Study of End Times week 27

Praise and Prayer

When Witnesses will be Persecuted part 2 July 20

I. They will be Satanically Persecuted

Revelation 11:7–9 CSB

7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, conquer them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie in the main street of the great city, which figuratively is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And some of the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will view their bodies for three and a half days and not permit their bodies to be put into a tomb.

Who is this beast?

Like many criminals, he has many aliases. He is called the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction(2 Thess 2:3), the evil one(1 John 2:13-14), the little horn(Dan 7:8; 8:9), and he is the Antichrist - the same one who will sit in the temple, declaring himself to be God.

The beast will wage war against the two witnesses. Why? Because they preach the Word of God.

Most preachers who boldly preach the Word do not win popularity contest. In fact Jesus said, Luke 6:26

Luke 6:26 CSB

26 Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets.

As the days grow darker, hatred and persecution against the godly will intensify.

Now we did say that the man of God is immortal until he has finished the task God has given him to do, but that is the thing.

Look at the first part of verses seven again, it says, “When they finish their testimony.”

Their testimony ends in death. The apostle Paul was one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived. They cut off his head but not before he said, in 2 Timothy 4:7

2 Timothy 4:7 CSB

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

When Jesus was on the cross, He bowed His head and just before He died said in John 19:30

John 19:30 CSB

30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Just because the witnesses are silenced does not mean the devil has won. No, the story is not over. The devil will make a great strategic mistake.

The communists tried to kill a Romanian named Joseph Tson, for preaching the Word of God. They sent a man who said, Joseph, if you do not knuckle under, we are going to kill you.

Joseph responded, Before you will me, I want to say that your chief weapon is killing, but my chief weapon is dying.

They asked him what he meant. He responded, if you kill me, you will sprinkle every sermon I have preached with my blood, every book I have written with my blood, and people will know I loved the Lord enough to die for Him. So your chief weapon is killing, but mine is dying. I want to warn you that if you use yours, I will be forced to use mine.

They went away saying, “Leave Joseph alone, he is crazy.”

Though the death of these witnesses catapults the Antichrist into great fame and popularity, the devil will not ultimately win.

Even when their dead bodies are left in the streets without a decent burial and onlookers stand around and gloat, the devil will not have won.

The witnesses will have finished their testimonies. Their work will have been completed.

When Mussolini died, many people took pleasure in his death.

In the same way, when the witnesses die, the Bible says the entire world will see them. And with modern technology, and news media, this will be able to be aired at one time around the world to all people of the world.

What is the lesson we need to learn here? If you live for the Lord Jesus Christ, it does not mean every body will love you.

Coming events cast their shadows ahead of time, and we can expect increasing persecution.

II. They will be Supernaturally Preserved

Revelation 11:11–12 CSB

11 But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” They went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.

Could anything more supernatural happen to God’s messengers?

People had been gloating over them and kicking at them for three and one-half days!

Then suddenly the glow of health returned to their lifeless bodies and changed their skin from palled to rosy. A finger twitched. A hand moved. A limb straightened. They sat up and stretched, then stood before these people.

Then another miracle took place. A voice from heaven told them to come up here. They went up to heaven in a cloud. The same way Jesus went up. What a day that will be!!

This forthcoming even teaches us that we need not fear ultimate destruction. We are preserved until we finish our task. Satan may be allowed to put us to death, but we are still supernaturally preserved.

God has Satan on a leash. If you are persecuted, it will be one of the greatest platforms you will ever have to speak of God’s eternal grace.

Luke 21:12–18 CSB

12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13 This will give you an opportunity to bear witness. 14 Therefore make up your minds not to prepare your defense ahead of time, 15 for I will give you such words and a wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. 17 You will be hated by everyone because of my name, 18 but not a hair of your head will be lost.

What if someone said to you, deny Christ or I will kill you? You could say, well kill me. I am going to heaven.

But what if they said, deny Christ, or I will dismember your wife in front of your eyes? What would you say if they said, deny Christ, or we will begin to mutilate your grandchildren?

You may respond, I do not know; don’t ask that question.

You do not have to worry about that time in the future because Jesus said to settle it in your heart, that is do not worry about what you will say.

God will give you His words and grace to respond in that very moment.

Now we look back and say well Luke 21 says they will put us in prison and yet not a hair of my head will be lost, and that is what we read.

Jesus is saying in a different way what He has already said early in Luke 12:4-5

Luke 12:4–5 CSB

4 “I say to you, my friends, don’t fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will show you the one to fear: Fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death. Yes, I say to you, this is the one to fear!

If you listen to many old spiritual sayings, you will hear a recurring theme of resurrection - death is not the end but only the beginning.

You will also hear that death is not something to fear but merely a passageway to enter into a deeper relationship with the Savior. It will be a victorious home-going!

When you are no longer afraid to die, then you are ready to live.

There is a God in glory who reigns. And the devil can ultimately do nothing to you without His permission. We need to remember that because if we do not, the devil will pull the wool over our eyes.

III. They will have Successfully Prophesied

Did the witnesses fail? No, They succeeded. These witnesses prophesied, and God received the glory.

Revelation 11:13–14 CSB

13 At that moment a violent earthquake took place, a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake. The survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed. Take note: The third woe is coming soon!

Those who are left behind will not die in the earthquake; instead they will give glory to the God of heaven.

This does not necessarily mean they will be saved. It just means they will recognize that what happened was a God thing.

The same thing happened to Pharaoh and King Saul. Indeed, the demons in hell will one day glorify God, and we know they will not be saved.

See the witnesses did what they were sent to do, the prophesied, the conversion of souls were not their responsibility, their responsibility was to prophecy, that is to proclaim the Word of God.

Our job, our responsibility is not the conversion of souls, our job, our responsibility is to boldly declare the Word of God, whether people will hear it or not.

When we host a dinner, our responsibility is to have the food prepared and ready for the guest to eat when we said we would eat. But we cannot make the guest show up, and we cannot make the guest be hungry, all we can do is provide the meal which is are responsibility.

Well, as Christians our responsibility is to boldly share our faith with others, it is not our responsibility to make them listen, to make them accept what we are sharing, or to accept Jesus as Savior.

We are to just boldly share Jesus, our faith, our testimony, God takes care of the rest.

Just as these two witnesses face persecution and just as Christians across this world face persecution today, we can and may face persecution when we boldly share our testimony.

2 Timothy 3:12 CSB

12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Is persecution a bad thing? No, it can be counted good. A matter of a fact the disciples multiple times in Acts counted it joy for being persecuted for Jesus sake.

Acts 5:41 CSB

41 Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.

It is a divine platform to share your testimony about God. When you read what God has said in His Word about the end times, you will see everything fitting into the sockets of prophecy.

We are on the winning Side.