How to Stand in the Evil day

More and more, I am seeing this of our generation. We live in a depraved society. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 it states: But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents,ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. So how are we to live and stand faithful to God in this atmosphere when we are to have nothing to do with the people consumed with its evil? 

We must understand we will either standing for Christ or slide to sin. 

The 3 ways stand for Christ are: 

1. give up your man-made identity and purpose and find it in God's word. In Luke 14:28-30 Jesus compares the believer's life to a construction project. He says: “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ We should consider the cost of following Christ in every sphere so we don't have a half-built Christian life.

2. give up the world's moral standards for God's. Romans 12:2 says we are to be set apart: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  

It is easy to say on a Sunday morning in church "Yes I'll follow Jesus", but on a Monday morning when family, school, work, politics, social media, family and friend spheres move together, there is alot of pressure to cave to the world's standards. Unfortunately Sundays are not always exempt because many churches have crossed lines into the world so there is equal pressure to conform.

3. give up your fallen desires inherited from Adam for a passion for God. God calls the tendency to sin as backsliding. Once someone gets on a slide it is very difficult to stop going down to the bottom. It is the same way with sin. One little compromise and it is very hard to stop getting further and further into sin. Hosea 11:7 says 
My people are bent on backsliding from Me.

Though they call to the Most High,
None at all exalt Him.

In contrast to the Strong standing soldier is the Weak wobbling wimp.

There are 3 Steps to a person's Slide to sin: Usually the devil will not come to someone with full out sin. It will start with a joke, a gossip column, or a silly skit. It will come in mild and meekly but in the end demand full control.

Wickedness increases from 1. toleration to 2. acceptance to 3. promotion. 

There are 3 steps to a society's slide to sin:  The sins of culture including abortion, same sex relations, transgenderism, and evolutionary thought have infiltrated our society at large. Most spheres of society strategically 1. indoctrinate/push the sin 2. support/assist in the sin and 3. even participate/parade the sin. 

There are 3 Responses to the Slide to Sin:

The response of the would-be follower of Christ is to 1. withdraw (quit/close/leave); 2. fight (debate/take legal action/run for office/pay fines/get terminated/protest/sign a petition) or 3. cave in (to the pressure and conform).

There are 3 Way to Avoid the Slide to Sin:

It is vital that the church 1. wake up. We must educate ourselves on what is going on in society and learn our options for recourse. We must study history starting in the Bible and learn the follies that have been repeated through the ages and allow God's grief and anger for sin to weigh heavily on our hearts toward intercession.

We must 2. determine ahead of time what our decision will be if we are exposed to indoctrination, asked to assist, or asked to participate in sin. If we are caught up in the emotion of the moment and it means losing a friend or a job, it might be too late for us. 

We must also 3. create a backup plan. If we are to be terminated, where else could we work? If our website is shut down, what other format could we publish from? If our children are being indoctrinated, what are other educational options? 

Fortunately we are still in a time where we have options. There may come a time when the true believer will have to worship in hiding and go off of the internet. Let us pray we have the courage to stand for Christ when our time comes. As Mordecai told Esther in 4:14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”