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The final message from God to God’s people in God’s Word is to trust God’s Word.
Revelation 22:6-21 - 6 And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”
7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
What if you were told that you were about to receive the last message from your loved ones? How seriously would you take it? Very seriously, right? What if I told you that the final message in our series, “Uncovering Revelation” verse by verse is the last message from Jesus? This is the last time we will hear directly from Jesus until the Rapture. Interestingly, the emphasis of God’s final message in Revelation as well as the Bible is one thing— trust God’s Word.
The problem with trust is that it is a personal decision. Therefore, it is a matter of personal faith. Either we put that faith in what the Word of God says or we put our faith in us. People need to know that trusting God’s Word is putting their faith completely in what God says that He has done for them and not what they think they can do through religious works to get into heaven.
Revelation 22:6-21 was the final message to the seven churches in Asia Minor in the first century. In Revelation 2-3, they were charged with complacency, compromise, and corruption in the face of persecution. After describing what must occur before Christ returned to reign for a thousand years on earth, the final message for them was to trust God’s Word to remain steadfast in faith or face the consequences for their complacency, compromise, and corruption.
The big idea for us is that if we want to remain steadfast in faith and don’t want to face the consequences for complacency, compromise, and corruption of faith, then take the final message seriously and trust God’s Word and not our own understanding.
The question is, why would God choose to close the progressive revelation that began with the creation account in Genesis with the reminder of trust in God’s Word? Think about it— what brought a generational curse of separation between God and us in the first place? It was because Adam and Eve didn’t trust God’s Word but rather trusted their own understanding based on Satan’s word. Therefore, Revelation 22:6-21 seems to be an excellent closing with divine counsel, concern, and caution against not trusting God’s word.
The Final Words of Divine Counsel (Revelation 22:6-10)
In Revelation 22:6-10, God’s final counsel is threefold that answers why should we trust God’s Word, how should we treat God’s Word, and why should we testify to God’s Word.
Why should you trust God’s Word? Revelation 22:6 reads, “And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true.” ” You trust God’s Word because God testifies to the truth of it. In Revelation 21:5, God the Father said, “These words are trustworthy and true,” and here, the angel testified “These words are trustworthy and true.” Later in Revelation 22:8, John will testify to it, also. I believe the scope of this testimony expands to the entire Bible.
The verse next says, “And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” This means all prophets, the human authors from Genesis to Revelation, were given the trustworthy and true Word of God to point to God’s redemptive plan of salvation through Jesus.
How should you treat God’s Word? Revelation 22:7 continues, “And behold, I am coming soon.” A better translation of the Greek word, tachy [tachu], is translated here as soon is suddenly. When no one expects it, Jesus will come suddenly.
Therefore, continuing in verse 7, Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” The word “keep” in Greek is tereo, meaning obey. So, how should we treat God’s Word? We should obey it. Imagine while you are engaged in the act of sin, whether sexual, social, or religious, and Christ comes suddenly. The right response to God’s Word is worship.
In Revelation 22:8-9, we see, “8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” ” John was mistaken about whom to worship and was corrected, but his response was right.
Why should you testify to God’s Word? Revelation 22:10 continues, “And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” ” In Daniel 12:4, God said, “But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.” In Revelation 22:10, the time of the end has begun, so God’s counsel to John was not to seal up. This means the time to testify to God’s Word is now because Jesus can appear anytime.
A man asked a financial advisor when is the best time to invest in his retirement fund. He was told “yesterday” and the second best time to invest in his retirement is “today”. The same is true with the divine counsel about trust, treating, and testifying to the truth of the Word of God.
The application for us is to heed the divine counsel, trust God’s Word, and treat it as a guide for your life by obeying, applying, and testifying its truth before others.
The Final Words of Divine Concern (Revelation 22:11-17)
In Revelation 22:11-17, God’s concern for the church is no different from that for the chosen people of God in the Old Testament: would they would trust God’s Word when things get out of control or do not happen as expected.
In the intertestamental period— the time between Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament— known as divine silence that lasted for 400 years, many lost their faith because they did not trust God’s process, plans, and promises for them. They wanted the Messianic gold age right after the Babylonian exile.
Even when Christ the Messiah of Israel arrived, they did not want him and hung Him on the cross. In Revelation 22, the prophetic silence will last until the Rapture.
The final message in Revelation reveals God’s concern for the church, whether we will trust the divine process, plans, and promises.
First, Trust the Divine Process. In Revelation 22:11, “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.” What happened in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics this weekend is exactly what we should expect from the world. We do what is right and let the world do evil because on verses 12-13, “12 Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” If we repay evil with evil or doubt God’s timing as to when He will punish evil and reward us, that is not trusting God’s process.
Second, Trust the Divine Plans. Revelation 22:14 continues, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” Unless we wash our crimson stains of sin with the blood of Christ, we cannot have access to the tree of life. No matter how good we are, and what good we do in the world, it simply does not matter.
One day I was making pasta sauce and a bit jumped out of the pan and landed on my shirt. It ruined my shirt forever. You don’t wash away a red stain with red. Yet though it seems irrational to the human mind, the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, persists in washing the crimson (red) stain of sin in the blood of Jesus. The whole Gospel is based on this illogical argument as the hymn states, “Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” The divine concern is that if we do not trust God’s Word that Jesus paid it all in full, we will try to pay some and will end up outside of the heaven mentioned in verse 15. It says, “Outside are the dogs [that refers to unclean, non-Jewish] and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
Third, Trust the Divine Promises. Revelation 22:16-17 says, “16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” Jesus wants the church to know that it is He who is the fulfillment of all God’s promises and that it is He who is preparing the place for the church so that He can return to take us to be with Him forever in the presence of God. Therefore, in verse 17, we, the Bride of Christ, along with the Spirit say, “Come, Jesus, come” because only in Him are all our needs are satisfied, thus the reference to the water of life.
Have you been to the Middle East? The dry climate there makes clean drinking water one of the most expensive commodities. It was so in the days of Jesus on Earth. The water Jesus talks about is the living water that will satisfy all our needs.
The application is that love, power, money, sex, fame, and all other ungodly things will never satisfy the thirst of our souls. Only in Christ, are we fully satisfied. So, trust God’s Word, His process, His plans, and His promises. Do not be impatient with His timing.
The Final Words of Divine Caution (Revelation 22:18-21)
The Biblical theme of trusting God’s Word ends with a divine warning against tampering with the Word of God in Revelation 22:18-21. If we trust God’s Word,
First, we will not add anything to the Word of God. Revelation 22:18 reads, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book…”
Second, we will not remove anything from the Word of God. Revelation 22:19 says, “and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
Third, we will not doubt what is in the Word of God. The book of Revelation finishes with chapter 22, verses 20-21, “20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”
In Hebrew, the root word for Amen is, “to be trusted.” In Greek, it is “so be it.” In both languages, it communicates the reliability and truth of what is said. So, if you trust that the Word of God is reliable and you will not add or remove anything from it say, “Amen.”
Have you ever heard of the Jefferson Bible? Two hundred years ago, Thomas Jefferson literally cut and pasted the portions of the Bible that He liked and threw away the rest.
The application is that when it comes to trusting God’s Word, do not just cut out what you do not like in the Bible. You may not literally cut and paste the portion to your liking to create your own version of the Bible, but if you isolate certain sections never to be studied or applied in your personal life, you have practically denounce your trust in the whole counsel of God’s Word.
Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” My prayer is that this final message has challenged you to trust God’s Word and study all 66 books of the Bible.
The action steps for us is to take divine counsel in Revelation 22:6-21 and trust, treat and obey, and testify to the truth of God’s Word, be watchful of the divine concern here about the divine process, plans, and promises, and consider divine caution and never tamper with God’s Word.
My appeal to you is, if you trust in God’s Word, then put your faith in what the Word of God says about Jesus. It says Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. It says Jesus is coming soon, and his recompense is with Him, to repay each one for what he has done.
The same Jesus promises the Rapture, an event described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “… the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever.”
Until that day comes, the final message from God to God’s people in God’s Word is to trust God’s Word, treat God’s Word with urgency for the time is near, and testify before others that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises— that Jesus paid it all for our present, past, and future sins and that only Jesus’ blood washes our crimson stains white as snow.
Study Questions
1. How would you summarize the book of Revelation? What are some of the main ideas of this book?
2. What does it mean in Revelation 22:7 and Revelation 22:12, when Jesus says, “And behold, I am coming soon?” Read 2 Peter 3 for a better understanding.
3. How can people add to or remove from the Word of God? Read Revelation 22:18-19.
Deeper Study Questions
1. One of the major themes in the book of Revelation is that Jesus is coming soon. If Jesus comes at this very moment, will He find you faithful?
2. Compare ‘the right to the tree of life’ in Revelation 22:14 with Revelation 22:15. Dig a little deeper and see how washing by the blood of Jesus saved your soul and how the gospel has changed life on earth.
3. What are some of the takeaways from the study of the book of Revelation that you plan to apply to your life?
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