Maranatha

Well, we’re going to get into the Word this morning, and I’m going to keep it pretty short, because I believe there’s a very specific word that the Lord has for us this morning. And so if you have your Bibles, I’m going to invite you to turn with me to two places: Revelation chapter 22 and 1 Corinthians 16. Revelation 22 and 1 Corinthians 16.

We have been in a series called The Spirit and the Bride — Pastor Larry alluded to that — and we’ve really been talking about how the Lord is preparing His church, because He’s coming again. Somebody say amen. If you’re excited about Jesus coming back, say amen. Right? And so He’s been preparing His church. But we’ve also been talking about a fresh outpouring that the Lord wants to bring about in His church as we enter into these last days. And so we’re going to continue that series.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come”

We’ve been primarily focused on Revelation 22, verse 17. Now, Revelation 22 — if you don’t know, if you’re just using your phone for your Bible or following along on the screen — is actually the last chapter in the Bible. And there is this recurring theme taking place, where Jesus Himself is saying, “Behold, I’m coming soon. I’m coming quickly. Surely I am coming quickly.” And so there’s this theme of Jesus saying, look for My coming, My return. Look for Me coming back. Be ready. Be prepared. Okay, so that is the theme.

And I want us to notice, with that in mind, what Revelation 22:17 says: “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’” Everybody say, “Come.” “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”

And so last week we focused on that word “come.” What does it mean? Well, in the Greek it was the word erchomai, which is in the aorist tense, and it’s in the imperative, which means that it is an event that is to come, and then it is over. It is not an ongoing word of coming. It is one and it’s done. But it’s also in the imperative sense, in that it’s an urgent call. It is a desperate call saying, “Jesus, would You come? Would You come quickly? Because things are messy. There is destruction. There is darkness. There is turmoil. There’s confusion. Jesus, come.” Everybody say that one more time: “Come.” And so when it says, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come,’” there is an urgency to this call.

Daddy’s coming

As I was just meditating on the scripture, I remember a picture from when I was a younger father. I’m getting a little bit older — some of you can roll your eyes, but my kids are like, “Yeah, you’re super old.” They always look at me — okay, I’m going to tell two quick stories.

I was actually at my daughter’s lacrosse game, and after the game — they won, and they’re doing great — I came up to the group, and I was just asking what’s happening next. And so I walk up to the group and I go, “What’s the word?” And they all looked at me like, “‘What’s the word’?” They were like, “Oh my gosh, did he really just say that?” I clearly dated myself in that moment.

But I was reminded of this image as I was meditating on the scripture of “Jesus, come.” I remember this time when we would drop off our kids. My kids were much younger at the time — they were maybe two or three years old — and I would drop them off somewhere, and sometimes they just wanted their dad, right? You would drop them off, and they would immediately just start crying and wailing. They didn’t want me to leave. They wanted to be with me. And I was like, well, I have a meeting, or I have this event, and where I’m going is not really for kids. And so I dropped them off and I would leave. Well, sometimes they would get louder when I left, and they would cry all the more. And no matter what the people who were watching them would do, they just couldn’t get them to calm down.

And so sometimes they would call, and they would be like, “Hey, your kids really need you right now. They really want you.” And so I would be on my way, and the workers would tell the kids, “Don’t worry, Daddy’s coming.” And it would kind of calm them down a little bit, right? And as I was getting there, they would just keep soothing them with those words: “Don’t worry, Daddy’s coming.” And when I would get there, I would open the door, and they would be like, “Daddy!” And they would run and hug me. Sometimes you just need Daddy. You guys know what I’m saying?

And that’s really what this call and this cry to the Lord is: “Jesus, would You come? Jesus, we just need You. You’re the only One who can fix this. You’re the only One who can bring a resolution to the things that we are facing.” There’s so much going on in this world. Sometimes we just need Jesus to come. Amen.

Maranatha

Now, here’s where I had you turn: 1 Corinthians 16. We’re going to actually go through this pretty quickly, because we have limited time, and I also want to end our time with some prayer this morning. This is 1 Corinthians 16, and I want you to notice some of the language. This was the apostle Paul writing to the church at Corinth, and he says, “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!”

Let me read that again, because it’s so short. Paul says, “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.” And then he says, “O Lord, come!” Paul is saying, listen, after people have heard the gospel in all sincerity, in all truth, if they will not have affection for Jesus, then let them be accursed. Let that be on them. Because Jesus is the precious One. Did you guys know that? He was the second person of the Godhead, who stepped out of glory, who came down to earth to become one of us, who gave His life on a cross. He was tortured, humiliated, and He gave His life. His blood was shed so that we could be made clean and have life with Him forever.

And Paul is saying, when people hear the gospel preached and they don’t care — they don’t want anything to do with Jesus, they don’t want anything to do with what He’s asking of them or who He’s calling them to be — listen, if people aren’t going to give Him the time of day, then let them be accursed. Now, we hear that and we’re like, that doesn’t sound very Christian, right? That sounds like you’re giving up on the lost. But how many of you know Paul never gave up on the lost? In fact, if we look at his life, Paul gave his life so that others might know Jesus as Savior. He gave everything, and we’re going to get into that in just a little bit.

But I want you to notice how Paul ends this statement. He says, “Let him be accursed,” and then what does he say? “O Lord, come!” Now, the reason I wanted to point this out is because last week we talked about how that word “come” was the Greek word erchomai in the book of Revelation. But this phrase where Paul is using it is unique in Scripture, because it is the word maranatha. Everybody say, “Maranatha.” Maranatha. This is not used anywhere else in the New Testament, but it actually means the same thing: “O Lord, come.”

Now, there are two ways it could be used. It could be used as marana tha, which means “Lord, come,” or maran atha, “the Lord has come.” And so it was a word used in multiple ways. Now, this word was not a translation. The word maranatha is not a Greek word. It is a word that was transliterated into the Greek. Are you guys with me? I’m afraid I’m not explaining this very well right now. Okay, so a transliteration is not a translation. When you translate something from one language to another, you are taking the meaning and putting it into the new language. But a transliteration is where you take letters from the new language and apply them to the old word.

So the word “Christ” is actually a transliteration. It is not an English word. It was transliterated from the Greek word Christos. Christos. Okay? It became “Christ,” which means the Messiah, the Anointed One. So when we read “Jesus the Christ,” if we were translating it, it would really be “Jesus the Messiah,” “Jesus the Anointed One.” But the word “Christ” is a transliteration of the Greek word Christos. In the same way, the word maranatha was a transliteration of an Aramaic word.

Now, this word is not used anywhere else in the New Testament. This is the only place where this word shows up. And so the question I want to ask is, why would Paul, who is writing to a Greek-speaking audience, use an Aramaic term right here? He’s saying, let those who have heard the good news, if they want nothing to do with our precious One, if they want nothing to do with Jesus, let them be accursed. And then he says, “Maranatha. O Lord, come. O Lord, would You come?” So why would Paul, writing to a Greek-speaking audience, use an Aramaic term?

The word maranatha was used as a watchword in the early church. If believers were going about their day-to-day, and they believed that persecution was on the horizon, or that there was a scheme that was up — if they were trading in the marketplace, or they were interacting with other people and suspected that someone was a believer — they would say, “Maranatha.” It was a watchword. It was a signal to other believers, saying, watch out, be careful — and, O Lord, would You come. In the face of persecution, in the face of the unknown, of not knowing what was going to happen to them, they would go to other believers and say this word: “Maranatha. Maranatha. Lord, would You come?”

It means one of two things: the Lord has come, but it also means, Lord, come. And it’s the same as the Greek word erchomai. It is in the imperative: Lord, would You come quickly? Why? Because our lives are at stake. We’re trying our best. We’re trying to do the things that You’ve asked us to do, but they are persecuting us. They’re after our lives. They’re after our children. They’re after my family. Maranatha. Maranatha. Everybody say, “Maranatha.” And I think, yes — I’m like, how do you even fully say this?

And so Paul is writing to this church in Corinth. Now, Corinth was actually in Greece. It was nowhere near Jerusalem. And so not only was this a word that Greek-speaking Christians knew and were familiar with — this was a term that was familiar to believers of the time. Maranatha. Maranatha. O Lord, would You come?

The language Jesus spoke

And so why is this significant? Well, the first thing is, Aramaic is the language that Jesus spoke. It’s the word that He would say. It’s the word that He would use. And Paul knew the disciples. He knew Peter, James, and John, and he would hear the stories of how they would talk about Jesus. He would hear the stories about the things that He would say, the emphasis. And there is no doubt that this word maranatha was used among them.

And so when Paul says, “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ” — if there are those who just don’t want anything to do with Him — “let him be accursed,” and then Paul says, “Maranatha,” “O Lord, come,” he says it in the same language that Jesus would have said it. Maranatha. And it’s almost as if to say, Lord, I’m speaking to You personally. Lord, I’m speaking in the most intimate way that I can convey, in the language that You ministered in. Lord, would You come?

But number two, this is also significant because there was an intimacy within this wording. The men who walked with Jesus may have been teaching in Greek and speaking in Greek, but no doubt when they would say maranatha, it was a term of endearment. Because they would think of the times when Jesus spoke to them, when they would hear Jesus talk to them in Aramaic. And it was with a fondness, a tenderness, a humility, a familiarity of Jesus speaking to them. And so when people would hear this word, they would sense the closeness of their Savior. There was an intimate longing for Jesus to come again.

And so the use of this Aramaic word was a cry out to their friend. It was a cry out to the Lord, saying, Lord, let us relate just how You related to us. Would You come and deliver us? Would You come and establish Your righteous kingdom? Would You come and deliver the oppressed? And so when Scripture says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come,’” it’s the Greek word erchomai, but it’s the same thing, just in a different language: O Lord, would You come? Would You come?

What Paul endured

Now I want you to notice, and I want us to look really quickly at what Paul went through. What was his life and ministry like? This is out of 2 Corinthians 11. I want you to follow along on screen, and I’m going to read out of the New Living Translation, so it’ll be a little bit different. Second Corinthians 11, verse 24 — listen to what Paul’s life was like, and why he might want to be saying this. It says, “Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.”

Paul is giving this account, and I want you to notice — it’s so interesting here. Paul is giving this account of life in ministry. He’s giving this account of the persecution that he faced on a day-to-day basis. And I want you to notice how all of them are actually from the human side of persecution, until it says, “Three times I was shipwrecked.” In other words, Paul is not only acknowledging the human persecution that was taking place in his life and in his ministry. He was acknowledging the demonic persecution that was taking place as well.

Paul also says, “Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys.” Have any of you ever had long journeys where you’re trying to serve the Lord, where you’re trying to walk in obedience and do the things that He’s asked you to do, but there is persecution? There is trouble. There is turmoil. How many of you know Paul could not call an Uber, right? He couldn’t just hitch a ride. He was often on foot. There was wild nature. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’ll be online and I’ll see these crazy nature videos of crocodiles eating things, and I’m like, man, it is wild out there. There was wildlife all around him. Snakes — poisonous, venomous. There was hunger. There was thirst. And Paul’s saying, do you know how many long and hard journeys I’ve been on, just to preach the gospel, that one person might come and know Him? Do you know how many times I’ve been beaten? Do you know how many times I’ve been persecuted, how many times I’ve been given over to the enemy?

He says, “I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas.” Paul is saying, listen, I have gotten this from every part of my life. “And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.” What does that mean? They were lying. They were setting a trap.

Verse 27 says, “I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights.” Any believers here where the Lord wakes you up in the middle of the night just to pray? Anybody? “I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food.” Why? Because, Paul’s saying, I had to do the ministry. I had to do the work He was asking me to do. “I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.”

I just want you to picture with me this morning — I’m going to keep this very simple — here is Paul. He goes through all of these things serving the Lord. He has planted churches. He has started churches. He has gone to churches to build them up. And he’s not even sure that those churches are going to make it. In fact, Paul thinks that most of those churches have already failed, that they’re destined to die, to be done. And here’s Paul. I can only imagine the discouragement that is in him, from everything that he’s given, from everything that he’s pouring out, where he’s not only been talked about or lied about — no, he’s been physically beaten almost to death. And not only that, think of all those who don’t even care about what he has to say, who want nothing to do with Jesus.

And so here’s Paul, and he’s saying, listen, if that’s the way they want to be — after we preach, after we give, after we sacrifice just to get the gospel to them — if they don’t want anything to do with the Lord Jesus, then let them be accursed. But then what does he say? “O Lord, would You come? Lord, I’m trying to be faithful. Lord, I’m trying to be obedient. I’m trying to do the things that You’ve called me to do. I’m not seeing the wins. I’m not seeing the success.” In fact, Paul could say, I’m very discouraged right now. I’m writing to the Corinthian church, and man, there are some messed-up things in the church. “Lord, would You just come? Because we don’t know what to do all the time. When You were here, You always knew what to do. When You were here, people were being delivered. When You were here, people were coming to salvation. Lord Jesus, would You come?” Everybody say, “Lord, come.”

And so when you consider all the things that Paul has gone through, how many of you can see and understand why he wanted Jesus to come? I’ve done everything to get the gospel out, and if they don’t want anything to do with Him, then let them do their thing. Lord, would You come?

Time for the church to cry out

How many of you know Jesus is coming soon, and He’s calling us to be a church that is full of His Spirit and led by His Spirit? Somebody say amen. To be people who are sensitive to what God is saying. Somebody say amen. Listen, I’m not talking about just turning on the news and saying what the news says. I’m not talking about watching a teaching and just saying what the pastor says. I’m talking about being people who are in His Word, who are hearing from God. He’s calling us to be a church that hears His voice. He’s calling us to be people who are watching and responding to what God is doing. Somebody say amen.

And this is the very simple word that I have for us today, and it really was where we started: it’s time for the church to look to the Lord and to begin to call on Him, to begin to cry out to Him and say, “Lord, You’re the only One who can fix the darkness, who can fix all this confusion.”

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I had to get off social media for a long time. And by the way, if you try to get a hold of me on social media, it’s probably not going to happen. I’m just throwing that out there. I’m the worst at it, okay? But there are times when I’ll be on there, and I’ll just be like, I don’t have any words except to say, Lord Jesus, we need You. There’s so much darkness. There is so much hurting. There is so much abuse. There are so many lies. There is so much confusion.

It’s time for the church to look to Jesus and say, “Lord, would You come? Lord, would You come and establish Your kingdom? Would You come and establish Your righteous rule? Would You come and bring justice? Would You come and bring freedom to those who are being oppressed?” How many of you know, if we don’t do that, who’s going to do it? If the church will not rise up and look to Jesus, who’s going to look to Him and call on Jesus? It says, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’” The Spirit is already saying it. Will we be a church that partners with the Spirit and calls on Jesus, the precious One, the King?

Now, here’s the deal: there’s nothing that I can say to convince you to start doing this. It’s the Holy Spirit who’s going to speak to you and work in you to begin calling on the name of the Lord. And I’m just going to be very honest. I’ve been walking around this very sanctuary, through all of these pews, saying, “Lord, would You stir up a hunger? Would You stir up a passion in us for You? Would You stir up a thirst in us for more of You, where nothing else would satisfy?” I’m sorry, if you’re a part of this church, I’m literally asking the Lord that nothing would satisfy you except for Him. But that’s what the Lord is calling us to at the end of the age. Amen. “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’” That we would allow the Holy Spirit to create a longing in our hearts, to make this resident in us. Amen.

Praying together

And so here’s what I’m going to ask us to do. We’re going to close. I’m going to invite us to stand this morning. Let’s go ahead and stand. What we’re going to do is — I have some scriptures that I would like for us to pray. There are three things that I want us to pray for this morning. I’m going to just play one of these songs, and I’m going to invite you to be praying and worshiping during this time. We’re going to put some scriptures up on screen.

Number one, we’re going to pray for those who have grown weary. That could be yourself, but it can be others — those believers who have grown weary, who feel like they have endured and they want to quit — that the Lord would strengthen them. We’re going to pray for those who have grown weary.

Number two, we’re going to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted. How many of you know just because you’re safe does not mean others are safe? There are many who are being persecuted for their faith. I’ve mentioned this before, but if you’ve not gotten the chance, there’s a documentary called Sheep Among Wolves. I would encourage you to watch it, because it’s an awakening to the fastest-growing church in Iraq right now. It’s an underground church, and it shows the daily persecution that they face. We can get so comfortable in our day-to-day that we forget about our brothers and sisters. We need to pray for them. We’re going to pray for the persecuted.

Number three, we’re going to pray against the darkness, division, confusion, and conspiracies in our world.

And so you’ll notice that there are scriptures with all of these. I’m going to ask that, number one, we pray in the Spirit; number two, we just pray as you’re led; but number three, that we would pray the Scripture. How many of you know that is powerful, when we begin to declare what Scripture says? When we begin saying, “Lord, let it be according to Your Word. Lord, You said this, and You are faithful and true to Your promises. I pray that You would bring this to pass.” How many of you know that’s a powerful prayer? And so we’re going to pray those three things, and we’re just going to have those three slides on repeat, okay?

You can bring up your phone. I don’t have the scriptures typed out, so you’re going to have to use your Bible. We should bring our Bibles to church, right? We should. Okay. But if you have your phone, that works too — I use that often. Bring it up, and I just want us to start praying these things. And so I had you stand. You can remain standing. You can sit. And if you need to go out, you can do that as well, but I’m going to ask that you don’t distract others. We’re just going to spend about five to seven minutes in worship and in prayer. Can we do that?

Listen, it’s time for the church to look to Him and to begin to call on Jesus and say, “Jesus, would You come?” Whatever situation you’re facing right now: Jesus, come. Whatever doubt is in your heart, would you look to the Lord today and say, “Jesus, come”? If you feel like you don’t have direction for your life — how many of you know the Lord always knows what to do? Look to Him. “Jesus, come.” We need Jesus. Amen.

And guess what? He is faithful and true. When you call on the Lord, not only does He hear you — He will respond every time. And so you may not feel anything as we’re praying, but you need to know the Lord hears you, and He is answering your prayer, especially when we pray according to the Word and we pray in the Spirit. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.