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Subject 10 : The Revelation (Commentaries on the Revelation)
[Chapter 14-2] How Should the Saints React to the Appearance of the Antichrist? (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!
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission