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 urgency of the gospel invitation is further, and finally, emphasised by the fact of the imminence of Christ's Coming. 'Surely, I come quickly' says Christ in 20 (see also 12). There are two things to say in this connection. There are two seemingly contradictory lines of teaching in the New Testament about the Coming of Christ, one stresses its imminence, the other its delay (cf 'My Lord delayeth His coming' Matthew 24:48). The explanation of this seeming riddle is sufficiently given in 2 Peter 3:4ff. The Lord is not slack.... but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. That great Day is delayed for evangelical reasons, to give men further opportunity to turn to Christ. But and this is the second point - delayed as it may be, it is still imminent, and always has been so. It has been suggested that we should not picture this question as if the coming of the Lord were at the end of life's road, away yonder. Rather, our life, in time, is like a long corridor with only thin walls separating it from the outside, from the eternal world which surrounds it. At any moment, the eternal world could break through. And the walls of the corridor are so thin that we can sometimes, as it were, hear the voices and sounds from the other side, as if there were something building up behind those thin, thin walls, ready to burst through and engulf us. This is how we are to look at the situation. How dramatic! We live day by day with the Lord's presence at hand like that! This is the urgency of the gospel invitation, and the source of the glad and eager cry of the people of God, 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus'.