Mm. As we near the end of our series in Revelation, you might be wondering about a takeaway. a practical application you can implement into your Christian walk. Today, on Turning Point, Dr. David Jeremiah offers not just one, but several such applications, all with the urgent reminder that each day brings us closer to Christ's return.
Here's David to introduce his message, what to do until then. You know, over the years as I have taught prophecy, I've had many people tell me that I shouldn't spend so much time doing this because it's not practical. Whenever they say that, I know they haven't been reading the Bible the way they should have been because. When you read the prophetic truths of the Bible, almost without exception, there is always an application in every passage. I always think about that, for instance, in John 14, says, Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Now listen, go back to the first part of the verse. Jesus said to His disciples, I'm going to tell you something that will keep you from having a troubled heart. Let not your heart be troubled. And then He tells them about heaven. The Bible is filled with instructions for living now.
Based upon what we know in the future.
So that's what we're going to talk about for these next two days: what to do until then. And we're going to give some instructions straight from the Bible about how we're to live our lives as we anticipate going to heaven to be with Jesus someday. Don't forget, during this month, we have made available copies of a brand new fiction book that we have done. First time ever and over. 50 years of writing, I agreed to do a fiction book with a friend of mine named Sam O'Neill, and we did this book called Vanished.
It's an incredible story. But it's a story filled with truth about heaven and about the rapture and about dealing with the issues that it relates to in our life today. It's a page turner, it's something that you will. Want to share with others, and I hope you'll get your copy of it during the month of July, which is little by little getting away from us, if you've noticed. Here's what you do: send a gift of any size to Turning Point to help us.
Do your best. And when you do that, ask for your copy and vanished. This beautiful hardback book will be on its way to you before you know it. The book also is being released in the bookstores during this month, and so you can find it in stores all over America.
So here we go. What to do until Jesus comes back. Let's find out as we open our Bibles together in Revelation. And there shall be no more curse. That's perfect restoration.
But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. That's perfect administration. His servants shall serve him. That's perfect subordination. And they shall see his face.
That's perfect transformation. And there shall be no night there, and they shall need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord giveth them light. That's perfect illumination. And they shall reign forever and ever. That's perfect exaltation.
Everything about the future in the days ahead is perfection. That's what God has prepared for those that love him.
So, as we come to this passage before us in the last part of the book, everything about redemption is finished. God's people are with him. The rebels and the enemies are in hell. All of God's global purposes have been realized. Nothing is left for John to speak of except to make his closing comments.
And the final words of this prophecy are literally an appendix which John has given to us so that we might know how to apply what we have learned over these months of study. Literally, verses 6 through the end of the chapter is the epilogue of the book of Revelation, and it corresponds to the prologue of the book of Revelation back in the first chapter. In fact, as I studied chapter 1 and chapter 22, I was amazed to discover how many things are alike in both places. I want you to do something with me by way of exercise. Hold your place in Revelation 22 and turn back to Revelation chapter 1.
I want you to note how John, as an excellent writer, Comes back at the very end of his book to underscore again some very salient features of his prophecy. What he did in chapter 1, he's going to reiterate in chapter 22. And I'll just show you four or five of them so you can study it on your own. In both chapters, both chapter 1 and chapter 22, we are reminded that the prophecy is from God. Notice chapter 1, verse 1: the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.
Notice chapter 22, verse 6. 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 be shortly done. Both chapters tell us that the prophecy is from God. Secondly, in both chapters, the message is signified by an angel. Chapter 1, verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.
And he sent and signified it by his angel unto the servant John. Chapter 22 and verse 6. These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must be done. Number three, in both chapters, John is mentioned as the human agent in writing.
Chapter 1, verse 1. God gave this prophecy unto his servant John. Chapter 22 and verse 8. And I, John, saw these things. Notice, he's making very sure that every key element concerning the construction of the book is reviewed so that nobody misses how the book actually got here and what we're to understand about it.
Number four, in both chapters, there is a blessing upon those who give attention to the prophecy. Go back to chapter one and verse three. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy. Chapter 22, Blessed is he that heareth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Number five, in both chapters, the eminency of the events is mentioned.
In other words, it's something that's going to happen quickly. Go back to chapter one. The revelation of Jesus Christ, verse 1, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. Then go over to chapter 22 again, and you will discover in chapter 22, we are told that these things must shortly be done. Number six, in both chapters, we are given titles of Jesus Christ that we are to remember.
Notice chapter 1, verse 5, and again, verse 8. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, verse 8, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord. Notice chapter 22, verses 13 and 16. Chapter 22, verse 13, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And verse 16, I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.
I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star.
So, if you look back through the list, you will discover that what John said in chapter 1, he now reiterates in chapter 22. As he started the book, he's going to finish the book. And as we study these final verses of the book of Revelation, we must not miss the important applications to your life and to mine. I would feel like this had been a total waste of time if, after our study of the book of Revelation, we just walk away and feel smarter than when we started. Or we have a pile of manuscripts or a couple of albums of tapes and we can say to our friends, we studied the book of Revelation.
What difference does it make to our lives? How is it supposed to capture our energies for Jesus Christ in light of the fact that the end of the world is at hand? In light of the fact that Jesus Christ is soon to return, what should our priorities be and how ought we to live? What are we supposed to be doing until then? It would be possible for us to get on a prophetic kick, so involved in the future and the coming again of Christ, that we forget that there is never a prophetic message in the Word of God that does not have a present-day application to our lives individually.
I want to give you what in the 22nd chapter I believe are the things we ought to be doing until then. And there are Just a few priorities which John gives to us. Number one, We are to walk submissively. Notice verses 6 and 7. 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. Behold, I come quickly.
Now watch this phrase. Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Notice, John tells us that we are to be responsible to keep the sayings of the book which we have studied.
Now before we talk about our responsibility to do that, Let me show you from the scriptures how very important every prophecy is to God in heaven.
Sometimes I hear people talk about the book of Revelation, and it's sort of like it's optional material for more mature Christians, or it's optional material for those who have a bent toward prophecy, or it's, you know, one of these days when I'm old and gray, I'll get around to studying the book of Revelation. I want you to notice. that God places great Credit and great priority on the words of the book of Revelation. In order to see that, look down at verses 18 and 19. Just before the closing words of the book, There is something attached to the book of Revelation that you will not find at the end of any other book in the Bible.
There is a blessing and a curse that is attached to the study of the book. Notice, I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book: if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in the book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Now, God says that what is written in the book of Revelation is very important and it is not to be tampered with. We are not to fool around with God's truth in this last book of the Bible.
So important is the message of the book of Revelation that God warns everyone not to fool with it, not to mess around with it, not to cut it up and subtract from it or to add to it.
Now, these comments concerning adding to and subtracting from the book of Revelation are found in a couple of places in the Old Testament in general concerning the book of the law. For instance, let me just read some passages to you. In Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2, we read, Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Proverbs 30, verses 5 and 6: Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar. For constantly in churches all over this country and around the world, people are taking a little text from the Bible and making it say whatever they want it to say. And they add to the scripture that which is not there by virtue of authority. Galatians chapter 1 verses 8 and 9 reminds us of the awesome responsibility that we have as we deal with God's word. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than ye have received, let him be accursed.
So it is not true, men and women, that all roads lead to the same place. And that all religions are the same. God puts a priority on his word. And here in the book of Revelation, just for our edification, there is an overabundance of evidence for inspiration and authority of God's word. We should expect that to be true, since no book in the Bible has ever been attacked like this book has been attacked.
It is left out of curriculum, it is never talked about, and people are always making fun of the symbolism of this book. And yet, if you go back through the book of Revelation, you will discover that the saints of God attest to its authority, that the heavenly beings attest to its authority, that the angels attest to its authority, that God the Father attests to its authority, that the Holy Spirit gives testimony to its veracity, that Jesus Christ on seven different occasions Tells us that this book is God's word and we are to believe it. Most of all, we are to follow it.
Now, in this passage that we have just read, and in this first priority, the Bible says we are to walk submissively to that body of truth that is here recorded. And the scripture uses an interesting word. It says, Blessed is he that keepeth. The words of this prophecy.
Now, some Christians obviously think that means buy a Bible and keep it. Keep it in your closet, keep it in your drawer, keep it on the coffee table. Keep it where you can get it just before you go to church. Keep the word of God. Is that what he meant?
No, that's not what John is talking about. John is talking about obedience. to the word of god John the Apostle loves to use this little word keep. It is a word which is in the Greek, it is the word tereo, and it means to adhere to or to follow or to be submissive to, to walk under the authority of. Literally, what John is saying at the end of this book is this: What to do until Jesus comes?
Walk submissively under the authority of God's word. And if you want to get a study on that word as it relates to obedience, you have to go back to where John used it in some of his earlier writings. And I'll just tell you where they are, and you can look them up later. For instance, in the Gospel of John, in the 14th chapter, John writes in Jesus' words, if you love me, what? Keep my commandments.
Keep them in a drawer, keep them in a file, keep them by. No, it means to obey them. John chapter 15, verse 10, If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 3, and hereby we do know that we know him. How do we know that?
If we keep his commandments. 1 John chapter 5, verses 2 and 3. And this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and what? Keep his commandments.
Now, what does the scripture say? We are to be doing until then. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of this prophecy. God expects us to read the book, catch the spirit of the book, and wherever there's instruction in the book, to walk submissively under the authority of God's written word. I cannot give you any better advice, as simple and naïve as it may sound.
What are you supposed to do while you're waiting for Jesus Christ to come back? You are supposed to find out what God has said. And then do it. The first priority, then, is the priority of obedience, to walk submissively before God. We must be men and women who take God's word seriously.
We must never get caught up in the spirit of our age, which is the spirit of accommodation. We are looked upon as Bible-believing Christians as a little bit weird. A little bit out of touch with reality. They say reality is out here in the culture, and we are removed from it by at least 20 years. When we do that which God tells us to do, we are looked upon by the watching world as a little bit out of touch.
Well, I don't know about the rest of you. While I'm waiting for Jesus to come, maybe I need to be just a little bit out of touch. In order that I might be submissive to God's word. And I want to say this to you, especially to young people who are caught in the peer pressure and in the vice of being accepted. It costs something to walk submissively to the Word of God, but the price is worth it.
And you will never be sorry that you put your life under the authority of God and His Word.
So priority number one is to walk submissively. And we are to do it in such a way that it is reflected in our life. I think that the great commentary on that text is Joshua chapter 1. I love that text. When God spoke to Joshua, he was about ready to take over for Moses.
And you know, the reason I like it, I must be honest, it's the only place in the Bible where you find the word prosperity and success in the same text. And I mean that in a spiritual sense. Nobody that I know of voluntarily and purposely goes out to fail. Everybody wants to be Spiritually prosperous and spiritually successful.
Well, in two verses, you will find the formula for spiritual prosperity and success. And I want you to turn back there. Hold your place in Revelation 22 and go back. Go back to Joshua chapter 1. Here is God's word to Joshua.
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee. Turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Prosperity and success, right there in those two verses.
Now, how do we do that?
Well, the Bible tells us there are four things we have to do in regard to God's word to keep the sayings of the book. Here they are. Number one, we are to read it obediently. Twice in these two verses, we are told that we are to observe to what? What's the rest of it?
Observe to what? to do.
Sometimes we get the idea we study the Bible so we can be smarter about it or we can understand more about it. But we should never read the Bible for any other purpose than to find out what God wants us to do so we can do it. Say that phrase with me, observe to do. Observe to do. We are to read the Bible obediently.
Secondly, we are to follow it exclusively. This book of the law was not to be one among many sources which Joshua followed. It was not to be mixed together with the other information, and then some kind of a hybrid philosophy comes out, but it was to be followed exclusively. God said to Joshua: Turn not from the right nor to the left, but stay right straight in the middle of the road and follow God's word. That's how we keep the words of God's book.
Thirdly, we're to believe it totally. Joshua was not permitted the option to choose what sections of the Bible he was going to believe and what sections he would not believe. Many modern scholars have taken the penknife and they've cut off the book of Revelation and they've cut out the book of Daniel and they don't like the book of Isaiah and part of Genesis is obnoxious to them and they have decided that they sit in authority on the Word of God. If you ask some who are part of the cults and the churches that don't follow the authority of the Scripture, if they're caught in a buying between what the church says and what the word of God says, they will always, if they're honest, say, the church sits in authority and in interpretation over the word of God. Don't you ever get yourself in a church like that.
This church is under the authority of God's word. We do not interpret God's word. God's word interprets us and dictates what we do. And Joshua was told that he was to believe the word of God totally. And then finally, he was to study it continually.
How do you get prosperity and success? By keeping the words of the prophecy, God told Joshua, listen to this now, to meditate in it when? Day and night. That's how you get the words of the prophecy, and that's how you walk submissively. When you get God's word into your heart and into your soul and into your being, and then every day you let that word program your life and you walk in submission to the word of God, that's the first priority for a believer while he's waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ to come back.
Walk. submissively.
Now let's look at the second one. It's found in verses 8 and 9. Of chapter 22 of the book of Revelation, Revelation 22, verses 8 and 9. And I, John, saw these things and 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. 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, worship God.
Priority number two, as we walk submissively, is we are to worship triumphantly. We're to worship triumphantly. You know, I love John. It's hard not to fall in love with this man who's given us such a great prophecy. But he is an emotional person.
You know, John is the apostle of what? Of love. If you read his book, the book of John and the Epistles of John, you will see love everywhere. John was kind of a sentimentalist. And when John was exposed to the outstanding things about God and the revelation of God, John just kind of came unglued.
He just couldn't control himself. I just think that he was spontaneous in the way he accepted the truth that was given him by God. Back in the first chapter, do you remember as we just began this study? We painted the picture of God seated in heaven with white hair and all of the beauty of his residential. Being.
And when we got all done, John's writing about this, and the scripture says, And I, John, fell down as dead before him. What happened? And he just collapsed in front of God. What was that? He was overwhelmed with who God was.
And you know, we have lost some of that, haven't we? We haven't had the privilege that John had to see that as he did, but we read it in the scripture. And when we see him as he is, we should be overwhelmed as well. The glory of his presence, the beauty of his presence, As presented to us in the Bible, should put us on our knees on occasion and just worship and adoration. And that's what we will do when we see Him one day in heaven.
So, we have one more crack at this question: what to do until then, and we'll take that opportunity on the Friday edition of Turning Point tomorrow. I hope you'll be with us then. Hey, friends, we have study guides for this whole series of the book of Revelation. I'm running out of time to tell you about them, but there are four study guides that outline this book, and you will find it very helpful if you've ever studied Revelation and want to study it again. You can find a lot about this material at davidjeremiah.org.
Go there today. I'll see you tomorrow. For more information on Dr. Jeremiah's series Escape the Coming Night, please visit our website where we also offer two free ways to help you stay connected, our monthly Turning Points magazine and our daily email devotional. Sign up today at davidjeremiah.org slash radio.
That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio or call us at 800-947-1993. Ask for your copy of David's exciting new novel set in the end times. Vanished. It's yours for a gift of any amount. You can also purchase the Jeremiah Study Bible in the English Standard, New International and New King James Versions, available in several handsome and resilient cover options.
Get all the details when you visit our website davidjeremiah.org slash radio. That's davidjeremiah.org slash radio. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we conclude the series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with Dr. David Jeremiah.
