A Time of Preparation (Eight Steps – Part 8)

I recently heard a prophet of God declare that the Word of the Lord for 2020 is “Prepare!”, because starting in 2021 more difficult times will come, and the Church is not ready.  I find it interesting that I started sharing articles on this website at the end of 2019 and my first article was entitled “Prepare the Way of the Lord”.  As I posted articles, I was disappointed that too few people were reading them, but I could not stop writing.  I felt that these messages were for the days ahead.  As we move further into the year and into the next one, more believers will value holiness (without which we cannot see the Lord) (Heb. 12:14).  As important as holiness is, however, I also want to tell you that there is more concerning spiritual maturity than victory over sin.  In order to walk on the Highway of Holiness you need to first get on it, then you need to stay on it.  The enemy uses many schemes to hinder our obedience to the Lord.  Understanding his schemes is part of our preparation for the days ahead.  If we are to become spiritual young men and be able to stand in the evil day (Eph. 6:13), we need to learn to overcome the wicked one (1Jn. 2:13,14).

In the first article of this series I shared about the eight qualities we need for spiritual success.  In the second article (of this series) I discussed the stages of spiritual growth which help us to be diligent in acquiring these eight qualities (2Pe. 1:5-11).  The next five articles were about securing our victory over sin, which represents the fourth quality, self-control.  I say all this to encourage you to read those articles if you have not, and to read them again until you walk in victory.  The fifth quality for us to obtain is perseverance, which is patient endurance.  How do we obtain this quality?  I think it starts with the right perspective: we need to prepare ourselves to endure.  As we set our minds to endure, and we draw strength from God, the fruit of the Spirit called patience is established in us.

A few months after becoming a Christian, I had an encounter with someone I like to think of as my “angel”, although he was most likely human.  I was walking the streets of Timmins, Ontario, while waiting to take a bus to my home town.  As I crossed path with a man who was talking to himself, I thought surely he must be demon possessed.  Sensing my fears, the enemy took that opportunity to torment me.  The first thing I knew, the man started to follow me, all the time arguing with himself about why he had to change direction.  When I arrived at the bus depot, I sat down on a bench.  Then to my surprise, this man sat down on the same bench, still arguing about why he was there.  The last thing I wanted was for him to board the bus and sit down beside me.   I started to pray “Father in Heaven, deliver me from evil.”  Almost immediately, a man on crutches came and sat down on the bench next to me.  He seemed quite aware of the other man at the end of the bench.  Somehow he knew what was going on so he asked if I was a believer.  After explaining that I had recently accepted Jesus as my Saviour, he proceeded to encourage me.  He told me that as Christians we should expect to be persecuted.  He explained that like salmon, we had to keep swimming upstream.  The reason he was on crutches, he said, was because someone had purposely hit him with an automobile because of his witness.  As we talked, peace settle over me and the “troubled” man got up and left.  I boarded the bus with no further hindrance, thinking “Wow!  I must have been visited by an angel”.   Whoever it was, I never forgot his message.

We are told in the book of Revelations how believers in the end times will overcome the devil:  “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives to the death.” (Rev. 12:11)  We overcome the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10) by the blood of the Lamb as we gain victory over sin.  The word of our testimony, or the testimony of Jesus, is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10), which is speaking by the inspiration of God (1Pe. 4:11).  There is a third weapon listed here, but in my first years as a Christian I only heard about the first two.  When I started to understand the message of the cross, I saw that “not loving our own lives” is also required for our victory.  We need to live crucified to this world, and we need to walk in the Spirit by faith.

To be victorious later when great trials come, you need to be victorious now in the small trials.  This is another reason why victory over sin is so important.  How will you be able to stand against the enemy if selfishness is still in your heart?  Before you know it, you may deny the Lord as you seek to protect yourself.  Now is the time to develop the character that you will need when more challenging times come.  You cannot put off preparing for the day of the Lord until things get worse.  If you harden your heart now, you will be like the foolish maidens who were not ready when the Bridegroom came (Matt. 25:1-13).  This hardness comes through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13).  You need to grow in the discernment of evil so that the “one who deceives the whole world” (Rev. 12:9) does not deceive you also.  Paul said that before the man of sin is revealed, there will be a great falling away (2Thess. 2:3).  Deception is a major assignment for the end times.  Don’t let the enemy get you off the Highway of Holiness through deception.

Also, do not let him get you off the Way through discouragement.  If he can’t deceive you, then he will try to stop you through persecution.  Make up your mind right now to accept suffering for the sake of righteousness.  It may mean that you get less money back on a claim because you refuse to lie.  Or it may mean that you admit to doing something wrong, even if it brings negative consequences.  The rewards of obedience will far outweigh the cost of suffering.  Let me close with Peter’s exhortation to those who suffered before us:  “In this (your salvation) you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1Pe. 1:6,7)