“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…”
“seal” – Same word used in Matthew’s Gospel when the Pilate told the soldiers to secure the tomb where Jesus was laid.
- Matthew 27:66 – “So they went & made the tomb secure by sealing the stone & setting a guard.”
- But guess what? It didn’t matter how they sealed the tomb. That which was in the tomb was coming out!
- And that which is in this book MUST come out. And the way it comes out is through you & me proclaiming the truth that Jesus is the Savior of the world & He is coming again!
- Romans 10:14 – “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”
CHOOSE RIGHTEOUSNESS – (Michael’s point)
While we wait on Jesus to return, we either choose to live a righteous or unrighteous life.
- Righteousness means “right living with God.” It is not something that we do, but something that is done to us.
- By believing in Jesus, we are MADE RIGHT with God. His blood is applied to my account to grant me right standing with God.
- As believers, once we have been made right with God, we then choose to live right with God.
- Because the time is near (v.10), we should live a righteous life. Our lives should be lived in such a way that it points to the one who gives life.
WORK HARD – v. 12 – Jesus Himself said, “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work.” (CSB) – which says to me, we need to be working hard doing His Kingdom work when He shows up.
- John 9:4 – “As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me…”
- Old gospel song: “We’ll work till Jesus comes, & we’ll be gathered home.”
