14:1 COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, FAITH OF JESUS
Even though God warns against being on the side of the beast, this does not mean that it will be easy to be on God’s side. The followers of the beast will do everything they can to make life hell for God’s people, and when the death decree goes into effect and God’s people have to “flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:16) there will be anxiety, distress and hardship.
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). The Greek word for "patience," ipomoni, is defined as “steadfast adherence to a deliberate purpose and course of action, loyalty to faith and piety in spite of the greatest trials and sufferings, perseverance, endurance, fortitude.”[1] It will take tremendous endurance and fortitude to continue to "keep the commandments of God" when the law of the land commands the breaking of at least the fourth commandment, and in fact, this kind of patience is the fruit of “the faith of Jesus.” The form of the Greek word for faith in this phrase, as related to Jesus, is unique in scripture, and a number of translations, including the King James, render it “the faith of Jesus” rather than “faith in Jesus” as found in a few versions. The implication is that it is not our faith in Him that will get us through this trying time; rather, it is His faith that He imparts to us.
Jesus had faith in God’s word, “This is My beloved Son,”[2] which sustained Him through forty days of fasting followed by the subtle suggestions of the devil, “If you are the son of God…” He had faith that the handful of followers “whom You [the Father] have given me,”[3] who were still squabbling about who would be the greatest and who abandoned Him in His hour of trial, would establish His church and take the gospel to the whole world. He had faith that the world would “see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven,”[4] even when the weight of the sins of the whole world was bearing down on Him, shutting out His view of the Father and a future beyond the grave. In other words, His faith was fully in the word of God, despite all the evidences of his circumstances or feelings. Only this kind of faith, which is a gift of God’s grace, will sustain God’s people in the time of trouble. The fact that keeping the commandments of God is integrally linked to the faith of Jesus shows that there is no contradiction between obedience and faith. True obedience is the fruit of faith, is impossible without faith, and if lacking proves that the so-called faith is not genuine.[5]
This is the great test that confirms the identity of those who claim to come in the name of the Lord. “He who says ‘I know Him’ and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4). “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). The test of obedience to God’s word which will enable God’s people to see through the false miracles and deceptive sophistry of “the beast and the false prophet” (Revelation 19:20). Although they will talk of faith and work marvelous miracles, their teaching and example will be against “the commandments of God.”
Continue to next section: 14:13 MARTYRS DURING THE TIME OF TROUBLE?