The Seven Calls of the Lord Jesus Christ (7) – The Seventh Call: Be Faithful Until Death!

The Seven Calls of the Lord Jesus Christ
The Seventh Call: Be Faithful Until Death!

Download PDF:
https://od.lk/f/MV8zMzk4NTU3MTBf
https://od.lk/fl/MV8xODI0MzMzNl8

https://on.soundcloud.com/8JjGTdXSCDWatR8i7

Please share this website with all your friends and family members. Thank you, and God bless.

All the Bible verses quoted in this article are from the King James Version.

The Seventh Call: Be Faithful Until Death!

On the path of following the Lord, we will face many difficulties, including all forms of temptation and trial. The Holy Spirit had Barnabas and Paul warn those who had accepted the salvation of *God: “We must go through many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.”

“And when they had preached the Gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:21-22).

These Bible verses dispel the heresy that says, “Once saved, always saved.” Because a saved person must overcome all difficulties, that is, all temptations and trials, to enter the Kingdom of God. If someone cannot enter the Kingdom of God, there is only one place left for them: hell.

In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), the seeds fall on four different types of ground. The wayside represents the hardened heart of the unsaved. The rocky soil, thorny ground, and good soil all represent hearts that joyfully receive the Gospel and are saved. However, some cannot endure suffering for the Lord’s name, some love the world too much or worry about material needs, and they are not faithful to the Lord; their faith dies, and they lose their salvation because they return to living in sin. Many are called, but few are chosen! The narrow gate and the narrow way that few enter are like this!

A trial is something *God allows to happen in order to train us and to give us the opportunity to demonstrate our faith in Him and show our faithfulness to Him. Trials always come from *God, as *God tested Abraham (Genesis 22). Temptation, on the other hand, is something that humans and demons create to entice us to sin. The same event can be both a temptation and a trial. The Bible uses a single word for both temptation and trial. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is a classic example of a verse that includes both the meanings of temptation and trial. It should be translated as follows:

“No temptation or trial has overtaken you except what belongs to human nature. *God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted or tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted or tested, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

All temptations from humans and demons, that is, those that entice us to sin, are allowed by God to happen to us, and therefore, they also become trials from God. A prime example is when God allowed Satan to tempt Job. Everything that Satan did to Job was both a temptation from Satan and a trial from God. However, if we place ourselves in an environment where we are tempted, that is a temptation we willingly seek out, not a trial from God, and we will certainly sin. The moment we entertain the idea of entering a tempting environment, we have already sinned by wanting to sin or being ready to sin. Consider the following examples:

Example 1: A young man steps into an elevator where there is already a provocatively dressed woman. Upon realizing that they are alone, he immediately steps out and waits for the next elevator. This is someone who knows how to avoid a tempting environment, adhering to the principle of cutting off and casting away anything that might cause him to sin (Matthew 5:29-30).

Example 2: In the same scenario as Example 1, the young man intentionally enters the elevator to indulge in the sight of the provocative woman, harboring lustful thoughts and even attempting to flirt. This is someone living according to the desires of the flesh, seeking to fulfill sinful cravings. Such a person is sure to fall into sin, as his heart is inclined toward it.

Example 3: On a street, one side is littered with trash and dog feces, while the other side is clean. Which side would a normal person with a purpose for walking down the street choose?

Example 4: A man and woman who are getting to know each other go into a private room and close the door to talk. They have placed themselves in a tempting environment where Satan will try to tempt them to commit sexual immorality. At the very least, they will be guilty of committing adultery in their thoughts.

In truth, a person who believes in the Lord but still commits sin has not genuinely repented and turned away from sin. They might sincerely believe in the Lord and understand all the truths of the Word of God, but because they still love sin, they continue to commit it. The Bible clearly states:

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).

Therefore, eloquent preaching, vibrant testimony, and tearful repentance are not evidence that a person has been saved; rather, the fact that they know how to avoid temptation and no longer intentionally commit sin is the true evidence of salvation. We must remember that being saved primarily means being saved from the power of sin and no longer being compelled by sin to commit it. A person who still indulges in the pleasures of sin and continues to sin to satisfy those pleasures is clearly still a slave to sin. And a person who is still a slave to sin is a person who has not been saved. A person who has not been saved is one who has not truly repented. There is no way a person who has genuinely repented of their sins and accepted the Lord’s salvation would not be delivered from the power of sin and would still enjoy sinful pleasures.

The call: “Be faithful until death!” is recorded in Revelation 2:10:

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

Through this call, we understand that faithfulness to the Lord can only be demonstrated when we suffer for His name. Suffering for the Lord’s name is certain and often occurs in the life of a follower of Christ. This is what it means to take up our cross daily and follow Him. Taking up one’s cross means each person will have different sufferings in the Lord’s name. These sufferings will happen every day in our lives. All these sufferings are unjust, imposed on God’s people by the devil and the world.

The sufferings for the Lord’s name, imposed unjustly by the devil and the world, are already many hardships. We should not add to our burden by placing ourselves in environments of temptation. When we create opportunities for ourselves to be tempted, the devil has full authority to tempt us to sin, and *God will not intervene because we have made that choice. In such cases, the temptation will be beyond our ability to endure, and we will surely sin.

Every time we sin, whether it’s just a lie or a fleeting impure thought, we are being unfaithful to the Lord and desecrating His holy blood, the blood that cleanses us from our sins.

Faithfulness is not an option; it is the inherent nature of the true children of *God, those who are born of God. As the proverb says, “Like father, like son!” *God is faithful, and so are His children. Indeed, only those who are faithful to the Lord will enter His kingdom. The following Bible verses are worthy of our reflection:

“Whosoever is born of *God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of *God” (1 John 3:9 ).

“For whatsoever is born of *God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4 ).

“We know that whosoever is born of *God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of *God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 John 5:18 ).

That being said, it doesn’t mean that the true children of *God, while still living in this fleshly body, will never sin again.

Sin can occur because we fail to recognize it as sin. This is because we are not diligent in reading the Word of God, meditating day and night, and carefully obeying it.

Sin can happen because we are not vigilant, and we impulsively follow the reactions of the flesh.

Sin can occur because we disregard the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

But the true children of God cannot intentionally sin, cannot think, cannot plan to sin, cannot seek to conceal the intention to sin, and then hide the sinful behavior.

When we are saints, living only for God, living by God, and living in God, then we will respond enthusiastically to the seventh call: “Be Faithful unto Death!” The fullness of God’s holy spirit leads to faithfulness to God unto death. And both are the fruit of the one who truly belongs to God and entirely lives in God. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles” (Matthew 7:16)?

Best wishes to you, dear children of *God, may you always stand firm in the grace of *God until the day of the Lord’s return: “And the very *God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray *God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
05/03/2014