Disciples of Hope - Revelation (Part 2)

This is our Sunday teaching by Senior Pastor Tom Thompson. Recorded live at our Sunday Service in Harris Academy Purley, Croydon on Sunday 7th June, 2026.

It is the second part of Tom’s teaching on Revelation - we are preparing a fuller resources page on the wonderful book of Revelation which we will share in due course!

Below you can find the full talk audio, and a summary article.

Talk Summary - The War Is Won, But the Battle Is Real

This Sunday, we continued our journey through the book of Revelation, looking at chapters 12 to 20 — some of the strangest, most vivid and most unsettling chapters in the Bible.

Dragons. Beasts. Battles in heaven. Marks on foreheads. A woman pursued into the wilderness. It can feel overwhelming. But Revelation is not trying to confuse us. It is using powerful images to show us what is really going on beneath the surface of ordinary life.

And the central message is good news: Jesus has already won the war.

Through his death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus has defeated the powers of evil. Satan has been disarmed. The accuser has been thrown down. The victory is not in doubt.

But Revelation also tells us that the battle is still real.

The enemy may have lost the war, but he has not stopped fighting. And two of his main weapons are accusation and temptation.

First, there is a battle for our minds. Revelation describes the devil as “the accuser” — the one who pours out accusation against God’s people. Sometimes that accusation sounds like old family scripts, painful words from the past, inner discouragement, shame, comparison, or the quiet lie that we have nothing to offer.

But against that quiet, constant accusation, Revelation gives us a louder sound: the shout of heaven. Salvation has come. The kingdom has come. The authority of Christ has come.

That means our past does not have the final word. Our failures do not define us. Our weakness is not the deepest truth about us. Jesus’ forgiveness, power and authority are now available to us.

Second, there is a battle for our bodies. Revelation’s strange imagery of the beast and the mark is not about microchips, vaccines or conspiracy theories. It is about allegiance. Will we use our bodies — our words, our sexuality, our money, our work, our choices — in worship of Jesus, or in agreement with the values of the age?

Small acts of obedience matter. Choosing truth when a lie would be easier matters. Choosing holiness when compromise is available matters. Choosing forgiveness, generosity, courage and faithfulness matters.

Revelation tells us that these ordinary decisions echo in the heavenly realms.

The war is won. But what we do still counts.

So this week, let’s tune our minds to the shout of heaven, not the whisper of accusation. Let’s offer our bodies to Jesus in simple, costly obedience. And let’s remember: we stand with the Lamb, and his victory is sure.