How Should We Then Live? - Part 4

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All right let's turn again to the book of Revelation and to Revelation chapter 22. We've now studied this entire book verse by verse, and we find ourselves in the epilogue: the verses that really bring it to a close, beginning in chapter 22, verse 6 and running down through verse 21.

The theme that ties this apparently disjointed epilogue together is found in the second half of verse 7, Our Lord's words, “Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.” The Greek word translated “heed” simply means “to obey.”

So, what we have here in a series of staccato exhortations is the epilogue and specifically our Lord explaining how we are to obey the prophecy of this book. He here explains how you and I should think and live in light of all of the prophecies that we've discovered on its pages. Now so far, we have seen and studied six of these exhortations. Let me just remind you of them. I'm not going to go back through them. You can go catch up if you weren't here.

Number one, we must accept its authenticity. Number two, we must worship only the Trinity. Number three, we must live with expectancy. Number four, we must be sobered by its finality. And last time we saw that we must remember the judgment’s certainty and we must examine our faith's validity.

Now today we come to the last two exhortations in this passage. We begin with the seventh exhortation. And here our Lord exhorts us to understand our Lord's priorities. We see this in verses 16 and 17: understand our Lord's priorities. In these two verses, Jesus tells us that He had two priorities, two goals in giving us this book. What were those priorities? Well, the first is the edification of His saints. The edification of His saints. Look at verse 16, “I, Jesus,”—this book is from Jesus Himself—“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you.” “You” in Greek is plural.

Probably meaning the members of the seven churches in Asia Minor to whom this letter was addressed. “I sent My angel to testify to you these things.” And then He adds, “for the churches.”

It seems to be a second group. Likely He means all believers in all other churches. So, the first reference, the “you,” is the believers in the seven churches, that last reference for the churches, the reference to us and to believers in all other churches throughout church history. Jesus says, “I sent this book for the benefit of all believers.” 

Now, that shouldn't surprise us. Go back to Revelation 1, verse 1. This is how it began, “The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah, which God gave Him to show to His slaves the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His slave, John.” So, this book of prophecy then is intended for all believers in all the churches, both then and now. 

Now, it's interesting when you think about prophecy. Scholars estimate that some 25 percent of the Bible is prophecy. Of course, many of those prophecies were fulfilled, even some before Christ, certainly many with Christ coming in the incarnation. But so much prophecy. Think about that. If God chose to reveal that much prophecy, if one in four verses in the Bible are prophetic, then obviously prophecy is important for God's people. And, and this is really important to understand, it's not just important for those who were alive when the prophecy is eventually fulfilled. How do I know that? Because so many of the prophecies were given to people and the prophecies weren't fulfilled until long after. Think about Revelation. Christ ordered this book of prophecy to be sent to seven small churches filled with people who lived and died in the first century or the early second century.

And He sent this prophecy to them even though He knew that the events in chapters 4 through 22 would not be fulfilled in their lifetime. In fact, would not be fulfilled for more than two thousand years after they lived. And yet, it was for them. This means that prophecy, including the book of Revelation, serves a purpose for Christ's people even before it's fulfilled. It is for our edification to build us up. 

But how? How does prophecy, the book of Revelation, benefit us today if our Lord delays His coming and we don't see these things unfold? Well, let me point out to you a list of some of the edifying purposes of prophecy. This isn't an exhaustive list, merely representative, but here are some of the ways the Lord uses prophecy for our spiritual good.

Number one, and by the way, I'm not going to develop these. I'm just going to give you the list. You can go back and look at it in more detail. But let me give you some things to consider. First of all, prophecy is an apologetic for the one true God. In Isaiah 44, again in Isaiah 45, Isaiah 46, God says, look, if you want to know who the true God is as opposed to all the false gods, look who tells you what's coming before it comes. And you know that I'm the true God because I tell you what's coming. So, prophecy serves as an apologetic for the true God. 

Number two, it rebukes sin and calls for repentance. So many examples, Jeremiah 18 is one of them, but more than half of the Bible's prophecy comes with a call to repent. Number three, it produces purity of life. In 1 John 3, John says, Christ is coming and we're going to be made like Him. And then He says, He who has this hope in himself purifies himself just as He is pure. Knowing what's coming prompts us to pursue holiness. 

Number four, it provides comfort. In 1 Thessalonians 4, we learn about the rapture of the church, and he says at the end of that, “Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Number five, it creates spiritual stability. In 1 Corinthians 15, He talks about our future resurrection. That like Christ, we will be raised from the dead. We will be given glorified bodies. And you know how He ends that chapter in verse 58? He says, “Therefore be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Knowing about our spiritual future equips us to live today in the troubles of this life. That's what Paul says in Romans 8, right?  When he says, listen, we live in a world that's groaning. But the groaning now isn't worthy to be compared with the glory that's coming.

Number six, it stimulates a desire for faithful service. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul talks about the coming judgment and that that judgment, his knowledge of that judgment is what prompted him to serve Christ faithfully because he wanted to be approved by Christ. Number seven, it produces conversion. In Acts chapter 3, Peter preaches a sermon that is almost entirely about the second coming. And yet chapter 4, verse 4, says many came to faith through that sermon. Prophecy can bring people to true faith. I'm a living testimony of that. I was saved because of a sermon on Revelation 20 to 22. 

Number eight, it promotes the genuine worship of God. We see this throughout the book of Revelation. As John gets these visions, he just can't help himself. He worships. Sometimes it's misdirected for a moment until he's corrected, but he just can't help but respond that way. And Christian, if you know Jesus Christ, if you have the Holy Spirit within you, prophecy evokes worship because you know that God is in control and that He's graciously told us what's coming. Those are just some of the reasons that Jesus ordered this prophecy to be sent to the seven first century churches that initially received it and to us. He sent it for our edification to spiritually build us up. 

But our Lord also had a second priority. This book is not only for the edification of the saints, but this book is an invitation to every sinner. It's an invitation to every sinner. You see this in the second half of verse 16 and verse 17. Now, let me tell you that when I first began to study this passage, I followed the versification in our English Bibles and assumed that the second half of verse 16 was attached to the first half of verse 16.

But I must admit, I really struggled to see how. And the commentators struggled to see how. But then I noticed that in the Greek text, the second half of verse 16 does not begin with a coordinating conjunction equivalent to our “and,” the Greek word kai possibly implying that it's beginning a new thought. And then I noticed that all three parts of verse 17 do begin with that coordinating conjunction “and” or kai. So, it's best, I think, to connect verse 16, the second half of verse 16, with what follows in verse 17. It's part of the invitation in verse 17. You say, well, how does the second half of verse 16 contribute to the invitation? Specifically, I think it identifies the Savior in the gospel invitation. It tells us who He is. Ultimately, the gospel invitation in verse 17 is to a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, how He describes Himself at the end of verse 16 is really important. Who is He? And what are His credentials to save? Why should I come to Him?

Well, notice how He describes Himself. First of all, He is the Messiah Savior of the Hebrew Scripture. The Messiah Savior of the Hebrew Scripture. Look at the second half of verse 16,

“I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” We'll look at those in detail in a moment, but what I want you to see first is that all of those expressions come from the Old Testament, and all of them in context describe the promised Messiah who would come to save His people. So, in quoting these Old Testament passages, He's claiming to be that very promised Messiah.

Secondly, He tells us here that He is the Son of God. Notice in verse 16, He says, “I am the root of David.” That's said back in chapter 5, verse 5 as well, “the root of David.” Sometimes the word “root” is used kind of as a synonym for shoot or branch. But I don't think so here because notice He is both the root and the descendant. So, what is this image from? The image of “the root of David” comes from Isaiah 11:10, where it says, “In that day, the nations will resort to the root of Jesse.” What does a root imply? It's what gives life to what comes out of it, right? That's the idea here. The Messiah is the divine Son of God, who is David's root. He's the One who gives life to David. In His deity, the Messiah is the One responsible for David's existence. You remember in Mark chapter 12, Jesus quotes Psalm 110 and says, The Messiah is not only a descendant of David, He's David's Lord, He's David's Superior. That's the idea here.

So, He's the Messiah's Savior; He's the Son of God. Thirdly, He's the Son of Man, verse 16 adds, “I am not only the root of David, I am the descendant of David.” This is from Isaiah 11:1, 
“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse; and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.” You see, Jesus, not only in His deity, is the root of David, the source of David's life, but in His humanity, He's also the descendant of David. He's the human being of history, known as Jesus of Nazareth. Look back at verse 16, “I, Jesus.” So, Jesus here identifies Himself, in verse 16, as the Son of God, and at the same time, the Son of Man. He is the God-Man.

Now, let me just say this, because there's a lot of confusion out there about this. The Jesus of the Bible is the Jesus that was eternally the Son of God, co-equal, co-eternal, consubstantial, as the creeds put it, with God. He was God in eternity. In His conception, He added to Himself full and complete humanity, remaining from that moment forward fully God and fully man, the God-man.

And those heretics out there who say that at some point in Jesus' life, He gave up His deity in some way, are not true prophets. They are false prophets. Because this is the Jesus who is the Savior, the only proper object of saving faith.

In fact, go back to Romans chapter 1. This is what Paul says. This whole letter is about the gospel of God, verse 1. The gospel that finds its origin in God, “which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures.” And notice what this gospel is concerning, verse 3: “His Son,”—there's His deity—"who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh.”

There's His humanity. That's the only Jesus who saves.

Jesus identifies himself fourthly back in our text as, notice verse 16, I am “the bright morning star.” The bright morning star. This image is taken from another Old Testament text, Numbers 24, verse 17. There, the evil prophet Balaam, whom God used to speak His truth, even though he is an example of a bad prophet. This is what he said about the Messiah: “I see him, but not now.

“I behold him, but not near.” In other words, His coming is still out there somewhere. And then he says, “A star shall come forth from Jacob.” Then as now a star is someone exalted. But this person wouldn't be exalted because He was an entertainer. The next line says, He'll be a king:

“A scepter shall rise from Israel.” He'll be a star because He'll be the only rightful king. This is another Messianic prophecy.

He's the morning star. What is that? Well, in astronomy, the morning star is a bright planet such as Venus that is seen in the eastern sky either before or just at sunrise. So, do you see the point? Just as the morning star announces the dawning of a new day, the coming of Messiah also announces a new day. It was true in His first coming. This picture is used of the incarnation. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 2, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”

Zacharias in his prophecy about his son John the Baptist and the One John would announce in Luke chapter 1, verses 78 and 79, “Because of the tender mercy of our God,”—listen to this—"the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” So, in His first coming, He was like the dawn—dawn in the middle of darkness.

But Jesus will also bring the dawning of light in the darkness when He returns in His second coming. Go back a few pages to 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1 and look at verse 19. Peter writes, “We have the prophetic word made more sure.” That's the Scripture. We have the Scripture “to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.” Right now, the Scripture is like a lamp in the darkness. But notice what He says, and pay attention to the Scripture “until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” He's talking about the second coming. Jesus' second coming brings the promise of the dawn of a new day after a very long dark night. The King will come and when He comes, it will be like the dawn of an eternal day in the universe and in our hearts. The darkness will be gone forever. He's the bride and morning star. So, Jesus, that Jesus, the Jesus who's just described Himself in the end of verse 16, He is the only Savior in the gospel invitation. He's the only One that can save you from your sin.

That brings us secondly in verse 17 to the sources of the gospel invitation. Look at verse 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.” Now this verse is debated. Some argue that there are two different invitations here. That the invitations in the beginning of the verse are an invitation to Jesus to come back, for Jesus to return. And the invitation at the end of the verse is an invitation to the sinner to be forgiven, an invitation to salvation. And that is possible. There are men we love and respect who take that position.

But all three clauses in verse 17 are linked with “and,” the kai in Greek, making it far more likely that there is only one invitation, and that invitation in verse 17 is to the sinner to believe in Jesus Christ. But that invitation is being offered from several different sources. Notice the different sources, four different sources from which the invitation comes. First of all, the invitation comes from the Holy Spirit, verse 17, the Spirit says, “Come, come to Christ, come for forgiveness.” How does the Spirit say that? Don't misunderstand. The Spirit doesn't come whispering in your ear, “Come to Jesus.” The Spirit urges you to come through the book that He inspired and gave us. He urges you to come to Jesus. 

Secondly, the entire church invites unbelievers to come, verse 17 says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’” In 19:7, the entire church is called the “bride of Christ”. So, you have the Spirit and the entire church saying “Come, come to Christ for forgiveness.” Why are they put together? I like what Mounce writes, “It is the testimony of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit that constitutes the great evangelizing force of this age.”

But then thirdly, notice this invitation comes from every individual believer, verse 17 goes on to say, “And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’” The point here is that every single person who has heard the gospel invitation and who has accepted that gospel invitation is now called to repeat that invitation to others so that they too can come. Christian, that's your job. You're here to say to others, “Come to Jesus just as I did.”

But I love the fourth source of this invitation. It comes from Jesus the Son, Christ the Son. Notice verse 17 ends this way. “And let the one who is thirsty come.” Now remember, Jesus is speaking, “Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” Those are Christ's own words to every sinner who reads or hears this book. If you're here this morning and you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, this is Jesus Himself speaking directly to you. He says, “Come, come, have eternal life. Come, have forgiveness. Come, be reconciled to God, your Creator.” It's His invitation. I love the way Paul puts this in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 19 and 20. Listen to this: Paul says, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” Instead, He counted them against Christ. “And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” That's what you're here to do, to share the message that you can be reconciled to God, just as I was. Therefore, Paul says, “We are ambassadors for Christ.” Now, listen to this: “As though God”—that is the Father—"were making an appeal through us.” When we share the gospel, it's as if God the Father is appealing to that person to come through us. But then He adds, “We beg you on behalf of Christ be reconciled to God.” When we share the gospel, it's as if God the Father is pleading with that sinner to come. It's as if Christ Himself is pleading with that sinner to come. The Holy Spirit says, “Come.”

Listen, if you're not a Christian, can I just tell you something honestly? Satan has lied to you. He has convinced you that God is not good. He's convinced you that God is not out for your good. That God has no interest in you. That He doesn't care about you. The truth is, the God of the Bible is the source of everything good in your life. You have nothing good that a good and gracious Creator hasn't given you. And here we learn that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one true living God in three persons, they are all pleading with you to come to Christ, come for forgiveness, come for salvation, come for eternal life. That's the real God, not the one Satan has convinced you God is. Come. 

That brings us thirdly to the heart of the gospel invitation. The heart of the gospel invitation. Notice how Christ puts it at the end of verse 17: “Let the one who is thirsty come.” Do you recognize your spiritual thirst? Do you recognize that as good as life is, it doesn't satisfy your soul? Augustine was right. Our hearts were made for God, and we are restless until we find our rest in Him. Do you recognize that? Do you see that spiritual thirst in your soul? Jesus says, “Let the one who is thirsty come.” And then He says, “Let the one who wishes”—literally in Greek, “let the one who is willing” take the water of life, eternal life. Do you have a desire for that thirst in your soul to be satisfied, to know God, your Creator, to have a relationship with the One who made you? You have that desire, “Come.” Come where? Come to Christ. He is the water of life.

Listen to His own words. John 4, verse 14, Jesus says, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 6:35, Jesus says, “He who believes in Me will never thirst.” That's how you come. You come believing in Jesus and your thirst will be alleviated.

John 7:37, “On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” That's Jesus' invitation to you today. He goes on in verse 17, “Let the one who wishes”—the one who is willing—"take the water of life”—notice this—"without cost.” Literally, the Greek word means as “a gift, without payment.” Jesus means that salvation costs us nothing in the sense that we can't purchase or earn it in any way. 

He's really pulling on an Old Testament text. Turn back to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, verse 1. This is one of the clearest expressions of the gospel in the Old Testament. Isaiah 55, and of course, this comes just after Isaiah 53, talking about how the Messiah will pay for the sins of those who trust in Him. So how do you respond to that? Isaiah 55:1, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money”—in other words, you don't have any way to purchase this. “Come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” 

You say, how? How can I come and have spiritual life? The answer is down in verse 6: “Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near.” That, in New Testament terms, is faith. You believe enough in God that He is and that He's a rewarder of those who seek Him, that you cry out to Him. And repentance, verse 7, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord and He will have compassion on him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” The New Testament tells us how that is purchased and so does Isaiah 53. It's through the death of the Messiah in the place of all who would believe in Him. Come, come. That's the invitation. When Jesus gave us the book of Revelation, He wants us to know that He had two priorities: the edification of His saints in the church and an invitation to every sinner.

Back in Revelation 22, there is an eighth and final exhortation in this final chapter. This eighth exhortation is this: submit to its divine authority. Submit to its divine authority. We see this in verses 18 and 19. Here in these verses, Jesus Christ mentions two ways to submit to the authority of God in the Scripture. They're very clearly stated. The first way to submit to the divine authority of this book and of all of Scripture is don't add to it. Don't add to it, verse 18. But first, notice how Jesus describes this book: “the words of the prophecy of this book.” This book is obvious. We're talking about the book of Revelation. But notice this book is prophecy. That is, it didn't originate with men, but God. And then Jesus adds “the words” of the prophecy of this book. That means the individual words are from God. This is what theologians call verbal inspiration. The words are from the very mouth of God.

Notice what Jesus says about it. He says, “I testify.” In other words, Jesus says, “I will confirm that what I'm about to say is true.” And here it is: “To everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone”—no exceptions, adds to these words—"God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book.” Wow, that's serious.

So how does that happen? How does someone add to God's words in this book? By claiming there's additional prophecy or additional divine revelation from God instead of or in addition to what God has divinely revealed through His apostles and prophets. Instead of or in addition to. And by the way, John warned this would come back in his first letter, 1 John 4:1, he said, “many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And in Revelation 2:20, we meet one of them, a woman named Jezebel who called herself a prophetess and was teaching and leading Christ's bond servants astray.

There are two common ways that people add to the Scripture. Number one is by adding tradition. This is what the Roman Catholic Church does. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that ultimate authority resides equally in the Scripture and the church's oral tradition. They have added to the Scripture, and they are under the curse of Christ in this verse. 

Another way that people add to the Scripture is by adding other “inspired” books or prophecies.

Adding other “inspired” books or prophecies. The Mormons do this. They accept the King James Bible as part of God's Word, but they add the Doctrines and the Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, the Book of Mormon to their canon of authorized scripture. They are under the damnation of this verse. Many Charismatics, especially those in the New Apostolic Reformation, add inspired prophecies. Some claim that modern day revelations are equal in authority to the Scripture itself. They are false prophets. Compare them against the three tests of a true prophet in the book of Deuteronomy, and you'll discover they are false. They're liars.

If anyone adds to the Scripture, Christ says in verse 18, “God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book.” In other words, God will mark that person as an unbeliever, and he or she will receive the judgment that comes to all unbelievers as it's recorded in the book of Revelation, including the Lake of Fire. Christ, in essence here says that everyone who adds to the Scripture is an unbeliever. And that makes sense, right? I mean, Jesus said in John 8:47, “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason, you do not hear them because you are not of God.”

By the way, this same warning in verses 18 and 19 here occurs back in the first five books of the Bible, written 1,400 years before Christ. Deuteronomy 4:2, “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.” Deuteronomy 12:32, “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.”

That warning is now repeated here in the last chapter of the last book that is written in the canon of Scripture. Folks, that is not an accident. It's not an accident that this warning occurs in the first group of written books in our Bible and in the last book in our Bible, because although these warnings are specifically about Genesis through Deuteronomy and the book of Revelation, these warnings also include everything between those two. In other words, these bookend warnings remind us not to add to or take away from any of the inspired Scripture.

I mean, think about Revelation. Revelation describes the church age from the times of the apostles in chapters 2 and 3 through the end of human history, Revelation 19 with the return of Jesus Christ, and into the eternal state in chapters 21 and 22. It's God's last word. It's the last prophecy. There's nothing else to be told. Jesus says, don't add to what God has revealed, or accept what others have added, or you'll receive what all unbelievers receive. 

A second way we submit to the divine authority of Scripture is not only not to add to it, but don't take away from it. Verse 19, “And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy.” Again, how can a person take away from the words of this book or from the rest of Scripture? By rejecting all or some portion of it as divine revelation. There are two common ways people take away from the Scripture. Number one, by denying the entire Scripture's inspiration. Jeremiah 8:9: “The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what kind of wisdom do they have?”

By the way, this rejection of the inspiration of Scripture is the stated position of two groups today: one, old theological liberalism; and today's deconstructionists. Today's popular idea of deconstructing the Christian faith. Listen, deconstruction is a postmodern philosophical term that usually means rejecting either specific biblical doctrines or, more commonly, the Christian faith altogether. In biblical terms, deconstruction is either unbelief or apostasy. And they deny the inspiration of Scripture. They take away from God's revelation. 

A second way people take away from God's revelation is by subtracting from Scripture's contents. You know, well, it's a great book and there's so many wonderful things, so many lessons from Jesus that are so good, but then there's this. Liberals and modernists discount the Old Testament. The black Hebrew Israelites and many in the Hebrew roots movement today reject or downplay the New Testament. Some in the Hebrew roots movement reject Paul's letters outright. And theological liberals in the mainline Protestant denominations like the United Methodists, United Presbyterians, and so forth, they deny everything miraculous in the Scripture. They just say, that's gone, let's take that out. They rest under the curse of Christ.

Notice verse 19, if anyone takes away from God's revelation, “God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” Now don't misunderstand, that does not mean that a genuine Christian can lose his or her salvation. That's contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture. One example, John 10, verses 27 and 28. Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” So, what is our Lord saying here in verse 19? He is saying that if someone rejects this book of Revelation or any of God's inspired revelation, he shows by that rejection that he doesn't really belong to Christ at all. 

This is so clear back in 1 John. Go back to 1 John chapter four. If you weren't here, if you've come more recently to our church, you weren't here when I taught through 1 John 4, 1 to 6. Go back and listen online. This passage is so foundational. I just want you to look at the last verse, verse 6, 1 John 4, verse 6. Notice John writes, “We,” and in context he means the apostles and the other writers of Scripture. “We are from God.” He starts by saying this, true believers accept the Scripture as from God. And he goes on to say, true believers listen to the Scripture. Verse 6, “He who knows God listens to us.” That is, listens to the Scripture. On the other hand, unbelievers and false believers, those who claim to know Christ but don't really know him, don't desire to know the Scripture. They don't desire to understand it, and they don't desire to obey it.

Notice verse 6, “he who is not from God.” Literally in the Greek text, “he who is not out of God,”—who's not been born of God, who's not regenerate—"does not listen to us.” 

Can I say this morning, if you don't really care about the Bible, if it doesn't really interest you, if all of this is just boring to you, I realize I'm not the greatest teacher on the planet, but if all the truth of God bores you, that tells you a lot more about you than it does the word of God. It tells you you don't have a regenerate heart. You don't have the Holy Spirit, because if the Holy Spirit is within you, He gave us this book, and He excites in a true believer, a desire to know it and understand it and obey it. We love the Scripture, and we want to obey it because we love the God who gave it to us. 

But then notice the end of verse 6, the way, listen carefully, the way that teachers, Bible teachers treat the Bible is an accurate test of whether they're true or false. Notice what he says in verse six: “By this,”—that is, by the tests in this passage and there are other tests, but by all the tests in this passage—“we know,”—we are knowing the spirit behind a given teacher. Whether the spirit behind that teacher is—“the spirit of truth,”—that is the Holy Spirit, or whether it's the spirit of error, that is, the spirit of Satan himself. Look at how a man who claims that he knows God handles the Scripture and it will tell you whether he's true or false.

So, Jesus says you must submit yourself as My follower to the authority of the Scripture. And that shouldn't surprise us. Again, John 8:47, Jesus said “He who is of God hears the words of God.”

Let's pray together. Father, thank You for our time together. Thank you for the great truth of Your word. Thank You that You've given us this treasure. Help us to love it, to study it, to learn it, to obey it. Father, I pray for those here this morning who have believed the lie about You, that You're not good. Oh God, help them to see Your heart. The gracious invitation to come. And may they repent and believe in You even today through Your Son, in whose name we pray, amen.”