THE JOURNEY SO FAR – The Church Of Christ, 15 Grey Street, Warri

Text: Revelation 22:12

By: ADEOYE, Emmanuel (Evangelist)

REV 22:12

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

My reward is with me ho misthos mou met’ emou. Misthos “reward” is strictly “wages.”

To give apodounai. Literally, “to give back or in return for,” thus appropriate to misthos “reward.”. Shall be estai. Read estin “is.”

We have the responsibility of serving the Lord (vv. 12-14). “My reward is with Me” implies that God is mindful of our sufferings, and our service, and nothing will ever be done in vain if it is done for Him. At the Judgment Seat of Christ, believers will be judged according to their works; and rewards will be given to those who have been faithful.

Throughout church history, there have been those who have (to use Dwight L. Moody’s words) become “so heavenly minded that they were no earthly good.”

They quit their jobs, sold their property, and sat and waited for Jesus to return. All of them have been embarrassed, of course, because it is unbiblical to set dates for His coming. It is also unbiblical to become careless and lazy just because we believe Jesus is coming soon. Paul faced this problem with some of the believers in Thessalonica, (2 Thess 3).

No wonder John added, “Blessed are they that do His commandments” (Rev 22:14).

If we really believe that Jesus is coming soon, we will watch and be faithful (Luke 12:35ff). Rev. 22:13 is a great encouragement to anyone who seeks to serve the Lord. Whatever God starts, He will finish; for He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last (see Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13). “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense, to repay every one for what he has done. For what he has done: “as your works deserve”; 20:12-13.

Behold, I am coming soon: for Behold see verse Rev 1:7; and see comment at verse 7, above. By its use of quotation marks, intends to show that someone other than the writer is speaking. It is better to indicate that Jesus is the speaker, bringing my recompense, to repay every one: this applies to all, the righteous and the evil alike.

So my recompense may be reward (see verse Rev 11:18) or it may be punishment (see verse 18:6). Another way of expressing this is “I am coming to either reward or punish all people for what they have done.”

Verse 12. – And, behold, I come quickly. Omit “and” Note also that once more the words are spoken as by Christ himself. And my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be; as his work is, according to the best authorities. This is one of the fundamental truths enforced throughout the book; the epistles to the seven Churches (Rev 2:5,10,16,17,22,26, etc.). The infinitive phrase seems to be explanatory of the idea contained in the word misqo, “reward;” the double nature of the reward being thus indicated.

Christ Promises to Come Back “And, behold, I come quickly . . .” (Rev 22:12). This promise also occurs in Rev. 22:7,20. During His earthly life Christ explicitly promised His disciples He would come back for them. The verb in John 14:3 is exactly the same as in Rev 22:7,12,20 (érchomai, I am coming). It is not the future indicative eleúsomai, which would involve a definitive, onetime, punctilious coming. He did not say “I shall come,” but I am coming at any time and in more ways than one. The Lord never revealed exactly when He would return.

Nevertheless, the two angels who saw the Lord ascend into heaven in His resurrection body used the verb in the future indicative, eleúsetai, He shall come (Acts 1:11). The idea indicated by érchomai, I am coming, of Rev 22:7,12,20 is that the Lord after His ascension will come in different ways and for different reasons, until His final coming. This is indicated by eleúsetai of Acts 1:11, predicted by the two angels, and finalized when He will come to reign with His saints forever on earth and in heaven (Rev 20:4-6; 21:1-7,9-21).

According to Paul in 1 Thess. 4:13-17, Jesus will first come back to take the resurrected dead and transformed living believers to be with Him. Jesus will make His final when He returns for the Last Judgment (Matt. 25:31-46). Will It Be Quickly or Suddenly? Three times in Rev 22 the word tachú is used and translated “quickly” (vv. 7, 12, 20). “Suddenly” or “swiftly” would be a more accurate translation. The Lord’s return will not be immediate but it will be sudden when it occurs (1 Cor. 15:52).

We Receive Certain Rewards and Retributions. The rewards accorded to believers are listed throughout Scripture (Gen 15:1; Ps 19:11; Prov 11:18; Eccl 4:9; Matt 6:6,18; and 1 Cor 9:17,18). For the unbeliever, however, there is inherent retribution (2 Thess 1:9).

Living estranged from God is the greatest punishment man can inflict upon himself in both the present and the future. After Adam and Eve sinned, they “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God” (Gen. 3:8). Christ Will Bring the Final Rewards and Retributions. The Greek word used for “reward” in Rev. 22:12 is misthós, which actually means a wage for work done.

The Lord will reward us for everything we have done for Him in this life. It is not a bargained pay (Matt. 20:2) but rather a recompense that He decides upon according to His sovereign grace (Matt. 20:4,7,14).

The terrible retribution for unbelievers, on the other hand, will be denial of entry into the heavenly city and an eternity spent outside God’s love in total depravity (Matt. 25:41,46).

EVALUATION

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