Eschatology students and many theologians are attesting to the belief that we are living in the last days, before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bible prophecies are coming to pass before our very eyes. God is talking –is anyone listening?
I am writing article because the most horrific peril of the last days among Christians will be the apostasy—the falling away from the faith. The Bible warns that because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will wax cold, but now is not the time to faint.
Where will I be ten years from now? Still saved and in love with Jesus or far removed from this place and doing my own thing? Will I be happy with my life or in a downtrodden, dismal spiral” Where will I be? A newly saved church member once asked those rhetorical questions.
Concerned about the possibility of failure in his Christian walk, doubt began to set in. The euphoria of it all seemed too good to be true, and the thought of this elation dissipating brought about anxiety.
This scenario all too often crosses the mind of the new saint and at times the mind of the oldest. However, let me encourage you; you can make this journey. Doubts are only human. A quick look into the Word of God always without fail provides instant encouragement and an answer to every question. God is way ahead of us. Matthew wrote this in the 6th chapter, verse 34:
“So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” You are only responsible for one day at a time. He further admonishes that this worry eventually amounts to sin. If you trust him and let him guide you, He will, sustain you because He is able.
The apostle Paul writes in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious [do not worry] about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition , with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”
This simply means that we should take every concern to God in prayer; especially worry and fear for he is “able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24). He has urged us to trust him:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Tell God what you fear and let his word along with prayer and supplication guide you. Remember, he has promised to never leave you. You will have to do the leaving.
There are three stages in every venture. You have to begin it and stay in it to win it. (You may have heard that.) The beginning stage can be very exciting. When things progress and troubles arise and they will, you face the most difficult stage of them all—the stage of trying to Stay in it. This is the time quitters bail out.
You’ve also heard the old saying:”Quitters never win and winners never quit.” It is easy to leave the church when you are offended, hurt, skipped over, lied on, or persecuted for no reason. You may ask the question, “Why is this happening to me?”
God has a reason, for he is allowing it to happen. Under pressure you gain strength, you can gain patience. By now you know the answer is in the Word of God. When tempted to just give up and leave, God is saying “Stay in it” and count yourself blessed:
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried , he shall receive the crown of life”(James 1:12).
Endure means to undergo without giving in or to continue in the same state or condition. In other words things may not change immediately but you must stay in it in order to win it—that crown.
James 1:2 goes so far as to say: “My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers or different temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
You received power when the Holy Spirit came upon you (Act 1:8). Now just bear up under it, let it undergird you and lean on it. It is God’ the power that will keep you.
For sure, you will be tested, tempted, tried, rebuked and reproved. That is God’s way of helping you to grow. In the natural, sheep have no protection but the shepherd. If you stay in this walk, He will enable you to persevere. The key to victory is clearly staying in it.
So stay in it to win it—God takes no pleasure in those who drawback.
“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition: but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews.10:38-39).
You will make this journey because you have STAYING POWER.
“Do not therefore, fling away your confidence, for it has a glorious and great reward. For you have need of patient endurance (to bear up under difficult circumstances without compromising), so that when you have carried out the will of God, you may receive and enjoy to the full what is promised. For yet in a very little while he who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:35-37).