Once upon a time there were no cell phones. Some of you cannot comprehend what life must have been like when you couldn’t call or text someone about anything at all, even something as simple as checking to see what else was on the list of things you were supposed to pick up at the store. How many husbands in that prehistoric time before cell phones had just three items to pick up at Basha’s but came home with only two because they didn’t write it down?!
Writing things down has always been important to see the actual words and to know who they’re from. Today, whether they are written or typed on a computer or tapped into a phone, the same thing is true. Words are important. Writing is important. We need the written word because we need to learn things…because we sometimes forget…because we want to confirm that we remember right…because we want to share with someone else.
God has always considered his words, written down for people to read, to be vital for those same reasons. We have evidence of that today. We heard him say to the prophet Habakkuk, “Record the vision and write it plainly on tablets so that a herald may run with it” (Habakkuk 2:2) We’re at the end of the book of Revelation today, but if you were to go back to the beginning of it, you would read that God twice told John to write down all that he heard and saw from him. And this too: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near (1:3). That verse up front and the words we have at the end bookend all that John wrote and reveal the purpose for his writing: to watch for Christ who is coming soon.
God’s Written Word Prepares Us for the Day that is Coming Soon
The Written Word Is Faithful and True (vv. 6–9)
You know, the book of Revelation is sometimes the first thing we want to study but the last thing we are prepared to understand. It’s full of crazy images and it seems mystical and we think that maybe it has some covert information. We do have to admit that some of it is kind of wild sounding. The key to understanding Revelation though is really having a good grasp on what the rest of the Bible teaches. We have to be prepared in that way, because it teaches those same things in visions.
With all that being said, this part today isn’t difficult; it has a pretty direct message: Jesus says, “Look, I am coming soon!” This message had to be written down. John, who was doing the writing, was told by the angel: “These words are faithful and true. The One giving these words is reliable because he cannot lie. The Lord God can be completely trusted because he must say what is true. It is who he is. Jesus himself is even named “Faithful and True” in Revelation and his Word is too. In other words, the angel is saying, “What I’m telling you is what is definitely going to happen.”
John is told, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. What John wrote down on a scroll was not to have a seal on the outside keeping it that way. No, these words were to be open, available, read, taught, believed! Jesus is returning soon and people need to be able to see it written down, and return to it for assurance so that they watch for his return.
Do any of you know how to play chess? I used to play as a kid just for fun! Never part of a club or anything. I still call the Night, “the Horsey Thing.” I’m really only built for checkers. But you even if you play and are really good, it would be interesting to watch you play Gukesh Dommaraju, the World Chess Champion. It would be good for us to watch without blinking because I’m pretty sure it would be a VERY quick game! It would be a gross mismatch for any of us to play against him.
John was living in the midst of what appeared to be a gross mismatch! He lived in the years running up to 100 AD. During that time, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Look up The Arch of Titus later today. It depicts that Roman destruction, and perhaps John looked at that very arch when he was taken to Rome late in life. The Romans were ultra-powerful. They had had enough of the Jews and they were actively persecuting Christians too.
If you were looking at the world around you through John’s eyes, how do you think you’d feel? Dejected, afraid, hopeless? Would you question the things Jesus told you all those years ago? Rome is powerful. The Church is fragile. Would you think “Christianity is not going to make it?” It’s at this time and in this very context that the Lord says, “Write this down, John. Don’t trust what you see; trust what I say. I am coming soon.”
We’re kind of like that, right? We look at the world around us and things don’t look so great. Godless people seem like winners, and—in some ways and at some times— they threaten God’s people. Satan looks like he’s got the bulk of the people on his side and they seem to be doing just fine
The airplane door closed and the flight attendant said to all those pulling the seat belt straps out from underneath them and making sure their tray tables were up, “Welcome aboard flight #3350 to Miami.” She paused just long enough to see heads popping up, looking at the people around them, and then looking toward her before saying, “Just kidding Fort Myers.” The passengers thought they were on the right plane. Then thought they were on the wrong plane. Then relieved to know they were on the right plane.
We might have that kind of uncertainty when it comes to God, Jesus, the Bible, death Am I wrong, or right? Who is giving me the info? What are they saying? Can I trust what they’ve said? Fortunately for us, God had the angel tell John to write everything down so that we can return to the written words for reassurance again and again to hear that he loves us, he forgives us, and that he is coming soon to get us out of here and up to heaven. Unlike the things in this world that create uncertainty, his Word is faithful and true.
You may have noticed that there are three speakers in these words. It’s not hard to figure out, but you do need to pay attention. This is the pattern: John says something, the angel speaks, Jesus says the parts that only Jesus could say that order, two times.
So, John tells us that the angel spoke to him. Then we hear the angel’s words about the faithful and true message. THEN John sees and hears Jesus himself say: “And look: I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who holds on to the words of the prophecy of this book.”
When the angel spoke to John and showed him this, the apostle was overwhelmed. He falls to the ground to worship the angel. And the angel shouts out a swift and stern warning: “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant… Worship God!” It seems a little embarrassing to include this, doesn’t it that John would bow to worship an angel. Was it a moment of spiritual clumsiness? Because he knew better. But the Lord had him include it in his Word.
Are we reminded of our spiritual stumbling when we read it? We are sometimes overwhelmed by the greatness of God’s goodness in our lives but we can turn around and start worshiping the good things that he has sent our way. Prioritizing or worshiping—anything other than God—whether it’s our family or money or entertainment or possessions or success, or even an angel is a damning sin. We need correcting and redirecting too.
As clearly as the law of God condemns us, the gospel shines on us just as clearly: God does not discard John. The angel corrects him, and Christ keeps him. He keeps us too. The Word lifts us up. It straightens out our thinking. It allows us to see his grace.
The Written Word Keeps Us Watchful & Prepared (vv. 10–13)
When the angel says: “Do not seal up the words… because the time is near.” he’s saying to keep the writings opened up so that all can see them because now Christ’s return is close. I know the Bible says that “For the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day (2 Peter 3:8),” so “near” or “close” seem like pretty squishy terms for us to grab onto. Our view of soon is linked only to our concept of time, not to the eternal God’s view of time.
So, what can we be sure of? It’s coming. The day is coming. Christ is returning. God has this written down, and his people read it and watch for Jesus to come. Cause and Effect. We trust that faithful and true Word, so we are watching to see Jesus return.
The angel said some things to John that had to have gotten your attention. They got mine.
Let the one who is unjust continue to be unjust. Let the one who is filthy continue to be filthy. Let the one who is just continue to do what is just. Let the one who is holy continue to be holy.
Is God okay with people continuing to rebel against him? Or is he so angry at them that he wants them to keep on rebelling so he can damn them? You’re probably thinking, “That can’t be right.” And it’s not. You know that God wants all people to be saved.
No, the angel takes us to when the time that was near has actually arrived. Christ has returned and speaks as the Judge. Then…let it be that the ones who rebel against God continue to for eternity. And let it be that ones who trust in him are holy forever. These are statements of judgment pronounced at Christ’s return.
At that moment, on the day of Jesus’ return, it will be to late to get serious and give attention to the things God had written down in his Word. A person’s spiritual condition at the end is how they will be eternally. That can be scary or comforting for you as you sit here today, depending on your position on God’s written Word.
If you don’t have the time for it, don’t know what it says, don’t have an interest, don’t believe it, then the angel has warned you.
If you do read the Scriptures, and you listen as God speaks to you through it, and you know and believe what it says, the angel has comforted you. You are the people to whom Jesus will give the reward of heaven, based on the faith that produced a life of things done in thanks to God. Like an orange tree showing that it’s an orange tree by producing oranges, God sees what you are a believer by what you produce in life: your words and way of living show him your faith. You’re not rewarded because you did those things. You are rewarded for the faith in Christ that prompted them.
The One who promises you the reward of heaven is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End—all titles that stress the eternal nature of God, who keeps his promises, like this one to come soon to bring you to heaven with him. He has written it down so that you can watch for his return. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.