The Last Invitation
Text: Revelation 22:17
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Explain the significance of the placement of Revelation 22:17 as the last invitation recorded in Scripture.
- Identify the three parties who issue the invitation: the Spirit, the Bride (church), and the individual believer.
- Describe exactly who is invited — the thirsty, the willing — and who is not covered by this invitation.
- Understand what is being offered: the water of life, identified as the Holy Spirit and the Word, freely available.
- Name the conditions: the hearer must will to come and must actually come — both the desire and the act are required.
Thesis
The last words of Scripture before the benediction are not a command, a condemnation, or a prophecy — they are an invitation, and that invitation is deliberately open to anyone who will come.
Burden
The book of Revelation closes with a scene of cosmic completion: the new Jerusalem has descended, the river of the water of life flows from the throne, and the tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit. The final vision of Scripture is not darkness — it is a city whose gates are never shut, illuminated by the glory of God. And the last thing that city says before the benediction is: come.
Introduction
When God chose what the last Scripture of the Bible would communicate, every option was available to him. He could have ended with a doctrine, a command, a warning, a prophecy, or a doxology. He ended with an invitation. "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 wishes take the water of life without cost" (Rev. 22:17).
The outline calls attention to the setting: this is an important moment. The last Scripture to be written. The last word before the benediction of grace. What shall it be? More instruction? A condemnation? A promise? No — an invitation.
The placement is deliberate. God could not have ended the Bible with anything more characteristic of his nature than this. After sixty-six books of law, history, prophecy, gospel, and epistle — after the long story of human sin and divine patience, of covenant kept and broken and renewed — the last word God speaks before the close is: come.
I. By Whom Is the Invitation Given?
The invitation of Revelation 22:17 is not a single voice. It is a chorus.
- The Holy Spirit. The Spirit who moved over the waters at creation, who fell on the prophets, who filled Christ at his baptism, who descended at Pentecost and baptized the church into one body — this same Spirit now says, "Come." The invitation carries divine authority because it originates with God himself.
- The Bride — that is, the church. The church is described throughout Revelation as the Bride of Christ (Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9). The church that has received the invitation passes it on. The church's primary evangelistic function is not to argue, not merely to perform good works, but to say, "Come." Every congregation is an extension of this invitation.
- The believer — "the one who hears." Not only the institution of the church but every individual who has heard and come is asked to say "Come" to others. The invitation multiplies through personal testimony. Every Christian has heard this word and is commissioned to say it to the next person they know who has not yet come.
- God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit stand together behind the invitation. The Trinitarian fullness of the invitation guarantees that it is not a human program. Heaven itself is inviting. The Father prepared the place (John 14:2-3); the Son paid the price (Rev. 5:9); the Spirit extends the call (Rev. 22:17).
II. To Whom Is the Invitation Given?
The invitation is specific. It is not universal in the sense of guaranteeing salvation to everyone without condition — it is universal in the sense of being offered to anyone who meets the stated description.
- The thirsty — those who long for salvation, who sense their own emptiness, who recognize that what the world offers has not and cannot satisfy them. Spiritual thirst is a condition of receptivity. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6). The invitation is not for those who are full on other things but for those who know they are not.
- "Whosoever" — any man, regardless of race, history, prior failure, or social standing. The scope is without ethnic, cultural, or biographical limitation. The invitation crossed the wall between Jew and Gentile with the gospel (Acts 10); it crosses every other wall as well.
- "Will" — not merely "wishes to" but actually "wills to." The Greek thelō in this context carries the force of volitional determination, not mere wishing. The person who comes is one who has decided to come — who has passed from passive longing to active movement.
- No others are invited except those who "will." The invitation is wide open — but it is addressed to those who come. Those who hear and do not come are not covered by the invitation simply by having heard it. The thirsty who refuse to drink remain thirsty. The door stands open, but you must walk through it.
III. To What Is the Hearer Invited?
- "To drink" — to take and appropriate inwardly what is offered. Not to observe, not to admire, not to intellectually acknowledge — to drink. The drinking metaphor implies that what is offered must be internalized, received personally, not merely evaluated from a distance.
- "Water" — identified in the Gospel of John with the Holy Spirit and the Word. Jesus said to the woman at the well: "The water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). He said on the last day of the Feast: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water'" — and John clarifies: "But this He spoke of the Spirit" (John 7:37-39). The water of life is not a metaphor for a feeling. It is the Holy Spirit given to those who obey the gospel.
- "Of life" — that is, living water, water that satisfies permanently, water that springs up to eternal life rather than requiring constant return to the same cistern. The word the world offers is stale water that does not satisfy. The water of life offered in the invitation does not run out.
IV. The Conditions
The invitation is free — but it is not unconditional.
- Must will to do. The first condition is internal — a genuine decision of the will. Not a feeling that might come and go, not a vague spiritual interest, but a real act of the will: I am coming. The person who wills to come is ready to meet any further conditions because the will is already committed.
- Must take it, or do what is willed. The second condition is external — the act that follows the will. In Revelation 22:17, "take the water of life" is an imperative. The New Testament consistently presents salvation not as something received passively by those who mentally accept it, but as something received by those who respond — who believe, repent, confess, and are baptized (Acts 2:38). The will and the act belong together. James 2:17 is the parallel: "faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." A will to come that never arrives is not a will that has actually committed.
- "Freely" — without money (Isa. 55:1). The water is not priced. No one is refused entry because of poverty or social standing. No act of merit earns the water — it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9). The conditions are not payments; they are the door through which the gift is received. Repentance and baptism are not prices paid for forgiveness — they are the steps of coming to the water, the act of taking the cup and drinking.
Application
The last invitation in Scripture is the one you are hearing right now. Every time the gospel is preached, the Spirit and the Bride say "Come" again. The invitation is not closed. The gates of the New Jerusalem "will never be shut" (Rev. 21:25).
The question Revelation 22:17 presses is whether you are thirsty and whether you will come. Not whether you admire the invitation. Not whether you agree it is well-phrased or historically significant. Whether you are thirsty. Whether you will.
If you have been circling the water for years — curious, perhaps even convinced, but not yet willing — this is the text that calls that posture by its right name. You are standing outside with the invitation in your hand. Come.
If you are a Christian, you are part of the Bride who says "Come." The invitation is not yours to hoard. Every person in your life who has not yet come is still standing within earshot of this word. Say it.
Conclusion
The final word of the Bible before the benediction is an invitation. Not a threat, not a decree, not a doctrine, though doctrines and decrees and warnings are throughout the book. The last thing God says is: Come and drink. It is free. Come.
This is the character of God. Not that he is soft on sin — Revelation is full of the wrath of God poured out on unrepentant sin, and nothing in this sermon softens that. But the last move is grace. The last word is invitation. The God who judges is also the God who says, while there is still time to come: Come. And the offer will remain open until the moment it closes, which this sermon does not know.
What it knows is this: right now, the gates are open, the Spirit is calling, the Bride is saying "Come," and the water of life is free.
Invitation
This is the last invitation of Scripture — but it is spoken in the present tense, in this room, today. "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.'"
If you are thirsty — if you know that what you have been drinking from has not satisfied — come to the water. Believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. Repent of your sins. Confess his name before these witnesses. Be baptized for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). The water of life is free. The door is open. The Bride is waiting.
If you are a Christian who has wandered away from the water — confess to God and to this congregation, and drink again.
Come.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Come | erchou | an imperative | come, move toward, arrive | come, move toward, arrive; the single word of the invitation, addressed to the Spirit, the church, the believer, and finally the hearer | Rev. 22:17 |
| Thirsty | dipsōn | one who thirsts | specifically spiritual longing | specifically spiritual longing; the condition of the one to whom the invitation is addressed; "blessed are those who hunger and thirst" (Matt. 5:6) | Rev. 22:17 |
| Water of life | hydōr zōēs | living water, the water that gives and sustains eternal life | identified with the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39) and the Word (Eph | identified with the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39) and the Word (Eph. 5:26) | Rev. 22:17 |
| Freely / without cost | dōrean | as a gift, gratis, without price or merit | the character of the offer | the character of the offer; the conditions are not merit-payments but the steps of coming and drinking | Rev. 22:17 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| The last invitation — Spirit, Bride, believer, hearer; thirsty; freely | I–IV | Rev. 22:17 |
| The water Jesus offers springs up to eternal life | III | John 4:10, 14 |
| "If anyone is thirsty, let him come" — water identified as the Holy Spirit | III | John 7:37-39 |
| "Come to the waters…buy and eat without money" — the OT parallel invitation | IV | Isa. 55:1 |
| Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness | II | Matt. 5:6 |
| "Its gates will never be closed" — the door open as long as there is day | App. | Rev. 21:25 |
| Repent, be baptized, receive the Spirit — the act of coming and taking | IV | Acts 2:38 |
| Salvation by grace through faith, not of works — conditions are not merit | IV | Eph. 2:8-9 |
| The Father's house, the prepared place — the invitation has a destination | I | John 14:2-3 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 79 (formerly misindexed as #78 before the 2026-06-06 index correction). Primary text: Revelation 22:17 (stated by Boles). OCR fix: source shows "John 4:10, 12" — the relevant living-water text ending with a spring "to eternal life" is John 4:14, not 4:12; corrected. Doctrinal audit: invitation universal in scope but conditional on thirst and will; conditions (faith, repentance, baptism) framed as steps of coming to the water, not merit-payments; Acts 2:38 retained in invitation; no faith-only language.
