Revelation 22, if you haven't turned there yet, if you don't know where it's at and you don't have a Bible, there should be one right in front of you, just open all the way to the back and get to, up at the top it'll say Revelation and just find chapter 22. We're coming finally to the end of what I think is a wonderful book, and I hope for each of you that it's been helpful. I hope that in some small way I've been able to help you kind of demystify this book. One of the common problems that happens is that people make it so complex that you lose heart. You'll hear a preacher and they'll explain that, well, it doesn't mean this, and it doesn't mean this, and it doesn't mean this. And then they go off onto these long, what I would consider, Rabbit trails where they're going to all kinds of other passages in the Bible rather than just unfolding the text Before you and the end result is that you you you despair of ever knowing what it's saying And I hope that I've been able to show you that you don't have to approach revelation that way and that it's not a mysterious book and in fact that it by and large interprets itself, meaning when there's symbolic language that is important for you to know, it tells you what the symbols mean. Now before we go into the book, the final sermon and the final section, I want to give you a very, very brief high flyover of everything we've done. And the reason I want to do this, and turn to chapter one, the reason I want to do this is simply to remind you how far we've come. And to remind you how much we've seen, because it's pretty crazy if you think about it. I want to first of all remind you in chapter 1, verse 1, what the point of the book is. It reads this way. the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now we'll just stop there and I just want to remind you if you can remember all the way back to the beginning that that is the point of the book. It is explicitly stated right there. And what it is saying is that Jesus Christ is giving us a revelation. Now there's two ways you can see that phrase, the revelation of Jesus Christ. One way is that it is a revelation of Christ, meaning the book is all about Jesus. And that's a very popular and very common way that people will take it. And so I remember a guy named Mark Driscoll, some of you know of him, very popular preacher who came to an unfortunate end. I remember hearing his first sermon and he got up there and he said, look, revelation is all about Jesus because that's what it says. It's a revelation of Jesus. So all we need to worry about is Jesus. What do we learn about Jesus in this book? And that sounds so good and it sounds so spiritual that you easily can buy into it. The problem is that's not what it's actually saying. It's actually that Jesus has a revelation, an unveiling that he wants to give us. Now, is he not part of that? Yes, but that's not the point of the book. And you can see it in what follows. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave who? Jesus. Him. So God the Father gave to Jesus this revelation to show to his bondservants what? Jesus know the things which must shortly take place. And so what we have at the very point of this book is Jesus from the Father, Jesus is giving us a revelation of what is to come. And so that is the point of the book and you want to always remember that. Then in verse 19, hopefully you made a note in your margin when I first mentioned this, there's the basic outline of the entire book. He says, I'm going to show you what you have seen. That's what you're to write down. And what he means by that is the things that he literally just saw. In other words, the verses that were prior to this. From there he says, and also the things which are, and those are dealing in chapters two and three with the seven churches and the warnings and promises given there. And then finally, the things which shall take place after these things. So it's things which you've seen, which are, and which will be. And from chapter 4 to the end of the book, he deals with the things which are to take place in the future. And so from the point of John, everything starting in chapter 4 is a future-oriented perspective. It's not a backward-oriented perspective. From there we saw in chapter 4 and 5 that he leaves the earth and the things on the earth, the churches and whatnot, and he moves into the very throne room of God. And that's where we find our Lord and this massive worship service of angelic beings. And we find the Lord pictured both as a lion and also a lamb. And that he is, because of his death and resurrection, the only one in all the universe who is worthy to break the seals. If you remember, the scroll is given to him with seven seals, and in that scroll are the summing up of all things, where God makes all things right, where God deals with sin, and Satan and death are enemies, and he resolves everything. And so until this scroll is opened, nothing will be made right. And no one can open it but Jesus. And when he begins to break it open and he begins to read it, all of the series of God's judgments and even his righteousness is revealed. And that's what you see in chapter 6 is the first series of judgments come about as each seal is broken and read. And what we have there is this quick Hammering out of various judgments, and they're very hard and they're very intense and and the way it's done It's just BAM BAM BAM and so six judgments of God And then we have a little break in chapter 7 where God describes the setting apart of 144,000 Jewish males who are devoted to Him and are called to suffer for His name. You should remember that. And then in 8 and 9, we have the next series of judgments. The seventh seal of the scroll actually unleashes another seven. And these are known as the trumpet judgments. And what they do is they take the things that already happened in the first series of judgments and turns it up several notches. And now it becomes far more intense. And so literally from chapter 6 until chapter 21, it was nothing but wrath. Do you remember that? Every single Sunday I'm talking to you about the wrath of God, the judgments of God. It's brutal. From there, in chapter 10 and 11, we come into another one of the several breaks where he then does some filling in of additional information. But this is one of my favorite passages because it talks about these two key men, prophets. They're called the two witnesses. And they literally in the end days will stand against the wickedness and the lies and the false worship of the Antichrist and others. And they are preaching there. No one can stand against them. If they try to have them killed, they themselves are destroyed by these two men who are men of God. But then at the very end of their ministry that God had given them, it says that the Antichrist comes and he kills them. And they lie there for the whole world to look upon, and their bodies just lie there. And right there you get the first introduction of our arch enemy, the Antichrist. But also you think, wow, they lost. They lost. No one could fight against them until the Antichrist comes, but he is so powerful he's able to kill them. Except, if you remember, they also come back to life, God raises them from the dead, and he brings them into his presence, and it's just the first glimpse that the Antichrist is not the victor. Chapters 12 through 15 then all kinds of background material Dealing with the time frame that the Bible describes as the tribulation a period of seven years where God is bringing about his judgments these judgments are coming about the seals and the trumpets and the bowl judgments and Here we finally have Satan's work is revealed and most importantly is the unholy Trinity. It's Satan and It's the Antichrist, and the third one, if you remember, is the false prophet. And that these three function like the triune God, and yet they are all about the bringing about of one world worship, all directed to the Antichrist, who is empowered by Satan. Then in chapter 16, he comes back into the judgments. So the seventh trumpet is sounded, and when that happens, now the bowl, what are called the bowl judgments, picture because the angels are given these bowls, they're filled up with various judgments by God, upon which they pour upon the earth. And here is the most intense level of the judgments. And so we started with hard judgments with the seals, goes to the trumpet, and they're much worse. And then he turns it up even worse to the bowl judgment. So you're just seeing this building of God's wrath and how hard it is. But over and over and over again, you see that no one repents. No one. They just hate God all the more. They revile God. From there, in chapter 17 and 18, we saw how the power from the beginning all the way back to the Garden of Eden, that there's this spiritual force, this power that's at work against the people of God, seeking to bring False worship idolatrous worship, and it's called the harlot And it's a harlot of Babylon and that it works behind the scenes and with the powers to be in the in the governments And then in chapter 18 it literally becomes a city Babylon where Satan and the unholy trinity take up their their center of power And that's where they work and we see the judgment that God brings upon Babylon so over and over again that talks about Babylon Babylon has fallen Then in chapter 19 Christ comes finally he comes And in that we see the judgment of the Antichrist and we see the judgment of the false prophet They're cast into the lake of fire never again to bother anyone But Satan is left Satan is left because he's not done with him and so continuing with that theme in chapter 20 We see the binding of Satan where he's placed into the abyss not the lake of fire, but the abyss it's like a prison and but in a spiritual sense of where you can imprison spiritual creatures. And he's bound there for the thousand years. And that's where we get that word millennium. So when you have people say, well, are you pre-millennial, post-millennial? All they're asking is, do you believe in a thousand years where Christ will reign or not? Or do you think that's a spiritual one? And in what relationship is Christ coming to it? I'm premillennial, that's what this church teaches, and what that means is that Christ will come before the thousand year reign. And that's what we saw in chapter 20, is that he comes in chapter 19 and 20, Satan is bound and Christ reigns for a thousand years. From that point at the end of that he releases Satan for that final purpose where he gathers all who are his enemies and the final battle and everything is swallowed up in fact this anticlimactic if you remember instead of a huge battle where all kinds of people are dying on both sides and right at the very end God wins just barely Instead they all gather and they go against the holy city where Christ is and it says fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And then the next picture you have is heaven and earth fleeing from the presence and you have God in judgment against the unbeliever. And then last week, we finally got our respite. We were able to see the wonderful promise of the new heavens and the new earth and all that is contained with that. And we're able to see the glory of the new Jerusalem. I call it the capital city of the new heavens and earth and all of the promises that are built into there. So finally, after all of those chapters of wrath, we saw God sum all things up in Christ and all things made new. And so now what we have is the final words of John and of Jesus to us in this chapter. So follow in chapter 22, 6 to 21. And he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his bondservant or to his bondservants the things which must shortly take place. And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me, do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God. And he said to me, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the one who does wrong still do wrong. Let the one who is filthy still be filthy. Let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness. And let the one who is holy still keep himself holy. Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices lying I Jesus have set my angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am These things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright morning star Spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who is thirsty come Let the one who wishes to take the water of life without cost I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book He who testifies to these things says, yes, I am coming quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. And the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. So what I want to do in this passage is I want to give you 10 simple, quick, important statements that are given for the purpose of now summing up everything that we've heard, and in light of everything we've heard, what then we ought to consider in our own hearts and in the lives of those around us. These are done in a manner in which they just kind of shoot them out, one after another, just bam, bam, bam. And they're designed to give you a sense of urgency. And they're all wrapped up around this thrice repeated statement, behold, I am coming what? Quickly. And so may the Lord bless us. I want to give you, even though the notes say nine, there are ten. Ten final thoughts. The first is in verse six, and it's the most important one, and that is that all that has been told in this book is true. Now this is the one that you need to come home or take home with you and think. Because if you don't embrace this, then nothing else matters, okay? And I'm just being that brutal and that honest. If you don't believe the Bible is utterly true and faithful, then there is no hope for you in any way apart from God converting your soul. But if you are one who wants to claim it is true, then there are consequences to that. So I want to ask you that first of all. I want to ask you, do you believe God? Do you believe what he says here? When he says these words are faithful and true, do you believe it? Let me ask it this way. Parents, do you, do not let this week go by without, and I mean literally this week, without sitting down with each of your children who are old enough to understand and challenging them. I don't mean make this a negative time, take them out for ice cream or something like that where you can just spend the time alone, but I want you to ask them, what do you believe about the Bible? What? And don't let them wiggle around. Don't let them, I don't know. They have to know, especially if they've been here any length of time, what do they believe? Hear it. And you don't need to beat them to death. You don't need to shove them in a corner and browbeat them. But you need to know their state. You need to understand what they think, which, of course, implies that you already believe that it's true. When they talk, don't allow vagueness. Don't let vague answers exist unchallenged. This should be your life all the time. As they go about their life and you see them living a way that indicates that they are living in unbelief. Even as a Christian, they can live in unbelief. You do. That you need to challenge them. What does the word of God say? And then provoke them and encourage them and pray for them that they might embrace that. So each of you here, do you believe that this is true? And if you do, how? What does it look like? Just think of the ways that you as a mom and dad can really do great harm in your home by showing your children that though you say with your words, I believe God is true, and his word is true, that your words don't match your actions. Let's just use an example. Right now in our Sunday school, one of those age groups is learning a curriculum that says God keeps his promises. And for 52 weeks, those little ones are taught day in or week in and week out, God keeps His promises. God keeps His promises. What do you think we're trying to teach those little ones? Just guess. God keeps His promises. God is trustworthy. His word is trustworthy. We can trust Him. But when they come home, do they see a mom and dad who trust that God keeps his promises? Or do they see a mom and dad filled with fear and anxiety and fretting and fuming and anger and all kinds of other things that do not reflect that they believe God will keep his promises? Do they see a settled house, one established on the rock that is the word of God? Or do they see you on the shifting sands of opinion? They're taught that this world is passing away and to not store up their treasure on earth. But when they come home, what do they see mom and dad do? I mean this not as a rebuke, I just want you to understand that means nothing for me to stand up here and tell you God's word is true and God is true and then you go home and you completely destroy that in the manner in which you reflect it in your life and your words. At some point, all of us have to confront ourselves regarding not our stated, but our real position regarding the Word. The Bible never tries to prove itself. The Bible never tries to prove that God exists. It just simply says God is, and that the Word is true, and you and I are left with a decision every time, do you believe it? So my question to you is, do you believe it? We have heard many other things over the last several months. And they will either affect us or they will lie in the dust heap of ignored lessons. Over and over again, we've seen the wrath of God. Over and over again, we've seen the warnings. The question is, do you hear and repent, or are you ignoring them? Are your children hearing them and repenting, or are they ignoring them? And have you challenged them, and do you continue to challenge? And again, I don't mean that in a negative, but you've got to challenge them. What do they believe? Now, if God is true and his word is true, then we have to grasp that whatever the word of God declares is to come, and we should hear it very carefully. And that's the point of what he's saying. He's just spent 21 chapters telling you what's gonna happen. Now, do you believe it? And that means then we come to the second point. In chapter seven, or verse seven, he gives us our second point. The second thing he wants you to know is he is coming again. Now, if God is faithful and his word is trustworthy, then this is a huge statement. If God is a liar and his Bible is not trustworthy, then it's a joke. Your decision, and honestly, it's one of those two. There is no middle ground with the Bible and there is no middle ground with its message. You either buy it or you reject it, but you don't get to play with it. There are many who will say, well it says quickly and that's not true because we're still waiting for this to happen. But of course we are judging quickly by the way that we would call quickly rather than how God would call quickly. The reality is this, he is coming soon, and today is sooner than yesterday, and I will guarantee you this, beloved, hear me, just for a second, hear me. For those of you who are playing the game, and you're saying, I love Jesus, but I have no intention of following Jesus, or I say I believe it, but I don't really believe it, and you think that tomorrow is yours, that God has promised you a tomorrow, and that tomorrow you'll fix everything, Trust me on the day that he comes what you will say is he came to what? quickly He will you will say it because you will realize I'm in trouble I am so much trouble because it's done and it's gone The purpose of this statement is to call you and to motivate you to live in a certain way and It's like when you, as mom and dad, leave for a weekend and you tell the kids, stay, no parties, don't be stupid, do your chores, right? And you all remember when you did it. And then none of the kids do their chores. They sleep in. The house looks like a tornado went through it, right? But then you know what you did. Mom and dad call and say, hey, we're on our way home. We should be there in about four or five hours, Lord Willie. All right, love you. And everyone goes into a hyper drive, and they're cleaning, and they're dusting, and they're washing, so that when mom and dad walk through, you're sitting there, and you'd swear that they had been nothing but perfect children. Well, in a similar sense, if you know that He is coming quickly, the Bible presumes that you will then order your life in that way. In fact, it says elsewhere that we will purify ourselves in light of His coming. The third point is that in light of the fact that God is true and His Word is true, and in light of the fact that He is coming again, the last half of verse 7 promises us a blessing. So what should we hold close to our hearts? That very thing, that God will bless us. The answer is simply that we have to believe what is written in this book, and that's why I tried over the months to convince you that there are wrong ways to approach this book, and though they sound good and maybe they work for you, they ultimately do not cause you to rest in the book of Revelation and just take it for what it says. I think that they detract from this promise of blessing. By the time it's so demystified and you say, There's no way on my own I could figure this out. But what I hope you can see is that you can figure it out. It's right there. And in light of what it's saying, what do you need to do? We need to consider the words of praise and warning that Jesus gave to the seven churches. And we need to understand that things are not going to get better if we just hold on. There's not a better day waiting. It's all heading toward one horrendous end. This world is in the lap of the evil one, and he works that evil in every possible way. And we need to be at rest with that, so that we're not trying to make friends with something that was never designed to be ours. And so when we look at the book of Revelation, we see that it's actually a very practical book, if you'll let it be. It's not a book to be avoided, unfortunately so many do, but rather it's one to be studied and acted on. There's a blessing attached to reading and heeding what it says. So let me ask you this again, how does your life reflect the promise that God and his word are true and that he is coming soon and he will bless those who have taken this seriously? How are you ordering your life? And then verses eight and nine, we see the fourth point. It's the central point of the chapter, actually, and that is worship God. In fact, it's the central point of the whole Bible. Worship God. Here it is, the message in its totality given to him by the angel is just beyond what John can comprehend. It's just amazing. He has watched everything from the beginning of time all the way to the end unfold right before his eyes But no longer from the perspective of man, but from the perspective of God. He is seeing wickedness as it really is. He is seeing the glory and power of God as it really is. He is seeing the promise of all things being made new. And it's wonderful. So much so that he falls down and he worships the angel who gave it to him. He just did it in chapter 19, and he does the same mistake again. Kind of gives you a sense of how powerful this book is to John, and how cold, and I mean this not as a rebuke, but just how cold our own hearts are. Because we sit here and we can, I don't know. I don't know. But for John, it was a time to worship. And immediately, the angel rebukes him, because he is faithful to his own character. Worship God, and that's our message. This idea of worship actually pervades all of Revelation. It's interesting. In chapter 4 and 5, we have the angels in heaven falling down and singing in worship to the true God. But then you go over to chapter 9, and you see those who are the unbelievers who are worshiping demons and idols. And then you flip back in chapter 11, and you're back in heaven, and once again, we see nothing but worship occurring. Then you go back to chapters 13 through 16, and the whole world is worshiping the beast, which is the Antichrist, and Satan. Then you come back in chapter 19, and you find John trying to worship an angel again because of what he's seen, and he gets rebuked and says, no, worship God. And then in chapter 20, we found that there are those who, again, who did not worship the beast, and as a result, they came into eternal life. It's all about worship. This book is designed to show you what do you really hope in, what do you love, what do you delight, what do you worship in. There's only one God. He's the only one worthy of worship, and you are in a constant battle in your heart as to whether you will buy into that. in chapter verses 10 and 11 then we have our fifth point and that is that our future is in our hands this is a weird section for people and a struggle over what it's saying Especially let the one who still does wrong who does wrong still do wrong. It's like doesn't he want them to repent what what's going on? but this section is actually connected back into Daniel 12, so look at verse 10 and Listen to me read Daniel 12, and I want you to see how similar they are and yet opposite in Daniel 12 while you're looking at verse 10 he says go your way Daniel for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end of time many will be purged purified and refined but the wicked will act wickedly and none of the wicked will understand but those who have insight will understand so in Daniel's time The things that he had seen, he says, I want you to seal them up and conceal them. They're not for them to see. But now it's time in Revelation for him to do the exact opposite. So what John is being told is don't conceal, but reveal all of this. And then we get into this statement of let those who are doing this continue to do it, whether it's righteous or unrighteous. What these are, these are actually commands in verse 11, actual commands. they're called commands or imperatives of permission not that you really care but that's there's actually a grammatical term for these imperatives or commands what we have is the angel is basically saying this to all who read it do with what you like do with what you have just read do it with it as you like but you know how it all ends You wanna stay in filthiness, stay in filthiness. You wanna stay in wickedness, stay in wickedness or filthiness, doesn't matter. You want to do that, fine, but we have been faithful. We have revealed to you what's to come. We have revealed what will happen to those who love the filth and the love the wickedness, and we have revealed what will happen to those who are righteous. So if you are righteous, remain in your righteousness. Whatever you're at, if you are hearing these words and you are saying in your mind, I don't believe them, fine. Fine. But I promise you this, beloved, if that's you, on the day of judgment, those words will come back to haunt you for all eternity. You can faithfully point the way, and this is something that all of us need to remember, moms and dads as well. The issue is not, can I save my children? Of course you can't. You can only point to them. The challenge to you is to faithfully point them day in and day out to Jesus Christ. But you know what? Ultimately, it is not in your hands. And you can only call them to repent, but ultimately, it is in their hand to continue as they will. And apart from the converting grace of the Spirit, that's exactly what will happen. You have to remember that humanity loves its sin. Whatever flavor of sin they want, and it can be very pretty sins, sins that we all would maybe applaud, but they're still the sin. And left to your own will, you will only find the wrath of God. And so for anyone here who is in that state, I know what's going on in your mind. I know because the Bible tells me, and I believe it's true. What you're saying is this, I hear it, I don't believe it, or I don't want it. One of those two. And in your heart, you may be saying this, it's okay. It's okay, because I'll do it tomorrow, or I'll do it later. I just want to experience this, or I want that. I want it. It'll be later. And what you don't remember is that the Bible is faithful and true, and one thing will occur. One of two things. One day, the Lord, while you're whispering in your heart, it's okay, I can wait. The Lord will say, I require of your heart and your soul right now. there will be no later or Christ will return and you will cry out in agony that it was too soon in verses 12 and through 15 we have the sixth point it's building off of all of the prior verses of course now there's this promise or a curse He says, I'm coming quickly. So again, he reminds you, look, I am coming quickly. And what am I going to do when I come? I'm going to bring a reward. Well, that reward is a good thing or a bad thing. I will reward you for your evil, or I will reward you for your righteousness. Why? Because I am the one who brackets all things. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. So I alone am the one who knows all things, and I will render to you what you have done. This gets into that whole idea of rewards. It's a very fascinating thing. I hope someday to preach a short series on the nature of biblical rewards because somehow what has happened in the Christian world in America especially is that we think so theologically that we're like, well, we're saved by our faith. Therefore works never enter into it even though the Bible makes it explicit that we have been called to do good works and That the Bible explicitly tells us that we will be judged Not on our faith, but our rewards or loss of rewards will be judged on what you do or don't do and In fact, in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 15, it talks about, and he's talking specifically of teachers, but he's like, you, based on your teaching, if you have been an unfaithful teacher, you have not taught the word of God faithfully, and you've not built on the gospel like you should. He says, your building is like wood hand stubble, and when God's judging fire comes upon it, it'll just burn it away. And he says, and you will suffer. Here's the weird thing. You will suffer loss, though you yourself are saved. Now in my mind, I know what Revelation 21 says. Exactly what kind of loss do I suffer if I get the new heavens and earth, right? I get eternity. I get all of that. So why? In what way do I suffer loss? And yet in some way you will suffer loss. In chapter 25 of Matthew, we have another hint of the kind of rewards that will be given. Because there it talks about being given greater responsibilities and greater oversight by God. And there's an indication then that for all eternity, just like the angels have various rankings and responsibilities, that the people of God will be given similar things. Remember, in eternity, the universe is yours. There is no thought of, well, we need to go to Mars if we're going to keep humanity alive, or all of the other silly things that we read about and hear. We have all of the universe at our beckoning for all eternity. No longer will we be constrained by time. Sin the death doesn't factor into your planning anymore and that God will give to us a new heavens and earth and I believe it will be much like the beginning of the world but better where we are going to bring Bring completely into submission the entire universe and we will be given things that we are responsible for Now to those who have chosen to go their own way and He says they just stand outside of life. And so he gives this list of things. Outsider the dogs, the sorcerers, the immoral persons. We could focus on each one, but the point is simple. These are broad categories that just simply say all those who live a life that's contrary to what God has called us to be, they will never enjoy those things. They will suffer loss and they will be outside of that realm of eternal life. And so again, he makes that great divide. Those who belong to Jesus enter that capital city and into eternity. Those who hate are those who are his enemies. They're banned forever and they live and dwell only in his wrath. And then in verse 16, these last few are very, very simple and very quick. But he gives his approval. Jesus now, in verse 16, is the one who gives the approval. Prior, in verse 6, it was God the Father saying, these things are true. Now it's Jesus who says that I testify of these things. So now we have the second person of the Trinity saying, you can trust these things. These come from me. They testify of what I have been given to tell you. And the expectation is that you and I will act on them. And so what do we do if that's true? If Jesus has sent his angel to testify to us of these things, what should we do? And that's the eighth point. Believe. The final call in the entire Bible for you to come. So some of you right now, and you're in another world, I pray that you would just come back and just hear me one more time. Hear me one more time. Now we have the Holy Spirit, so we have the Trinity, right? The Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And He calls us to believe. He says, come. And let the one who hears, see that's the trick, you have to hear. You have to hear it, and you don't have ears to hear unless the Spirit works. But if you're hearing it today, if you're saying, this is true, and I have not believed this, then the answer to you is to come. And you say, I am thirsty. I didn't even know I was thirsty, but I am. The answer is, come. Come. Let the one who wishes to take the water of life without cost. He's like, come. And the offer is free. And then ninth, in verses 18 and 19, is this final warning. It's a warning that you make certain that you give a full, but limited, and I'll explain that in a second, exposition of the book. He is saying, look, don't add a single word to what I've said, and don't take away a single thing. And here's the warning, because what happens if you are a person here and you walk out and you say, I just don't believe that that is true? Have you added or taken away from what the Bible says? You've taken away, exactly, Obi. You have removed it. Even though you say, oh, I'm not trying to change the Bible, the fact that you say, I don't believe that, you have just removed from the word of God. Or you think, yeah, well, I think this and this is true also. You've just added to it. So you don't have to try to say, oh, that's just for this or this person. No, we do it all the time. We do it all the time when the Bible tells us to do something or not to do something, and then we add our own way of looking at it. Well, he says, you're not allowed to ignore any of the warnings in this book, and you're not allowed to take away from them, and you're not allowed to add to them. There is no permission, and people who are thinking in their mind, well, I don't do that, on the day of judgment, they will find that they did it much, and that they ignored the written word of God, that God has given, that he said was faithful and true, and they walked away from it to their peril. And then in verses 20 and 21 is the 10th point, and it's the sincere desire to see him return. So Christ finally says, yes, I am coming quickly. And John's statement is amen, which simply means let it be. It's true. And then you can almost hear him whispering it. Come, Lord Jesus. Why? Well, the man's old. The man's hurting. The man's stuck on a rock called Patmos. He's in exile. He has no comforts. By this time, if you didn't know, all the other apostles have been killed because of their faith. He's alone. He's just been given a vision of heaven. He's been given everything else. Do you know what he wants? He's like, just come. Whatever else I doesn't matter. I just want you to come and that is beloved the heartthrob of any one of you here who is a Christian you want him to come now granted he gets lost sometimes in the hurry and the Bustle of this world and the worries of this world that constantly crowd on you But I know this because you have the Spirit of God in you that if you are a genuine Christian you do want him to come even though There's this fear that maybe you'll miss out. Still, you want Him to come. And what I find is that as the Lord makes you get older, or sicker, or weaker, you want Him to come more quickly. It's one of the blessings of age, and it's also one of the blessings of sickness and disease, is that it strips you from any of those stupid lies that you and I tell each other that this world actually will satisfy you. You start to realize it's a lie, and it's been a lie, and I was stupid to believe it. And as you find that happening, you start to say, I want them just to come. I'm sick of sin. I'm sick of dealing with it. I'm sick of failing. I'm sick of stumbling. I'm sick of watching the evil triumph in this world. Let the Lord come. Let all of this be done away. Now with all of that, we go back to verse 17 because in that final invitation, there's actually this allusion to Isaiah 55. So just look at verse 17 again. I want you to read that while I read from Isaiah 55 and just see what he is saying. He says, ho, everyone who come or everyone who thirsts come to the waters. you who have no money come buy and eat come buy wine and milk without money and without cost why do you spend money for what is not bread in your wages for what is does not satisfy listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in abundance incline your ear and come to me listen that you may live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercies shown to David. Jesus says, come. If you're thirsty, come. You say, how do I come? I have nothing to offer. That's the point. You have nothing to offer. All you have is hunger and thirst. Come. And he says, without money, without anything to buy, I will give you what you need. In John 6, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. He who eats of me and drinks of me shall never hunger and never thirst. Do you believe that? That's again the question. So I'm going to end it this way, and I'm going to be very blunt. The Bible says explicitly that it is true and faithful, and that God is true and faithful. This book has been honest to you, brutally honest, and it does not lie to you. And I don't think I've ever lied to you. Many times I didn't want to say what I had to say because the text says it, but I don't think I've ever lied to you. These are the last words. There are only two paths and there are only two choices. There's one that you're already on if you're not a Christian. You're born in it. You're in the path that leads to destruction and the wrath of God. And the other, is heaven and eternity with Christ. He says, if you're thirsty, come and drink. If you're hungry, come and eat. No cost. You just come to Jesus and you will find life. The question is, do you believe it? Beloved, that's what you have to ask yourself. Do I believe it? Will you hear and will you come? If you have questions about that, you can talk to me. You can talk to anybody in this church who's a member here. They know the gospel. They can tell you what it means to believe and follow Jesus Christ. But all I am saying to you is do not walk out of here presuming anything. I've never lied to you, but more importantly, God will never lie to you. He has told you the way of life. Will you believe?