Good morning, guys. Can you guys hear me? Yeah. It's a joy to worship with you guys.
And I got to say, we've done it. We've made it through 38 weeks and sermons through the
book of Revelation. From the introduction to the letters to the churches in Asia Minor,
through seals and bulls and trumpets, through beasts and prostitutes and dragons,
to the final battle of Armageddon, to the new heavens and the new earth, we are finally at
the last passage of the book of Revelation. What a glorious, Christ-exalting book it has been. Amen?
So let's turn our Bibles to Revelation 22, 6 to 21. Of course, as always, if you are in need of a Bible,
please just raise your hand and one of our members would happily gift you a Bible for you to keep.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word. Heavenly Father, may you bless the reading,
the preaching and teaching of your Word today. Father, I pray that you would multiply the measly
five loaves and two fish that I've prepared to feed the masses. Do what only you can do by your
Spirit's power? We await for you to come, Lord Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.
To honor God's Word, let's all rise, if you are able, for the reading of God's Word in Revelation 22,
6 to 21. It says this,
And he said to me, these words are trustworthy and true.
And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants
what must soon take place. And behold, I am coming soon.
Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.
And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.
But he said to me, you must not do that.
I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers, their prophets,
and with those who keep the words of this book.
Worship God.
And he 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 let the filthy still be filthy,
and the righteous still do right,
and the holy still be holy.
Behold, I am coming soon,
bringing my recompense with me
to repay each one for what he has done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last,
the beginning and the end.
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.
Outside are the dogs and sorcerers
and the sexually immoral
and murderers and idolaters
and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to testify to you about these things for the churches.
I am the root and descendant
and the descendant of David,
the bright morning star.
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.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book.
If anyone adds to them,
God will add to him the plagues described in this book.
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God will take away his share in the tree of life
and in the holy city which are described in this book.
He who testifies to these things says,
surely I am coming soon.
Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.
Amen.
This is God's holy and authoritative word.
You may be seated.
Long ago,
there once was a boy
who lived in the distant freezing prairies.
Came from a poor family.
Every member of his family had to struggle,
labor day and night just to afford the bare essentials.
His entire existence, his life was gray, dark, depressing.
But one day, the boy's father sent him to the nearest town square to fetch some supplies.
In a rush to get home before dark,
the boy inadvertently bumps into this tall, burly businessman.
He's wearing foreign, exotic clothing,
things that he's never seen before.
And upon seeing the boy's poor estate,
the businessman, he sticks his hand in his pocket.
And he reaches out to give something to the boy.
And it's a vibrant, bright orange.
Something that the boy had never seen in his entire life.
And upon instruction,
the boy starts to peel the glowing skin off
with his gray hands.
And he takes his first bite.
His eyes widen.
His smile uncontainable.
He had never tasted something in his entire life.
So sweet.
So delicious.
So lively.
So colorful.
So he asks the man,
where did this come from?
Where can I get more of this?
And again, out of pity for the boy,
the man invites him,
if you want to come to this land,
I will return for you soon one day.
But the time is short.
You must be prepared and packed,
ready to go immediately upon my arrival.
The boy hurriedly, quickly said,
yes, I will go.
And before he could run off to go home to pack,
the man slips a handwritten note in the boy's pocket
and sees him run off.
Immediately, the first thing when the boy gets home
is that he starts telling everyone that he knows,
all his friends, all his family,
about the experience that he had,
about the fruit that he ate,
the man that he met.
But no one would believe him.
Undeterred, he packed his bag
and he sat right on his front door
and he waited.
And he waited and he waited
and there was no sign of the man.
Eventually, days turned into weeks.
Weeks turned into months.
Months turned into years.
Throughout that time,
those in his life ridiculed him,
mocked him,
saying,
why are you waiting?
What are you doing?
He had to continue to work,
brutal work,
and eventually,
this harsh hand-to-mouth living,
the constant ridicule,
and the long waiting
began to weigh heavy upon the boy.
But what was his source of encouragement
throughout that time?
It was the handwritten note
that the band gave to him.
And what did it say?
He said,
I am coming soon.
Brothers and sisters,
this is our story.
Don't you see?
We can relate to this,
can't we?
We have tasted of heaven's fruits.
We know that it's foreign to anything
that this land can produce.
This land only produces fruit
of bitterness and hatred and anger.
But we have tasted of love,
of joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control.
We have tasted of the fruit
that only the land of heaven can bear.
We know that heaven is a real place.
But the harsh reality of living,
the constant ridicule,
the long waiting,
it starts to weigh heavy upon us,
doesn't it?
But knowing our condition
and our need for encouragement,
Jesus has slipped us this handwritten note,
this same note,
to take heart
because he is coming soon.
That's the main point of my passage,
or this passage,
and my sermon.
Keep the trustworthy words of this book
because Jesus is coming soon.
And in turn,
we'll look at three simple exhortations.
That we have to trust in this prophecy,
trust that he will come soon.
We have to obey because of this prophecy,
and we have to desire this prophecy.
So first,
trusting in this prophecy.
Let's talk about this.
Jesus begins his last words
in the epilogue of this letter
in the same way that he starts the letter
in chapter one.
In fact,
much of this epilogue
is very, very close to the prologue,
forming a really kind of nice inclusio,
if you know that word, right?
Bookend.
And it's a clear link
that packages all the letter altogether.
And he wants to remind us
that everything that we have read
and studied
throughout these past 38 weeks
is trustworthy and true.
He wants us to know
that this prophecy is not,
it's not a mere hypothesis.
It's not an educated guess
of what might happen in the future.
It teaches us cold,
hard, objective truth
that Jesus will return for us one day.
And that when he does,
that he will come in total power
to conquer all of our enemies.
And that when he comes,
we will reign with him
in the new heavens and the new earth.
How sweet that day will be.
In fact,
this is repeated throughout our text
over and over again.
Jesus says this three times,
I am coming soon.
In verse seven,
verse 12,
verse 20,
you think he's trying to get us
to pay attention to that?
Biblical authors,
just like we do,
they repeat themselves
to make sure
that a certain point
is made clear.
But you might be wondering,
Jesus,
this letter is
almost 2,000 years old.
You still haven't returned.
Is this really soon?
When Jesus says that he is coming soon,
I think we'd do well
to read the word
also suddenly
or quickly.
Because I don't think
that Jesus is speaking
necessarily definitively
on when he is going to come,
but how he is going to return.
He is going to come
like a thief,
quickly and suddenly,
with no warning before.
And that means that
every generation
that has come and gone
has done right
to think that they
might be the last generation.
We might be
the last generation.
Every birthday you celebrate,
every new year
that you celebrate,
we would do well
to remember that
this could literally be
the last year
of your life
because Jesus
is coming soon.
Moreover,
elsewhere in Scripture,
Apostle Peter writes,
with the Lord,
one day is as 1,000 years
and 1,000 years
as one day.
The Lord is not slow
to fulfill his promise
as some count slowness,
but is patient
towards you,
not wishing
that any should perish,
but that all
should reach repentance.
Peter shows us
that the fact
that Jesus
hasn't returned
for almost 2,000 years
is not evidence
for us to doubt
his return,
but it's evidence
of his long suffering,
his forbearance
for us sinners.
And to further attest
to the truthfulness
of these claims,
in the second half
of this verse,
Jesus reminds us
ultimately
who is the one
who sent
this messenger angel.
It is God
the Father himself.
Everything
that the angel
has shown John,
however hard
it is to believe,
it's true
and it has God's
name behind it.
It has his own
reputation behind it.
And we know
from other parts
in Scripture
that it is impossible
for God to lie.
Moreover,
Jesus calls the Father
the God
of the spirits
of the prophets.
What does that mean?
Now,
I think it's
pointing to
hundreds
of biblical prophecies
that have been fulfilled,
that have come true,
that they're accurately
predicted the future.
For example,
a whopping 200 years
before this
could ever happen,
there's no way
that Isaiah
could know this,
but 200 years before,
Isaiah predicted
the specific name
of the Persian king,
King Cyrus,
who would come
to take power.
conquer Babylon
and send
Israel back home
after their exile.
Not only does
John teach us
that God the Father
is behind this,
but in verse 16,
if you look down,
you get God the Son
who is saying
the exact same thing.
He is the one
who sent his angel.
And guess what?
He is the fulfillment
of hundreds
of messianic prophecies.
For example,
in our text,
Jesus proclaims
that he is the root
and the descendant
of David,
the bright morning star.
These are all just
Old Testament
messianic prophecies
that predicted
that Christ will come
and Christ fulfilled.
You see that
they're just piling on
piece of evidence
after evidence.
the huge pile
of all these
fulfilled,
accurately predicted
prophecies.
So that we would
see this pile,
see all this evidence,
and see that
this prophecy
that Jesus will return,
we can trust.
We can believe.
We can understand
that this will come true.
This is absolutely
a timely word
for us today
because our society
balks at us
for accepting this
as objective truth.
You see,
since the scientific revolution,
our society
is increasingly
becoming only
naturalistic
or proponents
of the belief of
I'm only going to believe
what I can feel
with my own two hands
or see with my own two eyes.
I believe in science
and the rigors
of the scientific method.
they ask us,
so,
you believe
that this
ancient
primitive dude,
John,
from 2,000 years ago
who had no idea
what DNA
or cells
or gravity
or the internet
or any of these things,
he had no idea
about these things.
You're saying that
he is the one
to accurately predict
the future,
the end of the world,
and that it would happen
at the hands
of a Jewish carpenter?
To them,
it sounds preposterous.
Well,
only because
their worldview,
their preconceived notions,
they limit themselves
and they make no room
for the possibility
of a supernatural God.
Only the things
that are natural
can be understood
or felt.
But they look down
upon the religious
without realizing
that they too
have religious beliefs.
Just ask them
where and how
the universe began.
How did life begin?
How did consciousness begin?
You're going to notice
that they're going to start
searching for words
like belief
and faith.
I believe that
life started randomly.
I believe that
the universe
came from nothing.
I have faith
in science.
That's why
ultimately
the ex-atheist,
now pastor,
author Lee Strobel
has said this
about his conversion
to Christianity.
To continue
in atheism,
I need to believe
nothing produces
everything.
Non-life produces
life.
Randomness produces
fine-tuning.
Chaos produces
information.
Unconsciousness
produces consciousness.
And non-reason
produces reason.
I just didn't have
that much faith.
Ah, but if you
do make room
for the possibility
of God,
a supernatural,
spiritual God
who can do anything
by the power
of his word,
then what seems
so far-fetched
now lands squarely
in the realm
of possibility.
And by the
empowering work
of the Spirit,
we see that it's
more than that.
It's more than
just being in the
realm of possibility
or even probability,
but in the realm
of absolute
certainty.
In the same way
that statements
like two plus two
equals four,
or that murder
is evil,
we all know that
those are objectively
true statements,
right?
Christ will return
is just as true
as those things.
We're not to hedge
our bets
like French philosopher
Blaise Pascal
has once posited
with what's known
as the Pascal's
Wager,
and I think I have
this slide to kind
of help you guys
understand what it is.
It's a simple
premise, really.
It's that we should
believe just in case.
Christianity is true,
that God exists,
and you don't believe,
then you're in this
right, bottom left
quadrant,
eternal damnation.
But if you do
believe in God,
and God doesn't
exist, then what
happens?
You're in that top
right quadrant,
right?
You're, nothing
really happens,
finite losses.
I guess you, you
know, missed out on
Sundays to sleep in.
You should believe,
so it goes,
because it's worse
to be in this
bottom left
to be in the
top right,
just in case.
But if you read
our passage,
this may make
logical sense.
This is not the
tone of which
John is writing.
It doesn't say
believe just in case.
No, Christ will
return because
these words are
trustworthy and
true.
In your heart of
hearts, do you
know and believe
this?
Do you know and
believe that Jesus
will soon return
for his own?
They say the
idea of death is
the ultimate test
of what you
believe.
Imagine closing
your eyes on
your deathbed.
Do you have
full faith that
you will open
them to see
paradise and the
presence of the
God you love?
Do you really
believe that?
do you struggle
with doubt?
Do you have
tinges of
wondering, is
this really
true?
Am I a victim
of groupthink
from the people
around me?
Will there be a
new life, a
supernatural life
awaiting me after
death?
And if you
struggle with
doubt as I
do, cling to
this book.
That's why the
book of
Revelation is
not to be
feared, it's
not to be
dreaded, it's
not to groan
every time it
comes up on
your yearly
Bible reading
plan.
It's a book
that reminds
us that despite
all the evil
and pain in
our lives,
Christ will
return to
make all that
is wrong
right.
And in
the end,
praise God
that it is
not the
strength of
our faith,
the strength
of our
convictions that
saves us, but
it's the
object of
it.
It's the
strength,
it's the
object, not
the strength
of our
faith that
saves us.
So if you
do believe
that Christ
will return,
what sort
of people
ought you
be?
Peter
continues to
write,
the day of
the Lord
will come
like a
thief and
the works
that are
done on
it will
be exposed.
What sort
of people
ought you
be in
lives of
holiness and
godliness
waiting for
and hastening
the coming
of the day
of the Lord?
So this
brings me to
the second
exhortation of
this passage,
obey because
Jesus is
coming soon.
So what
does preparing
well for
Jesus look
like?
In verse
seven, I
think we get
a glimpse.
We see it
looks like
keeping,
obeying,
guarding the
words of
this very
book.
More
specifically, I
think our
passage gives
us three
directions on
how we are
supposed to
get ready.
First,
obedience to
the coming
Jesus looks
like whole
hearted,
single-minded
worship.
Verses
eight to
nine, the
second time
at the
end of
Revelation,
really in
quick succession,
John wrongly
falls at the
feet of the
messenger, not
the one who
sent the
message.
The angel
gives then
the same
reason, the
same rebuttal.
Why are you
doing this?
We are
equals.
Worship
God.
Theologians
have called
this the
creator-creature
distinction,
creation, meaning
that God
alone is
uncreated.
God alone is
truly independent,
meaning that he
is dependent on
nothing and no
one for his
existence.
Literally
everything else
in all the
creation falls
into this other
bucket of
created, even
powerful, powerful
angels.
So we're all in
the same bucket.
Why worship
anything else?
Makes no
logical sense.
But lest you
think that this
is an easy
command to
obey?
To see how
the great
capital A
Apostle John
falls victim to
this sin really
twice, quickly.
And while it
may not be
angels or
literal idols
that we fall
down to
worship,
what created
thing do you
worship?
Are we
prone to
worship money,
marriage,
ministry,
our parents,
our friends,
ourselves?
Anything that
you say, I
need to have
X, I need to
have Y to be
happy, that's
an idol.
If you are
discontent today,
you are
worshiping idols.
The real test of
our faith, of our
worship, is that
we come, it's
good that we come
Sunday worship and
worship our holy
God together.
The real test is
on Monday
morning.
Who is it that
you worship?
For honest with
ourselves, and we
do see idol worship,
not this single
minded, wholehearted
worship, we must
get ready for his
return by doing
the hard, hard
work, picking up
our hammers, and
smashing these
idols.
Honestly, I could
smash an idol in my
heart every single
day.
Heck, it could be my
full-time job.
But it's hard work,
but it's necessary
work, because God
alone is worthy of
this wholehearted
worship.
And so that Christ
may receive the
worship he is due, we
get our second
direction.
To get ready in
verse 10, it says
this, do not seal
up the words of the
prophecy of this
book, for the time
is near.
John is told, don't
seal up this book,
because how else will
the churches know its
contents and its
commands?
This is a different
command that he gave
to prophets in the
Old Testament.
To the prophet
Daniel, he said, seal
it up.
The time is not
ready.
But for John, he
says, don't seal it
up.
The time is near.
In the same way, we
are not to seal up
this book to others
in our evangelism.
We must keep telling
people that Jesus is
coming back soon,
urgently and
sensitively.
when was the last
time that you told
somebody Jesus is
coming soon?
Most people find
evangelism offensive,
but not all.
For example, Penn
Gillette, you guys
know him as the
famous magician from
the duo Penn and
Teller.
He's also a staunch
agnostic, very
outspoken, but he has
this keen insight.
He says this, if you
believe that there is a
heaven and a hell, and
people are going to
hell or not getting
eternal life, and you
think that it's not
really worth telling
them this because it
would make it socially
awkward, how much do you
have to hate somebody to
not proselytize?
How much do you have to
hate somebody to believe
everlasting life is
possible and not tell
them that?
If I believe beyond the
shadow of a doubt that a
truck was coming at you,
and you didn't believe that
that truck was bearing
down on you, there is a
certain point that I
tackle you, where I
tackle you.
And this is more
important than that.
I remind you that this is
an atheist saying this.
And now, this is no
recommendation to start
tackling people with the
gospel, to lose all
senses of our sensitivity
and offend unnecessarily in
our evangelism.
No, it's not to do that.
Nor is it a recommendation
to start evangelizing because
we feel guilty about it.
See, guilt is a terrible
motivator.
It never lasts.
And it's never done to the
worship of our God.
God.
But we ought to start, we
ought to continue to
evangelize this lost world
because we want to worship
God and because we want to
see every heart worship Him.
It is the heart of a
Christian to see God's name
lifted on high in every
heart, in every household,
on every street, in every
city, in every nation.
Only He is worthy of this
worship.
And that desire, that
worship is what's going to
fuel happy, guilt-free,
lasting evangelism in our
lives.
But then what about verse 11?
Maybe some of you guys had
that question reading this
earlier.
It's probably the hardest
verse in our passage today.
It sounds like there is no
opportunity to change when it
says that, let the evil and
filthy still do evil, still be
filthy.
These are hard words for us,
but this truth is nothing new
in Scripture.
Because you see that the
message of the gospel is a
message of life to those who
believe, to those whose names
are written in the book of
life.
But the message of the gospel
is simultaneously a message of
condemnation to those who
reject Christ, who do not
believe.
Elsewhere in Romans 1, Paul
tells us and explains that
those who do not want to
acknowledge God, who pursue
their own way, God gives them
up to do exactly just that.
That's his punishment out of
them, giving them exactly what
they want.
And so they go on to choose
things that lead to death and
destruction.
But for God's elect, his church
praise God that he did not give
us what we wanted.
If we got what we wanted, we
would be on the same path.
Instead, he gives us new hearts
with new desires to desire the
truly good, the truly satisfying.
So these commands in verse 11 to
do evil are ultimately a
pronouncement of judgment against
all those who have rejected
Christ.
He's saying, keep going.
Keep going on the path that you
started down.
But for the righteous and his
chosen, he's saying, keep doing
good onto me.
Understanding then God's
sovereignty in our salvation,
does that mean that there is no
point in our salvation or in our
evangelism?
The fact of the matter is that we
do not know.
We don't know who will come to
faith.
Very few in the early church ever
believed, could ever believe that
Paul, the fierce Jewish persecutor
of the church, could turn into the
great apostle, the faithful apostle.
It is the mystery of the spirit that
some seeds that we scatter bear fruit
thirtyfold, hundredfold.
Others are completely choked out.
Ultimately, it is freeing for us
to know that conversion is not, it's
not up to us.
It's not ultimately of how well we
evangelize, how well we answer all
these apologetics questions.
It's up to God.
So we need to keep evangelizing with
freedom, with urgency, with
sensitivity and to tell people,
anyone, everyone, that Jesus is
coming soon.
This is how we get ourselves ready.
This is how we get our others in our
lives ready.
For when Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega,
the one whom the entire universe
revolves around, once he returns,
verse 12 teaches us that he will bring
his recompense with him to repay each
one for what he has done.
Scripture, both the New and the, both
the Old and the New Testament teaches
that we will be judged according to our
works.
Therefore, we should take holiness,
obedience, discipleship to Christ very
seriously.
We should never take sin lightly.
Even socially acceptable sins like gossip
or greed or grumbling.
We would all do well to sober-mindedly
evaluate ourselves once in a while to
see if we are in obedience to God's
rules.
Some of us don't like that word,
rules, especially we want to focus on the
relationship.
I'm all about the relationship.
I'm not about rules.
But I need to remind you that every
relationship has rules.
My marriage has lots of good rules for me
to follow.
Like be faithful.
No other women.
That's rule number one for sure.
Number two, be nice.
Don't use harsh words.
Be gentle.
Number three, buy ice cream often.
If we love God, we need to keep his rules
and be sensitive and careful to pursue
holiness.
After all, if you're not pursuing holiness
in this life, is heaven a holy place with a
holy God among holy saints?
Is that really a place that you want to go?
Puritan J.C.
Ryle has asked, suppose for a moment that you
were allowed to enter heaven without holiness.
What would you do?
What possible enjoyment could you feel there?
To which all the saints, would you join yourself?
By whose side would you sit?
Their pleasures are not your pleasures.
Their tastes are not your tastes.
Their character, not your character.
If you dislike a holy God now, why would you want
to be with him forever?
If ungodliness is your delight here on earth,
what will please you in heaven where all is clean
and pure?
You will not be happy there if you are not holy here.
But that's all a moot proposition because holiness
is required to enter into the city.
In verse 15 of our passage, we're warned very clearly
that those who practice and love sin,
they are the ones who are outside of the city of God.
See, the invitation to the wedding feast is open to everybody.
Everybody and anybody can come.
But there is a dress code.
That idea that Jesus will come to judge the work of my life,
the idea that there's a dress code,
that has honestly terrified me for many parts,
many seasons of my life.
I've wondered often at times,
am I doing enough for Christ?
Do I need to do more?
Have I lived a good enough life?
If you're wondering with me,
you're wondering what that answer is going to be
as you stand on that judgment seat
before a holy God at the end of your life,
let me spoil it for you.
Answers are a resounding no.
We have not done enough.
We have not lived good enough lives.
We cannot save ourselves by our good works
because the standard is perfection.
We must be perfect as our holy father in heaven is perfect.
We have instead followed in the footsteps of our forefather Adam
in his rebellion against God.
And we wanted to be our own gods.
We wanted to do what we wanted.
And our unrighteousness rightfully kicked us out of the garden
without access to the tree of life,
to be wanderers, sojourners, without a true home.
But praise be to God almighty that when he came to the earth,
Jesus Christ lived a life in which he never doubted.
Am I doing enough?
Have I lived a good enough life?
Because for Jesus, those answers were a resounding yes.
He died yet outside of the city of God on that rugged cross,
as if he was the worst of sinners,
so that we can be invited inside the city of God.
See, that substitutionary death,
that fountain of blood that flowed,
is, was, and will be our only hope for salvation.
Therefore, our entry ticket back into the city,
back into the garden, is not our insufficient obedience,
but it is the free, cleansing blood and righteousness
of Christ the Lamb.
And so the third and final command
to get ready for Jesus' return
is to repent of our sins,
to get our attires ready,
and to wash our stained robes in his blood.
I have to ask, are you ready?
Are you ready for Christ to return soon?
He is beckoning for you to come,
so tarry not if you are not ready.
Verse 17 says,
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 to take the water of life
without price.
These are all the same invitation,
just repeated over and over,
to drive home this point,
to drive home this invitation,
to come.
To come, all you need is your need.
Whosoever may come.
Young sinners, old sinners, come.
Rich sinners, poor sinners, come.
Backsliding sinners, lustful sinners,
drunk sinners, addicted sinners, come.
Whosoever may come.
Sinners that have done every sin in the book,
from A to Z, come.
Jesus is calling earnestly and tenderly,
O sinner, come home.
When you come to Christ for your forgiveness,
it's not that our obedience isn't important anymore,
that we're free to do whatever we want.
No, it's those whose sins are forgiven,
who take killing sin the most seriously.
But it's not done by our own strength, you see.
It's from the Spirit who dwells within you
to empower you to obedience
for the necessary good works for salvation.
See, your good works are necessary for salvation,
but they're never the basis of your salvation.
That basis is Christ's blood,
Christ's righteousness alone.
As great late pastor Tim Keller has written,
God's salvation does not come in response
to a changed life.
A changed life comes in response to the salvation
offered as a free gift.
We have to get that order right.
But maybe you're in a season of discouragement,
and you feel like you're taking one step forward,
and then just three steps back.
You feel like you're disobeying more than you are obeying.
But notice, in verse 15,
that last descriptor of the outsiders,
they love, they practice falsehood.
They love it.
Even members of the Church of Christ,
we can fall in sin.
We all know that all too well.
But what distinguishes us is that we hate our sin.
We repent of it.
We want to flee from it.
But those on the outside, they love it.
They cherish it.
They teach it.
They encourage it.
It's one thing to fall into sin,
but it's a totally other,
to teach and promote disobedience to God.
And that's why God will take away salvation
from false teachers in verse 18 to 19.
It's taken from Deuteronomy 4 and 12.
This warning is not just against general disobedience.
No, it's much more serious than that.
God warns all false teachers,
all followers of those teachers
who twist his infallible salvific word
by adding and taking away from Scripture
to promote their own agenda, not God's.
God has given us this precious gift of his word.
It is able to make us wise for salvation.
Will God not have vengeance on those
who add and take this away,
who twist this to say whatever they want?
Therefore, the only fitting punishment
for those who add and take away from God's word
is that God will add to them plagues,
that God will take away their apparent share
of their portion of the tree of life.
False teachers,
wolves disguised as sheep,
they initially seem and appear to be
part of us, one of God's people,
but we will know them by their works,
that they were never part of us
in the first place.
These serious warnings are just another reminder
that sin has perverted everything
that was once good.
And that's why we need to desire
for Christ to return,
which is the third and final point.
Do you know that to live is Christ
and to die is gain?
It is for your gain
that Christ comes back soon.
I know many of us are young,
still have lots of life to live.
I know that there's still a lot of milestones
that you guys want to experience,
like you want to get married
and raise a family
and progress in your career,
travel the world,
experience the best
that the world has to offer.
And so,
sometimes we say,
oh Jesus,
we want you to come,
but you know,
give me like 10 more years.
Give me a little bit more time.
Don't come just yet.
But can I ask,
as C.S. Lewis once asked,
has this world been so kind to you?
That you should leave it with regret?
Hasn't all your work,
all your life,
all of your experience
been tainted by sin and suffering?
Do you really think
that your future career,
your future marriage,
your family,
your wealth won't be tainted too?
There's something far better than this.
Again, quoting C.S. Lewis,
he reminds us
that often Satan
doesn't try to convince us
that heaven isn't real.
Oh no,
he's much craftier than that.
He tries to convince us
that heaven is boring.
Have you ever heard of that?
That, oh,
I don't want really,
I'm not interested in heaven
because I don't want to worship,
you know,
24-7,
all 365.
Heaven
is anything but boring.
Holiness is anything but boring.
I think the church needs
to resurrect
this lost spiritual discipline
of biblical imagination
and yearning for heaven.
I think most of us,
again,
me included,
we don't long for heaven enough.
We get too bogged down
by the cares of this life
to remember that another one
is coming soon.
And so to help us with that,
I invite you
to imagine with me
about heaven.
I want you to actually
close your eyes,
don't fall asleep,
but I want you to close your eyes
as I read some excerpts
of this article
that I modified
just to help us imagine
what heaven will be like.
So imagine this,
seeing the full blazing glory of God,
finally understanding
how the prophets
couldn't put that sight
into words.
Imagine this,
what does that look like to you?
Imagine a world
where beautiful,
soul-satisfying music
to your God
never ends,
that you can't help
but sing
at the top of your lungs.
Imagine you won't be wishing
it was louder
or quieter,
you'll not be distracted
by anything off-key,
in fact,
you won't be nervous
about when the music
will end.
Imagine never worrying
about any good thing ending
and that every sad thing
becoming untrue.
Imagine that spiritual high
from a retreat
or missions trip
that you've experienced
never fading,
never suffering
from entropy,
but somehow
inexplicably
keeps growing
and growing.
Imagine seeing
the face of Christ
face to face,
looking into the eyes
of the one
who formed the sun,
moon,
and stars
in the beginning
but who knew
and loved you
even before that.
Imagine a sinless,
flawless,
glorified body
with no earthly,
ungodly temptations.
These bodies
that have absolutely
no appetite
for the things
of this world.
That holiness,
purity,
and godliness
isn't such a terrible
struggle anymore,
but that loving Christ
and others
is easy,
natural,
restful.
Image that you decide
it's time to take a rest,
never because you're sick
with disease
or weary
or suffer from
chronic pain,
but just because.
And you lie down
beside still waters
without any fear
of harm,
without worry
that you're not being
as productive
as you should be,
without being distracted
by having
so much to do.
imagine meeting
with people
who treated you
wickedly,
who lied about you,
who gossiped about you,
who stole from you,
maybe even murdered you.
Imagine what that
would feel like.
And then you see
brothers and sisters
and children
and parents
that you treated wickedly,
that you lied
or gossiped about,
stole from,
or even murdered.
When you see them,
instead of shame
or fear,
you know that
all the justice
everyone deserved
for all the wrongs
was poured out
completely
on the head
of the husband.
So you don't owe each other
anything anymore
because you could have
everything
you could ever want.
So now you're free
to love.
So you take
their hand in yours
and you walk with them
in love forever.
You guys can
open up your eyes.
Thanks for indulging me.
Brothers and sisters,
this is just a snippet
of what our future
might be like
for all eternity.
Heaven will be
anything but boring.
How can you wait?
Come, Lord Jesus.
That's the heart.
That's our prayer.
Come, Lord Jesus.
So we come to the very
last verse
of Scripture.
Last verse of our passage
and the very last verse
of Scripture.
And I think it's really
quite beautiful
that Scripture ends
with a benediction.
Just like we close
our worship services.
It's beautiful
that the final word
of His holy book
is not what we need to do
or what we produce.
It's not our worship
unto God.
But it's God's words
of blessing to us.
This is exactly
what we need.
In a moment,
we'll respond
to this sermon
by singing all together
the song Grace Alone.
And I want to read
the last verse
of that song.
I'll stand in faith
by grace and grace alone.
I'll run the race
by grace and grace alone.
I'll slay my sin
by grace and grace alone.
I will reach the end
by grace and grace alone.
By grace and grace alone,
we will trust
in Christ's return.
Lord,
we will persevere
in the worship
of our holy God.
We will evangelize
this lost world
and we will make it
to the celestial city,
to that promised land,
that land we're all
waiting for.
So until Christ returns,
may the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with us all.
Amen.
Heavenly Father,
we pray that you would
bestow upon us
the grace that we need
to look,
to hope for heaven,
and to endure
to the very end,
to be conquerors,
to be overcomers,
so that we would see you,
and see you in full glory.
We long for that day.
Come, Lord Jesus.
Amen.