Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

Revelation 22:8-21 December 31, 2006

“Time To Be Sure”

Rev. Meagan Boozer

“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” “See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let everyone who hears say, “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book; if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

I doubt if there are many people here (if any) who choose to read the last book of the Bible as their bedtime reading. Revelation is not the most sleep-inducing part of this holy Book. Probably the book of Psalms will lull us into the comfort and peace of sleep faster than any of the other books – and probably the book of Revelation will do just the opposite.

Revelation is full of wild images unlike anything we know here on planet earth. Many people have devoted their whole professional lives to studying single verses or single chapters of this book in an attempt to understand, interpret, and share what they believe God has revealed in this book. If you ask them, they may think they know what the white horse and the black horse represent, who all the angels are and what their messages tell us, what the dragon, the beast, and all those heads and eyes are about. But, we all have to remember that in the book of Revelation, John is describing visions and dealing with symbols. For example, the number 144,000 that we read about in chapters 7 and 14 does not mean only 144,000 people will make it to heaven. This is a symbolic number that represents the fullness or completeness of those redeemed, a "great multitude," who will have their reward in heaven and will worship and serve God before His throne.

Last week we looked at a picture from Revelation of Jesus as the victorious Lamb of God. We’re not talking about a literal lamb on a throne in heaven. We’re talking about Jesus, the Christ, who was slaughtered like a lamb on our behalf. Revelation is full of symbols to reveal to us how the final time on this old earth will bring about all things new. (See Revelation 21)

We sit on the verge of a new year. December 31st is always a time to consider where we’ve been, where we are now, where we want to be, and what kind of person we want to be. In Revelation, it is clear that throughout all of time, God sees only two kinds of people.

Those whose robes have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, and those who have not.

Those who do what the words of this book tell us to do, and those who do not.

Those who will have the right to the tree of life, and those who will not.

Those who are of holy intent, and those who are of evil intent.

As God looks upon us here this morning, just because we’re in church doesn’t mean we’re in one category or the other. And, just because there are people out there who aren’t sitting in church doesn’t mean they belong to one category or the other. On the eve of another year, it’s time to know for sure where you are standing. It’s time to be sure. Let us pray: Heavenly Father, Great God and King, Merciful and Just Judge, teach us today by your Spirit and by your Word. Reveal to us what you see when your eyes look upon us. This we pray in the strong name of Jesus, Amen.

In Revelation 22:8 & 9, I love how John describes his conversation with the angel who brought to him this ‘visual revelation’ from Jesus. John wants to pay honor to the angel for what he showed him, by worshipping him. But the angel stops and corrects him, “Don’t do that. I’m a fellow servant like you, like the prophets, and like all the others who do what this book tells them to do. Worship only One. Worship God!” I love that! Do you realize that that little conversation right there puts faithful Christians in the same category as the angels right now. (Not later after we die – but right now!) That’s something to ponder on this New Year’s Eve, isn’t it?

What about the fact that those who have received the washing of the blood of Jesus will once again have the right to the Tree of Life? This is the tree that God blocked from Adam and Eve after they sinned, after they chose to believe Satan’s fundamental lie that God did not have their interest at heart, that God wasn’t really good. That’s the big lie that Satan tries to get all humankind to believe. Since Adam and Eve chose to sin by believing this lie, no man since has had access to the Tree of Life. But, this Scripture tells us that we will one day be able to eat of this tree that represents eternal life, eternal healing, and eternal joy. Whatever hurt you have suffered, whatever pain you have borne, will be healed: the deep wound from the parent who didn’t love you; the enduring pain from the loss of your child; the guilt from the hurtful words you said and could never take back; all these wounds will be healed, never to be reopened again! “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life.”

The blessed are not every man and woman.

The blessed are not every man and woman who tries to live the right way.

The blessed are not every man and woman who is sincere.

Blessed are those who wash their robes – who choose to allow Jesus’ blood to pay the cover charge for their sins into eternity. Otherwise, we’d have to pay for our sins ourselves, and according to Scripture, we would not be eating from the Tree of Life; we would be living apart from God in eternal death and suffering. We don’t like to think about this; we don’t like to talk about it. But, this is the severity of the words in this book. We need to pay attention.

God sees two categories.

Saved and lost.

Jesus-covered, or self-covered.

Word followers, or Word defilers.

John wrote, “If anyone adds to the words of the prophecy of this book…” (v. 9), “If anyone takes from the words of the book of this prophecy…” (v. 19). These verses, as do many verses from Revelation, allude to passages from the Old Testament. These particular verses allude to Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32-13:7. I want to just look at the passage beginning in 12:32. Please listen carefully to what it means to take away or add to the words of this prophecy: “You must diligently observe everything that I command you; do not add to it or take anything from it. If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents [predictions of the future], and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, “Let us follow other gods” (whom you have not known) “and let us serve them,” you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. The LORD your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the LORD your God—who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery—to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

If anyone secretly entices you—even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend—saying, “Let us go worship other gods,” whom neither you nor your ancestors have known, any of the gods of the peoples that are around you, whether near you or far away from you, from one end of the earth to the other, you must not yield to or heed any such persons.”

To add to, or take from the words of the prophecy must mean to choose to worship something or someone other than God. We know we’re not supposed to do this. We learned it, some of us, when we learned the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. Commandment #1: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” And yet we do. We do worship the “other.” Let’s take a moment of silence – and individually ask the Lord to give us each a revelation in answer to this question: “What do I worship?”

We worship the idol of health, entertainment, comfort, career advancement, self-esteem, popularity, sexual pleasure, the idol of self-protection, the cell phone idol, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, the big screen TV idol, the new truck idol, the sports idol, the music idol, the idol of the magazine thin figure, even the idol of family. Every time we look to these things for satisfaction, every time we fail to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, every time we desire and rely on these things more than we desire and rely on God, we are allowing them to become gods in our lives. We are idolaters. We are adding to the Word. We are violating Revelation 22:18.

“Thou shall not fail to watch the Steelers.” (or whatever team is your favorite)

“Thou shall do whatever is necessary to make more money.”

“Thou shall never leave home without your cell phone.”

The Lord looks at us and says, “If you are the righteous live like the righteous!” (To be righteous means to be ‘right with God’.) In Matthew 5 we read that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled. In Matthew 7 it is not those who say, “Lord, Lord!” but those who do the will of God who will enter the kingdom of heaven. God’s people are supposed to live righteously; God’s enemies live in intentional sin. God’s people are those who come to Jesus, who heed the words that say we must repent of our sin. Psalm 51 tells us that God will not turn away from a broken and contrite heart. But please note this, it is Jesus who saves us from our sins. We cannot continue to hold onto our sins with excuses that hold no water. If we profess Jesus as Lord, but continue in intentional sin, we are like that foolish man in Matthew 7 who hears Jesus’ words but doesn’t do them. His house was built on sand, so when the storm came, his house crashed and fell.

Those who are called by God to be his people are those whose robes have been made white by Jesus. Our robes become white when we turn to him, confess our sin, repent (turn away from the sin), and trust him to help us live a holier life.

Those who do not turn to Jesus are those who are trusting in something other than the blood of the Lamb for eternal salvation. They claim that Jesus is not the only way to God, and that he is not the only way of salvation. They reject the ultimate truth. They reject their Creator. And so one day, they will pay the cover charge for their own sins. According to Scripture, the final destination will not be the same for the two groups.

Do you know your final destination for sure? After the kind of year it has been in my own life, with so many unexpected deaths, I am more aware than ever of the need to be ready to go whenever it’s time. Are you ready? I’m not asking if you want to go right now – I’m asking if you have allowed Jesus to buy you your one-way ticket to heaven? You’ll only be ready to go when you know for sure where you’re going.

In verse 17, John writes, “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” [The bride is the Church of Jesus Christ.] And let everyone who hears say, “Come.” And let everyone who is thirsty come.” Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.”

Here’s a question: Are the Spirit and the bride saying, “Come, Lord Jesus?” Or are they saying, “Sinner, come?” Throughout all of Scripture, the sinner who repents is the “one who is thirsty” and is told who come and drink. Therefore, it is most likely that all the commands to “come” in this verse are directed to the same group. If this is the case, notice what John is doing here in these last 13 verses of the Bible. First, he is reminding us that there are two types of people:

One condemned to hell, the other delighted in heaven,

One unrighteous, the other righteous,

One with robes unwashed and filthy, the other with spotless robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb.

Then, John tells us what we the Church, as the bride of Christ, must be saying and doing: We must be doing whatever we can to attract and appeal to the unsaved. We must plead with the unrighteous that they come to faith in the power of the blood of Christ. And we get to do this, bride of Christ, knowing that the Spirit himself pleads right alongside us! John 6:44 tells us, [Jesus said] “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.”

“Come! The Spirit calls! Come! We must call! Come to learn of the love of God for you! Our doors are open! Our hearts are open! We are not a closed clique of people! We are not one ethnic group, one social status gathering, one type of person – come! Hear the good news! Come! We want you to come! We want strangers to sit beside us! We want to learn your names! We want to help you learn how to pray! We want to help you learn to know your Creator! Come!”

Boy oh boy, if that’s not a challenge and a charge for us for the new year, I don’t know what is!

Jesus says to each of us, “Come to me.” (Matthew 11:28) Worship God only. Dive headfirst into a heartfelt relationship with him. Take nothing for granted except the power of his blood.

“Surely he is coming soon.”

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen, and Come, Lord Jesus!

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

12-31-2006