Revelation chapter 22. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, we indeed thank You
for the privilege that we have to meet together again. And Lord,
we ask Your blessing upon the reading and the preaching and
the hearing of Your truth. We ask You because we are needy
people. We need to be taught. Teach us
for Christ's sake. Amen. I would like to preach this morning
out of verses 10 through 16. And I will plan to
just preach this message entitled, Five Unsealed Truths, and begin
it in the first message this morning and conclude it in the
second. The Scripture sets forth that
John Last week we looked at, after speaking to the angel that
refused to be worshiped, he now speaks to the one who is deserving
of worship. That is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know that it's the Lord
that's speaking because of what's said Verse 10 says, And he saith
unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. Now,
who but the Lord Jesus Christ has the right to say what is
going to be done with His Word? Do you think a created being
would have the right to say, Seal not the sayings? It doesn't say, He said to me. It just says, Seal them not.
Only the Lord God Himself has the right to say that. John had been instructed in Revelation
10.4, it says, And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices,
I was about to write And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto
me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and
write them not." Now, John was told at one time, what you heard,
don't write that. Seal it up. It was not for us
to know. It was not the right thing. God
told him, don't write that. Here, though, he says, seal not
the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Or what he's saying
is, don't hide. Don't keep secret the sayings. That is, the thoughts, the topics,
or the divine expressions is what that word saying means.
Don't seal that up for the time, the season is at hand. It's near. God's Word is not hidden in the
sense that man can't read it or hear it. There's not a person
in this congregation this morning, there's not a person that's sitting
in any place where the Bible is opened this morning. Every
place where this book is opened. There's churches all up and down
this road and all over this state, all over this country, all over
this world where this book is opened up. And this book is not
hidden in the sense that men can't look at it and read it. It is hidden in its understanding
until the Spirit of God gives a man a new heart to hear and
grants that man faith to believe. Now, in that sense, it is hidden. Men read this book. They read
the words and they just read over them like they've never
heard what it said because they didn't hear what it said unless
God Almighty gives them a heart to understand it, to hear it,
with ears to hear, with eyes to see. The words of this prophecy
are open for inspection and scrutiny, and not one man, not one woman
is going to stand before Almighty God and truthfully be able to
say that God has not been open with them, that God has not been
honest with them. Nobody is going to be able to
say that. Here is the book. There it is right there. Here
is the book. Seal not the sayings of this book. In the verses that follow, there
are five sayings that truthfully are not hidden before men. Five
things, five unsealed truths that Almighty God, we're coming
to the conclusion of this blessed book. Lord willing, next Sunday,
I'll finish the book of Revelation. We'll go through and finish through
the twenty-first verse. It's been, as I've said before,
it's been like a dear friend that we've sat together gone
over every Sunday now for over a year and a half. And we've
looked at this book and considered these truths, and here's what
we can truthfully say. God's been honest. He's been
pleased to allow some of us the privilege to be able to understand
what He said. Five sayings are set forth The
undeniable revelation of Almighty God. And here's the first one. Verse 11. Verse 11, 12, 13, 14,
15. Five truths. Here's the first one. He that
is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy,
let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, Let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still." Now, verse 11 sets forth, and it is not just
the saying of this chapter. It's not just the saying of the
book of Revelation. These five sayings have been
from the beginning. The sayings of the prophecy of
this book concerning the person, the revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the first of these five
sayings that God has been honest about. He has been up front. Verse 11 sets forth the thought,
the speech, the utterance of how Almighty God views men in
their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse deals
with how men have lived and died in God's sight and how they shall
spend eternity. Now, one of these days, I'll
stand here and I'll preach for the last time. One of these days. Could be today. This could be
it. I got to thinking about this
a while ago and I thought, what if? What if this is the last
time I ever preach today? What if something happens to
me? What if I have a heart attack? A friend of mine that's back
in Tennessee that's about three or four years younger than me
just had a stroke. I thought, wow. I thought that happened to other
folks. It doesn't. It may be that I'll
be heading down to see my kids today, and I'll be the statistic
that you read about in the paper. I don't know. But if this is
the last time that I ever preach, if this is the last time that
I ever stand here, I want to be honest with you. There are
five unsealed truths that Almighty God has set forth, and this is
the first one. This is a part of the first one.
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. Now, the word unjust,
it means to do wrong. That is, to be an offender. To
be the doer of unrighteousness. Now, everything that comes short
of the glory of God. Everything that comes short of
God Almighty's righteousness and perfection is unjust. Everything that falls short,
everything, every thought, every deed, every utterance, everything. He that is unjust. Well, the
first question that we must ask is, who are the unjust? Well, the answer is, All men
who are born in Adam. The eternity of mankind. Now, here's the thing. I want
to be honest with you. Everybody in this room, everybody
in this world, everybody that's ever been born in this world,
in Adam, are born unjust. Romans 3.23 says, "...for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Here's the
thing. We're guilty. as being born in Adam, we're
guilty people. You're guilty. You're guilty
before God. You're unjust. Amen. There is a nature as being born
in Adam that is wrong, that offends and rebels against Almighty God. And all men as being born in
Adam is under the wrath of God. But one would say, I thought
that God's people weren't under the wrath of God. Well, that's
true. But there's two vital truths
that you must be understanding here. Number one, as being born
in Adam, our old man is unjust. And Almighty God has put away
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ the wrath that is due
all that the Lord Jesus Christ represented. That is to say that
God Almighty does not look upon His people as answerable for. Paul the Apostle says, I was
crucified with Christ. Now you think about this. The people of God are His body. Thou hast prepared a body for
Me. Who is His body? It's His people. His people. Here is the spiritual
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that body, you say, well,
I know that He had arms and legs We are His body. We are His body. When He obeyed God, we obeyed
God. When He went to the cross, we
went to the cross. And as suffering the wrath of
Almighty God, we did in the person of our substitute. Almighty God
always looked at Him as answerable. That's true. Absolutely true. So as being born in Adam, we
as being unjust, Almighty God dealt with us in wrath in a substitute. You say, well, are we really
unjust? Well, let me ask you this. Listen to 1 Peter 3.18,
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just, the innocent
or the unjust, that is, the offenders and the doers of unrighteousness,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. Now, there is an amazing verse
that we just read, and it sets forth an indescribable truth. The us, that he might bring us
Peter said. The us that Peter speaks of as
being brought to God are not the unjust as being born in Adam. But that new man, that new creature
created in Christ Jesus, there's a brand new man. You have to understand something.
There's two men in a believer. Two men. One of them has suffered
the wrath of God in a substitute and put away the guilt. The presence of sin is there,
but there's a brand new man that's there. Two natures. And Paul sets forth that truth
over and over and over again. He said, in my flesh there dwells
no good thing. The body of this dead, dead,
dead. But he said, with that flesh
I serve the Lord's sin. The presence of it, the love
of it, but the wrath of it, the guilt of it has been put away.
But he said, there is a new mind. There is a new man. With that
new mind, I serve the Lord God. Bow to Him. being found and chosen
and considered as God's elect in Christ by virtue of our union
with Him. He has communicated to all His
members, the whole bride, the church, 2 Peter 1.3 says, all
things that pertain to life and godliness. Here is a truth that
is set forth. Almighty God considers His people,
the elect, chosen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as just. They're just. We ask, has God's
elect ever been considered unjust? Well, someone can say yes, as
being born in Adam, Christ suffered the just for the unjust, but
that new man, That new man being born of God, that one that doth
not commit sin. That one in whom the seed of
God Himself remains. That one that cannot sin. Why? Because he is born of God.
That one. That one chosen in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That inward man. that God has
forever loved. No. He's never been under the
wrath of God. Why? He's never sinned. He's
never sinned. Born of God. Cannot sin. So He that is unjust, that is,
He that dies unjust before Almighty God, the One never chosen in
the Lord Jesus Christ, That one who dies with one nature, unjust. We are all born like that. The
Lord Jesus Christ put away the guilt of His people in His sacrifice. Made sin for them. What they
are by nature, He was made to be. The totality of what they
are by nature. Total rebels. Total. He was made
sin and God dealt with it and put away the guilt. The just
died for the unjust. and put it away. He said, He's
cast our sins as far as east from the west. He said, I'll
remember them. I'll never remember them. I'll
never remember them no more. A brand new man was created. One created in Christ Jesus. But a man who has but one nature
and goes through this world, and Almighty God never calls
him out of darkness. leaves him to himself and dies
in an unjust state before Almighty God. God has never put away his
guilt in a substitute. Never. Let him be unjust still. The way he dies is the way he
is going to spend eternity. That is the way it is. Secondly,
he that is filthy, let him be filthy still. That is, soiled
or dirty. This word has to do, because
I looked it up, it has to do with a garment. Now you know
that that doesn't surprise you at all. He that is filthy. He
that has a filthy garment. James says in James 1.21, Wherefore,
lay apart, lay aside, put away, cast off all filthiness and superfluity. That means the superabundance,
superfluity, superabundance of naughtiness or badness. and receive
with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls."
Again, you must realize that we are being born in Adam and
the presence of sin and guilt that even remains as a presence
of sin. That filth is the only description
that can be made concerning the natural man's righteousness. Paul says, listen, remember,
oh wretched man, that old nature that's still there. Isaiah, listen
to this. Isaiah 64, verse 6, But we all,
as an unclean thing, in all of our righteousnesses, now listen,
this was Isaiah speaking. talking about the present state
of a believer, the presence of sin, the old nature, the body
of that death. He says, But we all as an unclean
thing, and all of our righteousness is as filthy rags, and we all
do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.
Actually, that word, filthy, there means to make filthy. Make
filthy. And man by nature in Adam continually
is exhibiting that he makes himself filthy by the unending attempt
to cover his spiritual nakedness before God. That's all he's trying
to do. That's all he's doing. He's going
through the motions. Man by nature is a filthy, self-righteous
thing. That's all he is. Filthy. Filthy. Without a substitute, our walk,
our prayer, our futile attempts at obedience is described as
filthy. It's just nothing. We don't know
how to please God. We don't know how. We're trying
to take a filthy thing. How can a clean thing come out
of something that's filthy? The root of it is what it's going
to be. That's all it is. He that is
filthy. Let him be filthy still." A man
who dies robed in his own filthy garments of self-righteousness
is going to stay that way. Without the imputed righteousness
of Christ, God Almighty is going to deal with a man in absolute
judgment and wrath. For a believer, he fears not
the wrath of God. Why? Because God's wrath has
already been spewed out on our substitute. He put it away. He that is unjust and dies in
that state, let him be unjust still. He that is filthy, without
the robe of Christ's righteousness, he's going to stay that way.
He that is righteous, though, let him be righteous still. Righteous. That word says, its interpretation
is, that is to be just without prejudice or partiality in relation
to God's view. Righteous. You know, I thought
about that. What God calls righteous. What
God Almighty calls righteous. That's righteous. In relationship
to His law, that is to never Think. Never think anything wrong. Never think anything. Not do
it. Not even think it. Not even to
intend it. Righteous. Righteous. Now, knowing that Romans 3.10
says there's none righteous. No, not one. Do you see how God
Almighty is setting forth that He deals with all men in one
of two men? One of two men. God Almighty
is going to deal with all men apart from His Son in Adam's
rebellion. Almighty God is going to deal
with all men in His Son in His Son. And He is going to look
upon all men in Adam in absolute wrath Judgment, and he's going
to look all in Christ as blessed. He that is righteous. Well, knowing
that there's none righteous, no, not one, the natural question
would be, how should a man be just? How should a man be righteous
with God? Well, with men, this is impossible. But not with God. Romans 5, 19
says, ìFor as by one manís disobedience many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.î Righteousness
has to do with obedience. When you think of righteousness,
just put obedience by that word. And only as being considered
obedient in our federal head, the Lord Jesus Christ, The second
Adam. Can this be said of us as his
people? Just as the whole of mankind,
being in the loins of Adam, were reckoned to be disobedient by
their father Adam. They were in his loins. So everybody
that was born was reckoned to be disobedient, the whole of
God's elect. as being chosen in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world were
reckoned righteous. But you say, I've never done... I know you haven't. I've never
thought a pure thought in my... I know you haven't. I've never
done anything that... I know you haven't. There's not
one person here that could ever truthfully say that in yourself
you've ever done anything. but to God's elect. He's looking
at His Son. And He's reckoning His people
to be in His Son. And what His Son has done, that's
the way they are. God's righteousness is imputed,
charged to His people. So He that is righteous in another
He that is obedient to the law of God by another, let him be
righteous still." Salvations of the Lord. Men die in an unjust
state because they refuse to come to Christ. That's why. They're
unjust. They were born in Adam. God left
them to themselves. Why did He do that? Because He
chose to. Why would he leave one man to himself and choose
another? Because he has a right to. That's why he does. That's
why he does. But if a man dies in an unjust
state, it's because God Almighty left him to himself. No. He died
in an unjust state because he wouldn't come to Christ. You
see, if God Almighty leaves men to themselves, they'll do just
exactly what they want to do. And God will be just in condemning
them. But because He has chosen to
have compassion and mercy, He chose some in His Son because
He loved this world. He loved the order of man and
was not willing that this order of man should perish. If God
left them to Himself, they would have. And He that is holy, we'll
just stop with this 11th verse and go into the next one, the
next service. He that is holy, He that is pure, Let him be holy
still." Holy, actually, that's describing the word holiness
or giving an interpretation. This is as close as I can come.
Freedom from sin. Freedom from sin. Concerning
God's people, separated to Almighty God. Separated. Sanctified. Just as the Lord said, He doth
put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. God Almighty has put a difference
between His people and the rest of mankind. Concerning holiness,
Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, 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." I looked up the word should be. It doesn't
mean going to be. It doesn't mean one of these
days. It doesn't mean something that's
going to take place at a later date. The word should be is a
present word that means are. Are. A-R-E. A-R-E. that we, according as He has
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we are holy,
and without blame before Him in love. You say, are you saying
to me that Almighty God considered His people holy before the foundation
of the world? I sure am. That's exactly what
I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying.
And you show me a Scripture that says that God has ever changed
from the way He sees His people now or then. This is the first view that Almighty
God had of the church, the bride, when chosen in Christ, holy and
without blame, chosen in Him. God's seed remains in them. They
cannot sin. They cannot sin. They sin not. And that's the last view that
Almighty God is going to have of His people. He does not change. God Almighty, truly, the bride
fell in Adam's transgression. And you know she did. She became
polluted in herself. That's absolutely right. But
you write this down and don't you ever forget this. A time
state, a time state from the fall of Adam, Carl, to the Lord
Jesus Christ returns. A time state of sin cannot do
away with God's purpose in eternity. This is what I mean. No sin in
Adam destroys the holiness that is in Christ. Never. Never. Never. She fell in time. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
in time and put away her guilt and paid the debt of it. And
God cast it as far as the east is from the west, and He put
it away. But it never changed the way God viewed her in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ before the world began, from
the foundation of the world. It is in Christ that the church
was chosen to be holy and without blame before God. And by the
undertaking which the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior,
has accomplished in Himself, and by the offering of Himself
for sin, He has perfected forever them that are sanctified, set
apart, holy. He made an open display of His
redemption. This wasn't hidden. And in that
great day, the church, who was chosen in Christ that she should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, shall Christ present
as a glorious church, not having spot, not having wrinkle, or
any such thing, but holy, without blemish. Chosen in Christ. Holy. considered in Christ, holy,
obedient in Christ, holy. And the Scripture says, And he
that is holy, let him be holy still. This is the first of five
truths that God told John. Don't seal this up. Almighty
God has, before the foundation of the world, when He said, in
the book of Genesis. He said, let us make man in our
image. The image of God is the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He expressed Him. Let us make
man. That word make means consider. Let us consider all men in the
person. Some He chose to be vessels of
honor. Some He chose to be vessels of
dishonor. Does the potter have the right? You look at the word where they
were appointed to wrath, appointed to judgment. That means that
God set them forth to be. Does the potter have the right
to make one vessel unto honor and have the right to leave another
to himself in judgment? Does he have that right? Yes,
he does. Why? Because he's God. And we'll deal
with that. This is the first of five unsealed
truths. This is the way it is. Almighty
God has dealt with men as it pleased Him. And God told John,
don't seal that up. Now, men may stand here and they'll
say, well, now, I think that God has given every man the right
to make his own choice because God could not make a man and
then jeopardize that man's right you know, being a free moral
agent to do. Well, let me tell you what the
Word of God says. And this is an unsealed truth.
This is not sealed up. Almighty God says, He that is
unjust, let him be unjust still. He that is unrighteous, let him
be unrighteous still. Or filthy, I'm sorry. He that
is righteous, let him be righteous. And he that is holy, let him
be holy. Almighty God has set forth that
blessed truth. And it is open for all men to
read and all men to consider. He is God. God Almighty.