‘Day 335

“And he said to me, “These words are faithful and true”; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. “And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” 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 me these things. And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!” And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” Revelation 22:6,10 (NASB)

Vs 1-5 of chapter 22really belong to chapter 21. The 22nd chapter begins here. It summarizes the entire book of Revelation. This is the clincher. If you have accepted Christ as your only means of salvation, then the words that He has spoken in Revelation are ‘true and faithful.’ The events outlined in the book are taking place and He is coming soon. We therefore, need to take the prophecies seriously and be prepared for His return. ‘The time is near.’

The central issue in the book of Revelation is worship. To whom will you give your allegiance and worship? To the dragon, the beast or to the Lamb? It is very necessary not to seal the words of this prophecy. We need to keep what is written, because the time is at hand. We live in a time where there have been great efforts to seal the prophecies of Revelation and prevent people from understanding what God has revealed. Some would seek to put it all in the past, others would like to thrust it all into the future. Futurist would like you to believe that God’s people do not experience the things written in this book because they will be raptured away before it all happens. A study of Revelation reveals the tragic fallacy of such an idea. The word ‘rapture’ is not to be found in the Bible. It is a Latin word which should indicate the source of this lie. The word secret is never associated with the second coming. The second coming will be visible (Rev 1:7, Titus 2:13, Matt 24:30) audible (1Thess 4:16, 1 Cor 15:52, Isa 25:9) unexpected (Matt24:36) The majority will be lost (Matt 7:13-14, Luke 17: 24- 30) and it will occur after the tribulation (2 Thess 2:1-4,8, Dan 12:1-2, Acts 14:22, John 16:33, Matt 13:20-22)