Revelation 22:21

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints, Amen.

This conclusion stands in the same category as the precious benedictions of Paul in the rest of the New Testament. "It is surely symbolical, and it is surely fitting, that the last words of the Bible should be GRACE!"[97]

Revelation is written for the saints, to them alone it is spoken; they alone can keep it. Let no man think that if he has not already found Christ that he may find him here. Here indeed, faith and love are the key to knowledge.[98]

Strauss made the similar observation that, "Revelation is not for the curiosity seeker or for religious fanatics, but for all those who would continue to the end."[99]

As we meditate upon this, the last verse of the New Testament, we feel something of the emotions of many others who have concluded similar studies in the word of God. Carpenter concluded with this prayer:

May He (who alone can) open our eyes to see the shining towers of the Heavenly Jerusalem; and may he unseal our ears, and bind us by his love to that sweet service and citizenship which are perfect freedom, and bring us to that spiritual city which is full of divine enchantment.[100]

Adam Clarke composed a few lines of poetry, the first two (lines) regarding himself, and the last four for his readers:

Like travelers when they see their native soil, Writers rejoice to terminate their toil. My latest labour's end at length is gained, My longest journey's welcome goal attained, By God's assistance has the work been wrought, By his direction to your dwellings brought.[101]

Our own thoughts area strange mingling of joy and sorrow. We praise God that, through some twelve years of intensive New Testament study, life, vigor, and health have been graciously preserved by the Lord, and that my precious wife, Thelma, has likewise been preserved and blessed as a sharer in these labors. But no joy of completion can equal that of having been permitted to think God's thoughts after him and to pursue the sacred writings with invariable purpose for so long. The conclusion of any worthy effort of such duration is necessarily also an occasion of melancholy. An era in our lives is over; and through our tears we write, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Houston, Texas, March 17,1979.

[97] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 232.

[98] Charles H. Roberson, Studies in Revelation (Tyler, Texas: P. D. Wilmeth, P.O. Box 3305,1957), p. 198.

[99] James D. Strauss, op. cit., p. 295.

[100] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 637.

[101] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible (London: Carlton and Porter, 1829), VI, p. 170.