Are You Ready?

Revelation 12:17 ESV

“Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.”

The dragon is another name given to Satan, who is also called the devil or Lucifer. Satan hates God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), he hates the Word of God, and he hates those of us who worship God/Jesus, and who are following him in his ways and in his truth.

But the devil is not docile. He is furious! He is active, he is fierce, and he is hotly pursuing those of us who he sees as a serious threat to his kingdom. So, he will use many different tricks and schemes to try to bring us down, for his goal is to stop us from telling the truth.

So, if you are among those who are fairly casual about your faith in Jesus, who feel you should not “make waves,” or that you should “stay in your own lane,” so as not to offend anyone with the truth of the gospel, the devil is not going to be after you, for you are not a threat to him.

Satan is only threatened by those who are walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands to us, his church, who hold firm to the testimony of Jesus, who are out there sharing the truth of the gospel, and who are exposing the lies of the devil and of his many hordes.

Revelation 13:5-7 ESV

“And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.”

There are many different opinions about who this beast is and when he appears and when these events prophesied here begin to take place. But let’s put those opinions aside for right now and let’s look at what this is really talking about here.

Satan is against those of us who follow Jesus Christ with our lives. And, he has people who serve him, who do his bidding. So, we are going to have human beings against us who will fight against us because we are following Jesus, because we are preaching the truth of the gospel, and because we are exposing the lies of Satan.

Some of those human beings are in places of government where they make and where they carry out laws which can and which will hinder our ability to share the full gospel of our salvation. There is a huge push right now for world peace, which will mean censorship of the gospel.

For, they want us to all be unified across the globe and to be of one mind and of one heart, holding hands and singing “Kumbaya.” They want no division, so they have to remove all that divides us as the people of the world, and the gospel divides people.

And, some of those human beings who serve Satan are within the gatherings of the church, too. Some of them are even pastors and other church leaders. And, Satan has used them within the gatherings of the church to destroy the church from within.

They turned the church, the body of Christ, into a marketplace, are marketing it just like any other business, have turned pastors into clowns, worship services into stage productions, and they have diluted the gospel of salvation so that “believers” are not delivered from sin.

But we are to stand firm on the Word of Truth and not give in to their threats, their tricks, their wicked schemes against us, their false accusations, and their various ploys to try to discredit us and the gospel, or to try to frighten us into quitting.

Revelation 13:10 ESV

“If anyone is to be taken captive,    to captivity he goes;if anyone is to be slain with the sword,    with the sword must he be slain. “Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”

Christians have been persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ ever since Jesus died on that cross, rose again, ascended to heaven, and sent his Holy Spirit to indwell the hearts and lives of his followers. So, this is nothing new.

For Americans, though, most have NOT had to endure that type of persecution. This is not to say that Christian persecution does not exist in America. It does. It is just not to that level yet, but it is here, and it is coming soon.

And, the persecution in America is largely not against those who profess faith in Jesus Christ or who call themselves Christians. It is against those who are living what they say they believe and who have a voice and who are using that voice to proclaim the truth of the gospel and to expose the lies.

Yet, many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are convinced they will not have to suffer for their faith in Christ. But, should that really be our goal? Didn’t Jesus say we would be hated as he was hated, and that how they treated him they will treat us?

Didn’t he say that we are blessed if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake and that we should rejoice and be glad that we are counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus and for the sake of his gospel?

I am not here to debate with anyone the timing of when Jesus is going to return but let me say this. Many Americans have this idea that they are going to be raptured before anything gets really bad, but that is just not biblical, and why should we be spared suffering?

I believe we need to be ready to suffer for the sake of our faith in Jesus Christ and for the sake of his gospel, and to go through what the saints of God have had to go through ever since Jesus rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven.

We need to be ready to be betrayed, to be hated, to be persecuted severely, to be beaten, falsely accused, falsely arrested, and even killed for our testimonies for Jesus Christ and for his gospel, for this is coming.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

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