In Revelation 22:17 we read, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
This verse points to riches for the soul, and it comes with several applications. The first is to think joyously and longingly to the return of Chris in glory. The Bride is the church, and the Spirit working in the church promotes prayers to see the exaltation of Christ. “Come” means come and be exalted on the earth, Lord Jesus.
A day is coming when Christ, the great King, will gather his people all around him and they will know how precious they are to God and loved by God. Will you be among the precious things of Christ on that day? You are precious to him if he is precious to you. Charles Spurgeon said, “You shall be his on that day, if he is thine in this day.” There is love in the one who longs for Christ’s day.
The second way verse 17 can be taken is as an invitation to come in faith to Christ. The invitation originates in God. He doesn’t just say, “The Bride says ‘Come,’” but that the Holy Spirit is working in the church to say to sinners, “Come.” Notice that the one that hears and believes now joins in inviting others to “Come.” The Spirit of God is directly involved in a soul that comes to Christ and in the heart that longs for others to come to Christ. We are dependent upon the Spirit of God.
After reading the book of Revelation to this point, you understand that the invitation is both blessed and urgent. If someone is interested in the matter of ultimate things, this invitation ascends to the top of the discussion. This is the matter that matters; life or death, God or the devil, heaven or hell hang in the balance.
The Lord Jesus extends this invitation of salvation to whoever will come, and he offers it “without price.” We know from the familiar words “whosoever believes in him” that it is offered indiscriminately; it doesn’t matter if it is a bad man or a good man, a rich man or poor man, an educated or ignorant man, a young man or old man. All have “sinful” as their first name, and the offer is to sinners.
The Lord Jesus also says that “whoever believes in him shall not perish.” A soul that perishes is emptied of all good, while those who come to Christ are filled with all good. Those who come to Christ have a “thirst” for him and a desire for the life-giving water of salvation. The water, the salvation, is free, but how can we acquire the necessary thirst? The thirst comes from a humbling conviction of sin along with a wonder at so great a Savior (Acts 2:37).
The Lord Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” A man poor in spirit has nothing to commend himself to God. Someone can hear over and over the vanity of their own righteousness, but he will always trust in it until he sees that he has none and can get none before God. Yet once he is persuaded of his poverty, the offer of Christ appears precious, and he drinks deeply.
The third way you can look at verse 17 is as a Christian being reminded to continually come and drink of this water to revive our souls. We don’t just come to the fountain of Christ to drink once. Your spiritual life will be impoverished unless you continually drink of the truth of the gospel.
You remember the church in Laodicea from chapter 3. The Lord assessed their spiritual condition as lukewarm and in danger of being found to be apostates. He said to the people, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” They had forgotten the gospel, living contentedly without any need of Christ because they had an abundance of material things.
What is the remedy? First, to hear Christ say they were spiritually “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,” and then to hear Christ say that those whom he loves he rebukes. The Lord calls us to renew our thirst when we’ve lost it. The soul languishes without Christ. “Christ died for sinners” is the believer’s drink and it sweetly assures him of eternal life.
