Stand on His ground

Scriptural Readings: Matthew 24:6-8,13-14

King James Version

Matthew 24

v.6  And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

v.7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 

v.8 All these [are] the beginning of sorrows.

New Living Translation

v.6  And you will hear of wars and threat of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things  must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately.

v.7  Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes and many parts of the world.

v.8  But all this is only the first of birth pains, with more to come.

It seems that what is happening today is becoming clearer as days pass for Christians and as Christians we should be well aware of what is going on. We have been reading, hearing and seeing a lot of the worst news ever in our lives. What do these things tell us? Where are we heading?

A lot of us today who live in different parts of this world whether a Christian or not, we are definitely somehow affected by what is happening on this planet. While this is written, there are some countries who are having a conventional war. People are suffering and dying because we are plagued by a virus. Unemployment rises, political instability threatens almost every country in the world. Economy is on the brink of collapsing. We cannot deny the fact that uncertainties continue to intensify as days go by. What do these things sum up to? 

See that ye be not troubled…

The Lord Jesus said that we should not be troubled, alarmed or panicked. These are His words. There should be no reason why we should not believe and follow it, and as Christians, if we are not to follow the things that He instructed us, it is going to be a disaster for sure at the end for all of us if we continue to ignore these things that we are asked to do by our Lord Jesus.

What about the good news? Will there be good news? Or some will say that there is no more good news happening today neither will there be happening in the future.

There is a good news.

King James Version

v. 13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

v.14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

New Living Translation

v. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

v.14  And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

Nobody knows when the end will come. It is only our Heavenly Father knows, but what is very clear right now is that the signs are for real, and we cannot deny it and as we go on reading the whole chapter to the end, it tells us that we have to be strong in the Lord.

The big question now is are we strong in Him. It is indeed a scary feeling of what is happening today, but we have to endure. How? Verse 13 said those who will endure will be at the end and be saved. The word “endure” in Greek is “hupomeno”. Hupomeno comes from the root words hupo and meno meaning “stay behind” or in other words remain;  figuratively it means persevere- abide.

Jesus the son of the living God wants us to remain, persevere and abide in Him. We should stand on His ground. As soon as we stand on His ground, we will have fortitude. We are going to be immovable. We are the ones who will proclaim and preach the Good News about the KIngdom. If we stand on the ground of the good news, the finished work at cavalry, we will have the task of spreading the good news. This is the strongest ground that we will be standing on as Christians. This is the ground where the foundation of our salvation was fortified and this is the ground we are to stand on as we go through with our Christian lives.

We are always given the option where to stand on.  It is important that we have to stand on something otherwise we are going to be miserable with our lives. We have to remember that we humans have the tendency to lean on or stand on something if we are in distress. This is our nature. We need a saviour. We need God through Jesus Christ. No one goes through the Father but through Him.

We can continue to stand on the ground where we cannot be sure of what will be for us at the end or stand on the ground where Jesus our Lord and Saviour promised us that we cannot be moved. Let the Holy Spirit guide us. Let us always have a prayerful life that the Holy Spirit will protect, sanctify and empower us on these times of trouble.  

Heavenly Father, we are always weak. We can never be strong without Your Son Jesus. We come to Your throne of grace. Help us with our frailties and weaknesses. Cleanse us from our iniquities and let Your Holy Spirit comfort us in times of uncertainties. In the mighty name of Your son Jesus, our Lord and Saviour we pray. Amen.