Chapter 22. As you all know, the reason why we gather each Sunday. As you turn to Revelation 22, a reminder, the reason why we gather each Sunday. Try it one more time. It's funny, you get more people each time you wait. They finally just zone in. The reason why we gather each Sunday is to be reminded of the Savior that we need and have Him held up before us. We come together because we know we need a great saving and a great Savior. If you're here for any other reason, you will be sorely disappointed. We have nothing else to offer except this great Savior. Put before your eyes that we will rejoice in Him. We are in Revelation chapter 22, and we are ending our time in Revelation Today, 56 weeks in, a year and a month, we are done, the book of Revelation. And at this point, I know you all know what Revelation was about and can fill out this chart with me. Here, I'll shame you all for a moment. The first half of this chart here, I know two six-year-olds in this room that know it. Yep, yep. just from coming to church and hearing it. So if we look about what Revelation's about, we said there's two different ways we can see it. In the first, we said there's three things on each side to help you. How do we describe it in this first way? What do we say? About what? Jesus conquers. That's how we do this one, right? This one is Jesus conquers. That's what, if we said nothing else, if we just left with that from Revelation, we're pretty safe, right? Jesus conquers. But what do we want to add to that? By his blood, thank you, right? By his blood he conquers. And there's one more thing on this side of the chart. We conquer by? Clinging to that testimony. We conquer by clinging to our testimony. What testimony? That the blood saves us. Then we said there's another way that we can see revelation, and that is what? About a battle. It's a battle about worship. Who will win the worship of the nations? And what we know is God wins. And then we said there's one more thing we can put down here to kind of really emphasize the focus and the message to the church here other than these things is what? Yes, we are witnesses. That's why you're left here. That's what you're doing here in the wilderness. You're not in the wilderness for fun. You're here to be witnesses in your sanctification. This is what's going on. This is what Revelation's been about. This is what we've done 56 weeks of. And now it ends in chapter 22, verses 6 through 21. Let me read it for us, and let's see what the Lord has for us today. 22.6. And he said to me, these words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place. 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 evildoer 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 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 sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters. in everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. The spirit and bride say, come. And let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. But if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen. Let me pray for us. Father, as we come to the last words of this incredible message that you've given to your church, I pray that you would, by your grace and mercy, see fit this morning to open our ears, the ears of our hearts, that we might hear in such a way that we are impacted by your word, impacted by a sight of who you are and the grace that you pour out upon us and that we would be changed. Father, I pray that after this many weeks in this book, we would be changed by a sight of you. Do this work in us, pray in Jesus' name, amen. 15 verses we just read, 15 verses. Three times in those 15 verses, Jesus said, He is coming soon. Three times. He is coming soon. Do you hear the words, brothers and sisters? Soon, He's coming soon. Does that mean anything to you? Does the word soon, Jesus said, coming soon, does that word soon do anything in you? Maybe you think it's ridiculous that Christ says he's coming soon. I mean, has been about 2,000 years since this was written. It certainly doesn't seem like soon means the same thing to Christ as it means to us. Perhaps it feels like Jesus is trying to trick us into feeling a sense of urgency, when in reality, there's no urgency at all. Is there any reason for urgency in light of what Christ is saying here? These verses seem to suggest that there is. Friends, these last 15, listen, these last 15 verses are meant to create a sense of urgency. I repeat, these last 15 verses are meant to create a sense, a feeling, an experience of urgency. The point of the whole book, really, is to wake us up to a reality that should, in fact, bring about a sense of urgency to any professing believer who encounters these words. And brothers and sisters, in these last 15 verses, that theme is hit hard. These verses are meant to stir in everyone who hears them a sense of urgency. But have these verses stirred any urgency in you? And has this whole book stirred any sense of urgency in you? That's my question this morning. This is what I wanna know. Have you been stirred? Are you currently being stirred to a sense of urgency because of what you've seen in these chapters? Here we are, 56 weeks we've studied this book. Have you had ears to hear? Is there anything about your focus that has adjusted over 56 weeks? Or anything about your life that's changed after 56 weeks in Revelation? Anything about your understanding of reality that's shifted at all? Is there in you as you sit here right now an urgency? and a holy reverence for the message of this book, a sense of overwhelming importance and priority upon the kingdom of God, the work that God's doing as a result of what you have seen here. And if not, did you just waste 56 weeks? Did I? Listen to me say this again. There is no question that these verses, in which Christ tells us three times that he's coming soon, should create, are meant to stir in us a sense of urgency. Why do I think that these verses are meant to stir in us a sense of urgency? Let's look at them together, shall we? And see. Let me show you. Where am I seeing this emphasis on this sense of urgency? First, As I have repeatedly just said, we have three times in verse seven, in verse 12, and in verse 20, Jesus telling these first century believers that he's coming soon. He's coming quickly. And the last time, in verse 20, he says it like this, surely I am coming soon. This that surely there is meant to give you a sense of certainty. that we might sense the urgency of the matter. Surely this is what's going to happen. But again, you might hear Jesus say that and reflect upon the 2,000 years that have passed and say, this doesn't seem like something that's happening soon or something that's very urgent. And if you think that, you totally misunderstand what's being communicated to you when Jesus says he is coming back soon. Let me explain. Part of the issue has to do simply with translation in languages. First of all, the way that the ESV put it, as I've been reading it, using the word soon really doesn't help us. You may have noticed I have been using not just the word soon, I've been using another word as well, quickly. the word that the NASB uses. Jesus is saying, I am coming quickly. I think that's probably better. But even that leaves us without a full understanding of what's being said. Because when we hear Jesus say, I am coming quickly, we think it simply means that one day soon, Jesus will be here. It's gonna happen, not after a long time, it's going to happen soon. But what we're missing, is the tense of the verb and what that tells us. Jesus uses the present tense here. He is presently coming quickly. What does that mean? It means this. Whatever work has to be done in order for Jesus to return and bring about all we have heard about in Revelation. Whatever that work is, Jesus is presently doing it quickly. Friends, understand Christ's return is a process. There are things that must be done first before he actually steps upon the planet and brings an end of all things, like the preaching of the gospel, like the bringing in of the bride from every tribe and nation. And what Jesus is saying is that he's doing this work quickly, so as to return quickly. He's not taking his time about it. He's not sitting back. No, no, he's working this thing out fast, as fast as it can be worked out. And that should instill in us a sense of urgency. Let me give you an example of what I mean. I'll give you a bad example, okay? Bad example, ready? Let's say you have a neighbor. And your neighbor works for the government. And your neighbor comes home one day, and he looks a little panicked. And you try talking to him, and all he can say is, I can't tell you much, but all I know is this. I'm going to get myself into a bomb shelter as quickly as I can. And you watch him over the next weeks. Rapidly, he gathers materials and builds this bomb shelter in his backyard. I mean, he works fast. He stays up at night. He never seems to rest. Now, he has not entered the bomb shelter yet. He has to build it. But he is currently getting himself into a bomb shelter quickly. He's going through the necessary process in order to enter that bomb shelter quickly. He's entering into it soon. He's working so quickly, you don't know when it's gonna be done. Could be tomorrow you wake up and him and his family are in the shelter. You don't know, he's quick about it. He's entering it quickly. And here's the thing, his urgency, his quickness and speed at his work would stir in your heart a panic if you saw it. It would show you the seriousness of the situation. And you wouldn't know the day or time he's going to finish and enter in, but you can tell it's gonna be as soon as he can. This is the way you should think of Christ's words, I am coming quickly. First, you should see the urgency on Christ's part. He's not wasting time. He's building his kingdom quickly, as quickly as possible. At any moment, the last soul might be saved, the last part of everything might fall into place, and he'll step onto this world and end all things. He's urgent about it. And the end could come at any time. He is presently doing the work necessary to come back, and he's doing it quickly. And you can expect him at any moment. He is not simply sitting in heaven waiting for some future far-off day he planned on the calendar a long time ago. When it comes, I randomly picked that day, when it comes. No, no. He's furiously working to complete the building of the kingdom and the advancing of the gospel so that he can finally bring about the day he longs to bring about. And I'm asking, do you sense that urgency, church? Do you understand Christ is doing this work quickly, that he's urgent about it, that at any moment the work might be complete, any moment. You're all living or tempted to and frequently do live Like the goal is to establish yourself here, comfortable in this alien world that's not your home. You live your lives like the goal is to make the wilderness your paradise. Stop. That's not the goal. This all ends. And you know what? It ends soon. There's an urgency. There's an urgency on Christ's part to return. Listen, Christ is working this out quick. He's urgent about it. This should produce an urgency in us. Do you see Christ's urgency? Do you understand? Do you understand how badly Christ longs to come back and end all of this curse and all of this sin and answer the groaning of his people? Look at how verse 17 starts. After all has been said in this book, and after Christ says He's coming soon, there's a response to Christ. Okay? So Christ says, I'm coming soon. And there's a response back to Christ. Look at the first half of verse 17. The Spirit, are you with me? The Spirit and the Bride say what? Come. To who? Christ. So Christ announces, I'm coming soon. And the response, first from the Spirit of God is, come, and then second from the bride of Christ is, come. Now tell me, if Christ's very bride, think about this, if Christ's very bride is crying out to him, come, return, how urgent do you think he works to bring it about? Do you think he drags his feet about it? What earthly husband or parent or loving friend, if they heard their beloved crying, I need you, return, come to me, help me, deliver me. What one of them in response to that cry from the one that they love would drag their feet and take their time in answering that cry? Brothers and sisters, do you think that Christ does not hear the cry of his bride, come and longs to answer that cry? What will keep him from coming and coming quickly to her side? Oh, make no mistake about it, friends. He is coming and he is urgent about it. He is doing his work quickly. And it's not just the bride that cries, come, but God himself, God the Spirit, cries out to the Son, come, let the end of this thing be. Let's bring about this end of all, let's bring about the exaltation that we long for. Do you think Christ is slow to answer the cry of the bride and the Spirit? So Christ is urgent about this work. He's coming soon. He's coming quickly. And so we should be urgent too. Listen to the cry of Christ about His coming in verse 12. Look at how urgent this sounds. Verse 12. Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Is the seriousness of the matter coming through in those words? Are you sensing the urgency? Are you living in light of it? Do you see that you must be awake and ready and alert? Are three announcements of Christ in these 15 verses saying, I'm coming soon, I'm coming quickly, three times, is that enough to prove the urgency to the people in this room? But it's not just that there are three cries of his quick return in these last verses that call us to this urgency. There's three cries of his quick return, but then there's also three calls, there's also three admonishments in these verses to take seriously the things you've heard over the past 56 weeks and give them a place of importance. So listen to what I'm saying. I'm saying you all should be urgent about what you've heard over the past 56 weeks. You should be urgent because Christ is here in these last verses three times saying, I'm coming quickly, I'm coming quickly, I'm coming quickly. And not only that, but three more times in these 15 verses he gives you three admonishments, warnings in a sense, three reasons to put these things as a priority in your life. Let me show you these three things. Three times we are told Three times we are told how important these words are that we have studied for the past 56 weeks. We're gonna look at them in reverse order. The last warns us not to mess with this message or change it, verse 18. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. If anyone takes away from the words of the book, this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. So serious, guys. So important is this message that you've studied for 56 weeks, that if you change it or add to it or take from it and keep the church from hearing it, you're cursed. Do you understand? You have been taught a message of that importance that if you were to mess with it a little bit, you're cursed. Secondly, the call in these last verses is to make this message known. Look at verse 10. And he said to me, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy. John has commanded not to seal up the message, meaning proclaim it, make it known, explain it, teach it. John is told, no matter what response you get, the evildoer may go on doing evil, the rejecter of the message may go on rejecting it. No matter, keep making it known. The time is near. It's urgent. No matter what response you get, make it known, John. And then lastly, and maybe most importantly, verse 7. Behold, I am coming soon, Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. So first we had, don't take away or add to these words. Second we had, don't seal up these words. And now third we have, keep these words. Blessed, happy are those who keep the words of this book. That's the message. How do you, so listen, blessed, blessed are. There's seven beatitudes in Revelation. This is one, blessed are those who keep the words of this book. How do you keep the words of Revelation? It's not a book of commands. How do you keep it? You keep it by believing the words in this book and living in light of them. responding appropriately to them. So listen, brothers and sisters, this is what you're being told here at the end of this book. Three times, Christus says, I'm coming back quickly. This is an urgent matter. And so in light of his quick return, three times, you're admonished in regard to the message of this book, concerning the words of this book. Don't change them, don't seal it up, and above all, keep them. And that last admonishment, keep them, it's so important. It's tied to this blessing. Blessed are those who keep these words. He's coming soon. Have you heard the words of this book and are you keeping them? Look, if you sit here for 56 weeks and study the words of this book, and then this morning you come in here and you can't even do this. You can't even do this. You can't even get this down, what a six-year-old could do. You can't even do that. You come in here after 56 weeks, and you hear this last verse in this last section say, blessed are those who keep these words. And you sit here, and you go to that folder in your head that has Revelation as the title, and you open it up. And you go, let me try and keep those words. And you open the folder up, and nothing's in it. Something's wrong. How are you going to keep the words? You don't even know what it was about. Keep the words. Do you remember what the words of this book have been? Do you even at this point understand what this book is calling you to do to be ready for this return? Do you know how the Christian who hears this should respond to it? The book started out, you may remember, with seven letters to seven churches. Do you remember that? Seven letters to seven churches. And those seven letters to those seven churches, we learned as we studied them that most of those churches were a mess. And Jesus had one message to each church, the same message to each church. He ended each letter with the same message to each church. Hi, I'm right here. Listen, you want the message? Ended it with one message. Do you remember what the message was to each church that he ended with? Anybody remember? to the one who overcomes. Yes, he says to each one to let him who has ears hear. And what does he want them to hear? Overcome. Conquer. Each church is told their obligation is to hear these things and take to heart what's being said and conquer. And if you don't, what each of those books ended with is an explanation. You don't conquer, you don't come into the kingdom. You have to conquer. And those seven churches, you may remember, were under attack. Why can't we see this church? Why are we so blind to this? There is a battle. There's a battle for your worship, brothers and sisters, over your soul. There is an enemy. When Christ was crucified and risen, the enemy, Satan, was cast out of heaven. That was chapter 12. And we heard this in chapter 12. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, but woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short. The enemy has come in great wrath. And see, now here's the thing, here's the thing. You don't live in light of Christ's quick return, in light of the fact that the time is short, but Satan does. We're told he knows his time is short. The enemy knows the urgent work of the sun, and the enemy fights it. And so he comes to the church, to these seven churches, to the church as a whole. He comes to the beacon of light that's in the world, the church, that which God is going to use to awaken his bride and bring her to life as the gospel is preached. The enemy comes to this beacon of light and does all he can to destroy it. The enemy seeks to silence you, and the enemy seeks Please hear me. Please hear me. The enemy seeks to take you away from Christ. Pull you away. And so we saw in the churches how the enemy uses three things, persecution of the saints, false teaching in the church, the appeal of worldliness to the church, to try to push the church off mission and distract us and keep us asleep and kill us. In other words, friends, there is an enemy who hates you and is seeking to separate you from Christ. There's an enemy that's attempting to win and to keep you from conquering, to prevent you from conquering. That's what this book has shown you. There's a battle for the worship of the nations, a battle that God ultimately wins, but a battle nonetheless, and you must conquer. That's the call. And what does it mean? Please don't get stuck in just church words and theology. Think about this. He's calling you. You have to conquer. There's an enemy who knows his time is short. I'm coming quickly. The matter is urgent. Heed the words of this book. And what have the words been about? This battle that's going on. And he comes to you, and he says, conquer. How do you conquer? We know that Christ conquers, that He conquers by the spilled blood at the cross. With that spilled blood, he shuts the mouth of the accuser. That's what we saw when we looked at the chapter. And he wins his bride by redeeming her with that blood. He is, in this book, over and over again given the title, the lamb, the lamb, the lamb. That's his identity, the slain lamb. And we know we conquer, we know we conquer in only one way, by that same blood specifically, by clinging to our testimony. What testimony? Our testimony that this blood alone is our salvation and our hope and our rescue. And we conquer by clinging to that testimony until death. That's our conquering. Do you hear? The goal, the way to conquer, friends, is to cling to this testimony that Christ's blood saves me, and to never stop clinging to that testimony. This book has been picture after picture after picture of Christ winning the battle, showing us that He is the one who's able to defeat the enemy. He is the one who will overcome and That is shown to us so that we would all the more cling to him, that we would overcome as well. The result of reading and studying this book should be a clinging to Christ as my only hope. Clinging to him and rejoicing as we realize that victory is mine in Christ, so long as I cling to Christ. But the enemy, the enemy would have us not cling to Christ. The enemy would do all that he can to make us leave Christ. This is why these things are urgent and so important and vital to think upon and heed and keep. And so the book ends with these 15 verses with this message, this warning, this call. Christ is coming quickly. The return will not be prevented. And you must, in the meantime, heed the words of this book. You must remember what you've been shown. It is only those who cling to Christ and to his spilled blood that conquer in the way this book is described. That's the message here. This is the message that you have to hear and heed and keep. It's summarized actually right here for us. Look at the heart of that message, verse 14. It's repeated here in verse 14. This is the last of the seven Beatitudes in the book, 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 outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. So there are two groups here, those outside who have not washed, the dogs, those who love sin, but those who enter in, what have they done? What have they done? How did they enter in? We have a group outside. A group outside. Sexually immoral. They love falsehood. They're murderers. They're outside. And then we have a group that's inside. The group that's inside. What have they done? They kept themselves from murder. They kept themselves from any immorality. They kept themselves perfectly in. They washed. They washed their robes. They've washed their robes. That's what they do. These who are blessed wash their robes. And what does it mean? It means that they have come to the blood of Christ and trusted in this spilled blood to take away their sins. You're being called today to cling to the blood, to cling to the testimony you've all publicly made at your baptism. Christ is victor. Christ is savior. Christ is redeemer. I cling to him. Cling to that testimony. Victory is yours as you cling to him. That's the message. You're under attack. This is a battle, and you must cling to the blood. The blood is your only refuge. It's the only safe place. So here's what we have. Here's what we have. You haven't listened to anything. Here's what we have. This book, after all the judgment and all the prophecy and all the apocalyptic language and announcements, all the pictures of glory, it ends by coming to you and explaining to you how urgent it is to understand Christ comes, and he comes quickly. You must be ready. Christ is urgent about his work. And the book comes and reminds us, the enemy is urgent as well, knowing his time is short. He's looking for someone to conquer. You must stay awake and be ready. Heed the words of this book. Heed the words that show you the battle and show you the only way to win the battle is by clinging to the blood of Christ. Washing your robes in the blood of the Lamb. The washing away of our sins, hear me, the washing away of our sins in the blood of the Lamb is a work we do just one time. But, but, please hear me church, the washing of our consciences we do daily, hourly as we come to Christ. And the clinging, the clinging to our testimony is a work we do over and over again, we never stop doing. I have to cling. I don't come to Christ once. I'm washed, I'm justified, and I forget about Him. I cling to that sacrifice. We witness to each other, church. We call to each other. Come cling to Christ. We call to ourselves and to the world. Stay with Christ. Cling to Him. Trust in His shed blood. This is the battle. And listen, the battle is never anything else. The battle is never anything else. Your battle is, I have to cling to the shed blood of Christ. That's the battle. That's what the enemy is attempting to get you to not do. Don't cling to Christ. Don't cling to your righteousness. Cling to how you cleaned yourself up in this one area. Cling to your ministry work. Cling to how other people see. Cling to the blood of Christ alone. This is my righteousness. This is my salvation. Nothing else makes me have peace with God. Nothing else gets me escape from the law and its demands. The blood of Christ alone. This is always the battle. This is what Satan is attempting to undo in all those churches that we studied, the first seven churches. He's trying to undo, get them to move away from Christ alone. This is always what it comes down to. we have to cling to the cross of Christ. We must never, we must never assume the gospel. We must never assume the gospel. We must never think we know it well enough. We must never stop seeking to see our need of grace and the depth of the grace that he provides for us in light of that need, never. And so God comes to us in this book and he ends the whole book with one great command, one imperative, one call, an imperative command that you have to hear and yield to if you're gonna conquer. At the end of the whole book, there's one thing we must hear and heed if we're gonna keep the words of this book and conquer. Let me say it again. There's one thing, one call, one command at the end of this book You have to hear and know and heed to conquer. And it's found in verse 17. In verse 17, let's look at this again. We started looking at it already. Let me look at it with you again. Verse 17 starts out first. Listen, it starts out first with a cry to Christ. Look, the spirit and bride say, come, and they're talking to Christ. And let the one who hears, that means anybody, say, come. So here in the first half of the verse, we have a cry to Christ. The spirit cries and the church cries. In fact, everyone who has ears to hear is called upon to cry out to Christ, come, come, return. This is the note that the book ends on, this cry to Christ to come. Verse 20, he who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon, amen, come, Lord. But the end of verse 17, go back to it, it's a different cry. It's not a cry that goes out to Christ, but a cry that comes to us from Christ. It's a cry that rings out from the throne itself. Here's what we have. Think about this. The picture is beautiful. The spirit and the church cry out to Christ, come, come, be quick about it, return, bring about the end. And then tenderly, so tenderly and so beautifully, with so much gentleness and care, as the cry for his return meets his ears, he replies with a cry of his own. Look at the end of verse 17. And let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. The cry comes to his throne. Come, Lord. And in reply, he cries back to this hurting, broken world. Come, come to me. Come while there is time. Come, my people. Come, come cling to me. It's a command. It's a command. And it's present tense. Do it now, today, presently. Come. And it would be so wrong for us to end this book on any other note. In light of the urgency of this message, in light of the events it describes and the dangers we face, church, come. and cry to each other and to the world, come. We must be a people who cling to Christ. We must be a people who go to him again and again and cling to him day after day. We must be witnesses to each other and the world of the need of and importance of going to him. Come, all who hear my voice, come to Christ. And who is it that he calls to come? He describes those who are qualified to come. He describes them. First, he says, let the thirsty come. And so I ask, are you thirsty? Thirsty for what? For him, brothers and sisters. Are you thirsty for life? Thirsty for mercy and grace. Tune in. Listen to what I'm saying. Are you thirsty for mercy and grace to find you such that you really come to know life eternal? Do you want the salvation that God offers you? And to explain exactly what that means, he goes on to say so plainly and so wonderfully at the end of the verse, let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Here's what you should memorize from this book. Here's what you should live by, church. Here's what should be burnt into your minds, the truth that you should return to again and again and again. Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Let the one who desires desire what? The water of life. the blessing of God, the good of having God forever, of escaping wrath, of not being under the curse. Let the one who desires salvation and pardon from sins, let the one who seeks God and God's mercies, let them come. Friends, there's no other qualification for you to meet. in the midst of your sin and your repentance, in the midst of your time of doubt and the times of struggle with sins on earth, in the midst of your lack of assurance that so many of you in this room have, come back again and again to these words, which are meant to destroy the poison of Satan and his lies. This is the antidote to the lies of the flesh and the enemy. This sentence, this promise, this command, any, all who desire, who desire to drink from the waters of life that flow from the throne of God himself, those who long to see his face, those who long to be changed and be made whole, those who want God to rescue them from damnation. Come. God has made a way for you. Come. What is the way? It's the path you walk without price. That's what the text says. Do you hear? There is no price. If you today say, I want to drink, I want to drink from that water, I want to come. If you see that path in front of you and think, I can't walk that path, you have to understand, there's no one at the start of that path or the end of that path or anywhere on that path who stops you to examine to see if you've bought the right payment. No one stops you and asks you if you're good enough. No one stops you and asks you if you're clean enough. No one stops you and asks you if you've repented well enough or have enough of your sins. No one stops you and asks you if you've changed enough. No one stops you and asks you if you've overcome your apathy enough. No one stops you on that journey and measures your zeal and excitement before letting you pass. No one makes sure you realize the urgency enough before you're allowed to pass. No. No one asks for a thing. There is no price. Nothing to pay. Zero. All that is required is you want to drink. All that's required is you desire, or you desire to desire, or you wish you could even figure out what it means to desire. All of those things are desire. All of these things qualify you. You want, you long, you need, and so you come to the one who calls you to come without price. Let no one stop you, church. Let nothing disqualify you. Let nothing make you wait. Come. Come to Christ. Come and see his spilled blood for you so that you could wash in it and be made clean. Come wash your robe today. Come wash your robe and be made ready. And if you've done that, come and remember that you are washed and cleanse your conscience and cling to the spill of blood. Come, cling, church. He cries to us to come. And we come, and we wash, and we see our hope, and we cry out in return, come, Lord Jesus. Oh, church, that you would not hesitate to come today. This is the problem. This is where we go. This is where our flesh and enemy drives us away from coming and clinging to the cross of Christ, either by making you all blind to your need, which there are many in this room who qualify as blind to their need, and the cross looks this big because your need looks this big. You don't want to hear about your need, so the cross stays this big and you cling this much. Or others of you who have a big, big need, and the enemy constantly is whispering to you and saying, you can't go. You can't go. Not until you fix this. Not until you get this right. You're just going for the wrong reasons. You're just getting all these lies. And you never go. You don't cling. And you go to works. And you try to work your way to feel good enough to approach him. No. Don't hesitate to come to him and receive mercy. When I say come, I mean believe. Believe this mercy is for you. Believe that Christ has paid it all. There's nothing left for you to pay. His spilled blood pays it all. He has taken your sins upon himself, and he gives you his righteousness. You come, and you wash, and you believe, and you trust him, and the work is finished. There are no requirements or payments needed. All who desire, all who desire. It's so incredible, everyone hearing my voice, that desires can come and have this salvation. It's theirs. Do you desire? Do you want this water of life? Do you thirst? Then come, empty-handed, waiting for nothing, believing mercy is yours. Don't try to first find the strength to come. Don't first try to find the faith to come. Just come, weak and faithless. Come! and cry out for him to do it all. You are welcome to even cry out to him now, this morning. I am too weak to come. Come to me. Come rescue me. Come pick me up and carry me to yourself. I can do nothing. This also qualifies as coming. The smallest cry from the most broken heart, from the most mixed motives, from the most ugly place, it doesn't matter. Just cry out. It's this kind of coming to Him that must mark our lives as Christians, Church. It is this kind of coming to Him again and again that defines what it means to conquer. This kind of clinging to our testimony, that's what's required. of clinging to Him and His strength and His saving that we go to again and again and again, no matter what we find in ourselves, knowing He will welcome us, no matter what He finds in us. Friends, this is the kind of mercy you need. He offers it. Cry out to Him for it. Come to Him today. One song, one song puts in the words what should be in all our hearts as we come to him. It says this, brokenhearted I come. My cup is empty, my mouth is dry. See how quickly I fall, burdened with darkness, heavy in lies. I want to cry, but I can't. I try to stand, but I fall down again. I need you to carry me. I need you to carry me when I am weak. Oh, this can't be enough to just say I'm sorry, to confess my fault when I've hurt you so much. And now I'm asking for you to do more. I want to cry, but I can't. I try to stand, but I fall down again. I need you to carry me. I need you to carry me when I am weak. I'm always weak. And then the song has God respond back to the one singing. And he says, when I first met you, I drew you in close to me. Your weakness is covered with strength and security. I've never left you, nor will I ever leave. Child, believe. Child, believe. Believe, believe. This is the kind of God you have. He calls the ungodly to come and be justified. He calls those who have nothing to come and receive his grace. For all you guys back there, for all you guys in here, for anybody who's listening to this in the future, Come and conquer by trusting that the blood of Christ alone is the means by which you will be saved and that his mercy is for you right now. Believe that right now and then believe it every subsequent minute of your life. I can come and I can trust the mercy is mine. I can come, I can trust the mercy is mine. This is the kind of coming to him that conquers. This is the kind of coming to him that is commanded of us here at the end of the book. And it is the kind of mercy that you all absolutely and I myself desperately need. 56 weeks, your response to what you've heard shows you need this kind of mercy. Because if you come today after 56 weeks and you go, Lord, let me show you what I've learned. Let me show you how I merit. You're doomed. What saved you is the blood of Christ. His mercy to you. The fact that you could go to him today bringing nothing and he would receive you. So let us remember to go to him like this over and over again with urgency, knowing he will never grow tired of our coming to him for this grace. The book closes. Hugh testifies to these things, says, it's Christ. He says, surely I am coming soon. And the church replies, amen, come Lord Jesus. And then with this wonderful message at the end, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all, amen. Father, I pray that as we come to the end of this urgent plea that you've given us over 56 weeks, that you would have stirred our hearts to see our need of clinging to you, and that we would be a people who are known for clinging to you alone, who boast not in ourselves, who boasts not in what we've done, or how we've studied, or what we've learned, how much zeal we have, but we boast only in this, our God is a great savior. And he saves every weak, broken person who comes. Grant us the faith to believe it, and call us to come to you again and again, and let our lives be marked with a clinging to you in this way, I ask in Jesus' name, amen. So as we come to the supper, brothers and sisters, I remind you to remember, please, as we come to the supper, as men get up to go, get the elements, this is not a division in the service where we stop one thing and start another. This is a continuation. We come to the supper each week. to be reminded and to experience God's grace to us in the elements. It is not obviously the actual blood and body of Christ. We don't believe that, but we do believe that God has given us the sacraments to come meet us in a special way to remind us of the grace that finds us in Christ. We need it. We need the reminders, because we are a people who are stony-hearted and slow to respond and slow to understand, and we need him to come to us in this childlike way and put in our hands an object lesson each week to go, this is why you're saved. My blood spilled, my body broken. This is why you're safe. This is your refuge, cling to me. I've done the work. So as we come to the supper, I'd remind you, this table is open for every one of you in this room who has turned from your sin, as imperfect as that turning is. You've turned from it. It's an imperfect turning, but you're turning from it. You're crying out to God for mercy. You're saying, rescue me. My only hope is your spilled blood. If that's who you are, this table is open for you to come and partake with joy. If that's not who you are, we do ask you to just let the elements pass. But as I say each week, there's no reason why every one of us in this room this morning could not take these elements and celebrate the mercy given to us today. And I call upon you, Christians, as you hold these elements, can you just stop and maybe just look at the elements in your hand and go, why me, Lord? Why have you given this to me? Why is this seat not taken right now by somebody who would display so much more zeal and interest and why me? and be humbled by the fact that he puts this in your hands, and understand that his answer is, because I love you, and because I've chosen you. Be just amazed at that, that he's opened your eyes to these things. and rejoice that you are safe because of the work of Christ. How wonderful a Savior we have, brothers and sisters. 56 weeks in Revelation have proven it. How wonderful a Savior we have. And all the victory is His, and it is ours as we cling to Him. So let us come now and cling in the sacrament.