As 2017 ends, the Lord says: “Yes, I am coming quickly.”

Revelation 22 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, ² in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³ There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; ⁴ they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

⁶ And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place.

⁷ “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.”

⁸ I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. ⁹ But he said to me, “Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.”

¹⁰ And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. ¹¹ Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.”

¹² “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 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 by the gates into the city. ¹⁵ Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

¹⁸ I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Each year as we come to the end of one year and look toward the next, we tend to look back at what is past. We celebrate the good things and we mourn and grieve the bad and difficult things. Perhaps at this time, more than any other, what Lamentations 3:22-24 says gives us hope.    The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.  “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.”     As we move past the hurts and the difficulties of 2017, we do it with the hope and the promise of a better tomorrow because of the compassion and the loving kindness of God. If we have suffered loss, we take comfort in the promise of Matthew 5:4:     “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”    If we have been treated unfairly, we are comforted by the promise of Matthew 5:10-11:   “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

In today’s text from Revelation 22 it says:  And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near… “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”     We may not know the day or the year of Jesus return, but this I have come to know: The saying is true that the older you get the faster time seems to go. With each passing year we come closer to the time when we will individually or all together stand before God.  As I read today’s text, I was particularly struck by what it says between the above verses about the time being near and Jesus coming quickly. Verse 11 says: Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.      Does that mean that as believers, as followers of Christ we should not try to lead people to righteousness? Should we not call them to repent because the kingdom of God is at hand? Or does it simply mean that the responsibility for the choice and the decisions that others make does not fall on us? As we go into this coming year, 2018, as we move closer to the time of Christ’s return, not knowing the day or hour that we ourselves or someone we know may be called to stand before God, if we would resolve to do anything different this year, may it be that indeed the Lord would be our portion and our hope would be in Him.

May we faithfully do what Jesus says is first and foremost:  "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." (Luke 10:27)  In that love for others may we do and be as Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-16:     “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”    May we recognize and accept that the results and the response of others is not our responsibility, but rather as Jesus says in John 16:8-11:   “And He, (the Holy Spirit) when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;  and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;  and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”     We are to be obedient to and live for Christ.  Today’s text says:   There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him;  they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

So, as bond-servants, who serve the Lord, may we live in the freedom He has given us. Not freedom to do as we please but rather freedom to do as He is pleased. May we indeed be light in the darkness of our times. May we do as Jesus says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)     May there be no condemnation from us, as there is no condemnation for us. But, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:15:  Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.     

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.  I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.   Lord Jesus as we go forward into 2018 if this is not the year that You to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth, may it be a year that through the power of the Holy Spirit working through Your disciples, Your kingdom would come and Your will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen.