Rev 22
Press means to apply force. When God said press, prayer reaches every single situation. He gave us permission to apply force to every situation that we will go through.
And in this podcast, we are going to learn to apply force to what's applying pressure to us. Going to the book of Revelations for the last stop in this press prayer journey through every prayer in the Bible. I'm so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Press Movement Podcast. Let's dive in. As John concludes the book of Revelation, he's really getting a glimpse of the things to come throughout the whole book.
But God doesn't leave this on a negative note with him. John records in Revelation 22, and he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads, and there shall be no night there.
And they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
In other words, he said, This is going to happen. There is a day of peace coming. There is a day where there will be no more night.
There is a day where there shall be life and nothing else. There is a day coming when we're going to see him as he is. And Jesus said to John, Behold, I come quickly.
Blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book, guarded, protected, hold on to it. John says he saw and he heard these things. And when he had heard and seen them, he fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.
But the angel told him, He said, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brother in the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book. Worship God. Such a potent statement.
There will be great people in your life. There will be people who the Lord uses to minister to you. But worship God.
That is in the conclusion of this chapter. Worship God. Leave the main thing the main thing.
And so they continue talking. And the angel says to him, Still not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand, meaning the time is coming. Again, he's reiterating how quickly time will end.
He's already said, Behold, I come quickly. And now he's saying, Don't even seal this one up, because it's at hand. And he goes on in verse 12 again and says, I come quickly, and my reward is with me.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Goes on to say, Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city. He says, I am Jesus.
I, Jesus, have sent my angels to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Again, I have to reiterate in verse 12, he said, I come quickly.
Three times already in chapter 22, and we'll see it again before we conclude. He references how quickly he is coming. You know, they've been preaching for all my life, for my grandmother's life before me, my mother's life.
Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming.
And I know the days feel long, but I have no doubt that moment will feel quick. And by that, I mean, sometimes when we're in things and we're going through processes, whether it's just simply matriculating through school, trying to get through elementary school, then middle school, then high school, then college, you spend time in school and you're thinking this is going to take forever. And some days just feel so long.
Sometimes you feel like they're raising children or on your job. But when you go to look back or when you step away from that job, that environment, that school, and you realize that time is over, you realize just how fragile time is. That every second truly is a vote for what matters most in it.
Every second is a moment you'll never get back. And you get to decide what to do with those moments, with those seconds, with those minutes, hours, and days. But you'll never have it again.
Time is fleeting. It's always passing away. It's a commodity that can't be bought with riches.
It's something that does not yield itself to the rich or to the poor, to the healthy or the sick. It doesn't matter who you are, time keeps moving. And so when Jesus says He's coming quickly, I don't think that meant He'll be here tomorrow then.
Obviously, He didn't come then. But what He does mean is that when He comes, time is gone. And there will inevitably be somebody saying, hold on, if I just had a little more time.
And so verse 17 continues, "...and the Spirit and the Brides, they come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Everybody's invited to come. Come to Jesus. Don't ignore Him.
Don't run. Time is moving. I love this last chapter of the Bible, where it's focusing on the fact, yes, Jesus is coming.
Yes, He has a plan for us. Yes, He wants you. Worship Him.
He wants you. Choose Him. This is Revelations 22.
And the Bible tells us don't change anything about the prophecy of this book. That's why I'm always skeptical when people want to try different versions or every man has their own interpretation. No, no, no, no, no.
We need to stick with what's written here. The Bible says, "...for I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book." And we're getting to the prayer shortly.
He says in verse 20, "...he which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly." Again, I think that's the fourth time in this chapter. He's letting you know, I'm coming quickly. Be ready.
John's response is the final prayer of the Bible. When he says, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Amen. One thing I noted in studying this is that this prayer begins and ends with Amen. And in looking in Thayer's lexicon, the definition of the words Thayer's is much like a Strong's in terms of looking at the Greek words and telling you about what they mean or the Hebrew words.
In this instance, we'd be looking at Greek because it's the New Testament. But the way they described Amen, I thought was extremely interesting. Because at the beginning of a discourse, Amen means truly, surely of a truth.
But at the end, it means so it is, so be it, may it be fulfilled. So when he starts his prayer, he's reaffirming this is going to happen. This is true.
Come Lord, everything you said, not just you coming, but everything you said, the whole book, surely it's a guarantee. What God said he's going to do, he is definitely, definitely going to do. And he says, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus.
Do it your way. Come Lord, we're waiting. We're ready.
But until then, until he comes, may the grace of God be with you all. May he keep you in ways you don't deserve to be kept. And he ends it saying again, Amen.
So let it be. Let it come to pass. So we leave it on this as John did.
Whatever God's going to do, whatever God has said, whatever God has purposed, it is sure. It is absolute. It is true.
It's got to happen. So God, our prayer is keep us with you until we see what you've said, until you've done all you purpose to do. We know you're going to do it.
The prayer of God is keep us, keep us close, hold us until you come. We want you to come. We want to see your face.
We want to worship you at your throne. We want to go to a place where there are no more tears and no more crying, where there's no more night. There is no more sickness nor death.
We don't know when you're going to do it, but we know you're coming quickly. So come Lord Jesus, come, have your way, show up God, help us to be ready for you. This is the final prayer of the book of Revelation.
Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Join the movement, join the community, like, share and subscribe to this podcast. Visit us at PressToPray.com or find us on Instagram or Facebook. Did you know that when you are quiet, your voice is missing to God's ears? I know some of us have prayed and we're wondering how long should I pray about this? Why should I pray if God already knows? How will I know God is answering? And what do I do when I feel like God's not listening? But God is listening for your voice.
It's too quiet in this world for the troubles we have. You have to raise your voice and God wants to hear from you. It's Too Quiet, a book about prayer.
It's designed to answer your prayer questions and build your faith. Visit PressToPray.com
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