A Revelation of the Coming Kingdom
I. CONTEXT: A CALL TO PERSEVERE
A. The book of Revelation is an end-time manual for to help believers persevere (stay steady) until the coming of Jesus.
I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance (“patient endurance” (NIV)) which
are in Jesus (Rev.1:9 NASB)
B. In Rev.1:3, the Apostle John declares that there is a blessing for those who read, hear and keep the words of the
prophecy. The primary way in which believers will be blessed is by being equipped to overcome in the darkest season of
human history.
3Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it;
for the time is near.(Rev.1:3)
C. In Luke 18, Jesus questioned how many believers would stay faithful to Him (specifically in the arena of night
and day prayer) until the Day of His return. In this and other passages (Matt.24:10, 12-13; Mk.13:13), He implied that
few would endure until the end. Paul, specifically, tells us that there will be a great falling away from the faith before
the return of Jesus.
3Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first (2 Thess. 2:3)
D. The Book of Revelation is a call to the church to endure and stay faithful to Jesus in the midst of great tribulation
and temptation that will greatly increase on the earth as we approach the very end of the age.
E. The content of the book of Revelation was given by Jesus to the church not to terrify us nor to confuse us or
stimulate centuries of academic debate. It was given primarily to give us understanding of the great shakings that are
going to be released upon the earth by Jesus in order that we would not be shaken in mind or troubled (2 Thess.2:3).
It was given to help us make sense of all that is to come, that we would endure until the end.
F. The letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 center on the issue of overcoming in the midst of persecution
and divine delay. The remainder of the book contains information critical to help the church make sense of circumstances
and stay faithful in the midst if the greatest time of trouble that the world has ever seen.
II. THREE CENTRAL THEMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION
I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus (Rev.1:9
NASB)
The book of Revelation provides insight and understanding about three themes which are crucial for the end-time church
to understand: The coming kingdom of God, the tribulation (suffering) that God’s people will experience, and the
importance of endurance (perseverance) in the midst of negative circumstances.
A. The Kingdom
1. The book of Revelation is about the coming of God’s Kingdom to earth in fullness. It is the story of how God is
going to fully eradicate sin and wickedness from the earth and enforce His righteous rule over every people and nation,
culminating in the complete renewal of the Heavens and the Earth and the joining of all things in Heaven and Earth in
Christ (Eph.1:10) as God makes Earth His eternal resting place (Rev.21:3).
2. The book of Revelation gives us a glorious picture of the inheritance of the saints in God’s Kingdom and contrasts it
with the ultimate destiny of the wicked. Becoming familiar with the Hope of our Calling (Eph.1:18) is crucial to staying
steady in the end-times.
B. The Tribulation
1. The book of Revelation is also the Revelation of Jesus as the righteous judge of all the earth who is going to
shake everything that can be shaken (Heb. 12:26-28). This will happen most intensely during the final three and a half
years of history before the second coming. This time period is often referred to as the Great Tribulation because the
intensity of suffering that will be seen on the earth during that time will be unlike anything previously experienced
(Matt.24:21; Dan 12:1). Believers and unbelievers alike will experience great suffering and hundreds of millions will
be killed or die as the rage of Satan, the wickedness of man and the temporal judgments of God are released against
mankind in their greatest measure.
2. The book of Revelation pictures a church acquainted with great suffering at the hands of the Antichrist and his
world empire (Rev.6:9;7:14;11:7; 12:11;-12,17; 13:7; 16:6; 17:6), but who are un-offended in the midst of tribulation
because they are a people who know their God (Dan.11:32) and are able to make sense of the end time judgments of
God.
3. An understanding of all three realties of Jesus’ personality as Bridegroom, King and Judge is necessary to prepare
the church to go through suffering without offense. Many believers will fall away from faith in the end-times because their
understanding of God and His ways was inadequate (Matt 24:10).
4. Much of the church is unfamiliar with this “unpopular” face of Jesus as the judge and is offended by it, but it will be the
primary way in which Jesus is revealed at the end of the age. Many believers avoid reading the book of Revelation
because they cannot make sense of Jesus the judge. Rather than avoid this book, we need to become intimately
acquainted with this aspect of Jesus’ personality. It is only those who know their God in all dimensions that will be strong
in the midst of great trouble.
C. Perseverance (“Patient Endurance”)
1. The goal of the book of Revelation is to call the church to perseverance and victory in the midst of the great
shakings that will fill the earth that is going to come to the earth in the final hour. The church is not simply called to
“hang on by the fingernails” until He comes but to partner with Jesus as He releases end time judgments against
unrighteousness.
2. The book of Revelation provides a glorious picture of the church walking in partnership and victory with Jesus
at the end of the age. Understanding of the ultimate victory and glory of God’ kingdom together with a clear
understanding of the activity of Jesus in judgment, is designed to give God’s people grace to persevere in the midst
of great trouble so that, along with Paul, they can confidently say:
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be
revealed in us (Rom.8:18)
III. A VISION FOR THE KINGDOM
For the rest of this session we will give a brief overview of what the book of Revelation teaches us about God’s plan to establish
His Kingdom on the earth as it is in heaven. Our perseverance in prayer in the midst of great tribulation is powerfully
connected to understanding God’s glorious plan to rule over the whole earth and understanding our place in it.
28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb.12:28)
A. Paradise Restored
3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have
passed away." (Rev.21:3-4)
1. The goal of God in redemption is to restore everything that was lost at the Fall and return to the earth to dwell in
open communion with Man. The Bible starts with God dwelling with Man in the context of a Garden. The Bible ends with
the full restoration of Eden (or Paradise) as the curse is removed and righteousness again prevails on the earth.
2. God’s ultimate intention is to rejoin the heavenly and earthly realms together in Christ (Eph.1:10). Throughout the
OT, we see pictures and shadows of what God intends to do, in bringing His kingdom to the earth. In the book of
Revelation, we are given a glorious picture of what this will look like in fullness.
3. It was a vision of the future Kingdom that sustained the saints of old and which gives strength to our spirits as we
look for a City with Foundations. Those who overcome are those who live in this earth as aliens and strangers and
recognize that their citizenship in Heaven (Philip.3:20; Heb.12:9-10, 24-26)
16But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for
He has prepared a city for them (Heb.12:16)
4. As John receives the vision of the new heavens and the new earth, he is told to write, for these words are true and
faithful (Rev.21:5).The reality of that which is seen can be so much more powerful than that of the unseen realm. Unless
we become intimately acquainted with the reality and glory of the unseen kingdom, we will be open to deception as Satan
unsuccessfully attempts to counterfeit everything that God has promised to do perfectly (e.g. Rev.17-19).
"We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an
ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of
a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." C.S. Lewis – The Weight of Glory
B. Permanently Established
…the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever (Dan.2:44)
7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end (Is.9:7)
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32Though it is the smallest
of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and perch in its branches."(Matt.13:31-32)
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"(Rev.11:15)
25For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death (1 Cor.15:25-26).
1. The authority that Jesus won legally at the cross will be dramatically and completely enforced on the earth during a
thousand year period commonly known as the Millennium or Millennial Kingdom. Before heaven can come to the earth,
the earth must be restored to make it a compatible dwelling for a Holy God.
2. The ravaging effects of sin and disease will be removed from the earth as Jesus rules with His saints on the earth
for a thousand years after His second coming. It is a process of restoration (Acts 3:21), which will be gradual and
progressive rather than sudden and immediate.
6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.(Rev.20:6)
C. Present Reality
1. As we wait for the full restoration of the Kingdom of God over the whole earth, we are called to live as a people
who do the business of the Kingdom today. Jesus taught that the Kingdom is not simply a future hope but a present reality.
11 …He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear
immediately. 12Therefore He said: "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13
So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, "Do business till I come.' 14But his citizens hated
him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us.' 15"And so it was that when he
returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be
called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. (Luke 19:11-15)
2. We are called to pray for it’s full manifestation on earth as it is in Heaven, but as we wait, we are called to
demonstrate the authority of the kingdom in the sphere of influence that God has given us.
10Your kingdom come.Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt.6:10)
3. John saw himself as a present-tense participant in the kingdom. Though he was watching and waiting for its full
manifestation, he understood that, he was called to live as a citizen of the coming Kingdom in the here and now.
4. If we live with our focus exclusively on the “not yet” of the Kingdom (Millennial Reign of Jesus and age to come)
it can lead to passivity in contending for the manifestation of the Kingdom of God in the here and now through
demonstrations of the Holy Spirit. We know that one day Jesus will restore all things (see Acts 3:21) and we can be t
empted to live with a low expectation of how much He will accomplish before His return.
5. On the other hand, if we live with the expectation that the fullness of the kingdom is all in the “now”, there can be
a tendency to disillusionment when not everyone is healed, people reject the gospel and society is not completely transformed.
6. The safest place to live is in the “now and the not yet” where we understand that one day Jesus will make all wrong
things right, yet recognize that He has delegated His authority to us in the here and now and he really will break in with
demonstrations of his Kingdom by His Spirit, through the church. We know that he will not restore the whole earth until
He returns but he did not say, for example, he would not restore entire cities. We cannot say with certainty how much He
will give us this side of that day. Our responsibility is to maximize what we do with what He has given us.
D. The church of the end times will be a kingdom people who are aliens and strangers in this world. They are looking
for the city whose builder and maker is God, a city with foundations. They will have their hearts set on eternity and will
live to see the Kingdom of God established on earth as it is in heaven.