December 27, 2023
Author: Pastor Bernard Ibrahim
December 27, 2023
Christ is speaking to John the Apostle, “Behold, I am coming soon,
bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done. I
am the Alpha and the 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 the sexually immoral and
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. 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
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, and 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 all.
Amen
Revelation 22:12-22
Around Christmas time we think a lot about the prophecies of the Lord
Jesus’ first coming. And we got to read some of those passages in
Isaiah and Micah and Hosea. I was thinking it must be amazing to be like
Simeon or Anna, generation after generation, hundreds and hundreds of
years waiting for the Lord Jesus to arrive in Bethlehem as a baby born
of a virgin; the Messiah coming. And they see the realization of the
prophecies somewhat confusing, mysterious, dark, hard to understand, how
they all fit together. And that is really what we have as believers
after the Lord's first coming. From almost the moment Christ began to
preach in his various ways of telling parables; telling parables about
the kingdom of heaven, he was telling his disciples that he's coming
back again. And he is coming, and he's coming back and he's coming back
to take us to be with him. And we've seen, we've known that hundreds of
years have gone by since he made these promises, since Revelation was
written, since he made the promise in John 14 or Matthew 25 about what
it was going to be like when he returns.
We should be encouraged
when we look back at this time around Christmas and see, the Lord kept
his promises. He kept his promises in every single exact detail: Jesus
coming out of Egypt, he being called a Nazarene, he being born of the
line of David, every single detail came true and got woven and became
evident; Oh, that's what that prophecy means, or that's what he was
referring to. Even though when we read the scriptures and we read
Revelation, we can't see clearly. Is this like what Daniel was talking
about in Daniel 9 or what is this in Revelation 20 or Revelation 19 or
Revelation 22, and where is the city and four sides and a lot of the
details? But If we step back and we look at those who had faith before
us and the Lord delivered on his promises, we should be strengthened in
our faith, especially this time of year when we are celebrating the
fulfillment of the first coming, all those prophecies, and we are living
in the time when we're awaiting the fulfillment of the second coming.
Our faith should be strengthened when we look back and see God was
faithful then, he will be faithful again. He has been faithful keeping
his promises ever since Genesis, Genesis chapter 3.
We should
share the gospel more urgently. That's the second concept that came to
my mind. The people that the Lord has put in our lives, whether friends
or family or co-workers. Not only is their life finite and our
life is finite, but Christ will return, possibly before their life or
our life will end. We should share the gospel more urgently in the light
of these fulfilled prophesies around Christmas time.
It should
also increase our joy and hope in this temporary situation we have here
on Earth. When you see the reaction of all the people, whether it was
the Magi or the shepherds or Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, you know whoever
you look to, Anna and Simeon in Luke chapter 2, their reaction is
worship and joy regardless of their situation. Their personal situation
didn't change, but they had great joy at knowing that the Lord fulfilled
his promises there and we should have great joy looking forward to the
Lord fulfilling his promise when he returns. He will have his kingdom,
he will fulfill his master plan for all mankind and the universe. And
then we should have greater yearning for the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ, especially when you think that it's the end of a calendar year
for us and another year was gone by, and we are waiting for the Lord to
complete his mission to complete his plan, to fulfill all the prophecies
that he's given us here in Revelation 22 and really the whole
scriptures. He himself talking about, “I will come quickly, I will come
back to collect you, I will keep my word, I will have my glory.” And so
we say, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” That's my encouragement to you as
I've been meditating on these passages here for the last couple of
weeks.
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