Matthew 24:9-14 ESV
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Now, in America where I live, the persecution of Christians is less physical in nature, at present, and more spiritual and emotional and mental abuse. And it comes both in forms of deception and in personal attacks against those of us who are proclaiming the truth and who are refuting the lies of the enemy. So those who are taking God seriously and who are obeying his commands, in practice, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel with others, are the ones being attacked, while the rest of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are the ones largely being deceived, not that we can’t all be deceived.
For the situation we have here in America is largely a coordinated effort across the nation to dumb down the gospel message to make it more widely accepted by a larger percentage of people. And it is to dumb down the whole meaning of church and the purpose of the church biblically and to make the gatherings of the church more into social clubs and civic centers and friendly places for clean family entertainment where all people feel accepted as though they are part of the family of God, even if they do not believe in Jesus Christ, or even if they are not living the faith they profess.
The gospel of Jesus Christ has been reduced to praying a prayer or to making some kind of acknowledgment of faith in Christ, but few these days are teaching that we must repent of our sins, that we must forsake our sinful practices to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands under the New Covenant. And so many are believing if they make this one-time decision to “believe” in Jesus that they now have all their sins forgiven, that heaven is guaranteed them, and that nothing can take that away from them, regardless of how they lives their lives on this earth.
And there are so many false teachings out there in the Christian culture here in America via preacher’s sermons, books, movies, cartoons, music lyrics, children’s Bible stories, and social media memes, et al. And so many of these false teachings are cleverly being blended in with the lies so as to deceive the masses. And one of the big ways in which they deceive today is via “misimpressions,” which are indirect lies. And since they are very hard to prove, they easily deceive the people who are not testing what they are hearing against the truth of the Scriptures, in their context.
And since we live in a day and age where things like TikTok short videos and other short and quick messages are being popularized and widely accepted, this opens the door wide to deceive the people who want quick messages which they can quickly like or dislike, but without having to do the research to see if the messages are truth or not. And so many people are letting social media memes be their Bible for them, or they are letting “religious” movies define the character of Christ and the teachings of Scripture for them, so that many are being deceived into believing lies over truth.
So, they don’t literally have to kill anyone here in America. All they have to do is to deceive them or to discredit them via lies so that no one (or few) will listen to them, and they have accomplished the same purpose, which is the silencing of the truth and keeping the people from believing the truth and keeping them continuing in believing and following after the lies. For those whom they have been able to deceive, many of them have been given a death sentence by God because they are refusing to believe the truth and they are following after the lies, instead.
And many of those who are being deceived, and who are following after the lies, have turned against those who are living and who are believing and who are teaching the truth of the gospel. And so those who are actually sharing the “whole counsel of God,” and not this “half-truth” gospel which is permeating the American church, we are being demonized, and we are largely being rejected and cast aside, and are being regarded as hyper-religious, legalistic, self-righteous, crazy, as false teachers, and/or as unloving. And so others are being trained to reject and to ignore us.
So, what is really the “Big Lie” which is deceiving the masses? Well, it comes in various forms, but the main thing about it is that it teaches salvation from sin, forgiveness of sins, and the hope of eternal life with God regardless of changed lives or altered lifestyles. They teach that all one has to do is “believe,” which is rarely defined biblically, and now heaven is guaranteed them and all their sins are forgiven and so they are now “good to go” regardless of how they live. And so many are believing they have salvation from sin while they continue living in deliberate and habitual sin.
But Jesus taught that if we are to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life with God. And Jesus said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God in heaven. And so many will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.”
And this Scripture in Matthew 24 says, “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” So, we aren’t saved once and now we are good to go to heaven for eternity regardless of how we live. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God. And so we must continue in those walks of faith in holy living and in obedience to our Lord steadfast until the end if we want to have the promise of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So, please read the following Scriptures and believe what they teach:
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
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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