A preacher at a certain church asked the congregation this question: “How many here today want to go to Heaven?” Instantly, every hand in the house went up,
except for one elderly man. “Dear Sir,” said the preacher, “don’t you want to go to Heaven?”
“Oh, yes,” replied the man. “I thought you were getting a load up right now.”
You would think everyone wants to go to Heaven when the Lord comes. You would think everyone would take the steps to be ready to meet the Lord one day.
Several years ago the warning went out for thousands of people living on the eastern coast about the coming of a Hurricane. Many people prepared by boarding
up their homes, purchasing supplies, and making evacuations. There are some folks who did not take serious the warnings and chose to go on as if nothing would happen. They are like many people who choose to disregard God’s warning in the Bible. The Warning is very plain from Scriptures. We must get the Word out! If you will look in your Bibles to Revelation, chapter 22, You will see God’s Final Warning!
10 And he said to me, " Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one
who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.’’ 12 "Behold, I
am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’’ 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the
gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the
murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. 16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am
the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’’ 17 The Spirit and the bride say, ""Come.’’ 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. 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.
What is God’s Final Warning?
(1) The time is Near. v.10 “the time is at hand” It is near.
What is near? The fulfillment of the prophecy of this book. All that is written about future events is near. What the Bible says about the Lord’s coming is very near. It is upon us closer than we think.
THE TIME IS AT HAND...IT IS NEAR! We can’t say we have 5 years, or 10 years. We can’t say we even have 1 year. We may not have another week. The coming
of the Lord Jesus is near. He may wait to come for you at a ripe old age. He may come for you at middle age. He may come for you while you are in your twenties, or thirties, or while you are in your teen-age years. NO ONE HAS THE CERTAINTY OF LIVING A LONG TIME UPON THIS EARTH! We can leave this earth as a
youngster just as well as being an older person.
James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
God can come in the early hours of life, as well as the late hours of life. That’s
God’s Warning......His coming is near!
There is a 2nd Warning to think about......
(2) Jesus’s coming is quickly. This describes the “how” of Jesus’s coming. His coming is near. That describes the “When”. His coming is quickly. That describes the “how” of His coming.
See Revelation 22:7, 12, 20. Also, see Revelation 3:11
When Jesus says, “I come quickly” He means that when He starts to come, it will all be over before anyone has a chance to change their minds. It also speaks of the thoroughness of His coming. Jesus won’t start to come, and then change His mind. Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Some folks foolishly think somehow they will be warned at that moment prior to the coming of the Lord, and then they will make preparation. That’s why Jesus says, “Behold, I come quickly.” When Jesus comes it will be over. It won’t be like looking on the television and seeing the coming storm. People begin to prepare for the hurricane, or the possible tornado. When Jesus comes, he will be come and gone
before a person can bat an eye. It will be that quick. Matthew 24:27 makes this plain.
IThess 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. This describes the unexpectant return of the Lord Jesus. In a day that you think He won’t come.
The Warning is that the Coming of Jesus is Near; and the way He comes will be very quick and final. So the Warning is this....His coming is Near. His coming is Swift and complete. Here’s another warning:
(3) His coming will not wait on your preparation... (v.11)
Because there is a deadline for getting ready for Jesus. That deadline will not be on the other side. It is on this side of the grave, in the land of the living. v.11 Some people think....Jesus can’t come now. I’m not ready. My loved ones are not ready. My life is in a mess! Jesus just can’t come now. We must have revival first before Jesus comes.(Wrong!) People have got to get serious with their relationship with God first. The truth is, and it’s a warning to us, Don’t expect great changes before
Jesus comes back. That does not mean, people can’t change before the Lord comes, or before they go out to meet God after this life. THE WARNING IS THIS...Don’t put faith in a special moment out there when everyone is going to turn around and everything will be okay just before Jesus comes back. Don’t believe the lie that only those quote “bad, wicked” people will be caught without a prayer. For the most part, people will die very much the way they have lived. There are exceptions, but rare exceptions. Only 1 case in the Bible that I can think of....was the thief on the cross. He lived as a thief, but He died with the righteousness of Christ. There are those rare occasions when someone turns to the Lord in those few moments before death, but they are rare. We saw a miracle of God’s grace in this church a few years ago, George Williams in the latter years he turned to Christ. That is a very rare event. Thank God for the folks who witnessed to him. You can go out on
Monday nights and witness to men in the lateness of their life, and I can tell you that most of them are hard to reach with the gospel of Jesus. Most of them will never turn to Christ. We should, however, keep on praying; keep on witnessing.
It’s a warning, don’t put faith in something dramatically changing your heart at the very last moment. See verse 11. The one who is doing wrong, still do wrong. The one who is filthy, still be filthy. The way you live is the way you die. The one who is righteous, keep on practicing righteousness. the one who is holy, keep on living holy.” The way you live is the way you die. You live without Jesus, you die without Jesus. (Yes, praise God, for His grace and at the 11:00 hour of life a person can
surrender to Jesus.) The warning is this....don’t count on that for your situation.
You live out of God’s will, you die out of God’s will. You live a selfish life, you die a selfish person.
And it works on the other hand, you live for Jesus, you die with Jesus. You live with Christ upon your heart, you die with Christ in your heart. You
live for Jesus, you die with Jesus.
One day dear saintly brother was hoeing in his garden. Someone came up and asked, “what would you do, if you knew that Jesus was coming this very day. What
would you do differently? The old sainted soul said, “I would first finish this row of
beans.” The truth is, when Jesus comes, I will not have to change anything. So the warning is this, don’t wait for Jesus to come to do something about your life. The time to do something is now. Don’t think God will flash a neon sign across the heavens which reads...”I am coming for you tomorrow, so get ready this very day.” Ready, or not Jesus is coming!
God’s Final Warning!!!
1) His coming is near. (Revelation 22:10) “time is at hand”
2) His coming will be quickly. (Revelation 22:7,12,20)
3) His coming will not wait on your preparation.(Revelation 22:11,12)
And now a 4th Warning:
4) Jesus is coming for Possessors, not Professors.(Revelation 22:14,15)
Many profess to be a follower of Jesus, but they do not possess the life of Jesus. Outwardly, they make a good pretense at being Saved, but they do not possess
Jesus. Notice verse 14 “Blessed are they that do his commandments,
Notice the word “do”.
There are folks who claim to believe in Jesus, but don’t have any indication, any proof, any evidence that they love Jesus. They are not “doers” of what Jesus says, but only pretenders. They give “lip” service to Jesus, but there is no heart service.
They put on a good front before others, but they do not have a desire to follow Jesus. When He says, “blessed are they that do his commandments...” it means the folks who put God’s Word to practice. This is not earning Heaven by our own goodness, or by living right; but we have a relationship with Jesus. In this relationship, we allow Jesus to live His life in us.
Notice v.7 “...blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book....”
THE WARNING IS CLEAR.....Jesus is coming for those who are truly born again. One of the signs that you are born again, there is a commitment to follow Jesus.
You follow Jesus. You follow His teachings. You obey His commands. When you sin, you confess your sin before the Lord and experience forgiveness. This teaching is overlooked today in many churches. After we come to Christ, we then follow Christ. No where in the scriptures does it teach that we come and ask Jesus to be our Saviour with the intentions to live as we please, do as we please, and live in
disobedience to the Lord.
Listen to Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
This verse is not teaching us that there will be this straight line of perfection from a child of God. The evidence of a true child of God’s life will be the fruits of Christlikeness; there will be the fruits of obedience. Someone says, “I know I’m going to heaven, because I’m a bonafide member of a church.” That’s not the evidence of a Christian. Is there a real desire to follow Jesus? Do you desire to be
with God’s people on Sunday, and when God’s people meet for worship? Is there a desire to lift up Christ in your everyday life? Do you desire to follow Christ? Are you making a sincere effort to follow Jesus by obeying His commandments?
The Bible says we are to “examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith”.
2Cor 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates? Make no mistake....only the Real Christians will be leaving when Jesus comes.
That’s a warning that is so serious, everyone should take serious thought about where they stand with God.
There is the NEARNESS of His Coming that we are warned about.
There is the QUICKNESS of His Coming that we are warned about.
There is the URGENT PREPARATION NEEDED prior to His coming that we are warned
about.
There will only be the REAL CHRISTIANS leaving at His coming that we are warned
about.
A Fifth Warning....
(5) Don’t change the prophetic message OF HIS COMING. (vv.18,19)
People seek to change it, when they disrespect it, when they disregard it, when they don’t
listen to it, ignore it, and live indifferently toward it. In light of what you have just heard, where will you stand? Will you line up with what God is saying, or will you walk away today untouched, unmoved, unconcerned with no evidence of making any commitment
whatsoever to live for the Lord Jesus?
The prophecies, the words of our Lord Jesus you can’t add to it, or change it. You can’t take away from God’s Word. You ONLY try to do so when you don’t allow God’s Word to change your life.
Many folks have taken mentally a pair of scissors and they have cut away all that’s in the Bible they don’t want to hear about. Then they take glue and paste by inserting personal ideas they think should belong in the Bible. We are living in a society today where folks pick and choose what they want to believe in. They discard information they choose not
to believe in. The Warning is to not change the message of Christ’s coming.
And then there is the sixth warning::
(6) DON’T DELAY GOD’S INVITATION v.17
People delay and reject God’s invitation by quenching the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is saying one clear thing to the unsaved. “Come” People also reject God’s invitation by avoiding the church. The Church is the bride of Christ. The bride says one thing for sure....”Come”
Will you come? You need to come today, Because Jesus is coming quickly.
This is God’s Warning to You and Me.
Pastor Chris Gowen
http://swancreek.faithsite.com
