God’s Final Invitation

Unlike the prophet Daniel who was told, “[K]eep these words secret and seal the book until the time of the end” (Dan 12:4), John is told, “Don’t seal the prophetic words of this book.” Why is his command different? Because “the time is near.” Christ could return at any moment. Eternity is drawing closer. For all of us, it is only a heartbeat away. We dare not silence the Word of God by disobedience, indifference, laziness, or neglect. We must preach it and teach it continually and faithfully. A time is coming when the opportunity to respond to the gospel and the Word of God will be no more.

Verse 11 echoes Daniel 12:9-10, which says, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.” Revelation 22:11 contains four commands that serve as warnings and encouragement. It affirms that a day is coming when change will no longer be possible. That is true eschatologically, but it is also true personally. How we respond to the truth of God’s Word in this life will confirm our character and determine our destiny for all eternity. Negatively, the unrighteous will still do evil, and the filthy will forever be filthy. On a positive note, the righteous will still do right, and the holy will still be holy. One’s character will be set, forever fixed in a final condition and disposition. Those in hell will have no heart and passion for God. Those in heaven will delight in their emulation of their Lord. These truths must be told. We dare not be silent. Souls are at stake. Eternal destinies hang in the balance.

REVELATION 22:12-15

Verse 12 contains a third affirmation of the imminent return of Christ: “Look! I am coming quickly.” And when He comes, He is bringing his “reward” with Him (see Isa 40:10). He will “repay each person according to what he has done.” Jeremiah 17:10 reminds us, “I, Yahweh, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve.” Mounce notes, “The reward will be spiritual blessedness to the righteous but judgment for those who are evil. It is the quality of a person’s life that provides the ultimate indication of what that person really believes” (Revelation, 407). Verse 13 makes clear the One who will render the judgment is fully qualified. He is the “Alpha and Omega,” the A to Z (see 1:8; 21:6), “the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” He sees all and He knows all. Nothing you ever think, feel, or do escapes Him.

There is in verse 14 a seventh and final blessing for the one who loves and obeys God, for “those who wash their robes.” Those who have been washed by Christ in justification continue to wash their robes in sanctification (see John 13:10). Duvall notes that in the first century context this washing “refers to persevering in faithfulness to Christ and refusing to compromise with the world, even in the face of tribulation” (Revelation, 306). These who are faithful in following the Lamb are promised access or “the right to the tree of life” as well as access to the holy city Jerusalem “by the gates.” Eternal life in the eternal city is in their future forever.

Verse 15 stands in striking contrast to verse 14. Those whose destiny is the lake of fire are described as those “outside” the holy city. The list here recalls 21:8. Mounce’s comments are instructive:

John describes six (or perhaps seven, depending upon how one views the two kinds of liars) types of evildoers who are excluded from the city. The term “dog” is used in Scripture for various kinds of impure and malicious persons. In Deut. 23:17-18 the term designates a male cult prostitute. In the Jewish culture of first-century Palestine it was used in reference to the heathen (Matt. 15:22ff), and in Phil. 3:2 Paul turns the tables and applies it to the Judaizers. Those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and all liars are to be excluded along with the dogs. To love and practice falsehood is to be totally devoid of truthfulness. These have become like their leader, Satan, “who leads the whole world astray” (Rev. 12:9; also 13:13-15; 16:14). (Revelation, 408)

REVELATION 22:16-17

Jesus authenticates the message of Revelation in verse 16. He, Himself, sent His angel “to attest these things to [John] for the churches.” And this Jesus is the Root (i.e., source) and the Offspring (i.e., descendant) of David (see Isa 11:1,10). He is before David as God and comes from David as man. He is the root and fruit of David! He is the God-man who is also “the Bright Morning Star” (see Num 24:17). The Christology of the end of Revelation is staggeringly high and exalted.

Verse 17 contains the great invitation of Revelation. It could be said to be the great invitation of the Bible. It is a fourfold invitation to all persons of the world to come and be saved.

All who desire the eternal living water of life are invited to come and be saved without price because Jesus has already paid it all. Isaiah 55:1 says,

Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!

Jesus said in John 7:37, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to me and drink!” Charles Spurgeon, in reflecting on both the content and location of verse 17, wisely says,

To my mind, the solemnity of this invitation lies partly in the fact that it is placed at the very end of the Bible and placed there because it is the sum and substance—the aim and objective of the whole Bible. It is like the point of the arrow and all the rest of the Bible is like the shaft and the feathers on either side of it. We may say of the Scriptures what John said of his Gospel, “These are written”—all these books that are gathered together into one library called the Bible—“These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that believing you might have life through His name.” So far as you are concerned, this blessed Book has missed its purpose unless you have been led by it to come to Christ!

It is all in vain that you have a Bible, or read your Bible, unless you really “take the water of life” of which it speaks. It is worse than vain, for if it is not a savor of life unto life to you, it shall be a savor of death unto death! Therefore, it seems to me that this is a very solemn invitation because all the books of the Bible do, in effect, cry to sinners, “Come to Jesus.” (“Oft-Repeated Invitation”)

REVELATION 22:18-19

As the book of Revelation draws to a close, God issues “a severe warning against adding to or taking away from its prophetic message” (Mounce, Revelation, 409). The warning is all-inclusive: “everyone.” It is also comprehensive: do not add to the book (22:18), and do not subtract from the book (22:19). To tamper with and distort God’s Word—in this context meaning the Apocalypse but by implication all 66 books of the Bible—is to invite God’s judgment into your life.

On the one hand, add to the book, and the Lord Jesus will add the plagues of Revelation, a hyperbole indicating the severity and harshness of the judgment. On the other hand, take away from the words of the book, and Jesus “will take away [your] share of the tree of life and the holy city” (see Deut 4:2; 12:32; Gal 1:6-7). MacArthur once more provides a pastoral and theological perspective on these two verses:

No true believer would ever deliberately tamper with Scripture. Those who know and love God will treat His Word with the utmost respect. They will say with the psalmist, “O how I love Your law!” (Ps. 119:97; cf. Pss. 119:113, 163, 167; John 14:23); and, “I delight in Your law” (Ps. 119:70; cf. Pss. 1:2; 119:77, 92, 174). That does not, of course, mean that believers will never make errors in judgment or mistakenly interpret Scripture incorrectly or inadequately. The Lord’s warning here is addressed to those who engage in deliberate falsification or misinterpretation of Scripture, those whom Paul denounces as peddlers of the Word of God (2 Cor. 2:17). (Revelation 12–22, 310)

The bottom line is clear: Believers love the Word but unbelievers hate the Word. Believers obey the Word but unbelievers disobey the Word. Believers receive the Word but unbelievers reject the Word.

REVELATION 22:20-21

Revelation and the Bible are at their end. One last time the risen Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks. His last words are brief but sure. Coming in the form of testimony, our God and King promises, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Certainly, without a doubt, His coming is imminent, so be ready. As James 5:9 says, “Look, the judge stands at the door.”

Now, given that this promise was made almost two thousand years ago, some sneer and scoff. They mock and ridicule. But doubters would be wise to read 2 Peter 3:1-10 to get heaven’s perspective on the kindness, love, and patience that has delayed His coming. Hearing this promise from the lips of Christ Himself, John is quick to respond and to respond with enthusiasm. “Amen!” So be it. Yes! I agree. So, “come, Lord Jesus!”

Titus 2:13 calls us to wait and look for “our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (ESV). Taken as a whole, the end of Revelation calls us to a clear and simple threefold posture: watch, wait, and witness. Persecution, trials, and suffering may be a threefold companion, but do not grow weary in well doing. God sees and He knows. And He is with you and working through you to advance His kingdom among the nations. How do we know? Just look at the last verse in the Bible, Revelation 22:21. There is our prayer and promise, “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints.” To this we say with the apostle John, “Amen.” We agree. We believe.

From the moment sin entered history, God has been on a rescue mission to save sinners. Our God is a saving God pursuing lost souls for His glory and the good of the nations. It is therefore not surprising at all that His Word concludes with a final invitation to sinners to come to Jesus and be saved.

Some years ago The New York Times ran a story about the popularity of the Mayberry Day festivals in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where thousands flock to celebrate “a place that never was, a place they choose to believe once existed.” Why the make-believe, why the continued nostalgia over a mythical town in a television series? The article concludes with this thought:

People come . . . less to escape than to search. . . . “All of this tells me that people are really looking for something,” says a 73-year-old barber by the name of Hiatt. “They want to know if there really was a place where people trusted each other, where there’s peace and serenity.” (Sack, “Mt. Airy Journal”)

Well, the Bible teaches that such a place does exist. It is not in a place called Mayberry. It is in a place called heaven and in a person named Jesus. To that place and to that person God extends a final invitation for all to come (22:17).