Revelation in My Pocket

The message of Revelation is Hallelujah, Jesus Reigns, and in these final two chapters, we can summarize the text to: Worship God.

With all of our knowledge now through studying Revelation and honing in on these two main themes, the question is, "What manner of people should we be?"

This text has the power to transform us, and this truth should enlighten how we spend our last days on earth.

After reading 2 Peter 3:11-13, we learn that we ought to be:

1. Confident

There are many reasons not to be confident. Yet, having seen the Revelation unfolded to us by heaven through the apostle John, we ought to be the most confident people on the planet.

Everything could fall apart around us, but our guide is Reigning Jesus.

He is coming to call the shots, be fully revealed, unquestioned, in a high position, on a white horse, glorious and majestic.

We all know how it ends because God was gracious in showing us.

Because of this, our confidence should increase, informing how we communicate about everything.

The plan is that Jesus reigns. The details may not be obvious, but we can be confident that Jesus is the end.

The Orthodox Pillars of Revelation

1. Jesus will bodily return to earth as a conquering King.
2. Jesus will cast out Satan forever.
3. Jesus will right all wrongs and is making all things new.
4. God will judge the living and the dead.
5. Believers/saints will live with God forever in the new heaven and new earth.
6. The unrighteousness will be eternally separated from God in everlasting suffering.

God is Sovereign over everything, bringing everything to its appointed conclusion at His appointed time and leading us every step of the way.

2. Heavenly

We should be different, distinct, not-worldly, peculiar.

Instead of thinking, "now then there," God wants us to think, "now and there."

Your future begins now.

Instead of "here then there," we can reframe the thinking again to "here and there."

You're already in the resurrection and the victory story. (Philippians 3:17-21)

We're already citizens of heaven, and the world needs people to show the world what the Holy City looks like.

Ephesians 2:4-7 shows that we ought to start taking authority over our lives, minds, thoughts, bodies, families, neighborhoods, communities, and nations. We ought to be carriers of the position of where we sit in Christ. We live so far lower than our standing in Christ.

God wants to ensure you have your life over the Revelation story so you can live with that reality in mind.

3. Discerning

Discerning—alert, awake, perceptive, wise.

We should pray consistently for discernment—the ability to look at the counterfeit and identify the authentic. To look through the haze and see what is real. The counterfeit is getting bolder and brighter, and we want to be people who can see behind the curtain.

We have become way too familiar with taking whatever is offered to us. How are we going to know what is real? By being connected with Jesus and being saturated in His Word.

In Philippians 1:9-11, Paul prays for insight to discern what is best. Not what is biggest and the most bold, but what is pure and blameless. You cannot go wrong by praying and asking God for the gift of discernment to be strengthened.

We see the counterfeit trying to look as close to the real thing. Lucifer was a massively bright angel before he fell out of heaven, but he ultimately refused to glorify God. When we read 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, we read about people masquerading as apostles of Christ. More than ever, we need discernment in our pockets at the end of the age.

God is perpetually showing the way of the light; we must look.

4. Generous

We are traveling with gold in our pockets (the Word of God), and because of what we have read, we want to be generous. We want to be especially generous with the Good News of mercy, grace, and God's coming judgment.

We have keys in our pockets with one name that we are meant to give to others.

If the enemy can make us stingy with the Good News that sets us free from God's wrath, he wins.

We have Revelation in our pocket, and we want to be generous with sharing it.