Let’s continue our study on the joy of persecution. As we found out, persecution is more than something you fall into; it is also something you prepare for if you are to endure it. We prove that the number one cause of the great falling away Paul spoke of in Thessalonians is because of offense directly connected to the persecution that will come upon the church. Offended at whom you may ask, at the lord for allowing something he told us was coming.
Revelation 14:11-13 (King James Version)
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
If one accepts that the Book of Revelation is a book of prophecy and includes future prophecy for Planet Earth, then our text verses have some very important meanings. On this basis, there will be a future time on Earth when there will be a world economic ruler named Antichrist. The coming world economic ruler will demand that the people on Planet Earth worship him as God. Those who do not worship him in this manner will be persecuted and martyred. The spirit light beings of the Born-Again Christians who will be martyred will go to Heaven like bolts of lightning. They will be at complete rest in Heaven. Even Born-Again Christians who die before the time of the Antichrist will all suffer persecution, and when they leave their physical bodies in death, they will go to the place of rest, Heaven.
Here is the said thing about all of this, “When the time of Antichrist comes on Planet Earth, many will choose to escape persecution by worshiping him as a god. Though these may find temporary rest on Earth by worshiping the Antichrist as a god, when they die, they will go to Hell, where they will never have any rest. Though they temporarily escape the persecution on Planet Earth that makes them weary, they will never escape from being weary in Hell.”
Those who are true Born-Again Christians during the time of the Antichrist will choose not to disobey the first of the Ten Commandments and thus not worship the Antichrist as god. Those who choose to worship Antichrist will be disobeying the Ten Commandments. The word patience is about being steadfast in one’s faith. When Our Father created you in your mother’s womb, He created you for a purpose. This means that you have a purpose for being on Earth. How does realizing that you have a purpose affect your happiness?
Even though anyone refusing to worship the Antichrist as God will be put to death, they will be happier than anyone choosing to worship the Antichrist. This is a truth that applies to present-day Born-Again Christians. You are always happiest when doing the purpose of Our Father, even if it sometimes causes You to be persecuted.
Persecution always makes people weary, whether it is present-day Born-Again Christians or those who refuse to worship Antichrist in the future. When a Born-Again Christian dies, the weariness is gone, and that one is in complete rest. This does not mean that the Saints in Heaven are not active, only that they will experience rest. Human beings living on Earth created in the image of Our Father have periods of activity and rest. This pattern will continue in Heaven.
Before the future time of Antichrist, there will be times of persecution for Born Again Christians, and these times of persecution will be followed by times of rest. Our Father wants Born Again Christians to be aware of this pattern. Those who keep doing the purpose of Our Father can have the same happiness during times of persecution that they have during times of rest. This is part of the meaning of the joy of persecution.
Revelation 16:15 (King James Version)
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
The communication that goes with our text verse includes ideas about being prepared for persecution, and a Born-Again Christian who is prepared for persecution will be happy. In our text verse, the word thief is about Christ returning from Heaven for the second time as a thief in the night. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:2.) A Born-Again Christian prepared for the Second Coming of Christ is prepared for times of persecution. The idea of the Saints wearing garments is that the garment that each Saint wears in Heaven is righteousness. Righteousness is about one becoming righteous in the sight of Our Father through repentance and confession of sin. Righteousness is also about a Born-Again Christian living his or her life based on the Commandments of Our Father and being a kind, compassionate, and helpful person.
A Born-Again Christian with the qualities of spiritual righteousness I just mentioned is prepared for the Second Coming of Christ and persecution. Finally, the word shame needs to be given some consideration.
The word shame means for a person to feel unworthy to be in the presence of Our Father. Even though you feel unworthy to be in the presence of Our Father, you feel that you can come into the presence of Our Father in prayer and worship because Christ Your Lord sits at the right hand of Our Father, interceding for you. In the Bible, the matter of shame is also related to the matter of physical nakedness. Before Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they were naked, but they were not ashamed when they looked at each other. (See Genesis 2:25.) After they sinned, when they looked at each other, they were ashamed, so they made aprons out of fig leaves to cover the private parts of their bodies. (See Genesis 3:7.) Since they knew that Our Father came to them and at times walked in the Garden of Eden with them, after they sinned they felt unworthy to be in the presence of Our Father.
One of the problems of the times of the Book of Revelation is that some professing to be Born Again Christians misunderstood what Our Father expected. They thought that all that was necessary was for them to be forgiven of sin, and they could continue to live lives that included immoral sexual activity. Whether the immoral sexual activity is with other people or of the pornographic type, it involves being naked before people before whom one should not be naked. For example, the only woman a man should see without clothing is his wife, and the only man a woman should see without clothing is her husband. The other part of the problem is that there are those on Earth who dress to get others to dream or fantasize that they are not wearing clothes. People who have immoral sexual problems are not prepared for the Second Coming of Christ and are not prepared for times of persecution.
Revelation 19:9-10 (King James Version)
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
As you notice, one of our text verses is one of the Beatitudes of Apostle John?” which is Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb? “This is the fourth Beatitude of Apostle John that the Holy Spirit is considering in the chapter of this book. One of the meanings of this communication is that Born Again Christians on Earth who go through times of persecution, including some in the Great Tribulation, can have the same type of joy during persecutions as they will have at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Heaven.
According to our second text verse, when the person spoke to Apostle John, he fell at the feet of the person to worship the person. Since a person would not receive the worship, the person was an Angel. Apostle Paul writes in the Scriptures that we humans should not worship Angels. (See Colossians 2:18.)”
The Angel understood the order of Our Father’s creation, so he refused to accept the worship of Apostle John. Then the Angel stated two qualities of Angels that are important for Born Again Christians to understand. First, the Angel said that heshe was a fellow servant of Apostle John. The Angel stated that Apostle John and heshe served the same God. Even though Angels were created or equipped to live in Heaven rather than on Planet Earth, the Angels are servants of God when they are in Heaven and when on Planet Earth. Secondly, the Angel stated that Apostle John and heshe were brethren. The word brethren identifies people who have the same parent(s). In other words, Our Father created both the Angel and the Apostle John.
“One of the goals of Satan is to make one being persecuted feel that he or she is all alone during times of persecution. For example, there are even some Born Again Christians today whose persecution includes being in prison in solitary confinement. Our Father wants Born Again Christians to know enough about Angels so that they can feel that Guardian angels are always with them. The Angels are compassionate friends who can go places where other human beings cannot go with You. This is important to understand because a lonely person has trouble being a happy person.
The statement in our second text verse that Jesus is the spirit of prophecy is important to understand. This means that the theme of prophecy is Christ Your Lord. The prophecies about the future in the Book of Revelation are important, as are the prophecies that prophets speak about today. These prophecies play an important part in Born Again Christians being happy during their times of persecution.
With that said Many of the prophecies being given today are about coming events, most of which are warnings about troubling events. There are even prophecies given that try to give a general time period when Christ Your Lord will take His Church to Heaven, or the Great Tribulation, Battle of Armageddon, and the Millennial Kingdom will take place. Since true prophecy is about the life of Christ Your Lord, past, present, and future, these prophecies of events can only help give some understanding about the future life of Christ. The prophecies about the person of Christ will help Born Again Christians be happy during their times of persecution.
