Revelation 13 Lesson

SUFFERING IS PART OF BEING A CHRISTIAN

Being a Christian is not easy! 

That may come as a shock to many of us. 

When we commit our lives to following Jesus, we may mistakenly think that our newfound faith means that our lives are going to get easier and that there will be less adversity.

Unfortunately, that is not what the Bible says, and that is not what Jesus taught.  Suffering is an important part of being a Christian.  God uses adversity to teach us, discipline us, and shape us into the Christians that He created us to be.

WE ARE SURROUNDED BY EVIL

While we are on Earth, there is evil all around us.  These evil forces are in constant opposition to the righteousness of God, and this leads to conflict. 

We need to be aware of this conflict so that we can manage it and make sure that we do not become susceptible to the negative influence of other people. As the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians:

• Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33.

In the end, God will separate those who are evil from those who love righteousness.

THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND TARES

For today’s lesson, we will be looking at how evil and righteousness coexist on Earth.  We will also look at how and when God is going to separate the two. 

We will begin with the following parable spoken by Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of Mathew:

• Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heavenmay be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away.  But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” – Mathew 13:24-30.

There are four points that we will make relative to this parable, and then the lesson will be yours.

POINT #1 - SATAN TRIES TO DISRUPT OUR GOOD WORKS

In the above parable, the man who was planting good seeds found himself under attack by Satan. While the man was doing good works, Satan was planting weeds in an effort to destroy the good crop that the man was planting.

The righteous man did not ask for this, but he must be aware of it and manage his situation. In the same way, while we do not welcome Satan’s advances, we must be aware of them so that we can defend ourselves.

POINT #2 - SATAN IS A MASTER OF DECEPTION

The word “tares” is another word for “weeds.” 

In the above parable, the good seeds look nearly identical to the weeds.

The Biblical term for this is, “A wolf in sheep’s clothing,” which is a type of false prophet.  Jesus warned us about this form of evil during His Sermon On The Mount:

• “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” - Mathew 7:15-20. 

As we strive to live righteous lives and obey God’s commandments, Satan will intervene and try to destroy what we are doing.  This puts our souls at risk!

To protect ourselves against Satan’s attacks, we must put on The Full Armor Of God as described in Ephesians 6:10-17.    

POINT #3 – GOOD AND EVIL MUST COEXIST UNTIL THE TIME OF THE HARVEST

As much as we might want to eliminate evil from our lives, that is simply not possible if we are going to do the work of the Lord.  If we truly desire to follow the example of Jesus, we must interact with lost souls.  Otherwise, how will they come to know Jesus and be saved? 

When Jesus was asked by His disciples why He was eating and drinking with known sinners.  He replied:

• “ It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” – Luke 5:31.

POINT #4 – THE EVIL AND THE RIGHTEOUS WILL BE SEPARATED ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.

All of us will give an account of our lives on the Day of Judgment.  On this day, God will separate the good from the bad as pointed out in the following two scriptures:

1. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” – Hebrews 9:27,
2. “(God) will repay each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life; but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.”- Romans 2:6-8.

CONCLUSION

The lives of Christians are not going to be easy.  Jesus suffered, the apostles suffered, and so will we. 

The Parable of the Wheat and Tares (weeds) teaches us four things:

1. Satan is going to try and disrupt our good works,
2. Satan is a master of deception,
3. Good and evil must coexist until the time of the harvest,
4. The evil and the righteous will be separated on the Day of Judgment.

And while suffering is not pleasant, it is necessary for us to develop into the Christians that we were created to be.

We will end today’s lesson with the following scripture about Heaven. 

It is the hopeof spending eternity with God, Jesus, and the saints that will sustain us until the harvest as we do the work of the Lord!

• And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:2-4.