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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 53

TITLE: THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS

TEXT: REVELATION 13:7-10

INTRODUCTION: (1) ONE OF THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IS THE DOCTRINE OF THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.

* NOW THIS COMFORTING BIBLICAL TRUTH TEACHES US THAT ALL WHO ARE CHOSEN BY GOD BY HIS GRACE ARE ETERNALLY SAVED.

** THAT THEY ARE KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD AND THUS PERSEVERE UNTO THE END.

*** JAMES BOICE DEFINES THIS DOCTRINE THIS WAY: “THE DOCTRINE OF THE FINAL PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS TEACHES THAT THOSE WHO ARE EFFECTUALLY CALLED BY GOD TO THE EXERCISE OF GENUINE FAITH IN CHRIST WILL CERTAINLY PERSEVERE UNTO FINAL SALVATION – NOT ONE WILL FINALLY APOSTASIZE OR BE LOST; BUT EACH WILL ASSUREDLY PERSEVERE AND BE SAVED.” (END QUOTE)

**** JOHN GILL DEFINED THIS TRUTH THIS WAY: “THOSE WHO ARE TRULY REGENERATED, EFFECTUALLY CALLED, AND REALLY CONVERTED, AND INTERNALLY SANCTIFIED BY THE GRACE OF GOD, SHALL PERSEVERE IN GRACE TO THE END, AND SHALL BE EVERLASTINGLY SAVED; OR SHALL NEVER FINALLY AND TOTALLY FALL, SO AS TO PERISH EVERLASTINGLY.” (END QUOTE)

(2) NOW SIMPLY SAID: ONCE IN GRACE, ALWAYS IN GRACE.

* ANOTHER WAY TO SAY IT IS, IF YOU TRULY HAVE SALVATION, YOU NEVER LOSE IT; IF YOU LOSE IT, YOU NEVER HAD IT.

** AND THE REASON TRUE CHRISTIANS DO NOT FALL FROM GRACE IS THAT GOD GRACIOUSLY KEEPS THEM FROM FALLING.

*** PRESERVATION IS WHAT GOD DOES, SO IT MIGHT BE BETTER CALLED THE PRESERVATION OF THE SAINTS.

**** FOR IN GOD’S POWER AND GRACE, PERSEVERANCE IS WHAT WE DO BECAUSE PRESERVATION IS WHAT GOD DOES.

(3) TO SAY IT ANOTHER WAY, WE PERSEVERE BECAUSE GOD PRESERVES.

* FOR THE GROUND OF OUR PERSEVERANCE IS THE POWER OF GOD. GOD PROMISES TO FINISH WHAT HE STARTS, READ PHILIPPIANS 1:6, II TIMOTHY 4:18,

I PETER 1:4&5 AND JOHN 10:27-30.

** NOW WITH THOSE WONDERFUL SCRIPTURES IN MIND, LET ME EXPAND ON THIS TRUTH A LITTLE MORE.

*** THE DOCTRINE OF PERSEVERANCE GROUNDS ASSURANCE IN THE ETERNAL PURPOSES OF GOD’S SOVEREIGN ELECTION.

*** THE SAINTS SALVATION IS BY THE WILL OF GOD. AND IF GOD SOVEREIGNLY STARTS SOMETHING HE WILL FINISH. AND SINCE HE CHOSE US, HE WILL KEEP US.

**** AND THE GOLDEN CHAIN OF GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE CONFIRMS THIS IN ROMANS 8:29-30 WHERE THERE ARE 5 LINKS TALKED ABOUT IN AN UNBREAKABLE CHAIN THAT STARTED IN ETERNITY PAST AND WILL BE CARRIED OUT BY THE PURPOSES OF GOD TO ETERNITY FUTURE.

(4) AND THE 5 LINKS IN THE ETERNAL CHAIN ARE FOREKNOWLEDGE, PREDESTINATION, CALLING, JUSTIFICATION AND GLORIFICATION.

* SO OUR SECURITY RESTS IN GOD’S PURPOSE AND POWER THROUGH PREDESTINATION BRINGING ABOUT PERSEVERANCE OR PRESERVATION – 5 P’S.

** NOW YOU MAY BE WONDERING, “RAY, THAT’S A WONDERFUL TRUTH, BUT WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH REVELATION 13:7-10?”

*** WELL A LOT! FOR GOD’S PROVIDENCE, GOD’S PURPOSES, GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY IS WOVEN THROUGHOUT OUR TEXT TODAY.

**** IN FACT, THE ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY IS COMMUNICATED IN V. 7 BY THE PHRASE IN REFERENCE TO THE BEAST OUT OF THE SEA, THE PHRASE, “GIVEN TO HIM” USED IN V. 7 TWICE. GOD IS ON THE THRONE AND ULTIMATELY GRANTS THE ANTICHRIST’S POWER.

(5) IN V. 8 EVERYONE WILL WORSHIP THE ANTICHRIST SPECIFICALLY THOSE “WHOSE NAMES HAVE NOT BEEN WRITTEN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.”

* AND IN V. 10 IF A BELIEVER IS DESTINED FOR CAPTIVITY, HE WILL GO INTO CAPTIVITY, AND THE FINAL PHRASE OF V. 10 IS, “HERE IS THE PERSEVERANCE AND THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS” IN MY BIBLE.

** SO GOD’S POWER, PROVIDENCE, PURPOSE AND PERSEVERANCE WILL BE A GREAT THEME OF OUR STUDY TODAY WHICH I’VE TITLED: “THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.”

*** AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 3 MAIN POINTS AS WE STUDY REVELATION 13:7-10.

**** NO. 1 THE WAR OF THE BEAST WITH SAINTS, V. 7; NO. 2 THE WORSHIP OF THE BEAST BY THE UNSAVED, V. 8; AND NO. 3 THE WARNING TO THE SAINTS BECAUSE OF THE WORK OF THE BEAST, VV. 9&10.

(6) AND WITH THAT OUTLINE TO DRIVE US, LOOK AT V. 7 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE WAR. LOOK AT REVELATION 13:7 PLEASE.

I. THE WAR, (READ V. 7)

A. NOW THE BEAST, ANTICHRIST, WILL MAKE WAR WITH THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE COME TO KNOW CHRIST DURING THE TRIBULATION HERE CALLED THE SAINTS – TRUE BELIEVERS.

* AND HE NOT ONLY MAKES WAR WITH THEM, HE ALSO OVERCOMES THEM.

** AND THE INDICATION IS, BECAUSE THESE SAINTS WILL NOT WORSHIP THE BEAST, WHICH WE SEE IN V. 8, THEY WILL PAY A HEAVY PRICE BY PERSECUTION AND EVEN DEATH.

*** GOD’S PEOPLE WILL BE IMPRISONED AND KILLED AS THEY GET IN THE WAY OF THE BEAST’S TRAIN THAT WILL RUN OVER HIS ENEMIES.

**** FOR YOU SEE, HE HAS WORLDWIDE DOMINANCE AND WORSHIP AT THIS TIME AS HE HAS “AUTHORITY OR POWER OVER EVERY TRIBE AND PEOPLE AND TONGUE AND NATION,” LITERALLY WORLDWIDE POWER AND AUTHORITY, BEYOND ANYTHING THAT NERO COULD HAVE EVER HAD FOR THOSE WHO INTERPRET THIS BEING FULFILLED IN THE FIRST CENTURY AND THAT THIS IS HISTORY AND NOT PROPHECY.

1. THIS WILL BE BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF THE OLD ROMAN EMPIRE TO ALL THE WORLD.

* AND OVERCOMING SAINTS IN THIS CASE IS TERMINATION OF THEIR PHYSICAL LIVES. THERE IS ALL-OUT WAR FOR GOD’S PEOPLE SAVED IN THE TRIBULATION.

** BUT IN THE MIDST OF THIS WE SEE THE THREAD OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY THAT WEAVES ITS WAY THROUGHOUT THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

*** FOR AS WE SAW LAST WEEK IN OUR STUDY IN V. 5, HERE IN V. 7, THE PHRASE “GIVEN TO HIM” HIM BEING ANTICHRIST, THIS PHRASE IS USED TWICE AGAIN AS IT WAS IN V. 5.

**** AND AGAIN WE ARE REMINDED THAT GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL, THAT GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE, FOR SATAN AND ANTICHRIST CAN ONLY DO WHAT GOD ALLOWS OR HAS ORDAINED FOR THEM TO DO.

2. ANTICHRIST CAN FUNCTION ONLY BY DIVINE PERMISSION, THUS STRESSING THAT GOD NEVER RELINQUISHES HIS ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF EVENTS.

* AND HERE’S HOW WE MUST VIEW THE 4 USES OF THE PHRASE, “GIVEN TO HIM.”

** THE DRAGON-SATAN GIVES HIS AUTHORITY TO THE BEAST IN V. 4, SO SATAN IS THE INTERMEDIATE SOURCE OF POWER FOR HIS PUPPET, BUT THE ALMIGHTY IN HEAVEN IS THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF HIS POWER AND WHAT HE HAS ORDAINED IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED.

*** AND AS I’VE REMINDED YOU OVER AND OVER, THIS GREAT TRUTH THAT GOD IS ON THE THRONE CAN GIVE US GREAT PEACE AND COMFORT AND ASSURANCE WHEN “TRIBULATIONS” COME INTO OUR LIVES, FOR WE CAN REST IN GOD’S SOVEREIGN GOOD AND HOLY PURPOSES.

**** SO AGAIN WE HAVE THIS PROVIDENTIAL POP-UP TO REMIND US, THE LORD REIGNS, NOT SATAN, OR NOT THE BEAST.

3. FOR THE BEAST MAY BE ON THE THRONE OF THE WORLD AT THIS TIME, BUT GOD IS ON THE THRONE OF THE UNIVERSE – PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!

* NOW ONE LAST THING IN V. 7 BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO V. 8.

** AND THAT IN OUR STUDY OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION WE HAVE BEEN REGULARLY GOING BACK TO THE BOOK OF DANIEL LOOKING AT HOW MANY OF DANIEL’S PROPHECIES ARE FULFILLED IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

*** AND WE DO THAT AGAIN WITH V. 7 THAT THE BEAST MAKES WAR WITH GOD’S PEOPLE AND WEARS DOWN THE SAINTS AND OVERPOWERS THEM FOR 3 ½ YEARS.

**** FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME ON THE SCREEN AS WE LOOK AT DANIEL 7:21-25:

V. 21 – “I KEPT LOOKING, AND THAT HORN WAS WAGING WAR WITH THE SAINTS AND OVERPOWERING THEM

V. 22 – UNTIL THE ANCIENT OF DAYS CAME AND JUDGMENT WAS PASSED IN FAVOR OF THE SAINTS OF THE HIGHEST ONE, AND THE TIME ARRIVED WHEN THE SAINTS TOOK POSSESSION OF THE KINGDOM.

V. 23 – THUS HE SAID: “THE FOURTH BEAST WILL BE A FOURTH KINGDOM ON THE EARTH, WHICH WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHER KINGDOMS AND WILL DEVOUR THE WHOLE EARTH AND TREAD IT DOWN AND CRUSH IT.

V. 24 – AS FOR THE TEN HORNS, OUT OF THIS KINGDOM TEN KINGS WILL ARISE; AND ANOTHER WILL ARISE AFTER THEM, AND HE WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM THE PREVIOUS ONES AND WILL SUBDUE THREE KINGS.

V. 25 – HE WILL SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE MOST HIGH AND WEAR DOWN THE SAINTS OF THE HIGHEST ONE, AND HE WILL INTEND TO MAKE ALTERATIONS IN TIMES AND IN LAW; AND THEY WILL BE GIVEN INTO HIS HAND FOR A TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME.”

4. NOW THE PINPOINT ACCURACY OF THESE THINGS BEING FULFILLED IN THE LAST 3 ½ YEARS OF THE TRIBULATION CALLED THE GREAT TRIBULATION IS STUNNING, BUT IS WHAT WE EXPECT FOR THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD AND GOD’S BOOK AND GOD CANNOT LIE, SO WHAT HE HAS PROMISED AND ORDAINED WILL COME TO PASS EXACTLY!

* WHICH REMINDS ME OF THE WORDS OF ISAIAH 46:9-11 WHICH SAYS:

V. 9 – REMEMBER THE FORMER THINGS LONG PAST, FOR I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER; I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NO ONE LIKE ME,

V. 10 – DECLARING THE END FROM THE BEGINNING, AND FROM ANCIENT TIMES THINGS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN DONE, SAYING, “MY PURPOSE WILL BE ESTABLISHED, AND I WILL ACCOMPLISH ALL MY GOOD PLEASURE;”

V. 11 – CALLING A BIRD OF PREY FROM THE EAST, THE MAN OF MY PURPOSE FROM A FAR COUNTRY. TRULY I HAVE SPOKEN; TRULY I WILL BRING IT TO PASS. I HAVE PLANNED IT, SURELY I WILL DO IT.

** AND BELOVED MY RESPONSE TO THIS TEXT IS, THE LORD REIGNS, LET THE EARTH REJOICE, LET GOD’S PEOPLE BE GLAD FOR OUR GOD REIGNS, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF WAR ON HIS SAINTS. LET US WORSHIP HIM AND SERVE HIM!

*** WHICH LEADS US TO V. 8 WHERE THE SAINTS DO NOT WORSHIP THE BEAST, BUT THE REST OF THE EARTH DOES, OUR 2’D POINT TODAY: THE WORSHIP. LOOK AT V. 8 PLEASE.

II. THE WORSHIP, (READ V. 8)

A. NOW ALL WHO DWELL ON THE FACE OF GOD’S GOOD EARTH WILL WORSHIP THE BEAST AT THIS PARTICULAR TIME WITH THE EXCEPTION OF BELIEVERS.

* AND THE PHRASE ALL WHO DWELL ON THE EARTH, THE EARTH DWELLERS, IS A PHRASE USED REPEATEDLY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION TO IDENTIFY UNBELIEVERS, UNSAVED PEOPLE, HERE THOSE WHO WORSHIP THE BEAST.

** BUT IN CONTRAST TO THESE PEOPLE WE HAVE GOD’S ELECT WHO WILL NOT WORSHIP THE BEAST.

*** AND AGAIN WE SEE THE THREAD OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY HERE. FOR EVERYONE WORSHIPS THE BEAST SPECIFICALLY THOSE WHOSE NAMES HAVE NOT BEEN WRITTEN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

**** AND THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE THE NON-ELECT.

1. FOR YOU SEE, 7 TIMES IN THE N.T. BELIEVERS ARE IDENTIFIED AS THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.

* AND THE BOOK OF LIFE, WHICH BELONGS TO THE LAMB, SPEAKING OF THE LORD JESUS, IS THE REGISTRY, THE ROLL, THE DIVINE SCROLL, THE BOOK IN WHICH GOD INSCRIBED THE NAMES OF THOSE CHOSEN BY HIM FOR SALVATION BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD SPEAKING OF ETERNITY PAST.

** AND UNLIKE UNBELIEVERS, THE ELECT CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE DECEIVED BY ANTICHRIST NOR WILL THEY WORSHIP HIM.

**** FOR IN TALKING ABOUT THIS TIME OF THE TRIBULATION WE ARE STUDYING, MATTHEW 24:24 SAYS: “FOR FALSE CHRISTS AND FALSE PROPHETS WILL ARISE AND WILL SHOW GREAT SIGNS AND WONDERS, SO AS TO MISLEAD, IF POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT.”

**** AND THESE BELIEVERS AGAIN CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE DECEIVED NOR WORSHIP THE BEAST AND MANY WILL BECOME MARTYRS, FOR REVELATION 20:4 SAYS: “THEN I SAW THRONES, AND THEY SAT ON THEM, AND JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN TO THEM. AND I SAW THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAD BEEN BEHEADED BECAUSE OF THEIR TESTIMONY OF JESUS AND BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF GOD, AND THOSE WHO HAD NOT WORSHIPED THE BEAST OR HIS IMAGE, AND HAD NOT RECEIVED THE MARK ON THEIR FOREHEAD AND ON THEIR HAND; AND THEY CAME TO LIFE AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.”

2. AND HERE’S THE POINT I WANT TO GET ACROSS: ANTICHRIST WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DESTROY BELIEVER’S SAVING FAITH, THOSE WHOM GOD CALLS, THOSE HE HAS CHOSEN TO SAVE WILL PERSEVERE BECAUSE GOD CHOSE THEM BEFORE TIME, RECORDED THEIR NAMES IN THE BOOK OF LIFE AND THEIR NAMES WILL NOT BE ERASED.

* TRUE BELIEVERS, GOD’S ELECT ARE OVERCOMERS, READ I JOHN 5:4&5.

** BUT ALSO WE SEE THIS PROMISE TO OVERCOMERS IN REVELATION 3:5&6 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 5 – “HE WHO OVERCOMES WILL THUS BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS; AND I WILL NOT ERASE HIS NAME FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE, AND I WILL CONFESS HIS NAME BEFORE MY FATHER AND BEFORE HIS ANGELS.

V. 6 – HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES.”

*** NOW REVELATION 3:5 IS A PROMISE AND NOT A THREAT.

**** AND THIS IS A PROMISE, NOT A THREAT. A CHRISTIAN’S NAME CANNOT BE ERASED FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE. GOD DOESN’T NEED AN ERASER, HE MAKES NO MISTAKES.

3. NOW OFFICIALS IN GOVT. IN THAT DAY KEPT A REGISTER OF THE CITIZENS OF THEIR CITY AND IF SOMEONE DIED, OR COMMITTED A SERIOUS CRIME, THEIR NAME WAS ERASED FROM THAT REGISTER.

* AND UNLIKE HUMAN GOVT. OFFICIALS, CHRIST, THE SOVEREIGN KING OF HEAVEN, PROMISES NEVER TO ERASE A TRUE CHRISTIAN’S NAME FROM THE ROLL OF THOSE WHO’S NAMES WERE “WRITTEN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB WHO HAS BEEN SLAIN” ACCORDING TO REVELATION 13:8.

** BROTHERS AND SISTERS, CHRIST DOESN’T OPERATE THE WAY HUMAN OFFICIALS OPERATE AND THE BOOK OF LIFE CONTAINS THE NAMES OF CHRIST’S ELECT WHO WERE CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

*** AND CHRIST’S ELECT WILL BE ETERNALLY PRESERVED AND WILL PERSEVERE BY GRACE. OUR NAMES WILL NOT AND CANNOT BE ERASED, WE ARE ETERNALLY SECURE IN THE GRACE OF CHRIST.

**** NOW WHAT A JOY IT IS TO KNOW THAT WHAT GOD STARTED IN HIS SOVEREIGN SELECTION HE SECURES AND WILL BRING TO ULTIMATE SALVATION TO BE WITH HIM! OUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE BY HIS SOVEREIGN CHOICE AND WHAT HE STARTS HE FINISHES IN ROMANS 8.

***** BUT GET THIS! BELIEVERS ARE DOUBLY SECURE. FOR NOT ONLY THROUGH THE DECREE OF ELECTION, BUT ALSO THROUGH THE ATONING WORK OF CHRIST GUARANTEES OR SEALS OUR REDEMPTION.

4. AND THIS IS CALLED PARTICULAR REDEMPTION. FOR NOTICE IT SAYS AT THE END OF V. 8, THE BOOK OF LIFE BELONGS TO THE LAMB WHO HAS BEEN SLAIN.

* AND TO WHOM ARE THE ONES THE LAMB DIED FOR? THOSE WHOSE NAMES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

** READ ROMANS 4:25 AND I PETER 1:18&19.

*** AND CHRIST DIED FOR THE CHURCH, HE DIED FOR HIS SHEEP AND HE WILL ACTUALLY SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS, FOR THOSE HE WAS SLAIN FOR, THOSE WHOSE NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE LAMB’S BOOK OF LIFE BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD (JOHN 10:11, EPHESIANS 5:25)

**** SO REDEMPTION WAS ACCOMPLISHED AND APPLIED THROUGH THE LAMB WAS SLAIN AND CHRIST’S DEATH WAS AN ABSOLUTE SUCCESS FOR THOSE HE DIED FOR WILL EFFECTUALLY BE SAVED.

5. THERE IS NO ONE IN HELL HE DIED FOR! NOT ONE DROP OF BLOOD WAS SPILT FOR PEOPLE WHO REJECT HIM, ONLY FOR HIS ELECT.

* AND HERE AGAIN WE HAVE SECURITY, EVERY PERSON FOR WHOM CHRIST DIED FOR WILL BE SAVED AND THAT IS THE EXTENT OF THE ATONEMENT, THERE IS PARTICULAR REDEMPTION.

** AND AS WE GO BACK TO V. 8, GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE AND POWER IS IN VIEW AND IS CONTRASTED WITH THE FLEETING MIGHT THAT HE HAS GIVEN THE BEAST.

*** FOR WHEN A PERSON’S NAME IS IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, THEY WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN, THEIR DESTINY IS SECURE. AGAIN PRAISE BE TO OUR SOVEREIGN GOD!

**** BELIEVERS SAVED BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN GRACE IN THE TRIBULATION WILL NOT WORSHIP THE BEAST. AND SO CONTINUE TO MOVE ON FROM THE WAR, TO THE WORSHIP AND LAST OF ALL IN VV. 9&10 TODAY, THE WARNING, LOOK AT V.9 PLEASE.

III. THE WARNING, (READ V.9)

A. NOW THE CONTEMPORARY EQUIVALENT OF V. 9 WOULD BE THE COMMAND “NOW HEAR THIS!” OR “LISTEN UP!” OR “WAKE UP AND LISTEN!”

* AND THIS IS A COMMAND TO LISTEN UP, OR TO HEAR, FOR THE VERB “HEAR” IS IN THE IMPERATIVE MOOD.

** AND THIS COMMAND IS PROSPECTIVE RATHER THAN RETROSPECTIVE MEANING THIS WARNING IS LINKED TO THE PROVERBIAL SAYING THAT FOLLOWS IN V. 10 RATHER THAN BEING CONNECTED TO VV. 1-8 AND WHAT PRECEDES V. 9.

*** AND SO THIS WARNING IS GIVEN TO TRIBULATION BELIEVERS TO LISTEN UP AND APPLY V. 10, WHAT FOLLOWS.

**** AND NOTE THIS WARNING IS NOT GIVEN TO THE CHURCH IN JOHN’S DAY, IT IS PROPHETIC.

1. YOU SAY RAY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WELL THIS WARNING IS GIVEN 7 TIMES IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 2&3, “HE WHO HAS AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES.”

* BUT WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS TO THE CHURCHES IS OMITTED HERE IN REVELATION 13:9. WHY? THE CHURCH HAS BEEN RAPTURED OUT.

** FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THIS REPEATED PHRASE TO THE CHURCHES ACCORDS WITH THE PROMISE TO THE TRUE CHURCH, THE CHURCH AT PHILADELPHIA IN REVELATION 3:10, WHICH SAYS: (READ IT).

*** NOW IN MY UNDERSTANDING OF BIBLICAL PROPHECY, THE CHURCH IS TAKEN OUT SOMEWHERE IN THE TIME FRAME OF REVELATION 4.

**** SO FROM REVELATION 4 THROUGH 18, THE WORD CHURCH IS NOT USED 1 TIME, AND HERE IN REVELATION 13:9 THE WARNING IS GIVEN TO TRIBULATION SAINTS SAVED DURING THE TRIBULATION, NOT THE CHURCH.

2. NOW THIS WARNING TO THESE BELIEVERS IS GIVEN IN V. 10. LOOK AT V. 10 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 10. NOW THE WARNING TO BELIEVERS ALIVE AT THE TIME OF ANTICHRIST’S PERSECUTION IS THEY ARE TO DEPEND ON GOD’S PROVIDENCE AND NOT TAKE MATTERS IN THEIR OWN HANDS AND NOT GO ON SOME KIND OF JIHAD AGAINST ANTICHRIST.

* AND SPECIFICALLY IN V. 10, THOSE BELIEVERS DESTINED BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN PLAN, AGAIN THE THREAD OF SOVEREIGNTY COMES UP HERE AGAIN, FOR THE WORD DESTINED OR LEADETH OR IS TAKEN CAPTIVE OR GOES INTO CAPTIVITY, DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE HAS A SOVEREIGN CONNOTATION.

** TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, BELIEVERS DESTINED BY GOD’S SOVEREIGN PLAN FOR CAPTIVITY (LIT. IMPRISONMENT, TO BE INCARCERATED) ARE TO ACCEPT THAT IMPRISONMENT AS GOD’S WILL.

*** MEANING THEY ARE NT TO FIGHT OR RESIST AGAINST ANTICHRIST.

**** FOR IF ANYONE “KILLS WITH THE SWORD” THE NEXT PHRASE IN V. 10, HE MUST BE KILLED WITH THE SWORD IS THE INTERPRETATION, WHICH TEACHES THE DIVINE CONCEPT OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT THROUGHOUT SCRIPTURE, THE ROLE OF GOVT. IN ROMANS 13:1-5 AND BEFORE THE LAW IN GENESIS 9:6 AND DURING THE LAW.

1. AND THE TRUTH HERE IS, THE WARNING IS, GOD’S PEOPLE ARE NOT TO RETALIATE AGAINST THEIR PERSECUTORS, THERE IS NO PLACE FOR AGGRESSIVE, VIOLENT BELIEVERS TERRORIZING THEIR PERSECUTORS. (IF THEY DO IT, THEY WILL DIE AS THEY REBEL.)

* WHICH SMACKS IN THE FACE OF RADICAL ISLAM TODAY WHICH TEACHES THERE IS GREAT REWARD FOR KILLING INFIDELS – CHRISTIANS AND PERSECUTING THEM (AND I EMPHASIZE RADICAL ISLAM, NOT THAT ANY FORM OF ISLAM IS TRUTH.)

** BUT FOR CHRISTIANS TODAY AND IN THE FUTURE, INSTEAD OF REACTING VIOLENTLY, TRUE CHRISTIANS MUST EXEMPLIFY AND LIVE OUT “THE PERSEVERANCE AND THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS” IN THE LAST PART OF V. 10.

*** AND THROUGH PERSEVERING IN THEIR FAITH AND RESTING IN GOD’S SOVEREIGN PLAN THEY LIVE LIKE CHRIST, WHERE IT SAYS OF HIM IN I PETER 2:22&23 (READ THEM).

**** AND WHEN BELIEVERS ARE LIKE CHRIST THEY ARE COMMITTING THE KEEPING OF THEIR SOULS IN SUFFERING TO GOD ALMIGHTY, READ I PETER 4:19.

2. AND OUR GOD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL, HE CANNOT BE OTHERWISE AND HE IS IN CONTROL, SO BELIEVERS MUST PERSEVERE AND REST IN WHAT GOD HAS DESTINED.

* GOD’S PEOPLE MUST LEARN TO TRUST IN WHAT GOD HAS DESTINED.

IN WRAP UP: (1) THE MESSAGE AND TRUTH OF OUR STUDY RINGS OUT, OUR GOD REIGNS!

* AND CONTEXTUALLY, LET THE BEAST FROM THE SEA DO HIS WORST AND GIVE HIS BEST SHOT.

** LET THE DRAGON-SATAN AND HIS DEMON HOST HAVE THEIR HOUR.

*** GOD CONTROLS THE FUTURE AND BELIEVERS BELONG TO HIM AND NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM HIS FORELOVING US AND FOREORDAINING US TO BE HIS OWN.

**** AND BELOVED, EVEN NOW, WE REJOICE IN THE TRUTHS OF ROMANS 8:1, ROMANS 8:18,ROMANS 8:28, ROMANS 8:31 AND ROMANS 8:35-39. (READ THEM)

(2) AND BELOVED, WE ALSO REJOICE IN THE TRUTH OF REVELATION 11:15 WHEN ONE DAY “THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD BECOMES THE KINGDOM OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST.”

* AND UNTIL THEN, MAY WE PERSEVERE IN OUR GOD GIVEN FAITH AND REST AND TRUST AND STAND ON THE PRECIOUS TRUTH OF GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY.

** AND YES I REPEAT THAT A LOT, BUT BROTHERS AND SISTERS, THAT TRUTH IS THE MOST COMFORTING TRUTH I KNOW OF.

*** MAY IT MOVE FROM OUR HEADS TO HEARTS AND LIVES THAT IT WILL LEAD US TO TRUST IN HIM AND THAT WE CAN GROW AND SAY LIKE JOB IN THE WORDS OF JOB 13:15 (READ IT AND PRAY.)