Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [55] "You will not Fall"

Abandoned Christians

Imprisoned fourteen years, in solitary confinement for three, Richard Wurmbrand's writings have been a source of great comfort to many: you can trust a saint who has suffered for Christ's sake.

I read authors like these because they help us put our smaller troubles into context. It's too easy to develop a martyr's complex about small stuff. And then you read about Big Stuff....

Richard's only son Michael also suffered and took up the pen to tell his story.

After they took away his dad, the communists came for Michael's mother; he went to live with aunty Alice. “I felt", he says, "utterly abandoned. I think I wept at night, alone in bed. It became very clear, however much my father might lead in daily affairs, my mother was the rock of love, to which we clung to.” 

The most remarkable memory of the young Michael, living through the sorrows of persecution is this: “It should have been a wretched childhood. But as I recall, it was a time of crystalline happiness, because my parents had the power to turn complaints to laughter and tears into the giving of thanks with their love.” What a difference Jesus Christ makes.

Richard could not sleep for even an hour at a time after his release. His nerves were in shreds and he found it intolerable to be on his own. The beatings and years in solitary confinement had left indelible mental scars. Sometimes he came into Michael's room at 2.00am, “I was lonely", he would say, "I wanted to see you, please go on sleeping.”

In those cruel years, Soviet Christians often felt betrayed by the church of the West, says Michael, because the rest of the church did not seem to bother themselves with the plight of the persecuted.

I remember my own dad writing to prisoners in Communist prisons in the 1970s, and I know other Western Christians did the same, so not every Christian was neglected, but many felt so and were so.

Can a True Christian be Lost?

I have always struggled with something Michael Wurmbrand wrote in one of his books.

Some prisoners had been connected to the church - they were religious people. Then their bodies were tortured, families jailed or killed and no help came from anywhere. While they had lain in prison no-one cared for them. Westerners talked about fancy theological words and problems which had no answers. These prisoners began to hate the west! Suffering and bitterness turned them. 

And, says, Michael, “These men became the worst communists.”

That's the sentence that sticks.

Is it possible for a true believer to lose his or her salvation and end up hating the Gospel? Can a true believer be lost? I am sure it would be possible for a false Christian to become so bitter over "I shouldn't bear these persecutions" that one day they express openly what has always been true secretly. But can a true believer lose their way?

I do not believe so because salvation, from first to last, is of the Lord. (Jonah 2:9) We are first saved when the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts and God gives us the gift of faith. We are kept all our days by his mighty power which prevents anyone from plucking us out of our Father's hands. And we are led through the valley of the shadow of death safely by the Great Shepherd of the sheep.

So it is impossible for someone who is truly born of God to lose their salvation.

A true believer may backslide, they may express the deepest doubts - read The Psalms or Sermons in Solitary Confinement - but they will never be lost.

That is what our Scripture verse reminds us today:

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy...." (Jude 24)

Power to Keep

The people Michael Wurmbrand refers to were not true believers. They were religious people, who merely by being connected with "church" were caught up in the indiscriminate persecutions of the Soviets.

Or if they were true Christians who went through a season of backsliding communist bitterness after release, we can be sure they eventually returned to the fold.

How can we be so confident that a true believer will not fall away?

Because the God we worship and the Jesus we follow are Almighty. In fact, the promise from Jude 24 I have quoted above is only the prelude to this outpouring of worship:

"..to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever more." (Jude 25)

The one who keeps us is not a good Christian friend, is not a mother or father, is not a pastor or homegroup leader. The one who keeps us is the glorious, majestic, powerful, authority-bearing, eternal Son of God.

The Reason we will not fall lies in the power of The "One who is able too keep us from falling."

Summing it All Up

Many believers will pass through seasons of severe doubt where they wonder if they will make it to the tape still believing. Few of us will have to bear what our persecuted fellow-believers now as-we-write bear. For us it may be a family crisis, a painful marriage break-up, a disappointment, the loss of a child, the death of a friend. Any catastrophe can generate a sense of hopelessness and spiritual uncertainty.

But God is able to keep us from falling, and even more to present us to Jesus Christ without fault and with great joy! Perhaps sorrow now, but great joy in the morning!

A SONG FOR THE DAY

I have chosen this song because it encourages a simple and child-like faith. I've chosen Shane and Shane, because they mean what they sing.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’'ve proved Him o’'er and o'’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”

Tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

O How sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
Just in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

Louisa Stead

Worship HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Our loving and merciful Father in heaven,

We want to thank you for the gift of freedom. We are able to worship you without the secret police listening in. We are able to put sermons and blogs and services online without interference.

We thank you for the joy of freedom.

We pray today for our brothers and sisters around the world who this very day languish behind bars. We ask that you would strengthen them by your mighty power and, according to your promise, keep them from falling.

Keep us, and our brothers and sisters in Christ from falling too.

We thank you that one day you will present us before the very throne of God, without fault, cleansed by the blood of Jesus, made righteous by his perfect life imputed to our account.

We long for that day of great joy.

In Jesus' Name we pray,

Amen.

Photo by Ye Jinghan on Unsplash