Revelation 22:11, commentary and pictures

Spoken by Jesus Christ himself as righteous Judge with kingly authority, the verse fixes every person's character and destiny forever in the condition already chosen, the unjust and filthy remaining so still and the righteous and holy remaining so still. It marks the close of probation and the end of His mediatorial ministry, when He leaves the most holy place, mercy no longer pleads, and the investigative judgment ends while people are still living on earth. At that point every case is decided for life or death, with no further change, appeal, cleansing blood, or Mediator to plead, and His coming brings reward according to works rather than cleansing sin or curing defects of character. The decree ushers in the time of trouble, when restraint is removed, Satan controls the finally impenitent, and God's sealed people must stand without a Mediator. Because it will go forth very soon and afterward it is everlastingly too late to repent or transform character, thorough repentance, confession, obedience, and victory over sin are required now while the Spirit still strives and souls can still be warned.

Speaker and Prophetic Setting

The decree is spoken by Jesus Christ himself as righteous Judge who never lies, fixing the destiny of all people forever. He utters it in tones of decision and kingly authority as He stands up and leaves the most holy place, and He speaks it with awful majesty. By taking human nature and uniting divinity with humanity at the cross, where mercy and truth met together and righteousness and peace kissed each other, He fastened every sinner to Himself with threads of sympathy and love that can never be broken, and that close binding of His interests with every son and daughter of Adam continues until He utters this decree.

Its going forth is marked by the announcement that all is finished and that it is done, and it is joined to His declaration that He comes quickly with His reward to give every person according to his work and deeds done in the body. It stands just before He comes quickly with His reward to give every man according as his work shall be, presenting the final separation of character and the final division between the wicked and the faithful. It marks the close of the time for changing one's course, when each person's moral and spiritual condition is fixed.

It stands in the unsealed closing prophecy whose time is at hand, belonging to its last chapter and its last four chapters. That final chapter concerns people living in the last days and must be read and understood, and those last four chapters must be read carefully because they require an individual deep and thorough work that should have been done long ago and must be done now. Its solemn warnings are connected with the final warning message and with people rejecting messages and facing judgment, when they can no longer act to change their course. Blessing, right to the tree of life, and entrance through the gates into the city where nothing defiling enters belong to those who do His commandments, who keep God's commandments and own the crucified Saviour.

The same chapter is also cited in connection with events at the close of the thousand years after Christ's second advent.

Close of Probation

The decree marks the close of probation and the end of mediatorial and intercessory ministry for sinners, when He stands up, leaves the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, puts on the garments of vengeance, and mercy no longer pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. It is joined to His coming quickly with His reward to give every person according to work done in the body, declaring the case of every soul decided and fixed forever because there is no more atoning blood to cleanse from sin and pollution. The last prayer for sinners has then been offered, the last tear shed, the last warning given and the last entreaty made, with no priest left in the sanctuary to present sacrifices, confessions, or prayers before the Father. Christ has at that point completed the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins, and the number of His subjects is made up.

It marks the close of the investigative judgment, which goes on first for the righteous dead and then for the righteous living and ends shortly before He appears. Every person's destiny for life or death has been decided and character and moral condition fixed irrevocably, with no further change of destiny following that decision. That decisive hour comes silently and unnoticed while righteous and wicked are still living on earth, unaware in heaven the decision has been made and mercy's offer withdrawn. People continue ordinary activities of eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying, buying and selling, and seeking pleasure, unaware that mercy’s offer has ended and the door of mercy is about to be forever shut. Outward religious forms continue after the Spirit is finally withdrawn, and fierce zeal under Satan's influence is mistaken for zeal for God.

The solemn decree is pronounced after the third message closes, after God's people have finished their work, received the latter rain or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, been numbered and sealed with the seal of the living God, and after the final test in which those remaining loyal have received His seal. He then ceases intercession in the sanctuary above, lifts His hands and says it is done while angels lay off their crowns, then announces the decree that every case is decided for life or death. Before that time confession and prayer are accepted, sin is pardoned, and sins of the faithful are blotted out, making the time before leaving the most holy place the final opportunity to work for the rescue of souls. After He leaves there is no further change of character or opportunity to choose sides.

There is no further probation after He comes or appears; all are tested beforehand by the light given to them and their characters formed for life or death, and those persisting in rejecting the warning when clearly proclaimed have cast away their last hope of salvation, leaving no second probation. The words themselves end the invitation to sinners to come by faith into the most holy place where sins are blotted out, so probation is closed and the ministry of the gospel is ended. Until then the door no man can shut remains open and the work of urging people to enter it continues. Until that future mandate fixing every person as unjust or righteous goes forth, rebellion lasts as long as Satan exists, and those controlled by his spirit cannot discern the Spirit of God or listen to its voice, so malice and opposition against God's light continue.

Destiny Fixed Forever

The decree fixes every person permanently in the condition already chosen, the unjust remaining unjust still and the filthy remaining filthy still, while the righteous remain righteous still and the holy remain holy still. It is spoken as finished and joined to the coming quickly with reward to give every person according to work, marking the final division between the wicked and the faithful. When the investigative judgment closes shortly before the appearing, while righteous and wicked are still living on earth, no further change of destiny follows that decision. Preparation is then finished, the sentence may be spoken in heaven, and there is no further probation after the coming, for all are tested beforehand by light given and characters formed for life or death.

Every case is decided for life or death and for salvation or destruction, the number of subjects is made up, and no further change of character, appeal for mercy, or opportunity to choose sides follows. It is uttered in tones of decision and kingly authority as intercession closes and the time of trouble starts, with every soul's condition unchangeable. After the third message closes, the people have finished their work, received the latter rain and refreshing, been sealed, had atonement made and sins blotted out, and the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven is about to be given to the heirs of salvation under the reign of King of kings and Lord of lords. That final declaration will soon be made in heaven, and the time for change is over.

After that point there is no atoning blood to cleanse from sin and pollution, no priest in the sanctuary to present sacrifices, confessions, or prayers before the Father, and no Mediator to plead anyone's cause. Before the leaving, confession and prayer are accepted, sin is pardoned, and sins of the people are blotted out and they are sealed with the seal of the living God, but afterward that ministry ends. Then the last prayer for sinners has been offered, the last tear shed, the last warning given and the last entreaty made, and the sweet voice of mercy is heard no more. With the restraining Spirit withdrawn, the time of trouble before the second coming begins, when the people face danger from the wicked and cry for deliverance.

The coming does not cleanse sin, cure defects of character, remove sinful dispositions, or continue a refining work. Choices and habits formed during probationary life remain, death changes the body but not the character, and a person is not made different from what that life has made them. No wrong left uncorrected in life can then be corrected, for it will then be too late for wrongs to be righted, the pure and holy remaining so forever and the unholy and sinful remaining so forever. The filthy will not then be made pure while the holy remain holy, there is no further season for repentance after the advent, and when mercy has ended for those rejecting light they face wrath without mercy. Each hour, word, and deed helps shape the eternal outcome, careless self-indulgence and knowing sin cannot be undone by last-minute resolves or tears, and sins remain recorded in heaven, so mastery of self and victory over faults must be taken hold of now.

The outcome turns on personal choice rather than profession, resting on purity of motive and obedience to God's law. The unjust and filthy are left as they chose to continue in sin and must accept the awful results of that course, while the righteous and holy are left as they chose the righteousness of Christ and diligently maintained integrity. Continued sin brings destruction without remedy, and the opportunity to change will end. Secret vice and impurity meet final sentence fixing the unjust and impure permanently, bringing sure and terrible results in sudden destruction without remedy with depravity stamped on the life, and the filthy remaining filthy forever die without repentance or hope, since worldly riches and prosperity do not avert retributive justice. Those not perfecting souls through obedience to truth face the second death, while only a few are saved to eternal life. Perversity carried into religious experience, forsaking the way and following human surmisings and new methods, places them outside the city of God in sorrow, since only those doing His commandments have right to the tree of life and entrance through the gates into the city.

The righteous and holy so fixed are the denominated people who on earth witnessed to loyalty by keeping the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ and owning the crucified Saviour. They purified the soul through obedience to the truth, washed robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb, and sought sanctification of life, requiring a grand and final review of character deciding fitness to enter the city of God. They reveal long-suffering and patience and obtain deliverance from darkness, following on day by day to know the Lord, trusting Christ while striving for perfection, imitating His self-denial and ministry, and keeping His commandments. They are blessed to have right to the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city where nothing defiling enters, with access to the tree and preparation to see even the face of God. If they are not thus following on they are losing ground, and if they lose heaven they lose everything.

What Follows the Decree

The decree opens the time of trouble that comes before the second coming, for intercession has ended and there is no more atoning blood to cleanse from sin and pollution. When mediation in the most holy place is finished and every case is decided for salvation or destruction, God's restraining Spirit is withdrawn from the earth, restraint upon the wicked is removed, and Satan gains control of the finally impenitent. Then the seven last plagues can fall because Christ's intercession has ceased, and God's wrath is poured out with no period of respite until the end. Those whose sins were confessed and repented of during that ministry have pardon recorded and those sins placed upon Satan as originator of sin to bear their punishment, while the unprepared are left hopeless with no preparation obtainable afterward.

That irrevocable decision in the sanctuary fixes the destiny of the world forever, yet people on earth will not know it has been pronounced. Outward religious forms will continue after God's Spirit has been finally withdrawn. Fierce zeal inspired by Satan will be mistaken for zeal for God.

God's sealed people living at that time must stand in the sight of a holy God without a Mediator to plead their cause before the Father and without a High Priest in the sanctuary through the time of trouble. Their robes must be spotless and their characters purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling, reflecting the image of Jesus fully, for only holy beings can dwell in His presence. Through God's grace and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil, depending on God for protection when facing danger, hatred and persecution from the wicked for refusing the beast's mark. That protection is prepared for by a special work of purification and putting away of sin among God's people on earth while the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven and the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary.

At that declaration the subjects of the kingdom are made up and the number is complete. Christ has made atonement for His people and blotted out their sins, has received His kingdom, and the marriage of the Lamb is consummated. Then the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven is about to be given, indeed is given, to Jesus and to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The final division fixed by the decree belongs to the last great day of battle between two great opposing powers and to the final conflict between those who keep God's commandments and those who make His law void. There are only two classes in the world and only two recognized in the judgment, those who violate God's law and those who keep it, the unjust and filthy remaining so and the righteous and holy remaining so. On one side stands the Creator of heaven and earth with all on His side bearing His signet in obedience to His every command, on the other stands the prince of darkness with those who have chosen apostasy and rebellion. That conflict centers on the Sabbath and the beast's mark, with those who keep the Sabbath facing hatred, persecution, and a decree authorizing their death.

Nations reach this point after receiving great mercy and blessings while accumulating pride, covetousness, idolatry, contempt for God, and ingratitude. God's patience and calls to repentance then cease, there is no further pleading for mercy, and the angel of mercy leaves the world. Only those sanctified through the truth in the love of God will stand, hidden with Christ in God until the desolation is overpast, for no one can escape wrath by hiding behind a lie and the refuge of lies must be torn away now lest souls sleep on to everlasting ruin.

Judgment and Reward

The declaration fixes each person's moral condition forever at the point when mediation ends, leaving the unjust and filthy as they are and confirming the righteous and holy as they are. It stands joined to the promise that Christ comes quickly bringing reward to repay every person according to works and deeds done in the body. That coming presents the final division between the wicked and the faithful, with destiny then fixed unalterably. The decision is made in heaven and passed before Christ comes, and it is soon to come to pass. While it approaches, every deed is passing in review before God and every action is being weighed in the balances of the sanctuary.

Conduct is measured by God's law, for His holy precepts are the flawless standard by which the coming judgment judges each case and its deeds. No injustice or selfishness is hidden from that standard, so business dealings must be examined before the condition is fixed. After the warning message has been clearly proclaimed there is no second probation, and those persisting in rejection cast away their last hope of salvation. A final sifting and separation then takes place among those claiming to belong to God, dividing the unjust from the just with each case soon decided for eternity.

Works show whether a person followed the light given, and those whose works match the light are counted on the Lord's side. Those receiving great light without living by it face darkness corresponding to the light rejected. When the work of judgment is finished it will be seen that those standing right with heaven gave themselves wholeheartedly to God's service. This includes those who could not leave family for a mission field yet were missionaries in their own neighborhood, with hearts so filled with love for God that winning souls meant more than silver and gold and the precious things of this world, laboring in simplicity to minister truth while the Spirit sends the word home to hearts.

In the day when every person is judged according to deeds done in the body, every selfish excuse for withholding tithe, gifts, and offerings melts away. It is then forever too late to go back and rebuild character or change the record of those who weekly, monthly, and yearly robbed God. Selfishness is a deadly evil, and self-love and careless indifference to God's terms, refusal to act as faithful stewards, and leading others by precept and example to disregard His plain commandments separate such souls from God. Upon them rests His declared curse, so that He cannot bestow His blessing upon them.

Urgent Call to Prepare

The decree will go forth very soon, within a few short years, when every case is decided and each one now numbered with the living has character fixed as unjust or righteous, filthy or holy, with It is done proclaimed and Christ coming quickly with reward according to work. Lifetime here is brief at the longest, the sands of time are running out and the end of all things is at hand amid perils of the last days and steadily increasing wickedness, and the arrow of death may strike the heart at any unknown moment calling each to give up the world and all its interests, so no one should wait for a supposedly easier time to overcome sin and perfect holiness, but should seek greater nearness to God now with much less of self and much more of Jesus Christ and His grace in everyday life. To the unready the word is awful because it means it is everlastingly too late to repent, be converted, have character transformed, right wrongs, or obtain a holy character, for precious hours of probation have passed unimproved and preparation for the future immortal life and heavenly home is no longer possible. In that great day all earthly honor is perishable and all earthly treasure valueless, nothing endures but heavenly treasure and the favor of God more valuable than choice gold, many will be found wanting and cry too late that they are not saved, and even the most careless and trifling will come to their senses and discern that the truly wise were those who loved God and kept His commandments, since character cannot be transferred from one person to another.

Preparation requires immediate and most thorough work of repentance now, clearing away sin by confession and forsaking, purification of the soul by heartfelt obedience to the whole truth, washing robes of character, seeking sanctification, asking God to forgive unfaithful discharge of duty, tarrying no longer in an unprepared state, and opening the door of the heart that Christ may enter. People must purify their souls by obeying the whole truth and gain victory over every besetting sin, including pride, selfishness, love of the world, and wrong words and actions, being hewed by the prophets and reflecting the image of Jesus fully, for only the holy can live in God's presence and receive the refreshing and latter rain needed to stand in the day of the Lord, and preparation cannot be left to the refreshing itself because after the solemn declaration goes forth before the plagues there is no time to be hewed and squared for the building and no Mediator to plead the cause before the Father through the time of trouble without a High Priest in the sanctuary. Growth in holiness is an ongoing call in which God's law invites people to become holier still, and each day they may advance in Christian character.

That present work includes a grand and final review of character deciding fitness to enter the city of God, calling for purifying the soul through obedience to the truth, washing robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb, and seeking sanctification of life, so that those who do His commandments may have right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city and be prepared to see even the face of God. In view of that soon coming everyone should be earnest in forming character after the divine similitude, following on day by day to know the Lord and learning that His goings forth are prepared as the morning, trusting in Christ while striving for perfection of character and imitating His self-denial and ministry, keeping His commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and enter through the gates into the city, for those who will stand at last among the redeemed cannot in this life do just as they please and gratify desires and inclinations, and if they are not thus following on they are losing ground, and if they lose heaven they lose everything. The last four chapters of Revelation must be read carefully because they require an individual deep and thorough work that should have been done long ago and must be done now, calling every one in responsibility to thorough humbling of soul before God, cleansing, refining and transforming of the heart, cleansing of the soul temple, diligent cultivation of the soil of the heart, and bringing forth fruit in the life in proportion to the light given, lest a wrong spirit develop and workers backslide. Probation is lengthened for years so men and women can learn the language of heaven and become able to mingle with the heavenly throng, join their songs, and bear the high purity and glory flowing from God and the Lamb, training the mind to delight in spiritual exercises, while refusing guile, lying for advantage, or undermining a neighbor and taking property.

Before the light is withdrawn and it becomes too late to use the light given, God gives increased light to those who love the light and seek truth with keen perception, gives celestial aid to every soul in the Holy Spirit with heavenly inspiration still imparted, and requires those who know the truth to go to work as soldiers under His bloodstained banner by imparting what they have gained in Christian experience. Trials are given to purify and cleanse God's people, where patience, endurance, and prayer help them achieve this purpose while murmuring and complaint hinder it, and if the heart is not purified further trials may follow or the person will remain impure and filthy. The righteous will continually follow righteousness because Christ formed within is righteousness and truth, returning to whole-hearted obedience, depending on the merits of a crucified Saviour and trusting in His atonement for salvation, imbued with a pure fervent love begotten by the love of God, with transgressions forgiven and sins pardoned, and God looks upon them with pleasure.

Because that word fixing human character forever and ending time to change is coming soon, hardness of heart and a judging, censorious, condemning spirit toward brethren, with contempt, must be put off the soul in haste while change is still possible, and the love of Jesus recovered. Watchfulness and prayer are needed to be fortified against the incoming foe, lest hatred, evil surmising, jealousy, love of the world, love of self, love of pleasure, and pride of life enter the heart and crowd out all that is good, and ministers must search the Scriptures earnestly and preach the Word only and not their own suppositions and fanciful doctrines, with solemn realization that teaching for doctrine things not contained in God's Word places them with the unjust class. Because the world is bound in darkness and trammeled by Satan with violence and corruption everywhere filling the cup of iniquity, levity, glee, careless reckless words, laughing, jesting and joking are unfitting and out of place in view of the coming fixed hopeless condition without God and without hope, and it is fitting to be sober, watching unto the end for the grace to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The opportunity to labor for souls, warn the world, and do missionary work ends when the decree goes forth fixing human choices, so souls must be sought, the warning proclaimed, and means given to advance the work while God's Spirit still strives and sentinel angels still restrain the winds until the servants are sealed. The time before Christ leaves the most holy place is the final opportunity to work for the rescue of souls, while He still accepts prayers, confessions, and sacrifices, pardons sin, and blots out the sins of His people before they are sealed with the seal of the living God, for after He leaves there is no priest in the sanctuary to present sacrifices, confessions, or prayers before the Father. This missionary work belongs to Christ's presentation of the last message of warning, which people had not fully understood.

Because that closing with It is done is about to come, fixing character forever so the unjust and filthy remain so and the righteous and holy remain so, Satan makes mighty efforts with great power to secure men and women in his snare, especially professing Christians, to allure and destroy souls through them and remove everything spiritual. Satan sees he has but a short time to work, so he sets his agencies to stir up the elements of the world to deceive, delude, keep men occupied and entranced, and fill hearts with hatred and unrighteous deception until probation ends, while God's Spirit is being withdrawn from the earth and the plagues already beginning to be poured out, leaving only a little while longer permitted to labor. While outward life goes on as usual with the sun in its course and men eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling, contending for place, and crowding to pleasure, the door of mercy is about to be forever shut, sentinel angels are now restraining the four winds until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, but when God bids the winds loose there will be indescribable strife and sorrow that no human balm can heal, opening the time of trouble such as never was in which every man must stand for himself before God, and even Noah, Daniel, and Job could deliver neither sons nor daughters but their own souls by their righteousness. The light given each day must therefore be cherished and acted on because another day may not come, each day lived as if it were the last with nothing left undone that would bring regret at the final reckoning.

At the boundary line parting time and eternity the final mandate is spoken by the righteous Judge declaring it too late to change, coming after long-open wide gates of heaven and entreating heavenly invitations to take the water of life freely and to hear His voice today without hardening the heart, when every character is fixed forever, the heavenly gate closes, the invitation of salvation ceases, and heaven announces that it is done. That time is not far distant, so sure work for eternity must be made now by laying hold on the hope set before men in the gospel and striving to enter in at the strait gate, for merely seeking will not be enough, and those who have taken refuge in the place of safety are saved while those who remain outside are lost forever. Professing the truth without allowing its sanctifying power into daily life leaves a person unready for that final state when time is nearly ended and the work on earth is reaching its close with no further opportunity for change. Those satisfied with a dwarfed, crippled position in divine things, who give mind and energies to selfish business and worldly enterprises and give God only a transient thought, cannot then be made ready to enjoy heaven or be translated without being overwhelmed by sacred purity and transcendent glory, while continuing in secret vice and sexual impurity fixes the unjust and impure permanently in that condition with sure and terrible results in sudden destruction without remedy, with the depravity of Sodom stamped upon the countenance, each hour, word, and deed shaping the eternal outcome so that careless self-indulgence and knowing sin cannot be undone by last-minute resolves or tears but sins remain recorded in heaven. The verse belongs to the prophecies that clearly present the close of probation and the preparation needed for the time of trouble, and these truths must be understood and remembered, otherwise people will be unready when the time of trial comes, while Satan works to remove the impressions that could make them wise to salvation.