The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 

Revelation 22:21 

As we come to the end of the year, so also we come to the end of this little work. It is of the utmost importance that, as we have begun, so also we finish. It has been the purpose of this work, from its’ beginning, right away through to the end, to magnify and glorify, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the Grand Subject of the Church. He is the Object of all our affection. He is our Theme; our Song; and our Joy. As we part, at this close of the year, we would leave with you, a benediction which will, once again, point you to Christ:  ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’ It was the Grace of Christ that brought salvation unto us, and us unto salvation. It is the Grace of Christ which has upheld us through every hardship. He has graciously showed us Himself in the means of grace. He has graciously provided for us ‘life and breath, and all things.’ He has done, ‘exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think.’ He has not come even close to finishing what He has started, for ‘we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.’ Everything occurring now, and all that will occur in the incoming years, will be ordered and arranged for our good, and for His Glory. With these things in view we leave you with this benediction, ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’ May God Make it so in every life. 

Our Gracious Savior, Great Shepherd of the sheep, 
You have safely led us thus far,  
for which we praise Your Holy Name, 
and offer abundant thanks. 
So by Your power, crown this year with grace,  
and give us hope for all our future days until our faith becomes sight. 

He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely, I am coming quickly.’ 

Revelation 22:20 

Christ has always been clear about the fact that He will return. During the Last Supper when He spoke to His disciples, He said, ‘And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.’ Our text is the last utterance of Christ in the Scriptures. He says, ‘I am coming quickly.’ We may understand the word ‘quickly’ to mean ‘soon.’ God’s version of soon and ours are very different. There was a long span of time between the promise of the coming of the seed of the woman in Genesis, to His arrival in history. According to Hebrews, He has come ‘at the end of the ages.’ It has been two thousand years since He ascended. To us, that seems a long time to wait for His return. To Him, it is a brief period of time. Thus, ‘I am coming quickly,’ carries with it great expectation. We look forward to the day when the faith shall be sight. We anticipate His return with power and glory. We know He has always been as good as His word. All He has spoken has come to pass. This will be no different. The providential plan of the Sovereign God is proceeding according to the Divine schedule. Christ will come, as He has promised. He will not disappoint. Jesus never fails. 

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You are as good as Your Word. 
With all the saints of God, we pray, 
‘even so, come, Lord Jesus.’ 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’  Amen.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Revelation 22:20

The desire of the believer is to see Christ.  The ancient saints declared it with expressions of faith like Job, who said, ‘yet in my flesh shall I see God.’  As Simeon held the infant Christ, he said, ‘Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, according to Your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.’  The cry of the people of God at the close of the canon of Scripture is, ‘Even so, come Lord Jesus.’  Christ is that Person upon Whom we have pinned all our hopes.  It is from Christ that we have received acceptance with God, a pattern for living, and all of our hope for the future.  We see around us a world which is well beyond fixing by human endeavor.  As the prophet Habakkuk despaired of the conditions of his day, when he said, ‘plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises.  Therefore the law is powerless and justice never goes forth,’ so we echo that view of our own world.  Who can right what is wrong?  Who can fix what is broken?  Who can straighten what is crooked?  The answer is Christ, and Christ Alone.  Therefore we cry, ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’  This is our hope and our certain expectation.  It is in the light of the return of Christ that we live and proclaim Him to all who will hear.  ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’ 

Our Gracious Master and our God,
we rejoice that the day is coming when the faith shall be sight.
We look forward to that hour when You shall appear
and we shall see You Face-to-face.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.  I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.’

Revelation 22:16

The last description which Christ gives of Himself in Scripture brings us to a resounding crescendo.  He describes Himself as, ‘the Bright and Morning Star.’  Once again, this is not arrogance but accuracy.  For Christ to say this of Himself is nothing more than to indicate the role He occupies in the saga of history.  What is ‘the Bright and Morning Star,’ and what does Christ do for us in that role?  The morning star is that heavenly body which tells us that dawn is approaching.  It is the harbinger of a new day.  We see the morning star and feel hope in our heart that the blackness of the night of sorrows through which we have passed is giving way to the rise of the sun which will chase the darkness and shadows away with their attendant sorrows.  Christ is ‘the Bring and Morning Star.’  We have walked through the darkness of a sin-cursed world.  We have endured the sorrow and pain of this earthly vale of tears.  The promise which Christ is and brings means that God’s Eternal Day is about to dawn.  When we look to Christ we  have hope which nothing else and no one else can give us.  He is both the harbinger of hope and is hope itself.  Hail, Bright and Morning Star.

Our Glorious Living Christ,
we rejoice in who You are and in all that You are.
We praise You, that in You we have hope
and that hope is not just for time
but also for eternity.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning