Revelation 22:6-21 – How to respond to the Book of Revelation

[0:00] Warm enough? Do we need to put a heating on? Some of you are like, yeah, bring it. The coolest place in the building is on those three empty chairs right there.

[0:11] ! But if you move now, Tibbs ain't going to be that happy. So there is a fan. If you do get too warm, no one is going to be offended if you get up and move your chair.

[0:22] All right? So just by all means, feel free to do that. I mean, obviously, if you go and sit outside, you can. Like no one's going to be, but it's warmer outside than it is in here, I think. And I was just saying, as Bill has already preached my sermon, we'll keep this to be quite short and sweet.

[0:39] So we're in Revelation 22 and we're finishing the book of Revelation this morning. We've been going through the book for just a little over a year. And so we come to now what is the epilogue.

[0:53] So let me just really quickly pray. Bless you. And we will get into our study. Father, thank you for your word. Lord, it doesn't matter how many times we hear it, Lord.

[1:05] We recognize, Lord, that our ears are slow to hear. Lord, and we pray this morning that you should help us. Lord, unblock our ears.

[1:16] Lord, may our hearts be soft to receive. Eager, willing. Lord, to hear from you. Lord, we pray, Lord, that you will help us, Lord, by your Holy Spirit to really think deeply about these words.

[1:37] Lord, to take time to consider our own actions and our own lives. And we just pray that you would help us to hear what you want us to hear this morning. In Jesus name.

[1:49] Amen. Amen. So as we come to this text, in many ways, we are going to address the question. Now what?

[2:01] Or so what? What's next? You know, we come to the end of an epic book and the questions are about. Okay, so now what?

[2:12] We've had all of these visions, these things, some of them difficult to understand. And we're left with the question right at the end, as John is closing out, what next?

[2:27] And if you think about it, we've seen the complete testimony of Jesus through this book. Remember, it's the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[2:37] It's the revealing of him. And in fact, if you just turn all the way back to the beginning of this book, in verse 1 of chapter 1, John had said, it's the revelation of Jesus, which God gave him to show his servants the things which soon must take place after these things.

[2:56] He made it known by sending his angel to his servant, John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus. And so we've seen that. You know, we've seen the incarnation.

[3:08] We've seen the salvation. We've seen resurrection, ascension. We've seen his coming again, authority, the holy city. So we've seen the testimony of Jesus.

[3:20] And in fact, in verse 16 of our text in Revelation 22, Jesus himself says, I, Jesus. It's the only time you'll ever get that phrase in the entire Bible where he says, I, Jesus.

[3:33] Have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. And so now John's mission, if you like, is complete.

[3:44] His job is complete. And we've seen this complete testimony of Jesus being laid out for us. And so now that's happened, the natural question for us is, is what do we do with all of this information?

[3:59] Right. How do we live our lives now? And three times Jesus in our text is, or three times John in our text is going to record Jesus saying, I am coming soon.

[4:11] Like I am coming soon. Behold, I am coming soon. Surely I'm coming soon. Like in verse 19, in verse 7, in verse 12, and in verse 20, he uses that phrase. In verse 6, he says, these things are soon to take place.

[4:28] And so the emphasis of this epilogue, of these verses, seem to be how we are motivated to live for him.

[4:39] Kind of in the knowledge that he is coming soon, how we motivate it to live for him today. And so have a look with me in verse 6 as we start our text.

[4:50] John says that he, that is the angel from verse 1, he said to me, these words are trustworthy and true.

[5:02] And because, the and is because the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what soon must take place.

[5:12] And so the opening words of the angel here in this text is an encouragement to receive again the word of God. This isn't just a bolt on to the end of the book that we can kind of skip over really quickly and just kind of go, well, this is just the ending.

[5:29] It's just the farewell. The angel is again encouraging us to receive again the word of God. The same words of God that inspired the spirit of the prophets throughout history.

[5:43] And that term spirit of the prophets is just a reference to how God uses men and women throughout history as his mouthpiece. It is not flattering to be the mouthpiece of God.

[5:59] Second Peter chapter 1 verse 21 says that no prophecy, zero prophecy, no prophecy has ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke as God, from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[6:16] And so the angel says that Jesus has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.

[6:27] Now, look, watch that flow. Because that's a repeat of the opening words of the book that we just read. There in verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.

[6:42] He made it known by sending his angel to servant John. So this revelation was given to Jesus by God. And Jesus has sent his angel to show his servant.

[6:55] And so in the context that servant is John, but it's also to us, those who read it. It's not just talking about the Old Testament saints or those who live in the first century.

[7:09] The flow is quite simple. The revelation of Jesus was given to Jesus by God. Jesus gave it to an angel. An angel gave it to John.

[7:20] And John writes it down for us. Amen. The reason is so that we might be able to soon, we might be able to see what must soon take place.

[7:32] And that word means quickly. That word soon means quickly. It's the idea that once these things started, there won't be anything stopping them from continuing. And so he said, behold, think about this.

[7:45] Verse 7. Behold, think about this. Pause. Just take a moment. He says, I am coming soon. Blessed. Is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

[8:01] Which again, of course, is another repeat of the opening few verses of the book. And so John seems to be taking the ideas of the opening book and the end of the book and kind of repeating himself.

[8:13] And we know that often in letters, and this is a letter, we often know in letters that the beginning of the book, the beginning of the letters were the things that to be written last. And so it could be, in fact, the opening few verses of the book are the youngest in terms of being written.

[8:32] And so probably written probably at the same time, in the same moment that the closing parts of the book were written. But this is what he says in verse 3. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy.

[8:44] Blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written for the time is near. So that's, you know, pretty much what we get in verse 7. But the difference is, there in verse 7, is that now the reading and the hearing is over.

[8:57] Like, we've done that. We've been through this book, like, since April last year. And we've been reading it week in, week out.

[9:09] We've been hearing it week in, week out. And now the responsibility in verse 7 is not to hear or to read. Do you notice the difference?

[9:21] The responsibility now is to keep. And it's almost like John is saying, we're done. We're done with the hearing. We're done with the reading.

[9:33] Now it's time to actually walk this stuff out. It's now time to respond to these things. And you might say, well, how do we respond to these things?

[9:46] There's some things that we've discovered that are fairly difficult to read and hear. How do we respond to these things? Well, flick over to 2 Peter. Because we have been told how to respond to these things.

[9:59] Like, we don't have to make any of this stuff up. Which is helpful. So, 2 Peter chapter 3. Peter lays out for us exactly how we are supposed to respond to the revelation that Jesus is coming soon.

[10:17] This is what he says. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved. So, he's talking about end times. He's talking about what we looked at in the end of chapter 20.

[10:31] Right? Since all of these things are thus to be dissolved. And then he asks this question. What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?

[10:42] In other words, how do we live? How do we live in light of the fact that all of these things are thus to be dissolved?

[10:53] Waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. Because of which, the heavens will be set on fire, dissolved. The heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. That's the context.

[11:04] But then he says, verse 13. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and new earth. In which righteousness dwells. We talked about this last week. So, Peter is drawing on his understanding of how do we live in light of everything just melting away.

[11:22] What do we do now? So, he says, therefore, verse 14. Beloved, since you are waiting for these. And here's the answer to that question. So, here's the answer to the question that he posed in verse 11.

[11:34] How do we wait? How do we wait well? He says, what kind of people we should be? He said, be diligent to be found by him at his coming without spot or blemish and at peace.

[11:52] So, given that we are waiting for the coming again of Jesus. Our lives should reflect that. And reflect it in this way.

[12:04] He says, that we should be diligent. Now, we're not comfortable with that word, are we? That triggers all kinds of things for us.

[12:16] To be diligent. What does it mean? Well, let me give you some words that it means. That are even potentially harder for us to not agree with.

[12:27] We agree with it. We just don't like them. Here's one word that diligent means. It means hard work. Now, before you switch off, it also means honest effort.

[12:40] It also means continuous and persevering. That's what diligent means. It means not quit to give up.

[12:52] It means to keep going. And doing it hard. Doing it with all of your might. So that we might be found by him.

[13:03] And actually, it's quite clumsy. But it's better put, in his sight. So, when he comes, he sees you doing. That's the idea. It's not just be found.

[13:14] It's so that he may see you doing. Doing what? Well, without spot or blemish and at peace. Are we doing all that we can be doing to live without spot or blemish and at peace?

[13:34] And look, this is not the criteria for heavenly reward. Let me just say that. Right? Our efforts to live without spot, blemish and at peace is not the criteria for getting into heaven or salvation.

[13:50] Can we just understand that? It is a criteria in one way, but it's not on us. Right? Because it was Jesus who was without spot and blemish. And he died for us. And he took our spots and our blemishes.

[14:02] And he died for them. So, in one way, it is our heavenly reward. But it's not on us. It's on Jesus. Right? So, what Peter is saying is that the only one without spot and blemish and peace is Jesus himself.

[14:21] This is not talking about salvation. This is talking about our motivation to be all that we can be for God today. As we prepare for heaven, whilst we are waiting for heaven.

[14:36] We are to practice living in heaven as we are living on earth. And that means doing all that we can to walk in obedience.

[14:47] Now, I was thinking about this week. And this is deep. So, bear with me. I almost just considered making Revelation another eight-week series. just on these ideas.

[14:59] But we might come back to them in a few weeks. So, what does it mean to practice obedience now given that one day obedience will be normal?

[15:13] Did you know that? One day, obedience is going to be the normal thing. You're not going to struggle to be obedient. Right? You're not going to fall out of bed in the morning and kind of go, I've got to pray, I've got to choose right over wrong.

[15:31] You're not going to struggle to do that anymore. Right? Obedience will be the normal thing. That's our destiny. One day, obedience is just going to be our reality without struggle.

[15:51] Now, if that is right, and I think the way the Scripture tells us is that's going to be right. If that is right, let me tell you two things that that means for us today. The first thing, if obedience is our future destiny, it means that obedience brings far deeper, longer lasting pleasure than sin.

[16:15] Think about it. The Bible says that sin is pleasurable for a season. So, it's good for a little while. It's enjoyable for some time.

[16:28] But what brings longer lasting pleasure, eternal pleasure, is obedience. Obedience. Since obedience is in the future, after Jesus returns, it will be normal and without challenge.

[16:46] Listen, the key is, obedience today is a great investment. It's setting us up for the future. Now, I don't know this for sure.

[17:00] I don't know this is how it's going to work in heaven. But let's not be caught out when we get to heaven with obedience being normal. Right? Let's not get surprised by that.

[17:11] When we're like, huh, obedience. Like, let's practice obedience. Let's sow that seed now. Because why?

[17:22] Because it's a great investment. It's what we're going to be doing forever. That is our future destiny, obedience. Let's learn to love being obedient. And then secondly, if obedience is our future destiny, it means that obedience is not something we do for God, but something we do with God as a way to experience more of Him.

[17:50] Like, if obedience is something that is heavenly, without struggle and normal, then, obedience isn't something that we do now for God.

[18:06] It's something that we do and we will be doing for eternity with God. If sin separates us from God, obedience, surely, brings the presence of God.

[18:21] Philippians 2, verse 12, Paul lays it out for us in exactly those words. He says this, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, so as you have always obeyed, so now, moving forward, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence.

[18:45] So you see how he brings in that idea of his absence and obedience. He's setting us up. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you.

[18:57] It is God who works in you. Where is God's presence? In you. So Paul is kind of arguing this idea that, look, I know that you've been obedient when I've been around, but listen, when I've gone, someone's presence is with you who is way more important than me, and that is God, and he is present in you, what is he doing?

[19:19] He is working in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So our obedience isn't just practice for heaven, but our obedience, and notice, our obedience summons the presence of God in us to work in us to make us ready for heaven.

[19:39] So our hope isn't in ourselves that we can be good people or obedient, but God is working. God is working in our obeying, making us fit for eternal presence with him.

[20:00] So obedience is a big deal because it's what we're going to be doing forever. And so the angel says, back in Revelation, he says, blessed are those who keep.

[20:13] That's that word, keep. The words of the prophecy of this book. To do. Make it our own. Make your own.

[20:25] The reality that we've been talking about, how God's redeemed will spend forever and ever in blissful delight in the presence of God. Make it your own. Then he says in verse 8, I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things.

[20:42] And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. And he said to me, you must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book, worship God.

[20:59] So look, the other thing that is how we respond, maybe the second thing that how we respond to the revelation of Jesus Christ, this book, is that we should be worshipping God.

[21:14] That's an imperative. It's not worship God when you feel like it or worship God when it's not too warm or worship God when it's not too cold. Worship God when you're in the mood.

[21:28] Worship God. And look, we've seen this before, haven't we, in chapter 19, verse 10, where John sees this angel and he's just so struck by the magnificence of this angel that he falls down and worships.

[21:44] And the angel's like, what are you doing? Get up. He gets rejected. And this time, look, he gets rejected again. And he gets rejected, why? Because the angel says that he is a fellow servant.

[21:55] But that's not the only reason that John gets rejected. The other reason that John gets rejected is because we know that in the first century, in the second century, angel worship was a problem in the church.

[22:10] And the reason it was an issue was because the early Christians knew that in the Old Testament, sometimes, God sometimes presented himself as an angel.

[22:23] Right? That's how he presented himself. It doesn't mean he was an angel, but he presented himself as an angel. In theology, it's called angelomorphic Christiology. You're welcome. And it's like, you remember the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament?

[22:37] Right? The commander of the Lord's army in Joshua. Right? So God comes on the scene and he shows up and he presents himself. He looks like an angel. And so, the angel, the worship of angels in the first century, in the second century, was a bit of a problem because some of the early Christians saw that it was better to worship an angel in case it was God and then be wrong than to worship, to not worship an angel and find out that it was God and be wrong.

[23:14] Right? And so, they thought that actually if there was, if there was any sense that there was an angel present, they would worship that angel as if it was God just in case it was God because they didn't want to get it wrong.

[23:30] Right? Because you can imagine if God shows up and you don't worship, like you're in trouble. Just let me say that. And they didn't want to be in trouble so they just worshipped anything that seemed like God.

[23:44] And in fact, Paul wrote about this. Paul wrote about this. He wrote to the Church of Colossae and he said this. Let no one disqualify you insisting on ascentism and the worship of angels.

[24:01] The worship of angels. Paul thought it wise to write to the church and say, guys, don't worship angels.

[24:14] It's probably okay to not worship angels. going on in detail about visions puffed up without reason for a sensuous mind. So don't worship angels.

[24:26] That's the negative. The positive is, on the other hand, don't worship angels but do worship God. Right? And that's the, again, the imperative.

[24:38] Worship God. Now look, quickly, the word worship is proskuneo. There's a couple of words for worship in the New Testament. One is, you find in Romans 12, verse 1 and 2, this is your reasonable act of service.

[24:53] That word service is otherwise translated worship in other places. Right? This is proskuneo. And it literally means to bow down.

[25:05] Bow down. First time it's mentioned in the New Testament, interestingly, is Matthew 2, verse 2. Let me paint the picture of the Magi enter Bethlehem.

[25:18] Right? And if you have been, if you know that story, you'll know that the Magi hearken all the way back to the Persians, probably Daniel, Chaldeans, set up this Magi and they're racing into town, into Bethlehem.

[25:35] And there's probably 100, 200, 300 soldiers with them all on camels. Everybody's like, what on earth? They rock up to Herod's house. Right? And this is what they say.

[25:45] Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? We're here to worship a king. That's what they say. And Herod, you know, kind of flips out about it, right?

[25:57] And they say, we saw his star. Interestingly, we'll get back to this in Revelation 22 later on. We saw his star when it rose and we have come to bow before him.

[26:08] It's literally it. Worship is the act of homage. It's the action of a submitted, reverent heart.

[26:26] That's what worship is. I know we talk about, we talk about sung worship. Like I have issues with that on so many levels.

[26:39] Sung, bow down. Now, worship is to bow down, is to lie prostrate. You sometimes see it, don't you, in the high churches.

[26:52] Sometimes in the Catholic church, you see these pictures of priests laying prostrate on the floor, heads to the floor. Now, we can argue about the rights and wrongs of that all day long, but that is worship.

[27:08] We can have the best music and we are blessed in this church to have great musicians, aren't we? Amen? And we can sing all day long.

[27:20] We can sing loudly. No one cares here if we sing it out of tune. Love that. Mainly because that's normally me. But listen, unless we are bowing down, we are not worshipping.

[27:41] It's not primarily about service. That's Romans 12, verse 2. That's worship. Service can be worship, but that's not what he's talking about here. It's a different word completely.

[27:54] Proskuneo means to bow. When was the last time your heart bowed? To honor God and to submit to God. To reverence God in your heart.

[28:10] And then, what did you do as a result of the action of your heart? Proskuneo is a verb. worship. It's something you do. I am going to worship.

[28:25] I am going to bow down. So, the imperative is to make our lives, number one, obedience, but number two is to bow down.

[28:40] To reverence God. To submit to God. to let that play out as an action in your life. Verse 10, let's crack on.

[28:52] He said to me, do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book. The reason for the time is near. So sad that this book actually has been closed in many churches.

[29:03] So many churches refuse to preach from Revelation. And we get this open, simple phrase from this angel. Don't seal up.

[29:14] Don't close it up. Let the evildoer, verse 11. Let the evildoer still do evil. The filthy still be filthy. And everybody's like, what?

[29:25] What's that verse about? What? Let the evil, let the evildoer still do evil. Let the filthy still be filthy. And the righteous still do right. And the holy still be holy. Look, would you notice something with me?

[29:38] In verse 10, verse 10 ends with imminency for the time is near. Verse 12 starts with urgency. Behold, I am coming soon.

[29:49] In the middle of imminency and urgency is the challenge to us to the way we live our lives. This is the whole kind of epilogue scenario for us.

[30:01] And he says, let the evildoer still do evil. Let the filthy still be filthy. Let the righteous still do right. Let those who are holy still be holy. And what the angel is simply saying is, of course, he's not giving us permission to be evil.

[30:17] He's not saying, now it's okay. There's a sense of irony about how things don't change.

[30:27] he's saying, however long it may be until the fulfillment of the words of this book, the persistence of evil or in good is all that you can expect.

[30:48] He's saying that you can count on what you can count on whilst you wait for the Lord's return. Is that evil is still going to be evil? There's no change there.

[31:00] Right? Good is still going to be good. The angel anticipates no widespread spread change between the imminent time and the urgent time. in the middle no change.

[31:13] It's just going to carry on. The wise will respond wisely and the foolish will still respond foolishly. The angel says, look, John, don't expect now to the close of this book that you've got to present this book and all of a sudden because of this book, because of these words, that foolishness is going to flee.

[31:37] because somehow there's more knowledge around. And we know that that's not true, don't we? But just because people have the knowledge doesn't mean that they're going to have a change of heart.

[31:52] It's the Holy Spirit who brings the change of heart. And so the angel is saying, look, don't have these massive high expectations that now the revelation of Jesus Christ has been fulfilled and, you know, the testimony of Jesus Christ has been shared that all of a sudden foolishness is now not going to be a thing and wickedness is now not going to be a thing.

[32:21] The wise will still respond wisely. Why? Because they're wise. The foolish will still respond foolishly. Why? Because they're foolish. The faithful, because they're faithful, will continue being faithful.

[32:36] And those that aren't won't. And the lesson is for the righteous to still do right. Don't give up doing right. Don't give up being holy.

[32:49] And then we get this switch in verse 12. This switch of the person who's speaking from an angel to Jesus himself. Verse 12, he says, behold, I am coming soon and I'm bringing my recompense with me to repay each one for what he has done.

[33:03] He says, I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end, the first and the last. We talked about this last week. And then he says in verse 14, blessed are those. This is the last of the seven Beatitudes in Revelation.

[33:18] And if you remember, how many of you were with us when we did the Beatitudes in Matthew? Yeah, a few of you. Do you remember that we looked at those and their macarisms?

[33:32] So they're blessed are those and it's a description of the blessed life and then the invitation to join in on that life.

[33:43] That's what it means by blessed are those. And Jesus is saying, look, would you look at this life? Would you look at this guy? Don't you want this kind of life?

[33:54] What would you give to live that kind of life? What kind of life? He says, well, blessed are those.

[34:04] Wouldn't you love to live the kind of life to have your robes washed so that you may have the right to the tree of life, that you may enter the city of the gates? That's what he's saying.

[34:15] That is a blessed life, isn't it? And Jesus is saying, wouldn't you like that kind of life? Like who wouldn't want that life? And in contrast that with verse 15, outside are the dogs.

[34:29] Now don't get too depressed about the phrase dogs. In Judaism, dogs were unclean and they were scavengers.

[34:43] They weren't your kind of little cockapoo kind of deal. Dogs were street animals that in certainly in Judaism should not cross the threshold of your door.

[35:01] And so this is just language that depicts an animal that is wild, that is unclean, that goes into the rubbish, turns over your bins, and that kind of thing.

[35:20] And so outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters. And look, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood, dishonesty.

[35:36] And look, again, we've talked about these statements before, not necessarily a doctrine, a statement, a doctrine about who's going to be outside the gates. Right? So we can come to this and we go, wait a minute, I thought these guys were destroyed and how?

[35:53] What do you mean about these being outside the gates? Again, so it's not a statement about, you know, formulating a new doctrine that we have, you know, the new city and then outside of the new city we have dogs and we have sorcerers and we have sexually immoral and everybody who loves and practices falsehood.

[36:12] That's not what he's saying. It's a statement about how your life today can count for something of worth in the future. The emphasis is actually on verse 14, blessed are those.

[36:26] He's setting up that comparison. Blessed are those. This is the kind of life that you need to be living today. This is the kind of life that you've been invited today. This is the kind of wonderful journey that you've been invited today.

[36:37] that you can today know that your robes have been washed clean. That you now have the right to enter and to take of the tree of life that you may enter the city through the gates.

[36:53] Not like those others. He says, I, Jesus, verse 16, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.

[37:06] He says, I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. We talked about this a little bit in Revelation 2, but that was like some time ago.

[37:18] The morning star refers to the star that can be seen just before the break of day, just before dawn. And it was something that appeared just as the day was breaking, telling those who were looking for the dawning of the day that the day was coming, that it was soon to arrive.

[37:36] And it became a title for Messiah. And it's this last description, and I find it fascinating that it's the last description of Jesus given to us in this book.

[37:52] And yet, it's also a description given to us, an attribute or a description to Satan. And actually, the first time it's described to Satan.

[38:05] So in Isaiah 14, verse 12, we get this description of Satan, how you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer. So Lucifer is Satan's name before he fell.

[38:17] Son of the morning, how you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nation. So son of the morning, that's the phrase. There is one morning star that promises, if you bow down and worship me, I'll give you the kingdoms of the world.

[38:35] Isn't that what he said to Jesus? If you worship me, if you bow down, he has promised to the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, everyone who loves and practices falsehood, a new day.

[38:58] That's what he has promised. But he can't deliver. Jesus says, I, Jesus, the bright morning star, I have promised a new day.

[39:14] And the new day is coming. The spirit and the bride, verse 17, respond. And say, come.

[39:25] And let all who hear say, come. And let the one who is thirsty, notice this, not say come. Do you notice that? A little difference in phrase?

[39:37] The spirit and the bride, what do they say? Come. Everybody here say, come. Those who are thirsty, nothing. Those who are thirsty, just come. If you're tired from drinking of the well of the world and you're still thirsty, there's an open door and there's still time.

[39:59] Let the one who desires take the water of life without price. The idea is without deserving it. That's the only, that's the only way we can drink it, right?

[40:12] We don't, we don't deserve it. Knowing we don't deserve it. It's God's grace. It's a work of Christ. And if you come and you say, Lord, I'm thirsty, I'm tired of drinking of all the different kinds of places that I've been drinking and I kind of feel like I'm a desert.

[40:30] If I can just, if I can just drink from the water that you give, I know I don't deserve it, but I do need it. Jesus said, I warn everyone who hears the words of this prophecy of this book, verse 18.

[40:45] If anyone, if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. You know, there's no, there's no third testament.

[40:59] There's no book of Mormon. There's no promise that the angel Moroni appears to the prophet Joseph Smith in America.

[41:12] it's false. It's falsehood. If anyone adds to the words of this book, I will add to him the plagues described in this book.

[41:25] But if anyone takes away from the words and the prophecies of this book, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city which are described in this book.

[41:36] He who testifies to these things says, surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all.

[41:49] Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace. Thank you that you extend your hand even in these days.

[42:01] Thank you that you give us power to live differently today. Lord, help us to do so. Help us to love obedience. Help us to love to worship.

[42:16] To bow down. Lord, we are amazed, Lord, that you are so patient with us. You're so patient with this world. Lord, we see so many things going on in this world that frighten us, give us fear, make us tremble.

[42:35] Lord, some things that we don't understand. Lord, some things that we even question sometimes. God, why haven't you come back already? Lord, and the only answer that we have is because you're gracious and you're way more gracious than we would be and you're way more merciful than we would be and we know it, Lord, because we know our own hearts and how much we need you.

[42:59] So, Lord, we thank you for the water of life, the tree of life. We thank you, Lord, that each of us can say today we can come and we can take this water and find life from you.

[43:13] Lord, and we do pray, Lord, for all of those who do not know you, Lord, who are drinking, drinking of themselves silly to find life themselves quenched.

[43:28] Lord, we pray, Lord, that they would realize and they would know the desert that they sit in, the water, the well that they are digging for, only giving them dryness and unsatisfaction and desire for more and more.

[43:50] Lord, would you make known to them today, Lord, the reality and the futility of doing that. And, Lord, would they taste and see, would they taste and see that the Lord is good?

[44:08] would they be like the woman who's come to the well who has tried to quench their thirst so many times and find those words from you out of them will flow rivers of living water.

[44:30] Lord, how we need that, how they need, how this world needs that. Lord, help us to live in light of that today as people who have received that.

[44:42] Lord, may we love obedience as obedience that there will be a future reality for us. Lord, help us by your spirit to love that thing, to run to obedience quickly, to run to worship quickly.

[45:01] Lord, help us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. God