God's People in the Last Days

Scripture describes God’s last-days people in several places, but two of the most important are those given by Jesus, Himself, in Matthew 24 and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Chapters 12, 13, and 14. In Matthew 24, Jesus describes the grand sweep of the future (mostly history to us) that can specifically apply to the fall of Jerusalem, the Dark Ages of persecution, and to the end times. However, the description of God’s people is applicable throughout time. This is what He says about them:

“They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death.”

“You will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.”

“Many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.”

“Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”

“Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”

This sounds like very difficult times ahead. Christians in many ages have experienced all these things. We have had it pretty easy so far. So, what have we done with the easy life granted us just before the winds of strife begin to blow? Did we “work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4)? Or did we seek a life that is as easy as possible for comfort and success in this world? I confess my sin in this regard.

Jesus goes on to say, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Certainly, this means that we should hunker down, avoid being noticed as a soldier of Christ, enduring in a quiet part of a fairly peaceful world. But no! Jesus then says that the people who experience these things do something: “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” In spite of conflict, controversy, and threats of death, we are to preach the gospel and warn the world. What we have failed to do when it was easy, we will have to do when it is hard.

In Revelation 12, we learn that God’s church was so persecuted it had to flee to the wilderness for 1,260 years. In the end, we see that Satan is especially angry with God’s people “and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” In Revelation 13, Satan, through his earthly agents, “was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.” Laws are passed to persecute God’s people such that “no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Ultimately, “those who would not worship the image of the beast [were] to be slain.”

These descriptions paint a bleak picture of the fate of God’s people in the last days. Already, the instruments of power are being put in place to implement these action. It is my personal opinion that these events will occur far sooner than most Christians realize.

When we get to Revelation 14, Jesus, initially, gives us a break from the dire predictions about our future. He show us in heaven victorious: “they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.” This should be a great encouragement to us. But then, He reminds us that we have a job to do first: proclaiming the Three Angels’ Messages. This proclamation of the Everlasting Gospel is analogous to what Jesus said in Matthew 24, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

Despite our horrible failures to fulfill the gospel commission during our relative times of ease, there is still time to repent, receive forgiveness, and do the work assigned to us consistent with our talents. In three of the four chapters at which we have looked, Jesus said the same thing:

Matthew 24 – But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Rev 13 – Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Revelation 14 – Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Are we enduring now or shirking? Each of us should consider what we need to repent about, what sins we need to abandon, and how we should focus our lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we move forward to endurance and association with God’s last-days people.