THE HOLY SPIRIT AT END-TIME

a. The spiritual warfare in heaven and on earth
b. The end time Biblical prophecies
c. The preparation of the Church by the Holy Spirit as a Bride for the returning Christ.

The ultimate function of the Holy Spirit is His preparation of the Church as the spotless bride for Christ. With the consummation of the bride with Christ, the millennium rule of Christ will commence. This will also make the end of the spiritual war between Satan and his host with God and His saints. This war had started a long time ago.

1. THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH

The Bible talks of a spiritual warfare being constantly fought in the heavens and on earth.

John the Apostle gave us a vivid picture of this war in his record in Revelation 12:7-12;

“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 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. And I heard a loud voice I heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven, and you that dwell therein ! But 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 12:17

“Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”

The devil and his angels have lost their war in heaven and have been cast down to earth. On earth, he makes his attacks on the children of the woman (the church). We are living in such a time where the battle between the devil and the sons of God (Christians) is still being fiercely fought. It is happening everyday. We will fight this spiritual war until the return of the Lord Jesus. But God did not left us to fight this alone. He has given us His Holy Spirit to help and empower us in this war.

Although Christ has already won the battle over the devil, yet the church on earth still need to enforce that victory until the final consummation . John mentioned four things in relation to this in Rev 12:10 “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come”.

We need to know and use the Salvation of God in Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, the invasion of the Kingdom of God on earth and the authority of Christ in our battle with the enemy.

In Rev 12:11, it said , “And they have conquered him(the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

Christ came to destroy the works of the devil and so are we, the believers of Christ. We can only achieve this by the power which comes from the Holy Spirit (Acts1:8). We also conquer the enemy by the power in the blood of Christ and the spoken word of Christ (the Gospel). Many Christians may be martyred in this war.

To overcome the attacks from the devil and his host, we need also to have the shield of faith, the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God) and be empowered always by the Holy Spirit.

Q. How real do you think this spiritual war is in your life?

2. THE END TIME BIBLICAL PROPHECIES

Paul prophesized in II Thess 2 :1-12, that before the return of the Lord Jesus, there will appear the “lawless One” who will deceive many with false signs and wonders.

Paul also prophesized about the coming of times of stress in II Tim 3:1-9. He spoke of the lost of human decency, humanity itself and the apostasy of false teachers.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, fierce, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lover of God, holding the form of religion but denying the power of it. For among them are those who make their way into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and swayed by various impulses, who will listen to anybody and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth. As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of corrupt mind and counterfeit faith; but they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.”

The Spirit of Truth will lead us to all truths. He will expose all the false teachers. He has given Paul this prophecy to pre-warn the Church.

Peter also prophesized in II Pet 3:3-4 ;

“ First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation’”

In II Pet 3:10 “ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the work s that are upon it will be burned up.”

Peter spoke of doubters who will scoff at the Parousia ( the Return of Christ). The return of Christ will surprise many who are not prepared for it. The Holy Spirit has given this prophecy through Peter as a warning to the Christians during his time as well as for future Christians.

The ultimate battle will see the total defeat of Satan and his host. John related this in Rev 19:17 – Rev 20:1-3. They will be thrown in the lake of fire in Hell and Satan will be locked up for a thousand years.

The Holy Spirit will be there at the end time. In Rev 14:13, the Holy Spirit spoke about the martyrs. “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them.”

Q. How can we heed to the warning of the Holy Spirit concerning end time prophecies?

3. THE PREPARATION OF THE CHURCH BY THE HOLY SPIRIT AS A BRIDE FOR THE RETURNING CHRIST

In Rev 22:17, John the Apostle related a mystery i.e. the Holy Spirit and the Bride of Christ called out “Come” to Jesus. This indicates that the Holy Spirit is with the Church (the Bride of Christ) on earth waiting for the Coming of Christ. The Holy Spirit prepares the Church as a bride for Christ. This is His great work in the Church on earth; preparing the Christians for the ultimate consummation with Christ in His Millennium rule.

Q. In what ways do you think the Holy Spirit prepares the Church as a bride for Christ?