HoHum:
Some famous and morbidly funny last words:
“Turn me over—I’m done on this side.” Last words of Lawrence of Rome. Said as he was being burned alive for being a Christian in 258 AD.
“Now is not the time for making new enemies.” Last words of Voltaire, French philosopher. Voltaire was a critic of any faith and he said this to a priest when the priest asked him to renounce the devil and his works.
“Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French fries.’” Said by James French, a convicted murderer on death row, to a news reporter about his impending execution by electric chair.
“And now for a final word from our sponsor—” Said by Charles Gussman, a famous radio and TV announcer
“They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist—” said by John Sedgwick, a general in the Union Army, at the battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. John Sedgwick was shot mid-sentence and died almost instantly.
“I’m looking for loopholes, my friend, looking for loopholes.” Said by W.C. Fields, actor. This was the comedian’s response when asked why he was reading the bible on his deathbed. Fields was known for his hard-drinking, humorously cantankerous character.
WBTU:
I pray we have more noble intentions when it comes to the Scriptures. Starting a series today called “Famous Last Words” from the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Going through Revelation in the adult Sunday school and thought this would be a great addition for church service- more of a topical way whereas Sunday school is more verse by verse. Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” One has to have an imagination to experience all that Scripture has to offer. Reading and listening using our imagination converts the words on paper to voices and visions in us. In this context, I pray that through the preaching of the Word we will take it to heart and this will pull us into a personal encounter with the personal God. Our mission is to love people and lead them to a relationship with Jesus Christ… by the way Jesus Christ is the Word
Thesis: Revelation and the last word concerning Scripture
For instances:
I. Revelation is the last word on Scripture
Language is the most distinctive thing about us as humans. Even more unique among the creatures of earth is our ability to record language through writing onto a page. To put letters into a series that signifies a word and then to take a series of words and make a sentence. Building on this is the doctrine of inerrancy. Every word in Scripture is inerrant, without error. Jesus said in John 10:35 that Scripture cannot be set aside, or Scripture cannot be broken. What constitutes Scripture? Used to say Genesis to Revelation but in the past few centuries had to say the books that the early (2nd century) Christians accepted as Scripture. They knew which ones were authoritative. Modern day idea that Constantine got church leaders together and then decided which books to accept, hogwash. They did get together but they just confirmed what had been agreed upon for years. Ever read some of the books that were rejected, crazy stuff. Sad that we make the Bible so boring, John in Revelation exercises all five senses.
1. Revelation 1:17- "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me." Have to imagine Jesus touching us- He touched me, Oh, he touched me. Baptism is touching experience, use all 5 senses, totally immersed. People want experience and this one exercises all 5 senses
2. From this we taste and see (sight, talk about later) that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2: Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. John is Revelation has a different take on this. Revelation 10:9-10: "So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour." What does this mean? We must experience the sweetness of the message but also experience the suffering, the cross bearing (the offense of the cross), which will be our lot as we proclaim it. In communion, we taste that the Lord is good and his gospel is sweet but we also know that this is offensive to some (body and blood stuff).
3. Smell- Learned early on that need to put away cologne when working with people because some are allergic. Even so, some people really need it. In some groups they have incense to provide aromatherapy for worship. This comes from the days of the Temple when they burned incense on altar of incense. This smell was unique to the temple. We don't need to do this because.... Revelation 5:8 says “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” Revelation 8:4 says, “The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.” Incense rising up to be a pleasing aroma before God. Have to use our imaginations to envision it. Can we see it?
4. Revelation 3:18- "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." How sad that some cannot see. Even more sad is that some can see physically but unable to see spiritually. Matthew 13:14-15- "In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
5. Hearing- Come back around to Revelation 1:3- "Blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it." 7 times in Revelation Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Many worship songs are getting us ready to listen to the message: Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch him, and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen. Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. In youth ministry amazing how many youth doing just the opposite of this as we sang the song.
2 Peter 1:19-21: "We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Inerrant in the autographs but even the copies we have today are more reliable than anything else brought down to us from the ancients.
II. The Last Word of Scripture
Revelation 22:18-19: I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
John is the last apostle and he is saying this about the Revelation but also about the whole canon of Scripture. John knows that he is closing out the Bible, no more Scripture will be added. In our day we have people who talk about having a revelation from God and how this came from the Holy Spirit. If that is the case then we should add it to the Bible because it is inspired. Well, that is not going to happen, why? Because the canon has been closed. The word “canon” means “measuring rule” or “standard.” The 39 books of the OT were accepted by the Jews. Some Bibles have additional books after Malachi. The Apocryphal books like Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Barack and the Maccabees have no ancient authority and were not received by Christ, the apostles, or the Jewish people. These books need to be rejected as Scripture. What is Scripture? Literally means “writings.” 2 Timothy 3:15 mentions “Holy Scriptures” or in another translation, “sacred writings.” 2 Timothy 3:16: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." In much the same way, the 27 books of the NT were accepted as Scripture as soon as they were written. Some churches had some of the books before others and so it took time for all of the books to be distributed and for the evidence of their genuineness to be given to all and accepted by all. Fortunately for us, the early Christians were not gullible; they had learned to try the spirits (1 John 4:1). Many books from antiquity report to be from the apostles and early Christians but they most definitely are not. The latest that has been found is the Gospel of Judas. A manuscript copy of The Gospel of Judas was discovered in 1978 in Egypt. Should this “gospel” be included in the New Testament? Definitely not. Why? It contradicts the accounts of the 4 gospels concerning Judas. Christians in the second century knew about this writing (Irenaeus mentioned it in his book Against Heresies), recognized it as fake, and purposely left it out of the New Testament canon. The Gospel of Philip, Thomas, Peter and others were all rejected because they contain heretical teachings. They were not written by these apostles even though they say otherwise. The amanuensis idea is a lie and is practicing falsehood which is what these additional books did. Early Christians knew the truth.
3. The Last Invitation in Scripture
Revelation 22:17: The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
