His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): Has this thought crossed your mind: I wonder why Jesus hasn't returned and put an end to this mess? Pastor Matt says it's because God is not wanting any to perish, but more to be saved.

Matt VanderVen: He's long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He is being so patient so that every single person has the opportunity to say, "I do." I didn't forget about you. I'm just giving people a chance to come forward and say, "I do, Jesus. I do." We cannot give up on our prodigals. We can't give up on the lost.

Guest (Male): There is only one book in our Bibles with the direct blessing promised to those that read, hear, and obey it, and that is the book of Revelation. It's our great privilege to open and study it together with you here on His Perfect Love. Prepare to be blessed as we do.

Pastor Matt VanderVen says there are seven blessings here in Revelation, and we'll take a look at each of them with you today. Join us in the first chapter as the unveiling of Jesus Christ continues. Here's Pastor Matt with today's message.

Matt VanderVen: The supreme blessing that He really wants to unveil to you and I here this morning is learning more about Himself. It's a depth of relationship, knowing the person that we call our Lord and our Savior in a more intimate way. You can't rush that. Just like any other relationship in your life, you can't rush it; it takes time to build that. That's exactly what He's doing here with us.

The seven blessings of Revelation are found throughout the book. Look at Revelation chapter 1, verse 3. We just read it. I'd be remiss if I didn't say that the number seven is repeated several times throughout Revelation. You might remember from Genesis that symbolizes a completeness and possibly a complementing of the completion of creation in seven days from Genesis 1 and 2.

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy. Blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is in it because the time is near. The book of Revelation is unique as the only book of the Bible with a direct blessing promised to those who publicly read it and their hearers. To hear God's word without obedience is folly. We read that in the book of James chapter 1, verse 22.

The blessing specifically specifies—and that's why you read it in the latter half of verse 3—those who hear also need to keep these things which are written. We might say that in English another way: take to heart. Take to heart the things that you and I are hearing or reading this morning.

The second blessing in Revelation is found in Revelation chapter 14, verse 13. We'll study these in more detail as we get into those passages, but seven again being significant, complete, all the completeness He wants us to see in the blessings. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor for their deeds will follow them."

What is God doing here? People who become believers and die during the tribulation will find rest and reward with their Lord. What does that tell us is going to happen during the great tribulation? Are people going to get saved? Yes. Revelation 7 says that the word will even go forward to the nations at that point.

People that reject during the great tribulation still are choosing to fully reject. It's not like there's not going to be Bibles or it's not like they're not going to be able to turn to some kind of word to be able to see. Now, is it going to be like it is now? No. We have such an abundance of the word. We have the freedom in America to come into churches to sit under the word.

Those that do make a choice for Jesus ultimately will pay for it with their lives. They will be martyrs during the great tribulation unless they survive it until the time in which Jesus comes back. He's reminding them that there's a blessing, that there's a reward, and they're going to find rest. Just think about how bad it's going to be. We think it's difficult now; all they can think about then is rest.

The third blessing is found in Revelation chapter 16, verse 15. He says, "Look, I come like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed." Jesus warns those in the tribulation, just prior to the Battle of Armageddon, that He will soon come as a thief. Those who believe in Him will be blessed with His coming and His appearing.

A born-again believer now will not go through the great tribulation. You will be raptured out. But if you are saved during the great tribulation, there is no rapture do-over. There's nothing that speaks to that biblically. When you get saved during the great tribulation, you will have to suffer the consequences. Please pray for prodigals.

The fourth blessing is found in Revelation 19:9. Then the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb." He added, "These are the true words of God." The marriage supper between the Lamb and His bride, the church, will take place in heaven. God's people from all ages will be on hand to celebrate.

I call this the great family reunion. We're all going to be there if we're born again. We're going to be together. It's going to be awesome. The wedding feast is a common picture of the kingdom in Scripture. Matthew 22 and Matthew 25 are illustrations of that. Is there any coincidence that here we are talking about these things? You can walk right outside the sanctuary into the lobby and you can find all those pictures of husbands and wives.

It is in the very institution that God has ordained called marriage that was pre-curse. It is the only thing that survived pre-curse that we have today that God instituted. It's meant also to be a picture to you and I of the kingdom. The fifth blessing is found in Revelation chapter 20, verse 6. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

He's talking about those that will be alive at that time, certainly born-again believers, that are going to reign with Jesus Christ during the thousand-year millennial reign. They are priests. We're all called priests. The various resurrections in the Bible are divided into two general categories. The first resurrection is the resurrection of the just, and the second is of the unjust. We know that from Daniel 12, Luke 14, and Acts 24.

The first resurrection leads to eternal life. The second resurrection leads to the second death. That's talked about more in Revelation chapter 20. The sixth blessing is Revelation chapter 22:7. "Look, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of this prophecy written in the scroll." Jesus promises a blessing to those who keep and obey the teaching of Revelation. Reading and hearing the word is not enough if not followed by obedience.

The seventh blessing is found in Revelation 22:14. Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. That may be confusing to some of us this morning, but if you turn over to Revelation chapter 7:14, it will give us the understanding. Our salvation comes from having one's robes washed in the Lamb's blood.

In Revelation 22:14, he's talking about the born-again believer that's been washed and cleansed by Jesus. Only born-again believers will be able to go into heaven. Washing your robes in the blood is the idea that we do not reject or become apostate or walk away from Jesus. Jesus never walks away from you and I. We cannot lose our salvation, but an apostate or a heretic can turn around and renounce Jesus or reject Him.

They are no longer walking or washing their robes in the blood of Jesus because they reject Jesus. It's an amazing picture of the purity that comes with salvation and the price Jesus paid for our redemption. If you just hold your finger here, turn to Ephesians 1:7. It tells us, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."

Only blood-washed believers have the right to partake of the tree of life from which mankind has been barred since the fall in the garden. Only those with robes of righteousness have access to the Holy City. We see that in Psalm 118 and Psalm 120. He has made that very clear to us. In conclusion here, he said, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it," and then he says, "for the time is near."

This Greek word "near" is an adverb. It's similar to what Jesus wrote in Revelation chapter 22 when He says, "The time is at hand." He's trying to describe a time in which He is being long-suffering. If we don't know 2 Peter 3:8, and we don't understand 2 Peter 3:8, we might be slightly confused by what He means by this. 2 Peter 3:8-9 uses similar language.

God's time is eternal; it's not our time on our timeline the way we understand it in the temporal. In verse 8, he said, "But beloved, do not forget this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." That means one day on earth is like—he's not saying it's exactly measured out that way—but one day in heaven is like a thousand years on the earth.

I often believe that when we get to see our loved ones that have passed on before us, and we see Jesus first and are taken to heaven, I wonder if we're going to be like, "I missed you so much. It's been 54 years." And they say, "It's been hours. I just saw you a couple of hours ago." In heaven, the timing is different than it is on the earth.

Verse 9 gives us the reason and understanding, and this is why Jesus should never be mocked. His long-suffering should never be mocked by any Christian or any unbeliever because they don't understand what God is actually doing. Most of us are thinking, "Lord, what are you waiting for? I mean, it's Isaiah 5 already. They've called evil good and good evil. We've seen the labor pains begin to start. Lord, what are you waiting for?"

He was waiting for you. He was waiting for me. He's waiting for your prodigal. He's waiting for the lost that don't know Him. He says it right in verse 9, because we just read verse 8. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise." His promise to do what? What did we just read in Revelation? He talked about two comings. The first time He came was to bring salvation. What is He coming the second time with? In Revelation 6, it's the wrath of the Lamb of God. What is the wrath? Judgment.

The next time He comes, He is coming in judgment. He's not slack concerning His promise talking about judging the earth. It's not like He forgot, as some count slackness, as some people are mocking. He gives us the reason. He's so good, but He is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He is being so patient so that every single person has the opportunity to say, "I do."

He uses marriage as the illustration. When I get the opportunity to preside over a marriage, it's one of my most favorite things to do in ministry. When you have a young man and a young woman come forward and the guy looks in his eyes, he's just in love. He just looks at his bride. He doesn't miss a beat on that step. He's watching every move she makes as she makes her way up. I do what's called the vows. At the end, what is their response? "I do."

That's the same picture and illustration that Christ has given us as born-again believers. We are wed to Jesus and we're saying, "I do." He said "I do" to us. But he's saying, please don't misunderstand. I didn't forget about you. I'm just giving people a chance to come forward and say, "I do, Jesus. I do." We cannot give up on our prodigals. We can't give up on the lost.

I grew up in Rochester, New York. I was in college in a place in New Rochelle, New York, which is right outside the city. We were poor; I didn't have a lot of money, so I would use rollerblades. I would rollerblade five miles because home was like six hours away. We barely had one car for the whole family. I remember being in this British literature class. That's where I met Lisa.

I was rollerblading in and I got into the class. I looked and I turned around and I was like, "Who's the one taking notes in this class?" And there's this girl. She's sitting there literally writing everything down. I said, "She's my new best friend." She didn't know it yet. So I turned around and I went up and I was like, "Hi, how are you? Can I buy you lunch? And can you bring your notes?"

Probably not smart. I went up to her and I said, "Hey, really nice to meet you. Can we have lunch? I'll buy you lunch. But may I have a copy of your notes because I was too busy talking in class?" She turned around out of grace and she gave me her notes. What if I would have gone up to her that day, rollerbladed into class, knocking things over, sitting down? What if I would have gone right up to Lisa—after all, I end up marrying her—what if I would have gone up to her that day, crashed right in, and said, "I want to marry you right now"?

What do you think she would have said to me? She's a girl from the Bronx. You don't go up to a girl from the Bronx like that unannounced. First of all, she'll knock you right out. She will cold-cock you. So you turn around, you're respectful. "Hi, my name's Matt. Nice to meet you." What if I had gone up like I said and said, "I want to marry you"? She would have said, "What are you, some kind of weirdo? I don't even know you. I don't even know who you are."

How many times do we do that with Jesus? Throw His name around like it's a calling card. We understand on a human level that anything that we know about each other comes by direct investment in another human life. Whether it's being a father, mother, children, family, relationship is all tied to investment, not only of time but of quality. We get to know people; they get to know us. We then earn the right to speak into their lives.

When I think about this, we have such good news. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ. But I think some of us rollerblade into the class and just say, "Hey, you've got to marry me right now," instead of taking the moment to say, "I'm in it for the long game. I'm in it for the long haul. I'd rather spend the time getting to know you, figuring out how I can serve you, how I can be others-focused."

How do I make you the centrality, to make you feel like you're the best-loved, best-encouraged person? When we all feel that way, we enjoy spending time with the person we're with. We don't want to leave their presence. We want to be with them more. How much more with Jesus? That's what it really is about. It's the unveiling of Jesus Christ, but so many of us don't want to take the time to invest in the one that's the Savior of our souls.

We don't want to take the time to invest in other people that don't know Him yet. We just think, "Well, I've got five minutes, here we go." Most of us would never do that with a marriage proposal. We would first take the time to get to know someone and earn the right. May we leave here today understanding a little bit more about Jesus, how He is a gentleman, how He treats us so beautifully. Love, grace, mercy.

May we turn and pay that forward to every person we meet by investing in other people's lives. After all, we're the ones to assemble, so what's poured in here, when we walk out of these doors, can be poured out there to a lost and dying world. That's the good news and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): That is Pastor Matt VanderVen on His Perfect Love. We're going through Revelation at the present time, and I'll remind you that you can hear the program again when you visit HisPerfectLove.org. We're also at OnePlace.com and look for us wherever you get your podcasts.

We also offer a mobile app. This is a great way to take Pastor Matt's teachings with you on the go. You can learn more about the mobile app and start your download when you visit our website, HisPerfectLove.org. We can't thank you enough for your prayers for this ministry. Please pray that as God's word goes forward, that lives would be greatly impacted for the glory of God and people would grow by His grace and love, or even enter into a relationship with Him.

If you have a prayer request, please send that our way. You can email that to us through our website at HisPerfectLove.org. If you live in the Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania area, we hope you'll stop by for a visit. Just like you hear on the radio, Pastor Matt teaches verse by verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.

Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek gathering on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. We're located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Go to CCHarrisburg.org for more information. Then join us next time when Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Revelation here on His Perfect Love.