During a recent Sunday School class, the battle of Armageddon came up for discussion. Someone remarked that during the Millennial Reign, Christ will ask His followers to do what He had told them not to do in the New Testament – go out on a physical battlefield to fight and kill wicked people who hate Him.
I disagreed, “I cannot believe that Jesus will ever ask us to act contrary to His written Word. The Gospel is called everlasting (Rev 14:6); it’s the Word of Truth which endureth for ever (1Pet 1:25). Jesus said, My words shall not pass away (Mat 24:35). He’s not going to come back and undo what He has already said by “preaching another Gospel” (Gal 1:8). He cannot deny Himself (2Tim 2:13).
A brother then asked an interesting question. “So if Jesus returned and personally asked you to take a sword and join His army to kill His enemies you wouldn’t obey Him?”
I paused before answering because I’ve learned by embarrassing experience that the quick, simple response is often not the right one. Yet the longer I pondered the question, the stronger my intrinsic reaction grew. “No.” I said. “I would not.”
He looked at me with a shocked expression, “You wouldn’t obey Jesus’ direct command?”
“No,” I said. “Because Jesus would not command us to act contrary to His own Word and works. Whoever comes saying such a thing is not Jesus. It’s someone else. In fact, He warned us that this would very thing would happen, that imposters would come misrepresenting Him.”
Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many…Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (Mat 24:4-5; 23-27).
Satan the evil Magician
From the very beginning, Satan has been a master of deceit and persuasion. The very first act which caused Sin to enter the world was Satan deceiving Eve with beguiling lies. She believed him. Listened to his lies. And then sinned by doing what God had told her earlier not to do. In the passage we just quoted, Jesus answered the disciples’ question about the sign of His coming by forewarning that the same crafty deceits would be multiplied at the end of the Age. Take heed that no man deceive you. We tend to read over those verses without really stopping to let the weight of His warning sink into our minds. Take heed – beware, be vigilant, watch out – because the Devil’s persuasive deceptions will rise to never-before-seen levels during his little season just before the end of time. Will he come pretending to be Christ? According to Jesus’ own prophecy the answer is yes.
Now, I have always understood Jesus’ warning here to refer to false teachers instead of actual people or angels that present themselves and say, I am Christ. Down through the centuries of time since the Apostles, millions and millions of people have been deceived by many false and poisonous doctrines that church leaders have so confidently preached as the true Gospel (2Pet 2:1-3). These teachers will bear their punishment for the spiritual deaths of those they have deceived.
The sheep however, are not excused for innocently listening to the voice of their shepherds. Just ask Eve. She innocently listened to the sweet talk of the snake and look what happened. She didn’t blatantly disobey, she was tricked. Deceived to act upon something she thought was true when it was actually a big fat lie. Yet the consequence of her sin of being deceived was just as severe as Adam’s sin of rebellion. So beware! This is exactly what the Scriptures warn that Satan will be doing in the last days – very slyly tricking people to sell their own souls. He will get people to live contrary to God’s Word and will deceive entire nations to do things that Christ said not to do.
Really, this is no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2Cor 11:14). An angel of light. That’s a sobering picture! The Devil’s primary tactic is to pass himself off as a preacher of truth, to masquerade as a minister of righteousness. He came to Jesus in the desert quoting the Holy Scriptures, pretending to be who he was not, claiming to have the authority to give Him all the kingdoms of the world. Unlike Eve, Jesus was not deceived. He refuted Satan’s shady Scripture-quoting with other Scriptures.
I am convinced that the only reason Satan has not transformed himself more powerfully into an angel of light is because God has set limits on what he can do (Job 1:7-12; Rev 20:1-3). Will the time come that He permits the Devil to display himself more deceitfully? Yes (Rev 20:7-9). I believe we are now in that final era which will culminate at the Great White Throne as the One whose very face causes the heaven and earth to flee away will judge the secrets of men (Rev 20:10-12).
The Revelation describes the great deception at the end of time in searing terms, saying that Satan himself will be loosed a little season and will go out to deceive the nations as never before. He will gather them together to battle against the camp of the saints (who are not told to fight). These faithful few that are living at the time of the end will be miraculously delivered from the surrounding armies of the world when fire suddenly falls from heaven and consumes those wicked hosts (see Rev 20).
This scene of deception and spiritual danger is further described in Rev 16:13, And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon…they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty….And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon…And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Now that is a sobering picture – spirits of devils which are able to work miracles so convincing that the whole world will be deceived into fighting against God. I say then, it is super-imperative that Christians intimately and fervently acquaint themselves with the Word of God so that they will not be deceived at the end, because Satan will be going around masquerading as an angel of light. He will utterly deceive many.
So, we must know what sayeth the everlasting, eternal Word of Truth, for Jesus Christ and His doctrine will never change; they are the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Heb 13:8). This verity cannot be over-emphasized nor can it be repeated too often. Jesus the living Word is revealed in His written Word of Truth. It is essential that we read it, study it, believe it, receive it and live it, for the Devil is trying to steal your crown by high trickery and cunning deceits (Rev 3:11). He is trying to get you to distrust the words of Christ just like he did in the beginning with Eve: Yea, hath God said…? (you fill in the blank).
The warning to not be deceived has never been more crucially important, for during the little season at the end of time, God will allow Satan more latitude in his wicked persuasions and doctrinal sleights (read why in 2Thes 2:9-12). The strongest words that the Apostle Paul ever wrote were on this topic. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (eternally damned). As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Gal 1:7-8).
It is a striking feature, an angel of light descending from heaven preaching a different Gospel. But what did Jesus warn us? Many shall come in My name saying, I am Christ. So, if a Jesus descends saying, “I am Christ,” but teaches a different Gospel, DO NOT BELIEVE HIM. He is a false christ. There is only one Gospel and it will not change.
The Last Days
The Scriptures say that Jesus took on human form and spoke to Mankind in these last days (Heb 1:1-2), or these last times (1Peter 1:20). The apostle John said, Little children, it is the last time (1John 2:18). This means that since the time of Christ’s resurrection, God’s plan for His creation is in its final stage. There is no plan for a modified covenant, for some new Gospel, some alternate way to salvation. We are in the last epoch of God’s will and plan for Mankind. From before the foundation of the world, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the design and plan of God for Mankind (Rev 13:8). Accordingly, the Lamb of God came and finished the work (John 17:4; 19:30). The Apostles correctly proclaim that it is the last time, that upon (us) the ends of the world are come (1Cor 10:11).
The end of all things is at hand, Peter said, but went on to call for patience in waiting for Christ’s appearing: for one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day (1Pet 4:7; 2Pet 3:8). He then says that the waiting will be long enough that scoffers will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? All things continue just as they always have” (2Pet 3:4). The Holy Spirit precisely predicted what the “intellectual” scoffers of our day are now saying. Preterists, for instance, claim that Christ returned in A.D. 70 and at that time He ushered in the eternal heaven and earth.
There are other Scriptures which indicate an extended period of time between Christ’s first coming as a babe and His final coming to close the book of time forever (see Mark 13:33-37; Mat 24:3-14; 2Thes 2:1-12). The parable of the talents speaks of long years, and the ten virgins wait so long that their lamps run out of oil (Mat 25). These fit the picture of Revelation 20, that during this extended Age of Grace the dead in Christ will reign with Him in Paradise for 1000 years (Rev 20:1-6). It is a fitting representation of the Church Age – a long but indefinite period of time. The actual length is not given for us to know. Indeed, the date of Christ’s return is the greatest secret in the Universe (Mark 13:32).
I recognize that my Millennialist friends think those thousand years refer to a future era that will take place on earth after Christ has ended the Gospel Age, but based on the Scriptures we cited at the beginning, how can that be? Another Gospel, another covenant? I challenge you to read Revelation 20 in harmony with John’s other visions; as parallel descriptions of the Church Age instead of one continuous chronology which extends beyond Christ’s return to include two proposed future earthly eras that are not part of the present Age of Grace (the reestablishment of the Jewish covenant and the physical reign of Christ on the earth for 1000 years). Surely Revelation 20 does not describe some new, future Age, but is a prophetic description of the present Age as it exists both on earth and in Paradise. Accordingly, the vision ends just as the other visions of Revelation end, with a description of Christ’s return in final Judgment.
The never-ending Gospel of the Kingdom
Millennialists believe that Christ will end the Gospel Age at His appearing in the clouds and will set up a new physical Kingdom based in the land of Israel which will endure for 1000 years in great blessing and peace. There will be no death, no injustices, no false religions, etc. At the end of that era however, a great revolt against Christ will provoke the nations of the world to gather for a terrible, final battle and that is when we will be supposedly summoned to fight. I remember a conservative Mennonite preacher announcing over the pulpit that he would bring his 30-06 rifle for the occasion.
Why would the Jesus who taught us to love your enemies…resist not evil…pray for them that persecute you…overcome evil with good, suddenly command us to do the opposite? He doesn’t need our help anyway – just the breath of His mouth is powerful enough to consume His enemies (2Thes 2:8; Rev 19:15; Is 40:15). More than others, Anabaptists should recognize immediately that this is another gospel, which really is no gospel at all, but there be some that…pervert the Gospel of Christ (Gal 1:6-7).
Yet, some might say, “But what about the Old Testament? In that age God commanded the Jews to go and kill their enemies, so why not in some future age?”
First, it’s called the OLD Testament for a reason (see Heb 8:13). Now that the long-awaited Desire of all nations (has) come (Hag 2:7), we live under His eternal statutes and rule. In the Old Testament, God spoke to His people through priests and prophets under a provisional guardianship called “the Law” to bring us to the era of Faith (Gal 3:23-25). The Old Covenant ended with God speaking once and for all through His own Son (Heb 1:1-2), who then commended His eternal precepts and rules of the New Covenant of Faith unto the Apostles to record in the New Testament. We hold His written Word in our hands and we also have the Holy Spirit to help us understand it. These are two powerful witnesses that were not commonly available before, but have been poured out in power at the beginning of the Gospel Age (see Acts 2:14-24).
By His own written Word, God is not going to return to the first covenant nor is He going to implement a third covenant. The Old Testament itself testifies that it is not the final will of God for Man. Instead, it contains many prophecies of a better, last Covenant that God would make with all men – the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ. In many visions and revelations, the prophets of old described this present Age of Grace, but always in eternal terms. God told David that He had given the Kingdom to him and his sons forever by a covenant of salt (2Chr 13:5; 21:7; Luke 1:33). Jesus is the last son of David to take the Throne of the Kingdom. He is now reigning and will reign forever and ever (Heb 8:1). Daniel saw a stone cut out without hands – the Kingdom of Christ which shall never be destroyed…and it shall stand forever (Dan 2:45). Isaiah foretold of a coming Government…the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom…to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even forever (Is 9:7).
The Kingdom which Christ came to earth and established in the hearts of Mankind will never cease. Nor will it be “interrupted” by some future, superfluous Age. The Kingdom of God came in power when Jesus rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, where His throne and scepter will continue forever (Heb 1:8). Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end (Eph 3:21). Yes, there will be a terrible purging at the end of time, when the Son of Man comes to gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend (Mat 13:41) and then the glorious Church of Jesus Christ will be translated in perfect, wonderful harmony (Php 3:21). But the crucial point is that Jesus came and accomplished exactly and completely what God had sent Him to do. He has established the Kingdom and preached its constitution and charter; He has taken its Throne and He will reign on forever and ever and ever. This is the constant testimony of the Scriptures.
Second, the rationale that since God once commanded the Jews to kill their enemies He might someday so command again fails to appreciate the eternal nature of Jesus’ new set of rules for His Kingdom. We say “new,” but in truth the laws of Christ in the New Testament all have a firm basis in the Old Testament statutes of the Law. Jesus took those temporal commandments and refitted them as eternal statutes in His Kingdom charter. They are altogether high and established in perfection forever and ever.
Jesus forbade killing in His Kingdom – there will be no death in heaven. Jesus abolished divorce – there will be no divorce in heaven; we will be married to the Lamb forever. Jesus outlawed oaths – there will be no lies or deceitful speech in heaven. In every aspect, the Law of Christ was established with an eternal eye; it is the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever (1Pet 1:23). The Sermon on the Mount is far and away the loftiest, holiest, strictest Rule ever conceived in the history of the world. And that’s because it was written by the finger of God on eternal tables that cannot be erased.
The notion that Jesus will countermand His own eternal Word is baldly false and perilous to the extreme. God cannot lie. What He has said is eternally true and will not fail.
To Deceive the Nations
As we have noted in this paper, the idea that Jesus will someday ask us to fight His enemies springs from the Premillennialist notion that after the Rapture, Jesus will leave His heavenly throne and come down in person to Jerusalem and re-establish a covenant with the Jews. This belief is based on the faulty idea that God has not yet fulfilled His promises to Abraham. They say that Christ originally came to do just that, but when the Jews refused Him, God decided to postpone the fulfillment. Therefore, He interposed the Church Age as a “parenthesis” in His real plan which has always been with the Jews. God will return to the Jewish Covenant after the Church is removed from the earth. Many Christians do not know that this is the fundamental premise of Pre-millennial Dispensationalism. The whole scheme rests on this “Postponement Theory.” Without it, that eschatological system must collapse logically.
Take heed, you who think that Jesus will someday undo His Gospel and issue commands contrary to it. You are helping Satan advance his secret, personal strategy of deception by literally putting reasons in the minds of Christians to believe and accept an angel of light who comes preaching a different Gospel.
I really wonder if God will let it go that far. Will He allow the Devil to actually come down and present himself to Mankind as Jesus Christ? Do miracles, pretend to care for people, walk about in sheep’s clothing? (Mat 7:15). I don’t know. But if Satan were to come in such fashion, the scary fact is that he would find a large crowd of Christians ready to receive him. They would be taken in by this beautiful angel of light showing off his amazing powers, signs and lying wonders (2Thes 2:9). Why not? They have been deceived into believing that the times change, that Jesus needs to adjust His eternal Word now and then, that there are different eras with different laws.
“Christian, walk carefully; danger is near!” The words of the song have never been more real. Be watchful, alert, suspicious – not as gullible Eve, not as foolish Adam. The day is approaching. The deceptions of Satan are increasing as time is declining. The very elect are in danger of being deceived and for that reason God will shorten the days (Mat 24:22). The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils (1Tim 4:1). Doctrines of devils!?. What could those be? If we love the Truth we will not be deceived and can stand confident on that day.