REVELATION 22 FINISH WELL2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 22 Finish Well

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as we look at Revelation chapter 22 this evening, I've titled the message, Finish Well.

finish well. And it's a little bit of a double meaning because, of course, chapter 22 is the last chapter of Revelation. It's the last chapter of the whole Bible. And so it brings us to completion of the Bible in three years. It brings us to completion of the book of Revelation. But it also calls us to look ahead at the completion of this life and

And it encourages us, the Lord really through this calls us to finish this life well. And so I want to encourage you this evening to finish well. As we come to the end of this chapter, the end of this book, the end of the scriptures, it's time for us to consider and it's the opportunity for us to consider how we can finish well. And there's five things we'll consider here in Revelation chapter 22 to help us finish well.

Well, the first one is going to be found here in these first five verses, what we just read a few moments ago. Here's point number one this evening. Look forward to eternity. Look forward to eternity. Looking again at verse one, it says, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Here as we pick up in Revelation chapter 22, it really is the continuation of chapter 21, where God is describing what to expect in eternity. And he talks about a new heaven and a new earth, for the old things have passed away and behold, all things have become new. And so there is going to be this great renewal that will take place for eternity, and

But in addition to the new heaven and new earth, which maybe we can kind of relate to as our current understanding of heaven and earth, right? But there will be this new heaven and new earth, and along with that, the new Jerusalem. And the new Jerusalem is not just, you know, a city rebuilt on the physical location of Jerusalem now, but chapter 21 describes this

City of Jerusalem is probably a cube. It could be a pyramid, but 1,400 miles wide on each side, 1,400 miles high. It descends from heaven, and it's not clear if it sets foot

on earth and is placed on earth or kind of is hovering above the earth. We don't really know for sure based on the description here, but there is this new Jerusalem, which is glorious. And that's where, when we talk about the streets of gold, that's found here in the new Jerusalem. It describes this brilliant light, which is the glory of God. It describes these beautiful colors of

that are kind of resonating all throughout the city. And now that kind of leads us into chapter 22. And now we see, in addition to all of that, there is this river of the water of life. There's this river in eternity. And it's interesting to consider these things because, well, it's kind of hard for us to imagine what it is that we're being described here, what it is that John is describing to us.

And I would kind of call back to what Pastor David Guzik said, and I shared that on Sunday, that as we look at these things here in the book of Revelation, it's good to understand them as poetic things,

but real. And so there is a reality to the things that are being shared, but it's also poetic language. And so we can kind of imagine it and kind of picture it. But at the same time, we can't really grasp the reality of what it will be. And that's really how it always is when it comes to prophecy.

That many times there is this vagueness that is a result of us not being able to understand the things that are being talked about. And what's amazing about the Lord is when he gives prophecy and then the prophecy is fulfilled and you look back and you can see, oh, that's what it meant. And then all of those details fit together.

And it wouldn't have been what we would have imagined before it happening, but after it happens, we can see how the Lord really knows all things and is bringing all things together according to his purposes. And so there is going to be this river of the water of life. And some other things too that we'll see here in these first few verses. There's so much in eternity for us to look forward to.

And we do look forward to eternity so much. At the same time, this kind of highlights the reality that we know so little about it. That although we look forward to eternity and that's the good and right thing, the Lord has not really brought a lot of detail about what eternity will be like. And a lot of detail about, you know, what we'll be engaged in and how things will be happening.

The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9 says this, It is written, I have not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.

As we think about eternity and these things that are prophesied here in Revelation chapter 22, it's important to understand there's a reality to them. These are real things that God is going to accomplish. But at the same time, the reality is going to be well beyond what we could think, what we could imagine, what we could come up with in our minds and our ideas. The things that God has prepared for us

It's never even entered our hearts. Our eyes have never seen what it is that God has prepared. We've never heard anything like what God has prepared for us.

In 2 Corinthians 12, as Paul is relating his occasion of being caught up into paradise, getting a glimpse of heaven, he says essentially it would be a crime for me to try to describe the things that I heard when I was there with that glimpse of heaven because it was so far superior to what I would be able to communicate.

Or another verse that we're familiar with is Ephesians chapter 3 verse 20 and 21. To him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. And so as we think about eternity, we need to understand we're not going to get all of the details of what it is that it will be. We get some glimpses. We get this sneak preview.

Back in 2017, the last time we were going through the Bible in three years when we were in Revelation on Sunday mornings, I taught a message here from Revelation chapter 22, verses one through five called a sneak preview of eternal life, looking at these verses. And so I wanna kind of recap that message from a few years ago and just consider the things that God has for us here, not so much in a detail, here's exactly what it's gonna look like,

but more an impact and how it's going to be for us. And so here's the layout of that message. It's a sneak preview of eternal life.

The first point to consider is it's a life of unlimited refreshment. This river of life pictures for us eternity that is filled with unlimited. As the river continues to flow and continues to flow, it pictures that refreshment that we will have there in eternity in the presence of God. We all know what it's like to thirst.

We know what it's like to, you know, experience the refreshment of when that thirst is quenched, when that thirst is finally resolved as we get to drink a glass of water. In eternity, we will be experiencing that kind of refreshment. We will not be in a place of unfulfillment or unsatisfied. Our thirst is

For the things of the Lord cannot be understated. You think about Solomon in writing the book of Ecclesiastes. As he tried so many ways to fulfill himself apart from God. Or Jesus addressed the woman at the well.

And as he addressed the woman at the well, he was saying, look, you've been in all of these different relationships. None of them have fulfilled you. You're with a new guy now. You're not married to him. And you're still in this place of not being fulfilled. We know what that's like. But Jesus said, he said it to the woman at the well in John chapter 4. He said it to all people in John chapter 7. Hey, if you drink the water that I give you, you will never thirst again.

again. Here, as we see this water of life in eternity, I think we see the fulfillment of this promise from the Lord. We get a taste of it now in Jesus and in our relationship with the Lord, but in eternity, we get the ultimate fulfillment. We will never thirst again. And so we can look forward to a life of unlimited refreshment.

Well, also looking at verse 2 now, the second point from that message was a life of satisfying variety. And I think this is important to consider because, well, it is hard for us to imagine heaven. It's hard for us to imagine eternity. We're so bound up in time. We're so used to time. It's all we've ever known. The idea of endless time is

it's hard for us to grasp and perhaps even sounds dull or boring, right? You know, it's like, how long can we do whatever it is that we're imagining ourselves doing in heaven without it becoming uninteresting or boring or dull? Anything that I can come up with in my mind seems like it would get old after a few billion years, but heaven is not going to be dull.

It's not going to be boring. Here in verse 2, it says, And so here we have pictured this tree of life. Now again, it's very likely that there is going to be an actual tree that is the tree of life.

probably, you know, related to the garden back in Genesis and the tree of life that is there. But at the same time, it's going to be different than we could imagine or think. And taking away from, you know, the figuring out of, okay, what exactly is this and how is that going to work? And, you know, is it necessary? And are we going to, you know, literally eat this fruit? Do we have to eat this fruit? Like, there's all those things we can wrestle with. But what I find interesting about this is that every month, right,

There's a new crop. And so we have in eternity the record of time. It's not timelessness. There's the record of time. There's new seasons that are coming in every month. There's going to be new fruit. There's going to be different fruit. There's going to be variety. And it's going to be satisfying. Like

Like a great piece of fruit, right? Can you imagine if you enjoy fruit here, what it's going to be like in eternity? It's going to be enjoyable and satisfying. And it's going to be changing season by season each month. It's not going to be boring and lifeless and dull. And, you know, we already got through that. And so I don't want to experience that anymore. I'm tired of that.

No, it's going to be fresh and satisfying. Well, looking at verses 3 through 5, we get the third point from that message, and that is a life of blessing in God's presence. In verse 3, he says, There's going to be no more curse. Now, just previous to this is the thousand-year reign of Christ.

the millennial kingdom. And what's interesting about that is, in that case, there is still going to be a curse. Even though Christ is reigning and the earth is renewed and there's all this blessing that happens, there's still going to be a curse. But now, as there's a new heaven and a new earth, and the new Jerusalem that descends, now in eternity, there is no more curse. And so there are some things that aren't in heaven, no longer the curse of sin.

no longer the curse of pain, no longer the curse of bills or agony or sorrow. There's all of these things that will be removed that were attached to the curse from the fall back in Genesis chapter 3. And in place of the curse...

is going to be the presence of God. Notice how it's worded here in verse 3. There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it. In place of the curse, there will be the blessing of God's presence.

There will be the blessing of the throne of God and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, the Father and the Son. There in eternity, access to the Father, access to the Son. It tells us in verse 4, they shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. It speaks of this close and personal relationship to God and this real access to God, this real connection to God.

The idea of the name being upon our foreheads is that connection, that we're attached to him, we are his, and we will be there with him face to face. And so there's going to be this presence of God like we've never experienced this side of eternity. And the presence of God that will not be experienced in the millennial kingdom. It's going to be a presence of God that will only be experienced in eternity.

Verse five is interesting. It says, there shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever. There's no artificial light in heaven. And it's kind of weird for us to think about it this way, but even the sun is artificial light because the true light is God. And wherever you go in eternity, wherever you are, there's no need for artificial light because the glory of the Lord is there.

You will be so immersed in the presence of God that anywhere you are in eternity and for all of eternity, you will have the light of his glory with you because you will be in his presence. A life of blessing in God's presence is something to look forward to. Along with that, the fourth point that I shared back then is a life of service and purpose.

Again, this life that we can look forward to in eternity, this eternal life that God has promised to us, it's not just endless time that, you know, ends up being dull or, you know, something to dread. No, but this life that God has promised to us is going to be filled with meaningful service unto the Lord. Again, looking at verse 3, it says, "...there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God."

And of the lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. Here we see there will be the service unto the Lord. And if you are not familiar with, and if you don't have experience in serving the Lord,

And man, there's a great joy and there's a great blessing that you experience in serving the Lord, in watching God work through you, doing things that you know that you can't do, right? But you see God's work in your life and through your life and oh, what a great blessing it is. And yet at the same time, the way that we have the ability to serve the Lord in this life is limited, right?

greatly because of our weakness and because of our capacity for sin and because of, you know, the limit of our understanding and the limit of our connection to the Lord, our hearing from the Lord. But there in eternity, we will be able to serve the Lord to a greater capacity than we understand today. His servants shall serve him. It's going to be service without the burden of

without the stress, without the anxiety, without, you know, all of that kind of drama and weight. It's going to be service that is just such a great joy and pleasure to do for the Lord. It'll be meaningful. It'll be joyful. It'll be fulfilling. In verse 5, it says, again, there shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

This service unto the Lord involves reigning with him forever and ever. Now, when we think of reigning, we think of, okay, well, who are we reigning over, right? I want to be in charge, but, you know, who am I in charge of? Again, these are some of the things that we don't know about eternity. What does it mean that we will reign with him forever and ever? We don't fully know.

But what we do know is that when these things are fulfilled, we'll look back and say, that was the exact right way to describe what it is that we're doing here. We're reigning with the Lord forever and ever. It's meaningful. It's valuable. It's exciting. It's a life of purpose that we get to look forward to.

And so look forward to eternity. Here in verse five, we get that final glimpse of eternity as he begins the description in chapter 21, but now wraps it up in chapter 22. He gives us these great things to look forward to, these great truths that we can understand. There's going to be for us a life of unlimited refreshment, a life of satisfying variety, a life of blessing in God's presence, and a life of service.

and purpose. Look forward to eternity. Well, before we move on into the next verses, I want to share a quick quote from H.A. Ironside, and I got to bring it up here on my screen. H.A. Ironside says this in thinking about eternity. He says,

The day will bring the glad fruition of all our hopes. We're living in this world in this time, and it's appropriate to consider that as the nights of darkness. And the anguish of God's people is remarkable. We've known much anguish, much darkness, much hardship, much sorrow. He says the night is a time of mystery.

There's a lot of mysteries, right? A lot of things that we wish we knew. Why did God allow this? Why did God do this? Why is this happening? Why me? All of these mysteries that we have that are bound up in this life. Unfulfilled desires. Absolutely, we experience that in this life. But that's all attached to this life, this earth, these bodies affected by sin.

But the day, the day is coming. Eternity is coming. And it will bring a glad fruition or fulfillment of all of our hopes. All of those things will be reversed. And all of those mysteries will be solved. All of those questions answered. And all of that suffering will be proven to have been worth it as God brings us into eternity. There's a blessed life to look forward to.

And so we can be excited about these things that are to come, even if we don't understand all the details, even if we can't grasp exactly what it is that's being described. And, you know, there's a tree there. Why is that good? I may not understand it, but I can look forward to it because God is faithful to his promises. And I can look forward to the fulfillment of all of those things in eternity.

Well, we're going to move on now to verses 6 through 11 for point number two this evening. And that is, know the things that will take place. Listen, the Lord wants you to know the things that will take place. He wants you to know and to understand the things that are about to happen. Check out verse 6 and 7 with me. Here in Revelation chapter 22, verse 6, it says, Then he said to me, these words are faithful and true.

Here, the Lord tells us that he wants us to know the things that will take place. He sent his angel, he says.

to John. Remember, John here is experiencing this revelation from God. And there's this angel here that's kind of showing him around and taking him through all of these events that are transpiring in this vision. God says, look, I did all of this. I put all this together. I had John record this and

I kept this vision intact for you for the past 2,000 years so that you would know the things which must shortly take place. God wants you to know the things that are going to happen. At the beginning of verse 6, he says, these words are faithful and true.

And that's an important aspect to consider here because, well, of course, the book of Revelation includes things that are really hard for us to imagine actually happening. And there have been many people throughout the years who have tried to dismiss or maybe kind of change the message of the book of Revelation by making it symbolic rather than real. But the Lord says these words are faithful and true. Yes, it is poetic, but it's real.

These are real events that are going to take place. There are realities represented here that are important for us to understand. These words are faithful and true. You can count on them. You can build your whole life upon them. You can rest your eternity upon these words. They are trustworthy words. They're faithful and true. And the Lord sent his angel to

to bring forth this message to you so that you could understand the things which must shortly take place. Well, what are those things that must shortly take place? Without getting into all of the details, here's a quick rundown of the things which must shortly take place. The rapture of the church.

That occasion, that time where the Lord comes not to the earth, but he comes into the air in the clouds, and the church, the body of Christ, is caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And we'll talk about that a little bit more as we look back at the book of Revelation in the coming weeks. The rapture of the church is something which must shortly take place. And then the seven years of tribulation.

And again, we looked at that pretty briefly, but a little bit in detail on Sunday in the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, as the wrath of God is being poured out upon the earth. At the end of that tribulation period, there is the battle of Armageddon as the armies are gathered together. And then you have the next thing, and that is the return of Jesus. This time he actually comes and sets foot upon the earth.

But as he comes, this is the second coming of Jesus, the armies turn to fight against Jesus. And he, because he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he wipes out those enemies, those armies, and has victory that day as he sets foot on the Mount of Olives. Well, then he establishes a 1,000-year reign. Again, we call it the millennium.

This is something which must shortly take place, where Jesus rules and reigns here upon the earth for a thousand years. During that time, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit. He'll be unable to affect mankind any longer, unable to wreak havoc. And the Lord will be reigning. The saints will be reigning with him. There will be those who survive the tribulation who go in and populate the millennium.

And so they will grow up and for a thousand years, they will live their lives and probably a little bit different lives than what we know today, but maybe not that different than what we know today at the same time. And the Lord will be ruling and reigning and Satan will be released at the end of that thousand year period to give people one last chance to rebel against God. And there will be those who make that choice. And they rebel against the Lord one final time and he defeats that rebellion and

And then comes the great white throne judgment. This is the final judgment. No more opportunities, no more chances. Whoever is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire along with Satan, along with the beast and the false prophet, along with the fallen angels who have turned away from the Lord. There will be this eternal judgment that will take place at the great white throne.

And then comes the new Jerusalem, the new heavens, the new earth, and all of eternity that spans after that. To look at those same things, but just more in a timeline view, if that helps you.

I just realized the screen's black, so you can't see me, but there you are. You can see the timeline. All right, so there's the church age, which we'll look at in Revelation chapters one through four. That's what we're living in now. You are there right now in the church age. We're looking forward again to the rapture of the church, which will conclude that church age, and God will set his eyes back on Israel for a season in leading them through the tribulation period and on into the millennium.

and then into eternity. And so this is what we'll be looking at. Again, coming back to consider over the next few weeks in a little bit more detail as we work our way through the book of Revelation. But going back to the point here, the Lord wants you to know these things. He wants you to know about the rapture.

He wants you to know about and to consider the things that are to come. He wants you to know about the tribulation period and the millennial kingdom, that final rebellion. He wants you to know about these things. He arranged this whole situation and gave this vision to John and had it recorded for you so that you could know these things, know these things which must take place. Well, verse 7, he goes on to say,

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Jesus says, hey, behold, pay attention. I'm coming back. This is for real. And so blessed are you if you keep the words of this prophecy. Blessed are you if you hold fast to these things and take these things to heart and let them impact the way that you live and the life that you have.

Now, verse 8 and 9 give us a little bit of a parenthetic thought as John describes his experience. It says,

Here, John, in amazement of the things that he is seeing in this vision, falls down before this angel. And the angel says, look, I'm just a servant just like you. You make sure that you worship God. All of these things that God has in store are amazing. Don't give anybody else the credit. Don't kneel before anyone else. Understand we are to have our hearts set upon the Lord and worship God.

Verse 10 is interesting, though. He says, and he said to me, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. And so he says, look, don't worship me. I'm just a servant. Worship God. But here's what you need to know. Don't seal up this book. Don't seal up the words of this prophecy. The time is at hand. Again, the Lord is coming back soon. Now, this is remarkable. It stands in contrast to the vision that was given to Daniel earlier.

In the book of Daniel chapter 12 verse 4, Daniel's given a different exhortation. There the Lord tells him, Daniel, you don't understand these things.

Nobody around you is going to understand these things. Seal the words of this book, the Lord tells him. It's not time for these things to be understood. This is for a later time, Daniel, that you're not going to see. It's recorded through Daniel for those who will experience those things. But Daniel, seal up the book. It's not for you. It's not for this time. The book of Revelation, though, is different. Even though it's been 2,000 years since John wrote these things and saw this vision, it's

The Lord says it's for this time. It's for right now. It's not sealed. It's not for later. It's not for, you know, another time, a different people. This is for you. I want you to know these things. I want you to understand the things that are to come. There were many things in the book of Daniel that confused scholars and made no sense. But later on, as history progressed, they began to make more sense.

And there became an opening of the book in a way that wasn't seen before. There's still mysteries and we'll still continue to see those mysteries unveiled. But the book of Revelation is different. It is meant to be, well, the word revelation, it means unveiling. It's meant to be an unveiling of the things that are to come and the Lord Jesus Christ. We are living in the time of the end. We're living in these last days.

It's not sealed. It's meant for you to know, to understand. Not completely, of course, without any questions, but again, at the same time, these are things that are really going to take place. And these words are faithful and true. Verse 11 says,

here as he's addressing this shortness of time that we're coming towards the end. Know the things that are happening and this was all recorded for you. Now the individual is given the choice. You want to be unjust? Well go ahead then. You can continue to be unjust. You want to be filthy? You get to choose. Again in the coming verses he's going to say come to the water of life. The invitation is there but

If you want to continue to live that way, that's your choice. You have to make that choice. And knowing what you know here from the book of Revelation, you can make that choice if you want to. But he who is righteous, hold fast to that. Stay the course. Continue in righteousness. He who is holy, stay the course. Continue in holiness. Know the things that will take place and make your decision.

Make your decision of how you will live in light of what God has revealed. Well, continuing on in verses 12 through 17, we get the third point. The third thing for us to do to finish well, and that is to prepare for Jesus to return. Verse 12 through 14 says this, And behold, I am coming quickly. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. Here the Lord reminds us again that he is coming quickly. But with this reminder comes this promise. My reward is with me. I'm going to give to everyone according to his work.

Here the Lord is, he's saying, look, I'm coming quickly. He's also saying, be ready, be ready, be doing my work so that when I come, you may receive this reward. He's calling us to prepare for his return. I've heard Pastor Greg Laurie share many times over the years, heaven is a prepared place for prepared people.

The Lord is not just calling us to believe in eternity, to believe in heaven, but he's calling us to live now in light of that reality and that truth. I'm coming quickly. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. Jesus says, look, what you do in this life matters. What you do in this life and how you spend your time and how you spend your days really does matter.

we will be rewarded for the things that we did for God. I would ask you to consider what kind of reward do you want? Now to think about this reward, of course we want a good reward. And it wouldn't be a challenge to imagine us saying, yes, I want a good reward and I'm looking forward to that reward when Jesus returns. At the same time, I would just challenge us to consider a little bit deeper than just our initial answer to the question.

And I would ask you to consider what kind of reward are you working toward? Not just what kind of reward do you want, but what kind of reward are you working on accomplishing and receiving from the Lord? Or maybe even make it a little bit more close to home. What did you do today that you're looking forward to being rewarded for by the Lord?

What did you do today for the Lord that you're understanding, Lord, you're coming and your reward is with you and there's going to be great value in that. And so, Lord, here I am today doing this for you, looking forward to that reward in eternity. My reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. What have you done today? Again, we all want the reward, right?

It's like we all want a million dollars, but what are you doing to work for that million dollars and to make that happen, right? In a similar way, what are you doing to earn that reward from the Lord? Now, when he's talking about reward, he's not talking about salvation. You know, we're not talking about works now that you have to, you know, be saved by works. He's talking about

In light of our salvation and the grace that God has extended to us, we have the opportunity to serve him and be rewarded for the things that he set up for us and enabled us to do. And so it's a privilege to be rewarded by the Lord, but it requires us to be invested, to be involved, and to work for that reward. So I would encourage you to consider that. What are you doing to earn that reward from the Lord that you desire?

Verse 13, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. Blessed are those who do his commandments. Again, preparing for Jesus' return means that we're working towards that good reward, but it also means that we are obedient to his commands. Blessed are those who do his commandments.

Again, we're not talking about here works-based salvation. The first work of God is to believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us that in John 6, verse 29, as the people approach and say, what must we do? What's the work of God that we can do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus says, believe in the one that the Father sent. That's the first thing to do. At the same time, once you've done that,

Well, then there is the obedience to the Lord, the commandments of the Lord that we will be blessed if we do them. John chapter 14, verse 21, Jesus says something interesting. He says, He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. There is this inseparable connection between loving Jesus and

and keeping his commandments. And so blessed are those who do his commandments. Those who do his commandments are those who love Jesus. And those who love Jesus are those who do his commandments. And so first we believe in him, then we love him because of all that he has done for us, the goodness and grace. And joined together with that is the keeping of his commandments. Who wants to be blessed? Since Jesus is coming quickly with his reward, who wants to be blessed? Do his commandments.

Again, what you do in this life really matters. And so the Lord says, walk in the things that I've instructed you. You'll be blessed. And he says, you'll be able to enter through the gates into the city, the city of the new Jerusalem. You'll get to experience this eternity that we looked at in verses one through five. Obey his commandments and look forward to that eternity. But in contrast, he goes on in verse 15 to say,

But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. So the alternative to loving Jesus and obeying him is living a lifestyle of sin, living a lifestyle against God.

He lists these different types of things as an example of what that life of sin looks like. Sexual immorality and murdering and the worship of false gods and loving and practicing lies. These are things that will not be in the presence of God in eternity. Outside of the city, outside of eternity are all of these things. Prepare for Jesus to return. Don't be walking in these things.

Don't be engaged in these things. Verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Again, Jesus is saying, look, I did this. I brought forth this revelation because I want you to know these things so that you can prepare for eternity and prepare for my return. Verse 17, and the spirit and the bride say, come and let him who hears say, come and let him who thirsts come.

Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Here we have this open invitation. Jesus says, I'm coming quickly. It's not too late though for you. You still have opportunity right now. You can get ready for eternity. It's not too late to earn your reward. It's not too late to obey the Lord and experience the blessing of that now and then have that promise of blessing in eternity. Come. The Holy Spirit says, come.

The bride of Christ, the church of God says, come. It's an open invitation. Anyone who thirsts, there's gonna be a river of the water of life there. But there's also the river of life that comes from knowing the Lord now. Come and take the water of life freely. Receive from the Lord that fulfillment now.

That satisfaction that can only be filled by the Lord. Prepare for Jesus to return. Well, verse 18 and 19 now gives us the fourth point to consider. Do not change God's message. To finish well, you need to make sure that you don't change what it is that God has said. Let's read verse 18 and 19. It says this, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book,

If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. Here the Lord gives us a pretty strong warning. He says, look, I testify to everyone. You're hearing these words, you're hearing this prophecy. If you add to these things,

God will add to you the plagues of this book. Remember the seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, all of those plagues that are described. God says, you're going to experience the full judgment of God if you add to this book. If you add to the message of God that has been brought forth. But if you subtract, well, he says, if you take away from the words, then I'll take away your part in the book of life, your part in the holy city.

your part of what is written in this book of the blessings that God has in store for his people. This is a very serious warning, a pronouncement of full judgment, a pronouncement of a taking away of the blessings of God's people. We might immediately think, well, this warning is not one that I need to hear. I'm not adding on, writing extra words in the Bible, right? I'm not crossing out words in the Bible, right?

If you are, you know, maybe you better rethink that practice, right? But we can easily kind of count ourselves and think that's a warning, but not one that I need to be concerned about. I'm not teaching others and, you know, adding on to what God has said. I'm not teaching others and taking away from what God has said. Again, if you are, well, you probably want to rethink that. There's a serious warning here. But I would suggest that this message, this warning applies to every one of us as believers, right?

Regardless of whether or not you teach others, regardless of, you know, whatever authority that God has given to you, this warning applies to each of us because we live according to the message of this book. And with our lives, we proclaim the message of this book. If we've added to that message. And by our lives and with our lifestyle and with our witness to others, we behave in a way that is not consistent with what God has said.

We behave in a way that reveals that we don't really believe these things are going to be fulfilled in the way that God has said. We don't really believe eternity is real. We don't really believe revelation is real and the tribulation is real. If we've added to, oh man, there's great danger, great danger for us. It's a warning to pay attention to. If we've subtracted from it, you know, I said, I know it says this, but you know, here's what it means so that I don't have to

follow that. We don't have to comply to that. And we're taking away from the Word of God, not necessarily by scratching it out in our Bible, but by explaining it away. And we need to be very careful that we don't mess with the message of God. This is a real strong exhortation for us to make sure that we have solid doctrine, to make sure that we are familiar with the whole counsel of God's Word, to make sure that we have a firm understanding of the Scriptures.

so that we don't add to and that we don't take away from what it is that God has said. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew chapter 24 about the faithful and wise servant who he places in charge of his household to distribute the resources to the household. And blessed is that servant who his master, when he comes, he finds him fulfilling his role. But then he gives the contrast. He says, look, if that servant, he calls him an evil servant in Matthew 24 verse 48,

if he says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, if he begins to add to the message or subtract to the message of his master and say, you know what? I know he said he was coming back, but he's not coming back right now. And there's all these reasons and there's this adding and subtracting of the message of the master. Jesus says that servant will begin to beat his fellow servants, to eat and drink with drunkards.

And then the master will come at a time when the servant is not looking for him. He won't be prepared because he added to the message. He subtracted from the message. Here, this warning applies to each of us. Don't change God's message. Make sure you let the word of God impact you to the full degree that God intended. Make sure that it hits you fully, squarely, that you receive it entirely.

Well, we'll finish up in verse 20 and 21 for the fifth thing to help us finish well, and that is to eagerly expect Jesus to return. Verse 20 and 21 says this. He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Here as we wrap up in these final verses, once again,

we get this reminder that Jesus is coming quickly. He who testifies to these things. The Lord says again, I'm putting my stamp of approval on this. Behold, I am coming quickly. Surely, you can count on it. This is trustworthy. I'm coming quickly. Now, three times here in chapter 22, the Lord has told us he is coming quickly. In verse 7, he says, behold, I am coming quickly.

In verse 12, he says, and behold, I am coming quickly. And here in verse 20, he says, surely I am coming quickly. Now, how many times does Jesus have to tell us something before we believe it? Hopefully three is enough for you. If you don't get it on the first try, if you don't get it on the second try, hopefully three times in, we will believe that Jesus is coming quickly.

Now, the word quickly causes a little bit of confusion for us because, again, it's been a few thousand years since these things were written. But don't let that dishearten you or make you think that Jesus is not coming quickly. When Jesus says he is coming quickly, he's not saying I'm coming tomorrow. But the word quickly is describing how he will come.

think about it in this way, lightning strikes quickly, right? It doesn't necessarily mean that lightning is going to strike right now or tomorrow, but when lightning strikes, boom, it happens fast. This is what Jesus is saying. Look, I'm coming quickly. Behold, pay attention. This is for sure. When these things begin to unfold, it is all going to unfold very fast.

In other words, you're not going to have time later on to try to get ready. The time to get ready is right now. The time to believe these things and let them impact your life is right now. Behold, I'm coming quickly. And John here responding to this in verse 20, his heart cries out, yes, even so come Lord Jesus, make it so. Looking forward to that return. John was living with that anticipation and that excitement, eagerly expecting the return of Jesus.

looking forward to the fulfillment of all of these things, setting the example for you and for me. We need to eagerly expect Jesus to return. He finishes with grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. And how much we need the grace of God in order for us to be ready, in order for us to be prepared for eternity.

Be prepared for all that God has for us to work through and make it through. All of these things that we're walking in, we need the grace of God. And it's just as sure to us as all these other things that have been written. We receive from God his goodness, his mercy, his grace. And we can look forward to all of these things that he has promised us. Well, that brings us to the end of the book of Revelation and the end of the Bible in three years.

And as we come to a conclusion and wrap up this time and this season, I like to just take a moment and celebrate that. I like to just reflect on and consider, and not necessarily that we're going to spend a lot of time, you know, doing that in this moment, but praise the Lord. Man, for those of you who were able to join with us over the past three years, I

And maybe you're kind of already down on yourself like, well, I didn't read every day and I didn't go through the reading program. But here over the past three years, we've journeyed through the Bible together on Sundays and on Wednesdays. We've gone through the scriptures and what a great and exciting thing that is. Praise the Lord. We've worked through the whole counsel of God's word, 2018 to 2020. We've seen highs, we've seen lows, we've seen challenging times, we've seen exciting times.

And day by day, week by week, God has been speaking to us. God has been working in our lives. He's been molding us and shaping us. Praise the Lord for his good work that he accomplishes through his word. And so well done for those of you who've been with us in this journey. I encourage you to rejoice and celebrate.

Again, ending with the grace, right? The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Don't let the judgment or, you know, hey, I'm a completionist. It's like, well, look, I didn't check every box. I missed this day or I missed that day. No, no, don't let those things get you down. Just enjoy the reality and celebrate. God has done so many good things in us through his word and prepared us for eternity as we've journeyed through.

And along with that, I want to encourage you to then consider now as we head into January, join with us again. I was looking back over the past few years, the past nine years, we've been doing the Bible in three years. And so we're about to start round four. Would you join with us in round four?

Starting in 2021 and working our way through, starting in the book of Genesis and allowing the whole counsel of God's word to minister to us, to impact us, allowing the Lord to speak to us in the great variety of ways that we find in his scriptures. He has a way of meeting us right where we're at in the things that we're working through and the things that we're reading through. And how exciting it is to see that the Lord has brought us through now three times and

Genesis through Revelation, Genesis through Revelation, Genesis through Revelation. Oh, exciting things as we continue to invest our minds and our hearts in the Word of God. God wants to speak to you. He wants to reveal Himself to you. And so, consider joining us. You don't necessarily have to be perfect at it. You don't necessarily have to do it flawlessly, but consider joining with us over the next three years. Again, on Sundays and Wednesdays, we'll be working our way along with the readings and

It'll be giving God opportunity to speak to you, to solidify the things that he's sharing, to mold you and shape you and prepare you for that glorious eternity that he has in store for you. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word and how, Lord, you are able to impact our hearts and reveal yourself and minister to us and meet our needs and give us strength and heal our wounds and give us peace.

Lead us with direction, Lord, by your scriptures. They're living and powerful. Your word is able to equip us and prepare us for every good work. Lord, your word is such an important part of the work that you want to do in our lives. So we thank you for this treasure. We thank you for this gift. And I pray, God, that you would help us to continue to walk according to what you have said. Help us to learn this message and to not add to it, to not take away from it,

Lord, to allow your word to mold us and shape us, that we might be ready for the eternity that you want to blow our minds with. The glory is exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Thank you, Lord, for this journey. And thank you, Lord, that you're not done, but you have fresh insights, new things to teach us, new ways to direct us in as we continue to look forward to your return. Lead us by your spirit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.