Faith Baptist Church
4258 Botetourt Road
Fincastle, Virginia 24090
(540) 473-2325
In the last verses of the book of Revelation the Apostle John is given some closing words to pass on to the church. Great things lie ahead for the believer in Christ, but as we have seen, not all things are welcomed. Suffering is never welcomed, but it has been and will be the lot of saints who live in various places in the world, and who live in various periods of church history. Paul is noted as saying in II Tim.3:12” Yea, and all that will (thelo) determine to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”
Note that Paul says all that “will live godly”. There must be the will to live godly. This means we cannot predetermine to live ungodly. If the child of God so chooses to live ungodly then he or she brings reproach to the name of Christ and to the body of Christ. If we chose to sin after we have received the knowledge of the truth, then there is no more sacrifice for sin. In other words, we are without excuse. James said, “ Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
As we have said, be ready for the Lord’s imminent return. We should not have to change our lifestyle for his return, and if we do then we already know we are not living right and thinking right.
v. 12 Now our Lord says, “behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
This is a notice given to the church. This notice points back to the beginning of the Revelation given to John.
Again as seen in v.7 our Lord says he is coming quickly. When he comes he comes without notice, and he will bring his reward for us. It is his reward to give for he is the justifier of men who believe in Jesus, Rom.3:26. His reward is eternal. It is without prejudice. It is motivation based, Heb.4:12.
Reward is the Greek word, misthos and can be translated wages.
These are wages paid to every man according to his work. I Cor.3:11-15 details for the child of God the basis upon which our rewards are handed out. Our web site has a list of principles found in the biblical rewards system where we look at 35 points concerning the believer’s rewards.
He also has his wages for those who have chosen to be unrighteous and filthy. In John 5:22 Jesus Christ said the Father has left all judgment of mankind to him. The Apostle Paul said in Rom.6:23 that the wages of sin is death. The death spoken of here is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. Those wages will be held till the end of time at the Great White Throne as we have diagrammed.
v.13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” No one came before God and no one comes after him. Jesus Christ is eternally equal to the Father and he is the one to whom we must give an answer, Rom.14:12; Heb.13:7,17.
v.14. Some translate the phrase, “do his commandments”, poiountes tas entolas autou. Most of the best translations, however, read this phrase from the original Greek manuscripts as, plunontes tas stolas auton, which reads, “wash their robes”( present, active, and participle).
In either case it is seen throughout the Bible that ones salvation and entrance into the graces and blessing of the Lord is never inherited through good works or religion.
With either translation the believer is resting in the grace of God, and for the believer who remains Holy Spirit controlled for the most part in his life, this saint will have a greater capacity, as per his rewards, to enjoy his eternal life. He keeps his life pure as doctrine influences him to follow the will of God in life. But still it is Christ who makes heaven and entrance through the gates possible, not our efforts.
v.15 Outside the blessings of heaven are the lost. Some are called dogs, a term for those who are vile and loathsome in the world; some are sorcerers, i.e., those who prognosticate the future apart from the Bible, fornicators, those that live to serve the desires of the flesh, murderers, idolaters, and whosoever loveth and makes a lie. The lost will forever miss out on the joys and laughter and excitement of heaven. They will forever remember the witness God showed them to bring them to himself. What a sad commentary on mankind unnecessarily missing out on God’s blessings forever.
v.16 Here Christ Jesus says he sent his angel to witness these things in this sacred book unto you in his churches. He identifies himself in his humanity as the offspring of David, and in his divinity as the bright and morning star. He is the light sent into the world to save it.
v.17 Now the Holy Spirit along with Church gives an invitation and we continue to give this invitation saying, Come ( present middle imperative of erchoma) come, and let him that hears say, Come. Those who thirst for Christ, come. The water of eternal life, which is found only in Jesus Christ is free to those who will take it.
v.18 Our Lord gives a solemn warning here. Do not tamper with this book of Revelation. Certainly all scripture is holy and is to be left to say what it says, but as our Lord wraps up his word and will for the ages he certainly warns against tampering with his revelation. Do not add to it, or take away from it. Heed its warnings and tell others of their doom if they ignore it. If they are around at the end of the Church age and they go into the tribulation period they will experience God’s wrath upon the wicked of the earth, and even more so in their eternal judgment.
v. 19 This verse at first looks as though you could loose your salvation if you take away from this book. The better translations, [GLTTRAW] translate the word book (biblou) as ( xulou ), tree. Those who would deny the inspiration and sacredness of this book as well as all Scripture deny God as its author. They would also deny John 3:16 as well, and within the holy city, the heavenly city Jerusalem, they are forever denied access to the tree of life and the holy city as the home of all believers of all time. God offers eternal life and his word tells mankind how to obtain that eternal life. To deny the word is to deny God and thus to be denied heaven.
This book started with a blessing to those who read it and learned it, but it closes with a curse against those who dare tamper with it.
v.20-21 We are to testify of this book as to what God has in store for the saint and what he has in store for the sinner. You have now been taught this book. Go and share what lies ahead to those whom Christ sends you. Live with the daily expectation that the Lord is on his way for you right now. Christ says to John “I come quickly” and when he said this, John replied, “Even so, come Lord Jesus”. All of these things will happen in the specified times as we have read.
Lets be found faithful every day, and lets be found in this place of worship every week to learn of him and be encouraged by him, and to encourage one another as we see the day approaching.
Until then, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.