The Importance Of Steadfast Faithfulness

Jesus taught in parables and here he explains the parable of the sower to his disciples that they may understand it clearly.

(Matthew 13:18 - 23) “Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

So often we hear comments from those who deny the veracity of the bible scriptures and who outright deny the divine nature of Christ, they have opted to take the road to perdition. Then there are those who hear the gospel and accept it mentally with great enthusiasm, but have no deep heartfelt response, later it becomes a liability to them in front of their unbelieving peer group and they fall away. Those who receive the word and internalize it deeply and grow fervently in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ will bear fruit and become beacons of light and truth in the darkened world around them, they are approved by God! 
Jesus said, (Matthew 10 - 32) So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

(1 Peter 1:16 - 21) For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Jesus gives us another parable, the parable of weeds among the wheat which is His answer to willful unbelievers and false prophets. During the early days of the church false prophets arose and continue on in this day and age in which we live.

(Matthew 13: 24 - 30)  Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants  said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

There first came Gnosticism a second century heresy claiming that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "to know.” It is a rather insidious belief for those who refuse to understand the need for repentance and a change of direction when receiving Christ as Lord. Gnostics also believed that the material world (matter) is evil and that only the spirit is good. They constructed an evil God and beings of the Old Testament to explain the creation of the world (matter), and considered Jesus Christ a wholly spiritual God. They implied that since the body is sinful then man can continue living in sin because the soul is saved. (Eat drink and be merry because tomorrow we die and our soul lives on in heaven.) 

Even today we have two major cults knocking on our doors, one of which does not honor the nation in which they live, refuses to acknowledge traditional holidays and celebrations and who denies the divinity of Christ as nothing more than ("a god") and their organization of which they refer to as a prophet or prophesying organization which has already predicted the end of the world several times, giving dates that have come and gone. The scriptures give us a clear understanding of how to recognize and deal with a false prophet. (Deuteronomy  18:22) when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.
The other major cult insinuates that the Second Coming has come and gone and that we can all become gods and have many celestial wives. Agents from both of these well known cults all appear as nice clean-cut refined people who are zealous for God. However James warns us in his letter to the Galatians “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, If any one is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1: 8 -9)

(2 Peter 2:1 -3) But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction has not been asleep.

(2 Peter 2:20 - 22) For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.