Coming Soon

Bookmarks & Needs:

Bookmark: Revelation 22:6-21

Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:

Welcome everyone to the family gathering.

PRAY

While we may not be together in a building, we are united in spirit in Christ and in our focus on His as we worship this morning. I’m excited that we can come together like this and share in our praise and study of the Word with one another, and I’m very thankful to all who are joining us who have never been here physically. If that’s you, we want to be able to communicate with you. We’ve set up a keyword that you can text if you are visiting with Eastern Hills online. SCREEN You can text the word “LIVE” to 505-339-2004, and then it will ask you to click a link just to provide us with your name and email address. We want to be able to pray for you, follow up with you if you have any questions, and keep you apprised about things as we look forward into the coming weeks and months. Text LIVE to 505-339-2004. If you are planning on connecting with Eastern Hills in person once this crisis is past, you can text the keyword WELCOME to that same number to be in our local visitor contact group.

Our church staff is praying for you throughout this time each week as we meet as a staff online. We would be honored to be able to lift up your prayer requests as well. We keep a church prayer list that we call our PrayerLIne, and you can get a copy of the Prayer Line in PDF format from our website. Just go to ehbc.org, visit the Family Life section, and go to the Prayer link. The PDF is password protected for privacy reasons. If you would like the password for the Prayer Line, just send an email to me, Rebecca, or Shanna. We’re inviting everyone to pray specifically at either 11:30 am MDT or 5:30 pm MDT on Wednesdays. Of course, you can pray at other times as well, but if you would like to join together in prayer, even though we aren’t together physically, we have set those times aside for corporate prayer. If you have prayer requests to add to the PrayerLine, you can email those to Rebecca or Shanna at [e-mail].

Even with the extension of the stay-at-home directive from Governor Lujan-Grisham’s office this last week, we have not changed our plans for our upcoming Drive-In worship service. SCREEN It is scheduled for NEXT WEEK, May 3, at 9:00 am on our parking lot. Everyone on site will need to plan to stay in their cars unless absolutely necessary, but we will be able to come together on the south parking lot for worship, and then we will stream a recording of that service at 10:30 for our internet-only guests and members. I’m really looking forward to that service next week, and I hope you are too!

We are currently collecting our offering to support SBC missionaries and church planters in the United States and Canada, called the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. Our goal this year is $14,000, and we have given $15,064.97 so far. Thank you so much for your generous giving to this offering! If you have felt God leading you to give to the AAEO, but just haven’t had the chance yet, this is the last week that we will be collecting toward our AAEO goal.

Use online giving. Go to our website, and right there on the front page is a button linking to our online giving page. It’s even mobile-friendly. You just choose the fund you want to give to (Church budget or something specific, like Annie Armstrong), and walk through the steps.

Updates for Shine ABQ Partnership, serving Kennedy Middle School. EVERY WEEK WE NEED 200 BF, LUNCH and DINNER items through May 22… We are providing care packages for students who in many cases saw their attendance at school as the only meals they would get in a day. We are so thankful for how the church family and the community have come together to minister to these students. Let’s make sure we keep this up! If you can help, there is a list on our website at ehbc.org under EHBC Family Life… the items that we most consistently run low on are lunch and dinner items like ravioli, tuna packets, microwaveable pasta dishes, and mac and cheese. If you can help, please bring those supplies by during our delivery times, 1-4 pm Monday-Friday. We will also need church members to volunteer for packing and delivering the care packages to Kennedy. There is a Sign-Up Genius link on the Shine Partnership page on our website (under the “Family Life” tab), where you can sign up to come help pack or deliver. If you’re on Nextdoor (in town), look for our post under the “Volunteering” topic, and share it with your neighborhood. It’s a great way to multiply our impact and reach, so the community can get involved.

I’ve said this each week we’ve been streaming: let’s participate together in worship this morning, regardless of where we are. If you can, when I ask us to stand, please do so. If you would sing out or clap your hands during the time of praise and worship through song, do that. As we pray, pray together with me. When we study the Word, make sure you get your Bible out and join in.

We do have this morning’s service all set up on YouVersion, so you should be able to see it if you get on YouVersion and look for our Live Event.

MUSIC:

Only King Forever (C)

My Savior Lives (B Capo 2 in A)

Revelation Song (A)

Here’s My Heart (G)

PRAY

Opening

This morning is our last Sunday in our “I AM” Series. We’ve spent the last 9 weeks looking at the identity, the ministry, and the mission of Jesus as revealed in the Gospel of John through 8 “I AM” statements that Jesus made in that Gospel:

“Before Abraham was, I AM” John 8:58

“I Am the Bread of Life” John 6:35, 48

“I Am the Light of the World” John 8:12, 9:5

“I Am the Gate for the Sheep” John 10:7, 9

“I Am the Good Shepherd” John 10:11, 14

“I Am the Resurrection and the Life” John 11:25

“I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” John 14:6

“I Am the True Vine” John 15:1, 5

This morning, to close this series on the identity, ministry, and mission of Jesus, we are going to look at one more thing recorded by John, but not in his Gospel. Our focal text this morning is going to be Revelation chapter 22:6-21. Let’s stand and read that passage together this morning:

Revelation 22:6–21 CSB

6 Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” 7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me. 9 But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” 10 Then he said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. 11 Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.” 12 “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 17 Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let anyone who hears, say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely. 18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book. 20 He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone. Amen.

PRAY

Now, the passages in John throughout the rest of series in John all had a basic formula: Jesus said the words “I AM” in Greek in each of those (9:5 is the only exception… only the word for “AM” -εἰμι - is there). Admittedly, the Greek for “I AM” does not appear any of the three times that our focal passage today says “I am coming soon.” However, as I prayed and started my study for this series back in January, looking at this passage seemed to be the right place to end our look at Jesus’ identity, His ministry, and His mission, because it’s about how it all will be both made clear and fulfilled.

Where we started back in February (which seems like a VERY long time ago) was in Exodus 3, where the Lord identified Himself to Moses really as the self-existent One, the One who is central to all things, from Whom all things derive their existence and identity. Today, we come full circle, because in this passage we see the centrality of Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star. We have also seen that God actively pursues a relationship with His most precious creation, sinful humanity. A part of that relationship is the fact that God rescued His people, and through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, He provides the avenue for rescue and relationship. The death of Jesus makes forgiveness possible, because He takes the punishment for our sin on Himself.

But after that, Jesus rose from the grave, defeating death in our place. And He then ascended to be with the Father. But what we see in our focal passage today is an additional promise that Jesus made regarding His identity, His ministry, and His mission. He is coming soon.

1) Jesus IS coming back, and soon.

Jesus is going to come back, and when He does, it won’t be to die again. That’s already been taken care of. It will be to rule. It will be to reign. It will be to judge, to reward, and to punish. And we can trust that this is going to happen, because Jesus said it would. Consider Matthew 25:31-34:

Matthew 25:31–34 CSB

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

He promised His disciples in John 14:3, which we looked at briefly a couple of weeks ago during our look at when Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life:

John 14:3 CSB

3 If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.

Jesus said that his return is a fact that is going to happen. And since He said it, it can be trusted. One way that Jesus proved that His promises were true was by fulfilling the promise that He made of rising again after His crucifixion:

Mark 10:33–34 CSB

33 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 and they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and he will rise after three days.”

Since He could predict His death and resurrection, we can trust His promise of His return. From the time that Jesus ascended to be with the Father, the promise was restated and confirmed by angels:

Acts 1:11 CSB

11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”

But so this morning, here in our focal passage, we see Jesus Himself restating His promise of returning, and here He promises that it will also be “soon.”

Revelation 22:7 CSB

7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Three times in this passage, He makes this promise that He is coming soon. His return and the results of that return are the ultimate hope of the Christian faith: that we will forever be together with the Lord, who has cleansed us of our sins and has provided that way for a right relationship with God. And by hope, I don’t mean like hoping we win the lottery… wishful thinking. I mean like confidently looking forward to when we can come together again as a church family, when we can go back to jobs and stores without fear, when we eat together or play together or serve together without all of the worry we carry right now… because it’s not IF… it’s WHEN those things are going to happen… that’s hope: a confident assurance.

But someone might ask, “If it was going to happen “soon” when Jesus said this to John nearly 2000 years ago, doesn’t that mean it hasn’t happened like Jesus said it would?” Not at all. Consider what Peter said in 2 Peter 3:

2 Peter 3:3–10 CSB

3 Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, 4 saying, “Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” 5 They deliberately overlook this: By the word of God the heavens came into being long ago and the earth was brought about from water and through water. 6 Through these the world of that time perished when it was flooded. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Dear friends, don’t overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.

“The day of the Lord will come like a thief...” He’s not going to come on our timetable or our schedule. I mean, how many of us schedule a thief to break into our homes or our cars? No, it always happens suddenly, unexpectedly. Likewise, when Jesus says that He is coming “soon,” we can take it both ways: soon in the perspective of God, where a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day, and soon in the perspective of suddenly, unexpectedly… the Greek word for “soon” in each of these verses can mean either perspective, and even perhaps both.

Consider what Jesus said of His return in Matthew 24:

Matthew 24:42–44 CSB

42 Therefore be alert, since you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this: If the homeowner had known what time the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and not let his house be broken into. 44 This is why you are also to be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Since this is the case: that Jesus is coming soon, swiftly, unexpectedly, like a thief in the night, then there should be something that we DO with this information, with this confidence, with this surety:

2) Jesus’ return should impact how we live as believers.

Notice how Jesus ends His promise of His soon return in verses 7 and 12 of our focal passage today:

Revelation 22:7 CSB

7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

Revelation 22:12 CSB

12 “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work.

“Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Blessed is the one who walks in obedience to what He reads, who believes the prophetic word of Jesus’ imminent return and who walks in the way that He should walk as a result.

“…my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work.” These things don’t speak to us earning our salvation, but they do speak to the rewards that we have to look forward to at Christ’s return. Consider Jesus’ illustration of this in Matthew 24, just after what we looked at earlier:

Matthew 24:45–47 CSB

45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom the master finds doing his job when he comes. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

Both verses 7 and 12 open with a command to those who believe: “LOOK!” We are to take special notice of, and fix our gazes upon, the fact that Jesus is coming soon. If we keep that perspective then, we will live with an eternal mindset, knowing that the only things that we do that will stand the test of forever are those things that we do in obedience to the Lord in the power of His Spirit for the purpose of His glory. We are to keep our eyes on Jesus.

To this end, Peter continued in 2 Peter:

2 Peter 3:11–14 CSB

11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for the day of God and hasten its coming. Because of that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire and the elements will melt with heat. 13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found without spot or blemish in his sight, at peace.

It is clear what sort of people we should be, church. We should be people known for our “holy conduct” and our “godliness,” “making every effort to be found without spot or blemish in His sight, at peace.”

How are we living, church? While we can certainly live for more than just ourselves during this time of crisis, let’s just take that time and set it aside for a moment. What is the church going to look like when this is done, when we are back to whatever will be called “normal,” then? How did we live before? Did we live with our eyes set on eternity, with an expectation, an anticipation, an excitement for the return of the Lord? Did we live as if Jesus was REALLY coming back? I can say that in many ways, I haven’t! It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the day-to-day, strapped to the train of time, and not having a focus on forever.

Jesus is coming, and He’s coming soon! This should be a cause for celebration for us, church! I wonder if perhaps we struggle celebrating the imminent return of Jesus because we find the things of earth to be too important instead.

When I was a youth pastor, sometimes we would talk about the return of Christ, and one thing that was a consistent concern was what we would miss out on when Jesus returned. “What if I haven’t gotten married yet?” “What if I haven’t had children yet?” “What if I haven’t finished high school yet?” Adults have the same kinds of concerns: “What if I haven’t been there, or done that, or had this, or experienced that yet?”

Brothers and sisters, the Bible tells us that the earthly things are a just a copy, a mere shadow, of the true joy that awaits the believers in heaven. Paradise is what Jesus called it to the thief on the cross. Paul also called it paradise, and said that there he heard inexpressible words, which a human being is not allowed to speak.

We are to encourage one another by contemplating and discussing the return of Jesus, reminding each other of the promise and how much we have to look forward to. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 CSB

16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

This is an encouragement, because that is what we are meant for! This world is not our home. It is where we live, but it is not our ultimate home.

Philippians 3:20–21 CSB

20 but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. 21 He will transform the body of our humble condition into the likeness of his glorious body, by the power that enables him to subject everything to himself.

We need not fear. We can live as an example to those who are looking to us, and we can serve with wisdom and compassion those who God has placed in our lives and connected us to. We can share the hope of the message of the Gospel of Jesus with boldness, because we know the truth, and we have been set free by it—our citizenship is in heaven, and we are the outpost of the kingdom of God.

We church, have not been prevented from meeting together physically. We have been blessed to be able to see that we are the church everywhere, not just when we get together. We are the church in our homes, in the marketplace, at the doctor’s office, and in our neighborhoods. The fact that Jesus is coming soon should radically alter our perspectives of what we should be about and why. We are to be doing what He would have us be doing when He returns for us: sharing the message of the Gospel through what we say, how we act, how we live, and how we serve.

Our final point, though, is about what this means for those who have never trusted in Christ:

3) Jesus’ return should impact the questions we ask if we are unbelievers.

I didn’t believe it myself. In fact, I believed that I should be able to live however I wanted to live, because nothing else mattered but me. Grab all the life I could while I could.

But I thank God that He used my wife to get my attention when we were still in high school. She shared Christian music with me. Which made me start to ask questions. Is there a God? If so, what does that mean for me? Had I been living in a way that would honor the One who made me? How should I live if God is real? How can I be made right, given how wrong I had gone? She introduced me to her youth pastor, who answered my questions, and who pointed me to Jesus.

We might think that there’s some sliding scale of salvation, but this just isn’t true. We don’t just have to be better than the next guy. The issue isn’t one of how clean we are compared to each other, but how clean we are compared to Jesus.

But the only way for us to live up to that, since Jesus is perfect, is to have HIS perfection given to us.

The only way that we can be made clean in the sight of God is if we are made clean by Christ. The way it is referenced in Revelation is this idea of having our “robes washed” in verse 14:

Revelation 22:14 CSB

14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

Revelation 7:14 speaks of those who are saved having washed their robes white “in the blood of the Lamb.” I know it doesn’t make sense to wash something in blood so that it becomes white, but that’s such a perfect picture of us when we come to faith in Jesus.

God made us to be in that right relationship with Him, but we choose to do our own thing: we “dirty” our hands and our robes with sin. And because we are broken and sinful, we can never get back to clean. But Jesus came and died in our place, giving His life, shedding His blood, paying the penalty for our sins so that they could be covered and forgiven. His blood made the payment. And we are made clean when we surrender to the washing of our robes in His blood—we give up our efforts to become clean on our own, to make our own way, and instead give ourselves to following Him.

This is what God has done for us in Christ. So we should ask these questions: What if there is a God? What if sin is real? What if heaven and hell are a reality? What if the Bible is true? What if I died and faced judgment tonight?

You see, there will come a time when we no longer can choose differently, according to our passage. When we come face to face with Jesus, it will be too late to surrender:

Revelation 22:11 CSB

11 Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.”

Many will decide that they just want to go their own way, do their own thing, get to heaven on their own terms. But this isn’t the case. Our eternal destiny will be decided on the merits of what Jesus has done. And if we have declared that we don’t care about what He’s done, then we will find ourselves separated from God forever.

Revelation 22:15 CSB

15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

And that day of celebration for the Christian will be a day of mourning for those who have never given up their rights to themselves, who do not belong to Jesus:

Matthew 24:30–31 CSB

30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

This is because, as I said earlier, when Jesus comes back, it will be for judgment. He won’t come to cover our sins again, but to receive those who belong to Him through faith.

Hebrews 9:27–28 CSB

27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Closing

This morning, I want to close with the invitation given in our focal passage. In Revelation 22:17, we read:

Revelation 22:17 CSB

17 Both the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let anyone who hears, say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.

God, by His Holy Spirit, calls out “Come!” And the bride of Christ, which is the church, His holy people, call out “Come!” We call out to you who have never trusted in Christ for your salvation to come! The Scripture says, “Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desire take the water of life freely.” This water of life had been mentioned earlier (Rev. 22:1), and it was water that flowed from the throne of God, down the middle of heaven’s main street, with the tree of life (mentioned in verse 14) on both sides.

Are you thirsty for the water of eternal life? Come and drink. Right now, where you are, give up going your own way and surrender to Jesus. Declare that He is Lord, and follow Him. Confess your sins to Him and have your robes washed clean by Him.

Then, you too can look forward with anticipation of the fulfillment of this prophecy of Jesus’ second coming. You can affirm it like John did in verse 20:

Revelation 22:20 CSB

20 He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!

PRAY

INVITATION/OFFERING: Here’s My Heart (G)

Recognize: delivery drivers, letter carriers, and truck drivers

CLOSING SONG: Only King Forever (C) - V1, Cx2