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*2 Lest there be idolatry, God may give us cause for circumspection

Several examples of this translator's non-infallibility could be given, just as we have had to cite a case in I John for the AV. However for now we shall restrict the exercise to one. It is chosen because it is a grave departure from scriptural conformity, not at all because the Greek text is in any question at all.

This example, by far the most serious, is found in Revelation 19:8. Let us hasten to note that several other translators give precisely the same translation. It is not specific to the NKJV and has nothing to do with its underlying Greek text. It reads, re the bride of the Lamb, that is, the church of believers in Jesus Christ: "and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." That is what the NKJV says here...

In fact, two rather obvious possible translations actually present themselves here, simply in terms of the language. It will take other criteria to choose between them. The AV rightly translates in this case, "the righteousness of the saints". The Greek indeed has "righteousnesses of the saints." So seen, that is sound. It does not intrude, and leaves the understanding of it to the reader. The term translated from the Greek as "righteous acts" or better, "righteousnesses" can assuredly be translated in either of these ways.

Before we proceed, let us notice this. In Romans 5:16 and 5:18 there are TWO words translated "justification". In Romans 5:16 it is the same Greek word, though here in the singular (dikaiwma), which is used in Rev.19:8 . "The judgment which resulted from one offence resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offences, resulted in justification." This term refers to righteous ordinance, just law (A), and can also mean righteous acts. It can mean judgment, either negative or positive; but can have a sense of acquittal. The emphasis is on RIGHTEOUSNESS, and the underlying thrust, is law. There is a third word which means the state of righteousness, of things as they ought to be, integrity, virtue, purity of life and so forth. This however is not used in Rev. 19:8 or in Romans 5:16,18. There law is in view.

In Romans 5:18, we read, in part: "even so, through one's Man's righteousness, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life". Now the "righteousness" of the "one Man" is the same word as the "righteousness" in 5:16, where it is attributed to the saved or justified sinner. It is a case of meeting all that could be required by the moral, spiritual, divine law; and this He did. It is here in the singular.

Now however, later in Romans 5:18, we find what happens to us who are redeemed sinners: the free gift which reaches to, and is indeed received in this case of the believer, is "justification of life"... A different word occurs (dikaiwsis). It means "justification", acquittal (B). Just judgment is involved, and the grounds for acquittal are stated to have devolved upon one thing and one thing only: the righteousness of the One of whom it is written (5:8) that we are "justified" through His blood. Hence there is this righteous attribution, which includes the decree nisi on the guilt on sin. If now you are saved by His death, how much more will you be kept by His life (Romans 5:9), says Paul, grace reigning by righteousness to eternal life, the gift (Romans 6:23), by grace (Romans 5:15).

The point is this: BOTH words, A and B, are used in a similar sense but with a different emphasis, where noted in verses 16 and 18. In one verse, Romans - 5:18 both are used. There, HIS is the righteous virtue, ours is the vicarious acquittal. In Romans 5:16, however, the contrast is "many offences" with "righteousness", the errors which we performed, and the righteousness which we are given, with which we are garlanded; but of that more anon.

In verse 16, it is a case of emphasis on the wonder of what is gained, on the righteous purity of what is attributed to us on Christ's behalf. It is however, for all that, though this is implicit, used in the sense that we are forensically forgiven, in that context. Assuredly, the contrast is intense between OUR negative contribution and HIS positive contribution, and the efficacy of His work, DESPITE the negativity of our own.

• WHAT IT IS WITH WHICH we are forgiven is stressed in 5:16; in 5:18, however,
• WHAT IT IS FOR ONE TO BE FORGIVEN is in view. It is a question of focus and context.

The "linen is the righteousnesses of the saints", says Rev. 19:8. Yours and mine, distributively, these are the multitudinous tokens of righteousness, entire righteousness without which no one so much as enters heaven (James 2:10, Romans 1-3, esp. 3:19-20, John 3:17-19). They are in the scene in Revelation 19, seen to be GIVEN, not brought with them. It is "GRANTED" to the bride to be "ARRAYED" in these fine clothes. They are befitting to such people in such a place. They are celestial vestments, given to the choir of the elect, as it were, in their choir stalls, to the bride in her marriage. The array is bought, not wrought.

The wonder of these "righteousnesses" is then either distributive, or it is a multi-faceted thing - the righteousness of sanctification, performance, atmosphere, attitude, spirit, heart, all in Christ, from Christ, and as perfected in Him (cf. The Biblical  Workman Appendix 4, Love of Righteousness), for even LOVE TO GOD is required by God's law! All are attributed, all "granted", conferred, all conveyed, all making the party NOT to be THROWN OUT as occurred in the parable of the unclad wedding guest, as told by Christ Himself (Matthew 22:12-13)... The clothing then expressly is what makes the difference between ENTIRE acceptability and ENTIRE unacceptability; wrath and punishment, and grace and acceptance (cf. Ephesians 1:6) amid a savour of forgiveness. In this last verse, the Greek sense is this, that we are engraced in the beloved, surrounded with gracious acceptance in Him.

That is the kind of surround which is Biblically exclusive in such settings of acceptation, Biblically required, required in the book of Revelation, in the Gospel, in the parable of Christ. There is no other name by which we must be saved; and salvation as distinct from damnation is the issue. Let us then revert to the Parable of Matthew 22.

Now in that parable, if one thing is clear, it is this: the guests were not those notable by moral expectation; they were lying about, or in odd places, undistinguished, and they included positively bad people, explicitly. Their robes are not secured by righteous deeds. Neither are they made white except in the blood of the Lamb (I John 1:17-2:2, Revelation 1:5, Isaiah 61:10). Indeed in the classic base to these images in Isaiah 61:10, the robe of righteousness with which the redeemed are covered is paralleled by the garments of salvation.

Hence we choose not to deny the teaching of the Bible by using a translation which ignores all the imagery to which Revelation is so constantly sensitive in other scriptures; which ignores the teaching of the book of Revelation in other parts, and that of the Bible in other parts; departs from the parable, the theology and the situation. We instead are required to choose as in Romans 5:16, the sense of righteous emphasis without pre-empting the source of it in such a contrary way.

Righteousnesses these certainly represent; pure performance of law: certainly that. But whose ? Whose are those gifts of righteousness which we are explicitly told are attributed to us, though here the righteousnesses themselves, as in Romans 5:16 in precisely this sense, are in focus ? Why they are His in whose blood the saints have washed their garments, He who confers the garments of salvation. There is no other relevant type of righteousness to give a white show to the saints! but each is separately clothed with this very same righteousness, making a multi-garment splash of the righteousness, covering each and all there. It is also indeed, multiple  in its work of covering, to cover each aspect: that of wilful and unwilful, gross and faint, lawlessness and lethargy, the saints being in all points covered, and glowing with His sanctity, informing the sacred cover.

It is, as Revelation 7:14 states, "these are they who have come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. THEREFORE they are before the throne of God..." (Capitals added.) In Him, there is nothing missing; in this pardon, there is no weak spot, dulled and inadequate. Such is His amazing gift.

John tells us HOW they got that whiteness, better than any fuller can make; and how they can stand: it is a case of washing and "THEREFORE". Let us not therefore choose this translation option, but accept that of Paul in Romans 5:16. These are the righteousnesses of the saints indeed, but their righteousnesses, precisely because they are saints, by which and in which stand and are arrayed, so that it is this which meets the eye and declares the status and acceptability: they are His. The Greek allows attribution to whomever; the translation resolves the point contrary to text, context and multitudes of scriptures. It is unnecessary, intrusive and excluded.

There is more that might be said on this, but this will for now suffice.

This one major error however does not mean that the NKJV is not a good translation. If other things of the type or of any type were to be found of this appalling kind, such could not be said. Other things are found, but not of this significance; and MANY things are found which are excellent, many common mistakes are avoided, and as far as a sound and useful modern English text is concerned, it is very valuable.

Actually, it is almost amusing that each of the two, the AV and the NKJV make ONE almost incredible mistake. Their general standard however is cause for some rejoicing.

Let us then avoid idolatry and TEST all things carefully, holding fast to what is good in the faith of the Lord who has not left us in any doubt about His word, but who requires diligence^*3. The general advice given about the practical use of these two versions for those not scholars, is simple and leaves no danger. Practising what the Bible calls "moderation", not the subtle evasion of His teaching and truth, but the awareness of seemly circumspection and apt assiduity, rather than carnal strife, it is well to grow in grace and in knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, apprehending that for which we are apprehended, and having it finished. (Cf. QAA 11, pp. 136ff.,TBW 1, p. 20, BB 3, Endnote 1, A Just Balance .)

For a consideration of NKJV and AV renderings of interest in various points, we now turn to our set of useful detailed cases.
 
 

Revelation 20:4 is an interesting case. BOTH the NKJV AND the AV do an inadequate work in translation here; though in this case, the NASV, The American Revised Version and the English Revised Versions do well. The NIV is all but unbelievable in its change of the text in this case, being even less accurate to the original than the AV and the NKJV. This therefore represents a case where NEITHER the AV nor the NKJV have an accurate readout; but two famous revisions do have it right; and this is most exceptional indeed. If it were not important, one could ignore it, but it has repercussions which make it worth while attending to it.

The case is this. The NASV rightly puts: "I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

However, the AV has "that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped"; while the NKJV has this: "who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands." In the English 'translation', this allows for a double condition for those present: that is, they BOTH had been beheaded and had not worshipped... They are a selection of the saints.

The Greek, however, has a participial phrase for the first set, "souls of those who had been beheaded" and then in the second reference, that is to the group "who had not worshipped", instead of a parallel participial phrase, it uses a finite verb and notes "and those who had not worshipped". It is not only a grammatical change, one which designates this group clearly and pointedly; it is a clear and simple assertion. These people were present.
 

Indeed, the verb for "saw" has three objects:

1) the thrones, near to it;
2) the souls as quoted above; and
3) those who did not do homage.

These are what he saw, ending in the "and" for the last one. The "souls" are further defined in terms of a genitive participial phrase "of the having been beheaded people". The third category is further detailed by a further clause, with a finite verb, indicating what they had not done. The selected grammatical architecture preserves clarity.

The term used relative to "had not worshipped", oitines, thus is "all those who". The plural of ostis,  it represents a bald recital of a group in question, exhaustively. ALL THOSE WHO HAD NOT WORSHIPPED have something predicated of them. They were present entirely, as a group, at this time. That is? In other words, this is the first resurrection, that of those beheaded, just as also  of those not worshipping the beast. They are ALL there. The bridesmaids who were asleep, certainly, are not there (Matthew 25); but those who were awake with hearts burning, they were ALL there. To the wedding they have gone (Revelation 19:8), to be clothed with the robes sparkling white with the washing of the blood of the Lamb (as defined in Revelation 1:5, 7:14), and their righteousnesses (as stated - see End-Note *2 in Section 1, pp. 161ff.) are both a donation and enveloping (cf. Appendix 4, The Biblical Workman).

Berkeley puts this well re Matthew 22, where the parable of the wedding guest WITHOUT his proper clothes is told, and he is REMOVED to a dire fate. He indicates that the rejected guest had failed to use the grace provided, and had depended on his own presentability! Quite contrary is the covering and glory of the saints as declared in Isaiah 61:10, I will rejoice - nay!
 

• "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

With Christ come ALL the saints (Zechariah 14:5) while He comes to be admired in all those who believe (II Thessalonians 1:10), with Him as His own bride.

These then are they, who are noted in Revelation 20:4: there is no limitation. The categories are comprehensive. The entire course of the beast is before us; those dying in Rome’s first manifestation like those in later days. Now let us examine the category of those who had NOT done this homage to the beast, more thoroughly.
 

Who then has not so worshipped ? The beast as we see in Daniel, has multiple representatives, indeed beasts of a type are so homogeneous spiritually, that they are composed into one body in the symbolism of Daniel 2, while put in separate carnal convulsions and convolutions, in the beast parade of Daniel 7. The last beast, the fourth of Daniel 7 is as noted in SMR, the partly strong and partly broken Roman body that stretched from imperial Rome to Holy Roman Empire to later assortments, and it has its supportive dragon with lamb's clothing, and its 'female' adornment (Revelation 17:6). But where is the beginning of the thing ?

Moving back in Daniel's imagery, we find in Daniel 7, that the pictogram given him was an historical device to relay and relate to a series of imperial world dominions, and as also shown in SMR, and explicit in Daniel, these are shown from Babylon on. We move then back to Babylon, the head of gold in Daniel 2.

Babylon however did not spring from nowhere. In its denunciation at great length and with that same magnificent sweep of historical power which we find from the lips of the Lord in the Bible, we find partly in Jeremiah 50-51 and partly in Isaiah 13, its own place in the scheme of things.Its lofty self-assurance, its failure to have any compunction in being used as a broom of the Lord to sweep out the dirt of Jerusalem and Judah, is linked to its partial namesake Babel, where this same disregard of divine things was no less apparent. Thus we read in Jeremiah 51:53-54:

"Though Babylon were to ascend up to heaven,
And though she were to fortify the height of her strength,
Yet from Me plunderers would come to her," says the Lord.
The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
Because the Lord is plundering Babylon
And silencing her loud voice..."

Just as Babel was indeed to "ascend up to heaven" in its heedless and reckless haste to divine honours or power or survey or situation (Genesis 11), and the Lord engineered its destruction because of its vapid and rapid grasping for a greatness which did not and could not so belong to it, so its namesake covered many religions, basked in grandeur and did not bother about the transgression of revelation involved in its empire-building spiritual enterprises, as rash and brash as the current internationalising of religion which goes on apace in the UN, in the "international community" and in the hearts of many who, though they may inhabit churches, make so fast and loose with the Bible that they seem but a convenient way-station for building into the heavens themselves, from which pathetically some look in the mere created universe, for celestial messages!

The spirit of Babel and of Babylon is alive and as sick as ever, but strong in its throes for the time as predicted; and many have been those who have worshipped there throughout all history from the first; but those who have NOT so worshipped and have not taken such a mark, the whole company of the elect throughout history, "all the saints" (I Thessalonians 3:13, cf. Zechariah 14:5, Deuteronomy 33:2-3^*2A), they will be there, fresh from the marriage feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19), where as "his wife" (19:8) they have been regaled by His regality. The cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), which sums up the vast review of history in Hebrews 11, where the FAITH has been seen with arms and legs, at work, will indeed witness. (Cf. SMR p. 1031C, and SMR Index, 'Babylon the Great'.)

But let us ask this further question. What of those who at ANY time worshiped the beast? Would that be fatal, unrepentable? Whether or not a worship of the beast is deemed to be (and therefore is) fatal, that is to say, an element in the unforgivable sin, or whether the concept is the normal one that sins repented of are dismissed (and that this could be repented of) is not stated.

However in the absence of anything to the point here, it would seem invasive to assume there is a special case here when it is not mentioned. Presumably therefore, it is as in Ezekiel 18:21. If someone heeds the warning of the watchmen, though he were appointed to very death, if he repents and turns, he is forgiven, and this sin will not be remembered. As both Old and New Testaments put it, "I will remember their sins no more", or as Micah says, "You will cast their sins into the depths of the sea".

In fact, of course, this is a universal statement for this world, it is a principle plenipotentiary. However, WOULD any such person repent? We do not know. There is no assurance that this is an exceptional, once-gone-never-repent case.

What is quite certain is this: those not so engaged are present. This is quite simply the assemblage of the church of Jesus Christ present in the millenium. It is not some special paratroop corps only. The book of Revelation is not a development of difference here, but provides expression in most salient and solemn terms sufficient to arouse the due circumspection of dabblers in the depths of the follies of this earth as its rigor mortis sets in, at the last days, now coming upon us like a mist from the sea.

On Rev. 20:4 see also Sparkling Life in Jesus Christ Ch. 10,*2, which deals further with the topic.
 
 

It is the one found in Revelation 7, translated from this earth. NOW you are if a Christian, already translated into a kingdom (Colossians 1:13, Ephesians 1:3-5, 2:6), that is spiritual in its laws and ways, founded in the breacher of death, the teacher of truth, the master of miracles, God incarnate, Jesus Christ: and He has worked to deliver those who having breached life, find it in Him. It is innumerable in its utter and total enlistments, for many have been found "willing in the day of Your power" (Psalm 110).

We are those giving thanks "to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us form the power of darkness, and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

Again, God

• "has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before Him, in love having predestined us to the adoption as sons by Jesus Christ …", and He has

 
• "raised up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, for by grace are you people who have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God."

That language ? it is that of love, of mercy, of truth, of the resident inspiration to the heart from Christ, who being alive, is far more powerful in the personality than any tonic, drug or mere human hope. When the firstborn of all creation, the overseer because He came as One of us, who was over us and before us and before the world was made, and before time itself: when He comes into your life as Lord, and Saviour, not as a mere verbal form or format, but as that Spirit which God is, then nothing in this world can compare in power, in influence, in majesty, in regality.

Those who may not yet be Christians, not yet know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, in heart and mind, in life and purposes, in power and in guidance, in hope and in faith, in certitude and in gratitude, need to be reminded that as history has unfolded, so its day is going. It is time therefore to precede the last recession, that of this world into receivership, and the last judgment, that of its deeds and those in it, in truth, and to find the salvation which nothing can purge, because it is pure. It is this, which though the world pass away, continues forever, like the very righteousness of God, which it has successfully defended.

In what way is it defended, this divine righteousness ? It is in this way: that He who knew no sin, has met the penalty for those who knew it; and that knowledge of good and evil, obtained at the cost of becoming evil, and lodged in those secure in spiritual sickness, has been purged through His innocence invading its polluted purlieus, its spiritual slums, engulfing the darkness and shedding light: enough for all, provided for some, for all who call in faith and trust upon His name as Lord, to obey, and Saviour, to redeem.

Whether Christian thus, or earlier, for these there is no peril in revelation, but only comfort; no weakness before judgment, but only the happiness of mercy (James 2:13, 4:6,10). Mercy "triumphs over judgment", and it is secure, "for the heavens will vanish away like smoke; the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner; but My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished."

The next translation ? Like translations of the Bible, it is to come: but in this case, there is but one more. It is that from this earth to glory; from a time of pilgrimage, to that of blessed release from the toils, deliverance from the turmoils of service, consummation of the preparation when Christ comes and calls His elect, His chosen from the ends of the earth to the friendship without tears, that end without termination which is heaven, the haven of holiness and the Lodge for Purity itself, before the very face of God.

God has ‘translated’ His mind and will into the DNA, a language of distinction, overriding and utilising chemical properties in order to convey meaning, orders and structure, inventing materials, supplying energy for their processing and arranging and organising them into minute, inter-related structures called our bodies, while the mind, independently wrought to use this equipment, and the spirit in its recesses and mode of understanding, with will and purpose, though not without error, caps the whole and is subject to God only.

Now that thing, that construction, that edifice of thought and instrumentality, man, can resist the translation into office as a child of God, and so miss the translation into the Kingdom of Heaven, when Christ comes. Like a document in some alien language, scarcely worthy of knowledge, such remain despised, rejected and outcast, not by lack of wealth, lack of means, but by a certain inauspicious rejection of remedy which leaves them, of course and forever, irremediable, in the domain of destitution, called hell (Mark 9).

What gnaws more than remorse, and guilt; what burns more than conscience and folly, not inevitable, but wrought and taught in vanity, pursued in arrogance, retained in unrighteousness, as if a treasure. Truly he who keeps his life will lose it, and those who for Christ’s sake and in Him, lose it will find it; for the finding is God’s, the method is God’s, the payment is that of the Lord,  and the peace is everlasting, ever-present and continuous. Like so much else, the world itself comes to pass, and the day of life within it. It is impermanent. Peace is permanent, but unavailable except in the Maker of Man. Other architect of life is not present; other Author is not writing; and the book comes to an end.

Like all else that is written by God, it is wise, articulate and attested  (SMR pp. 92-101, 999ff., SMR Appendix D). Those who seek Him do not need to say, if I am fortunate, if I am elect , if I try hard, I MAY get there; all this is heresy and wholly contrary to the book of the LORD! God has foreknown His own, and there selection is non-meritorious, for freedom is real; but if a person DOES receive Christ, then that one DOES HAVE AUTHORITY to become a child of God, and if a person DOES believe in Him, then eternal life is a mere gift, costly to Him indeed, but free to the one granted it (John 1:12, Romans 3:23ff. Galatians 3 and 5, Isaiah 55, John 6:50ff., John 10:9, Ephesians 2:1-12).

God has not failed to write to us, then to come to us, and to do it as Himself, in man’s format. Slain in that format, He now presents the Gospel in the words selected, by inspiration (I Cor. 2:9-13), with His normal infallibility, demonstrating lacking in all and everything else. He has forecast the coming, the going, the reason for the one and for the other, the ways and the wisdom, the witness and the works, the date and the resurrection of Christ; and the world was futile as usual. He has forecast judgment, which is not only coming, but inevitable, for God is truth,  and righteousness is His without alloy. He has not created in order to steal, since all is His, and stealing is the breach of His own conditions, which He has freely made. It is man who steals, and often even tries to steal the words of the Lord, to change them  violate them, misuse them roughly, as man did Christ.

Neither these His words,  nor their message however change; it is the same Gospel forecast by Isaiah in the 8th century B.C., the same one forecast to be rejected by Israel, received by kings and multitudes, fallen from vastly as the End approaches, and men follow false teachers to new dooms, formed by forging from the word of God, clear and explicit, the lie in this form or that, the lie that man is and God is not. However, the End is where the beginning was, not in irrational concepts of nothing, but in the sufficient ground for all, whose ways have invented it all, and whose ways will judge it all. It is He, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all creation.

It is not necessary to fester; it is necessary to repent (Luke 13:1-3, Acts 2:38ff.).

It is not needful to fluster and flurry, worry and seek to excuse or promote yourself, in secret or in public, before man or before God: it is perfectly hopeless and clearly so; for how would you impress your Maker, who GAVE you what you have; and how would defend its misuse ? Or how show cause for the erection of your own tabernacle in your own heart, the work of your own choice, as if you were God, when quite simply, you are not!

Will a lie live ? Will you presume to relegate Christ and install yourself as king ? Or if not king, your own laws or morals or might, methods or presumption, piety or self-regard ? or that of others for you ? Will a flea judge a dog, or a man be his own justice! It is time to return to the Maker, and to the Redemption He has freely supplied, and to forget salvation by ignorance, by performance, by pride, by precept, and find it where it is, in knowledge, the very knowledge of God, in action, the very work of God, in fame, the sole fame of the Christ who has NO competition in holiness, power, prophecy, power,  grace and love.

The reality of revelation or the fiasco of philosophy; the ground in reason, pointing like an inexorable arrow, to the provision of revelation, or the flimsiness of imagination as god, making what it will where it will, as if God had forgotten, and left man to his own devices. Such a god would be the devil, creating a wonder, leaving its woes and allowing events to rule in their agonies, taskmasters in their cruelty, all for the lack of speech, with which He has in any case endowed man! It is to curse God, to reject Christ, to make a mouth at revelation, and at Revelation in particular (cf. Rev. 22:18-19).

That, it is not wise; for if He were bad, what would you be, endued by Him ? But since the testimony of reason and revelation alike is that it is He who is good, and you - sinners as we all are - who are not, who in many cases do not even recognise Jesus Christ: then to die in wilful ignorance of His mercy is to become the enemy of your own soul, remorseless in irrationality, the pride piper sallying forth with all who will follow him, to the deserved exclusion and the unutterable end.
Lament ? Who would not lament ? But if you can read, it is not too late.

Love ? Who would not love ? (I John 4:7-10, 5:2), but if you will not, and will not receive it, then what ? Is it not as Jeremiah put it:
 

•  "Give glory to the Lord your God
• before He causes darkness, and
• before your feet stumble on the dark  mountains, and while you are looking for light,
• He turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it dense darkness.

• "But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride, my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, Because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive."

You see it there, in Colossians 1:19ff., in John 3:16ff., in I Timothy 2:1ff., in Matthew 23:37ff., in Luke 19:42ff.. The word of God remains, a testimony of truth; and revelation in general from the Lord, in the Bible, and in Revelation in particular, is clear, free and provided, the love intense, immense and practical, the deeds open, public and declared, the testimony incomparable and exact. Such is the God of revelation and of Revelation.

The revelation, it lasts!

The rejection, as it spurns, so it is spurned (cf. Proverbs 1).
 

Let us now just peep behind the curtain, and look at the revelation in Revelation concerning the end of the translation.

The Beginning that Does Not End!

Revelation 21-22 is that draught for which the meek have thirsted, that righteous radiance for which those longing more than for the morning, have sought in the righteous magnificence of God, that splendour which is not appallingly tasteless travesty in money mis-spent, nor the impressive display of aspiring royalty on earth, far less that pomposity of pretension which betokens the grandiosity of the human race, when it turns its face from its other deeds, often as if forgetful that they are there. No, it is not this, or any part of it;  but it is the outward expression of the inward glory of God. So does the apostle convey his inspired communication from God Himself.

The people of God, now in heaven, are seen lodged in permanent quarters WITH GOD. The temporary structure for our present history and pilgrimage, it is gone;  for this present world has fled, having no place for it, yes heavens and earth alike (Matthew 24:35, Isaiah 51:6, II Peter 3, Revelation 20:11).

Close attention needs to be given to all of these references, but let us consider the pure energy of the last: "Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them."

Peter is expressive here (from II Peter 3:9-15) of the judgment to which John attends in verse 12 following, in this way:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation - as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you …"

There IS an end; and it IS final; but it is the end of a vastly portentous beginning, filled with implorings, beseechings, pity and provisions, as II Chronicles 36 so amply exhibits, with Hosea 12:10. How long and how often did the Lord seek His people; with what multitudinous provisions did He solicit, seek to enlist and persuade a hostile people; and with what forbearance and for how long has He done so with the Gentiles. Israel fell; now the world falls. It is all one, as Paul so amply shows in Romans 11.

When however, THAT beginning ends, and judgment sits as we have just seen from Revelation 20, which is just as sure on the millenium as on judgment, but which duly conducts us to the finalities of eternity, populated with grace, governed with goodness, filled with the glory of the Lord: it is then that the other BEGINNING that does not end, commences.

These, they are the COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES, to use the American term in College life, which have no ending. His speech lasts for ever, and it is translated into deed, as His words are, since nothing can confound or diffuse them.

But what ? "God Himself will be with them, and be their God!" (Revelation 21:3).

All things now are made new (Rev. 21:5), both outward and inward, both in the celestial cosmos and in the spiritual heart, which for the Christian, was made new long before. Then we read that glorious new creation symphony, rhapsody, so simply expressed in words, but with such profundity in deeds:

"It is done!" and with this goes the signature of that divine signatory whose word created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, but now has created this very heaven, filled with people, the populace purified, the saints in glory: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts."

Not once, even in bespeaking the end, does the way to the beginning of the spiritual life that lasts to and through eternity, cease to be offered, do we fail to be reminded of it! It is here at the end, as grace was given at the outset.

There is no other God, there is only THE alpha and THE omega (Rev. 21:6), for whom time was a chattel, and its dimensions a creation. Now, alike, it is He before whom eternity is as sky to our eyes, and in whose eternal life many now participate in its most manifest form (Isaiah 44:6, 41:4, 45:18,22).

Exclusions are certain, for purity is not populated with the unredeemed, nor are the redeemed left with impurity, for all is purged, and the payment made on earth, has the consummative cleanness of heaven (Rev. 22:8).

How puny are man’s contrivances to CHANGE things, and change laws (as he seeks to do to the end, by observation and according to ancient prophecy for these days alike - Daniel 7:25 cf. Answers to Questions Ch. 5, Repent or Perish Ch. 5), indeed to change cleanness, and make new moral patterns based on lust, not love, on flesh not spirit, on blindness not light! They have no part in heaven. Design is of God, and man’s creativity likewise has its source in this splendour; when it is set against its very own nature, it is like an expert in table tennis trying to toss the caber. It does not work, and looks more than a little ridiculous, in its results and vain endeavours.
The geography of earth for a time, in the pilgrimage of liberty, left much open; but in heaven, all that folly is finally dispelled, distant from view, confined to its own place. The preciousness of the celestial place and the historical realities of its blessed antecedents on earth are then indicated in Ch. 21, and this reaches a climax in Revelation 21:22-23 with 22:4-5.

The LAMB IS THE LIGHT, and it is He who IS THE TEMPLE. The personal nature of God is now without the fabric of fleshly symbols, and the ultimate becomes natural, normal and daily in its demonstration. As children pass from school to life, so Christians have here passed from the teaching to the triumph. "They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads" (22:4).

At once, as John resumes his inter-personal relationships in the course of his vision, we are reminded that creation is one thing, the Creator is infinitely other, alone to be worshipped. There are no grades of worship: it is GOD or nothing, or if something, then mere illusion (cf. Deuteronomy 32:21, Psalm 96:5).

Thus as John in the ecstasy of revelation begins to fall down before a messenger, he is summarily reminded, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

WORSHIP GOD! If only from the very first in Eden man had remembered this which in his follies of grandeur and littleness, the one of aspiration, the other of spirit, he has forgotten with a seemingly all but remorseless riot of spirit from that day till this; and as we see in Revelation, it is to reach a consummation of wild and arrogant humanistic folly, clad with devilries, before it is laid, if not to rest, then to its residues, like ashes in the morning, after the fires at last are out! (e.g. Revelation 19:20, 20:7-10, 21:8, 22:11),

"Blessed," the vast array of text assures us, "blessed are those who wash their clothes, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city." It is so exquisitely simple: ENTER through Christ when the Gospel comes, and you SHALL be saved (John 10:9,27-28, Psalm 118:19-24). Having entered, and thus been washed by Him (Titus 3:5-7), you inherit eternal life, and here it is. You enter because you HAVE entered, and so it is, even on earth that you are declared, if a Christian, to HAVE BEEN SAVED (Titus 3:5-7, Ephesians 2:8). You are even stated to be a HAVING BEEN SAVED PERSON by grace through faith, and THAT, it is not of yourselves. Now the invisible gate, taken by faith, from the works of the most visible Jesus Christ, is the very entry to heaven, and there in its source, is its destiny.

Novelties are fun, as part of imagination. But if you want the moon via rocket, you had better not innovate merely imaginatively with your mathematics! And if you want not the moon, but a far better resting place, not arid, but refreshing, not graceless, but gushing with profundity of delight in truth, righteousness and companionship, INNOVATE NOTHING relative to the mouth of the Lord. It is His. He uses it. Do not add or subtract! What would you ? compete with God for His own mouth.
So Revelation (22: 18-19), like Moses in the first covenant (Deuteronomy 4, 12), makes it clear that the liberty to be a self-appointed spokesman, which is all it can now be, a declarer for God by speaking in HIS name, a codicil hunter, a continuity contriver, dispensing with the finality of the New Covenant in the One Christ who ALONE DID IT, is ZERO (cf. SMR Appendix D). HE has spoken. Let all the earth keep silent.

The presumption of man, whether in philosophy or religion (cf. I Corinthians 1, Romans 1), has squawked, and sparked, and striven; it has fabricated irrationalities, engaged in pseudo-splendours of the darkness of hell, and called them light. THAT, here in heaven,  it is past. Here, ALL things are new, and the newness is the oldness of the One who never changes. It is for this reason, He declares, that we are not consumed (Malachi 3:6).

For man, however, in heaven, this purity with peace, this profundity without pollution in the royal grounds of God, it is VERY NEW; for although it is the SAME GOD, immutable, it is a new environment, where grace, not dishonour, where love, not puffy pretension, obtains. Indeed, here, the Pastor is not given over to the lusts of his own office, his own survival, his own ideas, or to those of one of the many arrant ‘churches’ which are rather synagogues of Satan in many cases today - but … it is GOD! That, it is the Pastor of Perfection, whose is the very concept and the very performance of perfection.

Here,

just as He promised
to come to earth,
as the Good Shepherd,
and He died for His love,
to redeem His people,
even all who ENTER THAT DOOR WHICH IS HIS CHRIST (and not some other variant, also innovated by man with impudence unspeakable):