Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
We closed our last message with a warning found in Rev.3:11. The Lord said he will come quickly. There will be no time to undo what has been done. There will be no time to get busy being a godly believer once the Lord comes after his church. He will not send pastors an e-mail saying, “I will come for you and your people at 6 a.m. March 15th 2008.” He may come before I finish this message. I pray that he will. I believe that he will, and so I should live like he will come today. Once he comes our opportunity for being faithful and bearing good works is over.
Our opportunity to speak his words in a dark world will be over. Our opportunity to get the victory over our sins will be over. Our opportunity to show kindness, forgiveness, patience, virtue love, compassion, and the other fruits of the Spirit will be over in this life. In the next life all virtues will come naturally, but in this life it is a test to exercise obedience to Christ and to resist the old sin nature’s solicitations to exalt ourselves. Do not let something or someone steal your crown.
v.8 John had seen more than any man had ever seen. Some things were fearful and shocking. Some things were too glorious for words. John heard things like the sounds of clashing thunder; roaring water falls; great heavenly choruses; the voice of God. He also heard the cursing of men, unrepentant of heart and mind. He heard the cries of those martyred for the faith, and he heard the soothing sounds of Christ wiping away all tears. After John had heard and seen these things he fell down (aorist active indicative of pipto, to fall prostrate). John fell down before the feet of the angel who showed him these things. John had done the same thing in Rev.19:10. The infinitive proskunesai, from the word, proskuneo, means to bow so as to show adoration, or to kiss the hand showing reverence or homage.
v.9 This angel identified himself as a fellow servant just as were the prophets. The angel is telling John that all of us worship God, so worship God along side of us, but “do not worship me”, the angel says. No one, angel or man is to be bowed down to as a gesture of worshipful adoration. The church that expects its people, along with international dignitaries to kiss the hand and bow to its exalted leader has lifted itself above that of God’s holy angels and practically places itself on equal worth of being worshipped as God. This holy angel is telling us to worship only God. Also keep (present active part. of the Greek word, tereo, to guard); guard the words of the prophesy of this book. Do not water it down or keep it hidden.
v.10 And then the angel says to John, Seal not (aorist active subjunctive verb from sphragizo). Do not shut up or seal up this book. Do not conceal the contents of this book. It needs to be read and studied, taught and observed. The Lord is coming back for his church, he is sending judgment upon this earth; he is coming with his saints to set up his 1,000 kingdom; he is going to judge Satan and send him to hell forever; he is going to judge all unbelievers and cast them to hell; he is going to judge the nations at the end of time; he is going to create a new heaven and a new earth; he is going to bring forth the heavenly city Jerusalem to the new earth; he is going to wipe away all tears and take us with him into that eternal day which has no end. Do not seal up this book John is told. Nothing can be concluded until every jot and tittle is fulfilled. Everything he says that will happen, will happen. Matt.5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Every ( i ) and every ( t ) will be dotted and crossed as it were before this book is sealed up. Until then we need to learn it and adhere to its admonitions and warnings and encouragement.
The choices men and women make will be judged by the Lord of this book and this book is not to be sealed until every man and woman gives an account of him or her self to the Lord. Everyone who has reached the age of their accountability to God will give an account before time ends. Why do people stay away from this book you ask? I believe it is because this book shows the day when all men will answer for their lives and people do not want to do that.
v.11 John receives this unusual revelation. He that is unjust (adikon), let him be unjust (adikesato) still, (aorist active imperative). Let him keep on being unjust. The aorist tense of this verb means this is a fixed position this person takes. A man or a woman can settle in their minds that they are not going to be humble and repent and receive Christ for the forgiveness of sins and God will let them. Mankind can choose to live in sin, wallow in sin, and die in sin but God has done all he can do to save men. The cross is God’s open arms to receive sinners and men will turn the other way; some will even curse the cross. They turn to a life that is unrighteous. Some turn to a life that is filthy, and so John says, let him who chooses to be filthy (present active participle of rupos which means to be morally polluted), let his keep on being morally polluted and filthy (aorist passive imperative). Those who choose to live a filthy life become what they choose to become. This is the result of free volition which God gives to every one. Some accept the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and others accept to live an unrighteous life, even a filthy life. A man can go so far in his determination against God that he can forever seal his eternal destiny years before he dies. The mold is cast in sinful choices, and after awhile that mold can be set forever. The aorist tense used in these verbs and participles describes an immutable motion. Once that mold is cast this becomes the positional truth for some unbelievers; fortunately some do come to repentance. Many though will never say yes to Christ and God knows it. These are the folks we are told to not bother to pray for as noted in Christ’s parable of casting pearls before the swine. These are the people such as Paul turned over to Satan in I Tim.1:20. These are the people spoken of in Rom.1:21 who refused to acknowledge God and glorify him as God. It is said in Rom.1:24, 26, 28 that it is God that gives the unrighteous and filthy over to their own doings. The determination of men to destroy their own souls settles forever their eternal punishment.
On the contrary, John also says, he that is righteous (positional righteousness in Christ ) let him keep on being righteous (aorist active imperative). As a saved person you stand forever fixed in the righteousness of God, and so keep on living a righteous life. And he that is holy, or sanctified, let him keep on being sanctified. As a believer in Christ he or she is forever in Christ. If he is dead, his soul and human spirit is consciously with the Lord in heaven. If this believer is still living, then let this believer keep on being made holy. And as you know that is the biggest part of why we come to church. Yes, we sing, and fellowship, and give our offerings and pray, but most importantly we come to hear God’s word and we take it in and we let it change our ways, thus creating a more holy life in us for the Lord. Receiving salvation only takes one decision and it happens in a moment of believing faith, but the rest of our lives must be given to diligent study of the word of God and obedience to the word until we die or the Lord returns for us. Let’s keep the faith until that time.