Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 22:6-21 And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

8 And I John saw these things, and heard [them].

And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. 10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.

I am the root and the offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star.

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.

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.

Amen.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all.

Amen.

Introduction

Revelation 22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

This is not the first time that John has been encouraged to "write" for the words are faithful and true (Rev.

21:5).

The reason that the words are faithful and true is based on who is saying them ... the LORD.

The trustworthiness of God is in His Word.

Seven times in chapter 21 and 22 John confirms the importance of the Word of God.

It begins in the fifth verse of the twenty-first chapter and continues in the twenty-second chapter (Re 22:6, 7, 9, 10, 18-19).

The last two are warnings.

Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.

The centrality, authority, sufficiency, and eternality of the word (and words) of God are foundational to all of Scripture, from the first words of Genesis to the last words of Revelation.[1]

“…and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants…”

The writer of the book of Hebrews opens with the idea of God speaking through His prophets and later by His Son.

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

God spoke through men and the Savior.

Throughout this book, God spoke to John through angels.

“…the things which must shortly be done…”

These words are identical to the message in the opening of the Revelation:

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.

From the opening verses of chapter one, the events of the Revelation have been written in such a way as to draw the reader to the actions which were, are and will shortly come to pass.

While not all the Revelation has taken place, the early chapters were happening.

Christ was seen in all His glory to John.

The seven churches were actual churches, identified and commented about.

The future events will take place and be fulfilled, things which must shortly be done.

Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

There are six instances where Jesus forewarns the readers of His imminent return in the Book of the Revelation: Rev. 2:5, 16; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20.

He first gave the warnings to three churches; Ephesus, Pergamos and Philadelphia.

The last three warnings are found in this closing section of the book.

"Behold, I come quickly" twice and "Surely I come quickly."

These warnings are to be understood that Jesus will come to bring judgment sooner than what man expects.

In other words, the readers and listeners to this book should prepare themselves for the return of the Christ will soon be upon them.

There is no event needing to be completed that is hindering Jesus from returning.

“...blessed is…”

The Book of the Revelation is the only book in the Bible that comes with a blessing for those that read, hear, and responds in obedience to the words of Christ.

This is the sixth of the "beatitudes" found in the book (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14).

See Attachment 2 - Beatitudes in Revelation.

This beatitude proclaims that the person who "keeps the sayings of the prophecy of the book" will receive a blessing.

There are always blessings for those that remain obedient to the Word of God.

The word "keepeth" means to "constantly guard, protect, take care."

From the opening of this book, we have understood that this is the "Revelation of Jesus Christ."

The whole book is about Him.

And yet it is also a book of prophecy.

The book contains prophecies of things to come.

The book speaks of blessings and judgments that will happen in the future for these seven churches.

The prophecies are to be meditated upon, observed, and studied.

...he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book - The teaching is:

Revelation 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them.

And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

With pen in hand, the Apostle John ensures the readers that he not only heard the words of the Revelation, but that he saw them as well.

The vision from the LORD was complete with audio and video.

“...I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things…”

John is so overcome with the totality of the Revelation, that he fell prostrate to worship the angel who is bringing him the prophecy, overwhelmed by what he sees and hears (Rev.

19;10).

Revelation 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

The angel rejects the act of worship by John and admonishes him not to do so.

We find John falling at the feet of an angel twice in this book.

Both times he was admonished by the angels for doing so (Re 19:10; 22:8)

However, in the first chapter, John fell at the feet of Jesus and was rewarded by Jesus placing His hand upon him and declaring:

Revelation 1:17-20 “…Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 [I am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

“…for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets…”

Looking back at the nineteenth chapter the angel replied in much the same manner:

Revelation 19;10 And I fell at his feet to worship him.

And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

“...and of them which keep the sayings of this book…”

Did you notice the progression of the angel's statement?

"Do it not" for I am a ''fellowservant, brethren of the prophets and of them which keep the sayings of this book."

He is just doing his task as assigned by God, much he was a fellow servant of Jesus, and like the prophets that God used to bring His message and finally like those that read this prophecy and keep its words.

“...worship God…”

Only the God of the universe, the Creator of all things and the Author of Salvation is to be worshiped.

No person, place or thing is to be worshiped.

On the top of the mountain, Moses was given the Law.

The first three commandments centered on the worship of God alone.

Exodus 20:2-7 1 am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for 1 the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.

For the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The angel clearly understands to whom worship is to be given.

Revelation 22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.