Admonition Podcast

Aaron Cozort teaches through Revelation 22, presenting the church as Christ’s blood-bought bride and urging Christians to remain faithful through suffering. He connects the chapter’s images of healing, light, judgment, worship, and invitation to passages across the Bible, ending with the assurance: “you’ve already won. Just be faithful.”

Chapters

00:00 Opening prayer and the reading from Revelation 22
03:07 Revelation’s vision of the church as Christ’s bride
05:06 How Christ’s sacrifice makes the church glorious
08:03 The river and tree of life as daily spiritual nourishment
11:06 The church’s present reign, light, and responsibility
15:35 Faithfulness through suffering: the example of Job
20:09 “Coming quickly”: God’s assurance to a suffering church
23:40 Why John’s vision rebukes worship of anyone but God
27:02 The gospel’s authority and the danger of following human teachers
33:23 The urgency of judgment and the closing opportunity to repent
37:52 Revelation’s invitation: obey, enter, and take the water of life
41:40 The warning against changing God’s message
45:21 Balaam, temptation, and the limits of opposition to God
47:19 “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”: the final call to faithfulness

Creators and Guests

Host
Aaron Cozort

What is Admonition Podcast?

The Admonition podcast brings you Bible lessons and sermons from the Collierville Church of Christ with host Aaron Cozort. Each episode focuses on interpreting Scripture in its original context, exploring the background of key passages, events, and teachings. Gain deeper insight into God’s Word as we study together, applying timeless truths to everyday life.

Aaron Cozort (00:00)
Good morning.

Take your Bibles, if you will, and open them to what's probably your last page ⁓ that isn't footnotes and notes and and dictionary. Revelation twenty two.

Let's begin with a word of prayer.

Are gracious Father in heaven.

We humbly come before your throne as we hallow your name, as we lift up your name in praise and in worship and in glory, as we recognize the beauty of the world and the creation and the universe that you have placed before us, that after thousands of years of studying the world.

Humanity still finds things that they did not know that you had created. Lord, we are mindful of the work that this church is doing and the work that we pray it will continue to do for many, many years into the future. We pray for this nation, and we pray for the election that is upcoming this week. We pray that it will be peaceful and that the result will be.

What those things which will promote peace and the opportunity to spread the gospel. Lord, we pray for those who are recovering from illness, from injury, from surgery. We pray that you give them the strength that they desire to have, the health that allows them to once again be at full capacity to do the things that are within their hand to do.

Lord, we pray that you be with those who struggle every day because of chronic illnesses and diseases. We pray that you give them the strength as they take each day one day at a time. Lord, we pray and ask that you be with those who are abroad throughout the world, striving to do the work of missionaries and do the work of evangelists in many far more difficult places than here.

Those who hear bombs overhead, those who see loved ones taken, those who fear for their lives and yet do not fear for their eternal abode. Lord, we pray that you be with them and help them to have the strength they need each and every day as well. We ask that you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory. All this we pray and ask in Jesus' name, Amen.

Revelation twenty two

John is being shown the bride. He is being shown the glorified church as seen from God's perspective. Not the messy, difficult, filled with imperfect humans that we see.

One of the struggles that we have, and one of the beauties of the book of Revelation, is that we are able to see the church the way God sees it.

We're able to see the church presented like Paul describes in Ephesians chapter 5 when he describes the bride. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 5 and notice what Paul writes concerning Christ and the church. Because Revelation 22 is not the only place where this type of picture is found in reference to.

The church as the bride of Christ. In Ephesians chapter five, we read verse twenty two wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Now notice what Paul's about to write about the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word.

First thing to realize is that Christ's sacrifice makes it such that when Christ sees the church, when God the Father sees the church, he doesn't see the imperfect people. He sees the bride sanctified and washed by the blood of Christ. He doesn't see

All of the failures and all of the flaws and all of the the times that we mess up, he sees the blood bought body.

Revelation 21 and 22 is a picture of the blood bought body having come out of tribulation, shining more beautifully than it ever has before. having been refined by the fire. He goes on to say.

Verse 27, that he might present her to himself a glorious church. What's Revelation 21 and 22? It's a picture of the glorious church.

He says that he might present him her to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife all loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Paul says, Yes, I'm teaching you about husbands and wives.

But what I'm really trying to teach you about

Is that which Christ loved so much?

That he spent thousands of years preparing for it.

Elsewhere in the book of Ephesians, Paul will point out that the church was the culminating moment of what God had been doing from the beginning of creation all the way forward. That it was an evidence of the manifold wisdom of God.

So when John opens Revelation twenty two and says he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb in the middle of its street, and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month, the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

God is saying to us, You wanna fix a nation?

Convert and add them to the church.

You want to heal a broken nation? Don't put one more warlord on the throne. Don't fight one more battle.

Preach the gospel.

Convert them to Christ. And you'll heal a nation. But he goes on to point out, and I love the picture here, here's this tree, right? It's on either side of the river. Imagine a tree so immense that it spans both sides of the river. It's rooted on both sides of the river. And it grows up.

And in January, here comes fruit. And in February, here comes another fruit. Off the same tree. And in March, here comes another fruit. And April another fruit. And May another fruit. Every month there's another fruit because it never runs out of the nourishment that the church needs.

Imagine if God had decided to provide us what we needed to sustain our spiritual lives four months out of the year.

Got some good harvest, and then you had to go through the winter. And you hope you got enough stored up because no harvest in the winter. Imagine what spiritual life would be like if that's the way God had decided to do it. God says that's not how I did it. I'm going to refresh you every day. I'm going to give you sustenance every day.

I'm gonna provide you the nourishment that you need and that heals the nations every single day. How are you gonna do it, Lord?

Well Jude says he did it once for all time.

That the faith, the system of faith, was delivered once for all time. Jude one verse three.

Now, here he says each tree is going to yield its fruit every month. ⁓ 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. They shall see his face, his name shall be on their foreheads. We've seen that terminology so many times. There shall be no night there.

They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Where do Christians reign?

In the body of Christ.

Who does Paul say that we will judge as Christians?

Angels

Do you realize that Christians have authority higher than angels as members of the body of Christ being in the kingdom?

Did you know that in Matthew, I believe it's chapter eleven, Jesus is going to point out that the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist?

So often We look at ourselves, we look at our hardships, we look at our struggles, we look at our daily lives, and we discount everything Scripture says about the church, about Christianity, about being a nation of kings and priests, about reigning with Christ. And we somehow imagine that's all going to happen

In heaven.

That's not what the text says.

But he says there's no need for light or for night there. There is no night there, and there's no need for lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever.

Now these pictures aren't new. Are they?

Do you remember in Matthew chapter five when Jesus said to the Jews, You are the light of the world.

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but rather put it on a lampstand so they can provide light to all who are in the house.

But he'll further point out to those who are listening, except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no way enter the kingdom of heaven.

If you take the light of God and you take the glory of God and you soak it all in, and then you never put any light out.

If you take it and you absorb it and hide it and do not share it, if you do not live out the character of God,

He says, You're no different than the scribes and the Pharisees.

And they're the people that were going to get Israel judged in that generation for all the sins of all Israel all the way back to the beginning. Matthew 23, Jesus said that on this generation would come all the blood that Israel had shed from the killing of Abel all the way forward.

To the death of Zechariah.

Why? Because every time God sent them a messenger.

They said we'd rather you be dead so we can go on with our lives the way we had them.

We need to be careful because both the picture of the glorious church is beautiful.

And judges us if we don't meet up to the picture, if we don't live up to the picture, if we don't decide to be the Christians who will walk through the fire and not give up.

There were those within the church, and I believe it's Thyatira, where Christ says to them, I'm not laying any further burden on you. He says, You have kept your robes and they're white. You have not defiled yourself, and I'm not going to lay any further burden on you because you're already going through it.

God does not picture Christians as perfect people. He pictures them always as faithful people. Those who would not turn back on the name of God for anything, who have no price that the world can pay to cause them to walk away from the Lord. Think.

Concerning Job. What is it that God says about Job? He is a faithful and upright man who eskews evil and does good. But what was Satan's claim about Job? Everybody has a price. And the only reason Job is faithful is because you never stop paying the price.

You've built a hedge around him and he is so secure I can't touch him. And so you you let the hedge come down and he'll curse you.

So God takes the hedge down.

And all of Job's children die. And all of Job's riches are gone in a day.

And Job says, The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

And that message in the book of Job never changes.

The only thing that changes is Job would like to know why he is still alive and having to go through it. Could you kill me now so I can stop suffering?

Job.

is then going to lose his health because Satan comes back to the Lord and says, Well, you didn't let me touch him and everybody has what they will do for their own life.

You see, Job and the book of Job, not a picture of a perfect man. As a matter of fact, it's a picture of a man who's willing to repent when he realizes he's done wrong.

But it is a picture of a faithful man. So much so that in the midst of Job needing to repent of what he has said against the Lord, God instills Job as the person responsible to be mediator and offer sacrifices on behalf of his friends.

picture of God's people.

Is a picture of faithfulness, not perfection. But when God sees his faithful people,

Covered in the blood of his son, he sees perfection.

Verses six through verse twelve.

The question is answered again by John, through John in the vision. When's it coming? it's coming soon. And it's coming quickly. And the judgment is coming, and it is at hand. Verse six, then he said to me, that the angel said to him, These words are faithful and true, and the Lord God.

The holy prophets sent his angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place.

The angel says, I'm I'm Job or John, I'm here to show you what is about to happen.

I was sent to tell you this, to show you this, so that you would know in advance this is about to happen.

And then the declaration, as the angel pronounces the very words of God.

A a as if picture it this way.

Messenger shows up from a king, walks up to the person who he's bringing the message to, and he introduces I'm the messenger of the king. I was sent to tell you what's about to happen. He opens a scroll and begins to read.

And what he reads is, Behold, I am coming quickly.

Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

God

Knows that the church is about to enter a period where they will question is the Lord with us?

Is the Lord acting on our behalf?

Or are we alone?

We don't have to guess that that was their question. Because Revelation chapter six, as the those individuals are there be f beneath the altar, they say, How long, O Lord? How long are you gonna let this go on?

We know what they're thinking. We know what they're going to be thinking, because God tells us what they're going to be thinking.

And what God has done in this this letter.

As he sealed up a message to declare to them, you hold on to this letter and you don't let it go, because this is my sealed guarantee. ⁓ I see what's going on. And I'm with you. And I'm going to deal with it.

Verse eight Now I John saw and heard these things. Now bear in mind as you read verse eight, John is seeing himself in the vision.

Okay. And he's telling us, I am seeing myself in the vision being told this by the angel.

The angel who had one of the seven bowls that was poured out on the earth. I'm seeing myself, I'm watching myself, and I see the angel tell me this in the vision.

And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. This is the second occurrence where John sees himself in the vision fall down to worship an angel.

Actually the first occurrence is an elder. It's one of the elders. So f so one occasion he sees himself fall down before one of the elders that he sees in the vision, and this occurrence he falls down before an angel in the vision.

There's a there's a point to this.

Because the same thing is stated both times.

And that is, you worship God and Him alone. Notice what the text says. Then he said to me, See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren, the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book, worship God.

Why is John seeing himself falling down before an elder and then falling down before an angel when the apostle John knows better?

You think John knows better? Of course he does. John is an elder in the church. John was John walked with Christ. John was there when Peter said, You have the words of life. To whom shall we go? John was there when Jesus ascended up into heaven. John was there when the people, the two men in white robes, said, What are you standing here gazing up in heaven for?

When those two individuals appeared, John didn't fall down and worship them.

Does John know not to worship other men? Yes or no? Yes. Does John know not to worship angels? Yes.

Maybe we can help ourselves with this passage. Turn to Galatians chapter one.

Paul is going to write to the churches of Galatia in Galatians chapter 1, verse 6, and he is going to say, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another. But there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we

The apostles, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you.

Let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than that which you have received, let him be accursed. ⁓

Paul is going to tell the Christian

We've delivered to you the word of God.

And it doesn't matter who comes to you if they preach to you anything different, you ignore them. You do not listen to them. You do not follow them. You do not submit to them.

Because they'll be judged. You hold on to the word that came from the Lord and that was assured by the Lord and that was established by the Lord and nothing else. Because no one has authority to change it.

So over in First Corinthians, Paul is going to make an argument to the church in first in Corinth, in First Corinthians chapter one, now I plead with you, verse 10, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are now contentions among you. Now this I say that each of you says notice their declaration, each of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ.

Now, when Paul says that, he's going to later point out, he says, I transferred these things to myself and to Cephas and Apollos, so that you might learn not to think of anyone above that which is written. The church at Corinth didn't have a single person in it saying, I am of Paul. Or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas. They had a bunch of people claiming to be following after Paul.

Others who Paul didn't name. Paul allowed those who were guilty to remain unknown. The Corinthians knew who they were. They knew what teachers people were calling themselves after. Paul substituted the names of those who were doing it right for the purpose of protecting the guilty so that the guilty would repent.

But as Paul does that, he's using himself and Cephas and Apollos as examples.

To say, don't do this. Because if you shouldn't be doing it to us, you certainly shouldn't be doing it to this other teacher over here.

I believe the same thing's happening in Revelation when John sees himself fall down before an elder and fall down before an angel and gets rebuked both times.

John is seeing himself as the example of what some in the church will be tempted to do.

And that is to call themselves after those who have no authority. To see someone who seems to have the answers and seems to have the insight and seems to have the knowledge and they'll just say, you know what, I'm going to be a disciple of fill in the blank.

Because that's what's gonna get me through this tribulation.

And John gets to see himself as the example to say to the church, no, you don't.

You worship God and Him alone, and everyone else.

It's just a fellow servant.

They're just like you. The angels, just fellow servants. The apostles, just fellow servants. The prophets, just fellow servants. You worship God and you hold allegiance only to Him.

So John sees

In verse ten, he said to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He's just been told it's shortly to come to pass. Now he's told, I'm coming quickly. Now he's told it's at hand.

You would almost think the Lord was being rather emphatic about it.

But then verse 11. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.

This terminology is terminology similar to what Jesus uses when he speaks concerning the fall of Jerusalem. And it's terminology describing the suddenness with which this will be fulfilled. There won't be, once the judgment starts, once God commences a final judgment on Rome, there won't be time to repent.

When when Jesus spoke to the Christians in Matthew 24, he said, When you see this coming, you don't even go back down into the house to get your stuff. If you're on the rooftop, you go out and leave. If you're in the field, you don't go back into the city. When you see it coming, time for change is too far gone. You be ready to just go. That's what this verse deals with.

It's not God saying, you know what, I hope the unjust just stay unjust. I hope the filthy just stay filthy. No, no, it's not that. It's there's an opportunity to repent, and then there's a point where the opportunity is past. And no more.

Verse twelve.

He says, And behold, I am coming quickly. And my reward is with me to give to everyone according to his work. Again the word comes from Christ.

A reiteration of the message just declared. The angel said, I was sent to give you a message. He's coming quickly. Then John hears, He's coming quickly.

But this time, he says, not only is there a blessing for those who keep the words of the prophecy of the book, he says, there's a reward that's coming with me. Now, when God says there's a reward, and he says he's going to give to every man according to his works, some rewards you might wish you never got.

Sometimes you are being rewarded justly for your iniquity from the Lord.

God says, I have an accounting, and I know who owes what. Think concerning the king. The king who went on the journey, and as Jesus gives the parable, and he leaves with one servant five cities. And he leaves with another servant two cities. And he leaves with another servant one city.

City.

And when he comes and returns to have those servants give an account.

The one who had five has been faithful and has doubled what he had.

And he says, To the one who has, more will be given. The one who had two, now's four.

The one who had won, even that which he had was taken away. Why? Because God came with a reward according to works.

And he took the one from the one who had been unfaithful and gave it to the one who had ten.

Verse thirteen.

You commence the invitation. If you wonder where we get the idea of an invitation at the end of a lesson from, here's one of the passages.

Because at the end of the book of Revelation, God commences an invitation. Verse thirteen, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He's t said this multiple times. It's all the way in chapter one, and it's here again.

I'm the one who tells the beginning from the end.

He's using Isaiah's terminology for the Lord.

He says, Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. How do you get access to this glorious city? You're not breaking in. You're not tearing down the walls. You're not overcoming it. What do you have to do? Obey the commandment of the Lord, and you get invited in.

That's it. It's really quite simple. Do what the Lord commanded you to do and you'll get invited into the city.

He says, But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie.

By the way, go back and read Revelation two and three again and you'll find that describes some of the churches and some of the Christians.

You remember that Jesus would write through John to some and say, You practice the doctrine of Balaam, which taught Israel to blaspheme. And to others, he says, You have followed after Jezebel, and you let that woman speak in your assembly.

You see, we can look at that and say, ⁓ yep, Christians are going to be judged. Or sorry, the the the non-Christians are going to be judged. But what John is saying is some of you better repent while you still can't.

Because you think you're in the city, but you're not. He then says, 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 the morning star.

And the spirit and the bride say come. And let him who hears come. And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely.

The same thing that Jesus offered to the woman at the well in Samaria is offered at the end of the book of Revelation.

And in order for the woman at the well in Samaria to be obedient to that command, she had to hear the word of God. She had to obey the command of God. And that is the exact same thing that the book of Revelation calls upon everyone to do.

Verses eighteen through twenty, far sorry, through twenty-one, we read, for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

God will judge him like he judged Egypt, and like he judged Babylon, and like he judged the Medo-Persian Empire, and like he judged the Grecian Empire, and the like the like he judged the Roman Empire. Anyone thinks they can ignore the Lord? I'm gonna tell you how this is gonna work out. It's gonna work out the same way every single time.

Now imagine if this book was written to be fulfilled some two thousand, three thousand years in the future from the time it was written.

What a threat that would be, wouldn't it? If you change the words of the book, you're gonna have to hang around for three thousand years and wait until I finally actually fulfill this, so you can suffer the plagues.

You're gonna have to wait until you die in a nuclear war.

We're gonna be finding some really old people around come the start of whatever nuclear Armageddon the dispensationalist premillennialists are waiting for. We're gonna have to dig a few people up just so they can suffer the plagues.

You know, it doesn't take long when you make false doctrines actually say what they actually teach and you hold them accountable for it, where you realize it's just pure nonsense.

The threat here was a threat that was coming real quick.

And the threat has never changed. Because this same threat goes all the way back in the Old Testament. God says, you don't change the words that I speak. You don't alter my message. What is it that even Balaam said when he spoke on behalf of the Lord? You remember back there in the book of Numbers, Balaam came to Balak.

And he said, Whatever the Lord puts in my mouth, that's what's gonna come out.

Balak said, I'll give you half the kingdom. Go curse that people. And Balaam walks out onto the ridge, overlooking the nation of Israel and their encampment, and pronounces a blessing.

Because Balaam had no control over what came out of his mouth when the Lord spoke. The only one who had control over the message was the Lord. And the second time, Balak says, Do it again. And Balaam goes out and blesses them again.

By the third time Balak is about ready to end Balaam's life.

You go out and curse that people. And the third time Balaam goes out and out comes another blessing.

Why do we mention that?

Because you can't curse what God blesses.

You can't defeat what God defends. You cannot vanquish what God lights.

You cannot win against the Lord.

But as Balaam will school Balak on

If you can't curse the people of God, I know one thing you can do. You can get them to curse themselves. If you can just entice them

to and seduce them into sin.

He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Three times. Three times in the last chapter, I am coming quickly, I am coming quickly, I am coming quickly. And that is Old Testament language for when I come in judgment, nothing will stop me.

How does Jesus describe the final day? And by the way, how does he also describe God's judgment on Jerusalem?

It will come as a thief in the night.

When you're not prepared, when you're not ready, when Jerusalem will not be able to defend itself, God's going to judge them. Nothing's going to stop them. When Rome is unprepared and unable to defend itself, God's going to judge them and nothing's going to stop them.

The grace ⁓ sorry, ver the end of verse twenty. Amen. What does amen mean?

So be it. The book concludes with May everything happen just exactly the way you said it would. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And again, he says, May it be so.

John writes to the church.

And says, you've already won. Just be faithful.

And you will be the glorious church Christ paid for. Thank you for your attention.