Sermon Transcript

0:00:14.0

Well, I have titled this morning’s message “The Last Words About The Last Days” because we are in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible and the last chapter of the book of Revelation.  We’re finishing our series this morning titled “Mysteries of the Apocalypse”.  And as I read the section of scripture that I just read, there are four words that come to my mind, four words around which I want to wrap our thoughts this morning.  Again, these are last words about the last days.  Last words are important words, aren’t they?  Whether it’s the last words of a loved one or a friend.  Maybe the last words of a statesman.  You know, we kind of focus on last words.  We think last words are important words.  And certainly the words in Revelation 22 are important to our understanding of this book.  In my Bible there are many verses here that are in red, indicating that these are words of Jesus that John, in the island of Patmos, received from the angel who got them from Jesus Himself.  And so these last words are very important words.  The red words are not any more important than the words in black in your Bible.  But it is interesting that these last words are, in fact, many of them directly from Jesus Himself.

0:01:44.4

Here’s the first of the four words around which I want to wrap some of our thoughts.  It’s the word “intention”.  Intention.  It’s the idea that Jesus expresses His intention in these words.  And I want you to first look at verse 7 with me.  Jesus says, “And behold, I am coming soon.”  He intends to come soon.  And He doesn’t say this just once.  He doesn't say it twice.  He actually says it three times in Revelation 22.  In verse 7 He says, “And behold, I am coming soon.”  In verse 12 He says, “Behold, I am coming soon.”  And then again in verse 20, “Surely I am coming soon.”  He intends to come soon.  Now, to most of us, soon means, like, tomorrow.  Come on.  If we’re gonna do this soon, let’s get after it.  And yet it’s been 2000 years since John was on the island of Patmos and he received these words and Jesus says, “I am coming soon.”  It’s given rise to some people who might scoff and be skeptics of the prophecies of this book.  Jesus said He was coming soon, but here we are waiting month after month, and week after week, and year after year, and century after century.  I mean, it’s been almost 2000 years.  Well, you’ve got to remember that God lives on a different timetable than we do.  In fact, He’s not a time bound creature like we are.  He’s eternal.  He doesn’t measure time in terms of days and hours and weeks and months.  And He doesn’t have a calendar like we do.  He created time.  He made us as time bound creatures.  But even Peter said a day to the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  I mean, God is on a different time table than we are, so “soon” means something to Him much different than it means to us, even though the angel did say to John here that the time is near.  Yeah, we are in the last days, right?  We established that early on in our series that the last days…this idea that the time is near is a technical term in the Bible which starts at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and extends all the way to the end of the age.  Whether we are in the final days of the last days has been a whole other discussion here, but Jesus intends to come soon.  Now, soon can also mean suddenly.  And we do know from the teachings of scripture and from the words of Jesus Himself that when He comes He will come to some like a thief in the night, suddenly, unexpectedly.  And things will suddenly change.  But don’t miss His intention here.  Don’t live a single day without the understanding that Jesus says, “I am coming soon.”  And all of this is preceded in verse 6 by this.  The angel “said to me,” John says, “‘These words are trustworthy and true.’”  You can go to the bank on the fact that Jesus is coming soon.

0:04:50.3

Now, He says it not once, not twice, but three times, as I mentioned.  And each time He says it in Revelation 22 there is another idea that’s sort of attached to it.  And the first idea is one of blessing.  Look again in verse 7.  “And behold, I am coming soon.”  And then right on the heels of that He says, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”  Do you remember all the way back to the beginning of our study of Revelation we said there are seven beatitudes, seven blessed R’s in the book of Revelation.  Jesus gave us eight beatitudes in his Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5.  But there are seven more blessed R’s in the book of Revelation.  Yes, it’s a book of blessings, despite all of the calamity and all the tribulation that we’ve poured through.  And here He says, “Blessed is one…”  Supremely happy is the one “who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”  It’s a reminder that, as we’re waiting for this Jesus who said He’s coming soon, the most important thing we can do is keep the words of the prophecy of this book, to put into practice the truth that we’ve heard.  You see, we’ve run the risk of trafficking in unapplied truth, do we not?  We hear Bible teaching and sermons and messages week in and week out and even during the week.  And the temptation and even the danger is that we have all this truth stored up in our hearts and in our minds, but we’re trafficking in unapplied truth.  This is why James says don’t just be hearers of the Word but be doers also.  This is why Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 talked about two different kinds of people in this world.  There’s a wise man who builds his life on the rock.  And the rains come and the storms come.  And the house stands.  And then there’s the foolish person who builds his or her life on the sand.  And the rains come, and the hurricane-force winds hit and wipes out that house.  You want to be a wise man or a foolish man?  When Jesus said the only difference between the two is one is a doer of the Word and of the Truth and the other is a hearer only.  Here in Revelation 22:7, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”  Scroll down to verse 14.  There is another “blessed”.  “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”  Not only are those blessed who are believers in Jesus and who are doers, not just hearers, but blessed are those who are cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.  They’ve washed their robes, the idea here is, so that they may have the right to the tree of life.  Happy, blessed, supremely happy are those who are in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  That’s the idea here.

0:07:48.2

Now, the next time He says, “I am coming soon,” the idea tethered to that is one of reward.  Look at it in verse 12.  “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense (or “my reward”) with me, to repay each one for what he has done.”  Do you remember in our study?  We talked about two judgments, two future judgments.  One called the Great White Throne Judgment.  You can read about it at the end of Revelation 20.  It’s the judgment of all unbelievers.  It’s a sobering scene.  Strap on your seatbelts when you read it.  You don’t want to be there.  The other judgment is called the judgment seat of Christ.  And this one is for believers in Jesus.  And Paul tells us in his New Testament letters we—that is believers—must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.  It’s a time when rewards are given out for faithful service.  It’s when our works are judged, not to determine whether we get into heaven or not, but to determine our experience in heaven and the responsibilities and rewards that we will receive and live out for all of eternity.  I believe that’s what Jesus has in mind when He says, “I am bringing my reward with me to repay each one for what he has done.”

0:09:07.8

And then the third time He talks about coming soon, the idea of assurance is tied to it.  Verse 20, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!”  Did you see the subtle shift in language there?  The first two times He says, “Behold, I am coming soon.”  It’s a wake-up call.  In other words, “Wake up from your sleepy, slumbering self, and, behold, I am coming soon.”  But the third time He says, “Surely, surely I am coming soon.”  It’s a word of assurance.  In other words, you can go to the bank on this.  Don’t waffle on your understanding of whether this is going to happen or whether it’s true.  Remember verse 6.  “These words are trustworthy and true.”  These are coming from Jesus Himself, the risen Savior.  Surely He is coming soon, He says.  Are you living like that?  Or are you just kind of floating through life just not giving a whole lot of attention to the words of the prophecy of this book?  These are some last words about the last days.  And He wants us to receive a blessing.  He wants us to have rewards clearly in view.  He wants us to have the assurance that He is coming and for us to live like it as well.  So the first word that comes to my mind when I read this is “intention”.  Jesus has very clearly expressed intention that He is coming soon and how we ought to live like it.

0:10:43.1

The second word that comes to my mind is identity.  If He expresses His intention, He states His identity.  And He does it through three what we would call “I am” statements.  Now, if you’re familiar with the scriptures, and especially the writings of the apostle John, you may remember in John’s Gospel, he’s the one that records the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus, where Jesus said things like, “I am the bread of life.  I am the light of the world.  I am the door of the sheep.  I am the good shepherd.  I am the resurrection and the life.  I am the way, the truth, and the life.  I am the true vine.”  I think that’s seven.  If not, I might have missed one.  But the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus are found in the Gospel of John, clearly identifying Jesus as…self-identifying His deity and expressed in all those different ways.  But here in Revelation 22 we have three more “I AM” statements.  If you have any doubts about the authority of the person who expressed His intention to come soon, well, listen to this.  Verse 13 Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  Those three couplet of ideas there all kind of mean the same thing.  It basically says everything starts and ends with Jesus.  Oh, you may think everything starts and ends with you and your little world.  You know, everything revolves around you and, you know, what I’m doing in my world.  No, everything starts and ends with Jesus.  Everything that is important to life and to eternity starts and ends with Jesus.  He is the Alpha, He is the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

0:12:27.7

Verse 16 He goes on to say, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.”  And then He adds, “I am,”—here is the second one—“I am the root and the descendant of David.”  Now, if you were a Jewish person in the 1^st century, your ears would perk up because Jews were always looking for evidence, prophetic evidence, that the Messiah was, you know, who He claimed to be.  That certainly He came from the line of David.  Matthew, when he writes his Gospel, Matthew has a particular audience in mind.  He’s writing to a Jewish audience.  Matthew is the one who brings out all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the first coming of Jesus in Bethlehem.  And he links His coming in Bethlehem to those Old Testament prophecies because he’s writing to a Jewish audience whose ears are perked to those kinds of ideas.  And so here, when Jesus says, “I am the root and descendant of David,” it’s a message to all of us, but in particular to a Jewish audience here who understood that this Jesus is the Messiah and you can trace His lineage all the way back to David, just as the prophecy said.

0:13:44.4

By the way, when we were studying the millennial reign of Jesus Christ, remember we said that this was a time just prior or almost simultaneous to the second coming where the Old Testament saints would rise from the dead and join Jesus along with the Church as we go into the millennial reign of Christ.  This is when Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and, yes, King David rise from the dead.  And during the millennial reign of Jesus, that thousand-year reign on this earth, this is the time when Jesus will literally be seated on the throne of David and rule this earth as the Old Testament prophecy said from the throne of David in Jerusalem.  And here He says, “I am, I am the root and the descendant of David.”  And then He goes on to say, “I am the bright morning star.”  I love this phrase here because it takes us back to Bethlehem.  Do you remember this part of the Christmas story where Zechariah, who is a faithful priest, was serving in the temple one day?  And he had a vision.  And then he came out and, you know, he was mute for nine months while his wife Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist and all that.  But in that whole scene there here is a phrase that comes out of the Christmas story regarding Jesus.  “The dayspring on high has visited us.”  Isn’t that a great phrase?  “The dayspring from on high has visited us.”  Well, He visited us the first time in Bethlehem.  But Jesus says, “I am also the bright morning star.  I’m that dayspring from on high that rises up in our hearts.”  And Peter, in his second epistle, he pulls together the prophetic nature of the front end of that phrase, “I am the root and descendant of David”, along with the back end of that phrase, “and the bright morning star”.  And here is what Peter says.  “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed,” he says, “as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”  That’s great phraseology for an uneducated fisherman like Peter.  I mean, Peter hadn’t gone to college.  He wasn’t a wordsmith.  But understand the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he talks about the day dawning and the morning star rising in your hearts.  That’s good stuff.  That’s really good stuff.  And it goes to what Jesus was saying.  “I am the root and the descendant of David, that prophetic word fully confirmed in your heart.  And I’m the bright morning star rising in your hearts to give you new life and a new day.”

0:16:43.3

He states His identity.  By the way, do you know this Jesus?  Do you know Him?  Or do you still just kind of see Him as this good, moral teacher, this religious figure somewhere back in history?  You really don’t have that option.  When you read through the Gospels, when you read through the Bible itself and you really give an honest assessment of the claims of Jesus Christ to His own deity, to the fulfillment of prophecy…no, Jesus claimed to be much more than just a good “power of positive thinking” kind of leader.  He is the bright morning star.  He is the root and descendant of David.  He is the Alpha and the Omega.  And that’s just for starters.  But we’re just tossing in some last words about the last days as we finish up in the book of Revelation.

0:17:37.9

The third word that comes to my mind after He expresses His intention, after He states His identity, then He offers an invitation.  Look at it in 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.”  What a fabulous invitation.  And aren’t you glad that in the last book of the last book of the Bible, the last words about the last days, there is an invitation that if you are spiritually thirsty—I mean, parched in your soul—there is an invitation to come and drink from the water of life.  And it doesn’t cost you a thing.  By the way, it’s the Spirit of God who says this, and the bride.  I like that.  “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’”  Who is the bride?  Well, that’s the bride of Christ.  That’s the Church.  Of course the Spirit here is the Holy Spirit.  And it’s a reminder, Church, that there is no more important business that we’re about than to extend the invitation to spiritually thirsty people, to a world full of people with parched (0:19:00.0) souls to come.  Come and drink from the water of life.  It’s free of charge.  It doesn’t cost you anything.  You know, you can drink from a lot of wells and a lot of cisterns in life trying to quench that thirsty soul of yours.  And it might quench your soul for a moment, but it will always leave you thirsty.  That’s all the world has to promise.  But here is an invitation to come to the water of life.  To come to the water of life.  And, again, it doesn't cost you anything?  Why?  Because Jesus paid it all.  He pulled out His wallet, His credit card, and He paid it all on the cross where He said those words tetelestai, “It is finished.”  It was a term that was used in the marketplace to stamp a transaction paid in full.  Jesus said that on the cross.  It’s paid in full.  “Come, come to the water (0:20:00.1) of life and drink without cost,” is the invitation here.  These words remind us of Isaiah 55:1.  “Come, everyone who thirsts.  Come to the waters.  And he who has no money, come, buy and eat.  Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.”  Whoever told you there ain’t no free lunch in this world never read Revelation 22.  They don’t know about the water of life that you can drink and satisfy your thirst.  They never read this.  There is a free lunch.  Oh, maybe not out there in the world somewhere, but there is one here.  And it’s called eternal life.  It’s already been bought and paid for.

0:20:45.5

This invitation also reminds me of Jesus’s words in Matthew 11 when He says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.  And you will find rest for you souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  You know who the thirstiest, hungriest souls are in the world?  Those who are on the religion treadmill, you know.  Religion is man’s best attempt to reach up to God and to hold on for dear life.  You try and you keep trying harder.  And Jesus entered into this world 2000 years ago and interacted with all kinds of people who were caught up in that pharisaical system of additional rules and regulations that were added to the Law of Moses.  It was like a big old government regulation program, and nobody could live up to it.  Nobody could live up to the regulations.  And Jesus says, “Come, all you who are weary and heavy-laden.  You’re burdened with your sins, and you’re burdened with the requirements of religion.  I’m here to give you rest from all of that.  My yoke is easy.  My burden is light, because I’ll carry your burdens for you.  I’ll wipe your sins clean and forgive you.  Come to the water of life.”  I mean, how many different analogies does He have to give to a tired and weary and soul-parched world to come?  “Come, come,” says the invitation.  And we as a church, we’re in the business of extending the invitation week after week and wherever God sends you during the week where you are the Church in your community, in your workplace, in your neighborhood, in your sphere of influence.  Be a person who extends the joy-filled invitation to come.  To come to the water of life.

0:22:51.8

It’s interesting.  Back in Revelation 22 right on the heels of verse 17 comes a stern warning.  And it goes like this.  “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book.”  Verse 18, “If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book, 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.”  Wow! What a stern warning right in the midst of a compelling invitation.  Remember a couple weeks ago I told you about “Don’t mess with Texas” and “Don’t mess with marriage”?  Well, here is a warning.  Don’t mess with God’s Word.  Don’t mess with it.  Don’t tamper with it.  Don’t say, “Well, I like this part.  But I think I’ll just take my penknife and cut this part out.  I’ll just delete this portion of it.”  Oh no, don’t mess with God’s Word.  He is in the Word business.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  John 1.  He’s in the Word business.  I learned in seminary a theological concept called the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture.  All scripture is given by inspiration of God.  It is God-breathed, is the idea.  And plenary means “all”.  All of it.  Verbal means all of it down to the very words of scripture.  You say, “Well, Pastor, that’s just kind of preacher talk and theologian talk.”  Well, let me just tell you something.  There are some people who say, “Yeah, the Bible is inspired, but just the big concepts, the big ideas.”  Oh no, don’t mess with the Word.  It’s down to the very words of scripture.  That’s why sometimes we go deeper into the original language, because we want to know what word the Holy Spirit inspired the human author to write down.  And this warning has to do with the words of the prophecy of this book.

0:25:19.0

And then there’s kind of a strange command.  We might as well toss this in as well.  Beginning in verse 10, “And the angel said to me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.’”  It goes on to say, “Let the one who does wrong still do wrong, and the one who is filthy still be filthy, and the one who is righteous still practice righteousness, and the one who is holy still keep himself holy.”  Kind of a strange, strange verse of scripture here in the midst of all this.  Why would the scripture tell the one who is doing wrong to continue to do wrong?  And scholars have wrestled with this some.  And one trusted scholar says, “It seems to suggest that if the prophecies of this book are rejected and because the time is near, there is no other message that will work.”  In other words, once we’re done with Revelation 22, God has nothing more to say.  You either tune your ears to it and turn your heart toward Him…He doesn’t have anything else to say.  He has said all He is going to say.  And if you reject it and you’re in a state of doing wrong and you reject it, then just keep doing wrong.  Because there isn’t any other word to give here.  All right?  He’s said all He is going to say.  It’s time…because the time is near to turn your heart toward it and to begin to put it into practice the truth that we’ve heard.

0:27:03.5

So we’ve looked at an intention He expressed, an identity that He states, an invitation that He offers.  And then look in verse 21 at a benediction that’s delivered here.  Verse 21.  Let’s just read it together.  Can we do that?  “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all.  Amen.”  Isn’t that a great benediction?  A great way to end the Bible.  You know what I notice here.  The Bible ends on a grace note.  How important is that, especially to those of you who are weary and heavy-laden by a burden of sin and religion.  You know, your philosophy in life is kind of like the Avis rental cars.  “I just try harder.  I’ll do better next time, God.”  And you hope that by doing better and trying harder you’ll appease a holy God with His righteous demands.  That’s called religion.  But here is what you need to hear.  “For by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast.”  That is such an important message, a core message to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that the last ring of hope we hear, the last of the last words about the last days in the last book of the Bible and the last chapter and verse of the Bible, “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon all.”  Because were it not for the grace of God, I’m in a lot of trouble.  And so are you.  Somebody took the word grace and, as an acronym, said it means “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”.  That’s grace. That’s the water of life without cost.  Doesn’t cost you a thing.  When you come to the water, when you accept the invitation, don’t reach into your back pocket and pull out your wallet and say, “What do I owe you God?”  Or reach into your past of good works that you think you’ve done and say, “Well, look what I’ve done.”  Because there will be some, Jesus said, who stand on that last day and say, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do great and mighty works in your name?”  And He says, “Depart from me.  I never knew you.”  Perhaps because they thought it was about them reaching up to grab onto a holy God and trying harder and hanging on for dear life.  No, grace is about God reaching down to us and grabbing hold of us and never letting go.  Are you in the grip of God’s grace?  “For by grace you are saved through faith.”  Christ did for you what you couldn’t do for yourself.  “He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God,” the scripture says.  Oh, what a profound thought that is.  He—that is, Jesus—became sin.  He went to the cross, paid the penalty for our sins.  He became sin who knew who knew no sin.  He didn’t have any beef with the Father, and the Father had no beef with Him.  He became sin who knew no sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. The only way we get right with God is if He reaches down by His grace and we, by faith, take His hand.  We are in the grip of His grace.  He never, ever lets go.

0:31:01.4

You’re caught up in religion, holding onto Him.  You don’t know from day to day whether you might lose strength and let go.  That’s a fearful place to be.  That’s a treadmill that keeps you burdened and heavy-laden.  Jesus says, “Come to me.  Just come.  Come just as you are and drink from the water of life without cost.”  What an invitation that is.  What a benediction this is.  And what a person this is who expresses His intention to come.  Are you ready?  Are you living your life in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ?  Church, are you ready to hear the trumpet sound where the dead in Christ rise first?  And we who are alive and remain are caught up together in the air, 1 Thessalonians 4 tells us.  Are you living with that sense of anticipation?  I hope that this study of the book of Revelation has stirred all of our hearts to live differently.  To live in anticipation of and waiting, yes, as we do what God has put in front of us and do it faithfully and with diligence.  But we’re doing it with one ear listening for that final trumpet call and the call of our Lord Jesus Christ to come home.  It’s the Spirit and the Church who say come.  And we do all of this as a church, busy about the business of extending the invitation in so many different ways that we can.  And if you’re here this morning the invitation is open to come and drink from the water of life.  And it won’t cost you anything.  You don’t even have to get all cleaned up to come into this place and to receive that free invitation.  You know, I don’t know how it is in your house, but in the Jones house my wife cooks and I clean up.  We’ve negotiated that deal 20-some years ago.  And it’s been a great deal.  I eat much better if she cooks.  And she is much happier if I do the cleaning up.  But here is what I’ve learned.  We have a dishwasher.  But that dishwasher is really a dish sanitizer.  You know what I mean?  All right?  Because you’ve got to clean up all the dishes in the sink first, rinse them off, get them all clean.  Now, I’m ready to put them in the storage thing there.  But, no, then you’ve got to take that clean dish and put it in the dishwasher.  Anybody feeling my pain?  It’s a dish sanitizer, okay?  Not a dishwasher.  A lot of people feel like that when they come to church.  “I’ve got to get over here into the sink, and I’ve got to get all cleaned up before I come over to this place.”  No, you come as you are.  But just remember, God’s not going to leave you just the way you are.  He wants for you to come to the water of life and let that water of life cleanse you from your sin and give you a whole new purpose for living and get you ready for heaven.  And that’s the glorious opportunity we have as believers in Jesus Christ.  And for anybody here today to accept the invitation that is so clearly given all throughout scripture, but especially in this last book of the Bible and as we talk about some last words about the last days.  Let’s pray together.

0:34:35.3

Father, thank You so much for Your Word.  And thank You for these last words.  Help us to take them to heart this morning.  Help us to be wise men and women who put it into practice into our daily living.  Father, I pray that our hearts would forever be in a stirred-up state, wondering if today would be the day, if this moment could be the moment when the one who says, “I am coming soon,” comes, first for His bride, the Church.  I pray that if there is anybody here today, Father, that Your Spirit, who first offers that invitation, would do His work in stirring the hearts of men and women and young people to come to faith in Jesus today.  And pray this in Jesus’s name and for His sake, amen.

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