ÿþ <html> <head> <title>Welcome to First United Methodist Church, El Dorado, AR,  I Am Coming Soon </title><!--- Jan 3, 2010 --> <meta name="description" content="First United Methodist church, El Dorado, AR, FUMC, F.U.M.C. First Church, First Methodist, Methodist John Wesley, Methodist, United Methodist Youth, United Methodist women" /> <meta name="keywords" content="First United Methodist church, El Dorado, AR, FUMC, F.U.M.C. First Church, First Methodist, Methodist JOhn Wesley, Methodist, United Methodist Youth, United Methodist women" /> <meta name="Generator" content="HipDog Web Design.com All rights reserved." /> <meta name="robots" content="index, follow" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;>charset=iso-8859-1" /> </head> <body background="/graphix/14.jpg"><!---- bgcolor="#f5eacc ---> <div align="center"><a name=top></a> <table width="800" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td> <div align="center"> <table width="99%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td width="800"> <!----------- header collage top ---------------------> <a href="/index.html"> <img border="0" src="/graphix/headerFUMC2.jpg"></a></td> <TABLE width=800 border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <TR bgcolor="#F2F2E6"> <!--- pink #f7d5cf -----> <TD width=800 valign="baseline" bgcolor="#d8d2d8"><DIV align="center"> <font color="#000000" face="CAC futura casual">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;201 S. Hill Street, El Dorado, AR 71730&nbsp; </font></DIV> </TD> </TR> </TABLE></TD> <TR> <td width="20%" valign="bottom"> <tr valign="top"> <td> <div align="center"> <table width="800" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#000000" align="center"> <!----- center white area table code----------------> <tr valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <td width="15%" height="85" bgcolor="#f5eacc"> <div align="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right"> <tr bgcolor="#FFFFFF" valign="top"> <td height="2"> <div align="center"> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="/graphix/faded.jpg"> <tr> <td> <div align="center"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> </tr> <!--------------------- left nav bar ------------> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr><td><br><br></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td> <font color="#000000" face="CAC futura casual" size="3"><b><a href="/staff.html">Ministry Staff</a><br><br> <a href="/Events_Announcements.html">Coming Events<BR> Announcements</a><br><br> <a href="/AboutUs.html">About Us</a><br><br> <a href="/Activities.html">Activities</a><br><br> <a href="/SS.html">Sunday School</a><br><br> <a href="/sermons.html">Sermons</a><br><br> <a href="/Music.html">Music Ministry</a><br><br> <a href="/Kindergarten.html">Kindergarten</a><BR><br> <a href="/Ithappened.html">It Happened</a><br><br> <a href="/Memorials.html">In Memoriam</a><br><br> <a href="/links.html">Links</a><br><br> <a href="/contact.html">Contact Us</a><br><br> <a href="/index.html">Home</a></b></font><BR> <tr><td align=center><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <img src="/graphix/taupeflame.jpg"></td></tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> </table> <br> </div> </td> <td width="66%" height="65"> <div align="center"> <!----------------------- MAIN CONTENT ----------------------> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" colspan="2"> <td width="600"> <div align="left"> <br><br><br> <p align="left"> <img hspace="5" src="/graphix/united-methodist-church-h60.jpg" align="left" vspace="5" border="0"><br> <font face="verdana" color="#003300" size="4"><b>  I Am Coming Soon </b></font><br><br> <p align=center><font face="verdana" size="3"><b> Revelation 22:6-21</b><BR> <p align="center"><font face="verdana" size="2">  Our Certain Future sermon series #18 </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> What an adventure it had been, yet now it was over. John was no longer in the great throne room of heaven, witnessing the majestic worship of almighty God. John was no longer in a dry desert looking as lines were formed in preparation for a cataclysmic battle. He was no longer on a high mountain getting a close up look at the Holy City coming down from heaven. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Those moments were gone. Instead, John found himself once again back on the small island of Patmos. The glory of heaven already seemed but a distant memory now, surrounded as he was by barren rock and dust and endless waves. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> And yet... and yet something was different. He could feel it within: hope where there had been none before; courage instead of fear; joy and a deep-seated peace. John could feel the presence of the Spirit and knew that Jesus was still with him. John knew now that God was still in control, that his future was secure, and that the evil surrounding him would not win. With that conviction, John began to write his last and perhaps greatest letter to his beloved churches. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Today, after weeks of studying the Book of Revelation, we have now come to the end. Jesus message had been given and received, and all that remained were a few concluding words. Yet even these were important. <b> Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book </b>said Jesus.(22:7) Some of you have wondered why I ve spent so much time on this book. It is because the message is important, even for us today. I hope you understand now that the book of Revelation was never meant simply to entertain us or to stir our imaginations. It was never intended to satisfy our curiosity about the last days. Instead, Revelation has always been a call to action. It challenges us to live like kingdom citizens even while living in the midst of a rebellious world. It calls on us to have confidence that God is in control, that God has a plan, and that history and time itself are moving us closer and closer to the fulfillment of that plan. In good times and in bad, we should hold true to the words of this prophesy </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> <b> I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me,  Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God! </b> (22:8-9) Back on Patmos John, still overwhelmed by his experience, naturally fell before the first thing he saw that reminded him of God, only to be gently reminded that his worship was misplaced. Worship God! This is one of the most important lessons of Revelation. Don t bow down to earthly powers, don t kneel before evil, don t follow after substitutes. Worship God alone! </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> <b> Then the angel told me,  Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near.  </b> (22:10) Three times in this chapter, we hear Christ declaring,  I am coming soon. Now the angel told John the time was near. This didn t mean that Jesus physical return was imminent, but that the events of Revelation were already happening. Rather than spending our efforts trying to develop a time-table for His coming, we should be living as if Jesus is already here. We should be living today as if we are already part of God s Kingdom. We should be living as if God s plan is already unfolding around us. God is working in our midst even now, moving all things slowly but surely to their ultimate conclusion - the new heaven and new earth. Friends, our time on earth is short. Whether it be at a second coming or upon our death, the angel was right. The time is near. Now is the time for us to come to our senses, to turn from the idolatrous ways of the world, and to focus upon the reality that Jesus will return. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> <b> Behold, I am coming soon! ...the time is near. </b>Revelation reminds us that we ought to live each day as if it were our last, and each day as if it is the beginning of a great future! Oh, friends, how we need to hear this today. Some people, because they want to forget the pain of their past, live only for the future, hoping for better times to come. Others live as if they are afraid of what the future holds, dreaming only of better days long gone. Still others live just for the moment, neither worried by the past nor thinking about the future. They live irresponsibly, frivolously only for the moment. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Maybe one of those describes you. If so, know that Revelation calls all of us to a better way of living. It calls us to embrace our past by reminding us that we are merely the latest generation of a long line of God s saints. It calls us to have courage for today, for Jesus is still with his church, working in us and through us and with us to bring about God s kingdom. Finally, Revelation gives us reason to live with hope for the future, for eternity with God awaits us. The same Jesus Christ who stands at the beginning of history and at its center also stands to greet us at the end. <b> Behold, I am coming soon! ...the time is near. </b>Live each day as if it were your last, and each day as if it is the beginning of a great future! </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> The angel continued his words to John with an admonition:  Do not seal up the words of the prophesy of this book... Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy. The angel was reminding John that the church has a message to share with the world today, a timeless, urgent message of grace and love and forgiveness, but also of judgment and justice. We can t wait until the time is right to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Those who do wrong will continue to do so; those who are vile will continue to be so. It is the nature of our world and it is the nature of people. However, in the midst of this world and in the midst of these people, we the church have always been called to continue to do right and to continue to be holy! </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> The visions of Revelation not only give us courage to face the present and confidence to face our future, but also call us to be holy and blameless in our witness. In the midst of the despair and hopelessness and pain and sorrow and suffering and sometimes just plain evil in this world, we have been called to model hope and courage and love. We are to be a light to the world as we witness to the power of God and the grace of Christ and the presence of the Spirit. Revelation even gives us the divine invitation to share with the world: <b> 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.  </b>(22:17) What a message! What a mission! This seems like it would have been a great place to stop, yet John felt obligated to add a warning: <b> I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. </b>(22:18-19) </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Friends, this warning wasn t meant to scare you, but to remind you how important these words are. At the end of a wedding service, after all the vows have been given and I have pronounced the couple to be married, I give a traditional warning:  Those whom God has joined together, let no one tear asunder! Those words aren t meant to destroy the joy and wonder of the moment, but rather to remind everyone just how important what they have just witnesses is to God. It is a warning not to tamper with God s perfect plan. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> Revelation concludes with a warning of the same kind. Don t tamper with these words, don t ignore them, and don t dismiss them as irrelevant! Don t read into this book what you want to hear, but rather let these words of Holy Scripture tell you the truths God wants to share. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="verdana" size="2"> With this last warning to take the words of scripture seriously, Revelation brings the entire Bible to a fitting close. All the major themes of the Bible have been wrapped up. We see that God s perfect plan may be delayed but will not be thwarted. Wrongs will someday be righted, justice will be served, and most of all - grace will win! Our future is certain because the Lamb of God, the King of kings still reigns! All that is left is to let Revelation have the last word (22:20-21): <b> He who testifies to these things says,  Yes, I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God s people. Amen. </b> </font></p> <br><br> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> <TABLE width=800 border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <TR bgcolor="#d8d2d8"> <TD width=800 valign="baseline" bgcolor="#d8d2d8" align=right> <!--- beige F2F2E6 ----> <font face="verdana" color="#000000" size="1"> This site designed and maintained by <a href="http://www.hipdogwebdesign.com">HipDog Web Design&reg;</a><br> Copyright 2005. All Rights Reserved.</TD> <TD width="19%">&nbsp;</TD> </TR> </TABLE> </td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>