Revelation 22

Prayer:

Last week we prayed for back to school

Teachers and students

This week I want to pray another time but it is both as a reminder to parents that it is incumbent on us to pray for our children, grandparents…to pray for your grandchildren. So I want to pray for our kids

Every day for school you send your kids off for 8 hours and I just want to pray for their safety as we live in an increasingly wild world

English Standard Version Chapter 49

25  For thus says the LORD:

“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,

and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,

for I will contend with those who contend with you,

and I will save your children.

Intro

It has been about 26 weeks since we have started the journey on the Book of Revelation. that is over half a year

It has certainly been a journey and it is my hope that in this time, those of you who have stuck around have experienced Jesus in a whole new way.

Not only is he the one who was slain and rose again

But he is the one who will deal with all un-repentant sin

He is the judge over the nations,

he is the one who shows up and wins the final battle just by being present.

He is the ultimate faithful witness

He is the one who was, who is and who is to come

If you’re new with us, let me just give you a really small recap…:

chapters 4-5 Jesus gets handed a scroll…It is “God’s will on earth as it is in heaven” it is the totality of human history…

and then after chapter 5 we see this crazy unveiling of God’s plan…

The nations, specifically Babylon do not repent…God sends witnesses…God seals his people…God even sends plagues but they still do not repent…People still go after Babylon…They go after the evil!

So eventually God shows up because a battle is brewing between good and evil

and when Jesus shows up on a white horse, there isn’t even a fight. Evil and its minions are defeated…They are judged and thrown into the lake of fire

This leaves room now for the new creation.

Last week we looked at Revelation 21 where a new Jerusalem comes out of heaven and it takes up every inch of the new creation. Something we didn’t really look at was the wall size but what it was saying in chapter 21 with the wall of the temple is that this is a supernaturally large temple and new creation and it really wanted to make the point that in the new creation, the joy and worship of Jesus is central.

No more even hint of evil or hurt.

So lets get into Revelation 22

Revelation 22 ESV

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 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 brothers 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.” “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things 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 the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Water of life vs the cup of the whore of Babylon

One of the things that we see immediately in chapter 22 is this vision of the water of life…There is this water that flows from the throne of God…and it creates a river which has the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations…

And I wish we had time to read it and get in depth but make a note to read Ezekiel 47 today when you go home and compare it to chapter 22:1-5…

See Ezekiel 47 is a powerful image to John…It is used in Revelation many times but also in the Gospel of John.

It is this water that comes from the temple and it trickles at first and then it turns into a raging river teaming and flowing with life...

trees grow that produce fruit in and out of season…

And what John is envisioning here is that this is a new garden of Eden.

A new paradise. The Bible starts with a Paradise lost and it ends with a Paradise found.

But the door to that paradise is the blood of Jesus.

See for John this is the stream of life that is available to all people who are shaped by the lamb…

Years earlier when John was writing his gospel, he recorded an event,

It was Jesus and a woman had at a well, and Jesus told her that he could give her living water!

The water of life!

Later in the book of John, Jesus said that whoever believes in him will have rivers of living water coming out of them.

I want you to pay attention to what Jesus says here because it matters.

He is at the feast of tabernacles and every day the feast of tabernacles gains in importance…

So Jesus goes down to where they are reenacting Ezekiel 47…Or the picture of the river of life flowing from the temple and this is what happens:

John 7:37–38 (ESV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

I imagine the religious elite stopping in their tracks when Jesus does this.

This must have been so shocking, especially since in the ceremony of the tabernacles they sing selected Psalms and other verses from the prophets and one of the verses they sing is this

Isaiah 12:3 ESV

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

So remember as they are pouring water down from the temple, praying for that future day when Ezekiel 47 would be a reality

There is something we miss in the english translation of Isaiah 12:3

Isaiah 12:3 ESV

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

in Hebrew

Salvation is the word

Yeshuw’ah =Salvation

Does anyone know the name of Jesus in Hebrew?

Yeshua=Jesus

What they would have called him?

Yes! Yeshua…

So imagine with me for a second you are at the alter, water is being poured out and the priest says:

With joy you will draw water from the wells of Yeshua!

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Jesus is saying I am your salvation….

And now we come to Revelation 22 where we see the water of life coming from the life of God

and we have to remember that this is a book of Contrasts.

Just a few chapters ago we saw this woman called the whore of Babylon sitting on a dragon offering the world the “maddening wine of her adulteries”

I think Revelation 22 is ending and reminding us

Which ever cup we choose to drink from will shape us deeply

What cup will we drink from?

Will it be from the river in the new Jerusalem or will it be from the cup of Babylon?

Will it be the cup of the dragon or the lamb?

Where the cup of Babylon brings plagues and death, Take your drinks from the lamb!

The cup you drink from shapes you

Drink from the water of life, don’t buy the lie of Babylon!

So, at the close of this most remarkable book, we have this invitation…To the living water… But if you’ve been paying attention…It’s also a reminder!

Don’t buy the lies of Babylon!

This has been such a huge theme in this book…So church help me out…

Make my years’ worth of study and 26 week’s worth of intense study and writing worth something…

Be the people who can identify the lies of Babylon…The false “Justice” The false “hope” that Babylon always offers her people…

Don’t buy into the lies, but be sold out to the truth!

The Archetype

After this John reminds the church of what he said in the very beginning….he Says “Look, I am coming soon!

In biblical studies, an Inclusio is a literary device based on a concentric principle, which consists placing similar material at the beginning and end of a section…

For example, the book of Luke Chapter 2, Jesus’ birth is met with “Great Joy” and in Chapter 24, after his resurrection Luke says that the disciples had “Great Joy”

It’s not a coincidence

Luke wants you to know that the gospel is not just a story, but the source of Great Joy for all the earth…

John does this on Revelation as well

Inclusio #1

The Time is Near

Revelation 1:3 (ESV)

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Revelation 22:10 (ESV)

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.

All of revelation is supposed to be thought of within the context of “the time is near”

No one knows when that time will be…

But also…One of the things that we learned in revelation is that Jesus in a sense is always coming, when his church acts like him…

We are supposed to be his presence in this world…Why? Because we are marked by the lamb, in chapter ten we are reminded that we are a people who eat the scroll and in chapter 11, the church wears sackcloth…The church is repentant and is the light of the world! That’s when John sees the church having the most powerful impact

The time is near when:

When we are marked by him: (Ch7) In other words, Jesus is the source of our identity…

I think one of the core messages of this book is what you place at the center of your life will eventually mark your life…And anything other than Jesus will be incomplete…

So the time is near. Is your life marked by Jesus?

When we eat his word: (Ch10)

Revelation reminds us that the church is powerful when we don’t just know the message but when our lives are so marked by him that we become the message of God. You intrinsically know this.

We all are searching for something true and authentic in life, and what could be more powerful than a teenage couple saying, we believe in Jesus…we will not have sex until marriage…

What can be more powerful than someone forgiving another person in the name of Jesus?

Friends, knowing this word is great, but letting it in and transforming you is where it’s at!That is God’s desire for scripture!

So the time is near. Have you embodied the message of Jesus?

When we witness to the world (Ch 11)

Chapter 11 reminds us that the church is the light…it is the olive trees, we stand firm…and it wears sackcloth…In revelation where we have seen the most people powerfully put their faith in Jesus is when

The people of the lamb, who are marked and shaped by the lamb, become the message and step out and witness to the world!

The time is near: Is your life a faithful witness?

So, Jesus is coming soon. The time is near. He will one day return in the body, the day and the hour is unknown…

But Jesus can come in your life too!

Wherever you are at…Because you are marked, you are the message and your called to be a witness!

And not only all of that…It is your destiny!

You were literally created for this! And that is what this next Inclusio points at!

Inclusio #2

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End

Revelation 1:8 (ESV)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 21:6 (ESV)

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Revelation 22:13 (ESV)

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

You were modeled after Jesus…And let me just prove that point to you…

Three ways Jesus speaks of himself and their significance

I am the alpha and omega

I am the first and the last

I am the beginning and the end

In English it appears as if this is a repeat of the same truth three different times.

The last line actually has a far deeper significance than the first two.

Alpha & Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet

But in Greek the word “beginning” is arche, which in English is where we get the words archetype or architecture

Saying I am the beginning or arche is actually a radical claim, it means everything has its source in Jesus. It means that everything is stamped with the character of Jesus.

The arche is what flows from the throne….The living water

I am the end in Greek is Telos. The word telos in Greek means more than just the end of a series it means the inherent destiny of a series.

The telos of an acorn is to become an oak tree. The telos of all of humanity is to be like the archetype, Jesus. Every person on this planet owes their existence to Jesus and can find their pattern for living in Jesus Christ. This means that ultimately Jesus is inescapable. It does not mean his grace is irresistible, it simply means we will eventually all have to face the great unseen reality of the present, which is Jesus’ reign and dominion over everything.

So what Jesus is saying, is I am the archetype! I am your blueprint…Your most inherent destiny is to become like me!

Jesus is our blueprint for life

This is what Genesis 1:27 tells us

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

See what Jesus is trying to do for the church is remind them of their identity that can only be found in him…

Identity is powerful…Don’t buy into the lie of the parody Babylon! Don’t follow the dragon! Don’t be stamped with the identity of the beast on your forehead!

Church, Jesus is the archetype…The one whom your life ought to reflect…

Don’t buy into the lie…Don’t let Babylon shape your identity…Because you will eventually act in obedience to it…

I love the way that Jesus end his statement in Revelation 22…

So, Jesus is the living water…

Jesus is Coming soon

He is the beginning and the end…

But one last thing that we learn about Jesus is that he is the Bright Morning Star…

Revelation 22:16b

I am the root of the offspring of David, the bright Morning Star

“The morning star often appears between two and three at night, when the darkness is complete, and the faintest sign of morning is not yet visible. So small that it threatens to vanish, the star seems unable vanquish over the overpowering darkness. Yet when you see the morning star you know the night has been defeated. For the morning star pulls the morning in behind it, just as certainly as Jesus pulls the kingdom behind him.” –Bob Goudzwaard

Why use the analogy of the morning star? It shows a holding pattern, in God’s great compassion he is waiting for more people to come to the arche and telos before he comes.

Also, the “morning star” reference should lead us to the conclusion that the time is always near. If this is true, then how should we live?

1. We must resist the agenda of the night. Doesn’t it make sense that if the night (sin and death) is defeated, then why try and keep up with the night?

2. We must embrace the agenda of the day (light)

Romans 13:11–14 ESV

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

We must enter the dark of night with the light of day: Knowing that the time is near does not warrant us to hide, rather since we know who wins we ought to fearlessly go into the night with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the bright Morning star…In somewhat of a holding pattern….Just waiting to pull in the kingdom with him.

As Revelation is getting so close to finishing we find this verse that is just so beautiful it is an invitation

Revelation 22:17 ESV

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

It is an invitation from the Spirit of God to say come and drink from the water of life

It is free

It is a gift from Jesus to you that you can experience his grace!

Come!

And then it says, Let the one who hears say “come”

In other words…If you have drank deeply from the water of God then you are the one who hears and now your job is to say come

You get to lead others to the water!

The gift of grace is free and if I have recieved it then my life becomes the invitaton to others

This verse is playing off of the new creation hope in Isaiah 55:1

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

I love that revelation ends with an invitation…

Come to Jesus he will sustain you!

The book also ends with a promise…

Jesus says

Revelation 22:20 ESV

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

“Yes, I am coming soon.”

And the church responds…

Amen, Come lord Jesus

I want to suggest that this be our prayer…not just right now…not in a week from now, but with every breath we take…

Come Lord Jesus and pull the light in with you

Come Lord Jesus and lead the church into the darkest parts of the world

Come Lord Jesus and heal the sick and dying

Come Lord Jesus and make right all that is wrong in this world

Come Lord Jesus and make me a light for you.

Come Lord Jesus and lead me to the places where I don’t want to go.

Come Lord Jesus and mark me with your love and your spirit

Come Lord Jesus into the dark parts of my life…

Come Lord Jesus and help me to become your message

Come Lord Jesus and embolden me to be your witness

Come Lord Jesus and use this church to point to the living water

Come Lord Jesus and use this church to proclaim that you are coming soon

Come Lord Jesus and use this church for global and local impact

Come Lord Jesus into my marriage

Come Lord Jesus into my relationship with my kids

Come Lord Jesus into my business practices

Come Lord Jesus into my every thought

Come Lord Jesus, Come

Response: Prayer

I thought the best way for us to end this series was to pray.

Area 1: Prayer today for All who are thirsty & Hungry:

-Maybe you need to draw on the waters of salvation

-Maybe you have been getting your nourshment elsewhere other than from Jesus

Prayer of Blessing for those who have someone that they want to invite

-Maybe you just want to be a witness for Jesus and you want someone to pray over you

Maybe you are here and you just want to pray, “come Lord Jesus Come!

Amen!