Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: In the time before cell phones, you just had to rely on folks being where they said they would be when they said they would be.
There was no calling when someone didn't show up, unless you went to something called a landline or a payphone.
There was no monitoring Life360 waiting on your parents or your kids to get somewhere. You just had to believe that they were going to be there when they said they were going to be there. Several times I remember leaving school or practice and something came up with my parents.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: Maybe they forgot, maybe not.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Maybe something more important came up. I remember walking home at times or going to a friend's house and having to call them, what's going on?
But there was no immediacy to knowing where people were and making sure they
[00:00:55] Speaker B: were going to do what they said they were going to do when it
[00:00:58] Speaker A: was time to be somewhere, to pick you up, to get a ride or to meet someone.
And every day before I was in middle school, I would get off the bus every day.
And the rule for me was, you get straight off the bus and you go inside and you do your homework and you be ready for whatever practice.
[00:01:22] Speaker B: When I was in middle school, you
[00:01:24] Speaker A: just practice after school.
But for whatever practice I had that day that my parents had to take me to, you go inside, do your homework and get ready. And I never did that.
I don't remember one time where I did that.
I went inside and usually ate a
[00:01:41] Speaker B: bowl of cereal, sugary cereal, or went
[00:01:45] Speaker A: outside, shot basketball, rode a bike, went to my friend's house.
The Cubs were usually on tv. I would watch baseball, but I would not do my homework. And rarely would I get ready for whatever practice I had.
And I had warning because my dad drove a really big, loud truck.
And you could hear his truck several roads and neighborhoods over.
You could hear this truck just reverberate through the hills and surrounding neighborhoods. And I became very attuned to his truck. I would have the TV at just such a level where I knew when he was coming or when I was outside.
And I would stop shooting basketball, throw the basketball in the ditch.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: That's just where I kept all the balls.
[00:02:34] Speaker A: They were in the ditch all the time.
I would throw my bike under our deck and run inside and maybe throw some books out on the table.
My parents were always shocked when we'd
[00:02:46] Speaker B: get back from practice.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: You have a lot of homework because I didn't do any of it before practice.
I would run inside, get my cleats, pads, gloves, whatever I needed for the day, because I Could hear my dad coming. And I knew I had exactly the amount of time to act like I had been doing what he had told me to do or what my parents
[00:03:06] Speaker B: had told me to do when I got home.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: As we move through Revelation, really,
[00:03:16] Speaker B: the
[00:03:16] Speaker A: majority of the book has been given over to the sounds of Jesus coming.
We've talked about these last day judgments that Jesus has told us are going to take place in the last days. Wars, rumors of wars, false teaching.
You're going to see the world in turmoil, and those are the sounds that are meant to wake you up that Jesus is coming. He is warning. You can hear his coming in the rumblings all around you. And these are to cause you to wake up and get ready. His promise is true.
Remember, Revelation is written to seven churches who are suffering under Roman rule. They're being persecuted for their faith. They're being forced to worship the emperor.
And those who would not, they would lose a lot. Their jobs, their family, their status in society.
And John the Apostle John, for preaching the Gospel, has been sent to the isle of Patmos. And where he is in exile, he's working in the mines there.
And there he receives a vision of the last days, a revelation from God. And at the core of this revelation is the reality that right now in heaven, the veil is pulled back for him to see what's going on in heaven. And it is that God is ruling on the throne. And Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins, who has been slain, he is standing and he is in control of human history.
And so as you suffer persecution, as you endure the last days and all of the things surrounding the world, the chaos that seems to be, you are to remember Jesus is in charge. God is ruling, and so you can persevere.
This one who was slain, who was
[00:05:20] Speaker B: killed by the Romans, is a lie.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: And in him you may die. And you will be raised from the dead to rule with him, just as he is ruling in heaven now.
And John has told us in the last few weeks that these last days will culminate with Jesus literally coming, judging his enemies, and setting up a kingdom on earth that will lead to worldwide cosmic redemption. He will make all things new.
There will be a new heavens and a new earth. The world we live in now will be completely redeemed and made new. And we as Jesus people, his bride, his city, we will live in this temple with him forever.
We will live in the presence of God forever. That's what we have to look forward to. So you can endure suffering.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: You.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: You can persevere in light of these
[00:06:20] Speaker B: promises, but cling to the promise. Jesus is coming.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: This is a reality.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: And we see the response to this beginning in verse six.
[00:06:30] Speaker A: Jesus is coming, worship and witness.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Look at verse six.
[00:06:35] Speaker A: And he said to me, these words are trustworthy, which means faithful and true. They are reliable.
And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel, this angel, who has revealed this to you, John, to show his servants, his churches, what must soon take place and what he says. Here is the God who has always revealed himself. He's always told his people how to think about life and themselves in the world. Here he has given us the completed story of what he is going to do to the very last day.
So you have a word from God about how all this is going to end. Just as God has always revealed himself. And notice it is trustworthy and true. You can stake your life on it. It is to be a reality for you.
The news, your feelings, the way the world tells you to think is not meant to govern the way you see the end. No, the word of God is, this is a true word. It is trustworthy. And what is this word ultimately? Notice verse seven.
And behold, I am coming soon. You can even translate this quickly.
I'm coming quickly. Which just means I'm coming at any time. Everything gets set. Jesus can come whenever the Father sees fit.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: That he comes and look at the next word.
Blessed.
[00:08:08] Speaker A: This word means happy. I'm coming soon. Happy is the one who keeps that means to hear and do the words of the prophecy of this book, the unfolding of what's going on and the unfolding of what will go on. You will be happy if you keep these words and do what these words require of you. And we've summed that up in two things through the whole book of Revelation. What does God require of us in in light of his coming?
[00:08:41] Speaker B: That we would worship and that we would witness.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: That's how you respond to this word of God about the last days, when you know what reality is. You continue to worship and you continue to witness, which is what we see in verse eight. Notice, I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.
And when I heard and saw these things, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel. This is not the first time John's done this. And you would think, john, they've already rebuked you for worshiping the angel who's giving the revelation. Stop it. Like, what is going on? You know not to do this, but something more is going on in this Picture.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Notice, he said to me, you must not do that.
[00:09:28] Speaker A: I am a fellow servant.
And your brothers, the prophets, with you and your brothers the prophets and with those who keep the words of the book. I am a servant. I exist to serve God just like you do. I exist to point to Christ, just like you do. What's going on here? Why does this keep happening to John? Well, it is a parable.
It is a parable to give us a picture of what we're not supposed to do.
Remember what the churches are going through under Roman rule. They are being forced to worship the Caesar, the emperor.
And what's going on here in Revelation is John is saying to us, there are beings in the heavenly realm that if you saw them, you would be terrified.
Angels, if you saw them, you would be terrified and you would want to bow down and worship them. But notice they're just servants. They're just servants, just like Caesar.
We're all servants of God's plan.
And so you are only to notice. Worship God. That is a parable for us here. That is a. That is a response we are to have to this revelation is worship God. Why would you want to worship any other being, any other creature?
Worship God.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: And notice we're to witness verse 10.
And he said to me, do not
[00:10:54] Speaker A: seal up the words of this prophecy,
[00:10:56] Speaker B: of this book, for the time is near. Now, this is a callback to the book of Daniel. Daniel's prophecy comes to an end, and the angel says, close the book. What's going on there? It's not time for these things to happen yet.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: But here in Revelation, there is the call to keep it open.
Why? We are living in the time that's unfolding. We are in light of the cross, in light of the resurrection, in light of the promise of the kingdom's coming. We live in the last days now.
This is unfolding before our eyes. Don't hide it. And he says, let the evildoer still do evil and the filthy be filthy, and the righteous still do what is right and the holy still be holy. Here is a pointing to the judgment that is coming for all those who do evil, those who are unclean, those who are rebelling, and there is redemption coming to those who are righteous in Christ and holy. And what he's saying to John here is, you just preach the word. God's going to sort all of that out. Don't seal the word up. Continue to preach it, continue to warn, continue to encourage.
Where people stand is going to be God's business. And he's going to deal with all of that.
You see, what we learn is during the end times, persecution, tribulation, suffering, all of those things reveal who we really are, right?
When you have to go through the things that have been talked about in revelation, it's going to expose who's real, who's genuine and who's fake.
And so what he's telling John here is you just keep preaching the word. God is going to unveil all of those things in the end in light of his coming rule. But we go back to that word happy.
In light of what Jesus is doing, in light of what Jesus is going to do when he comes.
The way for you to remain happy is worship. Don't worship anything else and witness. Keep preaching this word, warning and encouraging. We are blessed as we worship and witness as we declare God, you are worthy. All of heaven right now is declaring your worth. They are giving you allegiance. They are declaring that you are more valuable than anything else. You are worthy. You find happiness in the world right now when you are engaged in worship. If you are engaged in sort of doom scrolling, what's the latest headline on Fox News? How can I be nervous? How can I be anxious? How can I make everybody scared today about what's going on in the world? You will be not happy, you will be miserable. But the way to happiness is to see all of those things and then remember what's going on in heaven and worship. And by the way, these things go together.
Sometimes we ask folks, you know, we haven't seen you at church in a while, you haven't gathered with us in a while. And they'll say things like, well, I'm just too depressed.
Those things go hand in hand.
Maybe you're depressed because you haven't gathered.
Maybe you would be happier when you gather with the people of God and
[00:14:29] Speaker B: you see what reality is.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Some people say I'm too anxious and worried to pray.
Think about this. Maybe you're anxious and worried because you haven't prayed, because you haven't worshiped in private before the Lord on your knees, calling out to him. And maybe the things that are worrying you are going to continue to worry. You don't be paralyzed by those things.
Worship. They are to draw us into the throne room of God and they are to cause us to witness instead of yammering about the latest crisis, about the latest government conspiracy, about all of those things. Take all of that energy and do what God is calling us to do here and witness. Jesus is Lord.
I don't know what is true or not. True in the world or who to believe or what to believe. But I have a word from God that that says Jesus is Lord. And so I'm going to give all of my time and energy over to declaring the word of God. We will be happier in the last
[00:15:32] Speaker B: days if we worship and we witness and notice. Jesus is coming. Be clean. Verse 12.
[00:15:41] Speaker A: Behold, I am coming.
[00:15:43] Speaker B: Here's another.
[00:15:44] Speaker A: I am coming.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: It's another. As we move to the end, he's
[00:15:48] Speaker A: emphasizing, you've heard all these things.
[00:15:50] Speaker B: I'm coming.
Notice bringing recompense with me.
[00:15:55] Speaker A: This just means judgment for what people have done. He explains it here to repay each one for what he has done. And he's specifically referring to the enemies of the church here, those who oppose Christ and his church.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: Look at verse 13.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
He says here Jesus says, I am the creator of all things, the source of all things. All things came into existence because of me. I will bring all things to its conclusion. I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He's just emphasizing, this is a story that is about me from beginning to end. It is a promise about me that I will fulfill in the end and in light of the fact that I am coming. Notice verse 14.
Blessed are those who wash their robes. It just means cleanse. There's a picture of this kingdom of priests that we will become. And we must wash our robes to enter into the presence of God so that they might have the right or
[00:16:56] Speaker B: inheritance to the tree of life which
[00:16:58] Speaker A: we talked about last week is the life that comes from living in God's presence. This new cosmic temple that he will create for us. We can only enter into it and live there if we've had our robes with washed.
[00:17:14] Speaker B: Look at the end of this verse.
And that they may enter into the city gates which we saw last week. People from everywhere the nations become this
[00:17:23] Speaker A: kingdom of priests who've been cleansed, who
[00:17:25] Speaker B: live in the presence of God. Jesus is coming.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: Get ready and be clean.
[00:17:32] Speaker B: In Revelation, chapter 14, we read, they
[00:17:34] Speaker A: washed their robes and made them white
[00:17:36] Speaker B: in the blood of the Lamb.
[00:17:38] Speaker A: So how do we get clean?
How do we get ready?
How do we prepare for the judgment that's coming? Well, we are washed in the blood of the lamb priests. They would sprinkle blood on their robes so they could enter into the presence of God on behalf of the people. Think about going to a butcher shop. That's what a priest robe would look like.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Blood all over it so he could
[00:18:06] Speaker A: enter in on behalf of the people of God. What was that symbolizing?
Someone else has died for my sin. That I can enter into the presence
[00:18:17] Speaker B: of God on behalf of God's people. Well, revelation has said by the blood of Christ, we can all enter into the presence of God.
[00:18:29] Speaker A: An ocean of animal blood would not
[00:18:33] Speaker B: do what the blood of the pure sufficient sacrifice of Christ has done.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: We will enter into heaven, into the presence of God because of the substitutionary
[00:18:43] Speaker B: atonement of Jesus Christ.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: And there's no other way.
You must believe in Jesus. You must turn to Jesus and his death in your place. To be washed, to be clean, to enter into the presence of God.
[00:18:59] Speaker B: And look at verse 15.
Outside are the dogs and sorcerers, sexually
[00:19:03] Speaker A: immoral, murderers, idolaters, and everyone who practices falsehood. And we've seen three lists like this of the folks who are going to be outside of heaven who don't get in.
And it's a list of sinful identities and they all represent the idolatry of Rome. It is a false idolatry.
It is immoral, it is wicked, it is a falsehood, it is false teaching. Do not believe it, or you will end up outside of God's kingdom, outside of the walls of heaven. And you will end up there by your sinful identity, who you've been.
You will be judged, as we talked about, by Jesus, according to what you have done.
You will stand before him and give an account for who you are and what you've done.
If you are apart from Christ, if you're apart from Christ, that's all you got before Jesus, what you've done.
And you've got to stand there according to who you are.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: What's the difference?
What's our only hope?
What is the identity of Christ? That's what's going on here.
[00:20:17] Speaker A: This is a sinful identity that has not been washed in the blood.
This is someone who has not looked to Christ. And they stand before God, guilty of all of this sin.
Only the blood marks us out for heaven. We become a son in the Son. We are given the righteousness of Christ. We are given his death on our behalf. We were given his promises and heir to the kingdom in Christ. If we are apart from Christ, we stand before him as dogs, sorcerers, sexually immortal, moral murderers, idolaters, and those who practice falsehood. We stand before him in our sin or we stand before God in Christ. That's the choice.
You go to hell by what you've done.
You go to heaven according to what Christ has done.
Who do you want representing you when you stand before God? You, your resume, or Christ, his perfect life and death?
[00:21:20] Speaker B: This also tells us that we don't get cleaned up to come to Jesus.
We come to Jesus to be clean.
We come to Jesus to be forgiven.
You see, some of us here today,
[00:21:34] Speaker A: we're trying to make up for our past.
That is the very reason you came to church today.
Because in your mind there is a time in your life where you were wicked.
And the people here today would be scandalized. You think this in your mind.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: You don't know that.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: We all think that about ourselves.
There's. The people in the room will be scandalized by the things that I have done.
And you're here today trying to get clean.
It is like trying to wash a muddy blanket with mud all over your hands. And that's all you got.
It's not coming clean.
It's not going to get any better.
You can't clean yourself up. Only Jesus can. And so you today turn to Jesus. You look to him as a sufficient sacrifice. He's the only one who could live a perfect life. He's the only one who could pay for your sin. And you turn and you look to him and you are clean.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: So you go to hell according to what you've done.
You go to heaven by what Christ has done.
Jesus is coming.
We must look to what Christ has done.
Don't attempt to meet Jesus any other way according to what he has provided for you. Next we see Jesus is coming. Be satisfied. Look at verse 16.
I, Jesus, have sent my angels to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David. He is the root from which the kingdom grows. We see this picture in Isaiah where the kingdom is actually raised down. But there's a little shoot that comes up. There's a little root that comes up.
[00:23:23] Speaker A: And from that root a whole vineyard grows. Jesus says, that's who I am. I am the one who will fulfill all of the promises of the kingdom. The bright and morning star. This just means the first star that you can see during the day or at the dawning of a new day. I am the one who brings in this new day. I am the one who fulfills all of God's promises. And I will bring in this new day. And in light of that, notice verse 17.
[00:23:50] Speaker B: The Spirit and the bride say, this
[00:23:52] Speaker A: is the Spirit and this is the church. And notice how the the church and the Spirit, their testimony is the same.
Come.
And this is a response. Jesus, you. You are coming. And the church says, yes, please come, Jesus. And let the one who hears say, come. And here's the point here. The church is saying to Jesus, come. And those who understand what good news is, those who understand this kingdom, they too are going to say, come.
So those who believe the gospel are going to say, come, come, Lord, if this is what you offer us, come, Lord Jesus.
And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the
[00:24:34] Speaker B: water of life without price. And this is a quote from Isaiah
[00:24:38] Speaker A: that says, why in the world are you spending your money on things that. That you can't buy?
Why in the world are you trying to buy what God offers for free? Just come and drink.
All you need to believe the gospel is your need.
You're a sinner. You're guilty before God. That's all you need. Just come drink.
Come believe the gospel.
And so we see the tension in the witness here. The church is saying, come back, Jesus.
Come set up your kingdom.
But then we realize when Jesus comes, there's judgment.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: And so what must we do to those for those we love?
You need to come drink before Jesus comes back. There's a tension there.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: We realize that Jesus is going to satisfy all of our needs, wipe away every tear. There's no pain. There's no death in heaven. But then we turn to those who are trying to satisfy themselves with this world, those that we love so much. And we're like we're in the middle.
[00:25:39] Speaker B: Come, Lord Jesus, please come drink before Jesus comes back.
[00:25:43] Speaker A: Come believe the gospel. Come trust in him. Come be satisfied. You're pursuing all these things. You think they're going to make you happy? No, Only Jesus will make you happy. And he will make you happy and satisfied forever. Believe in him. Here's the tension in our witness. But I want you to see the logic here that will create evangelistic zeal
[00:26:05] Speaker B: in your life if you would let it.
[00:26:07] Speaker A: The more you contemplate the coming of Christ, the more you will talk about
[00:26:13] Speaker B: the coming of Christ with others.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: And the more you know God through Christ by the power of the Spirit, and you are satisfied in God through Christ by the power of the Spirit, you're going to talk to people about that.
When you drink something that is satisfying.
When you.
After you've been thirsty and dying and almost dead and you believe the gospel and you drink from Christ, you're going to want to tell others this is the greatest thing ever, knowing Christ. Now we talked about last week, how this is the living water that bubbles up from within us when we believe the gospel. It is the presence of the Spirit that lives within us where we are able to delight in God. This is eternal life. Knowing God now and knowing God throughout eternity. And when you have that, especially for those that you love so dearly, you
[00:27:15] Speaker B: want them to drink too.
So you want to share the Gospel more.
Delight in God more.
Pursue God more.
[00:27:25] Speaker A: Remind yourself that Jesus is good.
Jesus takes care of my needs.
The gospel is true.
I suffer. I know my sins have been forgiven.
As I see death. I know Jesus is raised from the dead. And I will be raised from the dead. Jesus is the only one who can provide that for me. This living water, this eternal life. And the more you contemplate that, it's just going to overflow.
[00:27:54] Speaker B: You're going to talk to others, you're
[00:27:56] Speaker A: going to plead with them. Come and drink.
[00:27:59] Speaker B: But notice Jesus is coming. We must pray. Look at verse 18.
I warn everyone who hears the words of this prophecy. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in the book.
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life in the holy city which are described in this book.
Now, what's going on here is God has issued a verdict on humanity.
He has issued a verdict on human history.
And we as his witnesses, we represent him and he is the judge. And you can't change the judge's verdict.
[00:28:44] Speaker A: You can't.
[00:28:45] Speaker B: This is set in stone and we
[00:28:48] Speaker A: must witness the unchanged word of God.
[00:28:51] Speaker B: Why? We believe God is holy, true and right.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: So what is he talking about here?
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Adding to taking away?
[00:29:00] Speaker A: Well, we do that when we don't believe God is holy, true and good.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: We change the message.
Oh, we don't have to talk so much about sin.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: We shouldn't talk so much about hell.
We shouldn't be so blunt about the things that are true and revealed in the Bible. Yeah, I know Jesus did it that way, Moses did it that way. But these are different times.
When we become the authority in that way, we just say, I know better than God.
I know better what to say and how to preach the gospel. And be clear about the invitation to come to Christ and the severity of judgment. I know better how to witness than God.
And God says, no, no, no, that is lack of faith in who I am. And that is proving that you don't trust that I'm holy and good. And you are proving to be a false teacher. And here is the. Here's the conseque for those who preach a false gospel.
[00:29:58] Speaker B: They will not enter into heaven. To change the message is to become
[00:30:03] Speaker A: the authority to say, I believe that I am better than God than determining
[00:30:08] Speaker B: what the message is. And you will receive the judgment that is in God's message.
And again, verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming. This is another, the third in the chapter. Jesus says, I am coming. And hear it soon.
I'm coming soon. Quickly.
And then there's the response of John.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. This is what the Spirit does.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: We remember we talked about last week,
[00:30:39] Speaker B: this river in heaven representing the Spirit of God. It is where we get life from God and we will get life from God forever.
[00:30:48] Speaker A: If you have the Spirit of God living within you, you have the spirit
[00:30:53] Speaker B: of heaven living it.
[00:30:54] Speaker A: You have heaven living in you.
And so when you hear heaven is coming, what is the natural response? Yes.
Everything I've ever wanted found in Christ, I experienced that. I know that the Spirit is testifying to me that all these things are true. And so when I hear Jesus is coming to rule and reign and redeem and. And make all things right. Yes, that's my response. Without the Spirit, I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I really like this life.
Hold on, Jesus.
I got all these plans.
Want to get married, want to have kids, want to have a career, want to retire, spend more time at the beach.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: Wait up, Jesus.
No. If you got the spirit of heaven within you, you know heaven's going to be better.
You know all of your desires are going to be glorious and fulfilled in Christ.
[00:31:50] Speaker A: And you say, yes, come, Lord Jesus. This is the same thing the Spirit does that we read in Romans chapter eight, the Abba cry.
That's not just a little cooing, baby.
That is a scream for rescue.
And it is a scream. It's the same type of scream that Jesus had in the Garden of Gethsemane. And what did he say? Take this cup from me.
[00:32:17] Speaker B: Not my will, but yours.
And when the Spirit lives within you
[00:32:21] Speaker A: and God is your Father in Christ, you are constantly crying to God, come rescue me from this pit.
Come rescue me from this world. Because I know my Father is good, and I know the kingdom Jesus offers me is better.
And the spirit of that kingdom is living within me. And so I'm constantly saying, come, Lord Jesus, Come quickly. Abba Father, come rescue me.
Give me the kingdom that you promised. That is the way we respond by the power of the spirit. And you should replace the panic that you feel in this life with this prayer.
As that anxiety wells up as that stress wells up, as you see the news, as you see the chaos, and you want to get frustrated, you just should say, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, because you have the spirit in you that says you have something better in Christ waiting for you. Replace your panic with this prayer, come, Lord Jesus.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: And in verse 21, John ends the letter to the seven churches and to us.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Be with all of y' all or y'. All.
Amen.
John gets the enemy, says, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ help you understand how glorious Jesus is and how he is worth it, how worthy God is, who is set apart in heaven and deserves to be worshiped. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. May you endure. May you persevere in your worship and your witness. May you be clean in Christ. May you be so satisfied that you would scream and cry, lord Jesus, come quickly.
Because there's a day when the trumpet blares.
We hear the sound. Our hearts will soar.
All of our hopes and dreams and prayers will be answered. Imagine the release on that day, all your anxiety, all your stress, the announcement, Jesus has come. He rips open the sky.
But here's the catch.
If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, there will be no pretending on that day.
There will be no acting like you have had your act together all along.
There will be no pretending that you've been doing what you're supposed to be doing.
When you hear the sound, it's too late.
But the good news is you've heard the promise. And today it's not too late.
You can believe in Jesus today and be saved from your sin. And you think, maybe this is just overkill.
Maybe this is just a little bit of overkill today.
No. The joy Jesus gives you, the hope and satisfaction that you can have in Christ does not compare to to anything in this world. Nothing.
Knowing him, serving him, loving him.
And you've heard the promise today, I'm coming.
And you can trust he will be where he says he'll be.
