All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn to Revelation chapter 22. Last week, first several verses
of Revelation 22, we talked about things which proceed from the
throne of God and of the Lamb. These things were wonderful things,
glorious things. Eternal things. Not things like we experience
here on this earth, but glorious things. Things that eye hath
not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man. These were glorious things. All of the gifts and calling
of God, the everlasting covenant of God, the eternal purpose of
God concerning the redemption of His elect, But in particular
here, he wants us to see the bride of Christ and his rule
established in her heart. There was a throne in the midst
of the city and the city symbolically represents the bride of Christ. The rule of Christ in his kingdom
is not just a matter of fact. We have a law in this country.
And our law is a matter of fact. There's a law here. It might
be strict in some places, and it might not be so strict in
other places, but we have a law here in this country, and most
of us accept that as a matter of fact. But the rule of Christ
in his kingdom is not just a matter of fact or a matter of outward
adherence, but it's a matter of great assurance and rejoicing
to the believer. Now that's the difference. He
rejoices in the rule of Christ, the reign of Christ. He rejoices
that God has put his throne in the midst of his city. And apart from the exercise of
God's sovereignty in his salvation, the sinner would perish, and
he knows that. He'd perish. He'd perish in his
own inability. and in his own misplaced loyalty. Know you not that to whom you
obey, his servants you are? We have a misplaced loyalty from
birth. And there's many wonderful attributes
of God that stir the hearts of believers. The love of God stirs
the hearts of believers. The grace of God stirs, we have
his grace written on our sign out here. The grace of God and the mercy
of God, the kindness of God, there are many wonderful attributes
of God that stir the hearts of believers, but when he encouraged
his disciples to go out and preach in this present evil world, you
know what he said? all power given unto me in heaven
and earth, go ye therefore. Go ye therefore. You go because
I'm seated on the throne. And what I send you to do will
be effectual because all power in heaven and earth given unto
me. What if God did not sit upon
the throne in our midst? Think about that for a minute.
What if there were no throne in the city? What if there were
no sitting power, no reigning power? Well, Satan's rule could
never be broken. The strong man keeps his goods.
His goods are at peace, that strong man armed. And the only
way you're going to get them away from him is for a stronger
than he to come upon him and take away all of his armor wherein
he trusted. and then spoil his goods. So
Satan's rule could never be broken apart from this throne of God
in our midst, and Satan's lies could never be overcome. Satan's
kingdom could never be overthrown. You think about what this little
group here's a double handful, that's it, at the best. And you
go out here and look, and there's, I was over in Shreveport the
other day, there's a church over there that goes on for three
city blocks. What power would we have as individuals
against such multitude? And then you factor in the government
and the rest of the world. Satan's kingdom could never be
overthrown. Because God reigns, a river of
purpose and grace flows continually in his kingdom. And because God
sits upon his throne with the Lamb, there's a tree of life
which can be freely accessed next to that river. Because our
surety sits at the right hand of the Father, John says there
shall be no more curse. No more curse. And then in Revelation
22, 5, he tells us this. There shall be no night there.
No night. And the need, they need no candle,
neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light. Light is a spiritual asset. That
which the angel's talking about here is spiritual light. Spiritual
light. Turn with me to John chapter
nine. In John chapter nine, the Lord
healed a blind man. He didn't know anything about
all this stuff. He was just a, he was a blind
sinner. He was born blind. All his life,
sit there and beg. He was a blind man. And the Lord
healed him. And this blind man, the Lord
said, had been born blind, now listen to this, that the works
of God should be made manifest in him. That's why he was born
blind. And after much discussion all
through the chapter and accusations, the Pharisees finally just left
him alone. And after the Lord revealed himself
to him, he had this to say to the blind man. Verse 39, John
chapter 9. For judgment I am come into this
world that they which see not might see, and that they which
see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard these words. They knew exactly what he was
talking about. And they said unto him, are we
blind also? Now listen to what he tells them.
And Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, you should have
no sin. But now you say, we see. Therefore
your sin remaineth. This light, which the angels
talking to John about, this is altogether a spiritual light.
God is light, John said, and in him is no darkness at all.
He's all light. He's all light. The seeing that
Christ talked about is with eyes of faith and eyes of understanding,
spiritual eyes. Blessed are your eyes, he said,
for they see. There should be no light there,
no natural light, no candlelight, no sunlight, no starlight, just
the light of God and of the Lamb. And this is the message John
said, which we have heard of him from the beginning and declare
we unto you, God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
God's kingdom is illuminated with gospel light. It is here
and it is there. It's illuminated with gospel
light, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now that's the light of which
he's talking. Revelation 22, six. And he said
unto me, these sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of
the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the
things which must shortly be done." Now everything God says
is faithful and true. Let God be true in every man
of life. Everything God says is true. Paul said that very
thing, let God be true in every man of life. But this verse incorporates
a little bit more than that. He spoke of himself as being
the Lord God of his holy prophets. Meaning that their words were
his words. I can't give you the exact verse,
but in 1 Thessalonians chapter two, Paul said, and we thank
God for this also. that when you heard the Word
of God, which we preached unto you, you received it not as the
Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. The Lord God of His holy prophets
means that their words were His words. They spake as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit of God. And He even goes one step further.
He says the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel, sent
his messenger to show unto his servants the things which must
shortly be done. That God's elect would be called
and enlightened and preserved and kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed at the last
time. God sent his messenger. He approved
him. He sent him. He enabled him to
speak. And he did so that this world
and every unregenerate soul and all who believe not the gospel
shall be condemned of God and cast into the fiery pit forever
and ever. And what shall be the charge?
They believe not. They believe not. They believe
in the natural man, he receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. He never has and he never will. It takes the work of God
in him to teach him and reveal himself to him and cause him
to be willing in the day of his power. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. He won't receive the
scripture as the final word on a matter. He won't receive God's messenger
when he comes. Even though God tells him that
it pleased him by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe, the messenger comes and they question him. And they
question the word of God. One man said to one of the men
of our congregation who was trying to get him to be still and just
look at what the word of God said. And he said, finally, he
was in a rage and he turned and he said, I don't care what the
word of God says. Well, you're in bad trouble.
You're in bad trouble. But that's the way it is. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God.
It's foolishness to him. Foolishness to him. I don't have
to go to church. Oh, yes, you do. Yes, you do,
according to the word of God. I don't have to do this and I
don't have to do that. You go on believing that. The angels of God, whether they
be pastors or prophets or preachers of God, they are sent of God
with God's word of grace by the gospel. And they're telling men
what took place from the beginning. They're telling men what took
place after the fall. what took place at the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ and throughout this whole gospel
age and then throughout all eternity. We see through the eyes of faith
and we declare such things as we see. And these things, the
angel said, are fateful and true. Listen to how many times Paul
says this. This was a common phrase to him
from the word of God. He said, this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus come into this
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. It's a faithful saying. In chapter four, that same epistle
he said, For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness
is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that
now is and of that which is to come. This, he said, is a faithful
saying. This is a faithful saying. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse
11, he said, it is a faithful saying. If we be dead with him,
we shall also live with him. And then in Titus 3, 8, he said,
this is a faithful saying, and these things that I will that
thou affirm constantly that they which have believed in God might
be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable
unto men. These are faithful sayings. All
the sayings, when God sends a man to his elect to teach him and
to tell him, declare the gospel to him, it's faithful. It's a
faithful saying. because it's the saying of God.
The sayings of God, of his prophets, of his apostles, and of his messengers
are true and faithful. And then in Revelation 22, verse
seven, he said, behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth
the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Now, there's two things
here I want you to think about. First of all, that our Lord declares
to us that he shall come quickly. There's nothing to prevent his
coming or slow up his return except for the purpose of God. He is as he was in his days upon
the earth, fulfilling the word of God and the purpose of his
grace. And everything is as it should
be. His redemptive will's being accomplished. He is always working
all things after the counsel of his own will. Did you know it said of his first
coming that when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth his son? And so it shall be with his second
coming. The Lord Jesus Christ has not
forgotten his people. He shall come quickly, quickly,
exactly as his father has willed it, and as providence brings
it to pass. And God has a purpose. I want
you to think about this. God has a purpose for every minute
of our existence in this world. He has a purpose in these things.
We don't always see it. We go into the day half caught
with no understanding. We need to think about these
things. God has a purpose for every minute that we're in this
world. There's nothing standing between us and eternity except
God's providence. I'm as holy as I'm gonna get.
I'm as righteous as I'm gonna get. I'm ready to go into eternity
if I'm a believer. So why does he leave me here?
to fulfill his purpose. And every minute we're here,
his purpose is being fulfilled. Behold, he says, you think about
this. You lay hold on this. You lay
this to heart. Sit up and take notice. Give
this your full attention. I come quickly. Now let me give
you a few things about that. This is good news to the believer. We don't dread his return, we
look forward to it. There was a time when I didn't
want to see him. I didn't want him to come, but not now. Not now. This is good news to
the believer. And this is a strong warning
to them who are not. The scripture said, settle quickly
with your adversary lest he deliver you to the judge and the judge
condemn you and cast you into prison until you've paid the
uttermost, until that debt be satisfied. And this ought to be frightening
news to the fence straddlers. Who's the fence stragglers? That's
those who can't make up their minds whether to believe or not.
Should I believe the world or should I believe God? Do I take this man's word? He's
showing me in the word of God. It seems to be right. Should
I go this way or should I go that way? Over in 1 Kings 18 verse 21,
Elijah came before all the people and he said, how long halt you
between two opinions? How long you gonna study this
matter? How long you gonna sit and think about it? If God be
God, then follow him. Bow to him. Confess him. Walk with him. Trust in him.
If God be God, Bow to Him, believe on Him, come
under His yoke, confess Him, serve Him, rejoice in Him, praise
Him, worship Him. If God be God, is He? Is He? Is there really a living God
seated upon the throne of His glory, executing all His purpose
and will? Then follow Him. Follow him. What you waiting for, judgment? But if Baal, if the heathen God
be God, if the God of Antichrist be God, if the free will, universal
God, if he be God, then follow him. Is that your God? Then go follow him. Go serve
him. You know what the people said?
When Elijah said that, here's 400 prophets of Baal, God has
one prophet, one messenger. And he stood up and said that
before the king and before that evil queen and before their 400
prophets. And it said the people answered
him not a word. They didn't say one thing to
him. I would think this ought to strike
terror into the hearts of the fence straggler. And then fourthly,
his coming quickly ought to strike desperation into the hearts of
seeking sinners. If I'm a man who have come to
see something about my sin and something about my desperate
need of Christ, his coming quickly ought to make me even more desperate
to find him. Old Josiah, the little young
boy who become king, he found the book of the law in the ruins
of the temple. And he carried it over to the
scribe, and the scribe read it to him. And upon reading him
the word of God, he was terrified. He was terrified, and he ran
to those whose job it was to call upon the name of the Lord.
He ran to the priest. And he said, great is the wrath
of the Lord that's poured out upon us because our fathers have
not kept the word of God. Have not kept it. That's 2 Chronicles
34, 19 through 21. But I recommend you read that
whole chapter. We're living in the gospel age,
the age of mercy and grace. And when our Lord returns, that
day of grace is over. I tell you, in my lifetime, I've
seen men die so fast, you make your head spin. I'll never forget
the last time I ever went into an Armenian church to take part
in their services. It was at a Free Will Baptist
church. And we had, I'd already gotten
up and sang. I played my guitar and sang,
went from church to church, and I'd already done that. And we'd
sit down and we began the service, and this old man came in, and
this old woman, And the pastor stopped and introduced him. He was the old founding father
of the church. He was the one who began that
little group. And he recognized him and called
him by name. And he was sitting right in front
of me. And he said, how are things between you and the Lord? And
the old man threw up two fingers. He was gonna say, we're just
like this. And when he put those two fingers
in the air, he fell over and I heard his head hit the pew.
He was dead when his head hit the pew. And that was the last
time I was, I was never so glad to get out of a place in all
my life. He said, today, not tomorrow,
not next week, not 10 years from now, not when I've sold my wild
oat, today, Right now, will you hear the word of the Lord? Will
you hear Him? Then don't harden your heart.
You receive those things of the Spirit of God. You receive those
things and act upon those things. Don't put these things off. It's
not like a camping trip that you're planning. This is a matter
of your soul. Today, if you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of
temptation in the wilderness. And because they did, God swearing
his wrath, they shall not enter into my rest. Behold, he said,
I come quickly. Blessed is he that keep the sayings
of the prophecy of this book. that takes heed to its promises,
obeys its commandments, and hears and obeys its warnings. May the Lord enable every one
of us that are in this place today to do that very thing.