Not All Have Faith

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 ESV

“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”

If we are walking in fellowship with Jesus Christ, and if we are sharing the truth of the gospel, the whole counsel of God, as Paul said that he did, we are going to have enemies, as he did, too, and as Jesus had. For Satan hates Jesus Christ and his gospel and those who represent Jesus Christ in this evil world of ours in sharing the whole counsel of God with the people of this world and with others who profess faith in Jesus Christ.

Especially if we are at all like Paul and like Jesus, which we are supposed to be, in how we present the gospel of Christ (the whole counsel of God), so that we give the whole picture of what it means to be saved from our sins, then definitely the enemy is going to be hot on our trail. And if we are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness for what they are, which again we are all supposed to be doing, then we are definitely being targeted.

And for those of us who are doing this full time, as being led by the Lord, we need your prayers big time! For Satan is fighting against us right and left. And he doesn’t always do what he does outward, but a lot of it is sneaky, underhanded, and deceptive, as he uses other humans as his instruments of attack against the righteous and against those who are telling the people of this world the truth so that they will repent and obey the Lord Jesus.

And we need prayer that the Lord will protect us from enemy attacks so that we can continue to spread the truth of the gospel so that many will be saved before our Lord returns. For the enemy of our souls is looking for any way possible that he can to trip us up with our words so that he would have cause to accuse us, just as he did with Jesus and the NT apostles and the prophets before them and the saints of God who have gone before us, too.

So, pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not all who claim to have faith in Jesus Christ truly have faith, and many are those who are opposing us strongly. Some of them are pastors and elders in gatherings of the church or in what is falsely being called “church.” And some of them are just those who attend what are called “church gatherings,” most of which, it seems, are not biblical gatherings of the body of Christ.

For who were Jesus’ strongest opponents? They were rulers and teachers of the Scriptures in the temple of God and/or they were people of enormous influence in the Jewish faith who professed faith in God the Father, and thus they should have been waiting for their promised Messiah to come. So we should not be surprised if our strongest enemies are those who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who attend what are called “church gatherings.”

And then remember that the Scriptures teach that the evil and the wicked are those who make a practice of evil and wickedness. They are those who make a practice of sin. And righteousness, godliness, the forsaking of sins, and walks of obedience to our Lord are not what they practice. So they can easily be those who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ outwardly but who are still living for sin and self privately when no one is watching.

But the Lord is faithful! Amen! And this doesn’t mean that he won’t let us be hated and persecuted. He will! His word teaches us that if we follow Jesus with our lives, in truth, and in practice, that we will be hated and persecuted as Jesus was hated and persecuted. And we will have people who are plotting evil against us to try to destroy us and to take us down because they don’t want us spreading the truth of gospel and calling out sin.

So, when this says that our Lord will guard us against the evil one, that is not a promise that no evil will befall us, i.e. that evil people will not ever be able to harm us. Because that would be contradictory to what we are taught in the Scriptures that we will be hated and persecuted and even killed for our walks of faith in the Lord Jesus and for our testimonies for him and for his gospel message. And Jesus and Paul are definitely examples of that.

So, how should we take that promise? I believe it is more of a spiritual protection from the evil one. He will keep us from falling, if we are willing, and if we are cooperating with his work of grace in our lives. He will keep us from getting discouraged and giving up, if we trust him with our lives. And he will give us all the strength and wisdom we need to combat our enemies if we rely on his strength and wisdom and not on our own thinking.

So, please know that following Jesus Christ involves the fact that we will be hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. So don’t let that take you out. Trust the Lord with your lives, lean on him for support, and don’t try to get your validation from other humans who may just as well turn against you “on a dime,” with little to no warning at all. And these are people who may be pretending to be your friends and even on your side. But have no fear!

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

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