Jesus said about one of the signs of the beginning of the end:
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13 NKJV
Lawlessness, sinfulness or wickedness are increasing on the earth daily. This is exactly what Jesus had warned us about. And it’s just beginning to get worse now.
But however, we are going to have the marvelous opportunity as the children of God, to escape the most terrible parts of it all when “the rapture” takes place.
Not only are we hearing about wars every day, but there are rumors circulating around everywhere about impending wars.
Nations are fighting against one another; just as some of them are getting themselves more and more of the latest weapons of war, so as to get ready for another war. Nations that had been known before not to be interested in wars, are getting prepared for it in these last days.
There are intertribal conflicts going on all over the world today. Religious protests and demonstrations are everywhere. Christians are facing persecutions daily.
There are multiple unrests going on in the world every day, which Jesus further explained when He said that:
“A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”
John 16:21 NKJV
All these things are directly pointing to the return of the Lord. They are the birth pain that will prelude the rapture of the Church.
As soon as Jesus appears in the air for His own, there will be jubilation in the air for those who had made themselves ready for Him.
We particularly need to pay attention to the words of Jesus about this, because He’s plainly letting us know that the evil one who is engineering all of these things in the world; has an ultimate agenda through them.
The agenda of the devil with the increase in lawlessness is meant to make the fire of God’s love, to dwindle and grow cold in the lives of the followers of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said:
“There will be such an increase of the sin of lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold.”
Matthew 24:12 TPT
This is the plan of the devil towards the end of this age. That’s why every Christian ought to be reevaluating the intensity of their love for God on a daily basis. Is your passion for Christ getting cold or is it burning stronger than ever before?
If you are being gradually drawn away from obeying God’s word, the enemy is trying to get the fire of God in you to become cold.
As soon as you realize that you are beginning to lay aside, the teachings of Christ that you had originally believed, then you know that your love for Christ is getting cold.
This is Satan’s end time plan, as he seeks to populate hell by depopulating heaven. The whole world is suffering right now because of this. There are earthquakes, floods and other forms of natural disasters that are increasing daily as a result of this.
There is an increase in corruption on the earth daily. And the scriptures had already warned us that it’s not even going to get better. It’s in fact going to get worse.
This is why we must be getting ourselves ready for the return of the Lord, as the corruption on the earth is in fact irreversible.
Corruption is a natural phenomenon that emanates from the effects of lawlessness, sinfulness and wickedness on the earth. It’s possible to delay and slow down the process of corruption in anything, but it’s utterly impossible to prevent it.
Everything on the earth is corrupt. From the food that we do eat, to the other things that we use every day. We tend to delay the corruption of our food by preserving it in a refrigerator. But that can never stop it from getting corrupted. We may be able to delay the corruption of the food, but we can never prevent it.
In fact, the physical body is prone to corruption also. Every inanimate or animate objects on the earth will eventually get corrupted and die. They are all doomed for destruction. And the one who is doing the destruction is the devil, and not God.
The Prophet Isaiah made us to realize that the only thing that can never face corruption is the word of God. That’s why he said:
“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8 NKJV
Jesus also confirmed the message of the Prophet Isaiah in this way:
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Matthew 24:35 NKJV
God’s word is incorruptible (1 Peter 1:23).
Jesus Christ is the Word of God, that was manifested in the physical body as a Man on the earth (John 1:14).
And the scriptures tell us that His body in death and resurrection never saw corruption (Acts 13:36-37).
Everything on the earth and in the heaven will eventually be gone forever, because of the increase in corruption on the earth.
And as Jesus mentioned above His spoken word to us will escape the corruption of this world.
Up till this very moment on the earth God’s word had been tested and had always overcome every attempt by people to make it irrelevant. Men have tried to corrupt the word of God, but they have always failed.
God’s word will by no means never pass away.
The Bible is the only book on the earth with the eternal solution to the problems of this earth. It’s only those who are paying careful attention to the truth in it, that are discovering the answers to the problems of this world in it.
When we are abiding in His word, we are securing our own eternal salvation. His word will also abide in us, as it will begin to speak to us by pointing us to the solutions of the problems in the world (John 15:7-8).
Corruption is from a perverse mindset.
King David said in one of his Psalms that:
“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
Psalms 14:1-3 NKJV
The fool here is equivalent to the wicked, who has no understanding about the way to God. He has decided to be cold hearted towards any mention of God in everything that he does. To him God is nonexistent.
To the foolish man the notion about the existence of God, is a fantasy in the mind of those who are claiming to believe in Him.
But it’s interesting that David said above that the fool, who has no knowledge of God is in fact corrupt and wicked. In other words, anyone who denies the existence of God is acting foolishly.
Corruption on the earth has really increased the degree of foolishness and ignorant in the hearts of many people these days.
It’s never going to get better but worse, because of the activities of the devil, who is spreading and exploiting corruption all over the world, so as to make the love of God to grow cold in the hearts of the Christians.
The enemy is using the evil that you see every day to kill the fire of your love for God gradually.
The wicked people on the earth are already on his side. He is only using them to get at those who are in love with Jesus.
The only thing that will rescue you as a Christian from the corruption of this world, is the “rapture” (the return of Jesus) for those who are looking up to Him to deliver them.
As the Apostle Paul said:
“Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”
Romans 8:21-23 NKJV
It’s going to take the redemption of the physical body by faith in Christ Jesus, to deliver all of creation from the corruption of this world.
The groaning that’s within you as a Christian is the birth pang pain, for the return of the Lord Jesus to happen very quickly.
We however need to note that it took the first man and woman to bring corruption into our world through Adam and Eve. And it’s also going take the new Adam (Jesus) to deliver us from it.
Since we can’t stop corruption on the earth as Christians, it’s important for us to be doing our best to delay or hinder, it’s encroachment on the fire of our love for God.
The proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ guarantees that God’s fire is aglow in us until He comes back again.
Corruption on the earth begins within the heart, and the mindset of people. It takes just one thought about evil to get you corrupted.
Jesus said:
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Mark 7:21-23 NKJV
The seed of corruption is sown in the heart or in the mind of people, but the fruit of the lips brings it into manifestation.
That’s why the Apostle Paul advised us as Christians that:
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”
Philippians 4:8 NKJV
Whatever evil thought you are entertaining in your mind will bring corruption into your life.
This is the type of mindset that people are cultivating with their thought lifestyle, which has made them corrupt and perverse.
And if we are going to delay or hinder its encroachments towards our hearts, we must be prepared to deal with it in the mind.
You can bind the devil and hinder him from penetrating your thought life as a Christian. But he will only leave you for some moment of time, only to return at any opportune time.
The Bible says that we are to be:
“Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”
II Corinthians 10:5 NKJV
When you are using your authority in the name of Jesus Christ to be doing this, you are delaying and hindering the encroachment of the enemy with his corruption, from affecting your faith in Christ Jesus.
A Christian who is not able to use his authority in the name of Jesus, to hinder or delay the enemy will find himself to blame for it.
We should however note that just because we are able to delay or hinder the enemy, does not mean that he will stop trying to get at us. He will leave for a moment, but he will be back at any door of opportunity that is open to him (Luke 4:13).
It’s therefore very important to resist him always.
This is why the renewal of the mind is very crucial for us to be able to recognize every thought from the enemy, that are flying around in our head every day.
You are reading and studying the scriptures, because you want to escape the encroachment of the corruption from the world to get into your mind.
The Apostle Paul says:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
The transformation of the total man (spirit, soul and body) away from the corruption of the world, is what Paul was referring to here. He is referring to what can save the spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
We need to note here that our ability to present our bodies to God sacrificially, is pivotal to the renewal of the mind.
The bodily sacrifices that we are making to God every day, points directly to the things that we are deliberately denying the physical body as Christians, so as to be able to obey God and be positioned in His perfect will.
For example, when the Bible says:
“When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 NLT
When you begin to make sacrifices in your physical body and your lifestyle to fit into what the word of God says about these things, then you are helping yourself: so that God can help you to renew your mind and make you free from the corruption of this world.
If you want God to help you and deliver you from the corrupt vices of this world, then you need to start making daily sacrifices in your physical body to shun those vices.
And as long as you’re living on this earth you will be making those daily sacrifices, until you are separated from the physical body itself.
Every time you are discipling your body to fit into what the scriptures says, you are indeed offering your body as a sacrifice so as to obey God’s word.
God’s ultimate goal for our lives as His children is for us to always be in His perfect will.
You can deny your eyes access to too much of watching of the television.
That’s a bodily sacrifice, especially since most of the corruption in the world today filters itself through those shows, movies and many other things that has occupied your world apart from God’s word.
A break from these things by spending more time with God in the scriptures is much more beneficial to the spirit, soul and body, if you are waiting for your redemption to manifest.
I like the way the Passion translation puts these two verses in Romans chapter 12. It says:
“Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? To surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship. Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.”
Romans 12:1-2 TPT
If you are going to escape the corruption of this world, you must be prepared to cut away completely from your relationship with the evil in it.
This is the first step in the right direction, as you are preparing for the Lord’s return.
The Apostle Paul gave us his personal example about how he did this, when he said:
“Therefore, I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus, I fight not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
I Corinthians 9:26-27 NKJV
The Apostle Paul decisively set a goal for himself that was contrary to the goal of the devil for his life. It’s after he had made up his mind about his own goal, by doing what he needed to do with his body, that the real fight of faith in achieving such a goal began for him.
He had to discipline his body (or he taught his body) how to obey God’s word, by subjecting it through certain things in his everyday life.
An example of this could be by denying the body certain pleasures in this world, which may be contrary to the Christian way of living, like the ones that he pointed out to us above (Galatians 5:19-21).
The Apostle Paul had to follow after the standard for living in the body which he had set up within himself. He set up this standard for living based on what the scriptures says about those corrupt vices.
Paul was the instructor and teacher of his own body, just as you can become a teacher and an instructor to your own body also. You can discipline your physical body to obey God’s word and standard of living the Christian life.
If you don’t know how to say “no” to your physical body when you are being tempted to sin with it in this world, then you will never be able to stand up against the corruption of the world.
And most importantly you will never be able to stand up against the wiles of the enemy.
You will find yourself always caving into every temptation of the evil of this world, through the corruption that is so prevalent within it.
You will find yourself being swayed to embrace every new trend in the world, without even judging if it’s of God or of the devil.
And in the world today evil is being described as being good, while anything that is good is being described as being evil.
Being able to deny the physical body of certain things in life, will help you to become positioned in God’s perfect will. It will establish you strongly in making godly judgement about every situation before you.
Renewing the mind positions you for God’s best.
But if a Christian is unable to position himself by faith in God’s perfect will, the Almighty God has room through His mercy and grace for such a person, to be positioned in His good or permissive (acceptable) will.
Just because something is good or permissive does not necessarily mean that we should settle down for it. Being in God’s perfect will ought to be the ultimate goal of every Christian on the earth.
The ability to present the body as a living sacrifice to God, has become a struggle for certain Christians somehow.
But it’s never meant to be difficult. Nothing that the Lord commands us to do in His written word is difficult to do. As long as there is a willingness to obey God’s word, the Holy Spirit is always there to help us (John 14:26).
Some Christians have settled down for the good and permissive wills of God, because they have no willingness in the heart to be fully committed to obeying God’s word.
But if the scripture says that we should be presenting the body daily, as a living sacrifice to God, that means it’s something that we can do as believers in His name.
And everything has to do with the mindset that we have as Christians, towards the evil in the world around us.
Our mindsets affect what we do daily with the physical body. The mind is the battleground from where the devil fights against our personal will from being in God’s perfect will.
That’s why the renewal of the mind is very important in the life of a Christian, who is seeking for the very best from God. It’s something that we are meant to be doing throughout our lives on this earth.
Our enemy has the ability to attack the mind. His goal with this is to prevent us from making the right daily decisions, that will position us in God’s very best on the earth.
It’s the renewal of the mind that causes us to be making changes in our daily lives. A Christian who is not committed to renewing his mind, may find himself in God’s good or acceptable (permissive) will.
And oftentimes it’s because the desire of the flesh is still prevalent within him. The desires of the flesh will always go contrary to the perfect will of God.
But the fleshy desires in the life of a child of God will also cause him, to embrace the good or permissive wills of God, instead of going for His perfect will.
Many times, when people are talking about their feelings about any situation in their lives, they are actually insinuating in the direction of the desire of the flesh that is within them.
God will allow what is good and acceptable to Him in our lives, because He knows that we are humans. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s His very best for us. He wants us to enjoy the very best things on the earth.
It’s our ability to stay focused on obeying His commands, that leads us into discovering what His perfect will is for us. Constant and instant obedience to the word of God will always lead us into His perfect will.
For example, if we do believe what God’s word says about our healing, then we will be quick to affirm that it’s in His perfect will for us to be healed, by declaring what His word says for our healing.
When sickness comes our way, we will be quick to make our stand known with the thinnest appearance of the symptoms on the body. And it won’t take long before those symptoms will finally disappear.
A Christian who is still lingering and trying to figure out an attack on his physical body by the enemy, may end up completely yielding to the enemy, in spreading the symptoms to other parts of the body.
Biblical healing is God’s perfect will for our physical body. By choosing to take God’s word to the heart and affirming our faith in it for healing is God’s perfect will, for every believer in the name of Jesus Christ.
But at the same time another person may choose to go to the hospital first of all, so as to consult with the doctors, instead of doing what the first person had done to get healed.
He wants to consult first with the medical professionals so as to get their opinions, while at the same time affirming his faith in God’s word to heal him.
This is also acceptable or good before God, because He can work through medical science to heal him. The process may be longer, but the result will still end up being the same.
You don’t have to be corrupted.
This is why the good fight of our faith has to be won in the mind.
Being triumphant with our faith helps us to become transformed, into the person that our God wants us to be. The options that are available to us in our daily decision-making processes affect our spiritual growth.
No one can grow spiritually beyond the level of the use of his faith, in overcoming the challenges of life.
If your faith is static or dead, it’s just because you have not been using it as you are supposed to be using it. Faith grows when we are using it daily.
And it’s the practical application of God’s word to our everyday situations, that causes our faith to grow.
Your level of faith determines whether or not you want to be in God’s good, acceptable or perfect will. God will not take you beyond what is unsustainable to you by the use of your faith, in His ability to do more for you in your life.
However, it’s still up to us as Christians to choose if we want to stand by faith in His good, acceptable or perfect will.
These choices are what an average Christian is struggling with daily. It’s not difficult to know God’s perfect will, if we are abiding in His word and His word is abiding in us (John 8:31-32).
Our God will always present us with the good, acceptable or perfect wills. We have these choices to pick from in making advancement, in everything that we are doing as Christians every day.
The Lord will never make the decision for us about, how much of His prosperity we want in our lives. Our prosperity on the earth depends on the choices that we are making every day.
That’s why the renewal of the mind is so important. If you want the very best from Him, you’ll have to choose to be in His perfect will.
There are Christians who have chosen to be in the acceptable or permissive will of God, but who will often face challenges in their Christian lives that are difficult to overcome.
These ones are still in God’s perfect will. But it really means that much more grace will be made available to them, in triumphing over such situations.
It doesn’t mean that God will not help them in overcoming such challenges. It only means that there may certainly be delays along the way for them in overcoming those challenges. But a delay with God is not necessarily a denial.
However, if they will remain faithful to the Covenant by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lord God will protect them in the midst of those challenges, until they are ultimately victorious.
Those who are waiting and walking in God’s perfect will, are often seamlessly going through insurmountable challenges in life.
By being positioned by faith in God’s perfect will, we will receive the very best protection from above for our lives on this earth.
And such Christians will always triumph over the corruption of this world, no matter how hard the enemy tries to get at them.
However, it’s important to note that being in either the good, acceptable or perfect will of God, will give us access into the Kingdom of God.
But eventually when we appear before Him in Heaven, we will be judged based on the type of choices, that we had made along the way in getting there.
This was well illustrated by Jesus in the Parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus said in the Parable of the sheep and the goats, that the sheep will be taken to His right hand, as they are welcomed into the Kingdom.
But concerning the goats who had managed to get into the Kingdom of God, there will be judgement:
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Matthew 25:41, 46 NKJV
And in the Parable of the wedding feast Jesus made mention of a man, who had come to the feast without the right wedding clothes on:
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So, he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:11-14 NKJV
There obviously will be surprises in heaven when we get there. Jesus said it right here that “many are called, but few are chosen.”
Are you part of the chosen ones? Or are you just in the multitude with those who had been called?
It’s those who are daily seeking to be in His perfect will, who will escape the corruption of this world. They have been chosen by Him because they are making the daily efforts to renew the mind with the word of God.
What are you doing daily to escape the corruption of this world?
Jesus is coming back again! He wants you to be prepared for Him.
MARANATHA!
