The Beginning and the End

Let's open up to Revelation 21. We're not gonna

make it far tonight, but that's okay. That's

what happens when the entire congregation is

in the hospital. It is a prayer meeting, that's

right, yeah. And I'm gonna try to teach and preach

sitting down. Revelation 21. I might end up standing

up, we'll see. It's really gonna mess with the

cameraman back there, huh? If I sit down, stand

up, sit down, stand up. All right, we're coming

to Revelation 21 and it's interesting when we

get to this passage because we're gonna start

in verse 5, but it's interesting because there

are only two times in the book of Revelation

in which God speaks directly. We've heard a lot

of what the angels have said and what John has

received from a vision from the Lord and from

the angels, but there are only two times when

God, at least God the Father, speaks directly

and the first time is in Revelation 1 8. And

he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega says the

Lord God who is and who was and who is to come

the Almighty and then it's interesting because

when you come to Revelation 21 six He says it

is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning

and the end to the thirsty I will give from the

spring of the water of life without payment and

so twice God speaks directly to us and twice

he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning

and the end. And it confronts us with the reality

that every single person has to deal with God.

There is no getting around God, there is no avoiding

God. Everyone must do something with Him. C .S.

Lewis famously said in his book, Mere Christianity,

he says this, I'm trying here to prevent anyone

saying the really foolish thing that people often

say about Jesus. I'm ready to accept Jesus as

a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his

claim to be God. That is one thing we must not

say. A man who was merely a man and said the

sort of things Jesus said would not be a great

moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on

the level with the man who says he's a poached

egg, or else he would be the devil of hell. You

must make your choice either this man was and

is the son of God or else a madman or something

worse You can shut him up for a fool You can

spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can

fall at his feet and call him Lord and God And

let us not come with any patronizing nonsense

about his being a great human teacher He has

not left that open to us. He did not intend to

You see, essentially, Lewis is saying that all

of humanity has to make a choice and a decision

about what to do with Jesus. Jesus is either

a liar who cannot be trusted, he is either a

lunatic who should not be followed, or else Jesus

actually is Lord. And if he is Lord, then we

must submit to him and obey him. And that's the

great claim of the Bible, and that's the great

claim of the book of Revelation as well. All

of humanity has to deal with God. He claims he

is the Alpha and the Omega, he claims he is the

beginning and the end, and so we must come face

to face with him and decide who he actually is.

And if God is who he says he is, then we need

to do something about it. And what does God say

about himself? Well, if you look at verse 5,

the first part of verse 5, it says, And he who

was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making

all things new. So notice that the first thing

he says that he is doing that is true of himself

is that he is making all things new. And I want

you to notice something very important about

this verse. I want you to notice that it does

not say, I will make all things new. That is

sometimes how many Christians misread this verse

and misunderstand this verse. They read this

verse and they see God saying, I'm making all

things new. And immediately they think this is

something that's going to happen in the future.

This is some far off promise for the future that

one day God is finally going to make all things

new. But notice here that this is in the present

tense. He says, I am making all things new. So

God is currently right now making all things

And you might ask, well, how is he doing that?

And he starts by doing this with his people.

We see this in 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore,

if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation.

The old is passed away, and behold, the new has

come. And so God starts by making his people

new. We were old. and ragged and God took the

old and he made something entirely new out of

it in such a way that the old has now passed

away and the new has come and then the Holy Spirit

works through these new creations to transform

the world. And this is needed because one of

the greatest tragedies of humanity is that ever

since the fall humanity has been trying to create

the world that they want. They've been trying

to recreate the world into a world of their liking.

We see this in the book of Genesis at the time

of Noah. Remember this? The Bible says in the

book of Genesis that people were no longer living

according to God's standards. They had been entirely

corrupted by sin. And so the Bible says in Genesis

6 5, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man

was great in the earth and that every intention

of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

And so what does God do? He brings the flood

and wipes them out. The humanity had tried to

make a world after their own liking and God said

it is just evil all the time. And then you see

this again at the Tower of Babel, where man decided

that they were going to try to take the place

of God in remaking the world. So this is right

after the flood. We have all these generations

and it's a brand new world, right? It's a different

world. God had gotten rid of all the bad people.

or so we thought. Because as soon as people started

being born again and started populating the earth,

turns out the sin didn't go away. And so they

want to make a new world. And it's interesting

because the Bible says in Genesis 1 .26, this

is God speaking, he says, let us make man in

our image after our own likeness. This was God's

plan for the world. I'm going to create a world

in which my image is displayed. It will be a

world for my glory and I'm going to create people

in my image. Now notice the parallel in Genesis

11, 4. The people, they said, come, let us build

ourselves a city and a tower with its top in

the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves,

lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole

earth. I want you to notice the parallel there.

God says, let us make man in our image after

our own likeness. And then man responds by saying,

actually, Let us make a name for ourselves. It's

identical in the Hebrew. The only change is when

you start to get into the word name. And so it's

a direct parallel. Man has taken it upon themselves

to try to recreate the world in a way in which

they liked it. And on and on this theme goes

throughout the Bible and it still continues to

this very day because we still have people who

are trying to recreate the world to be a world

after their own likeness in a world in which

they decide what is right and wrong. And we've

tried just about everything to bring about real,

meaningful, impactful change in the world, to

make it a better place, and has it worked? The

answer is no, it has not worked. We've seen the

world try monarchies, dictatorships, and oligarchies.

We've seen them try communism, socialism, and

fascism. We've seen social programs trickle down

economics and bailouts. And these have all been

humanity's attempts to make a better world. to

make a better place and they have all failed

miserably. And it's because all of these things

are like putting a bandaid on a cancer patient.

It doesn't do anything. You're trying to fix

something that you have no ability to fix. And

all the ways you're going about trying to fix

it don't actually address the real problem. If

you want a world that is better, if you want

the world to be a better place, you have to take

care of the underlying issue. with humanity,

which is sin. And until sin is dealt with and

done away with, the world will continue spinning

its wills, desperately trying to create a better

world that will never actually come to fruition.

But the good news of this verse is that God has

given us hope. He is promising that the world

will not always be this way. He is promising

that real change and real renewal is possible

because He is doing it. He is making all things

new and He's doing it through His people whom

He has made to be new creations. You see today

we have a lot of Christians who are waiting around

on something that God's already told them to

do. We have a lot of Christians who are sitting

around complaining about how bad the world is

even though they never actually go out in the

world and try to bring about real change. We

can't wait around for some future day of change

and newness. We need to go in the Spirit of the

Lord and bring about the change that we hope

to see. We need to stand firm on the Word of

God. We need to preach the gospel. We need to

fight for justice. We need to give opportunities

to the poor. We need to care for the fatherless,

the sojourner, and the widow. We need to build

up the church, equip the saints, disciple believers.

We can't just complain about how bad the world

is if we're unwilling to actually do anything

ourselves. And we definitely don't need to wait

around on the world or on a government to do

something that God has entrusted His people to

do. It is not the government's responsibility

to fix this world. We know that, right? And if

it were their responsibility, they're doing a

horrible job of it, yes? Okay, so we can't look

to the government and trust the government and

put our hope in the government to bring about

real, meaningful change. It is the responsibility

of Christians. And the question is, well, is

God really doing this, though? And can we trust

that He's doing this? And the answer here is

yes. If you look at the last part of verse 5,

the Bible says, also He said, write this down,

for these words are true and trustworthy. You

see, the words of the Lord are completely trustworthy

and true. As Christians, we don't have hope like

the rest of the world has hope. When they have

hope, they're just putting a feeling out there

and they're kind of crossing their fingers and

hoping for the best. Christian hope is different.

Our hope is a certainty. We know that whatever

God has said is going to come to pass. We know

that whatever God has said is true and that all

of His purposes are going to come to pass because

every word of scripture proceeds from the mouth

of God and the Bible says that God cannot lie.

In Hebrews 6, 18, it literally says it is impossible

for God to lie. So we have this assurance. Whatever

we read in the scriptures is true, which this

isn't even in my notes. This one's for free.

But that means if you disagree with the scriptures

or you don't like what they have to say about

something, That's a you problem. We don't get

to determine what this book means. We don't get

to change it to our own liking and we don't get

to just pick and choose what we like in the Bible

and what we don't like in the Bible. Whatever

God says is true and right and good and it doesn't

matter what society says. It does not matter

what the world says. It does not matter what

the culture has to say on this issue. God's Word

is true and trustworthy. And we even have more

hope and assurance here, because if you look

at what he says in verse 6, the Bible says, and

he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and

the Omega, the beginning and the end, to the

thirsty I will give from the spring of the water

of life without payment. Now you might be asking,

well, how does this verse give us assurance?

How does this verse give us hope? And it has

to do with that little phrase there, it is done.

It's a very interesting phrase in the Greek because

for starters in the Greek is actually in the

perfect tense Which is referring to something

that is done in the past that has continuing

effect and significance for all time So it's

something that's been done and is continuing

to have significance for today and the Greek

word used here is a verb that means to happen

and It's actually a plural verb So I think a

better translation of this phrase, it is done,

if you were to be literal with this in the Greek,

is everything has happened. This might sound

strange to us as English speakers. Yeah, Doug?

Not in my notes, but that's a good... Let's go

there anyways because we're not going to finish.

Doug asked for everybody listening online. How

does this phrase relate to what Jesus said on

the cross when he said, it is finished? The Greek

word that is used there for that is one word

for that whole phrase. It's to telestai. And

it is translated in the Bible as it is finished.

The interesting thing about that is the verb

is actually telestai. And when you put the te

on the beginning of it, te telestai, that makes

it in the perfect tense as well. So good connection

there, Doug. So something that is done in the

past, that will always have significance for

the future, which brings even more beauty to

that phrase. So it actually should not be translated,

it is finished, but it should be translated,

it has been finished. It's done and it will always

remain done. It will always have lasting continued

significance. So good catch there, Doug. But

you might be thinking, if the phrase should be

translated, everything has happened, the natural

question is, well, how is that possible? Because

we know that not everything has happened yet,

but you have to understand this was a way of

writing in the ancient world where you would

speak of something that is so guaranteed and

certain that is going to happen that you can

write it as though it has already taken place.

There's another example of this in the Bible

in Romans 8 30 The Bible says and those whom

he predestined He also called and those whom

he called he also justified and those whom he

justified. He also what? glorified He also glorified

Impulse around that now you wrote that in the

first century. He also glorified. Are y 'all

glorified? We're gonna need a book on some church

words that we use in common gatherings to know

what these words mean. Glorification is the final.

completion of our salvation. It is when we receive

our new glorified bodies. It is when we are freed

from sin and the presence of sin. We're no longer

corrupted by sin. And the Bible says that we

will be made like Jesus because we will see him

as he is. So glorification happens at the resurrection.

But Paul says he has glorified. How could Paul

say that? Because it is so certain And it is

so guaranteed that Paul can write it as though

it has already happened. And that's exactly what

the Bible is doing here. He's saying everything

has happened because it is so certain that it

is going to happen. We can write it as though

it already has. I want you to also notice the

hope of grace in the gospel that God gives us

in this verse because he says, to the thirsty,

I will give from the spring of the water of life

without payment. And something that's interesting

when you think about this is that everyone in

our world is thirsting for something. We've got

a world of thirsty people. Everybody is thirsting

for fulfillment, for satisfaction, for joy, for

contentment, for pleasure. But my question is

when you look at the world and everybody's thirsting

for something, are people going to God to satisfy

that thirst? No. People in the world today, they

look to sex, they look to alcohol, to drugs,

to career, money, positions, titles. It's an

endless search for satisfaction and it's just

gonna leave them even more thirsty. It's never

gonna quench that thirst. It's like going to

the beach where I just was. You're on the beach

and you get thirsty, you've got no water, and

you're like, well, there's a whole ocean right

there. I mean, it's water, right? It's wet. So

you're thirsty, you go take a drink from the

ocean. Is your thirst satisfied? You're gonna

die, yeah. It's just gonna make your thirst worse.

It's gonna make the whole situation worse. It

can't actually quench. And so the same thing

is true of people. We will never be truly satisfied

until we find our satisfaction in God and drink

deeply from the spring of the water of life.

I was listening to the testimony of a man named

Ryan Reese. And he was a professional skateboarder

who started traveling the world with his skate

group. I don't know what you call it, posse group,

his team, whatever it was. He was traveling the

world with them. They're doing skateboarding

events and things like that. And so at a very

young age, he was traveling the world and he

got introduced to sex, to drugs, to alcohol.

He became addicted to heroin, to crack, to pot,

to pills and cocaine. And he said in his testimony

that he was basically afraid to be sober because

he always was longing for that next high, that

next satisfaction, that next jolt. And he was

afraid to be sober because he didn't know what

it would be like to be quiet and not have any

sort of anything in your system. And so one night

he did a bunch of cocaine and it was actually

smeared all over his face and his buddies came

and they tried to wake him up and they were shaking

him and shaking him. They couldn't get him to

wake up and they thought he had died right there

in their hotel room. But he woke up the next

morning, looked in the mirror, saw all the cocaine

on his face and he thought to himself, I can't

live my life like this. I've got to change my

life. I need to do something about this. And

his father was a Christian. And so he remembered

a prayer that his dad had taught him when he

was a young boy to just say, Jesus, I need you

in my life. Would you please come into my heart

and save me? And so he prayed that prayer in

his hotel room. And since he was in a hotel room,

he said, I want to know about God. I've got to

do something. I'm going to die if I don't. So

he goes over to the stand. And what do you think

he finds in the little nightstand? A Gideon Bible.

I almost sent this story to Harold Corn because

I was like, Harold would love this. He found

a Gideon Bible and he stole it from the hotel

room. And then he got on a plane, they were heading

from Panama City back to LAX, and he said he

spent the entire six hours reading the Bible.

And he said by the time he landed in LAX, he

had a peace in his heart that he had never experienced

before in his entire life. And he said that he

had a satisfaction that no drug and no drink

ever came close to in his entire life. because

he finally had found his satisfaction in Jesus.

He had started to drink deeply from the spring

of the water of life and he was satisfied. And

the natural question is when you read this and

you're like, okay, well, this is all for, this

is what I need. The question is, well, how do

I get this? This sounds great. So what do I have

to do to get this? And God says here, the most

beautiful thing ever, nothing. You don't have

to do a thing. God, what do I have to do to get

this eternal life? What do I have to do to get

this water of life? What do I have to do to get

satisfaction and joy and contentment and get

to be with you? And God says it's already been

paid for. To those who are thirsty and long for

the satisfaction that I can give them, I will

give them the water of life without cost. We

don't have to do anything to get this because

it's already been done by Jesus. It's been bought

and paid for by Jesus. So we're invited to come

and drink deeply and freely of this water of

life and enjoy eternal satisfaction in the presence

of God. I want you to notice something too here

in verse 7. He says the one who conquers will

have this heritage and I will be his God and

he will be my son. Now the reason I think this

is interesting is because, if you remember, two

times God has spoken in Revelation and two times

He has said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the

beginning and the end. And then here, He describes

the beginning and the end of salvation. Salvation

begins by coming to God empty and thirsty and

longing for Him. And salvation ends by persevering

in the faith and conquering and overcoming. God

is the beginning and the end. He says, this is

the beginning and end of salvation. You come

thirsty, you leave a conqueror who is satisfied.

If you remember, Jesus used these same words

when he was addressing the seven churches at

the beginning of Revelation. If you go back and

read those chapters, Revelation chapter two through

chapter three, Jesus says to each of the seven

churches, the letter ends by saying, to the one

who conquers. And so he brings it back here.

The one who conquers will have this heritage.

You see, it is only those who persevere in the

faith who may lay claim to the promises of God.

The promises of God are not for those who merely

give verbal assent to God. They are not for those

who make a one -time commitment and fill out

a card and walk down an aisle. God's promises

are not obtained through power or performance.

God's promises only come through the grace of

God through Jesus Christ and His enabling grace

that allows us to persevere. And I've said it

to you before, and I'll say it again, the perseverance

of the saints is the clearest indication of salvation.

I have so many people ask me as a pastor, Pastor,

how can I know that I'm saved? What's the evidence?

What's the sign? I've prayed this prayer. I know

I filled out this card. I walked down it out.

I've been baptized, but I still struggle with

it. Pastor, how can I know? And my answer to

them is always, are you trusting in Jesus today?

Are you persevering in the faith? And the answer

is yes. Praise the Lord. That's the sign that

you're a Christian. John writes in 1 John about

people who left the church and they went out

from the church. And he says they went out from

us. But they were never of us. Because if they

had been of us, they would have continued with

us. But they went out from us to show that they

were never actually of us. So people ask all

the time, can I lose my salvation? The answer

is no, you cannot lose your salvation. God will

not allow his son to spill his blood. in vain.

You say, but pastor, I know people who have claimed

to be Christians. They grew up in church and

then they walked out of the church and they never

looked back. They were believers. They professed

faith in Jesus. They were participating and now

they're atheists. So what about them? Didn't

they lose their salvation? And my answer is no,

they didn't. They were never actually Christian

in the first place. They were very good at playing

church. They were very active in the church.

They were interested in Jesus. So how can I say

they're not a Christian? Because they're not

continuing in the faith. Those who are truly

Christians persevere in the faith. And I want

you to note that this promise is not for everyone.

God is not only a God of grace, He is a God of

justice. And so I want you to notice what He

says in verse 8. These are the ones He excludes.

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable,

as for the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers,

idolaters, and all liars, their portion will

be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.

which is the second death. Now, I do think that

there are actually two categories here. I know

it's not broken up into categories, but I think

you actually have two categories here. If you

look at the first three, these likely refer to

people who at one time professed faith in Christ

and claimed to be Christians, but they abandoned

the faith. They're called cowardly because they

turned on Christ and the faith when it became

costly to them. When their lives were on the

line, When the threat of persecution and death

became too much for them, they denied Jesus and

they abandoned the faith. That's why they're

called faithless, because they have shown themselves

not to possess the true faith that would persevere

to the end. Even if your life is on the line,

you do not deny Jesus and reject the faith. And

they're called detestable, because not only have

they abandoned the faith, but they've sided with

the enemy and pledged their allegiance to Him.

The second category is a list of probably the

most common sins that people give themselves

to today. And Jesus says these people have no

portion in the kingdom of God. You know, there's

that notion God's just going to forgive everybody

one day and everybody's just going to get to

go to heaven. And that is not what the Bible

says. The Bible says that God is redeeming a

people in Christ. who will cling to Christ and

those are the ones who share in this portion.

But I want you to notice the interesting parallel

here. Believers are promised a satisfying drink

from a spring of the water of life. But notice

the parallel. Those who reject Christ in the

gospel, they do not get a satisfying drink from

a spring. What do they get? A lake of fire. Do

you notice that parallel? The water is the parallel

here. Waters of life to those who persevere and

lakes of fire and judgment for those who give

themselves to sin. I think one of the most striking

things about this passage is the fact that the

world has been trying to get rid of God for centuries.

You look all the way back at Frederick Nietzsche,

which if you ever just want to be depressed,

read Nietzsche, okay? He'll do it for you. Nietzsche

famously declared, God is dead and we have killed

him. The world has been trying to get rid of

God. They want to do away with Him. They want

to do away with Him and don't want Him in our

classrooms. They want Him out of society, out

of government, out of science, out of ethics,

out of philosophy. And yet the Bible says, before

there was even a beginning, there was God. That's

one of the most stunning statements in the Bible.

We just read over it like a storybook. In the

beginning, God. You understand that implies that

God was before the beginning. He was already

there before things even begun. Began. Whichever

one it is. God was there in the beginning sitting

on his throne. And then I want you to notice

this. We read here at the very end of history,

God is still seated on his throne. He was seated

on His throne before this world began, and when

this world ends and history comes to a conclusion,

God will still be seated on His throne. We cannot

do away with God. We cannot hide from God. We

cannot avoid God. Every person on earth must

deal with God. He is either a liar, a lunatic,

or Lord, and the question is, what will we make

of Him, and what will we do about it? We will

pick up with verse 9, Lord willing, next week.

Let's switch it up. Who's it gonna be?