“And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world- he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him…woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
Revelation 12:9,12

The context of this passage is during the great tribulation, in which John sees the devil being thrown from his place in heaven down to the earth.

I haven’t thought about the implications of this passage until today, when Simon Yu called me and told me a dream the Lord gave him. The Lord revealed to him that during the end times, the war in the spirit for Christians was going to be great. When he told me that, this passage suddenly clicked and was brought to life. His dream had a prophetic reality and it opened up the scriptures to me (that’s what prophetic dreams do- they don’t contradict scripture, they bring them to life to the dreamer).

In this passage, the devil is thrown down into the earth, and the angel calls forth a warning to those who dwell on earth that Satan is boiling mad and will make war against the saints. This brought to me a startling reality about the condition of those times in the end:

The spiritual warfare experienced among Christians will be heightened to an unprecedented level during those times.

You think that Christians are struggling now, wait till you see the end times. You think that Christians who are being deceived now by the teachings of demons, who are held captive to depressive and suicidal thoughts, who are hated because their bosses and co-workers are under demonic powers, wait till you see the end times.

For this reason, Jesus says in Matthew 24, “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Jesus brings up a reality of the increase of  deception among the body of Christ. People will give into the wickedness of the world. And because of that, they will fall away and grow cold.

What do we say in response to these things?

What is weighing on my heart is the type of Christian that will endure those times with power. That is a profound question to ask- what is the type of Christian that will go through the coming end times with power?

I have just one application at this hour- Christians who are not living a lifestyle of prayer and adherence to the Word of God will be in extreme danger of falling away in the end times.

It is because Christians that don’t engage Jesus in those ways have no power in their inner man. Their hearts are not operating with the Holy Spirit. Their minds are easily swayed and their muscles of discernment are weak. They have not grown to become lovers of truth and haters of falsehood. The devil looks at them and sees fish in a barrel (if it were not for the grace of God to keep them.)

And so my heart is startled realizing there are many around me who do not operate in the power of the Holy Spirit in those regards. Who are still living in the power of the flesh. I am motivated and stirred not by these, but only by the love of Christ which desires so greatly to draw them into Himself.

But only if they were willing!

If only they had surrendered their lives to the Holy Spirit!

If only the knew the hour of trial that is coming on the earth!

Oh if only…

Only if we could stand firm as John was; he so ready to do even as he wrote Revelation, awaiting for the time to come. And so he calls the recipients of his letter, “partners in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.”

Do you have what it takes to be partner of the body of Christ in those times? Or will you find yourself falling by the wayside?