Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Suffering will happen in the life of the Christian. If you are living out your faith, engaging the world, and making sacrifices to spread the Gospel, you will suffer; the Scriptures make this point clear.
Prosperity preachers are only after one thing, and that is the “now.” Having things now. “Living your best life now.” Those are the ramblings of men going to Hell. Faithful men in the Bible poured out their lives for the Gospel, and there are men today who would not even pour their own drinks claiming to be “Christian.” It’s a sad reality. However, as believers who diligently study the Scriptures to renew our minds, such a reality should not come as a surprise to us.
2 Timothy 3:12-13 sums it up well.
“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
The evil men mentioned here rejoice in deceiving others. When Godly men fail to point out these false teachers who seek to deceive we fail to do our due diligence. We must point out the deceivers even when we are met with opposition.
Servants of God will suffer and face persecution. Lord willing, we will endure those hardships.
“Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:3).
We are troops on the ground, on the front lines living and dying for Christ. He is the head of the church. And with Christ as the head, going into battle should be a relatively easy pursuit. But our mortal minds corrupted by sin sometimes hinder our charge when opposition comes. Remembering that Christ has paid your debt and secured in Him your eternal life. That should make the hardships and persecutions bearable.
“For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake” (Phil. 1:29).
Take heart that our sufferings are not in vain for it drives us to push through hard times and rejoice in Christ.
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Matthew Smith
Matthew Smith lives in McCune, Kansas, alongside his wife, Nichole, and their 9-year-old son. He experienced the regenerating working of The Holy Spirit after 32 years of disobedience, thanks to God’s grace. This transformation occurred through the expositional preaching of a faithful pastor, who shed light on God’s word, drawing Matthew to repentance. His life’s purpose now revolves around serving God and His people.
March 27, 2024

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