Living for Christ in the Finish Times

A challenge to set for His soon return.

By Dr. David R. Reagan

Living for Christ

The Bible clearly teaches that order will degenerate in the stop times, becoming as evil as it was in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). The Apostle Paul, speaking as a prophet, says that club will descend into a black pit of immorality, violence, and paganism (2 Timothy 3:i-5). He asserts that men will be "lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure." People volition be "boastful, arrogant, and unholy," and children will exist "disobedient to parents."

Sounds like the evening news, doesn't information technology? In brusk, nosotros accept arrived.

Signs of Coming Persecution

We should be securely concerned over these developments, not only because nosotros are witnessing the destruction of our beloved America, just because both Jesus and Paul prophesied that when these things occur, the Church building will come up under assault and individual Christians will be persecuted.

Jesus said that every bit lawlessness increases, "most people'south love will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12). He stated that in this hostile atmosphere, many professing Christians will "fall abroad" and volition proceed to cooperate in the persecution of their former brothers and sisters in Christ (Matthew 24:10). Paul indicates the same thing when he says that people will exist "haters of expert" and that they will therefore be "cruel" and "reckless," reviling those who stand up for righteousness (2 Timothy 3:two-4).

We are watching these prophecies come true today before our very eyes, both here in America and around the world. Every bit our culture has secularized and paganized, Christianity, the Church, and Christians accept come under increasing assault as "intolerant bigots." The attacks are going to intensify, and it is going to go increasingly hard for Christians to represent righteousness. Jobs will be lost. Careers volition exist destroyed. Christians will even be sent to prison for speaking out against evils like homosexuality considering such pronouncements volition be labeled as "detest crimes."

What and so are those of the states who love Jesus to exercise as we face a rising moving ridge of ridicule, harassment, and persecution for our faith? How shall we alive for Christ in the stop times? Let me advise a few guidelines.

ane) Order Your Priorities — The starting point is to review your priorities and make certain that God is starting time in your life. Exist honest with yourself. Don't play games. Don't kid yourself.

Near Christians have immune their priorities to get very mixed upwards. Usually, job or career is number one, family is 2d, and God is 3rd or even fourth backside an obsession with sports or something similar.

Ask yourself this question: If God were to give you lot the opportunity to make i asking, what would information technology be? Would y'all inquire for money? Power? Fame? Success?

Solomon asked for wisdom, but David asked for something ten m times more than profound — he asked for intimacy with God (Psalm 27:4). And, because he put God first, he states in Psalm 27 that he did non fear life (poetry i) or decease (poesy 13). It is also the reason that he is remembered equally "the man after God's own heart" (Acts thirteen:22).

two) Stand on the Give-and-take — The Bible says that the terminate times will be an historic period of deception (Matthew 24:24, 1 Timothy 4:1, and ii Timothy 4: 3-four). In fulfillment of that prophecy, nosotros are today existence bombarded with false but attracting religious systems offered by the Christian cults, Eastern religions, and the New Historic period Move.

Nigh professing Christians are sitting ducks for spiritual deception considering the average Christian is not sure what he believes. And fifty-fifty when he is able to articulate a conventionalities, he ordinarily does non know why he believes it. The result is that a Jehovah'due south Witness tin can turn the average Christian into a theological pretzel in 2 minutes apartment.

Anyone can be deceived. If you are to guard yourself against deception, you must become into the Word and stay in information technology on a daily basis. Also, you must test everything past the Word (1 John iv:1). For Catholics this means discarding doctrines like purgatory that take no footing in the Discussion whatsoever. For Protestants information technology means being alert to the twisting of scriptures or the manipulation of verses out of context. On every doctrine, the Bible needs to exist searched from Genesis to Revelation to see what is said about the particular topic.

three) Believe in the Ability of God — I am convinced that about professing Christians are deists. A deist is a person who believes in an impersonal god who never intervenes in human affairs. According to Deism, we are supposed to cope with our god-given reason, our talents, and the wisdom of the Scriptures. Every bit far every bit the deist is concerned, at the cease of the First Century, God retired, the supernatural ceased, and the historic period of miracles came to an end.

But the Hebrew Scriptures teach that God never changes (Malachi 3:6). And the New Testament specifically states that "Jesus Christ is the aforementioned yesterday, and today, yes and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

There is no style we can cope with the evil of terminate time club in our own forcefulness. Anyone who tries to exercise and then will be defeated. Our but hope is to turn to a God who is alive and well, who is still on the throne, who hears prayer and answers prayer, and who notwithstanding performs miracles.

Nosotros must realize that the Bible teaches that we can limit God by our unbelief. This a great paradox. Recollect about information technology — although God is all-powerful (Luke 1: 37), we who are powerless in comparison can nonetheless limit His power past our unbelief (Mark 6:i-6). That's because God is a gentleman. He does not force Himself upon usa. If we want to effort to cope on our ain, He will let u.s.a.. He responds when nosotros attain out to Him in faith (James one:6).

4) Persist in Prayer — One of the greatest blessings God has given believers is supernatural communication. God cares for united states of america personally (ane Peter 5:7), and He desires to communicate with us (James 4:8). Because He loves us, He earnestly desires our fellowship (John iv:23).

The tragedy is that near professing Christians seem to be inclined to plough to prayer as a last resort — merely when all else has failed and the state of affairs has become desperate. Some of this reluctance to seek God in prayer is due to pride, and thus the Scriptures continually exhort us to humble ourselves (1 Peter five:6). Others fail to depend on prayer because of unbelief. They either call up God doesn't care, or else they think He is no longer active in history.

But the Bible says "nosotros exercise non take because we do not enquire" (James 4:2). How many blessings of God have you left on the table because you tried to handle your problems yourself? The Bible also says that "the prayers of a righteous man can attain much" (James 5:16). Practise you translate this to mean that the power of your prayers depends on your righteousness? That is not what it means. If you are truly born once again, then you are a righteous person because you are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus (Isaiah 61:10).

5) Rely on the Holy Spirit — Well-nigh professing Christians seem to be afraid of the Holy Spirit. This is unremarkably due to a lack of noesis apropos the Spirit. For example, there is a tendency to write off the Holy Spirit as some sort of impersonal force — similar "The Force" in Star Wars.

We demand to understand that the Holy Spirit is a person. He is the supernatural presence of God in the globe today. He performs a dual office. For the unbeliever, He is God'south Evangelist. He is the one who works on human hearts to draw them to the Cross in repentance. No one is saved apart from the testimony of the Spirit (John 6:44 & 65).

With regard to the laic, the Holy Spirit is God's indwelling presence to provide united states with power and guidance. He is our Enabler. He is as well God'southward Potter, for 1 of His basic responsibilities is to daily shape believers more fully into the image of Jesus (two Corinthians 3:17-18).

One of the ironies of the Christian life is that we cannot serve God in our ain ability. Rather, the only way nosotros can finer serve the Lord is by relying on the power of His Holy Spirit who resides within u.s.. It is possible to quench and grieve the Spirit (one Thessalonians 5:19 and Ephesians 4:30).

The Word calls on united states to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). This tin can happen but if we are willing to release the Spirit to become the Lord of our lives. Most of u.s. are content to let the Spirit be resident in our lives. He does non want to be simply a resident; He desires to be president.

Is that the case in your life? Is the Holy Spirit on the throne of your life? Or is He being treated as an unwelcome guest? There is no way y'all volition be able to withstand the pressures of end time social club without relying daily on the ability of God's Spirit.

6) Practice Tough Faith — Faith comes easy when everything is going smoothly. When there is skillful wellness and prosperity, information technology is easy to praise the Lord. The test of faith comes when all the circumstances of life plow sour.

God has not promised believers a rose garden. Nosotros live in a fallen world. The rain falls on the merely and the unjust. The wicked prosper. Justice seldom prevails.

It is piece of cake for the righteous to grow discouraged. This calls for the exercise of tough faith — the kind of faith that is not dependent on circumstances. It'southward the kind of faith that hangs in there when the going gets tough because of a confident belief that "all things work together for good for those who beloved the Lord" (Romans 8:28).

God never promises that believers volition be immune to suffering. What He does promise is that He will be at that place to walk through the trials with united states. He promises to be beside us when we "laissez passer through the waters" and "walk through the burn" (Isaiah 43:2). And He states that He will be there when nosotros "walk through the valley of the shadow of expiry" (Psalm 23:4).

What is the quality of your faith? When life turns sour, practice you turn to God, or do y'all question Him or even curse Him? Ane of the keys to hanging tough is to larn the promises of God'south Word (like Philippians 4:6-seven, 11-13, and 19) and start claiming them in prayer when confronted with the challenges of life.

7) Go along an Eternal Perspective — We are to exist in the world only not of the world (John 17:11 & 16). That's a difficult principle to follow. It constitutes a daily struggle.

It is then easy to get our eyes off the Lord and focus instead upon the world in which we alive. The daily demands are then pressing. And ane of the greatest of those demands is that we accommodate to the world — to the world'south language, dress, entertainment, and values.

That'southward why we are constantly exhorted in Scripture to consider ourselves as "aliens, exiles, and strangers" who are merely passing through this world (Hebrews xi:13 and 1 Peter two:11). We are told to "set up our minds on things above, not on the things that are on the earth" (Colossians 3:2). And we are warned to never fall in beloved with the world or abound comfortable with it (Romans 12:2 and 1 John 2:15-16). In fact, Jesus said we are to "detest our life in this globe" (John 12:25), and His brother, James, said "friendship with the world is hostility toward God" (James 4:4).

What does it mean to hate the earth? It means we are to hate the evil world organization that prevails in social club. We are to hate a system that glorifies violence and immorality and which depreciates the value of life.

As C. Due south. Lewis once put it, "We are to alive similar commandos behind the enemy lines, preparing the way for the coming of the Commander-in-Master." In other words, we are to live yearning for the twenty-four hour period when Jesus will outburst from the heavens to bring peace, righteousness, and justice to the globe.

8) Expect for Jesus — This brings us to the final guideline I would like to emphasize regarding how to live for Jesus in the finish times. The Bible tells us betoken blank that we are to live "looking for Jesus" (Titus two: 13).

Near Christians are then caught upwardly in the world that they alive thinking most anything but the render of Jesus. This is a sad state of affairs because Jesus' return is our "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13). And His return is imminent.

Another problem is that nearly Christians know and then little about Bible prophecy that they cannot get excited about the Lord'southward return. How can you get excited near an event you know nothing most? Ignorance produces apathy.

And aloofness about the Lord'south return has tragic consequences. It robs us of an eternal perspective, and it destroys any sense of urgency about reaching lost souls. It also undermines a powerful motivator for holy living.

You see, when a person comes to truly believe that Jesus is returning and may return whatever moment, that person will exist motivated to holiness and evangelism. Regarding holiness, the Apostle John put it this way: "Nosotros know that when He appears [the Rapture], we shall be like Him [glorified]… And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies himself, only equally He is pure" (i John iii:2-3). Regarding evangelism, Peter writes that the simply reason Jesus has not notwithstanding returned is because "God does not wish that any should perish, just that all might come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).

A Spiritual Mirror

Paul provides us with a spiritual mirror for stop time conduct. He says we are to "deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blest hope and the actualization of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus" (Titus two:12-thirteen).

When you look into this mirror, what practice you see? Are yous walking in the center of God's will? Have you ordered your priorities to put God first? Are you standing on the Discussion of God, testing everything by it? Do y'all believe in a personal, caring and anointed God who hears prayers and answers prayers, and who still performs miracles? Are you relying daily on the ability of the Holy Spirit? Are you practicing tough faith, refusing to permit the calamities of life to overwhelm you? Are you keeping an eternal perspective, refusing to get comfy with this globe? And are you daily looking for Jesus? Is the Rapture in your heart? Is "Maranatha!" on your lips?

Resources

Living for Christ in the End Times by Dr. David R. Reagan

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