Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Come, Lord Jesus Msg 1515 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Come, Lord Jesus Msg 1515 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Well, if you have trouble finding the scripture reading this morning,
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  Speaker 1: you're in bad shape. Locate the last five verses of
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  Speaker 1: this great book, the Book of the Revelation. By now
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  Speaker 1: your Bible should automatically just drop open to Revelation, and
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  Speaker 1: you go there toward the end, and you'll find these
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  Speaker 1: magnificent final words of the Apostle John Revelation twenty two,
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  Speaker 1: beginning at verse seventeen. The Spirit and the bride say, come,
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  Speaker 1: and let the one who hears say, come, and let
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  Speaker 1: the one who is thirsty come, Let the one who
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  Speaker 1: wishes take the water of life without costs. I testify
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  Speaker 1: to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
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  Speaker 1: this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add
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  Speaker 1: to him the play which are written in this book.
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  Speaker 1: And if anyone takes away from the words of the
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  Speaker 1: book of this prophecy, God will take away his part
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  Speaker 1: from the tree of life and from the Holy City,
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  Speaker 1: which are written in this book. He who testifies to
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  Speaker 1: these things says, yes, I am coming quickly. Amen, come,
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
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  Speaker 1: And everyone said, amen, join me for just a few
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  Speaker 1: moments of prayer before this morning's offering. John's words are
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  Speaker 1: our words, our Father. We anxiously anticipate your son breaking
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  Speaker 1: through the clouds and calling us by name to depart
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  Speaker 1: and to be with him forever. It causes us to
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  Speaker 1: answer back, even so, Come come quickly, Lord Jesus. This
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  Speaker 1: is a weary old earth, weary of war and the
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  Speaker 1: rumors of such, weary of disease, weary of heartbreaking news,
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  Speaker 1: of pressure and demands and deadlines and dates and assignments
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  Speaker 1: and expectations, and all that come with those things, which
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  Speaker 1: make us all the more anxious for relief and fresh
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  Speaker 1: new hope that will come with our being glorified, changed
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  Speaker 1: in a moment, as if even the flash of an eye,
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  Speaker 1: when the dead in Christ shall rise, and then we
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  Speaker 1: shall be caught up together with them to meet your
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  Speaker 1: son in the air. Do come soon, Lord, deliver us.
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  Speaker 1: May we know the joy of being free at last?
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  Speaker 1: Until then, our Father, on this day, we acknowledge the
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  Speaker 1: presence of men and women to be honored among us.
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  Speaker 1: Those away from us, still serving in uniform. We acknowledge
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  Speaker 1: their work, their good work, their faithful labors. Take care
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  Speaker 1: of them, help us through the treachery of terrorism, watch
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  Speaker 1: over our land. Give great vigilance to those who serve
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  Speaker 1: this country, those out of uniform, but nevertheless just as
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  Speaker 1: much involved in caring for the citizens of this country.
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  Speaker 1: We pray for protection for our President, his cabinet, his family,
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  Speaker 1: and those who are a part of the leadership of
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  Speaker 1: the government. Thank you, Father in advance, for what you're
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  Speaker 1: going to do in your own grace and in your
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  Speaker 1: own time. But all is not ill, all is not grim.
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  Speaker 1: How grateful we are for good news, for the pleasure
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  Speaker 1: of a full day to enjoy tomorrow, for relaxation, freedom
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  Speaker 1: from responsibilities. May our time be spent well. Thank you,
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  Speaker 1: Father for caring about every part of our lives, not
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  Speaker 1: only when we're awake, but even when we're asleep, not
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  Speaker 1: only when we work, but even in our leisure. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for loving us when we are employed, and caring
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  Speaker 1: just as much for us when we are unemployed. You
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  Speaker 1: pray that you will meet needs that have not been
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  Speaker 1: spoken today and bring encouragement to those who are low
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  Speaker 1: even depressed. Now, our Father, it is a pleasure, it
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  Speaker 1: is a privilege for us to give to you for
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  Speaker 1: a change, since you do that for us. Twenty four
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  Speaker 1: to seven it's a pleasure to do that at this time,
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  Speaker 1: find our hearts generous, and our motives pure, and our
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  Speaker 1: gifts given as if first giving ourselves. And we say again,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, we await your son's coming with great joy.
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  Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, pray everyone said. Last words
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  Speaker 1: are often great words. As a person has reached the
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  Speaker 1: end of the trail, It's amazing what final words do
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  Speaker 1: to put perspective to the pressures of the present, or
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  Speaker 1: the worries of the past, or even the fears of
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  Speaker 1: our future. There's something great about wrapping up life in
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  Speaker 1: a few words, which probably explains the reason we lean
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  Speaker 1: over and listen closely to dying words. Or for some
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  Speaker 1: of us, there is a special sense of interest in
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  Speaker 1: reading epitaphs as someone has etched into stone the words
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  Speaker 1: of a life, a life well lived. If you visit
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  Speaker 1: the grave site of Martin Luther King Junior in Atlanta,
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  Speaker 1: you will see three words that say it all free
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  Speaker 1: at last. Winston Churchill, toward the end of the Great War,
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  Speaker 1: as it was called, said that three words would best
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  Speaker 1: fit those white crosses and the stars of David that
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  Speaker 1: dot the landscape in battlegrounds, both at home and abroad,
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  Speaker 1: not in vain. When Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated and
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  Speaker 1: lingered for a while, there were close friends that filled
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  Speaker 1: the little house, as many as fifty at one time,
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  Speaker 1: And one of his closest friends, upon hearing of the
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  Speaker 1: physicians pronouncement of death, put his hat over his heart
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  Speaker 1: and said, and now he belongs to the ages. When
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  Speaker 1: Carl Sandberg was searching for a chapter title for the
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  Speaker 1: seventy fifth chapter of his four volume work on Lincoln
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  Speaker 1: in the War Years, trying to capsulate the significance of
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  Speaker 1: a life and finding it almost impossible to do so,
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  Speaker 1: he chose that chapter title from an old woodsman's proverb
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  Speaker 1: eight words but eloquent a tree is best measured when
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  Speaker 1: it's down. I don't know if you stop to think
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  Speaker 1: about it. But there are epitaphs wrapped all the way
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  Speaker 1: through the scriptures. They appear like little landmarks of lives.
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  Speaker 1: Enoch's epitaph, God took him King Uziah after making a
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  Speaker 1: miserable mess of the latter part of his life. Simple words,
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  Speaker 1: he is a leper Paul, having gone through the loneliness
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  Speaker 1: of Demus's treacherous turning against him and away from him
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  Speaker 1: put it all in a few words, Demus has forsaken me.
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  Speaker 1: The best of all the epithaphs is Jesus. He's not here,
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  Speaker 1: he's risen. Paul chose his own epithaph, not in three words,
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  Speaker 1: but few. I have fought the good fight. I have
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  Speaker 1: finished the course, I have kept the faith says it all,
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  Speaker 1: doesn't it? Last words are like that? Now why do
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  Speaker 1: they matter? What is it about epitaphs? And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: a good little assignment for you, as you are aging
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  Speaker 1: and we all are, is that you add to your
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  Speaker 1: journal words you would like to have appear on your
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  Speaker 1: epitheph searching thought, isn't it? And why? Because last words
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  Speaker 1: do several things versus they clarify. All the fog is
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  Speaker 1: blown away, and you clarify what this life has been about.
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  Speaker 1: Last words solidify. You get away from the murky sandy
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  Speaker 1: soil of opinions and ideas, and you solidify the life
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  Speaker 1: in a few words. They also prioritize final words state
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  Speaker 1: priority about this life. She did this, or she was
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  Speaker 1: committed to that, or he lived her his life because
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  Speaker 1: of and then the mission is stated, and they summarize.
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  Speaker 1: Last words clarify and solidify and prioritize and summarize. That's
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  Speaker 1: why they're meaningful. I think the best part of all
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  Speaker 1: is their brief. You say a whole lot in a
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  Speaker 1: few words. It's the brevity that makes them great. It's
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  Speaker 1: a distillation of the whole put into one line or
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  Speaker 1: a few It's like wrapping the whole thing in a
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  Speaker 1: valuable package and then giving it. I was intrigued by
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  Speaker 1: Billy Graham's final words in his more than seven hundred
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  Speaker 1: and fifty page autobiography titled Just As I Am. Closing
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  Speaker 1: words from that book, I know that soon my life
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  Speaker 1: will be over. I thank God for it and for
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  Speaker 1: all He has given me in this life. But I
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  Speaker 1: look forward to heaven. I look forward to the reunion
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  Speaker 1: with friends and loved ones who have gone on before.
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  Speaker 1: I look forward to Heaven's freedom from sorrow and pain.
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  Speaker 1: I also look forward to serving God in ways we
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  Speaker 1: can't even imagine. And most of all, I look forward
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  Speaker 1: to seeing Christ and bowing before Him in praise and
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  Speaker 1: gratitude for all He has done and for using me
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  Speaker 1: on this earth by His grace Just as I Am.
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  Speaker 1: There's a touch of wistfulness and nostalgia in final words
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  Speaker 1: certainly in the words of the now almost eighty five
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  Speaker 1: year old world known evangelist, best title of a book
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  Speaker 1: given to him is a prophet with honor. That alone
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  Speaker 1: is a great epitaph. In a far greater manner, the
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  Speaker 1: writer John himself, getting up in years by now, concludes
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  Speaker 1: the writing of his book with a great care and
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  Speaker 1: attention given to words. It's always about words, not just
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  Speaker 1: general thoughts, but turning attention to those things that, to him,
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  Speaker 1: under the spirit's inspiration, are worth writing. So he takes
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  Speaker 1: a stylus sitting there, perhaps near the cave where he
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  Speaker 1: slept on that island of muss and he gets an
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  Speaker 1: old piece of parchment and begins to write. And he
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  Speaker 1: writes what we have today as five simple verses. The
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  Speaker 1: first of the five include multiple invitations. The next two
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  Speaker 1: set forth urgent exhortations, and then there's a very passionate
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  Speaker 1: benediction in the final two verses. We're intrigued by that
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  Speaker 1: set of invitations. Notice how often the single word come
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  Speaker 1: is mentioned. The spirit in the bride say come, and
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  Speaker 1: let the one who hears say come, and let the
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  Speaker 1: one who is thirsty come, Let the one who wishes
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  Speaker 1: take the water of life without cost. The Lord Jesus
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  Speaker 1: has said on several occasions in the end of this book,
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  Speaker 1: I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming quickly. John's response is,
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  Speaker 1: come on, come on, come on, But wait, wait when
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  Speaker 1: you look closer, He's not really answering Jesus' promise. This
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  Speaker 1: isn't about Jesus. This is about people like us who
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  Speaker 1: read the book. Look closely. The Spirit that's the Holy Spirit, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: and the bride that's the body of Christ, the saints,
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  Speaker 1: those who are followers, believers in Jesus Christ. We, together
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  Speaker 1: with the Spirit, invite those who haven't yet come on
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  Speaker 1: in to come on in. In fact, John adds, let
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  Speaker 1: the one who hears say, come, come on. What are
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  Speaker 1: you waiting for? What do you gain by staying outside
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  Speaker 1: the hope? How will you die if you die with
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  Speaker 1: no hope like we've described in this book. And let
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  Speaker 1: the one who is thirsty come come on, the one
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  Speaker 1: who wishes to take the water of life without cost.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sometimes criticized for not being evangelistic enough. This is
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  Speaker 1: an evangelistic message. Come come. If you're without Christ, come,
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  Speaker 1: don't wait, don't put it off, don't certainly don't wait
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  Speaker 1: until you're on death's door. Come now. The blessings, the benefits,
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  Speaker 1: the joys are more than we could number. That's why
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  Speaker 1: we keep coming back week after week to be with
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  Speaker 1: one another and during the week to enjoy one another.
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  Speaker 1: It's about a life that you're missing. Who would be
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  Speaker 1: those hearing this or reading these words, Pause and imagine
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  Speaker 1: travel to some lonely city and find yourself in a
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  Speaker 1: hotel room. There you'll find a man or a woman.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe at the end of the rope, they may have
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  Speaker 1: found a Gideon Bible and they're reading the last part
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  Speaker 1: of this last book and they're hearing Come. Maybe someone
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  Speaker 1: on the brink of suicide. Had a lady write us
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  Speaker 1: who had been through hell and back and had gone
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  Speaker 1: to a hotel room, an old cheap motel actually, and
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  Speaker 1: determined she would take her life. There. She had the gun,
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  Speaker 1: she had it loaded, she had the round in the chamber,
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  Speaker 1: she had it cocked, she had put the gun in
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  Speaker 1: her mouth. At that moment, the radio, automatically, by having
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  Speaker 1: been preset, clicked on, and she heard my voice, and
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  Speaker 1: she heard the gospel, and she said, to this day,
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  Speaker 1: I can still taste the steel in my mouth. She came.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe somebody sitting in a cell in prison, a cell
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  Speaker 1: for two, and he's living in this dreadful setting and
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  Speaker 1: he reads Come. Maybe it's somebody disabled, or someone struggling
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  Speaker 1: to breathe knowing there aren't many breaths left. Maybe somebody's
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  Speaker 1: made a mess of their life and they're just searching
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  Speaker 1: for something, so they choose the last part of the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe that has something to say to my misery. Come on,
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  Speaker 1: don't you love it that? It's not exclusive? Isn't it great?
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't say if you've got a college education, colm,
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  Speaker 1: or if you're over fifty calm, if you're over eighty,
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  Speaker 1: you better come. If you're athletic, if you're male, if
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  Speaker 1: your skin is white, none of that. It's an open ended, unrestricted,
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  Speaker 1: wonderful invitation to all, an armed the Lord Jesus, Come
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  Speaker 1: to me, all who are weary and broken and down,
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  Speaker 1: and I will give you what you're looking for. Come on,
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  Speaker 1: some of you sit in this service week after week
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  Speaker 1: and you have never given your heart to Christ. Believe me,
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  Speaker 1: Salvation is not by osmosis. It doesn't rub off the chair,
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't come through the person sitting next to you.
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  Speaker 1: Sometime almost in your lap. It doesn't come because you're
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  Speaker 1: around Christians. You come to Christ individually, on your own,
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  Speaker 1: each one personally. Even though it is offered to all,
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  Speaker 1: your name is here. I see that because the frequent
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  Speaker 1: use of everyone and anyone in what follows. Look, I
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  Speaker 1: testify to everyone the middle of that verse, if anyone.
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  Speaker 1: Beginning of the next verse, if anyone, it's an unqualified offer,
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  Speaker 1: But here it's personalized. Here it's to each one, and
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  Speaker 1: he calls your name. You may not know God, but
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  Speaker 1: God who made you knows you come to this joyous,
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  Speaker 1: lifelong relationship with Christ. Following the invitation, there are words
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  Speaker 1: of warning. John writes now with a heavy stylus. I testify,
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  Speaker 1: says John. When a person begins a sentence like that,
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  Speaker 1: he's putting his name on the line. He's underscoring its importance.
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  Speaker 1: Please notice the exhortation is a word of warning. Testify
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  Speaker 1: to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of
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  Speaker 1: this book. If anyone adds to them to what the words.
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  Speaker 1: If anyone adds to the words, God will add to
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  Speaker 1: him the plagues written in this book. And if anyone
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  Speaker 1: takes away from the words, he repeats the words of
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  Speaker 1: the book of this prophecy, God will take away his
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  Speaker 1: part from the tree of life. I don't know about you,
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  Speaker 1: but that never fails to put a little invisible chill
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  Speaker 1: up my back. Look closely. It's all about the words,
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  Speaker 1: the words. Remember those words, we saw them last time,
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  Speaker 1: verse six, twenty two to six. Those words are faithful
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  Speaker 1: and true words. They're trustworthy, and they do not lie.
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  Speaker 1: There are words you can rely on. In fact, he
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  Speaker 1: goes back to the word again in verse seven, those
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  Speaker 1: who heed the words of the prophecy of this book
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  Speaker 1: are blessed, one of the beatitudes in revelation. He mentions
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  Speaker 1: again verse ten. He said to me, do not seal
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  Speaker 1: up the words of the prophecy of this book. This
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  Speaker 1: is all about the words, the words. So he comes
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  Speaker 1: in verse eighteen back to the same term, the words
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  Speaker 1: of the prophecy of this book, and again verse nineteen,
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  Speaker 1: the words of the book of this Prophecy. Now I'm
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  Speaker 1: overbearing on this because I want to get the point across.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't about general thoughts. It isn't about big chunks
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  Speaker 1: and great divine ideas. The watershed issue will always be
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  Speaker 1: regarding the words of scripture always The battleground will always
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  Speaker 1: be places like churches and seminaries where people determine whether
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  Speaker 1: it it isn't an errant word from God, or it
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  Speaker 1: is an errant word, whether the terms are God breathed
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  Speaker 1: or man inspired, whether they're just nice thoughts or they
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  Speaker 1: are life and death. Don't mess with the words, stay
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  Speaker 1: with the words. Let me show you something. Hold your place,
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  Speaker 1: and go to Deuteronomy four. Go way back to the
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  Speaker 1: days of the wandering Hebrews on their way to the
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  Speaker 1: promised Land. Moses is sort of lining up the game
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  Speaker 1: plan for life once in Canaan, so he delivers a
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  Speaker 1: series of sermons jutero namas terms that mean the second
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  Speaker 1: law or repeating of the law, and Moses reiterates in
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  Speaker 1: the first two verses of Deuteronomy four the importance of
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  Speaker 1: the words. Now, o Israel, listen to the statutes and
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  Speaker 1: the judgments which I am teaching you to perform in
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  Speaker 1: order that you may live and go in and take
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  Speaker 1: possession of the land which the Lord, the God of
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  Speaker 1: your father's is giving you. Before moving on, please observe
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  Speaker 1: that connected with survival is a commitment to the word
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  Speaker 1: of God I have given you the teaching, and now
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  Speaker 1: that you may live and go into and survive the land.
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  Speaker 1: Verse two, you shall not add to the word which
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  Speaker 1: I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that
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  Speaker 1: you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God,
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  Speaker 1: which I command you. There it is again early on
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  Speaker 1: in the text. Late in the text, we're back to
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  Speaker 1: the same emphasis on word. God cares very much about terms.
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  Speaker 1: Now I hardly need to remind any of you that
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  Speaker 1: we who are conservative in our theology are criticized for
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  Speaker 1: being slavishly literal. We are the people of the book,
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  Speaker 1: and every chance the culture of ours gets to take
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  Speaker 1: a shot at slavishly labor slavishly conservative people, they will
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  Speaker 1: come at this matter of the Word of God. We
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  Speaker 1: stand nevertheless at this point. While we do not worship
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  Speaker 1: the words, the words are to be preserved, guarded, accepted,
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  Speaker 1: most importantly obeyed. These words form the standard of our
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  Speaker 1: faith and the basis of our practice. It occurred to
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  Speaker 1: me that several illustrations point out how we as people
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  Speaker 1: are slavishly literal. In other areas. We have a constitution
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  Speaker 1: that is the foundation of our nation. We who are
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  Speaker 1: conservative get very uneasy when anyone takes liberty with the
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  Speaker 1: words of the Constitution. I mean, it's not a paraphrase
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  Speaker 1: you can shape and fit to what you wanted to say.
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  Speaker 1: It says what it says, and good people of government
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  Speaker 1: and good people of law know that it is that
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  Speaker 1: which forms the standard of what we believe and makes
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  Speaker 1: us nervous when decisions are made that call into question
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  Speaker 1: the interpretation of those words. Another came to mind. How
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  Speaker 1: about the physician's diagnosis. You want to go to a
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  Speaker 1: physician who gives you a general idea. How you're doing. Hey,
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  Speaker 1: good color, chuck Man, nice hair? Yeah, pretty well, doing
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  Speaker 1: pretty good. See you next year. Wait, doc, First of all,
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  Speaker 1: I paid you far too much to get a generalized
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  Speaker 1: You're doing okay? Or here's worse. I'm a little concerned,
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  Speaker 1: But come back next year. What do we want words?
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  Speaker 1: We want specific words. How about flight arrangements. That's one
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  Speaker 1: of my favorites. We make a call United Airlines. Yes,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: I'd like to fly to Chicago. Okay, when you want
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: to go? I tell them exactly when I want to go,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: a morning or afternoon. I tell them. They'll say, well,
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: somewhere around ten o'clock. There should be a flight somewhere
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: between gates three and thirty three. Just show up, you'll
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: find something flying. I go, is there somebody else with United?
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: I can talk to you about the what's my problem?
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: I want words, I want exact gate, exact time. I
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: want my pilot. I don't want him to be a generalist.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: Does that look like O'Hare airport to you, Frank Ah, Yeah,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: I'd say it's O'Hair. You know, it's more water here
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: than the last time. But how about the pharmacist writing
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: what he does on your medication two, three, four, six,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: eight tablets? Not you know, don't get too nervous about it.
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: It's they're white and they're that make it feel good.
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: I don't want a pharmacist. How about what you sign
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: a document? In real estate? Time? Doesn't say nice house,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: we'd love it, we'll buy it. Good sign here? Wait,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: what do we want? A contract full of what words
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: that we don't know how to read? So we have
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: a real estate agent who does what reads the words?
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Sometime an attorney to do what to interpret the words?
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: The words? The words the words? Because our lives are
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: exacting at points that matter, and so John, knowing he
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: has life and death contained in this book, says don't
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: mess with the words, don't add to him, don't separate
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: from him. So let me get very specific. Let all
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: of you go home and throw away your paraphrases or
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: other versions of your Bible. Let's be careful here, just
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: for the sake of balance. This warning in verses eighteen
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: and nineteen is directed to those who deliberately falsify and
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: misrepresent Holy Scripture, those who twist the truth to say
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: what they want it to say for the purpose of deceiving,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: which every cult does. That's what is beingressed. That's who
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: are being addressed here, not those who assist us in
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: careful study of the text, offering reliable versions of the
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: English Bible based on careful and accurate study of the
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: original text. It's not even a criticism and my opinion
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: of people who do careful work and write a paraphrase
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: to give you the general idea. In some Christian circles,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: you are marked as liberal if you even own a paraphrase.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: On the contrary, some paraphrases are very helpful. I just
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: don't do serious study in a paraphrase, but it helps
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: me understand the general tenor because the one writing the
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: paraphrase is not trying to deceive me. It's trying to
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: help me understand. Same with versions of the scripture. So
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: while we want to be careful and appropriately literal about this,
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: we're not wanting to be foolish and even stupid in
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: the way we're applying it, summarizing a very important matter
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: we're to uphold and love and believe in, guard most importantly,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: obey the word of God. We're not to twist, We're
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: not to add to it, we're not to take from it.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Before I go any further, I will tell you we
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: are facing hard times in our culture, in a culture
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: that is busy reinterpreting, marriage, reshaping, and rethinking the whole
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: matter of one's own convictions, so that we are now
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: being pushed to the edge of they call it tolerance,
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: so that it's all inclusive. Lest we offend, I'm telling
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: you hard times are coming. You will find yourself coming
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: back to Revelation twenty two, eighteen and nineteen, and you
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: will find that if you commit yourself to the careful
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: understanding and interpretation of the Word of God, you will
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: be out of step with a culture that's lost its way.
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: Now enough on that, here is this magnificent Benediction. It
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: would be a delightful study for you, by the way,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: to do a study of the benedictions and the scriptures.
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: There are a number of them. John testified of his
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: convictions in verses eighteen and nineteen, and now he refers
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: to the testimony of another who has been the significant one.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: It has been the revelation of Jesus Christ. So we're
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: not surprised. He turns our attention to him when he says,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: he who testifies to these things says, yes, I am
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: coming quickly. I love that. Isn't it great? It doesn't
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: say I'm not sure, been thinking about it. I want
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: to give further thought to nobody says yes, yes, I
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: am coming eminently at any moment, in any hour, at
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: any time of my choosing. I am coming. Five words
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: in our English text, yes I am coming quickly, only
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: three in the Greek. Three simple words, and yet they
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: become the lasting and concluding promise of the scriptures. He's
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: coming at any moment. And strangely, how unusual it is
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: to ever hear a pulpit address is coming, or even
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: a Bible study get to the subject of his coming.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: It's his final promise. We're to lean over and listen closely.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: These are last words. Scoffers will continue to disregard and
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: deny him, Doubters will question and argue over terms. Agnostics
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: will wonder what all the excitement is about. Heatonists will
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: certainly ignore words like this, hoping they'll go away. But
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: God's own people find their fire fueled by I Am
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: coming at any moment which prompts John to say, Amen,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: I believe it, so be it, Let it be so.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: I think behind it might have been I'm sick of
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: this island. I have to sleep one more night in
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: this cave. You've got your own reasons. I've got mine.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Come quickly, Lord, Come, yes, Come, Lord Jesus. And then,
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: on the heels of that burst of emotion, very fittingly,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: he returns to the marching order of our times and
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: underscores that great word grace. Isn't that wonderful grace of
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus be with all amen? How do these
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: words relate to us in our times? What's all the
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: excitement about? Why is it we work up such a
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: lather over five simple verses at the end of an
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: ancient book? I think, first of all, they relate to
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: the people who are apathetic and asleep, thinking life will
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: just sort of run its course and it'll all turn
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: out well in the end. This book says, wake up,
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: sit up, pay attention, look at the fine print, listen
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: to those who are apathetic and asleep. The relevant message
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: of the book is wake up. And then there are
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: those who are anxious and fearful, and this book says,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: do not worry. I have everything under control. It's a
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: good time for me to pause and just add an
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: extra word, for no extra charge. To you who are
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: given to worry. Will you relax? We we just you know.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: I don't mean go to sleep. I just mean stop
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: bread and your worries. Many many a Christian you meet
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: up with, how are you doing well? A lot of
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: our times, God help us? Oh man, how can I
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: get away from this guy? I think, under these circumstances,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: what are you doing under there? The circumstances are always miserable,
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: of course, I mean, you see what happened last week? Yeah,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: that's last week. This book says, rest trust me, Trust me.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: There are a thousand things that you could bring to
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: bring fear and anxiety. And the book says, got it
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: all planned, got it all worked out. I like asking
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: real qualified, seasoned builders and architects on occasion as they're
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: talking about plans and all I say, can can you
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: see that? And I've never had one say no, I
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: don't have a clue but that they say, oh yeah,
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: I can see it all. It's finished. I mean you
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: see that fireplace? Oh yeah, man, it changes everything you
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: can put in the corner. I go, oh, really, like
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: neither one is there and I'm having to figure it out.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: He sees it all. That's our God, not see it all.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: It's all clear, it's it's under my control. Reflex, have lunch.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: Don't feel the need you have to beat on every
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: door around you or buttonhole every person that looks like
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: they're lost. Believe me, a lot of them are saved.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: They just look lost. I say, you am. I'm not
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: saying you shouldn't give it to God. You know better
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: than that. Don't go there. It's just this anxiety kind
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: of Christianity. And I'm loving Jesus to the end. Okay, Okay, Finally,
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: this is a relevant word for those who are lonely
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: and lost. And there's a lot of you out there.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: You're in a crowd, but you're lonely, and you look
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: like you know where you're going, but you don't. This
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: is a good word to you that says that is
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: our word again. Come come on, come on board, don't
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: put this on. I'll not only take care of you
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: in my grace now, but I tell you I'll I
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: got a home for you, and I'll leave a light
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: on for you. Years ago, my family and I, who
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: enjoyed singing together as I was growing up, thanks to
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: my mom's love for handles Messiah, found our way to
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: the old First Methodist Church in Houston. Walter Jenkins led
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: the Messiah, knew the score by heart, never returned a page,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: and we sang every Christmas season for several years at
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: that old church. Charles Allen was the pastor of that
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: church for a number of years. Down in Houston. He
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: tells the story of little John Todd, born in eighteen
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: hundred in the autumn of the year up in Rutland, Vermont.
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: Shortly after his birth, they moved to the little village
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: of killing Worth, Vermont. It was there, when John was
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: only six, that both of his parents died. All the
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: children in the family had to be parceled out among
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: relatives and a kind hearted, aging aunt who lived ten
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: miles away, which seemed forever to little John, agreed to
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: take him in. I love this story, she said. I'll
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: love him, and I'll care for him, and I'll give
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: him a home. The boy lived there for some fifteen
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: years and finally left and went off to school to
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: study for the ministry. Time passed gently as he began
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: to succeed. He excelled in his work as a pastor,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: and while he was in middle life, his now aged
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: aunt fell desperately ill. So she wrote him a letter,
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: pathetic letter full of fear and uncertainty. What will death
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: be like, John? Will it mean the end of everything?
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: I'm so afraid. Moved with compassion and swamped with memories
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: of yesteryear, he sat down and wrote her this letter.
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: My dear aunt, it is now thirty five years since I,
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: a little boy of six, was left quite alone in
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: the world. You sent me word that you would give
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: me a home and be a kind mother to me.
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: I've never forgotten the day when I made that long
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: journey of ten miles to your house in North Killingsworth.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: I can still recall my disappointment when, instead of coming
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: for me, yourself. You sent your servant Caesar to fetch me.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: I well remember my tears and my anxiety. As perched
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: high on your horse and clinging tightly to Caesar, I
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: rode off to my new home. Night fell before we
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: finished that journey, and as it grew dark, I became
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: lonely and afraid. Do you think she'll go to bed
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: before I get there? I asked Caesar anxiously. Oh no,
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: he said, reassuringly. She'll sure stay up for you. When
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: we get out of these here woods, you'll see her
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: candle shining in the window. Presently, we did ride out
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: into the clearing, and there, sure enough, it was your candle.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: I remember you were waiting at the door, and I
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: remember you putting your arms up and around me as
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: you lifted me, a tired and bewildered little lad down
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: from the horse. You had a big fire burning in
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: the fireplace, a hot supper waiting for me on the table.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: After supper, you took me to my little room. You
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: heard me say my prayers, and you sat with me
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: until I fell asleep. You probably realized, dear Auntie, why
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: I am recalling all of this to your memory? Someday
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: soon God will send for you to take you to
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: a new home far away. Don't fear this summons, the
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: strange journey or the dark messenger of death. God can
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: be trusted to do as much for you as you
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: were kind enough to do for me so many years ago.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: At the end of the road, you'll find love and
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: a welcome waiting, and you'll be safe in God's arms.
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: I shall watch you, and I shall pray for you
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: until you're out of sight, and then wait for the
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: day when I shall make that journey myself and find
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: you waiting at the end of the road to greet me.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: May we stand together. Please take the hand of the
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: person standing next to you and pull up close. Amazing grace,
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: How sweet is that sound that saved a wretch like me?
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: We once were lost, and now we're found. We were blind,
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: Now we see. We truly cannot imagine our Father, what
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: it will be like when we have been there ten
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: thousand years, shining as the sun. We'll have no less
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: days to sing your praise than when you first begun.
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: And now to Him who is able to guard you
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: from stumbling, and present you faultless before the presence of
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: His glory. With exceeding great joy to the only Wise God,
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: our Savior, the glory and majesty, dominion and power now
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: and forever, and all God's people said Amen.