Well, this is a very exciting moment to come to the last chapter of the Bible. And you can begin turning there to Revelation 22. It has been a great desire fulfilled in my life to preach all the way through this book and to do it close enough together so you can remember where we are. And it has just been a real joy. And your responsiveness has been wonderful and just a joy to see. And I trust that the riches of chapter 22 will be enriching our lives. And listen with me as I read an introduction to this. And then we're going to read together in just a moment the whole 22nd chapter. When the Bible opens in Genesis, we find ourselves transported back to the Garden of Eden. And there we see a place of perfection and beauty. When the Bible closes in Revelation 22, we are transported forward. And there in the fringes of eternity, we step out again into the very paradise of God. Another garden. Again, it's perfect and it's beautiful. Please join me this morning in Eden for a few moments. If we realize how glorious heaven will be, we need to go back and meet those first two human beings on Earth. We need to listen to their inspired, accurate, and divine recounting of what they experienced in the Garden of Eden. Just think with me this morning of life as a perfect human being. Imagine what it was like at the dawn of creation. Your very first memory would have been waking up in God's garden, Eden. You would remember a comfortable world with no extremes of hot or cold, no storms, no disasters, no fears, a secure home, no pestering bugs, no poisonous snakes, no deadly spiders, just the continual beauty of fragrant and color filled flowering orchids hanging from those verdant green trees, blooms that never fell off, that never yellowed, that never wilted, just full and juicy fruit that hung ripe on the branches, never to fall, never to rot. Even more, you would remember when you had a body that never ached, a digestive system that never rebelled, eyesight that never needed correction, ears that heard the sweet sounds of life all around, no pains, never a sorrow, not even a fear, no weariness, just peace-filled living. In God's perfect garden, it was paradise living. Every day was an adventure, new colors, new fragrances, new symmetry in the flowers, the butterflies, the wonders of a perfect animal world. There were no predators, no scavengers, no carnivores, just placid and magnificent creatures reflecting the majesty of God. And around every corner of towering and graceful trees, each perfectly planted by God, were flocks, herds, and gatherings of exquisite living animals. Best of all, your memory would be remembering the sweetness of the sound of the voice of the Lord about suppertime each day. As a gentle breeze would whisper by, then you would hear the voice of God, the gardener The planner of the universe was walking amongst his creatures in the cool of the day. He was seeking fellowship with you, Adam, and you, Eve, his very best friends, whom he had made to look just like him. And your ears that he created would hear the sweetest sound of all, the voice of Jesus, your creator. But then entered the bad guy to paradise, the dragon serpent Satan, but he is no more. As we come to chapter 22, God has sealed him with those who refuse to stop following him, and together they are all in the lake of fire. But we who listen to and we who follow Jesus are now here in paradise, the garden of God. As I read to you Revelation 22 and as we experience the extravagance of Jesus, who not only saved us, who not only rescued us, who not only washes us from our sin, but he lavishes on us the paradise of God. Revelation 22, and he showed me a pure river of water, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face. And his name shall be upon their foreheads, and there shall be no night there, no need of lamp or light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And then he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, see that you do not that, for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God. And he said to me, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. He who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him who hears say, come. And let everyone who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that 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 book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Let's bow before the Lord in prayer. We worship you, our mighty King. There is truly none like you. To think that you have taken us from the pit, from the miry clay, and that you have washed us, and that you have robed us in your righteousness, and you have set our feet upon the rock, and you have put upon us a new name, and you have given to us a secret, intimate relationship with you, and you have promised us all the rights of heirship with you as joiners with you, O Jesus. That is truly extravagant. We think in the Bible about some of the great pictures of you, O Christ. We think of Boaz as he instructed his gleaners to dump grain in front of Ruth as she gleaned in the field. And how overflowing was her take from the field that day when she went home to her mother-in-law. And her mother-in-law said, someone has shown favor on you. That's how we feel this morning. To look into your word at the conclusion of your revelation You are truly pouring out on us in abundance, extravagantly, your grace, your mercy, your love, and our inheritance in Christ. We thank you for that. We are so aware that many around us haven't heard the good news. They haven't come to drink the water of life. And so this morning we celebrate what we have, but we remember that even in our midst, There are some who have never personally partaken of Jesus. And our heart's desire is that as your word concludes in this great book, and the invitation is open, that any who have not yet said yes to Jesus would say yes to Him right now, this morning, in their hearts, in the privacy of their will, that they would say, yes, I need, I want, I receive you, O Christ, my forgiveness, my water of life. Bless us as we study. Fill our hearts with the wonders of who you are, Lord Jesus, we pray. And then help us to choose to live in such a way we'll reflect your wonders. In your precious name we pray. Amen. This chapter has two beautiful divisions, the comforts of the city to come and the city calling us to come to Christ. And I just want to march through this. This chapter has so many very special parts to it that I'll just allude to them because we could spend a lot of time on each facet. But first of all, When we come to the 22nd chapter of Revelation, how unlike the second and final Adam is from the first Adam. The devil challenged the first Adam we heard about in the introduction in the Garden of Eden, but the last man, Jesus, challenged the devil. The devil ruined the first Adam, but the last Adam crushed. The devil. The first Adam in the Garden of Eden involved the entire human race in his defeat, but the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, included all the race in his victory. The first Adam stood as the head of the race and fell, dragging us downward with him. But the last Adam stood as the head of the new race, and being victorious, lifted that race heavenward. Well, let's look at the comforts of this city, and then let's listen to the city calling us. This 22nd chapter calls us, by God's word, to have that as our priority. And that'll be the first section we look at. God's work should be our focus. God's purity should be our goal. And then it concludes with Christ's return. In Revelation 22, 1 through 5, and if you just want to kind of be looking at that part, we discover that our heavenly home, the celestial city or heaven, is like a beautiful garden. Like we saw a few moments ago, it seems very much like the Garden of Eden. There are some differences. In the first garden, there were four rivers, but God has only one river in his celestial city. And when Ezekiel saw that river for cleansing and life, it flowed from under the altar of the Millennial Temple. But this river in heaven flows directly out from under God's throne. as the Lord God Almighty is shown to be the source of all purity. In the Garden of Eden, humans were prohibited from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and of the tree of life in Genesis 2. But in God's garden, the celestial city of heaven, we have unhindered access, it tells us in these verses, to the tree of life. And as we ponder this heavenly scene, we realize that the river and the tree are not only literal, and I believe they're very literal, literally presented, but they symbolize the abundant life that we inherit as we come into this glorious celestial city. When John said in verse 3 that there is no more curse, he is reminding us of the dark days of Genesis 3. And in verses 14 to 19, when the curse that God had to place upon his creation began, it's remarkable that the entire Old Testament closes with the warning of a curse. As Malachi 4 says, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. But when Jesus comes, hope and life and liberation comes from the curse. And because of Calvary, God can announce in verse 3, there shall be no more curse, for the prince of death, Satan, will be consigned to hell. And the Prince of Life, our Lord Jesus, has liberated all of creation and has made every part of this universe new. And in heaven, we see that forever the curse of sin will be gone. I think it's very fitting as we come to the ending that we just scan back and see where God has taken us. In the world of Genesis, there was a division of light and darkness. But we see in verse 25 of the 21st chapter, just before our chapter, that there's no more night, no more darkness. In Genesis 1.10, land and sea are divided, but we saw in chapter 21 there's no more sea in this wonderful celestial city. We saw the sun and moon were ruling in Genesis 1, but we don't even need the sun and the moon anymore. It says in verse 23 of chapter 21, the first heaven and the first earth were finished. But then they were defiled in chapter 2 of Genesis. But the new heaven and new earth, it says, will remain forever, for there's no sin present in them. Man was in a prepared garden in chapter 2 of Genesis, but mankind will be in a prepared city in heaven. A river flowed out of Eden in through the garden. but a river flows from God's throne here. The tree of life was in the midst, but the tree of life is all throughout this city. There was gold in the land, but there's gold as the streets in this city. God walked in the garden, but God dwells with us, no longer just coming in the cool of the day like in Genesis. He dwells, and we are with him forever, it says in chapter 21. The Spirit energized at creation, but the Spirit invites us. In chapter 22, it says in verse 17, the Spirit invites us to come. The garden was accessible to the liar Satan in chapter 3 of Genesis, but it says in chapter 21, verse 27, that the liars will never be able to enter that city again. Man was on probation in Genesis, but mankind inherits all things in chapter 21. God cursed the ground in Genesis, but the curse is gone in 22-3. There was daily sorrow in Genesis, but no more sorrow in Revelation. There were thorns and thistles and sweat, but there's no more tears or pain in heaven. Eating herbs of the field was the only way to exist in Genesis, but God gives 12 manners of fruit, it says in verse 2 of chapter 22, that we might enjoy his creation. Death and returning to the dust was all man knew in Genesis 3, but there's no more death, it says in Revelation 21. Mankind only could wear coats of skins. But in chapter 19, we find ourselves with fine linen, clean and white in heaven. Satan is opposing God in Genesis. Satan is banished from God forever in the lake of fire in chapter 20. Mankind was driven from the garden and kept from the tree of life. But in chapter 22, verse 14, we are invited to take part in the tree of life. We were promised a Redeemer in Genesis 3, but redemption is accomplished and we live with our Redeemer in Revelation. Evil continually got worse in Genesis 6, but nothing will ever defile heaven. The seed of the woman is promised in Genesis 3, and we meet that seed in verse 16 of chapter 22. As the root and offspring of David, it says, the cherubim guard mankind away from God's garden in Genesis 3.24. But by the time we get to Revelation 21, we find the angel standing at the gates, inviting us to come in. Truly, the end of history and the beginning of history belong together. The last leaf of the Bible corresponds with the first. The holy scriptures which begin in paradise with paradise ends. but the conclusion is greater than the beginning. The omega is more powerful than the alpha. The future paradise is not only the lost regained, but above all, it's the heavenly and eternally glorified paradise. In the lost paradise, there was danger, but in the glorified paradise, there's full security. In the lost paradise, the serpent said, you'll become his God, and he lied. In the glorified paradise, the scripture itself says, In verse 4, if you want to look that, in chapter 22, they shall see his face, his name shall be on their foreheads as we are glorified unto the image of God. In the lost paradise stood a tree of knowledge, but in the glorified paradise there's no longer required, for we behold with direct vision the face of God. In the lost paradise, we had to end it through the defeat of man. But in the glorified paradise, it will abide eternally because we, as it says in verse 5 of chapter 22, will reign forever and ever. We are overcomers. So the celestial city comforts our hearts because it's glorious as we await that day. But I believe that the message of chapter 22 starts in verse 6. Because it says in verse 6, Then he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And what he presents is the city calling for us to come, to come, to long for the heavenly city, to join the saints of all the ages as Hebrews 11 presents them as they live their lives looking, longing, and seeking a heavenly city. In verse 6, we find that God's word should be our priority. We should keep God's word. Heaven is more than a destination. Heaven is a deeply moving call to action from God for us who are on earth. Our heavenly destiny should make a difference in our lives today. And when the Old Testament saints learned that they had a heavenly city, it challenged them to walk with God, to serve God. As we saw last week in Hebrews 11.10, when Jesus needed to be encouraged as he was in the garden, as he faced the cross, it was the hope of returning to his Father in heaven that strengthened him. It tells us in Hebrews 12.2, our heavenly home is an anchor of our soul. It pulls us upward. It pulls us heavenward. It pulls us homeward. It pulls us Godward. What's the first call we have from heaven? Well, verse 6 down through 11. Heaven calls us to make God's Word our priority. We need to keep His Word. If you look, I want to point out to you verse 6. It says, these words are true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. And look at verse 7. Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. This is the sixth of the seven beatitudes. Remember, seven blessings are in this book. There are a lot of sevens in here. Seven times God promises a blessing. This is the sixth one. I want to rehearse for you because maybe you joined us later and didn't get these. Look at chapter 1, verse 3. I just want to underline in your minds the blessings of reading and living and obeying this book. Revelation 1, 3 tells us that Christ's word is a blessing. There are blessed readers and blessed hearers, and we're blessed if we keep it. This emphasizes the importance of the word of God. Look what chapter 1 verse 3 says, Blessed is the one who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things which are written in them. The time is near. Christ's word is a blessing. Look at chapter 14. The second beatitude is in Revelation 14 and verse 13. And Christ's gift of eternal life is also a blessing. And there's happiness for those who die in the Lord. And this is an emphasis on the blessing of eternal life. And it says in 14.13, Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they rest from their labors and their works follow them. But we were, but we did. What through the power of the Spirit of God we accomplished in the name of Jesus comes right behind us. Everybody else has to leave everything behind. But how blessed we are. Our works that are done in the energy of the Holy Spirit follow us. And Christ's gift of eternal life is a blessing because we get to enjoy Him and the service we offer Him forever. Look at chapter 16 of Revelation, verse 15. Christ's coming is a blessing. Not only is His word a blessing and His gift of eternal life a blessing, but His coming is a blessing. And there's the enviable status of watching and keeping our garments white. And this is an emphasis on Christ's return that says this, Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garment, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And of course, that's for tribulation saints. Jesus comes to call us not as a thief, but as our blessed and loving bridegroom. But there's a message for us that Christ's coming should be a blessing for us. And if those in the tribulation should be watching and keeping their garments, lest they be naked and soiled, so we should be. And so Christ's coming is a blessing, a calling of us homeward. Fourthly, if you look at chapter 19 of Revelation, verse 9, the fourth of the Beatitudes of Revelation is that Christ's presence is a blessing. There's the blessed delight of being invited to the Lamb's Supper. And there's a joy of Christ's presence that's emphasized here. Revelation 19, 9 says, Then he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are called to the married supper of the Lamb. Then he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. To get an invitation to come to the the marriage supper is a great, great blessing, because Christ's presence is offered to us. Then chapter 20, verse 6, has the fifth beatitude, and this is Christ's assurance, because if we believe Christ's word and receive Christ's gift and look for Christ's coming and long for Christ's presence, then we have the assurance of Jesus Christ. And it says that those who are participating in the resurrection are blessed. And verse 6 emphasizes our deliverance from death, and it says this, Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. This is an assurance to those who are not raptured, those who are not part of the church, those who are awaiting the resurrection, sleeping in the dust, as Daniel puts it. There is a great blessing, and they will reign with Christ, as we will also during the millennial time, for we will come with Him. Now chapter 22, and this is where we'll stay this morning, has the sixth beatitude, which we just read in verse 7. And this is the blessing of Christ's service. It's the joy of heeding His words in this book. And it emphasizes that obedience to the Word of God is what God longs for. You remember what Jesus said in John 14, 21. He says, He that has my commandments and keeps them, that's the one that loves me. And those that love me, he said, Jesus said that I will manifest myself to them and my Father also will manifest himself. You see, there's a joy of not just having this book, but keeping it. And when we keep the words of this book by the energy and power of the Holy Spirit through the grace of Jesus Christ, we have the blessing of Christ's service. Blessed is he, at the end of verse 7, who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Serving Christ, and we serve him by obeying him, is a blessing. There is joy in serving Jesus, joy amidst the darkest nights, joy that fills my heart with gladness every hour and every day. What is that? It's the joy of obeying his word. Look also at verse 14 of chapter 22. The final beatitude of this book is that Christ's home is a blessing, the home that he has prepared for us. And it's the happy result of getting that clean robe, of having access to the tree of life. And there's an emphasis on the fact he will eternally sustain us. And it says in verse 14, blessed are those who do his commands. And those who do His commands, they have the right to the tree of life, and they enter through the gates into the city. And so this beatitude is the blessing of Christ's home, the blessing in verse 7 of Christ's service, the blessing in chapter 20 of Christ's assurance eternally, the blessing of His presence in chapter 19, the blessing of His coming in chapter 16, the blessing of His gift, and the blessing of His word. If you look for a minute at verse 11, Because in this first section of chapter 22, it goes from 6 down through 11, and it's emphasizing God calling us to make His Word a priority. And verse 11 doesn't suggest anything. A lot of people struggle with this. When it says, He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. It's not saying, if you're a sinner, stay a sinner. What it's saying is that in the eternal state, there's no change. There's no possibility. This is a key verse for militating against universalism. In fact, a friend of ours just said that they were talking to their neighbor, and they found out they were a Unitarian Universalist. And they came to us and said, what does that mean? And I said, that means they think that Jesus didn't have to die, that everybody's going to heaven, that all gods lead to the true God, and all roads lead to heaven. That's what Unitarian Universalists. they believe this, that you don't have to worry, you're going to make it to heaven. But does Revelation 20 to 11 suggest God doesn't want us to repent? He doesn't want us to change our ways? Of course not. That would be contrary to the message of Revelation and to the rest of the Bible. The angel's words in verse 11 must be understood in the light of the repeated statement. Look at verse 7, behold I come quickly. Look at verse 12, behold I come quickly. As well as what Jesus says in verse 10, for the time is at hand. Jesus Christ's coming will occur so quickly that people will not have time to change their character. They won't be able to make the choice. He's going to come so quickly. And so Revelation 20 to 11 is a very clear, a very sobering and solemn warning that your decision determines your character and your character determines your destiny. Suffering believers might ask, is it worth it to live a godly life? And John's reply is yes. Jesus is returning. He will reward you. It's worth it to be righteous. It's worth it to be holy. But you won't be able to wait for the last minute. I've met a lot of people who say, well, when I see the Lord coming, I'll say yes. It's too late. You must choose Him now before it's too late. Also in this section of emphasizing the Word, look at verse 18. I want to cover all these things about the Word of God at once. The first calling of the heavenly city is calling us to make his word our priority. And we should keep his word. And it says in verse 18 and 19, if you add to it, God's going to add you the plagues. And if you take away, and what does all that mean? Well, the warnings of Revelation 22, 18 and 19 are not suggesting that people who tamper with the Bible are going to be resurrected and brought back to earth. And they're going to go through the tribulation. It's not suggesting that. Or it's not suggesting that they will lose their salvation if they made some error in their teaching. Nobody fully understands the Bible. I have to say that. I mean, I have followed the oldest. I mean, I was with Laman Strauss and talking to him just a week before he died. And even a man who studied the Bible for 60 plus years, he still did not understand totally every part of the Bible and couldn't explain everything in it. Nor has anyone on earth been able to do that. But those of us who teach the Word of God sometimes have to change our interpretation as we grow in knowledge. God sees our heart, and he separates ignorance from what he's condemning here in verses 18 and 19. And that's impudence, and that's immaturity, and he separates that from rebellion. See, there's some people who don't like the authority of the Word of God, and so they alter, change, and try and debilitate the message of God. And that's what the Lord is warning against here. From the willful twisting, as someone told me, they had some Bible twisters on their doorstep this week, and they were from the Watchtower Society, and they have re-translated the Bible and re-translated Jesus' deity right out of the Bible. They have added to the Word of God and subtracted from the Word of God. And what this verse says is, those who willfully, rebelliously, hard-heartedly change the message to alter it from the glorious gospel, that their heart has already determined that they do not have any part in God's eternal life. You know, it was customary in the ancient days for writers to put this kind of a warning at the close of their books. However, John's warning is not addressed to a writer. It's addressed to us as hearers and to the believers in the congregations where this book has been read aloud for 2,000 years. And it applies to anybody who reads and studies the Bible today. We might not be able to explain it fully, but we know this. It's a dangerous thing to tamper with the Word of God, and we must guard God's Word, we must obey God's Word, and we will be blessed. But anyone who alters it, God says, I'll take care of disciplining them. If it's in ignorance that they alter it, if it's in immaturity that they alter it, as we see rampant in our world today, that's one thing. But those who maliciously seek to steer people, as the Pharisees did, away from heaven by altering the Word of God, the Lord said that they will suffer His vengeance forever. Well, secondly, not only should our focus be on the Word, but look at verse 12. Our focus, God calls us to make His work, the work of God our focus. We should serve God. And it says in verse 12, Behold, I'm coming quickly with my reward. And we serve God, first of all, by speaking about Jesus. And it's interesting. He says, I'm coming quickly. Verse 13, I am the Alpha and the Omega. He starts talking about himself, his character, his nature. And the early Christians were supremely concerned with exalting the name of Jesus. They baptized in the name of Jesus. They healed in the name of Jesus. Even the opponents of the church realized that the name of Jesus was the very center, the core of apostolic preaching. Philip preached in the name of Jesus. The Jerusalem Council commanded that Barnabas and Paul risk their lives, and they commended them for that in the name of Jesus. Paul even said in Acts 21 he would die for the name of Jesus. And the Bible refers to the Lord by many names. hundreds and hundreds. I mean, I've personally found 400 different names of the Lord in the Bible. But the familiar ones are the ones we're to speak of all the time. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. He is our beloved. He is the bread of life, so we never hunger. He's the bright and morning stars, so we're never in the darkness. He's the firstborn from the dead, so we don't fear dead, because He will go with us through the valley. He is the Holy One, so we should be holy. He is God with us, so we should see God. He is the Lamb, so we should be accepting His sacrifice. He is our righteous judge, so we should bow before Him, and on and on. And so, it says here that we should be involved in His work. He rewards those who speak of Him. And Jesus wants us to talk about Him. He wants speaking of His name to be a part of our everyday life. Thirdly, look at verse 15. Not only is God calling us to honor his word, to speak of his name, but he calls for us to make his purity our goal, so we should avoid sin. Verse 15, outside are dogs. Now, some people have wondered if there are any animals in heaven. Did you know the Bible seems to say there are no animals in heaven? There are animals in the millennial times. By the time we get to heaven, there's no reference that there are any animals. You say, what about the dogs here? Now, I want to be very careful about this because I don't want to needlessly offend people, but in the Old Testament, those who practiced cultic sodomy were called dogs. That's homosexual. Prostituting men in the religious shrines most likely this is an illusion back because you notice what it's talking about here It says outside will be dogs keep reading sexually immoral sorcerers immoral murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie what what he talks about here are the things that were most abhorred by God in the Old Testament and false worship, satanic worship, cultic, godless immorality, prostitution and sodomy, and those who lie. It's very interesting that God calls us to make His purity our goal and to avoid sin. By whatever name Jesus is called, the testimony of scripture is that Jesus is the only one who can provide salvation and keep us from this impurity. And all spiritual blessings come through his name. And those who are adopted as God's children, as John 1 says, and those who are saved are forgiven of their sins. And as this book began in chapter 1 verse 5, no matter what sin we've ever committed, he loved us and washed us, loosing us from our sins in his own blood. So what he's saying is that God's word says those things, the lying, the immorality, all the wickedness there, the sorcery, the satanic worship and all the wickedness attached to it. He says that is never going to come in here, so only those who have been washed and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, enter in. So we should avoid sin. We should seek and make his purity our goal. Finally, look at verse 17. This chapter tells us not only should we be those who are looking at God's word and honoring it, looking at his work and doing it, looking at his purity and seeking it, but God is calling for us to make his son's return our hope. And what we need to be doing is watching for Jesus. While we watch, it says God's mercy is waiting. It says in verse 17, the spirit and the bride say, come. Now he says several times, I'm coming quickly, but he hasn't come. You say, how come? Because he's not willing that any should perish. He's not willing that any should go to that place prepared only for Satan and his angels. God did not prepare hell for humans. Humans willfully choose to go there, and they condemn themselves by their sin that they will not repent of. But three times in this closing chapter, John wrote, I, Christ, come quickly. He has delayed his return for nearly 2,000 years. Why? Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3 that he's giving time for the sinful world. He's giving them time to repent, and that's why. The Spirit of God through the church, the Bride of Christ, calls for Jesus to come. The bride wants to meet her bridegroom, but while he tarries, all are invited to come. So while we watch God's mercy is waiting and while we watch our hearts long for Jesus, the revelation concludes with the promise of Christ's soon return. And when he comes, he offers the water of life. As it says here, he who desires, verse 17, let him drink of the water of life freely. It's interesting that our Lord's last promise is He's coming quickly, and this Word of God concludes with an assurance He's coming, He's going to reward us, the urgency of being saved, and the danger of changing His Word. That's what's highlighted in the end. Well, the message of the book of Revelation is that the one who bruised the serpent's head, the one who through Isaiah pleaded to turn to me and be saved, Isaiah 45, 22, the one who in Isaiah 55, 1 says, if you thirst, come, come and buy. It's interesting that among the last words of scripture, we find a final invitation for mankind to be saved. The spirit and the bride say, come. The one who hears comes. If you're thirsty, come. The hymn writer put it this way, there's a wideness in God's mercy. It's like the wideness of the sea. There's a kindness in God's justice. It's more than liberty. For the love of God is broader than the measure of man's mind. The heart of the eternal is most wonderful and kind. The mission that flows out of our loving fellowship and our spiritual growth and our praise is that God is faithful. and that God had a plan that began in eternity past, and before the foundation of the world, and God's plan went into effect when Adam chose to sin, when Adam fell from fellowship with God, when Adam was spiritually separated from him, and from that fateful day on in the Garden of Eden, fallen natural man has been trying to hide from God, and God has been seeking to redeem men back to Himself. From the time of the first sin, it has always been God who solely, out of His own gracious love, has taken the initiative to restore men to righteousness. God always takes the initiative for man's salvation. It is God who said, where are you? In Genesis 3, 9. And to His last call in Revelation, the Spirit and the Bride say, come. The Word of God ends with the same themes it began with. Keep God's Word, serve God, avoid sin, watch for your Redeemer. I believe that Jesus bids us to come and keep on the same path He started us on, the path of grace. As you receive the Lord, walk in Him, keeping His Word, serving God, avoiding sin, and looking for Christ's return. Let's bow before our returning Savior who calls us today. Lord Jesus, I pray, that if any have not taken the water of life, that today would be the day that they drink and find the first satisfaction they've ever known in their life. I pray that any whose garments are soiled with sins not atoned for would turn to the Savior and say, your blood avails for me. Save me, Jesus. Forgive me. I pray that any who have not heard the voice of the Spirit through your bride, the church, would say yes. And those of us who know you, let us keep your word. Let us work for you and serve you. Let us be those who turn from sin and let us live ever watchful of your return. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.