Themes in Revelation: Patient Endurance

Week 13, Saturday: The Assurance of Things Hoped For
The writer of Hebrews says that faith is the “assurance of things hoped for” and the “evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11.1: my translation). Strong faith – faith that enables us to overcome in Jesus – depends on things hoped for, but unseen.

Can you see why the book of Revelation is so important for believers in every age?

Read Revelation 19

Meditate on the following passages from Revelation
1.      Summarize all the “unseen things” revealed to John in the book of Revelation. To what extent, and in what particular ways, do these unseen things factor into your daily walk with and work for the Lord?

2.      The greatest unseen thing is that which we “hope for” most of all, and which Revelation 19 introduces. Which parts of this chapter should give us hope? Why? How should that hope work down into our daily practice of faith?

3.      If we really hope for what we see in Revelation 19, what “evidence” of that hope should be forthcoming in our lives? How can believers help one another to demonstrate such evidence?

4.      How does the hope revealed in Revelation 19 – as well as in Revelation 21 and 22 – give us assurance? What is assurance? Of what are we assured? Why? How should that assurance affect our holding fast to our testimony and keeping the commandments of God?

5.      It seems pretty clear that the “patient endurance” we have in Jesus depends in large part on (1) our vision of unseen things and (2) our living each day in the light of those. Explain.
 

My Reflection
Would you say that you have a “vision” of Christ exalted and returning in glory? What role does that vision play in your daily walk with and work for the Lord?

The Glory of God
Is God glorified when believers talk with one another about “unseen things”? Why or why not?

Glory to Glory
The glory of God which we see in our vision of unseen things gives us the assurance we need to live for Christ, so that the evidence of our faith redounds to the glory of God in every aspect of our daily lives. Meditate on 2 Corinthians 3.12-18. How does Paul explain this “glory to glory” process?

Memorize
Recite John 16.33. Share this verse and what you’ve learned from it with a fellow believer today.

Closing Prayer
Compose a brief prayer based on the unseen things of the book of Revelation. Begin praying that prayer daily.

T. M. Moore

Download the studies for week 13, and all previous weeks, by clicking here.

The book of Revelation is the culminating episode in the story of God’s covenant. To learn more about that covenant, and to discover the way it integrates all of Scripture into the Gospel of Jesus Christ, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.