In these modern times, the devil is working hard to make life difficult for the lives of believers. It is very easy for us to curl up in a ball and hide in our homes during this time. I understand all too well how fighting the good fight can become tiresome, especially when we do not see anything good coming our way. However, the Lord does not want us to hide in our homes. He calls us to endure to the very end. Some Christians may think there is no use in fighting and as a result, they cower in fear. But, the attitude we need now more than ever is the same attitude the Apostle Paul had in his lifetime. Paul tells us in Romans 1:16,
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greeks"
Paul said this during Emperor Nero's reign and if you know anything about that time you are very much aware that it was not a pleasant time to be a Christian. Emperor Nero would bind Christians up and light them on fire to light up his front lawn. He would also feed Christians to lions in the Colosseum as a sporting event for the Romans to be entertained by. Basically, back then if you identified as a Christian, you were signing your own death warrant. However, none of this stopped the first-century Christians from identifying with their Lord and Savior. As a matter of fact, they were all the more glad to be persecuted for Jesus' sake. Nowadays, we have become too soft and I believe it is because we have had it pretty good in this life. We do not have to worry about being persecuted in the same way as the early Christians were. Sure, we may get mocked on television or yelled at if we are street preaching, but all of that is child's play compared to what our forebears went through. However, all of this is about to change as we come closer to our Lord's imminent return. The Bible clearly tells us that things will get worse. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:1-5,
"But understand this, that in the last days there will be times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power"
As you can see from this text we are currently living in the end times. People are growing from bad to worse with every waking morning. If what I am saying does not make you uncomfortable, then I do not think you properly understand what it is we are facing. However, I am not telling you this to scare you. We should not be scared about what is to come. As Solomon tells us in Proverbs 28:1,
"The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion"
In this blog, I shall attempt to give you some biblical encouragement that should cause you to be "as bold as a lion". I will separate this blog into three sections: A Sign Of Their Destruction, Only God Can Destroy, and Our Eternal Reward. After you finish reading this blog, my hope is that you will come away from this with a newfound boldness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need more soldiers who are willing to die for the Gospel. It is a sad indictment when false teachers such as the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses act more courageously than Christians do. Now, please allow me to elaborate on my points.
A Sign of Their Destruction
Have you ever considered how your courage can be a sign to unbelievers of their impending destruction? Well, Paul tells us this is the case. If we turn to Philippians 1:27-28, we read the following,
"... I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation"
The Apostle Paul is clearly telling us that as we take a bold stance for the gospel, it is a sign of our opponents' destruction. We are reminding them of where they are heading. I believe this is why Paul tells us that to those who are being damned, we are an aroma of death (2 Corinthians 2:16). Every time we are boldly confronting the wicked we are reminding them of their impending doom. This is why they hate us. Every time we attend a gay pride parade to preach the Gospel, we are exposing their folly. Every time we pass out gospel tracts, we are showing them where their sin is leading them. However, not only is it a sign of their destruction, but it is also a sign of our salvation. We stand out from the crowd because we are not of this world. We belong to another world, another Kingdom. For this reason, we do not need to show the unregenerate any fear because we know the One who is in control of this creation. Absolutely nothing happens in this creation apart from God's will and He has ordained that in the end we ultimately win.
Only God Can Destroy
In Matthew 10:28, we read the following words from our Lord Himself,
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell"
Notice how Jesus is not denying that unregenerate man can kill our bodies. He is not saying that that is an impossibility. He is realistic enough to acknowledge that the wicked can kill our bodies. But, what He is rejecting is the notion that the unregenerate can cause us any harm in the eternal sense. The unregenerate may kill us in this life, but that is all they can do. They have no control over us in eternity. Only God Himself can destroy both our bodies and souls in hell. For this reason, and this reason alone, we should only fear Him, not man. This is why the Writer to the Hebrews can tell us it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). You see, an unregenerate man can kill us, and even torture our bodies, but there is always a limit because eventually we will die. When we die, we are no longer in that wicked man's hands. However, when we are in God's hands, He can punish us for an eternity if we are covered by the blood of Christ. For this reason, it makes much more sense to fear God over fearing any man.
Our Eternal Reward
In Matthew 5:11-12, we read the following Beatitude from Jesus,
"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you"
In this text, we see that our Lord is telling us that when we endure persecution for His sake, we will be greatly rewarded. This does not mean that we should go out looking for trouble on purpose. Paul tells us elsewhere that we should seek to live at peace with all people (Romans 12:18). However if we find ourselves not being able to live at peace with men because of their wickedness, then our reward is great in heaven. What exactly do we have to look forward to for all our efforts in enduring persecution, you ask? Well if we turn to Revelation 21:1-4, we read the following,
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away'."
We are looking forward to the time when God will create the New Heavens and New Earth where there will be no more suffering or sin ever again. During this time, God Himself will dwell with us and we will reign as kings and queens with Jesus Christ for all eternity. This is what we have to look forward to. This life right now is temporary, but the life to come is eternal. This is why we can boldly stand up to our persecutors because we know where we belong in eternity.
I hope that this blog better helps you understand why we have every reason to be bold in this life. We do not need to cower before our persecutors. As a matter of fact, our courage should give them every reason to be afraid because they are reminded of their destruction and of our salvation. Thank you very much for reading this blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greeks"
Paul said this during Emperor Nero's reign and if you know anything about that time you are very much aware that it was not a pleasant time to be a Christian. Emperor Nero would bind Christians up and light them on fire to light up his front lawn. He would also feed Christians to lions in the Colosseum as a sporting event for the Romans to be entertained by. Basically, back then if you identified as a Christian, you were signing your own death warrant. However, none of this stopped the first-century Christians from identifying with their Lord and Savior. As a matter of fact, they were all the more glad to be persecuted for Jesus' sake. Nowadays, we have become too soft and I believe it is because we have had it pretty good in this life. We do not have to worry about being persecuted in the same way as the early Christians were. Sure, we may get mocked on television or yelled at if we are street preaching, but all of that is child's play compared to what our forebears went through. However, all of this is about to change as we come closer to our Lord's imminent return. The Bible clearly tells us that things will get worse. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:1-5,
"But understand this, that in the last days there will be times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power"
As you can see from this text we are currently living in the end times. People are growing from bad to worse with every waking morning. If what I am saying does not make you uncomfortable, then I do not think you properly understand what it is we are facing. However, I am not telling you this to scare you. We should not be scared about what is to come. As Solomon tells us in Proverbs 28:1,
"The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion"
In this blog, I shall attempt to give you some biblical encouragement that should cause you to be "as bold as a lion". I will separate this blog into three sections: A Sign Of Their Destruction, Only God Can Destroy, and Our Eternal Reward. After you finish reading this blog, my hope is that you will come away from this with a newfound boldness for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need more soldiers who are willing to die for the Gospel. It is a sad indictment when false teachers such as the Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses act more courageously than Christians do. Now, please allow me to elaborate on my points.
A Sign of Their Destruction
Have you ever considered how your courage can be a sign to unbelievers of their impending destruction? Well, Paul tells us this is the case. If we turn to Philippians 1:27-28, we read the following,
"... I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation"
The Apostle Paul is clearly telling us that as we take a bold stance for the gospel, it is a sign of our opponents' destruction. We are reminding them of where they are heading. I believe this is why Paul tells us that to those who are being damned, we are an aroma of death (2 Corinthians 2:16). Every time we are boldly confronting the wicked we are reminding them of their impending doom. This is why they hate us. Every time we attend a gay pride parade to preach the Gospel, we are exposing their folly. Every time we pass out gospel tracts, we are showing them where their sin is leading them. However, not only is it a sign of their destruction, but it is also a sign of our salvation. We stand out from the crowd because we are not of this world. We belong to another world, another Kingdom. For this reason, we do not need to show the unregenerate any fear because we know the One who is in control of this creation. Absolutely nothing happens in this creation apart from God's will and He has ordained that in the end we ultimately win.
Only God Can Destroy
In Matthew 10:28, we read the following words from our Lord Himself,
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell"
Notice how Jesus is not denying that unregenerate man can kill our bodies. He is not saying that that is an impossibility. He is realistic enough to acknowledge that the wicked can kill our bodies. But, what He is rejecting is the notion that the unregenerate can cause us any harm in the eternal sense. The unregenerate may kill us in this life, but that is all they can do. They have no control over us in eternity. Only God Himself can destroy both our bodies and souls in hell. For this reason, and this reason alone, we should only fear Him, not man. This is why the Writer to the Hebrews can tell us it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). You see, an unregenerate man can kill us, and even torture our bodies, but there is always a limit because eventually we will die. When we die, we are no longer in that wicked man's hands. However, when we are in God's hands, He can punish us for an eternity if we are covered by the blood of Christ. For this reason, it makes much more sense to fear God over fearing any man.
Our Eternal Reward
In Matthew 5:11-12, we read the following Beatitude from Jesus,
"Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you"
In this text, we see that our Lord is telling us that when we endure persecution for His sake, we will be greatly rewarded. This does not mean that we should go out looking for trouble on purpose. Paul tells us elsewhere that we should seek to live at peace with all people (Romans 12:18). However if we find ourselves not being able to live at peace with men because of their wickedness, then our reward is great in heaven. What exactly do we have to look forward to for all our efforts in enduring persecution, you ask? Well if we turn to Revelation 21:1-4, we read the following,
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away'."
We are looking forward to the time when God will create the New Heavens and New Earth where there will be no more suffering or sin ever again. During this time, God Himself will dwell with us and we will reign as kings and queens with Jesus Christ for all eternity. This is what we have to look forward to. This life right now is temporary, but the life to come is eternal. This is why we can boldly stand up to our persecutors because we know where we belong in eternity.
I hope that this blog better helps you understand why we have every reason to be bold in this life. We do not need to cower before our persecutors. As a matter of fact, our courage should give them every reason to be afraid because they are reminded of their destruction and of our salvation. Thank you very much for reading this blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
No comments:
Post a Comment