Watch and Invite

The end is not the end.

Look forward. Look up. Be watching.

You’ve heard it, but what does that mean really?

Our text today is Revelation 22. The last of our Bride of Christ series, but by no means the end. Fitting, however, that its ending comes with the last words in the last chapter of the written Word of God.

In our last session, we’ve gotten a taste – just a tease really – of what Heaven will look like, O glorious day!

And now we hear from our Groom.

“I am coming.” (Rev 22:17)

He hasn’t left this time – not like the way we read about in our Painful Lesson segment, where He leaves to punish/teach. This time is a time of preparing. Of working.

Bride, He is preparing a place for you.

John 14:1-4 ““Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.”” NLT

When everything is ready.

I will come and get you.

I will.

I love words of certainty, don’t you? When I was a child, my older sister and I would take answers from our parents and interpret them to declare certainty:

“Mom, when you say ‘we’ll see’, you mean ‘no.’ And when you say ‘maybe’, that means ‘yes’.”

We have a need to just know, don’t we?

Well, know this:

He is returning.

And it will be soon. Sister, will you be there? Will you join us there in our Groom’s mansion? I’m so excited to join you. To meet you. It will be glory.

But do you seen Him pleading with you here? Look at verse 10 and I’ll share the Amplified Bible version because it really emphasizes it well.

Revelation 22:10 “And he [further] told me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book and make no secret of them, for the time when things are brought to a crisis and the period of their fulfillment is near.” AMP

See it?

Share! Do not seal up the words. Sacred, yes; secret, no. Speak up!

Pass out those wedding invitations! (Or the proposal?) Invite! Dear sisters, He wants everyone there.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” NLT

Speak up! Yes, you are treasured. Yes, you are the special Bride of Christ. But you are not the only one. How selfish would we be (I speak to myself!) to keep to ourselves this invitation?

As His Bride, yes, celebrate Him, and be grateful, but open your eyes. Is that neighbor of yours a believer? Your co-worker? How about your kids? Your spouse?

That Bride we talked about in our last session with her grateful, ever grateful smile, shouldn’t she want that for those around her? Those she loves most?

Our time is short! There is no ‘well, maybe tomorrow.’ Today! What if our Groom came back before lunch time?

Soon. He is coming back soon.

Rev 22:12a “Look, I am coming soon…”

Hear the invitation, but most of all, share His invitation!

Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.” NLT

The Spirit and the Bride. There it is.

There have been times when I have fallen into the lazy trap of thinking “well, if the Spirit is going to work to draw someone to Himself, then He will. He’ll find someone to talk to them.”

I know, I know. You can smack me now. I have been guilty. Lazy. But I am calling you with me to change that, because see, the Spirit and the Bride say ‘come.’.

See the Amplified version:

Revelation 22:17 “The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.” AMP

Do this with me. I’m going to list some words and I would love for you to get paper and pen (Yes, actual paper and pen. Do it- not just in your head. I’ll wait.) and list the names that come to mind with these statements from verse 17 in the Amplified Bible.

thirsty.

needy.

in pain.

needing refreshed.

needing support.

needing strengthened.

desires change.

I know God put someone on your heart just now. If not more than one person.

Why don’t you invite them to the wedding? Her (or his) place has already been paid for.

Celebrate

Brides, let’s celebrate today. It is the day the Lord has made, amen?

Our text today comes from three parallel passages. Matthew 9:14-17, Mark 2:18-22, Luke 5:33-37

When this many of the gospel writers include an account of something, you know it is huge. For all of the three years of every-days with Jesus, this conversation stood out enough to be remembered and written down.

How much do you remember? Are you making practice of purposefully remembering Him? His word? I know for most of us, our 24 hours seem so full already – and they are; we each fill up our 24 hours with something. But do those somethings have eternal value? I speak to myself too.

Psalm 119:11 “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” NLT

Joshua 1:8 “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.” NLT emphasis mine

Colossians 3:16a “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives…” NLT emphasis mine

In our passages, Jesus had just called Matthew to be a disciple. Matthew – a tax collector. Tax collectors were known for padding their pockets. They were deceitful and hated. And Jesus called him straight from this life to start a new life with Him.

Don’t you just love that? I love that Jesus didn’t scour the world looking for people who were “better” or well liked, or less nasty than the rest. He picked the scum so that He could heal, cleanse and renew. That is what Jesus does best.

For order’s sake, we will look at one of the three passages – and even though they are nearly identical, I like Luke’s account.

So we pick up in Luke 5:33

I love this passage, because it is when Jesus introduces Himself as our Groom.

Read 33-34

Do you see it?

Be all here. I am here. Celebrate that.

Fasting often included an attitude of mourning – that word is even used interchangeably, if you’ll glance over at the Matthew account (9:15)

Now, this may be one of those times when the words were spoken to those people in that specific setting (He was physically with them, so that fits and makes good sense), but I believe it was included (3 times!) because we can apply it to our own lives.

We have Christ with us, because we have Christ in us. (Romans 8:9-10)

Is that not worthy of celebration? If that’s not, I don’t know what is.

In those days, the wedding celebration lasted 2 weeks. This was probably the only time in their lives when they would go that long without working. Life was hard for them, and this was a time of celebration. ‘Drop everything and celebrate now’ was the general attitude around a wedding. Christ is calling His disciples here to celebrate His presence. source

Sisters, life is hard. It is.

But.

This is a great time to insert ‘but’.

But we have Christ. Amen?

Philippians 4:13 “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” NLT

We are new in Christ. Life is new with Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Here’s where we tie it all together. Celebrate your new life in Christ. He hasn’t come to patch up and smoothe over your old life. Throw it away. Just accept the new life.

Read the rest of our passage. (If you’re in Luke with me, that’d be Luke 5:36-39)

God doesn’t fit like a band-aid over our old lives. He wants to offer complete renewal.

New habits. New delights. New favorites. New friends? New drinks. New movies. New music. New clothing. New words. New attitude. New forgiveness.

New.

All things are become new.

Do not mourn the loss of those old things; what are they, really anyway?

So I challenge you with me:

1) Pray about remnants you’re still wearing from your old life before you knew Him. Pray for Him to reveal them, and remove them.
2) Start a new habit – memorize. Remember the opening of our session today? Memorize His Word, for with God’s word in your heart, your heart, mind, and spirit are made new. New.

Ephesians 4:22-24 “throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” NLT

Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” NLT

And let’s start with those verses, sound good?

3) Celebrate. You do have Christ in you if you are a Christian. Spend some time celebrating that, and watch your outlook renew.