Christ's Final Call

and they shall reign on the earth.’”

[REVELATION 5:8b-10]

Take special note that those arrayed around the throne of God have all been ransomed “from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Christ the Lord, by His mercies, has “made them a kingdom and priests to our God.” Now, “they shall reign on the earth.”

WARNING — “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, 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” [REVELATION 22:18-19].

I have pointed out the warnings that are associated with the invitations of the Word. God invites people to life; but if His gracious invitation is refused, we may be certain that He will not plead forever. Long years past, when men first began to spread out over the earth and man’s fallen nature was becoming evident in every relationship, God warned, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever” [GENESIS 6:3a NASB95]. It is a solemn warning that there is a limit to God’s mercy; we dare not tempt the Living God.

The Lord speaks through the angel sent to John, saying “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near” [REVELATION 22:10]. And what is the statement that “the time is near” if not an invitation? God’s invitation is followed by a solemn warning. The Risen Lord of Glory warns, “Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy” [REVELATION 22:11].

What we have here, especially in the first two phrases of this eleventh verse, is a bit of literary sarcasm. The Day of the Lord's return is to be considered so imminent, so tragically momentary, that it is almost as if the day of opportunity for change is already past. Clearly the time of the end is so close that opportunity for change of character is rapidly passing away. Character is being fixed even as life moves toward the final cataclysmic events. That knowledge should give all of us pause, but especially it should cause those who flirt with righteousness to reconsider choices they are making. Similarly, such knowledge should cause those who seek righteousness and the Lord’s honour to be moved with compassion on the lost.

Writing the Thessalonians, Paul compares the return of our Master to the coming of a thief in the night [see 1 THESSALONIANS 5:2]. To be certain, we do occasionally hear of eleventh-hour conversions, but such events are never the norm, they are always the exception. Therefore, “Now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” [2 CORINTHIANS 6:2b]. In this call to obedience we have a promise of the Lord's expected return, an invitation to respond, and a warning against waiting until it is too late.

There is genuine danger in failure to heed the warnings of the Living God. When one ignores His warning, they are gambling with far more than comfort, far more than this moment we call “now.” Those who do not respond to the warning of the Living God gamble with eternal damnation, and that is a cost from which none can ever recover. Jesus warns, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him” [LUKE 12:4-5]!