"I Come Quickly"

Read with me please in Revelation chapter 22. I think you will all agree with me That we owe a debt of gratitude To the Christians here at Stark Road for all their labors for us The savor of which is coming from the kitchen at the moment, I think again But even more than that For their concern The concern of those had that lead and guide them a concern At these minutes that we spend together Will be spent for profit for eternity and They know The concern that that involves before the Lord we appreciate it and commend them for it Revelation 22 verse 6 and He said unto me these words these sayings are faithful and true And the Lord God of the Holy Prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done behold There's actually an end at the beginning of that and behold I come quickly blessed as he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book verse 12 and behold, I Come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be Verse 20 He which testifieth these things saith surely I Come quickly Amen Even so come Lord Jesus Why in the last chapter of our Bible Does the Lord Jesus tell us three times I'm coming Well You and I know that the Word of God says in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. So This is right at the upper limit of that.

It's absolutely certain Absolutely confirmed to us He's coming. I Think as well it may tell us something of the importance of this to Christ I'm always interested in this that it's the same way in which the Lord Jesus speaks to Peter In John chapter 21 If I will that he tarry now, this is my Best attempt at a literal translation with absolutely no authority for it except that it is a present tense if I will that he tarry the best way I know how to express that is while I'm coming and So in the three instances here, he says again, I'm coming quickly I'm coming quickly I'm coming quickly You know, you're not going to say that it's he's been coming for a long time No, you just have to recognize the coming has been in his heart all this time How important to him? Behold I am coming quickly But more than that, I think he wants to leave us with this ringing in our hearts on the last inspired page Never lose sight of this I'm coming I'm coming. I'm coming let the focus of this Affect your living reach your heart Behold I come quickly.

I Don't know whether there might be a connection with this You remember that all ministry is categorized under three headings Paul speaks in 1st Corinthians chapter 14 about edification and exhortation and comfort This which will strengthen you build you up this which will stir you up and This this which will steady you in all the circumstances of life, so let me just look at it in that light a Strengthening hope a stirring hope a Steadying hope Because there is while the words are the same There is a difference in which in the way in which the Lord Jesus presents this great truth to us So let me think with you of the strengthening hope and in some sense. Let me bring in this as well I think the way in which the Lord Jesus is picturing us is picturing those to whom he is speaking is they are actually stewards Entrusted with the truth of the book that he is writing to them this book specifically Somehow I think that we're learning that it's the same Word that has been given to the prophets all down through the Word of God and they are now stewards of divine truth And what he's saying is this there is a joy. There is an eternal blessedness that awaits those Who are faithful? Who are stewards with the truth that I have given them the word is used here I'm not sure that I well, I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be able to convey to you that the impact of it But blessed are they that keep? Does that mean? They put it in a box and they put a lock on the box and they keep it there All down through their lifetime.

I don't think that's it But they guard it and how will you and I guard the truth of God? By no better way than to exactly obey it Carry it out. Let its truth control how we live and by that means preserve it Declare it. Yes, but live it declare it preserve it guard it.

And so Let me just ask you to think with me about who the people are the first people that read this You just go back to the beginning of the book and you're reminded of this they are Assemblies they are churches in Asia to whom these Letters are sent to whom this book is said That they're trying to keep testimony for the Lord Jesus lampstands they are affected by a plethora of ills They are dealing with every weapon that Satan himself can use They are dealing with every weakness that the flesh within produces that they are battling Every influence of a pervasive world in which they are located their world's not as big as your world, you know Brother came across the line yesterday. I was asking about this He came across the line yesterday. I just checked with home before he got to here back yonder in some distant city in Canada That's nothing You could just pick up your cell phone now if you're allowed to turn it on and then not don't do it And you could call your pips somewhere over in the Far East Small world their world was as big as this community where they live And in the midst of all of that They are facing a tremendous riptide of evil What you don't know is that what has been just running into flowing into Pergamos like a flood Is something that is if you just get a larger picture of it There's something grand and scale of what's going on here this is the very same kind of thing that is going to sweep through this time of Tribulation and all the upheaval of society and everything that's around you what you are battling is something far bigger than you there is there is a design and it's all a mystery of lawlessness that's already working and it's moving onward to a colossal collapse With all the pretense of evil and wickedness Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Let this book get into your mind and grasp this There are tremendous forces that are at work There is a systematic attack on that which is going to dishonor on that which will honor Christ There's a systematic attack to dishonor Christ What is the reason That I have written this letter to you and this book If you want if you want in my understanding the epitome of this book You'll get the epitome of the whole book in chapter 1 It is a glorious person Who was who is and who will always be and all the currents of things that are the fad of the moment and the Philosophy of the day and all the problems that are running rampant to to affect and influence the people of God Get a look at this You are linked with the eternal You are linked with Christ You are linked with the one in all the majesty of his person when John sees him He falls at his feet is dead overwhelmed at the majesty and glory of this one and Before the book is done. We're going to find that the answer to all the ills of this corrupted world Will all be found when in on a white horse He comes riding in in power and great glory and by the Word of God the sword of his mouth He brings all that rises against God into judgment in finality And what we are about just at the present moment is this We are given the great privilege of Holding the character of Christ firm Declaring who he is in the greatness of his person in a world that does not want the message and will not welcome the message But what you are about over there in Pergamos what you are about in Ephesus what you are about in each of those churches what you are about Just let me remind you of what John saw in chapter 1. This is what I want to call you up to be Let what I am be the standard of what you are and let your light shine Out in this world that men and women may have a clear testimony To me you're holding something that matters now You're holding something that will be triumphant then My beloved brothers never lose sight of this What we are doing is Until he come Upholding him Upholding the honor of his person Dealing with Every force that is against him and we only have we only have the power of his word which Maybe that's enough. Oh Thank God I'm coming Guard what you've been given Blessed are they that guard? the sayings of the prophecy this book Move with me to the second time when the Lord Jesus speaks to them Here is not now a strengthening.

Hope but this is now a stirring hope You hold I come quickly and my reward is with me To give to every man according as his work shall be I'm coming What are the things that the Lord Jesus values So that when he comes his reward is with him I'm gonna ask you to take a little detour from the book of the Revelation just for the moment And follow with me the closing Days of the Lord's public ministry The cross is coming the nation clearly has rejected him But what are the things that he values because what he valued then is what he values now is What he will value when he comes Let me just remind you of a woman a widow number her And the rich are casting into the Treasury Probably they had it changed to half dollars so it would sound better when it went in Excuse me. I'm taking a lot of time in line She walks up No delay in the line no big noise The sound has echoed in heaven but not on earth and the Lord Jesus says Want to know what I appreciate Not how much they gave how much She had left She gave her all That Kind of dedication registers in heaven There is someone who knows When you have given the last of your energies for him There's someone who knows When the last of your resources have been poured out for him That counts It's not the big show it's not those that have the wealth It's those that give all and May that truth remind us that in this present moment We are privileged to live he's coming and what he values when he comes is this those who have given Everything they have all her living nothing held back Why did you do that missus I Didn't point this out. Yeah, I'm cleaning up what I should have preached on yesterday.

I Was impressed by this and Isaiah chapter 40 where it speaks about the greatness of God. It says Levin Lebanon's not enough for him What's that mean? What what do you know Lebanon to be famous for in a Bible? the cedars of Lebanon You know the Prophet is saying If you had all the cedars of Lebanon and you put them on a fire for a burnt offering it wouldn't be enough for God And I think I hear the widow say Whatever I could give him would not be enough for the glory of the God who's my God Listen, let us get a grasp of the greatness of God. Let us get a grasp of the glory of God He deserves Nothing less than all that we have Dedication Devotion But then move with me as the Lord Jesus now following the incident with her Begins the all of it discourse as it's called and he begins to speak about his coming back to earth And and the events preceding it and and he gives us then stories about those who will serve him during that period of time Matthew chapter 25 the Lord Jesus speaks about servants and They are entrusted with talents five for this one two for this one one for this one Now what does heaven value what does the Lord Jesus put a premium on? Well, you know the statement don't you well done Good and Faithful servant, let me just let me just stop on that word good for the moment.

Don't overlook that one Because if you look at the first time that word is using the New Testament obviously the first time in Matthew he sends his reign on the evil and On the good good as compared to evil If you hear that rich young ruler coming to the Lord Jesus He says to him good master and the Lord Jesus says why callest thou me good there is none good but God Good is the character of God good as compared to evil and Heaven prizes a Replication of the character of God in men and in women That too remote Let us remember today he's coming and his reward is with him and he values character He values moral moral Responsibility he values what has moral content and worth well done good and he values faithfulness consistency a Commitment a dedication to the interests of the absent Lord Let me move from that Hard to do but let me do it and come in with you to the end of chapter 25 and the Lord Jesus there Tells us about the shepherd the one who sits on the throne of his glory and before him are called The nation's and he divides them sheep and goats and what did he value? With those now you understand these are all these Parables and this prophecy. They're all about Israel. They're all about the coming kingdom after the rapture, but I'm just gathering from them What does he value? and here are sheep and they visited him and they fed him and they Saw him when he was sick and they cared for him No We didn't do that Lord we just All we did was we lived in a society where the people who were true to you were rejected and we just identified with them and Heaven still identify it still values Those who are willing to be identified with the rejecting Christ rejected Christ Now, you know, don't you that I'm thinking about Hebrews chapter 13 Where those? Who are suffering a great fight of affliction and are Rejected by their families their houses their goods burn confiscated Let us go forth therefore Unto him bearing his reproach and in the day in which we are still living our Lord is now rejected and He is looking he values those who are willing to be identified with a rejected Christ And your friend saying where do you go? Oh that little building down the road and Oh, why don't you come along to my place we have 55,000 or something.

We have lots of people coming and we have lots of activity I'm not making excuses for our weakness and I'm not making excuses for a lack of activity But I am telling you this that identification with Christ counts in heaven a rejected Christ and not only Identification with him but consideration for those who belong to him Don't want to miss this with us today your care for the rejected and the despised of this world Your care for those who don't count in this world wasted time On earth they say that Heaven says Ye have done it unto me I'm embarrassed when Christians are so kind to visiting men who speak the Word of God as if They were somebody When they're just as much somebody as the most least lightly lowly esteemed of God's people they belong to Christ Don't reserve your best for the preachers reserve your best for those that belong to Christ Consideration For those who belong to him move with me just one more step into the next chapter after you read about these great events of the future and at the Feast in the home of Simon the leper. There's a woman Just a sister I think maybe she had treasured bright hopes for life and in her Hope chest she's got it all stored up And She knows there'll be no time to anoint his body for burial because she knows he's gonna die and She says what I treasure for myself. I am going to break and Pour it all out on him.

You said David you covered that point already We started with it at the beginning of the conference We start with it in the Things that the Lord Jesus values. Let me come around to it at the end that adoration of Christ Counts in heaven and nothing else will suffice everything else is wrapped up in this You know about the men with the pounds that the Lord Jesus spoke about I could have gone back to that one, too But whether it's the pounds or the talents in every case It's those that love their master those that love the nobleman that went away It is love for him that energizes them while he's gone. Oh, let us leave this conference With at least this much ringing in our souls Lord Jesus I love thee I Love thee because thou hast first loved me and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow Tis thou who art worthy Lord Jesus is now There is nothing too great to break and pour out for him I Love I think I referred to this.

I don't know how many times I love the attitude of a young man who was saved in his parents attic and In his young Christian life. He began to pray Lord Give me some way to express my Devotion to Christ. What are you looking for in this life? Lord tell me what the minimums are for Christianity and I'll give it a try No, you wouldn't say that not today not when you think of Christ.

No, I know you wouldn't say that What heart is that that would not say Lord Jesus Show me how I can express in this alien world That above all things as Peter said thou knowest. I love thee His name was James Hudson Taylor He poured out his life to show the Lord Jesus just to display in this world Adoration For Christ, let me just remind you that's valued in heaven What what's that? What's now the values of the rewards that he brings the word recompenses. I'll pay you back So Mary pours out her ointment in a moment and the Lord Jesus says that one moment will be remembered forever wherever the gospel goes The result of that one act of devotion of love of adoration it will have eternal reverberations it counts if only in the quiet of our hearts when we feel we can do nothing else our hearts pour out in love and Worship bring the best you have on a Lord's Day morning and on a Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning to to the Lord Jesus you know, I Have some wonderful friends that send me email I don't well, I really don't know their names But they're certainly they're very much interested in my well-being.

They send me tips stop stock tips the hot stocks what what to invest in and I have to go looking in my Spam box to find them, but they're there and I give them about that much time as much as at times it takes me to find where the delete key because I don't believe them and Whatever you do, I don't know but I'm not interested in big investments, but I have a little tip for you. I Can tell you this with absolute certainty There's a stock Don't tell everybody there's a stock and If you invest in it There is an absolutely guaranteed A Abundant dividend when it gets cashed in you'll make it you'll be rich forever. Let me just tell you that It's better than paying Getting paid Gold $5 bills if I don't know of course doesn't know the gold $5 coins.

That's what I'm saying It's better than getting gold $5 coins for every peso you put in which is a pretty small amount in that peso The Payoff is all I was gonna say out of this world You've taken care of five pounds Now pounds pretty expensive or five talents. Sorry now, it's pretty expensive five cities Somehow the two don't compute What little you have done for me here I have valued it and I have a currency that I pay in That is far above anything in this world I'm coming My reward is with me To recompense every man according as his work shall be Let us keep this in view He's coming it's worth living for him. It's worth pouring out for him because I Would love to have I would love to have crowns upon crowns From him They'd all be grace But I'd love to have crowns upon crowns And you wouldn't even know I got them and I won't know what you get either really Because I know what you're gonna do with it.

And I know what I'm gonna do with it It's all for him and they cast their crowns some of them murdered Some of them serving to exhaustion Hearts poured out for the Lord Jesus and their story is untold And when it's all said and done, they'll pour out their cast their crowns at his feet And the glorious man of Calvary Will be all the more glorified By the little you and I have done the pesos Just to be turned into gold coins forever It's a steadying hope and if This strengthening hope is for stewards and and if this stirring hope is for servants to serve the master Then this steadying hope is for sojourners just here for a little while. I think if if these people reading the The book of the Revelation for the first time Kept in mind the truth that was brought before them. They would have changed their mind about the world in which they lived Tell me something Is it? Sunshine is it daybreak in the world in which we are living? That's a glorious world in it huh, this is the latest and greatest age and things are better than they have ever been right and You're just young in this world and you have all kinds of potential and promise pour yourself into it She's a rising day That what you get in the book of the Revelation She's a twilight That's moving into a dark long eternal night Let us get a look at the world in light of this great fact.

He's coming. There is a day that's coming we are children of that day and We'll leave behind the children of this night. No.

No, this world is not a glowing Opportunity this world is a darkening night We're just sojourners here and all the events of life When you get old this is only hearsay when you get old and You begin to realize on every side there are trials and difficulties and inside there's a traitor that's making you weak and wobbly and Hard to see things and all the rest of that kind of thing There is one grand effect of it all He's coming. Let me pull up the stakes. This world is not my home.

I don't belong here I'm not looking for glory here. I belong to another world. Surely I come quickly There's another world for which we were made birthed for that world given eternal life.

We belong in a world We've never seen I'm going home There will be that grand moment when the sojourners land and at home and You'll be there By the grace of God, I'll be there And You'll look better than you look now And you're saying and thank God so will you But I won't be looking for you I Know you won't be looking for me. I Will come again and Receive you unto myself That where I am I Have wanted you with me from eternity Where I am there you may be also We thought well, I see now how much of this can I tell you melody had surgery and Six weeks after the surgery Three darling little children Got piled into vehicles. Oh the mother and father too and They started off on a long journey Grandma Struggled When they went down the road just used to live down the street and now they're going into a far country So It's another six weeks past and she's Surviving a little better So we worked this up With the father of our grandchildren Took a journey, but the mother's not supposed to know We were maybe a little excited She didn't know But we kind of tipped off the father of the grandchildren When we were getting toward the city He was playing it cool Had everything arranged Finally did we knock on the door? And the children run up the stairs to see who this who's at the door and The father of those children says the Rebecca you better go to the door She opened the door great totally surprised stunned look on her face and Then I got the best hug from her I've ever gotten It won't be surprised But it will be all an amazement And we will see him whom having not seen we love In whom though now we see him not yet believing we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

I'm coming quickly You say how does this quickly play out? Well, just let me tell you about Paul in 1st Timothy chapter 3. He says the Timothy I've written these things to you that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself But he says I'm hoping to come to you now our authorizes shortly, but it's the word quickly So Paul he says if I if I'm delayed Paul is not saying I'm gonna be right there But I'm gonna be there as soon as I can as soon as the program is right as far as God is concerned I'm coming Child of God this reflects the heart of our beloved He says It's not the moment just yet It's in my heart. I'm waiting to come But I want you to know I think this is a bad way of putting it I want you to know that when my father says go I Will be there in a moment in the twinkling of an eye and you and I will be together forever surely I come quickly I Don't want all the people to say amen, but from your hearts I do want you to say even so come for Jesus