Skip to main content

Persecution and the Great Divide

Family Going to Church!     
It's no secret that the church of Jesus Christ was built upon the blood of martyrs. It's a fact often forgotten, unknown, or overlooked. The Christianity we grew up with in the in the Western nations has flourished because of its faithfulness to God's word and its commitment to a moral and ethically based society built upon solid biblical principles. Let's face it, we have gotten used to it. We've become accustomed to living in peace and flourishing with our religious liberties and freedoms of speech. But when these become threatened, as the current tide seems to suggest, how will we react? Will we still follow Jesus?

Excerpt "The Sifted Generation" Chpt. 3 (Tweet this) 
The Apostle Paul declared, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12, emphasis added). (Tweet this) This is an important statement considering the theological spectrum of the sliced and diced church today. One may ask why this is so? The answer lays in Paul’s placement of emphasis on the phrase only those desiring to live godly as being the recipients of hostile consequences. Therefore he calls out a certain devoted group—a people that desire to live godly and sanctified lives—keeping the teachings of Christ, and holding to the truth of biblical revelation in all circumstance. Paul says this group would have a desire to live godly or piously and because of this, they would suffer persecution. To live our lives in such manner is probably the highest honor that could be bestowed upon a believer during this earthly sojourn. Jesus Himself stated, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10).

The church is not without example, for history has provided us the immortal names of many men and women who have willingly given their lives in defense of the faith. One need not venture to far into the book of Acts before they encounter hostilities, (Tweet this) like those that surrounded Peter and the Apostles in Acts 3 through 6. Then turning to the next chapter we run into the blessed Stephen of Acts 7, and later Paul in Acts 9, and the beloved James of Acts 12—and that is just the first part of the book! All of these, through faith in Jesus, set examples for all those who would follow.

We must also call to remembrance those in the early church—the 1st to 4th centuries. These were pioneers of the faith—the men and women that would rather face off with hungry lions in the Roman arena, than deny the Lord who bought them. To this group of blessed defenders belonged the Apostles of the Lord, and others such as Polycarp, Perpetua, Justin Martyr, Polthinus, Alexander, Blandina, Felicity, and hundreds of others. Some were crucified; others tortured. Some sealed their faith by being doused with flammable liquid, only to be hoisted up on poles to light the night sky of Nero’s gardens. Many others were mercilessly torn apart by beasts; being used as entertainment at the hands of the Roman Caesars.

Then there are those who suffered under the spread of Islam, beginning in the 7th century AD, and those of the 14th to 17th century reformation who faced cruel and perilous persecutions, tribunals, and burnings at the stake from the Roman church—all in defense of the faith. These believers would fit Paul’s description of godly believers, living godly lives, in loyalty to Jesus Christ.

Like many today, these also lived among many groups who by their lips confessed Christ, but by their actions denied knowing Him. Today these can be found existing independent of others in almost all Christian assemblies. They also compose the tightly interlaced liberal groups, found swelling the ranks of certain flavors of Catholicism and Mainline Protestantism. These are the deceived, and the deceivers of the day; they do not accurately represent Christ to their churches or to the world. In their quest to be all things to all people, they have sacrificed the truth of the Bible in exchange for popularity and worldly gain. It is these that are responsible for the great divides we see in modern Christianity. Rather than hold to the truth, thereby unifying themselves with others of solid faith, they would rather please the world in support of the ungodly popular immoralities that serve only to oppress the faithful. It is among this group of wolf-like professors—godly in form only, that you will be hard pressed to see any persecution for the cause of Christ. Their ranks may swell but persecution will not come nigh them. They will be the first to raise the white flag of surrender, and in doing so, fall head-long into the mold of a world being shaped by the Enemy.
**********************************************************************************
The Sifted Generation will be out in the spring collection from the publisher. (Tweet this) Please help me spread the message of truth that teaches believers the importance of 100% devotion to Jesus by purchasing a copy of the book or by praying for my ministry. My only goal is to reach people with the gospel of Christ - To know Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).

Thanks so much for your support!!
God Bless

Image courtesy - http://jenniferlamontleo.com

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

25 Reasons to Believe - In Jesus FREE EBOOK

FREE EBOOK click to download - When book comes up click down arrow on Upper Right to save a copy . A while back the Barna Group released a report titled, "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church." 1  Under reason two, " Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow" they write:  "A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests” (24%) or that “the Bible is not taught clearly or often enough” (23%). Sadly, one-fifth of these young adults who attended a church as a teenager said that “God seems missing from my experience of church” (20%)."  If one takes a look at the modern church-scape I can see why. The gap between those pastors and teachers that are fired up about Jesus and those that do not preach all of th

Fornication - The Acceptable Sin?

In the Bible there are several sexual sins that are categorized under the term,"Sexual Immorality." Not the least of these is, "Fornication." However fornication has become an outdated, and in many places, the acceptable sin in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As a matter of fact, many do not even know what the term "fornication" means. Since the advent of the modern Bible translation, many have never heard of it. This article focuses on what the Scripture says about this out-of-control acceptable sin. Fornication is mentioned thirty-six times in the Bible (MT), thirty-two times in the New Testament. In almost all modern translations the word has been substituted with, "sexual immorality" and has come to mean any number of sexual sins. However, sin (missing the mark) is still sin and sin still separates a person from God. So why has this sin become so acceptable even in modern churches???? UPDATE : Here is a testimony of life

The Bride of Christ Has Made Herself Ready!!

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he

Understanding Grace…without it no one can be saved!

Years ago as a pastor, I faced an issue concerning the topic of “Grace.” I had noticed some congregants who were taking Grace to the extreme and beginning to teach that since our sins were bought and paid for at the cross—all of them, past, present, and future—there was no need to strive against sin. Thanks to our Lord, this was noticed and the He quickly allowed it to be curbed. This heresy occasionally rears its head in Christian circles and indeed must be stopped before it becomes out-of-control. The good thing is that a proper understanding of Grace can arrest the heresy in its steps. Because this false perception thrives in loose living, many well-meaning Christians go completely to the opposite extreme and throw the Biblical teaching of “Grace” out altogether. That too is heresy. How should we approach it? Grace, as a doctrine, should always be presented in its entirety. By that I mean, a starting definition, followed by why it is important, and concluding with keeping it scri

Cardboard Signs and Saying Yes to God

Perhaps you have seen the story of "Daniel's Gloves". It has been floating around the internet since 2001 according to snopes.com. They also tell us the original author is Richard Ryan the assistant Pastor of a Church in Indiana.  I refer to this story—which you will find posted below mine—because of the effect that helping one in need can actually have on a believer’s life. One of the things I have done in the past is monitor just how many people there are who simply pass on by those who are holding a sign stating “Will work for food” or “Need Help for me and my children.” If you ask the hurting they will tell you there are literally hundreds and hundreds who just will not help. Truly it is a sad testimony that “one or a few bad apple(s) can spoil a whole bushel.” It is definitely something I also have observed. For some reason we either fear them, fear confrontation or fear being deceived. Whatever the reason, I often wonder how God feels about it. Just a fe