Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #16 of Revelation, chapter 22 and we are going to read Revelation 22:14:
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.
Of course, God is referring to the holy city, New Jerusalem, which is made up of everyone He has saved, the elect.
Let us look at each part of this verse starting at the beginning. Again, it says in Revelation 22:14:
Blessed are they that do his commandments…
We understand that God makes statements like this in the Bible, but He expects the reader to “compare Scripture with Scripture.” If someone only read this verse, they might think, “We can be blessed by keeping the commandments of God.” But, again, no verse stands by itself. Before we can draw a conclusion, we have to check it out against the whole Bible. When we do that, we see, “Man is not justified by the works of the law,” and “works” are keeping the commandments of God and doing the will of God as He has commanded, but no man is justified in that way. Then why does God say this? It is because the ones that “do his commandments” are those He has saved. It says in John 15:12-13:
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
There it is again, as it says, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” But the previous verse tells us that a man lays down his life for his friends and this refers to the fact that Christ died for the people He named and predestinated before the foundation of the world. In dying for them, they became His “friends.” It was guaranteed they would become saved and as history unfolded God brought them His Word and saved them. As a result of their salvation, they did the will of God and whatsoever He commanded. It says in Ephesians 6:6-8:
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
It is the “doing the will of God from the heart,” and that is the key to understand our verse, “Blessed are they that do his commandments.” When God saved an individual in the day of salvation, He would take out their “heart of stone,” which is a rebellious heart that does not do the will of God. He would then give them a “heart of flesh,” which is a new heart that desires to do the will of God, as it says in Ezekiel 36:26-27:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
You see, this is the proper order of things that God lays out in the Bible. He first gives the new heart and the new spirit and then there is an ability to do the commandments of God because it is doing the will of God from the new, born-again heart. That new spirit is perfect. There is no sin or error of any kind in the new resurrected soul that God gives to the ones He has saved. This is why it is so important that we do the will of God and are blessed by keeping His commandments from the heart, as it says in 1John 2:17:
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
This is because the will of God is being done from the heart, which means it is someone who has received the new heart and new spirit. As a result, there is perfect obedience from the heart.
Let us go back to our verse in Revelation 22:14:
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life…
We looked at the “tree of life” earlier in this chapter. In verse 2, we saw that it really identifies with Christ. When there is access to the “tree of life,” it means you have life.
Back in the Garden of Eden, there was a “tree of life” and a “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in the midst of the Garden and Adam and Eve could have eaten all they pleased from the “tree of life.” It was only the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” that they were forbidden to eat of, so they did have access to the “tree of life” while they were in a right relationship with God. Therefore, they could have lived forever until they sinned and then “death entered in” and God restricted their access to the “tree of life” and the Cherubims were placed with “flaming swords” to protect the way of the “tree of life.” This indicated that one must die in order to reach the “tree of life” and Christ did die for His people and gained for them access to the “tree of life.” Therefore, in Revelation, chapter 22, as God is speaking of the new heaven and new earth and eternal life, there appears, once again, the “tree of life” and it completely identifies with the Lord Jesus Christ. So, as our verse says, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life.” Again, this is only possible from the new heart after one has become born again and then God causes that individual to do His commandments and they now have “right to the tree of life.”
You hear people today talking about “their rights” and how they have a “right” to this or a “right” to that. Actually, this word is not the typical word translated as “right.” It is Strong’s #1849 and it is the word that is normally translated as “power” or “authority.” It is a word that describes an ability based upon that which God has given to the person and, in this case, it is the ability to access the tree of life. They have authority and power from God to do so, due to God’s magnificent salvation program and the bestowing of His grace and mercy. They have, therefore, been given “right” or “authority” from God. God made the way to the “tree of life” and now these chosen individuals can find their way to the “tree of life” and eat thereof and live for evermore because of what God has done for them. So this is really a wonderful statement God is making when He says in Revelation 22:14:
… that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
This all goes back to the doing of God’s commandments and the only way a sinner can be found doing God’s commandments in a pleasing way to God is if they have become saved. Then they have “authority” to the “tree of life” and “enter in through the gates into the city.”
We know that the “gate” or “door” is Christ, but let us look at a few Scriptures where God speaks of “entering in” or “not entering in.” For instance, it says in Matthew 7:13-14:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
We are to enter in at the “strait gate” or the “narrow way” and that tells us that entry into the kingdom of heaven is not easy. As a matter of fact, it is impossible for man. It is a “way” that God must make for those He has saved. If you are not one He has saved, there is no entry. There is no portal open to you. There is only the broad way that leads to destruction. As it says in Joshua, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” but the only options were between this false god or that false god, but then Joshua added, “But as for me and my house, we will serve JEHOVAH.” Joshua was speaking for the elect, the Lord Jesus Christ and His people. But for the rest that are not elect, they can “choose” to be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu or a professed Christian within the churches today. You can choose your options on the broad path to destruction, but as far as entering into the kingdom of heaven, God must give the special invitation that He only gives to those whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Those few are brought along the difficult and narrow way that is full of much tribulation, as it says in Acts 14, verse 22: “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Yet, it is worth every bit of anguish, difficulty, trouble and heartache. It is worth every bit and a thousand times worse things if we do, indeed, enter into the city. If God has truly saved us and granted us a new heart and new spirit and the promise of the new heaven and new earth, it is a guarantee of things to come in eternity with God. So no matter what we experience or how much heartache we go through in this lifetime, it is nothing in comparison to “the eternal weight of glory.” Ultimately, it is but for a moment that we suffer and endure hardship as a good soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have already entered into the heavenly city, spiritually, if we are saved. We are already seated in heavenly places in Christ and we already have that citizenship. We are in the “safe chamber,” waiting for the desolation to pass and for this time of judgment to be completed. Yet, there is still another sense in which we must still enter into the city because our physical bodies are still here in this world because our bodies have not entered into the city and our souls are connected to our bodies and even though we are recognized as being seated in Christ, we are still here on the earth and there is still a need to enter into the gate and into the city and that will be done when the end of the world comes on the last day, the day of which Jesus said, “And I will raise him up at the last day,” and the day of which Martha said to the Lord, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” It is “the last day” that identifies with the Feast of Tabernacles and the feast of harvest and “the last day” that we look forward to, the 10,000th day of overall judgment, October 27, 2015, and it may very well be the day that Christ brings about the resurrection of the dead and the rapture of the living and bring His people into the gates of the city in their new spiritual bodies. Salvation will be complete in both body and soul and our bodies, too, will be able to do the will of God perfectly. At that point, the child of God who is able to do the will of God in his heart will now be able to do the will of God in both body and soul. It will all be perfect and without sin and there will be that glorious “entering in” to exist for evermore in the new heaven and new earth.
But it always comes back to being born again, as Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3-5:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
You cannot deceive God concerning whether, or not, you are born again. You can do everything you can, as it says in 1Corinthians, chapter 13, like giving your body to be burned and having all faith and understanding all mysteries and handing out tracts and giving your money and, yet, you must be “born again.” The way into the kingdom of heaven is restricted to those that are born again by the will of God: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” as it goes on to say in John 3:6:
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
It is “spirit.” You must be born again in order to enter into the kingdom of God, the spiritual kingdom, and to see God who is Spirit. In order to receive a resurrected spiritual body, you must be born again. You must have experienced that first resurrection (of the soul) in order to receive the resurrection of the body. It is only through salvation that you can “enter in through the gates into the city.”