Well, it's good to see you this
morning, and it's good to have another day that we can meet
together. It's a miracle of God's grace
that there are any that would be here that would want to be
here, that would have a heart to want to assemble themselves
together in the presence of the Lord and the Lord's people. Let's
take our Bibles and turn to Revelation 22, verse 7. Revelation 22, 7. The Holy Scripture says concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank You again
that we can call upon Your holy name to realize that we speak
to Almighty God and have a heart to do so. And we realize that
we only can approach You in the person of our blessed Mediator. We ask You today, would You bless
Your Word to our hearts and cause us to be comforted and to rejoice
in the glory and the understanding of who You are as You are revealed
in the person of Your blessed Son. For Christ's sake, Amen. a messenger from God had been speaking to John. It was an angel. And this angel had just revealed
something to John that we looked at last week, and it was concerning
the sayings That's what we looked at in verse 6. These sayings
are faithful and they're true. They're reliable and they're
truthful. If there is that which is reliable
and there is, it's this. It's the sayings of this book. And not just this chapter, not
just the book of the revelation, the entire Scriptures. These
sayings are reliable and they are truthful. Well, I want to
look at two reliable and truthful statements that are made in verse
7. And here is the first one. This
is reliable and it is truthful. Behold, I come quickly. You know, that ought to just
stop us and let us realize that this could be today. Today could
be the day. I've said this before, but if
you'd ask someone, do you believe the Lord's coming back? Oh, I
do. I believe he's coming back. Do you believe it's today? Well,
I don't know if it's today. I mean, one of these days he's
coming. I don't know when he's coming,
which is a truthful statement. But the Lord said, in a day that
you think not. In a day when men are crying
peace, peace, no peace. And a day just like today, when
there's so much religious arrogance, so many lies, and a day just
like today. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, when men are going about their business, it's going
to be a day just like every other day. Get up if you got up. If it wasn't the middle of the
night, somebody's going to be up in this world. I mean, you know,
it's somewhere, something, whatever. It's five o'clock somewhere.
It'll be a day just like today. And all of a sudden, I didn't
even get the last word of this sentence out of my mouth. And
I went from looking at what I was looking at, and all of a sudden,
the dead in Christ came out of the graves, and the believers
met them in the air, and they were joined. And I'm telling you, the dead
that died without Christ came out of the graves, and they were
reunited with those Bodies that they rebelled against God and
believers were reunited. Those bodies that God Almighty,
they were changed. It was sown in corruption. It was raised in incorruption.
And all of a sudden, we're standing before God Almighty. And I didn't
even finish the sentence. Behold, I come quickly. I know He comes right now. He
comes always accompanying, always there, always here. Two or three
are gathered together in my name. I'm in the presence. He comes
quickly, just now. Before I even know what to ask
Him for, He said, I've already given the
answer. I didn't even know I had a question. He who cares for
me more than I ever care for myself, I come quickly. Behold. That's what he said.
Behold. Give attention to this. Listen up. I tell you, that thought, Right
there. Ought to preface, especially
every day that we start. This is the day that the Lord
hath made. I want to rejoice. I want to be
glad in it. But preface that thought. Preface
every moment. I wish I did that. I wish I had faculties. I think I have them. It's just that my old man wars
against them. I know in my new mind, I know
that he's coming quickly. I wish I'd think on that often. I wish that every time I heard
something that went against my flesh, everything that goes against
what I think my will is, I could stop and realize the Lord is
coming quickly. All that I am, all that I have,
the Lord is coming. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Here
is the second truth. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book. Now there's a blessed man or
woman, someone that keeps, that hides. That's what David
said. David said in Psalm 119, 11 and
12. And this is how these things are kept. Not that I have the
ability. What can I do, Carl? What are
you going to do? Keep it, you know. Have you kept
this? What is it to keep the sayings
of the prophecy of this book? I can tell you what it is. It's
to believe Christ. He that has kept the prophecy
of this book. He that has kept the law of this
book. He that has kept the Word of
this book. He that has kept the Word of His Father, the Word
of God. He's been faithful and true.
The one the Father says, this is my beloved Son. I'm well pleased
with Him. He kept it. He's faithful. But listen to this, by the evidence of me believing
Him and having a heart to believe Him, I kept it in Him. His righteousness is my righteousness. So therefore, that I would have
a heart to believe Christ, but listen to David, thy word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against
thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, verse 12, Teach me thy statutes,
or teach me of you." I want to know. I want to hear.
Blessed are those that keep the prophecy, that believe the prophecy of
this book, because the prophecy of this book is concerning Him. The prophecy of this book, that's
what the Lord told the two on the road to Emmaus, beginning
with Moses and all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures those things concerning Himself. And a believer takes
this word and they're looking and they're saying, I know that
in this passage of Scripture, this passage right here, I know
that Christ is here. Lord, would You show me that?
Would You show me Him? Would You show me Yourself? And
when a believer sees Christ in it, Bob, when he sees Christ,
he rejoices in that. I see. I see. And Lord, I heard Your voice.
I heard You. Let me show you. Turn to John
6, 28-29. Here's what it is. Here's the
blessed man. Here's the blessed one. Here's
what it is to keep the prophecy. John 6, 28-29, Then said they
unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? What shall we do that we might
work the works of God. Now there is, I'm going to read
the next verse in a second, but there is a sense. There is. This is true. I'm not taking
away. If this is not true, then something
is desperately wrong. There is a truth that men may, can work the works of God. If that's not so, something's
wrong. But how is it appropriated? And what is it? Verse 29, Jesus
answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom He has sent. It's the work of God, number
one, that you believe. It took a work of God that you
might believe. This is the work of God that
you believe. But this is the manifestation
of it, too, that you believe. You remember the Philippian jailer
asked Paul, Serge, what must I do to be saved? And what he was asking was this.
Paul understood his question because if Paul would have thought
that that man was saying, what must I be the source of in order
that I might be able to be saved? If Paul thought that he was asking
this, what is it that I've got to be able to do of myself in
order to be saved? If that would have been the question,
Paul would have never answered what he answered. Philippian jailer asked, what
must I do to be saved? But here was the question. Sirs,
what is the evidence? There's going to be some evidence,
I know, in salvation. There's got to be. What is it?
And Paul's answer was this. This is the evidence. that you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. A man that believes on Christ
is keeping the prophecy of this book. He is hiding the Word of
God in his heart by the grace of God putting the Word, the
living Word. He who is the Word. In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh. Hide Thy Word in my heart. Hide Christ in me. Is that too much to ask? That's
everything. Christ in you. The hope of glory. Blessed back in Revelation 22. is he that keepeth the sayings
of the prophecy of this book." They're blessed. That's a blessed
man, blessed woman. They've been spoken well of by
the Lord. Blessed because the Lord has
given them a new heart. And I'll tell you this, that
heart, that new heart, that heart that keeps the sayings of the
prophecy of this book, That heart, that new man, that
new mind, it serves the law of God. It bows to Him. It believes God. That's what it is. That's what
it is. Paul said in Romans 7, with my
new man, he said, now in my flesh there dwells no good thing. He
said, in my flesh I serve, I bow to, I worship. That's what it
is. I serve the law of sin. But in my mind, that new mind,
I worship God and I love Him. I love Him because He first loved
me. But I'm telling you, a believer, one that has been given a new
heart, he loves God. He loves Almighty God as He is
set forth in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed. He's blessed because He recognizes
His need of a substitute. He's poor in spirit. He knows
He can't do anything for Himself. He wakes up amazed that Almighty God would even
give Him a heart to talk to Him. He's amazed when he goes into
his closet to pray. And that just means be private. A believer is going to, he prays. I don't have to say, you know,
find time for the Lord. That's ridiculous for me to say
that. You don't tell a believer that.
The Spirit of God has already taught him that. You don't have
to tell a believer, you know. He prays without ceasing. Driving
down the road, middle of the night he wakes up. If he's got
something on his mind, he goes to the Lord with it. Lord, I'm
struggling with this. I cast all my cares upon you.
You care for me." He recognizes that he is poor in spirit. He
needs Him. He sees the body of death that
still resides with him. He is meek. A believer is. He vows to the good providence
of God. This is meekness. It is when
he sees that Almighty God is so ordered. All that is happening
in this world, the Lord has ordered that. God has done that. I want to deal with a subject
here, Lord willing, in the next few weeks. I was talking about
when the Lord made this world. It is order in all of it. The
believer knows that. He bows to that. And I'll tell
you, he thirsts after God's righteousness because he recognizes he don't
have any of himself. And a believer is a blessed person. He's merciful, gracious, because
he knows he's obtained mercy, like old blind Bartimaeus. I
love that story. I love the story of blind Bartimaeus,
Jesus our son of David. And they are pure in heart because
they have a new heart imparted to them, a heart from above. And they are peacemakers because
the blood of Christ has made peace for them before God Almighty. And they rest. They rest in the
Lord. I come quickly. That's truthful. That's reliable. Blessed is he
that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. He keeps
them by believing on Christ, resting in Christ. May the Lord
add His blessing today and just may this short, short message If you were comforted in this,
then the Spirit of God blessed God's Word to your heart. This was the commandment of the
Lord. Comfort, my people. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saith the Lord. I'm here today for one reason,
Neil. Preach Christ, and in preaching Christ, you comfort the people
of God, for Christ's sake. Amen. All right. Let's take about
a ten-minute break.