Because of Him

Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”

Throughout the world there is a growing unrest against christians. The explosion of christianity in places like India, China, and Iran has created a backlash from Hindus, Islamists and governments alike. Why do you suppose people feel so threatened by the upsurge of faith in Christ when the rule for believers is peace and love?

Christians aren’t called to take over governments by force nor have they been instructed to attack mosques or buddhist centers of learning. Christians are simply instructed to go into all the world and make disciples, not by force but by revealing the Truth of the Gospel.

Serving in positions of government or taking prominent roles in society is good, whereby the values of God’s Kingdom that brings peace can be instituted into the cultural framework.

As the world grows darker, the less the world understands Truth.

The more believers lift up Christ, the more the world will reject Him and consequently His people. The goal is not to try and change the world by force, the power of God is enough for that; God’s people are called to be ambassadors for Christ.

When David prophetically wrote of the coming Messiah, he demonstrated a trait that has resonated among God’s people from the beginning. The world hates Jesus, therefore it will hate His people.

Psalm 69:9 “For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”

The more God’s people walk in holiness, the more the enemy will despise them and will strive to persecute them.

Philippians 1:29 “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him”

As a believer represents Christ by how they live, determines the response of the world. Those who hunger and thirst for God will be drawn out of the darkness into His light, for others their hatred will only grow darker.

If God’s people are more concerned of how the world views them than whether God approves, they lose the power to have any effect for Christ. If what the world sees is Christ in you, their response will likely be in the same fashion as the world responded to Jesus, some followed, some turned away, and some grew spiteful and wanted to kill Him.

Worldly Anger

Communism is once again clamping down on christians in China. The last couple decades have provided some relief for for the underground church but now the communist party has decided that christianity is once again a threat and so the government is systematically tearing down churches with any symbol of the cross, arresting christians, and making a push to drive any form of religion out of society.

As China goes, so goes many other asian countries. India has allowed Hindu radicals to attack believers, Pakistan continues to drive the christian church into poverty and threats of blasphemy are real and can carry a heavy sentence for those found convicted. Nepal has recently seen an upsurge in anti-christian sentiment, Europe has increasingly become opposed to any christian doctrine they deem as hatred and doesn’t support their radical agenda, Canada is arresting pastors who preach on the streets, Great Britain is becoming devoid of morality and the hatred continues to spread.

There are civil wars in Sudan and Central African Republic, insurgencies in Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, and many other conflicts across the world that involve loss of Christian liberty and the institution of Islamic law.

Should christians be fearful and hide?

Matthew 24:4-8 “And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Jesus warned that in the last days these things would come to pass. Since Jesus knew of them and gave His people warning, then we can be rest assured, the Lord is in control.

He doesn’t promise that believers won’t be affected by the times, I know of many people who have suffered under the cruel conditions of injustice. Jesus warns His people so that they won’t despair and think God doesn’t know their difficulty.

Matthew 24:9-14 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

The Gospel still goes Forth

No matter what environment we live in, no matter how much hatred the world has for Christ and His church, the gospel will still go forth. I have brothers in Pakistan who regularly report how the lost are being found, of people turning from the darkness of Islam and trusting in Christ for their salvation. I witness miraculous ways in which the Lord opens doors in Africa for the gospel and hear of the creative ways the gospel is being preached in worn torn countries where exiles search for safety and find Jesus instead.

The world wants to stop the spread of the gospel but the gospel goes forth because it is by God’s power that it is preached. Believers are God’s ambassadors, they carry the message in love and obedience and it settles in the hearts of the lost by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel cannot be stopped!

Matthew 24:42-44 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

If you carry the message of the gospel like so many of our brothers and sisters today, you are blessed. There is no greater joy than to see hope arise in the one who has been lost in darkness.

Continue on….don’t be afraid, the Lord watches over His anointed and will deliver His people as they go. Redemption draws near and the faithful will experience the fruit of their labor one day.

Revelation 1:6 “He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.”

Remember, God’s people don’t live for themselves, they live for the glory of the KIng. He will be exalted one day and rule over this world.

Until then…be found faithful.