Study Lesson 11
A Reminder Of Previous Lessons
Or
Overcoming The Enemy
Something To Consider:
In looking back at previous lessons let us not forget to consider Lot of whom Peter described in 2 Peter 2.7 as righteous, who was not raptured or removed from the earth during the wrath of God being poured out upon the wicked and unrighteous. But rather as was Noah and his family, a few among so many, Lot, his wife, and two of their daughters, were made a way of escaping the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
And three [3] of the four [4] were divinely protected even in the midst of the wrath of God as if they too were in the world and yet not of the world. Lot’s wife chose to turn back even after God’s warning and suffered as did others in Sodom and Gomorrah.
And God forbid that we forget the lesson of a lifetime to be learned from the children of Israel living in the land of Goshen at the time of God’s wrath being unleashed upon a nation that worshipped so many false gods and refused to obey the commands of the true and living God of all the earth. Let us remember these lessons as we face the coming perilous end times described in detail by Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 and elsewhere. Let us remember the goodness of the Lord in His divine intervention during the wrathful plagues upon Egypt.
Let us forever remember how God protected His people, who were not raptured or removed from the earth during the difficult days of God’s wrath. But rather as the children of Israel in the land of Goshen, a distinct difference was made between the righteous and the unrighteous, as in the days of Noah and Lot, as if the righteous were in the world and yet not of this wicked and judgment deserving world. Having endured to the end of God’s longsuffering they were saved. Will we be able to be found by Jesus enduring to the end of whatever? I certainly hope so!
Something Else To Consider:
Think with me for a moment, of what will be our response when as mentioned in Study Lesson 4, we see with our own eyes, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, an end time prophet, and confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 24.15. What will be our immediate response as teachers of the Word of God, if we have neglected to prepare the people of God when the Antichrist is revealed through media broadcasts to all corners of the globe as he stands in the newly built temple yet to be built in Jerusalem? Will we beg for forgiveness for our misinterpretation of Scripture or will it be much too late? Of course it will be much too late to take back what was falsely taught!
Will we as the people of God at the moment we realize we are in the midst of the tribulation, will we fully and finally understand that we have been lied to whether knowingly or unknowingly? Will we at that moment be among the many offended and decide to depart from the faith? Will we as one-time believers yield to the temptation of believing the lie, that God has forsaken us simply because we were deceived into thinking that those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus would not suffer persecution, even though that concept is contrary to God’s Word?
At that moment in time, we will not be able to change the past! At that moment the damage would have been done and cannot be undone. At that very moment we will realize we have been deceived by the very ones Jesus, John, Peter, and Paul warned us about in the Scriptures we heard read and wrongly interpreted Sunday after Sunday and sermon after sermon. At that very moment the weight of the world will hang around the necks of so many and will be too much to bear to the point of their departing from the faith, and to make matters worse according to Jesus in Matthew 24.10, “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.”
Something More To Consider:
Having looked back at previous lessons let us look forward to a scene of an overcoming testimony found in Revelation chapter 12. John wrote as Jesus dictated to the angel and beginning in verse 7 a behind the scene end time event is reported. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was there a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
John continued his revelation of things yet to come, by stating in verse 10; “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they [the brethren] overcame him [Satan, the devil, the serpent and his angels] by the blood of the Lamb [the Lord Jesus Christ] and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.’”
John is describing an end time event and declared that end time saints overcome the enemy of our souls by the precious blood of Jesus and by their earthly testimony that reveals their faithfulness and willingness to endure to the end of their lives. Will we be among the faithful or among the faithless? Now is the time to decide!
John closes out this end time event by instructing all true end time believers in Jesus caught behind enemy lines in the last days, by proclaiming in verse 12 of Revelation chapter 12; “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
From that point John finishes out chapter 12 describing some of the end time persecution of those of a Jewish background but God makes a miraculous way of escape for them and nourishes them in the wilderness for 3-1/2 years. And in the final verse of Revelation chapter 12 John revealed, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman [Israel], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [true Christian end time believers], who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
A Few Final Words:
If you have been deceived into believing an unscriptural teaching of a pre-tribulation rapture, there is still time to seek the Lord for divine understanding of this most important end time teaching. There is still time to undo what spiritual damage false teaching has created.
We are in the midst of what Jesus warned of in Matthew 24.11-12; “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Therefore, we must be reminded of the warning of Jesus to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2.5; “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 [true church status] from its place unless you repent.”
Will we be found among those overcoming by the blood of Jesus and by way of their faithful enduring to the end testimony when Satan is finally cast out of heaven? Will we trade eternal life for 3-1/2 years of daily rations distributed by the Antichrist? Will we heed the warnings of Jesus and the Word of God while there still is time to make a difference in our lives and the lives of others, especially those of our own household and family?
Even in the face of persecution and death, according to John and Jesus there will be those who do not love their lives even unto death when pursued by Satan. Will we be counted worthy to suffer for Christ or be found worthy of judgment and eternal punishment by siding with the opposition out of fear and or intimidation or hunger pains?
In Closing:
May these words and teachings of Jesus forever become as the screensaver on the monitor of our minds, “Take heed that no one deceives you! For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
And may these repeated words of Jesus take on much needed new meaning every time we read or hear them read, “But he [or she] who endures to the end shall be saved.” And all true born again possible end time Christian believers should say and should pray, while watching and waiting for the return of Jesus, “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly! Amen.”
According to Jesus 