Epilogue
The Revelation of King Jesus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewHBI - We must remain faithful in the present for God’s plans will always come to pass. Therefore we must turn to Him for eternal life as He is our only source of life
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
I love to read but one of the most annoying things I find in a book is when it ends and you want to see what the characters did after. Kind of like, how are they doing in 5 years. The book leaves the character with everything fixed and the world better but you want to know what happens next. In comes the epilogue. An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος epílogos, "conclusion" from ἐπί epi, "in addition" and λόγος logos, "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the work.[1] It is presented from the perspective of within the story.
An epilogue as we can see is used to bring closure to a work of literature. That is what we see here, a closure to the book of Revelation.
We have gone through a lot of material in the last 5-6 months. I sometimes wonder if we can remember it all. It has gone by very fast fore me anyways. We have gone over things like what is going to happen in the end times, is ti actually going to happen, what signs we can look for that they are going to happen? Is it possible that as followers of Jesus we are going to be here during the period labelled as the great tribulation.
But what we need to remember as we close the book of Revelation is the main thing. What are we to do with all of this information that we have been taking in. As I have mentioned before, as we go through stuff like this we need to remember to look at what are the essentials, what is the main idea we are trying to look at here.
When I say that I believe Jesus wont take the church out of the earth till after the tribulation I know some of you do not agree and think “them are fighting words”. but what is the main point behind the concept of the Rapture? The main point is that Jesus is coming back at some time for His children so we must be prepared to meet Him.
There is some sense of urgency as we do this as we have been told for centuries that Jesus is coming soon. We do not know when soon is but it has been soon for a long time now. We get a glimpse into the main theme that we need to remember again as we close the book of Revelation.
HBI - We must remain faithful in the present for God’s plans will always come to pass. Therefore we must turn to Him for eternal life as He is our only source of life.
The River of life
The River of life
This passage brings to mind an old worship song.
I’VE GOT A RIVER OF LIFE FLOWING OUT OF ME;
IT MAKES THE LAME TO WALK AND THE BLIND TO SEE.
IT OPENS PRISON DOORS, SETS THE CAPTIVES FREE.
I’VE GOT A RIVER OF LIFE FLOWING OUT OF ME.
SPRING UP, O WELL, WITHIN MY SOUL!
SPRING UP, O WELL, AND MAKE ME WHOLE!
SPRING UP, O WELL, AND GIVE TO ME
THAT LIFE ABUNDANTLY.
Where does this idea come from you might ask?
1 Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
This idea of the river of life flows throughout the scriptures.
This idea goes all the way back to the creation of the world. When Man kind was placed in the garden to be fruitful and multiply, there was also the river of life that was to sustain their lives eternally. When the curse of sin came down on us, we where kicked out of that eternal source of life and forced to live lives and then die.
God then has told us throughout the scruiptures that He is the source of eternal life, all who thirst need to come to him, they need to trust in Him.
13 For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves— cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.
Any source of life that we try to turn to apart from the Lord God will fail. You know I once tried to change oil by using a 5 gallon pail as a drain bucket. I didnt realize till it was to late that the bucket had a crack in the bottom. All the used oil ended up in the ground. Like this, our own attempts to find life apart from God are like trying to fill cracked cisterns.
As followers of Jesus, our life comes from God. He is the spring that wells up within us sustaining us. Our river of life is actually God within us.
The faithful will live at the source of eternal life that flows from the Lord God. The idea behind water is life, salvation, the cleansing of the HS in our lives. Our only true source of hope.
2 down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations,
This follows the idea of Jesus being our salvation, our only source of life eternal. God’s provision is ever new and always adequate. The effects of sin are overcome Jesus salvation reaches to all who are His followers.
3 and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
Nothing under the curse of God will exist anymore. what happened after the fall of mankind will cease to exist.
That is we are going to see Genesis 1-3 restored. We are going to see creation restored.
The greatest blessing of all is that we are going to see the face of God. To b in the very presence of the one who created us. Many people have many different beliefs in the creation of the world, but we believe in the one true God, the true creator of heaven and earth.
the idea behind verse 4 is that we will once again truly reflect the image of God. Genesis tells us that we are created in the image of God. The main idea behind that is that we are created to reflect the likeness of God, to be a mirror of His glory, His love, His very character. That mirror has been clouded and marred by sin. We, right now, still can reflect the character of God but sain keeps getting in the way. This will be bnor more.
Jesus is our only true source of life. Like a well that never dries, He offers life and peace and hope that goes far beyond the understanding of man. This is the first thing we need to remember as we think of preparing for the end, if we are in Him we will be restored to a face to face relationship with God.
The Epilogue
The Epilogue
Now for the end, the conclusion that draws the rest of the story together. We will call it the epilogue.
6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
God’s words are true.
This is a statement that we have seen throughout the book of Revelation. What God says will come to pass is what we are being told. We can trust that what God says will happen because it already has happened.
The messiah is coming soon.
so we keep being told that the messiah is coming soon. This can get a little frustrating but this is not so much a timeline as it is a warning or encouragement to be prepared because as much evidence of the 2nd coming as we have, it will still be a surprise for us.
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me.
John here is just attesting to the fact that this was not just all in his imagination. He heard these words from the Lord God and they are true.
9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
This is kind of one of the big things running through the book
Keep these words - We are to keep all the words of the Lord God we see in the Bible.
Worship God - Because of what is going to come, because of all that we learn in the word of God we need to worship Him. As we have been learning, to worship God is more then just singing, it is in the way that we live. In everything, we are to worship God.
12 “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
The time has always been at hand.
The tension of the immanence of the Lord’s return should inspire us. First this is evangelistic in nature. The immanence of the reeturn of the Lord should cause us to spread His message. Think of it like a lifeline. People are going to drown, if you see them your first reaction should be to throw them a lifeline, do all you can to save them from death. There are many set to go through these things we have been talking about, or at the very least will have to face the Lord God and we have the lifeline. We can not be silent.
Secondly those that are followers of Jesus are going to be repaid for their works that they have done here on earth. The time will arrive when change will be impossible, do not wait till it is to late.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.
Those who refuse to compromise their faith, who keep the commands of the Lord God. This is a tough one. We are called not to compromise our faith, yet other beatitudes, or blessings from God say we will be blessed when we are persecuted for living for the name of Jesus. But the reason for that is the Kingdom of heaven belongs to those who live for the name of Jesus.
Blessed are those who keep the faith, who refuse to compromise on the word of God.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.
The springs of living water are there for anyone to take part in. Living hope, living faith, living peace is available to all those who call on the name of the Lord. Come we are called, come and the Lord God will give us rest.
So What?
So What?
What is the main idea we need to remember. Do not get so caught up in the timing of it all to forgot what we are really called to hear. We do not know all of the timing, nor are we meant to. But what we do learn we can know for sure.
Soon and Very Soon We are going to see the king!
Soon and Very Soon We are going to see the king!
We see this repeated again and again. He is coming soon. This should be a warning and also an encouragement for us. That tension of the immanence of the return of Jesus should remind us that we need to be sharing the message of the gospel. But the danger is there that we become so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. But it is also a warning that the time for change, the time for turning to Jesus will soon come to an end. In either case we do not know but we do know the immanence of the return of Jesus should cause us to get to work.
Are we longing for the return of Jesus? or does it scare us?
Turn to the river of life
Turn to the river of life
Metaphors sometimes confuse people. But I have always loved this one. Jesus is called the source of living water. Living water is like a free flowing well. Pressurized from underneath so the water is always flowing.
It is said that he who drinks from this water metaphorically will never thirst again. That is that in our search for peace, in our search for meaning we will only find it in Jesus. When we turn to Him for contentment, for everything in life we will never desire to turn to anything agaiun.
Be Prepared
Be Prepared
Revelation Contemporary Significance
We must also keep in mind that we will be judged for our deeds performed in this life (22:12). Too often Christians have used other theologies to justify regularly sinning and then asking forgiveness as if there are no consequences. Revelation reminds us that on some level there are consequences to all the choices we make, that these consequences are just, and that therefore we should bury the excuses. When we sin, we deceive ourselves if we say that we cannot stop; we should be honest enough to admit that we do not choose to stop. Such honesty is a prerequisite to acknowledging that Christ offers us the grace to live holy if we will appropriate it. The
Revelation Contemporary Significance
The vice list (22:15) reinforces this call to moral preparedness. But despite the strength of this call to holiness for those already in the church, 22:11 does not mean it is too late for those who will repent now to do so (2:5, 16, 21–22; 3:3, 19; 9:20–21; 16:9, 11; see above on the rhetorical force of 22:11). This list of sinful behaviors probably starts with male prostitutes, and many churches today would be nervous embracing someone from such a background. But God desires to reach all people. When a friend from Teen Challenge and I shared Christ with a male prostitute on the streets of Chicago, he quickly opened up and noted how much he wanted out of his current lifestyle.
True, the sinners on the list will be banned from the holy city; but the good news of the gospel is that former prostitutes, liars, idolaters, and others who have now “wash[ed] their robes” (22:14) will be welcome in the city. Revelation warns us about the exclusion perhaps in part to promise that Christians who currently endure the hostility of the world will someday have nice neighbors (22:14), but also to summon those who are living wrongly to be transformed by Christ