Prof. Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (September 2012)
Christians are often of the opinion that great men of God do not sometimes have serious doubts on God or His Word, and that their faith never falters when they are subjected to difficult tests. This perception is far removed from the truth. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, was severely persecuted as a Christian and also imprisoned for extended periods of time because of his doctrinal differences with the Church of England. There were even times of despair and doubt in his life because of the vicious attacks by the enemy of his soul. At the end of his book, Grace abounding to the chief of sinners, John Bunyan says:
“Of all the temptations that ever I met with in my life, to question the being of God, and the truth of His gospel, is the worst, and the worst to be borne; when this temptation comes, it takes away my girdle from me, and removeth the foundations from under me. Oh, I have often thought of that word, ‘Have your loins girt about with truth’ (Eph. 6:14); and of that, ‘When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ (Ps. 11:3).
“Sometimes, when, after sin committed, I have looked for sore chastisement from the hand of God, the very next that I have had from Him hath been the discovery of His grace. Sometimes, when I have been comforted, I have called myself a fool for my so sinking under trouble ...
“I have sometimes seen more in a line of the Bible than I could well tell how to stand under, and yet at another time the whole Bible hath been to me as dry as a stick; or rather, my heart hath been so dead and dry unto it, that I could not conceive the least drachm of refreshment, though I have looked it all over.
“Of all tears, they are the best that are made by the blood of Christ; and of all joy, that is the sweetest that is mixed with mourning over Christ. Oh! it is a goodly thing to be on our knees, with Christ in our arms, before God. I hope I know something of these things.
“I find to this day seven abominations in my heart: 1. Inclinings to unbelief. 2. Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ manifesteth. 3. A leaning to the works of the law. 4. Wanderings and coldness in prayer. 5. To forget to watch for that I pray for. 6. Apt to murmur because I have no more, and yet ready to abuse what I have. 7. I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my corruptions will thrust in themselves, ‘When I would do good, evil is present with me’ (Rom. 7:21).
“These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with; yet the wisdom of God doth order them for my good: 1. They make me abhor myself; 2. they keep me from trusting my heart; 3. they convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness; 4. they show me the necessity of flying to Jesus; 5. they press me to pray unto God; 6. they show me the need I have to watch and be sober; and 7. they provoke me to look to God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world” (end of quotation).
It is important to note that John Bunyan regarded these times of doubt, temptations and trials as opportunities to be spiritually restored and strengthened as he firmly believed that God can make all these things to work together for good. He was urged on by the negative experiences to again surrender himself to the Lord by virtue of Christ’s work of grace, and to rely even less on himself and his own achievements.
There are various circumstances which may all negatively impact on our life of faith, and we should learn how to handle and overcome them if we wish to prevail over negative experiences and evil attacks. The following are examples of situations which may erode our faith:
1. There are occasions when God’s voice seemingly becomes silent in our lives, and during such times it may feel as if God has forsaken us. According to James 4:3, we may pray unanswered prayers because of praying with wrong motives. The glory of the Lord, the expansion of His kingdom and the spiritual interests of people should always take precedence over material needs in our prayers. If we mainly pray for the perishable things of this world (health, wealth, etc.) then we do not have clear promises to stand on and will most likely be disappointed. That may be the reason for an unfulfilled spiritual life. Even when we do pray for other people’s spiritual awakening and growth, we need perseverance in order not to become despondent. All people have a free will and they can resist the Holy Spirit as long as they wish. But when we pray for them the Lord intervenes and gives them more chances to be saved.
2. Christians who consider entering into a spiritual ministry, or plan to perform a specific task for the Lord, are viciously attacked by the devil. He aims his fiery darts at them, which may even include blasphemous thoughts about the Lord, or an inclination towards absolute unbelief. By so doing he tries to discourage them from proceeding with their plans. Paul also experienced such attacks: “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9). We should not accept defeat but face the challenge and be determined to overcome all resistance. The Lord can change every negative situation into a spiritual asset. Paul was a special instrument in the hand of the Lord, and God made great revelations to him. But he had to pass through a hard learning school to ensure that his important calling did not render him great in his own eyes: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Cor. 12:7-9).
3. The testing of faith may weaken some people’s faith if they do not respond to it in the proper way. However, the Lord always allows testing and trials over believers with a positive purpose, particularly when they are carnal and not perfect in their walk with Him. He chastises us “for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:10-11). Some people handle such trials in a wrong way, thereby falling short of the grace of God and allowing a root of bitterness to spring up in their hearts because of what has happened to them (Heb. 12:15). They do not see the Lord’s hand in their experiences and rather blame their problems on His alleged absence from their lives.
4. A severe spiritual struggle may also undermine our faith. Paul suffered intensely under attacks of the devil, almost to the point of despair, but he stood firm in the faith until the victory was achieved and the evil forces had receded: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9). He was attacked because of his faith, and not chastised because of carnality. As was the case centuries later with John Bunyan, the Lord had a special purpose with Paul’s imprisonment as he was, through circumstances, forced to write letters to churches in stead of personally delivering the messages to them. In this way he unwittingly made an exceedingly important contribution to the New Testament canon and thereby, through the centuries, reached millions of people all over the world. In stead of being annoyed and disappointed because of his unpleasant circumstances, he took up the pen and started writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
5. Another cause of dampening people’s spiritual life is depression. This is a dark emotional condition which has a highly detrimental effect on the spirit and mind of its victim. Depression leaves one with feelings of uselessness or abandonment by God. It is important, firstly, to determine the cause of this negative disposition. People either suffer from endogenous or reactive depression. Endogenous depression is related to a condition of physical illness, including disorders such as hormonal imbalance. These problems call for medical therapy. Reactive depression is caused by detrimental influences on the level of your mind, emotions and spirit. You often react emotionally to certain negative situations such as trauma, persistent bad news, divorce, unpleasant circumstances at your work, continuous criticism against you, a financial crisis (e.g. threatening bankruptcy), dark prospects in your country or in the world, and spiritual deception and doubts. Such problems need to be properly attended to, while also making a new surrender to the Lord and trusting Him to give you strength to cope with your problems. To a Christian there is always the hope on a bright future with the Lord, as well as promises on divine intervention to alleviate your immediate problems.
6. Backslidden believers are frequently attacked by the devil, who suggests to them that the Lord had forsaken them because of their persistent sinning. However, thoughts of this nature are utterly false because they originate from the father of lies. As long as a person is still troubled by his sin, the Holy Spirit continues to convict him of sin with a view to restoring him spiritually. There are, however, extreme cases of people who commit unpardonable sins by blaspheming the Holy Spirit or continuously resisting Him in a rude manner. Such people’s hearts become as hard and insensitive as a stone (1 Sam. 25:37), and in that condition they have no remorse over sin or any desire to be reconciled to the Lord. The Holy Spirit no longer convicts them of sin because He has departed from them (Heb. 6:4-6; 10:28-31). However, these are cases of utter apostatising. Most backsliders are like the prodigal son, and to them the way remains open to be restored to the Father’s house (Luke 15:11-32).
Do not accept defeat in the fight of the faith (1 Tim. 6:12). With reference to various kinds of tribulation and distress experienced by believers, Paul says: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37). Follow the biblical way of spiritual restoration, which will enable you to immediately resume your commission to be a witness for Christ (2 Cor. 2:14):
1. Hold on to the Lord’s promise that He will never leave nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5). He has promised that He would never cast out anyone who comes to Him (John 6:37). Jesus said, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day” (John 6:39). If you fulfil your commitment to abide in Christ, He will also abide in you and keep on protecting and sustaining you (John. 15:4-5). Only those who completely abandon their faith are facing a dark future (John 15:6).
2. Investigate the quality of your life of faith to ensure that it is still in a healthy state (2 Cor. 13:5). Determine whether there is any sin or unbelief in your life and ask the Lord to forgive you and cleanse you of all wickedness (Ps. 139:23-24). Do not allow negative emotions to undermine or question your faith. Persevere in holiness.
3. Keep on witnessing about the Lord and His goodness, even if you are heavily laden in your soul. Guard against any inclination to disengage from the Lord’s work when the enemy attacks you in any way. When we pass through the shadows of life we should know by faith that the darkness will soon be dispelled and that the sun will shine again. Delight yourself in the Lord, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
4. Every negative thought should be taken captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Resist all temptations and false suggestions by standing immovably on the promises of the Bible. Ask the Lord to cleanse your heart and your mind, and to again fill you with His Spirit. The devil will ever try to remind you of your sins of the past, thereby luring you away on a guilt trip which leads away from your real status as a saved and forgiven person. Resist these thoughts and temptations, ask the Lord to help you forget what lies behind you (Phil. 3:13) and to make a new beginning of obedience to Him.
The Bible says that the end-time, shortly before the second coming of Christ, will be characterised by particularly demanding conditions. It is important that we should take note of these warnings because we are living in the end-time. The present conditions in the world are reminiscent of those that prevailed during the times of Noah and Lot (Luke 17:26-30), and therefore indicative of the fact that people will become excessively materialistic, utterly immoral and extremely evil. They will carelessly proceed with their sinful lifestyle until the day when the Lord removes the believers to a place of safety before pouring out His wrath upon the unbelievers.
The faith of Christians will, like never before, be tested by these conditions, and many of them will not have the spiritual strength and commitment to survive the perils posed by apostatising in society. The following phenomena are typical of the end-time, and we will have to prevail over them if we wish to prevent becoming part of the problem:
1. Deception and apostasy. In the end-time most people on earth, except for a relatively small group of evangelical Christians, will yield to the most extreme forms of spiritual deception. By means of a great falling away from spiritual and moral standards, humanity will be prepared on the coming of the Antichrist, who will be the man of sin and the false messiah of all faiths (Rev. 13:3-4). There will be a widespread denial of the clear teachings of the Bible with a view to changing the personal characteristics and divine attributes of the Lord Jesus to such an extent that in the eyes of deceived people He becomes conformable to the image of the Antichrist. He will appear on earth on behalf of all religions, and they will all accept and worship him (John 5:43; Rev. 13:3-4). Multireligious thinking will also lead to the transformation of the God of the Bible into the universal God of all faiths. All these things will be the consequence of demonic deception aimed at destroying a biblical faith: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). It is obvious that the influence of the majority of deceived people will put great pressure on evangelical Christianity and ultimately lead to their persecution.
2. Apostatising churches. Most of the large denominations in the end-time will succumb to the pressure of deception by being unfaithful towards the true Jesus of the Bible, and eventually prepare the way for the revelation of the Antichrist, who will be the adversary of Jesus and all true believers: “That day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself ... so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:3-4). How is it possible that churches will fall away from the truth so easily? They will become victims of the power of delusion, and will also be drawn away from the truth by popular pressure to reform: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned away to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4. This movement of abandoning the truth will become so big and strong that evangelical Christians will be blasphemed, banned from churches and persecuted. Peter refers to “false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed” (2 Pet. 2:1-2). Only those who are spiritually strong will be able to remain standing against this mounting force of false doctrines.
3. Preparations to sanctify the bride. In the end-time, Christians will also experience that the Lord prepares them for the meeting with Him, and it may be a painful process to be delivered from domination by the world and the flesh: “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing-floor, and gather the wheat into His barn” (Luke 3:17). The bride of Christ should be pure, without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:25-27). The experience of sanctification and filling with the Holy Spirit is always preceded by emptying us and purifying us from everything in our lives that does not please the Lord. We should be blameless in holiness at the coming of Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 3:13; 5:23-24). Afflictions aimed at testing and purifying us may be highly traumatic but worthwhile if they contribute towards the strengthening of our relationship with the Lord. We must always be mindful of the final objective with such experiences: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him ... for He chastises us for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness” (Heb. 12:5, 10).
4. Distress which will be caused by the judgements of God. The most severe form of distress that will befall people in the end-time will occur during the judgements of the great tribulation: “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26). Unprecedented earthquakes will take place: “... and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth” (Rev. 16:18). Giant tsunamis will be caused that will submerge low-lying coastal areas in many countries. No wonder that people’s hearts will fail from fear and anxiety when the earth is shaken violently and the sea and waves start roaring in an ominous way. These disasters will be aggravated by heavenly bodies which will strike the earth with great devastation. These disasters will also cause serious air pollution. John says, “There was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth” (Rev. 6:12-13). People will be panic-stricken and flee from cities where buildings will collapse due to severe quakes. They will realise that the Lord is judging them for rejecting His Son, Jesus Christ. In great despair they will cry out to the mountains and the rocks: “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17).
Much graver anxieties than the present problems are awaiting the inhabitants of this wicked world. In His prophetic discourse, the Lord Jesus has warned against a coming great tribulation that will be unprecedented in the entire human history (Matt. 24:21). We should weather the present storms and distress by a strong faith because they are only the beginning of much more terrible sorrows that are destined to come. We should be sanctified and well prepared to appear with boldness before the heavenly Bridegroom when He comes: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36; cf. 1 John 2:28).