The Call of the Wishful | Reflections
Revelation 22:17
Dr. W. A. Criswell
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]
Someone has said the elect are the whosoever wills, and the nonelect are the whosoever won’ts. This message is for you who will say to the Lord God, “I will.”
The text is the last invitation in the Bible: the Spirit of God pleads with a man to come, the bride of Christ, the church, pleads with a man to come.
No one in all the earth is happier to see a man turn and accept Christ as his Savior as the church.
This is God’s last, open, wide invitation to the incorrigible, obstreperous, evil, and iniquitous children of old man Adam.
And this message is in that construction and in that context, ho thelon, “Whosoever will, let him come. Let him take the water of life freely.”
The Spirit of the Lord inspired the apostle John, saying,
“Don’t write there, ‘ho ginoskon, whosoever understandeth, let him come.’
“Don’t write there, ‘ho lambanon, whosoever receiveth, let him come.’
“Don’t write there, ‘ho paschon, whosoever feeleth, let him come.’
“Don’t write there, ‘ho pisteuon, whosoever believeth, let him come.’
“Don’t write there, ‘ho philon, whosoever loveth, let him come.’
“But John, in this last epistle write there, ‘ho thelon, whosoever will, let him come.’
I’ll receive him, blot out his sins, write his name in the Book of Life, regenerate his life now, and save him to heaven in the world that is to come. Ho thelon, whosoever will, let him come.”
You see, the invisible “me” that lives on the inside of this house is made up of three parts. I am a tripartite creation of mind, emotion, and will.
You just see this house of dirt and ground and corruption in which I live. Now, where is the seat of salvation? Where am I saved in those three categories?
Am I saved in my mind? Instead of education moving toward God and moving the people toward God, it seems to me it has a tendency to interdict them, to be an obstacle, to move away from God.
Is it in my emotions, my feelings? Feeling rises and falls. Emotion comes and goes, and I tell you truly, whenever you tie your religion to your feelings, it will drag you to death.
God says the seat of salvation is in our will. It is in our volition. It is in a decision and a commitment that we make; ho thelon: “Whosoever will, let him come.” It is in a decision that I make for God. That’s where I am saved.
I’m not saved because I’m educated or brilliant. I’m not saved because I’m full of feeling or emotion. I’m saved because God said, “Come,” and I answered with my life. “Whosoever will, let him come, and take the water of life freely.”
