One of the truths I hope has been obvious in our study through the book of Revelation is that this book is not about helping us determine dates for future events, put together timelines, or the like. Rather, it is a gift from Jesus Christ to his struggling, tempted, persecuted, and often weary church to aid us in pressing on in our faith and in faithful obedience in the midst of trying times. This is why, in the prologue of the book, Jesus reminded the people who he was – “the ruler of the kings of earth” (1:5a). As the kings of the earth make life hard on his saints, Jesus wants us to know that he reigns over them. He reminds us who we are. We are those whom he loves and whom he has freed from sins by his blood (1:5b). To have one who rules over the kings of the earth who does not care about us is hardly comforting, but when that one loves us and has demonstrated it by dying for us, there is no greater encouragement. And he assures us that he is coming again.
That’s how the Lord Jesus Christ began this book. He tells us what we need to hear so that we might find strength to keep pressing on, keep enduring, keep obeying, even when everything is pressing against us. And it seems that when we get to the end of the book, as we come to the epilogue (Rev. 22:6-21) this morning, that Jesus brings us back to this theme. He doesn’t want us to miss the purpose of this book. He doesn’t want us to lose focus of what he has revealed to us in this book.
If we were writing this book, we might not have ended it this way, would we? Last week we got to look at all things being made new so that there will be a new heavens and a new earth. We saw the bride, the people of God, dwelling with the lamb forever. It was a glorious picture. The text even ended with the announcement that we will reign with Christ, as his people, forever.
So, it can feel kind of odd for the book to go on with this added epilogue. However, when we consider that this epilogue serves to bring us back to the purpose of the book – encouraging weary, persecuted, and tempted believers to faithful enduring obedience – then it makes perfect sense. Therefore, this morning, I want to walk us through these final verses that I think remind us again why we as believers should press on in faith and in faithful obedience to Christ. Let me share from this text five reasons why we should continue to press on in faithful obedience, even in trying times and situations.
This is how the epilogue begins. John writes in verse 6, “And he said to me, ‘These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.’”
I said in week one of our study that one of the features of this form of literature (i.e. apocalyptic) is that it looks at reality from God’s perspective, from the perspective of heaven. So, it may look to us just like there’s an oppressive government in some part of the world that doesn’t like Christians, but the book of Revelation shows us that this is a tool of Satan to persecute the church, for example. Well, there can be a temptation to question the reality of everything we’ve seen here. I mean, is it really true that no matter what we go through in life or what we suffer for the cause of Christ, that it’s utterly worth it? I mean, if we’re facing trials and suffering because we’re awaiting the crown of life, awaiting the day when we will hear well done, and awaiting the day when we’ll dwell with the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity, is it worth it? Is it true?
Is all of this that we look at as our Christian hope true? Indeed it is. The book ends with that reminder. It is true. These words we’ve looked at over twenty-seven weeks are trustworthy. You can bank your life on them. God is behind the words of his prophets, as verse 6 reminds us. In verse 8, John tells us that he was an eyewitness to these things. He writes, “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.” Jesus reminds us in verse 16 that he, the one who is the root and shoot of David – who sustained the Davidic kingdom and is David’s promised Son, the Messiah – is the very one who sent his angel to testify to John about these things for the sake of the churches. It is true.
One reason we should press on is because so much of what we see around us and chase after (the appearance of happiness provided by what the world has to offer) is a lie while what the Lord has shown to us in this book – that holding to him, even if it costs us everything, is worth it – is true. Second:
We’re reminded of each of these realities throughout this epilogue. Let’s take the blessing for obedience first. We see it in verse 7 as Jesus declares, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” That is, if you obey what is here, you’ll find yourself with eternal blessing. But we see it again in verse 14: “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”
The idea of someone washing his robe probably means to keep ourselves undefiled by the temptations of the world but rather hold to Christ. Those who repent and believe, and continue to repent of sin and hold fast to faith in Christ, will have eternal life and enter into Christ’s presence for all eternity. Simply put, there will be no one in eternity who will look back on their faithful obedience in this life (no matter how difficult and trying it was) and regret it. We will know eternal blessing.
On the other side, however, those who do not trust in Christ and those who turn from Christ to chase after what he forbids will be cursed in eternity. We see this too throughout the epilogue. So, for example, Jesus reminds us in verse 12 that when he returns, it will be to bring his recompense with him and “to repay everyone for what he has done.” We read in verse 15 that those are blessed and enter the city who cling to Christ, but, “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
Then, in verses 18-20, Jesus declares, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of eth book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
Now, we could read this as a warning just people not to add words or take away words from the book of Revelation in the literal sense. That is, don’t add verses or leave verses out. And indeed that would be bad. But I don’t think that’s being warned against here. There is a similar warning in Deuteronomy 4:2 not to add or take away from the words of the law, and in Deuteronomy it seems to be a warning against those teaching that the words of the law are untrue, or can be disobeyed, or that disobeying God’s commands will not bring someone harm. That’s the idea of taking away from or adding in Deuteronomy, and I think it’s the same here.
When someone comes along and says, “Yeah, but you’re still okay if you bow down to a pagan deity just to get a job” in the first century Roman setting, that’s like adding to God’s Word. The Lord never said that. Or if one says, “Well, you really wont’ suffer the wrath of the Lamb simply for chasing after sexual immorality,” that is taking away from God’s Word. After all, the Lord did warn against that. That person will not inherit eternal life.
Therefore, these warnings remind us again of the choice that lies before us in this book. Hold fast to the Lamb, and you will suffer the wrath of the enemy in this life. Hold fast to the Lamb, and you are not seeking a life of ease here and now. But, hold fast to the beast – to Satan’s lies, to sin and death – and you may well avoid the wrath of the beast here and now, but you’ll face the Lamb’s wrath for eternity.
The epilogue brings us back to this reality. Hold fast to Christ, and you’ll be blessed in eternity. Turn from him, and you’ll face his wrath.
And this leads us to another motivating reason for our endurance.
This is repeated throughout the text, isn’t it? In verse 7, Jesus declares, “And behold, I am coming soon.” In verse 10, we’re reminded that what we’ve read in this book is “near.” In verse 12, Jesus again says, “Behold, I am coming soon.” And finally, we read in verse 20, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’”
Now, we might be tempted to doubt this in light of the fact that it’s been nearly 2,000 years since these words were first written. But the idea here isn’t that Jesus wanted people in the first century to know that he was coming soon and something must have gone wrong. The idea of Jesus coming “soon” I think is best pictured in what we see in verse 10, that is, it is “near” or “at hand.” That is, Jesus could indeed return at any point. There is nothing that keeps him from returning. It could be any time.
Jesus uses the illustration of a thief coming when he is least expected to parallel his coming in the Scriptures. He could come whenever. Therefore, do not give in now, turn away, saying, “I cannot continue to walk in faithful obedience,” when indeed the end could be tomorrow. Hold fast. Endure. He is coming, and it could be quite soon.
Also, we see:
We often say that the gospel sounds too good to be true, and yet it is true. The reason it sounds too good to be true is because there’s something in us that says we must work for anything we get. We must do something. This innate thought in fallen humanity manifests itself in every manmade religion in the world. Religions may think we need to do different things, but they all agree that we do and therefore we get to live. Some knock on doors and pass out literature in order to work their way toward eternal life. Others fast for seasons and pray multiple times a day. Others where suicide vests and fly planes into buildings. Others just try to avoid obviously immoral things and do what seems right and good. It can look 100 different ways, but in the end it’s the same. We’re all trying and fighting and struggling to do what we think needs to be done in order to get eternal life. The price looks different for so many, but we’re all trying to pay the price for eternity.
But that’s the glory of the gospel. Jesus has done for us what we couldn’t do. He obeyed perfectly in everything for us. He paid the penalty for our sins for us. He was raised from the dead and conquered death and hell for us. Therefore, his offer to us is simply to believe, to trust him, to rely on his work alone for our righteous standing before God, for our salvation. Therefore, his call to us was to come and have eternal life without price because he paid it for us.
This is why the Spirit moves the church to say to unbelievers, “Come to Christ.” That’s what we see in verse 17, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” This is a call to the church, as we are empowered by the Spirit to call overs to come to Christ, to trust in the gospel alone for their salvation. And indeed, this should be our labor until Christ returns.
But it’s also a reminder of what Christ has done for those of us who do believe, isn’t it? We have come to Christ and drunk of living water so that death for us is entrance into eternal life. And we did it without working but simply believing. We took the water of life without price. Well, at least without price to us. We have eternal life because Christ did everything necessary for us. This is why we endure. We endure because we remember the gospel, delight in it, realize that apart from Christ’s gracious work for us we would all face his wrath, realize that because we’ve believed we’ll never face his wrath, and we therefore endure in faith and in faithful obedience. Let the gospel, the finished work of Christ, and your justification by faith alone move you to keep on pressing on. The gospel is the greatest motivator to faithful obedience. So don’t move your eyes from it.
And finally:
The book ends with these words, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (v. 21). It’s easy to move past these words in many of the New Testament letters, isn’t it? After all, they’re not striking. It can feel like nothing more than someone saying, “Have a good day,” after you’ve purchased something at the cash register. But it is not simply a word of closing.
It is a reminder that the one who gave you grace in opening your eyes to the gospel will now give you the grace to hold fast in faith and faithful obedience to the end. It’s a reminder that whatever tomorrow holds, his grace will be sufficient. It is a reminder that he’ll strengthen you when you feel like you have no strength left. Therefore, don’t give in. Don’t turn from him. Don’t say obedience is too hard. Don’t say, “I just can’t stay faithful in my marriage or in purity.” Don’t grow weary of walking with brothers and sisters and investing in them and loving them, and letting them love you, and walk with you, and hold you accountable. I know the enemy whispers that this isn’t worth it and it’s unreasonable. It’s too hard. He is telling you that you deserve a break from fighting for holiness when the temptations are unrelenting.
But Jesus tells us that his grace will be with us. He’ll keep supplying what we need. So keep fighting. Hold fast in faith, and you’ll not regret it in the eternity.
The book of Revelation was written to encourage weary, tempted, and tried believers to press on in faith and in faithful obedience. I think that most likely fits most of us in this room. So, this morning, as we are reminded against that the words of this book are true, that eternal blessing and punishment is real, that Jesus is coming soon, that he graciously has justified by his blood all of us who have faith in him, and that his grace will be with us, let us come to the table, visibly declaring before one another as we eat this bread and drink from this cup, that we are today holding fast to our faith in Christ, by his grace. Amen.