[Chapter 12-2] Embrace Your Martyrdom With Bold Faith (Revelation 12:1-17)
(Revelation 12:1-17)
Chapter
12 shows us how God’s Church will face its tribulations of the end
times. Verse 1 says, “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a
garland of twelve stars.” The “woman clothed with the sun” here refers
to God’s Church on the earth, and the phrase “with the moon under her
feet” means that God’s Church is still under the rule of the world. This
tells us that God’s Church on this world, and the saints who belong to
it, will glorify God by being martyred.
The
phrase, “on her head a garland of twelve stars,” shows that the Church
will fight against Satan in the end times and be martyred by faith. As
the Word of God tells us, God’s Church will indeed triumph. Though Satan
will, to destroy our faith, threaten us in all kinds of ways, make us
suffer, harm us, and eventually even demand our lives, we will still
defend our faith and be martyred righteously. This is the victory in
faith.
In
the Early Church period, many saints that preceded us were also
martyred. This martyrdom comes not by our own strength, but by the Holy
Spirit who dwells in our hearts.
From
the phrase, “a woman clothed with the sun,” the “woman” here refers to
God’s Church, and that she is “clothed with the sun” means that the
Church would be heavily persecuted. Even in the midst of the fearful
tribulations and plagues of the end times, the saints will defend their
faith stoutly and never surrender to Satan. Why? Because the Holy Spirit
in their hearts would make them stand and fight against Satan, and
would give them the faith that never surrenders to any threat or
persecution even at the risk of their lives.
Also,
because those who have placed their hope in the Kingdom of Heaven
believe in the Word of God that tells them that the plagues of the seven
trumpets would soon end and be followed by the plagues of the seven
bowls that would wipe out the earth, they never capitulate before Satan.
Those
who know and believe that a better world does not await them if they
were to surrender to Satan can never bow before him. The plagues of the
seven bowls that would be poured on the Antichrist and his followers
will devour them restlessly and mercilessly. The saints who know all
about such plagues, 100 percent of them, will never throw away their
faith because of the threats, for the Holy Spirit will work in their
hearts. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us will give us the strength to
stand against Satan, overcome him, and be martyred.
When
the plague of the fourth trumpet passes by and the plagues of the fifth
and the sixth trumpets come, “martyrdom” will come to us. Those who
defend their faith and are martyred are only those who are born again by
the water and the Spirit. When the plagues of the seven trumpets
descend, the Antichrist will have authority over the world temporarily
permitted by God.
Knowing
that his authority would last only for a short while, Satan’s servant,
the Antichrist, will persecute those who serve Jesus Christ as their
Lord, so that he may take as many people as possible with him to hell.
But those who have passed all their sins onto Jesus through His baptism
will not surrender to the Antichrist’s persecution, but stoutly defend
the gospel given by Jesus Christ and be martyred.
As
such, martyrdom is the evidence of faith. Those who have this evidence
will have the Millennial Kingdom and the New Heaven and Earth prepared
by the Lord. This applies to all those who believe in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit scattered throughout the whole world. The Bible
tells us that almost all the born-again saints will be martyred during
these end times.
But
those who, in order to avoid martyrdom, abandon their faith of the
water and the Spirit, stand on the Antichrist’s side, and serve and
worship him as God will be killed by the plagues of the seven bowls and
at the hands of the Antichrist himself. Their death would never
constitute their martyrdom, but only a hopeless death in vain. When
Satan and the Antichrist are cast out to hell, these people will
together fall into it.
Betraying
Jesus Christ to avoid martyrdom and lessen the tribulations’ hardships
even by a little will be a foolish thing to do. When the plagues of the
seven trumpets end and those who have defended their faith are martyred,
the plagues of the seven bowls will soon ravage throughout this earth,
leaving few survivors. What is clear is that those who have received the
remission of sin will most certainly be martyred, and that for us not
to betray our Lord at this moment of martyrdom, we must prepare our
faith now by believing with the proper knowledge of the end times and
the correct understanding of the Word.
We
have received the remission of our sins, and when we are martyred, we
will experience a joy heretofore unknown to us, as God would strengthen
us. Let our faith be clearly set in our hearts that you and I are fated
to be martyred for the Lord. When this moment of martyrdom passes by,
God will most certainly give us our resurrection and rapture, allow us
to be glorified in the Millennial Kingdom, give us His eternal New
Heaven and Earth and make us reign, and permit us to forever live in
wealth—if we steadfastly believe in all these, our suffering itself will
be transformed into our joy.
The
Apostle Paul said, “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). While serving the gospel, Paul had
suffered greatly, beaten to near death on more than several occasions.
But by believing that this suffering was for the glory of God, Paul’s
pain became his tremendous joy. And according to the historical records
and folklore, almost all the apostles, including Paul, were martyred.
Peter is said to have been crucified on the Vatican Hill upside down.
And the Early Church leaders, including Polycarp, and many other saints
sang praises to God even as they were burnt to death on a stake. Such
things would not have been possible had God not strengthened His saints.
Even
as there were such faithful saints in this time, there also were those
who betrayed their faith. Origen, a theologian who is highly regarded by
today’s theologians, was someone who heard the gospel directly from
church fathers. Yet when the time for his martyrdom came, he escaped it,
as his life was spared even as his fellow saints were martyred. This
would not have been possible had he not denied everything that Jesus had
done for him. Origen was thus representative of those who denied the
divinity of Jesus. But despite his betrayal, today’s theologians place
him very high among the most renowned theologians.
Why
did Origen escape martyrdom while the other saints embraced it? It was
not because Origen’s willpower was weak while that of the other martyred
saints was strong. The saints who were martyred while praising God did
so because they believed in what Paul had spoken of—that is, in “that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which shall be revealed in us.” They could bear their present
suffering, in other words, because they believed in God’s Word of
promise that He shall resurrect and rapture them, and give them His
Millennial Kingdom.
We
must realize clearly that martyrdom will come to us. Those who live
their lives of faith with a clear knowledge of this fact are different
from the rest. Those who believe that the picture of the martyred saints
of the Early Church period is their own picture can have a life of
faith that is strong, dignified and bold, for all the Word of the Bible
would then be their own story. They always live with the faith that can
embrace martyrdom—that is, they live by always believing that after
their martyrdom, God would give them their resurrection and rapture, and
the New Heaven and Earth that He planned and prepared for them
beforehand.
Those
who believe in this can always live a bold life of faith, for they know
that their faith prepares them for their end, when they would be able
to die while praising God. And because this is not just a simple matter
of doctrine, but of actual faith, those who do not fully believe in this
Word and the gospel will be the first to sell us out to the Antichrist.
This is why, once you and I realize that we are to be martyred, our
brothers and sisters in God’s Church, who have the same faith as ours
and will be together with us forever, are so important to us. The
servants of God, His people, and His Church—all these are precious to us
as well.
The
saints of the Early Church period had a faith that was even more
earnest and definite than that of us who now live in the end times. They
believed in their martyrdom, in their following resurrection and
rapture, and in the Millennial Kingdom and the New Heaven and Earth.
This is why they lived their lives of faith as if they were actually
living in the time of the Great Tribulation, as if the Lord’s return
were imminent. So when we who live in the age of the impending arrival
of the era of the Tribulation read about them, their stories appeal to
us as realistic and vivid, for they, too, knew and believed in all the
Word of God on the Tribulation, and their martyrdom, resurrection and
rapture.
Because
we actually live our lives with the end times nearing us right before
our own eyes, we must prepare our faith of martyrdom tightly in our
hearts. Satan will challenge whoever believes in Christ’s water and
blood, trying to bring down their faith. To not surrender to this
challenge from Satan, we must bind the gospel of the water and the
Spirit to our hearts, reexamine its grasp once more with our hope for
the New Heaven and Earth, and make sure that this faith of ours is not
loosened even through the moment of our martyrdom.
The
reason why the saints of the Early Church period defended their faith
desperately is because they had also known and believed in all the Word
of the Scripture on the Tribulation, and their martyrdom, resurrection
and rapture. You and I, too, will be martyred. I’ll die, and so will
you—we will all die to defend our faith. Perhaps I’ll be the first to be
dragged and killed. This in itself may appear as a terrifying prospect,
but in the end, there is nothing to be feared, for the logical
conclusion of avoiding martyrdom would be to deny our faith, something
that we absolutely cannot do.
After
all, God is to be glorified through our martyrdom, and He has set this
as our fate. So this is something that we must go through at least once.
Since we can neither avoid nor escape from going through it, let us
instead run to it in full strength and leap over it boldly. We have the
King’s authority that no one else has, and we also have our hope of
eternal blessings. As such, we can always pray to God to strengthen us,
and give even more glory to Him. By believing without fearing our
martyrdom, we will receive an ever greater joy. This is a great glory
for God, and a great blessing for us.
God
wrote the Book of Revelation to speak to us about the saints’
martyrdom, resurrection and rapture, the Millennial Kingdom, and the New
Heaven and Earth. Therefore, if you have correct knowledge of
Revelation, you can live out your faith in this declining world. The
road to the New Heaven and Earth written in Revelation cannot be
traveled on without the gospel of the water and the Spirit. And this
faith cannot be confirmed without going through martyrdom. I hope and
pray, therefore, that you would bind your faith to your heart tightly,
believing that you would not betray the gospel but be martyred when the
time comes, and look ahead with your faith. Your life of faith will then
change drastically from this very moment.
We
will not die in vain, caught in the traps of Satan. Following the work
of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we will die to defend our faith. This
is the very martyrdom. The day of our martyrdom will surely come. But we
do not fear it, for we know that though our bodies would be killed by
Satan, God would soon make us live again in our new, glorious bodies. We
also know that our martyrdom will shortly be followed by our
resurrection and rapture, and that all that awaits us from then on is
the blessing of reigning in the Millennial Kingdom and our eternal
kingship in Heaven.
Long
ago, the Roman Emperor Nero set fire to Rome to rebuild the city. When
the Roman citizens became furious at this, he blamed the incendiary fire
upon Christians and massacred them indiscriminately. Likewise, when
natural disasters strike the world during the Great Tribulation, the
Antichrist will blame us the saints for all the plagues, accuse us
falsely, and kill us.
So,
we must pray to God, from now on, to give us the faith of martyrdom,
the faith with which we can die. If we do not abandon our faith and are
martyred, the glory of God will appear. But if we abandon our faith,
surrender to the Antichrist, and accept him as God, we will be thrown
into the eternal fire. If we pray to God for the faith with which we can
overcome the Antichrist, in other words, our Lord will give us strength
and power, but if do not set our hearts steadfastly and betray our
faith, He will only have hell to give us.
Let
me tell you a small story from the Korean War. The North Korean troops
came to a certain church in the southern countryside, where a deacon
named Chudal Bae was taking care of it. Seeing that the churchyard was
dirty, an invading soldier told the deacon to clean it up. But this
deacon refused to do so, saying that he had to keep the Lord’s day holy.
The soldiers, getting impatient, threatened to kill him right before
the whole congregation if he did not clean up the yard. But the deacon
continued to refuse, saying that he had to defend his faith, and was
eventually killed. Later on, some Christians have called his death
martyrdom, but this is not martyrdom. Why? Because martyrdom is dying
for the righteous work—that is, to reveal the glory of God. Dying for
one’s stubbornness under the pretext of God is far from constituting
martyrdom.
Could
we throw away the love of salvation that God has given us? Because of
our blemishes and sins, Jesus Christ took upon all our sins on Himself
with His baptism and was crucified to death. If we render our full
devotion to this love of our Lord to death, far less can we throw away
the gospel that gives us the New Heaven and Earth for the sake of the
flesh that would simply disappear with our death. We were born into this
world fated to be saved, to preach the gospel of salvation to everyone
on this earth, and to die while preaching. Do not forget that the fate
of the saints who have received the remission of sin, that is, our own
fate is to live by faith and be martyred to overcome Satan’s challenge
of faith for the sake of the glory that God will bestow on us.
We
have so many shortcomings and are so full of blemishes that we cannot
give glory to God with anything. To such people as us, God has given the
opportunity to give a great glory to the Lord, and this is none other
than martyrdom. Do not avoid it. Let us believe in God who will lessen
the time of the Tribulation if we ask Him, and by holding onto our hope
for the inheritance of the New Heaven and Earth, let us overcome our
transient suffering that will quickly end. Let us live by believing that
the Lord will not allow too great a suffering to those who have
faithfully lived for Him, nor permit them anything that would make them
betray their faith, but that He will protect them and bestow them with
even more abundant grace.
Realizing
that we are to be martyred, we need the experience of facing hardship,
persevering through suffering, and laboring for the Lord. Through such
things, we will grow our faith through the experience of walking with
the Lord, and when the end times come, we will be able to face our
martyrdom with the strength given by the Lord. If we remain without
having any experience of suffering for the Lord, of devotion to Him, or
of labor and sacrifice for Him, fear will overwhelm us when the time of
our martyrdom comes with the arrival of the Great Tribulation. Only
those who have suffered and overcome pain before can beat their
suffering once again.
I
pray to God that your life of faith would be that of suffering for the
Lord and of victory over it, and that when the moment of martyrdom
arrives, you, too, would be among the faithful who can remind their
hearts and confess with their lips that all these things are their own
glory permitted to them through the blessing and grace of God.
If you desperately want to take the Kingdom of Heaven with your faith, the New Heaven and Earth will surely be yours.
God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
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