May 13, 2010

Our Second Lesson for this upcoming Sunday comes from the final verses of the final book of the Bible. We'll look at two select verses:

"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. He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22: 17 & 20)

If you were to ask a dog trainer: what is the single most important thing a young puppy should know? The answer you will likely hear is a one word answer - 'come.' A puppy needs to be able to respond appropriately when they hear their master calling 'come.' Someday it just might save their life. So it is with us, as the single most important thing in the world for us humans is to hear the Holy Spirit when he calls, 'come;' because someday it will save our life - our eternal life.

We have heard the Spirit's invitation to come and now we are to invite those who haven't yet heard the invitation to come - those who are still thirsty. Those who haven't heard the Spirit's invitation are thirsty and dehydrated to the point of fainting under the elements of sin. They are thirsty and they can't seem to find anything to quench their thirst. They reach for various beverages mixed by themselves, the devil or the world, but all leave them thirstier. What they are really thirsty for is forgiveness and peace. That forgiveness and peace is found in "the free gift of the water of life." (verse 17). Because Jesus 'drank the cup' (Matthew 26:42) and paid for it, our drink from the water of life is free. This water of life quenches our thirst for good by offering a refreshing new perspective on life in this world, and then it ultimately gives us the gift of eternal life!

CW#336 "Come unto Me, Ye Weary" puts it nicely.

(verse 3)
"Come unto me, ye fainting, And I will give you life."
O cheering voice of Jesus, Which comes to aid our strife!
The foe is stern and eager; The fight is fierce and long;
But thou has made us mighty And stronger than the strong.

The fight is fierce and long. While we live in this "post-ascension age" and wait for Jesus to return, we will likely have our share of strife, but Jesus hasn't turned his back on us. Heaven is not in a 'dead spot,' we can call Jesus up anytime we want - Jesus also invites us to come: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) When we go to him with our earthly problems, Jesus will listen to our prayers and if it his will, he will ease those burdens. But even more important than rest from our earthly issues, is the rest from the burden of sin - eternal rest that Jesus guarantees for all who come to him.

CW#336 "Come unto Me, Ye Weary" (verse 1)
"Come unto me, ye weary, And I will give your rest."
O blessed voice of Jesus, Which comes to hearts oppressed!
It tells of benediction, Of pardon, grace and peace,
Of joy that has no ending, Of love that cannot cease.

I am ashamed to admit that on more than one occasion when I have been busy working on something and one of my daughters has called for me from the other room, I have responded by calling back, "I'm coming." And then I proceed to not only finish up what I am working on, but sometimes I even selfishly start more work before I actually go to them. When we call, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus," and Jesus answers in his Word, "I am coming soon," (verse 20) it's NOT because he is selfishly working on something and is too busy to deal with us. Jesus doesn't throw out that phrase as a stall tactic. Everything Jesus is doing right now in heaven, he is doing for us - things like interceding for us, answering our prayers and preparing our room in heaven. When the time comes on God's calendar (Acts 1:7), when the preparations are complete, Jesus tells us, "I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:3b) There's nothing more awesome for us to look forward to, than to be with Jesus forever - the joy that has no ending, and so we can't help but saying and praying "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." (verse 20)

"Come unto Me, Ye Weary" doesn't have a verse 5, so I tried my hand at one, using these verses from Revelation as the basis:

Now we say come Lord Jesus! And while we wait for You,
We share Your love with others, That others may come too.
The Holy Spirit's calling, Eternal life is free.
We hear Him, come Lord Jesus, That we may go with Thee. Amen!

Because God the Holy Spirit has called us to come and because God the Son has come into this world to pay our way, to quench our thirst and to give us the free gift of life; we are now right with God the Father, and we are now ready to come and spend eternity singing praises at the throne of our Triune God. In the meantime we should be calling the thirsty to come and hear the Spirit's invitation to come, and in the meantime if we get weary we can come to Jesus and he will give us rest. But for those who have heard the Spirit's call to come, Jesus' return can't come soon enough! Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen!