I grew up on Florida’s Gulf Coast in the 1950s and 60s and don’t remember ever seeing a shark. I used to swim to sand bars hundreds of yards from shore, then ride the waves back to the beach. When I was older I would rush to the beach before and after tropical storms and hurricanes to ride the big waves. I spent hours windsurfing, but never came across a shark. Sharks were not something that concerned me because I didn’t see them.

Another reason might be that I didn’t know anyone else who had seen a shark or been attacked by one. Even people who fished from a pier that was hundreds of feet out into the Gulf didn’t catch sharks. However, that didn’t mean sharks weren’t in the water.

A friend of mine was a salvage diver and taught me scuba diving when I was a young adult. After practicing in a pool for several sessions, he took me out into the Gulf of Mexico. That’s where I saw my first shark in the water. In fact, we saw several. They weren’t the kind of sharks that swam up to the surface where you could see their fins. They swam several feet below the surface – searching for food. All of the years swimming in the Gulf as a child, teen, and young adult and I had been swimming with sharks the entire time.

[Podcast version available here.]

Sharks In The Water

The same might be said of Christians. We may not see ‘sharks in the water,’ but they are all around us, searching for food to eat. Christians have been swimming in ‘shark-infested waters’ from the earliest days of the Church. We need to open our eyes and see the dangers around us before we are bitten – or even worse.

Warning!

The Bible contains great wisdom and insight for living for God. It also contains thousands of words of warning. Read it from cover to cover and you’ll see what I mean. Keep your eyes and ears tuned to the words of prophets and apostles. God used them to both warn and encourage His people.

It all began with a truth and a lie –

The Truth – “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

The Lie – “Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5

While those verses may be familiar to most Christians, unfortunately, many Christians don’t realize that they are falling for the same lie today. They think they’re ‘like God.’ They believe they can do the same things God can. They believe they know better than God about how to live their lives. They think God’s Word is ‘old fashioned’ and only for ancient people who were superstitious and ignorant. They think that ‘modern’ Christians understand life better than God does. That’s a lie. Many people who ‘identify’ as Christians are swimming with sharks and don’t even realize that they are being pulled deeper and deeper into the ocean where they will be drowned and destroyed.

Examples of Danger

I’m using the example of ‘swimming with sharks’ as a method of warning Christians about the spiritual dangers surrounding them. The Bible also gives Christians many similar examples of danger –

Jesus to His disciples – “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16

Paul to Christians in Ephesus – “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand … above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” Ephesians 6:12-13, 16

Peter to the ‘pilgrims of the Dispersion’ – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

There are many other examples in the Bible, but my point is that being a Christian in this world is dangerous. The Lord has sent us out with a mandate to serve Him and do His will –

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” Matthew 28:18-20

“And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

“… and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8b

So, there you have it. We are witnesses, preachers, teachers, disciple-makers, warriors – in a dangerous world. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a far-greater future waiting for us –

“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

“And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” Revelation 21:6-7

Endurance

One of the KEYS to ‘dealing with the devil’ is endurance.

“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.” 2 Timothy 2:3-4

 “If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.” 1 Corinthians 3:14

“To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.” 1 Corinthians 4:11-13

“We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3-5

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4

“But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5

The Greek word translated ‘endure’ is ὑπομένω. It means ‘remaining under the load, bear up against, persevering, standing.’ That idea is what Paul wrote about in Ephesians 6:13 – “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” God wants us to ‘withstand’ (ἀνθίστημι – ‘resist, oppose, set against) and ‘stand’ ( ἵστημι – make a stand, stand firm, be steadfast).

Christians, you are swimming with sharks. They are above you, below you, and on all sides of you. They are everywhere and they want to deceive and destroy you.

They want to steal your witness. They want to steal your joy. They want to steal your hope. They want you to follow them – not Jesus Christ.

Don’t let them. Endure. Withstand. Having done all – STAND.

Next Time

There’s no escape from our ‘swimming with sharks.’ Jesus has sent us out into this spiritually and physically dangerous world “as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Rather than escape – we ‘endure.’

In the next part of this new series, I will share some of the most dangerous ‘sharks’ we are swimming with as Christians and how we can be, as Paul wrote – “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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