Revelation 22

Revelation 22:6-21

XXIII Rev_22:6-21 The exposition of this marvelous and delightful book closes with this chapter. As the first chapter is the prologue of the book, this study of Rev 22:6-21 is the epilogue of the book. Most of the terms of the first chapter are here repeated to show that the purpose of the revelation there announced is here consummated. No other Bible book has more striking marks of unity. The first sentence: “These words are faithful and true,” authenticates the whole book. The second sentence connects it in unity and authority with all the preceding books of the sacred history.

That sentence: “The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass,” means that the Lord who bestowed upon each of the Old Testament prophets, and on each of the preceding New Testament prophets, that measure of the gift of the Holy Spirit to qualify him to write his part of the sacred canon, inspired this closing book also, making it the capstone and the climax of all revelation. It follows that the whole library has one author, all the parts are correlated into one complete system of revelation. In every case, from Moses to John, “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Paul had said collectively of the Old Testament Scriptures: “They are the sacred scriptures,” distinguishing them from all secular and profane writings; and then said of them distributively, pasgraphe theopneustos, “every one of the writings is God-inspired.”

This second sentence of our study not only virtually affirms the same thing of the New Testament books, but links both Testaments into one inspired unity.

Read the next two verses: “And I, John, am he who heard and saw these things, and when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. And he saith unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book: worship God.”

Here are two great lessons: First, that angels are not to be adored: Worship God. So Paul wrote to the Colossians: “Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels . . . which had indeed a show of will worship.” That kind of worship, which the human will has devised, has cursed all Christendom as well as heathendom, worshiping the creature rather than the Creator. Huge ecclesiasticisms, particularly the Romanist and Greek churches, claiming to be the highest expressions of Christianity, are in the main elaborate systems of idolatry, angelolatry, Mariolatry, adoration of the mass, the images, saints, relics, and a thousand other superstitions.

The second lesson: Not only do the words of the angel show a fraternity of Old and New Testament prophets, but a fellowservice of both with the angels: “I am a fellow servant with thee and with the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book.” You see that sentence blends into one great family of God the saints of all ages and the angels who have been the ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation.

Read the next verse: “He saith unto me: Seal not up the words of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand.” Here, again, we gather two important lessons. First, while more than once in this book we have seen the temporary sealing up, or suppression of the outcome of the synchronous views until the crowning climax of all of them arrives (see Revelation 8:1; Revelation 10:4), and yet at the end, the whole book is opened forever; no man can ever seal up any part of this book. It is a revelation; it is meant to be understood. A benediction is pronounced on the hearer, the reader, and the keeper of the words of the book, but if we do not understand the book, we cannot keep its words.

The second lesson: In one respect there is a sharp contrast between the prophecies of the two dispensations. For example, the book of Daniel, which is the great prototype of this book. To Daniel, at the close of his apocalypse, greatly troubled because he did not understand his own visions, God said (and you will notice the contrast): “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. . . . And I heard but I understood not; then said I: O my Lord, what shall be the issue of these things? And he said: Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall purify and make themselves white, and be refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but they that are wise shall understand. . . . But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot, at the end of the days.”

Daniel is commanded to seal up his book; our verse says: “Seal not up the words of this prophecy.” Speaking concerning all the Old Testament prophecies, and also concerning the angels, Peter uses this language: “Concerning which salvation the prophets searched and sought diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what time, or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in them did point to, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. To whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto you did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven. Which things angels desire to look into.” It is the church, in her victories, that instructs the angels in the manifold wisdom of God. As Paul says to the Ephesians: “The manifold wisdom of God shall be made known to principalities and powers in heavenly places by the church.” The old dispensation, clouded in type and shadow, left many things sealed up. The New Testament sweeps all the mists away.

Read now two other verges of the lesson: “He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness still; and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy still; and he that is righteous let him do righteousness still; and he that is holy let him be made holy still. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is.” Your author does not understand Revelation 22:11 to refer to the fixity of the final state after the judgment, to wit: that one then righteous will be righteous forever. That is true, but it is not taught here. This epilogue is not now considering the results of the judgment and the future state; they have been disposed of in another connection; this epilogue is not a vision, it is not a part of the apocalypse. It simply tells of the application of all the lessons of the book to the present. A similar mode of expression appears in Ezekiel 12:11 and Daniel 12:10.

The meaning is that, having now unveiled the future with it in reward and punishment, the choice is left to man to be righteous or unrighteous, holy or filthy; God will not coerce. Just so, some of the exiles would not hear Ezekiel, and some who heard him would not practice what he preached. He said: “I am to you merely as the sound of a pleasant instrument; you sit before me just as if you were the people of the Lord, but you go out after hearing me and continue to do your abominations.”

It reminds me of the romantic legend of St. Anthony, who, having no people to preach to, went and preached to the fishes, and the record states that they were much edified. But the eels went on eeling, and the stock fish went on stealing, each one living in the same old way.

Notwithstanding Daniel’s visions, the wicked, as God said to him, would continue to do wickedly. And so, notwithstanding this book of Revelation, those who love unholiness will be allowed to follow their bent, and those who prefer being filthy will go on being made filthy. He is permitted to follow his choice, but is warned that whatever each man chooses in time will be his destiny in eternity, as the last clause of the verse tells us: “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to render to every man according to his works.”

Read Revelation 22:14-15 : “Blessed are they that wash their robes that they may have the right to come to the tree of life and may enter in by the gates of the city. Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the idolaters, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.” The reader will note the difference in the text of Rev 22:14 between the Common Version and the Revised, from which I quote. The King James Version reads this way: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life,” and this version reads: “Blessed are they that have washed their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life.” That makes a marked difference in doctrine. The King James translators had not before them any one of the three oldest manuscripts of the New Testament: the Alexandrian manuscript, now in the British Museum, was presented to Charles I, son of James. The Sinaitic manuscript was discovered long after that translation by Tischendorf, and it is now in the museum at St. Petersburg.

The Vatican manuscript is in the Vatican Library at Rome. All these oldest and best manuscripts read: “Blessed are they that have washed their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life.” I have facsimiles of all these oldest manuscripts in my library.

You may accept it without question that in the best texts the reading is “Blessed are they who have washed their robes.” This harmonizes expressly with the parallel passage in Revelation 7:9-14, where those arrayed in white robes are declared to be those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb, and harmonizes with the vital and fundamental truth that the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. The right to the tree of life comes by blood, not by works; by faith, not by doing. The thought of the passage follows strictly the preceding one. God will not coerce; the choice is with men; if they by faith will accept the Saviour and are cleansed in his blood, they have a right to the tree of life, and to enter into the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. But if they prefer to be dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters, and liars, then their destiny is on the outside.

Read Revelation 22:16 : “I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning star.” How often have I told you, since we commenced this book, that the God appointed agency for lighting the world is the churches. The whole of this book, as a sacred deposit of revealed truth, is given to the churches. That is why the church is said to be the “pillar and ground of the truth.”

Here, again, the connection is close: This book of Revelation is from the Lord. He sent his testimony by his angel. The message is fully authenticated; it is a message for the churches. They receive the deposit of truth for communication of all the world.

Read Revelation 22:17 : “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and he that heareth, let him say, Come; and he that is athirst, let him come; and he that will, let him take of the water of life freely.” The revelation of the way of life completed, and the revelation of destiny at the judgment, and this revelation as a sacred deposit having been given to the churches, what shall they do with it? What are their duties in view of the fact that they are the custodians of the truth? Revelation 22:17, which I have just read, answers that question.

But what does it mean? You are invited to come) and to come to what? The premillennialists insist that all the “comes” in this book refer to, or are spoken to, Jesus: “Come, Lord Jesus.” I pointed out their error where the four Cherubim say, “Come,” “Come,” “Come,” “Come.” They are speaking not to the Lord Jesus, but are speaking to those horses that appear at their command to come, and I now say to you that the Spirit does not say to Jesus, “Come,” nor does the bride or the church, in this connection at least, say to Jesus, “Come”; and the one that hears does not say to Jesus, “Come.” The rest of the verse will not make sense with such interpretation: “Let him that is athirst come, and such as will, let him partake of the water of life freely.” To put that premillennial interpretation on the passage destroys the meaning of the greatest text in the Bible.

The revelation of the way of life and the judgment and eternal destiny being made clear and complete and authenticated, and that way of life shown to be by grace, through faith, in the cleansing of the blood of Christ; and the choice of the decision being left to man, and the complete revelation being deposited with the churches, we come to our verse: The Holy Spirit, Christ’s vicar on earth, abiding in the church till the judgment day, in order to complete the cleansing by blood, says to all men, “Come.” As if pointing to that picture of heaven, described in the last chapter, with the throne of God, with the water of life bubbling from under that throne and outflowing through the city, the Holy Spirit says to every sinner, to every lost man in the world: “Come to this water of life.” What the Spirit says the church says: the Spirit and the church united give the invitation, and the Spirit gives the power to the invitation: “Come to the water of life.” Not only is that an official invitation, but any man that hears the Spirit or the church give that invitation is authorized to repeat it. As you hear, you may turn at once to your nearest neighbor, your dearest friend, the members of your family, and say, “Come.” Not only that, but whether you hear the Spirit or the church consciously, if you are athirst, if there be a craving in your soul, that very thirst in you is your authority to come. As Jesus said: “Whosoever that drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.”

What a glorious thing it is that there is so little red tape in the invitation of the gospel. You may be by yourself, you may not be in reach of any church; you may just have a longing in your soul for salvation: then come. Don’t wait for anybody or anything. The thought even goes a step beyond. You may not even have that thirst, your only conviction may be that you cannot feel, yet if you are willing to come: “Whosoever will, let him come,” without money and without price. How it falls into line with all Bible invitations; particularly with Isaiah 55. That chapter was my mother’s favorite. When I was a little bit of a fellow wearing dresses, I had to kneel down before her and repeat:

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live: And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. . . . Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. – Isaiah 4:1-3; Isaiah 4:6-6.

Mark the glorious results: “For ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” That is to say, in the joy of your heart you interpret differently all external nature, the sunlight is sweeter, the trees are more beautiful, the earth takes on a new dignity and nature, and you see everything through the rose colour of your faith.

I say, then, that while the choice is left to each man to be righteous or unrighteous, no choice is left to the church or to the Christian: you must invite. If he die, his blood must not be on you; you must say to him, “Come.”

Read Revelation 22:18 : “I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of this prophecy, God shall take away his part of the tree of life and out of the Holy City which are written in this book.” What a tremendous sentence! And in view of it, hear the ex-president of Harvard University say: “We need a new religion.” He wants to add to what this book says. Hear the former professor of theology in the Divinity School of the University of Chicago say only a little part of the Christian religion will be final; you remember his book, The Finality of the Christian Religion, which goes on whittling away on God’s revelation until what is left, in his estimation, would rest without falling off on the point of a cambric needle. And they promoted him from a chair in the Divinity School to the University Chair of Comparative Religions. At which I wondered in this fashion: Since even he admits that the Christian religion is the best of all extant religions, but since only an infinitesimal part of that will abide, why waste money to pay a man to institute comparisons between them?

I, for one, think that Revelation 22:18-19 are not exclusively limited to the book of Revelation. For, if I have correctly interpreted the foregoing passages, showing that this book is bound up with all the other prophecies into one unity, and as in this book Christ’s prophetic office is closed henceforth, so then there will never be another revelation, nor need for another, and as this book is the climax revealing paradise regained to meet the paradise lost of Genesis, then the warning applies to all the inseparable library. Since this book makes known the way of life to the lost, since the only way to the tree of life and the holy New Jerusalem of God and the blessed society that is described in the preceding chapter, since through the blood of Jesus Christ is the only way to obtain the right to enter, how heinous must be the offense of taking away a part of this book, or adding a part!

There has always been in the sinner’s heart a prurient desire to find some way to the secrets of the hereafter, and hence they have resorted to magic and sorcery, fortune telling, soothsaying, necromancy, and ten thousand other ways. Even in hell the rich man had that desire: “Father Abraham, send Lazarus back to yonder world to tell my brothers not to come here.” Abraham said: “They have Moses and the prophets; they have the light.” He said: “No, Father Abraham, if one would go unto them from the dead they will repent.” Abraham said: “If they would not repent under Moses and the prophets, they would not repent under one that came from the dead.” Whoever is not willing to be saved by this revelation, a stored up, a precious treasure of life, deposited with the churches, then how can he be saved? That is why I told you, and probably shocked some of you by saying, that whoever is not saved through the shining of the candlesticks and stars, through the ministry of the light of the churches and the preachers, cannot be saved. Therefore no man can be saved after Christ comes; all of the saving light is deposited with the churches. That is why I prefer to take my conception of the churches from Jesus Christ rather than from man’s idea of what is the church. He established the church as an institution; he calls the concrete expression of the institution, “the churches”: He says, “These are the candlesticks and the stars that are to illumine the world.” I count being a church member a very great honor.

Others prefer to run over the range as mavericks – Texas cattlemen know what that means – wild stock with no brand or mark on them. And there are quite a lot of preachers who prefer to be “free lances,” independent of the churches. Paul says that Jesus set the apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers in the church: that is where he put them; they are not turned out loose in the world like wandering stars: they must have anchorage; they must hail from some port and must be going to some port.

1. What part of this book the prologue, and what part the epilogue?

2. In what words is the whole book authenticated?

3. In what words is it connected in unity and authority with all pre ceding books of the sacred library?

4. What the meaning of “The Lord, the God of Spirits, sent his angel to show unto his servants the things” of this book?

5. What follows from this meaning?

6. How does Paul speak of the Old Testament book, first collectively, then distributively?

7. What the two great lessons from Revelation 22:8-9?

8. What the two lessons from Revelation 22:10?

9. What the meaning of Rev 22:11, negatively and positively?

10. Wherein does the rendering of the Common Version of Rev 22:14 differ from the Revision, and why?

11. Expound Revelation 22:17.

12. Why may you not restrict the words of Rev 22:18-19 to this book alone?