(22.17) 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.
1. Commentators frequently misinterpret this Scripture verse as a four-fold invitation to sinners to come to Christ. However, closer scrutiny suggests what we have in this verse are two two-fold invitations. The first two-fold invitation is directed to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the second is to sinners.
2. The venerable John Gill provides skillful guidance for correctly understanding John’s words in this verse. He observes that hearing Christ say that He should come quickly, in Revelation 22.7 and 12, the Spirit and the bride of Christ express a most affectionate desire for the Savior’s coming.
3. It may be that the reference to “the Spirit” concerns the Spirit of God in the hearts of His people and that the indwelling Spirit not only convinces Christians of and acquaints Christians with the coming of Christ to judgment and gives them reason to expect it, but fills our souls with the love of His appearance, so that we eagerly anticipate it.
4. Galatians 4.6 provides ample justification for this claim, where Paul writes, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Thus, just as the Spirit of God cries out to God the Father in those He indwells, so the Spirit of God would cry out for the return of Christ in those He indwells.
5. As well, look to Romans 8.26-27, where the indwelling Holy Spirit is shown to intercede in the believer’s life in yet another way:
26 Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray
for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
6. Thus, when we read “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come,” we are not looking at an invitation to the lost to come to Christ, specifically. Still, an invitation is uttered by the Spirit of God through the bride of Christ through those saved individuals He indwells, for the Savior to come quickly to reclaim what is rightfully His, to judge the lost, and to deliver His Own.
7. The phrase, “And let him that heareth say, Come,” expands the first invitation to Christ to come. However, whereas the first invitation is uttered by the Spirit and the bride of Christ, this second phrase should be likened to encouraging all who agree to join in. Thus, anyone who hears with understanding, anyone with spiritual insight and illumination, is called upon to join in the cry to the Savior to come again. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
8. Who would be included in this expanded group? Old Testament saints, holy angels in heaven, and the beleaguered saints on Earth during the Great Tribulation who are being pursued and martyred by the antichrist.
9. Thus, all the redeemed of all ages, both on Earth and in heaven, cry out for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Joining with us in yearning for our Lord and Savior are all the holy angels of heaven. In addition, all of this is prompted by the executor of God’s plan and purpose for the ages, the Holy Spirit of God.
10. Only those who oppose the plan and purpose of God are not so eager for Christ to stand from His throne, to mount the white steed, and to open heaven so that He might gloriously and majestically return. Who might that be? The devil and his allies, the antichrist, the demons, and the Christ-rejecters of this world. They recognize that the worst possible scenario for them is the triumphant return of Christ.
11. Those two invitations to Christ to return are followed by two more invitations directed to an entirely different audience. However, refrain from being too hasty in concluding whom the invitations are directed toward since careful consideration of what is said might surprise you.
12. The phrase that now commands our attention reads, “And let him that is athirst come.” Consider very carefully before answering my question: Is this an invitation extended to all who are lost and in need of Christ? If words have meaning, the answer is “No.”
13. These words seem to invite those
who thirst after Christ, long for His grace and righteousness, yearn for knowledge
of Him and communion with Him, to come unto Him by faith. The words echo John
7.37, where the Lord Jesus in the
14. Of course, it is also possible that this is an invitation to those who thirst after His Second Coming, and the glories and delights of the New Jerusalem state to come into it eat of the tree of life, and drink of the river of water of life in it. I think this is an invitation not to all lost but to those lost souls who truly thirst after Christ.
15. This aligns with our Lord’s invitation in Matthew 11.28: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” There, too, the invitation is most definitely not extended to all sinners but to those sinners who are contrite, to those sinners who are weighed down by their load of guilt and sin, by those sinners who are brought to conviction by the Holy Spirit of God.
16. The last phrase parallels the one before it: “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” The water of life has to do with God's free favor and love and the communication and display of that love in the New Jerusalem, including the comfort and glories to be enjoyed there.
17. But notice that the invitation is extended, not to all who are lost, but to “whosoever will.” But what do we know from God’s Word about “whosoever will”? In John 5.40, the Lord Jesus Christ declared, “ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” As well, there are the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2.13: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
18. Therefore, the final invitations to come to Christ are not invitations extended to every sinner. Instead, they are invitations extended to sinners mindful of their sinfulness, very aware of their need, sinners who have been convicted of their sins, sinners whose hearts have been pricked.
19. “But pastor, I am a lost sinner and I do not thirst after Christ. Neither has my heart been so affected by the Holy Spirit that I want to become a Christian. I am not one of those who “will” come to Christ. What should I do?” Luke 13.24: “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”
20. A final word to Christians.
You and I should long for the soon return of our Savior. The Spirit of God
works in the Christian’s life to create that longing and to anticipate His
coming. And what about the lost? Our first priority with the lost seems to get
them lost, for only when they are genuinely lost do the invitations found in
God’s Word apply to them.
