Jesus Christ In The Writings Of John
THE GREAT INVITATION

Lesson Text:
Revelation 22:8-21 (KJV)

Golden Text:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Rev. 22:21)

Lesson Plan:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE TIME IS AT HAND (VS. 8-12)
3. HIS REWARD IS WITH HIM (VS. 12-15)
4. THE INVITATION (VS. 16, 17)
5. THE CONCLUSION (VS. 18-21)
6. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

Setting of the Lesson:
Time: The Book of Revelation was probably written A.D. 95 or 96, at the close of the reign of Domitian.
Place: It was written either on the island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea, where the visions were seen by John; or in the city of Ephesus after John’s return from exile.

1. INTRODUCTION

After the vision in our last lesson, the seventh seal was opened. Then follow the series of visions announced by the seven trumpets, and by the seven golden vials, or bowls. At last the clouds and darkness clear away before the dawning of the day of the Lord; all enemies are conquered; the resurrection and the judgment. John has seen the history of the church to the triumphant end. Now he comes to the epilogue, or closing of his book, giving the assurance of the truth of the visions revealed to him, with warnings, encouragements, and invitations, in view of the great realities.

“The vision in this last chapter of Revelation is directly continuous with what has preceded.” (Ladd)

“There are many things in this glorious vision which lie beyond our total comprehension; but so it was with the ancient prophecies of the Old Testament. What could have been more incomprehensible than the prophecies that a holy virgin would conceive and bear a son, that a man should die and not see corruption in the grave, or that one despised and rejected by man should be established forever upon the throne of David?” (Coffman)

“Yet the pious Jew preserved his faith amidst all these wonderful, and in appearance, contradictory intimations” (Myers). Just so, Christians should receive the great prophecies of the New Testament in the fullest confidence that, despite having no accurate knowledge of how these things shall all be fulfilled, they shall nevertheless come to pass exactly as God has said. The ultimate triumph of Christianity over all the corruptions of earth is the will of God; and nothing can stand in the way of that.

“In this chapter, for the first time, the imagery of the paradise of Eden, linking the end of history with its beginning, appears” (Beasley-Murray). “John took the motif of the Fall in Genesis 3 and described the complete reversal of it to convey the ultimate glory of man in Christ Jesus” (Ezell). “The Lamb of God is everywhere triumphant. What more remains?” (Baldinger)

“Revelation 22 has special significance because it contains the final words of the Bible, the last inspired words ever written, assuming the book was written about A.D. 96 during the reign of Domitian. At first glance, the chapter seems rather disconnected. One challenge of chapter 22 is that it is not always easy to tell who is speaking. The voices of Jesus, John, and an angelic messenger blend. We need to understand that regardless of who is speaking, the words are from the Lord. The verses in Revelation 22 frequently repeat key thoughts found earlier in the book – truths the Lord wants us to remember.” (Roper)

2. THE TIME IS AT HAND

22:8 … “And I John saw these things.” Better as in R. V.: “I John am he that heard and saw these things.” “John had placed his name in the title of his book (1:4, 9) . . . and now at the close he names himself again, so that we might perfectly know that he, the Apostle John, had written this testimony as to the coming of Jesus Christ.” (Bengel)

It is common to his Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse that the truth of the facts recorded should be established by the evidence of hearing and seeing (Bible Commentary).

22:8 … “I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel.” Overwhelmed with wonder and reverence at the extraordinary revelations made to him, and filled with praise at the amazing blessedness God has prepared for His children, John felt the impulse of worship; and it may be that Barnes is right in his suggestion that the apostle “not improbably entertained some suspicion that it was the Redeemer Himself who had manifested Himself to him in this remarkable manner.” Notice the startling difference between this passage and that of 19:10, where John fell down to worship the angel; here he fell down to “worship God” in the presence of the angel.

“It is not recorded here that John fell down to ‘worship the angel’; therefore, we can conclude that John intended to ‘worship God’ before the feet of the angel. Otherwise, we would have to suppose that John deliberately disobeyed the prohibition mentioned on the first occasion. John did not merely forget what he had been commanded. No! this was something different. In this event, he was directing the worship to God, but doing so ‘before the feet of the angel.’ The overwhelming importance of these two different episodes is that they show the utter sinfulness of bowing down in the presence of even the highest angel in order to worship God. The derivative teaching from this is that it is likewise sinful to bow down before a man or before an image in order to worship God. The specious reasoning by which it is pretended that people bow down before images and religious prelates ‘to worship God’ in so doing is dramatically refuted by this. The prompt action of God’s angel in forbidding John to bow down before an angel while in the act of ‘worshipping God’ also forbids the notion that one may bow down before men or images (both of which are far less than an angel) while in the act of worshipping God.” (Coffman)

“A Christian should assume no prostrating position” (Nee) before any being, or any thing, in such a manner as to suggest worship. We should worship God only through Christ; and we must not assume a position of any kind that could suggest worship of another being, or object. Failure to discern this truth was the basis for the justification of idol worship by ancient pagans. “The golden calves in Dan, Bethel, and Samaria were treated as outward symbols of deity and not as deity itself.” (Charles)

“This is exactly the line of reasoning followed by those who seek to justify the consecration and use of sacred images in the worship of Jesus Christ today. These marvelous passages (19:10; 22:8) show that it is not merely the worship of an angel (or a man, or an image) that is proscribed and forbidden to Christians, it is the bowing down before them that is also sinful, even though the purpose might be to worship God in such a position.” (Coffman)

22:9 … “See thou do it not.” Because it is unlawful and unworthy to worship any being but God Himself. As we saw above, there was the same attempt and refusal in 19:10. This twice offered and twice refused worship is full of teaching. To render to all their due is wise and seemly and Christlike; “to offer exaggerated homage to any is to invert God’s order, and to degrade by pretending to exalt man whose true glory is that he is God’s creation” (Carpenter). Satan wanted Jesus to worship him, but no good person desires to be worshipped by others.

22:9 … “For I am thy fellowservant.” One bond of service unites angels and men; to be servants of God is the highest title they can attain; worship is for God alone.

22:9 … “Worship God.” These words are most emphatic; “to God give thy worship, and not to me” (Carpenter). No matter how John intended it, his bowing down before the angel was sinful, and was in itself an action contrary to the heavenly edict, “worship God.”

22:9 … “And of them which keep the sayings of this book.” Those who serve God and obey Him are akin to the angels, engaged in the same great work, living by the same great principles.

22:10 … “Seal not the sayings of this book.” Isaiah (8:16; 30:8) and Daniel (8:26; 12:4, 9) were commanded to seal up their prophecies. Their prophecies related to far-distant times, and the idea in their being commanded to seal them was, that they should make the record sure and unchangeable; that they should finish it and lay it up for future ages; so that, in far-distant times, the events might be compared with the prophecy. On the other hand, the events that John had predicted, though in their ultimate development they were to extend to the end of the world, and even into eternity, were about to begin to be fulfilled, and were to be of immediate use in consoling a persecuted church.

“Therefore, John was directed not to seal up his predictions; not to lay them away to be opened, as it were, in distant ages, but to leave them open so that a persecuted church might have access to them, and might in times of persecution and trial have the assurance that the principles of their religion would finally triumph.” (Barnes)

“The contents of John’s prophecy have a twofold perspective” (Ladd). “Some of the events foretold are to occur many centuries in the future” (Caird); but “Parts of Revelation deal with events that confront John's generation. The savage sea-beast is about to turn upon the helpless Christians. In a Roman courtroom, at the headsman's block, or in the brutal arena, the saints are about to be called upon to face their own Calvary; and the courage to face such a trial would be immeasurably aided by the knowledge of the final victory which in God’s good time would crown the efforts of the faithful. This was what sent Paul himself to the block shouting the immortal words of 2 Timothy 4:8.” (Coffman)

22:10 … “For the time is at hand.” That is, they are soon to commence. It is not implied that they would be soon completed. “The idea is that as the scenes of persecution were soon to open upon the church, it was important that the church should have access to those prophecies of the final triumph of religion, to sustain it in its trials.” (Barnes)

22:11 … “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still” etc. Better: Let him that is unjust, do injustice still; and let the foul pollute himself still; and let the righteous do righteousness still; and let the holy sanctify himself still. Two pairs are selected to stand as representatives of the good and of the bad; in these four are included all classes of godly and ungodly; those who sin against society, and those who sin against themselves; those who act honorably, and those who keep themselves pure. But what does the verse mean? Does it mean that the time is so short that it is hardly sufficient to allow men to reform themselves, so as to be ready for their Lord, and, therefore, that the lesson is, let those who would be ready for Him remember that now is the day of salvation? This is the view adopted by some; it contains truth, but the meaning of the verse seems more general. Is it not the declaration of the ever terrible truth that men are building up their destiny by the actions and habits of their lives?

“Sow an act – reap a habit; sow a habit – reap a character; sow a character – reap a destiny. So slowly, but surely, the power of being masters of our fate passes out of our hands. It is in this law of our nature that the key to many of the darkest problems of the future may lie.” (Carpenter)

Compare Matthew 26:45, “Sleep on now, and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand”; also Ezekiel 20:39. The saying has solemn irony in it: the time is so short, that there is hardly room for change – the lesson conveyed in its depth is, “Change while there is time” (Alford). The words contain that solemn lesson often taught in Scripture, but nowhere as impressively as in the writings of John, that the revelation of Christ is the final test of the character, and the final arbiter of the fate of man. Under the influence of the Gospel of Christ, we make out our own destinies; we sow the harvest that we shall eventually reap. Such is the great moral spectacle upon which the eye of John always rests, as he surveys the history of man. It is this that lends to the world its solemnity, and to the revelation that is in Christ Jesus its unspeakable importance. We need not remain unrighteous and filthy; we may not remain righteous and holy; but, whatever the changes that we experience, this is true, that we are fixing our own character and conduct every day we live, and that “if judgment overtake us at the last, the result will be traceable to no arbitrary decree, but to the manner in which, as moral beings, we met the conditions of that moral system in the midst of which we have been placed” (Milligan). “Perhaps John realized that this prophecy would complete the New Testament, providing the finality of God's revelation to man” (Coffman). Having been completed, “No greater power could be brought to bear upon them before He comes again” (Dummelow). Actually, this thought is from Christ Himself Who said that one rising from the dead would not be any more convincing than the Scriptures (Luke 16:31). “This is a plain call for the reader to put his life in order while there is still opportunity for change” (Caird). Swete is often quoted in this context, saying, “There will come a time when change will be impossible, when no further opportunity will be given for repentance on the one hand, or apostasy on the other.” “John is saying that there will be no opportunity for last-minute repentance” (Morris). “Do not hinder the man who has completely hardened himself in his wickedness” (Hendriksen). “A man can so long refuse the way of Christ that in the end he cannot take it. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit.” (Barclay)

22: 12 … “Behold, I come quickly.” Some believe that these are the words of the Redeemer Himself. But others believe as Moffatt, that “Angels are the envoys and mouthpieces of God here, as in the Old Testament, and therefore entitled to speak either in their own name or that of the Lord.” Lenski believed that the words, “I come quickly”, showed “that Jesus is being quoted.” “Quickly can mean ‘soon’; but it can also mean ‘suddenly’ or ‘unexpectedly’; and, the ambiguity is no doubt purposeful in order to provide for all generations a spiritual and moral tension of expectancy and perspective” (Ladd). No Christian should live in any other way than in a consciousness that the Lord may come at any time.

To what coming do they refer?
Some believe that these words speak of the coming of Christ, because, as Coffman points out, “the coming of Christ in the New Testament is invariably associated with the final judgment of the good and the bad, the good to receive eternal life, and the wicked to receive the second death.” Still, others believe these words cannot refer to the Lord’s Second Coming, if limited to His coming at the end of the world, because this saying was uttered over 2,000 years ago, and He has not yet come in that sense. Proponents of this view say:

a. It may refer to His coming in the larger sense of the coming of the Gospel dispensation. That did come quickly with continually new developments, new approaches. Just before the dawn we say, the sun will rise quickly; soon it shines on the mountain peaks. It takes some time before it touches the lower hills, and longer still before it breaks through all mists and clouds, and floods the earth with the fullness of its glory. 2,000+ years has been the dawning time of the sun of righteousness. It came quickly, and still we continue to look for eras of His coming.

b. Practically to each of us He comes at death. He comes quickly, and there is so much to do before He comes, that the time seems very short.

c. Barnes believed that in reference to each individual, the period is near when it is to be determined whether he will be holy or sinful to all eternity. What thought could there be more adapted to impress on the mind the importance of giving immediate attention to the concerns of the soul?

Roberts believed that these “words take the first person and become the very words of Christ.” Roberts did not believe the words “I come” to mean the Second Coming, but rather the Lord’s coming in the great ordeal the church was confronting, whereas Coffman held that ‘Such views do not take into account the rewards and punishments clearly associated with it in the text. These indicate the Second Coming of Christ in glory to judge the living and the dead. Limiting this to the period of the persecutions coming upon the church when John wrote comes from the acceptance of a narrow preterist system of interpreting this prophecy. The people who passed through that persecution did not receive their rewards then; at least Paul didn’t (2 Tim. 2:4). The usual knee-jerk response to a verse such as this may be illustrated by, ‘John had no expectation that this age of human history would last even a generation, to say nothing of centuries’ (Rist). Such a dictum flows out of a comprehensive misunderstanding of this whole prophecy, to say nothing of the entire New Testament.”

Illustrations
We sometimes see the fixing of evil character in the drunkard. In the beginning of his course it is comparatively easy to leave off drinking. But gradually it grows more and more difficult, until at last there is no hope. Other evil courses, especially the undisciplined love of what is base and low, such as pornography, provide similar examples.

In most museums we can see stones in which bird or animal tracks are preserved, and much of the past history of our earth can be learned from them. They were made in the soft mud, and at the time could easily have been obliterated, but at last the mud became solid rock, and held the tracks through the ages.

There is a touching poem, a portion of which is in some hymn-books, which can be used most impressively. It begins:

There is a time, we know not when,
A point, we know not where,
That marks the destiny of men
To glory or despair.
There is a line by us unseen
That crosses every path,
The hidden boundary between
God’s mercy and His wrath.

3. HIS REWARD IS WITH HIM

22:12 … “And my reward is with me.” There is no delay in His reward; it will be given as soon as He comes. And the blessings of that reward will all be with Him in His presence, rewards like His own.

22:12 … “To give every man according as his work shall be.” The character is judged by the conduct (see Matt. 7:21; 25:31-46; Rev. 21:8). “Men are never represented in the New Testament as judged on the last day according to their opinions, but according to their lives” (Abbott). But their lives, their “work” include thoughts, motives, words, deeds, opinions as far as they form character, or are the fruit of character.

22:13 … “I am Alpha and Omega.” (See Rev. 1:8; 1:10, 11; 21:5, 6; 22:13)

= Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and means the same as THE BEGINNING, which follows.

= Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet, and means the same as THE END, THE LAST.

This declares His actual perfection, His perpetual presence and protection and that He is the author, the effective agent, and the end of the scheme of providential government with respect to the Church¹ (Smith). He originated the whole plan of salvation²; He³ will determine its close; and, as Barnes pointed out “He formed the world, and He will wind up its affairs.” Therefore there will never be any change in His principles of rewards, never any failure in granting them. “There is more than one idea here. There is the idea of completeness, of eternity and of authority.” (Barclay)

Coffman offers a marvelous consideration of the three statements in this verse, i.e., Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, first and last, all of which are parallel aspects of one great truth. Coffman’s complete “VII” comments on the subject are provided below:

Christ, the Alpha and the Omega
“‘I am Alpha and Omega.’ This is one of the most intriguing things Christ ever said. Of course, the idiom of so using the first and last letters of the alphabet is perhaps as old as language itself. A similar use was made of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as when Abraham was said to have kept the law from Aleph to Tav; and Ps. 119 is written on the pattern of the same alphabet from Aleph to Tav.”

I. Coffman’s first comment; “Christ is the Alpha and the Omega with reference to His eternal existence. He said, ‘Before Abraham was, I AM’ (John 8:58). Christ is ‘before all things’ (Col. 1:17), and was ‘in the beginning’ (John 1:1f). He is the same ‘yesterday, today, and for ever’ (Heb. 13:8).”

II. Coffman’s second comment; “He is the Alpha and the Omega with reference to the atonement for man’s sin. The sins of Abel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of all the pre-Christian world, their sins, no less than ours, are forgiven only through the blood of Christ. He is the Alpha and the Omega concerning human redemption.”

III. Coffman’s third comment: “He is the Alpha and the Omega with reference to the Word of God. He was the first to declare fully God’s Word to people. In a very real sense, Jesus was God’s first complete Word to men. But if the Word in Jesus is first, it is also the last. He revealed that, ‘The word that I speak, the same shall judge him (man) in the last day’ (John 12:48). People shall never be through with the Word of Christ; it shall confront them in the final judgment.”

IV. Coffman’s fourth comment: “He is the Alpha and the Omega of the Christian faith. As the writer of Hebrews said, ‘He is the author and finisher of our faith’ (Heb. 12:2, KJV). Regarding the personal redemption of every man, Jesus is the all in all, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega.”

V. Coffman’s fifth comment: “He is the Alpha and the Omega as regards the resurrection of the dead. Paul wrote the Colossians that Christ was the ‘firstborn from the dead,’ which does not mean that His was the first resurrection of a mortal, but that Christ was the first to be raised from the dead upon whom death would have no further power. Lazarus and others who were ‘raised’ died again, but not so with Christ. He shall be the last in this regard, because it is His Word that shall summon all the dead to the final judgment.”

VI. Coffman’s sixth comment: “He is the Alpha and the Omega in the New Testament. His name is in the first verse and in the last. His titles mark the opening words, and His blessing closes the sacred canon of the New Testament.”

VII. Coffman’s seventh comment: “He is the Alpha and the Omega in the final judgment. The eternal judgment shall begin with the body of Christ (the church), as indicated by 1 Peter 4:17; and the final word of it shall be pronounced by the Son of God because the Father hath committed judgment to the Son (John 5:27). Christ will be the Alpha and the Omega in the eternal judgment.”

22:14 … “Blessed … that do his commandments.” It is sad to say, but recent generations of Bible translators seem to be allergic to any mention of “doing” God’s commandments. But, “washing one’s robes” (as some translate it) and “doing His commandments” are synonymous terms. Either way, there’s a lot of doing for the sinner who hopes to be saved. The doing, obedience, is the test of character of faith, of fitness to enter eternal life. It implies allegiance to Christ as our Master and King.

“Remarkably the Sinaitic and Alexandrine manuscripts give us ‘washed their robes,’ instead of ‘do His commandments,’ with probably an allusion to 7:14, ‘have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” (Cowles)

“So all the ancient manuscripts (and the R. V.). The difference in the readings is curious, being in the original that between poiountes tas entolas auton (doing his commandments) and plunontes tas stolas auton (washed their robes) either of which might easily be mistaken for the other.” (Alford)

Either reading is correct in fact, for those “who wash their robes” will “do his commandments,” as is implied in washing in the blood of the Lamb. Coffman points out that “he does not thereby earn or merit salvation; but there are nevertheless things to be ‘done’ by the sinner before God will save him.” This is one of the seven great beatitudes of Revelation, which are:

a. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein (Rev. 1:3).
b. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord (Rev. 14:13).
c. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame (Rev. 16:15).
d. Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9).
e. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection (Rev. 10:6).
f. Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book (Rev. 22:7).
g. Blessed are they that wash their robes that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and to enter in through the gates into the city (Rev. 22:14).

Barclay’s comment on this seventh beatitude is excellent: “This shows man’s part in salvation. It is Jesus Christ who in His Cross has provided the grace by which alone man can be forgiven; but man has to appropriate that sacrifice . . . We can supply soap and water, but we cannot compel a person to use them.”

Mounce pointed out that, “The participle, they that wash is in the present tense, suggesting continuous action.”

“One is never through with washing his robes and striving to achieve through Christ that degree of holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. When all that Christ does for people is considered, man’s part in redemption is not worthy to be compared with Christ’s; but still, Christ has given man a role to play in his salvation; he must wash his robes. He gives the holy bride the glorious garments; but she must put them on (See under Rev. 19:7ff). Free grace gives the white robes to the sinner, but he must take care of the laundering!” (Coffman)

22:14 … “Through the gates into the city.” The city of God described in chapter 20, and the first part of chapter 22. The gates are 12, and on every side, as a welcome to all people. And to make the admission as easy and free as it is possible for it to be. And within is every joy, every virtue, every blessing, that can be conceived of, or expressed in human language.

22:15 … “For without.” Excluded from heaven and the holy city. Without the city, howling like the undomesticated are “dogs.” The word without is actually the big word in the whole verse. It does not mean that just outside of God’s city such characters as these are lurking and trying to enter. “Their doom is not mere exclusion from the city but is the lake of fire [21:8]” (Ladd). “Outside, or without, therefore involves a reference to the lake of fire.” (Rist)

22:15 … “Dogs.” Around oriental cities, fierce, cruel, unclean, are men lost to virtue, useless to their race, accused of God and of all the good. “This can denote a thoroughly immoral person, and that may be its meaning here” (Barclay). Male prostitutes in the old pagan temples were commonly called “dogs.” Coffman points out that “the attitude toward dogs in the ancient culture was quite different from that in our society today. Dogs were generally wild, vicious, dirty, cowardly, and disgusting. They were the scavengers of ancient cities.”

22:15 … “Sorcerers.” Those who use magic arts, who are in real or pretended league with Satan to deceive and mislead the people. “The black arts were common in John’s day, and they have again become so in our own. Satan still operates in the same old ways; he has not invented a new sin in thousands of years.” (Coffman)

22:15 … “Whoremongers.” All the sensual, corrupt, debased.

22:15 … “Murderers.” The Christian view of this is stricter than that of the natural man. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus made the antecedent attitudes of contempt and hatred to be murder “in principle.”

22:15 … “Idolaters.” Disowning the true God, and setting up false gods (idols in the heart). The ancient idolatry was enshrined in the temples of paganism; but modern idolatry is more subtle, and is identified with self-love and the selfish disregard of others. “The old temples with their idol gods are no more, except in some backward nations; but people still worship power, fame, wealth, gold, science, themselves, or humanity anything except the one true and Almighty God.” (Coffman)

22:15 … “And whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” All deceitful and false persons who do not love the truth (see a similar catalogue of the various classes of the wicked in 21:8). Cowles believed that the doctrine of the passage is that broad and evermore true one, i.e., none are shut out from heaven save those who are unfit to enter; none sent down to hell save those whose spirit is of hell, whose hearts are base, who have made themselves only the more selfish and hardened under all the influences of this world of mercy. Most commentators stress the broad implications of this, noting that it does not say, “anyone who ever told a lie.” True as this is, we should not assume that God takes a light view of any falsehood, however inoffensive we may consider it to be.

4. THE INVITATION

The city with all its attractions, the character necessary before any can enter, the wickedness, and the misery of those who are without, and the way by which these sinners may be made holy by the blood of the Lamb, all having been set forth with all clearness and attractiveness, once more the invitation to come goes out from the highest authority in the universe to all the world. Jesus has one more last word to say. In every conceivable form of assurance and invitation, He had called sinners through all the divers manners of His revelations before, yet still His love seems to stay the hand that is putting on the seal, that it may first insert one more invitation and assurance, lest some poor, dark-minded sinner should still despond and despair. “Stay,” the ascended Jesus seems to say: “Put not on the cursing seal till there first there is put in one more Gospel assurance and invitation. And make it wide as human thought can possibly conceive of it; plain as human language can possibly utter it; and cordial as the heart of God alone can give it. Assure them from Me, David’s Creator, and yet, as the offspring of David, their brother, partaker of flesh and blood; assure them from Me, the day-star of all their longings, now risen and enthroned in the heaven, that the fountain of life is now thrown wide open and its streams are gushing forth in all their infinite fullness, with every barrier of approach to it absolutely taken away. Tell them that not only have they leave to come, but every loving voice in heaven and earth pleads and urges them to come. My spirit whispers to the depths of their spirits, saying, “Come.” My bride, the church, cries, “Come! Come!” But, lest it be in highways and hedges where there should be no church to reach any one, every sinner that heareth My voice and obeys My Gospel himself is authorized to say to any other sinner, “Come.” But, lest there should be no such converted sinner to invite him, tell any soul that hears the call of My Gospel and feels the thirst not to stand on ceremony, but offer himself a self-invited “Come.”

“But, still more, lest now some sin-darkened soul should stumble at the word ‘athirst,’ and doubt if his thirst for the Gospel is real or good enough, say absolutely, ‘Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.’ I will be the Savior of any that will have Me for a Savior. Only let him cry in his despair and obey the Gospel, crying ‘O Lamb of God I come – just as I am.’” (Robinson)

22:16 … “I Jesus.” The highest possible authority. Coffman points out that “up to this verse, we have been studying God’s authentication of this prophecy (22:8-15). This verse through 22:19 is the authentication of Jesus the Lord.” “Revelation again takes on the aspect of a legal document. Note the legal formula, ‘I Jesus,’ showing that Jesus is bearing witness that his angel was divinely commissioned to show the visions to John” (Crouch). Thus God and Christ attest the authenticity of Revelation; “Two witnesses are wholly sufficient” (Lenski). “Thus, this book and all of its words are established as faithful and true (22:6) by two witnesses and two attestations, i.e., that of God by His angel, and that of Christ Himself.” (Coffman)

22:16 … “Have sent mine angel.” As recorded in 1:1. Therefore we can place trust in what is revealed. In order that the full weight of who is testifying here may be seen, Jesus further identifies Himself in the next lines.

22:16 … “These things in the churches.” Coffman points out that “this requires that we understand the brief individual messages to the seven churches in the beginning of Revelation as an introduction; the whole book is intended for all of them.”

22:16 … “I am the root and the offspring of David.” This ties the end of the New Testament with its very first verse, “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1; emphasis added) – the root-shoot, a growth from the root, equivalent to “off-spring.”

“This identifies the speaker as the very Messiah of ancient promise; the very personage whose Gospel work and triumphs stand out so conspicuously in that eleventh chapter of Isaiah, from which the term ‘root of David’ came.” (Cowles)

22:16 … “The bright and morning star.” Mention of the star brings to mind the light that led wise men to the manger in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:10f). The brightest and most beautiful of stars, outshining all the rest, shining in the darkness, but the harbinger of day, the promise and prophecy of light and glory to the world. When we see Him, we know the day is soon to dawn. “Christ is the Star of the Dawn, and what James Stewart once in a convocation at Edinburgh called ‘The Star of the Eschaton’” (Earle). Coffman pointed out that “this particular pair of metaphors, the root and the star, occurs together nowhere else in the Bible.” He then suggests that “perhaps a little closer look at them will prove helpful,” and then proceeds to offer a closer look. Coffman’s complete and exceptionally moving seven point “closer look” is below:

Christ, the Root and the Star
"Can anyone imagine two things more unlike than a root and a star? This proves that the Holy Spirit gave these words, for no man would ever have dared to describe the Lord in one breath as a root and a star. Yet, both terms are frequently applied to Christ in Scripture. The metaphor of the root appears in Revelation 5:8; Romans 15:12; Isaiah 11:1, 2; and in this passage. That of the star is in Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:2; and 2 Peter 1:19. It is the contrast in these metaphors which we shall emphasize."

I. Coffman’s first closer look: “Here is the contrast between the near and the far. A root is near, but a star's distance is measured in light years! Is it not so with Christ? Where two or three are gathered together in His name, there is He; and yet He is at the right hand of the Majesty on High.”

II. Coffman’s second closer look: “Here is the contrast between the visible and the invisible. The root is hidden beneath our feet, but the star blazes forth in the sky. That is the way it is with Christ. His influence is hidden and works secretly like leaven in the three measures of meal; but it also blazes forth in all creation. The influence of Christ is so universal and extensive that a fool can see it.”

III. Coffman’s third closer look: “Here is a contrast between the earthly and the heavenly. Jesus Christ is both perfect man and perfect God. The New Testament has many examples of the humanity of Christ. He was hungry, tired, sorrowful, etc., like all men; but His miracles proclaim Him as God of every God.”

IV. Coffman’s fourth closer look: “Here is the contrast between the local and the universal. A root is fixed. It cannot move, except to creep a short distance from its humble beginning; but a star sweeps through the outer reaches of the universe in an orbit of incomprehensible distances. Its light travels 186,200 miles per second, and that for one million years at a time! A root may be localized and contained in an earthen jar; but a star rises for the whole world to see and hangs a blazing lantern in the sky where none can miss it. Is not also Christ like this? To individuals, Christ is ‘my Savior,’ ‘my Shepherd,’ etc.; but to the world He is the Christ of the Ages, the Christ of the first century and of the last; He is the Christ of Damascus Road, and the Christ of Every Road. He is the Christ of a little child’s bedside and the Christ of all races and conditions of man. He is here; He is also everywhere.”

V. Coffman’s fifth closer look: “Here is the contrast with that which is small and that which is big. A root may be so small that an eye can hardly see it; but a star may be so large that a million worlds cannot be compared with it. Jesus Christ is so great that time and space cannot contain Him; but He was also wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. ‘Mary clutched Him to her breast’ and little children sing of the ‘Little Lord Jesus’; but multitudes of the heavenly host fall down in His presence.”

VI. Coffman’s sixth closer look: “Here is the contrast between the high and the low. A star is high; a root is low. Christ is both: ‘There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus; No friend like Him is so high and holy; And yet no friend is so meek and lowly! (Oatman).’”

VII. Coffman’s seventh closer look: “Here is the contrast between that which needs man’s care and that which needs nothing. A root must be watered and cultivated; a star needs absolutely nothing from man. Just so, Christ is above and beyond all people. Nothing that men can do can either cause or prevent the everlasting glory that pertains to Him; and yet Christ needs people. There are certain phases of His work that cannot get on without men. Christ works through His human children, and their labors are important to the Eternal. ‘For it is God who worketh in you both and to will and to work for his good pleasure’ (Phil. 2:13).”

22:17 … “The Spirit.” The Holy Spirit⁴ , in the Word, in the church, in the prophets, in the conscience, in providence, with His own still, small, but penetrating voice.

22:17 … “And the bride.” The church (Rev. 19:7, 8; 21:9). “It is the testimony of the church empowered by the Holy Spirit” (Mounce). “Note that there are four invitations in this verse, yet there is only one” (Coffman). “It is not as though the Spirit says, Come; and then also the bride says, Come; but the Spirit moves in her, and she is moved by him.” (Lenski)

22:17 … “Say come.” To the city of God, the state and the place of holy blessedness. Coffman points out that “this is what people have to do if they wish to be saved. This verb implies that unless men shall ‘come,’ they shall continue to be lost.” This means that God in Christ has already done everything that even God can do to save people, and that the next move is up to us. This also teaches that it is possible for people to do this. No enabling act on God’s part is necessary; it is the human will that must respond to this call.

22:17 … “And let him that heareth say, come.” Every one who is obeying the invitation, as he hastens on toward the holy city, say, come, to all within sound of his voice. He can contribute to mission-work; he can uphold the church; he can care for the widows and orphans; he can speak to those with whom society or business brings him in contact; he can live so that his life will be a perpetual invitation and a reinforcement of his words. This is directed not to the Lord but to sinners to accept the Gospel. “The personal responsibility of each Christian to bear testimony to the lordship of Christ is here asserted” (Strauss). Strauss also pointed out “that many Christians are not living up to this trust, because the contemporary church is snarled up in the clergy system.” “It will be noted here that we construe the first two ‘Comes’ as directed to Christ, and the latter two as directed to sinners” (Coffman). Beasley-Murray also concurred: “It is more likely that John intends us to view the call in the first two sentences as directed to the Lord.” Swete also took this view.

22:17 … “And let him that is athirst come.” Without waiting for invitations from others. The very desire of his soul is an invitation, because it was placed there by God.

22:17 … “Whosoever will.” Making the invitation as broad as possible. God longs for every one to come. They cannot be saved unless they come. This is no narrow Gospel, but broad as in the nature of things it is possible to be. It invites everybody, of every class and every age. “Whosoever” is better than if our own names were mentioned; there might be a mistake in them, but none in “Whosoever.”

22:17 … “The water of life.” The salvation of Jesus Christ, the water that satisfies every want and longing of the soul. There is no right ambition, there is no longing of the heart, there is no aspiration of mind or soul, but Jesus Christ is the living water which satisfies it. Some commentators regard this come not as an invitation to people to come to Christ, but the call of all these for Christ to come, as He had said in v. 12, that He would come quickly.

Illustrations
A chorister excludes from his choir those who will not learn to sing. He may want certain people very much, but if they will not study the music; if they will not learn the notes; if they will not train their voices, then he cannot take them into his choir. It is not the chorister who excludes them – they exclude themselves.

Each person who has accepted the Lord’s invitation should repeat it to others, as the many reflections in the lighthouse lamp repeat and reflect the central light.

The Psalms of degrees are by some supposed to be sung by the companies who came up to Jerusalem to the great feasts. One especially was sung by the first company who reached the hill-top from which the city and temple in all their glory could be seen; those next behind would take up the strain, and thus it was repeated from company to company, till those far away had heard of the glory and blessedness of the city of David.

5. THE CONCLUSION

“The sacred prohibition against either adding to or taking from the Word of God may not be restricted to the book of Revelation” (Coffman). We have already noted that John was conscious of this book’s being the last of the sacred canon (v. 11); and it should be observed here that John tailored his words to include both his prophecy and the canon.

“‘Prophecy of this book’ (22:18), means the book of Revelation; ‘book of this prophecy’ (22:19) means the entire Bible. There is the additional fact that the prohibition against adding to or taking from, is here identical with the warning in the Old Testament to the same effect (Deut. 4:2; 12:32). John was not conscious merely of writing Scripture, but of writing the final Scripture.” (Coffman)

“The solemn prohibitions here are not directed solely against copyists, but against all perverters of sacred truth” (Beckwith). “We view these two verses as the words of Jesus” (Coffman). Swete says, “The speaker is surely Jesus.” However, Alford disagreed.

22:18 … “For I.” Alford supposed that the writer, John, now speaks, but if so it must be because he was authorized to do so by Jesus Himself, from whom only this warning could rightly come.

22:18 … “Testify … if any man shall add unto these things.” “The reference as above must be to this Book of Revelation only, for at that time the books which we now denominate the Bible were not collected in a single volume” (Barnes). However, Coffman differs, saying, “Certainly the importing of whole systems of theological speculations must be seen as forbidden. We should recognize such truth in all our studies of the Word of God.” Wesley understood the prohibitions “as applicable to the whole New Testament.” “God’s Word is neither a human discovery, nor a human invention” (Ladd). “Those who allow this book to form a basis of unbridled fancy, or a ground of bitter dispute and controversy cannot be excused from serious blame and fault.” (Erdman)

But it is equally true of all the inspired Word of God. The words are a solemn protest against the spirit that handles rashly or deceitfully the Word of God; which adds its own thoughts, or makes its wishes the parent of its interpretations; which dilutes the force of its warnings, or impoverishes the fullness of its promises. (Carpenter)

22:18 … “God shall add unto him the plagues.” etc. Barnes pointed out that “these ‘plagues’ refer to the numerous methods described in this book as those in which God would bring severe judgment upon the persecutors of the Church, and the corrupters of religion.”

22:19 … “And if any man shall take away from the words.” To take away is to reject altogether, strike out any part of it, to neglect it so that it has not its rightful power over the mind or to diminish any of its threatenings, or modify its rewards. Let them stand as the very Words of God. “Let them stand undiluted, unimpaired, unmodified; for how should man be wise above God? How should he dare to tone down the fearful threatenings of this book, or shift their application from the sinner of whom God has spoken?” (Cowles)

“Inasmuch as this portion of the word of God is rooted in, interwoven with, and is the completion of, all the Word of God, it becomes impossible to tamper with this final book without maltreating what had been given by God before” (Lang). “These words are a solemn protest against the spirit which handles rashly or deceitfully God's word.” (Carpenter)

“Any violation of God’s Word, whether by adding to it, or taking from it, or by making one's wishes the parent of his interpretation, is strictly prohibited. The tendency of people to violate the Word of God evidently underlies the efforts of some to make these verses not the words of the apostle, but [Barclay pointed out that] of ‘some later scribe, anxious that none should alter the book in the days to come.’” (Coffman)

Alford noted that, “This is an awful warning to those who add to it by irreverent and trifling interpretations” (Alford as quoted by Lenski). It is our humble prayer that none of the interpretations herein presented either add to or subtract from what is written in the Holy Word of God. Any view or interpretation violating what the text says should be rejected.

22:19 … “His part out of the book of life.” The Lamb’s book of life, in which were written the names of those who belonged to Him (21:27).

22:19 … “And from the things which are written in this book.” All the joys, victories, blessings mentioned in it as given to the people of God.

22:20 … “He which testifieth these things saith.” The speaker is Christ. In this terse statement, “Christ sums up the book” (Dummelow). “This also has the utility of revealing Christ as the author of the two previous verses. They are Christ's words, not even John’s, much less the words of some nameless scribe.” (Coffman)

22:20 … “Surely I come quickly.” (See 22:17) “No one who has ever read John’s book can have any doubt about what the prayer is asking. It is a prayer that Christ will come again to win in the faith of His servants the victory which is both Calvary and Armageddon” (Caird). Caird also suggested the responsive nature of this verse, indicating “its standing in the liturgical setting of the eucharist, answered by the eucharistic prayer maranatha (1 Cor. 16:22).” Coffman pointed out that “Beckwith also identified these last words with the maranatha of 1 Corinthians 16:22.” Coffman goes on to say that “many scholars do not understand how the church of all ages prays, ‘Oh, Lord come,’ without any sense of failure due to His not having come in His Second Advent, even yet; but the answer is right here in the double meaning of this passage.”

“It is hard for us finite creatures of the dust and of time to realize, that there is no such thing as ‘time’ with God. He sees the beginning; He sees the end; He sees the present; and all are alike to Him. Even to us the coming of the Lord ‘is near,’ as near as the length of our life away.” (Criswell)

22:20 … “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” The epitome of all the prayers that the believer is called on to offer. It is a prayer for the overthrow of Satan’s kingdom; for the extinction of sorrows, the cessation of pain, the wiping away of tears; for the descent of all things; in a word, for the new heaven and the new earth wherein dwells righteousness. Let this prayer never die on our lips while we have breathe, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”

22:21 … “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Barclay spoke for us, when he said: “It is surely symbolical, and it is surely fitting, that the last words of the Bible should be grace!”

“Revelation is written for the saints, to them alone it is spoken; they alone can keep it. Let no man think that if he has not already found Christ that he may find him here. Here indeed, faith and love are the key to knowledge.” (Roberson)

“Revelation is not for the curiosity seeker or for religious fanatics, but for all those who would continue to the end” (Strauss). “As we meditate upon this, the last verse of the New Testament, we feel something of the emotions of many others who have concluded similar studies in the word of God” (Coffman). Carpenter concluded with this prayer: “May He (who alone can) open our eyes to see the shining towers of the Heavenly Jerusalem; and may he unseal our ears, and bind us by his love to that sweet service and citizenship which are perfect freedom, and bring us to that spiritual city which is full of divine enchantment.”

Adam Clarke composed a few lines of poetry, the first two lines regarding himself, and the last four for his readers:

Like travelers when they see their native soil,
Writers rejoice to terminate their toil.
My latest labour's end at length is gained,
My longest journey's welcome goal attained,
By God's assistance has the work been wrought,
By his direction to your dwellings brought.

We end this study with joy and praise God that through it all He has preserved life, vigor, and health. But no joy of completion can equal that of having been permitted to think about His Holy Word, the sacred writings, with invariable purpose for so long – “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” This benediction from the heart of the apostle is truly a great blessing the church needs for all time. To this close may be added another saying of John: “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2:28; NKJV).

6. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

a. vs. 8, 9: We may admire and love men, but worship only God.

b. The highest work of the angels is to serve and obey God.

c. Whosoever serves God and keeps His Word is a fellow-servant with saints and angel.

d. v. 10: God’s Word is an unsealed book, open for all to find light and comfort therein.

e. The time is short; it behooves us to do quickly and earnestly the work God gives us to do.

f. v. 11: We are continually more fixed in our characters, and a time will come after which we never will change. This fact is a warning to all in evil courses, and a comfort to all who are striving to be good.

g. v. 12: God rewards every one according to his work, including his thoughts, desires, faith, character, words, as well as visible deeds. God can say, “Well done, enter into the joy of thy Lord,” only to those who have done well. But He gives every help, He pardons sins, He knows what we would do if we could.

h. v. 13: Christ not only begins salvation by giving us a new heart, but it is by Christ that we continue and live the Christian life; and He Himself is the end and crown of all.

i. vs. 14, 15: There are two results of life, and only two. We are either within the city, or with the evil ones without.

j. It is not possible for evil characters to enter the city of God. It would no longer be the city of God if they did enter, and they would not themselves enjoy its purity or light. Hell is first within the soul, and no outward glories can take it away. Putting “dongs, sorcerers, liars” with the angels will not change them into angels or give them angels’ joys.

k. v. 17: The Gospel invitation is large, and free, and to all. God desires all to be saved. None are left out but those who will not come. Every lost soul is a moral suicide.

l. The Gospel is not narrow, but liberal and broad – as broad as God’s love, as free as His grace.

m. vs. 18, 19: We need the whole of the Word of God. No portion can be neglected, or perverted, or lightly regarded, without injuring our own characters, and the fruits of the Gospel in the world.

n. We should be very careful in teaching, to rightly divide the Word of Truth, lest the evils here mentioned come upon us.

Footnotes:
¹ For more information on the Church, see God’s Church in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
² For more information on salvation, see God’s Salvation in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
³ For more information on Jesus Christ, see God the Son in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
⁴ For more information on the Holy Spirit, see God the Spirit in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.

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