The modern Church is more interested in entertaining goats than feeding sheep.
So when the shaking comes, and it will come, those who have built their faith on sand
will fall just as Jesus said. They’ve embraced a gospel of convenience, not the Gospel of the Cross.
The problem with modern Christianity is that it has replaced the true Gospel with a false one. What we call Gospel today is often nothing more than a motivational pep talk wrapped in a few Bible verses and a lot of emotion.
It’s not the Gospel that Jesus preached. It’s not the Gospel that cost the apostles their lives. It’s not the gospel that calls men to die to themselves, take up their cross, and follow Christ.
Instead, we’ve sold people a counterfeit, a message that tells them God loves them just as they are and wants nothing more than to bless them, fix their problems, and fulfill their dreams.
But that’s not the Gospel. That’s a lie. When you preach a Gospel that does not
include repentance, you leave people in their sin. When you tell them all they
have to do is accept Jesus without explaining the cost of disciplehip,
you’re not saving them.
You’re deceiving them. Salvation is not a simple hand raise or a recited prayer. It’s not about walking an aisle or feeling a tingle in your spine during a worship song. Salvation is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit where a dead heart is made alive, a
sinner is granted repentance, and a rebel becomes a servant of Christ.
Anything less is not conversion. It’s counterfeit. So many in the Church today claim to follow Jesus, but their lives bear no fruit. They’ve never turned from their sin. They’ve never surrendered their will. They’ve never experienced conviction.
And yet they’re assured by pastors and leaders that they are saved.
Why?
Because they made a decision. Because they joined a church, because they got baptized as a child. But Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of Heaven.” He said, “The way is narrow and few find it.” Few, not the majority, not the masses, few.
This false gospel has created a generation of false converts. People who think they are Christians but
have never been born again. And when the tribulation comes, when the
pressure mounts, when the cost of following Christ becomes real, these people will fall away. Not because they
lost their salvation, but because they never had it. They followed a god of their own
imagination, not the god of scripture. They believed a gospel that served them, not a gospel
that saved them. The true gospel is offensive. It tells you that you are a sinner,
that you deserve hell, and that there is nothing you can do to save yourself.
It tells you that your good works are filthy rags, your righteousness is worthless, and your only hope is the
mercy of God found in the blood of Jesus Christ. That’s not a popular message. That’s not a secret friendly message,
but it’s the only message that saves. If we’re going to endure what’s coming, we
must get this right. You cannot survive the fire with a false gospel. You cannot
stand in the face of persecution if you’ve been trained to believe that Christianity is all about prosperity and
comfort. The tribulation will be the great sifting. And many who filled pews,
sang songs, and wore crosses around their necks will be exposed as frauds.
Because when the cost is too high, they’ll walk away. Why? Because they were never truly his. So examine the
foundation. Test the message you believe. Is it rooted in the word of God
or in cultural convenience? Does it call you to die or does it promise you your
best life? Now, the gospel is not about you. It’s about Christ. And until you
embrace that truth, you will not stand. You will not endure. You will not
overcome. The tribulation will reveal what you truly believe and who you truly follow.
We have produced an entire generation of believers who have no theology of
suffering. They have been taught that following Christ is supposed to be easy, that
faith will protect them from hardship, and that a blessed life is one free of difficulty.
This is not biblical. This is not Christian. This is deception.
The Bible does not hide suffering from the believer. It prepares him for it. Jesus did not say if trouble come, he
said in this world you will have tribulation. Paul did not suggest that persecution might happen. He declared
all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
And yet we have people sitting in churches all across the world who have
no idea how to suffer well because they’ve never been taught what
the Bible says about affliction. Instead of being prepared for the fire, they’ve been promised ease. They’ve been told
that if they just pray hard enough, tithe consistently, and declare blessings over their lives, then nothing
bad will happen to them. So when sickness strikes, when tragedy comes, when the world turns against them, they
don’t know what to do. Their faith collapses under the weight of reality because it was never rooted
in truth. It was built on sand, not stone. The early church rejoiced in
suffering. They counted it a privilege to be beaten, imprisoned, and even killed for the name of Christ. Why?
because they understood that suffering is not a detour from the Christian life.
It’s part of the path. They knew that tribulation purifies, strengthens, and
conforms us to the image of Christ. But in the modern church, we see suffering
as a sign that something has gone wrong, not that something is going right. This
is why most Christians today will not endure the tribulation, because we’ve raised them on cotton candy instead of
the meat of the word. We’ve protected them from pain instead of preparing them for persecution.
We’ve convinced them that suffering is a failure of faith instead of a fruit of faith. So when the tribulation begins,
when believers are hated, hunted, imprisoned, and even killed,
many will walk away not because Christ failed them, but because they’re never told who Christ truly is. Jesus
suffered. The apostles suffered. The early church suffered. Why would we think we are exempt? The same Jesus who
calms the storm also slept through it. He didn’t promise us comfort. He
promised us a cross. And yet pastors today avoid this truth because it
doesn’t fill seats. It doesn’t build brands. It doesn’t sell books.
But truth is not measured by how popular it is. It’s measured by how faithful it
is to the word of God. And here is the hard truth. A faith that cannot endure suffering is not a saving faith.
If your Christianity only works when life is good, then it will fail when life turns dark.
The tribulation will be unlike anything the world has seen. It will crush the superficial and expose the shallow. Only
those who have been trained to suffer well, who have anchored their hope in
eternity will endure. So stop asking God to take away the fire. Ask him to refine
you in it. Stop measuring your faith by how easy your life is.
Measure it by how faithfully you cling to Christ when everything else falls apart. Because the days are coming and
they are near. when suffering will no longer be occasional but constant.
And when it comes, the question will not be whether you go to church, whether you post Bible verses or whether you sing
worship songs. And the question will be this. Can you suffer for Christ and
still rejoice? Can you lose everything and still say he
is enough? If you cannot answer that now, you will
not endure then. One of the greatest reasons most Christians will not endure
the tribulations because they love the world far too much.
Their hearts are tied to the comforts, the pleasures, the systems, and the
approval of this present age. And scripture is clear. You cannot serve two
masters. You cannot love the world and love God. Do not love the world or the things in
the world. John warns, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not
in him.” Yet, the modern church is full of people
whose affections are more aligned with culture than with the kingdom. Their
identity is shaped more by trends and politics than by truth. Their loyalty is
to self, not the Savior. They speak of Jesus with their mouths, but their lives
testify that he is not Lord. They want salvation without surrender, blessings
without obedience, heaven without holiness. But Jesus said plainly, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny
himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” That’s not a message of worldly ease. That’s a call to die.
And dying to this world is not optional. It is essential. When the tribulation
begins, the dividing line will be unmistakable. Allegiance to Christ will mean rejection
by the world. It will mean losing jobs, status, rights, and freedoms. It will
mean being hated, slandered, and hunted. And those who have grown comfortable in
the system of this world will not stand. Why? Because they’re not willing to let go.
They’ve built their lives around careers, entertainment, influence, and comfort. They’ve put down deep roots in
a dying world. So, when they’re faced with the choice between Christ and comfort, many will choose comfort.
When following Jesus costs them their position, their wealth, their family, or even
their life, they will walk away.
Just like the rich young ruler, this is why the love of the world is so dangerous. It numbs you to the urgency
of eternity. It seduces you with temporary pleasures while blinding you to the coming
judgment. It makes you feel safe while you’re drifting toward destruction. And
the devil doesn’t need to convince you to deny Jesus openly. He only needs to convince you to value the world more
than you value him. That’s enough to make you fall. We live in a generation that treats Jesus like
an accessory. Something to wear when convenient. Something to display on Sundays, but not something to define
every part of life. But Christ is not a supplement. He is not an add-on. He is
king. And he will not share his throne with anything or anyone. The tribulation will
demand exclusive loyalty. There will be no room for divided hearts.
You will either bow to the lamb or to the beast. You will either walk by faith
or live in fear and many will take the mark not because they hate Jesus but because they love
the world more. We must examine ourselves now. What are we holding on to that we would hesitate to lose for
Christ? What comforts are we unwilling to surrender? What opinions of man are
we afraid to lose? If there’s anything we would not gladly give up for him,
then our hearts are not ready. And if our hearts are not ready, we will not
endure. The tribulation will not create compromisers. It will reveal them. It
will expose every false allegiance and every idol we’ve hidden behind religion.
And those who love the world will find themselves standing outside the kingdom, not because God failed them, but because
they never truly followed him. They followed safety, success,
popularity, but not the savior. So if you would endure the tribulation, you must let go
of this world. You must cling to Christ with both hands. Because when the shaking comes, only those who have
forsaken the world already will have the strength to stand. One of the most sobering realities about
the coming tribulation is that most who profess Christ will not endure because
they lack the Holy Spirit. That may sound offensive to a generation
raised on emotional experiences, spiritual catchphrases, and feel-good worship services, but the truth must be
told. There are many who attend church, raise their hands in praise, speak
Christian language, and even serve in ministry, yet they are spiritually dead. They have religion, but they do not have
regeneration. And in the day of testing, that absence of true inddwelling power
will be their downfall. The Holy Spirit is not a feeling. He is not goosebumps
during a song or tears during a sermon. He is the third person of the trinity, the spirit of truth, the seal of
salvation, and the power that enables the believer to endure, to overcome, and
to obey Christ even in the face of suffering. Without him, you cannot
stand. Without him, you cannot remain faithful when the cost becomes unbearable. Without him, you cannot
remain faithful. When the cost becomes unbearable, the tribulation will not be
survived through human effort. emotional hype or group identity. Only those
filled with the spirit of the living God will endure to the end.
Jesus said in John 14:17 that the world cannot receive the spirit because it
neither sees him nor knows him. And today much of the visible church is
worldly. They are captivated by emotions, programs, lights, and culture.
but they have no intimacy with God. They know the language of the spirit but they do not know the spirit himself. They
talk about power but live in defeat. They speak of revival but continuing
compromise. This disconnect is not just dangerous, it is damning. The spirit of
God does more than make you feel spiritual. He sanctifies you. He
convicts you of sin. He produces fruit. real fruit, holiness,
boldness, endurance, love of truth, hatred of sin, the ability to suffer for Christ without
turning back. If these things are not present in your life, you need to ask
yourself, am I truly born again? The tribulation will be a furnace and only
those who are spiritfilled will survive the heat. The counterfeit will be consumed. Many will fold not because
they didn’t love the idea of Jesus, but because they never truly belonged to
him. Romans 8:9 is clear. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does
not belong to him. This is not optional. This is essential. In that day, your
denomination will not save you. Your church attendance record will not shield you. Your emotional memories of past
services will not sustain you. Only the inddwelling Holy Spirit, the very power
of God at work in you will enable you to say no to fear, no to compromise and yes
to Christ even when it cost you everything. We must stop assuming that
people are saved because they look the part. We must return to the biblical truth
that salvation is a supernatural work. It’s not behavior modification.
It’s not religious performance. It’s spiritual resurrection.
You were dead and now you live because the spirit of God made you alive with
Christ. If you are not walking in step with the spirit now, you will not stand
later. If you are not led by him today, you will be led astray tomorrow. The
time to be filled is now. The time to cry out for real conversion is now. The
time to stop pretending and start repenting is now.
Because when the tribulation comes, the test will be spiritual. And only those
who possess the spirit will pass it. All others, no matter how religious they
appear, will fall, not because they were weak,
but because they were never truly his. The tribulation will not be endured by
those who are addicted to comfort and safety. That may sound harsh, but it is the hard truth that must be spoken. We
live in an age where modern Christianity has been wrapped in luxury, convenience,
and personal peace. People do not follow Christ to die anymore. They follow him
to be comfortable. They’re not seeking holiness. They’re chasing happiness.
They’re not looking to suffer with him. They’re hoping he’ll protect their lifestyle. But the gospel never promised
safety. It promised a cross. Look around at the Western church today.
We have built entire ministries on the idea that God’s main goal is to protect
us, bless us, and make our lives easier. We pray more for traveling mercies and
job promotions than we do for strength to endure persecution. We ask God to give us peace in our
circumstances, but we rarely ask him to give us courage to suffer faithfully.
This is not the Christianity of scripture. This is a religion of comfort.
And when real tribulation begins, when following Jesus means losing your
job, your house, your freedom, or even your life,
this kind of faith will collapse in an instant. The early church did not chase
comfort. They met underground. They worshiped in caves. They risked
death to preach the gospel. They sang while in prison. They rejoiced when
beaten. Why? Because they had already counted the cost. They knew the value of Christ outweighed everything this world
had to offer. But most modern Christians haven’t counted the cost. They’ve never
had to. So when the heat rises and Christianity becomes a threat to your survival, the comfortable will flee.
They’ll make excuses. They’ll redefine truth. They’ll compromise with culture
and eventually they’ll deny the very name they once claimed to love.
Comfort has become an idol in the modern church. We have confused ease with blessing and silence with peace.
We measure God’s faithfulness by how well he protects our lifestyle instead of how well he conforms us to the image
of Christ. But tribulation will confront this idolatry.
It will rip away the illusion that we can follow Jesus and still hold tightly to our security. It will reveal whether
we are clinging to Christ or clinging to our comfort zones. Let’s be clear. When
tribulation strikes, the pressure will be intense. You may have to choose between feeding your family or taking a
mark, between keeping your freedom or standing on God’s word, between living in hiding or denying your Lord. And if
you have been trained by ease, you will not be ready for hardship. If your Christianity has always been
comfortable, it will not endure when it becomes costly. This is why Jesus said,
“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” The
cross is not a symbol of comfort. It’s a symbol of death. It means dying
to self, dying to approval, dying to reputation,
dying to the right to live life on your terms. And many who profess faith today are not
carrying crosses. They are carrying cushions. Soft, easy, unchallenged faith. But that kind of faith will not
survive the shaking. We must prepare now. We must train our
hearts to treasure Christ above comfort, to embrace suffering as a gift and to
trust God when safety is stripped away. Because if your God is comfort, you will
betray Christ to protect it. But if Christ is your treasure, you will endure
no matter what it costs. The tribulation will be the great
refiner. It will test every motive, every heart, every idol. And in that day, the only
ones who will stand are those who have already died to this world. Those who have already given up their right to
comfort for the glory of Christ. All others will fall,
not because they were weak, but because they were never truly surrendered.
One of the most overlooked yet devastating reasons why most Christians
will not endure the tribulation is simple. They are biblically illiterate.
They do not know the word of God. They may carry a Bible. They may quote a
verse out of context here and there, but they do not study it. They do not meditate on it. They do not hide it in
their hearts. And because they do not know the truth, they will be unprepared for the lies because they are not rooted
in scripture. They will be swept away by deception. The tribulation will not just
be a time of physical persecution. It will be a time of spiritual confusion.
And only those grounded in the word will survive. We live in an age of
shallow sermons, catchy phrases, and theological fast food. Many believers
today would rather be entertained than educated, inspired rather than instructed. They want stories, not sound
doctrine. They want charisma, not conviction. As a result, churches are filled with people who can tell you the
plot of a Netflix series, but can’t explain the gospel. They can recite
motivational quotes from social media, but can’t walk through the book of Romans. They know what their favorite
influencer said, but they don’t know what God has said. This biblical
ignorance is not a minor issue. It is a fatal flaw.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” In the
wilderness, when Satan tempted him, Jesus didn’t argue emotionally. He
responded with scripture. If the son of God leaned on the word in his hour of trial, how much more must
we? But we are raising a generation that doesn’t even bring a Bible to church
anymore. They don’t need to because the preacher puts a verse or two on the screen, tells a few stories, and sends
them home. Week after week, Christians are being starved of truth
and most don’t even realize it. It’s it’s a it’s September and they’re
asking who’s the tribulation will be a time of intense deception. Jesus warned
in Matthew 24 that false prophets will arise and perform great signs and
wonders so as to deceive even the elect if it were possible. He wasn’t talking
about card tricks or stage magic. He meant real terrifying displays of power
that will sway the masses. And if you are not anchored in scripture, you will fall for it. You’ll think miracles mean
truth. You’ll think crowds mean God’s blessing. You’ll mistake the voice of the serpent for the voice of the
shepherd. We are told in two Thessalonians that God will send a strong delusion
on those who did not love the truth. Not those who simply rejected it, but those
who didn’t love it. That’s the issue. Do you love the truth?
Do you cherish the word? Is it your daily bread, your foundation, your weapon, and your delight?
If not, you are vulnerable. Because when the world is falling apart, when fear is
gripping every heart, when the pressure to conform becomes unbearable, the only
thing that will keep you grounded is the unchanging word of God. This is not the time for
casual Christianity. This is not the time to skim your Bible and scroll your feed. This is the time to dig deep, to
study, to memorize, to meditate. Because the tribulation will not give you time
to get ready. You must be ready. And readiness begins with the word. If
you don’t know what God says, you won’t know how to recognize the enemy’s voice.
If you don’t know what is written, you won’t know how to respond when tribulation comes.
And when the storm hits, and it will hit, it will not matter how many worship
songs you’ve sung or how many church services you’ve attended. What will
matter is whether or not the word of God is written on your heart. Those who are
biblically illiterate will be the first to fall. Not because they hated God,
but because they never truly knew him.
And you cannot follow a shepherd you do not know. The tribulation will
not be the time to figure out if you’re truly saved. That time is now. Do not
wait for the shaking to see if you’ll stand. Test yourself today. Examine
yourself to see whether you are in the faith. The tribulation is not the
problem. The problem is a church that has been playing games with God. It’s
time to wake up. It’s time to repent. It’s time to prepare because when the
storm comes, and it will come, only those who are rooted in Christ will
stand. Not those who sang the songs. Not those who posted Bible verses, but those
who knew him, loved him, followed him, and endured to the end.
[Music]