THOSE WHO OVERCOME

Identifying Christ and His people as those who “overcome,” is a dominant theme in the book of Revelation. It is the Greek word, “nikao,” and is used seventeen times, variously translated in English as “overcome,” “conquer,” “prevail,” etc. though it is the same word in the original. The seven churches in chapters two and three are each given a specific promise related to those who “overcome.” 

For this study, we will identify the characteristics of those who overcome as presented in Revelation 17:14 that reads, “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of Lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” In this chapter, the fiendish foes who will rise to oppose Christ are the scarlet woman and the scarlet beast—whom I identify as the False Prophet of a one-world religion and the Antichrist and his global governance. These oppose Christ, the Lamb of God, with the climax of their hate being the battle of Armageddon at Christ’s return, (Rev. 19:11-21). “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of Lords and King of kings,” (Rev. 17:14a). We will be in that victorious vanguard, “and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful,” (v. 14‬‬b). 

These are THE CALLED, “those who are with [Christ] are called.” They have heard the call of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit has summoned these to follow Christ. It is a work of grace that bids the spiritually dead to rise as Lazarus was called by Christ to come out of the grave.  Those who overcome have heard Christ’s call.

These are also THE CHOSEN, “those who are with [Christ] are…chosen.”  The Gospel call is to extend to all sinners, but is effectual only to those chosen—those who attest to that in their responding by faith to Christ. Our Lord taught, “For many are called, but few are chosen,” (Matt. 22:14). I think of the rich young ruler that our Lord called to follow Him, who sadly walked away. Those who overcome have been chosen and have heeded Christ’s call.

These are furthermore, THE COMMITTED, “those who are with [Christ] are…faithful.”  If you take the word faithful and turn it around it would define this attribute as those full of faith. These have not merely made a profession of faith, but are in possession of faith. The verbal commitment to Christ in their confession is validated by the visual commitment to Christ in their conduct. Judas Iscariot once identified himself as a disciple, but in the end proved his profession to be false.  He was overcome by the world, the flesh, and the devil rather than overcoming these as a true believer will. This is the perseverance of the saints. Those who overcome have been called, chosen, and are committed.

THE UNHOLY TRINITY

Satan is not very original. He seeks to mimic God, as he twists the truth. In the last days, there will arise an unholy trinity, as is pictured in Revelation 13. 

There is the dragon—Satan himself who is a perversion of the Sovereign God. He is the head of this unholy trinity. His is the power at work behind human government at the close of the age.

There is the beast—the Antichrist who is a distortion of the Son of God. There is even a counterfeit resurrection which brings awe to the  world, as they worship this man of sin.

There is the other beast—the False Prophet who is an imitator of the Spirit of God. As the Holy Spirit bears witness to Christ, this evil personage calls for the worship of the Antichrist. 

The result is that a world that rejects the witness of the Holy Spirit, by refusing the work that Christ has done in bringing salvation, and will not worship the True and Living God, will be given what they want—a false god from hell, and a false messiah as a demonic dictator of global governance, and a deceiving prophet that directs a one world religion.

While we can, let us shine the light of the Gospel. May we point people to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The church is to be salt, resisting the rot of sinful society. I believe there is coming a day when the church will be removed from the world, and then all hell will break loose. That time may be very near!

CHRIST’S REIGN: Returning in Glory

Read Revelation 19:1-21

The overthrow of evil in the world will come.  The age of rebellion will end with the return of Christ to establish His kingdom of righteousness. Revelation 19 describes those climactic events.

It begins with the overthrow of this world’s political, economic, and religious system—Babylon (v.1-10). The great whore of one world government under the Antichrist, with its capital seated in Rome will be decimated.  While these tribulation events visit judgment on earth, the church is enjoying the marriage supper of the Lamb, safely in heaven.

But, the church will exchange her wedding gown for armor, as we will ride beside Christ in His return to earth to establish His dominion, where we will reign at His side (v.11-18). His description is awe-inspiring to the saints, but to His foes it will be fearful. Jesus is coming to reign on earth—the “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” All His enemies will be conquered.

The Antichrist and his armies, gathered at Armageddon will be destroyed in a battle that is over as soon as it begins (v.17-21). None can stand before our Conquering King!  Even as the Bride of Christ has enjoyed a wedding feast in heaven above, now the carrion birds will be summoned to feast on the carcasses of those who dared fight the Lord. The Beast who directed the global political system and the False Prophet who led the global ecclesiastical system are first to be cast into eternal hell.

I want to be on the winning side, don’t you?

THE COEXIST CATASTROPHE

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters….”  (Revelation 17:1)

You have seen it—the coexist bumper stickers—that feature symbols of a number of major world religions spelling out the message: “coexist.”  I sympathize somewhat with the intent—if we mean that we should not hate others and grant them freedom of religion—that is not bad.  God gives us freedom to choose—to even choose to be wrong.  True faith cannot be coerced.  I would warn my readers, however, that although you are free to choose your faith, you are not free to choose the consequences.  Belief in Jesus Christ is the exclusive way to heaven—all other roads lead to hell.

The message of the coexist movement is actually more sinister.  Most who brandish it on their bumper sticker mean that all religions are equally valid—that all roads lead to deity—however you perceive that deity to be.  Come together in one world religion and global governance will be the increasing demand.  Revelation 17 tells us that day is coming—and far from being the utopia many imagine—it will be a coexist catastrophe.

The reason is that in the depraved heart of man, in a world under the curse, everything becomes twisted and bent toward evil.  The one world government becomes tyranny and not freedom.  The one world religion promotes intolerance in the name of tolerance.  As observed in this text, when an unholy marriage of church and state takes place, government will give religion a ride as long as it serves its purpose, and then will turn on the religious system and devour it.  That is the catastrophe of the coexist movement—it is a fantasy that ends in the worst fanaticism.

Following the rapture of the church—which I am looking for any day now—the Bride of Christ will be caught up to be with her Bridegroom.  The remarkable thing is that the next Sunday there will still be churches open for business.  Those left behind follow the doctrine of the apostates and not the Apostles.  Quickly, as the Beast—the Antichrist—consolidates his power, the world religious system of the Harlot—Mystery Babylon—converts the world to the worship of the Beast (v.1-5).

There will be those who resist, however—and their lot will be that of those dissenters through the ages—who have sought to worship the true God and gave allegiance to Christ exclusively—and that is persecution and martyrdom (v.6).  

Babylon is the wicked womb that has birthed all false religion—and she has spawned many perverse children.  You recall the tower built in Babel—a great idol temple that sought to elevate man to the heavens in order to supplant God.  In the last days, a final attempt is made to restore it.  Rome—the city of seven hills (v.7-9)—will be the headquarters.  Did you know that pagan Rome with her persecution of Christians was nothing compared to the torment and death unleashed by the church of Rome that supplanted the heathen empire?  A marriage of an apostate church and pagan religion promoted by a decaying empire looking to preserve its power was the result—a counterfeit church.  Its final manifestation will be the counterfeit church of the coexist religion.  Once religion serves its purpose, the world’s leaders will chew her up and spit her out (v.10-18).  I don’t want to belong to that church!

DECEPTIVE AND DESTRUCTIVE

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  (2 Peter 2:1)

False teaching is a cancer to the church.  It must be excised—every malignant cell removed.  Otherwise, it will kill the body.  What makes false teaching so pernicious is how closely it mimics the truth.  Often, in our physical state, cancer cells begin to multiply undetected, until they are well advanced.  So, heresy, has a way of invading the spiritual life and spreading without notice until it reaches a deadly level.  This is the subject dealt with in 2 Peter 2.  The old Apostle is calling for radical surgery of false doctrine and its teachers.

He begins by telling us that this is not a new problem—it is one of the chief ways Satan operates (v.1).  We are told that Satan is, “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44); “transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor.11:14); and that he “deceives the whole world” (Rev.12:9).  The serpent began his assault on truth in Eden with Eve by first questioning the truth, “Has God indeed said…” (Gen.3:1) and from there moved to denying the truth, “You will not surely die.”  (Gen.3:3) 

Satan has many minions who spread his lies.  The pages of the Old Testament find these tumors of false teaching springing up periodically.  One prominent example that Peter references is Balaam (v.15-16).  You can read the full story in Numbers 22-25 and 31:8.  We are astonished in reading how much truth Balaam’s prophecies contained, yet that only masked the evil intent.  The error in belief led to evil in behavior, for a man’s theology is ever linked to his morality.  His deceptive influence on the people of God would bring destruction—judgment on the Jews who followed his ways and ultimately Balaam himself would perish.  Do not think that the spirit of Balaam has been extinguished, however.  There are many who have taken up his methodology today—and Peter tells us it is as deceptive and destructive as ever (v.2).  It is heresy (v.1) and blasphemy (v.2).  Heresy is distorting God’s truth in a deceiving work and blasphemy is desecrating God’s name in a degrading way.

The motivation and appeal of the false teacher is exposed in v.3.  It is “covetousness” which exploits the gullible.  Is this not clearly on parade in much of what we see and hear on television today in the prosperity gospel preaching?  Whether it be a Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and the like—their number is legion—great masses of people are swayed by the message they proclaim that faith in Christ is a ticket to health and wealth.  It certainly has worked for them.  Their message sounds so true—and much of it is.  It masks the malignancy of heresy, however.  When closely examined by a Biblical biopsy it is seen for the destructive deception it is.

Let them enjoy their “Best Life Now,” for there will only be doom hereafter (v.3ff) unless they repent.  Two illustrations of judgment are presented—the flood that fell on the world in Gen.6 and the fire that fell on Sodom in Gen.19.  God had his righteous remnant that He spared—those who clung to the truth—namely Noah and Lot (v.5-9).  In a time when the church world seems swept away by the tide of false teaching, let us be steadfast in standing on the Word!

THE UNHOLY TRINITY

So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”… Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.  (Revelation 13:4, 11)

The Bible teaches us there is a Holy Trinity—One God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Evil has its counterfeit in the end times—a trio of terror: Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.  This is the unholy trinity.  They are symbolically presented as the dragon (spotlighted in Rev.12), the beast from the sea (Rev.13:1-10), and the beast from the earth (Rev.13:11-18).  Satan corresponds to God the Father; the Antichrist is a false Christ; the False Prophet testifies to the Antichrist as the Holy Spirit witnesses to Jesus.

John writes of the dragon—that old serpent, the Devil—in chapter 12.  He leads one third of the angels in rebellion against God; there is war in heaven.  Of course, the dragon has no hope of victory and he and his demons are cast out.  Coming to earth, he unleashes his fury against the Jews.  He cannot defeat God, so the dragon attempts to destroy God’s people.  Satan knows his time is short; the three and one half years of Great Tribulation reveal his rage.

The dragon has a hand-picked man—one who is Satan incarnate, if you will—whom he brings to world dominion in those demonic days (Rev.13:1-10).  He rises from the sea—the roiling waves of the Gentile kingdoms.  In this time when millions are suddenly missing, nature is convulsed, the global economy collapses, and wars are fought with horrible weapons—all giving rise to a call for someone to bring order from the chaos.  This “superman” will step forward and offer order.  The world will grovel before him in response to his beguiling promises.  This beast has seven heads—successive world powers: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.  The seventh will be an amalgamation of all—ten horns—ten rulers who comprise a United States of Europe, under the dominion of the Antichrist.  The kingdoms of the world were offered by Satan to Jesus, who refused the temptation. This man will eagerly sell his soul to gain the whole world.  Fallen humanity will respond to him with wonder and worship.

The worship of the Antichrist will be furthered by another beast (Rev.13:11-18).  This is the beast from the earth—a possible allusion to the Holy Land, which connects him to the three great religions of the world founded there: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  He will assume the reigns of a unified, world religious system.  The False Prophet will work hand in hand with the Antichrist to support his global governance.  On the surface, he presents himself as a gentle lamb, but in his heart he has the hate of the dragon.  He is a miracle-worker.  The world will swoon at his sermons supported by these supernatural signs.  This global power will control commerce and demand absolute allegiance as people take the mark of the Beast in a cashless society.  As we look around, we see the world rapidly moving in this direction.  As the people of God, this should cause us to look up for Jesus is coming soon for His bride!  Come, Lord Jesus!  Come quickly!