Revelation 22:17, commentary and pictures

The Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the bride is the church on earth, joining with heaven in calling sinners to come and take the water of life without price. The water is Christ Himself and His grace, eternal life, salvation, peace and righteousness, offered freely to all without distinction of nation, rank, class or creed. The thirsty are the weary, burdened, hungry and sin-sick whose longing the Spirit awakens, and they must come personally by faith as they are, laying hold of the promises, since none can drink for another. Everyone who hears is charged from conversion to repeat the call and lead others to the Fountain, becoming a spring that refreshes others instead of keeping the blessing shut within. The call is urgent as Christ's last message of mercy while He still intercedes, to be answered now before mercy folds its wings and He comes quickly with reward.

Words and Setting

The Spirit is the Holy Spirit and the bride is the church on earth, and together with angels and men they unite divine and human effort in God's plan for spreading the gospel to save the lost and rescue souls from the bondage and snare of sin. Christ, who unites divinity and humanity as the root and offspring of David and the bright and morning star and has all power in heaven and earth, opened the living fountain of life freely to the whole world and to a perishing world for all who believe on Him. He ordered that all who have taken His name and received the truth must do some part of His work, with angels as well as men acting a part in His service, sending His angel to communicate these things to all the world while He Himself is with them to the end. The invitation is a message of mercy to all nations, tongues and peoples, in which the Spirit and the church call people to come to the water of life, and everyone who hears is to pass it on by voice and writing, every believer however feeble joining those already at work and doing his best until Christ declares the work done and nothing hindering or weakening it. The Spirit and the bride also invite Christ himself to come, and everyone who hears is to join that invitation and urge others to prepare without delay for His soon coming.

The verse gives the last words spoken by Christ personally to John, the voice of the Alpha and Omega concerning the church, sent by His angel to be testified in the churches and to be heeded. It was made known by Christ Himself to John on the Isle of Patmos in solemn warning, bringing history down to the last events and reminding of the things which will be, when the perils of the last days are upon us and Satan works in all deceivableness of unrighteousness to deceive if possible the very elect, so no confusion about these things can now be afforded. His yearning love added this personal message for all people because He wants the invitation to move faster than even the angels He has sent with the message to all parts of the world, having opened a fountain for Judah and Jerusalem. The offer of salvation and light in Christ as the root and offspring of David and the bright and morning star is free and open to every man, woman and child without independence or indifference, and to receive the Light is to stand under His banner as commandment keepers rather than commandment breakers. Those who answer, Lord, we come, draw water out of the wells of salvation with joy, with darkness fleeing, light shining forth, and hearts drawn to God when His presence is acknowledged. That call means every member of His church is to show loyalty by inviting the thirsty to drink, him that heareth saying Come so as to form a chain of living witnesses empowered as His witnesses to carry the truth and the invitation to the world.

Its setting is the closing pages picturing the living river flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, where the thirsty and willing echo the invitation to take the water of life freely. The chapter's picture of eternal life shows God's people entering the city by His commandments, regaining access to the tree of life, bearing His name, reigning forever, with no night there, and each receiving reward according to works. Directed to as a scriptural answer to whether a person can be saved without keeping the Sabbath, the promise about God's commandments, the tree of life and entry into the city shows the importance of obeying God's revealed will. The last four chapters, including this verse, are to be read carefully until they make an impression upon heart and life and character, because the work that should have been done long ago now needs to be done. They require thorough humbling of soul before God by those in positions of responsibility, earnest seeking of the Lord with heart and mind and soul that will entirely change the present condition, earnest prayer and untiring work with no time to dally or remain in an unprepared state.

They demand most thorough work for repentance now, purifying the soul by heartfelt repentance, asking God to forgive unfaithful discharge of duty, and opening the door of the heart that Christ may enter, while every church, every school and every sanitarium is to be placed upon a much higher platform than in time past. The passage from Revelation 22:10-21 brings down to the closing scenes of this earth's history, when the great and last warfare is between those who keep the commandments of God and those who make void His law, and verses 16-17 are the last message of mercy given to the world, the message of truth that all who love God and keep His commandments are to declare while false teachers teach fables to counteract it. Those who hear Christ's invitation are to pass it on by calling others to come and not bury themselves in selfishness, for the Bible's plain, authoritative message must not be revised in ways that could lessen its intended importance. Ministers must therefore preach the Word and search the Scriptures earnestly for the heavenly truth that means eternal life, and must not preach their own suppositions, new theories or fanciful imaginary doctrines, with the solemn realization that teaching for doctrine things not contained in God's Word places them among those condemned in that chapter.

Free Universal Gift

The water of life is Christ Himself as the Fountain, His grace and eternal life, salvation and peace and rest, mercy and love and righteousness and fullness, freely covering sin through His suffering and death and resurrection, His cross and mediation. It is the pledged word of Christ inviting all who will to come to Him and take eternal treasures as a free and everlasting gift, with lowly childlike trust laying all pride and self-sufficiency at His feet. Receiving stands upon obedience, with man cooperating while Christ gives the clean heart and right spirit required, upon kindness that will not depart and the covenant of peace that will not be removed, upon everlasting love and kindness and mercy. All cause for doubt is removed as God takes hold of the trembling hand reached in faith and meets men in their understanding with multiplied assurances and securities, even confirming promise with an oath to give strong consolation and hope to those fleeing for refuge, so that white robes and the crown of righteousness and the exceeding eternal weight of glory are laid up for those who love God and keep His commandments because He is faithful that promised. The offer is open to everyone willing to come, to every thirsty soul including the weary and exhausted, and God presents salvation to all and gives it to those who believe, whoever is willing, as good news of great joy to be proclaimed. The everlasting gospel alone satisfies and refreshes the heart and alone satisfies desire for salvation and peace and life, whereas worldly pleasures and comfort leave men thirsty again and cannot bring happiness or peace without Him. It does not promise freedom from tribulation, and those who receive are called to share His humility.

The water is also saving and sanctifying truth, the pure truth of God's Word in Old and New Testaments as Christ presented it, the message of grace. Those with contrite heart receive it as a message from heaven and then repeat it, for it becomes an inner well springing to everlasting life, unlike inferior earthly gifts that leave thirst again. Those who have drunk from the Fountain can give the message of grace to spiritually hungry souls and feed them by lifting up Jesus through the Spirit, receiving it as living truth at meetings and sharing it simply without controversy. Even a speaker without thorough education, without eloquent expressions or beautiful imagery, with errors of grammar or pronunciation, if he has himself eaten the bread of life and drunk of the fountain, can do this work, and such earnest sincere labor makes him truly eloquent and beloved, so hearers thank God for the message sent through him and his defects are forgiven and forgotten. People of every social standing may receive this spiritual truth with the bread of heaven through healing work, and every humble searcher learned and unlearned may understand the Scriptures for himself and find true knowledge of highest value, though many looked to for instruction are not leading their flocks to it. One awakened by reading and searching who finds hidden treasure sees truth and as a wise householder and faithful steward tells neighbors that they may share it, saying Come, and those who think him misled should answer with the same invitation, Come and let us examine this subject together and give the light received, for eternal interests are at stake and souls are imperiled by entertaining and teaching error, by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men without a Thus saith the Lord.

Freely means without payment or cost, without money or price, from the open treasury through the open door no man can shut, where no sword guards the way and the precious pearl is offered by divine mercy. It was provided at infinite cost by Christ buying men at a price beyond computation, bearing suffering in their place, and those who hear are to freely give what they freely receive. The Spirit and the bride join in the call, and the gospel invitation moves from Christ to the church and through the church to the world, so that the thirsty may come and those who hear and respond by inviting others become fellow workers with God. Believers are to pass on the light and blessing given them, trusting Him to equip them rather than relying on their own strength, echoing the promise that the thirsty shall receive of the fountain freely. God offers salvation to all and gives it to those who believe, Christ being willing to give blessings of life and grace to all who will receive them without payment.

The offer is universal without exclusion of nationality or tribe or clan, sect or rank or class, caste or creed. God is Maker of all mankind, and Christ came to break down every wall of partition raised by human selfishness that would make a monopoly or local and national benefit of heaven's gifts, as the scribes and Pharisees did. His mercy and love and the light from the throne are as unconfined and free to all the world as air breathed and water drunk, as light and showers of rain to just and unjust, and it would be as unjust to exclude any people as to put a price on those blessings. Jew and Gentile, free and bond are linked in common brotherhood and stand equal before God, for Christ made no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies, and no question of policy shaped His movements, but what moved His heart was a soul thirsting for the waters of life. It embraces the rough and ignorant with the wealthy, the poor and distressed, publicans and sinners, the weary and hungry and burdened and sin-sick, and it remains open even to those who know of His sacrifice yet continue in sin. Even a rough, uncouth, ignorant and passionate man who has lacked wisdom, used unchoice words and done wrong is pitied and loved and wished to be saved, counted no sinner above all others, and God can polish and refine him and fit him for heaven if he strives hard to be an overcomer and lays aside every idol in order to be accepted. Those with experience and knowledge must remember the great sacrifice for redemption and the worth of souls for whom Christ died, and help and encourage the one who most needs help after Christ's pattern, because to push him back and discourage and crowd and despise him, to give him occasion and lay stumbling blocks in his way, is the greater sin in Heaven's sight. Those who accept and remain faithful may receive glory and immortality and dwell with Him without sorrow, and the gift grows by the law of grace for grace as it is imparted.

Coming to Receive Life

The thirsty are those who long for what the world cannot satisfy, the weary and burdened, the hungry, sin-sick, oppressed, exhausted and wayworn, who hunger and thirst for salvation and communion with God. That longing itself is the striving and calling of the Spirit, drawing souls toward heaven's peace and rest and holy joys, toward grace, rest and the joy of holiness. Sorrow and unsatisfied seeking reveal the need for Christ's peace and life, for those who seek satisfaction elsewhere go to broken cisterns that hold no water. Christ's call brings eternity into view amid busyness and anxious daily cares, lest eating, drinking and earthly needs crowd out the soul's interests and health. All heaven yearns for the weary to come, and any who are willing may feast on the fullness of the Saviour's love and glory instead of remaining spiritually deprived.

Coming must be personal, by faith and childlike trust, laying pride at His feet, laying hold of the promises, asking and partaking of the Living Water by receiving and doing God's word. No other can drink for another, for each must personally receive grace and no one else's reception can nourish, and character formed by the Spirit cannot be transferred. Sinners come as they are without first producing repentance or reaching a set depth of sorrow, for the Holy Spirit draws before the decision, and beholding Christ's love and holiness convicts and leads to sincere repentance and turning from sin. This is possible because Christ endured the cross and died to reconcile the world, delivering from darkness and despair through death and resurrection, and receiving life calls for willingness to share His path of humility and sorrow. Christ draws all that they may have life, yet He cannot bless those who insist on their own way and refuse to come, and those who refuse the heavenly invitation remain accountable with no excuse for losing eternal life.

Salvation rests on Christ's full atonement at Calvary alone, which provides expiation for every sin, since sin has made human works unable to pay sin's debt or avail though the law requires good works, and only His righteousness can save. Yet the free offer is answered by cooperation with God and following every ray of light given, for God restores no one without the union of human with divine. Victory over the world, the flesh and the devil comes only by God's power as the element of efficiency, while man's immeasurably small but necessary part must be done to make the work a success. Those who drink are cleansed and sanctified, elevated and spiritually ennobled, standing in Christ and through knowing Jesus sharing the divine nature as heirs of God with Christ, sanctified through the truth. Selfish, covetous and unjust dealing reveals the heart and disqualifies unless wrongs are corrected and the heart changed, and the invitation is present truth to be heard with clearness and decision in the great congregation and before readers.

The invitation is urgent while mercy still calls and Christ still lives to make intercession, while the Spirit's call is still heard and the Spirit and bride still entreat sinners to take a decided stand. It is given before mercy folds its wings and steps from above the ark, before character is forever fixed as unjust or filthy or righteous and holy, and before Christ comes quickly with reward to give every man according as his work shall be. The open gate carried by heavenly messengers will not remain open forever, for at the boundary between time and eternity it closes, the offer ceases, and the righteous Judge declares it too late, and that time is not far distant. Therefore the water must be taken now without delay, turning from worldly ambition and selfish indulgence, coming out and being separate, using the present opportunity to come and to invite others, since another equally favorable one may not come. Those who dally refuse grace and perish, lamenting that the harvest is past and the soul is not saved, rather than hardening their hearts.

Those who come find rest for their souls, for Christ continually draws the weary and heavy laden and still calls thirsty, bewildered travelers to the fountain opened for them. Its waters heal spiritual and physical infirmities and wash away pollution, and turning to the Sun of Righteousness brings light and life with a great heart of love longing to flood the soul with the bright beams of righteousness and no cloud between. The supply is abundant and unfailing, not given grudgingly, and living genuine faith drinks deeply of His fullness and receives fully rather than holding a limited view and merely tasting. Inward fullness becomes assurance of God's love, joy, effective service and continual thanksgiving, and those who drink deeply from the fountain opened for Judah and Jerusalem carry the refreshing cup to other parched, fainting souls and freely give what was freely received.

Repeating the Invitation

The verse gives the fourfold free invitation: the Spirit and the bride say Come, every hearer says Come, the thirsty come, and whosoever will takes the water of life freely. It is God's message of mercy to the world and a representation of Christ's character that God's people must proclaim. The church is to repeat this gracious invitation to sinners through human voices throughout the world, with every power in the church joining in calling people to come to Christ. The call points out the work of inviting people to come to Christ and receive eternal life freely, voiced by the Spirit and the bride, by everyone who hears, and to everyone who is thirsty or willing to receive. The thirsty and all who are willing are freely invited without price, and the appeal expresses both Christ's saving offer and the church's duty to make it known.

Saying Come is the charge of the whole church from conversion, not of ordained ministers or apostles alone. Every converted soul, youth and aged, feeble or strong, however little he can do, must both come and call others. Everyone who has heard and heeded is to echo it to everyone contacted, becoming laborers together with God and leading others to the Fountain, receiving grace in order to freely give grace. Those who receive Christ's life are entrusted with seeking the salvation of others, including personal witness and practical care for the sick, suffering and needy, and comfort and instruction for those burdened by guilt and sin. They reflect Christ the bright and morning star by self-denial and self-sacrifice after His example, drawing substance from Him as the Root to bear much fruit, with Christ as light, sufficiency and power rather than dependence on finite man, lest truth remain unsanctifying like salt without savor.

Proclaiming it is God's plan uniting divinity and humanity with all power in the closing work. God and Christ and angels are united with human instrumentalities in proclaiming the truth for this time in the last days, in one great object to rescue sinners from Satan's snare and prepare the way of the Lord. Everyone who is athirst and comes and takes freely is laid under obligation to act a part in redemption and give the invitation to others, with every church, every institution, and every church member calling sinners to the marriage supper and declaring that all things are now ready. Those who hear and receive are to join the Spirit and the Bride in voicing that call by voice and writing, forming a chain of living witnesses, and continuing until the work is done. Its proclamation requires consecration to service, facilities and self-sacrificing liberality, with those who impart continuing to receive the gifts of God, as in giving all possible to meet the call for help from England.

The invitation must be given urgently yet without driving souls away, in the most forcible manner with wisdom learned from the great Teacher. Its success depends greatly on how it is spoken and embodied, with Christlike character and good works, since harsh speech will not persuade anyone. The work of the Spirit and the bride is to draw, not to repulse, requiring the sweetness and fragrance of the Spirit of God in the heart and in the home, where Christ presides with peace and love and joy as ruling elements, without a perverse, untamable spirit that repulses the Spirit of God. That Spirit enters the home first and presides there, and then is brought into the church to sanctify and bless it, bearing about peace and love and unity and hospitality, using every entrusted talent for recovery of the lost image of God in man, calling each one to help his brother weak in faith, and making every converted soul a new agency united in working for the great object for which Christ gave His life. Even without preaching or directly confronting someone, attitude and words can witness to genuine conversion and invite the thirsty to come, and believers should invite others through words and through influence of character and dress, inviting souls starving for bread and water with nothing blocking the way.

The call goes worldwide to all nations, tongues and peoples, high and low, to waste and dark places and beyond local churches. It is to be voiced wherever there is opportunity to reach people, turning their attention from earthly things to heavenly ones. Women and men are to carry this message so it reaches even the earth's waste places, calling the weary and fainting to come and drink. Those instructed in truth as it is in Jesus, and workers visiting house to house with Scripture aided by Spirit and angels, carry it by literature and personal labor with united, living influence around the world, living out the call they proclaim and showing loyalty to God. Those who have received the light and blessing richly bestowed must communicate it and testify of these things in the churches, and even those who feel unfit, poor and weak before strong opposition to the commandments must do this work by realizing weakness, leaning wholly on God for strength, trusting Christ as helper and sufficiency for victory, taking the infallible Word, letting its light flood the soul temple, and walking by faith not by sight into the great salvation won by His death.

Last-Day Message Context

The invitation stands as Christ's final message and last message of mercy and warning to the world, bringing history down to the closing scenes and the last warfare. The Spirit and the bride call all to come, everyone who hears is to pass on the call, and everyone who thirsts and wills may come and take the water of life freely. That message is work for God's people to carry through evangelism, opening the Scriptures and warning of what is coming, and it is to move hearers to action. It belongs together with the proclamation of Christ as the bright and morning star bringing hope, mercy, forgiveness and peace, and with His promise to come quickly with His reward. It is the church's urgent missionary invitation to all people to come to Christ for life.

In that last-day setting, to receive the offered light and salvation is to stand under Christ's banner as a keeper and not a breaker of the Father's commandments, even as Christ kept them and abode in His love. The open offer is to every man, woman and child without independence or indifference, and joining in repeating the invitation belongs with taking sides for obedience and knowing the commandments through Scripture. Accepting the truth of Christ and the life He offers goes with keeping God's commandments and abiding in His love. Those who knowingly reject light and disobey law, who refuse the invitation to live for self rather than for God and do not seek to know Him, cannot enter the city of God and are unfit for heaven, with no right to the tree of life nor comfort in God's presence.

Drinking the water of life and eating from the tree of life is also the future reward in the better land, received after earthly work is finished and the faithful return from their labor. It is given only to those who faithfully deliver God's messages, make known what He has revealed, and endure to the end. That endurance may involve suffering and affliction with sickness, which keeps from exaltation, but grace is sufficient. Those who so endure will drink from the river and fountain of life and eat its fruit freely.

Transformed Life and Outreach

No one who truly drinks the water of life can keep it shut up within, but becomes a fountain of life and a spring in the desert welling up to refresh all and make those ready to perish eager to drink. Receiving the water, which is the grace of Christ and saving and sanctifying truth received in the heart, brings blessing to the receiver and enables that person to be a blessing to others, becoming a source of spiritual refreshment. Those who come into right relation with God, believe in Christ and do His work may share in the divine nature and work with Jesus, for Christ gives grace that enables people to comfort others with the comfort they have received from God. Every true disciple is therefore born into the kingdom as a missionary who at once desires to make the Saviour known, leading others to the Fountain, sharing saving truth and repeating the invitation heard, so that every believer, in accepting the Saviour's mercy and love, carries spiritual life and help wherever people are. In working to spread the good news of salvation the worker receives a greater blessing than working for self alone and is brought near to the Saviour, and the invitation is not to be restricted to a select few but passed on because it is essential for everyone to know the truth.

The call of mercy is to be given to all, high and low, rich and poor, that whosoever will may come and drink, even though many will not heed it, and it is to be echoed by every voice and influence spreading from home missions throughout the world. Gospel medical missionary work by sanitariums is one means of calling people to respond, reaching all classes and churches and calling attention to the message God has sent to the world for this time, healing soul and body by offering grace, health, comfort and truth. Sanitariums that do this work should be small, homelike institutions in pleasant places outside cities amid pure air rather than mammoth buildings, helping bring the call to people of every social standing. The same invitation is carried by the publishing and canvassing work and literature, and by godly workers whose lived truth leads thirsting souls to the living water.

Drinking from the fountain means searching God's word for truth, for the Scriptures make people wise unto salvation and are to be studied diligently, rather than seeking knowledge from sources where error is mixed with truth and can destroy faith. It means talking of Jesus whose life gilds every page, turning from self to Him without delay rather than seeking what cannot satisfy, receiving Christ within and constantly partaking as the body takes food, and turning to Him for the light and life that shine from Him. Studying the Bible's precious truths is a way of drinking from this living water, and those who respond to Christ's welcome find joy and salvation. Christ's love shared in Christian meetings thus refreshes people who are ready to perish and makes them eager for life-giving water, and the Spirit's control then brings spirituality, unity and love testifying that God sent His Son.

The spiritually thirsty must not thirst for worldly praise and honor, for thirsting for the esteem of influential people is choosing a murky worldly stream instead of the water of life, while valuing eternal things frees the heart from pride and dependence on human approval. The Lord longs for people to drink the water of life instead of the murky water of the valley, and continual drinking from it is necessary, while turning to self-made sources leaves the soul unsatisfied. The Redeemer has opened a fountain for the healing of the nations and the water is open to all from God's appointed provisions, yet forsaking this near fountain opened for Judah and Jerusalem for cisterns hewn out by human endeavor is done at infinite cost to oneself. Those human cisterns — money, position, expensive buildings, achievements that win applause, unsanctified human ability — may contain a little of the water of life but are shallow and broken, holding no water in time of drought and leaving feverish thirst unallayed amid cares, disappointments, and mental and physical pain, for the fountain remains near unless distance is made long by forsaking the living waters to secure one's own ends.

He who gives the invitation first said I am come, for He had first to come in human form so that sinners might come to Him without being extinguished by His glory, laying off His royal robe and kingly crown to come as a divine Teacher with whom humanity could speak and from whom to learn His meekness and perfection, so that in their humanity they may reach toward divinity by partaking of His divine nature. He owns all people by creation and by redemption, He is the only source of healing and all restoring power comes from Him, He became poor and descended to human woe to lift the fallen, and therefore people must be united in Him and trust not in themselves but in Jesus, pleading that none despair. The promise is received by faith, proving God as strength, feeling His everlasting arms around, and being refreshed and invigorated by the Spirit and power of God, which gives strength to stand before people and give this call with heart and soul and voice even in weakness, suffering and sickness. A minister should drink more deeply of it each day and be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, and giving this word of invitation is the work of every enlightened soul, great and small each in his sphere, and of households following the Saviour. The Spirit's power in this message should reach the heart, lips and character, bringing a clearer understanding and a vivid impression of God and heavenly things.