After 22 and this will conclude tonight will conclude Starman series in the book of Revelation You of course are sitting on the edge of your seat saying I wonder what they'll preach on neck Roman January I'm gonna start the book of Romans and you're gonna preach on that all the way through June, so that should be my treat for me anyway This Friday night we have two worship services December 24th Christmas Eve celebration this Friday night I Think they're at 4 and 6 o'clock. I don't actually know That was says in the bulletin 4 and 6 o'clock
What I need to have particularly tell you is that on Saturday night the 26th. There's no church here next Saturday night. Okay. I give everybody a day off We'll be here on the 26th at 830 and 1030 as per usual For worship in the following week the same schedule so the following Sunday is January the 1st and Since all the traffic lights are gonna be out and everything
We won't have a Saturday night the 1st we won't have worship either, but we'll have two Sunday services on January the 2nd So that's our holiday schedule now what I want you to particularly note is Christmas Eve opportunity last week we gave you an invitation in your bulletin There are more upstairs tremendous opportunity to reach out to people and invite them to come probably the most receptive time of the year for invitation Is to invite somebody to come to a Christmas Eve service. So really strongly encourage you to do that all right, and you'd stand. We'll read the word of God together Now before I forget with dinner tonight, too So if you haven't eaten dinner already and you're here there's dinner right in there After that's what the tables are set up and everything's all arranged for you so love for as many as you would like to stay and And share dinner together Revelation chapter 22 we're beginning with the 6th verse And he said to me these words are faithful and true and and the Lord the God of the spirits of the prophet sent his angel to show to his Bond servants the things which must shortly take place and And the hold I am coming quickly Blessed is he who heathed the words of the prophecy of this book and I John and the one who heard and saw these things and when I heard and saw I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel Who showed me these things and he said to me Don't do that. I'm a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book worship God and he said to me do not steal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is near let the one who does Wrong still do wrong. Let the one who is filthy still be filthy and let the one who is righteous still practice righteousness and let the one who is holy Still keep himself holy 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 Blessed are those who watched their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates Into the city outside the city are the dogs and the sorcerers the immoral persons the murderers idolaters and everyone who loves and practices lying I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I Am the root and offspring of David the bright and morning star and 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 wishes take the water of life without cough. I Testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book and If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book He who testifies to these things said Yes, I am coming quickly Amen come Lord Jesus The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all Amen May God bless this reading of his holy and infallible word the grass withers in the flower phase But not the word of God Know the word of God stands forever Amen be seated please For 18 years you've nurtured him
sat with him through a sleepless night sickness sat in waiting room surgery watch his ball games Help him learn to ride a bike help him learn to catch And now he's going to college the next day It's his last night at home And you pull him aside Into the bedroom because you just got a few last words to say You brought her to valet you Read her books you watched her develop into a beautiful young woman And now you're about to walk her down the aisle And give her away to some gorilla Everybody else is out bustling around and you're in a back room at the church Just dad and his daughter and you pull her side And you've got just one chance To say a few words Last word The army has issued its orders Your husband is being shipped to the other side of the world in the latest global conflict He'll leave in the morning you're sure he'll be back but But you don't know and so as you lay cuddling Into the dark hours of the night together You share words with each other knowing that they just might be Last words you get the call Dad has died You head to a distant city for the funeral But when you get there someone in the family Gives you a note Not an open to the field it's for your eyes only It's something dad wrote before he died And so you find a quiet place And you go and break that envelope open And you read words that You know that you will never forget Last words are powerful Last words have lasting impact And so after 66 books 40 different authors and over the span of 1500 years God comes to the last words That he'll have recorded in his book for his church his bride his precious people Before he comes back to be with him again This is the last thing he chooses to say What would the father want to impress on his people With those last words Well We're about to find out Your sermon outline And let's consider this very simple sermon The father would say first of all Folks It's all about The son His last word would be this the first of his last words would be Recognize the preeminence of Jesus It's all about Jesus You notice in the passage what happens Is that an angel comes to John and John falls down and he worships the angel and what does the angel say We've seen this happen already in this book, haven't we? The angel says don't worship me worship God How often it is that we choose to worship the messenger And that's what often has happened with the book of Revelation the shame of it is Is that this unique and powerful book has been taken by people who want to argue over its symbols And over its dates and over its use of numbers and over A thousand years and all the other esoteric parts of this book and so they want to argue It's like it's like getting a letter and then arguing over the envelope or arguing over the stamp That doesn't really doesn't count the really isn't the main thing the main thing is what's what's the message And so in all the revelation hysteria and media what is the main thing? It's Jesus It's just that simple Jesus is Lord And God is saying to his church my son is enthroned and glory He is Lord. He's the Alpha and he's the Omega He's the word who was with God before the world began He spoke and the world came into existence So these are my last words while were my very first words in all the Bible Let us make man in our own image Father and Son creating the world together. He's the he's the very beginning He's all the way to the end And if you want to know what it's all about if you want to climb up the mountains to meet the guru and and have the answer to what's what's the key to life the answer is what It's all about the sun It's all about Jesus. It's all about honoring and worshiping him What does the passage say he's the root and he's the offspring of David he is both David's Creator David's God David's ancestor and he's David's what Son offspring He's the he's the lion of the tribe of Judah He is as the lily of the valley He's the bright and morning star the star was at the whole star motif that runs throughout the Bible that finds its way right into the Christmas story Right the wise men following the star from the east the star is a symbol of royalty He is the royal son He is the prince of peace He's a wonderful counselor. He's the mighty god. He's the everlasting Father He upholds everything by the word of his power There's nothing that exists that doesn't exist because he wills it Every breath that we take every every action that we make it all depends on Jesus everything in a world revolve Around Jesus. It's all about Jesus and if God the Father Sightles up next to you And these are his last words and by the way if you are taking pen to paper and writing the last words to your son or to your daughter or to your loved one Could you do any better than this than to say to them what Make Jesus Christ your food and your drink Make Jesus Christ your passion and your purpose I don't much care whether you become a brain surgeon or whether you work at circle K Whether you achieve the highest levels of education whether you drop out of high school Whether you live on the other side of the world or whether you stay in citrus county your entire life make Jesus your heart your soul your passion your joy Your bread your water That's what the father would say. It's really all about him He's everything He's all there is In him we live and we move and we have our being
They um Sports world is going go over a young athlete who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's the hometown boy. He's the Messiah For the Buccaneer his name is Sean King and when the reporters say to him how come you have such poise on the athletic field his responses Well, it's my face This father's a preacher. He said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me It's Jesus Christ at work in my life. That's what you see The debate this week they asked George W. Bush who has been the most influential person in your life and your political philosophy and his answer was what Jesus It sends the critics up the wall The New York Times scream this year. Oh great George Bush plays the Jesus card
Fast in an Oklahoma middle school uh after a student had come in a few weeks ago the latest of our school shooting An emptied his gun and injured his classmates they gathered all the parents together And they said what do you have to say about this and one parents stood up and said What will it take For us to invite Jesus back in this place
You see it's all about Jesus the world once the marginalized Christianity it wants to say That people need religion and we should be religious and a matter of fact if you're not religious something's wrong with you Everybody should have some religion and it's all well and good and perhaps it will make you a better civics Mind in person and a better family person But for goodness thanks keep it private and keep it out of Out of the center of your life. It's a peripheral thing keep it on the periphery And I want to tell you something the father's last word to you is Nobody Keeps my son anywhere but on the throne of the universe It's all about Jesus Is your life all about Jesus? Isn't it? Is your joy all about Jesus? Your marriage all about Jesus Is your spending all about Jesus? Is your future all about Jesus? Is your home is your parenting is it all about Jesus? Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?
Jesus turned to his disciples and he said who do men say that I am?
Now it's a Christ the son of the living God Well, that's just history Better question than I does who do you say That he is last words they're powerful Second the father says to us Not just the preeminence of Christ, but he says yield yield to the son's authority yield to the son's authority blessed the passage says are those who give heed to what? Blessed are those who give heed to the word My son has spoken yield to it Healed your desires yield your life submit to him follow him Great part of the passage here in the very end of the book of Revelation Which means it's at the very end of the Bible. What does it say it says Cursed are those who alter the words of this book To suit their personal taste, right? Is that what is it? What does it say will happen to them? You have me verse 18 verse 19 Says God will add to you the flags which are written in this book if you take anything away from this book And if you add to this book then God will take away your part in the tree of life. Here's the point my son has spoken I have given him all authority in heaven and earth You are not God. He is You are not the authority you are not Lord. You know, there's any bumper sticker. I hate in the world as God is my co-pilot I mean honestly, who do we think we are God is my co-pilot get in the back of the plane He's the son. He's the Lord. He's God. And the Bible says the Bible would say to you don't you dare have the Samaritan to consider anything my son has said to be superfluous
Don't divorce Unless you have biblical ground Don't marry unless the person you marry is passionate about me as well don't have Sex outside of marriage. It should not even be named amongst my people Don't run your mouth About other people Don't you dare bear a grudge against someone else when I've forgiven you Has spoken in the father would say yielded Can I tell you something? There's far too many people who go to church in this country So do not know what it means to say Christ is the center of my life They say they're Christian oh sure on their way to heaven But they would not have Christ as the center of the life and secondly I'll tell you they have a Christianity, but they're not obedient Jesus said don't call me Lord Lord and then do whatever in the Sam Hill you want to do If I'm your Lord then yield yield your will to me Now I'm gonna read you Thomas Odin something I wrote it's a little long so hang on there, but he's describing his students He's a professor and he's describing the change he's singing students today He said we're now meeting In our community the postmodern student is who is already and by deeply of the best wellsprings of the finest modern universities And they've come away thirsty They've gone through the long smorgasbord of popsicologies and political ideologies And they now hunger for more nourishing food. This student may know well the rigor of the laboratory But it's quite clear that its results will not resurrect Faith or save any soul I have been astonished to discover that some of my best students have had a belly full of the hype claims of modern therapies And political messianism to make all things right They are fascinated and often passionately moved by the primitive language of apostolic tradition Undeluted by our contemporary efforts to soften it or make it easier or package it for greater acceptability They don't want a watered-down modern reinterpretation of the Bible They want nothing less than the substance of the faith of the apostles and martyrs Without too much interference from modern Pablum peddlers who doubt that they are tough enough to take it straight We got to take the Bible we got to water it down. We can't we can't teach these Things that the Bible says And Thomas Oden is saying you know what I'm finding I'm finding students out there who are sick and tired of Of of being given this deluded Pablum They want the word of God and they want it straight He says when we give them anything the last they experience a sense of dilution of feeling they've been cheated It's something crucial has been left out of their education What would the father say to you? He'd say yield to the sons authority. I want to say something that I think is tremendous What's the iteration in our country right now is the most opposed to abortion What age group face something you would know you know his most for it People 55 and older you know his most against it People 18 to 29 It's a statistical fact. I don't know why that is Perhaps it's because they're the ones who look around and realize that one third of their peers their brothers and sisters have been killed They're the people they're the ones Who have experienced What's been done to their generation and they're rising up and they are saying We will not buy the lie anymore
So if it's hard it's hard, but if it's true, it's true And the father would say this First of all is all about the son and second of all yield to him and third he would say accept his provisions Receive the provision of the son the loving provision of the son on your behalf If we got to get the gospel straight How many people go to church do not have Jesus at the center of their way? How many people go to church have a Christianity that does not involve obedience And thirdly, how many people go to church have a Christianity and they don't understand the gospel
You see the father would say last word you got to get the gospel you got to get it right Now in Revelation chapter 22 it says there's some people who are in the city And there's some people who are not in the city right What does it say about those who are not in the holy city verse 15 Outside are the dogs the sorcerers the immoral the murders the idolaters and all this okay So so they're the ones who are outside the city But then there are other people who are in the city once the difference What's the difference Who gets in and who gets left out What is the Bible say It is it's a good people that are in the city and the bad people that are left out What does it say It's just to get to get in the city you have to have what have happened
You guys you're you're looking or are you looking for the answer? What does it say you have to have what have happened Blessed are those who You have to be washed So what does that mean the people who are in the city are just as rotten as the people are outside the city right People who are Christians who are going to enjoy the blessing and fellowship with God forever are as rotten as people who aren't But they've been washed That's it. That's the difference. That's the gospel They've had their robe why If you're washed it means you're dirty you're a mess Friends we got to get this right here's the gospel The gospel says there is a righteous neck From God. It's not something we produce Max Lakota went to the master's golf tournament. He said it was awesome He got into friend of him gave him tickets to the practice round He went and you know saw where Larry Mines made his chips shot and Nicholas made his putt and Sarah's into this You know with the amen's corner raised creek in the hole You know just soaking in this golf lore and when he was done with this day there he decided going in the clubhouse to see you know Hogan's club there and and and and azingers club under when he got to the door of the clubhouse. What do you think they said? You can have a ticket to come in the grounds, but you can't come in here Unless you're a player and unless you're a caddy you can't enter Well, he said the next day Scott Simpson the golfer asked him to be um His caddy uh for a little tournament. They have the day before the masters called the parkery tournament and So the give the caddies the day off and max Lakota carried Scott Simpson's bag And at the masters if you're a caddy you wear a white cover all And so he had a white cover all and when the round was over he dropped that bag and headed for the clubhouse And when he got there you know what they said Nothing He walked right in why Because he had on the right close Everywhere in the bible we're told about wearing the white robe The robe of righteousness the robe that Christ provides for us that we cannot provide for ourselves On Christ the solid rock I stand right on his blood and on his righteousness I stand all other ground We say is what It's sinking sad as a terrible place to base your eternity on on being a good churchgoer On being a moral person I'm being religious. I'm being holy forget all that The only hope we have is to stand on Christ The clean clothes The clean robes of the righteousness of Christ now I got to ask How you doing that? I want to promise you listen I To promise that if they when this sermon is over I can stop people to door and if I ask you on what what will you say to God If you were to die today and appear before him a good number of people in here will start telling me about your life
And if I'm playing the role of God. I'm just gonna say Get out of here You obviously are resting on your life You're resting on your deeds. You're the resting on your righteousness Don't you understand the gospel and these are the last words the father's gonna say and again If you're talking to your kids and you've got one chance to say anything to them. What are you gonna say
throw yourself on Jesus claim the righteousness of Christ when you stand for God and all eternity Don't say here. I am. I live this. You don't forget that It's Christ. I claim Christ forgiveness Christ righteousness I placed my hope on a life I didn't lead And on a death I didn't die the life of Christ the death of Christ is my only hope Those are the last words How about you? Is that where you are? How you doing that? I don't mean you believe it in your head But you trust with all your heart And what Christ has done for you in your play let me tell you the sad thing and revelation chapter 22 If you look at verse 11, what does it say? The one who does wrong still did wrong The one who is filthy still be filthy the one who is righteous still righteous the one who's holy still keep himself holy What in the world does that mean it means this That when Christ returns is done There are no second chances at that point your final the state is fixed for all eternity So there's a sense of urgency in this passage isn't there Come on move The door of salvation is open You know in the end it's not going to matter whether you're a Baptist or whether you're a Presbyterian It's not going to matter whether you're from the north whether you're from the south whether you're a gator whether you're a Seminole Whether you're a public and whether you're a Democrat Whether you're a millennial pre-millennial post-millennial
Well, there's one thing that's going to be matter Did you come and drink the water that was offered to you by Christ at no cost? Did you assuage your thirst at the fountain of Christ? You know what God's not going to ask how old you are either So if you're in this room and you're 10 years old and you're 14 years old and you're 16 years old There's nothing that says you this night cannot also declare That I trust my future to the righteousness of Christ Let me tell you something our conscience is condemned us constantly don't they Just today I was with somebody. They're so outgoing Just this fellow I coached soccer with he is the nicest guy. I yell at the rest I you know yell at the kid. I I I coach kids all year and I never learned their parents name You know, I'm not even I'm not even a nice guy And I'm a preacher and he is so warm and hugging everybody and he's running up and down the field and he's happy and And when I drive away from being him. You know what I think often? God he is so great And I am so lousy There are you have any of those experiences You ever have condemnation pour into your no moments. What do you say? Yeah, I'm so lousy. Is that a revelation? Isn't that the whole point That I'm depending on the righteousness of Christ I haven't got a life worth squat I'm wearing robes that needed to be cleansed but they have been And I'm covered by the perfect righteousness of Christ of sinner Ray Cortese The rotten miserable sinner Has only one good thing about him that's all there is Last of all last word And that is this one who's provided for us is coming again And so God would say to us I want you to long for the groom's return The groom is coming back to claim his bride And last words are to stir up longings for our God to come Will come will come in manual Ancient people would have cried and so we ought to be crying that too Do you say when you pray pray like this what our father who art in heaven? How low it be thy name thy Thy kingdom come I want I want your plan to be finally totally fully fulfilled Jesus come come I am weary in this world And I when I am tired and when I've had enough I think of home I say I want to go home And I want the one who loves me to come And take me home The Bible was a great love story from end to end How does it start what are the first words in the beginning what In the beginning God Loved you said In the beginning God loved you so he made this world He didn't make it for himself he didn't need it He made it for you How it starts Then there's a terrible divorce in this book a terrible separation between us and God Because we um, we thought we could run this world better And then this book tells us that That there's a groom who wouldn't let loose his bride Even though we became a what the strong word We became a whore And Israel serves that picture Loving other gods acting like the nations the other nations that weren't God's people And and there's even a prophet that's raised up his name is Hosea And he's told to go and buy his wife back from what from prostitution Go down there with the higher the prostitutes and get your own wife Pay for her and bring her home God said because that's a picture of what I'm about It's a beautiful love story and And that groom