I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto
you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David, and the bright and
morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say,
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. For I testify
unto every man that heareth the words of the
prophecy of this book, If any man shall add
unto these things, God shall add unto him the
plagues that are written in this book: and if
any man shall take away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life, and out
of the holy city, and from the things which are
written in this book. He which testifieth these
things saith, Surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so,
come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Revelation 22:16-21
We have come to the last verse of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. I have attempted to go over each and every verse, to keep those verse in context, and to use context, Greek grammar, and historical references to ensure that we get the thrust of Scripture for our lives. What is that thrust? It is simple: Believe upon God as the creator and progenitor of all things that exist and upon His Son, God in the Second Person of the Trinity who died for sin and applies that propitiation to all who will believe. The thrust is for us to come to our conclusion that we are sinners in need of a Savior and that Savior is Jesus Christ. Then we are to empty ourselves as Jesus emptied Himself and came down into our world to pay our debt, and follow Jesus Christ, to deny ourselves of that this world claims as the way life should be, a life in opposition to God. We are here, left in this life after our conversion, and the reason is that we are to witnesses to the Gospel, to bring the Gospel to our world and the world at large. The metric is simple: Go....make disciples, teach them, and then to baptize them, a metric that has been so divisive among those who claim another metric, one that is not found in the Bible.
Jesus sent, as the translators put it, angels to the churches. Remember that the word we translate angels means messenger, so it can mean simply a spirit being, and angel, or it could mean that God has sent men to the Churches to testify to you the Gospel. The One sending those messengers is Jesus Christ, the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. He is calling: COME! Remember that old hymn, "Come home, come home, all ye who are weary, Come home, Jesus is calling, Come home!" God is calling, and He is willing to give to you the free gift of salvation, but you must be willing to receive it and then to take the water of life freely. Will you?
The words in this prophecy is so serious that we are charged to not tamper with it, to not add to it, or to take away from those words given to John. Some want to apply those words to not take away or add to all the Bible and they are certainly right: we are not to add anything to the Bible, or take away anything from the Bible, but here this has a deep meaning for us to not take away or add to this vision given to John. It is so serious that if anyone should add or subtract from this letter that they would be removed from the book of life. Some will cry out: "this means you can lose your salvation!" No! If you are an Authentic Christian, that is, that you have put all your faith, your life into the hands of Jesus you will not want to add or subtract, you will read the words of God with simplicity and follow what God has revealed to you in His word. If you are not Authentic in your Christian life, and you make changes, then that person has not denied himself/herself and wants the Bible to say what they want it to say, and not just allow the Bible to reveal to us the simple truths. Yes, you must be growing in sanctification, your faith must increase, stagnation is unacceptable to God and you will enter into the holy city with the stench of smoke upon you. Repentance is the way to growth in faith, in sanctification. You must put into practice that which you say you are, an Authentic Christian. Have you added, or subtracted from the words of the Bible: Repent! Life is simple when a person follows the word of God, and it also at the same time hard for persecution and decision that are hard are to be faced due to your faith in Jesus Christ. Don't worry! Your name is in the Book of Life, permanantly: you are saved from your sin that so easily besets you.
Jesus is coming soon, and quickly, that is, there will not be a waste of time, quickly, loudly with the sound of a trumpet, and will come as a thief in the night so be prepared, prepare now!
THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL. AMEN.
IS THERE ANY SUBJECT THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE COVERED IN THIS BLOG, OR DO YOU WANT TO JUST BEGIN AGAIN AT GENESIS 1? GIVE ME A COMMENT, OR EMAIL ME AT rcrumbr@gmail.com
Give unto the LORD, O ye
kindreds of the people,
give unto the LORD glory
and strength.
Psalm 96:7
Praise God for your salvation
Richard L. Crumb
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