Easter 7 Revelation 22:12-17,20
"It's time to eat," comes a voice from the kitchen and one by one we all make our way to the table. As Mom puts the last steaming dish in the middle, we bow our heads and join in praying, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest."
In that common table prayer we are asking Jesus to be with us as we enjoy his gifts with grateful hearts. We want him to bless our bodies through the food he gives us. But there's more. Every time we pray, "Come, Lord Jesus," we're asking Jesus to make his home with us. And we’re asking him to come back and take us to our eternal home in heaven.
This chapter of Revelation tells us that our prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus" will be answered. Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead he ascended back to heaven. On that day the angels told his apostles, “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” In these closing verses of the last book of the Bible our Savior promises three times, “I am coming soon”. That is the prayer of every Christian. And on this Mother’s Day, it is the prayer of every Christian mother: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
- Come to my home today
God ends the last page of his Word with words of urgency. Jesus is coming to bring an end to all evil and to bring his bride home with him. Our lives on earth have an air of urgency about them, too. This world in its present form is passing away. This is the only time we have to come to faith, to grow in faith, and tolive out the purpose he has for us in this world.
Parents know all about urgency. One day our children are coming home from the hospital and in no time they are going out the door to school. Moments later they are leaving to start homes of their own. Where did the time go? Did we make the most of that time with our children? Are they ready to face the world? Will they remember what we taught them? Throughout the Bible and here in its closing words the Lord reminds us how urgent our work is as parents. The times in which we live are perilous. As one Christian writer put it, this is a “world where truth is forever on the scaffold and wrong forever on the throne.” But we are so busy and our schedules are so exhausting. We are pulled in every direction. Our children are pulled in every direction. If we allow it, others are very eager and willing to set the priorities for us. And the world’s reasoning appeals to our sinful nature. Wrong sounds plausible and right to our sinful ears.Just go with the flow. That’s what everyone else seems to be doing.But the problem with the flow is that it is headed in the opposite direction of God’s will and ends in destruction on the Last Day.
If you hear and believe what God says in his Word, you will not be in the main stream of the unbelieving culture. As you guide your children with God’s Word, they will not be in the main stream of the unbelieving culture, either. God’s Word and his people never have been. Themind of the world is on earthly things, but a believer’s mind isall about a new relationship God has given us with him through his Son, Jesus Christ. We are a new creation, redeemed people who are on the way to receiving “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for [us].” We aren’t worried about missing out on anything in this life - that trip we always wished to take, that dream house we always wanted to build, that long, peaceful retirement we so looked forward to. Whether they happen or not, Jesus is giving us a far better life that will never end. He worked hard to earn it for us, even shedding his blood and suffering the pain and death of our hell on a cross so we could live in joy with him forever. Now he promises to share it with everyone who believes in him.
If our homes are to be places where wrong is on the scaffold and truth is on the throne, then our influenceas Christian parents, both fathers and mothers, needs to be deliberate, planned, and prioritized. We need Jesus to make his home with us, and so we pray “come, Lord Jesus”. Keep coming to our hearts through your Word. Keep us strong and safe in your love. Jesus answers that prayer by making us members of a church where we can hear the truth of his Word in worship, in Sunday School, and in Bible class. But that’s just one day a week. If you haven’t already started, read a devotion from Meditations each day with your wife or husband. Your children will be watching. If you have small children, spend a few minutes reading from a children’s Bible before they go to sleep. Say prayers with them and include something you read from the Bible. Teach them how to give their worries and troubles to Jesus. If you have older children, take time to listen to them. Let down your guard and share your own fears and concerns about life. Let them know that you don’t have all the answers and tell them how helpless you feel sometimes. Let them know how you deal with them by turning to God’s Word for help and casting all your cares on him in prayer. Let them know that the reason you want them to learn God’s Word is because you love them so much. If your children are grown and on their own, pray that Jesus keeps coming to them, too, just as he did when they lived in your home. Never stop praying for them, like St. Augustine’s mother kept praying for him after he left home. For 17 years she prayed that Jesus would bring her son back to him. Jesus heard and answered her prayer. Not only did Jesus come to Augustine through his Word. He also made him one of the greatest leaders of the early Christian church.
“Come, Lord Jesus”. Come to my home today. Help me to live for you, long for you, and rejoice on the day when you come to...
- Take me to your home forever
“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.”Jesus’ promise, “I am coming soon” is bad news for anyone who sins. It will be a terrible day for everyone who realizes too late that hell is not a joke or an exaggeration. It a real place of outer darkness, unquenchable fire, anger, agony and gnashing teeth. Although God wants all people to be saved, multitudes will go to hell. The proof will be in what they have done. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
That would include every one of us, too, for we have all sinned. And that is why we need Jesus! Jesus promises to bring a rewardfor every believer on that day. Everyone who believes that Jesus lived and died for them will receive the reward for having lived a perfect life, not because we have lived it ourselves, but because Jesus has lived it for us.On that day we will realize how important it was for us to have Jesus come to us during our time on earth. We will see how he worked everything together for our good – the things we couldn’t understand, the times we questioned his purpose – so that we could hear him say, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”
Until then, “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” You and I have heard the Spirit’s invitation and, by God’s grace, we have come. Now it’s our turn to pass it on to others. And it’s easy to find prospects. This invitation is for anyone who sins, anyone who needs Jesus to rescue them from God’s judgment, and that’s everyone!
"Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!" Amen.