Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #31 of Revelation, chapter 14, and we are continuing to look into Revelation14:12:

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

We have been looking at the word “patience.”  The Greek word that this English word “patience” is translated from is a compound word “hupomone.”  The word “hupo” is Strong’s #5259 and it means “under,” and “mone” is Strong’s #3306 and it means to “abide” or “endure” or “continue.”  Together, the words mean to “continue under.”  We saw that the word “mone,” by itself, is often used to indicate a continuing or an abiding in the doctrine of Christ, as it says in John 8:31:

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

And it says in 2John 1:9:

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

The word “abideth” is that word “mone.”    I do not think we looked at this, but let us turn to another verse where this word is used.  We will see this word several times translated as “abide” and it is our word Strong’s #3306.  Keep in mind that this can be translated as “continue.”  It says in John 15:4-7:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

This same word is used a few more times, if we were to continue reading.  But notice that Jesus is emphasizing “continuing” in Him.  He is the Word made flesh and we are to “continue” in His Word, abiding and enduring in the Word of God.  It says in verse 6, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire,” and this reminds us of what God has planned for Judgment Day.  Remember the parable of the wheat and the tares; the angels or “messengers” go forth and gather the tares and throw them into the fire.  I think this is a helpful bit of information when God says, “men gather them,” because He does speak of His people, the true believers, as the “reapers.”  He is the one doing the reaping in the Day of Judgment.

And speaking of the Day of Judgment, let us turn over to 1Corinthians, chapter 3.  In this chapter the Lord gives us a very interesting passage about putting the fire to “gold, silver precious stone” and “wood, hay stubble,” to see which will endure.  Of course, that which will endure are the “gold, silver, precious stones” and they represent the elect that are built upon the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That which is burned up are “wood, hay stubble” and they do not endure the fire; they do not continue.  They are those that profess to be believers, but they were not actually saved.  It says in 1Corinthians 3:11-15:

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The word “abide,” in verse 14, can also be translated as “continue.”  This is a very interesting passage because we can see that God has arranged a very severe test in order to see who will “continue” or “abide” in His Word in the Day of Judgment and to see who will not “abide” His Word and these will be the ones that are burned.  We have seen that this word has everything to do with abiding in the doctrine of Christ.  The word “hupomone” means to “continue under.”  The word we just read, in 1Corinithians 3, is the word “mone,” which means to “continue” or “abide.” 

Our word “patience” in Revelation 14:12, where it says, “Here is the patience of the saints,” is the Greek word “hupomone,” which means to “abide under” or “continue under.”  And we can ask: What are we to continue under?  The obvious answer is “the Word of God,” the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ.  God is saying, “Here, in the time of judgment, you are to continue in the doctrine of Christ.”  The placement of this Scripture, in Revelation 14:12, in the midst of a detailed discussion of the pouring out of His wrath, here are located the ones that are “continuing under.”  They are the elect people of God and they will go on and they will not turn back, as did Lot’s wife.  They will not look behind them.  They will not leave the doctrines God has opened up to them and which the Bible proves and confirms.  The Lord’s people would never do that.  Why would we want to leave doctrine that God has revealed to us through His methodology of comparing Scripture with Scripture?  For others, this may not be a big deal: “I do not want anything more to do with the Biblical calendar of history.”  But that is a Biblical calendar, so why would you want nothing to do with it?  Or, they say, “I want nothing further to do with time paths.”  But, again, that is from the Bible; we read in Genesis of “Yet seven days,” when God is speaking to Noah; or, we read in 2Peter 3, in the context of the flood and the end of the world, “A day is as a thousand years,” and so forth.  Why leave that?  Why toss that aside?  Why would you not continue to study that? 

You know, some people take too much upon themselves.  They make themselves holier than God and they say, “Oh, you are not to look into those matters and into those Scriptures dealing with the end of the world.  That is not for us.”  But let us allow God to say what is not for us.  God says the things He reveals are for us.   If God has kindly and graciously opened His Word at the time of the end to reveal much truth concerning the “times and seasons” (including dates for the Great Tribulation and Judgment Day), then we are grateful.  We praise God.  We thank God.  We are blessed that God has revealed this information to us.  Who are men and who are the churches that dare to say we are not to look into these things?  Let me turn to 2Peter, chapter 3.  In the context of Judgment Day, it says in 2Peter 3:10-12:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

How are you or I going to be “looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God”?  Are we to wake up each day and look up into the sky to see if Christ is coming?  Or, at night, are we to look up at the heavens and look for some sort of flash of light that would indicate the coming of the Lord?  “Are you coming today, Lord?”  There is nothing wrong with asking if the Lord is coming, but there is something wrong with looking into the physical heaven or anything in the creation, as though God would reveal Himself in that way.  God reveals Himself on the pages of the Bible and we are to be “looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God” in the Bible and through the Scriptures.

This same word for “looking” is found in Acts, chapter 28.  There was a shipwreck in the previous chapter and all on board made it safely to land on the island of Malta.  The Apostle Paul gathered some sticks and laid them on the fire and a viper came out of the heap and “fastened” onto his hand.  Then it says in Acts 28:4-6:

And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

The word “looking,” in 2Peter, is the same word translated as “looked” in Acts 28.  These natives were looking at the Apostle Paul because they were very familiar with that beast and they knew that when it would strike a person, it would kill him quickly.  They are waiting for him to die.  It should not be long, so they are just staring and waiting with expectation.  They are looking very intently and the longer that time goes on without Paul falling over dead, the more they are “looking” at him and the more focused is their gaze and the more intently they are looking at his body for signs or indicators of his impending death.  Yet, they do not see anything, after “looking a great while.”  And this is the word God uses in 2Peter, chapter 3, of His people.  They are not doing something ungodly in their “looking,” because it says in 2Peter 3:11:

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

God’s people are “looking” intently for Christ, not in the sky or in the physical realm, but in the Bible.  That is where God’s people look.  I am sorry if this offends you.  If you are of the mind that “no man knows the day or hour” and you have fallen for that church doctrine that theologians have taught; it is really not a faithful teaching of the Bible.  There are many passages in the Bible in which God reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets, especially related to “time and judgment.”  We will not go, again, through the many Scriptures that prove and support this teaching that we should look for His coming (in the Bible).  But I am sorry if you think this is a fault or an error and you have determined you are not going to “look” any more.  Very well, that is your personal mindset and you are the one that will have to answer to God for that, but God’s people are given the privilege and the honor to do so.  Remember what God said in Proverbs 25:2:

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

The word “thing” and the word “matter” are the Hebrew word “debar,” which is also translated as “word.”  “It is the glory of God to conceal a word, but the honour of kings to search out a word.”  God has hidden information concerning the end of the world and it is the honor of God’s people to search it out.  It is a great privilege and blessing the Lord has given us to be able to search the Scriptures and to find truth in this area where men were never able to find truth in past generations because the information had been “sealed” by God. 

Now at the time of the end, knowledge is increased and we do find more revealed truth and much information and it is all part of what the Lord is telling us in Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience (“abiding under) of the saints,” as they search the Bible at a time when God has opened the Scriptures to reveal wonderful and glorious truths concerning annihilation, concerning Christ slain from the foundation of the world, concerning the end of the church age, concerning the faith of Christ as the only means to salvation, concerning the appointed day that judgment began on the world, concerning the nature of that judgment being a spiritual judgment and many, many more.  God has opened up these things according to the way God has designed, comparing Scripture with Scripture.  Through this methodology, the Holy Spirit has taught His people these doctrines and the people of God “abide under” it.  We hear his voice and we acknowledge these things as the doctrine of Christ and we want to adhere to them.  We want to hold to them, steadfastly, until they are proven incorrect and not let them go just because someone just dismisses these doctrines with a wave of the hand and not because the world has no interest in it.  These things do not move the child of God away from the sound teachings of the Scripture.

If the churches do not care for these teachings, that has no impact and no affect upon the child of God, especially at this time when the church age is over and God is finished with the churches.  Why should we follow the church’s position on this when the churches have been proven to be in error on so many positions and have been shown to be apostate and have fallen away from the truths of the Bible?  It is not a convincing thing at all when churches that are under the judgment of God come together from all denominations to say, “We all agree.  ‘No man knows the day or the hour.’  Now come under our declarations and abide under our teaching that no man can know.”  But the child of God says, “I am sorry.  It is very curious that you finally all agree on something, but that does not give me any confidence.  That actually makes me much more skeptical because how is it that you all agree on this one thing but you can agree on nothing else?”

I cannot think of anything else that they all agree on and we do not bring ourselves “under” the churches’ decrees, teachings or doctrines, but we bring ourselves under what the Word of God declares and what God teaches.  If what we believe differs from the churches and differs from the world, well, okay.  We do not want to be an offense in ourselves and in anything we do, but if the Word of God is the offense, then so be it.