Revelation 22:12 Commentary and Bible Study

Repeatedly in these closing verses, it is stressed that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming quickly. Therefore his people do not have long to wait. Therefore they should not despair at their trials. As Cumming reminds us, many hundreds of years have gone past; if this promise was true when it was first given, it is, if we may use such language, more true now. Scripture speaks in this way, ‘For now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed’ (Romans 13:11). We need to think like this because the effect of enforced delay can be to make us put our hope into storage. It becomes for us a theoretical certainty, but one that seldom stirs our hearts. Yet we ought to think in very concrete terms. So thinks a child, sent away to school, at the prospect of term ending and being reunited with his family at the end of term.It sounds like salvation by works if you are uninitiated, but of course it isn’t. It's just that your works will show whether or not you have believed, and if you have been saved, and if you have been changed. Your works will be an indication. There is consolation in the promise that the Lord is coming. There is further consolation in the reward that he brings with him. There can be no doubt that this is the second coming, for that is the only coming of the Lord mentioned in connection with his giving rewards. It is natural that the saints should look forward to their Lord’s return as a time of reward, even if those rewards are utterly undeserved. For his sake they have held out during life against terrible enemies at the cost of earthly advantage and even life. Christ does not fail to compensate his people for their sufferings. His reward is a personal gift to each one, a recognition that he knows all about the circumstances of their lives. He does not delegate this task to another so that they receive his reward through an intermediary; it is his personal token of love to each one. His rewards assure them of his approval. They need these visible tokens because their enemies have placed a question mark over his love for them. ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.’ It's Christ speaking. He is the pre-existent Lord. He was there from the very beginning of creation, and he will be there to wind up the present world, and bring about its disintegration and judgement. He is the beginning of salvation; it is he that founded salvation and procured it for us, and he is the one who will bring it to completion.