Again, the expression of the relationship between Christian living and the Day of the Lord: "this hope" (above) is that of being like Christ when He appears, and seeing Him as He is.

And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whoever abideth in him sinneth not: whoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. (I John 3:6)2

Godly living is the true test of faith. It is impossible to have a living faith in our Lord Jesus Christ without an accompanying transformation of character—a transformation into a holy and blameless life.

Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. (I John 3:7)

Paul mentions men who "lie in wait to deceive." Who are the men who deceive? They are Christian teachers who say that a person can serve God acceptably apart from a life of holy consecration. Why do men "lie in wait to deceive"? Because they are seeking personal advantage. They worship their own appetites. "For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's."

Not all that takes place in Christian churches comes from the Lord Jesus. Satan and his angels and demons are religious creatures. They desire the inheritance designated for the sons of God. They are active in all Christian churches. They thoroughly enjoy church activities and attempt to experience the glory and joy they once knew in the heavens. Their joy and their motivation are unclean, perverse, and destructive. They will seek to use believers who are worldly, lustful, or personally ambitious. When Christ begins to work, the unclean spirits and people influenced by them will rise up and seek to kill Him and those He is using to further his purposes.

The true prophets of the Lord are always denouncing the works of Satan in God's Church, and God's Church often hates and murders the prophets of God.

When a group of people have begun to expose the false concept of grace, the concept that leaves people with the impression they will experience Paradise after they die even though they have not served Christ with all diligence—when this concept is threatened, as it shall be by God's prophets in our day, we shall see the face of an enraged Satan. This is because Satan is counting on a pardon from God. He is hoping for escape from the Lake of Fire for himself, and so he puts in the hearts of lukewarm believers a false understanding of mercy and grace, hoping that God will save both them and himself as well. Satan fears the vengeance of God!

The true saints of the Lord, the holy remnant, will be persecuted without mercy in the near future. Some of their fellow Christians may heap scorn on them and seek to silence those who are announcing the true message of the Kingdom of God, the message of righteous and holy behavior and the doing of God's will in the earth.

To be continued.