We have a close friend who has three daughters. The oldest daughter is an aggressive, outspoken, avowed atheist. She goes out of her way to disrespectfully ridicule her mother’s faith in Christ, calling her stupid, ignorant, and crazy for believing all her religious garbage. Recently, her mother posted a picture of a Bible and the book Fifty Shades of Gray on her Facebook page, suggesting the Bible was a better influence. As expected, the verbal attack was vicious and demeaning. The youngest of the sisters once had a faithful walk with Christ. However, she has chosen to draw closer to the older sister and, as expected, the influence has been spiritually devastating.

It isn’t anything new for people to ridicule and demean true faith in Christ, along with other key truths recorded in the inspired Scriptures. It’s been going on for thousands of years. Peter warned his fellow believing Jews: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (II Peter 3:3-4). Both Peter and Paul referred to “last days,” but in a different context. When Paul referred to the “last days” (II Timothy 3:1-9), or “latter times” (I Timothy 4:1), he was talking about the last days in the Dispensation of Grace just prior to the Rapture. In contrast, Peter’s “last days” refer to the days in the Tribulation leading to the Second Coming of Christ. In both instances, mankind in general will be largely proud, fiercely arrogant, void of doctrinal truth, and ridiculing the faith of true believers. Even though there is more obvious evidence to support divine creation than the false theory of evolution, Peter said unbelievers would be “willingly…ignorant” (II Peter 3:5), or stubbornly refusing to consider, that God created all the order we see, just as described in Scripture. Peter urged his readers not to allow their faith to be shaken by these evil mockers. He reminded them that God will keep His promises of coming judgment on the unsaved (vss. 7-10). In the meantime, believers are to hold fast biblical truths, live godly, and continue to be motivated by the promise of eternity in the “new heavens and new earth” (vss. 13).

Today, believers can likewise benefit from these same encouragements in faithfulness. We should also minimized contact with people who ridicule truths we hold dear.