We have
finally come to the end of our stroll through Revelation.
Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent
mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and
the offspring of David, and the
bright and morning star.”
I am reminded that this whole book was given as a
revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is testifying to the truth of John’s
record and its application to the churches. He declares Himself to be the
root and offspring of David, a reference to the prophecy of Isaiah.
Isaiah 11:1–5 & 10 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of
quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the
sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with
righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the
breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins…. And in that day
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the
people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.”
Even
now, the Holy Spirit of God is at work
wooing men to the Savior and ministering to the bride, the believers on
earth. As part of His bride, we should
be eagerly anticipating His return.
Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and
the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Time is short; but as long as Christ tarries, the one who is thirsty,
longing for the truth and recognizes his need for nourishment is invited to come
to the Savior. “Whosoever” – This invitation is open to each and every
person on planet earth. Jesus’ death on the cross was in payment for All
sin—yours and mine.
Hebrews 2:9 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God
should taste death for every man.”
Anyone who desires to know the Lord and responds in faith may take “the
water of life” freely. There is no better
understanding of this invitation than that which Jesus gave to the Samaritan
woman at the well.
John 4:9–14 “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is
it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for
the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me
to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water….Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I
shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life.”
Jesus is obviously comparing living water to
salvation, and He made it even clearer in another teaching.
John 7:37–39 “In the last day, that great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and
drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they
that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given;
because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
Our spiritual life is directly connected to the
presence of the Holy Spirit in us.
Romans 8:10–11 “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because
of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of
him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth
in you.”
The truth of God’s word is precious and
important to all of mankind. Warning is given to anyone who might hear
the words of this prophecy and then decide to add anything to it—for whatever
reason. If anyone has the audacity to think that he can improve on the
word of God, he will suffer greatly. The plagues described in this book
are certainly not to be desired.
Revelation 22:18–19 “For I testify
unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man
shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are
written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book
of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out
of the holy city, and from the
things which are written in this book.”
As
stated and supported by scripture in the previous post, the Lord is very clear
that man is not to make any changes to the truth of His word. Anyone
who would add to or take away from God’s word is obviously putting himself in
the position of God; he is assuming he knows better than God. Obviously,
that person is not walking in faith or obedience. That person will not
have his name in the Book of Life, nor will he/she enjoy or any of the other
blessings associated with spending eternity with the Savior.
These verses have always given me great pause when I think about sharing
“the truth” of God’s word. I am not a scholar. There are many very
learned men who disagree on “the truth” of God’s word. I try to be very
careful to let those with whom I share my thoughts regarding the Bible know
that I am just telling them “what I understand” any given section to be
saying. Although I feel very strongly about many of the “truths” in
scripture as I see them, I tremble at the thought of ever leading someone in
the wrong direction. I continually ask the Lord
to protect me from presenting anything that would be dishonoring to Him.
I am trying to follow the instruction given by the Apostle Peter.
1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be
ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the
hope that is in you with meekness and fear….”
It’s always a hard thing to process that we all have the same word from
God and the same Holy Spirit to teach us, yet there are so many that disagree
regarding its correct interpretation. I truly pray that the Lord will
keep my heart and mind sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, and that I will
not miss out on understanding the truth He wants to share with me due to not
being willing to listen without prejudice to something that may conflict with
what I think I already “know.” I believe that is one of the greatest
lessons to learn from trying to take each verse of scripture and asking the
Spirit to help you understand. It keeps you humble by revealing all that
you don’t know and have yet to learn regarding God’s word.
Revelation 22:20–21 “He which
testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord
Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen.”
Who is the one talking? Jesus. He is the one that has said
He is coming quickly
(cf verse 12). What does John respond? So be it! Come,
Lord Jesus. My sentiments exactly! I am so looking forward to going
home and never having to deal with sin again.
I want to close with one more quote
from Dr. Joseph Seiss: “If I have read into this book anything which He
has not put there, or read out of it anything which He has put there, with the
profoundest sorrow would I recant….If I err, God forgive me! If I am
right, God bless my feeble testimony. In either case, God speed His
everlasting truth!”
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