Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Revelation 22:10–16

Theme: Jesus ends his revelation by reminding his people that he is “the beginning and the end” and is soon coming back to judge the wicked and reward the righteous.

Most of you are familiar with what a will and last testament are.

It is a legal document by which a person, the testator, expresses their wishes as to how their property is to be distributed at death.

Today, the emphasis is on the will part of the document rather then on the testament part.

In fact, most wills today do not include a testament — of last testimony — which often included personal advise and admonitions to those whom were receiving property and personal items from the deceased.

The Book of Revelation is the last will and testimony of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

In its words we catch a glimpse of our inheritance — life under a new heaven, lived upon a new earth, governed by God Himself from a New Jerusalem.

But it’s also the last testimony of Jesus and tells us what to expect at his return.

This, of course, marks the difference between Jesus’ last will and testament, and every other one that has ever been written.

In this case, the testator is not dead!

He’s coming back, and his rewards are in his hand.

Revelation is the last book in the Bible, the final book of the apostolic era, and also the book that most clearly describes the end of history and return of Christ.

As “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev.

1:1), it shows Christ reigning as Lord over his church, defending his people under persecution, slaying his enemies, and shining his glory on the eternal city.

How fitting that Jesus should now speak at the book’s end.

“On the last page of the Bible, before the canon of Scripture is closed for ever, Christ speaks one more time to his church, to us, reminding us of his identity, his return and his final summons to his people.”

— Steve Wilmshurst

Revelation 22:16 removes any doubt as to whose testimony is contained in the final message given to John: “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.”

In the concluding verses of chapter 22, Jesus speaks as Sovereign, as Judge, and as Savior.

In this last testimony, Jesus is himself the Last Word as the canon of Scripture closes and his people wait expectantly for his return.

I. JESUS THE SOVEREIGN

1. throughout the book of Revelation, the sovereignty of God and of Christ has been emphasized as the basis of our hope for the judgment of evil and the salvation of believers

a. chapter 1 declared God as “the Alpha and the Omega” (Rev.

1:8), who thus governs everything from beginning to end

b.

chapter 22 ascribes this same sovereign title to Jesus: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (22:13)

2. in this sovereign capacity, Jesus dictates to John how to handle the message of this book: “And he said to me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near’ ” (22:10)

a. the Old Testament prophet, Daniel, had several visions similar to the ones the Apostle John see in Revelation

1) but at the end of Daniel, when the prophet asks the Lord for an explanation of what he has seen, the Lord tells Daniel “He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.”

(Daniel 12:9, ESV)

2) the book of Revelation are those words

3) Jesus tells John not to seal the message of his book (Rev.

22:10)

b.

Daniel was shown events that were far distant to his own generation, so his message had to be sealed to await the proper time

3. in John’s case, Revelation must not be sealed because “the time is near”

A. THE SOVEREIGN COMFORTS HIS CHURCH

1. Revelation described a situation that was urgent in John’s time

a. the Seven Churches of Revelation were facing tribulations and persecutions

1) they needed the courage that the book supplies by declaring Christ’s sovereign victory over evil

2) the early Christians needed to know that whether they found themselves in the Roman court-room, on the Roman scaffold, or in the Roman arena, that they knew in their hearts that “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great”

2. with the sword of the beast against their necks and the seductions of harlot Babylon alluring, it was necessary for John’s readers to know the certain victory of the Lamb who is sovereign over history — that he is Alpha and Omega

a. this has been true throughout the history of the Church

b. at every time, in every place where the state has claimed sovereignty over the conscience of men, and demanded that people worship the state the message of Revelation has been a comfort, reminding believers, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great”

3. the message of Revelation was urgent for the people of John’s own time, and thus for believers throughout the church age as well

a. according to the Bible, the “last days” began when Jesus ascended into heaven and established his church through the apostles,

1) this started the final era of redemptive history

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.”

(2 Timothy 3:1, ESV)

“but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

(Hebrews 1:2, ESV)

b.

Jesus therefore gives his last testimony to John “about these things for the churches” (Rev.

22:16)

1) without a doubt the early church lived in expectancy of the imminent return of the Lord

2) but so should every generation of believers

3) the New Testament expresses a tension between imminence and distance of Christ’s coming ... the time is near, yet the end it delayed

B. THE SOVEREIGN COMMANDS THE WORLD

1. in vs. 11 Jesus speaks with sovereign authority to the world: “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy” (Rev.

22:11)

a. these words connect the end of Daniel’s prophecy with the end of Revelation’s prophecy

b. after Daniel was told to seal up his book, the angel added: “Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly” (Dan.

12:10)

1) the prophecy announces that there would always be godly and ungodly people until Christ returns

2. in John’s case, however, Jesus speaks with a command: “Let the evildoer still do evil” and “the righteous still do right” (Rev.

22:11)

a. Jesus commands not only godly people to be godly but also evil people to do evil

3. this is, perhaps, one of the harshest statements in the New Testament

a. the language of Revelation 22:11 shows that Jesus is commanding, not merely commenting, and that he commands evil and filth just as he commands righteousness and holiness

1) what’s going on here?

b.

Jesus is commanding that ungodliness be seen for what it is and that godliness be seen for what it is

ILLUS.

Consider our own age where ungodliness is seen as normal, even “Godly” while godliness is seen as un-normal, and even as “evil.”

Is this not happening in Western society today, with the propaganda that promotes sexual perversity, celebrates greed, and masks a culture of death?

Over the last 50 years the Confessing Church has been told it’s on the wrong side of history on any number of issues — abortion, LGBTQ rights, Feminism, the sexual revolution, and Social Justice.

Any time you hear someone say that the church is “on the wrong side of history,” it usually means that the church is unwilling to substitute evil for righteousness.

1) what is Revelation trying to tell us in vs. 11?

4. a time is coming when it will be too late for repentance

a. the polarization of end-time events will tend to fix the character of each individual

1) those who know Christ will live for him even unto martyrdom

2) those who don’t know Christ will live for the false Christ who promises them life and prosperity, if only they will worship him

b. even at the end Christ gives an invitation to the lost

“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 desires take the water of life without price.”

(Revelation 22:17, ESV)

1) but those words will fall on deaf ears ... the evildoer will remain persistent in his or her evil

c. a time is coming when the stand one has taken for Christ or Antichrist will be finally and irrevocably determinative

1) righteous deeds will be seen as being right, and Christ’s holy people will be revealed as holy

2) the opposite will be true for godliness throughout this age and at the end

II.

JESUS THE JUDGE

1. in his last testimony, Jesus speaks not only as Sovereign but also as Judge:

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done” (Rev.

22:12).

a. this is the second of three times in this final chapter that Jesus declares his soon return

b. in this instance, he is emphasizing the need to be ready at all times

1) this statement echoes Isaiah 40:10

“Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

c.

Jesus spoke similarly in his Parable of the Talents, in which he compared himself to a master who went away but then returned “and settled accounts” with his servants (Matt.

25:19)

1) to those who had served him zealously, the master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and enriched them with rewards

2) but unfaithful servants who had done nothing for him were “cast … into the outer darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”

2. the parable of the talents provides a background for Jesus’ statement that he comes to recompense “everyone for what he has done” (Rev.