Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Revelation 22:6-9

Theme: Christians "keep" the words of this prophecy by trusting the Scriptures, living expectantly, and worshiping passionately.

Date: 05/05/14 File name: Revelation45.wpd

ID Number:

Last Sunday, I preached on the largest swath of Revelation since we began our journey through it.

This morning, I’m preaching on perhaps the smallest section — just four verses.“The

angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true.

The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

7 “Behold, I am coming soon!

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.

And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Do not do it!

I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book.

Worship God!”” (Revelation 22:6–9, NIV84).

As Christians wait for the eschaton how are we to keep the words of the prophecy in this book?

For some of you eschaton may be an unfamiliar word, but it’s probably more familiar than you think.

You’ve undoubtedly heard of the word eschatology which simply means the study of the end times.

Our journey through the Book of Revelation has been a study of eschatology.

The world eschaton simply means end or last, so when I use the word eschaton I simply mean the final event in the divine plan.

Throughout the history of the church the word has been used as something of a shorthand way of referring to all things related to the Second Advent of our Christ.

Revelation 22:6 begins what we call the epilogue to Revelation.

An epilogue is simply the last section of a book that makes some concluding statements about the work.

The risen Savior has revealed what lies in the future through a series of visions that have been revealed to, and recorded by the Apostle John.

They’ve concluded with the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven.

Now we have a series of statements enjoining us to hope and steadfastness.

As we await these earth-shattering, life-changing, God-ordained events, how are we to live?

Revelation 22:6-9 give us a clue.

I.

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

“The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true.

The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.””

(Revelation 22:6, NIV84)

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

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

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.

He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

(Revelation 1:1–3, NIV84)

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

1) this is simply wrong

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

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

a. it is a inspired revelation

b. it is a trustworthy revelation

c. it is a comforting revelation

A. IT’S AN INSPIRED REVELATION

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

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

“For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

(2 Peter 1:21, NIV84)

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

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

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

(Hebrews 1:1-3, NIV84)

ILLUS.

Carl F. H. Henry, one of the great Baptist theologians of our era, wrote this about God’s revelation.

“Christians need always to remember this: Revelation is God’s gracious self-disclosure, in which he lovingly forfeits his own personal privacy so that His sinful creatures might know Him.”

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

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

B. IT’S A TRUSTWORTHY REVELATION

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

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

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

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

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

“ “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels.

9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.

I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

11 ... What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.”

(Isaiah 46:8–11, NIV84)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

b.

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

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

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

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

c.

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

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

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

d.

Population Bomb — the threat of Earth’s overpopulation

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

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

a) advances in agriculture kept his prediction from happening

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

ILLUS.

The world has, after all, experienced them before.

The Black Death killed 60 million people in the 14th century — 60% of Europe’s population.

The Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918-19 killed an estimated one-fifth of the world’s population — 100 million people — over 18 months.

(The equivalent of 1.5 billion people today).

In 1919, the flu epidemic caused the average life expectancy in the United States to drop by 12 years.