Just how bad things will get before the end is really hard to even imagine, but we can prepare now. Although preparation will be necessary on multiple fronts, we will not overlook God’s promises to His elect children that will carry us through to the end. We can all imagine that things are pretty bad if we have recently scanned just the news media headlines. Perhaps something we may not have imagined is the effect it will have on the population. The destruction caused by increased natural disasters, sickness caused by even more deadly viruses, and lawlessness to the point that the legal system just lets it happen will have an unimaginable effect on the world’s population. Furthermore, the fragile economy could deliver a devasting blow to the population and in particular to the poorest in the world. Unfortunately, this does not even consider the new wars that could use biological, chemical, and atomic weapons to render their destructive effects upon the world. Yet, through all this God’s children are told to stand firm to the end. We will examine together how this can be accomplished by the grace of God and trusting in His loving providence.

No one knows how long they will live, but it is important to know that we must stand firm to the end of our lives. No one knows when Christ will return or when the world will actually end, but we do know that we must stand firm to the end. This is all extremely important because when things get really difficult for most of the world’s population it will also have a profound effect on God’s children. We must not allow ourselves to be carried away with the escape mentality that teaches us not to be concerned because God will return for us before things get too bad. Remember, that God is with us now and occupies every true believer (John 14:23). The Bible teaches that we will not be given more than what we can handle or tempted beyond what we can handle (I Corinthians 10:13). God knows how much we can handle, and He will either miraculously deliver us from the trial or temptation, or He will give us the grace to endure it with peace in our hearts. As a believer in Christ, you have already experienced this in your life. As we approach closer to the end, then the temptation to follow the world and strike back with impunity will grow much stronger. To take matters into our own hands will nullify any trust that we have in God leaving us alone to feel the brunt of the world’s hostility. We must learn to stand firm trusting in God’s grace and wisdom in every situation. The world will flip out and we must be prepared to confront it with only God’s wisdom and not the ways of the world.

Not everyone will fight back with vulgarity and open hostility. Many will behave like they have been possessed by the enemy rambling on and complaining a mile a minute without even taking a break to breathe. They have been so overcome with the tragic circumstances in the world from the hate and manipulation of others to experiencing one lawless disaster after another causing them to flip out. Don’t let them pull you into the world to be captured by the enemy of your soul. We must learn to listen first, waiting to speak, then only speaking if we are led by God. God may give us Godly counsel to offer in love or He may only give us empathetic hearts for their trials, but He will never lead us to agree with their worldly ways. The moment we indicate agreement, then the enemy will quickly pull us into the quagmire of satanic defeat. Others may simply cry and complain about what they are going through but again we must be cautious, learning to let God lead in our conversation. People often in this situation are looking for others to blame. Again, we must not be pulled into their blame game. To do so will not help them, and it will pull us into their pity party, often attended by Satan himself. On the other hand, we must always look for every opportunity to share the Gospel with those who are willing to listen. Keep in mind giving them Spiritual help apart from accepting Christ will only create carnal Christians who in time will also blame Christ when things don’t work out.

We must keep reminding ourselves that we are in the world but not of the world. When things get really bad groups of people will be formed to fight against one another. Some will fight against the established order. Others will be formed to fight against certain segments of society. Others will be formed to fight against those of another belief, creed, or color. Others will be formed to steal from those who have more. As chaos reigns we as God’s children must stand firm by not joining any group of people plotting hostilities against another. In the beginning, it will always begin with just hateful words against others. It will begin by establishing a creed or doctrine of beliefs. It will begin with just plotting and planning how they can achieve their goals. Wake up dear children, look around, this kind of thing is already happening. It will grow. These groups fighting one another will bring forth total chaos. To stand firm, dear children, we must not be tempted to join any group that’s plotting hostilities against another no matter how righteous they claim their cause to be. Christ and His teachings turned the world upside down, not by hostility but by true agape love.

I hope you are beginning to see that what’s coming will have a profound effect on the world’s population. We cannot physically leave the world, and even if we could, that would be a mistake, because we are the leaven (Matthew 13:33). We literally hold the world together as the Kingdom spreads to the end of all things. We have already talked briefly about confronting certain people that are emotionally and psychologically affected by the chaotic world, but we must also minister to God’s children helping them to stand firm. This goes well beyond posting an arbitrary post on social media. It must speak directly to the other person in a face-to-face encounter. Only this kind of encounter can read their body language and give them an opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings. Only this kind of encounter can truly address their personal and often hidden issues of the heart. I am afraid that the social media encounter has severely limited our face-to-face encounters, which has created an unseen problem. The limited physical contact with others has greatly limited our ability to communicate effectively beyond the initial greetings and pleasantries. As many enter the public arena, they hide behind their cellphone usage and withdraw into their social media domain where they feel a sense of comfort or protection. On the social media platforms, they have become experts in hiding who they really are and the great internal struggles they are dealing with. No one is truly being helped or helped to stand firm beyond a very few select posts that are often hidden.

One of my first lessons in becoming an effective pastor of the local church was to listen carefully to my congregation during the week, then bring their problems and concerns directly to God before writing my weekly sermons. I am afraid this has become a lost art not only from the pulpit but in our general conversations with others to detect their real needs. Any casual reading of the New Testament letters will detect that they were written to meet the needs of the churches to which they were written. Their greatest needs were Spiritual growth and standing firm in a hostile world, which would be accomplished if the recipients learned that they had a responsibility to one another enabling them to accomplish these goals. They were not called to be Christians in isolation. A beautiful truth that many have forgotten in our day is that “we help ourselves by helping others.” Who are you helping to stand firm in your face-to-face encounters? Finally, learning to stand firm is also learning to walk hand in hand with the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Everywhere we go and everything we do, we allow Christ to direct our footsteps and our conversation with others, in so doing His Church, all of His precious children, will be built up to stand firm to the glory of God.