Most will turn away from their faith

Most will turn away from their faith

Scripture:-

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:9-14

Observation:

The signs of the earthquakes, the wars, the false Christs and the plagues have already come and everyone can see they are becoming more frequent and more serious. However, the sign the Lord speaks of in this portion of Scripture has certainly not happened yet. It is referring specifically to a worldwide scale attack on all Christians by each and every nation, where we who follow Christ will be persecuted and put to death because of our faith.

Many Christians put their faith in the so-called “Rapture” theory where they think they will be scooped up to Heaven and avoid the terrible persecution and death spoken of here. However, when Jesus says “you” in this passage, He is referring to His disciples, and we who are His disciples must be included here.

What is the consequence of this persecution? Most (the majority, nearly all) will turn away from their faith. Some preach “once saved always saved” but how can one turn away unless he has already turned to the faith in the first place?  How can the love of most grow cold unless it was at one time hot? By saying only those who stand firm to the end will be saved automatically infers that those who do not stand firm to the end will not be saved. The church today has allowed an easy-going and bless-me gospel to infiltrate the church whereby Christians expect only blessing and prosperity from God in a time when the exact opposite seems to be brewing just round the corner.

False prophets will come and have already come to prepare the sheep for the slaughter. Those whose faith only expects blessing without understanding that there is also persecution will quickly fall away. False prophets with sweet words will easily cajole the masses to follow the Anti-Christ and his one-world religion. Will we be among those who give in to avoid persecution and immediate death?

One natural result from the persecution is that it will cause the Christians to scatter just like in the book of Acts, and as persecution drives us deeper into the rural areas and outskirts, we will bring the gospel as we go, and in so doing bring the gospel to the whole world. This then will precipitate the end which comes with the second coming of Jesus Christ.  

Application:

How strong is our faith, really? Would we really die for our faith? Would we allow our beloved family members to die or suffer or be separated from us? How deep and genuine is our love for Christ? False or shallow love will quickly be exposed. Only a deep love for Christ that surpasses our love for ourselves, even for our family members, can survive the coming persecution which is called the Great Tribulation. Every prophecy in the Bible has come true, and based on the timeline, this next prophecy looks to be just round the corner.

Let us soberly pray to God for mercy that we may be prepared should this persecution come upon us. Pray for our family members, our church brothers and sisters to be strong. Ask God for a deeper revelation concerning the aspect of persecution in the Christian walk. Educate our loved ones of this prophecy and encourage one another to be prepared and walk closely with the Lord. Start committing portions of Scripture to memory even now, when there is still easy access to it. A situation like in North Korea may well occur worldwide in a short time, and there will be a famine of the true Word of God.

Prayer:

Father in Heaven, have mercy on us we pray for we are so unprepared for the challenges that are to come. We bring our beloved family members before You and pray that You have mercy and grace upon them. Where possible, Lord, spare us we pray from the suffering and death that is prophesied for all Christians during the time of tribulation. Give us Your wisdom and knowledge we pray, that we may know where to go and what to do when such times come upon us. Give us the discipline to read and know Your Word even when we have the time now. Forgive our carelessness and wanton waste of our time. Draw us close O Lord to You. Let our love be strong and deep so that it will not grow cold and so that we will not turn away from our faith, even in the face of intense persecution. Help us, Lord we pray. Teach us to live by Your Spirit. In Jesus name, Amen