The angel who has been speaking with John reminds him that we are living in the last days that are leading up to the last days. The Lord could call His church out of the world at any moment, and then the events of the Great Tribulation would commence. The book of Revelation is a book that is vitally important and relevant for our times.
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"The angel said to me, 'These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent His angel to show His servants the things that must soon take place.'" (Revelation 22:6) The words contained in the book of Revelation are useful for instruction, for warning, for leading unbelievers to repentance, and for reassuring believers about our glorious eternal future with Christ.
The Lord Himself speaks now in agreement with the angel: "Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the prophecy written in this scroll." (Revelation 22:7) We were promised a blessing in Revelation 1:3 for reading the words of this prophecy and for keeping this message in our hearts. "Keeping" the message means believing in it and meditating upon it and allowing it to minister to us according to God's will. No time spent in any book of the Bible is ever wasted, but He promises a special blessing for reading and for keeping the message of Revelation in our hearts.
The angel has testified to the truth of the words of this book. The Lord Jesus has added His testimony to its truth. Now John adds his own testimony that he personally was told and was shown all the things contained in the book of Revelation. "I, John, am the one who saw and heard these things." (Revelation 22:8a) The law of Moses stated that anything accepted as fact in a court of law had to be "established by the testimony of two or three witnesses". (Deuteronomy 19:15) Here we have the ultimate authority, the Lord Jesus Christ, giving His testimony along with an angel of high rank and the Apostle John. If we can't believe the testimony of these three, then it's doubtful we could be convinced by anyone.
John finds himself overwhelmed with emotion due to everything he has seen and heard. As he did once before in Revelation, he falls to his knees. "And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, 'Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!" (Revelation 22:8b-9) John knows this is an angel. He knows that human beings are to worship God alone, but I don't think he intends anything blasphemous or disrespectful when he bows before the angel. The angel is speaking to him on behalf of the Lord, and in John's mind I think that in bowing before the angel he is bowing (by association) before the Lord since it is the Lord's message the angel is relating to him. The angel, like all the angels who remained faithful to the Lord, points worship away from himself and toward the Lord. This angel serves the Lord and that makes him a fellow servant with John, so he's saying something like this: "Servants do not bow to fellow servants but only to the Master."
"Then he told me, 'Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.'" (Revelation 22:10) We've studied the book of Revelation along with the prophecies from the book of Daniel regarding the end times. The book of Daniel, however, was sealed until after the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. The book of Daniel could be read and discussed, but it was difficult to make sense of it in its day. This is why it's said to be "sealed". It's not that the words couldn't be studied, but that many things had to come to pass after Daniel's lifetime before people could read about the visions he was given and be able to understand them. Daniel himself didn't understand them, for the Lord told him that the words were sealed until the end. But ever since Christ ascended to the Father we are living in an age when the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation are relevant and timely. As the angel says, "The time is near." This could mean that Christ will call His church out of the world in our lifetime. Or it may be a hundred or more years in the future. But relatively speaking, in view of how long man has existed on the earth, the end is very near. Only a short time remains in which people can make a decision for Christ. While it's true that many will come to faith during the Great Tribulation, Christians will be persecuted like never before during those years. Wars, calamities, and famines are going to take place on the earth. No one in their right mind would want to endure the Great Tribulation. Making a decision for Christ now makes a person a part of the church, His bride, and Christ is going to take His bride out of the world before the darkest days ever known fall upon it.
A day will eventually come when a final choice has been made and there is no turning back. If a person dies without Christ, he faces the judgment without Christ as his Defender. The words the angel speaks next confirm the permanence of a decision for or against Christ. There are no "do-overs" after death. If we leave this mortal life having known about but having rejected the love and mercy and redemption of Christ, there remains no further sacrifice capable of redeeming us. There's nothing more that can be done for us than that which Christ has already done. So the angel concludes his speech by reminding us of the eternal consequences of our decisions. "Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy." (Revelation 22:11) There comes a point when the Lord says in regard to what we have chosen for ourselves, "So be it." The Lord has done everything that could possibly be done to demonstrate to us that we are sinners in need of a Savior. He provided the sacrifice---the only acceptable sacrifice---for our sins. If we reject everything He has said and done for us, nothing remains but for him to say, "Have it your way. So be it." In speaking of the judgment that awaits those who reject the Lord, the author of Hebrews asks, "How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3) Or as Dr. John Walvoord, one of the most highly respected scholars of Biblical prophecy puts it, "If the warnings of the book are not sufficient, there is no more that God has to say."
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