy on this sinner. Oh, the Lord's people, in answer
to what He said, surely I come quickly. That next word, Amen, whether
the Lord said it or whether His people say it. I know the next phrase in that
20th verse, Even so come, Lord Jesus. I know it's the heart
of God's elect, a regenerated saint. I know they said it. But
whoever said the Amen, it's established. Surely, surely, surely, based
on my Word, I come quickly." He is our crown of righteousness
laid up. All that we have, we have by
grace. We rest in nothing save His mercy,
His grace, His power. He who is coming back who will
Absolutely receive His own unto Himself. These words, surely I come quickly. I know those words are divinely
ordered. The Spirit of God moved on John
to write those words down. Those are not John's words. They
are John's words, yes. They're the words of the church.
Amen, Lord. Amen. Even so, come quickly. But when the Spirit of God ordered
those, He knew what was best for the last words. You think,
I think to myself, I wonder what this foolish man would say If
I knew I had one more thing to say, I wonder what I'd say. I
don't know. I don't know. I don't have enough sense to
get out of the rain. But I tell you this. He who is
wisdom himself. Spirit of God moved upon John
to write these words. These are the last. Surely I
come quickly. You know, I was thinking about
when... Turn with me to Acts 1. Acts 1. I thought about the
wisdom, the comfort, the mercy, grace of Almighty God. Here was the Lord Jesus Christ
in Acts 1, verse 8. He'd been with His disciples
now. They'd been with Him a little over three years. They've watched
him. All those apostles. Judas watched
them just like he did. Judas, you know, he was preaching
just like they were. He was doing just exactly what
they were doing. He heard the words. He mimicked
them. Obviously, they had no heart
for him. They were just words. With his
lips he honored the Lord, his heart far from him. But there
were some, there were some, that the Lord had given a heart for
himself. And I think about these words,
surely I come quickly. Think about those apostles, those
eleven that he had kept to the end faithful. And the Scripture says while
he was talking to them in Acts 1 verse 8, But ye shall receive
power. After that, the Holy Ghost is
come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem
and Judea and Samaria unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, Behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, You
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven." I was reading that and I was
wondering, you know, what word could be a comfort For those
men, as they were watching the Lord Jesus Christ, they knew
who He was. Peter had voiced it just for
this. When the Lord asked him, He said,
Who do men say that I am? And they gave him different ones,
you know, different prophets. Who do you say I am? Peter said,
You're the Christ. You're God. You're God Almighty. You are God Almighty in human
flesh. You're the Messiah. You're the
one that all the prophets gave witness to. All the law and the
prophets spoke of you. I'm standing here, Peter said,
I'm standing here looking at God Almighty veiled in human
flesh. You're the one that's everlastingly
loved me, and you gave yourself for me. You
called this old center out of darkness, and you gave me a new
heart. You've shown mercy to me, and I disappointed you. I denied
you. You said I would. And while he was talking to him,
Scripture says he started ascending up into heaven. And I thought
to myself, what would you think? You know? I can tell you what
you could have thought. When are you coming back? When are you coming back? Surely, I'll come quickly. All those last words Back in Revelation 22, even so, come Lord Jesus. That's what we say this morning.
I'm coming quickly. Whether a believer right now
knows that whether I'm standing on this earth in that last day
and I see Him As the trump of God sounds and the trump of the archangel of
God and the dead in Christ rise and we which are alive and remain
on this earth, Paul says, we'll meet Him in the air. And whether
I see Him that way or whether I see Him when the shadow of
death As Spurgeon says, Scripture for a believer speaks of death.
He says it's a shadow. It's a shadow. A shadow can't
hurt you. A shadow. Whether I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I don't fear any evil. Why? You're with
me. Whether I see Him in that second
coming, the glorious second coming, or whether I leave and go in
just that moment, less than a moment, and I leave this present trial
and hurt and tears into everlasting glory and grace, peace and comfort
and see Him and realize in that moment, my eyes never even saw,
I never even realized, oh, the wondrous glory of Almighty God
and forever to be with the Lord. Whether it's that way, it's going
to be quickly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. The heart of His grace. His acceptance
by grace. The favor of His grace. The only
grace that even matters. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Covenant. Ours by marriage, ours
by love and mercy and compassion, not the judgment or the wrath
of the Lamb, but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accompany you, be with you, accompany
you. This grace is known by and through
the preaching of the gospel. This is the only way we know
anything about it. Proclamation of God's power, His will, His
purpose, and the salvation of His elect, for by grace, for
by grace. Robert Hawker said this, and
I thought on what he said, and I thought, I can see how he's
saying this. He said when you talk about the
grace of God, he said you cannot talk of God's grace and separate
it from Christ. He said the grace of God is Christ.
He said when you talk about the grace of God, the grace of God
is a person. It's a person. You know, I know
how we think we think of that was an action. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I see that. But I tell you. Think of this
in Ephesians 2, 8, for by grace you say for by Christ. Are you
saved through faith? And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. He is he is God's. He is God's
gift. He is God's grace. The grace,
and again, I realize as John wrote this, he wrote this from
his heart and from the hearts of all of God's people. This
is how we think. But this is the Spirit of God
saying this through a man. Oh, Scripture-given inspiration
of God, as the Holy Ghost moved upon me. These are God's words. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. So be it. Amen. Let's just take about a ten-minute
break.