Come to Jesus! -- Loyal OK Peace UCC

Come to Jesus!

Revelation 22:7-21

Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"

Then he told me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy."

Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to 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, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.

The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.

And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him 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, Yes, I am coming soon.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen.

Wow! We have completed the Book of Revelation! We have gone from planet Earth to heaven... and seen Satan and his crowd sent to hell - to the Lake of Fire that burns with sulfur forever and ever! The second death! I have had a great time over the past few months doing this study. I trust that it has benefited you, for the study has certainly helped me! I have been forced to study long hours and broaden my view about a lot of things. Studying the Word of God is a powerful thing to do!

Jesus starts this section of scripture with a comforting and challenging statement: "Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book."

The dominant theme of the Old Testament is that the Messiah will come. The New Testament starts with the arrival of the Messiah and ends with the message that He is coming back....

Are you ready to be with the Lord? Paul was....

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain...."

Revelation 22:20, He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Are you expecting Christ to come back at any moment? In fact, do you really want Him to come back today? If not, why? The religious leaders certainly were not interested in the Messiah actually being on earth when Jesus came. They were working their own agenda. It is imperative that we learn to follow God's leading. Yes, we are given many freedoms, but freedom always has an equal responsibility!

Jesus said, "Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book." We get excited about John 3:16 - and that is as it should be. We pray for healing when the doctor says that is our only choice... and there is certainly merit in that. But do we get excited about obeying all of the scriptures so that we can be prepared for our meeting with Jesus... face to face. I think it is time we get as radical about spreading the Good News of the Gospel as Satan is about spreading his trash!

John writes that when he heard the message from the angel, he fell down to worship at the feet of the angel. The angel responded, "Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book." Think about that! You and I are on the same footing with the angels and the prophets - keeping God's Word moves us to that level. "Worship God!" the angel admonished John.

The Lord Jesus spoke by this angel, solemnly confirming the contents of this book, particularly of this last vision. Christ is coming soon. Soon has to be interpreted on the basis of God's timetable, and obviously we do not understand His timetable. The angel had served as the apostle's interpreter, and he refused to accept worship from John. In fact, he reproved him for offering it.

Each and every Christian has a direct line to God Himself. We pray in the name of Jesus, but we are to pray to the Father. John was told not to seal up the book, for everyone must know what is coming, because we will be judged by its contents.

Matthew Henry states, "Never let us think that a dead or disobedient faith will save us, for the First and the Last has declared that those alone are blessed who do His commandments."

This message tells us that certain men and women, boys and girls will be shut out of heaven! Who? The wicked and unrighteous! Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Verse 15)

God hates sin! Either face up to it now and let God help you get it out of your life, or face the eternal consequences! There is no middle ground with God.

There are many people who do not know God... and someday they will meet him face to face. Every Christian needs to be busy at the business of winning people to Christ. How we go about witnessing is very, very important. We must speak the truth - but it must be done in love. One time I picked up a hitchhiker on my way to Kingfisher. I was new in the ministry and still had a lot to learn (as if I didn't now!) I casually asked him if he was a Christian. Not a good idea! He lectured me for 20 minutes because he thought I had prejudged him just because he was down on his luck. So now I ask about everyone, "How long have you been a Christian - even if they are dead drunk! I haven't made anyone mad yet, and I've been doing it for years. Often they will admit that they are not Christians and we can talk about how to become one.

Yesterday I listened to a message by Bill Wilson. Bill has a church in the poor part of New York City. They have 16,000 people who attend Sunday school! How? They bus them in and they have sidewalk Sunday school and church. It is a powerful ministry. He travels all over the country raising money for this ministry!

He told two stories that really stirred my heart. The first story was about 2 children who attended Sunday school. When the workers went by their apartment they could hear the TV blaring, but no one answered the door. When they went back later and tried again, the workers smelled a foul odor so they called Security. When Security broke the door down they discovered that the mother had been murdered and the odor was her decaying body. The two children were sitting on the couch watching TV. They had eaten all the food in the house and were in the process of eating the cereal box because there was nothing else to eat!

The workers comforted the children. Later a policeman called Bill to thank him. He said, "I have no idea who you are or what you do, but I see your buses going up and down the streets - and I saw your people comfort those children. I just called to thank you for what you do.

The second story was about a little girl who rode on the bus driver's lap all the time. The bus driver could only speak Spanish, so she told the little girl over and over that she loved her and that Jesus loved her too. After several weeks the little girl got off the driver's lap as she prepared to return to her apartment. She said to the teacher - with a lot of effort because she had a speech impediment, "And I love you too!" That was at 2:30. At 6:30 that evening they found the little girl's body. Her mother had beaten her to death, placed her in a plastic sack, and put the sack under the stairs outside her apartment. Probably the last loving thing that little girl heard was that bus driver say, "I love you and Jesus loves you too!"

There is still a lot of work to do for God!

We close with verse 17: The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

It has often been said that inside every person is a "God-shaped hole" that only God can fill. I suspect that every person in this congregation this morning understands that. But many people do not. If you are thirsty for more of God, let Him fill that need. If you are satisfied, then go and share the good news of the gospel with the lost and troubled.