Revelation chapter 22. We've come to the last chapter of this letter that we, as we know, we know as the book of Revelation. In the previous chapters, we've seen the record penned by the Apostle John approximately 90 AD, somewhere in the 90s. We've seen this revelation penned by him as the prophetic vision that God gave to him concerning himself concerning God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. It is the vision, the reality of the state of his, John's present age, which those separated by many centuries, is our present age, even to this very day. And then also this vision is, in this vision he sees his future. He sees our future. all the way to the culmination, to the end of God's purpose and plan for this earth and for its people. Really, all the way to the end of this earth and the beginning of the next. And past that, we don't know anything, but we know that it will be glorious. So God, in reality, showed John the reality of his and our present, and the reality of his and our future, which reaches all the way into the eternal age, beyond time. It's really an astounding thing, the book of Revelation is. It's really an astounding truth. It is an astounding portion of God's grace that we can see the culminating purposes of God from the end, from the beginning, all the way to the end. Our God, the God who is God, He is a great God. And His purposes are filled with wonder. But now in the latter verses of chapter 22, The vision has ended. The Lord brings John back to his present, and He instructs him on what he is to do with what has been shown. The Lord doesn't leave anything to question, doesn't leave anything to guess. He shows, He wants John to know what he is to do with this vision, this revelation, with this truth that He has given us, that is compiled for us in these 22 chapters. The Lord wants him to know what he is to do with this information. And since God gave this vision to John to be written, and then read and known by his churches all throughout this present age, And since we now, through the purpose of God, through John's writings, have seen what he saw as well, we too must consider that same instruction. What was John to do with this revelation of God? What he was to do with it, we are to do with it as well. Last week, our last lesson, We saw here in chapter 22 and verse 9 that he was told to, in light of the revelation, to worship God, to worship the true God, the one worthy and one fitting of worship, to worship the one who is the beginning and the end. You know, if we will look at God's Word, and especially since we have the whole of it, if we will look at it, and learn of it, we won't have a problem worshipping the God who is God. We will see exactly who He is. We will see exactly how He demands to be worshipped. And we also will see that He is worthy to be worshipped. If we will heed the Word of God, we have this book in our hand. If we will heed this book, we won't have an issue with what God to worship. Not because He didn't reveal it to us. He has revealed Himself to us. So, we've seen that we are to worship God. Also in verse 10, he tells John, and so he tells us that we are to see and to say the revelation. To see it, to learn it, to believe it, and say it, to declare it. Don't seal it up, don't seal it, don't keep it secret like he told Daniel, but declare it, broadcast it to the world. And then in verses 11 through 15, what are we to do with this revelation, with this information? We are to consider the consequences, both positively and negatively, of this revealed truth. And the reality is, all of us really will give an account before this God, the God of this book and the God of this revelation, this Judge, the Judge of chapter 1, of what we have done with this revelation and what we are doing with this revelation. There is great responsibility given to those who have this information. And you understand, church, it's written directly to us. This letter was written to the Lord's churches. If you don't believe that, go back to the first chapter and you will see. 1, 2, 3. It's written directly to us of church. Much has been given to us and much is required. Much is required. There's actually, though, one more piece of instruction that we need to see as we finish this final chapter. So let's begin in verse 16. We'll pick it up where we left off last time. Verse 16 of chapter 22, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. He which testifieth these things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. So first, as we consider this text that is before us this afternoon, I want us to consider first the preface of verse 16. Look at verse 16 again. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star." So I want us to think about this preface, and that's what it is. It's a preface, but first I want us to see the pole star or the focus of the preface. The Lord Jesus actually here mentions something that we have not seen in many chapters. Look, it is the churches. Look at it. I have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." In his churches. This letter, the book of Revelation, begins in chapter 1, 2, and 3. Church, church, church, church. But then in chapter 4, we see the rapture of the church through the representation of the 24 elders in heaven before the throne of God. And from that point on, it's no mistake, it's on purpose, from that point on, we don't hear about the church again. We don't hear about the church again because God's focus on earth during that time, after this present age, after this church age, God's focus on the earth then will turn again to Israel, as we have seen, as we've studied this book. And as well, the judgment, the final judgment of unbelievers on the earth. But now here, understand what's going on here. When the Lord brings John back to his present age, and our present He says to John, I've given this revelation for and to my churches. This we, church, are the focus here. We are the present poll star of this preface. And as well, we are reminded here, we should be reminded, second, of our present corporate position. Look at the beginning words of verse 17. And the Spirit and the bride. The Spirit and the church. and the church. We all remember the account of the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, right? When the Lord baptized His church corporately with tongues of fire and gift of languages. He baptized His church corporately with the Holy Spirit just as He had promised. And that account was the fulfillment of His promise to her that He made to her in the Upper Room Discourse. He promised the church there in that upper room discord that he would send his spare. You remember the wording. He would not leave them orphaned, but he would send the comforter. You remember what else he told us there about the corporate indwelling of the Spirit within his church? And we run right over it sometimes, but we shouldn't. We should pay attention. Listen to it. John 16, verse 13. He's speaking to his first church, and he says, How be it when He, the Spirit of truth, the one He is promising, that they will come. How be it when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak. And He will declare to you things to come." That's what He said. That's what the promise of the Lord made to His church. Our church, our king, our head. Here's the reality. He has entrusted us with His truth. He has given us His Spirit in a very special, very unique way to lead and guide us in His truth. And I'm talking not just to individuals. Yes, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as well, but His church corporately. He has indwelled His church corporately. As a matter of fact, Acts 2 is all about the Lord's church, not about specific people. It's all about the Lord's church. As a matter of fact, if you remember in chapter 4, the first thing we see when the church in the representation of the elders are in heaven, they're there with, guess who? The Spirit. They're there with Him. He doesn't leave them corporately. He stays with them. He will always be with us corporately, church. It's really an amazing thing. It's an amazing blessing the Lord has given to us. He has given us His Spirit. to guide us in His truth, to guide us in all truth, including this truth, even these things that are to come. And here's the thing, we're not special. We're not special and we're not somehow increased with intelligence. No, the reality is we don't have anything of ourselves. Church, all that we have, we've received and we've received it all by the grace and the mercy of God. It's all a gift of God. If you think that we're in this church because we're something special, it's wrong. The Spirit of God has added us to this church. For by one Spirit we have been baptized into one body is what the Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth. The Spirit of God leads us. The Spirit of God directs us. We're not special. It's all a gift of God. But what a blessing. What a gift He pours out upon us as His church. What a blessing it is to be a part of the Lord's church and to own corporately the continual presence and power and help and leadership of the Holy Spirit Himself into all truth. into all truth. How is it that we can understand this book? The Holy Spirit leads us. The Holy Spirit guides us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. God, through the Spirit, teaches us His Word. None of these things that we have learned, none of the things that we are learning anywhere in this book can be judged rightly in the physical realm. It's all spiritual. The Holy Spirit has to lead us into its truth. And God, the reality is church, God has given us His whole Word now, in this age. Unlike any other age, We have the complete Word of God, and we have the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and teach us and empower us with this book, with this revelation, with this Word of God. As a matter of fact, in verses 18 and 19, do you know what He's saying to us there? Do you understand what really He's warning us about? This is what He's warning us about. This is what verses 18 and 19 is saying, if you have a hard time understanding there. It's this. It's really this. This, what we have before us, is the Word of God. The Word of our God. The Word of the one true God. And we've talked about it a lot. It has come right over His lips to us. He has breathed it to us. We have His whole Word. We have the complete, in this age, right now, church, as His church, we have the complete, inerrant, inspired, written revelation of God to man, of God to us, church. And what he's saying there in verse 18 and 19 is that we better realize that. And we better acknowledge that. And we better be absolutely blood earnest, life and death, heaven and hell serious about this book. That's what he's saying. We're not going to add anything to it. This is the Word of God. We have it all. There's nothing else to add to it. We're not going to take anything away from it because this is the Word of God. This book is powerful. In a fantasy land, as powerful as I might want to be, a powerful preacher, this book is more powerful. I can only get to your ears. Barely that sometimes. God in His Word is able to go down to those motives that we talked about this morning. He's able to discover them and He's able to let you know that even though you may be deceived, even though you may be blind to reality, God in His Word is able to expose your motives even to you. He's able to, it's like dynamite. It's what His gospel is. It's His dynamite. He can blow your world apart so He can put it back together again. and fashion you and form you. And that's what verse 18 and 19 is warning us about. It's God's Word. We've got to be serious about it. So church, we are the present post of this preface. He reminds us and we are reminded of the present corporate position and presence of the Holy Spirit. And then number three, notice the present person of this preface. Look at verse 16 again. I, Jesus, and he's speaking here to his churches, I, Jesus, I am, he says, the root of David. Who's that? This one, listen, Isaiah 11 and verse 10. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, that's David's father, which shall stand for an ensign or a banner of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious. the root of David? Is this the root of Jesse? Now, what does that mean? What kind of picture is the Lord trying to draw us with this word root? Well, we know about roots, don't you? If you pull a weed and you don't get the roots, guess what happens? The weed grows back. Why? Because the life is not just in the weed, The foundation, the source of light, is in the root. That's what God is describing for us here. Jesus is saying, I'm the root of David. I'm the foundation. I'm the source. I'm the author of life. What is Jesus saying? I am God. I am God. But watch this. He's not only the root of David and of Jesse, but also, what else does He say? Verse 16. I am the root and the offspring of David. What a mystery. You realize what He's saying? I'm God. I'm man. But not just any man. What is he really saying with this reference to David here? He's saying this, I'm the great king. I'm the promised Messiah king. I'm the lion from the tribe of Judah. In chapter 12, I'm the prevailing one, the overcoming one of chapter 5. I'm the promised king of Judah whose reign and glory is almighty and everlasting. If you go back and read the covenant that God made with David, This one, the Lord Jesus, is the fulfillment of that Davidic covenant. And that's what he's telling us here at the end of this book. And then also, he's not only God, but also he's the great king. He's the offspring, the descendant of David, the promised one though. And then he says, I'm the bright and morning star. I'm like the first light of morning that the shepherds on the last watch of the night long for. In other words, the Lord Jesus is saying here, I'm the great, everlasting, promised King of Kings that is being waited for, that is being longed for, and that is surely coming just like the light of dawn. Just like the light of dawn. What a preface. But do we hear it? Do we truly see who it is, church, that is speaking here? He is the anticipated, the expected, the coming King of all kings. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is our Founder. He is our King. He is our Head. He is our Existence, church. That is how He prefaces, how He reminds us in this preface of who He is and He prefaces This, what he's about to say, with that declaration, with that unveiling of himself. And now, this is that last bit of instruction. This is what we must do with this revelation, church. And there's several things here, and there's several layers of truth here. But I want us to, this is what that preface of verse 16 enforces. And I want us to see first, in verse 17, a present proclamation. A present proclamation. Verse 17, look at it. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Church, the Spirit, God has, He corporately indwells us with His Holy Spirit. And the Spirit, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. Not so we can know and boast in ourselves. Not so we can be proud of ourselves. because we know so much more than anyone else. No, it is so that we can know the truth and that we can declare the truth. And we can declare all truth. Because the reality is in this day, but it's not just in this day, it's been through this whole age from really the very beginning. There's a famine in this land though, just like there was in the days of Amos. for the Word of God. There's a famine in this land for the hearing of the Word of God. But church, we have the Word of God. We have the Word of God and we have the Spirit of God to lead us and guide us into all of its truth so that we can study and we can know and we can learn and then we can go and proclaim God's Word. And do you know what the overriding message of God's Word really is? It can be summed up in one word. Come. God's Word doesn't say, go to hell. No. There's no need for that. The world is already headed there. But it says, come. God's Word. God Himself declares, even to the world, come. He declares to the blind and the outcast of this world, come. To the sinful and forsaken, He declares, come. That's the God who is our God. He declares to the dead and the dying, come. But not to religion, and not just to the church, and not to being a better you, or not to doing anything, but to come to Him. Come to your God. Come to your Creator. Come to Jesus Christ, your Savior. Turn from yourself. Turn from your sin. Turn from your rebellion and unbelief and just turn and come to Him, just as you are to Christ alone. In a nutshell, that's God's Word. With all the truth the Holy Spirit leads us in, We proclaim with the true gospel of Christ as the focal point, because the true gospel of Christ is the only gospel that can save sinners like us, whether it's in theory or practice. We've been looking at some of that on Wednesday night. Another gospel that is being promoted as the gospel is no gospel at all. That is depending on you to finish Christ's work. That's no gospel. You can't finish the work of Christ. You don't need to be finished, but you can't. Surely, we talked about this morning. I saw all those hands. We're murderers. How are you going to finish the work of righteousness? know God's Word, the true Gospel. When we have the true Gospel, church, and we have it because it's in this book and the Holy Spirit leads us and guides us in this book and in this truth, we point and we say, come to the Lord Jesus. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior. This is the present proclamation that must be our proclamation, that this is what we must do with the knowledge of this revelation that we've been studying and the power of the Holy Spirit, we proclaim, come. Come to your God. Come to your Savior. Come to your salvation. Let us see here, we proclaim it, and thirdly, it must be heard as a personal imperative appeal. The language here is not come if you want to. The language here is not merely an invitation. It's not an invitation at all. The language here is an imperative, meaning it is a command to come. It is a command to come. By your God, by your Creator, it is a command to come. And notice in verse 17 again, this command is directed to three classes of people. First, those that hear, second, those that thirst, and third, whosoever will or whosoever desires. But sit back a moment and look at this passage in light of the context, in light of the surrounding context. The Lord Christ has just given us this great revelation of His present reality, this great revelation. The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. So He's given us the present reality of Himself. He has shown us as His church in this age, He has shown us... about the things that we are seeing and about the things that we will yet see all the way to the closing minutes of this age. And we're living in those minutes right now. He has told us of the coming and impending doom upon this earth and upon the unbelieving inhabitants of this earth. He has told us about the judgment, the judgment of sin and sinners. He has shown us so clearly the reality Even for today, like we've said all along, yes, Revelation is about the future, but it's not for the future, it's for us today. It has to have an impact on us now. And the reality that we have seen, we've seen the clear reality of sin. We've seen the clear reality of Satan. We've seen the clear reality of self. And we've seen the clear reality of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And then He shows us what's going to follow this present age. seven years of tribulation. After that, the glorious coming of Christ to the earth. After that, the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ upon the earth. After that, the eternal bliss of the saints of God living with and in the glory of God Himself. And then after He tells us all of this, in verse 6 of this chapter, the last chapter, in verse 6, He says, this all will shortly come in the past. Not if, not maybe, but I am faithful and I'm telling you the truth. It is all coming. In verse 7, look. Behold, look, I'm coming quickly. In verse 12, behold, I'm coming quickly. And I'm going to discover and to judge. Verse 13, I am God. I am your God. Verse 14, there will be glory for the blessed saints of God. But verse 14, there will be judgment and hell for sin and sinners. And now here, He says, church, my churches, I'm your coming God and King. As sure as the sun will come up in the morning, I'm coming. I haven't kept it secret, I haven't sealed it, but now I've revealed it to you. You've read the letter, you've heard the truth. You know I am coming and all of this that we have seen with me. And He tells us here, now you, led by My Spirit, with My Spirit, in cooperation and cooperation with My Spirit, proclaim to be heard by the masses, tell them, command them to come. Command them to come. So do you thirst? Do you have this craving in your soul that nothing in you or nothing of this world, it just all seems to come up empty? Come. Come. Do you desire true satisfaction, true fulfillment, true righteousness no matter your background, race, creed, bloodline? Come. But I want us to be sure that we see this clearly because many still They will say, oh, I want to come so I can go to heaven. I want to come so I can live in heaven and see my loved ones and see the pearly gates and walk on the streets of gold. And I want my mansion on the hilltop. But that is not what is being said here. It's not. He's really saying in this text, in light of what I have shown you, if you can hear what I have declared to you, come. Come. And what has He declared to us? He told us very plainly in chapter 19 verse 10 that the testimony, the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So this has all been about the testimony and the witness of Jesus. This is, after all, not the revelation of heaven. It's not. It's not the revelation of the streets of gold. It's not the revelations of a good time. It's the revelation of a person. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. So, as we have proceeded through the entirety of this book now, have you heard what He has told you about Himself? Have you heard what this book tells you about the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you heard it for yourselves? He has told you that He is the Alpha and Omega, that He is the beginning and the end, that He is your God. He has told you that He is faithful and true and He is the sovereign judge, the omniscient sovereign judge, the sovereign just judge. He has told you that He is the just warrior King, the King of kings, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has told us that He is the Lord of lords, and He is the glory of God. He is the overwhelming, prevailing One. He has told us that He is the light. He is the Lamb of God. Remember that take away the sin of the world. He's the temple. He is the illumination. He is the tree of life. He is the water of life. He's the sum and substance of everything that we've seen. Can you hear the truth? If you can, then surely you know you must obey Him. He's coming and you must obey Him. But He says to you, come. Come. If you can hear what He has spoken through this Word, you know that He is all-glorious. But also you know that He is so good, and it causes in your soul an unquenchable thirst that only He can quench. Do you have a thirst? Scripture, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Whosoever will, He says. Whosoever desires. But desires what? The water of life, it says in the text, doesn't it? Whosoever desires the water of life that quenches the thirst of your soul, who's the water of life? There's only one, the Lord Jesus. You see, Christ, the Lord, the God, the Judge, the glory of glory. He is saying here, can you hear me? Then come to me. Do you thirst for what only I can give, life? Then come to me. It doesn't matter who you are, where you are, what you are, if you have a desire for the Lord Jesus Christ, come to Him and turn from yourself and come to Him. He has life and is free for the taking for those that desire it by His grace. You see, the Lord's Church has only one person and one place to proclaim. And we do so because we are led by His Spirit and that one person and that one place is the focus of this book of Revelation and the focus of this book. God's Word. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you come to Him? Not anything else. Not anyone else. Have you come to Christ? Will you come to Him? It's a personal, imperative, Appeal. Have you? Can you hear? Can you hear the revelation? If so, come to Him. Keep coming to Him. What do we do with what we have learned, with this information, with this revelation of truth? We come to Christ. We come to Him. He's the God and Lord of all. When everything else has passed away, He will not. When everything else has been changed, He will be the same. We come to Christ and we proclaim to the masses, to all that will hear, everyone, everywhere, to come to Christ, to return to your God. That's what we do with this information. This preface, you see, must move us. We hear the words of our Savior, I, Jesus. the root and the offspring of David. I am the bright and morning star. This preface must move us and we must declare this present proclamation. And we do so to be heard as a present personal imperative appeal. And one more thing. It's very interesting. It's very wonderful. And to be quite honest with you, the more I've studied this chapter, the more I've studied these latter verses, I think it's the intent of the whole thing. Look at verse 20. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. That's the Lord Jesus talking. Surely I come quickly. Amen, so be it, true, yes. And then John says, even so, what's that next word, even so come, Lord Jesus. We declare this proclamation to be heard as a personal imperative appeal and we do so with a present prevailing hope. Just like the Apostle Paul told Titus in Titus 2.13, we do so looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Here's what's happening here. John saw all that he saw. We now have seen what he saw. Some of it unimaginable horror. But in the end, in the final end of all the things that John saw and that we have seen, he and we have seen what God has prepared for His people in Christ. He and we have seen the full presence and the fully satisfying everlasting glory of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the fountain of living water. And He says, Behold, I come quickly. over and over in this chapter. Behold, I coming quickly. And John sees what he sees. And John hears this declaration. And when he sees the glory of Christ and hears this promise of His coming, he just forgets all the rest and he says, Oh Lord, come. Come that we may have You. We see You in Your glory. Come! Come. You eclipse everything of this world. Come. Come. We see you as you are. Come so that we can have all of you. Come so that we can be where you are forever. Oh, may what John saw and what we have seen have the same effect upon us. May it narrow our focus and narrow our desire to a single, pure, expectation, surpassing desire for the glory of Christ. May he give us through this revelation, a longing desire for the root of David, for the bride and morning star, Jesus Christ himself. You see, let us all come to Jesus. Because He's the one true God. Everything else that we might serve apart from Him is nothing and it will all be done away with. Cast even into the lake of fire that burns forever and ever. But He won't. Let us all come to Jesus. John's saying, yes, let us all come to Jesus and Lord, Lord, You come for us. come for us. May what we have learned come to know through this letter give us a longing for His coming, a longing for the culmination of His glory. The fact of the matter is, if we've truly experienced the intended purpose of this letter, we've truly experienced the intended purpose for the book of Revelation, What is the intended purpose? It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. The intended purpose is to see the glory of Christ. If we have seen His glory as He is revealed and unveiled before us in these 22 chapters of this book, surely we ought to have a mind then like the Apostle John. Oh Christ, come. Come for us. Come and set everything right. Don't you want to be set right? Oh, listen, I want to be set right. I see so much weakness, unfaithfulness, and sinfulness in me. I want to be set right. Don't you want to be set right? Don't you want your loved ones to be set right? Don't you want this earth to be set right? Don't you want to behold true righteousness? That's the reason we pray. You know, we've been instructed to pray. We're going to get to that in our Matthew study. What are we instructed to pray? Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. You understand what that says? Even so come, Lord Jesus. Come. Come. If we've experienced the intent, the true God-wrought intent of this book of Revelation, our desire for Christ should be intensified. Our desire to see Him as He is and to be like Him. And at the same time, it would inspire us to proclaim I've heard it said, and I've thought thoughts like this too. Well, I want my children and my grandchildren to be saved, and then the Lord come. You understand that's the wrong way to think? It is. Well, we want the Lord to come, and we want our grandchildren and children to be saved too, so we preach the gospel to them. They see Him in our life. They see Him in our going to and our coming from. They see Him. They see Him. They see Him. They cannot, they can't help but to see Him because we know this King is coming and we want Him to come today. So we express His gospel in every way that we can so that they might see Him and they might hear God's declaration to sinners like they are. I pray the Lord, if he hasn't done it already, even yet, that the spirit of God would remind you which we've learned, what we've seen throughout the study of these 22 chapters of this final letter of God's word, and that we would desire to see, to behold the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the intent of the whole thing, to see his surpassing glory, and everything around us be eclipsed by it, and give us a pure desire, a pure heart for Him. Come. Come, the Lord says, and we say, Lord, come forth, come forth. Indeed, may He come forth.