Come, Lord Jesus

Read aloud

John gives a solemn warning to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy in this book. Adding to the message would attach God's judgments to the person who does it; taking away from it would mean losing a share in the tree of life and the holy city. The warning treats God's testimony as something received, not as material that can be edited to protect our preferences.

That warning is not a command to silence careful study or to treat every interpretive disagreement as rebellion. It is a warning against changing what God has said—softening its calls to faithfulness, removing its exposure of evil, or adding confident claims that the prophecy itself does not make. Humility is part of handling a holy word honestly.

The one who testifies then says that He is coming soon. Revelation has spent its pages showing why that promise matters: evil will not rule forever, suffering will not be forgotten, and God's people will not remain separated from His presence. “Soon” gives the churches an urgent posture, but it does not hand us a calendar with which to predict dates or frighten other people.

John's answer is agreement and desire. He does not end by claiming to have solved every symbol; he asks for Jesus Himself to come. The final blessing also matters. A book that has spoken about judgment closes by placing grace with the saints, reminding the hearers that faithful endurance rests on the Lord's favor, not on their ability to master every mystery.