Come, Lord Jesus! Series

“COME, LORD JESUS!” Revelation 22:20-21

FBCF – 12/31/23

Jon Daniels

INTRO – God has always had a plan.

- Plan for Creation

- Plan to deal w/ Satan’s accusations

- Plan for the liberation of His chosen people

- Plan for our consolation when we are hurting

- Plan for preparation of Jesus’ coming into the world

- Plan for the cessation of all the evil in the world

- Plan for the consummation of all His work in the world

- And all of these are part of His ultimate plan for our salvation

Email I received this week from an IMB missionary:

“I finish my Bible plan every year by reading the book of Revelation. I just realized that Revelation is a Christmas book. Jesus is the central character of this book, & He is most often referred to as an infant. Jesus is called “the Lamb” 29 times in Revelation. A lamb is a newborn sheep, an infant sheep. This idea of infant Jesus dominates the text. Jesus’ birth highlights God’s creativity & holiness in how He used a baby to bring down Satan. Be encouraged by this news Jesus’ birth. It is good news of great joy for all people!”

Today, as we live between 2 advents – Jesus’ first advent into the world & His 2nd advent that is to come – we, as the Church, celebrate that Jesus is coming again soon!

APPLICATION – The imminent return of Jesus motivates us to live for Him!

HIS PROMISE (Michael’s point) –– “Surely I am coming soon!”

HIS PROMISE

• God is faithful to fulfill and uphold His promises!

• He has never broken a promise and He won’t start now.

o OT Examples:

? Promise to send a Savior (Gen. 3:15)

? Promise to never flood the earth (Gen. 9:11)

? Promise to make Abraham a Great Nation (Gen. 12:2)

o NT Examples:

? Jesus Promised to be found (Matt. 7:7-8)

? Jesus Promised a different life (Matt. 16:25)

? Jesus Promised His Presence (Matt. 28:20)

• There are three affirmations of Jesus’ imminent return in Rev. 22:

o V. 7 – “look, I am coming soon”

o V. 12 – “Look, I am coming soon”

o V. 20 – “Yes/Surely I am coming soon”

• In verses 7 and 12, the Greek word is “idou” which means “Look!” It’s a particle used in Hebrew Narrative to enliven the narrative by marking the change of scene or to emphasize some detail or idea.

• In verse 20, Jesus uses a different word, the Greek word “vai” which means “yes, indeed.” It is a marker of STRONG agreement, affirmation, or emphasis. The equivalent of Jesus saying, “truly, truly” in the gospels.

OUR ANTICIPATION – “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”

“Amen” – not just a word we close our prayers with so we will know when it’s time to start eating.

- Gk – “truly, indeed; so be it; let it be so.”

- “a word used to affirm & confirm a statement” (Unger’s Bible Dictionary, p. 44)

- When used at beginning of a sentence, it is used to emphasize what it about to be said,

- When used at end, it affirms & confirms what has already been said.

o For instance, when you say it out loud after something your pastor says, you are affirming what he has said.

- Here in this verse, it’s at the end & the beginning of 2 sentences.

o “Surely I am coming soon. Amen.” – Confirm that that statement is true.

o “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” – Emphasize our passionate desire for Him to come back, & our anticipation that that event is coming soon!

1979 – TV commercial for Heinz Ketchup (the ONLY ketchup to use – can I get an “Amen”?). Carly Simon’s song, “Anticipation”, playing in background as the ketchup slowly poured out of bottle onto a hamburger.

- Point: Something good is coming & it’s worth the wait.

- For us as Christ-followers, there is something good – REALLY good – coming! And it’s worth the wait! It will be glorious!

UNTIL THEN…

WORSHIP GOD – (Michael’s point)

Worship is something that is often misunderstood. It is more than simply singing songs on Sunday.

- Comes from the Anglo-Saxon word woerthscipe which means to “shape worth.” When we worship, we are shaping the worth of God in our lives.

- Worship is NOT an action to partake in, but a lifestyle to be marked by.

- Worship is NOT what we do on Sundays, it’s who we are in our relationships with God. (Col. 3:17) EVERYTING we do should be done to glorify and please God – Worship.

PROCLAIM THE MESSAGE – v. 10 – “Do not SEAL UP the words the words of the prophecy of this book…”