What It Takes To Be Ready
By John Fast
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.” – 2 Timothy 3:1
Have you ever experienced in some measure what it is like to receive a crashing blow to your faith on one side, and then almost immediately receive another blow on the other side? Then, before you can regain your senses, you receive another blow to the middle that leaves you gasping (Job 9:18)? Have you ever known what it is to have your faith dazed, stunned, and sent reeling? Nothing but the keeping power of God can uphold, preserve, and sustain faith in times of extraordinary trials, temptations, and suffering. Suffering is part of God’s call into His kingdom and of the Christian life in general, as well as blessing and glory. It is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God (Ac 14:22). The way to heaven is just as hard and narrow as it has always been, and there are still few who find it. Suffering is not a foreign intrusion or haphazard thing, but it is all part of the divine plan. There is not a true child of God who has not been made richer, humbler, and holier, and their faith made stronger by their times of suffering.
There has never been a time in the history of the world when God has not called a select number of His dearest people into unique and hard services for Him; services in which they will be exposed to all manner of temptations, hardships, discouragements, fears, trials, and seemingly pointless and useless sufferings that sorely test their faith, and could be alleviated by a few apparently minor compromises and concessions. In such times the bulk of God’s children will not be called to such hard services, but will live in relative peace, tranquility, comfort, and security. They will no doubt have their share of trials and tribulations, but for the most part they will be those trials that are common to man (1 Cor 10:13), not those that are unique to being a Christian (1Pt 4:13-16). But then there are those seasons of which the Bible warns, and provides ample signs and peculiar marks for, that will be unusually dangerous, perilous, and difficult. They are seasons in which the mass of professing Christians will not be able to avoid suffering, sometimes intense, prolonged, and severe sufferings, unless they ignore the Bible’s warnings (Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24, 25; Hb 3:12; 4:1) and defer to, comply, compromise, adopt, and assimilate with the spirit of the age.
This nation in particular misrepresents the world under so many disguises and forms, and in features so externally attractive and superficially appealing that it requires more than an ordinary discernment to recognize the utter worthlessness, vanity, folly, and hopelessness of all it promises and offers, and to keep oneself unstained by it (Jm 1:27). Once the world is seen in its true colors by the light of Scripture we can never easily be seduced by it, be friends with it, desire to imitate, integrate, or assimilate it, or fall into the error, which sadly most do, of equating the visible and institutional church with Christianity and mistaking earth for heaven. We are in the world, but not of it. We profess that our citizenship is in heaven, but our practice, priorities, and lifestyles plainly tell a different story to the world. It is obvious that the minds of most professing Christians, just like those of the world, are firmly set on earthly things (Phil 3:19).
In most churches today it is the spirit of the age that is the practical lord and ruler, not Jesus Christ, His word, and His Spirit. Jesus may be Lord in their profession, but in their practice it is plain to see that it is the spirit of the age that actually rules and reigns. The Holy Spirit is called upon to bless their latest plans, programs, priorities, methods, and practices, but not consulted to see if they are of His mind, His will, and consistent with His word. Neither do they wait on His promises to bless His ordained means, especially if those means do not soon produce the results they desire, and may even be counter-productive to them. This was the concern expressed by the disciples over some of Jesus’ teaching, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” (Mt 15:12). They do not ask, seek, knock, call upon, and cry out to Him to be used of Him and to be allowed to do His work. They do not cast all their cares upon Him. Instead they are filled with and controlled by the spirit of the age, not with the word and Spirit of God. They still walk according to the course of this world (Eph 2:2), not by faith. Where the Holy Spirit truly rules and reigns the Bible and only the Bible is the supreme and ultimate authority, the only test of truth, the sole judge of controversy, and the only guide for the church. This is rock; all else is sand.
The challenge today is the same as it has always been. It is the challenge to truly believe, trust, and cling to the promise that God will use and bless the principle means He has appointed to convert sinners, sanctify saints, comfort the afflicted, and build His church, and that they are sufficient for all times. Even in the seasons when the mass of professing Christians will no longer endure sound doctrine, it is still only the teaching and preaching of the unadulterated word of God that He has promised to bless. Clinging to this promise in such a season requires resisting and rejecting any and all methods, philosophies, practices, programs, and priorities that differ from those of the apostles and the New Testament. All confidence in anything else, no matter how popular and successful it may appear outwardly and in the short run, is a false confidence. Clinging exclusively to God’s word is not calculated to make one popular, draw a crowd, or avoid the sufferings likely to be met with in a dangerous season, but it is the only way to be prepared and persevere in them.
Every age poses its own unique challenges and dangers to professing Christians, but some seasons are more dangerous than others. At some times the dangers are more subtle and in others they are more overt. In all of them it is the spirit of the age and the pressure to conform to it that leads the minds of most astray. For the most part these dangers are not new, but simply old enemies in modern dress, and old diseases that have taken on a new form. In our last study I provided some reasons and encouragements for what a blessed and excellent thing it is to have our hearts and minds prepared to obey the call of God to suffer for Christ’s sake in a dangerous season. In this study I intend to demonstrate in what this preparation and readiness for suffering consists, and some things that contribute to this preparation for suffering. I intend to be very plain and clear, “For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle” (1 Cor 14:8).
Going With the Flow
If there is one feature that characterizes the spirit of the age in which we live it is the insatiable pursuit of entertainment that stimulates and gratifies the sight and senses. We are told that we live in a visual age. Today we cannot even fill our car with gasoline without having a television screen staring us in the face. I-phones have become a permanent appendage to the hand of many people. The young, the old, and every age in between seem to demand constant visual stimulation and entertainment. Most churches today have succumbed to this demand and been drawn into adopting various forms of entertainment as a mission tool to entice, lure, and keep people in their church. Something for everyone has become the dominant philosophy. Many have entire ministries devoted exclusively to providing entertainment catered to the tastes and age of virtually everyone in the church. These are often given spiritualized names like “worship arts”. Many people now make their living by being a “Christian” entertainer, and the primary venues in which they perform are the churches that can hold a sizable audience. “Christian” entertainment is an industry and entity under which some of the most ungodly, irreverent, and heretical teachings, teachers, and practices shelter. As a result entertainment has slowly, steadily, and incrementally replaced equipping, edification, exhortation, and instruction in godliness.
I can already hear the objections, “What is wrong with using entertainment if it brings people into the church? Is entertainment evil?” Such objections, however, deliberately misrepresent and confuse the issue. It is not entertainment per se that is the issue, but entertainment used by the church as a means of enticing and attracting people into the church. We must make a clear distinction between entertainment in general and entertainment as a tool of the church. Entertainment adopted as a religious instrument and means of attracting and keeping people and boosting finances is a delusion of the devil. When churches try to compete with all the forms of entertainment available today it makes both the worldling and the devil feel right at home in the church. Anything that would detract from its entertainment value is quietly set aside. Unpopular and “controversial” truths are avoided and kept in the background. Even the teaching and preaching of God’s word must be modified to provide some kind of entertainment value. Since people’s tastes vary in regard to entertainment, then various forms are offered to accommodate virtually every taste and age. Today almost every form of entertainment – from hunting and fishing to the hardest form of rock music – not only has its “Christian” counterpart, but its own specialized “ministry” that panders to it. Can anyone honestly think that if all the forms of entertainment were driving people away from rather than enticing them into the church, that they would not be abandoned so fast it would make your head spin?
Music, rather than being merely an aid to congregational worship, and only a small part of it at that, is now given priority over the preaching of the word and public reading of Scripture. The pulpit must now make room for the band, the video, the drama, and the dance routine. It only takes a subtle shift in priorities for music to go from being an aid to worship to becoming the focus, object, and driving force of worship. It only takes a little leaven to leaven the whole lump. Music takes on much more importance than a mere aid to worship. Before long all voices other than those of the “worship team” are drowned out by the music. The goal is not to aid worship, but to create a “worship experience”, a religion of the emotions, sight, and senses. This is precisely the religion which our fallen, carnal nature craves, not one of faith. “An external religion, of which the essence is ‘doing something’, – and not an inward and spiritual one, of which the essence is ‘believing’, – this is the religion that man naturally loves. Hence we maintain that people ought to be continually warned not to make a Christ of the Church, or of the ministry, or of the forms of worship, or of baptism, or of the Lord’s Supper.” [1]
Psychological methods are deliberately employed, and dramatic light and video displays, for instance, are added to the mix to prey upon the sight and senses and evoke an emotional response that people then equate with true worship. People run to church as to a music concert, social club, or movie theater to have their ears tickled, their senses gratified, and their children amused, but not to be changed and have their mind transformed by the word of God. All this simply betrays the fact that this reliance on various forms of entertainment, and the priority given to attracting and keeping people by appealing to their natural senses of sight and sound, is nothing more than an attempt to find a substitute for the loss of true spiritual life and power. It is nothing more than a form of godliness without its power to which most churches, their guides and leaders, and the people who belong to them now tenaciously cling. When someone says that their church has “great” worship, more often than not what they really mean is that they have “great” music and entertainment which excites the senses and stirs their emotions. The more the emotions and senses are moved and stimulated, the more “genuine”, “authentic”, and “spirit-filled” their worship is assumed to be, when nothing could be further from the truth.
There is a natural excitement produced in the mind and emotions by hearing certain kinds of music and seeing certain kinds of spectacles that is not in any way true worship and devotion. While they last such experiences are very strong and contagious, but they go as quickly as they came and leave no permanent impression behind. The same stimulus must be applied again and again to produce the same effects. It is a mere sensual and emotional influence which any unbeliever may feel and experience, and yet remain an unbeliever in doctrine and practice. Too many today are apt to brush aside all these difficulties by resorting to their own feelings. They will say they are not theologians, they do not pretend to understand the difference between one doctrine and another, one school of thought and another, and one form of worship or another. All the differences are attributed to personal preference. All they know is that the worship they prefer and take part in makes them feel so much better, therefore it must be right. “The natural inclination to worship is as universal as the notion of God; idolatry else had never gained a footing in the world….It is natural by creation to worship God; and it is natural by corruption for man to worship Him in a human way, and not in a divine”. [2]
I suppose it is only natural that some people, from good and sincere motives, should want to try “something new”, especially when they see the lukewarm and absolute indifference to the word of God. But that something “new” is not new, but just an old heresy repackaged in modern dress which always leads first to a lowering and then to a total breakdown in the wall that separates true Christianity from all of its false forms, and removes the vital difference between being saved or unsaved. This critical distinction evaporates in a general pleasantness. The power of godliness declines, then is denied, and then virtually disappears. The focus shifts from trying to learn what is pleasing to God to learning what is pleasing to people. Bringing people into the church is substituted for bringing people to Christ. The authenticity and sufficiency of all the Scripture is questioned and disparaged. Being a Christian no longer means believing, accepting, and submitting to all of Scripture. The gospel that is preached becomes more humanitarian and less redemptive. People, not God become the center of all religious thought and practice. The focus of the church becomes the “community”, not the kingdom of God. Fun, pleasing, and accommodating take the place of saving and sanctifying. Mindless, meaningless, sentimental, shallow, and repetitive mantras that appeal to the senses replace theologically rich hymns that exhort, teach, convict, and edify the soul. The spirit of the age is gratified and the Holy Spirit is grieved and departs. The more church services come to resemble a concert and performance, and the more they attempt to be amiable to the unregenerate and worldling, then the closer they are to apostasy. This is not a question of subjective personal opinion or preference, but a plain objective historical fact, which when ignored always repeats itself.
This emphasis on entertainment, far from being new, is the product of an old presupposition that dates back prior to the Reformation. It was renewed in the 1960’s with the assertion that “something new” was needed, and that more entertainment would produce more life. It is the old theory that when people are made to feel happy, important, and comfortable, they will find Christianity and the church more congenial. When an older and more mature generation objected to this shift in priorities and the changes it was introducing into the church’s life and worship, they were told not to put their antiquated personal preferences before the future good of the church. “Change or die”, became the mantra. The Puritan genius John Owen understood the true reason behind this desire for “something new” when he wrote:
“Men may be greatly affected with the outward part of divine worship, and the manner of the performance thereof, who have no delight in what is internal, real, and spiritual therein….And this proved the great means of the apostasy of the Christian church also: for to maintain some appearance of spiritual affections, men introduced carnal incitations [stimulants] into evangelical worship,”[3]
J.C. Ryle recognized the danger when two-hundred years after John Owen he stated:
“Simplicity should be the grand characteristic of Christian worship. We hold that human nature is so easily led astray, and so thoroughly inclined to idolatry, that ornament in Christian worship should be used with a very sparing hand. We firmly believe that the tendency to excessive ornament, and a theatrical ceremonial, is to defeat the primary end for which worship was established, to draw men’s minds from Christ, and to make them walk by sight and not by faith….Popularity obtained by pandering to the senses or the sentiment of our hearers is not worth anything. Worshippers who are not content with the Bible, the cross of Christ, simple prayers and simple praise, are worshippers of little value. It is useless to try and please them, because their spiritual taste is diseased.”[4]
Yet this is precisely the method practiced by most churches today, and what their members have come to expect, this “pandering to the senses or the sentiment”, thereby manifesting the diseased nature of their spiritual tastes. They are not content with the Bible, its message, and a simple and pure devotion to Christ. The desire for other things, for “something else” always enters in, and will never fail to choke out the word of God (Mk 4:19). It is impossible for a church whose worship and ministries are worldly, fleshly, and carnal for its preaching and teaching to be biblical and spiritual. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost those who heard it “were pierced to the heart”, and cried out, “what shall we do” (Ac 2:37). We do not need preachers, music, and sermons that entertain and make people “feel good” about themselves. We need messages that make people feel bad, convicts them of their guilt and the utter sinfulness of sin, makes them feel exposed to the wrath of a holy and offended God, and in desperate need of a Savior until they cry out, “what must I do to be saved” (Ac 16:30). There is little entertainment value in such preaching and teaching. No person, no church, and no ministry can flatter and pander to the flesh and acquiesce to the spirit of the age without causing much harm to the soul. The flesh always has and always will wage war against the Spirit. Preaching, worship, and ministry that panders to the flesh and the spirit of the age simply aids and abets the great enemy of the soul and is no friend to true Christianity, but a cleverly disguised servant of the evil one.
The sad reality is that most of institutional Christianity, and therefore most professing Christians, can no longer make any distinction between what is Christian and what is worldly, or between the worldling and the Christian. Myriads of churches and those who attend them are utterly unable to see any difference between one thing and another in religion, and therefore their minds have been led astray. They can discern no difference between what is true and what is half-true, between teachings and teachings, preachers and preachers, books and books, and have only a vague conception that “something is not right”. As a result, what has long been true of most “Christian” publishing and media is now true of most “Christian” institutions, churches, and their guides and leaders – they can no longer be trusted to uphold the truths of Scripture, make any distinction between the clean and the unclean, and be the pillar and support of the truth. The spirit of the age, not the Holy Spirit, has found a warm reception within the mass of professing Christendom, and the spirit of the age is the spirit of antichrist.
God in His sovereignty has been pleased to make the preaching of His word and prayer His great means of convicting and converting sinners (1 Cor 1:21), and sanctifying His true saints (Jn 17:7), not music concerts, dramas, political speeches, psychology, social agendas, and various other forms of entertainment and fleshly enticements. When the angel appeared to Cornelius he did not tell Cornelius to send for musicians, singers, and entertainment, but for Peter to come and preach a message to them (Ac 10:22), and it was by means of this message alone that those present were saved (Ac 11:14). Today, however, the mass of churches no longer stake their all upon the sufficiency and authority of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit. Tickling the ear, manipulating the emotions, pandering to the sentiments, whims, and tastes of the culture, and a “fun” atmosphere now take the place of convicting the conscience, renewing the mind, separation from the world, equipping the saints, and worshiping in spirit and truth. We must never forget that there is a vain worship of God, “But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Mt 15:9; Mk 7:7, 8).
If the religious world, and even His family said that Jesus had lost His senses (Mk 3:21) and was insane (Jn 10:20), and if Paul was accused of being out of his mind (Ac 26:24), will the true disciples of Jesus Christ be regarded any better today? The Spirit of Christ is the same as it always was, and the spirit of this world is profoundly the same as it has always been. The lessons of the past can only be considered irrelevant by those who reject and ignore the depraved and unchanging nature of fallen mankind. There are other spiritual forces at work in the world besides the Holy Spirit (1 Jn 5:19), and they work on the level of what appeals to our fallen carnal nature and darkened human reasoning. We have lost our true power by conforming to and prosecuting our plans according to the spirit and principles of the world when we ought to stand and live in stark contrast to it at every point just as the gospel commands (2 Cor 6:14-18; Eph 4:17, 18; Phil 2:15), and as did the first Christians (1 Pt 4:4; 1Jn 3:13). It must be God’s word, His ways, His plans, His priorities, and His principles that He promises to honor, and not our own. Here is the reason why so many make a mess of their lives, their marriages, their families, their livelihoods, their institutions, and their church activities.
How easy it is to make plans, form opinions, hatch ideas, implement strategies, invent and adopt methods, then look for a Bible verse to justify them, and then call them “biblically- based” or “faith-based”, or to simply justify them on no other grounds than the pragmatic reason that they “work”. A vast religious machinery of methods and organizations has taken the place of dependence on the sufficiency of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit. The effects of decade upon decade – yes, and even centuries – of traditional and customary thought and practice are visible everywhere, as are the effects of all the new and novel schemes, methods, philosophies, and practices. Here is where, I am sorry to say, the great mass of professing Christianity in our day fails to meet the biblical standard. So many things have been added to it, or taken from it, or things have been put in their wrong places, or been given in their wrong proportions. So much of its terminology has been redefined and “rethought”, and so many of its doctrines have been denied, minimized, and corrupted. So many ear-ticklers have been accumulated. The true gospel is a very carefully, simply, and precisely compounded message that is very easily spoiled and adulterated (Rm 16:18; 2 Cor 4:2; Gal 3:1; Col 2:8-10, 20-23; 1 Tm 1:3, 6:20, 21; 2 Tm 4:3; 2 Pt 2:1, 3:17; 1 Jn 4:1; 2 Jn 7; Jude 4). Most of what passes for Christianity today, therefore, does not deserve to be called evangelical, much less Christian. In spite of this, hardly anyone seems able or willing to simply trust themselves to God’s word and live as He commands. True love, true order, true unity, and true peace can only be found in forsaking the traditions, customs, doctrines, opinions, methods, theories, and novelties of men and cleaving only to the commandments and principles of God.
Such simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ, however, will incite the same suspicion and resentment from the world, from nominal Christians, and from all those whose self-interests are wed to a form of godliness as it always has. Like Stephen, they will be accused of trying to destroy their beloved and lucrative system of religion and alter the cherished customs handed down to them by previous generations (Ac 6:14). Like Demetrius they will decry the threat that a simple and pure devotion to Christ poses to their prosperity (Ac 19:23-27). It was by the authority and sufficiency of Scripture alone that Apollos greatly helped those who believed through grace, powerfully refuted the Jewish false teachers, and proved the supremacy of Jesus Christ (Ac 18:27, 28). Standing for truth always has and always will involve sacrifice and suffering for which the child of God must be prepared. The Bible gives us fair warning.
A Twofold Preparation
There is a duel preparation and readiness for suffering; one is an ordinary readiness and the other is an actual readiness. An ordinary readiness is nothing more than the intention and disposition to suffer anything for Christ, which may or may not result in an actual readiness to suffer. Many people are superb intenders, but very poor practitioners, especially when it comes to walking by faith. Just as fire ordinarily has a natural inclination to burn everything in its path, it can be suppressed and prevented from actually doing so. The same holds true for the preparation and readiness to suffer all things for the cause of Christ. Most people come to religion like Goldilocks to the cottage of the Three Bears, “This one is too hard, this one is too soft. This one is too hot, this one is too cold. This one is too small, this one is too big”. Any personal hardship and discomfort is unbearable. Then when they finally find a form that is “just right” for them, they settle down in a comfortable, sleepy, cozy, and dreamy false security, totally oblivious to their danger. Therefore, to this ordinary readiness for suffering must be added an actual readiness to suffer, which can only be had by being aroused out of comfortable, sleepy, dreamy, secure, and self-confident habits and practices, and awakened to the danger of the season and the preparation it requires.
So reader, to avoid leaving any doubt in your mind, let me state as plainly as I can that being prepared for suffering requires a real and sound work of conversion and new birth in the soul. It should be self-evident that only a true Christian can be actually prepared and ready to suffer as a Christian and for doing what is right in the sight of God. Whatever natural courage, high moral principles, or great natural and common gifts they possess, none of these things without a new nature and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can ever prepare a person to suffer for Christ and His truth. The Apostle Paul told, even weeping, of many who professed to be Christians, that in reality were enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil 3:18), because like Demas, they loved this present world and therefore set their minds on earthly things (Phil 3:19; 2 Tm 4:10). They fainted and shrank back to destruction under their sufferings, hardships, and the pressure to conform to the spirit of the age, and so will everyone sooner or later that does not actually possess a new nature and regenerate heart, mind, and soul, and the divinely-given wherewithal to suffer as a Christian in a dangerous season.
The plain, obvious, and tragic truth is the greatest proportion of professing Christians in the world are Christian in name only. They know nothing of true Christianity. They may be very nice, sincere, popular, religious, and moral people, but this does not make them Christians. They are totally unprepared to suffer as a Christian. They succumb to the spirit of the age. The reality of Christianity, the nature and necessity of a new birth, the fruits, the experience, the life, the obedience, the faith, the transformation, the struggles, the tastes, the values, the priorities, the doctrines, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness, the longing for the pure milk of the word – of these they know nothing at all. They are as greatly in need of conversion as any Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Roman Catholic, cultist, pagan, atheist, and agnostic, and to be turned from their idols to serve the true and living God, and to be renewed in the spirit of their minds just as really, if not as literally. All one has to do is look at and observe the greater part of those who call themselves Christians.
What are their tastes, preferences, and pleasures? What do they like best when given a choice? What do they enjoy the most, and what do they do with the bulk of their free time when they can have their own way? What do they typically set and occupy their minds with when not occupied with their temporal responsibilities? Notice how little pleasure they seem to have for the Bible and prayer. Observe what slight desires they have for substantive and extended spiritual conversation, and how they would rather talk about the latest fads, trends, business, politics, children, pets, sports, hobbies, themselves, and virtually anything else but the Bible, its glorious truths, and related spiritual things. Note how easily they are swayed, influenced by, and conform to the spirit of the age. Tell them of the sinfulness, worldliness, and unbiblical nature of many of the things they continually do and believe, and what is the usual reply? – “We can see no harm. That’s just your opinion”. I say all this deliberately. I make no apology for writing this. I know that such statements are highly offensive to the modern mind, and will appear very judgmental, uncharitable, narrow-minded, and sound very horrible to most people today. It is the role not only of every pastor, but of every Christian to not only speak the truth in love, but to expose error and the unfruitful deeds of darkness (Eph 5:11). Before you dismiss what I say, I only ask that you take the Bible in your hand and read the New Testament for yourself and see what it says Christianity is, and compare that with the ways, methods, lifestyles, practices, and beliefs of the mass of professing Christians, and with what is sold and peddled as “Christian”, and then deny the truth of what I have written, if you can. The vast proportion, therefore, are totally unprepared to suffer as a Christian.
Readiness Consists of Self-Denial
No one can suffer for Christ until they are willing to deny themselves. No one can serve two masters. Self-denial must, by the very nature and order of things, come before suffering for Christ (Mt 16:24). There comes a time when living for Christ and suffering for Christ converge into one path to where you cannot do one without the other. When faced with suffering, the interest of Christ and self-interest meet like a fork in the road. You must take one or the other. There is no way you can choose or travel both at the same time because they do not run parallel, but go in totally opposite directions. If you cannot now deny self then you must deny Christ. There is no other alternative. There is no middle road. One or the other, self or Christ, must be denied.
What oftentimes makes this self-denial so difficult is that the self-fork is so well traveled by multitudes of people, many of them very well-known and who seem to be sincere and devout Christians (Mt 7:22). They are fine, moral, nice, kind, and friendly people. They have attended church all their life. Many are pastors. Some may give you the shirt off their back. They seem to be living for Christ, until they come to this fork in the road. You may have walked a considerable distance on the same road with many of them before coming to this fork. You will be bombarded by all sorts of emotional, spiritualized, and philosophical arguments and reasonings why you should not part company with them, and why it is for the good of the gospel to be sympathetic toward, interact with, accommodate, integrate, assimilate, and adopt the spirit of the age. After all, so many fine, sincere, and good people could not be wrong.
But when you ask them what roadmap they are using it will be one of human wisdom, their own feelings, preferences, opinions, morality, tradition, so-called science, psychology, some popular preacher or denominational dogma, virtually everything and anything but the pure, unadulterated word of God. The path of self-denial must always be traveled by faith, not by sight, sense, emotion, or fleshly human wisdom; rather these are what must first be denied. Only the blind will follow the blind down the fork that leads to destruction. We must not forget that “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Prov 14:12; 16:25). The true believer would rather walk the hard and narrow path of simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ alone by faith than follow the crowd down the broad and easy road to destruction. If the Apostle Paul found it necessary to daily die to self (1 Cor 15:31), how much more reason have we in an age where self-indulgence, self-esteem, self-image, self-gratification, self-importance, self-worth, self-will, and self-interest have become the primary tools used by the mass of churches and ministries to gain and keep people.
Granted, self may not only be mixed with, but it may be the primary motive behind many kinds of suffering. People will suffer many things for self. Ambition, acclaim, and popularity will motivate many to endure much in the way of suffering. Pride is a chameleon that can live even in the flames of martyrdom (1 Cor 13:3). Self and pride can make someone the devil’s martyr, as are all those who die for some false religion, but only divine grace within can make someone deny self for Christ. Devotion to Christ, no matter how high its zeal may run for a time, if self, pride, and ambition is the stream that feeds it, then self and self-interest, like so many water pipes tapped into a stream will draw up all the water for itself and drain the stream dry until there is nothing left to water and prepare the soul to suffer for Christ. Faith then shrinks back and shrivels. The world, the flesh, and the devil provide all sorts of justifications and excuses, and self will try to deceive into thinking it can compromise with, accommodate, integrate, assimilate, and adopt the spirit of the age when exposed to the least threat to self. Self-deception is a very real and powerful thing (Jer 42:20; Jm 1:22). Therefore, out of sheer necessity self must be dethroned in the heart before it can be denied and suffer for Christ.
It is only a real conversion, real grace, and a real new birth that will dethrone self and subdue it to subordinate all its own interests to those of Christ. This is true sanctification, which is nothing else but the crucifying of self and self-interest and the exaltation of Christ and His interests above all others in the heart, mind, and will. They “no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (2 Cor 5:15). This is what changes a person’s priorities and desires, alters their thinking toward all that they possess, and stamps all their earthly possessions, and even their own bodies with “Holy to the Lord” (Zech 14:20, 21). They no longer belong to themselves but have been bought with a price and belong to Another (1 Cor 6:20). They must no more live, nor ultimately act for themselves, but for Christ (Rm 14:7, 8; 1 Cor 9:23; Phil 1:20). They are no longer owners, but stewards of all that they have, and seek to use them in a way that best serves their Master’s interests and glory. All they are and all they have is at Christ’s disposal, and if subordinated to Him, then no longer competing for their affections or opposed to forsaking all for Him. This is what makes them say, “with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil 1:20). At conversion the Holy Spirit changes a person’s nature and indwells their soul so that they now desire to “present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God….so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification” (Rm 6:13, 19). This self-denial that is the natural consequence of a true salvation is the first thing necessary to prepare the heart and mind and to make anyone ready to suffer for the cause of Christ. Yet how rare it is, especially in a season where people are first and foremost lovers of self and lovers of pleasure (2 Tm 3:2), where self-interest, personal convenience, and private preferences, not sound doctrine, are the primary criteria by which people select and attend a church, and where the mass of churches pander to the flesh and the spirit of the age.
Readiness Consists of Bold Confidence
The pluralistic times in which we live are decidedly against a clear, sharp, and distinct doctrinal Christianity. The multi-culturalism and diversity that is so highly touted today has seeped into people’s thinking about religion. A fog of uncertainty and vagueness concerning spiritual truths, what is and is not Christian, what is good and what is evil, clouds the minds of the great mass of people today. There is a pervasive and settled determination that in matters of religion everyone is right and no one is wrong, everything is permissible and nothing is unacceptable, and that two opposite opinions can both be true. There is a firm and steadfast resolve to remain uncertain, indecisive, and “open-minded”. An unholy spirit of false charity about religion has saturated the thinking of our day. We must never forget Jesus’ warning, “whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory,” (Lk 9:26). No one can be ready to suffer hardships and tribulations for Christ until they are prepared to despise all dangers and threats and stare all difficulties in the face without caving in, compromising, conciliating, or accommodating.
The world is never won, and the enemies of Christ are never appeased by compromising, by facing both ways, and by trying to please everyone. Like the apostles, they would rather give heed to God rather than the threats of man (Ac 4:19, 20). They prayed that God “would take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence” (Ac 4:29). Rather than capitulate, the apostles were “every day, in the temple and from house to house…kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Ac 5:40-42). When Saul of Tarsus began “ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women” (Ac 8:3), those who had been scattered by this persecution, “went about preaching the word” (Ac 8:4). “Controversial” truths were not pushed into the background, but boldly proclaimed. Clear distinctions between what is and is not Christian were not minimized and blurred but highlighted and stressed. What Charles Spurgeon once told aspiring pastors is true for every Christian, especially in a dangerous season where relativism, uncertainty, and “tolerance” are the dominant philosophies both in and out of the church:
“We have a fixed faith to preach, my brethren, and we are sent forth with a definite message from God. We are not left to fabricate the message as we go along. We are not sent forth by our Master with a general commission arranged in this fashion: ‘As you shall think in your heart and invent in your head, so preach. Keep abreast of the times. Whatever the people want to hear, tell them that, and they shall be saved.’…There is something definite in the Bible. It is not…a lump of wax to be shaped at our will, or a roll of cloth to be cut according to the prevailing fashion. Your great thinkers evidently look upon the Scriptures as a box of letters for them to play with, and make what they like of, or a wizard’s bottle, out of which they may pour anything they choose, from atheism to spiritualism….There is something told me in the Bible – told me for certain – not put before me with a ‘but,’ and a ‘perhaps,’ and an ‘if,’ and a ‘may be,’ and fifty-thousand suspicions behind it, so that really the long and short of it is, that it may not be so at all; but revealed to me as infallible fact, which must be believed, the opposite of which is deadly error, and comes from the father of lies.”[5]
If anyone is of a weak, fragile, timid, and effeminate spirit, if they love the approval of men rather than the approval of God (Jn 12:42, 43; 1 Thes 2:3, 4), then every petty threat and danger will overwhelm, frighten, and sink them. It was on account of their instability that Paul issued his fourfold command to the church in Corinth, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Cor 16:13). Self-preservation is incompatible with courage and conviction. Search the Bible and see if you can find anyone who ever honored God and His word by suffering that was not also divinely enabled to despise the enticements, scorn, and threats of wicked men. Such were the three friends of Daniel, as well as Daniel himself (Dn 3:18; 6:10). Such was the need of the wavering Christians to whom the book of Hebrews was written (Hb 10:36). Such were all those who were martyred under the various Roman persecutions, the English Reformers who were burned by Queen Mary, the faithful saints in persecuted countries today, and all those who would rather suffer and endure ostracization, marginalization, alienation, misrepresentation, and stand alone for truth rather than compromise one iota of it to the spirit of the age. Money, fame, success, and financial security cannot tempt them, and the threats and fear of man cannot intimidate them.
Sadly this does not describe the faith that characterizes the mass of professing Christianity in this nation. A few years ago at a pastor’s conference I heard a pastor from a Muslim country being asked what believers in his nation thought of the Christians in this country, and his answer was short and to the point, “WEAK”. When faced with the alternative of standing for the truth and suffering, or pandering and capitulating to the spirit of the age, the faith of most has proven to be as fragile as a light bulb and just as hollow and empty. It is a mere external husk and shell. They may burn bright in a fair season, but one tap, one threat, one jolt and their delicate shell of faith is shattered and their light goes out. No wonder they need and gravitate to some sheltered, artificial, emotional, comfortable, self-affirming, and psychological form of godliness – what Charles Spurgeon called a “Christianized infidelity” – to try and make up for the absence of true spiritual life and power. No wonder they find comfort in numbers. It is true grace in the heart that raises the spirits of men and women above the thoughts and opinions of the crowd, the spirit of the age, and above all the praise and honors, and fears and threats of mere men. No other principle but a new principle of spiritual life can do this.
There is a natural courage and confidence which some people possess that may embolden them to face head on and endure many dangers, hardships, and sufferings. But this being only natural, and not supernatural, can carry someone only so far and will falter and fail when the trials, threats, assaults, and temptations are supernatural in origin, and there is no praise, support, attention, and encouragement from the world to strengthen and uphold it. A new principle of spiritual life on the other hand, raises the sights to new and greater heights to look by faith to the reward. It maintains its boldness, perseverance, and conviction even when there is nothing visible to encourage it, very much to discourage it, and when abandoned by all others and stripped of all visible supports. They can say with the Apostle Paul, “But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me,” (2 Tm 4:17, 18), and they can do so for three reasons:
First, because new spiritual life gives them an eternal view and mindset which both diminishes and exceeds all earthly and temporal things, and makes them appear small and trivial by comparison. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rm 8:18); “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,” (2 Cor 4:17, 18). Second, by teaching the true Christian through painful experience and discipline to value and measure all things by a different standard than what they were previously accustomed to do. They once valued life, liberty, freedom, prosperity, success, comfort, pleasure, influence, and honors by the measure of sense, time, and their worth in this world. They at one time seemed of utmost importance, and it was hard to deny them, or be denied them. But now they measure all things by faith and in light of eternity, and nothing seems all that great except what has reference to the glory of God and has an influence for eternity. Third, this new spiritual life can be bold and courageous because it is a new creature with a new nature that “is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him” (Col 3:10); “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Tm 1:7). It is the divine nature created in them by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, which makes a radical change in them, and transforms them into another person, zealous for the truth and good deeds (Tit 2:14). The gospel did not come to them in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction (1 Thes 1:5).
The times are, without a doubt, very critical and dangerous. Of this there can be no dispute. All the marks and signs are more than abundant. Never has there been such a wholesale and unashamed acceptance of immorality, false doctrines, false methods, and practices; such embracing and capitulation to the spirit of the age; such blatant additions, subtractions, and denials to the faith described in the Bible and once for all delivered to the saints. Much depends upon how professing believers respond to the spirit of the age. If they know the times and season they will prepare, do their duty by faith, and there is hope for recovery and revival. If they are timid, apathetic, negligent, compromising, and vacillating, then things can only continue to grow worse and worse. I would not be surprised if we are in the days of “the apostasy” which the Apostle Paul said would immediately precede the coming of the lawless one (2 Thes 2:3). There have been many times of apostasy in the history of the church, but the one foretold by Paul is singled out by the definite article. It is THE apostasy; a worldwide apostasy from true Christianity. No, I would not be surprised at all. This alone should make every true believer all the more determined to be found ready.
Readiness Consists in Being Subject to the Will of God
No one can suffer as a Christian until their will is submitted to the will of God. The person who unwillingly suffers, and does so involuntarily, not out of choice, but because they have no other option, is not a will submitted to the will of God. Their submission is forced and made necessary by their circumstances, not voluntarily. No one can say and mean, “Your will be done”, until they can first say and mean, “not my will.” Only true grace in the heart can master and subdue self-will to God’s will. “I delight to do Your will, O my God;” wrote the psalmist (Ps 40:8). But how did he know what the will of God is? “Your Law is within my heart” (Ps 40:8). God’s Law, His word, His commands were not merely words in a book, but they were in his heart. They were an indwelling and abiding principle that governed all he did. This is the effect of regeneration and the promise of the New Covenant which all true believers are made partakers of, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it;” (Jer 31:33). The Holy Spirit which indwells them leads them into all truth (Jn 16:13) and renews their mind, “that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rm 12:2).
Only a principle of new spiritual life can exalt the authority of God’s word in the heart to where it alone is the supreme and only authority. This alone will prevent someone, when faced with the option of suffering for being a Christian, or sinning and compromising and accommodating the spirit of the age, to willfully submit to the will of God that they suffer as a Christian. This is beyond the ability of flesh and blood to do, because the natural man is “hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so” (Rm 8:7). Such submission is impossible for those who are lovers of self and lovers of pleasure, because the will of God is opposed to all that the natural man loves. So rather than suffer, people will invent for themselves forms of godliness by which they can escape and avoid this suffering and at the same time retain their reputation in the sight of men for being a Christian, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men,” (Lk 16:15).
This is very easy to do in a season when most of professing Christendom has succumbed to the spirit of the age and then justify each other with all sorts of spiritualized rationalizations. In order to justify themselves they annul the commandments of God, not submit to them, “Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified” (Job 40:8)? True grace in the heart is what makes our will joyfully concur with the law of God (Rm 7:22), and even with the loss of all things, “For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one” (Hb10:34). No sooner had God taken away Isaiah’s iniquity and forgiven his sin than Isaiah was saying, “Here am I. Send me!” (Is 6:7, 8). He was totally submissive to the will of God. If Jesus Christ, the Son of God was totally submissive to the will of His Father (Jn 5:30), then all God’s true children are called to submit to God’s will with the same trust, love, dependence, and submission. Privilege comes with responsibility. To whom much has been given, much is required. The gift of God’s saving grace comes with the responsibility to submit to God and His will. Such submission is impossible apart from a new birth, a new nature, and a new will.
Readiness Consists of Loyalty to Christ
No one can suffer as a Christian until their heart is fixed and determined to remain loyal to Christ and to follow Him through all hazards, hardships, and difficulties. They have followed the instruction of 1 Peter 1:14, “Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit,”. They cling to the truth, in season and out of season. As long as a person is hesitating and uncertain what to do, whether to be obedient and loyal to Christ and His word or to take the path of least resistance and like Demas go back to the prosperous and comfortable world, they will be completely unprepared for suffering. All such uncertainty only weakens the resolve to persevere in the faith and strengthens the temptations to compromise, assimilate, and accommodate error, falsehood, and the spirit of the age. To the church in Thessalonica Paul wrote, “we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure” (2 Thes 1:4). They were heeding Paul’s earlier instruction to “examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form (i.e. “appearance”) of evil” (1 Thes 5:21, 22). Holding fast to that which is good is by no means an easy thing, especially in a season when the mass of professing Christianity, its ministers, and members will not examine everything carefully, tenaciously cling to mere forms of godliness, and when month after month more and more give in to the pressure to yield to the spirit of the age.
It is impossible to exaggerate the numbers and depths of false and erroneous doctrines and practices to which people now cling, all because of their failure to examine everything carefully. There are very few Bereans among us today. People believe things simply because they have been told them by their church, their denomination, their pastors, by some popular preacher, or even worse, because they “just feel it is right”. The church is not infallible. Men may be, and often are badly mistaken. The human heart is still deceitful above all else (Jer 17:9), and it is still the fool who is right in his own eyes (Prov 12:15), and who trusts in their own heart (Prov 28:26). There was a time when almost all of Christendom held to, embraced, and vigorously defended the Arian heresy, and rejected the doctrine of Christ’s divinity and equality with the Father in all respects. There was a time before the Reformation when essentially all of Christendom was mired in the darkness of Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy. It is called ‘The Dark Ages’ for a reason. We must never be ashamed or afraid to say, “I firmly believe this is right because I find it clearly stated in the Bible”, and, “I am convinced this is wrong and in error because I do not find it taught or commanded in the Bible.” If ever there was a season made for testing whether or not professing Christians would be loyal and faithful to Christ and hold fast to that which is good and abstain from every form of evil, it is this present season.
If we would be loyal to Christ we must never tolerate, condone, or justify any doctrine and teaching that is not the pure and sound doctrine of Christ’s gospel, which is the doctrine conforming to godliness (1 Tm 6:3). There is a hatred that is downright admirable, and that is a hatred of all false and erroneous doctrines (Ps 97:10). There is an intolerance that is positively praiseworthy, and that is the intolerance of false teaching and teachers. There is a negative and critical sprit that is unmistakably commendable and it is that which criticizes and refuses to participate in worldly and carnal inventions, methods, and practices. If we can comfortably sit and hear Christ’s truth mangled, manipulated, and misapplied; if we can justify, excuse, and even participate in and enjoy a carnal, fleshly worship, and can bear with hearing another gospel, the only purpose of which is to tickle the ears, and then can go home afterwards content and not burning with righteous and holy indignation, then there is little chance of ever being loyal to Christ and resisting the spirit of the age. The person who is not zealous against falsehood and error is not likely to be zealous for the truth.
It is the double-minded man who is unstable is all his ways (Jm 1:8). Such a person is no more able to ride out a storm than a ship that has no anchor to hold it in place. Instead they will be tossed here and there by every wave of trouble and carried about by every wind of false doctrine that promises a safe and comfortable harbor (Eph 4:14). They will flit from one church to another, one false, carnal, and man-centered doctrine to another, one ecstatic experience to another, one fleshly and worldly program, method, and solution to another. In a time of suffering they will wither away because they have no depth of root to anchor and nourish them. They initially put their hand to the plow, but then in a time of hardship and suffering they look back, proving themselves to be disloyal and unfit for the kingdom of God (Lk 9:62). They are Judas’ who kiss Christ but then betray Him. Perhaps the greatest praise Jesus ever gave His disciples was, “And you are those who have stood by Me in My trials” (Lk 22:28).
It is grace and nothing but grace in the heart that will bring to a fixed and determined resolution to follow Christ wherever He goes, even when following Him goes against all conventional wisdom, all popular forms of godliness, many popular preachers, all apparent outward circumstances, all our own feelings, reasonings, desires, and understandings, all traditions and doctrines of men; in other words, against anything and everything but His infallible and authoritative word. It is grace, and only grace, by which the heart is strengthened and preserved from being carried away by the myriad of varied and strange teachings that flourish today (Hb 13:9), and that strengthens any believer to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor 15:58).
It is amazing to see how the minds of fallen, darkened, and natural men and women, once they have settled on a course of sin, will devote the bulk of their time, energy, intellect, and even their lives to the justification and pursuit of that one course. Many have been, and still are willing to sacrifice their families, their health, their livelihoods, their reputations, and even their life in order to gain and gratify some lust. Most are even willing to lose their own soul in order to gain and keep a little part of this world. They are devoted to doing and getting what their heart, mind, will, and affections are set on. So it is with grace; when it comes into the heart it will be fixed, devoted, and fully resolved for Christ, and nothing will cause it to compromise with the spirit of the age in order to prevent or escape suffering for Christ. Herein lies much of a Christian’s habitual readiness to suffer all things for the cause of Christ.
Such readiness only comes from hearing, reading, studying, and knowing the Bible in its historical and grammatical context. You must be armed with a thorough and true knowledge of God’s word, “be on your guard lest, being carried away by the error of unprincipled men, you fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pt 3:17, 18). A little Bible knowledge will not suffice much less erroneous and mistaken knowledge. No one can be loyal to what they do not know, and to know it, and know it well, you must read and study it regularly. False teachers and false doctrines can only flourish and prosper where the Bible is either unknown, or untaught, unread, neglected, and rejected. You must submit to its doctrines, principles, commands, and teachings, not make them submit to your own desires, presuppositions, and preferences. As one old saint truly said, “Justification may be by faith, but knowledge of the Bible only comes by work”. If we are to remain loyal to Christ and not be misled in a season where falsehood and error flourish and are overwhelmingly preferred over truth, then when we hear the Bible mishandled, manipulated, corrupted, and misapplied, we must be able to say, “On the other hand, it is written,” (Mt 4:7). We must know our Bibles and know them well if we are to be loyal and faithful to Christ and His word in an age rife with myths and counterfeits, and to prevent our minds from being led astray and conforming to the spirit of the age.
Readiness Consists in a Continual Supply of Divine Strength
The necessity of regeneration, a new birth, and a radically transformed nature for all who would suffer as a Christian is further amplified by the fact that all who would risk suffering the loss of all things for Christ and His gospel have need of a continual supply of supernatural strength and power. They dare not depend on anything that is natural and untrustworthy. They dare not put any weight on any crushed reed of man’s invention and human wisdom (Ezk 29:6, 7). They dare not trust in their own strength and understanding, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh His strength,” (Jer 17:5). Where will they turn to and what will they do when this natural supply is exhausted and they have nothing left to live upon and trust in? All natural gifts, talents, and resources, no matter how great, are fallible, weak, changeable, and short-lived. They have no springs of living water to continually supply them, therefore they cannot persevere when sufferings come and persist. They may walk with Christ when the going is easy, and if the road does not become too hard and too narrow for too long. But when it stretches to the horizon with no end in sight and must be walked by faith looking to the reward, they turn out of the way and part company with Christ.
The hypocrite will not always call upon God. They may for a time, but then they will grow weary of waiting on Him and begin to turn to other sources for strength and to place their hope for relief and support elsewhere and in other things. They see others who are not suffering as they are, and who have compromised with the spirit of the age and seem to be doing just fine. Like the psalmist they begin to think, “Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence; for I have been stricken all day long, and chastened every morning” (Ps 17:13, 14). As the pressure to compromise, conform, and conciliate grows, and the consequences for non-conformity become more severe, and the advantages and benefits of compromise are made more attractive, the less resolved they become to resist and stand firm in the evil day. Ways, means, opinions, and beliefs they once rejected in a fair season become increasingly harmless, acceptable, and attractive in a dangerous season. Their strength and convictions weaken and eventually fail until they hold virtually no convictions at all. Tolerance, inclusiveness, and acceptance become the greatest virtues and highest expression of “Christian love”, until the only thing they will not tolerate is sound doctrine.
But a new birth and transformed nature are permanent because they are a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in the heart. True Christians are what they are, not because they made the right choice, but because they are regenerate, and unbelievers are what they are, not because they made the wrong choice, but because they are unregenerate. The new birth, the changed heart and nature makes all the difference. The Holy Spirit is now in them as “a well of water springing up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14). They are daily “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience” (Col 1:11); “For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ” (2 Cor 1:5). It is the Christian’s union with Christ by faith that is the grounds and source of all our steadfastness and perseverance. It is only when we are strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might that we can resist and stand firm against the schemes of the evil one and the spirit of the age (Eph 6:10, 11).
Readiness Consists of Suffering in a Christ-like Manner
Finally, the necessity of a new birth and radically transformed heart is required if we are to suffer not only for being a Christian, but as a Christian. Many people may suffer for having the reputation of being a Christian, and for holding to moral principles that are rooted in the Bible, but without this principle of new spiritual life in the heart they can never suffer as a Christian. Their sufferings may bring glory to themselves, but they can bring no glory to God. They will not be acceptable to God, are not sanctifying to the one suffering, nor a comfort and encouragement to others (2 Cor 1:6). Their sufferings will not yield in them the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hb 12:11) unless they are from this principle of new spiritual life. They will either produce resentment, hostility, and reviling, or their own pride will devour the praise and honor of them.
It is entirely possible for someone who is a Christian in name only to suffer many severe trials and hardships on account of their profession, just as those who belong to false religions have suffered many harsh and hazardous trials for their profession. Many people have suffered because they have stood for and defended a just, moral, and humanitarian cause. They have suffered for some high and noble principle and ideal. But unless their sufferings are from a renewed and transformed nature, they suffer in vain, as Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 and Galatians 3:4, “Did you suffer so many things in vain – if indeed it was in vain?”. The Bible contains many sweet and precious promises made to those who suffer for the cause of Christ, but it must be remembered that the sufferings for which these promises are made are those sufferings that are from the pure and spiritual motives which can only be the effect of a new and regenerate nature. It is only those who suffer “as a Christian” who are blessed, and in that name will glorify God (1 Pt 4:14-16).
To suffer as a Christian is to suffer not because of our love and devotion to Christ and His word. Our own love is too weak. It is not suffering for a cause, party, ideal, system, or false religious persuasion. Rather the Christian is motivated to suffer all things for Christ because of Christ’s unchanging love for them, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” (1 Jn 4:18); “And not only this, but we exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rm 5:3-5). Christ delights in unchanging love toward all His own sheep (Mic 7:18). Nothing or no one can snatch them from His hand. It is to suffer on account of pure Christian principles and in a Christian manner and according to the example left to us by Christ (1 Pt 2:21-23). Only a new birth and a radical transformation of our fallen, self-loving, sin-loving, self-willed human nature can enable us to do that. If you have never known the reality of this new birth, do not be content with a nominal Christianity. Rather seek it with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Ask, seek, and knock until God performs His saving work in you. You will never be able to live and suffer as a Christian without it, nor ever know the love of Christ, nor ever enter into the kingdom of God.
In our next study I will examine both the nature and the necessity of this work of grace called ‘regeneration’, and on which our habitual readiness for suffering depends.
[1] J.C. Ryle, Knots Untied (1885; repr., Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 6. Emphasis mine.
[2] Stephen Charnock, Works, Vol.1 (1864; repr. Edinburgh:Banner of Truth Trust, 2010), 182, 222.
[3] John Owen, Works, vol. 7 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), 424. It would be hard to imagine a Puritan writing that is more relevant for our present age than that of John Owen’s found in volume 7 of his works, The Nature and Causes of Apostasy, which I intend to use, by God’s grace and if it be His will, as the basis for a future series of studies.
[4] Knots Untied, 14, 24.
[5] Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students (Ross-shire, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 1998), 252.