BELIEVERS SHOULD LOOK BEYOND THE KINGDOM

Revelation is divided into three parts:  "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter" (Rev. 1:19).  Revelation 1:20 defines the first two.  John wrote:  "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest (past tense) in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are (present tense) the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches."  Therefore, chapter one are things John had already seen.  Chapter two and three are written in the present tense, and are describing things John observes on earth (the 2000 year Church Age - a mystery (Eph. 3:1-12) which was hidden from Israel, and which takes place between Daniel's 69th and 70th weeks of years - Dan. 9:24-27).

Now notice that in chapter four, the scene changes and John is seeing the future while in heaven.  He wrote:  "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter" (Rev. 4:1).  So, from this verse until the end of the Book of Revelation, John attempts to describe his vision of the future.  In addition, those of us who believe the Rapture of the Church takes place prior to God's wrath being poured out during the seven-year Tribulation, see John's ascension as a picture of that event.

What we see in chapters four and five, might be described as John's first impression of heaven!  Then in chapters six through eighteen, the seven-year Tribulation (described in Mt. 24:3-28), also known as the "Time of Jacob's Trouble" (Jer. 30:7), and "Daniel's Seventieth Week" (Dan. 9:27).  Chapter nineteen describes Christ's Second Coming.  The long-awaited kingdom has finally become a reality in chapter twenty:    

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:1-6).

Then Satan joins the Antichrist and False Prophet in the lake of fire, as do those whose names are not found in the Lamb's Book of Life (Rev. 20:7-15).  THEN:  Well let's just say it's all good!