NO. 53  �g3 KINDS OF THE DISCIPLES IN THE END TIME�h

TEXT: JOHN 21:18-23  18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

23 Then went this saying went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? (KJV)

Today we are going to learn what consequences the disciples would meet with in the end time.  Well, we have here two representative disciples mentioned here.  The Lord Jesus has given symbolic prophecy of the last state of the disciples.

It looks like the individual prophecy concerning the two, but another aspect is hidden.  That is, the prophecy tells two kinds of death of the disciples in the end time.

I am now going to examine it in detail.

I would like to start with Peter who is the disciple of the Lord.  There are many disciples of Jesus.  It will help us to understand the words of the Lord to Peter if we know what kind of position he is in among the disciples.

Peter is the chief and representative disciple of the Lord.  So, what the Lord says to Peter can be also considered to give to all the disciples in a sense.  It is because the Bible set his position.

Such is also given clearly in the verse where Jesus said, �gAnd I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church.�h  The disciples are mentioned not as sands but basically as stones or rocks in the Bible.

Simon Peter is the specific one whom the Lord plainly calls as stone or rock.  So, we can say what the Bible tells and teaches to the whole disciples are all hidden in the things that are given in his walk, words and incidents.  The Bible says like that.  If Jesus had have called Andrew as stone or rock, then we should pay attention to his walk, words and deeds.  The Bible should have given many things to tell the disciples through Andrew�fs life.  But Jesus actually has called Simon Peter as stone or rock, which means that we should focus on him.  We do not necessarily have to take him as the special one.  This is the way that the Bible applies.

So, the words the Lord has given to Peter are not limited to him only.  He is the chief disciple and will be the representative of many disciples of the Lord coming out in the Church age of the end time.  It should be reminded that it is not that he is superior or special, but the Bible put him in such a position.  As the Bible does so, we should follow it.  If not, we would miss the things in the parables that the Bible intends to tell to us.

Another example is that David is made the type of Christ, the King, in the Bible.  When we learn of his life, we notice many prophecies and teachings God tells of Christ as the King.  The same can be said to Peter.  To take him as credible or not, or to like him or not individually is another problem.  We must focus on his status in the Bible, otherwise we do not come to the correct answer.

We now like to take the prophecy to Peter.  I t is clearly shown that he would be martyred.  And according to the historical fact he was actually martyred as Jesus has prophesied.

 It is the prophecy to Peter as an individual and of his life.  But we should pay attention to the biblical position of Peter as I mentioned before.  He is the chief of twelve disciples and also the representative of the disciples throughout the Church age.  So the prophecy given to him can be also taken as one to the disciples throughout the age.

 Is such an idea too unusual?  Yet, taking a key to understand the problem, we are going to see the prophecy to another disciple, John.

 The prophecy to John says, �gtill I come,�h that is, the long period till the time of His second coming.  His second coming is the end time.  So we can say that the prophecy to Peter should be also taken as the one about the long period till the second coming of Jesus, for they are both the disciples of the same type.

 In that case the term when you were younger means the one between the beginning and the end of the Church age.  During the time each disciple girds himself and walk where he wishes.  Likewise, the pastors, missionaries and evangelists could take the jobs that they wish and walk where they wish, though they have their own troubles.  Such are the cases in general, though, of course, some could be martyred.

 However, the situation will be totally different in the end time as said, �gwhen thou shalt be old.�h  The characteristic of the walking of the disciples in the end time is that the martyrdom cannot be avoided.  Though even the disciples do not wish it, they will be girded by others and be carried where they do not wish.  This will be the common life of the disciples in the end time.  This passage tells so.

 Then, the Bible mentions the life of another type of the disciples, which is not common.  That is about John.

 The rumor has come out among the disciples due to the words of Jesus that the disciple John would not die.  Why does the Lord dare say such a thing as this, even taking the risks that would produce misunderstanding?  The reason is because the Lord likes to tell the life of the disciples in the end time in this passage.  As Peter is the type of the martyred disciples, John is another.  He represents the other type that shows the disciples who survive through tribulation age.

 Differing from the case of Peter, the passage does not say any of the martyrdom concerning John.  Moreover, to our surprise, it does not say any of even the death.  Nothing of his easy death in bed is told, which is not like the case of Peter.  That is why he is the type of the disciples who survive through the tribulation age until His second coming.  We often come across this expression in the Bible.

 1 THESSALONIANS 4: 15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. (KJV)

 �gAre alive and remain�h is stated here.  The words as �gare alive�h and �gremain�h are also both used in the original language.  So, a small number of the disciples will survive among many who are going to die.

 It is said that only John has survived though all other twelve disciples have been mostly martyred.  And it is also symbolic that the book of Revelation has been given to non other than John among the twelve.  John has seen the revelation of the second coming of Christ in it.

 So we see the feature of the two disciples.  We do not know which type of disciples we will be in the tribulation age.  But, the important thing is to follow the Lord through it.  Attention should be given to the words of the Lord to Peter, �gAnd when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.�h  And another verse shows that John has followed Jesus, �gThen Peter, turning around, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following..�h

 It seems that only two types of the disciples are written so far.  But there should be actually another one of the disciples in this age.  To tell the truth, it is also written in this passage.  It may be a bit difficult to know, but is really written.  See the following verse, �gWhich also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?�h

 This disciple should be John.  He is already known as said, �gwhich also leaned on his breast at supper�h or �gwhom Jesus loved.�h  But here we see the disciple who betrays Jesus on purpose.  This is not the coincidence, but the Lord intentionally put the words in the Bible.

 Therefore I suppose that the Lord likes to show all the three types of the disciples in the end time.  They are three possibilities of the disciples who are martyred, who survive tribulation to meet Jesus in his second coming, or who betray Jesus like Judah.

 No example is given in a least sense that no disciple ever goes through the tribulation age but is taken up into the air before the time.  Though it is my personal opinion, I think that the theory �gPre-tribulation Rapture�h is the teaching only to confuse us.

 As we have already learned, all the disciples would go through tribulation age.  Needless to say about the betrayal or the martyrdom, even the survival indicates going through the tribulation age.

 We find the passage as below which blames the prophets in the end time.

 EZEKIEL 13: 5  Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. (KJV)

 The Church has been already fighting against the world for a long time, but the battle from now on will be the final one in this coming age.

 The pre-war has already started, I think.  The enemy is disturbing us with a lot of information.   Such an important subject as whether or not the Church goes through the tribulation age is not rightly fixed even in the church.  But we must understand that it is of great importance.  If the Church would not go through it but be taken up into the air beforehand, the preparation for the battle should not be necessary.

 However, if the knowledge that the battle is in any way unavoidable is sure, everybody will prepare for it desperately.  He will dig bomb shelters or prepare stocks for it.  If everybody truly believes in the information or opinion of no war, who is going to make such troublesome preparation?  Nobody.  So, we must understand how important it is to receive the right knowledge from the Lord.

 Let�fs do the will of the Lord in the end time.

 End.


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