Scripture: 2 Timothy 3 v 12 - 15: "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
As we get nearer to the coming of Jesus, the persecution of Christians and Jews will increase dramatically. The enemy sees us as a major stumbling block to his ambitions. He is in denial of his own fate of eternal fire.
"In 2022, advocacy group Open Doors said that at least 360 million Christians experienced “high levels of persecution & discrimination.” This was 20 million higher than 2021...estimate that the no. of Christians killed for their faith rose to 5,898 in 2022, up from 4,761 in 2021."
- John Sears @johnsears2077
We are the pawns on the great chessboard of life. We have advanced to a place where we can become a major player on the board. That makes us a threat. The Jews are a threat because they survived the Holocaust and became the nation of Israel again. They are a force to be reckoned with if only by the Devil and his cohorts.
Antisemitism is only of value as a spiritual destruction of Israel. Break them down and trample upon them. But what the enemy fails to realise is that persecution makes both Christians and Jews stronger in spirit.
We can see the results in Israel where the Arab world has grown weary of the Palestinians and their terror attacks on Israel, and are now siding with Israel, making treaties with her, even Saudi Arabia is using television broadcasts to promote good relations with Jews.
Christians are seen as weak, poor, helpless people needing a crutch. They are submissive people and therefore easy to intimidate. But Christ in us the hope of glory never lets us down. The world can slander us, mock and scoff at us, but we know where our strength lies. We know the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He says He will have the last laugh!
Psalm 2 v 1 - 5: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure."
The day will come when the world, the heathens, will truly regret mistreating God's people. The tables will be turned when Jesus returns in power and great glory. The Bible says they will run to hide in caves and under rocks to vanish from the sight of Him who they have mocked.
On the Day of judgment Jesus will tell them that He never knew them and they belong to Satan in Hell. They all had the opportunity to hear the gospel and turn their lives around but chose a life of sin and riotous living instead.
God loves the world but He cannot override their own free will. We have the task to take the message of grace, mercy and forgiveness to them, but if it is rejected we go to those who are willing to listen.
In the time when the Tribulation begins, and its not far off either as recent happenings like Covid, volatile weather, the war against Ukraine are just curtain raisers before the main event. However, when the Tribulation is in it's first years, the Holy Spirit revival will occur throughout the world. No one wants to miss that!
Naturally the persecution will be increased as those who reject the Holy Spirit become more violent and angry. However, we will overcome their evil words and deeds to secure and nurture the new believers.
I saw a truly frightening video last night of Muslims in London trying to force Sharia Law on the whole city, with the agenda of imposing it on the whole of Britain followed by the whole of Europe. Sharia Law means cutting off the hands of thieves, beheading opponents to Islam, enforcing women to be veiled. As one objector to Sharia Law stated, Britain has its own laws, they must agree to them if they want to live here. The video showed the police taking down hundreds of posters declaring Sharia Law in London. just found out that this video was taken 25 years ago but not much has changed in their agenda!)
Their religion does not permit alcohol, prostitution, drugs and there is a campaign to rid London of an epidemic of these sins across the city. It would be wonderful if that's all they did to clean up these problems but the persecution that comes with it is violent and extreme.
We are in the time of preparation for these last days, and for the Rapture, therefore persecution will unite us in one body as the true Church. We will be opposed by the One World Church of Interfaith who believe all paths lead to God. They believe Buddha, Krishna, Allah and Jesus are all one person with different personalities. They are greatly deceived. Can we show some of them the truth?
We have seen the atrocities of ISIS which continue on a smaller scale these days but they won't go away. The persecution from them and other faiths will become worse as the days left get fewer and fewer. Jesus says if those days are not shortened no flesh would survive. So many of us will face martyrdom for our faith.
The perpetrator of the Paris attacks in 2015 was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole, which is only the fifth time in French history such a sentence was handed down. No doubt he will consider himself a martyr and those who agree with his type of radical persecution will be stirred to hype up attacks in sympathy.
We are longing for the day when this will all be behind us because then we will always be with our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's us use the time wisely to draw the lost to the wells of salvation. Even though Christians are severely persecuted in Muslim, Buddhist or Communist countries it does not stop them from going there to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love. Surprisingly, Iran tops the list of the highest percentage of converts to Christianity in the world.
We know Jesus loves us and has saved us, let us discover what we can individually or collectively do to witness of His love to others who have been misinformed. Find out if your neighbours know Jesus, start praying for them, for your whole street to come to know Jesus. Get the newly saved praying for your suburb. Don't just invite them to church, the disciples of old went out to win souls then brought the born again Christians into the church.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we are still standing even though we are persecuted and mocked. We will not waver nor compromise with the wicked, but will stand firm on our great Rock, and love those sinners until they surrender to Your Son. In Jesus' name. Amen.