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 Sermon > Revelation Lectures |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(100) - Revelation Lectures (100) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 22:18-21 |
Date |
2009-06-12 |
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Scripture
Revelation 22:18-21
[18] I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;
[19] and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.
[20] He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly " Amen Come, Lord Jesus.
[21] The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let me explain the rest of Revelation 22:17, which I didn't finish in the last lecture.
The rest of Revelation 22:17 says, "And let the one who hears say, "Come " And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."
"The one who hears" is the one who hears the Gospel.
However, you should not just hear the Word of God.
After you hear the word of God, you should believe it in your heart and practice it.
Only then can you receive salvation, and furthermore, you can enter New Jerusalem.
Romans 2:13 says, "For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified."
Only those who are justified before God can have the right to enter Heaven.
And only when they believe the work of the precious blood of the Lord, can they be justified.
In addition, those who attain the whole measure of faith, in other words, who are truly changed into righteous and holiness, can enter New Jerusalem.
Next, "the one who is thirsty" is the one who is thirsty and hungry for the truth.
Jesus said to a woman of Samaria, in John Chapter 4, "You have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband."
If she had such many husbands, how difficult her life must have been!
She endured her hard and difficult life to pursue satisfaction by all means, but the Lord said the current husband was not her true husband either.
It means that on earth she couldn't find a man who could give her true fullness and joy.
How hard her life must have been, and how thirsty she must have been!
Just as she had to come to the well to draw water day after day, she was always hungry and thirsty.
Just like this woman of Samaria, people take fleshly things again and again to quench their thirst, which actually they cannot solve by themselves.
No matter how much flesh they take, they cannot have the thirst of their hearts quenched.
It is as though they drink salty sea water; their thirst gets even worse.
At this moment, they should not take flesh, but look for the spiritual water of life.
The Word of God is the only water of life, and it is the only thing that can satisfy the one who is (spiritually) thirsty.
Jesus says in John 4:14, "But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
All of you here have experienced this truth.
When you met the Lord and received the Holy Spirit, you felt the water of life that filled your heart.
Your thirst was quenched and you were full of joy.
Those who tasted the joy of being 'born-again' live a changed life.
They listen to the word of God and practice it.
Since they love the word of God that quenches their thirst, they diligently learn it and change themselves.
Those who live a changed life like this are provided with the water of life every day that gushes out in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Anyone who is thirsty for righteousness and longing for eternal life can take the water of life without cost.
Romans 3:23-24 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."
The forgiveness of our sins and the salvation are not by our own effort.
It is only by the grace of God.
Jesus was crucified on the cross and the Holy Spirit was sent to us, but these events did not happen because we did anything good.
The way to salvation was opened at no cost to us, and we receive salvation if we believe in the name of the Lord.
We receive the salvation without any cost to us, but it doesn't mean that we can unconditionally go to heaven just because we receive the Holy Spirit.
After a baby is born, if he doesn't eat and doesn't grow, he will not survive long.
In much the same way, after a man drinks the water of life, if he doesn't drink the water of life anymore and doesn't change spiritually, there will be no guarantee of his salvation.
IF he truly believes that Jesus suffered for his sin and that he is a child of the Holy God, he must cast off sin.
As a child of God, he has to recover the image of the Holy God.
If he still loves the world and lives in sin, even though he once received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit will be extinguished in him.
And then his name will be erased from the Book of Life in Heaven.
Those who truly realize the grace of God are full of joy and thanksgiving in their hearts, and thus they diligently cast off sin.
They fervently work for the kingdom of God, and they preach the Gospel.
And they also give offerings with all their hearts.
However, no matter what they give to God, it cannot pay the cost of salvation.
Even if it were ever possible to repay the cost of salvation, we could never determine how much it had cost.
Even though we work faithfully until death and give all kinds of precious things of the world, we cannot say we have repaid the price of salvation.
The only precious begotten Son of God the Creator suffered from terrible punishment and died for us; how can we ever repay such a price?
God also gives us Heaven that is filled with indescribable happiness.
There is also the grace that we would never be able to repay.
If you truly realize the grace from your innermost heart, you should devote all your life to the Lord.
When you give to the Lord like this, the Lord doesn't sit idly by accepting what you give to Him.
When you give anything with the aroma of thanks and love, God accepts it with pleasure, and gives us back even greater blessing than you give.
He gives you more strength for sanctification, and makes your spirit and soul prosper.
He repays you 30, 60, or 100 times more than what you sow, and gives you answers to the desires of your heart according to what you have believed and sought.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 John 4:10 says, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
As God's children who received such love of God, the most important thing among what we should do is to accomplish holiness and to live a life that has nothing to do with sin.
As a child of God you have no need to take pride in having casting off many sins; it is something that you are supposed to do.
Even though you cast off sin, if it is slow and if you forcibly struggle against it with difficulty, it will also cause you embarrassment.
I was saved by the grace of God when I was in the gravest despair at the lowest point at the bottom of my life.
Since I was truly thankful and happy for the grace, it was not difficult at all to cast off sin.
If I can just pay back even a little for the grace of the Lord, and if I can just please God, I am ready to give up even my life; why was it difficult to cast off dirty sins?
Besides, you suffer from all sorts of trials and afflictions, and diseases and misfortune; why wouldn't you want to get rid of them right now if possible!
I hope that you will love God the Father from the depth of your heart and realize His grace.
Now, Revelation 22:18-19 says, "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will 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 will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book."
Not a single word should be added to or removed from not only the Book of Revelation but all the 66 books of the Bible.
Those who add a word to or remove a word from the words of God as they please are mocking the name of God.
The Bible says that God will add the plagues which are written in the Bible to such people.
It also says that God will take away their part from the tree of life and from the Holy City, which means that God will make them not enter Heaven.
IF they are in a position of teaching the Word of God, they should remember this word all the more clearly.
For example, someone demands what he wants as he threatens by saying, "I'm a servant of God. If you don't listen to me, God will curse you."
He makes people tremble in fear.
Chances are that he pretends as though he heard the voice of God and leads the people in the wrong direction or tempts them.
However, the standard of curses and blessings is in the Word of God.
The right of giving blessings or curses follows only those servants of God who completely live by the Word of God, and teach the Word of God as it is.
In other words, if people obey the word of God written in the Bible, they will be blessed. However, if they disobey the Word of God, and stand against God, curses may come upon them.
Actually, God doesn't give them curses because He detests them.
It is the enemy devil and Satan that bring curses and plagues upon people.
When people dwell in the truth and the light, God protects them from the accusations of Satan.
The reason they are NOT protected by God is that they themselves stay in the darkness.
Taking away from the Word of God is not proper before God either.
Some people take away from the Word of God or dilute the Word if it is not in accordance with their thinking.
One of the biggest of these concerns is sanctification.
There is a process that the children of God should follow once they are saved.
It is to cast off sin and evil and to change into the holiness that is the image of God.
Otherwise, they have nothing to do with God.
"Be holy," "Be sanctified," "Cast off sin," "You cannot enter heaven if you commit the deeds of the flesh," "Faith without deeds is dead faith;" these commands and warnings are written in the Bible countless times.
How many people, however, remove them by teaching others that people can be saved if they simply believe the Lord?
The Bible even says, "God will blot the name in the Book of Life," but they even take this away.
They teach that once a person receives the Holy Spirit, they will surely go to Heaven even if they don't live by the Word of God.
Additionally, there are even people who forbid speaking in tongues and prohibit various other gifts. They also teach that crying out in prayer is wrong.
They omit or avoid the parts of the Bible about any mention of the spiritual realm such as manifestation of signs and wonders because these things are not in accordance with their thoughts.
In these cases, both the teachers and learners together are displaced far from Heaven.
They fall into a dangerous situation just as a blind man leads another blind man.
The Word of God is the heart of God itself, and it is God Himself.
Therefore, those who fear God never add to or take away the Word of God.
Moreover, the words of the Bible decide eternal life.
It is the word of judgment that separates the people who go to Heaven from the people who go to Hell depending on whether or not live by the word.
Therefore, people should never add to or take away the Word of God according to their thought.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:6, "but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
If he drowns, he may lose his physical life, but if his spirit stumbles, he may lose the life of spirit.
Therefore, when you convey the word of God, you should be extremely prudent and careful.
Revelation 22:20 says, "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly " Amen Come, Lord Jesus."
In Chapter 22, the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, the Lord repeats "I'm coming quickly" 3 times.
Revelation 22:7 says, "And behold, I am coming quickly Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."
And Revelation 22:12 says, "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."
Now, at the moment of finishing all His word, He says again, "I'm coming quickly."
I hope that you can deeply understand the heart of the Lord who warns us again and again.
Nobody knows what day and what time the Lord will return.
However, when referring to the signs of the end time recorded in the Bible, you can see how close it is to the end time.
Moreover, we are even closer to the end time than Apostle John who wrote this prophecy 2000 years ago.
Even though there is enough time left, no one knows when the last day of each one's life is going to be.
Even a young child or a healthy young man should go to God when God calls.
They should always live a prepared life to answer a call of God anytime.
When you hear the Lord is coming quickly, what do you think?
Those who are not ready to welcome the Lord may not like to hear that the Lord is coming quickly.
However, those who truly have faith will be full of hope and become thrilled to hear the Lord is coming quickly.
You may tearfully imagine you are welcoming the Lord. Your insides may flutter like it is full of butterflies as you think about what you want to say to God and what it will be like to be in the arms of the Lord.
This was why the forefathers of faith in the days of the Early Church were able to rejoice even when they were beheaded and fed to lions.
The moment of death was not a moment of fear, but it was the moment of meeting with the Lord they had longed for.
You are not even dying as a martyr, so how much more joyfully will you be when you welcome the Lord while living?
Therefore, when you hear the Lord is coming quickly, you should be able to say with joy, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."
You can check yourself how much you love the Lord and how well you are adorned as a bride, by seeing how desperately you hope for the day,
Those who live with this hope can receive the grace of God and of the Lord even in their life on earth.
Now, the last verse, Revelation 22:21, says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."
Here, "all" includes those who already believed in the Lord, and those who will believe in the Lord in the future.
Everyday life itself is grace to those who believe in the Lord.
Our Lord redeemed us, and He sent the Holy Spirit to lead us every day.
He gives answers and provides for the needs to those who live in the truth just as He gives rain both early and late.
He protects us with the fiery wall of the Holy Spirit and with His fiery eyes, and He leads us to prosper in all things.
And finally, after all the works are over, we will be in the arms of our ever longed for Lord, and enjoy the glory of Heaven.
All of this is the grace of the Lord, and of God the Father who offers it to us at no cost.
One thing you should remember is the fact that, even though God gives this grace to everyone, the result of the grace will vary depending on how each individual receives it.
Some people confess with their lips that they are thankful for this and for that, and that all is by the grace of the Lord.
However, even though they seem overflowing with grace and thanks on their lips, it is actually slow to change in their hearts.
Of course, they are better than those who don't give thanks and those who don't realize the grace. But, if they truly grateful for the grace, it is all the more important to change.
In addition to confessing with lips, they should yield fruit.
There are people who say, "I understood the deep truth," or "My original problem was this," and rejoice while listening to a message.
Some of them confess with tears that they will repay the grace with all their life because they received such love when they realize the love of God the Father.
They even say, "Now, I see the way. I can come into spirit quickly."
However, as time goes by for them, their fervent hearts may cool down, or they don't respond to the grace any longer.
You should never repeat the process of receiving and forsaking grace.
Just as a man desperately catches at a rope while he is hanging on a cliff, you should hold on to the grace received.
You should engrave it on your heart and yield fruit.
When you make a resolution and try to keep your heart, God will surely give you strength.
I urge you to give thanks for all the grace you have received, and to accomplish sanctification with all your strength with a heart that longs to please God.
And I ask you to be more faithful for the kingdom of God and to yield more fruit.
Then, God will give you strength not only for accomplishing sanctification, but also for yielding good fruit. And He will give you grace upon grace.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, with this 100th lecture, I'm concluding this Lecture on Revelation, that has lasted for 2 years and 8 months.
I give all thanks and glory to God the Father for revealing the mysteries of the end time, and for giving faith and hope through this lecture series.
I hope that you have been able to work out some idea how to live in this end time through this "Lecture on the Book of Revelation".
Is here anyone, by any chance, who is afraid of what was spoken about the 7 Year Great Tribulation, the Judgment, or Hell, and feel apprehension about them?
God gives these words not because He wants to make you afraid or feel anxiety.
It is the way of expressing His love to make all of you hear the word, wake up from spiritual sleep, and go to Heaven.
Out of His ardent love of you, He gives these words to lead you to a better dwelling place in Heaven.
As we get closer to the end time, the gap between spirit and flesh becomes wider and wider, just as white stands out all the more clearly against black.
Those who pursue the truth are clearly distinguished form those who follow the world.
Even though some may be church-goers, if they are not awakened, they are no different from the worldly people; they are stained with the lust of the word and sin and evil.
You should never enter into the flow of this stream of the world.
You should awaken and pray. You should be all the more prudent and stay in the truth.
You should never relax your belief and think that you can enter into spirit as you live your believing life as you see fit.
You should never say, "When will the Lord come anyway? I'll just take it easy, and enjoy the world for a while longer and when I see end time is right at hand I will repent and become diligent to the end."
Just as the Lord says, "I'm coming quickly," the Lord will truly come quickly.
If you are not awake, you will meet with the end time like waking up and finding a thief at the foot of your bed!
1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
As said, you should first accomplish sanctification perfectly, and preserve your spirit and soul completely until the Lord comes.
You should be thankful everyday for the time given to you, and diligently wash the robe of your heart, and accomplish sanctification as quickly as possible.
Until you meet the Lord, you should be able to accomplish the kingdom of God greatly with the strength of sanctification and the power of God.
You should play the leading role in accomplishing the providence of God.
I ask all of you in Korea, and all the Manmin members, and those who listen to this message to become a spiritual warrior who is like this.
At the end may you come close to the throne of the Holy God by entering the gates of Heaven, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ the Groom, I pray!
[Amen] |
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