Jesus is coming BACK, SOON
Week 2 of 5
Revelation 22:12-21
When I was a child we used to play a game called Hide and Seek:
- One of us would cover our eyes and count to ten and then we would say, “Ready or not here I come.”
- By the time you get to Revelation 22 and verse 12
- Jesus is pretty much saying the same thing, ready or not hear I come.
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12
The series we are working through is called “Jesus is coming BACK”
We’ll be taking a week for each of the following:
Last week was “Jesus said He was coming back”
- This week we will learn that “Jesus is coming BACK, SOON”
- Next week will be “Jesus is coming BACK, UNEXPECTEDLY”
- Then “Jesus is coming BACK, and there will be a JUDGEMENT”
- Finally Jesus is coming back “GET READY”
Have you heard the story about a fellow who wore a very painful pair of shoes? He complained to everybody about them, saying, "These shoes really hurt my feet. They’re awful," he would say.
His coworkers got tired of listening to that, so one of them suggested that he just buy a new pair of shoes. The guy answered, "Well, believe me, I’ve thought about it, but I’ve decided not to."
"You see, I hate my job. Every day I come to work, punch in & then spend 8 hours of drudgery. I hate every minute of it. Then I go home, & at home I have a wife who is never satisfied. She nags me day & night. All the time it is just nag, nag, nag."
"Then not long ago, my daughter & her husband moved in with us, & they have two of the most obnoxious kids you’ve ever seen. They run wild all over the place, destroying the furniture, tearing up the house."
"On top of that, my mother-in-law is living with us, too. And every night she grabs the remote control, sits down in my favorite chair, & I have to watch the TV programs she wants to watch."
He said, "I tell you, with all these problems in my life, the only real pleasure I have is in taking off these shoes." (Credit to Melvin Newland)
Have you ever felt like life isn’t as wonderful as you thought that it would be.
? People are still struggling with financial problems.
? Marriages are still failing,
? There is death, sickness, disease and Coronavirus
? there is still violence in the streets.
I think the words “Jesus is coming soon” mean more
- when you’ve been knocked down
- When all you hold dear is in danger
- Or you’ve lost hope
when Jesus comes back, He will make all the wrongs right
The Revelation of Jesus was given to the apostle John:
- spoken nearly 70 years
- after the resurrection & ascension back into heaven.
John had been exiled to the island of Patmos:
- Exiled there by the Romans
- Imprisoned on a island,
- he’s old and he’s alone
Jesus spoke these words to the Apostle John, in his affliction:
“Look, I am coming soon!” Revelation 22:12
“Yes, I am coming soon.” Revelation 22:22
John needed to hear Jesus say those words, and we CHRISTIAN’s do too:
o For now we may be in agony,
o But Jesus is coming soon
o Jesus will make all wrongs right, and heal all pain
Jesus is coming soon, and He will JUDGE the living and the dead:
“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12
JESUS is bringing what we have COMING:
o When Christ returns He will bring wages
o The original word for REWARD is MISTHOS
Which beans “what is due.”
It’s kind of like going to the mail box:
- You get a pile of envelopes
- Some of the envelopes are junk mail, chunk them
- A lot of the mail are bills
At the bottom of the bill there is amount due is X number of dollars
- that is what you owe, it needs to be paid
- if it’s a credit card you can see how you spent your money….$53.21 gas, $321 groceries.
Since we’re all sinners we have all racked up a bill that requires death:
- Our itemized list might include: theft, lust, murder, gossip, idolatry
- But some of us have put our faith in Jesus
- And when our bill comes due, it is stamped PAID IN FULL
Not only Does Jesus pay our debt,
- Cancels our debt and gives us extra
- He gives us Heaven instead of Hell
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1 (NKJV)
Ready or not Jesus is coming:
- And we will all give account
- No one will escape
- God is a righteous Judge.
Nobody is good enough to get into heaven
Nobody is too bad to get into heaven
Nobody is getting into Heaven without Jesus
Here is what Jesus says about those people:
? who reject Jesus
? who never turn from their sin
? who never call on the name of the Lord
? who have no believe in God
? who’ve never been immersed in baptism….
“Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
Revelation 22:15
Dogs symbolize evil people, outside God’s kingdom:
? Right now sinners and saints are mixed together
? When Jesus comes there will be a separation
? Between those washed in the Blood
? And those who are dead in the mud.
The Spirit is the Holy Spirit and The Bride is the Church:
- There is an OPEN INVITATION COME..
- While there is still time
- To enter a saving relationship with Jesus
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17
The invitation is open to everyone:
- Rich, poor, Gentile, Jew,
- Disabled, crippled,
- Thieves, liars, sexual sinners,
- Drunks, addicts, and anyone else
The GOSPEL is that Jesus went to the cross and He died for YOU!!!!
- Jesus loves you and died for you
- And that requires a response
- And Jesus is COMING BACK
Ready or not Jesus is coming!!
Let’s review:
o Jesus is coming back, and soon
o We ought to get excited about it
o Be ENCOURAGED BY IT
But we also need to be challenged by the second coming
? Challenged to make a commitment to the Lord, while there is still time
? Finish the commitment we’ve already made.
I want to close with the parable of the Prodigal son:
A father had two sons
? The younger son came to his father and demanded his inheritance
? The father gave the son his inheritance
The son took the wealth,
The younger son turned his back on his father and went and wasted his money on wild living
There was a famine in the land:
- The younger brother had no money and no food
- This Jewish man took a job feed pigs.
- As he was starving to death
- Found himself wishing he could he the pig food
Decided he would go home to his father
Beg to be allowed to be a servant, at least he’d get to eat…..
Even if you know the story, STICK with me….
- The son heads home to beg to be a slave
- He has his speech all memorized to tell his father
Here’s what I want you to notice:
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” Luke 15:20
Keep in mind that the father in the story represents God:
- The father was watching for his son to return
- Waiting for his lost son to come home
- Not to punish the wayward son, but to reconcile with the son
- The father ran out to meet his son
There is much more to that parable, but
REMEMBER God loves you, and He wants you to come home……
“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” REVELATION 22:17 (NIV)
THE INVITATION SONG IS: “Trust and Obey”
