[Chapter 14-2] How Should the Saints React to the Appearance of the Antichrist? (Revelation 14:1-20)
(Revelation 14:1-20)
To
overcome the Antichrist when he appears in the near future, the saints
must prepare themselves to be martyred with their faith in the Lord. To
do so, they must know well about the wicked schemes the Antichrist would
bring on this earth. Only then can the saints stand against him and
overcome him with faith. Satan will try to destroy Christians’ faith by
making people receive the mark of his name or number.
The
reason why he tries to destroy the faith of Christians is because by
standing against God and bringing down the faith of the righteous, he
seeks to prevent people from receiving the remission of their sins
through the gospel of the water and the Spirit. The Antichrist will turn
people into his servants and make them stand against God. For this, the
Antichrist and his followers who still remain in this world receive
great punishments and plagues.
The
righteous must live their lives of faith with a clear understanding of
the plagues of the seven bowls that God would pour on their enemies. As
God says in Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense,” He
will avenge His children’s death on them. As such, we must defend our
faith and live a life of victory, rather than being overwhelmed by our
anger and doing its fruitless works. Believing in the fact that God
would destroy all those who still remain on this earth after their
martyrdom, the saints must fight against the Antichrist.
The Word of Truth That Must Never Be Forgotten
What
all those who have received the remission of their sins must remember
is that only the sinless saints will all be resurrected and raptured
shortly after being martyred by the Antichrist. When the day of the
Antichrist’s appearance and the saints’ martyrdom comes, we must never
forget that every promise of God will all be fulfilled.
From
verse 14 and on, the Word of God in chapter 14 teaches us that the
rapture will most certainly come to the saints, and that the time of
this rapture is right after their martyrdom.
We
must not forget that our resurrection and rapture will come after Satan
makes people receive his mark. For the righteous who are martyred by
the Antichrist, the blessings of the first resurrection and rapture
await them. The righteous will embrace their holy martyrdom to defend
their faith at this time, for they will refuse to receive the mark of
Satan. The martyred righteous will therefore receive their rewards
according to their labor on this earth, and the glory of God will be
added to them.
Do
not be mournful, nor angered, when you see that the fellow saints or
servants close to you are martyred to defend their faith. On the
contrary, all the saints must in fact thank God and give glory to Him
for allowing them to be martyred to defend their faith, for shortly
thereafter the martyrs would be resurrected in holy bodies and raptured
by the Lord.
What Are the Plagues of the Seven Bowls Prepared for Those Who Stand against God?
Verse
19 says, “So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered
the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the
wrath of God.” Those who had always stood against His love are destined
to receive from God His fearful plagues after the martyrdom of the
saints, for they had, while on this earth, refused to accept into their
hearts the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the Lord, and
instead stood against it. These are the ones who have become God’s
enemies by not believing in the salvation of Jesus Christ, who came by
His blood and water to save them from sin. They must receive not only
the plagues of the seven bowls poured by God, but they must also receive
the plague of the fearful punishment of hell forever.
These
are the seven plagues that God would bring to those who are not
raptured by the Lord. After the martyrdom of the saints, God will
mercilessly pour down these plagues of the seven bowls that He had
prepared to those who, not having participated in the rapture, still
remain on this earth as Satan’s slaves and continue to blaspheme against
the glory of God.
Why,
then, would God make the righteous be martyred? Because were the
righteous to remain on this earth with those who are not born again, He
would not be able to pour down the plagues of the seven bowls when their
time comes. And because God loves the righteous, He allows them to be
martyred so that they may join in His glory. This is why God would have
the righteous be martyred before unleashing the plagues of the seven
bowls. And after resurrecting and rapturing the martyred righteous, He
will freely pour down these plagues on the earth. These plagues of the
seven bowls are the last plagues that God would bring to mankind on this
earth.
The Millennial Kingdom and the Saints’ Authority
The
age of the Millennial Kingdom will begin when the Lord, together with
His saints, descends to this earth again. Matthew 5:5 tells us, “Blessed
are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.” When the Lord returns
to this earth with the saints, the Word of Psalms 37:29, that “the
righteous shall inherit the land,” will all be fulfilled.
When
the Lord thus descends on this earth with all the saints, He will give
them the authority to make this earth theirs. At this time, He will give
them authority to reign over ten cities, and another five more cities.
The Lord will renew this earth and everything on it when He returns, and
make the saints reign with Him over it for a thousand years from then
on.
What,
then, is the hope that the righteous of this era must live with? They
must live hoping for the day when the Kingdom of Christ is built on this
earth. When the Lord’s Kingdom comes to this earth, the peace, joy, and
blessings that flow from His reign will finally be on it. Living under
the Lord’s reign, we shall lack nothing, but live only in His
overflowing abundance and perfection.
When
the Kingdom of the Lord comes to this earth, all the hopes and dreams
of the righteous will be fulfilled. After living on this earth for a
thousand years, the righteous will then enter the eternal Kingdom of
Heaven, but those who had stood against God, in contrast, will be thrown
into the lake of eternal fire and brimstone, suffering forever and
having no rest day and night.
The
righteous must therefore live in hope, waiting for the day of the Lord.
All the righteous must not forget that martyrdom, resurrection,
rapture, and eternal life all belong to them. Keep in your heart this
Word of truth and hope that you have heard so far and hold on to it in
steadfastness.
Until
the day of the Lord’s return, the righteous will live preaching the
gospel of the water and the Spirit and placing their hope in the Kingdom
of Heaven. The righteous have the authority to live forever in the
Kingdom of God, and the authority to preach the gospel of the water and
the Spirit on this earth.
What Must the Saints Who Live in This Dark Age Do?
It
is quite clear that this age is an age of darkness, and that it is
becoming ever more difficult to live in it. As such, we must preach the
gospel of the water and the Spirit to the sinners and nurture them.
Throughout the whole world, the righteous must spread the love of God
and the remission of their sins coming through the gospel of the water
and the Spirit given by Jesus Christ. This is what the righteous must do
now.
If
they were to lose this present opportunity, it will never come back to
them again. Because the end of this world is not too far away, we must
preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit all the more, and nurture
the lost souls with the hope of the Kingdom of God. This is the good
thing that the righteous ought to do.
In
the present world, there are many who, even as they do not have the
Word of the gospel of the water and the Spirit, claim to believe in
Jesus and live their lives serving the Lord. But those who lead their
religious lives without the real truth are all false prophets. These
liars are the deceivers who only exploit the material possessions of the
believers in the name of Jesus.
We
therefore pity those who try to live their lives of faith while
deceived by these false prophets. Living their lives of faith without
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, these nominal Christians still
remain as sinners and continue to live under the curse of the Law of
God, even as they claim to believe in Jesus. They are living in sin
always, ignorant of the fact that if they were just to believe in the
gospel of the water and the Spirit, all the sins in their hearts would
simply disappear and make them as white as snow, and the Holy Spirit
would be given to them as their gift.
But
in contrast, the servants of God who believe in and preach the gospel
of the water and the Spirit live in peace. The servants of God and His
people rejoice in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. They testify:
“By taking the sins of the world upon Himself all at once with His
baptism from John, and by being judged for these sins on the Cross, the
Lord Jesus has made all the sins of the world disappear. When I believed
in this salvation of atonement, all my sins that had weighed me down
heavily have also disappeared. I have now become righteous.”
With
such testimonies, the saints in God’s Church are giving glory to God.
Those who have this faith can finally have their hope for Heaven.
The First Resurrection Is an Event Reserved for the Saints
In
just a short while, the Lord will soon return to this earth. In not too
distant future, someone who would become the Antichrist will appear and
imprint the right hands or the foreheads of many people with his mark.
When this time comes, you should realize that the second coming of the
Lord, as well as the saints’ martyrdom, resurrection, and rapture, are
all near you. When such a day and hour arrive, you should realize that
it is a day of joy for the saints, but for the sinners who are not born
again, a day of their judgment of sin.
All
the saints will be resurrected after their martyrdom, and then join the
marriage supper of the Lamb with the Lord. When you and I are martyred
in this time, our bodies will soon be resurrected and raptured. It does
not matter what might have happened to the bodies of the saints who had
gone before us—whether or not their bodies have already turned into
dust, or they no longer have any form left in them, poses no problem.
When this time comes, the saints will be resurrected not in the weak
bodies of the present, but in perfect bodies. The righteous will be
resurrected in holy bodies at this time, and live with the Lord forever.
Even
when difficult times await us, when the Antichrist will emerge and
persecute us, we must defend our faith in Jesus Christ by believing in
the Word of God that we have now listened to. Also, we must not forget
that because you and I have believed in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit, we will all participate in the martyrdom of the saints, their
first resurrection, and their rapture.
Now,
you must not fall away from your faith in this truth, and live a life
that fights against and overcomes the Antichrist. Until this day comes,
we must be together with those who were saved before us by believing in
the truth, hold on to the Word of God, and follow the Lord in faith.
Even Now, There Are Many Liars Who Are Deceiving People
Even
now, a countless number of people, as servants of Satan, are teaching
false faith. In particular, there are many liars who advocate and teach
the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture to their congregations, trying
to convince them that they have nothing to do with the Great Tribulation
of seven years.
The
Bible, in contrast, clearly testifies to us that the saints’ martyrdom
and rapture would come slightly past the first three and a half years of
the Tribulation. Let us not be deceived by such liars. Let us instead
know and believe that when the first three and a half years of the
seven-year period of the Great Tribulation passes by us, we would all be
martyred, and shortly thereafter be resurrected and raptured
simultaneously.
You
must therefore stay away from the false prophets who teach that they
would have nothing to do with the Great Tribulation of seven years. The
true saints believe that their martyrdom, resurrection and rapture, and
the marriage supper of the Lamb would all come slightly past the first
three and a half years of the Tribulation.
Then, How Should We All Live Now?
By
now, you should have realized that if anyone believes in the Lord as
the Savior—that is, the Lord who came to this world, carried the sins of
the world with His baptism from John, bled on the Cross, and rose again
from the dead—the Holy Spirit would come to the heart of this believer
as his/her gift.
You
must listen to with your ears and believe with your heart what the Holy
Spirit says to you through God’s Church, and dwell in your faith in
God. All the saints must live their lives of faith led by God’s Church.
By oneself, no one can preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit,
neither keep it, nor serve it. This is why God’s Church is so important
even for the saints who have already been born again.
God
has thus established His Church and His servants on this earth, and
through them He is feeding His lambs. In particular, the works of God
become even more precious and important as the end times come nearer to
us, and as such, I pray and hope that you would live a faithful life
filled by the Holy Spirit. As the end times get nearer, the righteous
must labor even harder to come together, to pray, to comfort, hold, and
help each other, and to live for the Lord, united into a single heart
and a single purpose.
God
has allowed martyrdom, resurrection, rapture, and eternal life to the
saints. Let us all live the kind of life that fights against and
overcomes the Antichrist, and then confidently stand before God.
Hallelujah!
No comments:
Post a Comment