God has not forgotten His children nor has He forsaken the truth. Even though we believe that things could not get much worse in Christendom, the Church has been under this sort of attack in every age. In these ages God has raised up men who contended for the truth even if it appeared to cost them everything. Men such as Athenasius, Augustine, Wycliffe, Luther, Tyndale, Bunyan, and Owen all stood against the encroaching darkness in their day. They contended with those who were attempting to return to a perceived former, more pure religion.

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (NASB) 

23 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,

“And not a God far off?

24 “Can a man hide himself in hiding places

So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.

“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

25 “I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a dream, I had a dream!’ 26 How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, even these prophets of the deception of their own heart, 27 who intend to make My people forget My name by their dreams which they relate to one another, just as their fathers forgot My name because of Baal? Jeremiah 23:23-27 (NASB) 

Man is a fallen creature. He is flawed. He is forgetful. He is self-focused. He is incapable of knowing God without His divine intervention.

19 Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” Joshua 24:19-20 (NASB) 

There are only two groups of people. There are those who are known by God, the regenerate, who have their sins covered by the blood of the Lamb, and are Holy unto the Lord. The other group are those not known by God. They are unregenerate and are in their sins. They are of the World. These two groups are totally separate from one another on the Spiritual plane, but intermingled with one another on the Temporal plane. The first group has received that divine intervention and are now able to serve the LORD. The best the second group can do is be religious and their works unto the Lord are as filthy rags.

The Cross is the most important event in history. It was the culmination of God’s plan to redeem His people from their sins through the sacrifice of His beloved Son as their propitiation. None deserve this redemption and none are able to claim it because all are dead in their trespasses and sins. No, God must intervene into the lives of those He saves and by His grace. He regenerates them, enabling their faith to believe the truth. These repent and believe, receiving Christ as Lord and Saviour.

On the other hand, the enemy of the Souls of Men is a counterfeiter. He is a deceiver and that is why our Lord called Him the Devil. From the very beginning of God intervening into the lives of His people, there has been convoluted confusion emanating from Satan and his seed. Remember, God is not the author of confusion amongst His people, but of succinct truth and light. Where there is doctrinal confusion within the visible Church, there is the fingerprint of our enemy.

Our enemy, the counterfeiter, cannot thwart the truth. God preserves His truth and Satan was defeated at the Cross of Christ. Satan is not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent, but God is all of that and infinitely more. In his defeat, Satan’s kingdom was overrun by God’s grace. He has no power to steal salvation from anyone whom God saves. However, he can and does attack the faith of believers. God uses this to test their faith. This testing strengthens genuine faith, but reveals disingenuous faith.

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:2-8 (NASB)

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