As We Wait

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the weekend edition of Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis, heard daily on this station at 8 20 a.m. and 5 20 p.m. Truth Matters is a ministry of the Truth Project, whose mission is to empower men and women in the Christian faith to teach biblical truth in the culture and marketplace of ideas, using the Bible as a sacred trust of truth and sharing the message of Jesus. Learn more about the ministry of the Truth Project at www.projecttruthmatters.com.

Let's join this week's extended edition. Here's Dr. Davis continuing her teaching on what we're to do until Christ returns. We are going to pay a price for standing up for the Word of God, you know, for living the Word of God, for keeping His commandments. But this is a temporary price and is far less than the eternal price we're going to pay if we do not keep His commandments. You can keep His commandments and pay a temporary price, but eternally live in peace or not pay a price now, but eternally live in damnation. And I don't know about you, but for me, I'm going to be obedient to God because He is eternal life. He is my source.

He keeps me in perfect peace. And the price that I pay here has nothing to compare to what the price someone's going to pay in hell. So that's what I'm going to do.

That's what my house is going to do. And I hope and as for you and your house, that you're going to serve the Lord also. But, you know, when we talk about obedience, you know, and I actually just quoted this, one of the greatest commentaries in scripture on walking obediently in the Word of God is in Joshua. You know, we all know Joshua was Moses' second in command, and he led the Israelites into the Promised Land. But Joshua has an excellent commentary about walking obediently to the Word of God in chapter one.

So I'm going to read chapter one of Joshua verses seven through eight. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left.

You may be successful wherever you go. Keep this book as a law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it that then you will be prosperous and successful. You know, Joshua made it very clear to Israelites and it's very clear to us today. We are to read the Word obediently. We're to follow the Word exclusively. We are to believe the Word totally and we're to study the Word continually. That is how we are to live our lives.

And you are evidence of that. You know, if you've been sitting through a year worth of revelation, that shows that you have a desire to know the Word of God, also that you're diligent in your Bible study and that you dwell on it continually. So blessed are those that read these words aloud and blessed are those that keep the words of the prophecy written in the skull.

All right. So let's get on to the rest of chapter 22, where we're going to worship triumphantly. When John heard and saw these things in verse eight, and when I'd heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said, don't do that, as I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of the scroll.

You need to worship God. Worshipping God is our second priority here in Revelation. When John heard that Jesus was coming quickly, he fell down to worship.

The angel gave him a clear imperative that he was to worship God. So we are to walk submissively. We are to worship triumphantly. And that's what we're here to do until Christ comes.

We've got to be obedient and we've got to continue to worship him. Also, we've got to witness very urgently. If it's imminent, if it's coming soon, and we know that there are a number of people out there that don't know Jesus Christ as their savior, this should give us an urgency to witness. John is told by an angel not to seal up the prophecy that he has seen and recorded. Remember, I said earlier that Daniel was told to shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. John's prophecy is the revealing of Daniel's prophecy. Prophecy is one of the greatest evangelistic tools we have. An apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 and 11, Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. If there is not an urgency in your witness because of your knowledge of Revelation, then these words have not touched you. And you should be changed at the end of this book, that there should be an urgency within your heart to go out and evangelize and to tell the word and to tell the world about the word.

Revelation 22 verse 11, The word of God is the only agent for changing people's lives. People will stay in whatever condition they are in unless God's word causes them to be changed. Because it says here, Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong. Let the vile person continue to be vile. Let the one who does right continue to do right.

And let the holy person continue to be holy. After the rapture is not the time to get it right. You know, I know some are coming with that backup plan to say whenever the rapture happens, then I'll know it's real.

And then I'll get it right. The time to get it right is now. The time to live obediently is now. The time to worship God is now. The time to witness to your brother is now. The time to work fervently for the Lord is now. In verse 12 it tells us, Look, I am coming soon. My reward is with me.

I will give to each person according to what they have done. If you are a Christian who has been rightly taught the word of God, the first thing you ought to think about when you consider the second coming of Christ is the judgment seat of Christ. Following the rapture, appearing before the bema seat of judgment is the first thing that the believer experiences. But really, in churches today, we don't really talk about the judgment seat of Christ. We, you know, really just talk about going to heaven and living in eternal peace. We, you know, we really bypass the judgment seat of Christ. Or if we do talk about it, we have declawed it.

You know, we've taken the sting out of it. As you know, the judgment is not a judgment of condemnation. No, we've already passed from death unto life. We have eternal life because we've been washed by the blood of the Lamb. But it is a judgment of commendation.

So it is things that you did. You're going to be rewarding according to your deeds. But our goal here in the modern day church, I believe, is just to make it to heaven.

Because we feel like if we just get in, that's enough. But we will not be condemned, but we will be commended for our works. Our works will be judged. We preach so much that believers can't lose their salvation except by their own renunciation. We hardly preach about losing rewards. You ever heard of a minister speak about that or even heard that recently? We don't preach about losing rewards. We don't preach about lost opportunities.

And as I was studying, preparing for this, you know, a good title would be there, you know, there goes a crown. All these missed opportunities that we have for ministry, because we're so distracted by the things of the world. It's almost like my son. When I try to sit down with him to do his homework or even talk to him, it's the game that distracts him. It's the TV.

It's his sister. I have to really look him eye to eye, nose to nose, to get his attention. You know, the church struggles with prioritizing our obedience to him for the distractions that pull us in so many directions. But what we don't know is that we're missing all these opportunities that we could be rewarded for in heaven.

These things that we could lay at Christ's feet. Some of us are going to get there empty handed because of Facebook, because of good causes that are not the will of God. You know, and I think that's where the gray area for us is, is that there's a lot of Christians out there doing a lot of good causes, but it's not the will of God for their life. And you got to remember, obedience is better than sacrifice. So look at your own life.

I had to do that my own self. You know, the Lord has changed my career path recently, has really gotten my attention as to doing what's good, chasing success, but not chasing significance. We can do good things and it not be significant.

It cannot be in the will of God. We've got to chase significance. Next, we got to watch expectantly. We got to be obedient. We got to walk submissively. We got to worship triumphantly. We've got to work fervently. We've got to witness, but we got to watch. We got to watch expectantly because in verse 12 it says, Look, I'm coming soon.

Teikos means quickly, swift, soon. When the Lord comes, it's going to be so quick that we're not going to have the opportunity to change our status or condition in the light of his appearing. It's going to be the twinkle of an eye. So there's not going to be any hold up, let me grab, hold up, let me ask for forgiveness. No, it's going to happen so quickly.

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, a fraction of a nanosecond is how quick it will be. So there will not be any time for preparation. And in verse 11 of chapter 21, it says, He who is unjust or unrighteous will remain so. So if you're in that condition at the time that the Lord splits the eastern sky and the rapture and you're still alive and you're living in a situation where you're far from God, that's not the time. Now is the time to open your eyes. Now is the time to open the eyes of the believer. Now is the time to open the eyes of the sinner alike. To open the eyes of the believer means to look at our obedience. Look at the fruit that we're bearing. Look at our, look if there's any branches.

If there's any branches that are not bearing fruit, they're going to be pruned and cast into the fire. You know, what is our relationship with Christ? As I'm talking to you in this, you know, is the Holy Spirit drawing your heart, you know? Is there a reason why you're crying when you're alone?

Is there a reason why you're not happy? Deep down inside of you, there's an emptiness. There's an emptiness that you're trying to feel with so many things that only in feeling that with Lord Jesus Christ will you have eternal peace. Okay, so I've said a lot about how we are to live. Let's get into the last few verses of Revelation chapter 22, verses 17 through 21. It is the last invitation. So let me just summarize what we've talked about this far.

We've discussed a lot. What are we to do until Christ comes? We are to, one, walk submissively. Two, worship triumphantly. Three, witness urgently. Four, we are to work fervently.

And five, we are to watch expectantly. But for anyone to do any of these things, they have to first come to Christ. I'm talking to the believer and the unbeliever alike. All right, so let's read verses 17 through 21.

The Spirit and the bride say, come, and let the one who hears say, come. Let the one who is thirsty, come, and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of lack. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll. If anyone adds anything for them or to them, God will add to the person the plagues described in the scroll.

If anyone takes words away from the scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life, as in the holy city, which are described in the scroll. He who testifies to these things says, yes, I'm coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.

I've asked this question before, but I want to ask it again. What does all this mean to us? We've studied the books of Daniel and Revelation for over a year. And I'm just going to let you think in your own mind. How it's changed me is that it's called me to be more obedient, it's called me to witness more urgently, and it's called me to work more effectively or more fervently.

It's caused me to go after significance and not success. An invitation here is extended. In verse 17, the spirit and the bride say, come. The invitation for Christ to come to the earth and let him who hears. Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely and let him who thirsts come. So it's calling Christ to come to the earth, but also it's those who thirst to come and drink of the water of eternal life. The world is thirsty. Some just don't know it. Christians are to be salty.

Write this down. Christians are to be salty. Salt is a preservative, but also it induces thirst.

How do you know if anyone listening can eat McDonald's fries without a drink? Salt induces thirst. If you're stranded in the ocean and all you have is sea water, what happens? The more salt water you drink, the more dehydrated you become, the more you want to drink. Matthew says we are to be the salt of the earth. We are to induce thirst. As a Christian, your witness should be to make others realize, man, I'm thirsty. Whenever I get around her or whenever I get around him, I'm thirsty. Does being around you make others thirsty? Really, are you sharing the love of Christ? Is there joy within you that it makes others thirsty? You know, there's one thing I want to say, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I believe it's the truth. If your family can't stand you, then the world will not want you either.

You know, so look into your homes. Ecclesiastes says eternity is set in the hearts of man. Every man is born with an unquenchable thirst apart from God. When we are around sinners, we should make them more thirsty. Living our life in salt and light is a witness for Christ.

It is that basic, salt and light. When you think about obedience, when you think about all you got to do until Christ comes, you got to be salty, you got to be the light. And Revelation has changed my perspective on life and witnessing. So in these last verses, you know, it gives the warning, don't add, don't take away. And in studying the Bible, we are to look at, as David Jeremiah says, look at what it says, figure out what it means, figure out what it means for you. And so it's reading, it's understanding and then applying the Word of God. So that will allow us not to take away and not to add to because the truth is the truth as it is intended.

It is not intended to be diluted. And lastly, he who testifies to these things. Yes, I'm coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people.

Amen. You know, my children say the Lord's Prayer every night. And every time I hear them say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. They are praying for Jesus Christ to come. And we should be praying for Jesus Christ to come. As we see the landscape of this world changing, as we've seen the recent disruption in the world order, all the more we should be praying, come, Lord Jesus, come.

But what we're seeing is that this is a preparation for Christ's coming. You've been listening to the weekend edition of Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a ministry of The Truth Project, a North Carolina based ministry dedicated to teaching biblical truth and sound theology to those inside and outside of the church. If you'd like to listen to these messages on demand, go to Project Truth Matters dot com and click on the podcast link. Dr. Davis is also available to speak to your ministry group or church function. She can be reached by email at Cheryl Davis at Project Truth Matters dot com. Or if you'd like to send a letter, the address is Project Truth Matters, Post Office Box 159, St. Paul's, North Carolina 28384. You can hear Truth Matters devotionals on weekdays at 8.20 a.m. and 5.20 p.m. Until next time, let's all work together to teach of biblical truth to assist, equip, edify and encourage one another and bring the gospel to the world. Because truth matters. This is the Truth Network.