Four Categories of People

As we understand the Scriptures there will be at least four categories of people on the earth in the last days:

The sealed remnant.

The great multitude of the faithful.

Those who worship Antichrist.

The smaller nations and tribes

The sealed remnant. The sealed remnant are protected from the torments of the fifth trumpet (Revelation 9:4). They are the servants of the Lord, the Lord’s "mighty men"—His warriors who stand with Him on Mount Zion.

The torments are a judgment on those who are not serving the Lord. Since the sealed remnant love the Lord and serve him of their own choice it is not necessary they be punished. Their hearts are in tune with the Lord’s heart and they share the Lord’s distress over the abominations performed in the midst of the Lord’s house (compare Ezekiel 9:4-9).

The remnant are mentioned in Revelation 12:17:

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Some Christian teachers have stressed that the remnant that keep the commandments of God must be Jews because Christians do not have to keep God’s commandments. But notice the following:

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (I John 2:4)

It is the warlike remnant of saints who keep God’s commandments that pose a threat to Satan’s kingdom.

The greatest deception ever to enter Christian thinking is the idea that the believers do not have to keep God’s commandments. The truth is, the purpose of the Divine salvation is to enable us to keep God’s commandments and thus have fellowship with God. The Christian churches have been destroyed by this error. If we would survive the age of moral horrors that is approaching and the Gentile holocaust we absolutely must keep God’s commandments as set forth in the New Testament!

After Babylon, the large Christian organization of the last days, is burned with fire by the ten kings that "receive power as kings one hour with the beast" (Revelation 17:12,16), the remnant, the firstfruits of the Bride, will appear. She is arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, the fine linen being the righteous conduct of those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 19:8).

The great multitude of the faithful. The members of the great multitude also are an integral part of the true Israel of God. They refuse to serve Antichrist during the great tribulation. The sealed remnant, the Lord’s firstfruits, are different from the great multitude of the faithful in that they have passed ahead to the "secret places of the stairs" (Song of Solomon 2:14).

The great multitude succeed in overcoming the world through Christ. The sealed remnant overcome through Jesus and then press forward to the attitude of delighting in being removed from the world. They make an eternal decision to be married to the Lord, and the Lord Jesus leads them into areas of relationships of which the great multitude know little as yet.

The sealed remnant are the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The great multitude are the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. The nations of saved peoples of the earth are the Courtyard. God is judging the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place in our day, but the Courtyard will be left until later (Revelation 11:1,2).

It may be true that most professing Christians of our day are not even at the level of the great multitude. They are not part of true Israel. They are not true saints, true Christians, even though they bear the name "Christian."

Notice the following statement to the church in Sardis:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)

What can we say of the majority of the believers in Sardis? We can state they are not true Christians. They are not worthy to be of the great multitude. They are not a part of the Lord’s elect. They are churchgoers but that is all. They do not keep the Lord’s commandments. They have not taken up their cross and followed the Lord with patience. They are not disciples, therefore not true Christians.

Those who worship Antichrist. A third group of people are those who worship Antichrist. They will suffer exceedingly severe torment in the last days.

And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 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. (Revelation 14:9-11)

And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. (Revelation 16:2)

To worship Antichrist will be to drink of the wrath of God without mixture, that is to say, without any addition of mercy. There will be extremely intense suffering both in this world and in that which is to come.

To not yield to Antichrist will be to experience suffering in this world (except as God protects) but love, joy, and peace after physical death.

Christian people are not nearly prepared today to stand up against Antichrist. To yield to Antichrist, obtaining a momentary respite from suffering, is to bring a much greater torment on one’s self when the wrath of God is poured out on the earth.

Those who stand against the darkness, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, come to that place of death in the Lord where they are able to find rest in the Lord’s Person. They enter the pavilion of the Lord even while they yet are alive on the earth. Their works follow them. They bear the fruit of Christ who is at rest in them. The Lord Himself is tabernacling in them and has become their strength and their song.

Revelation 14:9-11 warns of the terrible consequences of succumbing to Antichrist. Then comes the promise in the following two verses.

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from the 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. (Revelation 14:12,13)

The reason the promise comes immediately after the warning is that it is the rest in God that is our protection from Antichrist and the spiritual perils of the closing days of the Church Age.

The spiritual fulfillment of the Old Testament feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:39-43) is the coming of the Father and the Son to dwell in the personality of the believer (John 14:23).

John 14:15-23 speaks of the Fullness of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, dwelling in and with the believer.

The heirs of the rest of God, of the "Tabernacles" experience, are those who patiently keep the commandments of God and hold steadfastly to the faith of Jesus. They do not walk in the flesh. They do not attempt to take a shortcut to the fulfillment of the vision God has given them. They do not participate in the faith or prosperity messages or in any other self-realization technique, or follow their own spiritual ambitions. Instead, they wait on the Lord. They "die in the Lord."

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit find Their rest in the personality of each saint who dies in the Lord. It is the Godhead dwelling in and with the faithful saint that is his perfect and complete protection during the last days.

This does not mean the saint will not experience suffering, torture, or martyrdom. He may. We must through much tribulation enter the Kingdom of God. Rather, the Godhead is the saint’s protection against deception, against spiritual seduction and eternal injury.

We can overcome the deceptions of Antichrist only by the indwelling Presence of God.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (I John 4:4)

The pressures of the last days will be unbearable. All mankind will be victimized by the spiritual forces that will be unleashed on the earth. The only manner in which the believer can overcome the Antichrist is by patiently keeping the commandments of God and holding fast to the faith of Jesus until the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit come to dwell with Him in his personality, making him a part of the eternal Temple of God. Only then will he be able to serve God and bring forth the fruit of good works during the darkness that is beginning to fill the earth.

We must give all our heart and strength to attaining to that to which the Lord Jesus has called us. We can walk with the Lord in the last days if we so choose. Or we may prove to be among those who suffer the torment of fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. The Christians of today are far too confident, being in deception. They do not realize the churches already have been overcome by the antichrist spirit and are approaching even greater deception.

The antichrist spirit is the spirit of lawlessness. Until the Christian believer surrenders his will to the Lord, takes up his cross, remains patiently in the prison in which the Lord places him—until this full surrender is made the believer is under the influence of Antichrist.

As long as King Self is on the throne of our personality we are antichrist. We are still part of the great rebellion against the Father even though we have received the blood atonement and have been baptized with God’s Holy Spirit. Make no mistake about this.

God’s wants people who will keep His commandments sternly and diligently. Nothing less than this is acceptable. Obedience is better than sacrifice.

The smaller nations and tribes. There will be a fourth group. It appears the world system of Antichrist will be centered in the large cities of the earth and will not be of long enough duration to corrupt many of the smaller nations and villages. The God of Heaven has promised to shorten those days. We know the Lord Jesus is coming to rule over the nations of the earth, and we conclude from this that there will be peoples who are left alive for the Lord and His saints to rule. Otherwise we would have no inheritance.

The fourth group are those who are not of the sealed remnant, nor of the great multitude of the priesthood, nor of those who worship Antichrist, but of the smaller tribes and villages that have not been part of the antichrist system. Although power is given to Antichrist over all nations it may be true that he will not have enough time to establish his spirit and ways among regions of lesser population.

This fourth group, then, are the nations over whom the Lord and His saints will rule.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4)

And the Gentiles [nations] shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. (Isaiah 60:3,4)

Today a separation is occurring. A few are hearing the voice of Jesus and are serving Him with utmost diligence. However the believers often are spiritually soft, ignorant of the severity of God. Humanism and metaphysics are prevalent in Christian thinking and conduct. Multitudes of believers are unaware of the terrible danger they are in.

God is separating out His remnant and sealing them today, we believe. Others are not aware of what is taking place now but will stand true (amid much suffering) during the dark hours ahead. The wise reader will not assume he is secure against torment but will go to the Lord in the most sincere supplication and worship, seeking to know his own position in the present evil hour.

God is not the God being presented in many of the Christian churches of our day.

The witnesses of the end time will prophesy in the sackcloth of repentance (Revelation 11:3). They will bring the fear of God into the earth. As Elijah, they will minister in the presence of danger. As Elisha, they will have a double portion of Divine authority and power. In the end the Divine testimony will be overcome by the wisdom and power God will give to Antichrist, as symbolized by the death of Elisha due to sickness.

Let us consider now the blowing of trumpets—those interventions in human history designed to humble and purify the Bride of the Lamb and to prepare mankind for the coming of the Lord. It is hoped that the sufferings brought on by the trumpets will cause many people to be reconciled to God.

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