March 6, 2024
Author: Pastor Mark Bauer
March 06, 2024
During our Men's Bible study, we have been studying the book of Philippians and this past Saturday we considered the truth that was found in Philippians 3:20 where Paul writes, “But our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” In these words, we are reminded by Paul that we are citizens of heaven, that this world is not our home, that we are strangers, that we are aliens, that we belong to another country and that our true home is in heaven with Christ. As citizens of heaven our allegiance, our loyalty and our worship is focused on Christ. Christ, who is our king. As citizens of heaven, while we're here in this world, we look outward and upward to the things of heaven, to the things above. We look to and we long for the time when we will be with Christ. As Paul writes, “We await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” As I thought more about these words, I thought about our desire that we have as God's people to be with Christ. And then I thought about Christ's return, the second coming of Jesus. It is a return that is promised, it is a return that is prayed for. We find this in Revelation 22:20 where we read, "He (being Christ) who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely, I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus.’” So I would like us to briefly consider the promise and the prayer that we find here in this verse that is given as the book of Revelation draws to a close.
First then, the promise. It is a promise with certainty, for God is faithful to keep His promises. We know of this from Hebrews 10:23 where we read that he who promised, he is reliable, he is sure, and he is faithful to his word. This promise from Jesus begins with the word ‘surely’. In some translations, it's ‘yes’, given as a strong affirmation, an assertion that that which is spoken is truth, that it is reliable, that it shall come to pass. For the giver of the promise is one who is faithful and true to his word. And this promise that we were given, “I am coming soon”, the promise of Jesus’s second coming, is a promise that we find repeated throughout the Scriptures. If we look back just a few verses in the same chapter in Revelation 22:7 we read these words from Jesus where again he speaks of this promise to come again. And he says, “Behold! I come quickly.”
But then looking further back, looking before Jesus's death, we find that he promised his return. In John 14 he said this, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will return, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also.” So we have Jesus even before his death promising his return. And then after his death and his resurrection as Jesus was ascending into heaven, we had the testimony of the angels in Acts 1 where they repeat this promise of Jesus's return, “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” And these are but a few of the many, many other portions of Scripture where we find this promise, this promise of Jesus' return. But I trust that this small sampling of verses is enough to remind us that this promise of Jesus, the promise of his second coming, is something that is clear throughout all of Scripture.
So that is the promise here, but then the prayer in response to this promise of Jesus, John responds by saying, “Amen.” The word ‘amen’ we're told when it comes at the end of a statement signifies agreement with that which was spoken. It is as though he is saying, “So be it, may it be fulfilled.” Apparently it was a Jewish custom which passed from the Jewish synagogues to Christian assemblies that the hearers of a reading or a discourse or a prayer would respond by saying “Amen.” Therefore they are making that which was spoken their own. They are acknowledging that they are in agreement with that which was spoken. And as John, here is Jesus’ promise that he being Jesus will come again, that he is coming soon, John responds with, “Amen. May it be so.” And then he offers this prayer, the simple three word prayer, “Come Lord Jesus.”
I think it's good for us to remember that we should be praying in the promises of God. John provides us an example of doing just that. He prays in this promise of Jesus and he gives us this prayer asking for Jesus to return, to come again. In this prayer, it's a prayer for the king to come, Jesus the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. As his people, the citizens of his kingdom, we should be looking to our king and praying for and desiring for and longing for his return. For when he returns, we will see him. We will behold him in all of his glory, the one whom we love, but we have not seen. And when we see him, we will rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. But also when he returns, we will know him more fully. Though we know him now, though we've been privileged to have Jesus even revealing himself to us, however, we realize that we do not fully know him. For as we're told in our confession, “The Lord our God, he's an infinite being!” And he's infinite in being and perfection whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself. Yet it is our desire to know him, to comprehend him, to understand him and know him more fully. Therefore we look forward to that day that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13, “When the perfect comes (that perfect being Christ when Christ returns) at that time the partial will pass away. For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, for now I know in part, but then I shall fully know.” “When Christ returns,” as one commentator says, “we will have a more perfect knowledge of God and of Christ and of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” Another man writes this, “We will be in a state of perfection complete both in knowledge and holiness.” God will be known then clearly and as perfectly as the capacity of glorified minds will allow. What a privilege, what a glorious day that will be when we will know him more fully when he returns. But also when he returns we will worship him, we will worship him with sinless hearts and sinless voices. When Christ returns there will be the completion of our salvation, our glorification, the process of our sanctification, of our being conformed to the image of Christ, that process will be fully completed at the day of Jesus Christ. When Christ returns that final transformation will take place and on that day our perfected and resurrected bodies will be reunited with our sinless souls and we will worship our Lord and our Savior to the praise of His glorious grace for all eternity. So we pray for Christ to return so that we will see him face to face, so that we will know him more fully, so that we will worship him with sinless voices.
But also in this prayer as we pray for Christ’s return, we can think about the many blessings that will come with his return. For we read of this in Revelation that when he returns he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more where the former things have passed away. When Christ returns, it will mark the end of all of our suffering and pain. The suffering and the pain that we experience due to various health issues, or the consequences of past actions that have damaged our bodies, or the weakness and the frailty that we may be feeling as we struggle with the realities of aging. All of this will pass away as though it never existed. When Christ returns there will be no more mourning, no more weeping due to sin. We will never again battle remaining sin, and never again experience the sorrow and the shame whenever we have failed and stumbled and fallen to sin. We will never again feel that hurt and the sadness when we have been sinned against for there will be no more sin. We will never again have to grieve as we see the evil and wickedness committed by this world when they dishonor God, when they persecute God's people, when they inflict pain and agony on the weak and the helpless. For on that day when he returns the wicked shall be judged and condemned and cast into the lake of fire. And when Christ returns, our greatest enemy, death will be no more. We will never again weep over the death of a loved one, we will never again fear our own death, for when Christ returns there will be no more death. And as God's people, we will live forever in the presence of our precious Lord and our Savior. So we pray for Christ to return. For we long for that day when there will be no more sin and no more sorrow and no more death. this is the promise, a promise from Jesus, “Surely I am coming soon.” And may we join John in this prayer, “Lord Jesus come.” As citizens of heaven who await our Lord and our Savior may we find ourselves even more frequently looking heavenward and praying for Jesus to return.
BACK