Revelation chapter 22, and I
would like to just read 11 and 12 tonight, verse 11 and 12.
We looked at verse 11 a little bit last week, and we noticed
in that verse of scripture, 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. And we saw several verses in the Bible and the Scriptures
that shared with us that death changes nothing. When we leave
this life, whatever spiritual condition we're in at that moment,
That's the spiritual condition we'll be in for eternity. If
we leave this life without Christ, we'll have eternity without Christ.
If we leave this life with Christ, we have eternity with Christ.
And there was a verse of scripture over in the book of Ecclesiastes
that shared about the tree. It can stand there and the wind
can blow, and once the wind blows it over, that's where it stays.
It's just going to stay in that position, and that's the way
we are. The judgment bar of God is not to be a trial to determine
the outcome of things, but is simply a sentencing bar, a welcome
or sentencing bar. And that's really about the last
warning in this book that we have. The rest is good stuff
for the church, as we found in these past few chapters. Alright,
verse 12. And behold, I come quickly, and
my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work
shall be. And then verse 13. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. Now in my Bible, the rest
of this book is on the last page. So we're approaching the last
page of this book of Revelation. But we'd like to say a few things
here about verse 12. Behold, I come quickly. The Scriptures
have a lot to say about Christ coming the second time. Christ
promised it. The disciples wrote about it.
The book of Revelation declares it. It's evident throughout the
Old Testament. Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth, and on the earth again shall stand. And it's been a
promise contained in the gospel about the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ the second time. And I'd just like to read two
or three of those. Would you turn with me to the
book of 1 Corinthians? We read this many times, most
of the time, when we have communion service, because the Apostle
Paul was given this and shared it with the church at Corinth,
with us, about the Lord's Supper and the symbolism that is there.
And it shares with us that the coming of the Lord is a promise. God made it. Christ made it. The angels made it. The disciples
made it. They shared it. They keep sharing
it. We declare it. And the Bible has much to say
about Christ coming the second time. Now there's very little
about the second coming of Christ, but there is a lot about Christ
coming the second time. And by that I mean, Many people
are talking about signs of the second coming. And that's what
we're going to look at in this verse of scripture. Behold, I
come quickly. There's very, very few signs
of the second coming. But there is much said about
Christ coming the second time. Much difference there. I look
for Christ coming the second time. I'm not reading the newspaper
trying to figure out what's the signs that's going to let me
know that He's coming. And a lot of people are doing
that. But very few people really want to know about Christ coming
the second time. Because He will come and He will
sift. when he comes the second time.
There will be judgment. All right, here in the book of
1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 23, the scriptures share this,
for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto
you. And isn't that just a clear statement
about a prophet? I have received of the Lord that
which also I delivered unto you." That's a clear statement about
the responsibility of the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth,
of James, of John, of all preachers. I'm just going to give you what
the Lord has given to me. And that's what he did. That
the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took
bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
Take, eat. This is my body. This is a representation
of my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of
me. And after the same manner also
he took the cup. And when he had supped, saying,
This cup is the New Testament in my blood. this do, as often
as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat
this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death
till he come." There will not be a communion service like this
in heaven. This is for this time, and the
Lord, upon His return, upon His coming, that will be ended. But
this do you, you show the Lord's death till He come." And then
would you turn back just a little bit to the book of Acts. The
Lord Jesus, on the day that He ascended back to the Father,
after He'd accomplished everything that He intended to accomplish,
nothing was left undone. Not one person that He intended
to visit went unvisited. Not one word that He intended
to say went unsaid. Not one step that He intended
to take went unstepped. Not one hand raised. Not one
voice raised. Nothing. Everything was accomplished
by the Lord Jesus. And after His resurrection, there
was a certain amount of time that He intended to stay on this
earth. and show his disciples and show
those around him that it was he that truly came out of the
grave. That he is not someone else.
He's not an imposter. He wanted people to know and
see. But on that appointed day, it
tells us here in the book of Acts chapter 1 verse 9, And when he had spoken these
words, and that's the passage right before this, when he had
spoken these things, while they had beheld him, 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, Ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? Now this
is interesting. This same Jesus, this same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus. At the appointed time, he will
return. And then in 1 Thessalonians chapter
4, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We have these good words that
the Apostle Paul was used to write down and send to the saints
at Thessalonica, been put here in our Bible so we get to rejoice
in them as they did. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. The Lord Jesus is coming again.
That's His promise. He's made that promise. He will
keep that promise. And we find that that promise
will be fulfilled at the appointed time. Now I'm going to give away
some of the thunder here. There's only one thing preventing
the coming of the Lord. It's not a building. It's not
a monarchy. It's not people. It's the last
sheep has not been saved. That's it. That's all there is. We do not look for signs. We
look for Christ coming the second time. So His return is based
upon the last sheep being saved. And when that happens, it will
be wrapped up. Alright, 1 Thessalonians chapter
4. What encouragement the Lord gave to Paul to share with the
church here, 1 Corinthians 4, verse 15, For this we say unto
you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
under the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede
them which are asleep. Now the Apostle Paul shares with
us that in his day there's the possibility. The Lord didn't
say when he's going to come back, but the last sheep had not been
saved. He says that we which are alive and remain, now we're
there now, we which are alive and remain, we which are alive
and remain, shall not precede them which are asleep, those
that have died, those that are in the tomb, those that are in
the grave. for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout and with the voice of the archangel." I don't know
how many commentaries I've read that said that he's going to
come secretly, but there is no place in scripture that ever
lets us know that. He's coming with a shout and
with the voice of the archangel. Noise is going to be made. The
Lord shall come from heaven, descend from heaven, with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore,
comfort one another with these words. The Lord shall come. He
will not leave one of his saints in the ground. Not one of them
will be left behind. When we were going through the
study of Joshua, not one Israelite was left on the other side of
the Jordan River. It says they all passed over.
Just a sign, a picture, a beautiful allusion to the fact that the
Lord Jesus will not leave... Oh, I've heard unfaithful ones
may have to go through some serious... There is no such thing as unfaithful
or faithful. We're faithful in Christ. Now,
we may be unfaithful in ourselves, but faithful in Christ. If He
saves us, He's going to keep us. He will bring us with Him.
And here it says, comfort yourself with this. The Lord shall come. It will be a glorious, glorious
presentation of the glory of God. Christ has promised and
declared that He will come The second time. Now over in the
book of Hebrews chapter 9, it tells us there he'll appear the
second time without sin. He'll not be dealing with sin
then. He'll be dealing with lost people, sinners, but he'll not
be dealing with sin. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 28. Let's
read that together. Hebrews chapter 9 verse 28 talks
about Christ. He offered to bear the sins of
many. The golden opportunities that
the Holy Spirit had if he intended for the Bible to say that Jesus
Christ died for everybody, he missed a lot. Because he so often
shares with us, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many. That's His elect. That's His
church. That's those He's given to the Father. And unto them
that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. He shall appear to the church.
The sin issue was dealt with at the cross. He's not going
to bring that up again. The sin issue was dealt by Jesus
Christ when He paid the very last for us. It will not be brought
up to the church again. He will not even call us safe
sinners. We'll be called His children,
born after His fashion. It will not be brought up again. He'll not say, well I know what
you used to be like. That's not even going to be brought
up. Without sin, He shall appear the second time without sin.
Won't be an issue. Second time without sin, unto
salvation. That will be the time when complete salvation will
be given to His people. Now, how is He going to come?
We read over there in the book of Revelation chapter 22 and
verse 12, I come quickly. I come quickly. Well, you know,
there's some verses in the Bible that shares that with us. Quickly
to the Lord and quickly to us mean two different things. It tells us in the Bible, well,
let's just go back to Psalm 90. Psalm 90. Over in Psalm 90, it
shares this about the measurement of a thousand years. Now, it's
very close, very close to 2,000 years since the birth of Jesus.
There's no one around that was born at that time. Got some old
people, but we just have nobody that can reach back that far.
I have family that were close to me that could reach back to
the Civil War. Well, as far back as my family,
that I could reach back to a family member and touch the Civil War.
Nobody I know can reach back to the birth of Christ. It could
be done, but not by just knowing somebody. It's been 2,000 years. And it's very close to 4,000
years from the time of the birth of Christ to the creation of
the world. It's very close, give or take. I've had people say
it's between 6,000 and 10,000 years old, the Earth. It was
created with the appearance of age. Adam looked like he was
probably 25 or 30 years old when he was born, or created. He was
born with the appearance of age. The Earth was created with the
appearance of age. And God can give a delusion to anybody that
wants it about how old it is, if that's what they want. They
can count their millions and billions of years. But a thousand
years, turn it here in Psalm 90, just look at this, Psalm
90 and verse 4. For a thousand years in thy sight
are but as yesterday. Now, two yesterdays ago was the
birth of Christ. It's just an analogy. It's just
giving us something to kind of grasp about the lack of the measurement
of time necessary to God. He is not driven by time. He is not caught up in time. As it says there, a thousand
years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and
as a watch in the night. Thousand years. And over in the
book of 1 Peter, it shares this about a thousand years. Or excuse
me, 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 3. Let's just
go over there and look at that verse. So quickly has different
meaning to the Lord and to us. We want to look at that in just
a moment. In 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 8. 2 Peter chapter
3 and verse 8. But beloved, be not ignorant
of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. God's just sharing with us. I
don't measure time like you do. We live by time. Day by day,
day by day, time was created for us. And here, the Apostle
John was given this message that Jesus said, Behold, I come quickly. I come quickly. The Lord said,
I come quickly. Yet as we examine the word quickly,
we find out that it holds something about it more than speed. There's more than speed about
this word. The Lord Jesus has detained His
coming for 1,900 years, 1,950 years. We'll just say that. Detained
His coming. The last elect has not been saved.
It could have been in the days of Paul, but it wasn't. It could
have been in the days of the Church Fathers, early Church
Fathers. It wasn't. The Reformation, it wasn't. Why? Because the last
elect was not saved. We'll read a verse or two about
that. But He says, I come quickly. It doesn't have with it all that
means just with speed. Would you turn with me to the
book of Matthew chapter 5? The same word is used here. Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter
5 and verse 25. The same word is used in this
verse of Scripture. And it's the word quickly. But
notice this, Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou
art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver
thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer,
and thou be cast into prison. Deliver, agree with thy adversary
quickly. Now, it has more than just the
meaning of do it speedily. Don't let anything get in your
way. Take care of it now. Now, here
it says that these things might happen, but I know of a fact
that if we don't do this speedily, don't let anything get in the
way, we wait a day or two and we say, well, it's not quite
as important as it once was. Do it and don't let anything
get in the way. Now I say that because there
is nothing in the way of the coming of Jesus Christ the second
time. There is no prophecies that need
to be fulfilled. There is no word that needs to
be fulfilled. There are no buildings that need
to be built. It has more to do with speed.
It means there is nothing in the way. The only thing that
prevents the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ the second time
is the last one he died for has not been saved. Don't look to
the newspaper. Trust Christ. He's coming. We're
not looking for activities. We're looking for Christ coming
the second time. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Matthew chapter 28. Matthew 28. Again, the same word
is used here. Matthew 28 and verse 8. And they departed quickly from
the sepulcher. Now that word quickly means more
than fast. It means nothing got in their
way. Now there's a couple reasons. If you read in another one of
the Gospels, it says they were in great fear. Now if you want
to know when nothing's in your way, that's when great fear comes
upon you. It's quickly, yes, but nothing
detains us. And there's nothing detaining
No man-made, no man-created, no man-idea is detaining the
coming of the Lord. What's preventing Him? His good
news has not been spread everywhere. The last sheep has not been saved.
They departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great
joy and did run to bring His disciples' word. When these two disciples ran
there, one of them outran the other one. There was an older
disciple that didn't run as fast as the younger disciple, and
the younger disciple got there quicker. On the way out, it didn't
matter how fast they were running. It means there was nothing in
the way. They got away. Nothing was in their way. Another
verse I'd like to look at, and it has to do with Mary. John
chapter 11. John chapter 11, it's the resurrection
of Lazarus. The resurrection of Lazarus.
John chapter 11, verse 25. Jesus intentionally... Jesus intentionally stayed away
from Bethany and intentionally stayed away from Lazarus while
he was sick. Intentionally. It's not by mistake. It's on purpose. He intended
to stay away. until after he had died, and
he might show the glory of God." Alright, notice here in John
11 verse 25, Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith
unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the
Son of God, which shall come into the world. And when she
had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister, secretly
saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee." Verse 29. Here's where that word is. Quickly.
As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly. Now, I'd ask myself,
what was she doing? Well, I don't know what she was
doing, and I don't know what was going through her mind at
the time. Her brother had died. Maybe she's fixing a meal. But
when word came, there was nothing that stood in her way. She quickly
went, but it didn't mean how fast she went. It meant that
she had nothing standing in her way to get there. And that's
the way it is with the Lord. There is nothing standing in
His way. We don't have to wait for ten
nations to become the return ten tribes of the Roman Empire. We don't have to wait for a temple
to be built. We don't have to wait for a red
heifer to be found. We don't have to wait for the
reinstatement of the Jewish monarchy and the Jewish religion. We don't
have to wait for all these things to happen that the church has. We're not down here at the end
of the chart waiting for the end of the chart. Jesus said, I come
quickly and there's nothing prohibiting me from coming now. except the
last sheep is not saved." I'm not waiting for any of that stuff.
That's not on my agenda. If people build it, they're not
doing it on my guidance. All right? She was there, she's
sitting, and in verse 29 it said there, As soon as she heard that, she
rose quickly and came unto Him. Now, I'm sure there was a crowd
around because they said, where's she going? But she didn't let
them detain her. I'm sure she had food to fix,
but she didn't let that detain her. I'm sure she had things
to do, but that didn't detain her. She went quickly, or she
went with Nothing prevented her from going. So it is with the
Lord. She rose quickly. She came to
Him. What was she doing? I don't know.
Where was she doing it? I don't know. What was going
through her mind? I don't know. But I know this. When word came,
she went quickly, and nothing prevented her from going. Turn
with me, if you would, over to the book of 2 Peter chapter 3,
and we find here why the Lord is detained. He will not have
any empty chairs in heaven. There will not be any unused
crowns in heaven. There will not be anybody in
the choir missing in heaven. There will not be any place that
is not filled in heaven. Every person there has a place,
and every place has a person. He was chosen in Him before the
world began. and it will be accomplished,
and he's sitting at the right hand of the Father, and he will
come quickly, as soon as the last one is saved, then we will
hear the great shout, the voice of the archangel, the trump of
God. Those that are dead in Christ shall rise first. We, which are
yet remaining, if we should be that generation, will not precede
them. They will go, we will go, and
everything will be fulfilled as it is promised. Look here
in 2 Peter 3, verse 9. 2 Peter 3, verse 9. The Lord
is not slack concerning His promise. I'm glad for that word slack. Not slack. Concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness. Where is the Lord? We have record
here in the New Testament that many people says, we're just
tired of waiting for him. We're going to go on about our
business. We've heard about it. We've heard about it. You've
told us about it. It's not happened. He said, I come quickly. Nothing's
preventing me except the last one is not saved. Don't lose
heart. The last one is not saved. 2 Peter 3, verse 9, the Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness,
but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any of the usward,
that's what that word any refers to, should perish, but that all
should come to repentance, all the usward, all shall repent. But the day of the Lord shall
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with great noise, There's not going to be any signs. Some
guy stands up in California and says he's coming back on a certain
day. Believe it not. Nobody that knows Christ would
have been concerned if he had have come back that day. But fools, only fools will bring
that up. We're not day-setters. We're
saying He will come again. And it goes on to tell us here,
"...the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night,
in which the heaven shall pass away with great noise, the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works
that are therein shall be burned up, Seeing then that all these
things shall be as dissolved, what manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens,
being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look
for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent
that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blemish. And account, keep this in mind,
account, reckon with it, the long-suffering of our Lord is
salvation. He's detained himself. It means
salvation to his elect, all of them. The long-suffering of our
Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul, also according
to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you. The long-suffering. He is long-suffering. Man, the
world's going... in a handbasket. It's going downhill so quick
it makes our head spin. The long suffering of the Lord
means salvation. Why isn't he back here with all
this mess going on? We just celebrated, what, 40
years since the Watts riots? Man, that would have been a good
time for him to come back. All the elect were not in. Oh, look
at all the mess that's in through all World War II, Korea, Vietnam,
the mess the world's in, and look at it now. You know, just
a sideline, the only preacher I've ever read that had anything
to say about the Muslims is Robert Hawker. He saw something there. The great mess that we're in.
What a mess. Good time for Him to come back.
What's preventing Him? He says, I come quickly. Everything's
ready as soon as the Word gets to the last one. And the Holy
Spirit quickens that last one. The last one is saved by the
grace of God. I'm long-suffering till then.
When that's done, then it will be over. I will lose my long-suffering-ness. The last one is saved. So, what
was she doing? She was sitting. When word came,
she went. What's he doing? He's sitting.
The last one is saved, the long-suffering of the Lord is over, and then
the salvation is complete even as the rest of the writers of
the Bible have spoken about. The long-suffering of our Lord
is salvation. Now, just in the few moments
we have left, and I won't take all this time, but would you
go back with me there and let's finish that verse and look at
what it says in the remainder of it. I come speedily. I come with
nothing preventing. There's nothing preventing. The
prophets were until John prophesied of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Apostles and writers of the New Testament says Christ is coming
again. Christ is coming again. No, in
actuality, there's only one place in all the Bible. I can remember.
You might know of something else. But one place where there was
a definite period of time given in the Bible when something would
be accomplished. Daniel chapter 9. Seven years,
seven years and weeks. The temple wall and Jerusalem
wall would be built in perilous times. Took 49 years. From then
on are 62 weeks until Jesus' baptism. And in the middle of
the week, he was cut off and fulfilled everything that was
prophesied he would fulfill. Put sin away. That's the measurement. And I just thought of another
one. Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Just
not much other measuring time in the Bible. But those, that
coming of the Lord, putting away sin was so great. All right,
now, and my reward is with me. That word reward means my, I'm
gonna give out the pay. give out to pay. My reward is
with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Now, He
will dispense rewards and punishments to men according to their works
agree or disagree with the Word of God. We're not looking at
some new doctrine here. It's going to be as men's works
agree or disagree with the Word of God. Now, what does the Bible
say about a saved person? What do they look at works? Not
by works of righteousness which I've done. The church agrees
on this. Titus chapter 3. Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy
he saves us. We never ever appeal to our works to approach Christ.
We appeal to His works so that we approach Christ. It's not
by our works of righteousness. In Ephesians chapter 2, the church
has been hanging on this for all the time that it's been written.
For by grace are you saved through faith, and not of yourselves.
It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which He hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
That's our part of works. He ordained them that I should
walk in these works. He ordained that I should walk
in Him. He ordained that I should be
in Christ. It's not my works. Oh, pity the
people that are depending on their works to approach unto
God. For God said, they will be on the left hand side. That's
what it tells us in Matthew 25. Anybody that depends on their
works will be on the left-hand side. That's a sure, sure statement
about left-hand side people. The goats on the left-hand side
will appeal to God. And will say, have we not done
many mighty works in thy name? And they will appeal, when did
we not do the works? And those on the right-hand side
will say, not by works of righteousness that I've done. I'm His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus on two good works. I'm not depending on anything
but His good works. His work on the cross, His work
of mercy and grace. We depend on Christ. We depend
on His works. We depend on His. And those on
the left-hand side depend on themselves. They depend on their
own works. They depend on their own ability
to present themselves holy to God. And Jesus Christ himself
said, I will say unto them, I never knew you. That's just an indicator
where they are. The pen, they're pegged out.
I'm going to heaven on my works. Left-hand side right there. Nothing
to it. And those on the right, when
did we do that? When did we do that? I'll give every man according
to his work. He will dispense rewards and
punishments to men according as their works agree or disagree
with the word of God." The word of God says, by grace are you
saved. And anybody that attempts to
change that to works, they've already identified themselves
as not being known. Now, it doesn't mean that they
won't be changed. My goodness, I've never met a
believer yet that believes in the grace of God that didn't
at one time say, you know, I'm a pretty good guy and I'm going
to get there on my own. And God, by His mercy, strips
us. And then we trust Him. And it's not our works, but it's
His. So He's going to do that. And
then He declares how He can do that. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, and the first and the last. And I think
we're going to look at that as the trio of grace. Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end, and the first and the last.
Alright, we'll stop there. And Lord willing, next time we'll
pick up verse 13 and we'll head for the finish line.