As we study the past history of Christianity, and examine the biblical predictions of its future, it can prove overwhelming to realize what is on the horizon. Though some ministers forecast smooth sailing for the church the Bible declares otherwise. Just as the Lord has promised to purify Israel with many trials, so too will He cleanse the ranks of Christianity. The wise will understand the times we are living in and act accordingly. As we just learned whoever builds their faith on the covenant foundation of Jesus Christ will survive, whoever doesn’t, won’t. So, now let us get serious. Following are five biblical building blocks to construct a faith that will safely protect us from apostasy, past, present and future.
Building Block # 1 – Believe in the Resurrection – We need first to “understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.” 537 But is it enough to just believe there is a God? James wrote, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” 538 No, what we need is a specific type of belief. To find it we must go back to the resurrection of Jesus. “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved.” 539 Do you believe this, dear reader? If not, then we need to prayerfully restudy the doctrine of the resurrection. You don’t hear it preached much in a lot of churches anymore. Oh sure, you hear it referred to, but what is needed are presentations worthy enough to explain what the Bible really teaches about the subject. Wonder why we don’t? Because the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead is the very reason why the demons “tremble in terror.”
If you do believe in His resurrection then “all of you are God’s children because of your faith in Christ Jesus.” 540 And, because those who accept Christ are the true children of Abraham, we need to stop all the denominational superiority stuff. When we hear one Christian denomination boasting of its superior position over another it is indicative of either spiritual pride or an attempt to increase church membership to receive more money. It is no different than the disciples jockeying themselves into position for Christ’s coming kingdom which drew from the Savior a rebuke. 541 The churches of Christendom, and their leaders, instead of competing with each other, need as never before to encourage their followers to get into the sacred Word of God to prayerfully study the great doctrines of salvation such as the Resurrection. This, and only this, will prepare us for the coming onslaught the devil intends to bring. Maybe a good place to start is Ephesians 6:10-20, where we are taught how to “put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the devil’s evil tricks.”
Building Block # 2 – Study to be Approved before God – Individual believers should never settle into complacency when it comes to spiritual matters. Nor, should they feel secure in believing what a church leader has taught them to be the truth. “Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.” 542 We need to be like the Jews in Berea. Of them it is written “the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures, day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.” 543 Notice, they searched and studied the Scriptures on a daily basis for themselves and were not content to merely accept what they were taught. If we will adopt this simple practice, we can be assured the Holy Spirit will guide us in our quest for truth. It will surely come at a cost, oftentimes throwing us out of sync with family, friends, church leaders and fellow church members. We need but ask ourselves this question, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” 544
Building Block # 3 – Buy the Truth – The wise man counseled, “Buy the truth, and do not sell it.” 545 The Berean Study Bible translates the passage this way, “Invest in truth and never sell it.” In the world of religion, even within Christianity, there are many vendors selling ideas and theories of what they brand as “truth.” For the Christian there is a simple way to tell if the goods being peddled are authentic, and it is this: Does what they teach square up with what is taught in God’s sacred Word, the Bible, or does it emanate from some other source? The only way we can be assured of our position is to first-hand know what the Bible teaches ourselves. If not, then you may be trusting your eternal salvation to someone else. We are living in the most momentous of times. Speaking of our day Paul warned that “every wind of doctrine will be blowing.” 546 His words to the Ephesians continue to inspire and challenge Christians today to get serious about what they believe, and stop being gullible like children, and grow up in the maturity of Biblical truths. If we don’t, then we are sure to be “tossed about by the waves and blown along by every wind of teaching, at the mercy of people clever in devising ways to deceive.” 547 Following is commentary on Paul’s counsel which strikes right at this point, “With no firmness; no settled course; no helm. The idea is that of a vessel on the restless ocean, that is tossed about with every varying wind, and that has no settled line of sailing. So many persons are in regard to religious doctrines. They have no fixed views and principles. They hold no doctrines that are settled in their minds by careful and patient examination, and the consequence is, that they yield to every new opinion, and submit to the guidance of every new teacher. The “doctrine” taught here is, that we should have settled religious opinions. We should carefully examine what is truth, and having found it, should adhere to it, and not yield on the coming of every new teacher. We should not, indeed, close our minds against conviction. We should be open to argument, and be willing to follow “the truth” wherever it will lead us. But this state of mind is not inconsistent with having settled opinions, and with being firm in holding them until we are convinced that we are wrong. No man can be useful who has not settled principles. No one who has not such principles can inspire confidence or be happy, and the first aim of every young convert should be to acquire settled views of the truth, and to become firmly grounded in the doctrines of the gospel.” 548
Building Block # 4 –Declutter our Lives – People have cluttered lives. We have all accumulated things from our past that will not benefit us in our spiritual journey ahead – in fact they will hinder us. Paul compares the Christian life to that of an athlete training for a race. He tells us, “All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So, I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.” 549 Wouldn’t it be wise to ask ourselves, do we desire a trophy called eternal life, or one we will leave behind in a garage sale? If it is indeed deathlessness we are after then it is time to do some serious decluttering! Therefore, “let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.” 550 Whatever it is the Lord shows us to get out of our lives, we need to sever that thing. It will be different baggage for different people. It may be the hoarding of material possessions, an obsession to achieve at one’s career, or toxic relationships that are pulling you away from time and devotion spent with God. Addiction to mind altering substances such as alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, or even prescription medications have multitudes imprisoned in a life cell of sin. Others may not struggle with these pernicious habits but battle daily with the gluttonous use of food which is not only physically harmful, but subtly deteriorates our spiritual lives.
Then there are the six sins the Lord hates as recorded in Proverbs 6:16-19, beginning with pride. Again, Paul warns, “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” 551 Charles H. Spurgeon described pride as “an all-pervading sin.” He said, “Pride is so natural to fallen man that it springs up in his heart like weeds in a well-watered garden … its every touch is evil. You may hunt down this fox, and think you have destroyed it, and lo! Your very exultation is pride. None have more pride than those who dream that they have none. Pride is a sin with a thousand lives; it seems impossible to kill it.”
Each of us have our own personal battles to fight, and war to win. The real enemy is ourself, so if we really want to win, we must first be willing to lose. It all comes back to what Jesus said, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.” 552 The paradoxical reality here is that the more we relinquish in this life the more we gain in the next! Like the man introduced to us by John Bunyan, “a man there was, though some did count him mad, the more he cast away the more he had.” 553
Building Block # 5 – Hold on to What You’ve Got – They say the most dangerous eight seconds in sports is bull riding. That’s because when the beast is released from its gate, the rider must with one hand hold on and remain aboard for a full eight seconds until the horn sounds. One who has never tried this insane stunt can only imagine the ticking of the clock would most likely seem to be in slow motion!
In a way the sport can be used as an analogy for the experience of the Christian believer as they wait for the return of Christ. This paralleled example may seem a little off beat to many western Christians because they have been promised salvation through following the rules of their church, or by adopting teachings such as “once saved, always saved.” But a false security is really no security at all. When we consider what the Bible really teaches it sounds more in line with what a bull riding coach may tell his young rider. “Look, I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.” 554 Our eternal life coach, Jesus, alerts His followers that they will be “arrested, persecuted and killed… because of your allegiance to me, many will turn away from me and hate each other. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. But those who endure (hold on) to the end will be saved.” 555 Projecting down to the end of time when the mark of the angry bucking beast system is issued God’s instruction to His faithful is, “Let this encourage God’s holy people to endure persecution patiently and remain firm to the end (until the horn, or trumpet, sounds), obeying his commands and trusting in Jesus.” 556
We live in an atrophic world. Even after our hearts are made right with God, and we want to do what is right, there seems to be a constant negative pull upon us to do the wrong. This is why we need to become accountable to one another. “You must warn each other every day… so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” 557
AN APPEAL
What if a friend told you that God Himself was going to be at a certain church to preach a sermon. Would you go? Well, God did preach a sermon one day while He visited humanity in the flesh. It is notoriously remembered as The Sermon on the Mount, and is recorded in chapters 5-7 of Matthew’s gospel. In His final appeal He taught, “you can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway that leads to destruction is broad, and its gate is wide for the MANY who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.” 558
Notice the term “MANY” here, and compare its usage with what Jesus said next, “not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day MANY will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized. ‘” 559 There it is again, MANY, referring not just to people who never make a profession of Christ, but to MANY who did avow Him! I think it is safe to say today the general consensus among western Christianity is that the “many” will be saved. Unfortunately, those who believe and teach this didn’t listen closely to what Jesus said in His sermon. He said the “many” will walk through the “gateway… that leads to destruction.” To the “many” He will declare “I never knew you. Go away.”
How tragic the scenario. Many people thinking they are prepared and ready to enter into God’s eternal Kingdom, only to realize after it is too late to rectify, they will instead be eternally exempted from it. Please, please dear reader. I say it to you, and myself as well, let us not be among the “many.” Instead, let us at this moment choose to be one of the “few” who walk the “narrow road” that leads to the “gateway to eternal life.”
Before we advance in our exploration of Why Christianity let’s pause briefly to assure ourselves that we are indeed Christians ourselves. To do this let us together take into consideration three very important points. Firstly, scripture teaches “it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes the judgment.” 560 This is our one, and only shot at eternal life folks. We must get it right for at some point in the future the day of our opportunity will have passed. There will be for all of us that defining moment when we either truly choose for Christ, or truly choose against Him. The scariest thought is that we may not actually realize when we cross the threshold of this eternal decision, so we need to put a pause on our busy, distracted lives to make sure we get this one thing right.
One day Paul stood on trial before King Agrippa. Agrippa was like many civic leaders today who think their appointments to power makes them someone special. The truth is that all of them could at any moment, and will at some point in time, lose what they think makes them so important. Agrippa was the last of the Jewish kings descended from Herod whose position had been appointed by Rome. In other words, he thought he was more important than he really was. He knew the history of the Jews, and of the man who had claimed to be their Messiah – Jesus Christ. During his defense argument Paul connected with Agrippa’s knowledge of Judaism and explained the gospel of Christ to the ruler. Then he made a direct appeal, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” With this the king abruptly interrupts Paul and sarcastically replies, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.” 561 But as the saying goes, “he who is almost persuaded is almost saved, but to be almost saved is to be entirely lost.” 562
Agrippa made his choice to hang on to the power and prestige he felt he had in this world only to ultimately lose it anyway. What is it that we are hanging on to? What is it we have in this world that we don’t want to leave behind, but deep down know that someday we must? What is it in this world that we felt we should have had, but didn’t get? What were our missed opportunities which could have rendered us the better life we so desired. All such contemplations are insignificant when weighed in the scales of the eternal offer God is making to us through the message of Christ. To be “almost persuaded” is in fact to be utterly foolish.
Next, “we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift from it. The message God delivered through angels has always proved true, and the people were punished for every violation of the law and every act of disobedience. What makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation that was announced by the Lord Jesus himself?” 563 It is another popular method in Christian evangelism to have people recite the sinner’s prayer, and then feel like the duty is done. But those who have any experience in working with the salvation of souls know this is only the birth of the baby Christian. It now requires nurture which includes not only feeding them more of God’s Word, but help in cleaning up the messes they make along the way. We all need to remind and encourage each other as fellow believers to stay on the straight and narrow path which includes frequent Bible study, constant prayer and regular fellowship.
Which brings us to our third consideration. Never should we take for granted that what we learned yesterday will sustain us tomorrow. Paul had personally spent two years with the believers at Corinth, preaching and teaching in their midst. Yet, when he later wrote to them his final advice was, “examine yourselves to see if your faith is really genuine. Test yourselves. If you cannot tell that Jesus Christ is among you, it means you have failed the test. I hope you recognize that we have passed the test and are approved by God.” 564
The apostle Peter urges us to make our calling and election sure. “So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away (apostatize). And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 565
I know this idea of having to fight the good fight of faith can be intimidating, and down-right scary at times. But we need to go into the battle realizing that Christ has already given us the victory through His life, death and resurrection. We are not talking about trying to gain salvation through our efforts of Christian living, but rather, as did Paul, we need to “fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 566 Whenever it all gets too heavy for our weary minds, and many times it will, we need to remember that the Lord is our eternal cheerleader. We only need to believe and trust that if we ask Him to guide us, He will. “Whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. If you need wisdom – if you want to know what God wants you to do – ASK HIM, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent you asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.” 567
537 Galatians 3:7; NET Bible
538 James 2:19
539 Romans 10:9; Good News Bible
540 Galatians 3:26; Contemporary English Version
541 See Mark 9:33-37
542 2 Timothy 2:15; Amplified Bible*
543 Acts 17:11*
544 Galatians 1:10; NIV
545 Proverbs 23:23
546 Ephesians 4:14
547 Ibid; Complete Jewish Bible*
548 Barnes Notes on the Bible; Commentary on Ephesians 4:14
549 1 Corinthians 9:25,26
550 Hebrews 12:1,2 Good News Bible
551 Romans 12:3, NLT
552 Matthew 10:39
553 John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress From This World To That Which Is To Come; Bunyan himself knew something about losing things in this life so the better cause of Christ could prosper. In 17th Century England he spent 12 years imprisoned for “illegal preaching” and holding religious services not in conformity with those of the Anglican Church. While incarcerated he began writing his allegorical story called The Pilgrims Progress. First published in 1678, today it is still “the title holder of both the most printed and most translated English book.” Christian Books Still Dominate All-Time Best-Sellers Lists | Entertainment News (christianpost.com)
554 Revelation 3:11
555 Matthew 24:9-13*
556 Revelation 14:12*
557 Hebrews 3:12-14
558 Matthew 7:13,14
559 ibid; verses 21-23
560 Hebrews 9:27
561 Acts 26:27-28; NKJV
562 Rev. Mr. Brundage, Philip Bliss
563 Hebrews 2:1-3
564 2 Corinthians 13:5,6
565 2 Peter 1:10,11*
566 1 Corinthians 9:27
567 James 1:2-8