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 #26: The King on the White Horse

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.” — Revelation 19:11

This message is based on Chapter 19, “The King on the White Horse: The Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the Majesty of the Judge,” from Lift Up Your Eyes to Heaven.

The smoke of Babylon rises, and heaven answers with hallelujah. Then the scene changes from a fallen city to a wedding, from the purchased pleasures of the prostitute to the clean linen of the bride. Finally heaven itself opens, and Jesus appears on a white horse. Revelation 19 is filled with song, beauty, terror, and hope because the same Lord comes as Bridegroom for His people and Judge against evil.

Some Christians have grown hesitant to speak about the return of Christ. Failed date predictions and sensational end-times claims have caused understandable embarrassment. But misuse of a truth does not make the truth disposable. The New Testament’s hope moves toward the visible appearing of Jesus, the resurrection of His people, the defeat of His enemies, and the renewal of creation. The church does not protect itself from fanaticism by forgetting what it waits for.