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 everyone 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 practises 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.
The solemn urgency of the gospel invitation in 10-17 reminds us that the purpose of the book of Revelation is not speculative, nor that we should merely have a better knowledge of the principles that govern the world, but that we should be challenged to come to grips with the truth of the gospel. It is eternal destinies that are at stake, and how we react here to the gospel word will determine our eternal destiny for weal or woe. This is the force of 11, 'he that is unjust, let him be unjust still...'. What a man becomes here he will remain forever. Men are inevitably, inexorably, by their reaction to the gospel, building up their destiny now; acts, habits, attitudes, in one direction or the other - these are the fateful choices by which men are consciously or unconsciously determining character and its outcome in the eternal order. It is true that Revelation has stressed the sovereignty of God and His electing grace in salvation, but the fact remains that that eternal election has to be settled in time by response to, and appropriation of, the truth of the gospel. This also underlines the urgency of the admonition, 'Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book'. At all costs men must hear the message, and know that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, and that entrance into life is by Christ, the living way, and by none other. This makes 11 very solemn indeed; for we are all, by nature, making a wrong choice. By nature we do not like to retain God in our knowledge, but turn our backs on Him, and by nature we become people set against God, and invite against ourselves the law by which act ripens into habit, habit into character, and character into destiny. But God is greater than this inevitable process of hardening; He is Alpha and Omega, that is to say, sin does not have the last word in this story; He can break into the terrible chain of cause and effect that drags men down into lostness, and in Christ holds out the wonderful invitation to come to Him Who breaks the power of sin and cleanses from all its defilement and corruption. (14 should read, with the Greek, 'Blessed are they that wash their robes'.)