Stand or Fall–What Will It Be?

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”  Matthew 24:4

Jesus had been asked by His disciples to tell them about the sign of His return and the end of the world.  He gave them several things to look for: wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, and diseases which would commence the time of Jesus’ second coming.  He went on to include that believers would be persecuted, afflicted, hated, and killed for His name’s sake.  We don’t know when Jesus will retrieve His church nor when He will set foot upon Mt. Olivet and begin His rule on earth.  Many see His return sooner rather than later.  I believe that things have to become a lot worse than they are now before He comes.  As of now, believers are still free to worship, witness, and boldly proclaim the name of Christ and the gospel, but we also are beginning to see some cracks in the foundation of our freedoms.

Almost every day when I peruse the internet looking for articles concerning Christ, Christianity, scripture, and any supposed threats against our right to worship and honor God as we see fit, I find articles every week which indicate there is a movement going on within our nation and in the world to hinder or even forbid believers to practice their faith in this crazy, mixed-up world.  There is no way of knowing which of these articles are realistic, that is, something which is actually in the works or just some idea of someone who is against Christ and those who follow Him.  I have read recently that our government is trying to force Christian physicians to do abortions on women and transgender surgery on children, both I find to be two of the most ungodly procedures that man has ever concocted from his or her selfish motives or, as is often the case, to make money.  Along with that, there are other proposals to force taxpayers to pay for these procedures.

Just today, there was an article that reports the federal government is planning on re-examining regulations concerning accreditation, student loans, and other factors which could disrupt faith-based colleges and universities.  These moves, if taken, violate the first amendment to the Constitution.  However, since many in government have already tossed out God’s word, it is only a matter of time before the Constitution is shredded, including the bill of rights, and then it’s “katy bar the door” for religious freedom and any other freedom of which we cherish as a nation founded upon the principles of God’s word.  Those pilgrims that made the long and arduous journey from England in order to have the freedoms of which we have been blessed for over 200 years could tell us a thing or two about hardships and the preciousness of being able to worship and govern ourselves.

There are millions of people in our nation being deceived.  At the top, the leaders are being deceived by Satan.  He has complete control of them.  There is no other explanation of how they have turned wrong to right in their own eyes.  Many are following them for various reasons.  Some of those reasons have to do with money, entitlements to keep people voting for them.  Neither one of our political parties has a lock on righteousness.  New people get elected and promise to sweep Washington with a new broom, but nothing never really changes except things seem to get worse.  I think some of them have good intentions to right the ship, but they face so much opposition from the old guard that they don’t make very much progress.

Christians, even in the face of persecution, have an advantage over the masses of Satan’s minions.  We have the Lord, the greatest and most powerful King who cares immensely about His followers.  He loves all those who don’t believe in Him, too, but He will protect and provide for those who love Him.  While it is very disheartening to see the diminishing of our once great nation, we have much to which to look forward.  Whether Jesus comes during our earthly lifetime or delays His return, we have a wonderful future ahead.  It may not be smooth sailing on this earth, and we may have to endure some hardships, but they won’t last forever, at least not for those who belong to Christ.