"Behold, I come quickly.". All this description closes in verse 5. (ii) He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Can anything be less reasonable (even taking that ground, low as it is) than that the various rulers of the western powers, Catholic kings, join the Pope in destroying his own city, or his own church, whichever Babylon may be made? First, this prophecy is genuine (Revelation 22:6-9; Revelation 22:16; Revelation 22:18-19). The question is, why is she thus designated? What is there to hinder it? There is no scriptural reason to infer that any saint dies during the thousand years, but rather the contrary. It is for every person, whatever race or religion or economic or social standing, believer or unbeliever. No it states if ANY MAN shall take away. Only saved people can do this: Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But here there is neither; and this again is an evidence of gain, not of loss. And out of the holy city - Described in Revelation 21. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. Scripture is clear that a true believer is kept secure by the power of God, sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), and of all those whom the Father has given to the Son, He will lose none of them: And this is the will of him that has sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up in the last day. Does the Roman Census Prove Luke is Wrong About Jesus' Birth? Babylon is the parent of the "abominations of the earth." Consequently they sat upon the thrones at once; while the two latter classes, described in the rest of the verse, were still in the separate state "and the souls." understood as a cultural comparison, not on an individual basis (verse 13 says, "But for the security of the believer in God's calling. The right to the Tree of Life is given to those that obey the commands of God and by doing so may enter into the New Jerusalem. The Tree of Life is spoken of in Genesis (2 and 3), Proverb 3:18 and Revelation. How, quickly is He coming for you? He is urged to take up the same cry. That is why he immediately said. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. But A, B, Aleph, Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas omit "and"; then "which are written in this book" will refer to "the holy city and the tree of life." Apostle Paul tells us that the struggles and strife and even persecution that believers will face in life are nothing in comparison to what God has planned for the believers future! *It now appears that the Cod. *The description here is simply character, not dates. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. After so many sorrows, trials, difficulties, dangers, how sweet to have such a word, and to know that He who speaks is the holy and the true, and surely about to come in the faithfulness of His love! "Behold I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book." For you have taken away the key of knowledge. When the task was done "they bade them pronounce a curse in accordance with their custom upon any who should make any alteration either by adding anything or changing in any way whatever any of the words which had been written or making an omission" (Letter of Aristeas 310, 31 1). 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. It is no longer a question either of celebrating the ways and counsels of God, or of the war with the beast and king. . They are worried more about their church membership and maybe not getting it right. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Blessed Are the Dead God shall take away his part out of the book of life - Perhaps there is here an intimation that this would be most likely to be done by those who professed to be Christians, and who supposed that their names were in the book of life. I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. At Christs final coming all sin and the satanic source of sin will be removed forever. "Let him that heareth," then, "say, Come." "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is an eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth unto destruction." A mysterious lawlessness inherits the well-known name of Babylon when Rome is brought forward; and it does not merely embrace Christian times, but the end of the age after the church has gone, when the course of divine judgment comes. (i) There is the invitation of the Spirit and the Bride. Come, Lord Jesus! It is not meant that he who was more honoured in service than any of the twelve, he whom the Lord used for bringing out the church of the heavenly places, will not have his own most singular dignity in this glorious scene. But here there is none; a temple is for the earth. When Christ at God's right hand was announced, even from the very beginning, He was ready to judge the quick and the dead. Here I am obliged to say that our authorized version, and not merely it, but our common Greek Testaments, are altogether wrong. 1. And he said to me: "See that you do not do this. It must remind us of God's great invitation, "Ho, every one who thirsts come to the waters, and he who has no money; come, buy and eat! Accordingly, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me." The consequence of perverting the gospel was excommunication and being put out of the congregation, until they had learnt the lesson. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away." "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. As Christ comes to live in us as the power, the inexhaustible resources of God to enable us to live this present life triumphantly. It is altogether unfeasible, and it shows how carelessly we read the Bible that people are not stopped by such an expression. Now manifestly, if the Lord does not come before this, there is no world to come to; for the earth and heavens are fled. Let the wrong-doer continue in his wrong-doing; let him who is filthy continue in his filthiness; let the righteous man continue in his righteousness; let him who is dedicated to God continue in his dedication.". The fallen angels are not called, and the holy angels never need to be they are kept. I see no profit in date fixing or sign watching for the future event of Christs final coming. Those who live in a civilization in which the turn of a tap will bring cold, clear water in any quantity can scarcely understand how precious water was in the East. There stands the solemn brand graven, not on the blasphemous beast, but on the forehead of its rider, "Mystery, Babylon the great." Also, the warning in Revelation 22:19 is aimed toward unbelievers who would seek to tamper with God's message. Scripture is positive in Isaiah 65:1-25 that death during the millennium only comes as a specific judgment because of open rebellion. The race was now in the resurrection state either for good or for evil; and thus it must be for ever. We have seen that these follow the Lord out of heaven, and are next seen enthroned. unbelief (vs. 20). Enter into the joy of the Lord." He who was so tender of the honour of God, and so displeased with what was a wrong to God, would never come in his name to lead the people of God into mere dreams and delusions; and it is a still further confirmation of the sincerity of this apostle that he confesses his own sin and folly, into which he had now again relapsed, and he leaves this his failing on perpetual record: this shows he was a faithful and an impartial writer. The angel least him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal over him, that he should no more deceive the nations, till the thousand years should be completed: after these things he must be loosed a little time.". Is there proof for the inspiration of the Bible. "The ten horns which thou sawest AND the beast" would give unquestionably the right form of the verse. Her part in the corruption of the high and the intoxication of the low her idolatrous character has come before us. Conclusion: Revelation 22:18-19 is a warning: If you reject Gods offer of life, you will experience Gods wrath. And I, with John, would respond, "Amen. Surely in our experience we have all known the fulfilment of His promise "Lo, I am with you always": Christs promise "I am coming soon" takes my thoughts back to the experience of two disciples on the road to Emmaus that first Easter Sunday, as recorded in Luke 24:1-53. New Jerusalem is principally for Jews - the remnant that turn to God (Romans 9:27, which quotes Old Testament), and gentiles saved during tribulation (as a result of the converted Jews evangelizing the world Revelation 14). Copyright David L Simon 2007 - 2023 This material may be freely distributed provided acknowledgement of the author is made www.life-everlasting.net, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. ", Three times in this last chapter of the Bible Jesus makes the promise "I am coming soon.". The Spirit of God regards it in its final shape and completeness, as far as it was permitted to attain it, "The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stone and pearls." Do These Bible Verses Show You Can Lose Your Salvation? It is all plain and simple "the beast that was, and is not, and shall be present.". Again, the affirmation of the truth of what God is declaring for your skeptical mind that finds it hard to believe that God should do such a thing for us. 6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. This last word reminds us that whatever are the dangers or difficulties, afflictions and persecutions which are pictured in this book, there is strength and love and help in the Lord. This is of great importance, because if the new Jerusalem be, as I have no doubt it is, the bride the Lamb's wife, then we have her separate condition asserted in eternity. It clearly contrasts this mystery with another. The bride is in view. It concerns the expounding, teaching and actions in relation to the prophecies. It is, in fact, the kind of ending that ancient writers commonly added to their books. (Revelation 22:17), Its as if God is saying, Youve heard about all that will happen in this world. In perfect submission to him they will find perfect freedom and the only true royalty. But we know that this approach is doomed to failure. ", It is I John who am the hearer and the seer of these things. But now, when those symbols disappear, because of a new action of God (namely, the consummation of the church's joy), the elders and the living creatures disappear, and we have not the bride alone, but another class of saints, who at once come forward. Does the Vastness of the Universe Argue Against Creation? John concludes his book by stressing that his visions have come from God and are trustworthy. away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the He fell asleep and heard a voice "Martin, look into the street tomorrow, I will come." While is is said and referred to here to Revelation, the principle of course applies to all of Gods Word. The words of this book are to be given to men and are not to be sealed. In Daniel's time, and even to Daniel himself, the book was sealed. The very first verses in Revelation 22 are showing us a glimpse of what Heaven will be like, the New Jerusalem, to give us a hope of the amazing things to come for believers of Christ: And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. This is never the case with an angel. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. The Lord would not spare him; for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven. This passage insists that the coming of Christ is close at hand; it must be the Risen Christ who is speaking. Maranatha! Taking away "his part" from the tree of life and the New Jerusalem does not mean he will lose his salvation either. The glory of the kingdom does not preserve when men in their natural state are exposed to the adversary. Who does not see that this is precisely analogous to the verse which opened the description of Babylon? The seventh bowl contained under it the fall of Babylon, which "was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.". But "nations of them which are saved," is a most anomalous expression, and betrays man as the author of it. "Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth.". Let him who is thirsty come and let him who wishes take the water of life without price. And who would defraud either the soul of salvation, or the Lord of showing it? The story of redemption in the Bible stretches from the creation of the world to the making of a new heaven and a new earth. Galatians 5:21 is particularly clear in this when Paul writes "those who practice "I have exulted My Word above My Name," I start to understand how important these two warnings in Revelation 22 are. This is a warning about changing the words in the Book of Revelation in specific. In the coming of the Lord all include His coming to the habitable earth. "That day" does not mean a time when everybody will be converted, but when the Lord Jesus will govern righteously when overt evil will be judged, and good be sustained perfectly for a thousand years. They "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.". Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. hold fast until the end." The Living Water never runs dry - Jesus told the woman at the well whoever drinks of the water of life will never thirst again. Past history therefore in no way suits the prophecy. and John If any one shall have added to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if any one shall have taken away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God . It is not therefore his final judgment. Thats not the kind of God embraced by our modern holiness-deficient theology. Death and hades, which had so long been executioners in a world where sin reigned, and were still doing their occasional office where righteousness is to reign, themselves disappear where all traces of sin are consigned for ever. That is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Verse 6. It is interesting.God is going to have a tree that has twelve different kinds of fruit and every month a fruit will be ripe. Come what may, John was sure of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and equally sure that it was sufficient for all things. And I heard as it were a voice of a great multitude, and as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of mighty thunders, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God the Almighty reigneth. He has reserved the matter, though not without enough to guide our thoughts, as we have seen. I say not on but over the earth. When God is so gracious, His word rich, full, and deep, it does seem sad to see His children content with just enough to save their souls, or keep them from positive starvation.
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