This Sunday will be the 42nd Sunday of 2022. (That’s right … only 10 weeks to Christmas! … but I digress.) For 29 of those 42 Sundays, we have been walking through the book of Revelation together. Add in 39 other blog posts from this study, and you have been surrounded by 68 messages from the book of Revelation over the past ten months. In our study, we have seen that the book of Revelation is a Revelation of Jesus Christ. It has been our joy to get to know the Savior better as we have read this often neglected section of God’s Word. Together, we have seen Jesus revealed as the Lord of the Church, the Lord of Heaven, the Lord of the Earth, and the Lord of the New Heaven and Earth.
This Sunday, October 16, 2022, we will be in part 9 of our “Lord of the New Heaven and Earth” sermon series. This will also be our final message in Revelation (at least for a while) as we have run out of verses to study! We will be in the final 8 verses of our Bibles this weekend, looking at Revelation 22:14-21.
Ending this series has me reflecting on the entirety of the book of Revelation and the role it plays in our understanding of the Gospel and our relationship with Christ. In preparation for Sunday, I have found two quotes particularly relevant:
“Probably no other book of Scripture more sharply contrasts the blessed lot of the saints with the fearful future of those who are lost. No other book of the Bible is more explicit in its description of judgment on the one hand and the saints’ eternal bliss on the other. What a tragedy that so many pass by this book and fail to fathom its wonderful truths, thereby impoverishing their knowledge and hope in Christ Jesus.” – John Walvoord
and
“And Revelation is a ‘pledge of His love’. … Jesus has given it to us as a sacrament of the imagination, to quicken the pulse and set the soul aflame over the gospel which all too often we take for granted.” – Michael Wilcock
This book is designed to “quicken our pulse” and “set our souls aflame over the Gospel!” I love that language, and have found it to be true in my own life. The great contrasts in this book drive us to cling to Christ with an urgency sometimes lacking in our day-to-day lives.
So, make plans to join us Sunday at Wildwood in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service as we wrap up the book of Revelation by looking at the “closing thoughts” of NOT ONLY the book of Revelation, but the entire canon of Scripture. Hope to see you there … and bring friends!