Jesus is coming! Come to the Lord Jesus! Come, Lord Jesus!

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 27

Revelation 22:7-21

In these final verses of the Book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit ties it all together for us—the encouragement to Christians to lead holy lives in this world and to persevere through the dark days of the end of this world, the assurance of Jesus’ coming, the invitation for sinners to come to the Lord Jesus and to remain with Him until He comes, and the encouragement to patiently but eagerly wait for the coming of the Lord.

“Behold, I am coming quickly!, Jesus says. You wonder how the Christians at the end of the first century interpreted that promise. They probably took it to mean that Jesus would come back within the next few months or years. They probably didn’t expect that Jesus’ coming would be delayed another 2,000 years. But that’s okay. The promise made them ready in the same way that it makes us ready. It gave them what they needed to know about the times ahead, even as it gives us what we need to know. It forced them as it forces us to trust in God’s timing and in God’s providence and in His interpretation of what “quickly” ought to mean. If we leave the present and the future up to God to govern, then this promise still holds all the comfort God intends for His people, because even if He delays His coming a little while longer, He cannot break His promise to come quickly, as He defines quickly for our good.

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. It’s good that we’ve taken the time to walk through Revelation. It has always been God’s will for His Church to study and to learn from this book, and He promises a blessing for those who hear it and take it to heart.

Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. (or better, Be careful! No!) For I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” To us, it’s somewhat confusing as we read John’s words, because it’s hard to tell if it’s the angel talking or if it’s Jesus talking. (If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible—red to indicate which words are spoken by Jesus—they don’t all agree on which words should be in red!) But even when it’s Jesus talking to John, it’s really the angel conveying the words of Jesus. To John, that was clear; it was an angel standing before him, not the Lord Himself. And yet he tells us that, after hearing and seeing such great things from this angel, he thought it was appropriate to bow down to the angel in veneration. But the angel warned him not to, to worship God alone and to recognize the angels as fellow servants of the apostles, of the prophets, and of all the members of God’s holy Church.

And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.” Publish the words of this book, so that all may know about the things that are coming, so that the world may be warned and the Church may be prepared.

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. He seems to be talking about the status of people after all the prophecies of Revelation have been fulfilled, their status after the Last Day. After the Last Day, people will be confirmed, either in their unbelief or in their faith, either in their unrighteousness and filthiness or in their righteousness and holiness forever. It’s hard to imagine now, but in eternity you won’t have to worry about falling back into temptation and sin. The wicked who are cast into hell will be wicked forever, and the righteous who are welcomed into heaven will be righteous forever.

And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. There’s Jesus speaking again. Another promise to come quickly, with the added promise to reward the righteous when He comes. Obviously those whose works are evil will be rewarded with evil. But to those who are righteous by faith in Christ, their righteous works will also be recognized by the Lord, and that should spur us on to carry out all His commandments, including His commandment to endure suffering without losing hope, to bear the blessed cross joyfully, in service to Him who will reward us when He comes.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Here’s another “I am” statement from Jesus. It was the apostle John who recorded all of them in the Gospels. So, too, he records this “I am” statement. I am the Alpha and the Omega—the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. No matter how out of control this world appears, Jesus was there before the world was, and He’ll be standing at the end, too, while all His enemies are forced beneath His feet.

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Not that anyone earns a right to eternal life by keeping God’s commandments. But, those who are justified by faith in Christ Jesus will take seriously the blessing Jesus pronounces on them for keeping His commandments, and that blessing will propel them toward obedience. If it doesn’t, if so-called believers aren’t seeking to obey Jesus’ commandments, then they show that their faith is a sham, while the faithful will seek to do His commandments and will be welcomed into the City of God with open arms, through open gates.

But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. That describes everyone else, everyone who has not repented and believed in the Lord Jesus. John mentions a few specific and obvious sins that keep people out of Christ’s kingdom: sorcery, sexual immorality, murder, idolatry, and living according to lies and not according to the truth. Look around you in the world! Aren’t these very things overtaking the societies of the world? Those who fail to repent will be banished forever from the presence of God and of His people.

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” Another “I am” statement from Jesus and a reference to a prophecy about the Christ in Isaiah 11. It’s a reference to His royalty which is both human and divine, inherited both from King David in time, and from God the Father from eternity.

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. I’ll admit, I used to understand this verse differently. The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come!” And I always thought the Spirit and the Bride were talking to Jesus, asking Him to come, and to come soon. But they aren’t talking to Jesus here. The Spirit and the Bride, that is, the true Christian Church, are calling out to sinners, to anyone and everyone who hears, “Come! Come to the Church of Jesus Christ! Come to the heavenly banquet that He is preparing for you!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” That is, let the one who has come to the feast, who has believed in Christ, go on to invite other sinners to “come.” Just as Jesus invited “all you who labor and are heavy laden” to “come to Me,” so He now invites everyone who thirsts and everyone who wants the water of life to come and receive it freely from Him, in His Christian Church on earth, while there’s still time.

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. A stern warning from the Lord Christ, isn’t it? It applies directly to the book of Revelation, and it’s a sobering condemnation of the Millennialism that is taught so commonly among Evangelicals, where they add teachings about a rapture, and a coming of Christ to this earth prior to His coming at the Last Day, and an earthly reign of Christ before the Last Day. But it’s a warning to all of us to treat God’s Word as something sacred, to listen to it, to believe all of it, and to interpret all Scripture in context, or else forfeit our place in the City of God. That’s how serious He is that we keep His doctrine pure!

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.

What a fitting way to end the Church Year! What a fitting way to end the Bible! God saw to it that this Book of Revelation was not only written and published but that it was written as the last, or at least one of the last books of the Bible and was placed at the end of the Bible, so that the whole thing ends on this note. The same Jesus whose coming was prophesied in the first book of the Bible, whose first and second coming were prophesied throughout the Old Testament, whose first coming to make atonement for sin was described in the Gospels, whose teachings were explained and spread in the Epistles, now leaves His beloved Church, His Bride-to-be here on earth, with a final word to get us through the rest of this time leading up to the great wedding day: “Surely I am coming quickly!” And the Church, the Bride, calls back to our heavenly Bridegroom, “Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” And then the apostle chosen by Jesus to record this message utters one final message: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen. And Amen.