[Chapter 2-2] The Faith That Can Embrace Martyrdom (Revelation 2:1-7)
(Revelation 2:1-7)
For
most of us, martyrdom is an unfamiliar word, but for those who have
been raised in a non-Christian culture, it is even more foreign.
Certainly the word “martyrdom” is not a word that we often encounter in
our everyday life; we feel detached and aloof from the word, for it is
quite surreal for us to imagine our actual martyrdom. Nevertheless,
chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation discuss this martyrdom, and
from its Word we must establish the faith of martyrdom in our
hearts—that is, the faith with which we can be martyred.
Roman
emperors were the Empire’s absolute rulers of their people. Wielding
absolute power over their domain, they could do anything that their
hearts desired after. Having waged and won many wars, the Roman Empire
subdued countless nations under its rule, enriching itself with the
tributes paid by the conquered nations. Not having lost a single war,
the small nation grew to become one of the greatest empires of the
world. Only sky was the limit to the power that its emperors came to
wield. So great was this power that they eventually came to be
worshipped as living gods by the people.
It
was not uncommon, for instance, for the emperors to build statues in
their image and have the people bow before them. For the emperors who
had proclaimed themselves to be gods, the spread of the believers in
Jesus could not be anything but a serious threat to their absolute
power. Outlawing the gathering of the Christians, they resorted to
oppressive policies to persecute the believers, arresting, jailing, and
eventually even executing them for their faith. It is against this
historical background that the Early Christians went underground to such
places as the Catacombs to escape persecution, and it is this
persecution that laid the groundwork for them to embrace martyrdom to
defend their righteous faith.
This
is how martyrs arose in the Early Church period. The saints of that
time, of course, were not martyred for simply refusing to recognize the
authority of the emperors. They did recognize their worldly authority,
but they no longer accepted that authority when it forced them to
worship man as god and to abandon Jesus from their hearts, even at the
price of their own lives. The Roman emperors commanded the Christians to
deny Jesus and to worship them as not only emperors but also as gods.
Unable and unwilling to capitulate before such demands, the Early
Christians continued to face persecution and to be martyred to defend
their faith, until the Edict of Milan in 313 AD finally brought them
religious freedom. Like these forefathers of faith before us, we, too,
would rather face righteous death than to abandon our faith.
The
passage about the seven churches in Asia Minor is not only the
description of the circumstances and situations of that time, but also
the revelation about the world to come. In it is found the revelation
that the servants of God and His saints will be martyred to defend their
faith. Just as in the time of the Roman Empire, there will come a time
when an absolute ruler will emerge as the modern-day version of the
Roman emperor subjecting everyone under his tyrannical reign, making
statues after his image, requiring all to bow before them, and demanding
that he be worshipped as a god. This is not too far away from our own
time, and when this age comes, many saints will follow in the footsteps
of the Early Church believers to their martyrdom.
We
must therefore keep in our hearts the Word of admonition that our Lord
gave to the seven churches in Asia. In greeting, encouraging, and
admonishing the seven churches in Asia, God promised them that “he who
overcomes” will “eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
Paradise of God,” and receive the “crown of life,” “the hidden manna to
eat,” “the morning star,” and more! It is the faithful promise of God
that to those who overcome through their martyrdom, He will give all the
eternal blessings of Heaven.
How,
then, could the saints of the Early Church face their martyrdom? The
first thing that we must remember is that those who could be martyred
were the servants of God and His saints. Not everyone can be martyred.
Only those who believe in Jesus as their Savior, do not capitulate under
persecution, and hold onto their faith and trust in the Lord can face
martyrdom.
The
Apostle John, whom we see here rebuking the Church of Ephesus in his
exile in the Island of Patmos, was the last one alive among the twelve
Apostles of Jesus. All the other apostles had already been martyred, as
well as other saints. Historically speaking, the saints of the seven
churches in Asia were only a few among the countless Christians who were
martyred until 313 AD. Fleeing the persecution of the Roman
authorities, they literally went underground, digging caves to escape
from their reach and gathering in underground cemeteries known as the
Catacombs for worship—through all this and beyond, they never betrayed
their faith and willingly embraced their martyrdom.
The
servants and saints of the seven churches in Asia, including the Church
of Ephesus, despite being rebuked by God here, were also all martyred.
What enabled them to be martyred was their faith in the Lord. They all
believed that the Lord was God, that He took away all their sins, and
that He was the Sheppard who would lead them all to the Millennial
Kingdom and the New Heaven and Earth. It is this faith and the
conviction of hope that enabled them to overcome all their fear and pain
of death entailed by their martyrdom.
We
are now living in the end times. It is not too distant that the world
will be united under one authority and that a ruler wielding absolute
power will emerge. This absolute ruler, as recorded in Revelation 13,
will threaten the lives of the saints and demand that they renounce
their faith. But we, the saints of the end times, will be able to
overcome his threats and coercion and defend our faith through our
martyrdom, because we have the same faith that the saints of the Early
Church had.
In
verses 4-5, God rebuked the Church of Ephesus, saying, “Nevertheless I
have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember
therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or
else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its
place—unless you repent.” What does this mean? It means that the Church
of Ephesus had left the gospel of the water and the Spirit. All the
saints of the Early Church, including those of the Ephesian Church, had
believed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. This was because the
disciples of Jesus had all spread and preached the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. Thus the gospel that the saints of that time received
from the Apostles was the whole gospel, not the false, man-made gospel
that believes only in the blood on the Cross.
But
it is said here that the servant of the Church of Ephesus had left his
first love. This means that the servant of the Ephesian Church had
abandoned the gospel of the water and the Spirit in his ministering of
the church. This is why the Lord said that He would remove the lampstand
from its place unless he repents. Removing the lampstand from him meant
to remove the church, which, in turn, meant that the Holy Spirit could
no longer work in the Church of Ephesus.
For
the servant of the Church of Ephesus, returning to the gospel of the
water and the Spirit was actually not such a difficult thing to do. But
this was the least of his problems. What landed him in trouble was that
he, while believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in his
heart, failed to preach explicitly what he believed. He accepted into
his church all those who merely confessed Jesus as their Savior, even if
they did not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, when in
fact to confess their faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
meant for the believers to be prepared for martyrdom.
Hence,
he welcomed, in other words, all those who came to his church
regardless of whether or not they had the same faith in God and His
gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because entering the church of God
required so much sacrifice, and because the servant of the Church of
Ephesus was afraid that these sacrifices would prevent many from joining
the church, he had failed to preach the absolute truth in precise
terms.
But
since the Holy Spirit cannot dwell where there is no truth, God said
that He would remove the lampstand. It is not because of the lack of the
works of the servant and saints of the Church of Ephesus that God said
He would remove the church; rather, He meant that He could no longer
dwell in the church because the truth could no longer be found in it.
It
is an absolute requirement that a church of God follows the gospel of
the water and the Spirit. The servants and saints of God must not only
believe in this gospel but also preach and teach it in precise and
absolute terms, for only in this gospel can we find the love of God, His
grace, and all His blessings for us.
Instead
of preaching this gospel, the servant of the Church of Ephesus accepted
into his congregation those who only believed in the blood on the
Cross. But even for a born-again servant, saint, or church, believing
and yet not preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit that has
taken away all our sins with the baptism of Jesus and His blood on the
Cross would render all the works of our Lord useless.
Even
though we may fall short before the Lord’s eyes, if we believe in this
gospel and preach it, the Lord can dwell and work in us as the Holy
Spirit. Even if the servants of God or the saints are full of
shortcomings, the Lord can teach and lead them through His Word. In the
church of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is found the Holy
Spirit, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in it means that the church
is holy.
There
can be no holiness for the servants of God or the saints if they do not
preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit anymore. They may be able
to say that they no longer have sin, but holiness cannot be found where
the gospel of the water and the Spirit is not preached.
This
gospel of the water and the Spirit is the gospel that the saints of the
Early Church believed in, the gospel that proclaims that the Lord came
to this earth to save mankind by taking upon all the sins of the world
with His baptism and by taking them all away with His death on the
Cross. He took away all our weaknesses and shortcomings with His
baptism. God took away all our sins from our weakness and shortcomings,
and He has become our eternal Sheppard.
Having
been so richly blessed, how can anyone exchange the Lord for a Roman
emperor and worship a mere mortal as his or her god? Because the grace
of God was so great and so abundant, neither enticements nor threats of a
Roman emperor could make the saints to deny His love, and they
willingly and gladly embraced martyrdom to defend their faith. They
defied both the threats that sought to coerce them to renounce their
faith and the attempts to appoint them to public officials in order to
entice them to abandon their faith for material benefits. Nothing could
make them renounce their faith and abandon their God, and this undying
faithfulness is what enabled them to be martyred.
The
martyrs’ hearts were filled by thankfulness for the grace and love of
God that had delivered them from their sins through the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. Those whose faith could not betray the love of God
that had eternally freed them from their sins embraced martyrdom over
apostasy. The time will come when, just as the Roman emperors demanded
the saints of the Early Church to recognize their divinity and worship
them as gods, we, too, will be coerced to renounce our faith. When this
happens, we must follow in the footsteps of the forefathers of faith and
defend our faith with martyrdom.
Though
we are full of shortcomings, God has loved us so much that He has taken
upon all our shortcomings and sins upon Himself. Regardless of how
short we have come before His glory, He has accepted us into His arms.
Not only has He embraced us, but also He has solved all the problems of
sin and destruction and has made us His children and His brides forever.
This is why we can never betray our faith in Him and why we would
willingly and gladly embrace martyrdom for His name. Martyrdom is to
defend the first love that God gave to us. It is not a product of our
human emotions, but rather of the faith in the fact that God has given
us all His blessings despite our weaknesses and shortcomings. It is not
by the strength of our will that we can be martyred, but by our faith in
the greatness of our God.
There
are, of course, people who die martyrs to their country or ideology.
These people have unbending conviction in what they believe to be right
and are even willing to give up their lives for its sake. But what about
us? How can the children of God who have been born again by the water
and the Spirit through their faith in Jesus Christ be martyred? We can
be martyred because we are so grateful for the gospel with which our
Lord has loved and saved us. Because God has accepted us despite our
innumerable shortcomings, because He has given us the Holy Spirit, and
because He has made us His people and blessed us to live eternally in
His presence, we can never abandon Him.
God
has also promised us the New Heaven and Earth, and for this hope alone
we cannot abandon our faith. No matter what happens—even if the
Antichrist threatens and persecutes us to death in the end times—we can
never deny our Lord and His gospel of the water and the Spirit. Even if
we are dragged to the feet of the Antichrist and put to death, we can
never betray the grace and love of God that have saved us. As the saying
goes, not even “over our dead bodies” will we betray the Lord. We may
be coerced to do other things, but there is one thing that we will never
succumb to: we will neither leave nor betray the love of Christ that
has saved us.
Do
you think the Antichrist would have mercy on us because we have
shortcomings? Of course not! He couldn’t care less! But our Lord has
made us whole and complete by taking upon all our problems and being
judged in our place, regardless of how utterly weak and deficient we
are. This is why we cannot leave the Lord’s love of salvation that has
delivered us through the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and why we
cannot abandon our faith in this first love. Nothing can be abandoned
unless we abandon it in our hearts first.
Likewise,
if we keep our faith deep in our hearts, we can defend our faith to the
very end no matter how much threat, enticement, or coercion are put
upon us. If we know in our hearts the precious love of God for us, and
if we hold onto this love to the end, we can defend the gospel to the
final days. For those who walk in faith, martyrdom is never difficult to
embrace.
We
must all give some serious thought to the prospect of our own
martyrdom. Martyrdom is not just enduring pain and suffering. Our flesh
is such that even the smallest poke of a needle can bring unbearable
pains. Withstanding such pains of the flesh is not what martyrdom is
about. Rather, martyrdom is about giving up your own life. Not merely
suffering physical pains, but actually losing one’s life is what
martyrdom is all about. When the Antichrist demands that we call him and
worship him as god, we will resist to our own death. Because only the
Lord is our God and He alone deserves our worship, it is only fitting
that we would be martyred to defend His name. We cannot exchange this
faith for anything.
Does
the Antichrist, who denies God and demands to be worshipped as a god,
really deserve to be worshipped so? Of course not! Only God has the
power to create the world and the universe. He alone has the power over
life and death, He alone is without blemish, sinless, and completely
righteous before all creation, and He alone has the power to take away
all the sins of the world. What about the Antichrist then? The only
thing that the Antichrist has is the worldly power. This is why we
cannot exchange our Lord for him, and this is why we can never betray
our faith in the Almighty God.
God
is the One who will surely make us eternally happy. He will resurrect
those who have been made sinless by believing in Jesus Christ into
glorified bodies and open the gates to the Millennial Kingdom and the
New Heaven and Earth for them. But those who bow before the Antichrist
will face eternal punishment and be thrown into hell along with Satan.
It would be the most foolish thing to do if we were to throw away our
eternal happiness by standing with the Antichrist for the fear of what
would be only transient pain and suffering. Knowing this truth, those
who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit in their hearts
will bravely stand against the Antichrist, be martyred, and receive
eternal happiness as the reward for their sacrifice.
You
and I, we are all to be martyred. Make no mistake: when the era of the
black horse ends, the era of the pale horse will arrive, and then, the
Antichrist will emerge and the plagues of the seven trumpets will begin.
The Antichrist will most assuredly arise, we the saints will most
assuredly be martyred, and with our resurrection we will most assuredly
be raptured. And we will most certainly enter the Kingdom of
One-thousand Years. This is why we would all be martyred willingly when
the Antichrist persecutes us and demands our death.
Quo
Vadis, one of the classic movies, portrays many Christians who gave up
their lives to defend their faith and sang praises even as they were put
to death. The movie itself is a fiction, but the historical background
to it is all true—that is, many Christians did give up their lives to
defend their faith. Why did they do so? Because what the Roman
authorities demanded from them—to deny God, to worship other gods
instead, and to throw away their faith—was not something that they could
accept.
If
they had changed their God as demanded by the Roman emperors, they
would have changed everything. The emperor would have become their god,
subjugating them under his tyranny, and they would die in battle as his
pawns. Neither would they be delivered from sin, nor would they be able
to enter the New Heaven and Earth. This is why they could not betray
their faith and instead chose to face their certain death in joy and
praise. They could sing praises to the Lord even as they were dying
because their hope was far greater than their dying pain.
It
is absolutely critical for us to defend the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. It is also imperative for us to live in hope, believing that
beyond our death awaits eternal life in a new world filled by happiness
and glory.
Have
you ever suffered for the Lord? Have you ever really suffered, not
because of your own shortcomings or mistakes, but for the sake of the
Lord? If our suffering is for the Lord, all our pains will turn into
even greater joy. As the Apostle Paul expressed this joy, “For I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).
Because the joy of the glory that will be revealed in us is so much
greater than the pain of our suffering for the Lord, all our present
sufferings will be buried beneath the great joy and happiness of our
faith.
In
other words, the saints and the martyrs of the Early Church could
overcome their pain and give up their lives for the Lord because they
knew that the joy that awaits them was far greater than their immediate
suffering. Their martyrdom was not a product of their ability to bear
with the pain and endure the suffering, but of their hope for the glory
that awaited them.
In
general, people endure their pain thinking that they just have to put
up with it. This is a difficult and tiring battle. When their endurance
brings disappointing outcomes, their frustration becomes even
greater—all that suffering for nothing! But for us Christians, what
becomes greater is the joy and happiness of our perseverance, for we are
secure in the certainty of our hope and rewards. If we set our minds to
serve the Lord with all our hearts as His faithful servants, we know
that the joy and the comfort that await us are far greater than the pain
of our present sacrifices. Because all the difficulties are buried in
this joy, we can all live our lives for the Lord and even embrace our
martyrdom for His sake.
People
have souls, emotions, thoughts, and faith. For the born-again souls,
because the Spirit of our Lord is dwelling in them, being persecuted for
their righteousness can only bring them unspeakable joy and happiness
for the glory that awaits them. But if they were to leave the first
love, the Lord will not hesitate to remove the lampstand.
If
those who had been joyfully serving the gospel of the water and the
Spirit with all their hearts and lives cease to do so, it could only
mean that they had gradually left the joy of serving the gospel, their
first love, even if they did not entirely throw away this gospel. They
may still hold onto their personal faith, but if they no longer take
pride in preaching the gospel and no longer have a clear understanding
of what it takes to be saved—that the blood on the Cross is not enough
for salvation—then their faith would be diluted, and their martyrdom
would become unreachable for them. God would then remove their lampstand
from its place.
Those
who serve the gospel with joy and in steadfastness will be able to
embrace martyrdom willingly because they would have never left their
first love. Because these people were blessed by God for believing and
preaching the love of Christ, they can be martyred. It does not matter
how able or gifted you are; if you do not spread the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, the church will be removed from its place. This is an
important message that God wants us to grasp. If we realize and believe
in this truth, we can renew our hearts in the end times and be able to
be martyred for the name of the Lord.
What
is the fundamental essence that sustains our faith? It is the gospel of
the water and the Spirit. Were it not for the gospel of the water and
the Spirit, what would be the use of our works of faith? The reason why
we can keep our faith is because God has loved us and embraced us in His
arms with His gospel of the water and the Spirit. Because this love is
an unchanging love that glorifies us, we are able to keep our faith and
continue to preach and spread it.
Despite
our weaknesses, we can run toward God until the very end, because the
gospel of the water and the Spirit has saved us, and because in this
gospel is found the love of Christ. We are full of shortcomings, but
because we have been clothed in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
that is filled by the love of our Lord, we can love our brothers and
sisters, the servants of God, and all the souls of the world.
Fundamentally, perfect love is beyond the reach of man. Because there is
no love among us, we are incapable of loving anyone else but only
ourselves in selfishness. Many people are deceived by what appears on
the surface, drawn to the glittering façade that is only skin-deep. They
judge people according to what material and outward possessions they
have. But among the true believers is the love of God. This is what
enables us to spread the gospel, the perfect love of our Lord.
Our
Lord came to this earth, was baptized to accept all our shortcomings,
and cleansed us from all our sins to save us. How, then, could we ever
leave His first love that has made us the children of God? We may lack
in many aspects, but we must never lack in our faith in this truth. We
must preach this gospel with our absolute faith. What is most needed in
times of tribulation is exactly this faith in the gospel of the water
and the Spirit. When we face trials and tribulations, the strength to
defend our faith and overcome the difficulties will come only from the
faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. It is by the power of
this gospel that our faces can light up in joy even as we get tired from
the countless struggles that we face in our everyday lives. This is the
love of our Lord.
Sometimes
people are prone to fall into the legalist trap. They think that God
blessed them for what they have done. I would not, of course, suggest
that this is entirely false, for the Lord said that He would love those
who love Him. But it is not because of what we have done that God has
loved us so much as to make us sinless. Because God knows all the
promises that He has made to us, and because He knows all our sins, He
has, in His perfect will and love, embraced us and made us whole. It is
only because of His blessings that we can live in joy. It is because God
has made us His people and His servants that we can work for the Lord,
be clothed in His glory, preach the gospel to others, and, when the time
comes, be martyred for His name. He is the One who enables us to do all
these things.
Where
did the women martyrs in Quo Vadis find the strength to sing praises to
the Lord even as they were being put to death? They found the strength
in the love of our Lord. Because the love of Christ was so great, they
could embrace martyrdom with praises.
The
same principle applies to our own lives. We live our lives because the
Lord has enabled us to do so; it is not because of our own works that we
live as the children and servants of God. We have done nothing to
deserve it. It is by God’s unchanging and perfect love for us and our
faith in this love that we can follow Him to the end, even as we stumble
at times. This strength is the strength of God, not ours. Martyrdom is
possible only by the love of God that has made us whole—by the grace of
God alone can we embrace martyrdom. Remember this truth, that it is God
who enables you to be martyred, and do not waste your time trying to
prepare yourself for martyrdom, as if there is anything that you can do
about it. Only our faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit will
enable us to praise the Lord until our very last breath.
The
Lord said to the seven churches in Asia: “To him who overcomes I will
give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise
of God.” The tree of life is found in the New Heaven and Earth. In
there is the throne of God, houses built with precious stones, and the
overflowing water of life. To those who overcome, God has promised this
Paradise of His, where they will live eternally with Him in perfection.
Those
who overcome do so with their faith in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. Anything other than this gospel would make it impossible to
overcome, which can be achieved only by the strength of God, not by the
strength of man. The strength that enables us to overcome comes only
from God. We must realize and appreciate just how great the gospel of
the water and the Spirit is and how great the love of God and His
salvation are, because it is this gospel that will give us the faith to
embrace martyrdom. We may all be weak, untalented, ungifted,
incompetent, foolish and ignorant, but we still have the power, for we
have the gospel of the water and the Spirit in our hearts.
The
names of those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit
are written in the Book of Life. Everyone whose name is not recorded in
the Book of Life, on the other hand, will fall and capitulate before
Satan. Only those whose names have been written in the Book of Life by
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit will not bow before
the Devil. You must make sure that your name is clearly and surely
written in this Book of Life.
When
we are martyred, it will be by our faith, the first love of Christ that
our Lord has given us. We can wait for our martyrdom without worry or
fear because we believe that the Holy Spirit who dwells in us will give
us the strength to face our martyrdom. Because the suffering of
martyrdom cannot be compared to the glory of heaven that awaits us, we
do not cower before our death and instead boldly embrace our martyrdom
to defend the precious gospel. We must now leave behind any wonderings
on how we can be martyred, for it is not by our effort but by God that
we are martyred.
I
am sure the following announcement will be made through loud speakers
some day: “Dear citizens, this is the last day to receive the mark. Only
a few citizens have to receive the mark today. We are very grateful for
your cooperation until now. To receive the mark is very good and
indispensable for you, because it is to establish order of our country.
So, please come to the city hall and receive the mark as soon as
possible. Again I say to you, this is the last day for you to receive
the mark. Those who do not receive the mark until the due time today
will be severely punished. Now, to make it clear, I will call the names
of those who have not received the mark yet.” Of course, this is a
fiction, but such things will surely happen in the near future.
Believers
of the Early Church identified each other with the sign of fish. These
were the password among them. We, too, would rather make a sign that
enables us to recognize our brothers and sisters, so that we can
encourage each other’s faith enough to embrace martyrdom.
Because
martyrdom is not something that we can achieve by our effort, we can
leave aside our worries and face it in boldness. There is nothing to be
feared before our righteous death. All that we have to do is to live for
the Lord while on this earth. We can give ourselves to the Lord because
we know that we are destined to be martyred for the name of our God.
You must realize that if you were to try to escape martyrdom for the
fear of losing your possessions, you would face even greater sufferings
and disasters. You must become the people of faith who, knowing that
they would be martyred for Christ, live their lives for the Lord until
their very end.
When
we realize that we would be martyred, we would become wiser in our
faith, minds, and in our actual lives. This knowledge is the cure for
our foolishness, allowing us to leave behind all lingering worldly
attachments. It does not mean that we have to give up our lives, but
that we would live for the Lord. Until the power of God throws Satan
into the bottomless pit, we live for the Lord who has saved us, fight
against and overcome Satan and the Antichrist, and give all the glory of
the victory to God and Him alone. God wants to be glorified by us. I
thank the Lord for allowing us to give, with our faith, glory to Him who
has given us so much.
We
believe that the Lord will soon return to take us away. When many souls
return to God in the end times, God will receive them all into His arms
and carry them away. As God said to the Church of Philadelphia in
Revelation 3:10, “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also
will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole
world, to test those who dwell on the earth.” God will most surely
fulfill His Word of promise.
By
“you have kept My command to persevere,” God is referring to the
saints’ faithful lives. It means that they held steadfast to their faith
no matter what others were saying or doing to them. When God says that
He “will keep you from the hour of trial,” He is saying that those who
have kept His command to persevere will be exempted from the trials of
faith.
When
the time of tribulation and martyrdom comes, in other words, God will
simply whisk us away as we faithfully go about in our everyday lives of
service and prayer. When we set in our minds that we are to be martyred,
our hearts will be cleaned of all the debris, and our faith will become
even stronger as a result. We must live our present lives of faith
before God by remembering God’s promise that, with our martyrdom, we
will all be kept from the hour of trial. We must live, in short, by our
faith.
Today’s
era is the era of Revelation. There are many foolish Christians who,
while ignoring the Word of God, obstinately cling onto their false
belief in the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture. When the last day
comes, they will find out just how wrong they had been. Their days of
influence and power are numbered; all that we have to do is just live in
the certainty of our hope that God will fulfill His Word of promise.
When
we reach the midpoint of the Great Tribulation, we will be martyred to
defend our faith, and just before the plagues of the seven bowls begin,
we will be raptured to the air by God and enter the Millennial Kingdom.
When our hope to reign with Christ is realized, all our sufferings on
this earth will be more than compensated by the rewards that await us,
and our entrance to the eternal New Heaven and Earth will then overwhelm
us with unspeakable joys. Today, we live by faith, for the Lord, in the
hope for the fulfillment of this promise of God. Trusting in our Lord
to fulfill all His promises, we live in eager anticipation of the day
when we will be able to live with Him forever in our glorified bodies.
I
thank the Lord for giving us the gospel of the perfect remission of
sin, for enabling us to embrace martyrdom to defend our faith in Him,
and for having us stand among His blessed.
Background to the Church of Ephesus
Ephesus,
a large port city in the Asia Minor region of the Roman Empire, was a
center of commerce and religious activities. At the time of the Early
Church, it was a booming international city; to its north was Smyrna,
and to its south Miletus. According to myths, Amazon, the brave goddess
of war, first built the city in the 12th century BC when she gave it to
Androclus, a crown prince of Athens.
Ephesus
was, materially speaking, a prosperous city, which meant that it was
also a very worldly city. This is why God told the Church of Ephesus to
fight to the end and overcome Satan so that it would not lose His gospel
of the water and the Spirit. We must realize how important God’s Word
of truth is, and we must defend our faith by all means.
Through
the Apostle John God wrote to the Church of Ephesus: “These things says
He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst
of the seven golden lampstands: ‘I know your works, your labor, your
patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have
tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them
liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for
My name’s sake and have not become weary.’” The Church of Ephesus was
commended by God for its works, patience, for not tolerating evil, and
for testing and uncovering false apostles, for tirelessly laboring for
the sake of His name in perseverance and patience.
But
the Church of Ephesus was also rebuked for its wrongdoings. As the
passage continues: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have
left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen;
repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and
remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you
have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To
him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in
the midst of the Paradise of God.”
It
is said in the above passage that God hates the Nicolaitans. The
Nicolaitans here refer to a certain group of believers who had stood
against God, His church and His truth. Just exactly what the Nicolaitans
did is elaborated in more detail in the subsequent passage directed
toward the Church of Pergamos.
The Wrongdoings of the Nicolaitans
Revelation
2:14 says, “But I have a few things against you, because you have there
those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a
stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed
to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.” The cross-reference for this
passage can be found in chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers, where the
story of Balak, the king of the Moabites, is recorded.
By
the time that the Israelites had reached the plains of Moab in Canaan
after their exodus from Egypt, they had conquered the seven tribes of
the land, “as an ox licks up the grass of the field.” Having heard of
this conquest, Balak became terrified of their God, for he feared that
the fate of the Moabites would also follow that of the already conquered
tribes of Canaan. In trying to devise a way to prevent the Israelites
from conquering them, Balak called upon Balaam, a false prophet, so that
he would curse the Israelites at his bequest.
Balaam
was a false prophet, but the Gentiles thought that he was a servant of
God. He was neither an offspring of the High Priest Aaron, nor a Levite.
But the Moabites’ king, Balak, believed that those whom Balaam blessed
would be blessed, and those whom he cursed would be cursed. At that
time, Balaam, though a false prophet, was famous throughout the land as a
renowned sorcerer.
Yet
Balaam could not oblige what King Balak had asked him to do. The reason
was that because the Israelites were the people of God, not only would
Balaam have no permission from God to curse the Israelites, but also
trying to do so would only end up as a curse upon himself. Overwhelmed
by the spiritual power of God, Balaam could do nothing but to actually
bless the Israelites. Angered by this, Balak then asked Balaam to curse
the Israelites from where he could not see them.
Balaam
received a great amount of treasures from Balak and in return taught
him a way to bring curse to the Israelites. The scheme was to tempt them
to commit harlotry by inviting them to the Moabites’ feasts and
providing them with their women, so that the Israelites would be
punished by God for their sins. This is how the false prophet Balaam
taught Balak to bring destruction to the Israelites.
God
said that He hated Balaam because Balaam was a man who loved money.
There are many people in today’s Christian community who are just like
Balaam. They are in fact all false prophets, but many of them are still
respected and revered. But what Balaam pursued was material possessions.
When he was fed money, he blessed; when he was not, he cursed. In
today’s Christian community, sadly, too many of those who are supposed
to be the servants of God are just like Balaam. When those who believe
in God end up pursuing only material gains, they end up as false
prophets. This is why God hated the Nicolaitans.
Do
you know what brings destruction to the church of God and His servants?
It is the love of money. Those who pursue only material gains before
their eyes will face their own destruction before God.
The Churches That Follow Balaam
Today,
as in the time of the Apostles, there are many worldly churches and
false servants following the way of Balaam. They exhaust every means to
rake in the money from their followers. For example, there is this
curious drive to have the congregation compete among themselves to
testify their faith not by their spirituality but by their material
offerings, as if the contribution of a believer is the barometer of
his/her faith. Implying that the faith of those who contribute more to
the church is greater than the faith of those who give less, the only
purpose in fostering this corrupting drive is the enrichment of the
church.
It
is, of course, a wonderful thing if the believers decide to serve God
and His gospel out of their sincere hearts. But the false prophets like
Balaam prey on the believers to fill their own belly. They incite their
followers to a competition of material testimonies such as, “I offered
the tithes faithfully, and God has rewarded tenfold blessings through my
business.” Deceived by Balaam, the unsuspecting believers think that
this is the way to the true faith, when in fact it is the way to their
impoverishment, both spiritual and material, false pride, and ultimately
their own destruction.
“The
deeds of the Nicolaitans” are none other than the deeds of Balaam. Just
as Balaam, in his greed, taught Balak to put a stumbling block before
the Israelites, many who claim to be the servants of God in today’s
Christian community are interested only in the pockets of their
congregations. Those who are led astray by these false prophets end up
empty handed after giving up all their possessions to these false
shepherds, and what is even worse is that sooner or later they will come
to their senses and realize that what they had believed is totally
false. In the end, they will blame the false church and end up
renouncing their faith. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that this
sorry state of affairs is not that uncommon, even in the so-called
evangelical churches. Deceived by Balaam, many believers are led astray
by this fraud and end up leaving the church.
The
Scripture tells us that God hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans. If we
follow the Nicolaitans, we will lose our faith in God. We have many
testimonies that God gave us, and these are all spiritually enriching
treasures. But pursuing material gains by using the testimonies is
something that we must absolutely stay away from, for it is the way of
the Nicolaitans hated by God Himself.
Faith with Character
God
warned against the deeds of the Nicolaitans to all the seven churches
in Asia. In addition, He also promised them that those who overcome
would eat from the tree of life. When we serve the Lord, we do so by
faith, because of our thankfulness for His redemption, and because of
the knowledge that spreading the gospel of the water and the Spirit is
just the right thing to do. We do not serve God to show off to others,
or to make us look good in any way. Doing so is neither true service nor
true faith. In the church of God, we must be most careful about these
deeds of the Nicolaitans. This is why the Lord warned all the seven
churches of Asia about the Nicolaitans.
Do
you know why many of the churches, that are not born-again churches,
have grown so big and so rapidly? They grew because what built these
churches were false faith and false testimonies. The servants of God
must never take advantage of their flocks to fill their own belly.
The
true faith is believing in the salvation that God gave us with the
baptism of Jesus, His blood on the Cross, and His judgment in our place.
But many churches, born-again or not alike, uses testimonies to raid
the pockets of their congregations. You must be careful and wise enough
to recognize that while true testimonies are edifying for your faith and
glorifying to God, false ones will be your own trap.
All
the richest churches in today’s world are led by the ministers who are
just like Balaam. The church leaders who pursue Balaam’s path use their
churches to exploit their followers to further only their material
interests. The Christian leaders like Balaam snatch money from their
followers by inciting them to a competition of material testimonies. I
detest their deeds to the extreme.
True
life of faith begins with none other than faith. We must be wise enough
to avoid the traps of the Nicolaitans that Satan has set up. Everyone
must know what the deeds of the Nicolaitans are, and never be deceived
by the servants of Satan whose greed knows no bound. The servants of God
in particular must be extremely careful in this regard. This includes
the ministers. When the ministers become overly concerned with their
material possessions—what cars they drive, how big their houses are, how
much real estate they own, how fat their bank accounts are—they will
end up corrupting their churches, leading them down to the path of the
Nicolaitans.
God
told the seven churches in Asia to take particular heed to this issue.
The man of Balaam’s faith only seeks material gains, self-glory and
eventually intends to become a founder of a cult. The church of God must
not seek after material possession itself. As God has promised us that
He will bless those who pursue the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
we must use our material possession to preach the gospel, not to store
them on this earth.
Reject the False Shepherds
Even
the born-again believers will be doomed if they are caught in the traps
of the Nicolaitans. At the beginning they may think that such leaders’
faith is wonderful and strong, but the deception of the false shepherds
will ultimately lead them to their destruction.
God
said to the angel of the Church of Ephesus that He hated the deeds of
the Nicolaitans. Everyone who is trapped by the Nicolaitans will face
his/her certain doom. Whether he/she is a born-again believer, a servant
of God, or anyone else, destruction is a certainty when trapped by the
Nicolaitans. As a bad shepherd leads the flock to death, false prophets
bring upon curses.
This
is why God told His servants to “feed My lambs.” The servants of God
must tend the believers as shepherds tend their lambs, protecting them
from danger and taking care of their needs. As shepherds, they must make
sure that their flocks do not go astray, find out what dangers might
lurk before them, and prevent them from nearing such dangers.
I
heard from the people who actually raise sheep that they are one of the
most stubborn animals. Are we not just like these obstinate sheep
before God? God had a good reason when He used the metaphor of lambs to
describe us, for He knows very well just how stubborn we are in our
basic essence.
Why
did God repeatedly speak of the deeds of the Nicolaitans, Jezebel and
Balaam to the seven churches in Asia? Why did He promise that to those
who overcome, He would give the tree of life to eat from? He did so to
teach us to be on guard against the deceptions of the false prophets. We
must meditate on the Word of God and ask ourselves, “What is the true
gospel of the water and the Spirit?” Mixing the Word of God with some
human lessons and systemizing it plausibly does not mean that it is the
gospel. There are plenty of beautifully crafted and delivered sermons in
today’s Christianity that has nothing to do with the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. Many famous preachers even have their own
professional speechwriters who write sermons on their behalf, and all
that they do is just read from these texts prepared by someone else.
We
must never be trapped by the Nicolaitans. The born-again church must be
most careful not to pursue material gains; ministers in particular must
be on constant guard, but so does everyone else in the congregation.
Trying to extract money out of the church members, adorning the church
in material extravagance, and building church edifices that look more
like palaces than a temple of worship—all the while preaching that the
return of the Lord is imminent!—are all the deeds of false faith,
precisely the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
We
must particularly take heed to the false shepherds, and must make sure
that we are never deceived to follow their faith. The saints simply must
not love money. Rather, what we must love and keep is the gospel of the
water and the blood, the first love of God. We must live our faithful
lives holding onto the truth that He has saved us by Christ’s water and
blood until the day we meet Him. We must believe in the Word of God that
Jesus has taken away all our sins with His baptism and His death on the
Cross.
Those
who follow the Nicolaitans never preach the gospel of the water and the
Spirit. They are not interested in the works of the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, but only in making money. These are today’s Balaam, who
put a stumbling block before the Israelites and led them to their
destruction. You must remember this.
Balaam
was eventually killed by Joshua. As the Book of Joshua records, this
false prophet was killed under the sword of Joshua when the Israelites
conquered Canaan. Balaam was killed because he was not a true servant of
God. All those who use the name of Christ to exploit the innocent
believers and feed their own belly are today’s Balaam. We must remember
that Balaam used every disposable means to feed his greed.
God
told the servants of the Church of Ephesus, “To him who overcomes I
will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
Paradise of God.” To put it differently, this passage also means that
those who falter and lose will die. Following the way of Balaam is
losing, the path to one’s own death. God gave us His Word of warning so
that we would not fall into the trap of the Nicolaitans, and I thank Him
for it. It is my sincere hope and prayer that you will not succumb to
the material temptations and end up being abandoned by God for your
greed.
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