What’s the catch? Our mothers always warned us, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” The cunning of the salesman is to promote the benefits and overcome the objections. Unfortunately, ‘the catch’ often gets lost in a sea of euphemism. And so, to bridge the gap between the sunshine of the salesman and the rainy day of reality, we have disclaimers.

Everything comes with disclaimers. The fine print. The low-toned, rapid-fire voice at the end of the commercial offering a hurried, but dire warning. Asterisks and double-daggers qualify every statement, so as to evade charges of false advertising. The dictionary defines a disclaimer as, “a statement, document, or assertion that disclaims responsibility, affiliation, etc.; disavowal; denial.” To disclaim is the opposite of claiming. The salesman claims, the legal department disclaims. Offers are made, then qualified, modified, mortified. The sales pitch promotes benefit without borders, then the disclaimer draws a very small map of possibilities.

Disclaimers makes us jaded to every remarkable promise, suspicious of every offer. Yet, I suppose this is nothing new in the history of the world. From the beginning, the Great Deceiver, deceived our forefather Adam to believe that it was God who was deceiving him. Satan added disclaimers and man doubted. Ever since, man has doubted. God offers man more than he can imagine. The offer requires only faith, yet man can only doubt. Satan suggests disclaimers. Surely God is up to no good. Surely it is a trap to defraud and destroy. And so, in our fallenness we trust the Deceiver, and view the Trustworthy One with suspicion.

But God gives something else. He gives faith as a gift. God in his mercy, gives us the faith to trust that his offer comes without disclaimers. Nothing in our doing or undoing undoes God’s offer of eternal life. And to remind us of this, He brings the great story of redemption to a close in Revelation 21 with a vision of all His promises kept. Everything He offered is given. Nothing is withheld. There are no caveats, no conditions, no last-minute substitutions – no disclaimers.

What was true regarding the people of Israel entering the promised land, is also true all who will experience the new heavens and the new earth.

Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Joshua 21:45

Have you trusted these promises? Have you accepted God’s offer? Have you believed that eternal life in Christ appears too good to be true, but really is? Or has the Deceiver kept you looking for a disclaimer, a loophole, a conviction that God’s promise comes with asterisks and double-daggers and will come to nothing? Join us this Lord’s Day as we examine Revelation 21:1-8 and consider the offer that appears too good to be true, but really is.

We meet from 5:00 – 6:30 pm in The Commons at St. Andrews Anglican Church at 8300 Kanis Rd in Little Rock for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  You can also join us on Facebook Live @RiverCityARP or on YouTube.