Revelation Sermon - 55

Lars Janssen

Revelation Series • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Revelation: All Things New Part 2

Revelation 21:5-8

1. Introduction – in our passage this morning, something very important happens.

a. For the 1st time in 21 chapters, we hear God’s voice. Way back at the beginning of our study, January 2018…

i. We also hear God’s voice…and you know what??? He said almost the exact same thing.

1. 1:8 – I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

a. 21:6 – I am the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end.

i. We’ll look at what these statements mean in just a few minutes, but as we begin this morning, recognize their purpose and significance.

ii. These statements serve as bookends that bracket the content of this letter.

1. 1:8 God says “I’m the a&w” 21:6 same thing… meaning this…

a. All that has transpired in this letter…

i. The 7 letters, the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls…

1. Through the deception of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet…

a. The judgment of Babylon…the new heaven and new earth…

iii. All of it has happened under the watchful and sovereign eye of the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

b. The verses we’re studying this morning are God’s direct words given to the Apostle John.

i. So, if these words are from god’s own mouth, we should probably perk up and pay attention to what they say.

1. What does God say? Well, this is how I understand and breakdown this passage.

a. First – God speaks to what is happening in the current vision.

i. God speaks about his nature.

1. God gives a promise to the thirsty and victorious.

a. And he finishes with a warning.

2. God Speaks about what happened – The voice that John hears in v.5 is different form the voice in v.3.

a. Last week, we heard a loud voice from the throne, but John says that this voice is different.

i. He writes that the one sitting on the throne spoke.

1. Remember that the throne, God’s throne is a dominant theme through this letter.

a. Everything happens around the throne of God, so when the God who is sitting on that throne says something…pay attention.

b. What does God say? Well first, God describes what John just saw – I am making all things new.

i. This is a fulfillment of a prophecy and vision God gave to Isaiah.

1. And as we studied last week, at the end of time, God will renew and restore the created order. We can get back to the Paradise that was lost.

c. Next, God states a very important fact, and John is instructed to write this down… for the words are trustworthy and true. Why is this statement so important?

i. We have to remember the social and historical context that Revelation was written in to.

1. Christians in the 1st century were under and enormous amount of pressure to compromise.

a. They were experiencing varying amount of persecution.

i. Christians were being ostracized from society and work unions; they were being thrown in front courts where they were pressured into renouncing Jesus.

1. In Pergamum, Antipas has been martyred for his faith.

ii. It would be sad if he gave up this life over a misunderstanding.

1. But here, God reminds John…and he makes sure John writes it down…

a. God reminds John and the persecuted church of the 1st century that God is a God of truth…and his ways are trustworthy.

i. What the 7 churches have heard about the sovereignty of God, the defeat of the evil, the victory of the saints…it’s all true.

1. It is worth building your life on, worth standing up for, and it is worth losing your life over.

d. And the beautiful thing about God’s written and inspired word is the exact same words that brought hope and courage to 1st century Christians, can do the exact same thing for us today.

i. The 21st century church faces enormous pressure to compromise. But these words still hold up…God’s ways are trustworthy and they true.

e. God also says, “It is finished.” Now, this is an interesting phrase.

i. First, we’ve seen it before, at the cross – Jesus cried out “It is finished” as his death paid the price of our sins.

1. In Rev. 16:17 – as the angel pours out the 7th bowl of judgment, he also cries out, “It is finished” – a cry referring to the finality of God’s judgment on evil.

a. And here in Rev. 21:6 – God himself cries out “It is finished” a cry in reference to the establishment of the new creation.

i. What has transpired in part in the lives of believers, now happens on a cosmic scale.

ii. In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation…the old is gone the new has come.

1. Well here, it is not only individuals who are transformed, but the entire cosmos.

f. And here’s an interesting aspect of this phrase. God says, “It is finished.” In Greek it is the perfect tense of the verb “to happen,” meaning “It has happened.”

i. So, here’s john, on the prison island of Patmos, suffering under the persecution of the mighty Roman Empire…

1. John is there for his refusal to deny Jesus, and he is given a series of vision concerning God’s victory over evil.

a. And here’s God, speaking to john, God who stands outside of time and space – not limited by the constraints of time like we are…and he says to John – it has happened.

i. It’s like God is standing at the end of time, speaking to John who is in the midst of time…and God says to John, “From where I’m standing, these things are as good as done!”

1. God encourages John with these words.

ii. What encouragement this must have been to John, to the 1st century church…and we can find encouragement in these words too.

1. If God promises to do something, it is as good as done…even if it takes millennia for it to come to fulfillment.

3. God Speaks about himself – Next, God makes 2 statements about his nature.

a. God says, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the end.”

i. In these 2 statements, God is speaking about his eternal existence.

1. Alpha, is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Omega is the last letter.

a. God’s says “I’m the beginning and the end.” In Greek, he says I’m the arche and the telos.

i. Arche means ‘source” where we get our word ‘archetype.’

1. The word ‘telos’ means ‘natural or inherent destiny.’

a. I’ve used this example before; the inherent destiny of an acorn is to become an oak tree.

ii. So with God saying “I am the alpha and omega” – the implication is that he is all the other letters too!

1. With God saying, I am the arche, the source, and the telos, the inherent destiny – God is saying he is in control of all that’s in between.

a. He uses this phrase at the beginning of the visions in Revelation, and at the end, to remind John and the readers of this fact.

b. On last point about this and then we’ll move on – again, I’ve used this example before, but I’ll remind you of it.

i. God says, “I am the alpha and omega.” This is the Greek letter ‘a’ – kinda looks familiar, doesn’t it.

1. A lower case ‘omega’ looks like this. Kinda like our letter ‘w.”

a. Put them together, they look like this. And haven’t we seen these letters together?

i. Yes, we have, out at the service centre, or out at any A&W restaurant you drive by.

1. So next time you stop in for a root beer float or a Teen burger, look at A&W’s logo, and remind yourself of the sovereign and eternal nature of our God.

4. God’s Promise – After God clarifies for John what’s going on in the visions, after he makes an incredible statement about himself…

a. He goes on to make incredible promises to those who seek him and are faithful to him.

i. God makes promises to the thirsty and the victorious.

1. The Bible often uses the image of thirsting after God. The psalmist writes, “As the deer pants for water, so my soul longs after you…”

b. There are a few aspects of this promise I want to point out.

i. 1st – notice the word ‘freely.’ In the arid climate of Palestine, one who had a spring of cool water could charge people a fortune to drink from it.

1. But God gives freely and generously from his spring of living water to all who come to him.

c. But when I read this phrase, I’m reminded of the posture we must assume when we come to God. How are we to come to him? Out of our thirst.

i. What must we do to receive the water? Is there some epic quest or pilgrimage we must complete?

1. A certain amount of church points or good works we must accumulate? Do we have to write a big fat cheque to the church?

a. Perform a certain ritual? No, none of those things.

i. Rev. 21L6 tells us that the sole requirement is this…to thirst for God and the spiritual life that he has to give.

1. We come to God, not out of the things we do, but with our heart opened, longing to experience his saving grace.

d. But here’s the beautiful truth about this spring of living water. When we drink from it…the more we realize that we NEED to drink from it.

i. This water both satisfies and awakens in us a deeper thirst for more.

1. Our thirst doesn’t so much get quenched as it is deepened.

a. The more we drink, the more we want to drink. The more we know God and experience is grace, the more we want to know him and experience more of him.

i. I hope and pray that’s true for you – I pray that you are longing after God…that you are thirsty for him.

1. And I pray that as you drink from his spring of living water your thirst is deepened and you long even more for God.

5. The Victors – After speaking about the thirsty, God goes on to make a promise to the victorious…

a. Or in more familiar terms, God makes a promise to the overcomers.

i. If it’s the thirsty who come to God – it’s the overcomes who stay with him; who inherit eternal sonship.

1. This description – the thirsty and the overcomes – states the beginning and the end of the Christian life.

a. We receive salvation by bringing our thirsty hearts to God in faith, but the, Christians walk in that faith so as to persevere to the end.

b. We’ve come across this theme of overcoming a lot throughout this study.

i. Most notably in the 7 letters. At the end of each letter, Jesus finishes with the same formula…

1. “To those who overcome…” and then he goes on to give a promise.

a. And the list is incredible…go back and read over the 7 letters in chs. 2&3.

i. From his throne, God says that the victorious, the overcomes inherit all of these things.

1. And in the beautiful symmetry of Revelation, chapters 21&22 show how all of these promises are fulfilled in the new heaven and new earth.

c. Remember overcomes are those who refuse to renounce their faith. Those who overcome – do so by the blood of the Lamb, through the strength of their testimony and by not being afraid to die.

i. Overcoming takes place in an active life of striving to trust God and follow Jesus.

1. The guarantee of eternal life doesn’t lessen one degree the need for a diligent pursuit of holiness.

a. Heaven is gained through perseverance…and not apart from it.

d. And the most amazing promise of all comes at the end of v.7. God will be their God – and God’s people will receive their inheritance as heirs.

i. The only kinds of people in heaven are those who are co-heirs, co-regents with Jesus – the rest will simply not be there.

6. God Speaks a Warning – And because God, who stands outside of the confines of time, is speaking to people who are restricted by time – God must give a warning.

a. The final judgment hasn’t taken place yet, so there’s still time for the unrepentant to turn around.

i. In stark contrast to the victorious of v.7, we have the cowards of v.8

1. Begs the question, which one would you rather be – a conqueror or a coward?

b. The God of truth that is revealed here, is also revealed as a God of justice, punishing those who reject him.

i. In contrast, those who thirst after the pleasure of this world, don’t receive a portion of glory, but of condemnation.

c. The list here can be divided into 2 groups of people – so called Christians who choose personal safety over faithfulness to Jesus…

i. And the 2nd group are those who participate in the perverse practices of Babylon.

d. The first group, cowards – these are most likely people who were part of the community of faith, but abandoned Jesus as the first sign of pressure.

i. It’s not a lack of courage or that they are naturally timid, but it refers to a lack of genuine commit to Jesus when put under pressure.

1. These would be the rootless ones that Jesus referred to in the Parable of the sower and the seed – who quickly fell away when trouble came.

a. Understand this…they don’t lose their salvation, but instead prove that they never actually made a genuine commitment to Jesus.

ii. I don’t want to dive deep into this list here…instead I want to show that here Revelation is once again comparing believers with unbelievers.

1. For the believer, sonship, a rich inheritance…

a. But for the unbeliever…who’s character is incompatible with the new heaven and new earth…eternity in the lake of fire.

e. The inclusion of liars is absolutely appropriate given the stress on truth through this passage and the whole letter.

i. And if these characteristics are incompatible with God’s kingdom of the future…they should not be part of a Christian’s life now.

1. Understand – this passage isn’t saying that if you’ve committed one of these sins you’re doomed.

a. What it is saying is this – those who are defined by these vices – those who haven’t thirstily come to God to have their sins forgiven, they will spend eternity in the lake of fire.

f. For us – if we are thirsty for God…if we persevere to the end…

i. If we throw ourselves at the foot of the cross, then our sins are forgiven.

1. And if these sins are part of a Christians past, they must be part of our present or future.

7. Conclusion – I’m going to off for a couple weeks. I plan on being back the first Sunday in June, but we’ll see how my recovery goes.

a. Until that time…spend some time reading Revelation. We’re almost done, try reading through the whole letter again. Spend some time specifically reading chapters 21 &22 so you have a basic knowledge of what is written there.

i. And in June, we’ll study 21:9-21.