And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. -- Revelation 22:17 (KJV)
Near the end, Jesus signs the book in His own name. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. Then the titles He picks: the root and the offspring of David — ancestor and descendant of the same man — and the bright and morning star, the one that comes up while it is still dark out.
What follows the signature is an invitation.
Everybody in the Room Is Saying It
The Spirit says Come. The bride, meaning the church, says Come. Then the sentence turns and hands the word to somebody else: let him that heareth say, Come.
Follow that. A person hears the invitation, takes it, and the next thing he is handed is the invitation to say. Nobody in the arrangement stays a spectator. Whoever received it last is the one issuing it next, which is how it traveled out of an upper room in Jerusalem and into whatever room you are sitting in.
The Only Condition Named
Let him that is athirst come.
Sit with how little that asks. Not qualification, not readiness — thirst, which is the one thing you cannot fake for long and cannot work up on purpose. You either want water or you don't.
Then: whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Take is a verb for the person who is thirsty, and freely settles the price. Whatever it cost to fill that river, the drink is not for sale.
Open Is Not Empty
An open door and no door are different things.
The same vision said two days ago what does not enter that city: anything that defiles, anything that works abomination, anything that makes a lie. Both sentences stand, and they were never at odds. The invitation goes out to anyone; the city stays clean because of what happens to the people who accept it. Whosoever will tells you how wide the door is, not how many walk through.
The last offer recorded in Scripture is water, it costs nothing, and it is worded so that no one can read himself out of it.
