After reading the book of Revelation, I was reminded of how many ministries focus on trying to dissect every single nuance of the book and by doing so, forget the main messages that Revelation seeks to pass down to us: To remember that God is in control of all, that He maintains His promises and that we need to be prepared to endure to the very end.

And Jesus went out , and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying , Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended , and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise , and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound , the love of many shall wax cold . But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
(Matthew 24:1-13 - KJV)

Let’s focus on verse 13. Here we have a 13 verse block where Jesus is telling His disciples all the things that they would experience in their lifetimes. We’re talking false prophets, wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, etc. But instead of paying attention so intently to all of these things that Jesus is describing, do not forget his line about the need to endure. It’s just one little sentence in a giant section but if we pay attention, it is the one command that Jesus gives to His disciples in these 13 verses. That means that no matter what Jesus is telling them, enduring to the end is what they should focus on going forward, not trying to decipher every minute detail of what Jesus is saying.

As I have pointed out in my previous article SECURITY COMES WITH RESPONSIBILITY, there is no such thing as unconditional eternal security. If we can have the capacity to sin as believers, then we still have the capacity to fall away from the faith. And it was because of this fact that when we read the letters that Paul, James, Peter, John and Jude wrote, they always gave warning to continue in the faith and to be careful of the things which may cause them to fall away.

PAUL

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
(1 Corinthians 9:24-27 - NKJV)

JAMES

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.
(James 1:12-16 - NKJV)

PETER

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
(2 Peter 1:2-12 - NKJV)

JOHN

Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us--eternal life.
(1 John 2:24-25 - NKJV)

And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed : and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying , Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear . He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
(Revelation 13:1-10 - KJV)

JUDE

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
(Jude 1:17-21 - KJV)

Brothers and sisters, the key is not for us to get caught up in what will happen in our future but to focus on maintaining our faith, enduring and persevering today. The time is now to get anything that isn’t of God--meaning that is not good or is sinful--out of your life and repent for those things. We do not have to go around worrying about wars, about pestilences, about famines or anything else because as long as we are staying true to the faith, remember that nothing can overcome us. Not even death.

Many people believe many different things about Revelation. We have Preterists, Historicists, Futurists, Pre-Millennialists, Idealists, Post-Millennialists and the list goes on and on. But even with all these groups of interpretation, the fact of the matter stands that we must endure to the end to be saved completely, to defeat the last enemy of death. So let us make that our mandate as we live in these uncertain times--endure!