Sermons

The Apostle Paul warns against believing every spirit, and calls for discernment as to whether each one belongs to God. The spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; any spirit that does not is the spirit of the antichrist.

The world is now drawing together, its currencies and nations merging into one, and the day when the antichrist will be revealed is not far off. Yet those who believe in the coming of Jesus Christ, his resurrection and his return will be caught up before the great tribulation arrives. Just as the disciples saw Jesus, touched him and watched him ascend, we who are their descendants have as good as seen it all ourselves.

Heaven is a place with no tears, no evil and no falsehood, and the opportunity to enter it is given only now, while we live in the body. Even in times of discouragement and weariness, God’s people must cling to him to the very end if they are to rest in his embrace. When parents teach their children the faith and pray that they will go up together, not one of those prayers is cast aside; each becomes grace stored up for their children.

As the world grows harsher, people lose the strength to endure. When hardship comes, some hide behind their troubles, and others choose to take their own lives. Job lost his children, his wealth and his health all at once and begged to die, and Elijah, too, faced with Jezebel’s threats, prayed that God would take his life.

Such suffering is Satan’s way of shaking people’s emotions to thwart God’s plan of life. Yet even when his wife turned on him with bitter words, Job did not sin with his lips, and when Elijah was worn out, God sent an angel to touch him and restore him with bread and water. Jesus calmly walked through the crowd that meant to push him off a cliff. In the same way, darkness can never overcome the light.

The way to overcome Satan’s attacks is to stay alert, keep a sober mind and pray. God does not hand over those he loves to Satan, and he turns even a curse into a blessing. Those who lay their heavy burdens on Jesus Christ and endure will find that this road is not an end but leads on to another beginning.