Turn to Revelation 22. Revelation 22. Last week we looked
at verses 18 and 19. Well, actually, the first part
of 19, the whole verse of 18 and the first part of 19. The
Lord is speaking, and He said, For I testify unto every man
that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any
man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in the book. And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city
and from the things which are written in this book." This morning
I would like to deal with the last part of that 19th verse. God shall take away his part
out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the
things which are written in this book. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You this
morning for the time that You've given us to meet together. And Lord, how thankful we are
for the blessedness of the assembly of your people. Lord, you have
everlastingly loved your own. We know that you do all things
well. You do all things for our good
and for your honor. We thank you for the snow that
you've sent, for the weather that we've had, and for the reminder
of how precious it is to be able to have times to meet. Would
you bless, Lord, the Word to our understanding this morning
and help us? Lord, we are so forgetful. Teach
us by Your Spirit. Comfort us for our good and Your
glory. Amen. God's Word is precious. In that, there is nothing that
can be added to it. Nothing can be taken away from
it. It is God's Word. Flip back a few pages to Hebrews
8. Hebrews 8, verses 1 and 2. Hebrews 8 verses 1 and 2, Now
of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such
a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the
majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. I want you to notice
in that first verse the word sum. This is the sum. This is
the totality. This is when it's all added up. This is the sum. We have a high
priest. He who sits on the majesty on
high. You take away anything from or
add anything to, then you don't have the sum anymore. God has
said this is the Son. This is all of it. Anything added to or taken away
from, Almighty God is going to deal with. He is going to deal
with in judgment. A believer shuns the thought
of adding to or taking away from that which God has said. He bows
to it. Doesn't say that he always understands
the fullness of it, but he doesn't dispute it. Now this morning, God shall take away his part
out of the book of life, out of the holy city, from the
things which are written in this book. you come across a passage of
scripture that deals with something that appears to contradict something
that you know is so. The best thing in the world to
do is to first of all admit, obviously, I don't understand. something that I know seems to
or appears to. You know that the Scriptures
are not contradictory. You know that the Word of God
is not two sides against the middle. It's God's Word is yea
and amen. So the first thing that I know
that when it says that if any man shall take away from the
words of the prophecy of this book, God shall take away his
part out of the book of life, out of the holy city. Let me
tell you what I know it does not mean. And then by the Lord's
grace, I pray that we'll look and see what it does mean. But
let me tell you what it doesn't mean. First of all, I know that
it does not mean that if Almighty God is everlastingly purposed
to show mercy to a man or a woman. If Almighty God has everlastingly
chosen a man or woman in Christ, it does not mean that that man
or woman can be lost, can be converted and then lost. It does
not mean that salvation is iffy Because salvation is of the Lord.
Now let me show you that according to Scripture. Turn to 1 Peter
1, 3. 1 Peter 1, verses 3 to 5. Now this is what we're going
to do. We're going to establish a truth
here. 1 Peter 1, verses 3 to 5. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again, birthed us again, reborn us, born from
above. hath begotten us again unto a
lively, a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead to an inheritance that's incorruptible and undefiled
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time." Turn to Romans 8.35. Romans 8, verse 35. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,
as it is written, for thy sake we're killed all the day long,
we're accounted as sheep for the slaughter, Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The
Lord said in John 6, 37, "...all that the Father giveth Me shall
come to Me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast
out." One more verse. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Hebrews
13, verse 5. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,
so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, and I will
not fear what man shall do unto me." So now, here's something
that according to the Scriptures we've established. If Almighty
God is purposed to show mercy, compassion, grace, if Almighty
God grants salvation, if Almighty God saves a man, if Almighty
God calls one out of darkness, regenerates him by grace, I'm
trying to say it every possible way I know how to say it. If
God Almighty creates within a man or a woman life, God Almighty is going to save
that man, save that woman. They will not perish. Salvation is of the Lord. We are kept by the power of God
through faith. Men are not saved and then lost
according to the Word of God. Well, okay, if it doesn't mean
that a man and lose his salvation. Then what does it mean? Obviously,
it means something because the Scripture says, if any man take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city
and from the things which are written in this book. Let me tell you what it means
and then by God's grace, scripturally, prove it. This is what it means. Turn to Luke 8, and let me set
forth Luke 8, verse 16. Before I read it, let me tell
you what it means. It means that a man who thought He was a believer, but never possessed Christ, never
possessed salvation. That the Lord shall eventually
show that man, show that woman that what he thought he had,
he never had. Luke 8 verse 16, No man, when
he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or put it under
a bed, but set it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may
see the light. For nothing is secret that shall
not be made manifest, neither anything hid that shall not be
known and come abroad take heed. Therefore, how ye hear? For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken
even that which he seemeth or thinks that he has." Now, on this subject of taking
away his name out of the book of life, light on this subject
is actually set forth or found in type in the Old Testament. Now I want you to take your Bibles.
Turn first of all to Ezekiel 13 verse 9. Ezekiel 13 and verse
9 says this, And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see
vanity, and that divine lies, they shall not be in the assembly
of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of
the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land
of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God." Now, the Lord sets forth that those
preachers that divine these lies, they're not going to be found
in the assembly of my people. They shall not be written in
the writing of the house of Israel. Whenever the nation of Israel
came out of captivity, Nebuchadnezzar had eventually captured them
and brought them in and they were held for years and years
and years eventually. And the Lord gave them deliverance. And they came forth. And there
was a registry that was written down. It was a registry or a
book of the pedigree of all that were of the house of Israel. Their names were written down. Their names were in a muster. They were known, their lineage,
their family. And it was called the writing
of the house of Israel. Now I want you to turn now to
Nehemiah. Chapter 7. If you find the book
of Psalms, and then before Psalms is Job, and before Job is Esther,
and before Esther is Nehemiah, and I'm going to go to Ezra in
a minute. So you've got Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms. So find it. All right. Nehemiah
7, verse 5 and 6. The scripture says, And my God
put into mine heart to gather together the nobles and the rulers
and the people that they might be reckoned by genealogy. And I found a register of the
genealogy of them which came up at the first and were found
written therein. These are the children of the
province which came up out of the captivity of those that had
been carried away from Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried
away and came again to Jerusalem, to Judah, every one unto his
city." I wanted to read that scripture to show you that this
register was found. It was a history of the lineage. This guy, this guy, his family,
his kids. He married this one. And you could read this muster,
this register, And all of them that were found in that register,
they were real good at keeping records of this name and this
name. And he found it and he read it. That writing of the house of
Israel. So to be accounted a true Israelite, Your name had to be found in
that register. And if your name wasn't found
in the book of the writing of the house of Israel, you had a problem. Now here,
big nation, big country. Somebody may move in, move in
next door. We've got neighbors. Nice neighbors,
kind neighbors, been here for years and years and years. And
you know, they moved in, seemed like they moved in 45, 50 years
ago. And they've got, you know, and
they've got a business over here. He's, you know, he's a he's a
fine, upstanding man. But yeah, he's been here for
a long time. He's got kids. I know his kids
and his kids has got kids and now they've got grandkids and
they've got just a big group of people. They've been in our
midst for years and years and years. Turn to Ezra. Ezra chapter 2. Here's an account of someone
that had been in the midst of the Israelites for probably no
telling how long. And there was going to come a
day when they were going to look it up and find out whose name
was where. Who was who? Who was who? Ezra
chapter 2 verse 59. Ezra 2.59. And these were they which went up from Telmila, Telharsa,
Cherub, Aden, and Emmer. I want you to notice, I mean,
they had their names written down. Somebody had made some
notations, you know. But they could not show their
father's house and their seed, their pedigree, whether they
were of Israel. They'd been around Neal a long
time. Now listen to this. The children of Deir Eiyah, the
children of Tobiah, the children of Noqada, 652 of them. And of the children of the priests,
the children of Hebiah, the children of Chaz, the children of Barzillai,
which took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai, the Gileadite,
and was called after their name. I mean, they'd been here a long
time. I mean, they had kids and grandkids
and stuff. These sought their register among
those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found. Therefore
were they as polluted. and put from the priesthood. They'd been in the midst of the
people. They grew up. I mean, they were well-entwined. They were there. I mean, they
had kids. How many? Hundreds of them. Hundreds of them. But there was
only one problem. They couldn't prove their pedigree.
They couldn't prove their lineage. It wasn't written in the book.
The writing of the house of Israel didn't bear it out. You know, one can claim to be
part of the true lineage, but a genealogy Spiritually speaking,
it is going to be set forth by Almighty God. David said in Psalm
69, 28 concerning God's reckoning, there are lots of folks, the
Lord said, there are tares among the wheat. But in that day, let them be
blotted out of the book of the living, and not written with
the righteous." Humanly speaking, men attempt to write themselves in the book. Many make claim
to be the people of God, but in the day of God's judgment,
many will plead their own cause and say, according to Matthew
7, 22, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name? In thy name we cast out devils. In thy name done many
wonderful works. Lord, we've done just exactly
what everybody else that we've noticed has done too. and probably often more zealously. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity." The writing of the house of Israel was a type, a
picture of the Lamb's book of life. The pedigree The lineage, the
genealogy of God's elect has been determined by sovereign
grace and that everlastingly. Ephesians 1, 4 to 5, According
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will. God Almighty wrote the names
of all that He would ever show mercy to in Christ. God wrote
the book. The book is Christ. He has chosen
us in Him. Turn back to Revelation 20, and
I'll close. Revelation 20 verse 12 to 15,
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And
the books were open, the books of men's writing, the books of
men's works, the books of men's achievements, the books of men's
thoughts, men's will. And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Look at Revelation 17, 8. When
was this book written? The beast that thou sawest was
and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go
into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder. whose names were not written
in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when
they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is." Many make claim, just like the
Old Testament there, that over the years they kind of mingled
in. joined up, made themselves respectable in
the sight of the house of Israel. Some of them held positions of
authority. But then there was a day of reckoning. And in that day, that which stood was the lineage the pedigree,
the genealogy that was written in the book. The scripture says, In that day
the books shall be opened, and the book. And any man, any woman, whose name was not written in
the book was cast into the lake of fire. In closing, I want to make a
comment on this scripture that we started with. If any man adds to or takes away
from, I started this message by saying
this, only a believer is going to bow to God's Word. He won't add His will or works
and He will not take away from what Almighty God has said concerning
salvation. He bows to the fact that Christ
is the sum of all these things, that He is our Prophet and our
Priest and our King. And we bow to Him as all of our
hope that salvation is of the Lord. How do we know that Almighty
God has done something for us? Last verse. Turn to Philippians
3. In that day when Almighty God
opens the books and men who have made their claim The Lord said
in that Scripture we read back in Luke, He that hath not, to
him shall be taken that which he thinks he has. Not that if God Almighty put
a man's name in the book that that man's name can be taken
out. That will never happen. We proved
that with Scripture. But those that make claim to
believe God. Those that have no problem adding
to or taking away from the words of the prophecy, have no problem
adding their free will, have no problem whatsoever adding
their works of self-righteousness, have no problem whatsoever of
taking away in their mind that which God Almighty has said concerning
sovereign saving grace. They have no problem with that.
Whosoever adds to or takes from, to him shall be added the plagues
of this book. Anybody that has no problem taking away in their mind the
glory of Almighty God, God said, I'll take your name out. That which you thought that you
had. And what's the confidence? Philippians
3.3. Here's the sign of a believer.
For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit. We rejoice in Christ Jesus, meaning
this, all that God has said that He's accomplished by Him. That's
to rejoice in Christ. Rejoice in the Messiah. Rejoice
in Him that has everlastingly loved us. came into this world,
made Himself of no reputation, made of flesh, made under the
law, made sin. We are made the righteousness
of God by His imputed righteousness. That's what it is to rejoice
in Christ Jesus. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. If Almighty God has done something
for a man or a woman, they will bow. They'll bow to Him who is
the Son of all these things. They won't take away and they
won't add to. They bow to Him who is their hope. May the Lord
add His blessing on the preaching of Christ. Now let's take a few
minute break.