The End Of History
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis, I’m the lead pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to gather with you both onsite and online. Let’s go ahead and dismiss the children to children’s church, and if you didn’t get a chance to check your child in please see our children’s ministry leaders in the back and they’d be more than happy to assist you with that...Before we get into today’s message I have a few important reminders about our schedule these next few weeks. The first is that we aren’t having church services on December 25th or January 1st. We always give our staff and volunteers time off the last week of the year to rest and recharge for the new year. So if you come on December 25th and January 1st, you’ll be the only one here. We’ll be resting, recharging, getting our hearts ready to start our 2023 Deeply Rooted year of theology on January 8th.
The second important reminder is our Christmas Eve service is coming up this Saturday the 24th at 5:00, and it’s always one of my favorite church services we at City Awakening. I’ve already invited over 25 families, including the football team I coached, a trainer at the gym I go to, and a neighbor I’ve invited 4 times! We’re always talking about faith and life issues in our driveways so I keep inviting him. I’m trying to invite as many people as I can because I love our Christmas Eve services, and because I know it’s a time people are more willing to attend. It’s a great time to invite your friends and family, even your skeptical friends and family. We want to be a place for both skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community. We believe that truth and joy is found in Jesus, and Christmas Eve is a great time to invite people to hear that truth and joy. On your seats are some invite cards, and we want you to think of at least 1 person you can invite. You can also let that card be a reminder to extend invites on social media or to share the event on City Awakening’s social media. Remember those invite cards aren’t just print on paper, they’re invitations to meet our Savior. It’s invitations that leads to transformations, and so who’s at least 1 person you can invite? Let’s invite, and let’s pray for those we invite.
Now as for today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story, where we’re going through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the last amen in Revelation 22. We’re in the last part of the biblical narrative, the last book of the bible, which is the book of Revelation. Like I said last week it makes an interesting Christmas series, because Christmas is about the incarnational birth and 1st coming of Jesus, yet Revelation is about the end times and the 2nd coming of Jesus. But my hope is for us to better appreciate the 1st coming of Jesus, as we study the 2nd coming of Jesus. My hope is for us to view Revelation as more than a book about the end times, it’s about a future hope in the 2nd coming of Jesus, and today’s text tells us why we need this hope. Everybody needs hope at some point in their life, and today’s text tells us why we need hope in the 2nd coming of Jesus. So let’s turn to Revelation 21 and get into it. You’ll find Revelation in the last quarter of the bible, it’s the last book of the bible, and we’ll start in Revelation 21:1-8. Title of today’s message is The End of History, and here’s the big idea. History ends with separation and salvation...History ends with separation and salvation.
Context:
Here’s your context. The Apostle John is the author of Revelation, and he gives us his thesis in ch 1. He says in Revelation 1:1, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, that God gave to show his servants what must soon take place.” So he writes this to reveal 2 things. It’s to reveal some things about Jesus, and to reveal some things that’ll soon take place. Historically he writes this in the 1st Century, during a time when Christians were facing brutal afflictions by the Romans for their faith in Jesus. In ch 1 he says he’s a partner in these afflictions, meaning he’s experiencing these afflictions too. He’s been tortured by the Romans, thrown into exile, and he's the last of the Apostolic leaders, the last of the original 12 disciples of Jesus, because all the others were killed. John writes this to warn 1st Century Christians and us that great afflictions are coming, but also to give us hope in the 2nd coming of Jesus. Now ch 21 is where Jesus reveals to John what’ll happen when he returns, at the end of history. Ch 21 is about the end of history, so let’s check it out.
The Word:
Revelation 21:1-8 states, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne...” Scholars say the loud voice John’s hearing is either the voice of an angel, or it’s the voice of Jesus. Regardless of who’s voice it is, it's a voice from heaven that’s giving John a little glimpse, a little revelation about heaven.
Again vs. 3, “Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: ‘Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his people,, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.’” The previous things passing away, is the end of history. What’s being revealed, what John’s seeing and hearing is the end of history, it’s the end of the current world we know full of sin, sickness, suffering, sadness, and death. But it’s also a little glimpse, a little revelation about heaven, which I’ll talk about more on Christmas Eve. As we celebrate the 1st coming of Jesus, I’ll talk about what heaven’s going to be like in the 2nd coming of Jesus. It’ll be a great Christmas Eve message filled with so much hope and joy. So there’s some good news at the end of history, but first we have to talk about the bad news. The bad news is that history ends with separation. The next voice John hears is the voice of Jesus, and he’s warning us that history will end with separation.
Vs. 5, “Then the one seated on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new.’ He also said, ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’ 6 Then he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8 But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.’” There’s the separation...There’s the separation that’ll happen at the end of history...It’s a separation between those who go to eternal heaven or eternal hell. The sins he mentions isn’t a morality checklist, it’s examples of people rejecting Jesus to live continuous, unrepentant, sinful lifestyles. The cowardly isn’t people who sometimes wrestle with their faith in times of affliction, it’s people who have nominal faith and end up rejecting Jesus in times of affliction. What Jesus is saying is there will be separation at the end of history between those who accept him and those who reject him. He says those who reject him will have a second death, which is a spiritual death separated from him in hell. Hell is a place of eternal separation from God’s presence and grace, which means it’s a place full of eternal pain. In Matthew 25 Jesus says it’s a place full of eternal punishment. What makes hell so eternally painful, is the eternal separation and removal from God’s presence and grace. The best way to describe it is to imagine living in our world, but without any restraint on evil or any relief from suffering...Imagine living in our world, without any laws, police, or militaries to keep people like Hitler in check...Imagine living in our world, without any medical care or medicines to relieve and cure our pain...Imagine living in our world, without any restraint on evil, any relief from suffering, any joy at all...Living in a world like that, would be hell...It’d be full of evil, suffering, eternal pain...It would be hell...
See right now God’s grace is keeping evil restrained, keeping evil from being fully unleashed, even providing us moments of joy to relieve our suffering. Right now God’s allowing both skeptics and believers to experience his grace.Jesus says in Matthew 5:45, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good. He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” So right now he’s allowing both skeptics and believers to experience his grace. He could just wipe out every skeptic, but he’s so loving and patient he’s still giving them a chance to turn to him. 2nd Peter 3:9 states, “The Lord doesn’t delay his promise. He's patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” He’s so loving and patient he’s still giving skeptics a chance to turn to him, he’s still pouring out his grace on them. He’s still allowing skeptics to breathe, have a heartbeat, earn a living, even have moments of joy to relieve their suffering. But in Revelation 21 Jesus is warning that a time will come, when he’ll remove his grace from those who reject him, and it’ll be hell. Right now he’s allowing everybody to experience some of his grace! But a time will come, when he’ll remove his grace from those who reject him, and it’ll be hell. It’ll be a time and place where his grace is fully removed, evil is fully unleashed, and there isn’t any relief from suffering. This eternal separation gets repeated again in Revelation 22:11.
Revelation 22:11 states, “Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness; let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.” This is teaching us that when the separation happens, those in hell will keep going on in sinfulness and those in heaven will keep going on in holiness. So hell is a place where people will keep going on, and they’ll keep living their sinful lifestyles, but without the restraint of God’s grace. Like I said it’s a place of eternal pain, because everybody’s unhinged in the deepest, darkest ways possible. It’s why separation at the end of history is necessary, because if there isn’t separation, then heaven will turn into hell. If there isn’t separation, then people will keep on rejecting God, they’ll keep on living sinful lifestyles, which wouldn’t make heaven any better than the world we’re living in now. For heaven to be better than the world we’re living in now, there has to be separation from those in heaven and hell, which is what Jesus is saying will happen at the end of history. He’s saying those who reject him will be separated from those who love him, and most people think they’re on the side that’s headed for heaven. Most people think their default destination is heaven instead of hell. But the reality is we’ve all sinned, rejected God, rejected to follow his ways at some point in our lives, which means our default destination is hell instead of heaven.
Now the good news of Christmas and the 1st coming of Jesus, is that he came to change our destination from hell to heaven. He came to suffer for our sins in this life, so we don’t have to suffer for our sins in the next life. He came to not only warn us about hell, he came to die for our sins on the cross to give us a way out of hell. If we don’t take his way out that isn’t on him, it’s on us. A person drowning has no right to blame the lifeguard, if they refuse to grab the float the lifeguard’s giving them. People go to hell because they refuse to grab the float, they refuse to grab Jesus’ hand for salvation. C.S. Lewis states, “To those who object to the doctrine of hell, what are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and at all costs give them a fresh start? He did that, when Jesus died on the cross...You want God to forgive them? But they don’t ask for forgiveness...You want God to leave them alone? That’s what hell is!..There’s only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says in the end ‘Thy will be done.’ All who are in Hell, choose it.” All who are in hell choose it, they refuse to grab the float, they refuse to grab Jesus’ hand for salvation. But anybody who receives his hand for salvation, he’ll change their default destination from hell to heaven.
Vs. 12, “Look I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” We talked about what this means last week. Jesus is saying he’s the God who eternally existed in the beginning of history, he’ll be there in the end of history, and he’s working right now in the middle of history making sure history ends according to his desired purposes. He’ll be the final judge, with the final word, the final verdict, over each person’s separation at the end of history. He’s the Alpha of creation, we’re the Beta of creation, and our lives unravel when we try making ourselves the Alpha. Our lives unravel when we try making ourselves the center of creation.
See our lives are meant to function a lot like our solar system. I mean it’s a good thing the earth isn’t the center of our solar system, because if it was everything would unravel. The earth is too small. It doesn’t have the gravitational pull the sun has to hold our solar system together in perfect orbital motion. In fact earth is so much smaller than the sun, we could fit over 930,000 earths inside the sun. If we take out the gaps in between them because of the earth’s spherical shape, then we could fit over 1.3 million earths inside the sun. That’s how small the earth is compared to the sun! Everything would start to unravel if it was the center of our solar system, because it doesn’t have the gravitational pull the sun has to hold our solar system together. So the sun has to be the center of our solar system or else everything will start to unravel, just like Jesus has to be the center of our lives or else our lives will start to unravel. Colossians 1:17 says “He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.” It’s because he’s the Alpha of creation, he’s the center of creation not us. Has he been the Alpha of your life this week?...Has Jesus been the Alpha, the center of your life this week?...If Jesus isn’t the Alpha of your life, if he isn’t the center of your life, then something else will take his place and your life will start to unravel. We need him at the center of our lives daily, to hold together the fragile solar system of our lives. We need him at the center of our lives daily, and to save our souls at the end of history.
Again vs. 13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, sorcerers, sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star. 17 Both the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ Let anyone who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who desires take the water of life freely.’” That’s an invitation for salvation...Jesus is saying history will end with separation and salvation... He’s saying “You don’t have to be on the side of separation that leads to hell. I died for your sins on the cross, so you don’t have to pay for your sins in hell. But you have to take the float, you have to take my hand for salvation. If you thirst for salvation, then take my hand for salvation and I’ll freely give you an eternal joyful life in heaven with me.” He says it’s a free invitation for salvation, meaning we can’t earn it with our good deeds. If we think we can save ourselves with our good deeds, then we’re just putting ourselves at the center again, we’re putting ourselves at the center of our salvation. Jesus is saying it won’t work, because he's the Alpha, the center of creation, the center of our salvation. So the only way to get to heaven is by having faith in him and receiving his free invitation for salvation. The hope we celebrate during Christmas is that our loving Savior was born. It’s that Jesus came into this world as our incarnate God to save us from the separation that leads to eternal hell, and he offers us his loving hand for salvation freely.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is that history ends with separation and salvation...The bad news is Jesus warns us that history ends with separation, but the good news is he offers his hand for salvation so hell won’t be our final destination. If you’re a skeptic will you receive his hand for salvation? Will you put your faith in him today, believe he died for your sins on the cross, and make him the center of your salvation for eternal life?...If you’re a believer will you make him not just the center of your salvation, but also the center of your everyday life? Will you still make him the center of your life, even as you’re dealing with afflictions in life?...
We aren’t meant to be the center of our salvation or the center of everyday life. We’ve tried being the center of our lives, we’ve tried holding our lives together, but history continually proves we’re powerless at holding our fragile souls together. Every time we get sick, experience sadness, give in to sin. Every time we fail at something, get laid off at work, lose something we love, lose a person we love. It’s all reminders of how fragile our souls are, and how powerless we are at holding our fragile souls together. It’s a reminder that Jesus isn’t meant to be a footnote in our life, he’s meant to be the center of our life...Jesus isn’t meant to be a footnote in your life, he’s meant to be the center of your life...He’s meant to be the center of all our lives! So let’s make him the center of our fragile souls for salvation, and for everyday life...Let’s pray...