May 12th, 2013
REVELATION 22:12-2112 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is
with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have 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, that they may have the right to
the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the
dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the
idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.16 “I, Jesus, have
sent my angel to give you[a] this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and
the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”17 The Spirit and the
bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is
thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of
life.20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
GOD WRAPS UP HIS LOVE STORY
I.
He ties things together nicely.
II.
His ending is only the beginning.
In the name of Jesus, who is coming soon, dear fellow
redeemed children of God;
It is always a
good idea to proofread your letters to your sweet heart. It seems pretty easy for an a to sneak in for
an e and you end up with a sweatie rather
than a sweetie or an “I love you,
Sweat heart” when you meant “sweet heart.”
Letters are not always so easy to wrap up anyway. Sometime they end too abruptly with an “”I
gotta run.” Other time they might drone
on and on a little or end with “Well I don’t have much else.” Today in this part of God’s Word, we have the
closing words of the Bible. God wraps up
His love story. I. He ties things up nicely. II His ending is only the beginning.
God gave the vision in the Book of Revelation
to the Apostle John who was the leader of a group of people who were dealing
with matters of life and death. John was
living in exile ore preaching about Jesus and Christians were being persecuted
and would be put to death for refusing to renounce their faith. Jesus
wanted to encourage the people to hang in there because Jesus always
wins. With matters as important as
heaven and hell, you don’t want any loose ends. He closes the Bible with a warning about not
changing his book, the Bible. “I warn everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book: If anyone adds
anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from this book of
prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city which are described in this book.”
As God wraps up his love story in His Word, He ties things together nicely.
Remember that the
angels on Ascension Day told the disciples that Jesus would come back “in the
same way they had seen him go into heaven.”
One of the things God ties together is the question of Jesus not
returning yet . In Peter’s day people
were struggling with this too. Sometimes
we get a little bit impatient as we wait for Jesus’ return. God gives us an insight through the Apostle
Peter, who could sometimes be very impatient, into why Jesus has not returned
yet. “The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promises as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance.”
In the last few weeks, the most commonly asked
question in our part of the country has been “when will the warm weather get
here?” All we can say is “soon.” But the warm weather will come at exactly the
time when God knows it is best for it to come.
We are getting sort of tired of winter.
Sometimes when we look around at the world we live in, we get tired
out. We see the outbreaks of violence
and the anger all around us and even sometimes in our own families and we ask
the question, “When is Jesus going to get here?” Jesus assures us in his word that this world
is not going to last forever. He is
coming back soon. “Behold I am coming
soon.”
Some might scoff
and say that Jesus has left some loose
ends. They might think that he has
forgotten about us or that he is unable to return. Jesus answers that concern when he says, “I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the
End.” The comforting thing about Jesus is that he
never changes. If Jesus were giving
examples from the english alphabet, he would be saying, ”I am the A and the
Z.” Our Savior is eternal. Time does not change him or his
promises. The Bible tells us, “Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” In other words when he says he is coming
back, He is coming back.
“My reward is with me, and I will give to
everyone according to what he has done.”
Jesus tells us what the reward is that he is bringing with him earlier
in the Book of Revelation when he says, “Be faithful even to the point of death
and I will give you a crown of life.” At
first Jesus’ words of giving to everyone according to what they have done might
be frightening for sinful people like me and you. Think back upon your life, even this last
week. If your life has been anything
like mine, it has been a week where we botched things up with one sin upon
another. And last week was no better
than the week before that and the week before that. The thought of Jesus coming soon and giving
me exactly what I deserve for my sins is terrifying. But Jesus comforts us by explaining what he
means, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to
the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.” All of us should be excluded from heaven
because of our sins. But our Savior
Jesus washed all of our sins away along with the sins of the world when he died
on the cross. By God’s grace, the Holy
Spirit has brought us to cling to the Savior Jesus in faith. The Holy Spirit has brought us to look for
Jesus who is coming soon to take us home to heaven.
I ran across a
passage in the Psalms this week that fits so well the world we live in. “The wicked freely strut about when what is
vile is honored among men.” In this
world where evil people seem to be getting ahead and winning all the time,
Jesus ties things up for us “Outside
are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters and everyone
who loves and practices falsehood.” Those
who push Jesus aside to grab onto and hold tight to and glory in the wickedness
will not have the last word.
Right before that
passage in Psalm 12 that mentions the wicked strutting about, it tells about
how God will keep His people safe. Yes
on the day when Jesus returns, the heavens and earth will pass away. The world as we know it will be
destroyed. But because of Jesus that end
will really be just the beginning for us.
Jesus put his
stamp of approval or his guarantee on the Book of Revelation and the whole
Bible when he says, “I Jesus have sent my angel to give you this testimony for
the churches.” Then Jesus goes on to
describe himself. “I am the Root and the
Offspring of David and the Bright Morning Star.” Jesus identifies himself as the Savior who
has won salvation for us and as the Bright morning star will soon return to
take us home to heaven.
Jesus’ promise
that he is coming soon draws a wonderful response. “The Spirit and the Bride say “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come and whoever
wishes let him take from the free gift of the water of life.” No matter what happens in your lives ahead,
don’t forget Jesus invitation for our thirsty souls, Come to me all ye that
labor and are heavy ladened and I will give you rest. When the devil tries to drive you into the
ground of despair remember that Jesus’ water of
forgiveness flows for you and it
is free.
This week one of the Milwaukee TV stations
did a follow up story about a group of nuns who participated in a study on
aging. One of the things learned in that
study was that a person’s outlook on life can have a lot to do with a healthy brain
later in life. In other words it is good
to be an optimistic person. Jesus makes
clear that as his followers we can be optimistic about the future. Christ has died, Christ has risen Christ will
come again.
Do you feel like
a “sweatie” some days? God loves you. Take a look at His love story. Jesus is coming soon. Jesus assures us of that fact, “He who
testifies to these things says, “Yes I am coming soon.” John responds like all of us respond,
“Amen. Come Lord Jesus.”
No comments:
Post a Comment