Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 10 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Change of Allegiance  /  What If? Practical Questions About Nonresistance  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 10
Dean ties end-times perseverance to Revelation’s marks—“keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” “he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword,” and “they loved not their lives unto the death”—and ends with Napoleon’s line that millions would die for Christ; what would need to be true about God (His love, sovereignty, reward, presence) for you to honestly answer Dean’s closing question: “Are you one of them?”
Another way to ask: What would you need to believe about God—his love, control, reward, and nearness—to honestly answer, “Would I be willing to die for Christ?”

Direct Answer From the transcript, to answer “Are you one of them?” honestly, you’d need deep confidence that God is in control, that eternal reward is real, and that Jesus is worth more than life itself—so you can keep His commandments, hold “the faith of Jesus,” and not reach for the sword even under end-times pressure.

Support from Transcript:

  • Dean cites Revelation 14: “Here is the patience… of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
  • He cites Revelation 13: the beast makes “war with the saints,” and the mark of perseverance includes: “He that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword… Here is the patience and faith of the saints.”
  • He highlights Revelation’s victory pattern: “they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb… the word of their testimony… and they loved not their life even unto the death.”
  • Dean connects this to assurance: the lost attacker “doesn't have the promise of eternal life and you do.”
  • He quotes Jesus’ promise of reward: “Rejoice… for great is your reward in heaven.”
  • He repeatedly grounds courage in God’s rule: “God is in control,” even when the scenario ends in death.
Discussion Follow-ups Which part of God’s character do you most need to trust to face death—His love, His reward, or His sovereignty? What would it look like to live now as if Revelation’s description of perseverance is normal Christianity?

Jumpstarter 10 of 10
Back Questions Done