Page 46 - The Mark of the Beast

the lake of fire.

Revelation 2:10-11
Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by
the second death.

All those who are called as children of God have their names written in the Lamb’s
book of life. Yet of those who are called, few are chosen. Many will have their names blotted
out of the book of life because they have refused to take up the disciple’s cross and crucify
their flesh with its affections and desires. They have retained control over their lives and
have lived according to their own direction and initiative. They have sought the things that
will perish instead of that which is eternal.
All Christians are invited to present their bodies as a living sacrifice upon the altar of
God now in this age that their flesh might be consumed and that they might come forth as
gold that has been tried in the fire. Yet a vast number of saints have protected their flesh
and have lived to fulfill the desire of their souls. They have loved their lives and they will
lose them. Only those who have hated their lives will keep them.
Can you see the plain language that Christ is employing? He is not speaking about a
physical death to the body, but rather a subduing and ruling over all that is of the flesh and
of the beast nature. Some saints will wait too long to subdue and rule over that which God
commanded them. When they see Christ appearing it will be too late. Some will not taste
of death until Christ appears, and the death they will then taste will be the second death
which is reserved for all those who have avoided the working of the cross.

[For a fuller explanation of the purpose of the Lake of Fire, and the understanding that
many saints will share a place with the unbelievers there, see the book “God’s Plan of the
Ages.” The Lake of fire is not for eternity as the church teaches today, for this “second
death” must come to an end, for the last enemy to be destroyed is death. The lake of Fire
shall pass away when its purpose is fulfilled.]

Let us return now to that which is written of the overcomers. John records that “they
loved not their lives even to death.” Is it not plain now that he is not speaking of physical
martyrdom, but of the working of the cross in their lives? The overcomers are overcomers
because they have attained the victory over their own bodies and the beast nature that
resides in the flesh. That John is using symbolic language to speak of spiritual matters is
further revealed as we look at another Scripture relating to the overcomers.

Revelation 20:4
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I
saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Yahshua
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they
came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

The word beheaded here comes from a Greek word that occurs nowhere else in
Scripture. It denotes having one’s head cut off with an axe, which was a common enough