What We Long For
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Good morning. I am so happy that we are in the house of the lord this morning. As we come to the close of this series on Revelation I would like to say that we barely scratched the surface of this book.
I took over view look on the book because it is an important place to start. We didn’t look too deeply into any of the symbolism in the book but for good reason. Those trappings can leave us missing the over arching message of the story.
This morning though I want us to look at some of the Final words of the Message of Revelation.
It is interesting because some of the final words of any speech, story, message are the most memorable. They usually impact people the most. With that lets turn to Chapter 22 and here the Word of the Lord.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life
What a powerful image to draw on. This beautiful picture of a flowing river that is clear as crystal. Flowing through the city of New Jerusalem and there is the tree of Life in bearing its fruit.
It’s beautiful to think about. It is an image that I look forward to the day that I get to experience it.
This image comes after a most of the Book of Revelation paints a dark picture that offers at times little hope for the repentance of people of the world.
Chapters 6-20 don’t provide us with very much encouragement. Think about this for a moment.
18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
The nations or the people are angry against God.
3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
Satan was deceiving the people of the nations.
23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world’s important people. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
Babylons spell leading the nations astray.
4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.
8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
The people and their willingness to bow their knee to the Beast.
20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
The Nations will refuse to repent of their sins.
All these hard and dark messages of the book of Revelation lead us to not think there is a lot of hope. Yet, the story didn’t end with all these hardship and dark views. It ends in a moment of hope and light.
That is where we come to the hope of these last words. There is hope. That we will see the curse be lifted and the city of the New Jerusalem will be the place of healing and joy that we long for.
The final words leave a lasting impression on us.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
It is this future of hope that transforms us and leads us to be a community that changes the world around us by being.
Communities of Healing
Communities of Healing
The church is to embrace the ministry of healing the world around us. We are to be a community that people find the healing truth of the gospel.
This goes beyond just spiritual things too. Dean Flemming says it best about the restoring ministry of the church.
That Restoring Ministry is wide enough to embrace all the wounds that sin has inflicted on humanity—physical, relational, spiritual, emotional, political; in short, all of life. It seeks to reconcile at every level, whether enmity between nations, alienated groups within nations, like tribes, races, and political rivals, or fragmented families and Christian communities.
Communities of Healing
Communities of Healing
We must become a community known for the healing nature of God. that no matter where you have been. No matter what you have experience. No matter how far you think you are gone the possibility of healing can be found here. There will be times it requires hard work and faithful attitudes and hearts but our community is one who helps us find healing from the hurts and the pains of this world.
This is possible because of the work of God and we can help point people to the tree of life that will heal us all.
We are also called to be...
Communities of Hospitality
Communities of Hospitality
One of the most powerful aspects about who we are to be as a church is one that is open to all. Yes, that even means to people we may not expect.
Look back at chapter 21 and notice an important detail about the gates of the City of the New Jerusalem.
25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.
The Gates wont’ be shut because God has brought the light to the world. The Night is gone. In the Presence of God we have the hope that we have no reason to fear the darkness of the night.
It is this one way traffic of people wanting to come into the city that we get to emulate and try to pursue. We want to be a people that are welcoming and people have no reason to fear entering our gates.
Those who come through the gate can come to find the healing and hospitality of the community of believers.
Communities of Hospitality
Communities of Hospitality
It is important to remember here that Hospitality is about a friendly and generous welcoming. This doesn’t mean that the message changes. The truth of the Gospel will still be shared. This at times may for many feel unwelcoming but it is important to remember that we have to be a people who are called also to be
Communities of Holiness
Communities of Holiness
We can’t escape that we are called to be a holy people. We are called to be a people who pursue a life that honors and brings Glory to God.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
We are called to wash our robes. To make them clean. Remember how we do that?
Revelation 7:14 (NIV)
14b they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
It is through the death of Christ that we are able to washed clean and to be made holy. It is in his holiness and his sacrifice as the slain lamb that we are able to be washed clean.
It is with clean robes and the pursuit of growing in our faith that we are called and that we remember this is about more than just getting people saved but it is about transforming our hearts, minds, and bodies to bring Glory to him.
What we Long for
What we Long for
It is when we recognize that we are called to be a people pursuing him and looking for the day to come that he will return and that we can see the New Jerusalem come down and we get to be in the presence of God for eterinity that we long for. We long for those moments becuase there will be no more pain there will be no more hardship because we are in the presence of God. Our singular focus will be on him and we will rejoice in it.
While we wait though we get to see glimpses of it and we get to have the hope of knowing that is the end of the story.
I am reminded of this in what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Communion.