Proximity to Christ - the Key to overcoming in the End Times

"We're more than conquerors, why? 'Through Him that loved us.' Where does the strength to overcome come? It comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. And your deliverance, your Bible study, your prayer will help you get close to Him, and to that end, they're extremely valuable to help you get through the hard times. If Christians don't get ready for hard times, when they hit they're going to think God died...

"We're more than conquerors, but it's through Jesus Christ. Now everything that gets us close to the Lord is going to get us further from these things that can overcome us. It's the consciousness of His presence with us that's going to cause us to look past the tribulation and see the glory coming, past the distress, past the persecution, past the famine, past the nakedness, peril, or sword. If you don't have that, then you're going to crumple and pile up and you may have a nervous breakdown.

"When the hard times hit...and when the bottom drops out, as it one of these days will, when that happens, you're going to see a lot of Christians have nervous breakdowns. A lot of preachers are going to have nervous breakdowns. Because they honestly have no earthly way to cope with disaster. Some of these so-called great ministers are going to just completely come apart at the seams, because they've been built on a pipe dream, and on a bubble, and when that bubble pops, there'll be nothing left to support it; it'll come crashing down...

"The people have not been taught to do anything but gather together in great big bunches saying 'Hip-tee-doo!' and 'Hallelu,' in one extreme, or they sit together like wooden Indians, saying 'Amen. Now let's go out the door.' But either way they're not getting anything that's going to take them through hard times when they hit. They have not been taught to be individual believers, and households to be individual groups, locked together for the purpose of resisting the enemy and reaching out to minister to other believers and others who are in need. It's wonderful to have a church to come to, and we should thank God every week that goes by that we're still permitted to worship without soldiers breaking through the back doors back there, and police coming and marching the preacher off to jail, because you never know when that's going to cease. The enemy is working ceaselessly...

"But you have to realize that most believers are not ready for anything like this. Their whole lives are geared to the world system, the economic and social thing, and when that tears and rips, they'll have nothing left, nothing to cling to. Have you ever thought how it would be if you came to a situation where you were suddenly swept away from your church and your preacher and you didn't even have a Bible? And all you'd have to go on spiritually would be what you could remember, from the messages you had heard, from the scriptures you had studied...all the songs you could remember and bring back to mind to sing. And maybe you're off in an isolation ward someplace by yourself. How are you going to keep from going crazy?

"You say, 'That's scary stuff. That'll never happen.' That's what everybody thinks....Do you remember the first time you had an accident in your car? You knew you'd never have an accident, you know, because you were very careful and everything. You forgot that there were other people involved. You remember the shock you had the first time you had an accident, how fast it happened? It happened so quickly you could hardly remember what happened at all. All of a sudden everything was all crumpled up, and it couldn't be! It was like something out of a dream, it happened so quick. 'Where did they come from...I didn't see anything," you know. And yet here's the two cars all smacked up, all torn up, in a moment. It happened *so* quick. And that's exactly the way the disaster will strike the world. It says like labor pains coming, just suddenly, out of nowhere...bang! Now the signs are here.

"You know, a lady who's carrying a baby has many signs that she's going to have one. You're a fool if she walks around for nine months and when she has labor pains you think, 'Oh, I never expected that!' You know, that's a little ridiculous. Because she's obviously been going to give birth for a good while. And you'd be a fool not to anticipate and make some type of preparation for the time when that's going to happen. But that's exactly what's happening in our world. This old world is pregnant with evil and wickedness, and it's going to be birthed one of these days, and we'd be a fool to stand by and say, 'Oh, I didn't expect anything like that!' And yet that's where many believers are. They have no idea that there's anything wrong at all. It's roses and buttercups all the way down the path. But God's people aren't supposed to get like that. But we *are* supposed to get close to the Lord, because in the times that are hard, whether they're moderately hard, very hard, or extremely hard, no matter how difficult they become, it's going to be your relationship to the Lord and your geography concerning the Lord that's going to help you."

- Pastor Win Worley, January, 1985

You Did It Unto Me

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that when He comes again and sets up His kingdom, He will divide people into two camps: "sheep" and "goats." To the sheep, He will say: "Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me."

The "sheep" will then ask the Lord when they saw Him in this condition or did these things for Him, to which He will reply: "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me."

The "goats," on the other hand, will hear precisely the opposite. Jesus will tell them that they did not aid Him when He was in need. And when they ask Him how this can be, He will reply: "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me."

This passage is often recited to make the point that we need to care for the elderly, the sick, the poor, etc., and this is certainly true. However, there is another theme here that I want to stress, particularly in light of the debates that Christians often get into with one another and how often I've seen them condemn and slander one another, smug in their own perceived self-righteousness even as they spew venom at their brothers and sisters like spitting cobras.

The theme I want to emphasize is that Jesus makes it clear that He considers what is done to His people the same as if it were done to Him, and Matthew 25 makes it clear that a day of reckoning is coming on these matters. Believers need to let this sink in deeply. Sometimes, a brother or sister will be in the wrong, and depending on the circumstances we may have an obligation to step in and - lovingly - correct that person. But in all honesty I have to say that far too many Christians are too quick to don the black robes and start handing out judgment, and this is true even in situations where judgment is necessary and beneficial. Even if they may be correct in their assessment of the situation, their motives and attitudes are wrong. Notice what Paul said to the Galatians:

"Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted." - Galatians 6:1

Who is to do the restoring here? Those who are spiritual, meaning those who are Spirit-led. Those who are not Spirit-led should not be trying to correct anyone else because they're not right themselves. Jesus makes that clear in Matthew 7:

"Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye." - Matthew 7:3-5

In any debate or discussion amongst other believers, Christians need to be aware of their motives and attitudes and ask what spirit is leading them to do or say whatever they are doing or saying to their brothers and sisters. The Lord loves all of His people. Each has been bought with His own blood and pain. Each is a joint heir with Him. Each is a member of His family, His own brother or sister in the Spirit.

Treat one another as sons and daughters of the King. And beware when you take aim at someone else, lest Christ see you as coming against Him as well.