Guarding Our Faith

Friday, May 27, 2022

Many end-time events in God’s Word will be due to man’s ungodliness, amplified by God withdrawing His restraint on evil, 2 Thess. 2:7. In fact, except for God’s wrath during the great tribulation, Rev. 16, when His wrath is poured out on those who irredeemably receive the mark of the beast, the destructions of the first 3 1/2 years of tribulation can be attributed to the acts of man, e.g., elites destroying earth with their lies and wars; urban violence; poisoning of waters; the U.N.’s 2030 Agenda; the Great Reset of 2021; geo-engineered storms, floods and droughts; cashless society; food shortages and famines. As God’s restraint on evil is withdrawn, we see an exponential increase in the hatred of Christians, free speech, parental rights, freedoms, truth, and the family unit, but the defense of wickedness, transgender abominations, LGBTQ+ perversions, lawlessness, revisionism, destruction, AI, implant chips, the WEF, and its “QR code digital ID”.

I’m often reminded of God’s Word commanding believers “that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing” (1 Thess. 4:11–12). Believers invite harm by entangling themselves in the affairs of the world, thinking the fight against the ungodly is their battle, or that America is good and other nations are evil, but those are deceptions of Satan to get believers’ attention off the life we’re called to live, and to “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12).  We’re to stay in our lane, and fight the good fight of faith in the body of believers, guarding the truth in both ourselves and in the church. But like ancient Israel, the church readily desires acceptance of the unbelieving world and falls prey to being just like it in many ways. The result is a lukewarm end-time church as human emotionalism has largely replaced true faith, confession and repentance.

We must not be surprised by the hatred of unbelievers, they act out the desires of their own unconverted heart. But believers should arise in righteous indignation of the acceptance of the world’s ways inside the church. Remember, God said when Antichrist’s head wound is healed “all the world marveled and followed the beast” (Rev. 13:3), and because the organized church has largely acquiesced to the world on numerous fronts, including obeying ungodly governments by accepting untested and harmful COVID-19 vaccines, that precedent now being set, it’s likely that many in the organized church will also blindly follow the governments’ mandate of the soon-coming mark of the beast, viewing it as just another normal event. Christ warned that, “then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another” (Matt. 24:10). But the mandate to which believers must adhere is to guard our own hearts. Unbelievers will do what they’ve always done. But the church must be of the Spirit to prepare to endure the coming seven-year tribulation, but if it does not prepare, like the five foolish virgins of Matt. 25:1–13, then neither will it be prepared, nor be “counted worthy to escape” (Luke 21:36) and find God’s safety and provision for the last 3 1/2 years of the great tribulation. Worse is yet to come, and pastors who tell you that believer’s best days, in this life, are yet ahead, deceive people.

I sincerely share with you that as believers we have our hands full of guarding our own hearts and minds without entering the world’s fray of fights. If the organized church fought as hard to protect against wolves in sheep’s clothing in the church and taught believers to endure the end-times, being equipped in knowledge to find God’s place of safety and provision at the start of “great tribulation”, and guarded against politics in the pulpit, it would be more effective for Christ. But political agendas in the church has turned aside many to ungodliness—and I invite you to watch this 2 1/2 minute trailer, or purchase the movie if you desire. Today’s issues of Social Justice, Black Lives Matter, White Supremacy, and Critical Race Theory, etc. have no business in the church, and pastors who allow these evils in the church must repent. Unbelievers follow their unconverted hearts and as such they naturally fight for this or that. But in spiritually blunting sin and conviction in the last 30 years, many church leaders have resorted to nightclub-style light, smoke and ear-splitting music shows that excites emotions but does not lead to repentance and worship. Progressive emotionalism has largely overtaken the organized church, but emotionalism does not equal “the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:4).

Due to the world’s influence inside the organized church with political agendas, the traditions of men, and attempted syncretism of the Christian faith with false religions, e.g. Judaism and Islam, many have cooled off in their faith. But Christ warned “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:15–16). Please join me in prayer that the condition Jesus called “lukewarm” does not find a place in any of us who truly believe, but that we would be on fire for the Lord Jesus, defending His Word, living by His truths and believing His testimony, prepared even to lay down our lives for the sake of Christ, see Matt. 10:28.

Many people in the organized church have little to no idea just how close we are to the seven-year tribulation, and thus have prepared for nothing. Many do not spend quality time in God’s Word which eliminates discernment of not only the end-times, but many other critical issues we face today. Many think what we see in the world today is progressively normal. Likewise, many pastors don’t even teach the numerous end-time passages in the Bible for fear of losing paying customers and thus create financial troubles which is really “the love of money”. Lastly, many pastors have no trouble absolving themselves from teaching the end-times because they believe the Dispensational, pre-trib rapture tradition of men which allows them to eliminate voluminous amounts of biblical truth, and believing that it has zero relevance to the church. Thus Satan has deceived millions of believers to think they will be raptured before the tribulation even begins. But even now the U.N. warns that there is but ten weeks of wheat to sustain the world. A global famine is drawing near, and WWIII is near, yet many believers are unprepared.

Many believers, again, for lack of knowledge, think the end-times are far off because the church has not preached the Gospel “in all the world” reflecting on Jesus saying “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). But many miss the point that the church, regardless of its world-class tech, will never accomplish the task of preaching the Gospel to “all the nations”. Here’s why: the Holy Spirit revealed to the Apostle John that, in the tribulation “I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’” (Rev. 14:6–7). True Christian leadership guards the testimony of Christ.

Marlin J. Yoder