I invite you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter
22. It's the last chapter in the
entire Bible, and tonight I want to bring you a message entitled,
The Last Words of Christ. Revelation chapter 22, I want
to begin by reading the two verses that will be the focus of our
exposition tonight. Revelation 22, beginning in verse
12. This is the inspired, the inerrant,
and the infallible Word of the living God. As John records the
very words of Christ, we read, "'Behold, I am coming quickly
and my reward is with me to render to every man according to what
he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the first and the last, the beginning. and the end. There is a day looming
on the horizon, a day fixed by God in the future, a day when
the heavens will open and the Lord Jesus Christ will return
in glory. It is a day recorded with indelible
letters by the sovereign hand of God in His eternal plan. It is a day predetermined by
heaven that is unchangeable and unalterable and immutable. That
day of Christ's return is fast approaching. There is a real
sense in which today is the devil's day. Today is the reign of the
God of this age and the prince of this world. Today we read
in 1 John that the whole world lies in the power of the evil
one. Today is the day in which sin
is running rampant. But the day of the Lord is fast
approaching, and that day when Christ will return is soon upon
us. His coming is very soon, so much
so that we need to be living as if Christ were crucified this
morning, raised this afternoon, and is returning tonight. I want
you to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. Tonight I want
us to consider these last words of Christ and His promised return. I believe it does us much spiritual
good to regularly read the end of the Bible and to see these
final words in Scripture. This is the last chapter of the
Bible, Revelation 22. And last words should be lasting
words. These are the last words of Jesus
Christ to the church. The last words of Christ were
not spoken in the Upper Room the night before His crucifixion,
nor were they spoken in the Upper Room after His resurrection.
And neither were His last words found in the Great Commission.
Neither are His last words recorded in the seven letters to the seven
churches. Instead, the last words of Christ
are found here in Revelation chapter 22. And it is a call
by Christ to the church in every generation that He is coming
quickly and that we should be dressed in readiness and to prepare
ourselves for the return of Christ. Now, just to set the context.
The Apostle John is the last living Apostle. He has been sentenced
to a small barren island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. The Roman
authorities have banished him there for his faithful preaching
of the gospel. And he is suffering persecution
and serving hard time. And while on Patmos, John received
a series of visions that laid out the future history of the
world and the end of the age. And to the churches in the day
of John and to every church since, revelation has provided a message
of hope that God is enthroned and that God is the God of history
and that God is sovereign over the events that are unfolding
in this world. And as the days grow darker,
our hope should grow brighter as Christ is soon to return.
Though evil often seems to be dominant and wicked men, all
powerful, nevertheless their doom is sure. Because Christ
will appear in glory and He will reward His saints and He will
judge the earth. I want to know, are you ready
for the return of Jesus Christ? If we should hear the trumpet
sound tonight and the voice of the archangel and the dead in
Christ rise first, and we the church would be caught up to
meet the Lord in the air, are you ready for the return of Jesus
Christ? In this passage, I want you to
note with me three promises made by Jesus Christ Himself. I want
you to note at the beginning of verse 12, the promise of Christ's
return. He says, behold, I am coming
quickly. You can count on that. And then
second, the promise of Christ's reward. For He goes on to say
in verse 12, and My reward is with Me to render to every man
according to what he has done. And then finally in verse 13,
the promise of Christ's reign. He says, I am the alpha and the
omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And
by that He means He is the architect of all history and He is the
aim of all history and it all is coming to Him. So let's begin
now as we look at verse 12. I want you to notice first the
promise of Christ's return. Notice He says in verse 12, behold. That is to say, give strict and
careful attention to this, behold. Do not miss this. Give your undivided
attention to what our Lord will now say. Behold, He says, I am
coming quickly. Jesus Himself is the Speaker
and Jesus promises that He is returning personally and bodily
to the earth just as surely as He came the first time, so the
Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. And please note the verb tense,
it is in the present tense. I am coming. It's not even in
the future tense. I will be coming. But in the
present tense, I am coming. The idea is the immanency of
the return of Jesus Christ. It is as if our Lord is saying,
I am already in the process of coming. I am on the way. I am
ready to burst onto the scene of human history at any moment.
I am en route is what He is saying. This is so important that Jesus
says this three times in this last chapter. Would you please
note verse 7 when He says it the first time? And behold, I
am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words
of the prophecy of this book. Then again in verse 12, our text,
behold, I'm coming quickly. Then again in verse 20 at the
end of this very chapter. He who testifies to these things
says, yes, I am coming quickly. Once, twice, three times, Jesus
is emphatic about this. This is the last thing He has
to say to us. He is driving this nail into
the board of our minds and into our hearts. I am coming quickly. This word quickly means without
delay. Soon, very soon, suddenly, readily,
shortly, the New Testament uses different images to indicate
just how quickly will be the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to remind you of some
of these images. The first is that Jesus is a
judge standing at the door. In James 5 verse 9, James writes,
do not complain, brethren, against one another so that you yourselves
may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing
right at the door. And the reference is to the Lord
Jesus Christ and His return. James wants us to know it is
as though Jesus has already arisen from His throne of judgment and
He has proceeded to the door that will lead Him down to the
earth. And He is standing at the door.
His hand is all but on the door. And He is ready to open it and
burst onto the scene and bring His final judgment. That is how
quickly our Lord is represented as coming back to this earth.
And then second, he's also represented as a thief in the night. In 1
Thessalonians 5 and verse 2, Paul writes, for you yourselves
know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like
a thief in the night. A thief waits until it is dark.
A thief waits until everyone is asleep. A thief waits until
no one is awake and looking, and then he will break in unexpectedly
and quickly, and he will take what is valuable, and then he
will leave. So it will be with the Lord Jesus
Christ when He descends from heaven. He is coming for what
is valuable. He is coming for His church,
His chosen bride, and He will take us out of this world and
take us back to glory to be with Him. And then third, He is also
pictured as a bridegroom for His bride. A judge at the door,
a thief in the night, and a bridegroom coming for His bride. John 14
verses 2 and 3 says, "'In My Father's house are many dwelling
places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. For I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself that where I am, there you may be also.'" In ancient
Israel, a bridegroom would become betrothed to his bride and he
would go off and prepare a place for them to live. This would
take place at his father's house and there would be an addition,
an expansion made to his father's house and once it was prepared,
the bridegroom would then return for his bride to bring her to
the place that he had prepared at his father's house. But what added to the excitement
of the occasion is the fact is that the bridegroom would not
tell the bride when He was coming. And so she had to always keep
herself prepared. She had to stay in a state of
being beautified, not knowing when her bridegroom would suddenly
burst onto the scene and sweep her up in His arms and take her
back to his father's house. Even so, the Bride of Christ
must keep herself adorned with good works and personal holiness
and be always ready for the return of the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then fourth, there is the
image of a victor in the air. First Thessalonians 4 verse 16
and following, for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout and the trumpet of God and the voice of the archangel
and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And we who are alive
and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and
thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one
another with these words. All of this is to say the entire
Bible speaks with one voice what Jesus promises in our text tonight,
that He is coming, He is on the way, His coming is so imminent
that He says, I am coming this very moment and that we should
live in a state of heightened expectancy and readiness for
His return. We must keep our lives pure.
We must keep our hearts clean. First John 3 verse 2 says, beloved,
now we are children of God and it has not appeared as yet what
we will be. We know that when He appears,
we will be like Him because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope
fixed on Him purifies himself just as he is pure. If we truly
believe that Jesus Christ could come back at any moment, it will
have a sanctifying effect upon our hearts and upon our souls. It will motivate us to resist
Satan, to refuse temptation, to confess our sin, to live in
a manner that is worthy of our calling before the Lord. Number
one, the promise of Christ's return. I want to ask you again,
are you ready for the return of Christ? He has promised that
He is on the way. Now second, I want you to note,
not only the promise of Christ's return, but the promise of Christ's
reward. Continue to look at our text,
if you would, in verse 12. He says, "'Behold, I am coming
quickly.'" That's the promise of His return. "'And My reward
is with Me to render to every man according to what he has
done.'" That is the promise of Christ's reward. Please note
He says, "'My reward is with Me.'" The reward that Christ
has for each individual believer is with Him. Our reward is not
in this world. Our reward will not come from
this world. Our reward is in another world. It is in the hand of the Lord
Jesus Christ and when He returns, He has His reward with Him and
it says He will render to every man according to what he has
done. Oh, there will be a final judgment
seat of Christ for believers. in which we will stand and He
will review our ministry and our service for Him, no sin will
appear in that day. There is now therefore no condemnation
for them who are in Christ Jesus. But there will be a review of
our ministry and of the use of our time and our talent and our
treasure and those who have been faithful to the opportunities
that have been given to them by God. This says Jesus will
render to every man according to. what He has done. What He has done refers to our
good works. It refers to our service and
our ministry. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
taking it all down with impeccable records and books and will all
be opened up on that last day. Salvation is not by works, but
rewards are by works. We are saved by grace, but we
will be judged by works on that last day. Look at this again. He says, my reward in verse 12,
meaning it is Christ's reward to bestow by Him upon individual
believers. It is with Him, indicating it
will be given shortly after the time of His reward. according
to what He has done. In other words, in direct proportion
to the faithfulness of our lives, how we have been used by God
to spread His message and to serve others. This is the promise
of His reward. I want to take you to two verses
right now. If you would turn with me back
to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20...2 Corinthians chapter
5 and verse 20. Let's just depart from our main
text for a moment and look at this very important passage. This is a reference to the judgment
seat of Christ which will occur immediately after the return
of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse
10, the Apostle Paul writes, for we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ. Stop right there. Who is the
we? Well in this context, it's very clear, the we refers to
all believers in Jesus Christ. In the previous verse, verse
9, the we refers to all who have as their ambition to be pleasing
In verse 8, the we refers to those who prefer to be absent
from the body and they will be at home with the Lord. In verse
7, the we refers to those who walk by faith and not by sight. In verse 5, the we refers to
the us who have the Spirit as a pledge. It is very obvious
in verse 10 that the we who will appear before the judgment seat
of Christ refer to all true believers in Jesus Christ. It says we must. Here is the necessity of it.
We must all, each and every one of us as believers, we will appear
before the judgment seat of Christ. That day is coming for each and
every one of us. This word appear means to be
laid bare. It means far more than just to
show up on that day. It means we will be opened up
to the scrutiny of His judgment. We must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. And the purpose of the judgment
seat of Christ is for Christ as our Master to review our service
for Him as His bondservants and as His slaves. Now he says, so
that each one, referring to each and every Christian, each one
may be recompensed. That means to be paid back, such
as wages are paid for work rendered. Each one may be recompensed for
his deeds. These deeds refer to our works
in the name of Jesus Christ. for His deeds in the body." Why
would He say in the body? Meaning, it's not just our good
intentions, but what we actually do, what we put our shoulder
to the plow and actually do in our body, He says, according
to what He has done, whether good or bad. Those things that are good refer
to that which is according to God's Word, for God's kingdom,
by God's Spirit, for God's glory, in the will of God to carry out
the work of God. You see, our service for the
Lord really matters. And one day we will stand at
the judgment seat of Christ after the time of His return And He
will separate the good from the bad. Now the word bad here does
not mean evil. All of our sins are placed behind
His back. He has separated our sins from
us as far as the east is from the west. He has buried our sins
in the sea of His forgetfulness. Our sins will never be brought
back up again. He has forgotten our sins and
remembers them no longer. This word bad means worthless. of no eternal value whatsoever,
just those trivial things, just those things that have no impact
for the Kingdom of God, just wasted time, wasted effort, Christ
will distinguish and will separate the good from the bad, that which
is of eternal significance from that which is of mere temporal
passing significance. And what he is saying that is,
is that after the return of Christ, we will stand at the judgment
seat of Christ and our life will be passed in review and He will
separate the good from the bad and He will recompense each and
every believer based upon their faithfulness to what He has called
them to do. In Romans chapter 14 and verse
10, turn back two books to the left, Romans chapter 14 and verse
10, we see the very same truth taught by Paul to the church
in Rome, that there is a final day of reckoning, a final day
of accountability that we have as a servant to our Master, as
an athlete to the judge of the games. And so we read in Romans
14 and verse 10. But you, why do you judge your
brother? The brother here refers to another
fellow believer. And the you refers to another
believer as well. So why do you, believer, why
do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard
your brother with contempt? This is within the family of
God. For we, and the we refers to all true believers, all brothers
and all sisters within the born-again family of God. For we will all,
the word all indicates no exception. We will all stand before the
judgment seat of God. Verse 11, for it is written,
as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every
tongue shall give praise to God. Verse 12, so then each one of
us will give an account of himself to God. Every believer in Jesus
Christ. will have this day after the
return of Christ when we will stand at the judgment seat of
Christ, the judgment seat of God, and He will...we will give
an account of ourselves to Him. as a soldier to his officer,
as a servant to his master, and as I said, as an athlete to his
judge. And we will answer to the Lord
for our faithfulness, the stewardship that has been entrusted to us.
God has given you opportunities to serve Him. God has set open
doors before you to serve Him. He has given you so much time. He has given you gifts and talents. He has given you treasures to
be invested in His kingdom. And there will be at the end
of this age, after the return of Christ, He is coming with
His reward. And how this should encourage
us tonight. So many times as we serve the
Lord, we think that perhaps it's of no...it's of no help. A man
came up to me before the service tonight. and said he's been passing
out various tracts and books and that he never seems to have
the response that he would like for the Christian literature
that he is dispensing. And what he is dispensing is
gold, silver, and precious stones. It is the pure truth of God. And what a discouraging thing
that can be when others are not responding. We do not see fruit
for our labor. Be encouraged, brother. Be encouraged,
sister. The Lord is seeing it and the
Lord is recording it and on that last day, the Lord will remember
and the Lord will reward you according to your faithfulness.
Now there is one other passage that I want you to turn to, Luke
chapter 19. If you would turn back to Luke
chapter 19, and what we are thinking about is the promise of Christ's
reward, that when He returns, He will have His reward for His
servants. In Luke chapter 19, Jesus told
a parable that helps us see this truth. You know what a parable
is. It's an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And Jesus
was a master communicator of truth, many times by telling
a parable. That is what we have here. In
Luke chapter 19 and in verse 12 we read, so He said, so Jesus
said. A nobleman went to a distant
country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return. This nobleman in this parable
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of
lords, the Prince of life. And it says he went to a distant
country, it refers to his ascension. back to heaven after the time
of His stay here upon the earth to receive a kingdom. And did
not Jesus say, all authority in heaven and earth has been
given unto Me? And He now presides over the kingdom of grace. He
presides over the kingdom of providence. He has received a
kingdom for Himself. And He will then return, it says
at the end of verse 12. Now before he left, we read in
verse 13, he called ten of his slaves and gave them ten minas. A mina was a measure of money
worth about three months' wages for a common laborer. Ten slaves
received one mina apiece. Each slave was simply a steward
of the mina that was given to him by the nobleman, and one
day he would have to give an account to the nobleman for what
he did with what was entrusted to him. We continue to read,
and the nobleman sent to them...watch this. Do business with this until
I come back." In other words, what I've placed in your hand,
don't just hold it in your hand, invest it. Do not sit back. Take a risk. Do business with
it. Put it out in the marketplace.
See what kind of a return you can receive for what I have put
into your hand. And when I return, the nobleman
says, I expect to see that you engaged in business with the
mina that I have entrusted to you. Now before I go any further,
I want to make this very clear. that you and I are these slaves
who have received one mina, and the Lord has put something into
your hand." gifts, talents, time, open door, opportunities for
you to serve Him and to minister to Him. And there is coming a
time when He returns that we will give an account to our noblemen
for what we did with what was given to us. And He has told
us to do business with it. Don't just hoard it. Don't just
hide it. Put it out there in the marketplace.
See how you can use and invest what has been given to you to
expand the kingdom of God. So look at verse 14, back to
the parable. But His citizens hated Him."
These citizens refer to the people of Israel in the time of Christ.
And oh how they hated this nobleman, Jesus Christ, and sent a delegation
after Him, sent the Romans after Him to put Him to death saying,
we do not want this man to reign over us. The nation Israel in
the time of Christ? would not humble themselves under
the lordship of Christ. They sought His crucifixion to
remove Him from their lives so that they would not have to deal
with Him anymore. And verse 15 says, but when He
returned, when the nobleman returned from a faraway kingdom, having
received it, He now returns. When he returned after receiving
the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves to whom he had given
the money be called to him so that he might know what business
they had done. He ordered a day of accounting
with him. Each slave was to individually
stand before this nobleman. and to answer to Him and to give
an account for the mina that had been placed into their hand. What investment had they made?
What risk had they taken? What business, what enterprise
had they entered into with what had been put into their hand?
The question would be? How shrewd had they been? How
strategic had they been? How faithful? How industrious? How hardworking had they been
with what had been entrusted to them by this nobleman? So in verse 16, the first appeared,
the first slave appeared, saying, Master, your mina has made ten
minas more." This is astonishing. This first slave took this stewardship
seriously. He weighed the opportunities
there around him. He gave careful thought to how
he could shrewdly best invest this one mina. He saw an opportunity. There was an open door before
him. And he put his shoulder to the plow and he worked hard
and he expended himself and now he has ten minas in return and
he so gladly brings them now to this nobleman and says, your
one mina has made ten minas more. Now this required an element
of great faith. This required great industry
and much hard work, perhaps rising early and staying up late and
staying after it. Note verse 17, the response of
the nobleman. And he said to him, the nobleman
said to this first slave, well done, good slave. Oh, and you and I will long to
hear those words come from the lips of our nobleman, the Lord
Jesus Christ, on that last day. Well done, good slave. Because
you have been faithful, you have been faithful. You have been
faithful in a very little thing. What an encouragement this ought
to be because as we consider our ministry. Maybe you just
work in the nursery. Maybe you work with Awana. Maybe
you have a ministry of mercy. Maybe you go to the jail cell.
Maybe you go to the hospital and call on people. And it may
seem like a very little thing to you, but the Lord takes note. You have been faithful in a very
little thing. You are to be an authority over
ten cities. This represents in this parable
the generous, lavish reward of this nobleman and it is in direct
proportion to the return on the investment. One mina was invested,
there were ten minas that came, you will be over ten cities. It is in direct proportion to
our industry and our faith and our great risk-taking for the
Lord in ministry. Verse 18, the second slave came
saying, your mine and master has made five minas. Now this second slave was less
industrious, a little less faith. less risk, less energy, less
industry, yet nevertheless invested what was entrusted to Him. One
mina now bringing a return of five minas. And the nobleman,
verse 19, said to Him, And you are to be over five cities, not
ten cities, not one city, but five cities. You see, each believer
will not receive the same reward. The reward will be in direct
proportion to what has been entrusted to us. And it will take another
world. really to find out who the great Christians are and
who has been faithful with what has been entrusted to them. For
example, some Christians receive simply a two-gallon measurement
of gifts and time and ability. And let's say they are very faithful
with what is entrusted to them and they derive all that they
can out of what was given to them, two gallons worth of spiritual
giftedness and spiritual opportunity. But another Christian, the Lord
gives to them much more. Let's say the capacity is ten
gallons and they have greater opportunity and greater gifts
and greater talents. Yet they are not as faithful
with what has been entrusted to them. And let's say the return
for them is only five gallons out of their ten-gallon capacity. Now as you and I stand to look
at these two different Christians, we see one with two gallons and
there is a full maximum capacity, but we can't see it. Someone
else with ten gallons is producing five gallons and we go, oh, that
is the dynamic Christian, that is the great servant of the Lord.
Well, not in the eyes of God, only God knows. what is expected
of each and every one of us to whom much is given, the same
shall be required." James 3, 1 says, "'Let not many of you
become teachers, my brethren, knowing as such we shall incur
a stricter judgment.'" There is a stricter judgment for some
in the body of Christ because they have been elevated to certain
positions of teaching the Word and in spiritual leadership.
Well God is expecting so much more from them. Wherever it is
that the Lord has placed you, and whatever it is God has put
into your hand, be faithful to invest and do business with what
He has given to you. Let's finish out this parable.
Look at verse 20, another came saying, another slave, one of
these ten. Another came saying, Master,
here is your mina. He was given one mina, he now
returns one mina. Master, here is your mina which
I kept put away in a handkerchief. I didn't do business with it.
I didn't invest it. I hid it. I hoarded it. I sat on it. I squandered the
opportunities. Verse 21 says, "'For I was afraid
of you.'" Now let me tell you, this slave does not know the
Master. He does not truly know who the
Master is. For I was afraid of you because
you are an exacting man. You take up what you did not
lay down and reap what you did not sow." There is no personal
relationship here. This is a service that is built
on dread. This is an unsaved man. In fact,
in verse 27, if your eye will look down the page, Jesus refers
to him as an enemy. This is someone who's just in
the professing church but has never been born again, has no
personal relationship with the Lord, and they never become involved
in God's work. They're just sitting. They're
just occupying space. They're just there. But they're
never engaged in the service of the Lord and extending the
kingdom of God. Verse 22, he said to Him, By
your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave, you good-for-nothing
slave. Did you not know that I am an
exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping
what I did not sow?" In other words, obviously you do not know
me. And verse 23, then why did you not put my money in the bank? You could have at least received
interest if you had invested it at least into the hands of
a banker, but you did not even do that. And having come, I would
have collected it with interest." But you squandered even that
opportunity. You wasted your life and you wasted this opportunity
to invest what I put into you. And in reality, what this slave
is saying is all an excuse. So verse 24, then he said to
the bystanders, take the mina away from him, strip it out of
his hands and give it to the one who has the ten minas. They said to him, Master, he
has ten minas already. I tell you that everyone who
has more will be given to him. But from the one who does not
have, even what he does have shall be taken away from him. But these enemies of mine who
did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay
them in my presence." You know what this parable says to us? The Lord Jesus Christ. has gone
away to another country to receive a kingdom and He is coming back. And when He comes back, His reward
is with Him to give to every man according to His work. And
when He comes back, we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ
and we will be like these slaves and we will stand one by one
individually before the Lord Jesus Christ. And He will separate
the good from just the worthless, the good from that which was
just trivial and amounted nothing to eternity. And that which we
have done which is good, meaning that which would extend the Kingdom
in the name of Christ, ministering to others, sharing the gospel,
the Lord sees it, the Lord records it. And on that last day, He
will reward us. And on that day, nothing will
be more important to us than to hear from our Master's lips,
well done, good and faithful slave. That is what you and I
will long to hear. And if we do not hear that, the
silence will be deafening to us. And according to our faithfulness,
ten minas? You will be over ten cities.
Five minus, it will be in direct proportion. You will be over
five cities. It is the promise of Christ's
return. It is the promise of Christ's
reward. I want you to note third and
finally, the promise of Christ's reign. In verse 13, as we bring
this to conclusion. Verse 13, Jesus says this to
underscore, to punctuate what He just said in verse 12, I am
the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning
and the end. Jesus continues as the speaker
here. Jesus speaks for Himself to us. What does this mean? Well, the
first letter of the Greek alphabet is alpha. The last letter of
the Greek alphabet is omega. What Jesus is saying is that
all of human history is coming from me. I am the beginning of
all that there is in human history. And He is saying that I am the
purpose, and I am the reason, and I am the consummation of
human history. And everything in between, every
letter in between Jesus Christ is sovereign over it all. He is both the architect and
the aim of history. He is both the planner and the
purpose of human history. He is both the creator and the
consummation of human history. History is His story. Jesus is the creator and the
controller and the consummation of history. What is the world
coming to? The world is coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself. And He shall reign for a thousand
years upon this earth after the time of His coming, and the lamb
shall lay down next to the lion, and the child will play with
the viper. And then there will be the great white throne judgment
and He will reign and preside as the books will be opened and
the book of life will be opened and every unbeliever will stand
before the Lord and it will be shown that their name is not
written in the Lamb's book of life. And the books containing
all of their deeds and all of their words and all of their
thoughts, it will come...it will come out on the last day. And
then He will sentence them all down into the lake of fire that
burns with brimstone. And then He will create a new
heaven and a new earth, and He will reign forever and ever in
the New Jerusalem. He will be the King of kings
and the Lord of lords, and there will be no end to His reign.
And we will come into the New Jerusalem, and we will come in
and worship Him, and we will go out and serve Him, and we
will adore Him and worship Him forever and ever. and there will
be no end to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ." What a glorious
future we have as the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus says here,
the promise of His return, the promise of His reward, and the
promise of His reign. As I bring this to conclusion,
I want to ask you, do you know Jesus Christ? Is He your personal
Lord and Savior? Have you been born again? Does
He know you? Do you have a personal relationship
with Christ? Have you been born from above?
When Jesus comes back, will He be coming for you? When He comes
back, will He take you out of this world and take you back
to His Father's house where He has prepared a place for those
who love Him? If you have never believed upon
Jesus Christ, I urge you tonight to commit your life to Christ,
this Jesus who came into the world the first time. He was
born of a virgin. He lived a sinless and perfect
life. He fulfilled the very law that
you and I break again and again and again. And by His obedience
to the law of God, He now gives to us His perfect righteousness
to clothe all who will believe in Him. He went to Calvary's
cross, He was lifted up to die. And there upon the cross, Him
who knew no sin, God made to be sin for us. Jesus shed His
blood upon Calvary's cross. And with His blood, He satisfied
the righteous anger of God towards all who would call upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is now therefore no condemnation
for them who are in Christ Jesus. As He hung upon that cross, He
reconciled holy God to sinful man and by the blood of His cross,
He brought the two together. By His death, He has redeemed,
He has purchased, He has bought with His own blood those for
whom He has died. Seek the Lord while He may be
found. Call upon Him while He is near because the hour of His
return is sooner than any of us can even imagine. He is on
His way. The judge is standing right at
the door. He is ready to open it. He is
a thief in the night coming to take what is valuable. O may
you know the Lord Jesus Christ. May you commit your life to Him. May you know that you are a blood-bought
child of God. May you know that you are right
with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. May all God's people
who have committed their lives to Christ, let us renew our commitment
to serve our Master, knowing at the end of the age we will
give an account to Him. for how we invested our life
in His service. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven,
how we thank You that not only did You give Christ to us the
first time, but You will give Christ to us the second time,
that there will be a great...a great return of Christ for us,
His chosen bride. I pray, God, that You would create
a sense of expectancy within our hearts tonight. Wean us off
the world. May we look into Jesus, the author
and perfecter of faith. May we look away from these things
that distract us in our faith. May we set our mind on things
above and not on things of the earth. Help us to forget what
lies behind and to press forward to what lies ahead. May we be
so Christ-centered and Christ-focused that we will invest our lives
wisely for the service of Jesus Christ. Father, we pray this
in His matchless name for His glory and for the spread of His
kingdom. Amen.