Five Last Things

 Temple Baptist Church - 5-8-2022

Revelation 22:17-21

 

A.  Tonight, we will read the end of the Book of Revelation.  What a joy it has been to preach through this wonderful book of prophecy.  There is so much more that could have been said but then it would have taken a lifetime to do so.  I pray that it has been a blessing to each of you.

 

B.  As the Holy Ghost brings the book to a close, there are five last things found in these verses.  These are important things as we often say that He saved the best for last.

 

C.  Verse 17.  A last invitation.  Salvation offered until the end.  You never know when you will be offered your last invitation to be saved.  I pray that all have come to Christ through faith in His finished work, the Gospel!  His vicarious death according to the Scriptures, His burial, and His glorious bodily resurrection.  "It is finished!"  You cannot add to or take away from the Gospel.  To do so is to destroy the Gospel message.

 

1 Corinthians 15:1  Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

 

D.  The Spirit says, "Come."  John 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 

E.  The Bride says, "Come."  The Church is to preach the Gospel to all who come.  Every creature needs a preacher!  The Bible is not speaking of a pastor or evangelist.  It speaks of all who know Christ having an obligation to share the Gospel with the lost. 

 

Romans 10:14  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

 

2 Corinthians 4:3-4  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  (4)  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

F.  Those who heareth say, "Come."  We who have heard the Book of Revelation understand that life eternal hinges upon the Word of God and there is a final state to be shunned called the Lake of Fire.  How can we hear, know, and remain silent?

 

G.  The "water of life" is eternal, it is available to all, it is free, and it is satisfying.  He who hears and thirsts for the Water of Eternal Life needs to come while the door of invitation remains open.  This Water of Eternal Life is free to "whosoever will" come.  Christ died for the sins of the whole world and will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

 

Isaiah 55:1-3  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  (2)  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.  (3)  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

 

H.  Verses 18-19.  A last warning!  Leave God's Word alone!  There are three "Sentinels" or "Watchmen" found in the Bible concerning the Word of God.  The last being these two verses.

 

Deuteronomy 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

 

Proverbs 30:5-6  Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.  (6)  Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

 

J.  For the past 140 years, men have become Bible correctors instead of Bible believers and have used other text and "bibles" to correct the King James Bible and the Textus Receptus.  Men now correct the Bible without fear instead of allowing the Bible to correct them in fear. 

 

K.  God said to neither "add to" in verse 18 nor to "take away" in verse 19.  The warning is clear.

 

"For 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 this 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."

 

L.  In both verses, we find "words" mentioned.  Every critical text and every perverted version add to and takes away from this blessed old King James Bible.  "Every word of God is pure" is found in Proverbs 30:5.

 

M.  Verse 20.  A last promise.  The Old Testament ends with the promise of Christ's First Advent and the New Testament ends with the promise of Christ's Second Advent.  As surely as Christ came the first time and came on time, He will come the second time and on time.

 

John 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

 

N.  Verse 20.  A last prayer.  John's answer to Christ coming begins with a prayer.  The first word of the prayer is "Amen."  "Let it be so!"  I thank God that I know that what Christ says is "so!"  The second part of this prayer is "Even so come, Lord Jesus."  Our prayer is for the Lord to come quickly.  The older that I get, the more I long for the day when I see Christ!

 

O.  Verse 21.  A last benediction.  A benediction is a closing prayer normally prayed at the end of a gathering of God's people. The Bible is a book of grace.  From the salvation of Adam and Eve through sacrifice until the last soul comes to Christ by faith.  Grace for salvation and grace to live in this life and grace to die if that is the way that we must go.  Saved by grace, kept by grace, continue by grace.  What a way to end to the book: "Amen!?  And all God's people said, "Amen!"