1. "God wants Christians to know the future. Dear congregation, if we read and believe the future that God has laid out in this book, this vision of eternity shared in Christ, will put our worldly divisions into perspective. It will create a unity that allows us to all walk together on the same pilgrimage to our heavenly home."

2. "The more heavenly minded you become, the more united you become with others who are headed to that same place. That's the key. That's the special nature of our union together in sharing Christ and His Spirit."

3. "What a sweet assurance comes to us in these words of Jesus, I am coming soon. To know that the suffering we encounter in this life is not forever and will even end and that soon. It's not that the suffering doesn't exist, but the suffering is put profoundly in perspective. Relief is coming, and confidence of that gives us strength and energy to think well now."

4. "Even God's best gifts make poor substitutes for the Lord himself. Resist all such idolatries. Love those that bring you God's Word. Honor them, but honor Christ more. Worship God alone. Praise ultimately only Him."

5. "Perversion of mind will not be contained. It will continue to sponsor more evil in the life of the person entertaining it. And part of God's judgment of that is giving the person over to it."

6. "There is no moment of our day or of our life in which the Creator is ever absent. You cannot name such a moment from this last day or this last week or this last month or this last year."

7. "Let thoughts of His kind and fatherly care enable you to live each moment without fear, as you know that nothing comes to you which is not first passed through the hands of your loving Heavenly Father. You can trust that every circumstance you face is specifically edited by Him for you."

8. "Every day, every hour, the only solvent to sin's stain is the Savior's blood. This is our only way to the tree of life."

9. "There will be an eternal distinction between people, a division more important than any division in this life. The New Jerusalem will not be stained with our sins. It's destined to reflect the holiness of God himself."

10. "This world was not made to satisfy creatures like you and me. We are made to want into that city."

Observation Questions

1. In Revelation 22:6-7, what does the angel declare about "these words," and what specific promise does Jesus make in verse 7?

2. According to Revelation 22:8-9, how does John respond to the angel's revelation, and what does the angel command John to do instead?

3. What contrast does Revelation 22:10-11 draw between what John is told to do with "the words of the prophecy of this book" and what Daniel was told to do with his vision (Daniel 12:4)?

4. In Revelation 22:12-13, what does Jesus say He will bring with Him when He comes, and what titles does He claim for Himself?

5. According to Revelation 22:14, what blessing is promised to "those who wash their robes," and what two things do they gain access to?

6. Who does Revelation 22:15 say will be "outside" the city, and what categories of people are listed?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that the angel twice refuses John's worship (Revelation 22:8-9; cf. 19:10) and redirects him to "worship God"? What does this teach about the proper response to God's messengers and gifts?

2. How does the repeated phrase "I am coming soon" (verses 7, 12) function throughout Revelation, and why might God use the word "soon" when nearly 2,000 years have passed since these words were written?

3. What is the relationship between "keeping the words of the prophecy of this book" (verses 7, 9) and "washing your robes" (verse 14)? Are these two separate conditions for entering the city, or do they work together?

4. In verse 11, God seems to say, "Let the evildoer still do evil." How does this statement fit with God's character and the broader context of judgment and repayment described in verses 12-13?

5. What does Jesus' claim to be "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (verse 13) reveal about His identity, and why is this claim placed immediately before the final beatitude and warning?

Application Questions

1. The sermon asked, "Where do you most want to get in?" What earthly acceptance, achievement, or destination currently competes with your desire for the heavenly city, and what would it look like to reorder that priority this week?

2. The angel told John to "worship God" alone. What person, pursuit, or good gift in your life might be receiving the kind of devotion or trust that belongs only to God? How can you practically redirect that allegiance?

3. Christ's promise to come "soon" is meant to create urgency and hope. How does your awareness of Christ's imminent return affect the way you handle a current conflict, anxiety, or decision you are facing?

4. Verse 14 speaks of having robes "washed in the blood of the Lamb." Is there a specific sin or failure you have been trying to address through your own efforts rather than bringing it to Christ for cleansing? What step can you take to trust His finished work this week?

5. The sermon emphasized that our shared hope in Christ should "overpower our earthly divisions." Is there a relationship in your church or family where focusing together on the coming heavenly city could help you pursue reconciliation or patience? What one conversation or action could you initiate?

Additional Bible Reading

1. 2 Peter 3:1-18 — This passage directly addresses the question of why Christ's return seems delayed and calls believers to holy living in light of His coming.

2. Daniel 12:1-13 — Daniel's vision is sealed until the end, contrasting with Revelation's command to keep the book open, showing the urgency of the present age.

3. Romans 1:18-32 — Paul describes God "giving people over" to their sinful desires, illuminating the sobering reality of verse 11 and the consequences of rejecting God's truth.

4. Hebrews 9:24-28 — This passage explains how Christ's once-for-all sacrifice secures salvation and connects His first coming to His promised second appearing.

5. Revelation 7:9-17 — Here we see the great multitude who have "washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb," providing the fuller context for the blessing promised in Revelation 22:14.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Universal Desire to "Get In" Somewhere Important

II. Keep These Words (Revelation 22:6-13)

III. Wash Your Robes (Revelation 22:14-15)

IV. The Eternal City Awaits Those Who Trust in Christ Alone

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Detailed Sermon Outline

Have you ever really wanted to get in someplace? Maybe you're here as a tourist and you're just waiting to see if those tickets become available for that much desired tour of that building or the other museum. Maybe you're a senior in high school and you've got your eye on this certain college that you'd really like to get into. Or maybe you're older and you're waiting to get into that conveniently located, highly reviewed, multi-level care facility.

Or maybe you're the Democrats. It's 1932 and you haven't won a presidential election since 1916. Ever since loads of southern Democrats tried to secede in the Civil War, the White House has been an almost exclusively Republican possession. Only two Democrats have gotten in in the last 70 years. The key seemed to be finding a governor of a populous mid-Atlantic state.

So New York's Governor Cleveland, New Jersey's Governor Wilson had both managed to get in. But since Wilson's victory in 1916, it was once again only Republicans. 1920, Senator Warren Harding of Ohio, won it for the Republicans, but he soon surprised everybody and died. His vice president, former Massachusetts governor, Calvin Coolidge, succeeded him. He ran, captured the White House again for the Republicans in 1924 with that snappy slogan, Keep Cool with Coolidge.

And they thought they were going to have another four years after that, but then Coolidge, in typical fashion, in his family vacation during the summer of 1927 made this brief, simple notice to the press, I do not choose to run for president in 1928. No further comment. With this popular president out of the way, it looked like the Democrats might have found their way back in. And so they summoned master campaigner and popular governor of America's most populous state, Al Smith of New York, as their nominee.

The Republicans meanwhile turned to a man who had never stood in any kind of election, but was the widely respected Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover. Successful but dull, he managed to triumph over Smith, giving the Republicans their third straight presidential victory. And so now to our point, in 1932 the Democrats wanted back into the White House and they wanted it badly. And the political weather had shifted in their favor in at least three ways. Number one, Hoover himself was not much of a campaigner.

He was the last president to write his own speeches. And you could tell.

Number two, the Democrats had found arguably the most perfect presidential candidate in American history. The 50-year-old charismatic governor of New York with a name even the Republicans loved, Franklin Roosevelt. He even copied his distant relative Theodore's career posts. He even wore his Pince Nez glasses on his nose. And the third way that the weather was in their favor politically was the conditions.

What's come to be called the Great depression had begun, and the Republicans were the ones in the White House, and this would galvanize a generation of firmly Democratic voters. In fact, the Democrats were so sure that they would get back into the White House that Roosevelt's vice presidential candidate, John Nance Garner, only made one appearance during the entire campaign. Their basic strategy was do nothing and we can't lose. And the election was an overwhelming victory, and the White House became a Democratic preserve for much of the middle part of the 20th century, with Democrats winning two-thirds of the presidential contests. Well, I tell a political story of a desired destination to a political congregation.

But even among politicians, some things are more important than politics. In fact, politics are often engaged in because of those deeper values, from peace and prosperity to family and faith. These are the issues that motivate many people's participation in public life. I wonder how many people here today harbor secret thoughts of one day living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, as the main occupant.

So who do you want to be accepted by? Where do you want to get in? Is it this school? Or that job? Is it this pool?

Or that party?

Is it this team or that hall of fame? But even halls of fame close.

The society you should most deeply desire is God's. And the place you should most want to get into is His city, the city that we've been studying in these last two chapters of the Bible. Let's turn there now to see two clear directions were given today to learn how to get into this city, the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, the city called elsewhere in the Bible, the Lord is there, the city of God. This is a place you can live not just by yourself, but with others you love, and especially with the one whom you love most, our great Creator and Savior, the Triune God, and not just for four years or eight, but forever. How can you get in?

Our passage gives two clear instructions. Number one, keep these words. Number two, wash your robes. Number one, keep these words. Number two, wash your robes.

Our passage is found in Revelation chapter 22. We are looking at verses 6 to 15, verses 6 to 15.

Listen now as I read it.

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. And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.

But he said to me, 'You must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. And he said to me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoers still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.

Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 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. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

We'll consider first the instructions to keep these words in verses 6 to 13, and then the implied instruction to wash your robes, Aaron in verses 14 and 15. And I pray that as we consider these instructions, you will follow them.

And so as Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So in verses 6 to 13, John's readers are exhorted to keep the words of the book. That's the first point here. And that means to keep them means to obey them. If you look in your text, you see that phrase there in verse 7, and it's repeated down in verse 9.

So let me look again, starting at verse 6. And he said to me, and this one speaking is the angel who, if you look up in verse 1, has just been showing John the river of life. He said to me, these words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord God, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must soon take place. So as the very name of the book suggests, God speaks, He reveals.

And the purpose of God's revealing is to educate us, to make us not so ignorant about Him and ourselves so that we can know the truth. And this is what the whole Bible has taught us, that our prosperity in every sense of life comes from knowing what God has revealed to us. Do you remember how the Psalms begin? Back in Psalm 1, the psalmist writes, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

Friends, in this book of Revelation, as throughout the whole Bible, God's encompassing plan is being rolled out. He wants it shown to his servants. That's why he's revealed it to John. It wasn't merely for John's personal curiosity or information. It was for those churches addressed at the beginning of Revelation.

You remember in chapters 2 and 3, Jesus writes letters to seven churches. In note, there are seven. That seems to suggest they're standing for the fullness of churches, all churches, including us. Jesus is writing these revelations for us to know the truth. God wants us to know what he's revealed here.

That's really striking to consider. Friends, God wants Christians to know the future. God wants Christians to know the future. Dear congregation, if we read and believe the future that God has laid out in this book, this vision of eternity shared in Christ, will put our worldly divisions into perspective. It will create a unity that allows us to all walk together on the same pilgrimage to our heavenly home.

Our shared hopes overpower our earthly divisions. What we may think of this social movement, or that political candidate, or this terrible event, or that other horror.

Have you seen this in your own life, in this congregation? The more heavenly minded you become, the more united you become with others who are headed to that same place. Friends, that's the key. That's the special nature of our union together in sharing Christ and His Spirit. And you can sense it as we pray together.

As we come together in the name of Christ and pray for things that we all agree on. As we sing together, as we share and cherish the great hope that we have, these things bring us together. God has revealed His trustworthy and true word so that we will altogether believe it. That's why He wanted John to, as He says here, show His servants. This was not private secret knowledge for John, this was knowledge given specifically to be shared with others.

And the central thing that this book has shown us about the future is what we see here in verse 7. It's the promise of Christ's soon return. Look at that very short sentence at the beginning of verse 7. And behold, I am coming soon. Soon.

So the angel had just told John that he had been sent to show God's servants what must soon take place. And chief among these events was the return of Christ. Now this is how the book had opened. It opened with a scene. If you look back in chapter 1, the very first verse.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants, the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. It's the things that must soon take place. And as you look through the letters he writes to the churches, he repeats this theme again and again. Now here in the last chapter, it's even more emphasized.

You see this here in verse seven, where Jesus says, and behold, I am coming soon. And then it's also repeated. It was just said in verse six, where he said he sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.

It repeats again down in verse 12 where Jesus says, Behold, I am coming soon. And then in the verse right before that, in verse 10, he uses a different word, near, but it's the same idea. Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near. Now I think this idea of the time being near or soon can confuse people. Mark, it's been 2,000 years.

How's that soon? That's a good question, and it's a question that I could do a whole separate sermon on. But instead of that, let me simply mention four passages for you to mark down and look at later this afternoon. Four passages, four passages of Scripture. 2 Peter 3, Romans 13, Philippians 4, and Mark 13.

Let me just say those again. 2 Peter 3, Romans 13, Philippians 4 and Mark 13. If you just turn to 2 Peter 3, this is where it's addressed most explicitly.

Peter writes, this is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved, and both of them I am stirring up you to sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all that scoffers will come in the last days, with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, 'Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.' For they deliberately overlooked the fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.

By the same word, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness. But is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.

You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you're not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. It's a good commentary if you remember on what this soon means?

Or turn over to Romans 13. Let me just point out a couple of verses there. In Romans 13, when Paul is thinking about this.

Romans 13, verse 11, Besides this, you know the time that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

The night is far gone, the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Friends, it seems that heavenly mindedness is to affect our earthly lives.

Heavenly mindedness causes us to set different values on things in this life. We spend ourselves differently knowing what we have ahead. And Paul is counting on that. It's stitched into the Christian worldview. And once you notice it, you begin to notice it everywhere.

Turn over to Philippians for a second. Look over at Philippians.

Philippians 4:2. Philippians 4:2, I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice, let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This is like a fight going on in church. And Paul appeals to the nearness of the return of Christ as a reason for Uotia and Sentiki to cool it, to remind themselves of the even greater things they have in common.

Yes, they may have a real beef between them. There may be something seriously going on, but they have something even weightier that they share that determines their lives together. This is all rooted, of course, in the teaching of Jesus. Look over at Mark 13. Mark chapter 13, beginning at verse 26, Mark 13:26.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory, and then He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branches become tender and puts out its leaves, you know that the summer is near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that He is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son. But only the Father. Be on guard. Keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come.

It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. Friends, that's the root of this teaching that we see throughout the New Testament. And the reason Jesus can use the word soon there to us is because there is nothing else that needs to be done in order for the Son of Man to return.

It's ready to be unveiled and completed. For all we know, we will be the last generation. And it's been so since Pentecost. There's nothing left on the calendar of redemptive history to be done. The long promised Messiah, has come.

Christ has died. Christ has been raised. The Spirit has been poured out. All we await now in terms of salvation history is the completion of the bodily resurrection begun by Jesus' own bodily resurrection. And then it'll be as if in the days of Noah.

The skeptics wrongly reason that because something had not yet happened that it never would. But friends, they were wrong. We shouldn't make that same error. This soon applies to us. And the most fundamental implication of this for us is that if Christ is to return quickly, now is the day of salvation.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6, Behold, now is the favorable time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Or we read in Hebrews 9 about the Son of God. He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

So brothers and sisters, what does this word from Jesus, I am coming soon, what does this do to your own heart?

When you hear this promise, What does it change in the way you're viewing your own life, in the decisions that you have in front of you? If you believe that Christ is coming soon, does it impact any of your decisions, your priorities? Friends, how do you expect to keep the words of this book if you don't hold on to this hope? Holding on to this hope is the only way you will be able to keep the words of this book. Sometimes I know in my own life I seem more taken up with all kinds of other coming events.

You know, will Connie be able to walk again? When? When will members of our family come to Christ? Or far smaller things, how will this meeting go? How will this particular difficulty be resolved?

And as much as fears can haunt the old, hopes of this world can crowd the hearts of the young. Will she like me? What will he say about this assignment? Will I get that appointment? Will I get in?

And yet what a sweet assurance comes to us in these words of Jesus, I am coming soon. To know that the suffering we encounter in this life is not forever and will even end and that soon. My brother, my sister, I hope you see that it is kind of God to remind us of the shortness of our path of suffering, our nearness to its end, especially in comparison with the length of eternity stretching out before us? It's not that the suffering doesn't exist, but the suffering is put profoundly in perspective. Relief is coming, and confidence of that gives us strength and energy to think well now.

Jesus said, Behold, I, personally I, Jesus, I am coming soon.

We should look at the second half of verse 7 while we're here in our passage because it is crucial to our understanding this basic promise correctly for ourselves. You look at verse 7, there's this second sentence, Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

So here is the promise of blessing, true enough. This is another one of the beatitudes we've seen in this book of Revelation. But its scope is limited, this blessing. Notice that. Who is said to be blessed?

So you realize it's not just that we as Christians have the power to create reality by our speech, and we look at somebody at work or in the store and we say, Be blessed. It doesn't work like that. It's not a little magic spell. He's very clear in saying, who will be blessed? It's those who keep the words of this book.

And again, what does it mean to keep the words of this book? It means to remember them, to heed them, to do them, to obey them. So because of this revelation that John's been given and that he shares, Christians should be encouraged. We should be helped to keep, that is to persevere in serving Christ alone.

And resist all encroaching idolatry. Practically, what does that look like? Well, if you realize that Christ is coming soon, this life leads into another, that it's the life represented in this book, what does that mean for you? Well, for one example, kids, it means that you normally obey your parents. You know, even when they tell you to do things you don't immediately want to do, normally, if they're telling you things that are for your good, you obey them.

That's a good and right thing to do. And there's all kinds of analogies we find like that throughout our lives as we grow up. God cares about how you and I live. He makes great promises to us if we will heed warnings, if we will accept the encouragement, if we will be directed by His loves, by what He hates. By God's priorities and not our own, then we will know blessing.

I wonder what keeping the words of this book looks like in your life. I pray that God will lay some particular examples on your heart. We'll make it plain to you the path of following him today. Maybe you can share that with someone this afternoon to show what this looks like for you in a particular challenge that you're facing or an uncertainty. That you have in front of you.

Well, that's here in verse 7. We should keep going. One way we certainly must keep the words of this book is to remember what we see here in verses 8 and 9. Look again at Revelation 22:8 and 9. I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.

And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. And he said to me, you, must not do that. I'm a fellow servant with you and your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. Now, some of you will remember, didn't we just see that a few weeks ago?

Yeah, we did. If you look up in Revelation 19, this exact same thing happens. John falls down at the feet of the angel. Either this is just recounting the same event again to make the point, or it happens again. Either way, I think I can explain this with some sympathy and understanding to the prophet, to John.

I don't think the problem was that John didn't know he was to worship only God. I think he was well familiar with that. I think he knew that and believed that. I think what's going on is when you have an angelic messenger and when this angelic messenger is presenting to you the kind of glorious stuff that we see in the book of Revelation, when the messenger of God is bringing the message of God, You can be, we understand if you might mistake that messenger for God himself coming to you. And I think that's what was going on here.

And I think John happily received the angel's rebuke. Brothers and sisters, our very persevering obedience is to keep God's word, to serve Christ alone, should help us. To resist all these encroaching idolatries. So just look around your own life. What's challenging your exclusive allegiance to God this morning?

Idols come in many shapes and sizes. God is rivaled by carved images of self-conscious idolaters. There are millions of those in this world and many millions more in our own nation than we may realize. But he's also challenged by us as we take those never meant as idols and use them as idols. You know what I mean?

In that sense the idol is in the eye of the beholder. I wonder what else you feel compelled to worship. Were you to roll back the tape of your week with a friend with this question in mind, what might it surface? What would it mean? For you to idolize your work or your boss, your health or your appearance.

Could you imagine idolizing a friend?

Or how could an enemy become an idol controlling what you do and say? Could you imagine making an idol of someone you envy? Could you imagine calculating your behavior based on how they might respond? Have you ever struggled with fearing someone so much that they seem like an idol to you, an authority figure, a coach, a teacher? I'm impressed here with this angel who didn't mean to rival God.

And who even resisted John's worship and warned him against it, even such a godly servant as this revealing angel can wrongly be received as an idol.

I don't think there's any fault in the way the angel did his job that caused John to fall down like that. I think just in this fallen world, that's what happens. With people like you and me and John. I wonder if there's some author that you've read that's helped you, that you've become wrongly loyal to, addicted to, placing him or her beyond contradiction. Maybe it's a counselor that's done you some good, or a podcast or a YouTuber.

Maybe it's a beloved friend. Maybe it's even a pastor. Like me?

Maybe it's even your parents. Even God's best gifts make poor substitutes for the Lord himself. Resist all such idolatries. Love those that bring you God's Word. Honor them, but honor Christ more.

Worship God alone. Praise ultimately only Him.

This last year God has removed from our number some who provided good examples of worshiping Him alone. I think of Bill Anderson who had so much in this world's good and decided to forsake it in many ways to follow Christ. I think of our dear sister Maxine's off who again and again led us to the throne of grace in small groups on Sunday nights and personal conversations decade after decade as she shared with us truths from God's Word and from hymns and probably others you've known well who've exemplified what it means to worship God alone. Friends, that's not just a lesson for first century Christians like John. I could preach this whole message about the threat of Roman emperor worship.

And that's why revelation happened, because they were being told not to worship the emperor. That's all true. But I don't think we're tempted to worship the emperor in the same way. So for us, what are the temptations that we are facing? Because this lesson is meant for us today.

It will be meant for every generation until Christ returns. Friends, we should move on to verses 10 to 13 where you have this pronouncement of repaying. And he said to me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near. Let the evildoers still do evil and the filthy still be filthy and the righteous still do right and the holy still be holy. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. ' Seriously, while I was reading and meditating on this yesterday, I listened to, people ask me sometimes, but I'm always listening to music about like Spotify or Apple music. I just know those words, I don't know what those things mean. I have a 300 CD shuffler and I listen to music on CDs and I still got them and I had my CDs on shuffle and while I'm working on this, what comes on? But Johnny Cash, the man comes around.

I tell you, he was reading this chapter when he wrote that song.

The man comes around. There's a man going around taking names and he decides who to free and who to blame. Everybody won't be treated all the same. It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come. Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still.

Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still. Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still. Friends, the first thing in this passage that's striking here is that is in verse 10. It's when he tells them, Don't seal up the words of this book. What does that mean?

Well, it's the opposite of what Daniel's told. Daniel has a very similar kind of vision, and he is told specifically in Daniel chapter 12 to seal up the words of this book, because there's not time yet. John is told the opposite. He is told to not seal the words of this book, which means these things are not just for John, they are to be published and proclaimed, and we should make sure that they keep on being published and proclaimed. We should not hide this from friends and family.

Even that word near in the very end of 10 should make you compassionately urgent in your evangelism, because He is coming soon. These things are near. I know verse 11 is the verse that puzzles people most. I know that from conversations through the week and emails. Read one way it does sound like, The Lord is commanding you to sin.

But it's like the Lord showed Daniel at the end of his vision, Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. See, in giving this vision, God knew that not everyone would receive it. And part of his giving of this revelation was the further judgment it would mean on those who rejected this too. This is the way God's word always works. If you want to think more about this, go to Mark 4 this afternoon.

Read the parable of the sower and look at Jesus's parable there and consider what he means when he's explaining it to the disciples. And he quotes Isaiah's commission in Isaiah 6. And Jesus tells them that he was teaching them in parables and he says that they may indeed see but not perceive and may indeed hear but not but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. There is a point, like we read of in Romans chapter 1, when part of God's judgment is giving the person up to the lust of their heart, to impurity, to dishonoring of their bodies, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. Friends, perversion of mind will not be contained.

It will continue to sponsor more evil in the life of the person entertaining it. And part of God's judgment of that is giving the person over to it. Verse 11 is a part of that judgment that was coming, that recompense that the returning Christ will bring.

Friend, if this is even remotely describing you and you're given the grace to realize it right now, repent. Wake up, because there is still time. If you're ever going to repent, do it now. Verses 11 and 12 are given together here really as a call to everyone to live every day continuing on in the righteousness which has begun to mark our lives in Christ. All of us are to live with eternity in view.

And if you're here and you're not a Christian, that's a big change.

A central part of this reality is what Christ says here in verse 12, that he is returning to repay each one for what he has done. And this pushes us to the two different outcomes we see in the last two verses of our passage in verses 14 and 15. But before we get there, I just want to notice Christ's full appropriation of the title of the Lord God. You look there in verse 13, he says exactly what the Lord God says in Revelation 1:8, where God says, I am the Alpha and Omega. Now here at the end of the book, the Son of God says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Friend, that's a title that belongs to God. Christ is not a created being as the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons and Muslims and others teach. He is fully divine and He is King and all of history is embraced in His sovereign rule. As we read about the sovereign rule of God in the Scriptures, we know this is the sovereign rule of Christ. Isaiah prophesies about this in Isaiah 41. Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord, the first and with the last, I am He. Or over in chapter 48, Listen to me, O Jacob and Israel, whom I called: I am He. I am the first and I am the last. My hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I called to them, they stand forth together. Friends, there is no moment of our day or of our life in which the Creator is ever absent.

You cannot name such a moment from this last day or this last week or this last month or this last year. Never let your belief in God's grace or God's sovereignty mislead you into thinking, though, that God doesn't care how you or I live. In fact, it's just the opposite. Let thoughts of His kind and fatherly care enable you to live each moment without fear, as you know that nothing comes to you which is not first passed through the hands of your loving Heavenly Father. You can trust that every circumstance you face is specifically edited by Him for you.

If you're His child.

And all of this taken together simply doubles down on our obligation that He said in the Beatitude there to keep the words of this book. If we would enter the New Jerusalem, the city of God and be with Him forever, we must persevere in keeping the words of God's revelation, all of it. But what about the fact that we can do that really and truly, but not fully and perfectly. Will that keep us out of the city of God?

Well, it would if there weren't another reality that we read of in this last beatitude in the book of Revelation. Look at the last two verses now in our passage, verses 14 and 15. Revelation chapter 22, verses 14 and 15.

How could we, full of sins as we are, enter this city? John's readers are exhorted to keep the words of this book, but we are also exhorted to wash your robes if we would enter the city. That's the only way in. Look there, 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.

Friends, can you imagine entering this city? What a city to enter! God's people living with God personally. There's no loneliness there. Fully, completely with Him, with His people.

Those people through whom we know mutual joy and encouragement, regularly here below, but all too seldomly, but now with God and His grace will be poured to us through all others made in His image continually by God's people. We will live together with God purely. We will be holy. No one else will be there, none other than those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. People will be worshiping no one else.

We will be worshiping no one else. We will altogether worship Him purely, and God's people there in that city will live with God forever, unending, never ceasing, always reliable, glorious. And we know that God's people will live with God soon. These statements are meant to startle and recalibrate us. This book is ending just as it began with this theme.

But friends, don't mistake who gets in. Earlier when John was shown the multitude from every nation in chapter 7, he was told, They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This Lamb is the one who we saw on the white horse in chapter 19, clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the Word of God. Now the blood of vanquished enemies may have been represented in the image of the robe, but no blood speaks so powerfully as His own, spent for the life of those He came to save. That's why we sing as we do, O precious is the flow.

And that wonderful presentation of the good news that we sang earlier by Joseph Hart, grab your bulletin, look at page 9.

Calm you sinners, Poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you. Full of pity, love, and power, He is able. He's willing. Doubt no more. Now, ye needy, come and welcome.

God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh. Without money Come to Jesus Christ and buy. Let not conscience make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth is to feel your need of him.

And this he gives you. 'Tis the Spirit's rising beam. Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you wait until you're better, you'll never come at all. Not the righteous Sinners, Jesus came to call.

View Him prostrate in the garden on the ground your Maker lies. On the awful tree behold Him, hear Him cry before He dies, it is finished. Sinner will not this suffice? Lo, the incarnate God ascended pleads the merit of His blood. Venture on Him, venture wholly.

Let no other trust intrude, none None, but Jesus can do helpless sinners good. Friend, if you're here today and you don't know Christ, he has lived and died and been raised again specifically to save people like you. People who will turn from their sins and trust in him. If you want to know more about what that means, talk to any of us who are going to be at the door standing there in a few minutes. We would love to talk to you about that to help you understand how you can Repent and trust in Christ.

Friends, every day, every hour, the only solvent to sin's stain is the Savior's blood. This is our only way to the tree of life. And don't miss this. This is an offer to you to wash your robes, to wash away your sins, to see your life resurrected, your life go free from your bondage to sin and death. There is a way for you to be in this heavenly city that forever with God and His people, but there is only one way, and this is that way.

Entrance to the city is gained only by the application of the blood of Christ, by faith, by relying on Him, by trusting in Him alone. This is why Jesus is always the answer to our greatest problem. And we're reminded of that problem in verse 15. The last verse, where we see those who don't get in. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

Friends, don't miss verse 15 because it tastes bad. I promise you, if there's one verse in this passage that Satan does not want you to notice, It's verse 15. Satan wants you to think that because God is like he is, everybody's gonna be fine. There's no differences, no distinction finally. So please, please, please, don't notice verse 15.

Don't read it publicly, don't reread it in private, don't think about what it actually means.

There will be an eternal distinction between people, a division. More important than any division in this life. Friends, some of the things that divide you from other people you think are so important. Well, I'm not like them. I don't do that.

I never treated anybody like he treated me. There are real grievances. We have justice systems, we have friendships, we have discipling, counseling, the Bible, we have all kinds of ways to deal with the difficulties of this life. But this division presented here between the people outside and the people in the city is the greatest and deepest division that humans will ever know. Do not mistake the seriousness of this division.

This is what we need to understand here. There is no later plan to come in the next book or the next chapter in the Bible, because this is the last book and this is the last chapter. Friends, this is it.

The New Jerusalem will not be stained with our sins. It's destined to reflect the holiness of God himself. And this church, as imperfect as we are, is meant to be a foretaste of that place where we find sins forgiven and sins changed and sinners loving each other as we have the common hope in Christ, as we experience and receive forgiveness and so granted to others. As Jamie was helping us think about last Sunday night. Friends, this is the foretaste of this heavenly city that we experience in our churches.

And this is the only way into the heavenly city. It's to have our robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb. That means for us to rely on Christ alone. Well, friends, we should conclude.

Back in 1932, the Democrats got into the White House. Mr. Roosevelt won the election handily over the sitting president, and he moved in, and he went on to win re-election, and an unprecedented third election, and an unprecedented fourth election. And my mom was born in the 1930s. And I remember her telling me that she will never forget hearing that President Roosevelt died, because she just couldn't conceive of anyone else being president. He was always president.

But friends, we're looking for a home much better than 1700 or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. We're looking for a home not built with any hands, We're looking to be there far longer than this world will stand. And as we've considered this heavenly city in the book of Revelation, I wonder if you've found yourself longing to go into it, to enter this city. Why should we? Because we desire the church to appear in the glory and beauty of holiness that will truly reflect God.

Because we desire to overcome and to survive and to outlast those that would persecute us. We desire the church's true identity to be revealed to all so that God will be proved right. He will be vindicated in all of his promises. On that day, the church will be purified. The invisible church will become visible.

On that day, there will be perfect peace and unity among all Christians. If you take every difference in this room, all of them, composed, justly, fully, rightly, forever. And what is true of this room is then true of all Christians. On that day, Satan will be finally and fully defeated on that day, and not until then, our patience may end in satisfaction. Our desire and joy, on that day, all of our struggles with sin will end.

On that day our trials and sufferings will be redeemed, as they're shown to be part of His work revealing His goodness. On that day sickness and pain and mourning and even death itself are defeated. On that day all of God's plans for us, planted in this life, come to full fruition forever. On that day our bodies will be raised and glorified to love and serve God and each other. And on that day, our love will be finally completely matched with His.

Friends, this world was not made to satisfy creatures like you and me. We are made to want into that city. And this is how we can get there.

Lord, God, we thank you for the way you have given us promises to believe. We pray that the promises that you have made in truth would be clear to our minds and hearts. We pray, Lord, that in your mercy you would quiet those things that would distract us from your promises and that, Lord, from our being composed around your promises and their coming fulfillment, we will sort out all the other duties and desires, obligations and trials of our lives. Help us to live as your people, confident in you, certain of what's to come, even today. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.