Amen. Come, Lord Jesus
(Rev 22:16ampsim21)
If Jesus came back today, who will dash into his arms, saying 'Amen. Come, Lord Jesus'? Here is a description of those who will.
1. Those who cherish their church community. Who will have the access to the tree of life of the Holy City is determined by whether they belong to the holy community or not. Many people consider their world as a community despite its pyramid structure where the multitude at the bottom support a few at the top. They key values of the world are conquest and victory. Yet church community focuses on altruistic values. Jesus, the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star tells us however weak we may be, we can lighten the dark world as he did. God gave Israel the mission of being a watchman after making it a ruin. A watchman need to stay awake while others are asleep and watch afar, doing his lonely ministry, which cant be fulfilled with a right-and-wrong attitude. He needs to listen to others while watching over his own evil. God has told us that he is the Alpha and Omega of love and disaster. This is the theme of the song of salvation, the new song of those who see their sins. The heavenly kingdom in this age of lay priesthood is the community where these watchmen gather and serve. It is the kingdom of those who confess 'Amen. Come, Lord Jesus' under all circumstances, whether cancer or bankruptcy or child problems.
2. Those who respond to Gods steadfast invitation. The word come as in the verse 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened' is repeated 1900 times in the Bible. This reflects Gods tenacious love for us and his patience. Those who respond to this invitation of God have the following features.
1) A listening heart: The circumstance that drives us to listen to the Word is a blessing because it makes us lay down the heavy load of our sins and respond to Gods invitation. Without the listening heart, we take the Word as it pleases us. To understand the Word means listening to it and being touched by the spirit of repentance.
2) Spiritual hunger: What the world gives us makes us ever thirsty. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness because, as Jesus said, whoever drinks the water that He gives will never thirst. Would we be satisfied if we meet a wealthy spouse, fed up with our poor one, or a spouse of a gentle disposition dumping our obstinate one, or a spouse of nice appearance instead of our old plain one? Gods people cant be satisfied with any of them. Whatever they do, they will have thirst and hunger. We cant be truly a happy couple until we slake our thirst with the water of everlasting life. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, 'God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.' Then the woman laid down her jar with which she had quenched her physical thirst, revealed her shame to her community, evangelizing them. We also need to have our spiritual thirst for God, with which we serve our community of those who are in distress or in debt or discontented.
(3) Willingness: Who will respond to the invitation? Those who have a willingness for salvation can do it. Like Joshua, who had victorious testimonies, Wooridle Church also has lots of testimonies in many spiritual wars. Its spiritual leaders willingness flows down to their members through their message, 'Now you choose. As for me Ill choose God!' Thus the leaders applications matter the most.
3. Those who dont add to or subtract from the words of prophecy. New Age, values, post modernism, and prosperity gospel preaching prevent us from focusing on our evil and sinful nature by instilling in us the idea that humans be a god and do whatever they want. The most dangerous aspect of post modernism is that everyone can have his own religion and insist on his own interpretation. Like liberalism, legalism also added or deducted from the Word. Smart people often fall into heresy because they want to be special or distinguished from others. Those who are living a tough life chase diviners revelation, clutching at straws after deciding what their own good and bad are. They are fascinated by heresy because they avoid the gospel, saying its hard to understand, which makes them unable to understand the Word and be unprepared for Gods judgment of them. Without the perspective of Gods redemption history, we tend to add to or subtract from the Word. To our usual question 'How long, O LORD?,' God says 'Coming soon!' The tragic accident of Dami Mission happened 26 years ago because it added to and deducted from the Word according to its own eschatology. Blessed are those who read and listen to, and observe the Word, who die in Christ, and who wash their robes. If we chase only worldly prosperity, setting aside heavenly blessing, were actually getting closer to plagues. The theme of Revelation is Live as if today is your last day. We need to be ready to confess 'Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!'
He who testifies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with Gods people. Amen. (Rev 22:20-21)
