In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the inseparable connection between the natural and spiritual realms. The central theme is the power and purpose of Jesus Christ, with the key message being that everyone will see his return. The sermon highlights the hope and anticipation of Christ's second coming as the ultimate answer for the world. It also emphasizes the concept of overcoming, prevailing, conquering, and victory, which are all interconnected and prevalent throughout the book of Revelation. The sermon concludes by discussing the doctrine of judgment and the ultimate restoration of all things in a new heaven and earth.

We come now to the seventh major time that God speaks, the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him. And as we've looked at the Christocentric themes in the Word of God, we've seen the foundation of Christ being laid in the law, the Pentateuch, we looked at election in Genesis, the redemption that was in Exodus, the sanctification in Leviticus, the direction given in Numbers, and the instruction given in Deuteronomy. And then we looked at the history from Joshua to Esther, as preparations were made for the Messiah to come. And as Joshua took him into the land, and judges, they failed to possess it because of sin. Yet Saul stabilized it, and David expanded it, Solomon glorified it. But then there was division into a northern and southern kingdom because of pride and rebellion and not obeying God fully. And then deterioration, and God sent the prophets until a deportation into Babylon. But still God is with his people, he protects them as he did Esther, and made a restoration and reconstructed the nation. And we looked at the poetry, that aspiration for Christ. And then prophecy, the hope, the expectation of Christ from Isaiah to Malachi. And then the Messiah comes, the Word becomes flesh, and we see Christ manifested on earth in the four Gospels. And then in the Acts, the New Testament history, we see the proclamation of Christ going out from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost places on the earth through the New Testament church. And so Christ is propagated. And then in the epistles from Roman to Jude, we saw life in Christ, the explanation of Christ, what we have in Christ, and how to apply Christ in every situation in life. But now we come to the seventh and last major time God speaks, the consummation of all things in Christ Jesus, the prophecy of the New Testament, the book of the Revelation. Revelation is a wonderful way to finish the story that began in Genesis. All that was begun in the book of beginnings, Genesis is consummated in Revelation. In Genesis, we saw the heaven and the earth being created. In Revelation, a new heaven and earth is created. In Genesis, the sun and the moon appear. In Revelation, there's no need of the sun or the moon, for Christ is the light of the new heaven. In Genesis, there's a garden, but in Revelation, there's a holy city. In Genesis, there's the marriage of the first Adam. In Revelation, there's the marriage supper of the Lamb, the second Adam, Jesus Christ. In Genesis, we'll see the beginning of sin, but in Revelation, sin is done away. So we can go on in this drama. If we approach it as a drama, we see the appearance of the great adversary, Satan, and all the sorrow and the pain and the tears in Genesis, and the curse. But the doom and destruction of the adversary is in Revelation. Things, even today in our world, are very dark. No one seems to know for certain what is going to happen in human events. There's perplexity everywhere we turn. But things were black when John the Apostle, as an old man exiled on the Isle of Potmos, was writing. He'd been there for the testimony of Jesus Christ. And while he was on this island, John being forced to labor in mines and quarries, no doubt, but at that time, John's commander-in-chief appeared to him, and he delivered this ringing message of ultimate glory we find here in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. God had determined from the beginning that His Son would be the ruler of the universe. And Revelation is the greatest drama of all time. The plot is tense. The final scene is glorious. Christ comes to receive His own unto Himself. The hero is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The villain's the devil. The actors of the seven churches, the characters unleashed by the seals of chapter 6 and 7, are introduced by the four horsemen. And then those summoned by the trumpets in turn leave the center of the scene of action, and we see the Antichrist, the world ruler, the incarnation of the devil himself, determined to set up His own kingdom and to be worshiped by men. But Christ brings it all to nothing. He's broken. The Antichrist is broken without hand, and there's no one to help him. And so the Lord of hosts comes forth. He's been waited upon. He's been hoped for. He's the desire of all nations. And the King of kings and Lord of lords comes and drives His enemies right off the stage in complete defeat. And after the struggle is over and ended, and the enemy is bound for a thousand years and then loosed and then completely wiped out, then we read in Revelation 21, Behold, I make all things new. And this brings the book to its climax where the great story that began in Genesis, like all good stories should end, and they lived happily ever after. Now, you might ask yourself the question, take from the Bible the final vision of the revelation and the new Jerusalem, and what will have been lost? Well, the very climax and consummation of all God has planned in His drama of redemption. The epistles give us a virtual victory. We have the victory, but it is virtual in many ways. But the revelation brings the visible victory. When you read the prelude to the apocalypse, which would be the last words of 2 Timothy, Paul's last words, the last words of 2 Peter, Peter's last words, the last words of St. John and Jude. And as you read these last words, you sense a consummation in the epistles. And you note how the epistles increase the warnings to contend for the faith that was once delivered. And so as we go through the revelation, we want to ask ourselves, first of all, what is the need? Why is God speaking at this time, and what is He saying? He's told us that when Jesus was here, He would send the Spirit, He would show us all things, He would lead us into all truth, and He would show us things to come. And so He did. In the epistles, He led us into all truth concerning Christ and explaining Christ. But in the revelation, He's shown us the things to come, the unveiling, the revealing of Jesus Christ. And the need has to do with all the evil that's in the world today, the evil that seems to go unchecked at times. And the tremendous opposition to truth, to goodness, to love, the opposition to the church of Jesus Christ. And Christians needed assurance that Jesus Christ and His people will eventually win the spiritual war. And this book of the revelation proclaims that victory. Something develops. It starts as a cry, and it develops in spite of all the seals, in spite of all the trumpets, in spite of all the judgments throughout the book. It develops as a cry until you get to the end in chapter 22 and verse 20, and it says, Even so, come. Even so, come. And this cry develops throughout the book because we do have that hope and that assurance, and we know that we do win. So, blessed is everyone who reads and those who hear, and particularly, as always, those who keep the things that are written in this book. Well, the content is centered around the Lamb, the person Jesus Christ. He's glorified and He's powerful. And the people of Christ and His church are seen in chapters 2 and 3. And then the program of Christians from heaven's viewpoint is given, you might say, in chapters 4 and 5 because the church is in heaven there with Christ in chapters 4 and 5. And then chapters 6 through 18, we see the great tribulation that takes place in the world. And then in 19, we see the return of Jesus Christ to reign because the prince of this world is judged. He returns in chapter 20. We see the millennial reign, the victory, the failure of every earthly society to realize God's ideals and how every nation has fallen short of the glory of God and what He intended, as well as every individual person. And so, the eternal state is finally revealed in chapters 21 and 22. There's a restoration of all things, a perfect humanity, and God is all and in all. And so, the content of the book has to do with the consummation. The cause of the consummation was because Jesus Christ offered Himself first. That's why He achieved the restoration of all things. It's the atoning death of Jesus the Lamb. To Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. So, Jesus Christ the Lamb and His offering of Himself is the very cause of the consummation of all things so that He is the firstborn among many brethren. And He is preeminent in every way. He has caused the consummation of all things and all creation, the new creation to be in existence. It's because of what Jesus Christ Himself did on the cross. No wonder Paul continued to go back to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Because He's the very cause of the consummation of all things. To Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. The nature of history is seen throughout the book because that which is seen and that which is unseen, the earthly things and the heavenly things are fused into one drama. There's a participation of the heavenlies in the earthly battlefield of the kingdoms of light and darkness. And so the giant forms of empires are all on their way to ruin. One by one they tower, they're gone. It's like in Daniel's visions in his book. He had five visions and in chapter two we see this vision from Nebuchadnezzar the gold head, the Babylonian empire to the Medo-Persian empire, to the Grecian, to the Roman, to the iron and clay, to the very time of the end of the Antichrist. But at the end of that vision there is a stone that's cut out without hands and it comes and it strikes this image of Gentile reign and dominion on its feet and crushes it, crumbles it and it's taken away in the dust as the wind blows it away. And then the stone becomes a tremendous mountain and covers the earth. And it's speaking of the consummation, the coming of Jesus Christ to this earth the second time, much of what really the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ is about. And every vision Daniel has, when you go to chapter seven, it's still pretty much the same vision. It's portrayed through vicious and ferocious beasts that are from no doubt God's viewpoint of man's rule. But at the end you have the same conclusion. This glorious one, Jesus Christ, who is glorified, comes and he wins the day. In chapter eight of Daniel, when he has his third vision, it's the same thing. You have details added about the Gentile dominion, but at the end Jesus Christ comes and sets up his kingdom. In chapter nine, wonderful details about the Messiah and when he's coming and just some really neat things in chapter nine that are added, but still it ends the same way. He comes and he rules. And then in his last vision in chapters 10, 11, and 12 of Daniel, it's the same thing. We have additional information, the Antichrist comes and sets up, but then he's broken without hand and there's no one to help him. So the history that's going on we see in the book of the Revelation is this battle between earth and heaven and between things that are seen and unseen, these principalities and spiritual things going on, and earth and heaven are fused into one drama. We see in chapter 12 that Satan is cast out when Michael stands up and he's cast to the earth for a short time. And so the nature of history that's portrayed in Revelation is a fusing of earth and heaven, seen and unseen things together. You can't separate what's going on in the natural realm with what's going on in the spiritual realm. But ultimately it's a doctrine of the power and the perusia of our Lord Jesus Christ because the keynote is, behold, look up and see, he comes with clouds and every eye shall see him. All hopes wait on one hope and that is the return of Jesus Christ. He's the only answer for this world and his coming will be a tremendous victory in every way. The promise is made to him that overcometh even as I overcame. If you went through your Bibles and you would go through the Revelation and read and take these four words and every time you see these four words, underline them. The word overcome, underline it. The word prevail, the word conquer, and the word victory because all are the same Greek word, Nikonian or Nikon. And if you were to go through and read it, you would see how prevalent the victory is when you read overcome, prevail, conquer, and victory, all is the same word, Nikonian. Tremendous picture of the victory that is in Jesus Christ and how we're going to conquer as he conquered. But we can't forget that it's also a doctrine of judgment because all kingdoms of the earth are going to wail because of him. The prince of this world is judged and it affects the nations of men. Judgment will fall because things don't just quietly melt into the peace of the kingdom. It's not like butter melting on a hot potato just smoothing out. But it's going to be a time of the wrath of God, a time for the lake of fire. And so it will be a story of judgment as well, but ultimately the restoration of all things, the point where the whole teaching of Scripture will culminate and we see a new heaven and we see a new earth. And so redemption reaches its end and the Redeemer finds his joy because he has prepared for them a city. That is those who like Hebrews 11.10 tells us we're looking for a city and I hope that you are looking for that city of God, the holy city, the new Jerusalem and the desires of men and the plan of God ends in the holy city, the new Jerusalem. And so it's a tremendous book. We see the need for it, the content, what it's generally about and the method that God chose was that it was directed, the book, by Jesus Christ through angelic messengers to the apostle John. So the natural man will not receive the things that are here because they're spiritually discerned and they're also very symbolic. However, the message is not symbolic. The message is literal and it's to be received as an encouragement and the response that God wants from it is simply this, persevere in total commitment to Jesus Christ until he comes. Endure. As you see Jesus Christ, may you have hope. John saw him clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it's been caused to glow in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of many waters. And in his right hand he held seven stars and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword and his face was like the sun shining in his strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man and he laid his right hand upon me saying, Do not be afraid, I am the first and the last and the living one. I was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. And so we have tremendous hope as we look at the Lord Jesus Christ and know that he is the victor. But how could your view of him ever cause your hope to be deferred in any way? Because he is the victor. And the Bible says, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. When you read the book of the Revelation, Jesus Christ himself becomes your help. He is he whose hope the Lord is. And we need to recall him to mind for as we do, we're going to have hope. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. And that's the response that the Lord expects as we read the book of the Revelation. Now, there were those whose hope was against hope and yet they believed in hope. Tremendous faith they've had. But if you read the book of the Revelation, you don't have to hope against hope. You see the glorious Son of Man who has in his hands the keys of death and Hades and he's the living one. He's abolished death and brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. And the sharp two-edged sword coming out of his mouth, you know he's going to slay all of his enemies. It's not even going to be a problem. Who's going to make war with him? It's going to be tremendous. And so we wait in patience and those experiences that we go through patiently build hope within us. And so we're rejoicing in hope today because we know that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, we have hope because the Scriptures reveal to us the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray that the God of hope would just fill you with all joy and peace as you continue to believe that you can abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit as he does his job which is to explain Christ and to reveal Christ and to show Christ and to realize the hope of his calling and how we're all called in this one hope that Christ would be magnified, that Christ in you right now is the hope of glory. Keep this helmet on. Keep this helmet of salvation, this helmet of deliverance and final restoration of all things. Keep it on. The hope of salvation is your helmet. And if anyone asks you a reason for why you have such hope, you'll be able to tell him. And your witness will be pure because that hope you have in Christ returning will purify you even as he is pure. So blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. And as we see Jesus Christ in the Revelation, our hope is great. In Revelation 12 we read that there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon and the dragon and his angels waged war and they were not strong enough. And there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down. The serpent of old, who's called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was thrown down to the earth. And his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to the death. God expects as we read the book of the Revelation that we be encouraged in terms of perseverance. Jesus said in Matthew 24, He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And the Lord said to Simon Peter, He said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you. They may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. And so also Christ is interceding for you today that your faith fails not, that you continue to abide in him. Jesus said, All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. And this is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. This is the will of him that sent me that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. I'll give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man shall be able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. And so we continue to persevere. The Lord is on our side. We read about in the book of Acts in chapter 11 verse 23 who when he came and had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, that they would just keep in touch with the Lord. And you remember in Acts 14 that when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and Niconium and Antioch confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. But that's not a problem because even in the midst of tremendous tribulations and trials and testings who's going to separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? No. Or anything else, distress or persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, all these things prove that we're more than conquerors through Him that loved us. And so Paul's able to say I'm persuaded during this time of perseverance through these things I'm persuaded that neither death or life or angels or principalities or powers or things present or things to come or height or depth or any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. I hope that we might have that same persuasion that we might persevere and reading the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ and seeing His victory certainly builds that persuasion in you. In Ephesians 6 verse 13 Paul says, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand that you can withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And that cry that develops throughout the book of the revelation even so come Lord Jesus certainly is part of our prayers and we're praying always and in the spirit and we're watching unto with all perseverance and supplication for the saints knowing that the Lord is on our side and just continue in prayer and don't give up in prayer so much so that you can say as Paul encouraged Timothy in 2 Timothy 1.12 I know whom I have believed I am persuaded and He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. So Paul tells Timothy my son be strong in the grace that's in Christ Jesus endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ if we suffer we shall also reign with Him if we deny Him He also will deny us. But Paul could end in 2 Timothy 4.18 with the confidence that the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom and He will you too. Now in Hebrews 10.23 we read let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for He is faithful that promised cast not away therefore your confidence which has great recompense a reward for you of need of patience that after you've done the will of God you might receive the promise. So God intends on us being patient and persevering and James tells us to take my brethren the prophets as an example who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience behold we count them happy which endure you've heard of the patience of Job and you've seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very merciful pitiful and of tender mercy the Lord will certainly reward you for your endurance for your patience for your suffering afflictions and you may prove to be quite an example for others know that as Peter said there's an inheritance it's incorruptible there's an inheritance that's undefiled one that fadeth not away it's reserved in heaven for you you who are being kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time wherein you greatly rejoice though now for a season if need be you might be in heaviness through many temptations the trial of your faith is much more precious than of gold that perishes though it be tried with fire might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ which may be very soon and so we see as in the revelation when it closes out in chapter 22 and verse 11 he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still let's persevere and continue in our walk faithfully because we know who we believe and we know he is victorious there's no doubt whatsoever in chapter 19 of the revelation of Jesus Christ John says and I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat upon it is called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and wages war his eyes are a flame of fire and upon his head are many diadems he has a name written upon him which no one knows except himself he's clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God the angels the armies which are in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean were following him on white horses and from his mouth comes a sharp sword so that with it he may smite the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the almighty and on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written king of kings and lord of lords and I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven come assemble for the great supper of God in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men both free men and slaves and small and the great and I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat upon the horse and against his army no doubt this is where Psalm 2 would come in where it says God laughs at them and the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone the rest of the dead were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat upon the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh now if you feel a little bit tired and maybe your hope is low and your strength your perseverance is weak and you don't know if you can endure picture the Lord Jesus Christ there and the tremendous and glorious victory that is found in him the evil of this world the opposition to you and to the church is going to be over we will win and see the victory and so wherefore as Hebrews 12 verse 1 says sin that we're compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let's lay aside every weight lay aside any sin that would easily set you back and let's run with patience the race that's set before us looking unto Jesus seeing him the author and the finisher of our faith he's the alpha he's the omega the beginning and the end who when we see him for the joy that was set before him endured the cross he endured the cross for me and for you despising the shame he has set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him the one that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest you be wearied and faint in your minds ye have not resisted unto blood striving against sin and so let's not forget the exhortations that come to children my son despise not the chastening of the Lord nor faint when you're rebuked of him for whom the Lord loves he chastens and he scourges every son he receives so if you endure chastening God's just dealing with you as sons for what son is he in whom a father would not chasten but if you're without chastisement well all sons are partakers of that and if you're without it then you're really bastards and not sons we know it from our fathers that we've had in the flesh they corrected us we respected them for it they weren't always perfect in it but the father of spirits is perfect and if we'll submit to him and place ourselves patiently, enduring subjecting ourselves under his mighty hand we'll live they might, our fathers on earth have chastened us as they saw best he always chastens us for our profit so that we can be partakers of his holiness now no chastening for the present time seems to be joyous it does seem grievous nevertheless afterward if you'll endure in it, if you'll persevere in it then it'll yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised by it so lift up hands that are hanging down strengthen the feeble knees make a straight path for your feet and get right about it be restored, be healed he says, look diligently lest any man fell at the grace of God you have the tremendous spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells and lives in you how can you fall short and fail of such available grace to endure he that overcometh will be so much a joy and a pleasure to Jesus Christ, the God who says, without faith to hope, without faith to believe without faith to trust, without faith to persevere, without faith to endure, then without faith you just can't please God but if we continue on believing then we will please Him and this is largely what God is expecting as we read the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ and see that we have the victory let faith grow just get your eyes on the eternal city of God and know that we see through a glass darkly but then we're going to see face to face we're going to enter into a fellowship with Him that we can hardly imagine the Bible says beloved now are we the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is Jesus promised us He said I will come again and I'll receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also we will see His face Revelation 22 and verse 4 tells us that we shall see His face and His name shall be on our foreheads there's going to be a tremendous fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ snail mail is great it's good to get a letter every now and then isn't it? Email was another form it's wonderful you can actually type back and forth now you can even talk you can talk on the phone they've got it where you can see yourself on video but then it's going to be face to face with the living God deep calling to deep spirit to spirit will know even as we're known tremendous fellowship is in front of you oh and what a life of perfect rest in the complete and full of sense he says in Revelation 14 I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me right blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from this day forward yes says the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them oh it's so neat to have done all your work completed it and then enter into rest and the fruit of that work of faith that work of trusting in God continues on the little faith that you put in God can you imagine what God can do with that little faith as you rest in him when we come to that final rest everything culminated in Jesus Christ what he's going to do with that faith that has been placed in him you'll enter into a rest like you've never known before and we know in part now but then we're going to know even as we are known it's going to be a knowledge that is beyond our capacity and our finite minds now to even comprehend and this is going to be such a special relationship he says in Revelation 21 and verse 27 that there shall in no wise enter into this city anything that defiles neither whatsoever works abomination or makes a lie but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life will enter it's a special privilege to be there and the circumstance and condition of it is going to be so wonderful without all these things that offend nothing dark nothing evil but a holy communion and fellowship there and a blessedness a joy God's going to wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death not in that city there won't be there won't be any sorrow in it there won't be any crying neither shall there be any pain for the former things are passed away what a life of joy will be in that city and yet we're going to have meaning we're going to have fulfillment there because we were created in the image of God and we were created to serve Him and so relation 22.3 says and there shall be no more curse there but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and His servants shall serve Him so we'll be able to let God flow through us so perfectly and be working in us and through us to serve Him and find that fulfillment and that meaning in a life of service like we've never known before and it'll be abundant because Jesus says I will give unto Him that is the thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely that means without limitation there'll be such abundance such freedom it will just transcend everything and it'll be glorious so keep that in mind for our light affliction it's just for a moment now but it works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with Him in glory in the full potential of our creation in His image we will be able to be and to do all that He ever intended and not fall short of His glory working in and through us the wonder we bless Him and worship Him and say that glory belongs to Him and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to God forever and ever and ever amen it's going to be beyond all imagination and so when you conclude the book of the revelation and you see the last things that are there you want to note that there is in some ways a last invitation it's the spirit and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who is thirsty come let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost whosoever will may come to the Lord now I hope that you received Him as many as received Him the person Jesus Christ if you receive Him by faith He will give you the power to become sons of God He does that it's very personal and so receive Him into your heart He is the one in whom all the prophecies of the Bible have pointed forward to in whom all the prophecies of the Bible is fulfilled apart from Him there is no hope but with Him He can chase all of your darkness away and He'll be your bright morning star so take His offer and remember the final warning that's in this book when He says I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book if anyone adds to them God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away His part from the tree of life and from the holy city which are written in this book whoa caution that's a warning and there's no other gospel than the gospel of Jesus Christ and the audacity of some people who want to challenge the scriptures and set themselves up above the scriptures they need to heed this final warning here don't add to the word of God don't take away from the word of God lead it be blessed by it pray for grace to believe it and to live it and then we see the final promise in the bible the one who's testifying these things that is Jesus Christ the things that God gave Him to show to His bond servants says this yes I am coming quickly that's His promise and He is coming and He's coming quickly no telling how soon it might be in light of eternity though it's just a second or two it's very quickly He's promised and He will come again you can count on it and the final prayer of the bible is Amen come Lord Jesus I hope that prayer is brooding in your heart and it's in your spirit to say let it be even so come Lord Jesus and the final benediction of the bible is the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all Amen you know we began the drama of redemption back with Abraham actually God chose a man that He would bring the seed through that seed being Christ then God told him over and over God says I'm going to do it Abraham He talked to Abraham as though they were friends for they were and what God expected from Abraham was simply that Abraham would trust God to do what God said He would do because God doing it is what we call grace grace is God doing it doing what He said He would do but that's the beginning of grace but there's another side to grace and that is this grace is God doing it through those who trust God God doing it through those who believe Him and will wait upon Him endure and persevere and have patience with the word of God not wavering but believing God growing strong in their faith trusting God to do what God said He would do and so may that grace of God be the final benediction of your life that you have waited and you've seen the salvation of the Lord to Him be the glory forever and ever Amen