Will you please turn to the book of Revelation?
We will read the whole chapter.
And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to break the seals thereof?
And no one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look thereon.
And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look thereon.
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book and the seven seals thereof.
And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.
And He came, and He took it out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.
And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with Thy blood men of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth.
And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
saying with a great voice, Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, heard I saying, Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever.
And the four living creatures said, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshiped.
And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever.
And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God,
saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, Who art and Who wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together this morning. We want to thank Thee because we know that it is Thy will that we should see Thee, know Thee, obey Thee, and be possessed by Thee.
So, Lord, we just present ourselves before Thee as the redeemed of the Lord. We pray, Lord, that Thou wilt speak to us, touch us, and open our eyes. Give us the spirit of wisdom and understanding, that we may really see Thy beauty, that we may be so overwhelmed by Thy glory that we truly become worshipers.
And we want to give Thee all the praise. In Thy precious name we pray. Amen.
As we mentioned yesterday morning, this time we would like to consider together before the Lord a key to Revelation.
Oftentimes among God’s people, there is a wrong kind of feeling, thinking that Revelation is a closed book. It is a book that is way beyond our understanding, and for this reason many of God’s people do not read the book of Revelation.
But as we open this book, the first thing that meets our eyes is, “Blessed are those who hear the words, and those who read, and those who keep.” In other words, there is a special blessing upon this book of Revelation.
Now, why is this so? Because it is the concluding summing up of all the revelations of Jesus Christ throughout the whole book of the Bible. And if we do not read this, we really miss a great deal.
It is given to us. And if we are truly His bondmen, if we truly give ourselves completely to Him and have our ears pierced, our lives surrendered to Him, this book should be an open book to us.
The reason why God’s people feel confused is because they are bound down with prophetic events. Naturally, we are all curious. We like to know what is going to happen, and we like to figure out not only how these events will come and go, but even the timing of them. There is such a temptation there.
Now, our Lord Jesus told us that nobody knows the date; only the Father knows. But unfortunately, we find in church history that there are so many people who will tell us that on certain days the Lord would come. Of course, we find that the dates they suggested came and passed, and nothing happened.
Brothers and sisters, this is a book of prophecy; that is true. But I believe that God reveals to us these words of prophecy not that we may become prophets.
God gives us these words of prophecy for one reason, and it is said in Revelation 19:10:
The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
In other words, God is not interested in events. God is only interested in His beloved Son. Through these words of prophecy, He tries to reveal to us Jesus Christ. Therefore, this book is called the revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is a revelation of Jesus Christ given to His bondmen.
So may we really appreciate this book, and through this book, by the grace of God, may we see a fuller, a full-picture revelation of our Lord Jesus.
Yesterday morning, we began with the revelation of Jesus Christ in relation to the church, and this is recorded in the first three chapters.
We mentioned yesterday that John, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus, was exiled to the island of Patmos. And on the Lord’s Day, he heard a voice like a trumpet.
When he looked back, he saw a vision: seven golden lampstands, with One like unto the Son of Man in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. This is a vision of our risen, ascended Lord with His church on earth.
These seven assemblies not only represent the church toward the end of the first century, but prophetically they represent the churches of all generations.
And we find that our Lord Jesus, after His ascension, is doing the most important work at the right hand of His Father. We are familiar with His ministry, with His work on earth, but we are very much lacking in the knowledge of what our Lord Jesus is doing in heaven.
And this is what the book of Revelation reveals to us. That is why we say Revelation is the concluding revelation of Jesus Christ.
Thank God, when our Lord Jesus was on earth, as the Apostle of God, the sent One of God, He accomplished a mission that was, humanly speaking, impossible. There we find our Lord Jesus crucified on the cross, taking our sins upon Himself and redeeming us.
He said, “It is finished.” The work of redemption is finished. And because He finished the work on earth, He laid the foundation, as it were, of the church while He was on earth.
Then He ascended up to heaven, and there you find that in heaven He is building His church. He is the royal High Priest, ministering in the true tabernacle, not made by man. This is the scene that we see in Revelation 1, 2, and 3.
Our Lord Jesus has revealed Himself to His people. In His revelation to His people, He commits His testimony to the church. This is what the church is for. The church is the golden lampstand, and the responsibility of the church is to uplift Christ.
So here you find our Lord Jesus as the royal High Priest. He is walking among the seven churches. He is seeing whether the light is burning, whether His testimony is shining.
And if He sees that there is something missing, then we find that He will minister to the church. He will either take away the scorched wick, or He will pour oil into it so that the light will be burning. That is the ministry of our Lord Jesus in heaven.
As we mentioned yesterday morning, toward the end, what do we see in the church today? If we look into ourselves, or if we look around into the assemblies of God throughout the whole earth, probably we will be very disappointed and discouraged.
We may think that the church, as the glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, fit for the Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus, is impossible.
Probably you have already heard that once our dear brother T. Austin-Sparks asked our dear brother Watchman Nee, “What is the hardest prophecy to be fulfilled in the Bible?” And our brother Watchman Nee replied, “Ephesians chapter 5: a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, fit for the Bridegroom, our Lord Jesus.”
Humanly speaking, this is the hardest prophecy to be fulfilled. But thank God, because our Lord Jesus, after He finished His work on earth, on the foundation of what He has done on earth, has been and is still building His church, making His church a glorious church, just as He is glorious, and without any spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Humanly, this seems impossible, but nothing is impossible with God. And what our Lord Jesus is doing in heaven is building His church, that the church may be a reflection, a total reflection, of Himself, without any shade, without any distortion, just as He is.
If He is going to do it, He will do it. How do we know? Because when you come to the last two chapters of Revelation, Revelation 21 and 22, you see the New Jerusalem, a giant lampstand. There everything speaks of Christ. The glory of that city is the glory of God. So we know that it will be fulfilled.
Brothers and sisters, if we try to see it today with our naked eyes, we will not see it. There is no perfect church that you can find. As someone said, “If there is a perfect church, if you join it, it becomes imperfect.”
But if you see with the eyes of faith, do not look at the environment. Do not look at appearance. Look off unto Jesus. And the more you look unto Him, the great royal High Priest ministering to His church, the more you believe, the more hopeful you are, knowing that it will be done.
So, brothers and sisters, one day we will all be rejoicing in that New Jerusalem, that glorious church fit for the Bridegroom. Now, that is what we considered together yesterday morning.
Now, this morning we would like to go into another thing, and that is the revelation of Jesus Christ in relation to the world.
This we find from Revelation 4 up to Revelation 19. There, in this section, we see the Lamb on the throne.
Now, brothers and sisters, we are familiar with our Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God. Why? Because in the Gospel according to John we are shown this.
We all know that of the four Gospels, John is the only Gospel that not only records the life of our Lord Jesus, but really explains it. It goes into the meaning of Christ.
That is the reason why you find it begins:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
In the Gospel of John 1:29, our Lord Jesus, after He was baptized, was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness. There He was tempted by the devil forty days and forty nights, and He overcame the enemy.
He came back, and when John saw Him in John 1:29, John said:
Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.
Then the next day John was with his two disciples, and our Lord Jesus was coming by. John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” And you remember the story: the two disciples of John left John and followed Jesus.
So when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He was the Lamb of God.
Now, when did He begin to be the Lamb of God? Did He begin to be the Lamb of God after the incarnation?
If you read 1 Peter 1:19, it speaks of the fact that we are not redeemed by corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but by precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot—the blood of Christ.
Who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake.
So here you find in 1 Peter that even before the foundation of the world, He was foreknown by God as the Lamb.
Now, in order that we may understand what is going on, let us use human expressions, because that is the only way we can understand. In the beginning, the beginning of all beginnings, there was God—just God.
But with God there was the Word. There was His expression, His image, His speech, His Logos.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
So we see that even in eternity past, where there was absolutely nothing but God Himself, because He is without beginning, there you find God, the Supreme One, and His Word, His Son.
There was such fellowship between Them, because Their fellowship is all in the Spirit. It is all of life. It is full of light, full of righteousness, full of love. The Father and the Son share with each other everything, and equally. They do not keep back anything one from the other. They are perfectly one.
And let us imagine that when They are together in the Spirit, They must have such wonderful conversation, expressing Themselves to one another. The Father would tell the Son, “How I love You. I want to express My love to You.”
You know, love always tries to find expression. “Now, what should I do to express My love to You? I want to create. I will create the world, create everything, and give all these things to You.”
But more than that, the Father says, “Well, because You are love, just as I am, and love needs to have some response. Even with the material world, the physical world that I will create and give to You, You will not be satisfied. It cannot express My love to You so fully.”
“So I want to create someone in Our image, after Our likeness, that that creature may respond to Your love, may understand Your love, receive Your love, and even return love to You, to satisfy Your heart. Now, that is what I want to do for You.”
But being omniscient, He Who knows the end from the beginning, He said, “But I have a problem, because I can foresee what I have created will create a problem. There will be rebellion, not only of the angelic hosts, but even of men created in Our image. Now, what should I do?”
And the Son stepped forward and said, “Father, go ahead. If this is Your will, I am willing to offer Myself as the Lamb, so that Your will may be accomplished.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, even in eternity past, before the foundation of the world, the Son had become the Lamb.
You know, this is very important. When you turn to Revelation 13:8, the last part says:
Whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.
Here you find not only the Lamb, but a slain Lamb. The book of life is the book of the slain Lamb, and it is from the foundation of the world.
In 1 Peter, it is before the foundation of the world He is the Lamb; and from the foundation of the world He is the Lamb slain. As soon as the world began, He was already the slain Lamb.
The Lamb speaks of the eternal purpose of God, of the will of God. And the slain Lamb speaks of His redemption.
Now, maybe there is no difference between “before the foundation of the world” and “from the foundation of the world,” because some scholars tell us that it is the same Greek word. It can be translated “before” or translated “from.” If that is the case, it is all right, because anyway you find our Lord Jesus is the slain Lamb before and from the foundation of the world.
Now, why is this so important? Do we remember Ephesians 1? We are told that we have been chosen even before the foundation of the world. Now, on what basis are we chosen?
We are chosen before the foundation of the world. It is based upon the fact that our Lord Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And because of this, dear brothers and sisters, our being chosen is even before the foundation of the world. So that is our security, our eternal security. Think of that, and think of the love of God toward us. Can you imagine this? This is beyond our comprehension.
But this is God. This is our Lord Jesus. This is the revelation of our Lord Jesus as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, and it is related to our being chosen.
But then you find, in the fullness of time, the Word became flesh and tabernacled among men. And during His days on earth as a Man, He was the Lamb of God.
You know, immediately after man sinned, God clothed the naked man. In other words, because man sinned, some innocent animal, most likely a lamb, must be slain for his sake—not only that his sin might be redeemed, but that he might be clothed.
And throughout the centuries, even before the Passover, those who feared God offered sacrifices: innocent animals killed, blood shed, because this is the way of salvation.
Then on the day of Passover, all the Israelites, every household, had to prepare a lamb—spotless and pure—and then kill it. Its blood was put on the doorposts so that the angel of destruction would pass by. It is Passover.
Year after year, hundreds, thousands, numberless sacrifices were offered. But the blood of a lamb or of a goat cannot really redeem our sins. These are types.
Then one day, John the Baptist said:
Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.
So finally, God’s Lamb had come. And throughout His life, He lived a lamb-life. He came to His own, because the world was created by Him, but His own received Him not.
He came into this world as a Lamb-King. He came as a King, but He was a Lamb-King. In other words, He came in lowliness and weakness.
In Zechariah 9:9 it says:
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt the foal of an ass.
Meek and lowly, He tried to bring His heavenly kingdom into this world. But it is so different from the kingdom of this world. He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” The way of His kingdom is completely different. It is meekness, lowliness, humility, and self-sacrificing love.
And the world rejected Him, and He was crucified. But, dear brothers and sisters, He was crucified as the Lamb of God.
In His crucifixion, He finished the work of redemption. His blood was shed for the remission of our sins. His body was broken that He might give life to us, that we might be joined to God in Christ Jesus.
It is a big victory. He said, “It is finished.”
But, dear brothers and sisters, you know we are always thinking only of ourselves. What happened to us through the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross? What happened to us because the Lamb of God was slain?
But we have to remember that when He was crucified on the cross, He did something much more than just for us. He did something to recover the world to God.
You remember in John 12, our Lord Jesus said:
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
I think we all know the story. The world that God created was for the Son. But there was rebellion. So He created man. He tried to use man to solve that problem of subduing all things and bringing all things back to Him. But man sinned.
So the Son of Man came. He came as a Man, a Man after God’s heart. And as a Man, He overcame the prince of this world.
When He was lifted up, the prince of this world was cast out. In Colossians it says that He led principalities and powers as His captives and made a show of them by the cross.
So, brothers and sisters, what our Lord Jesus did on the cross is more than just to redeem us human beings. Our Lord Jesus, on the cross, laid the foundation for the recovery of the world—all the things He created—back to Himself.
If you turn to Colossians 1:20, you find it says:
And through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
So we need to have a wider horizon, not just think of ourselves. We need to see that when our Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, the world was crucified, the prince of the world was cast out, and all things were reconciled.
The enmity of all things against God was taken away, and all things were reconciled to God through the blood of His cross.
So His death is more than just the redemption of man. His death includes the recovery of all things, whether the things in the heavens or the things upon the earth. All things He will reconcile; He will bring them back to His feet.
That is why the Bible says, when He was risen from the dead, God said:
Sit Thou at My right hand,
Till I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet.
So now this leads us to Revelation 5. In order to understand Revelation 5, we probably need to understand Revelation 4.
Because in Revelation 4 we find that a door was opened in heaven, and a voice said to John, “Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter.”
John was immediately in the Spirit. He was taken to heaven, and he saw a vision. It was the vision of the glory of the Creator.
Now, brothers and sisters, we believe that Revelation 4 and Revelation 5 are a replay. In Revelation 4, it is a replay of the glory of creation.
Because you find the worship is to Him Who created all things:
Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created.
It is the glory of the Creator. All things were created for His will.
Then in Revelation 5 we see the glory of redemption. It is a replay of the ascension scene of our Lord Jesus.
You know, one thing we always wonder: when our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, those Galilean disciples looked up. They saw our Lord Jesus ascending, and then the cloud received Him. They could not see Him anymore, but they were still looking up.
Then two men in white apparel appeared and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? This Jesus, Who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.”
Now, perhaps someone like doubting Thomas would say, “Well, did our Lord Jesus really reach heaven? Did He reach the throne? Maybe He is caught somewhere else.” Where is the proof? The proof that He has arrived is Revelation 5, because Revelation 5 is a replay of His ascension.
Now, how do we know that it is a replay? Because we see a Lamb standing, newly slain. In the original, it is a newly slain Lamb. He is standing in the midst of the throne and the twenty-four elders.
Now, brothers and sisters, on Calvary’s cross He was slain as a Lamb. But here you find that the Lamb has resurrected, because He is standing, but newly slain. So we believe it is a replay of His ascension.
When He ascended up on high, He received the nations as His inheritance. This is what happened.
The One Who sits upon the throne is God, the Creator of all things. In His hand there is a book, a scroll, but it is sealed.
There was a voice by a strong angel, and the voice could be heard in heaven, upon earth, and even underneath the earth. The voice said, “Who is worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof?”
The challenge went out, but there was no response. No response in heaven, no response on earth, no response underneath the earth. In other words, neither angels, nor men, nor devils, nor demons—no one was worthy to take the book and to open it.
And you remember the beloved disciple John. He wept much. Now, we wonder, why should he weep? And he wept much because he understood this book is the title deed of the world, of creation.
God is the Creator, and He holds the title deed of all the created things. He is the owner of all things.
Satan today is a usurper. He is called the prince of this world, but he does not own the world. He thinks he does, but he does not. The ownership is still in the hand of God.
And God is going to regain and restore all things back to Himself.
You know, in the old days among the children of Israel, when there was a transaction of property, they had an open book and a sealed book. All the conditions would be written in that book, but it was sealed.
When the person who would redeem the property received the sealed book and opened it, he could see what was written there—all the conditions, all the things written there. So it was the title deed of the property.
The world, all things created, are all God’s property. But the enemy is usurping it. Who is worthy to drive out the enemy, subdue all things, and bring them all back to God Himself?
He has to be worthy in order to do it. But nobody is worthy: no angel, no man, no devil.
That is the reason why John wept, because he saw that it was hopeless. It was finished. The world would never be recovered. There would be no restitution of all things, no recovering of all things to the purpose of God.
Brothers and sisters, if you were John and you understood the situation, would you not also weep, thinking that it was finished and hopeless?
But thank God, he was comforted and told, “Weep not. There is One Who is worthy. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome, so as to open the book and the seven seals thereof.”
Then John saw, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb—a little Lamb—standing, newly slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent into all the earth. And He came and took it out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.
So, brothers and sisters, we find that our Lord Jesus as the slain Lamb has overcome, and He is worthy—the only One worthy to take the book, to open the seals, and to look upon it; that is, to bring it to pass.
Thank God for that.
Then worship and praises broke out—not only from the twenty-four elders and the living creatures, but from thousands and thousands and thousands of angels. Not only that, but all creation, all things being freed, began to worship the Lamb.
Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and might, for ever and ever.
Brothers and sisters, this is what happened when our Lord Jesus arrived in heaven. He was the One Who was worthy to take that book, to open it, and to bring all things back to the feet of God.
So what is our Lord Jesus doing in heaven today, so far as the world is concerned? He is opening the book.
According to God’s plan, He is executing the will of God in bringing the world, all things, back to the feet of God. This is the work of our Lord Jesus in heaven today.
Unfortunately, I have just begun, and the time is up. Let me just put it this way.
The Lamb took the book. Do you think He would wait two thousand or more years before He opened it? Impossible.
So we believe that as soon as He arrived in heaven, as soon as He took that book, immediately He began to open the seals. We believe that He opened the seals as He arrived at the throne.
When you read Matthew 24, you find that our Lord Jesus said to His disciples—because they asked Him, “When shall these things be? What will be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”—that there would be false Christs, false prophets, wars, famines, earthquakes, and all these things. But the end is not yet. This is the beginning of birth pains.
In other words, when our Lord is bringing all things back to God, there will be trouble. There will be all kinds of distresses and all kinds of opposition. The enemy will not give up easily. He will do his best with delaying tactics, trying to delay the time. So there will be all kinds of tribulations.
But our Lord said it is not negative, because these are the beginning of birth pains. Out of these troubles, something that answers to God’s heart, something that will please God, will be born.
Brothers and sisters, this is still the age of grace. But even in this age of grace, our Lord Jesus has begun His work of recovering all things.
We believe at least four seals have been opened, because that corresponds with Matthew 24.
And we believe that when the fifth seal is opened, you find underneath the altar the souls of them that have been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. They cry with a loud voice, saying:
How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
In other words, you find the martyrs through the ages crying out to God, “How long? When wilt Thou avenge us?”
Do you notice the tone of prayer has changed? What is the tone of the martyrs today? The tone of the martyrs in this age of grace is like the prayer of our Lord Jesus:
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Stephen said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” That is the prayer of the church throughout this age: forgive.
But then you find the tone of prayer has changed. Instead of praying for forgiveness, they are praying for vengeance. Now that reveals that the time has changed.
And then the word says, “Wait. Wait until your fellow servants and your brethren, who should be killed even as you were, should be fulfilled.”
Do you know that the martyrs of the twentieth century are more in number than the martyrs in the first centuries? So we are closing in. We are nearing the end.
We do not know if the fifth seal has already opened. But then, when you come to the sixth seal, judgment begins to come upon this world in earnest.
So in the sixth seal, you find there is the wrath of the Lamb.
Now, brothers and sisters, when we think of the Lamb, we always think the Lamb is patient, the Lamb is lowly, the Lamb is meek, the Lamb is self-sacrificing. The Lamb never gets angry. You can do anything to the Lamb, and He will respond with meekness.
Once I saw in New Zealand, when they had a competition of shearing, they would come and shear the lamb to see who was quickest and whether all the wool would come out in one piece. In doing that in such a hurry, I saw a lamb whose ear was cut off. There was no sound, just a little jerking. No sound. That is the lamb.
But, brothers and sisters, one day there will be the wrath of the Lamb. Today the world despises our Lord Jesus and treats Him as if He is nobody, nothing. There is the patience of the Lamb.
But one day the patience of the Lamb will be over, and this world will experience the wrath of the Lamb. When the Lamb is angry, who can stand?
They cry and say, “Let the mountains fall upon us,” because of the wrath of the Lamb.
So, dear brothers and sisters, this is a new revelation of Jesus Christ, a revelation that we have never seen before. The day is coming when the lion-character of the Lamb will appear.
And when this shall appear, judgment will come upon this world in earnest. The world will end with judgment. Why? Because our Lord has to purify this world with judgment.
And after judgment, His kingdom will be set upon this earth. Praise the Lord.