"Keep These Words Until I Come"

Well, when Jenny and I have visitors coming to our house,

whether that's planned or unplanned, I go into clean mode.

It's kind of scary, actually, as my family would attest.

I want our house a welcoming place.

Jenny, don't get me wrong, she does a great job keeping her house clean,

but when people are coming, I want our place clean and tidy

for people to come in and feel welcome.

But what can happen is, in my cleaning, I can forget who's coming.

This morning, we can be so occupied with the things of God

that we can forget who's coming.

This morning, we're wrapping up the book of Revelation,

and we're going to be in the epilogue of the book of Revelation,

the last word, the afterword of the book of Revelation,

and we're going to see the last words of Jesus in the entire Bible,

Bible, in which he says,

I am coming soon.

Are you looking forward to his coming?

Famous last words.

Apparently, Jack Daniel, of Jack Daniel's fame,

his last words on his deathbed were,

one last drink, please.

Winston Churchill, on his deathbed, said,

I'm bored with it all.

The moment he died, I don't think he was bored anymore.

Steve Jobs, of Apple fame,

his last words were,

oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.

And the moment he passed into death

and stood before Jesus,

I'm guessing it turned to,

oh no, oh no, oh no.

Oh no.

Edgar Allan Poe, of the Raven fame,

his last words were,

Lord, help my soul.

Joan Crawford, of actress fame,

said, don't you dare ask God to help me,

and died.

Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist, said,

swing low, sweet chariot,

come.

This morning, we're looking at Revelation chapter 22,

Revelation 22 · chapter mention

through 6, through 21,

and we're going to see the last words of this book,

the last words of the Bible,

even the last words of Jesus,

recorded in Scripture.

And this afterward,

it's kind of a summary,

and when it talks about these words in 22, 6,

it's talking about all of the words of the book,

of the prophecy of Revelation.

This entire book shows us vision after vision

of not only what's to come,

but of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And so this morning,

as we wrap up this book,

and we have received the message of this book,

we've got to ask the question,

what do we do now?

In between Jesus' first coming and second coming,

having received these words of the book of Revelation,

what do we do now?

Well, the point of this section in Revelation 22 is,

we must keep these words of this prophecy

until He comes.

We must keep these words.

And this morning,

I just want to walk you through

seven truths

about these words that we must keep.

So I'm just going to pull them out of the text,

and they're going to provide

somewhat of a summary of our study

of the book of Revelation.

And so,

we need to keep these words

of the prophecy of this book

until Jesus comes,

and He has promised to come.

I'm coming soon.

So,

truth number one.

It's in 22, 6.

The angel says to John,

these words

are trustworthy and true.

So,

the first truth of these words,

these words are true words.

These words are true words.

And the angel,

when he says these words,

he's referring to all of the book of Revelation

from chapter 1

through chapter 22.

All of the visions.

All of the glories.

What chapter 119,

what God tells John

to write down for us.

All these words

are trustworthy and true.

Another way you can say that,

trustworthy and true,

you could say

that these words

of this prophecy

are reliable

and accurate.

Because

they are God's words.

Revealing reality.

I'm not sure

if you noticed this,

but in verse 6,

these words

are trustworthy and true.

And then we read,

in the Lord,

the God of the spirits

of the prophets

has sent his angel

to show his servants

what must soon take place.

In that little section,

there is a process

of transmission

of these words

that start with God,

go through his prophet,

and land in the church.

These words

are trustworthy

and true

because they are

originally from God.

These words,

the book of Revelation,

these are God's words.

They're true.

They depict reality.

They show us

what is to come.

Did you see the show?

He has sent his angel

to show his servants

what must soon take place.

And the book of Revelation

is showing us.

We see again and again

these visions

of what's to come

and of our great God.

These words are reliable

and true

because they are ultimately

from God

and they show us reality.

And if I were to sum up,

what is the reality

that this book shows us,

what God is showing us?

He is showing us this.

that all of humanity

is basically split

into two groups of people.

Those who belong to the Lamb

and those who belong

to the Beast

and one is worshipping the Lamb

and one is worshipping the Beast

and God is gradually moving

all of history

until that one great day

in which he judges all.

This book,

these words show us

what is to come.

It's a prophecy.

It reveals

what is going to happen

when he comes

and he makes all things right.

So the first truth

is this.

These words

are true.

They're from God.

They show us

reality.

Things as they

truly are.

And that's why

he must keep them

until he comes.

The second truth

I want you to see

is this.

These words,

all of them,

from beginning to end

in the book of Revelation,

they must be kept.

In verse 7,

we read,

Blessed is the one

who keeps

the words

of the prophecy

of this book.

Blessed is the one

who keeps

the words

of the prophecy

of this book.

Because these words

come from God

and they are

trustworthy and true

and they are

clear depictions

of what reality is,

we must keep them.

We must believe them.

We must obey them.

We must align

our lives

with them

accurately.

And so,

this does include

all the moral commands

from the book of Revelation

and there are many.

If you remember

from the seven letters

to the seven churches,

Jesus comes out strong.

He squarely

rebukes Pergamum

and Theotira

for their

sexual immorality

and he calls them

to repent.

Not just of their

sexual immorality

but of the teaching

that undergirded it.

Called them out of that.

And so,

for all of us

in the room,

the call there

is to,

if you're involved

with sexual immorality,

if you're doing

something sexually

that God forbids

through his word,

repent of it.

We gotta obey

these words.

We gotta keep

these words.

But that's not

all that we are

to keep.

Because in the book

of Revelation,

there are these

truth claims

all throughout

of what reality

truly is

and we must

keep hold of those

despite what

CNN says,

despite what

Fox News is saying,

despite what

you may be reading

on your NPR app,

this book

tells us

how things

truly are.

It's a revelation.

It pulls back

the curtain

and helps us

to see

what's truly

going on.

And so,

for example,

the book

of Revelation

reveals to us

that God

is on his throne

reigning

on high

and that

Jesus,

the Lamb,

has been

given

the scroll

with seven

seals

and he is

the divine

executor

of God's

will,

carrying out

God's plan

for the fullness

of time.

This book,

these words

claim a reality.

God is in

control.

We don't live

in a random

universe.

More so,

this book

claims in

Revelation 12

and 13,

we have

spiritual

opposition

as followers

of Jesus.

We have

an enemy,

the evil

forces of

darkness,

the anti-trinity,

actively seeking

to deceive

and destroy

and dismay

right now.

It's not

just creative

writing.

It's making

a truth claim

as to how

things truly

are.

So,

you can't

walk away

from the

book of

Revelation

and say,

yeah,

I think

that the

whole dragon

devil business,

I think

that's just

kind of

metaphoric.

It's a

claim that

there is an

enemy of

our soul.

He is

seeking to

work us

woe,

but his

days are

numbered

and he

will be

tossed

headlong

into the

lake of

fire.

Furthermore,

there's another

claim and

we see it

throughout this

text.

If you look

at verse

seven,

we see

red ink,

Jesus saying

and behold,

I am coming

soon.

In verse

12,

red ink,

behold,

I am coming

soon.

And then in

verse 20,

surely I am

coming soon.

Three times

in this text,

Jesus says,

I'm coming

back soon.

We've got to

hold on to

that.

We've got to

keep those

words.

It's a

claim of

reality.

Jesus is

sitting at

the right

hand of

the Father

in heaven,

sitting on

G,

waiting on

O,

from the

Father to

come back.

We're one

day closer.

These are

all these

truth claims.

So not only

do we need

to obey

the moral

commands of

the book

of Revelation,

we need to

obey the

truth claims.

Keep them

how things

truly are.

And here's

what this

means.

When we

keep the

words of

this prophecy

of this

book,

we don't

need to

freak out

and wonder

if the

earth is

going to

eventually

be invaded

and colonized

by these

slimy

aliens that

will make

all humanity

their slaves.

We don't

need to

worry about

that because

that's not

in the

book.

Nor,

if we

keep these

words,

we don't

need to

worry about

a zombie

apocalypse.

We need

to be aware

of an

apocalypse,

not a

zombie

apocalypse.

So if

you're a

fan of

The Walking

Dead,

throw it

out.

It's not

determining,

it's not

what's going

to happen.

It's not

if we

keep these

words,

we don't

need to

fear that

the earth

will be

devastated by

a giant

meteor wiping

out of all

the entire

human race.

But,

if Revelation

8, 10, and

11 is

accurate,

the third

trumpet,

it looks

like there

is going

to be a

meteor strike

that will

devastate a

third of

the drinking

water on

the planet.

that will

result in

the deaths

of a

third of

humanity.

I mean,

it doesn't

mean we're

going to

send Bruce

Willis up

into the

sky and

try to

destroy the

asteroid.

This is

God at

work.

If we

keep the

words of

this book,

it means

that as

we are

paying attention

to global

warming

happening all

around us,

if you keep

the words of

this book,

it raises the

possibility of a

third explanation

for global

warming.

Explanation

number one,

natural causes.

Explanation two for

global warming,

it's human

intervention,

the result of

human activity.

The

explanation three

of global warming

is that it's

actually God

at work

allowing the

earth to

heat up.

Revelation 16,

8 through 9,

the fourth

bowl judgment,

the sun was

allowed by God

to scorch

people by its

fierce heat.

It's possible.

It's an

explanation.

It may

happen.

It may

happen.

We must

keep these

words.

And when we

keep these

words, we

don't need to

despair that

the bad guys

are going to

get away with

it because

there is a

great white

throne judgment

coming.

So these

truth claims

of this

book

function in

our lives

of what

reality truly

is.

Did you

notice in

verse 7,

the

blessed?

Blessed are

those who

keep the

words of

this book.

Blessed is

the one who

obeys.

Blessed is

the one who

does the

words of

the prophecy

of this

book.

This is

the sixth

blessing

pronounced

on those

who have

been bought

by the

blood of

the Lamb

who obey

Him.

It's the

sixth of

seven.

The

seventh

blessing

is in

verse 14.

Blessed are

those who

wash their

robes.

To be

blessed means

to experience

God's

unmerited

grace,

undeserved

favor.

The Old

Testament

described it

as when

God would

shine His

face upon

you.

God

shines His

face upon

us,

not because

of anything

we have

done,

but because

He's a

God of

grace.

So here's

what this

means when

we read

these blessings

in the

book of

Revelation.

We keep

these words

not to

be blessed.

We keep

these words

because we

already have

been blessed.

We've

already been

bought by

the blood

of the

Lamb.

And so

those who

have been

blessed with

salvation

and live

faithfully

to the

Lamb.

And they

are a

blessed

bunch.

They

have washed

their robes

and made

them white

in the

blood of

the Lamb.

So when

you keep

these words

of the

book of

this prophecy,

the result

is

obedience

to Jesus.

us.

Persevering

through

hardship,

tribulation

which are

surely to

come,

the result

is faithful

discipleship

to the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

Okay,

we've hit

the first

two truths,

now the

last five,

and we're

going to

speed up

the pace.

The third

truth is

this.

These

words

must

not

be

sealed.

In

verses

10 and

11 we

read,

and he

the angel

said to

me,

do not

seal up

the words

of the

prophecy

of this

book,

for the

time is

near.

Let the

evildoer

still do

evil,

and the

filthy

still be

filthy,

and the

righteous

still do

right,

and the

holy

still be

holy.

There's

some Old

Testament

background

you need

to know.

In the

book of

Daniel,

God reveals

these visions

to Daniel

of what

will happen

in the

distant

future.

And so

in Daniel

Daniel 12:4

chapter 12,

verse 4

and verse 9,

God tells

Daniel,

after giving

these visions,

to seal

up the

words of

the prophecy

of the

book,

until the

end.

Here in

verse 10,

stark contrast

to Daniel,

which was

intentional,

the angel

commands John

to not

seal up

the words

of the

prophecy

of this

book.

And why

not?

For the

time is

near.

The time

of tribulation,

the time

of increasing

judgment,

the end

is near.

It's no

longer far

away,

Daniel

Daniel 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12.

It's no

longer distant,

which means

this,

we need

these

words

now.

Don't seal

them up.

Don't close

the book.

These words

need to be

available and

functioning in

the life of

God's people.

We need

the words

of the

prophecy of

this book

now to

understand the

conflict we

are in and

what is soon

to come and

to give us

these glorious

visions of

a risen,

radiant,

and reigning

Christ who

makes it all

worth it.

You need

the book,

you need

these words

now to

faithfully

follow Jesus

in the midst

of the

situation we

find ourselves

in,

challenging on

all sides.

We need

these words

now because

we live in

between his

first coming

and his

second coming

and that's

the point

of verse

11.

When we

live in

between,

there will

be two

groups of

people.

There are

those who

follow after

the beast,

evil doing

evil,

filthy being

filthy,

and those

who follow

after the

lamb,

righteous doing

right,

holy being

holy,

and we

need these

words unsealed,

functioning in

our lives to

show us how

to remain

faithful to

the lamb,

to walk

with him

because he's

worth it.

So brothers

and sisters,

here we are at

the end of the

book of

Revelation and

I need to

tell you,

don't close

it up.

Don't come

back to it

in two

years.

Don't think

about our

working through

the book of

Revelation from

September of

2018 to

June 2019

as a notch

we put on

our belt.

This book,

these words,

are to be

functioning in

our lives.

We're to

live by them.

We are to

keep them.

We need

them now

so that

these words

don't seal

them up,

don't put

them away.

Let them

speak.

The fourth

truth about

these words

is that

these words

warn.

Look at

verse 12.

Behold,

I am coming

soon,

bringing my

recompense with

me to repay

each one for

what he has

done.

Now,

this verse

warns all

of us in

the room

and around

the world

that we

will one

day stand

before the

Lord Jesus

Christ and

give an

account to

him.

When he

comes,

he will

reward or

punish.

These

words warn

us

because our

actions

reveal who

we worship.

What we

just saw in

verse 11,

evil being

evil,

filthy being

filthy,

righteous doing

right,

holy being

holy,

those actions

reveal who

they are

living for.

And because

our actions

reveal who

we worship,

they reveal

whose mark

we bear,

who where

our loyalties

lie.

These words

warn those

inside the

faith as

well as

outside the

faith.

I'm not

sure if

you,

verses 8 and

9 caught

your attention.

They're

fascinating to

me.

I,

John,

am the

one who

heard and

saw these

things.

He's saying,

I'm a

prophet.

These visions

were given

to me.

And when I

heard and

saw them,

what does

he do?

I fell

down to

worship at

the feet of

the angel

who showed

them to

me.

But the

angel said

to me,

what do

you think

you're doing?

You must

not do

that.

I'm a

fellow servant

with you and

your brothers,

the prophets,

and with those

who keep the

words of this

book.

There again,

keep the

words of

this book.

And then

the angel

says,

don't worship

me,

worship God.

And it's a

warning for

us all.

These words

warn us.

Think about

it.

If John,

the disciple

who put

his head

on the chest

of Jesus

and received

these divine

visions from

angels,

if he was

tempted to

worship an

angel,

what does

that mean

for us?

us.

As Christians,

we can

worship things

that are not

God.

We can

worship certain

preachers,

whether of

a bygone age

or present.

We can

actually worship

the Bible.

We can put

the Bible on

the same

par as who

God is.

We can

worship theology

or a theological

system.

We can

worship worship.

We can

spin greed

into a

worship.

worship.

You see,

these words,

they warn

us inside

the faith.

They warn

us to

worship God

alone.

He is

worthy of

our exclusive

devotion.

But these

words also

warn those

outside the

faith.

If you

looked at

verses 14

and 15,

we read,

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.

Those

inside the

faith,

in the

city,

robes

washed

white.

And then

in verse

15,

outside

are the

dogs and

sorcerers

and sexual

immoral

and murderers

and idolaters

and everyone

who loves

and practices

falsehood.

These

words of

the book

of Revelation

from beginning

to end,

they are

warning

those inside

the faith,

don't go

after things

that aren't

God.

And it's

warning those

outside the

faith,

stop your

worship of

that which

is created.

In verse

15,

those outside

the city

of light,

the new

Jerusalem,

living in

Jesus'

word,

in darkness,

these are the

ones who are

evil and filthy,

verse 11.

Again and again,

all throughout the

Bible,

all throughout

the book of

Revelation,

there is

warning after

warning,

warning about

the dragon,

warning about

the beast,

warning about

the false

prophet in

Babylon,

warning of

the judgment

to come,

warning about

the lake

of fire,

and it's

all designed

to warn

someone outside

the faith,

stop what

you're doing.

You must

repent and

turn to the

living God.

Don't worship

that which is

not God.

God is

maybe you

notice that

these outsiders

are called

dogs and

you're like,

oh,

that's not

too nice,

but when you

realize that

it's actually

a fitting

description because

they're just

behaving like

the one they're

worshiping,

the beast.

There's a

little beast.

Now,

if you're in

the room right

now and you

are feeling

this sense

of conviction

that you are

outside of

God's people,

that you've

not been

taking God's

word seriously,

I'll tell

you what,

not only is

God warning

you today,

He's inviting

you because

the fifth

truth I

want you to

see is

that not

only do

these words

warn those

inside and

outside the

faith,

these words

invite.

All

throughout

the book

of Revelation,

invitation

after invitation

to come,

come to the

one.

In verses

16 and

17, we

read that

Jesus, I

Jesus, this

is Jesus

speaking, have

sent my

angel to

testify to

you about

these things

for the

churches.

Again, it's

this transmission

of these words

starting with

God, going

through Jesus,

moving to an

angel, then to

John, to the

churches, to the

world.

Lord, and

here we have

Jesus saying,

I sent these

words to you

for the

churches.

And then we

see in verse

17, midway

through, we

read this, and

let the one who

is thirsty

come.

Let the one

who desires

take the water

of life

without price.

the one

speaking is

described as

the root and

descendant of

David.

Verse 16.

It's a claim of

messiahship, of

kingship, of

authority.

He's described as

the bright

morning star.

It's a picture

of hope.

So this

king, who

is the giver

of hope, is

calling out

to those on

the outside

and thirsty,

come drink

of the water

I give.

Come and

drink.

There's an

invitation here.

These words

invite those

who are thirsty

and on the

outside to

come in

and drink

of the

water of

life.

And from

22.1, we

learn that this

water flows

from the

throne of God

in the new

Jerusalem.

To drink the

water of life

that Jesus

offers is to

come under

the life-giving

authority of

God and the

Lamb.

Do you

remember in

John 4,

Jesus is

speaking at the

woman at the

well.

She had gone

through a lot

of men.

And Jesus

says to her

in verse 14,

whoever drinks

of this water

that I will

give will

never be

thirsty

again.

Again.

Again.

And

maybe you

walked into

this building

this morning

and you

didn't think

yourself thirsty.

You don't

need a drink

of water.

But you

know your

soul is

thirsty

because of

your guilt

and your

shame,

your anger,

your lust,

your greed.

The result

of all of

that has

made you

soul thirsty.

You can't

find anything

to quench

it.

And today

Jesus is

saying to

you,

come to

the waters

I can

give.

At no

cost to

you.

It's

paid by

him.

Come and

drink.

You're

invited to

come.

If that's

you this

morning,

will you

take what

Jesus gives?

Just say

to him,

I'll take

it.

I'll take

the water

that you

alone offer.

quench my

soul.

These words

not only

invite,

these words,

the sixth

truth,

these words

stir

longing

in our

hearts.

There's

another kind

of invitation

happening in

this passage.

passage.

It's

coming from

those who've

been quenched

by the

water of

life.

Let me

help you

see it.

Remember

in 22.7,

Jesus says,

behold,

I'm coming

soon.

In 22.12,

Jesus says

again,

behold,

I'm coming

soon.

And then

in 22.20,

Jesus says,

surely I'm

coming soon.

There's a

response to

that in

this passage.

there's a

response

of longing

among those

whose souls

have been

quenched

by Jesus.

We see it

in verse 17.

The spirit

and the

bride say,

come.

Jesus says,

behold,

I'm coming

soon.

The spirit

and the

bride say,

come.

The spirit

is the

Holy Spirit

and the

bride,

of course,

is the

church of

God.

Those who

have been

bought by

the blood

of the

lamb,

the blessed

ones.

And if

the church

is the

bride,

that makes

the lamb

the groom.

And so

when you

read these

words,

the spirit

and the

bride say,

come.

Think of it

this way.

The Holy

Spirit who

indwells each

of us is

stirring our

hearts for

our bridegroom.

Come,

Lord Jesus.

Come,

bridegroom.

But we

also read,

and let the

one who

hears,

verse 17,

say,

come.

Those who

hear these

words of

Jesus,

behold,

I'm coming

soon.

These words,

and by the

way,

these words

of Jesus

coming,

they start

in verse

8 of

chapter 1.

The one

who hears

these words,

let him

say,

come,

Lord Jesus.

Come.

come.

And in

verse 20,

John,

the prophet,

the apostle,

he hears

Jesus say,

surely I'm

coming soon,

and John

himself says,

amen,

so be

it.

Come,

Lord Jesus,

come.

Why are

all these

people saying

come?

Come.

Because all

of their

souls have

been quenched

by Jesus,

and their

greatest longing

is for their

bridegroom,

who is

saying,

I'm coming

soon,

but you may

be sitting

in your

pew saying,

wait,

hold on a

second.

John was

given this

vision in

96 AD.

If Jesus

said,

then I'm

coming soon,

that is a

really long

soon.

In 2 Peter

3,

3-4,

Peter

describes

scoffers

who scoff

at these

very words

of Jesus,

in which he

says,

I'm coming

soon.

The way that

Peter describes

it is,

these scoffers

are saying,

where is the

promise of

his coming?

For ever

since the

fathers fell

asleep,

all things

continue as

they were.

That the

first generation

has died and

nothing's changed.

Where's your

Jesus?

He hasn't

come and

he's saying

he's coming

soon.

And here we

are almost

two millennia

later,

since he said

these things

to the

churches.

You know,

it can raise

in your

heart,

it can make

you wonder,

are these

words trustworthy

and true?

I'm coming

soon?

In 2 Peter 3,

8, 9, and

10, Peter

answers the

scoffers and

those of us

who wonder,

how much

longer?

Why the

delay?

Peter says,

God does not

work on your

timetable.

God has a

different

timetable.

But that's not

low, he says.

He then goes

on to say,

God is not

slow to

fulfill his

promise,

I'm coming

soon,

but is

patient towards

you all,

not wishing

that any

shall perish,

but that all

should repent.

So not only

on a different

timetable,

he's got

an unfinished

task he's

doing.

And then

Peter says,

but the day

of the Lord

will come

like a

thief,

imminent,

unexpected.

So when

Jesus says

three times

in Revelation

22,

6 through

21,

I'm coming

soon,

he means

it.

He's just

working off

a different

timetable

and finalizing

an uncompleted

task.

The delay

is so all

those written

in the

Lamb's

book of

life will

repent and

wash their

robes white

in the

blood of