Concluding, Concerns, and Exhortations - 64

Well, I stand before you tonight with a sense of sobriety and a sense of my own finiteness. A man I've heard preach, a very skillful, gifted, powerful preacher who was scheduled to preach at Grace Reformed Baptist Church this morning. Had a stroke, went into the hospital, contracted a bacterial infection and died.

Randy Pazzoni. Man, I've heard preach. He had every intention to be preaching today, but God had other plans for him. So every time we're able to gather in this place, and I'm able to stand behind this pulpit, it's not something that I should be presumptuous about and neither should you about your being with the people of God on this earth.

So that has sobered me. Well, tonight, I want to begin with a word from a renowned theologian and writer, Vern Poitras. And he says this about the book of the Revelation. You can summarize the book's message in one sentence. God rules history and will bring it to its consummation in Christ. You say, well, that seems pretty confined and simplistic.

God rules history and will bring it to its consummation in Christ. He further states, read it with this main point in mind and you will understand. You will not necessarily understand every detail.

Neither do I, he says, but it is not necessary to understand every detail in order to profit spiritually from the book. Now, there is, in fact, great benefit, as John told us in the prologue, benefit to reading it, to hearing it and to keeping the word. And because of that, great benefit in reading it and hearing it. Well, how are you going to hear it? You're going to hear it when you're gathered here and the preacher reads week by week the book. But there's blessing promised to those who hear it.

Therefore, let me give you some advice. As I've been studying in my preparation for this sermon series, I've practiced reading the scriptures, reading the book of the Revelation over and over out loud so that I could hear the words of this book, because blessing is promised to those who hear it. And there's something interesting. I've studied and studied and studied and studied a passage to preach. And the only time I heard it read out loud was when I stood here and read it. And when I heard what I read, I heard things that I hadn't picked up in all of my studying. I don't know how to explain that, but there's something conveyed to us when we read aloud the book of the Revelation. So my suggestion to you when you happen to be in that portion of the word of God, read it out loud so that you are hearing audibly the word of this book. Well, you've heard it said or asked, how do you eat an elephant?

And you eat an elephant one bite at a time. Tonight's the 64th bite of this book that we have been studying together. Here's how I'd like to proceed this evening. I need to remind us of the relationship between what John says here at the end of the book in reference to what he said in the prologue. What did he say? He said this in our study, verse 6 of Revelation 22, this is last week. Then he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. And then the words of the Lord Jesus bless.

Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. And then to remind you what John said back in Revelation, chapter one. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it. For the time is near.

The time is near. The fundamental issue is how we respond to the word of God, how we respond to the scriptures. Are they from God? Are they trustworthy? Are they true?

Can you build your life on them? Can you trust your never-dying soul to this word? I want you to hear what Philip Ryken says in a book that he wrote, City on a Hill, subtitled Reclaiming the Biblical Pattern for the Church in the 21st Century.

We're talking about the word of God, the scriptures. Are they from God? Are they trustworthy? Are they true?

Can we build our life upon them? Can we trust our never-dying soul to its message? Listen to what he says. Expository preaching means making God's word plain. In an expository sermon, the preacher simply tries to explain what the Bible teaches. The main points of his sermon are the points made by a particular text in the Bible. The minister not only begins with scripture but also allows the scripture to establish the context and the content for his entire sermon.

The way he decides what to say is by studying what the Bible has to say so that the scripture itself sets the agenda for his interpretation and application. This kind of preaching is most helpfully done when a minister follows the logic of the scriptures, systematically preaching chapter by chapter and verse by verse through entire books of the Bible. This helps ensure that a congregation hears what God wants them to hear and not simply what the minister thinks they ought to hear.

But expository preaching is not so much a method as it is a mindset. A minister who sees himself as an expositor knows that he is not the master of the word but its servant. He has no other ambition than to preach what the scriptures actually teach. His aim is to be faithful to God's word so that his people can hear God's voice.

He himself is only God's mouthpiece, speaking God's message into the ears of God's people and thus into their minds and hearts. To that end, he carefully works his way through the scriptures, reading, explaining, and applying them to his congregation. On occasion, he may find it necessary to address some pastoral concern in a topical fashion, but even then, his sermons come from his exposition of particular passages of scripture. Rather than focusing on his own spiritual experience or on current events or on what he perceives as his congregation's needs and interests, the minister gives his fullest attention to teaching what the Bible actually says. I think that's a good commentary on what has characterized this pulpit ministry through the years. Expository preaching. We're interested in what God has to say, not so much on what the preacher has to say, but we are interested in what the preacher has to say as long as what the preacher has to say is in conformity with the revealed will of God. So, the takeaway from that is it's one thing to hear the word of God, it's another thing to have a life commitment to obedience to the word of God. And that is the challenge that is set before us here at the end of the book. Promises of blessing are conferred on those who hear and heed the word of God. Well, tonight we want to make verses 8 through 11 our concentration of study. And as we do, I want to show you five insights. Let me read these verses again.

This is 8 through 11. John says, Now I, John, saw and heard these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he, that is the angel, said to me, See that you do not do this, for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who hope, of those who keep the words of this book, worship God.

And he said to me, Do not seal the words of this prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he who is holy, let him be holy still.

So let's proceed tonight walking through this passage together. Number one, I want you to see a concluding concern, a concluding concern as John comes to the end of this book. What is it that has gripped him?

What is he concerned about? There it is in verse eight, Now I, John, saw and heard these things, and when I heard and saw. So John is talking about the things that he has heard and seen. And he characterized these visions that he heard and saw as the word of God back in the prologue in chapter one.

And his concern is the book's authenticity. That people would understand that what he heard and what he saw is in fact a revelation from God. This is not his overactive imagination. It isn't what he dreamed. It isn't what he thought up. It's what God revealed to him by way of vision. Now I, John, saw and heard these things.

And you wonder, why would he be saying that at this point? Well, he has saw and heard a lot of things. And he's drawing attention to that in the same way I think that he drew attention to this same idea in the epistle that he wrote. Look back to 1 John with me quickly. His style of writing, he's constrained by the very same idea at the beginning of his first epistle as he is here at the end of the book of Revelation. He says in 1 John 1, again it says, What was heard, seen, and touched. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. The life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. John is establishing in the prologue of this epistle the very thing he's trying to establish and make reference to again at the end of Revelation. That is the authenticity of the word of God. And we spent time last Sunday night showing you this chain of transformation, authoritative transformation of Revelation.

You remember that? John is just one chain in this, or one link in this chain. Back to Revelation chapter 1, I think this is very, very critically important. This is a concluding concern.

This is what he comes back to. The authenticity of what he has seen and heard as a revelation from God. John is testifying to his part in this authoritative chain of authority. Verse 1, he says, it says, the revelation of Jesus Christ. So this entire book is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him. So God the Father has given to God the Son revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must surely take place. And He sent and signified by His angel to His servant John. God the Father revealed to God the Son, who revealed to an angel, a single angel, who in turn revealed to John the Apostle for what purpose?

For the purpose to show His servants things which must shortly take place. So John received his revelation by means of visions, what he heard and what he saw. And he is a critical link in this transmission of authoritative revelation. And he is saying there in chapter 22, now I, John, saw and heard these things.

A concluding concern. But not only a concluding concern, but a repeated, erroneous response to a heavenly messenger. He says, now I, John, saw and heard these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. I'm calling this a repeated, erroneous response to a heavenly messenger. He did the very same thing in Revelation chapter 19 verses 9 and 10 at the revelation of the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he was told the very same thing.

Don't do that. I'm a messenger. I'm an angel. And there's a human tendency to venerate the messenger, to fail to recognize the ultimate source in the chain of revelation, that God is the ultimate source. The preacher, the teacher is just the human instrument.

But we see it all the time, don't we? I remember being in a Bible study where Dr. Richard Belcher was teaching and there was a new convert in that Bible study. She was just so hungering and thirsting after righteousness. She was just taking it all in. And I remember one particular Wednesday night that she communicated to the group that she had gone to work and she told Dr. Belcher, she says, I went and I told so-and-so at work what you said. Well, he was so kind and careful and correcting her, and this is what I remember him saying to her.

I think her name was Carol. He said, Carol, if you believe what you believe because I said it, it's just a matter of time before you will believe someone else because of what they say. You need to believe what you believe, not because I said it, but because you have discovered it to be true in your own study of the word of God. And I thought how kind and gracious that was, but how instructive that was. She was very appreciative and respectful of Dr. Belcher and anything Dr. Belcher said was truth. And he was a man you could trust, but Paul said about the Bereans, they were more noble because they studied the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true.

So if they're checking up behind Paul to make sure what Paul said was true, then there's ground for everybody to be checking up on any preacher, whoever they are, to see if what they are saying is true. I want you to hear what Max Donor, a commentary, he's written this commentary that I have benefited much from. And, you know, there are all kinds of commentaries. There are very studious, grammatical commentaries that we study and learn from. There are commentaries and commentators that we read from that are very pastoral.

And Max Donor, I think, is a combination of both. Listen to what he says. Often we feel a profound debt of gratitude to those who have opened and explained the Word of God to us, but we must never confuse the messenger with the message and think the one who tells us the wonderful news of salvation and redemption is somehow the source of the message, the supplier of its truth or the accomplisher of its work. Teachers of the Word of God are instruments in the hands of God to convey the truth of God, but we must never confuse them with God or give them the esteem that belongs to God. Thank God for the teachers.

He supplied to you. Thank God for the teaching that they conveyed to you and thank God for the truth you learned and the blessings you received through them. But always remember that God is the source and the supplier of all. Teachers are stewards of the truth and dispensers of the truth, but they are not the source of the truth. Teachers are our fellow servants. Teachers have to keep the truth and obey the truth just as much as those they teach have to keep it and obey it. Teachers and students alike are both under the authority of the Word of God and both are to worship the God who is revealed in that word and no one else. You must never substitute a visible man for the invisible God in your affections, in your loyalty or in your worship.

Worship belongs to God alone and never to any man, no matter how much blessing that man has brought into your life through the enablement of God. I think that's a very good word. And it's a slippery slope. It's a slippery slope. Preachers preach for the edification and for the help and for the equipping of the saints of God. And when people are helped, people come and communicate appreciation to the preacher. And it's easy for men to get a following and to feed that carnal desire to be esteemed and followed and thereby they tailor the message because that is what people they think want to hear as opposed to what God has said whether people like it or not. So it's a slippery slope.

You see it all the time. You see people following men. And then what happens when that man proves to be less than what you thought he was? Then if you're following a man and not following God, you become disillusioned. So we need to be careful. Well, as we study, this is followed by a repeated correction given and the rationale for that correction there in verse nine. Then he said to me, see that you do not do that. So the angels telling John what you're doing is not right. Do not do this. Do not bow down and worship me. And what's the rationale? For I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets and of those who keep the words of this book.

Worship God. A repeated correction, the very almost identical words that he was told in Revelation chapter 19. And we'd say, well, is this two different occasions? Yes, this is two different occasions. Well, you'd think he, after being corrected by an angel in Revelation 19, he wouldn't do it again. Really? When you're corrected about something, does that guarantee you're never going to do it again? No.

No, we are we are very good at being repeat offenders, right? But again, it shows the tendency to be so amazed at what you hear that you misplace your confidence. And that's what he does. And why is this so important? Because that is what God commanded. Exodus chapter 20, verse three, You shall have no other gods before me.

Verse five, And you shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. So what have we seen so far? We have seen, number one, a concluding concern. Secondly, a repeated, erroneous response to a heavenly messenger.

Number three, a repeated concern and its rationale. What is that rationale? I am your fellow servant and of your brother in the prophets and of those who keep the words of this book. That's the rationale.

Don't do this. I'm just a human messenger. I'm like you, John. My whole orientation is to worship God. I'm on assignment here. But when I'm done with this assignment, I'm returning to my number one priority, worship.

And that's what all of us need to be looking forward to. Which brings us to number four, an insightful exhortation. And again, it's rationale in verse 10. And he that is the angel said to me, John says, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book. Do not conceal it.

Do not hide the manuscript. Publish it far and wide because it is relevant right now in this first century, John. And it will continue to be relevant until the second coming of Christ. Now, this is an interesting contrast because in many respects, the Book of Revelation picks up where Daniel leaves off. I made reference to Daniel last week.

We're making reference to Daniel again tonight. In Daniel, Chapter 12, verse four, God told Daniel this. Seal up the sayings of this book.

Why? For the time is not at hand. What is John told here in verse 10? Do not seal the words of this prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He's saying the time for the usefulness of this book begins right now. The message of this book is intensely relevant for every person who has lived, who is living and who will live between the two advents of Jesus Christ. This book is relevant. The message of this book is a field manual for the spiritual warfare of every generation between the first and second coming of Christ. The message of this book was just as relevant to John's readers in the first century as it is to us in the 21st century. And any interpretation of the book that says, oh, this is something for the future. This is for when the rapture comes and the Great Tribulation comes.

It'll be relevant then, but it's not relevant now. Tell that to John. Tell that to John as he's suffering on the island of Patmos. And he says, I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The church has known persecution from its inception from the first century right up until now. So the whole idea that this book only is relevant for a future time is off base. That's why this book was relevant for John's audience and it's relevant for us today. And then we come to a fifth insight. And what is that in verse 11? It is a sobering principle, a sobering principle. There is a contrast here in verse 11, a contrast between an unjust person and a righteous person and a contrast between an immoral person and a holy person. And it calls to mind that principle that what a man sows, that will he also reap.

And again, it's kind of an odd way of, it seems odd in our hearing, but listen again. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy or immoral, let him be filthy or immoral still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he who is holy, let him be holy still.

Here's what is being communicated. If you live a life of injustice now, in this life, and if you live a life of immorality now, then that will be confirmed on the day of judgment and you will be punished in hell accordingly. On the other hand, if you live a devoted life to God now, a righteous life now, and if you live a life of holiness now, then you will be confirmed on the day of judgment as being holy and righteous forever and you will be rewarded on the new earth accordingly. The point here in verse 11 is that the dominant characteristic of your life determines your destiny because the dominating characteristic of your life reveals whether you are regenerate or whether you are not and whether you are known by Christ or whether you are a stranger to Him.

That's what's being communicated. It's sobering, a very sobering principle. Therefore, we need to take seriously the teachings, the warnings, and the exhortations of this book. We need to believe what it says about the coming judgment and flee from the wrath to come by fleeing to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and cleansing and eternal life. The decisions and the choices that you make now about who you trust and therefore about how you live will be set in stone.

There will be no opportunity when these matters are settled on the day of judgment. What John is saying, what God is saying is that the trajectory of your life in this life will determine where you spend eternity. So it's a sobering question to ask, how is my life oriented? What is the trajectory of my life? What path am I on and the path that I'm on, where is that destination?

It's not hard, it's a very simple question. If we're pursuing righteousness, we're pursuing a life of holiness, we can have confidence that when this life is over that we will be with God and we will rejoice in the blessings that are reserved for us there. But if our life is characterized by unrighteousness, by immorality, not necessarily just in actions but in thought, if we're just consumed with immoral thoughts all the time, that's what characterizes our life. And again, that may not be known by others, but you know what God knows about your life.

If your life is characterized by injustice and immorality, then do not be fooled. You are not in Christ, you are not in a safe place, you are under the wrath of God. And when you breathe your last, that destiny is sealed in stone.

There's no second chance, there's no opportunity. So, today's the day of salvation, now is the accepted time. Flee the wrath to come by fleeing to Jesus Christ for cleansing, for forgiveness, and for the eternal life that he's promised. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Father, thank you for revealing these things to us.

Thank you for illuminating our minds that we might understand the scriptures. Father, you know the condition of every heart. You know the condition of every person that's gathered in this room, that is listening by live stream and or will listen someday in the future. Search our hearts, O God. Bring Holy Ghost conviction to those who are outside of Christ. Rescue them from themselves and from the hell that awaits them. Have mercy upon them and upon any who are in this place tonight. And for those of us who have fled the wrath to come and fled to Jesus Christ, cause our hearts to rejoice afresh in him and commit ourselves to a life of obedience and to a life of holiness and righteous living for our good as we live on this earth and for your honor and glory, we pray. Amen.