Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
A faithful Christian (one that submits his will to his Savior’s will) should be ready to face the coming tribulation that has been prophesied about for thousands of years.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
There is, however, one thing that can separate us from the love of God – ourselves. If we have not developed a strong relationship with the Savior, we can be deceived into denying the truth.
6 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. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 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. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Matthew 24:6-13)
We have to endure to the end! Christ is saying some (many?) will endure in the faith, but not unto the end! In fact, Christ tells us that few will endure:
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:13-15)
Many (I repeat: many!) will take the way that leadeth to destruction. I’m not saying this, he is. Many are sitting in pews (or whatever seating arrangement their church has) and getting their dogma from preachers (teachers, pastors, priests, rabbis, imams, etal.) that do not know the Word (they may know their denomination’s teachings, but don’t go beyond its doctrine) or they do know the Word and subvert it for their own gain.
On purpose or not, it does not matter – both are leading their adherents away from the faith of Christ and down the that leadeth to destruction.
Have you been taught that Christ loves you no matter what? Did they forget to tell you that he is going to judge everyone (John 5:22-23; John 9:39; Romans 14:10-12; Acts 17:31; Revelation 19:11)? Being born again is not enough:
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23)
What is the Will of the Father? Do you belong to a church that teaches that the Old Testament is not written to modern believers? Please read it for yourself because that is not what the Father, nor His son, said about His Word:
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. (Psalm 119:60)
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. (Isaiah 40:8; 1Peter 1:25)
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1Peter 1:23)
There is believing and there is doing. Do you really believe something if you act contrary to the thing? Is Christ really your Lord (Romans 10:9-10) if you refuse to obey his will?
23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. (James 1:23-26)
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:17-20)
Demons believe, but they act contrary to the Word. Faith is vital, but faith that is not evidence by works is deficient (Matthew 7:22-23).
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:39-40)
The Will of the Father, and of Christ, is that all be saved, but they do not supplant our free will. We can freely believe . . . and we can freely turn away from faith . . . and salvation.
Do not think that demonic forces will leave you alone once you are saved. Most of the Prophets were prosecuted and killed; the Apostles were persecuted and killed (only John was not murdered – of course he died in prison); even Christ was tempted, persecuted, and killed. If you are making a true difference for the Lord, you should expect the devil will try to shake your faith and your ministry.
Persecution is often effective – many converted to Catholicism or were killed during the Inquisition. Many convert to Islam in conquered nations or were killed.
Still, subtle forms of persuasion can be effective in causing a believer to become an apostate.
Apostasy: noun, a total desertion of or departure from one’s religion, principles, party, cause, etc.
There are three stages of subtle apostasy:
1) Familiarity with the World:
A survey conducted by Christian Today found that “born-again believers are not much different from non-born-again adults”.
- One quarter of born-again believers are less likely to view sexually explicit movies and magazines, to use profanity in public and to buy a lottery ticket compared to roughly one third of non-born-again Christians.
- 13 percent admits to having told someone something they knew was not true.
- 28 percent say they have read a magazine or watched a movie or video that contained explicit sexual images in the past month; 10 percent visited a website that showed explicit or uncensored sexual content; and 14 percent say they had an intimate sexual encounter during the past 30 days with someone they were not married to.
Since people tend to lie in surveys (they fear being judged by the person conducting the survey), these numbers are surely on the low end.
“It’s no surprise, then, that 84 percent of non-Christians said they personally knew at least one Christian, but only 15 percent thought the person’s lifestyle was significantly different than their own.”
“The respect, patience, self-control and kindness of born-again Christians should astound people, but the lifestyles and relationships of born-again believers are not much different than others.” (Audrey Barrick; Christian Today: Study Compares Christian and Non-Christian Lifestyles; 7 Feb 2007 – https://www.christiantoday.com/news/american-study-reveals-indulgent-lifestyle-christians-no-different)
Christians wear the same clothes, eat the same foods, listen to the same music, watch the same trash that the world does. We can readily and enthusiastically discuss the world’s culture or the latest sporting event, but sharing our faith is problematic. “Non-Christians don’t think we’re different because we are not different.”
The prophets and the Apostles faced persecution – we seek to fit in.
2) Seduction by the World:
Satan uses pleasurable addictions of the fallen world to activate the mental reward center of our brains. Exercising our brains and getting dopamine hits from a glass of wine, limited interaction with friends on social media, and intimacy with one’s spouse are a good thing – we were designed with this feature.
The danger is in the too frequent pursuit of worldly pleasures, which can result in indiscriminate pleasure-seeking (e.g., alcoholism, drug use, pornography, adultery) and obsessive, destructive behavior. Over-indulgence deadens the impact of the dopamine high tempting the person to engage in even greater levels of pleasure fulfillment.
75% of Christian men and 40% of Christian women reported consuming porn on some level and a large share say they are comfortable with the habit. (Leonardo Blair; Christian Post: Majority of practicing Christians admit to viewing porn, many comfortable with habit: study; 22 Oct 2024 – https://www.christianpost.com/news/majority-of-practicing-christians-admit-to-viewing-porn-study.html)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2Timothy 3:1-7)
Our faith is supposed to help us separate (qadash – consecrate) ourselves from the world, not embrace it.
Michael Crichton wrote a novel about treating a violent man with computer electrodes – when the man started becoming violent, the electrodes activated pleasure stimuli to counter-act the violent urges. Of course, the unintended consequences were that the man figured out he could get a dose of pleasure by trying to be violent, which he embraced more, and more frequently, until he was in danger of becoming dangerously violent every waking second.
As the Israelites were positioning themselves in Moab, across the Jordan River from Jericho, King Balak, sought to have a prophet of Yahweh curse the Israelites before they could defeat them as they had the Amorites and the Amalekites. The prophet, Balaam, refused to do what Balak asked because Yahweh told him, “Thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.” (Numbers 22:12)
Balaam did, however, recommend that Balak send temple prostitutes from Midian into the Israelite camp. These women caused the men to fornicate and to venerate other gods – removing themselves from the protection of Yahweh.
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. (Numbers 31:16)
If we are to stand in the last days and endure to the end, we need to separate ourselves from the world and call out sin – we need to live as Christ did and not seek fellowship with the immorality and ungodliness of this fallen world.
3) Adoption of the World’s Standards:
This is the evil of the “Jesus loves you as you are” doctrine – Christ loves us so much that he would never condemn us no matter what we do. Not only is it non-scriptural, it causes people to persist in their sins and invite others to participate.
One in four born-again Christians hold universalist thoughts (the belief that all human beings will eventually be saved after death) when it comes to salvation, according to a new Barna analysis of trend data.
Twenty-five percent of born-again Christians said all people are eventually saved or accepted by God. A similar proportion, 26 percent, said a person’s religion does not matter because all faiths teach the same lessons.
And an even higher proportion, 40 percent, of born-again Christians said they believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God. (Jennifer Riley, Christian Post: Many Born-Again Christians Hold Universalist Views, Barna Finds; 18 Apr 2011 – https://www.christianpost.com/news/many-born-again-christians-hold-universalist-view-barna-finds.html)
Christians are losing their identity and are in danger of losing their salvation.
The Israelites of the ten Northern tribes were captured by the Assyrian Empire and the survivors were carried back to Assyria. Unlike their Judean brothers, who were captured by Babylon, the ten tribes never returned to the Promised Land – they assimilated into the culture of the Assyrians and lost their identity,
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk [ACTION!] in newness of life.
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:1-4,6)
The more we realize our inability to live as he commands, the more realize we need him and will be ready to submit to his commands – to ask for strength to resist sin.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:15,21)
Too many go to church, sing some songs, half listen to a sermon, take communion, and then return home and continue to live like they did before they went to church.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18)
If you lower the standard enough, everyone can feel righteous in their own works.
If we want to be able to stand in Tribulation, we must not be deceived by false doctrines and preachers or by a fallen world that invites us to join them and get along.
Go to the scriptures and ask Christ for knowledge and understanding. Listen to teachers, but return to the Word always to ascertain whether the teaching is true.
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1Thessalonians 5:21)
An easy guide to help you make the Word your own can be found at my website (https://graftedonline.com/make-the-word-your-own/). There are many other sites offering similar (sometimes more instructive) guides.
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Don’t look at your past – Satan wants to trap you in it. Look to Christ and start building a new man that has a future. Build a relationship with the Savior that will be strong and help you to endure through the storms . . . and be saved!
I stole liberally from a teaching by Dr. Eric Walsh (Courage to Finish Well – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjrhGZfaOI)