If we look at the history of mankind from the Christian perspective it is more than just a journey; it is a magnificent adventure. Like most adventures, there have been setbacks, failures, and dangers everywhere, along with advances and victories. Because the end of the story has already been written, we know that an ultimate, glorious victory to our present struggle is both certain and near. Then there will be healing for every evil deed done and mankind’s future is even brighter than we can imagine. 

         Yet, in our time the darkness looms ever greater and our ultimate doom seems probable. Isn’t that just like almost every adventure story ever written? When doom seems inevitable, the ultimate victory is near. That this script is in virtually every adventure story ever written indicates that this has been written in our hearts—because it is the truth, a promise from our God who cannot lie. 

         The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, God, who began a good work in us will complete it. What He created mankind and the earth for will be accomplished. The greatest promise of all is that God Himself is coming to dwell on the earth among men! (see Revelation 21:3). However, like in most adventure stories, the biggest battle of all comes at the end, just before this glorious conclusion. 

         The point is that we must never lose our faith in the ultimate victory of the truth over every lie, of light over darkness. Many have fought in this “good fight” from the beginning. They may have stumbled at times, failed and fallen, but they also kept getting back up and fighting on. It is for this reason as well that we seek to obey the commandment to “honor your fathers and mothers” (see Exodus 20:12) by defending and preserving the truth about them. We honor our heritage by fighting for the truth about it, and not letting those with evil intent distort or corrupt it. 

         Because we love the truth, we must also fight to preserve the truth about failures and mistakes by our predecessors. This is not in any way to dishonor them, or to think we are better than them, but with humility, considering our own weaknesses and failures, knowing that we will continue to make the same mistakes as those who went before us if we do not learn from theirs. 

         Since we began publishing these Heritage Briefs to remember and honor our fathers and mothers, as well as the great heritage we have, the “Cancel Culture” has risen to an unprecedented level of dishonoring them and disparaging our heritage. If we let this happen, then we have neglected and failed at one of our most basic callings as Christians to stand for the truth. We cannot stand on the sidelines while evil prevails. God promises His favor to those who stand for Him and His truth, and the favor of God is worth far more than the approval of men. 

         As it has been said, “All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing.” As one of the greatest Christian lights to face the evils of the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, said, “To not speak is to speak. To do nothing is to do something.” There will be no neutrality in the ultimate battle between good and evil, so we must resolve now that we will not be silent, and we will do something. So, what can we do?

         First, we must resolve that we will live by faith in God and faith in His truth to prevail. For this reason, we will not be controlled by fear, but by faith in Him. We do this by standing for truth, and standing against lies and deception. Faith is the opposite of fear, and fear leads to cowardice. As we see in Revelation 21:8, the cowardly are the first to be thrown into the lake of fire, even before the murderers, sorcerers, idolaters, and the immoral. There is no place in Christianity for cowardice.

         A concern of many who study the biblical prophecies of the end of this age is about “the mark of the beast.” This is a mark that the evil one wants everyone to take if they are going to be able to “buy, sell, or trade” in the short time when evil is prevailing before The Lord and His kingdom come. For centuries Christians have tried to perceive the form in which this mark would come so that they would know not to take it, but by this they miss the point. The sin is not taking the mark, but worshipping the beast. The mark is just evidence that this is what one has done. 

         How do we worship the beast? We obey it. As we are told in Romans 6:16, we are slaves of the one we obey. As is written, those who take this mark are thrown into the lake of fire with the beast when The Lord comes. What will keep us from taking this mark is more than just knowing what form it will come in, but rather living by the courage that true faith in God will always be demonstrated by—the faith that would rather die to this life than compromise our trust in God alone by bowing to any other.

         Our American fathers and mothers, from the founders of our Republic to the present, may have made many mistakes and had plenty of flaws, but one thing as a nation we have not lacked is courage. It was courage to stand in the face of impossible odds that founded our country, and has since then stood up to every threat to our continued existence, and this will now be required of us. It is now our time. Courage is our American heritage. Will we preserve it?

         However, it takes more than courage to stand for truth—it takes the discernment to know the truth. Charles Spurgeon once said that he could find ten men who would die for The Bible for every one that would read it! As we proceed into these times, we must keep in mind what both Jesus and the apostles said would be a hallmark of these times—deception. What good will it do us to courageously die for the lie, for the agenda of the evil one? 

         If we love the truth, we must cast off the frivolous pursuits and distractions that waste of our life and time to seek the truth so as to find it. The ability to recognize the truth is the result of loving the truth with an unrelenting devotion to seek it until we have found it. God promised that if we seek it we will find it. Therefore, if we are deceived it is evidence that we did not care enough to seek it. 

         So, the judgment of the cowards and the deceived is just. “The next step” for us is to resolve today that we will live with courage, we will love the truth so as to seek it, and that we will not quit until we have found it. Today, if you have heard His voice, resolve that you will respond because tomorrow is not promised to any of us. 

         Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.

         But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

         For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 

         while it is said, ‘Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts…” (Hebrews 3:12-15).

         Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual…Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us. ~ John Hancock

         Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. ~Thomas Jefferson

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© 2020 by Rick Joyner. All rights reserved.