In a popular scripture in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells quite a detail about how the end of times will be like. At a point in Matthew 24, while Jesus described these events, He said, “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” I have read that passage several times, and heard it being preached several times, but I never really got the meaning of that phrase, “He that shall endure to the end shall be saved.” I thought I did. I thought I understood what endurance meant as it concerned Christianity, but now I know I really didn’t. Until recent happenings in my country and in the world at large, I didn’t. I didn’t understand that endurance actually meant looking anguish, sorrow, death, terror in the face, and with all the courage you can muster, you still say, “I’m a Christian - sold out to Christ forever!” I thought it meant, you know, preaching to someone and having water poured at you for that; or that it meant being criticized by your old friends for your new dressing style or your obsession with going to church. Oh, I thought it meant not landing the job you desired and being broke once in a while. Boy, I didn’t know it meant getting beheaded just because you said you’re a Christian – people killing you and thinking they’re doing God a favor (John 16:1-3). I didn’t know it meant going against the wind by all means, at any cost.
Hmmm.
He that shall endure unto the end shall be saved.
Jesus didn’t mince words when He made this statement. In fact, if there’s
anybody who knew how to endure hardship, it was Jesus. So He was pretty aware
of what He was saying. Don’t you think so? Unfortunately, however, many people
have read that passage as, “He that shall enjoy
unto the end, the same shall be saved.” I say this because, looking around me, I
realize that people - fellow Christians - do not understand that these times are
real and that everyone will have a taste of it. Many of us spend all the time
we have pursuing ambition, career, convenience, fame, money, power, etc. for “me, me, me, I, I, I”; sadly, for some of
us, at any cost, by whatever means.
While praying in the
Spirit sometime in May this year, before things got even worse with our world, I began
to interpret what I was praying, and part of my interpretation was, “These times
are not for the weak minded…” Brothers and Sisters, the weak minded Christian
will not make it through these times. The weak minded Christian cannot endure
hardship like soldiers of Jesus Christ – 2nd Timothy 2:3. Oh, Oh, Oh,
these times are not for the weak minded; because, guess what? It will get
worse. It cannot get better. So for those of you praising God that you’re not
in West Africa at the moment, and so, infectious-disease-of-the-year, Ebola,
cannot get to you, you’d better pray. For those of you singing “alleluia” that
you’re not in Northern Nigeria or in Iraq or other places where people are brutally murdered for being
Christians, start praying. Don’t pray that it won’t get to you, because it
will. It may not come in the same form, but a desperate need for endurance at
these times will get to you, as long as you’re a Christian. So pray that GOD
should help you endure unto the end.
For those of you my Brothers
and Sisters in Christ who take your convenience more important than God, tsk
tsk - God is merciful, the terrorists aren’t. Some people who couldn’t stand the
heat in Iraq have converted to Islam just to save their lives here on earth. What
for? I ask. You may think that you’d never do that. I’m sure they thought so
too. When they were lifting up holy hands every Sunday praising Jehovah, they
thought come rain, come shine, for Jesus all the way. Don’t judge them. I don’t.
The heat was unbearable, so they left the kitchen. For those of you who love
the pleasures of this world so much, Jesus meant it when He said, “You cannot
serve both God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24; 1st John 2:15-17). You’ve
got to choose one, my dear; and now is the time to make your choice. Don’t get
swallowed up into their messages and deceived by those prosperity preachers. They’re not
helping you. They know they didn’t get rich in a day. They know that it wasn’t
by decreeing, “money come” that money came. If they told you you can ride in a
Rolls Royce by decree, they are lying to you, and they are going to watch you
suffer and die poor. Haven’t you wondered how come the money hasn’t come after
all these years of your so-called decree? Apostle Paul declared, “I count all
things as dung that I might gain the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 3:7-8). You think Paul didn’t have a lot to lose? Think again (2
Corinthians 11:5-6, 22). He had so much to lose; but He knew that those things
are not worthy of being compared to the glory ahead (Romans 8:18), and He wasn’t
ready to let such trivialities deprive him of that glory. That is why he was
able to die for the sake of the gospel.
Many of us deceive
ourselves saying that whether life or death, we will follow Christ. You can
deceive yourself and others around you, but the LORD knows those that are His.
Be strong my people.
This message is for me too. I’m not preaching it as one who’s gotten there. No,
no, no, it’s a message for me even more importantly. We must all endure to the end. The
times won’t get easier. And don’t get it twisted, you cannot do this by yourself. You
need the One who taught us by example what it means to endure to the end (1st
Peter 2:20-24; Philippians 2:5-8). Yield yourself to Him (Romans 6:12-13), and
allow Him to work in and through you for His good pleasure (Philippians
2:12-13). You can be rest assured that He will carry you home safely.
Finally, back to
you, my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, as a side note, I’ll like to leave
you with this question, “Are you winning souls or entertaining them?”
Please, think deeply about it.
For
the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of GOD
abideth for ever
but he that doeth the will of GOD
abideth for ever
-
1st John 2: 17 (KJV)
