18. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Here is the most solemn warning against any one who should presume to corrupt the prophecies of the Revelation by adding to or taking away from them. Nor was such a warning needless. This book contains the long history of God's church, and also the history of all her persecutors, painted in colors of deepest infamy, and the final doom that awaits them. These enemies were to ride in triumph over the earth during a long career of centuries, when the children of God should be trodden down beneath their feet, as it were, while they boasted themselves as being the true church, the anointed of heaven. These Revelations were to be handed down to succeeding generations through these very persecutors. The great whore of Babylon had her likeness taken and then committed to her for preservation. Would she not falsify them? Nearly all the early records of the church have been corrupted by the church of Rome. For ages it has been a doctrine of that institution that pious fraud was consistent and even commendable when practised to further the influence of that church. Yea, she has proclaimed openly and unblushingly that if her cause could be promoted by deception and lies they were perfectly justifiable; and her practise has been consistent with her teachings. In view of the fact that God's Word was to pass through the depths of this "mystery of iniquity," it is not surprising that we find annexed to this concluding portion of Holy Writ the awful anathema: "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
20. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
What importance is attached to the second coming of Christ! Over and over again it is stated distinctly. It is the grand climax unto which all the series of events in this book leads.
"Are you ready, waiting for the Lord?
See, the signs proclaim him near;
In the awful thunders of his Word,
Now his coming steps we hear.
"Now are many running to and fro,