“Come”
Revelation 22:17-21
“And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”
It is hard to believe that we have come down to the final words of the final chapter and final verses of both the Book of Revelation and the Bible itself! In these words, we have a wonderful and final invitation. We have a final warning, and we have a final word!
Did you notice how the Book of Revelation begins with a promised blessing. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near” (Revelation 1:3). But then it ends with a pronounced curse upon anyone who tampers with the Word of God by taking or adding anything to it (Revelation 22:18-19)!
The Book of Revelation was the last book of the canon of Scripture that was written by the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos as he was in exile. We understand that he wrote it around 96 CE. The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses between 1450 BC to 1400 BC. This means that the Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years. I’m convinced that the Bible is the divinely inspired, inerrant, infallible, and authoritative Word of God. Inspired means “to be God-breathed”. We read in 2 Timothy 3:16-7, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Peter reminds us that the Holy Spirit is the divine Author of the Word of God. 2 Peter 1:20-21: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” The Bible is the “Holy Book” and is God’s inspired revelation that has been preserved for us miraculously over the centuries! We don’t need anything added to it and nothing needs to be taken from it! You can choose to believe it, or you can choose to deny it, but you will never be able to destroy or change it!
It is interesting to me that in these final words that we are told that the same Holy Spirit, who inspired the Bible is giving us the final invitation found in it! As far as I’m concerned, the entire Bible is an invitation to come to know the God of creation in a personal, intimate, and real way through His Son Jesus Christ! So, it is fitting that here in verse 17, John writes that the Spirit and the bride say, “Come”.
“Come”! What a beautiful and awesome word that we love to hear! Jesus Himself said that the Holy Spirit would come and “teach us all things” (John 14:26). In John 16:7-14 Jesus went on to say: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. ….. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”
John seems to like this word “come”. In his Gospel, he tells us that when he and Andrew asked Jesus where He was staying, Jesus answered, “Come and see” (John 1:39). He uses this word “come” several times in these final verses. Today, the Holy Spirit is asking you and me to still come to Jesus! If we are not saved, we should come for salvation! If we are saved, we should come daily for cleansing and fellowship! And since we are the Bride of Christ, the church, we should join the Holy Spirit in inviting others to come to Jesus too!
God bless!
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