Revelation Series #31: Maranatha—Live Now in That Hope

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” - Revelation 22:17

This final message is based on the epilogue, “Maranatha: Live Now in That Hope,” from Lift Up Your Eyes to Heaven.

What Remains After The Final Page?

We have reached the end of Revelation and the end of this series. The throne has been opened before us. We have heard the letters to the churches, watched the seals break, listened to the trumpets, and stood beneath the bowls. We have seen a dragon thrown down, beasts rise, Babylon glitter and collapse, the King appear on a white horse, the dead stand before the throne, and the holy city descend.

What should remain after so many images? Not a crowded mind filled with symbols but an unchanged life. Not fear of tomorrow but loyalty today. Not pride in possessing an interpretive system but worship of Jesus Christ.

The epilogue of Lift Up Your Eyes to Heaven begins with humility. The author describes hesitating before Revelation because the book has so often been distorted. Fear-driven preaching, cultic claims, speculative schedules, and careless certainty have left residue in the church. Anyone who writes about Revelation should ask whether inherited assumptions are obscuring the Lamb.

That humility is appropriate for every reader. Revelation does not reward arrogance. Its visions are too large, its warnings too severe, and its center too glorious. We approach as servants asking the Lord to uncover what is true and remove what we merely assumed.

Revelation Series #30: The Radiant Final Word

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” - Revelation 22:20

This message is based on Chapter 22, “The Radiant Final Word,” from Lift Up Your Eyes to Heaven.

Life Flows From The Throne

The Bible’s final chapter begins beside a river. Clear as crystal, the water of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the center of New Jerusalem. That point of origin tells us where life has always come from. Not empire, wealth, technology, politics, self-discovery, or human progress. Life flows from God and from the Lamb who was slain.

Babylon had a river of commerce. Nations became drunk on her luxury, and merchants grew rich by feeding endless desire. The river of life is different. It is not controlled by a marketplace or reserved for those able to pay. It proceeds as the free gift of the throne.

The shared throne of God and the Lamb also reveals the majesty of Christ. Jesus is not merely standing near the source of life. He reigns with the Father. The One mocked, wounded, and crucified is at the center of eternal reality.

Every stream we depend upon now eventually runs low. Strength fades. Careers end. Relationships pass through change and loss. Even the best season cannot be held still. The river John sees never dries because its source is the inexhaustible life of God.

Revelation Series #29: The Great Comfort

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” - Revelation 21:4

This message is based on Chapter 21, “The Great Comfort,” from Lift Up Your Eyes to Heaven.

After The Long Storm

Revelation 21 feels like the first full breath after a violent storm. The beasts have fallen. Babylon’s glittering city has collapsed. Satan, death, and Hades have faced judgment. Now John sees a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth have passed away.

The word translated “new” is kainos. It describes newness in quality, not merely something recently manufactured. God’s answer to creation’s brokenness is not a cosmetic repair. Neither is salvation an evacuation plan that abandons everything He made. The whole order wounded by sin is brought into a condition free from corruption, death, and curse.

This is where the gospel has always been going. Forgiveness is personal, but God’s purpose is larger than a private soul entering a distant heaven. Christ redeems a people and prepares a renewed creation in which righteousness dwells. The One who raised Jesus bodily from the grave will not surrender the material world to decay.

Human civilization repeatedly paints the ruins and calls them progress. We solve one problem and create another. We extend life without defeating death. We connect millions while loneliness deepens. Our achievements may be genuine, but none can remove the curse. Revelation does not ask us to despise every human effort. It asks us to stop expecting creation’s final healing from human hands.

The new world comes from the faithfulness of God.