Dear Friends,

I do hope that you can attend our Bible study this evening. We are completing our study of the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation 22. Much to consider! Notes are attached.

LIVING THE CHRISTLIFE

WAYNE BARRETT

HILLTOP LAKES CHAPEL

MARCH 27, 2024

Revelation 22:6-21

Pt 3

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.”

14Blessed are those who wash their robes,a 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.b Amen.

_______________________

(Reminder—I believe these Scripture are referring ultimately to what will happen at the end of time as 

we know it, including the Second Coming of Christ, the Judgment of all people, and God’s creation of 

new heavens and a new earth.)

v. 15 – “Outside are ..”c

“dogs” – kýōn,

cf. “Beware of the dogs…”—Philippians 3:2

Dogs were despised in the Middle East, scavengers, viewed with contempt.

a Some manuscripts do his commandments [ESV note]

b Some manuscripts all the saints [ESV note] c In the ESV, translators decided not to put quotation marks around vv. 14-15, indicating that the “I” statement of Jesus 

concluded with v. 13 and begins again with v. 16. This type of translation decision is often required. It is all God’s inspired

word, regardless of which phrases in the passage are statement of Jesus himself. I tend to read this passage as vv. 12-17 being 

from Jesus in the first person.

2

A similar term for us might be “lowlifes,” and in particular lowlifes who seek to ruin

other people as well

That people can be summarized as “dogs” should disabuse anyone of the idea that God is 

sentimental and permissive about lives of willful and persistent sinning

“sorcerers” – pharmakos, we might say “drug dealers”

“sexually immoral” – pornos, this word literally meant a male prostitute, but then came to be 

applied as well to other sexual immorality

“idolaters” – an idol is what we worship, what we ultimately serve

“everyone who loves and practices falsehood” – lit. “everyone loving and practicing lies”; truth 

is of God, lies are of the devil. This statement includes those loving lies.

v. 16 – “I, Jesus…”

Jesus personalizes the message, and affirms that this message is from him

“have sent my angel…”

Angels are God’s messengers and carry out his will

to “you”—you is plural. This is not a word to John, it is a word to all who will hear these things

for the churches—plural, recognizing that his Church did and would consist of many 

congregations 

“I am the root and the descendant of David” – both!

“the bright morning star.” –

“And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay 

attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises 

in your hearts.”—2 Peter 1:19

“And I will give him the morning star.”—Revelation 2:28

The morning star is beautiful and distant and heralds the beginning of a new day, a star of 

promise. I think in the NT, the morning star represents the full life of Christ that will be ours

forever, filled with joy and wonder.

Here, Jesus says, I am that life.

v. 17 – The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.”

Almost the last words of Scripture, God’s gracious invitation.

The Bride is the Church.

The Holy Spirit has come to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He works in 

and through and with the Bride, the Church, saying to all who will hear: “Come.” We must 

never cease to work with the Holy Spirit to issue this invitation.

George Mueller: “God is not calling the world into the church, he his calling the church out of 

the world.” A critically-important truth.

And let the one who hears say, “Come.”

Exactly! Those who hear and respond are themselves to begin to invite others. This is the 

mission of the Church summarized: say “Come.”

“And let the one who is thirsty…”

3

The nature of the invitation.

More lit. “and the one thirsting, let him come.”

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, 

let him come to me and drink.—John 7:37

The invitation of Christ himself to all who are “thirsting”

More lit. “the one desiring, let him take the water of life freely.”

Could there be a more gracious invitation? And could any words more clearly constitute an 

invitation?

God’s invitations and men’s responses are one of the great themes of the Bible.

vv. 18-19 – “I warn everyone…”

A solemn warning about this book

Perhaps this warning is particularly severe, as this is a book of direct revelation from God, filled 

with visions and teachings that must not be modified in the slightest (whatever one’s 

understanding of them.)

This word speaks to the issue, in general, of the sacredness of God’s word, his truths, his 

messages to us. That for a person to misrepresent them, to add to them or to take away from 

them, is to go against God himself. A person cannot claim to consider God to be holy while, 

at the same time, treating God’s word lightly and “editing” it at will.

This does not solve all Biblical questions. But it does settle the reverence and gravity that belong 

to representing God’s word.

v. 20 – “He who testifies…”

More lit. “The One testifying to these things says, yes indeed, I am coming quickly!”

“yes indeed” – nai, certainly, even so

John’s (and our) response: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

This is the next to last statement given in Scripture. A wonderful word of Jesus to us—and our 

response to Him!

v. 21 – “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all [the saints]. Amen.

Some manuscripts include “the saints.”

The book is “for the churches,” so the context of this statement is understood either way.

The last words in the Bible. A benediction. And one that points to the Lord Jesus Christ and the 

grace we receive from him.

Amen