Jesus exhorts his disciples to servanthood, meekness and love because they will reign in a real government on the earth. The modern Church generally disregards discipleship and sanctification because immaterial “heaven” has no real government to prepare for. - John P. Harrigan

It is the judgment and righteousness of the coming kingdom that sets the standard for holiness in this age. Sanctification and a higher moral standard are not arbitrary realities given by God in this age before we die and go to an ethereal “heaven”; they are real standards that will be enforced on the earth in the age to come. -John P. Harrigan

“Discipleship” therefore (in light of the coming resurrection and kingdom) is simply training to reign. Because all government is based on love and ability, God has provided a context and opportunity for all the nations to be purified of selfishness, pride and greed and to be made worthy to rule over the earth in genuine love for its highest well-being.  - John P. Harrigan

Eschatology determines missiology. One’s understanding of the end logically determines the means to that end. Biblical eschatology is based on perfect cosmogeny, which sets the foundation and context for salvation at the end of the age. - John P. Harrigan

Theological confusion, especially in matters which have to do with the Church, will inevitably produce consequences which are of grave practical concern. 

The identification of the Kingdom with the Church has led historically to ecclesiastical policies and programs which, even when not positively evil, have been far removed from the original simplicity of the New Testament ekklēsia. It is easy to claim that in the “present kingdom of grace” the rule of the saints is wholly “spiritual,” exerted only through moral principles and influence. But practically, once the Church becomes the Kingdom in any realistic theological sense, it is impossible to draw any clear line between principles and their implementation through political and social devises. For the logical implications of a present ecclesiastical kingdom are unmistakable, and historically have always led in only one direction, i.e., political control of the state by the Church. 

The distances down this road traveled by various religious movements, and the forms of control which were developed, have been widely different. The difference is very great between the Roman Catholic system and modern Protestant efforts to control the state; also between the ecclesiastical rule of Calvin in Geneva and the fanaticism of Münster and the English “fifth-monarchy.” But the basic assumption is always the same: The Church in some sense is the Kingdom, and therefore has a divine right to rule; or it is the business of the Church to “establish” fully the Kingdom of God among men. 

Thus the Church loses its “pilgrim” character and the sharp edge of its divinely commissioned “witness” is blunted. -  Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God 

A wedding message I gave on the Wedding Supper of the Lamb from Revelation 19. Audio. 

This exhortation (to set our hope fully on the Day of the Messiah) is echoed throughout the parables, particularly the Parable of the Widow (cf. Lk. 18:1-8). The context of the parable is the suddenness of the Messiah’s coming (17:20-25) and the justice established in the days of Noah and Lot as a sign of the Day of the Lord (17:26-37). Thus, the point of the parable ultimately boils down to “faith” (18:8) in Jesus as Messiah and his appointment as judge of the heavens and the earth (cf. Jn. 5:22-29; Acts 10:42; 17:31; Rom. 14:9f; 2 Tim. 4:1-8; etc.).  - John P. Harrigan

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in… 32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. 33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? 35 Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (NIV Romans 11:25-36)  

Throughout the Scriptures, it is soteriological context that primarily defines worship rather than divine ontological attributes. It is the revelation of God’s absolute power and love over creation, culminating in the Day of the Lord, that evokes the greatest response of worship.   

The logical consequence of God’s absolute and benevolent sovereignty is the restoration of all things by his ordained means, i.e. the Messianic Seed (cf. Gen. 3:15). If God is a loving and all powerful Ruler over his creation, then the Day of the Lord ought to be expected. - John P. Harrigan

The worship of God’s sovereign governance over the heavens and earth is the eternal purpose of creation. However, after the Fall it becomes the anchor of hope for all creation, the navigational compass for our sojourning amidst evil and suffering in this age. -John P. Harrigan

My teaching on the introduction to the Sermon on the Plain from Luke 6. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

When the Church enters into mixture in its allegiance with the kingdoms of this age, its function is confused and its form is retarded. This allegiance is almost always due to an underlying theological distortion that identifies the Kingdom with present wealth and power (vs. that which the Church will receive upon Jesus’ return). - John P. Harrigan

As a nation without land, the Church is a “pilgrim nation,” submitting to the rebellious nations of the earth that God has sovereignly instituted and allowed to exist (cf. Mt. 17:27; Rom. 13:1ff; 1 Tim. 2:2; Tit. 3:1; 1 Pe. 2:13; etc.), until their judgment and the church’s allotted inheritance (cf. Heb. 9:15; 1 Pe. 2:11).  - John P. Harrigan

The day of the Lord is the predominant theme of the Scriptures. Moreover, it is the event that ultimately unifies the Christian and Jewish Scriptures, for all hold to the ultimate divine end that God “has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31). Furthermore, the day of the Lord is so dynamic and extraordinary that it creates a fundamental delineation of time: “this age” before the day and “the age to come” after the day (cf. Matt. 12:32; Eph. 1:21; Heb. 6:5). Human sin and depravity will progress until the end of this age when God judges humanity on the last day, rewarding the righteous with eternal life and punishing the wicked with eternal fire. Through the day of the Lord, God will initiate the age to come, which will go on in righteousness, peace, and joy for unending ages (i.e., “eternity”).  - John P. Harrigan, The Gospel of Christ Crucified, p.3

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Luke 23:42) A beautiful and effective prayer. We are all, down to the last man, nothing more than the thief on the cross.  - Travis M. Snow

Genesis 4 through Malachi 4 is not just "background information" to the "real story" of Jesus and the church. Unless we first understand what the Law, Prophets, and Writings meant for 1st century Jews, we don't have much of a chance of rightly understanding the words of Jesus. - Joshua Hawkins

5 The earth also shall yield its fruit ten-thousandfold and on each vine there shall be a thousand branches, and each branch shall produce a thousand clusters, and each cluster produce a thousand grapes, and each grape produce a core of wine. 6 And those who have hungered shall rejoice: moreover, also, they shall behold marvels every day. 7 Four winds shall go forth from before Me to bring every morning the fragrance of aromatic fruits, and at the close of the day clouds distilling the dew of health. 8 And it shall come to pass at that self-same time that the treasury of manna shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years, because these are they who have come to the consummation of time. 2 Baruch 29:5-8

Jesus did not “declare all foods clean”. It’s time to retire this drastically misleading mistranslation.  - Logan Williams 

-- The Bible's bookends -- Genesis 1-2: God on the planet, tree of life, no death Revelation 21-22: God on the planet, tree of life, no death Many Christians wrongly see the beginning as tangible and earthly, but the end as ethereal and heavenly. - Joshua Hawkins

Because the day of the Lord and the age to come are markedly punitive in nature, this age is broadly defined by divine mercy. Everything that happens before the last day must be understood as a restraint of divine wrath and judgment upon sin. This age is this age because the day of judgment has not yet arrived. Indeed, God is patient, not wanting any to perish but all to repent and be saved (2 Peter 3:9). As such, the event of the cross exemplifies all divine activity during this age. God has ultimately shown humanity his mercy and love by offering his Son in order that we might be saved from the wrath to come (cf. John 3:16; Rom. 5:8–9; Titus 3:4–7). This age, therefore, can broadly be described as “cruciform” (i.e., shaped like the cross), while the age to come is generally “apocalyptic” (i.e., established by the day of the Lord). If we seek to describe biblical theology as a whole, it is best summarized as cruciform apocalypticism.  - John P. Harrigan, The Gospel of Christ Crucified, p.3

My teaching on Jesus's relationship to the Sabbath and the calling of the 12 disciples from Luke 6. Notes. Audio 1. Audio 2. 

“De esto estoy seguro, que el que comenzó en vosotros la buena obra, la perfeccionará en el día de Jesucristo. Fil 1:6

La escatología impulsa el discipulado. Sin él, la iglesia vaga de un lado a otro sin dirección ni propósito.” - John P. Harrigan

Yes, in our fallen world of suffering, death can bring an end to often excruciating physical pain, but that does not make death your ‘friend’ any more than passing through a doorway engulfed in flames to escape a burning building makes the wall of flame your friend. - Dr. Micheal Svigel, Fathers on the Future, p.275

“Scripture and traditional Christian faith are clear that death is the enemy of humanity. In fact, death is the enemy of all creation; the victory over death is resurrection and restoration of all creation (Rom 8:18–25).” - Dr. Micheal Svigel, Fathers on the Future, p.275

“Death is not our friend. Death is the enemy (1 Cor 15:26). 

This fact is often forgotten in many Christian circles, especially when funerary sentimentality gets in the way of sound doctrine—when statements abound like ‘Don’t cry for him; he’s more alive than ever’ or ‘She’s finally been made fully whole’ or ‘That body isn’t him, he’s in heaven.’” - Dr. Micheal Svigel, Fathers on the Future, p.275

“From a biblical-theological perspective, the ‘second coming’ involves the entire period of the seven-year tribulation as well as the eternal reign of Christ on earth. His second coming is first manifested indirectly as he fulfills YHWH’s role in a theophanic ‘coming’ in judgment—that is, throughout the whole tribulation.” - Dr. Micheal Svigel, Fathers on the Future, p.250

“Irenaeus articulated quite explicitly not only a futurist view of the impending Day of the Lord but also fleshed out details of the reign of antichrist, which will take place in a future seventieth week of Daniel 9. This perspective, he says, he received not only from the Gospels, Paul’s epistles, and the book of Revelation, but also from his own teachers who received this eschatology from the apostles themselves.” - Dr. Micheal Svigel, Fathers on the Future, p.219

The descriptions of the New Zion presuppose a new temple, for no good Israelite could think of one without the other - RJ  McKelvey

Above all else, authentic eschatological hope will produce perseverance among the saints, both Jew and Gentile. 

The sacrificial death of the Messiah secures this eschatological hope, and the Spirit of the Messiah guarantees it. -John P. Harrigan

John Piper ~ Prosperity Gospel

“In classic Irenaean premillennial eschatology, the coming ultimate tribulation period (Dan 12:1–12; Matt 24:21–22) is the same as the ultimate Day of the Lord (1 Thess 5:1–9; 2 Thess 2:2–12), which is also the same period as the seventieth week of Daniel 9:27, all of which are described in other passages related to the ultimate coming judgment prior to the coming kingdom (e.g., Jer 30:7; Dan 7:25; Rev 7:14; Rev 11–13).” -Dr. Micheal Svigel, Fathers on the Future, p.212