We believe that the churches of Christ are in deception. They are agreeing with the world emphasis on the rights of people as though this is the Kingdom of God. The fact is, the "rights" and desires of people and the Kingdom of God often are directly opposed to each other.

It may be the "right," so to speak, of human beings to live in peace, contentment, and happiness and to pursue their own goals as they see fit. Every agency attempting to obtain and improve human rights would agree to this.

But Christ commands us to forsake our own life, to take up our cross of suffering and reproach, and to follow Him into death to our own rights and desires. Human welfare agencies and numerous Christian churches do not agree with Jesus that this is a proper thing for human beings to do. It often is true that the things that are highly esteemed of God are an abomination to people, while the things highly esteemed of people are an abomination to God. This is why we always must strive to please God rather than people.

The Lord Jesus had a "right" not to go to Jerusalem and be crucified at the hands of wicked men. Peter reminded Jesus of this and was called "Satan" by the Lord. Peter was referred to as "Satan" because it is Satan who persuades people to place their own comfort ahead of God's will. It was Satan who suggested to Eve that God was denying her something of value when God prohibited the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan's suggestion was that she was not receiving all that it was her right to receive.

Fear is placed ahead of adultery in keeping people out of the new Jerusalem, because fear is a form of self-love (Revelation 21:8). Fear forgets God's trustworthiness and concentrates on self.

Who is advising Christians today that it is too much to ask of them that they should suffer in any manner? Is this the voice of Christ or the voice of Antichrist?

Who is speaking through the Christian ministry, informing people that if they will accept and follow Christ they will be prosperous in this world? Is this Christ speaking or Antichrist speaking?

Your eternal destiny may depend on your success in being able to distinguish between the voice of Christ and the voice of Antichrist. If you are uncertain, ask God to show you the sources of the various voices that are speaking today. Plead with God to give you truth in your inner nature. The entrance of God's Word brings light to us.

Who is it that is advising us that God will not permit the believers to be on the earth during the days of tribulation?—that it is not God's will that Christians suffer? Who is it that is appealing to our fear of suffering while saying nothing of the passages of Scripture that command us to present our body a living sacrifice to God?

Who is it that is making the fear of suffering more important than the fear of not obeying God in every detail?

Since when has the Christian believer been shielded from suffering?

Who is it that is telling us God is not willing that Gentile believers suffer but that it is God's will for the Jews, God's chosen people, to suffer every form of torture?

To be continued.