Revelation 22:17-21 - by Ray Viola

Revelation 22:17-21 by Ray Viola

The book of Revelation

REVELATION 22.17-21

Re 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.

18 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:

19 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.

20 ¶ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

The Bible opened with a promise, the promise of a coming Savior, the promise of a coming deliverer who would rescue people from their sin. That promise came in the third chapter of Genesis and the fifteenth verse. "He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel." That is a promise of a deliverer is a promise of a Savior. One Who would come and rescue men by destroying the enemy, Satan himself. This is referring to the first coming of Christ. Thus, the Bible then begins with the promise of a Savior and that is how it ends. Verse 20 of this last chapter, Yes I am coming quickly. Only this is the promise of His Second Coming.

After God made that promise in Eden, hundreds of years past, millenniums past, and the Lord did not come. When finally He did arrive, He came unto His own and His own received Him not. He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. However infidels may scoff, however others may reject and however the centuries may grow into the millenniums, this is the immutable Word and promise of the Lord God, `Surely I come.'" He is coming not as a Savior, but next time as a judge. And thus you have at the end of the book of Revelation, not so much a promise as a warning.

Keep in mind that the entire book of Revelation is the prophecy of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. It is the apocalypse, the revealing, the manifestation of Jesus Christ. It is the final statement on the unveiling of the glory of the Son of God when He returns to set up His kingdom on earth, after which we have the final judgment, at which time every knee bows and every tongue confesses that He is Lord.

Re 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.

There are two parts to this verse. The first half is the plea for the Lord to come, which is repeated again in verse 20. The second half is the plea for sinners to come to the Lord and take of the water of life freely.
We see here in verse 17, that both the Holy Spirit and the bride of Christ calls out to sinners for a response.
The book of Revelation was not written merely to comfort suffering Christians, as some interpreters say; but, like the Bible as a whole, the book was written with a view to the conversion of the lost as The Spirit, the bride or the church, and those who hear, issue an appeal to come and “take the water of life freely.”
Who is the call given out to? To the one who is thirsty. The invitation to the spiritual thirsty is to come and take the water of life freely, without cost.
Salvation comes to those who recognize their desperate condition of sin, which is here pictured as being thirsty. The one who is thirsty is the person who senses his or her need for Christ and the forgiveness that only He can give (cf. Matt 5:6; John 4:10). Salvation comes to those who (1) understand the provision God has made in Christ, (2) who see Him as the living water and (3) who repent and believe in Him as Lord and Savior. This is what it means to take and drink of the water of life.
Salvation is not merely a belief about Jesus Christ, it is a belief in Jesus Christ.
Lest anybody hearing this sermon today does not know Who it is that is giving this invitation to sinners to come and drink, let it be made as clear as an imperfect vessel can make it. Sinners are being invited by The Spirit of God through the preaching of the gospel to come unto none other than The Lord Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the Root and Offspring of David, the bright morning star. Those are all titles for The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the risen, living Lord.
He is the root of David, which means that He is King David’s Creator, that is to say He is deity, He is God. But He is also the offspring of David, that is to say He is a child of the line of David, that speaks of His humanity. He is the God/Man. He is The Word made flesh Who dwelt amongst us.
This final plea to come is consistent with the call of God to come that is found throughout Scripture.

Gen 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isa 55:1 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.
Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The One who is inviting sinners to come into the ark…come now…come ye to the waters, and finally come unto Me, is the majestic living Lord of heaven. I am not the one that is offering to you eternal life this morning, The Risen Lord Jesus is. The preacher or sharer of God’s Word just delivers the mail.

As I have mentioned repeatedly in our study of Scripture, the doctrine of universalism, which is the teaching that eventually everyone goes to heaven is simply not true. There are some people in verse 14 who are inside, participating in the tree of life, there are others who are outside, shut out, according to verse 15.
When we come to The Lord’s table this morning, the elements of the bread and the cup remind us that Jesus is The Final Passover Lamb. It is only those whose sins have been washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ who have the right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.

Eph 1:7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

The only way to heaven is to have your sins forgiven by faith in Jesus Christ and in His death and resurrection. That is the only way.

The world is full of people who assume they are going to get to heaven apart from faith in Christ alone, but they are not. Part of the problem is that the meaning of the words faith or belief in Scripture do not just mean that I believe the historical or even biblical facts about Jesus. When I was playing in clubs, using and dealing drugs, every single person that I knew back then, including me, believed in Jesus. That kind of belief in Jesus is inconsistent with the saving faith that is described in Scripture.

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. Have you realized your sinful condition and trusted solely in the provision of Christ as full payment of the sin debt that you owe to God? Is your life being progressively changed by The Spirit of God into the image of The Lord Jesus Christ? The issue is not sinless perfection, but progress and growth in grace.
A certain preacher and an atheistic barber were walking through city slums. The barber said, “This is why I can’t believe in your God of love. If he was as kind as you say, he wouldn’t permit all this poverty, disease, and immorality. He wouldn’t allow these poor street people to get addicted. No, I cannot believe in a God who permits these things.” The minister was silent until they met a man who was especially unkempt. His hair was hanging down his neck, and he had a half-inch of stubble on his face. The preacher said to his friend: “You can’t be a good barber, or you wouldn’t permit a man like this to continue living here without a haircut and a shave.” Indignant, the barber answered: “Why blame me for that man’s condition? He has never come in my shop. If he had, I could’ve fixed him up and made him look like a gentleman!” The preacher said, “Then don’t blame God for allowing people to continue in their evil ways. He invites them to come and be saved.

Rev 22:18 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:

Please note that the book of Revelation is a prophecy. It was a prophecy that was given by The Holy Spirit through John the apostle. The book of Revelation is not an allegory that depicts the forces of darkness that the church has to deal with until the end of the age. Back in chapter 1 verse 3, it says, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy." The book of Revelation is a prophecy in the predictive sense.
This warning about adding to the word of God is nothing new in Scripture.

Deut 4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

This verse is precisely the same thought that we find in the Revelation. Don't add to it, don't take away from it. Don't touch it. Take what it says exactly as God gave it.
So how does one add to the Bible or Revelation? One way is by claiming new revelation, that the Bible and the book of Revelation are not enough (as with the Book of Mormon or any other religious writing that claims to be from God).

Now here in the Revelation you have the same kind of warning at the end of the canon of Scripture. Don't touch a word, don't add to it, and don't take away from it.

The gift of prophecy in its revelatory sense is ended, no more prophets to speak, no more apostles to write, no more words from heaven, no more spiritual visions.
The bottom line is, God has written it, don’t erase it, don’t expand it. There is only ONE sacred record that is inspired by Almighty God, and that is the Holy Scriptures.

To either add or take away from the prophecies of this book results in very serious consequences.

Because any teacher of the bible is human and at best, can only see through a glass darkly, we are prone to be in error to some degree in our exposition of Scripture. Infallibility this side of heaven is impossible.
Thus, we need to understand that this warning is against those who engage in deliberate falsification and emasculation, and deliberate and deceptive misinterpretation. Such as David Koresh who purported to have the correct interpretation of the book of Revelation.

In verse 18 and 19, we find reference to the words of this prophecy. The commentary of the late Dr. Henry Morris is very insightful.

“The conveyance of precise thoughts requires the use of precise words. Only the doctrine of the verbal inerrancy adequately expresses the true nature of biblical revelation. This warning at the end of the book of Revelation stresses the necessity of literal interpretation. Actually, a literal interpretation is not an interpretation at all, for is takes the words at face value, assuming that The Holy Spirit was able to say exactly what He meant to say. Any kind of allegorical or figurative interpretation of those words (unless directly indicated in the context), assumes that the interpreter knows better than the Holy Spirit, and such an attitude is presumptuous, if not blasphemous. ”

Rev 22:20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Here again is Jesus Christ’s last, and greatest promise. Surely, I come quickly. Although the promise was given 2,000 years ago, in the scale of eternity, 2,000 years in but a blink of an eye. How much more brief is your life my friend? It is a vapor.
Jesus is coming again for sure. All the events associated with His coming, be it in the Old or New Testament will indeed take place as literally as an actual flood in the days of Noah and the actual cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed (Genesis). As literally as the actual plaques took place in Egypt (Exodus).
As we await the promise of His coming, you as I as lovers and followers of Jesus must simply be about our Father business and occupy until He comes.
Jonathan Edwards, called American’s greatest theologian had a set of resolutions. One of them is this: “Resolved: Never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.” We should always live every moment of every day as if Christ were coming now! That’s the only way to live. Are you ready for Jesus’ return? Do you need to share your faith with someone? Do it now! Do you need to be reconciled to someone? Do it now! Do you need to serve the Lord and His people? Do it now! Do you need to be faithful in your financial stewardship? Do it now! Do you need to forgive someone that you are bitter against? Do it now!

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

John began this epistle with this salutation, Re 1:4 and so ends with it here. God wants to make absolutely sure that “grace” (charis)shall have the last word! Grace is God’s unconditional kindness offered to someone who does not deserve it.
The Holy Spirit had each and every member of the bride in Christ as He spoke these words. He knew the trials and tests that we would face. He knew the temptations that we would encounter at the hands of our adversary the devil. He knew that the Bride of Christy would encounter the same reception from the world that their Beloved Master, Jesus did. He knew the battle that you would be bringing into this sanctuary this morning…..with all of that in mind, beloved, may the fullness of grace in Christ be the object of your trust and confidence. The Holy Spirit ends the canon of Scripture with the absolute assurance that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for all things.
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense….an acronym for the word grace. Cling to Him, embrace His providence…like upright Job, may we in our hearts fall down upon the ground, and worship this glorious King, and declare as one body Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.