Enduring To The End

And Jesus answered and said unto them, 

Take heed that no man deceive you. For many 

shall come in My name, saying I am Christ; 

and shall deceive many......And because 

iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall 

wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, 

the same shall be saved. 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.

Matthew 24:4-5,12-14 

     Yesterday I traveled to the Veteran's Hospital in Sacramento to have the surgeon look upon the surgical sight and to give to me the report from the second pathologist. Good news: no liposarcoma, cancer. Now on to the next possible surgery but not for another two months. It has been, and it is not over, two years of surgery, and treatments, and it is not quite over: But.....God has not given to us a life that is not to have trials and tribulations, but He has given us the fact: He will be with us in all things! Now, this last trip on the shuttle was different in that on the way back home only the shuttle driver and men were in the van and we have known each other from those other many trips to Sacramento, and this gave us a time to talk. You see: God engineers things and we do not see this engineering until it has been accomplished and over. 

     Let me start with this from Aristotle, in Metaphysics, II, (III),1.: "Those who wish to succeed must ask the right preliminary questions" (Italics and bold type are mine for emphasis). 

     The shuttle driver, a good man in many ways, has what is to be found in many people: they love conspiracies! Conspiracies do happen, they do exist, but to know if a conspiracy is truth or a lie, one must examine and find reverences to either support or debunk a conspiracy. How can this be done with some success? ASK QUESTIONS! Then listen! This is true in life, in the Church, in your Christian walk to become an Authentic Christian, to have Authentic Christian Faith. To just believe is not the way to truth. The opening verses tell us, Jesus tells us that there will be some who will be deceivers, even in the Church. These deceivers will say that they have the truth about Christ, that they are presenting the truth about God and even expect you to just believe them, especially those who are eloquent speakers. Jesus adds a warning: we who desire to hold to the truth as it is revealed in Scripture: MUST ENDURE TO THE END! It is ok to accept on the surface what a man preaches or teaches but then to "inspect" "inspect what you expect." Those who do, those who endure to the end "WILL BE SAVED!" Is this important, to check, to test all things and hold on to the good? (1Thess. 5:21), YES! 

     Authentic Christian, those who are seeking the truth abut God, about Jesus Christ, is to have a real existence of a personal God. Not some ideal about God, an ideal that there must be a God, no, to learn from Scripture that there is a God and that you must develop a personal relationship with God, and Jesus is God, therefore to have a personal relationship with God is to have a personal relationship with Jesus, and to have a personal relationship with Jesus is to have a personal relationship with God. Without that belief no person can rightly appeal to Jesus. Jesus was a theist, for He believe in existence of God, and He had a rational theism as the basis of Christianity. To have logical confirmation of the belief in God is a vital concern to a Christian. True religion can have or make no peace with a false philosophy, a false theology, or even a false ideology. There are several, if not many, methods of arriving at truth, that is if the methods are valid methods, for all methods in the end will arrive at a harmonious result. It is to be found that in agnosticism, or Atheism, or liberal Christianity, that which sometimes is called "practical Christianity" or a "practical" religion is not Christianity at all, certainly not Authentic Christianity. A belief that many have about conspiracies has led to much infighting among the many denominations, led to Church splits, for other forms of worship, and to examine is good, but to never find that some of the infighting is not about "truth", no, it is fighting over indifference, and the differences are given less importance. We must allow indifference so long as they are upholding Authentic Christian Faith, not demeaning Authentic Christian Faith, no leading people to rely on indifference but to remain themselves in a relationship with God, with our Savior Jesus Christ and follow His commands and precepts. We must set the example to the world, to be the light of the world, not seen as little "sects" of Christianity, rather as a catholic Christian one of a large family of men and women, of children who love God and who are allowed to have valid indifference. The basis of Authentic Christianity is a belief in God, in the One sent by God, Jesus Christ, God Himself in hypostasis with man. No other way could our salvation have assurance. Endure in this belief in God, in Authentic Christian Faith and you will in the end be saved. John writes in a most famous verse (John 3:16) and the Greek word for "believes" is in literal translation, he who is "believing presently," will be saved. 

    Is God real in your life, not by some experiential happening, is He real at all times, do you have a relationship with Him, or with some experience?

LORD, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle?

     Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh

    righteousness, and speaketh the truth

in his heart.

                   Psalm 15:1-2

The Most Practical Thing: Personal Relationship with God

Richard L. Crumb