Revelation Sermon - 60

Lars Janssen

Revelation Series • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Revelation: Closing Remarks Part 1

Revelation 22:6-16

1. Introduction – Our study through Revelation is coming to a close. But just because we’re finishing off – doesn’t mean what will be said over the next couple weeks is unimportant.

a. In fact, many of the major themes in Revelation are repeated here in the closing verses of the letter.

i. In fact, if we read 22:6-21 in parallel with 1:1-11, we’d see that there are similarities between how this letter opens and closes.

1. And…through the wonders of technology, we can make that happen.

a. Look at the common words, phrases and themes.

b. As we come to the end of the letter, we come full circle…because the end sounds a lot like the beginning.

i. And this is a reminder to us of how these biblical letters are written.

1. They aren’t haphazardly thrown together…we should never skip over or breeze over the opening and closing words of these letters to get to the ‘good stuff.’

a. Contained within the introductory words of the NT letters are key words that tell us what the major themes of that letter are going to be.

i. We saw this when we studied the introduction of this letter. And here in the closing remarks, we have a reminder of the major themes we just read about.

ii. The time for the sharing of new information is over, now its time to review, recap and remind…and most off all, encourage those who read and obey this letter.

c. And since this is the way the letter is laid out, this is what we are going to do this morning – my hope this morning is that we will be reminded of themes that we have already looked at.

i. I don’t think I’m sharing any new information with you this morning – but reminding you of concepts we have already studied.

1. So in no real particular order this morning we are going to look at several themes and concepts that are mentioned in this passage.

a. We’ll look at each one with a varying amount of detail. Next week, we’ll finish the actual text of Revelation – it’s a great ending, you’re not going to want to miss it.

i. And the following week, I have something fun planned for us as we end our series through this letter. You’re going to want to make sure you’re here for the next two weeks.

2. Trustworthy – The first theme I want to explore is found in v.6 – trustworthiness.

a. This theme is repeated throughout Revelation.

i. The angel says to John, “everything you have heard and seen.”

1. Remember this connection between hearing and seeing. What John hears isn’t always what he sees.

a. Back in chapter 1, John heard a voice like a trumpet, but when he turned to see the voice, he didn’t see trumpets, he saw a glorious vision of Jesus standing in the middle of his church.

ii. In chapter 5, John heard about the Lion of Judah, he was worthy to break the seals and open the scroll…

1. But when John turned to see the Lion of Judah, he didn’t see a big cat with a furry mane…

a. No, John saw a Lamb as though it had been slain.

i. In chapter 7, John heard about the 144,000 who were sealed by the angel, but when he turned to see the 144,000 – he saw a crowd so big no one could count it…

1. A crowd made up of every tribe and nation and language in the world.

b. And the angel said to John – Everything you have seen and heard…all of it is trustworthy and true.

i. In the immediate context, the angel is telling John that all he has seen and heard about the new creation is true.

1. All things will be made new, no pain, no death, no need for a temple, no need for a sun or moon,

a. Nothing evil in the holy city, God’s presence among his people, seeing God’s face, reigning with Jesus – all of that is trustworthy and true.

c. But in the wider context, the angel is referring to the whole of Revelation. All that John has seen and heard on that Lord’s Day, while he was worshipping in the Spirit on the island of Patmos – all of it is trustworthy and true.

i. The vision of Jesus in ch.1, the letters to the 7 churches in chs.2-3, the heavenly throne room scene of chs.4-5…

1. The events of the 7 seals in chs.6-8, the events of the 7 trumpets in chs.9-11…

a. The cosmic war behind all wards in chs.12-14, the events of the 7 bowls in chs.15-16,

i. The fall of Babylon in chs17-19, the defeat of Satan, the coming of the new creation, the restoration of all things and the return of Jesus in chs.20-22…

1. All of it is trustworthy and true.

d. Reminder number 1, the words of Rev. 21-22, the word of Revelation as a whole…and we can even extend that out further to the entire canon of Scripture…all of the words contained in Bible and trustworthy and true.

3. Worship – The next theme I want to highlight is the theme of worship. It seems like every chapter of the letter talks about worship.

a. Here there is a bizarre scene. One we’ve seen before. John, who is so overwhelmed by what has been revealed to him, falls down and worships the angel.

i. It’s a replay of ch.19, where John heard the echoing cry of “Hallelujah!” and being overcome by the gloriousness of it all, in worship, he fell down at the angel’s feet.

1. And both times the angel, whether it was the same angle or not…both times the angel pulls John to his feet and responds this way… “Worship only God!”

b. It’s an incredible reminder…especially when we consider the source of the command.

i. Here’s an angel – a mighty, majestic and beautiful being… but he is a created being.

1. And no matter how mighty, majestic and beautiful he is…he is not worthy of worship.

c. Think about it, here’s an angel, but this angel is so passionate towards the worship of God that he, rightly, directs John’s worship towards God.

i. Worship God – instruction coming from an angle.

d. But there’s another aspect of worship I want to focus on.

i. The direction of worship – the object of worship. We human beings are natural born worshippers.

1. If we can see it, hear about, dream about it or even sense…we can turn it into a god.

a. The question is never “Will I worship?” The question is always, “Who or what am I worshipping?”

i. What do I dream about? What do I ponder? Where does my allegiance lie?

1. We can turn anything into a god, we can make anything an object or worship.

2. Money, fame, stuff, sports, sleep, our kids…anything you can think of it – we can worship it.

ii. But the instruction here, worship only God, sounds a lot like the first commandment – have no other gods before YHWH.

e. This scene in Revelation 22 reminds us that the only appropriate object for worship is God. Worship that goes any other direction is wrong.

i. There is no middle ground here – either you are worshipping God alone, or you are not.

1. Either you have no other God’s before the one true God – or you are worshipping an idol, and breaking the first commandment.

f. The reminder comes from an angel who is passionate and consumed with honouring God’s name.

i. It’s a reminder that we must do the same – be passionate about the praise of God’s name, and put no thing and no one head of him.

4. Two People – Next, this passage reminds us of one of the more consistent themes throughout this letter…

a. It reminds us that there are only two groups of people in the world.

i. The unrighteous and the righteous. Those who belong to this world, and those who belong to God.

1. We’ve seen this consistently throughout. Even though God clearly and plainly reveals himself to humanity, there are still those who refuse to repent.

a. There are only 2 eternal destinies – non-existence isn’t an option.

i. Either you will spend eternity staring into the face of God, forever worshipping around his throne…

1. Or you will spend eternity separated from god in the lake of fire.

2. Or as Revelation 22:14-15 puts it – those who enter the gates of the holy city, and those outside of the city.

a. Now – that doesn’t mean there is an area outside of the New Jerusalem on the new creation where sinners live.

i. As we’ve seen, those who reject God in this lifetime will be rejected by God in the next – and they will be thrown in the lake of fire before the new creation is established.

b. Then there’s a confusing verse. Verse 11 seems to be commanding people to wickedness, but that’s not it at all.

i. It furthers the point we’ve been discussing here – two types of people, the vile, harmful and immoral…and the righteous.

1. Those who reject God and will continue to do so…and those who worship God and remain faithful to him.

a. Two types of people, and this will remain so until Jesus comes again.

5. Soon – And the last topic I want to touch on this morning is actually one of the first we looked at in this series…way back in January 2018.

a. The theme is this word ‘Soon.” And the question we asked back then was this one… “Really? Soon?”

i. This letter was written almost 2000 years ago – yet here it is, still announcing that this will all soon happen? It’s this a strike against the trustworthiness and truthfulness of this message?

1. Well, when interpreting and understanding this idea of soon – we have to keep in mind one of the purposes of Revelation.

a. Revelation is written to reveal the unseen realities future…how do we live in the present in light of the future? That’s one…but not one I want to focus on.

i. Revelation also reveals the unseen realities of the present.

b. To the unaided eye, we would never be able to deduce the fact that Jesus will come back soon.

i. But what Revelation opens us for us is that through the ever-evolving cycle of history – as empires rise and fall in accordance with God’s plan, as persecution of Christians continues to happen…we are getting closer and closer to Jesus’ return.

1. Even in our world today, as powers rise and fall, as harassment is turned up on Christians – Revelation reveals to us that when those things happen in the present…they are bringing us closer to the end of all things.

a. What Revelation helps us to see is that these happenings aren’t out of God’s control, but factors God is using to bring about the end of the age.

c. This has always been the case. The very first words out of Jesus’ mouth during his public ministry went something like this… “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,” or ‘is coming soon.’

i. But not only Jesus, the whole of the NT conveys this message, this urgency, that at any moment the trumpet will sound and history will come to its God-ordained end.

1. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans…

a. Peter writes to Christians scattered throughout the empire…

i. John, the same John who recorded this Revelation, writes…

d. Jesus made his first proclamation in AD 30, he restated it in AD 33…

i. Paul wrote Romans in the mid to late 50’s, Peter wrote his letter in the 60’s, John recorded this Revelation in AD 96…

1. It is now 2019 – how in the world is that ‘soon?’

e. Well, the key word in understanding all of this is the word tension. If we study Jesus’ words carefully – and take into account all that he said, we see tension.

i. Jesus announced that in him the last days began, but Jesus also clearly taught that this process was going to take time.

1. He compared his kingdom to a seed…seeds take time to grow.

a. So even in the word of Jesus there is this tension between the announcing and the fulfilling. Yes, the last days have begun, but it will take time to be fulfilled.

6. Closing Thoughts – I want to close this morning with 2 thoughts about the nearness of Jesus’ return.

a. Next week we’re going to take a closer look at the purpose of this delay and what we are to be doing with the time we have…

i. But first, hear this, directly from Jesus’ mouth, recorded by John, “I am coming…”

1. Notice Jesus doesn’t day “I will come back.” I will come back suggests that Jesus is currently standing far off somewhere, waiting to move toward us.

b. “I am coming…” suggests that Jesus is already in the process of moving closing to us.

i. We looked at this idea when we studied ch.6 – the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.

1. Jesus’ return, Jesus coming closer is the reason for the upheaval in history.

a. Sure, there are wars fought over nationalistic pride, greed, arrogance…there are conflicts over ideologies…

ii. But the ultimate cause of the upheaval is Jesus’ return – he moves closer, and he is resisted.

1. The world reacts to his closeness.

a. But here this – the upheaval in history, in our present – is not because Jesus is absent, but the exact opposite.

i. It is because he is coming closer. Jesus moves towards us; he is currently in the process of coming…and the world pushes back.

2. But the resistance to Jesus and the upheaval caused by his closeness need not be feared…for we know the end of the story.

a. He is coming closer – he is always coming closer until that glorious day when he breaks through the clouds and we see him face to face.

c. Finally, this morning, ponder this…what we have here in Rev. 22 is the last recorded testimony of Jesus, given by Jesus.

i. What are the last words he says about himself? Not “I am the king of kings and the Lord of lords.”

1. He doesn’t say, “I’m the greatest of all time!” No, Jesus’ last testimony about himself is this, “I am the bright morning star?” Why is this his sign off?

a. Because this phrase embodies the tension of “I am coming soon.”

d. What is the morning star? Well it appears when night is at its darkest.

i. Only when night has reached its greatest degree of darkness does the morning star appear.

1. At about 2 or 3 in the morning, a little light appears, so faint that the darkness threatens to overpower it.

a. But it can’t. and even though there may be 3, 4 or 5 more hours of night, when the morning star appears, you know that night has been defeated and that morning is coming.

ii. Jesus calls himself the morning star. This title perfectly embodies the concept of Jesus coming ‘soon.’

1. Like the morning star that makes its appearance while morning is still a long way off – so Jesus has appeared – and just as the morning star pulls day in behind it…so too Jesus pulls his kingdom in behind him at his appearance.

e. And knowing this title of Jesus can help us in our struggles today.

i. If we can just see Jesus in our circumstance, we can keep going. It may be dark for a while yet, but when we see Jesus, when we see the morning star shining – however brightly or dimly it may seem…

1. When the morning star makes its appearance, we know that the night of our circumstances has been defeated.

a. Because the morning star is there – dark though as it may be, it will never be totally dark again.