Amen. -- the Church's Amen
H. Bonar, D. D. Revelation 22:21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. I. THE LAST TESTIMONY. The whole Bible is the testimony; for in it Christ is both the Teacher and the Lesson, the Witness and the Testimony. But the Revelation is His last testimony; and the marvellous words of the latter part of this chapter are more especially so. Let the Church listen; let the world give heed. II. THE LAST PROPHECY. "Surely I come quickly." Brief but distinct is this announcement; and it comes from His own lips. He heralds Himself and His kingdom. He puts the trumpet to His own mouth to sound abroad this last message, "I come!" I who came, and departed, am coming again. "I come quickly." Here is something more. He will lose no time; nor delay a moment longer than is absolutely necessary. He will not be slack concerning His promise (2 Peter 3:9); He will come and not tarry (Hebrews 10:37). "Surely I come quickly." Appearances may indicate no such thing; the world's sky may be cloudless, and its sea smooth; men may have assured themselves of prosperous days, and be saying, "Peace and safety"; yet surely He cometh! As a snare, as a thief, as lightning, He cometh. He, the very Christ, the risen Saviour, Jesus of Nazareth — He cometh! In His own glory, in His Father's glory, with His mighty angels, in the clouds of heaven, King and Judge, Conqueror and Avenger, Redresser of wrongs, Opener of prison-doors, Binder of Satan, Renewer of creation, Bridegroom of His Church, Star of Jacob, Sun of Righteousness, Owner of the golden sceptre, Wielder of the iron rod, Wearer of the crowns of earth — He cometh! III. THE LAST PRAYER — "Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus"; or more literally, "Yes, surely, come, Lord Jesus"; for the words the apostle here uses, in his response, are the same as those used by Christ in His announcement; as if he caught up the Master's words and echoed them. Thus gladly and fervently does the Church respond to the promise; as one who felt the blank created by the Lord's absence, and welcomed with her whole heart the intimation of His return. This is the summing-up of her petitions, as was the seventy-second Psalm the filling up of all David's prayers (Psalm 72:20). Are our hearts, like hers, thus beating toward the Beloved One? Is this the burden of our prayers? IV. THE LAST BLESSING. "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." Earthly, human love, is of all things here the most fitted to gladden; how much more, then, that which is heavenly and Divine! V. THE LAST AMEN. This is not an amen to this chapter only, or this book only; but to the whole Bible, of which the burden, from Genesis to Revelation, is Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman. It is an amen to the prayer for the grace of Christ; it is an amen to the sigh for the Lord's appearing. It is an amen to the prophetic announcement of all the glorious and all the terrible things written in this book. It is the concentrated utterance of the Church's longings; her glad response to all that God has spoken; the subscription of her name to her belief in all that the Holy Spirit has written; the summing-up of her unutterable groan. How much does this amen comprise! Faith, hope, and love are in it; and, with these, such a boundless satisfaction of spirit as can only get vent to itself in that one brief word, which sums up all the aspirations of its joy, "Amen and amen!" (H. Bonar, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. WEB: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.