LISTEN
NASB:
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in the book.
NIV:
And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are written in this book.
Observations:
This is a chilling warning about the consequences of tampering with God’s word, and it comes in the final chapter near the very end of the entire Bible.
Implicit in this verse is that believers have a share in the tree of life and in the holy city. Those truths are written in the book of Revelation.
But taking away from the word of God — preaching a false gospel or distorting the truth of his word — will result in the removal of the offender’s share in the eternal reward.
Takeaways:
Understand the word of God. In order to teach the word, we must understand it. And we can’t understand it without studying it constantly and relentlessly.
Share and teach the entire word. As we tell others about the gospel, we must teach the entire word of God.
