Christ will never be formed in us until we begin to keep, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the commandments of Christ and His Apostles.

This is the meaning of the above verse:

The "word of the prophets" is the Scriptures and the "morning star" is Christ rising in our heart.

We Americans have ready access to many versions of the Scriptures. In some places in the world, such as China for example, some of the believers have only a page torn from a Bible, or no Bible at all. God assuredly beholds this discrepancy.

The Kingdom principle is: "To whom much has been given, of him shall much be required."

If we permit our time to be spent on the numerous opportunities and attractions of the American culture, and do not spend time each day meditating in the Scriptures, we most certainly shall be held responsible. We can expect many chastening blows in the Day of Resurrection, possibly.

Who knows what a Chinese believer might accomplish if he or she had an entire Bible?

Where we have been deceived by the ministers of today who are seeking their own advantage and are teaching traditions rather than the Bible, we shall be held accountable.

We may rage at our teachers when we are left behind, or thrust into outer darkness, at the coming of the Lord. But God will not excuse us. We had a Bible. We could have studied it. If we did not test the "apostles," that is our fault. Our teachers may be required to spend eternity with us, kept from the light of Christ's glorious Presence; so they would do well to make friends with us.

If we are to survive in the coming days we must make a practice of praying each day at a definite time and place, as possible. When it is not possible we are to pray that God will make it possible for us to have a set place and time to pray.

If we are to survive in the coming days we must know the Scriptures. We must test each of our beliefs against what the New Testament actually says. Our traditions will not stand the fire unless they conform to the written Word of God.

Place Everything on the Altar of God

Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it." (Luke 9:23,24—NIV)

If we are to survive spiritually in the coming days of trouble we must place every relationship, every circumstance, and every thing we possess on the altar of God.

Notice the phrase "deny himself," in the above verse. This is one of the secrets of the victorious Christian life.

The American culture teaches us that we deserve to have everything we desire and to have no trouble along with it. I have never heard a television advertisement proclaim we are to deny ourselves in order to please Jesus Christ.

In other words, the concept of deliberately denying ourselves something we want fervently is anathema to the American ideal.

This means if we are to be a genuine Christian we must go against the values of our social group. We have to be different.

To be continued.