This lesson not only closes Revelation, but is the closing word of the Bible. The grand series of pictures which John saw on the panorama unrolled before him at Patmos has now reached its close. The great city Babylon has been overthrown, the Millennial reign has passed, the last uprising of Satan, after the Thousand years, has been overcome, and the serpent, death and Hades have all been cast into the lake of fire, to escape from thence no more. Then comes the last sweet vision of the City of the Saints, the New Jerusalem, the heavenly home of the redeemed, descending from heaven adorned as a bride to meet her husband. The career of man, as revealed by inspiration, began in a garden, and when we have our last glance at the man of the redeemed future, we see him in a City. In that City God dwells, not as the Shekinah between the cherubim, but he now makes his tabernacle with men. From that City sin is forever excluded, and hence it has no sorrow, no pain, no shadows, no night, no death. Some of the features of the City are unfolded in our lesson. [275]

      8. And I, John, saw these things and heard them. Saw all the scenes and heard all the words recorded in the preceding pages of Revelation. I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. This was the angel whom the Lord had used as the medium of his Revelation. In verse 16 he declares that he sent him to testify these things to the churches, and in chapter 1:1, it is declared that Christ "sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John." Now, at the close of the Revelation, John, overcome by his feeling of profound reverence, prostrates himself at the feet of the angel in the attitude of worship.

      9. See thou do it not. At once the angel interrupts him. He declares that he is a "fellow servant of John, and his brethren the prophets, and of all saints who obey the book." Hence he is not an object of worship. He is a created being also. In Rev. 19:10, John offers to worship one of the twenty-four elders but is at once checked. Both the Elder and the Angel bid him to worship God. These prohibitions demonstrate, 1. It is sinful to worship an angel; 2. It is sinful to worship any created being, heavenly or earthly; 3. Hence, the whole system of Virgin worship and Saint worship of the Romish church is a sinful idolatry; 4. Even more abhorrent is it to kneel in adoration to pope, bishop, or priest; 5. Only a Divine Being is worthy of the worship of a being created in the image of God. Hence, we are only permitted to worship God. What would a John, who was not allowed to bow the knee to an angel, say were he to walk through a Catholic church and behold the worshipers bowed before images of the Virgin, or the Saints, or at the confessional of the priest!

      10. Seal not the sayings . . . of this book. To seal them up would be to conceal them from the knowledge of men. "The time was at hand" when the fulfillment would begin; and hence it was desirable that the churches should be forewarned and instructed at once. John wrote about A. D. 96. The fulfillment began in the first quarter of the second century.

      11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. John has just pictured the grand consummation and the blessed state of the righteous. He now refers to the [276] state in which the unrighteous remain. We learn from verse 15 that they are left without the Holy City and not permitted to enter. This verse gives the reason. The one who was unjust on the earth, retains his character, as do the filthy. Eternity works no transformations so as to make a new creature of a man. We rise from the grave what we were when we laid down to sleep; the unjust to be unjust still, and the righteous to be righteous still. If our characters are not of the kind that we wish to retain forever we had best seek to effect a change on earth. When we go beyond these are fixed.

      12. Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me. This is to be construed with verse 11, which declares that when eternity dawns upon us our characters will be fixed forever. The Lord now assures us that the time is short; only a little while remains for each individual until he shall appear before the Lord to be rewarded according to his works.

      13. I am Alpha and Omega. The same affirmation is found in chapter 1. It means that he is from everlasting to everlasting.

      14. Blessed are they that do his commandments. The Revision reads, "That wash their robes." This is probably the reading of the better Greek manuscripts. The two renderings are only different ways of saying the same things. To wash the robes, is to cleanse them, a symbol of being cleansed from sin. We are cleansed from sin by obedience to Christ. The sinless, those whose robes are washed, they who live in obedience to Christ, have the right, guaranteed by the covenant of Christ, to the tree of life. In Christ they have life. May enter in through the gates into the city. These cleansed, obedient saints, have the right to pass through the gate into the New Jerusalem. Verse 15 shows what classes are forbidden to pass the gates, and verse 14 shows who can enter. It is they who keep Christ's commandments.

      15. Without are dogs. Now comes a description of those excluded. Dogs were an unclean animal under the Jewish law, and this probably represents the wicked, depraved and vile. Sorcerers. Deceivers, whether priestly tricksters, workers of false miracles, or charlatans and mountebanks. Idolaters. Not the worshipers of heathen gods, so much as those who have the Creator and his Son offered to them and turn to worship the creature; to worship angels, saints, the Virgin, or to worship the false gods found in many Protestant temples; mammon, the prince of this world, etc., etc. [277]

      16. I am the root and offspring of David. He is of the root from whence David sprung as well as the offspring of David. The bright and morning star. The morning star is the harbinger of the day. When it appears in the east we know that the day is at hand. He is also the Sun of Righteousness, but the symbol used here rather signifies that he is the assurance that the long night of ignorance, sin and sorrow, which have shrouded the earth, shall pass away and that the morning of eternal redemption shall come.

      17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. Come and partake of all the blessings of Christ's redemption. These can be secured only by coming to Christ. He says," Come to me ye that are weary and heavy laden." Here the Spirit and the bride join in the invitation; that is, the Holy Spirit and the Church. The Holy Spirit continually invites by the words of the Holy Spirit recorded in the New Testament, as well as by moving God's servants to present his invitation. The bride, the Church, filled with the Spirit, constantly invites sinners to be saved. Every member of it should be engaged in this work. Parents should invite their children, sisters their brothers, everyone his friends, associates and neighbors, and all should then unite to have the invitation sounded out from the pulpit. The Church, not engaged heart and soul in this work of invitation, is a barren fig tree. Let him that is athirst come. This is the Lord's invitation. There must be a certain preparation, but

We must have a thirst for the living waters; have a sense of being heavy laden by our sins. Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Here the invitation takes the widest ground. It is made universal. None will be forced by "irresistible grace," but all who will to come, decide to come, are bidden to come and partake of the waters of life freely. Who can have an excuse for staying away when such a gracious invitation is given?

      18. If any man shall add unto these things. John seems to write with a consciousness that he was closing the sacred canon. There is, therefore, a solemn prohibition of adding more to the word of God than is found in this book. There has been much more added. Writings of saints, decrees of councils, excathedra utterances of "infallible" popes have been added unto the word of God, as well as the ravings of Swedenborg, Ellen White, and the Mormon prophets. Upon [278] these rest the curse pronounced by John. Nor would we like to risk adding authoritative human creeds.

      19. If any man shall take away, etc. It is a sin to add to the word of God. It is a like sin to take away from the word. Those would take away who would reject any part, or who would refuse to read and teach it, or who would substitute aught else for it. If a church were to decide that it was not best for the people to read the Scriptures, and instead, should make up certain parts and leave out others, in a Breviary, that would be taking away from the book. That has been done by the body which styles itself the "Holy Mother Church." He who does this and claims that his name is in the book of life is assured that "God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the Holy City."

      20, 21. Surely I come quickly. These are the words of the Lord, and mean that the chain of future events revealed shall begin its fulfillment in a short time. John adds the prayer, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." It expresses his complete resignation to the will of the Lord. Verse 21 is the benediction of the aged apostle upon the churches. The last words of the book of inspiration are a blessing.

      1. God does not permit the worship of any created being or thing in heaven or earth. He in person, or as manifest in Christ, is the only object in the universe before whom man should bow in adoration. God is a jealous God.

      2. Idolatry is a grievous sin. Old Israel was rejected from Jerusalem and sent into captivity for idolatry. Those who claim to be of Israel and are idolaters will be rejected from the New Jerusalem.

      3. He who puts his trust in princes, in this world, in gold, in personal beauty, in priests, in dead saints, in Virgin, or angels; in any object save the Father, and God in Christ, is an idolater.

      4. Those who obey Him, wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb, shall have a right to the tree of life, and to pass through the gates into the city.

      5. The wicked, the idolatrous, the deceivers, those who love not the truth, shall be excluded forever.

      6. The invitation is now cordial, earnest, and universal. The Spirit, the Church, all who have heard and obeyed it, sound aloud the invitation, to all. [279] The Lord himself bids every thirsty soul, every poor and weary sinner, every one who will, to come and partake of the waters of life freely. If there are those who cannot enter in through the gates into the city it is because they would not come.

      7. Reader, will you, so sweetly invited, come, that you may have an eternal home and life in the heavenly city? "In the New Jerusalem, on either side of the river stands the tree of life bearing twelve manner of fruits, or, rather, fruit twelve times a year, every month. The river and the tree are symbols of the life bestowed by the grace of God. The river flows from the throne of God and the Lamb; from the fountain whence life and immortality come. The tree yields its fruit at all times, so that the supply never fails. Everything about the tree is healthful. Even the leaves are for the healing of the nations. There is a book, a river, and a tree of life. Christ is the life, and all refer in some way to Christ. Trees and rivers presented the most attractive features of an oriental city, and are beautiful emblems of the full supplies of grace, life and bliss that shall pervade the heavenly city.--Vision of the Ages.

      8. He who takes it upon himself to amend God's word, to add to it or to take away, cannot enter the city. He who adores God will reverence his spoken word.

[CLC01 275-280]