Rev 22:12-15  "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

"And, behold, I come quickly."  It would not appear that Jesus was talking about the resurrection from the dead in this verse.  It has been nearly two thousand years since this was spoken.  Furthermore, the resurrection from the dead is not a reward for good works.  The resurrection and heaven's glory world are solely and totally by the grace of God and not according to our works.  Thus, Jesus' coming quickly does not have reference to the resurrection, but to his coming quickly here in time to reward his servants.  If we had a natural master who only paid us many years after that we had performed the service, we would be greatly discouraged from diligently serving that master.  Jesus' promise to come quickly is encouragement to us to serve Him diligently as we know that "our labor is not in vain in the Lord."  He quickly rewards us according as our work shall be. 

"My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."  God is faithful to reward his servants for their faithful work:

    1.  Matt. 6:1 "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

    2.  Matt. 6:16 "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."

    3.  Matt. 10:41 "He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward."

    4.  Lk. 6:22 "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. 23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."

    5.  1 Cor. 3:8 "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building."

    6.  1 Cor. 3:14 "If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."

    7.  1 Cor. 9:17 "For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. 18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel."

    8.  Col. 3:23 "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; 24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons."

    9.  2 Tim. 4:14 "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: 15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words."

    10. Heb. 10:35 "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry."

    11. 2 John 1:8 "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward."

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."  As was stated in chapter 1, once again our attention is called to the great person and work of Jesus Christ.  He is the Alpha and Omega, or the beginning and the end of the word of God.  He is the beginning and end of every great work including the creation, new birth, resurrection, justification, Kingdom of God, etc.  He is the first great cause and the last great end.  He is our all in all.

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."  Keeping the commandments of God does not give us a right to eternal life or to heaven's glory world.  We have previously abundantly proved by the scriptures that salvation from sin, the new birth, and glorification are by the grace of God.  However, keeping the commandments of God does give us the privilege to enter into the church Kingdom of God here in time and to eat of the spiritual fruit of that Kingdom and to enjoy the benefits of that Kingdom.        

"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."  The scriptures say in 1 Cor. 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."  Now that we have been washed, sanctified, and justified we are to walk as children of light and not desire to go back and live outside the kingdom as we did in our former walk of life.

Rev 22:16  "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”

The word, "angel," literally means messenger and is used in the book of Revelations to indicate heavenly messengers, gospel ministers, and the Holy Spirit.  The term, "mine angel," indicates one of a kind or unique.  This is in harmony with the sending of the Holy Comforter in the book of John:

    1.  John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

    2.  John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

    3.  John 15:26 "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:"

    4.  John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

The Lord sent the Holy Spirit to testify the things of God in the churches.  A common phrase in the letters to the seven churches of Asia was: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."  The Holy Spirit testifies unto us in the churches through the preaching of the gospel, through the studying of God's word, and through the experiences of God's children.

"I am the root and the offspring of David."  A plant comes forth from the root and is nourished from the root.  The Lord said that he is the root of David.  Thus, David came forth from Christ and was nourished by Christ.  Christ is the cause of the new or spiritual birth for all of God's children.  David said that he was made to hope while upon his mother's breast.  Thus, David was born of the Spirit while very young in years.  Furthermore, the Lord appointed David to be King over Israel.  This was the Lord's choice and not the choice of his natural father, or of the prophet, Samuel, or of the people, or of David.  The Lord also provided for David throughout David's reign over Israel.  He was the root of David. 

Next, the Lord was the offspring of David.  While this may seem like a contradiction in terms, yet it speaks to the Divinity and the humanity of Christ.  As the second person in the Godhead, Christ had no beginning, nor was the offspring of any.  He is eternal.  David had his beginning in Christ, as he was one that God chose in Christ before the foundation of the world.  In the humanity of Christ, he was born of the virgin and was conceived of the Holy Ghost.  He was the promised seed of David that was to reign on the throne of David forever.  Thus, Christ is both the Creator God and the promised King who reigns on the everlasting throne in the Kingdom of God.

Christ also is "the bright and morning star.”  Stars are useful in different ways.  Travelers throughout the world have fixed their location upon a star and been guided in their journeys by the location of the North Star.  The wise men were guided by a star to where the Christ child was located.  Stars also give light by night and thus help us navigate in a dark world and see the path before us.  The bright and morning star arises to drive away the dark and usher in the day.  The following verses speak of Christ as the star that gives light and drives away the night:

    1.  2 Cor. 4:6 "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

    2.  2 Pet. 1:19 "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:"

Christ is the light that shineth brighter than the noon day sun. 

Rev 22:17  "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

The word "come" is an invitation.  When we say come to someone, we usually are inviting them to visit.  There is a threefold invitation in the above scripture in which the Spirit, the bride, and him that heareth say come.  We will look later to see to whom the invitation is given. 

The place the guests are invited to visit is the Kingdom of God.  They are given right to the tree of life and to enter in through the gate and to drink of the fountain of the water of life.  These and many other things are found in the church Kingdom here on earth.

The Spirit says come.  The Spirit works in the heart of the elect to regenerate them into spiritual life, and to lead them to cry out "Abba Father."  The Spirit works in the ministry to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in power and demonstration of Spirit and to call upon the elect spiritual born children of God to repent and press into the Kingdom.  The Spirit works in the hearts of His children causing them to desire the things of God and to be able to hear the things of the Spirit.  The Spirit has caused holy men of God to speak as they were led of the Spirit of God and to inspire men to write the scriptures.  Through the work of the Spirit we have been thoroughly furnished in the scriptures of all good works.  The Spirit guides us unto all truth.  The Spirit encourages men to seek, to ask, and to knock for truth.  Then we are promised that when we seek that we will find.  We are promised that when we ask, it shall be given to us.  We are promised that when we knock that it shall be opened unto us.

The bride says come.  The ministry of the bride preach the gospel of Jesus Christ which encourages God's people to take up their cross and enter into the kingdom of God.  The lives of the members of the church are as lights that are set upon a hill that allows men to see their good works and glorify the Father, which is in heaven.  The ordinances of the church show forth the glory of God and point us to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, thus encouraging God's people to come into the kingdom.  The gospel feeds the souls of God's hungry people and encourages them to become a part of the gospel kingdom. 

Let him that heareth say come.  Not every one can hear the things of the Spirit of God: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned."  Eight times we read in the four gospels, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."  Likewise, in the second and third chapters of Revelations we read, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."  This shows the necessity that someone have been born of the Spirit in order to have spiritual ears and be able to hear Spiritual things.  However, just because a person has been born of the Spirit, and has a spiritual ear, it does not mean that he has heard the things of the Spirit of God.  It means that they are capable of hearing spiritual things.  Once a person has heard and believed the things of the Spirit of God, then he now has a responsibility to tell others of the wonderful things that he has heard and experienced.  He is to say, "come," to others.

"And let him that is athirst come."  A dead person cannot thirst.  Thirst is an indication of life.  The only ones that can thirst are living people.  Likewise, a person cannot thirst after spiritual things unless he has been born of the Spirit of God.  Once he has been born of the Spirit of God, and begins to thirst after spiritual things, then he is to be invited into the Kingdom of God and drink of the fountain of the water of life.

"And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."  The only ones that can choose to do something are those who have a choice.  The natural man cannot choose to seek after spiritual things.  He cannot seek after God nor understand spiritual things.  The spiritual inner man cannot seek after wicked things for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of the Spirit of God.  The only ones that can choose are those who are born of the Spirit of God and thus have both an outer man of the flesh and an inner man.  Thus the "whosoever will" can only apply to born again children of God.  They are the ones who are free to choose to take of the water of life freely.  There is no charge (works) for them to take of the water of life.  This water of life does not give life, but nourishes and refreshes and strengthens the life they already have.