Kingdom Disciples

Through a series of seven beatitudes, Revelation summons believers to faithfulness despite hostility, tribulation, and persecution . The  Book of Revelation  is not a tool of divination for deciphering future mysteries and events. Instead, it is a summons for God’s people to become vigilant, live righteously, and persevere in testimony during persecution and other trials. Its concern is not when certain events will occur, but how the Assembly of God must “ overcome ” and thus arrive at the city of “ New Jerusalem .”

The terms “ tribulation ” and “ wrath ” are  NOT  synonymous in Paul’s letters or the  Book of Revelation . “ Tribulation ” is what the disciples of Jesus endure for his sake. “ Wrath ” is the horrific fate that awaits the wicked at the final judgment. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes that God did not appoint them to “ wrath .” Yet, in the same letter, he states that believers are destined for “ tribulation .”

At the start of his vision, John identified himself as a “ fellow participant ” with the Assemblies of Asia in “ the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus .” He was banished to the Isle of Patmos for his “ testimony ” for Jesus, and like the seven congregations on the Asian mainland, he had endured “ tribulation ” for the sake of the “ Kingdom ” and his witness for the exalted Sovereign over all things, the “ Ruler of the Kings of the Earth .”

Jesus will return from Heaven at the “ end ” of the present age accompanied by great power and glory. His “ arrival ” or  Parousia  will result in the consummation of the Kingdom of God, the judgment of the ungodly, the resurrection and vindication of the righteous, the unveiling of the New Creation, and the termination of Death. Thus, the coming of the “ Son of Man on the Clouds ” will be an event of  GREAT FINALITY .

In his second epistle, Peter addresses the growing weariness of some believers due to the apparent delay in or even the failure of the “ arrival ” of Jesus to materialize, an open door for false teachers and outside critics to exploit. Instead of the predicted terrestrial and cosmic upheaval, daily life was continuing as it always had. The Apostle’s explanation is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago.

Jesus charged his followers with announcing the same message he preached, He summarized it as the “ Good News of the Kingdom of God .” His Church would establish God’s Kingdom in unexpected and paradoxical ways. By his return, he will establish his complete sovereignty over the nations and subdue all his “ enemies ,” including “ Death .” Until then, his disciples must proclaim his message to the “ uttermost parts of the Earth .”