Revelation 22:12-17, 20-21

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We can pray, confident in our victory!

A sermon preached by

Rev. William O. (Bud) = Reeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

September 2, 2007=

When you read a book, do you ever get curious = about the end before you get there? I do. I confess that sometimes = I will get halfway through a novel, and the anticipation gets the best of me, and I have to turn to the last page, to find out who’s still alive, who has= been defeated, and who has won the victory.&nbs= p; I really had a struggle recently with the last installment of the Ha= rry Potter series. Having read the first six books, when the seventh and last one came out, it was all I could= do to keep from turning to the last page to see if Harry and his friends survi= ved in the end. It was tough, but= I held fast. I didn’t look. Now I’m glad I didn’t. If you have rea= d the book, you know why I say that. If you haven’t read the book, and you might sometime, there is no way I’m going to give away the ending!

As we close out this series on great prayers o= f the Bible today, I want to turn to the last page of the book. Let’s see how it all comes o= ut in the end. This is not cheating= ; God wants you to know how it all ends. That’s what the last book is all about. The good news is, everything is re= vealed in the end, just like in the last book of Harry Potter. The bad news is, it is very hard to understand. It is with great = irony that we call it the Book of Revelation.&nb= sp; There is so much that is confusing in what is revealed. Jesus came and went; now he’s coming again? What’s al= l that about? Our natural question i= s, “When is all this going to take place?”&nb= sp; What does the return of Christ have to do with us and our walk of fa= ith today?

The return of Christ to earth, the so-called S= econd Coming of Jesus, is a belief that has deep roots in our Biblical and histor= ical faith. The Book of Acts clear= ly states that the same Jesus who ascended into heaven after the resurrection = will return again in the same way. References to the coming of the Son of Man are scattered throughout = the New Testament, and the roots of that belief are found in many of the writin= gs of the prophets in the Old Testament. The prophets envisioned a Day of the Lord, when the Messiah of God w= ould come and defeat evil and establish God’s Kingdom forever.

This has been the faith of the Church since the beginning. The most ancient of creeds, the Apostles’ Creed, says that Christ will come from heaven “to judge the quick and the dead.” (When I was a child, that ga= ve me great comfort, because I was alive, and I was slow.)

The Book of Revelation gives us a vision of th= e end of history. What a picture it is—supernatural horsemen, dragons and beasts, great cosmic wars, giga= ntic angelic choirs, and in the middle of it all, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, = the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Savior of the world. What is important to remember is t= hat the Book of Revelation is a picture, not a prediction. It is a document written in a part= icular literary style—apocalyptic literature—for a persecuted communit= y of Christians at the end of the first century A. D. It does not and was never in= tended to predict historical occurrences in the 19^th, 20^th, = or 21^st centuries. Th= at has not stopped people from using it that way.= Nevertheless it is a very important document for our faith.

Taking into consideration all of ScriptureR= 12;the Old Testament prophecies, the words of Jesus, the letters of Paul, and the vision of Revelation—we can say three things about the conclusion of history:

1.&n= bsp; Christ will come again, and God will establish his kingdom on earth forever.

2.&n= bsp; We don’t know when that will happen.

3.&n= bsp; Until it happens, we should be ready and not wait in idleness.

That is the teaching of Scripture in a nutshel= l. This faith in the return of Christ= has an impact on our spiritual life in at least three ways.

Believing in the coming of Jesus gives us the assurance of hope. We never have to lose heart; we never have to give up; because we know that God will ultimately redeem our situation. No matter how bad = things get, we can still have hope. = As Paul wrote to the Roman church, we can even “boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,= and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts thr= ough the Holy Spirit that was given to us.”[1] Confident in God’s = love, we don’t have to fear anything. We can have hope through everything.

Mike Fuller was a professional football player= for the San Diego Chargers and later for the Cinncinnati Bengals. He retired from the game and moved= home to Alabama and took a job. Then, at the = age of 37, Mike was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer. Throughout his treatment, Mike maintained a positive attitude. He told his pastor during a visit, “It’s like the psalm says, R= 16;I fear no evil.’ God has = been with me from day one. I don&#= 8217;t have any fear of this disease or the word death. Jesus Christ has overcome death, a= nd all I have to do is rely on him and his strength.”[2] That’s the assurance of hope= .

Knowing that Christ will one day return and ru= le fills our hearts with hope, and that gives us the power of endurance. We can rely on Christ and his strength. We can make it thro= ugh our times of trouble and hardship, because we know how it all will ultimate= ly end. We want to be on the win= ning side.

The message of the whole book of Revelation to= the oppressed minority of Christians can be boiled down to two words: hold fast. Revelation 14:6= says, “Here is a call for the endur= ance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.” Th= at the message of the whole end-time vision. Hold fast in the midst of persecution. Don’t give up your faith. Resist the forces of evil. Endure your hardship. Stay the course and win the victory.

This week we remembered the second anniversary= of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, a catastrophe that is still affecting= the lives of thousands. A few days after Katrina hit, Pastor Fred Luter surveyed the damage from a helicopter.= Luter, pastor of the 7,000-plus mem= ber Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, strained to catch sight of his church building from the window of the aircr= aft. When he saw the devastated building, he began to weep as the helicopter circled it twice. Several other ministers who were with him sought to comfort him, putting their hands arou= nd his shoulders. He chose not t= o fly over his nearby home.

The weeping pastor said, "Life is like a = vapor on this side of eternity. What you have today could be gone tomorrow. You c= an't put your trust in earthly things…. It's tough. I've got 19 years of my life invested there."

Then, looking beyond the tragedy, Luter spoke = with courage and determination. "But we're gonna rebuild. We're gonna rebuild."[3]

Today, the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church is just now anticipating breaking ground on the rebuilding of their church. One part of the congr= egation is meeting at another Baptist Church in New Orleans. One part is meeting in = Baton Rouge. Another group is meeting in Houston, Texas, where many of the refugees fled. And one of the pastors recently started a worship service in a tent = on the parking lot where the church used to be—and will be again. On the church’s website, Pas= tor Luter said, “This past 2nd Sunday [in the tent] we had a standing room only crowd! Our choir did a great job with the music, and my son Chip blessed everyone through the sermon. We will also be giving out free = food to our neighbors every 4th Saturday of the month. It's just our way of letting the community know that we are coming back to the avenue!”= = [4]

This is Christ’s way of letting us know = he is coming back. He gives us the = power to endure through our difficult circumstances.

Believing in the coming of Christ gives us the assurance of hope, the power of endurance, and the certainty of victory. We will be on the winning side if we hold fast, if we keep the faith, because = one thing we know for sure; in the end, God wins!

A preschooler named Denny came to Sunday Schoo= l one morning just bubbling over with excitement because he had played his first T-ball game. He exclaimed to = the teacher, “We won our game!”&nb= sp;

“That’s great!” she said. “Did you get any hits?”= ;

“Yeah,” Denny answered. “And I got some scratches, too!”= [5]

If you play the game of life for very long or = very hard, you will end up with some hits and some scratches and some bumps and bruises and even some deep wounds of the heart. But take courage, especially when = you seem to be on the losing end of things.&nb= sp; Your victory is assured. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you are on the winning team. You are owned and managed and coac= hed by the Creator, the Almighty God of love.&nbs= p; How can you lose?

One of the legendary figures in the sport of football was Vince Lombardi, long-time coach of the Green Bay Packers. One = time he was asked what it took to make a winning team, since he had made so many= of them. He answered, “The= re are lots of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have ple= nty of discipline but still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredi= ent; if you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care = for one another. You’ve got= to love each other. Each player = has to be thinking about the next guy and saying to himself, ‘If I don’= ;t block that man, [our halfback] is going to get his legs broken. I have to do my job well in order = that he can do his.’

“The difference between mediocrity and greatness,” Lombardi said, “is the feeling these guys have for = each other.”[6]

The difference between defeat and victory is s= imply the power of love. We are bou= nd together in community, and the connection of love makes us accountable to a= nd for each other. Love is what = keeps us on the team. We are connec= ted through this community of faith to the God of love, who loved the world so = much he gave his only Son. We beli= eve in the Son, who loved us enough to die for our sins. We serve a God who loved his Son s= o much that he raised him from the dead and opened up the way for our resurrection. And we worship a Christ who still loves the world so much that he has promised to return and establish his Kingdom.

The love of God gives us the assurance of hope= . The love of God gives us the power= to endure. The love of God gives= us the certainty, the confidence, the conviction of victory. Love will bring Jesus back to clai= m his children.

The last great prayer in Scripture comes at th= e very end and consists of only three words: “Come, Lord Jesus!”[7]

The Spirit and the bride of Christ, the church= , say, “Come!”

Let everyone who hears say, “Come!”= ;

Let everyone who believes say, “Come!= 221;

Let everyone who thirsts for the water of life= say, “Come!”

Let everyone who is hungry for salvation say, “Come!”

“Come, Lord Jesus!”

As we gather at his table today, let’s i= nvite Jesus to come, to give us the assurance of hope, the power of endurance, and the certainty of victory. The= n we will surely be fed. Amen!