Revelation 22:6–9 - A Trustworthy Message

Do you get these calls, or emails, or texts from these random numbers? My understanding is that they’re scammers of some kind. This past week I got a call that went to voicemail where I was informed that I had been charged $1400 for a Macbook computer and I needed to call this random number to “approve it.”

Just garbage. But it came to mind as I thought about this continual reality in our lives: that we receive countless messages aiming to deceive us and harm us. So many messages – around us, within us. And what are we to do? How do we sort through it all to discern what is trustworthy and what is a lie?

There’s a message here at the end of Revelation that applies not only to this end times prophecy but to all of the Scriptures. And there is no more central message for a Christian. This is a message about what we generally call “the Word of God.”

The author of Psalm 119 in the OT says to God, “Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD…for I trust in your word.” What is God’s Word?

Well, this refers to what God says. His speech; His communication. God tells us many things. He tells us about who He is and what He’s doing. He speaks to us about ourselves and our world. He tells us how to live in the world He made. He tells us how to live in the body that He made. He tells us how to treat one another. He tells us about the past and the future.

Throughout the Bible, this communication from God is referred to as His “Word.” And God‘s word is a trustworthy message.

Now in verse 6 of Revelation 22, the apocalyptic visions are complete. The angel of the Lord and Christ Himself are about to sign off. And John is given some final instructions regarding these glorious visions. Notice verse [6]. John writes, “And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.” The angel is reiterating for John that the message has been from God. Why would this statement be necessary? Why is it here? The answer is perhaps so obvious that we naturally overlook it.

I hope you have someone in your life who tells you that they love you. I hope you have someone who has said to you, “I’m proud of you. Well done.” And the reason why I hope you have someone who tells you these things is because we benefit greatly from hearing them. It affects us. It shapes us.

Normally a parent will tell their child, “I love you,” or “I’m proud of you,” again and again, not because they fear the child doesn’t know or forgot, but because the parents know that the child needs to hear these things, and needs to hear them repeatedly.

Throughout God’s Word, He repeatedly tells His people that He loves us. He repeatedly confirms His approval of us because of His love and grace toward us. The angel says “These words are trustworthy and true” because we need to hear it. Because we need to be reminded of it. The truth of Revelation is reliable and genuine, As is all of God’s Word. Therefore, we should trust in God's true Word.

It’s easy to claim to believe something. But it’s quite another thing to let a set of beliefs shape your life. The angel assures John and us that we can trust in God’s Word. We can be guided by it and transformed by it and rest assured that we will not be made fools. We can make every decision in light of it and be confident that we won’t be steered wrong.

Specifically regarding this final book of Scripture, we can trust that this is how history will go and in fact is how it is now going. And so, no matter what, we can be sure that God is sovereign over all that is taking place. We can be comforted with the belief that He is in control and it’s all planned out. Take this to heart today: “These words are trustworthy and true” so trust in God's true Word.

Now look at verse 7. “And behold, I am coming soon.” This clearly refers to the Lord Jesus. Whether it’s His voice or the angel’s doesn’t matter. Throughout the book, the angel has spoken on behalf of the Lord. And throughout this book, the return of Christ has been confirmed.

Now, when exactly is “soon?” Well, 2 Peter 3, the apostle Peter says, “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” So it’s only been a couple days since Christ returned to heaven, from God’s perspective. But the sense here is that God’s people can be confident and should be ready.

In the past, I coached city rec cross country when my girls were running for the city league, and I coached with a wonderful guy – Willie Burroughs. Willie played college football for Purdue - he’s a passionate and gifted coach. And he had a great saying that I loved and often repeated to motivate the kids in training. Willie would say, “If you stay ready, you don’t get ready.”

Are you staying ready for the Lord’s return – staying ready to meet the Lord? You may go to meet Him before He returns to judge the world. Either way, this meeting between you and Him will most certainly take place.

Do you want to know how to stay ready? Notice that next sentence in verse 7. “Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Keep the words of Revelation. In other words, hold to them. And we infer from the angel’s statement that we should hold to all of God’s Word. This keeping His Word is a result of trusting in His Word.

If you don’t aim to hold to what God says – when His instruction is clear –  what assurance do you have that you believe it? Where is the evidence of your trust? Do you trust what God says about sin? Do you trust what He says about His grace? About holiness? About prayer? Do you trust what God says about money, about marriage, about gossip, about grudges, about being judgmental, about anger, about laziness, about honesty, about aging, about obedience?

And isn’t this interesting – the angel is that keeping God’s Word results in blessing. There is a God-centered happiness that awaits those who hold to God’s true Word.

You would review the book of Revelation and be sure that God’s people face hard times in the last days – in this period between the return of Christ to heaven and His glorious return. At the beginning of Matthew 5, Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, and those who mourn. Blessed are the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful, and the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Blessed are those who are reviled and persecuted for the name of Christ.

Who are these people? Not just those who only say, “Oh, I believe,” but those who hold to God’s true Word. Granted, it’s not always easy to do. Maybe you have a crutch that keeps you from keeping His Word. Maybe you have a grudge that keeps you from holding to His Word. Everyone has “pet sins” – some sin that, like the author of Psalm 66 says, we “cherish in our hearts.” These are sins that are habitual for us. They are ways of thinking or desiring or living that are out of sync with God’s Word.

Should we simply try harder to change? Where do we draw the strength to change? Look at verses 8-9.

John says, “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 them to me, [9] but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book.” Again, this call to “keep the words” comes up. Those who do so have a type of fellowship. We have a connection. We’re a society, if you will. We have a special bond.

And the word that the angel uses here – which is translated “fellow servant” – is very interesting. There’s only one word there in the Greek manuscript – not a word that we translate “fellow” and then one that we translate “servant.” There’s a prefix attached to the Greek word for “slave.” This angel says he is a “fellow slave” with all who know and follow Jesus.

In Romans 6, the apostle Paul explains that we are naturally slaves to sin, but he says that through the work of Christ, those who are born again are made slaves to righteousness. In Christ, we are no longer captive to sin – no longer under sin’s reign. For those who are regenerate – no longer dead in sins but made alive in Christ – sin is no longer our brutal master. Instead, we have another Master. We have a different Lord. The bondage we had to sin is replaced by bondage to righteousness in and through Christ.

Now, this angel was not born again, but he basically tells John, “I’m a slave along with you, and all the OT prophets, and all the NT apostles, and all the people of God. I’m a bondservant to Jesus like you. My will is surrendered to God like yours.  My whole being belongs to Him, just like yours does. We both aim to keep God’s Word.”

Now, notice again also that John was compelled to worship this angel. The angel had shown and told John many glorious things. But the angel corrects him. He says, “You must not do that!” And see that last sentence of verse 9. He tells John, “Worship God.” Fall down before God. The meaning here is “give your heart’s devotion to God.”

In Isaiah 42 in the OT, God says, “I am [Yahweh]; that is my name; my glory I give to no other.” God’s praise must be directed only to Him. Like John, we get mixed up about where to direct our worship. Notice that John is captivated by the things of God – God’s power and plans and words. But caught up in the thrill of it, John needed the angel’s correction – and so do we.

This morning, as we go to the Lord’s Table, we have a reminder of where to direct our worship. To the triune God, yes – to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are three persons yet one God. But the triune God has chosen to reveal Himself uniquely and fully in the person of Jesus Christ.

If you would aim to trust in and hold to God’s true Word, listen carefully to His Word now: Colossians 1 says that Jesus Christ “is the image of the invisible God…by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church…For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”

God spoke uniquely through the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 1 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”

In fact, John goes so far as to call Jesus Christ “the Word of God.” In other words, Jesus is the message of God. In John’s gospel, chapter 1, he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made through him…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” In Christ we behold God’s glorious law and in His gracious love.

Just as the angel instructed John, we must trust in God's true Word, hold to God's true Word, and bow before the Living Word.

Jesus Himself is that Living Word – He is that trustworthy message from God! In His person and work, He tells of our sin and of God’s wrath against it, but also, He tells us of God’s grace and His gift of righteousness for those who receive Him. Receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith today. Turn from your sins and follow Him.

Let’s bow together in prayer.