SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/21/2015
11:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Because of the Truthfulness of
Scripture
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
22:18-19
Message of the
verses: “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.”
We are looking at the third of four incentives for
sinners to accept the invitation that was given in verse seventeen, actually
the last part of verse seventeen: “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.” I pray that there are some thirsty people who
read this.
Now when the book of Revelation was written it was not
known by man that it would be the very last book of the Bible, but surely God
did and had planned it that way and so it is with great significance that the
Bible closes with an affirmation of its truthfulness, and it is seen in these
two verses. God created the world as
seen in the book of Genesis chapters one and two and after He created Adam and
Eve He gave a warning to them and now we look at two of the last three verses
in the Word of God and we see a warning in them as well. With this said I want to quote a short
paragraph from my Spiritual Diary dated 12/19/2005 “Jesus makes it clear in
these two verses at the end of this wonderful letter that He does not want
anyone to “mess with the content” of this letter, and if they do, if they add
to or subtract from the content of this letter they will face the penalties He speaks
of in these two verses, God will add to them the plagues that are described in
this letter, or God will take away their part from the tree of life and from
the holy city which are described in this letter.”
We have mentioned on different occasions that the words
of this prophecy are not to be sealed up, unlike the words of Daniel’s prophecy
as the words of this prophecy are to be read by all, and as mentioned before
there are some who will not even open up the pages of this letter. John MacArthur writes “All the prophecies of
Revelation regarding the doom of sinners will come true. That terrifying certainty should drive people
to Jesus Christ to escape the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:10).”
It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the one speaking hear
giving these solemn warnings against tampering with these Scripture and this
applies first of all to the prophecy of this book, the book of Revelation. It
applies to the entire book from the warnings given to the seven churches like
the warning He gives to Jezebel and her followers found in 2:20-23, and other
warnings given to the churches. It is
not just the warnings of what will happen when the tribulation begins to unfold
and all of the terrible plagues will come upon mankind. We mentioned way back at the beginning of our
study that the warning given to these seven churches applies to those of us in
the church age, and they too are solemn warnings.
John MacArthur writes “But in light of the repeated
warnings against altering God’s Word, Christ’s warning must be broadened to
include all Scripture. In Deuteronomy
4:2 Moses cautioned, ‘You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you,
nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you.’ In Deuteronomy
12:32 he added, ‘Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall
not add to nor take away from it.’
Proverbs 30:5-6 warns ‘5 Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to
those who take refuge in Him. 6 Do not add to His words Or He will reprove you,
and you will be proved a liar.’ Thus,
the prohibition against altering the Apocalypse by implication extends to all
Scripture. Because Revelation describes
the entire sweep of history from the close of the apostolic age to the eternal
state, any alteration of it would be an alteration of Scripture, as Robert L.
Thomas notes:
‘The predictive portions project from John’s lifetime all
the way into the eternal state. Any type
off prophetic utterance would intrude into the domain of this coverage and
constitute either an addition to or subtraction form Revelation’s content. So the final book of the Bible is also the
concluding product of NT prophecy. It
also marks the close of the NT canon since the prophetic gift was the divinely chosen
means for communicating the inspired books of the canon.’”
Since the canon of Scripture was closed at the end of the
first century anything written to add to Scripture falls under the warnings
given by our Lord in these verses, and we have seen many since Revelation was
completed, books from people like Mary Baker Eddy, and Joseph Smith are false
because of the warnings given here. The
warning are very clear given in verses 18-19, and I make the point that no true
believer would ever think to add or subtract to the words found in the
Bible. John MacArthur writes that “this
of course mean that believers will never make errors in judgment or mistakenly
interpret Scripture incorrectly or inadequately. The Lord’s warning here is addressed to those
who engage in deliberate falsification or misinterpretation of Scripture, those
whom Paul denounces as peddlers of the Word of God (2 Cor. 2:17).”
11/21/2015 11:42 AM
11/21/2015 12:08 PM
John MacArthur finished this section with a rather long
quotation from a man named J. A. Seiss, a very humble man as we will see who
writes about what we are talking about here.
“O, my friends, it is a fearful thing to suppress or stultify
the word of God, and above all, ‘the words of the prophecy of this Book.’ To put forth for truth what is not truth,--denounces
as error, condemn, repudiate, or emasculate what God himself hath set his seal
to as his mind and purpose, is one of those high crimes, not only against God,
but against the souls of men, which cannot go unpunished. With an honest and ever-prayerful heart, and
with these solemn and awful warnings ever before my eyes, I have endeavored to
ascertain and indicate in these Lectures what our gracious Lord and Master has
been so particular to make known and defend.
If I have read into this Book anything which he has not put there, or
read out of it anything which he has put there, with the profoundest sorrow
would I recant, and willingly burn up the books in which such mischievous
wickedness is contained. If I have in anything
gone beyond the limits of due subjection to what is written, or curtailed in
any way the depth and measure of what Jesus by his angel has signified for the
learning of the Churches, I need not the condemnation of men to heap upon me
the burden of censure which I deserve.
If feebleness, or rashness, or overweening confidence in my own
understanding has distorted anything, I can only deplore the fault, and pray
God to send a man more competent to unfold to us the mighty truths which here
stand written. According to the grace
and light given me, have I spoken….If I err, God forgive me! If I am right, God bless my feeble testimony! In either case, God speed his everlasting
truth!”
MacArthur concludes:
“Revelation and the rest of Scripture are true, and the redeemed will
believe the Bible, guard the Bible, love the Bible, and obey the Bible. That Scripture speaks truly when it describes
the joys of heaven and the terrors of hell should motivate sinners to heed God’s
gracious call to salvation.”
I have to echo what J. A. Seiss wrote in what may have
been his ending comments on his commentary on the book of Revelation. My purpose in putting my Spiritual Diaries
onto my blogs is so that the Holy Spirit can use them to bring glory to my Lord
Jesus Christ, and in doing this souls will be brought into the kingdom which
will bring glory to Him, that believers will grow in grace, which will bring
glory to Him, and to bring about revival in the hearts of those believers who
read these Spiritual Diaries, which will also bring glory to Him. We are now very close to the end of our
journey through the book of Revelation which began on the second of January of
this year and by God’s grace will be concluded tomorrow with the last SD to be
written and posted. I think that I may
have missed no less than three days in writing Spiritual Diaries on this
wonderful book. Many, many hours have
been invested in these Spiritual Diaries on this book as first of all I have
listened to close to 80 messages from John MacArthur as he preached through
this book which took him nearly five years, and then there was the reading of
his commentaries on Revelation also to help me better understand this wonderful
book. I have learned many things and
have also been refreshed in things that I have known from previous studies in
this book, the first book that I ever read after becoming a new believer in
Christ in January of 1974. I love this
book and love to read and study it and am probably not finished studying it as
perhaps I will study it later on.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Fornication” (1 Corinthians
6:18).
Today’s Bible
question: “What two men appeared with
Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration?”
Answer in our next SD. 11/21/2015 12:33 PM
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