Revelation | May 18, 2026

Start your day with a short, Scripture-centered devotional from Paul Michael. In about seven minutes, you will hear the Word, reflect on its truth, and be encouraged to live it out in everyday life.

Revelation | The End

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Transcript

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Welcome to Your Daily Devotional with me, PMV. Today is our very last teaching on the book of Revelation. In fact, this is the 85th teaching on Revelation. I hope this has been a blessing to you. And as a reminder, before we get into it, for at least the next month, these devotionals will be on a weekly basis, Monday mornings, as we recalibrate some things. So please make sure you like, subscribe, hit the notification bell, follow whatever you need to do on whatever platform you're on to be notified of new content as we plan to ramp up things later this summer. So now let's look at our last passage in Revelation. Revelation 22, 13 reads, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Okay, this is another parallel with Revelation chapter 1. Like Revelation chapter 1, Jesus is speaking and he is using for himself an Old Testament designation for God. So as we know, Jesus is fully God, and he is the beginning and the end. He is the one all things were made through and for, and he is the one that all things are moving toward. He is the end. Verse 14 contains the final beatitude of Revelation. It reads, Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to eat, the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. So to enter into the gates of the city and to have the right to eat of the tree of life is to say, Blessed are those who will be found in heaven. But those who will be found in heaven are those whose genuine faith have also borne fruit, resulted in obedience. Once again, they do his commandments. There's just no substitute for obedience in the Christian life. Some of your Bibles may have the phrase, wash their robes, in place of do his commandments at the beginning of verse 14. This is called a textual variant. To keep it simple, the ancient Greek manuscripts that were used in the translation process of what eventually became the King James Bible had the phrase do his commandments. But many years after the King James Version, archaeology discovered older Greek manuscripts that predated the ones used in the making of the King James Bible. These older manuscripts have the phrase wash their robes. So whatever the original letter of Revelation had in this verse as John penned it, we always interpret scripture with scripture. So we know John is not teaching salvation by works. He is pronouncing a blessing on those who will be found in heaven. By contrast, those who are outside the New Jerusalem are described in verse 15. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. Again, sin will have no place in heaven, which is part of what will make it heaven. Verse 16 reads, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. The end of Revelation has so many parallels to the first chapter. In Revelation 1:1, we were told God the Father gave Jesus a message to send to the church, and Jesus sent it by way of an angel. Here, as the Revelation closes, we are reminded that the book of Revelation is a message from God to the church. It is a message of encouragement to hold fast until the end, but it's also a warning to not fall away. In verse 16, Jesus refers to himself in two ways. First, he is the root and offspring of David. We looked at this last week as we saw Jesus as the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant or previous times. But this is also a reference to Isaiah 11, where God promised to raise up a branch from David and a root from Jesse. Jesus is both the root of David, and that he is the one who created David, and he is the offspring of David, and that he came in the earthly line of David. Jesus made this clear in Matthew 22, verses 44 through 46, when the Pharisees tried to trap him in his words. He quoted Psalm 110, 1, and he said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my hand till I make your enemies your footstool. If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question him anymore. All right, the second way Jesus refers to himself is as the bright morning star. This is most likely a reference to Numbers 24, 17, and possibly Malachi 4.2. Numbers 24 is a prophecy about a star who would arise to rule over God's people and destroy their enemies. Malachi 4 is the last chapter of the Old Testament and speaks of a coming day of God and of a son of righteousness who will arise with healing in his wings. Next, the great invitation of God. Listen to Revelation 22, 17. And the Spirit and bride say, Come, and let him who hears say, Come, and let him who thirst come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Do you hear the heart of God? God says, Come to me. Come to me freely through the blood of my son. Just come to me. God does not desire to turn you away or to hold you at arm's length. God wants you to come to him and to be with him forever. The way to drink of the water of life freely, it's through Jesus. It's because he's already paid the price. That was what the cross was all about. The cross is where the price has been paid. Now you come to God freely through Jesus Christ. But don't delay, don't doubt. Just come to God through Jesus Christ. Our last four verses contain three things. They contain the last warning of the Bible, the last promise of the Bible, and the last benediction or blessing of the Bible. First, the last warning of the Bible. Revelation 22, 18 and 19 read, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in the book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in the book. Look, God takes his word seriously, and so should we. To add or to take anything away from the book of Revelation is to invite the wrath of God. But this principle is not just for the book of Revelation, it's for all of God's word. Think about it this way. What did Satan do in the garden? He twisted what God said to Eve. What did Satan do when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness? He quoted Scripture to Jesus to try and justify actions that would have been sinful for Jesus. To add or take away from God's word is to join Satan in his rebellion against God. Think about it. Satan quoted Scripture to try to tempt Jesus to sin. And to give into things that are against God and his will and to disobey him is to bear the fruit that you're not a child of God. I don't mean just asin. We all will sin from time to time. But to persist in that, to not repent, to not walk in righteousness, is to not bear the fruit of a child of God. Thus the last part of verse 19 reads, God shall take away his part from the book of life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in the book. Okay, does that mean that God takes away salvation from someone? No, it means they never had it. They didn't truly belong to him. Second is the final promise of the Bible. Verse 20 reads, He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus. For a third time in this chapter, Jesus says he's coming quickly. But this is more than a statement of hope. This is a promise. This is the last promise of Jesus. And Jesus always keeps his promises and fulfills his word. Think about that for a moment. The next thing on Jesus' calendar is his return. He's promised it. He's simply waiting for the Father to tell him, it's time. Okay, one day that promise will be fulfilled. We'll be with our Savior for all eternity. But now I want us to look finally at the final blessing or the benediction. Verse 21 reads, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. The Bible ends with grace. May the grace of Jesus be with you. What a wonderful way to end. And then comes the word, Amen. This is another way of saying, may it be. May all that has been said come to pass. There will be a day when we will not hope for anything. All of our hopes will be fulfilled. There is coming a day when we will not have to wait on God. We will dwell in His presence forever. There is coming a day when all we looked for, we will see. One day we will move from faith to sight. May the grace of God be with us all as we wait for our Savior to return and move us from faith to sight. Thank you for joining me today and through this series, through Revelation. Again, that's 85 episodes, 85 teachings on the book of Revelation. I hope this has been a blessing to you. For more information, go to pnvministries.org, and I hope you have a great day.