Posted Feb 29, 2016 by Michael L. Brown

I hear it all the time, and as quickly as I hear it, I reject it.

It is a paralyzing, destructive mentality, and it is unbiblical—plain and simple.

I'm talking about the mindset that says, "Jesus told us everything will get worse, so why bother trying to bring about change?"

Can you imagine what church history would like if Paul and Peter felt that way in the first century or if Wesley and Wilberforce felt that way in the 18th and 19th centuries?

Why fight against infanticide in the early church? Jesus said things will only get worse.

Why fight against slavery in Great Britain and America? Jesus said things will only get worse.

Why fight against apartheid in South Africa? Jesus said things will only get worse.

Why even oppose the Nazis? Jesus said things will only get worse.

Do you see how paralyzing this mentality can be?

In response to my video message challenging the Charlotte City Council to vote against an extreme, LGBT activist bill—it was dubbed "the bathroom bill"—someone posted this on my YouTube channel:

"I admire your spirit Dr Brown ... but you know this is fighting the Hand of God. Can you possibly win? Can you possibly even HOPE to win? He said that these days will come. So how is it that you, a man who serves that same God, fights against Him? He says it WILL happen, and you try to STOP it. Is that not fighting against God? No. Instead, praise Him because His Word IS Truth, and preach ENDURANCE and LONG SUFFERING and HOPE. Those are better messages. Trying to stop the Word of God, however, ... is futile."

With all respect to the person who posted the comment, this is absolute rubbish.

Fighting the Hand of God? Fighting against God? Trying to stop the Word of God? Nonsense!

Oh yes, I fully affirm the need to "preach ENDURANCE and LONG SUFFERING and HOPE," and those themes go hand and hand with our actions in Charlotte.

But the idea that we are fighting against the inevitable collapse of society in our day—even fighting against God—is an idea to be resisted and rejected.

If you don't mind my asking, please tell me where Jesus said that from the year 2016 until His return, things will only get worse. Would you be kind enough to provide the chapter and verse?

You might reply, "In Matthew 24, Jesus predicted mass deception and mass apostasy," but it appears you still miss the point.

Aside from asking which portions of Matthew 24 referred more directly to the events leading up to 70 A.D.—in other words, to events that took place almost 2,000 years ago—the obvious question is: How do you know that His words apply to today rather than to 100 years from today? Who gave you the insight that we were in the closing years of the era and that all we could expect was gloom and doom?

If Jonathan Edwards had believed this in the 1700s, he never would have called the churches together to pray for awakening.

The same could be said for every revival in history: If the believers in each generation thought that the apostasy and darkness and moral corruption they were witnessing indicated that Jesus was coming any minute and that positive change was impossible, they never would have sought God for revival and the world would be in massively worse shape today.

I came to faith in 1971 when Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth was all the rage, and we knew that any day now, Jesus was coming back. The signs of the times were all there!

I was 16 at that time. Next month, I turn 61. And Jesus still has not returned.

What makes you so sure that you have figured it all out and that we should simply capitulate and cave in? What makes you so sure that it's time to throw in the towel and let the devil and the world take over? Is this even a remotely biblical mentality?

You might say, "But things have never been as bad as they are today."

I suggest you study history more carefully before coming to that conclusion, but even if you're right, that's what other generations have said about their days as well, and the Lord moved mightily with great outpouring and harvest.

Who's to say He hasn't saved the best for last?

The fact is that a truly biblical mentality is a victorious, faith-filled, overcoming mentality, a mentality of hope and triumph and expectation.

Jesus is risen, and Jesus is Lord!

That's all I need to know.

And Jesus told us that: 1) All authority is heaven and Earth is His; 2) in His name and authority, we are to go and make disciples of the nations; and 3) He is with us always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20).

Where, then, is there room for discouragement? Where, then, is there room for a "throw in the towel" mentality?

And if we are successful in making disciples, won't that mean that positive change will come?

The biblical mentality is expressed by John, who told us that "the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining" (1 John 2:8).

Or in the words of Paul, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us take off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Rom. 13:12).

That is how we must live, and that is the attitude we must have as we stand for what is right, regardless of how dire things look and regardless of cost or consequence.

And that means that, until our dying day—or until Jesus returns, whichever comes first—the salt must stay salty and the light must stay bright (Matt. 5:13-16).

How else could a disciple possibly live?

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Dude posted a comment · Jul 24, 2016
2 Peter 3:11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, This is end time mentality. I don't agree with the guy that you are fighting against God as if He were creating the darkness. I will say that you are fighting the wrong battles. Here is the picture. Romans 2:17-24 gives a clear description of what is going on today in the church. How does the world see the church? They will all say they are hypocrites, and they are right. The church is what claims the knowledge of Jesus and preach out of His Word. The church boasts in the law. The world sees this, and the insane hypocrisy within and they laugh and mock it. Any reasoning being would. The church claims peace and freedom but the divorce rate, pornography, and all these things look just like the world! Sounds like false hope and a pitiable people to the world. Because of this, people wont consider seeking God through Jesus in His Word. The church makes the Holy Scriptures look foolish. You are blashpheming the Name of God. You might say that the church is not perfect, but is being perfected for the end time. If this is the case then none will be saved but the last generation. 1Jo 1:6 — 1Jo 1:7 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. It is not ok to think that because we are in a human, sinful body, that we cannot be perfect. We are new creations in Christ, born of His Spirit. That means, Rom 8:10 — Rom 8:11 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. This means that a believer has seen the Light and his own darkness and loves the Light. He loves righteousness and hates wickedness because he sees its destructive power over his spirit. This is the only safe place! John 3:21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” God's Word is that Light and it's power is in believing that it is all Truth and all authority. A righteous man holds close to the Light because he knows that sin crouches at the door. He has seen his darkness. 1Jo 1:8 — 1Jo 1:9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He knows it is there so he keeps close to the Word (Abiding in the Vine), so as to KNOW that his works are of God. Do not mistake perfection with never being able to sin again. In the Light, you are protected and free, but you must first recognize the Light. The church does not. Jesus is Wisdom from above. Wisdom is understanding of yourself. Yourself at the very core, is the image of God. That is where Jesus takes you. He takes you to the true you that He made from the beginning. A humble heart will find this path, and there is the life promised in our mortal body. This may seem like a sidetrack, but it is all tied together. Here is why you are fighting the wrong battles. As the world looks on, with the church "standing up for righteousness", protesting gay marriage and bathroom rights and all this stuff, the world sees you losing battle after battle. Jesus conquered all! Why are you always losing? Jesus was not meant to be known by His law, but by His freedom! The law makes sin known, we see it inside and ask for Wisdom to overcome and Jesus sets us free! This is the gospel! This thing you guys are portraying is that following Jesus is a rulebook. This is how the world sees you. His message is one of life, not rules! If you would learn what it means to follow Jesus according to His Word, only then will you be salt and light. Only then can you make a difference in people's live's. The true battle that needs fighting is the purification of the Bride of Christ, not of the world. Judgement begins with His people first. You cannot deny the state of this thing you call the church. The church is in Satan's hands. Purify yourself, washed in the water of His Word Alone! Here is the problem that needs addressing right now. What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? I ask you to share what your understanding is and let's look at it through Scripture. He is authority and Truth. Him alone! Jesus!