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If as a professed Christian you read through the November 25, 2018 post, “Standing In The Evil Day,” under the category, Encouragement, with skepticism and scoffing, then you may not be a Christian at all or deadly unbelief has a grip on your heart. By express divine will, faith in God is to characterize the lives of those professing to be Christians since through it we are saved and live before God (Habakkuk 2:4; Matthew 21:18-22)! Just because amazing works of power may not pop off every day through us who have faith, does not mean we are not to believe they are possible anytime we look to our God to speak or act in accord with His will. Not to live with such expectancy of faith is to automatically limit what God can do through us as I write in this edited 2013 repost.
Originally Posted March 17, 2013
Reflecting further on what the Lord led me to write last week about my journey and encounters I have had with fearful, this present world focused professed Christians who are silent in the face of evil,1 I have seen how many such persons also walk in a spiritually debilitating cynicism regarding the genuineness of Christians like myself that are truly zealous for the Lord and His Kingdom. Because they never had or long ago quenched the Spirit’s fire (of course, some in the flesh are simply envious or threatened), they refuse to believe anyone else could be so passionately “sold out” to Christ and attempt in some way to either discourage them through negative acts or obstruct their ministry efforts.
The churches and their pulpits are filled with these professed Christians that live in cynical unbelief not only concerning the genuine commitment of other Christians, but most devastatingly, the power of God! Since biblical Christianity is about faith in God from beginning to end (Romans 1:16-17), unbelief for a professed Christian would surely have consequences. First and foremost among the consequences of unbelief is the impossibility of pleasing God (Hebrews 11:6).2 Lack of faith in God by His people not only displeases Him, but their deeds (sin) born of unbelief grieve Him (Psalms 78:40, 95:7-11; Ephesians 4:30). Unbelief also limits the display of God’s power among His people (Psalm 78:41-42; Mark 6:1-6).
Now, while the context certainly shows the unbelief of the people in His hometown was influenced by their familiarity with Jesus and His human family (Mark 6:1-4), the end result is the same for not believing: the Lord could not do any “mighty work there,” (Mark 6:5, NKJV). The Jews of Nazareth in the 1st century had done just as their forefathers in history and limited the power of God being displayed in their midst by Jesus through unbelief. Please note the Lord’s reaction: “And He marveled because of their unbelief,” (Mark 6:6, NKJV). The Son of God who knows the hearts of all men and the history of His own people, Israel, still walked away in stunned amazement at the unbelief He encountered in Nazareth that day.
No doubt our Lord continues to be amazed by the many Jews and Gentiles since those days to this hour that profess to know Him personally, intimately as Christians and yet, do not believe in Him. Indeed, surveying the earth at the time of His return, the Lord with sober amazement concludes, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth,” (Luke 18:1-8, NKJV)? Today, to counter the many sensationalist charlatans who act as if they have harnessed God and His power to do their commanded bidding (and are mixed in with the authentically gifted which has been the case from the 1st century--Acts 19:11-17), those of cynical unbelief go to the other extreme and teach God is no longer doing any works of power through men.
To be sure, the men at both ends of these extremes displease the Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; 23:13-15; 2 Timothy 3:1-9). However, those that walk in and teach cynical unbelief are far more wide spread in the churches; destroying the faith of some and discouraging many by their own unbelief smugly presented. Faithful Christians; aspiring strong men and great women of God in the image of Christ understand the continuing display of God’s power through the Holy Spirit is how we live in faith every day (1 Peter 1:3-5).3 God responds to our prayers for miraculous intervention to heal, deliver, breakthrough or alter circumstances on our behalf (Mark 11:22-26; Luke 11:9-13). But even when He does not, the knowledge of His good end and joy of His living presence sustains us (1 Peter 1:6-9)!
We also pray for each other in expectant faith as dear children (James 5:13-18; 1 John 3:21-23, 5:14-15). Finally, we successfully engage in the family war against Satan in the strength, armor, weapons and resources the Father supplies to us as His sons through faith (Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; 1 Peter 5:8-11)! Rather than limiting God through unbelief, through our child-like faith we completely free Him up to do whatever He wills in the display of His power on our behalf and to His glory! Nonetheless, professed Christians walking in cynical unbelief among the carnal practitioners of manmade Christianity the religion has led the way into apostasy unfolding for centuries and leading to the foretold full blown major event shortly to come.4 The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 See the August 9, 2015 repost, Silent Endorsers Of Evil under the category, The Faith.
2 Read Easy Belief, reposted on July 8, 2018 under the category, The Faith
3 Learn more about the aspiring strong man and great woman of God in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. It is available at all major internet book-
sellers, by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
4 See the February 2, 2014 post, The Falling Away, under the category, Bible Prophecy.
I have written much about why men must be restored at this hour.1 In this post, the Lord leads me to encourage the men who have been restored to and in Christ and are aspiring to be strong men of God in His image!2 You are feeling the growing pressure of hostile rebellion from the world and compromising, professed Christians where you live, work, recreate, shop, gas up, get repairs, socialize and go to church. The Lord has two words for you and me: “stand fast” (2 Thessalonians 2:15, NKJV)! We are to stand our ground while continuing to proclaim the Gospel, witness Christ and contend for the one biblical faith passed down and entrusted to us by the Lord and His apostles!
The phrase, “stand your ground,” has become well known in these latter days thanks to the Florida law that has allowed persons carrying guns to shoot to kill those they feel are a threat of bodily harm to them. Identifying the enemy as “the devil” who leads “spiritual hosts of wickedness” in their unrelenting struggle against us as Christians, the apostle Paul commands that we “Put on the whole armor of God” that we “may be able to stand against” his “wiles” (schemes), “withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand,” (Ephesians 6:11-13, NKJV).3 Clearly, the great apostle is concerned that we not be moved away from Christ and the faith as is evil’s intent if possible.
The wiles of the devil are many as veterans of spiritual warfare know. He does not fight fair and is extremely crafty, sneaky and deliberately patient waiting for the opportunity to spring traps long before set. For example, having helped foster and exploit manmade and counterfeit forms of biblical Christianity over many centuries, evil is now inciting hostility against them and the real thing which in the minds of the haters are one and the same.4 Nurtured by Christianity the religion of men from its inception, our secularizing nation has been backing away from it at break neck speed since the 19th century ascendancy of the sciences which ostensibly have the natural answers for everything.5
In the process, of course, the rebellion against things Christian involves that which is truly of God and biblical and has reached the point of outrageously ridiculous as it concerns gender, marriage and family. Political correctness, tolerance and moral relativism have also spawned a generation that has shifting boundaries; enabling confusion and lawlessness to proliferate. America is not apostatizing since every single person in it from the beginning until now has not been a born again Christian. But it is forcefully rejecting what was imposed on it by religionists and hoped for by Christ’s faithful. In the midst of this satanically caused matrix of evil, Christian men are commanded to stand!
We are to firmly stand our ground against the continuing onslaught of evil in God’s superior spiritual armor of truth, righteousness, the Gospel of peace with Him, all important faith and the three-fold wonder of salvation: justification, sanctification and the glory to come! We also wield the mighty weapons of God’s Word as a “sword” (Hebrews 4:12) and in accord with the situation, prayers of intercession on behalf of others and/or petition for God’s intervention (Ephesians 6:14-18, NKJV) including with reinforcements (2 Kings 6:8-17; Acts 12:1-11). On rare, Spirit directed occasions, the heavy prayer weapon of imprecation is employed against those deceived by Satan (2 Kings 6:18-23; Acts 13:4-12).
This latter weapon is used only in the rarest of situations because our warfare is not with fellow humans we seek to see saved through repentance and faith in the Gospel! This is why we are to stay alert and prayerful for each other to seize opportunities to preach the Gospel and witness Christ among the lost even while suffering their rejection and persecution; trusting God for vindication as Paul modeled (Ephesians 6:19-20). Standing our ground, we wait on the Spirit’s clear prompt (if it will come at all) before engaging in imprecatory prayer upon those that attempt to hinder others from hearing the Gospel and God’s Word. Such persons include professed Christian impostors, rebels and apostates legion among the numerous forms of manmade Christianity the religion (Acts 13:6-8).
Indeed, when Jude wrote his famous exhortation “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” he was concerned not about the world outside as a priority, but those from it coming into the churches by stealth as impostors, rebels and manifest apostates (Jude 1-4, 12-19, NKJV). While without repentance they stand condemned (Jude 5-11), we in “holy faith,” continuing prayer “in the Holy Spirit” and “the love of God” “making a distinction,” are to care enough to attempt to reach and if at all possible, yank the impostors and rebels “out of the fire” (2 Timothy 2:24-26; Jude 20-23, NKJV). May you and I stand fast in the evil day to God’s glory (Jude 24-25)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Read all of my posts under the Category, The Cause and my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, available at all major internet booksellers, by order at your
favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
2 This encouragement is both for Christian men now and prophetically, those known to God who will read it in the fast approaching future engaged in the most intense
days of spiritual warfare since our Lord’s first century apostles. Glory to God who has gifted, called and blessed me to be used of Him in this way!
3 See the June 8, 2014 post, And Then There Is The War, under the category, Instruction and A Soldier’s Salute posted November 11, 2018 under the category, The
Cause. Also, in the Strong Man Store, purchase the four message audio series, We Are At War!
4 Read the two-part, August 2016 post, Christianity The Religion Of Men, under the category, Instruction.
5 See the September 4, 2016 post, Christianity The Religion American Style, under the category, Call To Repent.
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