Let's turn back to Revelation
22 and just pick up where we left off this morning. The messenger that had spoken
to John. made this statement that we just
looked at a moment ago. These sayings are faithful and
true. These sayings. Everything else
is a lie. Everything else but God's Word
is a lie. Because everything else has got
an ulterior motive. You think about that. that I say to you may be true
in its essence, have some truth to it, but it's got an ulterior
motive. It's deceitful. Everything, the
only thing that's simple, that's true, that's got any honor to
it is God's Word. That's the bottom line. These
words are trustworthy. Everything else, You can cast
doubt on it. I can mean to come through for
you. I meant to. I meant to do it. I meant to be there. I meant
to follow through. But I'll tell you what, nothing
is trustworthy, nothing is true but God's Word. These sayings
were sent by God. by God's angel, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the messenger of the covenant. God has promised to
fulfill His will and He sent the Lord Jesus Christ, the One
in whom all has been entrusted. All things were done by Him and
for Him. Without Him, nothing was done
that was done. These are the revelations of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Boy, we are a blessed people
this morning to be able to be here. I was standing in Wal-Mart the
other day last Sunday afternoon. And I got to looking around,
and I got to wondering, could it be that of all these
people that I'm looking at, as far as I know, as far as I know,
what do I know? But as far as I know, if God's
Word, since God's Word is so, And God's Word has set forth
that this is going to be the evidence of those that He has
called out of darkness. They're going to believe His
Word. They're going to bow to Him. They're going to bow to
what He says is so. As far as I know, could it be
that Glenda and I was only two in that whole place that I was
looking at that I could see? Could it be that there was only
two out of that whole store? that God had shown mercy to,
somebody said, now that's the most arrogant thing I've ever
heard in my life. Based on this word, based on
what God says is so, and the evidence of God's people, is
that God Almighty is going to reveal Himself in His sovereignty. Unless Almighty God calls a man
out of darkness through the preaching of this gospel, Those things
are so. Now, men can call me arrogant. That's fine. I've been called
that before. But I'm telling you. Somebody says, well, are
you saying? I said, no, I'm telling you what
God said. And that's what God said, and
that's where I'm going to stand by the grace of God. I'm going
to stand right there. These sayings are faithful and
true. Now, he says in verse 7, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book." Now, that's a blessed
man. Blessed by Almighty God. Behold,
I come quickly. Four times in this book the Lord
had said, I come quickly. Four times. Three of the times
it was to the churches. Come quickly. And in Revelation
16, 15, he said, Behold, I come as a thief. When you don't expect it. When you're not truthfully looking. We say we're looking, and we
are, but I'm telling you, you think about it. Do you expect
that before this message is over, that he'll come back? You think
you'll just be over. I mean, all of a sudden, just
the whole world standing before the judgment seat of Christ.
You think that's going to happen before this service is over.
He comes. Behold, I come quickly. That word right there, when it
says, I come quickly, that word right there is a word that is
the present tense. It doesn't mean I'm going to,
though I know He shall. But that word is a present tense. I come quickly. Accompanying is what it means.
He's always set. He's always present, though His
presence is not recognized. I come quickly. His coming is
without delay. His coming is with ease. Men
oppose Him, but they won't in that day. This statement means
that He's always, in all things, ordering the events of this life
for His honor and the elect's good. I come quickly, right now.
You know, we're looking for Him to come in the second coming. He's always coming. In all things. That statement right there means
I'm always present. I'm always doing all. He's ordering all that. I come
quickly. Behold that truth. Call attention to it. We look
for Him. We wait on Him. That word, imperative
active, I don't know what all that means, but the Greek, when
you look up that word, that's what it says. That's an imperative
active word. Basically, it means it's right
now. I come quickly. I come quickly. I come quickly. Always coming. But the second faithful and truthful
saying is this. He's faithful. He says, behold,
I come quickly. But secondly, blessed is he that
keepeth the saying of the prophecy of the book. That is the prophesying
or the sayings. Blessed is he that keeps it. Right here. Right here. Right
here. Blessed is he that keeps it.
Blessed is he that believes it. That's what he's saying. Blessed
is that man that God's given a heart to believe it, to keep
it, to maintain it. The setting forth of God's purpose,
God's pleasure, God's will to redeem His people Those that
He's everlastingly loved and chosen and called. Blessed are
those that keeps the saying of the prophecy of this book. Let
me show you. Turn over to John 6, 28. Blessed
are those that keep it. Somebody said, oh, how do I keep
the Word of God? How do I keep it? I'm so frail. How do I keep it? John 6, verse
28. Then said they unto him, What
shall we do that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe
on him whom he has sent. Is it my faith that keeps me? No, it is his faithfulness that
keeps me, and God has given me a heart to believe that I can't
keep myself and that He keeps me. That's what I believe. I
believe Him. That's what God's people believe. They're not looking to their
faith, Gary. They're looking to Christ who is faithful. They
believe Him. This is the work. Blessed are
those that keeps the saying of the prophecy of this book. What
does the prophecy, what does the saying, what does the setting
forth of this book say? It's saying we're not able, and
He is. It's saying He's faithful. Faithful
to His covenant, faithful to His promise. He's faithful. And He keeps us in spite of our
inability. He keeps us. In the midst of
our inability, He keeps us. Those who continually are plagued
with the presence of sin, and I know we are, No, we are. If we say we have no sin, we
make God a liar. If we say we have no sin, the
presence of sin is here. Paul said that. We've quoted
that so many times. There is in me. He said, that
is in my flesh, in that old man, in that old nature. There dwells
no good thing. Those who possess a heart that
guards Those that possess a new man. Those that possess a new
mind. A new creation. Now we talk about
the new birth. And it's so. It's so. The Lord told Nicodemus,
you must be born again. There's a new nature. And somehow
still we get it in our mind that somehow God has given us a nature,
that somehow this old man in which we were born in Adam somehow
perceives and kind of grasps hold of it. That is not so. There's two natures. You take
a dog and put the nature of a cat in him. Now there's two natures. Now that's two entirely, and
they're contrary. You know? One of them hates the
other one, and the other one hates the other one, and they're
back and forth. Two natures. Two natures. It wasn't a dog
that kind of started acting like a cat. There was two natures. There's two natures there. Blessed
are those that keep the sayings of the prophecy of the book.
Blessed are those that God has granted faith to believe what
God has done. in a new birth, a new man. Blessed
are those, blessed are those who maintain and hold fast this
prophecy. There are some of you that are
sitting here this morning that knows exactly what I'm talking
about. And you know just exactly what
I mean about wrestling. There is a nature in you that
loves God, that loves His Word, that believes what He says. You
believe it, you trust Him, you bow to Him, and you see an old
nature in you that still resists it, wants to war against it, fights
against it. And that old nature that's saying,
man, a lot. Thirty-five more minutes? You know what I'm saying? He hates you. Blessed. That is blessed. That means you've
been well spoken of by God. That's what blessed is. That's
the essence of the word blessed. Well spoken of. Bless you. Well spoken of. They are possessors
of God's mercy and compassion. in that God has not imputed or
charged their sins, their iniquity to them. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin, won't charge him with it,
won't make him anticipate. That's what it means by that. What a blessing. The Lord Jesus
Christ made sin. Made sin. the sin of his people. Made what his people are. Made
what his people are. And God Almighty judged him under
the indescribable wrath of Almighty God. Dealt with the sin, the
guilt of his people in their substitute. Blessed, blessed,
blessed is the man. We say, oh, I'm blessed. I've
got a good job. Good, good, good. That job is
going to be gone. Forget it. Oh, I'm a blessed
man. I've got stuff. Well, that's
good. That's good. But that stuff isn't
going to be here. I'll tell you blessed. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord won't impute sin. Won't charge with
sin. And these blessed manifest the
mercy of God. God Almighty has given them that
new heart. They recognize their need of
a substitute, their poor in spirit. They know their need. I need
One to answer for me. I need One that put away my guilt. I need One that stands before
Almighty God and intercedes for me. I need One that pleads His
own merit on my behalf." I need that. Poor in spirit. Helpless. Needful. They see their
need. They're meek people. What does
that mean, meek? They've bowed. They've bowed
to God's providence. They've bowed to God's working.
They're meek. They bow to Him. They rest in
Him. He is their Master. And you know
they hunger and thirst after righteousness. You that believe. You're sitting there struggling
within yourself. I know you are. But there is
within you that believe, there's a nature that's sitting here
and you're thinking to yourself, I want to hear the next thing
God's got to say. I want to hear. I want to hear. Tell me one more time. Tell me
again. Tell me how you put away my guilt. Tell me how He's not
going to charge me with sin. Tell me how the Lord was made
sin for me. Tell me one more time. You're telling me that God chose
me and set His affection on me. That's right. They hunger. They thirst after
Him. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
Verse 8, And I, John, saw these things, and I heard them. And
when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet
of the angel, which showed me these things. John not only looked,
that is, perceived, regarded, and took heed. But he said, I
heard them. He understood. He understood
them. He understood what I heard. Job
said in Job 13.1, Lo, mine eye has seen, it's perceived it. I've seen all this in mine ear,
have heard it and understood it. A blessed people. Number one,
God's given them a heart to hear the Word of God. But He's given them a heart to
perceive it and understand it. And when they hear it and they
understand it, they come to this conclusion. Who is a God like
unto thee? Where is your God, David? My
God is in the heavens. And He's done whatsoever He's
pleased. That's God. That's God I serve.
After the way that men call heresy. Paul said, that's the way I worship
God. If I just bow. Do you understand the depth of
Him? No, I don't. But I understand something. I
understand God showing mercy to one that needed mercy. I understand
that. Oh, he said, I saw these things,
I heard them. To what does seeing and hearing
those things refer? they refer to the prophecy, the
sayings of this book. It sets forth, and this is what
this book sets forth. I kind of came down to three
things that I think the prophecy, the sayings of this book set
forth. Number one, they set forth that
God is sovereign. That's just, I mean, if you want
to get down to the brass tacks, what does this book say about
God? It says this, God is no beggar.
God is no beggar. God is not trying to do anything.
He is not attempting to do anything. If God is trying to save somebody,
then He is not God. He is not God if He is trying
to do something. Almighty God that spoke this
world into existence. Almighty God that sustains it
by the Word of His power. You think God Almighty, who looks
at His angels and charges them with folly, you think God Almighty
is going to leave in the hands of a nobody eternal salvation? No, sir. Almighty God does as He will. But what if He's willing to save
somebody? Then He's going to save them.
He does as He will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And no man stays His hand. Well, I thought if a man resisted
Him with his free will, well, you thought wrong. You thought
wrong. Show me one verse in the Bible,
one verse to where Almighty God is waiting on a man to do anything. One verse. The prophecy of this book sets
forth that God is God. The second thing that I know
this book sets forth is that the Lord Jesus Christ is God's
Son, His beloved Lamb, in whom He has placed everything. Everything. All power. All power. I've said before,
how much does that leave for me and you? None. None. Did not the Lord
say, without me you can do nothing? Without me you can do nothing.
All power is given unto the Son. And thirdly, I know this, that
the prophecy of this book set forth that God has a particular
people that shall endure in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they shall be saved. God's going to save them. God
is sovereign. God Almighty has got a Lamb,
and it's the blessed Son. And God's got a people, and He's
going to save them. That just sums it up. Everything
concerning that is what this book is all about. God is going
to bring honor to Himself. Turn back. I just quoted Job
13.1. Turn back to Job 12. Just before Job 13.1, I want
to read Job 12, verse 21-25, the last few verses
before when Job said, Lo, mine eye hath seen all this, and mine
ear hath heard and understood it. This is what was said just
before that. Job 12.21. Job says, speaking of the Lord,
he poureth contempt upon princes and weakeneth the strength of
the mighty. He discovereth deep things out
of darkness and bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
He increaseth the nations and destroyeth them. He enlargeth
the nations and straighteneth them again. He taketh away the
heart of the chief of the people of the earth, and causeth them
to wander in a wilderness where there is no way. They grope in
the dark without light, and He maketh them to stagger like a
drunken man. That's God. God can raise up
a nation, He can put a nation down. Almighty God can move nations
according to His will, for the good of His people and according
to His purpose. He's God. What's going to happen
in this world of turmoil? Whatever God's purposed. That's
what's going to happen. What about all these nations
and these atom bombs and stuff like that? What's going to happen?
Whatever the Lord has purposed. That's what's going to happen.
What's going to happen today? Whatever He's purposed. See, that's God. That's the God we serve. Oh,
upon hearing that, John had just heard, he said, I behold quickly,
blessed he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And John said, and I saw those
things, I heard them. And he said, when I heard them,
John did something that was very ignorant, and I don't doubt his
sincerity. But you know, the Scripture,
it brings out what a man really is. You know, it doesn't sugarcoat
anything. It just brings out what a David
truly is, and it brings out what a Marvin truly is, and it brings
out just exactly what you are, and it brings out who God is.
The Word of God is so. It's faithful. He said, I saw these things, heard them,
and when I heard and had seen, I fell down to worship before
the feet of the angel, which showed me these things. I know that God's people are
frail creatures. I understand that. I know they're
subject to fall. I know that. No matter how blessed,
how taught, how sincere a man is, a man is a frail creature. Frail. Liable to mistakes. Liable to idolatry. That's what
he did. He was going to bow down and
worship that angel. The second time he had done that,
look over Revelation 19.10 just a few pages back. Revelation
19.10, I fell at his feet to worship him. He said unto me,
See thou do it not? I am thy fellow servant and of
thy brethren that hath the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Sadly, but truthfully, we know that every believer is
capable, because of the presence of sin that's there, of not believing
God. The sin that doth so easily beset
us. I mean to just unbelievable how
quickly. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. God's people, because of the
presence of sin, they fail. And they see it. And
they know it. But I'll tell you this, they
don't make a trade of wickedness. They don't sit there and use
it as an excuse. Well, because I'm a sinner, it
just doesn't matter. Yes, it does matter. Yes, it
does. Yes, it does. Well, it doesn't
matter the way I act. Yes, it does. It doesn't matter if I'm dishonorable
before Almighty God. Yes, it does. Well, I'm just
a sinner. It matters. They war and they
strive against that which is rebellious before Almighty God. They strive against it. John
was going to fall down and worship this angel. Proverbs 24, 16 says,
For a just man falleth. A just man. A justified man.
Falleth seven times and riseth up again. But the wicked shall
fall into mischief, that is to say, and not get up. God's people
struggle. You show me a believer that has
a war going on within him, and I'll show you one that hates
what he is by that old nature. Jeremiah said, I loathe myself. I hate myself. I hate myself. Oh, wretched man,
Paul says that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? This stinking, rebellious nature. Who shall separate me? I'll tell
you who will. God will. In death, God will. He'll take
it away. The believer, though pressed
down in his mind and body through the presence of sin, when he
sees his failings And He emerges taught through that. Taught. You think back. Think back on
this morning. Think back on a moment ago. Think
back on last week or last year. And let me ask you this. Even
in your failings, has not God taught you through that His faithfulness? The Scripture says all things
work together for good. You mean even my failings? Even
your failings. God teaching you, He's faithful. You're not! But He is. He keeps you. And if He didn't
keep you, you wouldn't be kept. I can tell you that. Verse 9,
Then saith He unto me, See thou do it not? For I am thy fellow
servant, and of thy brethren, the prophets, and of them which
keep the sayings of this book you worship God. Oh, how different
is the attitude of all that God has kept in a proper and an honoring
position. Satan would have had the Lord
Jesus Christ in the desert fall down and worship him. Do you know? Hear me well, because I mean
just exactly what I'm about to say. I mean this, so help me,
I mean this. the thought or the belief that
a man has a free will. A will that can dictate when
or not that he comes to Christ is the thought that God is to
worship him. Because that thought says, I
will do what I want to do when I want to do it. My will is the
will that matters. If God wants me to do something
and I have a free will to do it, that saying, I'm the boss. I make the last decision. I'm
the one that says what's going to happen. That is the very essence
of Satan's thoughts to have Christ worship him. Now you think about
that. Free will. Free will is what
Satan did when God kicked him out of heaven. Satan said, I
will exalt myself above them all time. I will sit. I will. And God kicked him out.
I told somebody, I said, you take a pyramid, call this rebellion. Here's the base. The very pinnacle
up here at the top is free will. man's free will against Almighty
God. God is the boss. And not you. And not me. That angel says,
don't do that. Don't do that. See thou do it
not. I am thy fellow servant. I am your fellow servant. Whether
this was one of the elect angels that God kept from falling, Possibly
one of the cherubim? I don't know. He doesn't say.
So therefore, for me to speculate, I know it was a messenger, and
I know it wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that. Because
he said, don't do it! Don't do it! No! If that had
been Christ, he would have been worthy of worship. Don't do it! I am your fellow servant. My
purpose is to honor God in the capacity that God has placed
in me. That's what he's saying. I am a fellow servant, and of
thy brethren, the prophets." As much a servant in the position
that he held as the brethren and the prophets were in their
position. God has called me to be a pastor,
a preacher. Does that give me the right to
be worshipped? Absolutely not. I am your fellow
servant. I am your servant. I am your
servant, for Christ's sake. the servant of God's people,
the servant of God to God's people. I'm your fellow servant. And
where God's called you, you that believe, God's called you to
the position that you're in. That's your position. A vital,
a vital position. Do it not. For I am thy fellow
servant, and it is the brethren and them that keep the sayings
of this book. Those which keep the sayings
of this book are those from verse 7, which watch, gladness, and
maintain their place of distinction by God's grace. Blessed are those. And this angel maintained, set
forth his position according to God's purpose. Paul said in
1 Timothy 5.21, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus
and the elect angels that thou observe those things without
preferring one to another. The elect angels, those that
God kept from falling, though they were not in union with Christ
in the sense as pertaining to redemption, for he took not on
him the nature of angels." Those third of the angels that fell,
Christ came not to redeem any of them. He came not with the
nature of angels, but he came in the form and the fashion of
a man. And he humbled himself before
God. This angel that was kept from falling was kept by God's
grace. He was the messenger He said,
I'm your fellow servant. Don't worship me. You worship
God. That is, pay the due respect
and homage to Him under a sense of obligation. I looked up that
word. I said that because that was
the definition. Worship. It has to do with the
kissing of the hand. Kiss the hand. But it has to
do with paying and giving respect out of a sense of obligation. I owe him respect. I owe him. And I don't know how. But he who does, he who has honored
the Father, he who has bowed to the Father's will as a man
that came into this world and as a man Walk this earth. The God-man, the Messiah, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man by one man, the obedient man. There has been one obedient man. And that man has honored God.
That man has worshiped God. That man has worshiped that man,
the God-man. He worshiped God. Obedient. And that which He accomplished,
He charged to me. And in that day, when the Father
says unto all that He has called to Himself, the faithful, and
hear Him say, Well done, thy good and faithful servant. How
shall we be considered faithful any other way? than by the imputed
righteousness of Christ. How shall we? We won't. Salvations
of the Lord in the person of our blessed Savior. I'll tell
you this. We worship. We worship God. We worship Him. We worship Him
in a substitute. We worship Him in our federal
head. God Almighty is dealing with
His people in one man. One man. Well, I thought He was
dealing with one man. One man. Now, you think about
it. If Almighty God is dealing with
me on the merit, on the accomplishment, in the
glory One man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has said of Him,
that's my beloved Son, and I'm well pleased with Him. If He's
dealing with me in Him, I worship God. I worship Him in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And knowing that Almighty God
is dealing with me in the person of my substitute, gives me great
comfort to know I rest in Him. I look to Him. And the believer
says, when he says, I come quickly, the believer constantly says,
Lord Jesus, come quickly. Come quickly.