For those of you who might not have been here yesterday, we looked at Hebrews 11:8-10. I would like to read this again. It says:
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
One of the things that we touched upon yesterday was the theme that runs throughout the whole Bible concerning faith. Another thing that we looked at is the theme of eternal life, which God gives to His people.
I noticed that some of the other speakers also mentioned faith because it is so very important. In fact I think that Chris made the point that it is not because of a lack of evidence that people do not believe, it is because they have not been given the gift of faith, which is everything. We know that faith is a work. It was the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in redeeming His people from “before the foundation of the world.” This had nothing to do with us. We are merely the recipients of this faith.
If we go a little bit further in Hebrews 11 and read Hebrews 11:13-16, it says:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
They not only lived “by faith,” as Abraham and all true believers do, but they also died “in faith.”
We are in a little different position if the Lord should keep us alive for the next nine months, because of the fact that it is going to be no longer faith; it is going to be sight. In a sense, it is very strange to be living at this time in history. We could have been born a thousand years ago or five hundred years ago. Why God chose for us to be living at this time is, of course, His business because He knows what is best. We are, in a sense, very privileged to be living at this time and, of course, to be involved with this tremendous task of getting out the true Gospel.
This word “pilgrims” in Hebrews 11:13 where we read:
…they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
This word “pilgrims” is also translated as “strangers” in 1 Peter 1:1 [note: speaker incorrectly referenced 1 Peter 1:19]. This passage in 1 Peter speaks about “an inheritance,” just like Hebrews 11:8 speaks about the inheritance that was given to Abraham. Of course, by extension, this inheritance is ours as well, if indeed God has been so gracious as to save us.
This is our eternal reward. Christ Himself is the reward. If you remember, in Genesis 15:1, God tells Abraham, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” So as those who have been written in the will as the “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,” we can look forward to spending eternity with Him.
This is one of the reasons for why I chose this particular topic. I wanted us to look at a few things about Heaven and what lies ahead to encourage us in this great task, which we no longer have much time for, to get the Gospel out. We should be encouraged right to the very end.
I cannot help but think about something. Every Friday that roles around, this thing replays in my mind. I am thinking of the Friday right before May 21st, which would be May 20th. I think about Mr. Camping on the “Open Forum” program and what is going to happen if we are still alive at that point. I think of the calls that Mr. Camping will be getting during this program. Then he is going to end that program and we just know that this will be it. Then he is going to go home. We are probably going to be at home. Whatever we are going to be doing that night, I am sure that it will involve a lot of prayer and a continuing to witness because we will have a few more hours until the next day, which will be May 21st. But almost every Friday, I think about this and it just replays in my mind how this is going to turn out.
Of course, we know that God is totally in charge; but this day is going to come very quickly and we will be right there, right there at that Friday night. Then the next day is going to be May 21st. But again, it is not because of a lack of evidence that people do not believe. It is because of a lack of faith.
If we go to the end of Hebrews 3, into Hebrews 4, God makes this very, very clear. He says in Hebrews 3:15-19:
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Then going on to Hebrews 4:1-3, we read:
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
And we know that these works have to do with the work of salvation, along with everything else that God had orchestrated prior to creation itself.
It is astounding to think of this, even though we should not be astounded because this God, this wonderful and incredible and magnificent Savior who has created us and this universe, has supplied the necessary and only salvation possible for human beings. This is who this great eternal God is whom we will be seeing face-to-face on May 21st, 2011, if God should keep us alive until that day.
Let us now read 1 Peter 1:1-9. We touched a little bit on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelling in tents or in tabernacles yesterday. We saw that the tent represented our brief stay upon this earth. A tent is something that is only used when you go camping. It represents a short stay, just like we are staying in this hotel; but it emphasizes how brief this life is.
We know all too well how brief life can be. None of us has any guarantee that we are going to be here in the next few minutes. This is why the Bible says that “now is the day of salvation.” We can still cry out to God for His mercy.
So we read in 1 Peter 1:1-9:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively [or living] hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance…
This is the same word that we find in Hebrews 11:8. 1 Peter continues:
…an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Even in this passage, we see where God is alluding to faith. We do not see Him, and yet we love Him. We do not see Him, and yet we believe.
This is really the dividing line for so many because they want to walk by sight, whether it is a freewill gospel or it is a charismatic gospel. Whatever kind of gospel, it is always sight based instead of being based only on faith, on the Scriptures.
This is another theme that we cannot get away from because it is the Bible. The Bible is everything. The Bible is the key and anything related to Bible study is the key, because God has given us not only the methodology and told us that He has hidden truth that only He can reveal, but He has shown us that we need to depend upon Him entirely to open our eyes.
It is not just a matter of following steps A, B, C, and then we come to truth. No; it involves a lot of hard work. Even then, God might not reveal it. It involves a lot of prayer. Even then, God might not reveal it. But many times, wonderfully, He does; and we are living in the time when God is pouring out the truth.
It is like one of my friends who said, “It is like a fire hydrant that is just gushing and gushing out.” So much is coming so fast and this is scary for a lot of people. I think that this is one of the reasons why they cannot seem to cope with a lot of these new doctrines. It is coming out so fast and furious.
Yet we also know that we are in a time of great division. There is a great division amongst husband and wife, amongst families, amongst relatives. All you have to do is listen to the “Open Forum” program on Family Radio and you can just hear this division, this cutting, because God is winnowing. This winnowing is very, very apparent.
This is not an incidental thing. This is a very decisive thing that is happening, and this is happening like at no other time in history because we are also living in the time of great apostasy; and so we have to be valiant for the truth. This is what God commands. He wants us to be valiant for the truth, and only He can lead us into truth. Of course, this is what we pray for.
There is another passage that I would like to look at, which is Revelation 21:1-3. It also uses this word “tabernacle.” This is a beautiful expression of the intimacy that exists now between Christ and the believers, but this is something that we can also look forward to as we will see the consummation of this marriage on May 21st, 2011. We read in Revelation 21:1-3:
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
This is a beautiful, beautiful picture, a portrait, of the tremendous intimacy between Christ, our husband, and the Bride of Christ. Of course, this is picked up because human marriage is a portrait of this eternal marriage.
In Ephesians 5:25-32, we read:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church…
The “church” that Christ loves is the true believers. It continues:
…and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
This is what the believers have to look forward to when they receive their glorified, resurrected bodies; so that both in body and soul, we will be one with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the tremendous hope that we have. We are anticipating a wedding day and how tremendously glorious this will be.
We cannot even begin to imagine what lies ahead. I quoted the verse yesterday that says, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Of course, we only love Him “because he first loved us.” He initiated this process.
Towards the close of yesterday’s study on “the foundation,” we spoke about what we find in Ephesians 2:20. If we go to Ephesians 2:20, it says there that genuine Christians are:
…built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
This phrase, “apostles and prophets,” is a reference to the Bible as a whole. We find similar phrases throughout the Bible like “the law and the prophets” or “Moses and the prophets” or “in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms.” These all refer to the Old Testament, as we will see from these next citations.
If we go to Matthew 22:35-40, there is the incident of the lawyer who is asking the Lord Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” We read in Matthew 22:35-40:
Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
He was speaking about the Old Testament in the context; but we know, of course, that this relates to the entire Bible. Again, God is bringing us back. In other words, the foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ, which has to do with the foundation being the whole Bible.
If you remember, it says in John 5:39:
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Everything, every word, every letter, every page of the Bible is speaking about one gigantic subject and this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the foundation. He is everything because the entire Bible is glorifying Him and giving Him the honor and the praise that He alone is worthy of. Is He not “the Word…made flesh”? He is the logos. He is the Word made flesh.
I love that verse where it says that we can handle Him. He says, “Handle me.” The idea is that we can handle Him through the Scriptures. As we are “comparing spiritual things with spiritual,” we are actually handling Him spiritually. This is how we learn about Him. He is the main theme. He is everything in the Bible.
Let us look at a similar passage. We read in Luke 16:27-31, which speaks of the “rich man” and the “beggar named Lazarus”:
Then he [the rich man] said, I pray thee therefore, father [in this context, this is Abraham], that thou wouldest send him [the beggar, Lazarus] to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Again, we see this emphasis that God is making that we have to have faith. If we see something, we are not going to believe just because we see it.
This reminds me of John 6 where we find a massive throng of people who are following Christ day after day after day. Then Christ starts to lay down some pretty heavy guidelines like, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood,” and they took off. In fact, so many of them took off that Christ turns to the apostles at hand and asks, “Will ye also go away?” Of course, He knew that they would not because He knew the status of their souls and that He would be keeping them, except for Judas; and so again by faith they responded, “To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”
This is the key. He is eternal life and every single word in the Bible is the Word of eternal life. It is the dynamite. It is the dunamis of God. It has power that no other document on earth possesses, which is that it is able to take something that is spiritually dead and bring it back to life. No other book, no other religion, no other morality of any type is able to do this.
This is why God says so frequently in the Old Testament that “there is no other God.” It is just God, Jehovah God, “I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.” We see statements like these that leave no shadow of doubt. For example, He makes the point to Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” He has Job consider, “Where were you when I did anything?”
We see the argument by demolishment that God gives to show that there is no other God, that He is the only God in this universe, “I created this universe. I spoke it into being with my Word.” Of course, we know that He can end it and speak it out of existence with His same Word as He said He will do.
When we talk about God fulfilling His Word, we are right there. It has all been fulfilled. I think that a lot of people do not understand this. They think that maybe there is something left. Some think that Israel has to do something. Some think that there has to be a thousand-year reign. But none of this is going to take place because it is not in the Bible.
Everything has been fulfilled. He said, “It is finished.” Of course, we can look back before the foundation of the world and see that it was finished; but in our lifetime, in this lifespan of 13,000 years of history, it is over. It is practically over. The finish line is in view. We are at the end of the race.
What was it that Paul said? Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
So this is a big issue if someone does not believe the date of May 21. Do they then not “love his appearing”? Would they rather that He tarry? It was not the “faithful and wise servant,” it was the “evil servant” who said, “My lord delayeth his coming.” What happened to him? God said that He would “cut him asunder.” Again, this is because he did not believe. He did not believe the Scriptures, and this is always the case. It is a lack of faith in the Scriptures.
God is the “God of truth.” Everything that He said has come to pass, and so why would they think that this is not going to come to pass when He has given so much proof and so much evidence?
Let us look at one other passage related to “the law and the prophets.” It is Luke 24:44-48. This is Jesus when He appeared in disguise to two men as they were walking along the road to Emmaus. Cleopas was one of them. I do not think the other one was named. Is this not an incredible event that God portrays here? We read in Luke 24:44-48:
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.
If you remember, it is this same journey where we read, “Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Christ took them through who knows how many passages in the Old Testament to show that all of those passages were talking about Himself.
Wow! You talk about a Bible study! This had to have been an incredible Bible study that He gave to these two men on the road to Emmaus.
If you remember, He chided them. We read, “He said unto them, O fools,” which is normally reserved for those who are not saved and maybe they were not saved at this particular moment. I do not know. But He also said that they were “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”
Again, He took them back to the Scriptures, as we are to always go back to the Scriptures. Did Jesus not do this throughout the whole Bible? Does not everything go back to the Scriptures? Is there ever a time when it does not go back to the Scriptures? It always goes back to the Scriptures because this is the foundation. Christ is the foundation. The Bible is the foundation. This is why there is such security there.
People think that by doing something, they can become saved and that, somehow, this is going to give them security. But there is no security in this. This is a lie. This is a false hope. This is going to guarantee that they are not going to be saved.
However, there is a tremendous security that we have in the Word of God and it is rock-solid. It is called “the Rock.” It is called “the foundation” of the building. It is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”
There is nothing more solid than this, but you have to have eyes of faith to see this; you do not see this with the natural eye. It has to be with the eye of faith, just like Abraham “looked for a city.” He did not receive the promises; they were “afar off”; and all of these great men and women of faith whom we read about in Hebrews 11, they embraced them. They “were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed” them. I believe that this word “persuaded” comes from the word “faith,” if I am not mistaken.
Again, it all has to come down to faith in the Scriptures. This is where our trust and our confidence has to be. It has to be in this.
When it says in Hebrews 11, “faith is the substance,” this word “substance” is talking about a person. It is also translated as “person” in another passage in Hebrews [note: Hebrews 1:3]. Also, this word “evidence” in this same passage in Hebrews 11, “evidence of things not seen,” is the same word as the word “reproof” in 2 Timothy 3:16:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof…
This is the evidence. The evidence is the Bible. There is no other evidence. God is not using signs and visions and wonders, as He did in the past, to show that indeed these men were sent by God. The reason that they were able to do those miracles at that time was because the Bible had not been completed yet; but now, as of 90 A.D. or there about, we have the complete revelation.
This is all that we need. We do not need anything else. Do not give me anything else. It is not going to help. You and I, all of us, need only the Scriptures, as we read in Romans 10:17:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We know that this is referring to a spiritual hearing. There is a lot of earthly hearing that goes in one ear and out the other. Only God can take this message and drive it down, like you would drive a stake into the ground, and drive it right into our hearts.
Ecclesiastes talks about “the words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened…which are given from one shepherd.” This is the Scriptures being driven down into our hearts, which is what gives life. It is the Scriptures that give life. It is the Scriptures that keep us. It is the Scriptures that are everything, and yet this is what people, sadly, do not want.
Look at the people in John 6; they left and did not come back again. However, we see in the Scriptures that there were those who did come back, like in the story of the ten lepers. There is one leper who does come back after he is told, “Go show yourselves unto the priests.” The one leper came back and showed himself to the Lord Jesus, to “the priest,” because he spiritually understood that he had to go back to Jesus because He is “the priest.” He is the High Priest, and so he understood that he should not go to the priest in the temple.
Let us look at another passage related to this. This is Luke 9:28-36. This is a great illustration because it is the transfiguration on the mount. On the one side, there was Peter, James, and John. The Lord Jesus was in the middle. On the other side was Moses and Elijah. Moses and Elijah represent “the law and the prophets.” Moses represents “the law” and Elijah represents “the prophets,” and Peter, James, and John were called “pillars” of the New Testament church.
Peter, James, and John were probably the three closest to the Lord Jesus. If you remember in the garden, He took these three with Him. The others stayed a little ways behind, but He took them with Him and said, “Watch and pray.” He told them to watch and to pray, and yet they fell asleep. We will not get into this now; but the Mount of Transfiguration is what this is referring to in Luke 9:28-36:
And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. And it came to pass, as they departed from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said. While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.
In 2 Peter, Peter commented on this. He basically said that in spite of what he had seen that day, what he had experienced with his five senses, he said, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy.” I think that Peter is essentially saying that the Bible is more reliable than even what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, and this is what we are to trust. We are to trust every single Word of Scripture because it is absolutely pure.
If you remember, in the book of Proverbs it says, “Every word of God is pure.” In the book of Psalms, it says, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”
God is making the point that there are no errors in the original languages. There are no scribal mistakes. God is a perfect God and He has given us a perfect Word and this Word is going to last forever. It may not be all of the sordid accounts of sin that we find or some of those examples that God gives, but all of the principles of God’s Word will remain because it says, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
How wonderful this is! It is like when we read the account of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha was all upset in the kitchen, and yet Jesus tells Martha, “But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” How much more to sit at Jesus’ feet throughout eternity? We are blessed with a conference like this and wonderful fellowship, but how much more blessed will we be when we are with all of the saints in Heaven and sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him throughout eternity?
We think that we might know a thing or two, even though, in all honesty, if I speak for myself, I do not know anything. I really do not. When I look at the Bible, it is like I am just skimming the surface. What do I know? If I or if any of us knows anything, it is because God has given it to us who are believers.
But can you just imagine what this will be like? We read about this Bible study that He gave on the road to Emmaus, but how much more is He going to teach throughout eternity?
I remember Chris once making the comment that God is the greatest teacher. If we did nothing else in Heaven but just sit at His feet and listen to Him, how glorious would this be? How glorious it will be to be able to take it all in and to be able to take it in perfectly because we will have a perfect body and a perfect soul at that point. In fact, as we are learning, we will be one with Christ; and I cannot even begin to imagine this.
Let us turn to Revelation 21:5 where we will again find a reference to the Word of God:
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Not only are the words “true and faithful,” but these particular words are representative of Christ Himself. This is because in Revelation 19:11, the same words are used:
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
He is the Faithful One. He, of course, is the True One. He is “Faithful and True,” even as His words are “true and faithful,” because He is the living Word, because He is “the Word…made flesh.”
We even see this in the Old Testament. We read in Jeremiah 42:5:
Then they said to Jeremiah, JEHOVAH be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which JEHOVAH thy God shall send thee to us.
As we are trying to find out and learn more about Heaven, one other aspect that we can look at is the fact that God is going to “wipe away all tears.” We know that this world that we live in has been referred to as a valley of tears. This is not a Biblical expression; it is a poetic expression that is used by poets and writers; and we know that this is usually a result of our sin or because of perhaps the sin of others who sin against us.
But there is also one other aspect that we can look at, which is that God Himself will bring correction. He will bring chastisement to assist us and to cause us to grow spiritually, if indeed we have become His child. We see this especially in Hebrews 12:9-11 where He makes an analogy between a human father and the Heavenly Father. We read in Hebrews 12:9-11:
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
This is something that all of us are learning because we are being corrected on just about everything. God is opening up His Word and has unsealed His Word; and even though I think that you all know this, I think that it is important to point out that it was the Lord Jesus who unsealed the Book. It was not Harold Camping, as some people would like to claim.
It was the Son of God who opened up this Book, who opened up the seals; and so when these kinds of allegations are made, there is no basis for them, because only God could open up this Book. Only He could unseal it. Only He could reveal the truths that He had kept hidden for thousands of years until our day.
Who is going to question what God does or how He does things? Who has this kind of audacity to do this? What man, a frail human being, is going to make these kinds of allegations to the God that made him, to the God “in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind,” the God who can snatch one’s very life and breath away very quickly like He did with Ananias and his wife Sapphira?
Even though we do not see this, per se, in our day, we have no guarantee that we are going to be around here tomorrow. This God does what He pleases and everything that He does is absolutely holy and absolutely perfect and nobody can question it. Man can try to question it, but this is really ridiculous.
There is a similar verse to what we read in Revelation 21:4. This is in Revelation 7:17, which says:
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
This particular word for “wipe away” is found in three others places where it has to do with either blotting out a person’s sins, the wiping away of their sins, or it has to do with not blotting out a person’s name in the Book of Life. These other verses are a bit lengthy, so I think that we will just wait until tomorrow, Lord willing, to look at these and to continue our study.
Let us close here.