We know from Scripture that with unity there is a multiplication of spiritual authority. There is the biblical testimony that one can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight. The Lord also taught that if any two could agree, then it would be done for them. Of course, this agreement is more than just an intellectual assent to a matter; rather it implies an actual and deep union between the two. This takes an investment in both the matter that we are uniting about and the people we are uniting with, but it is not superficial.
Just as Elijah, a prophet and seer, was deceived into thinking he was the only one left who stood for the Lord, when in reality the Lord had many thousands more, we are not alone. The Lord has many more than we know who are standing for His truth. However, even if we are alone and we die for our stand, is there a better way to die? We are seeing a remarkable miracle take place in the body of Christ in America right now—the body of Christ is starting to come together in unity. It may still be far from what our idealism would imply unity is, but it is happening.
We are coming to the greatest opportunity we have ever had to be who we are called to be—faithful witnesses who esteem the truth of the gospel more than their own lives. We will see those who we may think are weak showing remarkable courage and strength. In the increasing darkness, we will see the church arise in unprecedented light and glory. We will see Isaiah 60:1-5 fulfilled:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
“For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the Lord will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.
“And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
“Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried in the arms.
“Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will thrill and rejoice; because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the nations will come to you.”
As we see here, it is during the times of great darkness that the glory of the Lord appears on His people. In verse 3, the light will win and the nations will come to the light, not stay in the darkness.
As we are told in Psalm 97:2, “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him….” For this reason, as we see the darkness and confusion of the nations increasing, we should start looking for the Lord. As the Lord exhorted us to “be careful how you hear” (see Luke 8:18), not just what you hear, we should be careful how we see too. Who has most of our attention—the Lord or the devil?
As we have discussed, if we are to understand the times, we must give much more attention to what Christ is doing than what the antichrist is doing. It is right to understand the schemes of the devil, but that should only be a small part of what we give our time and attention to understanding. Have you noticed that most of the books written on the Book of Revelation are about the antichrist, and some are entirely about the antichrist? We are told in the first verse of Revelation that this is “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” not the antichrist. How does our vision get so skewed?
To be the light, we must have our focus on the light. This does not mean that we will not be aware of the darkness and even have an understanding of the schemes of the devil, but we will be changed into what we behold, as we are told in II Corinthians 3:18:
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
If we behold the glory of the Lord, we will be changed into His image. If we spend more time and attention beholding the devil, we will become like him. Have you noticed how so many cult watchers start taking on more of the nature of the accuser of the brethren than they do the nature of Christ? Their original intent to protect the body of Christ from deception may have been noble and sincere. However, if they spend too much time looking at what the devil is doing, they will start acting more like the devil than Christ. If they spend more time looking at what is wrong rather than what is right, they will get twisted with the error they’re beholding.
Many have fallen to this trap of focusing too much on the enemy, and many cannot hear anything negative. These are the ones the Apostle Paul warned about “who only want to have their ears tickled” (see II Timothy 4:3), or who can only hear what they consider to be positive things. They too are doomed to being deceived. A key to walking in the Light is keeping our attention on Him and letting Him direct us to when and where we need to understand the schemes of the devil.
Another key is that as we see in Daniel 2, when the empires of this world are collapsing, the kingdom is growing. When everything else is falling apart, we are building. Is what we are doing building or tearing down?
