Well, it is awfully good to be
back. Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Revelation, chapter 22. I had thought about taking the last
four verses of this book and dealing with them this morning,
but I've changed my mind and I'll just look at verses 18 and
19 and then pick up there, Lord willing, next time. Let's read verses 18 and 19 and
then we'll have a word of prayer. 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 this 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." Let's
pray together. Our Father, how thankful we are
for the day that You've given us. And Lord, You've said in all
things, give thanks. And we're thankful for the snow
We're thankful for that which you've taught us through this
time of the weather that you've sent. And we thank you that you've
blessed us this morning with the privilege and the honor to
be able to assemble ourselves together in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and to hear. And we ask you today, Would You
bless the Word to our heart and to our understanding? May it
be by Your Holy Spirit a comfort and peace to us. May we understand
as You teach us for Christ's sake. Amen. John had heard the Spirit-taught,
Spirit-filled church in verse 17. He heard the Spirit and the
bride say, Come. The church, as she's taught by
the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, the church, as she's
taught, says, the Lord Jesus, come. He said, I come quickly. It's life. We know but a vapor. We know that it's fleeting. He said, I come. The church says, come. And the church also says to those
that hear, let him that heareth come. The bride desires the coming
of all that the Lord has everlastingly loved. We've said this before. I've
got those in my family. And I would want them, I want
them to come. Jim, I want them to come. If you hear His voice, the Scripture
says, harden not your heart, come. If He calls you, you'll
come. The bride's not asking anything
that He has not eternally purposed. I know that all that the Father
has given Him is going to come. And I knock, and I ask, and I
seek. Lord, if you'd be pleased, would
you call my brother? Would you save my family? Would
you save my friend? Don't you ask that. We don't blame the Lord for those
that don't come. We know if a man doesn't come,
he doesn't come because he doesn't want to come. I know that. But don't ever let it be said
that those that preach the sovereign grace of Almighty God, that they
don't believe if some said, You don't believe in whosoever will.
Yes, we do. Yes, we do. That's scriptural. Whosoever will. Whosoever will has been made
willing in the day of His power. I know that. I know this, that
Almighty God is not waiting on men by their own power and ability
to do that which the Scripture clearly sets forth they can't
do. But if you want to come, come.
If you have a desire to come, come. Whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely. Now today, we want to look for
just a few minutes Verses 18 and 19. And the Scripture begins by the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking, for I testify. When a man makes a testimony,
when he gives a testimony, it's something that he's witnessed,
that he knows. I witness. testimony. You go
to a court, somebody's going to get up and they're going to
testify, then that means that they have personal information
on this. It's not hearsay. They weren't told. But this word
is a word that is a little bit deeper than what we normally
would think of just being an eyewitness. Actually, this word
It means it's a testimony of a joint council, a joint council, more than one. There's three, the Scripture
says, that bears witness. The Father, the Word, the Spirit,
and here is the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Word. God's testimony,
God's wisdom. He is the spokesman of that which
the triune God, Jehovah, that we readily admit that our little
fickle brains cannot perceive the depth of the Father to whom the Lord Jesus Christ
praise in His humility, speaking, praying, admitting to His brethren
those that He was made like unto them, telling them, He said,
all that I speak, I speak not My words, but I speak that which
My Father has told Me. He that has sent Me, praying
unto Him, seeking His counsel, His guidance and His direction. That's the Messiah, the God-Man
Mediator. And Isaiah says concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father. No, don't try to Don't try to
say that you perceive the depth. We bow to Him who says this is
the way it is. He said, I testify, the joint
counsel of Almighty God set forth in the person of the Son of God
who was made flesh and joined Himself, Deity, taking upon Himself,
humanity. There's the wisdom of God in
the redemption of God's people. There's God's wisdom right there. We just, we look at Him and we
say, Lord, as You say, You are, You are. Lord, as You say, We
are, We are. Lord, as You say it is, it is.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, he that has declared God
to be so, he that has declared God to be as He is, he that has
declared the everlasting purpose and counsel, he said, I am giving
you witness. He who is right now here in the
presence of the congregation of His people, He who is here
with the ministering spirits, the angels that minister, that
are sent to minister. Here while we assemble ourselves
together in the very midst of Almighty God, And those creatures
that He's made that are here doing that which our little
minds here again can't even comprehend, how they're ministering by His
decree. He said, I testify, if any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him. the plagues
that are written in this book. There's a warning there. He said, I'm telling you, God's
Word is God's Word. Sacred. Holy. We're dealing with a revelation of Almighty God this morning.
And we are so prone to just think so lightly of it. How many times have all of us,
our minds just kind of floated around. And here we are dealing
with that which will endure. That which alone endures. Everything else is going to pass
away. Heaven and earth is going to pass away. His Word. If any
man shall add unto these words, if any man adds anything to these
Scriptures, not just this book, not just the last book we're
looking at, if any man adds anything, I read those words and my heart
immediately would say, Keep me from adding anything. I don't
want to add anything. Lord, just teach me to accept
that which You've said. Now, there's some things that
I'll read and I'll read them and I'll try to put them up against
that which I know is so. And if I don't understand something,
this is what I understand. I don't understand it. But to
deny it, to just not accept it, I've got to be very careful.
Any man that adds to the words of the prophecy of this book
is concerning Christ. He told those two on the road
to Emmaus, you know, beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
He expounded unto them In all the Scriptures, those things
concerning Himself. I've said before, I mean, I love
seeing pictures of Christ. I love seeing the glory of Christ.
We talk about the ark, and we talk about the rock that's smitten
in the water, and you say, that's the Lord. There's the Lord. There's Noah. What did the Lord
say to Noah? He said, come. He told Noah,
He said, you come. Well, there was God in Christ
calling Noah. Noah came. The Lord summoned
him, put Noah and his wife and his sons, their wives, all the
animals, and the Lord shut him in. You see the glorious picture
of salvation and redemption. You see that. Told those two
on the road to Emmaus and began to expound in all the Scriptures
those things concerning Himself. Doesn't your heart rejoice when
you see Him? And it's like just a nugget of
just... He said, I'm the way. I'm the
truth. I'm the life. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. We bow to that. Accept that truth. If any man adds to the words
of the prophecy of this book. What does that mean to add to?
It means to attempt to impose or to lay upon or to set forth
salvation. To be by any other way than by
the grace of God. That is what it means to add
to. Any man that tries to add to these scriptures are concerning
Christ. This is the message of God's
salvation. This is the message of Almighty
God who has eternally purposed to show mercy and compassion
to whomsoever He will. And this book, pick any book,
any chapter, if we see it or write, we're going to see the
same message. It's going to be salvation by
grace through faith in Christ. Every one of them. You pick a book, and I'm telling
you, if there's any other message except that, and these Scriptures are not
consistent, if there's any other message These are they that testify
of me." If any man adds to, if any man attempts to add the works
of his self-righteousness by his so-called free will, if he
thinks that that is the meritorious action that seals the salvation
of all that God has purposed to save, if he tries to add to,
And you die in that state. The Lord said, I'll add unto
him the plagues that are written in this book. If a man dies,
a woman dies believing that salvation is by their works added to. If they think that a little leaven
is added to the sovereign grace of God, And you die in that state,
that means that God's never taught you salvation by grace. If you die believing that it
was your work, your action, your will, your thoughts, your walk,
that it was something that you did, God said, I'm going to add to
you. the plagues that are written
in this book. Add anything to the person of
Christ? Can you? A believer hears that
and you think, to add, to put me up next to Him and say it
took two of us. It took me and Him. It took His power but my will. A believer thinks to himself,
I don't want to do anything to just shed any kind of discredit
to Him. I just am thankful that God gives
me a heart to say, Lord, here's a beggar. That has nothing. I believe you. I believe you, I believe God. What a miracle of God's grace.
I believe God. Almighty God has said, I'm testifying,
you add. You add anything to salvation
by grace. You add, that's what it's coming
down to. Add anything to the prophecy
of this book. You add anything to the foretelling
of this book. You add anything to what God
has said is so. And I'll add to you the plagues,
the wrath of this book. But here's the second warning.
If you take away anything, from the words of the
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the
book of life, out of the holy city, and from the things which
are written in the book." If you remove, if you reject, if you ignore, you know, basically,
any man, any woman that adds to they take away from. I mean, it's almost like you
can't do one without the other. If I'm thinking that I'm adding
to His glory, His honor, His grace, His compassion, if I'm
adding to that, then I'm actually taking away from also. A woman that adds to will ignore
the very truth that's set forth. There's no greater fault that
can be found except that which is the ignoring or the taking
away and the adding to what God has said is so. To do that is
to say, now listen, to say that I add to Salvation by grace by
adding my work or I ignore that which God has said is so. Is
to say in my heart, though I may not outwardly say it, but I've
said it in my heart and God looks on the heart. Here's what a man
or woman is saying. I know better than God. I know better than what Almighty
God has set forth. What does the Scripture say?
What does the Scripture say about election? Sovereign, savoring, electing
grace. What does it say? A man will say, I know I know
what you're going to say about election. They'll say, you say
that God elected some, but actually what election is, they say, is
that God looked down because He's a fair, loving God. And he looked down and he saw
who would choose him. I want you to turn to Psalm 14
right now. He looked down and he saw who
would choose him. And so therefore, knowing those
that would choose him, Psalm 14. Verse two and three. He looked down, he saw who would
choose him, therefore he chose them. He saw what they would
do. Now you have to admit that all
in the world that that is, is God looking at a man's work and
God making a decision based on what He saw men would do. So
really the source of that interpretation is man. God looked to Saul. Romans 14, 2 and 3. The Lord
looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if
there were any. that did understand and seek
God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. The interpretation there, if
you've got it in the middle of your Bible, I do here, it's stinking.
They're all stinking. They all stink. And there is
none that doeth good. No, not one. That means that
there's none that would choose God. That's what it means. None. None. God looked. There's none. What does the Scripture say concerning
God's electing grace? Ephesians 1, 4, "...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. And as you keep reading in Ephesians
1, He did this according to His own will. Not my will, not your
will. What does the Scripture say?
Don't add to that and don't take away from that. declared that God Almighty, because
He purposed to do so, He elected a people in Christ. What does the Scripture say about
predestination? Ephesians 1.5, having predestinated
us. As I've said before, that means
to determine the destination beforehand. Predestination. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will." He predestinated us. What will
it take for Almighty God to assure the salvation of His people according
to His electing Predestinating grace. What's it going to take
for Him to assure that? He must work all things after
the counsel of His own will. That's what He must do. There's no such thing as luck.
God works all things. Why did this happen? Because
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose. Don't add to
that and don't take away from that. Almighty God does what
He does according to His will. He said, My counsel will, it
shall stand. What's he doing right now? He's
doing that which he's pleased to do. And he's ordering everything
in the government and everything in the weather. He's everything. And he's going to put you and
he's going to put me and he's going to put everyone of his
elect exactly where he has determined that they're going to be. And
he's going to bring them to himself exactly. the way that He's determined
He's going to do it through the hearing, the preaching of the
gospel of God's grace. And that's how He's going to
comfort them. That's how He's going to establish
them, teach them. Don't take away from that. Don't
add to that. What about man's free will? Everybody's
got a free will. Everybody's got a free will.
That's what I've heard. The Scripture says in John 1.13,
which we're born, not of blood. I have four children. I believe the Lord has called
my kids out of darkness. I believe. If I didn't really
believe that, I wouldn't say it. I'd like to say it, but I
wouldn't. By the grace of God, I don't
think I would. But I believe he has. But I'm going to tell
you something. My kids are not believers because
their daddy's a believer. They're born not of blood. Salvation
does not flow in family heritage, nor of the will of the flesh. I may desire I may desire to,
Lord, save them. I pray God will. But my will is not going to override
His will, not the will of the flesh. I may pray that God would
have mercy on my family, as I mentioned, but my family and the salvation
of my family is not according to my will. It's not according
to blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man. Now, let me ask you something. How plain is that? It's not according to the will
of man. Men say, man's got a free will. Not according to these scriptures,
he doesn't. He's in bondage to sin. He's in bondage to his nature,
to his rebellion. He's in bondage. As I've said before, free means
bound by nothing. Bound by nothing. Free. I can
do whatever I want to do. Man is dead in his ability. Dead. and his will dead to reconcile
himself back to God. You think about this. Think about, and you'll get lost
in the thought, I can tell you right now, but think about what
the Scripture sets forth concerning the reconciliation of men back
to God. Think about the peace that has
been wrought by the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ It takes God Himself to reconcile
a man back to Himself. It takes God. God. And what do you think man's going
to do? Don't add to or take away from
what God Almighty has said according to a man's ability. What does the Scripture say about
Eternal security. Flip back a few pages to 1 Peter
1. 1 Peter 1, verse 3 to 5. What does
the Scripture say? Now, I know what men say. They
say that you can lose your salvation. Lose your sanctification. I heard
Glenn tell me that. Somebody told him, you can lose
your sanctification. You can lose your holiness. You
can lose God Almighty can set you apart in sanctification.
I mean, when I hear that, I already know they don't even know what
the word sanctification means. You mean God Almighty can set
you apart and you can set yourself apart from what God has done?
What does the scripture say concerning eternal security? 1 Peter 1,
verse 3 to 5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to his abundant mercy. hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope, a living hope, a real hope. By the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, now read these words, to an inheritance
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." Now, my question
is this. How secure are God's people? Well, according to God's Word,
they are kept by the power of God. through faith that is not
of themselves. Faith cometh and cometh and cometh. Take the Scriptures and read
the Scriptures. And you read those Scriptures.
And as you read those Scriptures, you read and you see. Just like
I mentioned this morning, that the Lord put Noah in the ark
and the Lord. Shut the door. And you'll read
that and you'll think, you know, that means that God
put me in Christ and Almighty God kept me in Christ. God shut
the door. And He's the One that I've read
in the Scriptures that has the keys to heaven, keys to hell,
keys to death, And He opens and no man can close it. And He closes
it and no man can open it. That means that salvation is
of the Lord. That means that salvation is
all of grace. And you're reading those words,
and faith cometh. Faith cometh. It cometh by hearing. And you want to hear, and you
want to hear again, and you want to hear again. Faith coming. Salvation, and I'm going to end
with this. I've gone longer than I thought. Salvation is certain to all that God has ordained
to eternal life. That's what Acts 2 says. And all that were ordained to
eternal life believed. God called them out of darkness.
Isn't that the sweetest word you've ever heard? Isn't sovereign
grace? Scott, aren't you glad that God
keeps you? Keeps you. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that salvation
is not by your ability? You think, Lord, That's the greatest
message I've ever heard because I know just enough about myself. I know if you dealt with me after
my iniquities, I couldn't stand. Lord, I've been so inconsistent
in my thoughts, in my ways, in my dealings since I've believed. Thank you. Thank you, the salvations
of the Lord. If any man takes away or adds
to, God's going to take away or add to him the plagues that
are written in this book. Let's stop there for this morning.
Lord willing, we'll pick up at that spot right there and try
to finish this book of the glorious ending testimony of the Lord
Jesus Christ concerning the salvation of His people. for his sake and
for our comfort. Amen. Let's take about a 10 minute
break.