Worthy is the Lamb: Faithful and True Words

Last Sunday, I preached on the largest swath of Revelation since we began our journey through it. This morning, I’m preaching on perhaps the smallest section — just four verses.“The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” 7 “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” 8 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. 9 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!”” (Revelation 22:6–9, NIV84).

As Christians wait for the eschaton how are we to keep the words of the prophecy in this book? For some of you eschaton may be an unfamiliar word, but it’s probably more familiar than you think. You’ve undoubtedly heard of the word eschatology which simply means the study of the end times. Our journey through the Book of Revelation has been a study of eschatology. The world eschaton simply means end or last, so when I use the word eschaton I simply mean the final event in the divine plan. Throughout the history of the church the word has been used as something of a shorthand way of referring to all things related to the Second Advent of our Christ.

Revelation 22:6 begins what we call the epilogue to Revelation. An epilogue is simply the last section of a book that makes some concluding statements about the work. The risen Savior has revealed what lies in the future through a series of visions that have been revealed to, and recorded by the Apostle John. They’ve concluded with the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. Now we have a series of statements enjoining us to hope and steadfastness. As we await these earth-shattering, life-changing, God-ordained events, how are we to live? Revelation 22:6-9 give us a clue.

I. As You Wait for the Eschaton TRUST THE SCRIPTURES AND KEEP THE WORD

“The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”” (Revelation 22:6, NIV84)

1. as we arrive at the end of the book the angel assures us that the words in this book are trustworthy

a. this is, after all, the testimony of Jesus Christ, not merely the wish-fulfilling visions of an aging apostle

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:1–3, NIV84)

b. some of the original manuscripts of this book have the title The Revelation of John or The Apocalypse of John

1) this is simply wrong

2) John may have recorded the revelation, but the visions found in this book are not from John’s own imagination

2. the book of Revelation is our Lord’s message to his Church meant to encourage us in difficult days, and uncertain times

a. it is a inspired revelation

b. it is a trustworthy revelation

c. it is a comforting revelation

A. IT’S AN INSPIRED REVELATION

1. John wants the reader to understand at the outset that the same “Jesus Christ” who became incarnate, who revealed himself as Messiah to his disciples, who died on the cross, and who rose from the tomb is the one who mediates the visions in this book

a. Christians must never forget that, though the Bible is written by men, God is its author

“For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21, NIV84)

b. the Bible is not a compilation of stories giving us men’s view of what they think God is like, but God revealing to us His character and His purpose for creation

2. the ultimate revelation of God’s character and purpose is found in the person of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:1-3, NIV84)

ILLUS. Carl F. H. Henry, one of the great Baptist theologians of our era, wrote this about God’s revelation. “Christians need always to remember this: Revelation is God’s gracious self-disclosure, in which he lovingly forfeits his own personal privacy so that His sinful creatures might know Him.”

3. the doctrine of inspiration, simply put, is that God the Father — spoke through the Holy Spirit — He “breathed out” (theopneustos) the Scriptures into the minds of those authors who wrote it

a. it simply means that the Scriptures are a divine product

B. IT’S A TRUSTWORTHY REVELATION

1. because the Scriptures are a divine product we can trust them to be true, and to lead us into truth

a. specific to the context of the passage, John assures us that we can depend on the revelation of Jesus Christ to accurately depict our present age as well as its ending

b. history is going someplace, and it is headed exactly where God wants it to go

1) to that end God moves world events along directly, and providentially, to accomplish His precise will

2) the movers and shakers of this world may believe that they are directing the course of world events, and they would be wrong!

“ “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. 11 ... What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.” (Isaiah 46:8–11, NIV84)

3) Daniel 2:21 specifically tells us that God controls the course of world events; deposing some political leaders while installing others

c. because God has a specific plan for His creation, He is providentially directing the world order to the climax He has for it

2. in my lifetime there have been any number of end-of-the-world scenarios put forth

a. Global Cooling — this was the scenario in the late 1960s to the mid 1970s

1) climatologists insisted that there was “ample evidence” to show that the Earth was heading toward a new Ice Age

a) sea levels would drop leaving costal communities high and dry

b) most significantly, growing seasons would be shortened, and poor crop yields would lead to mass famine

b. Global Warming — this is the scenario that excessive amounts of carbon monoxide are altering the Earth’s climate

1) again, climatologists insist that there is “ample evidence” to show that the Earth is warming to dangerous extremes

a) ice caps are going to melt, sea levels are going to rise, inundating coastal communities

b) most significantly, droughts will increasingly disrupt world-wide food supplies, burning up crops, killing livestock and disrupting fisheries

c. Geothermal Nuclear War — the treat that belligerent nations would either accidently or purposely resort to the use of nuclear weapons in full-scale war between the democratic west, and the communistic east seemed a serious possibility

1) the scenario predicted the immediate death of tens of millions of people, and millions more caused by the “nuclear winter” that would result

2) if you were born after the collapse of the old Soviet Union (1989) you have no memories of “duck-and-cover”, the Cuban Missile Crisis, or the “doomsday clock” that sat anywhere from 3-6 minutes from midnight for forty years

d. Population Bomb — the threat of Earth’s overpopulation

1) in 1968 Dr. Paul Ehrlich wrote a run-away bestseller called The Population Bomb

2) it predicted that the Earth could not support the burgeoning population, and that by the late 1970s and 1980s the nations of the world would experience massive famines, and that hundreds of millions would die

a) advances in agriculture kept his prediction from happening

e. Global Pandemics — this scenario has regularly popped up in my lifetime

ILLUS. The world has, after all, experienced them before. The Black Death killed 60 million people in the 14th century — 60% of Europe’s population. The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-19 killed an estimated one-fifth of the world’s population — 100 million people — over 18 months. (The equivalent of 1.5 billion people today). In 1919, the flu epidemic caused the average life expectancy in the United States to drop by 12 years.

1) some scientists thinks we’re long over-due for a world pandemic

f. Assorted Global Extinction Events — the two most “popular” world-ending natural catastrophes are the Yellowstone Super Volcano Eruption, and a Massive Asteroid striking the Earth — either of which would end the world as we know it

3. God has his own end-of-the-world scenario, and it is told to us in the Book of Revelation

a. mankind will not be responsible for the end of the world

b. random natural catastrophes will not be responsible for the end of the world

c. alien invasion will not be responsible for the end of the world

d. God will be responsible for the end of the world when He judges a rebellious, disobedient mankind that would rather believe the lie of the Devil than the truth of the Creator

C. IT’S A COMFORTING REVELATION

1. according to vs. 6 God has sent us the prophets and angelic beings in order to show his servants what soon must take place

ILLUS. The apostle literally sees a series of visions pass before him. It’s God’s supernatural version of a PowerPoint presentation. Slide by slide, as scene after scene unfolds the Apostle records what he sees, and the conversations he hears.

a. God is going to use signs, symbols, names, numbers, colors, and creatures to give us a glimpse of future events

b. God does not intend to leave us in the dark as to the future of our world, and the future of His Church

2. I fully understand the difficulties of interpreting the visions of this book

a. and while students of the Scriptures have disagreed over the order of events, and the meaning of symbols, there are things we all agree about

1) History is going some place

2) Jesus is coming in power and glory to establish his kingdom

3) Judgment of lost sinners is real, and so is hell — there is a resurrection unto judgment

4) God’s Church will be victorious, even in martyrdom, and will experience resurrection unto eternal life

5) God will dwell with His people forever under a new heaven, upon a new earth, and reign from a new Jerusalem

b. bottom line ... God wins, and those who are on the Lord’s side win with Him

3. the implied challenge to the Book of Revelation is, “How are we going to respond to reading this message?”

a. will you be fearful, or will you be forgetful, or will you be faithful?

... as You Wait for the Eschaton Trust the Scriptures

II. As You Wait for the Eschaton LIVE EXPECTANTLY

“ “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”” (Revelation 22:7, NIV84)

1. Jesus tells us, blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book

a. we are to keep it

b. it’s a revelation we are to take to heart

1) it’s a revelation meant to inspire us as well as to instruct us

2) it’s a revelation meant to encourage us not to frighten us

3) it’s a revelation meant to inform us, not to fluster us

2. so how does the believer keep the words of this prophecy?

a. the key word is desiring — there are things in Revelation that the believer is encouraged to desire above other things

A. We Live Expectantly BY DESIRING HEAVEN

ILLUS. Last Sunday I quoted several passages from John Bunyan’s book The Pilgrims’ Progress. Toward the end of the book, as Christian, the story’s chief character, catches a glimpse of the New Jerusalem, Bunyan writes, “it made Christian sick with desire.”

1. is Heaven something you think about? ... is it the place you long for? ... do you understand that this world is not your home?

2. do you desire the things of this world less and less, and the things of the kingdom more and more?

B. We Live Expectantly BY DESIRING HOLINESS

1. in his second letter to the churches, the Apostle Peter reminds them of the coming of the Lord, and the end of the world as they know it, and the new heaven and earth to come

a. he then asks a rhetorical question to which he immediately supplies the answer

“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives” (2 Peter 3:11, NIV84)

b. the apostle Paul exhorts us to be “children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Phil. 2:15).

2. as we wait for the eschaton, we are to live for Jesus

a. we are to allow the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God conform us ever more into the image of Christ

C. We Live Expectantly BY DESIRING THE VINDICATION OF GOD’S TRUTH

ILLUS. Just this last week Oliver Thomas, a Baptist minister, constitutional lawyer, and noted author wrote an editorial for USA Today. Thomas opened his editorial saying, “A sad thing is happening in America. The church is killing itself.” It becomes obvious later in the piece that he’s talking primarily about Evangelical churches. The reason they are dying, according to Thomas, is that we believe the Bible too much. He therefore encourages us to jettison belief in Biblical inerrency. He writes, “Churches will continue hemorrhaging members until we face the truth. Being a faithful Christian does not mean accepting everything the bible teaches.” Reason, and personal experience contradict scripture.

1. he bluntly says, “The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures were written by men, and those men made mistakes”

a. he concludes by telling us that it is simply misguided for believers to accept everything the bible teaches — especially about human sexuality and gender issues

1) the unstated implication is that it takes really smart guys like himself to point out to us neophytes what is true in the pages of the bible, and what ain’t

2. when the Apostle John claims that the Book of Revelation is trustworthy and true, he is echoing the uniform teaching of the Bible about itself

a. at the eschaton God will vindicate His truth about all things

D. We Live Expectantly BY DESIRING OUR ETERNAL REWARDS

1. contrary to a popular mega-church pastor and TV preacher, your best life is not now on this earth, but future with God in a new heaven and new earth

“ ... as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV84)

2. our greatest reward, of course, is eternal life

3. but there is so much more

a. if you go back and read the letters to the seven churches of Asia, you see some of the blessings we will enjoy with Christ, first in his millennial kingdom, and then in eternity.

“ ... To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7, NIV) — Ephesus

“ ... The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (Revelation 2:11, NIV) — Smyrna

“ ... To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17, NIV) — Pergamum

“To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations ... I will also give that one the morning star.” (Revelation 2:26–28, NIV) — Thyatira

“The one who is victorious will ... be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” (Revelation 3:5, NIV) — Sardis

“The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.” (Revelation 3:12, NIV) — Philadelphia

“To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21, NIV) — Laodicea

E. We Live Expectantly BY DESIRING GOD’S WILL ON EARTH TO BE PERFECTLY ACCOMPLISHED AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

1. this is what the church has prayed for for 2,000 years

... as You Wait for the Eschaton Live Expectantly

III. As You Wait for the Eschaton WORSHIP PASSIONATELY

“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. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”” (Revelation 22:8–9, NIV)

1. John is so awestruck by what he has experienced that he falls at the feet of his angel-guide in worship

a. the angel has to quickly correct the Apostle claiming that he is merely fellow servant

2. he then exclaims, worship God!

A. THE SAINTS IN GLORY WILL SPEND ETERNITY WORSHIPING GOD

“the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:10–11, NIV84)

ILLUS. One of the older confessions of faith still in use by many congregations is the Westminster Confession of 1646. You might call it the great, great grandfather of Baptist Confessions — including ours. To teach the confession to congregations, the Westminster Catechism was developed. Some of you who grew up in a more liturgical denomination know that Catechisms are question/answer dialogues used to teach the basics of the Christian faith. In the Westminster Catechism, the very first question is: What is the chief end of man? The answer is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever.”

1. this is the great truth of Revelation

a. this is the purpose for which mankind was created, and the reason why God redeems those who come to Him by faith

1) "Your chief end is to glorify God, and enjoy him forever."

2. the worship taking place in the heavenlies reminds us that worship is not about us

a. it is not for our benefit

ILLUS. Early in his career, Matt Redman, a popular Christian musician in Britain, was singing with his church’s praise band. Their music was one of the highlights of the weekly worship. One day the church ’s pastor came to them saying that the praise band members had become proud of their performance, and that they were neglecting true worship. Insulted by the charge, the members of the band left the church — all except for Matt Redman. He did some soul-searching, realized his pastor was right, which led him to write the song The Heart of Worship. The lyrics read, When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart… / I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus.

b. the intent of worship is for God to receive glory and honor because He — and He alone — is worthy

c. this is the heart of worship

3. this is why believers need to worship now, in this world — it is practice for eternity

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25, NIV84)

... As You Wait for the Eschaton Worship Passionately

So here’s the question, When eternity comes, where will you find yourself? Will you be part of that great throng of saints, dressed in white, laying your crown at the feet of God in worship and adoration for all eternity? Or will you be one of those cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?

Related Media

Related Sermons