DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT FRIDAY - HOW TO KEEP OUR SALVATION IN DIFFICULT TIMES. The Conclusion.

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it's been found difficult and not tried. - G.K. Chesterton.

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.- 2Tim 3:1-5.

It is not what men eat but what they digest that makes them strong; Not what we gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we remember that makes us learned; not what we preach but what we practice that makes us Christians. - Source Unknown.

Our study in Part 1, regarding the keeping our salvation in difficult times, we realised the need to Have A True Experience In Jesus Christ, and the fact that We Must Be Empowered By The Holy Spirit. As we conclude our series, we will appreciate the final principle involved...

We Must Be Willing To Resist The Devil, And Fight Purposefully.

The word of God says... Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - James 4:7. And in 1 Cor 9:26 it states... - So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

Let us make our defence against evil count, there is to be no shadow boxing! Too many Christians are not serious enough about fighting sin and the evil in these difficult times, they try to co-exist or co-inhabit with sin. Many sadly shake their heads at the situations and circumstances around them, but do nothing to stop the onrushing tides of immoral filth and disease.

We need to fight according to the word of God...
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. - 1Ti 6:12.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. - 2Co 10:4. We don’t give up our faith just because it gets a bit difficult!

There are many wonderful Christians who have fought the good fight, many more than those who have given up. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. - 1Co 9:25. Many were martyred in foreign lands, with their families, because they believed in their Lord Jesus Christ. Let their faith not be in vain, because we suffer difficulties in these days.

In ancient Rome, crowds by the tens of thousands would gather in the Colosseum to watch as Christians were torn apart by wild animals. Paul Rader, commenting on his visit to this famous landmark, said, "I stood uncovered to the heavens above, where He sits for whom they gladly died, and asked myself, 'Would I, could I, die for Him tonight to get this gospel to the ends of the earth?'"

Rader continued, "I prayed most fervently in that Roman arena for the spirit of a martyr, and for the working of the Holy Spirit in my heart, as He worked in Paul's heart when He brought him on his handcuffed way to Rome." Those early Christians "lived on the threshold of heaven, within a heartbeat of home, no possessions to hold them back." - Source unknown.
There is only one remedy on How To Keep Our Salvation In Difficult Times and…

That Remedy Is Jesus Christ.

We must not keep Him locked away in our hearts and churches; we must share His life with the sick and hurting. Don't be afraid to stand for Jesus and the Christian life, don't be intimidated by pseudo-intellectuals Bible scholars, or liberal preachers, or cultists, or other sinners, consider what the Bible says in these scriptures:

So that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. - Eph 5:27.

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. - 2 Pet 3:14.

"While witnessing for Christ on the streets of a city in California, evangelist H.A. Ironside and his associates were often interrupted by questions from the crowd. "There are hundreds of religions in this country, and the followers of each sect think they're right. How can poor plain people like us find out what really is the truth?"

Ironside and his friends would answer something like this: "Did I hear you say there are hundreds of religions? That's strange; I've heard of only two. True, I find many shades of difference in the opinions of those comprising the two great schools. But after all, there are but two. The one covers all who expect salvation by doing; the other, all who have been saved by something done." - Source Unknown.

We must secure our salvation in difficult times. If we are to dwell in a Holy World, we need to be diligent in performing our duties, and patient in bearing the test and trials of life! Jesus is coming soon; let us not get weary of doing good, and putting into practice all that He commanded!

Let us be willing to bear a little longer the sorrows of the present world, what are these in comparison to knowing Him, and the Crown that awaits us!

Loving Father, I thank you for your dear son Jesus, and for the power of the Holy Spirit, who will help me to defeat my enemies, and to stand strong in these difficult times! I pray Lord, that in these difficult and evil times, that I will study your word, and pray for my brothers and sisters in the Lord, to also stand strong. In Jesus wonderful name, amen!

GBYAY