{Matthew:5:11:
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.}
THE PERSECUTION IS COMING!
I recently attended a drama presentation at our church which was based on the missionary life of Hudson Taylor. In the drama, it became apparent that the courage and dedication of Mr Taylor excelled beyond the level that most of us see within ourselves. His unselfish passion for lost souls, and an unwavering faith in Jesus, prevented him from faltering in his service to God and man.
Taylor’s mission service to our Lord mostly took place in China between 1853 and 1905, and like our present-day missionaries there, he lived under threat of imprisonment and martyrdom, as did those whom he taught and led to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And as depicted in the drama, Mr. Taylor became fluent in the Chinese dialect of the regions where he preached, giving him an edge in acceptance by the local people over other missionaries who required the services of a translator. Even though he suffered the loss of his devoted wife and four of his children to sickness and disease, Taylor continued on in spite of the dangers and personal heartaches that befell him until his own death in 1905.
In one of his sermons portrayed at the end the drama, Hudson Taylor warned his new converts that “the persecution is coming!” And as history bears this out, it certainly did come.
How fortunate we are, living in this “modern” world, safe and secure here in the good old U.S.A.
or in one of the many other so-called “civilized” countries. No worry of persecution or prosecution for our personal religious beliefs. Or DO we have something to worry about?
When looking at some of the news stories of the past few months, I’d say we, as Christians and Jews, have a lot to worry about! Take a look at these recent examples of bias against our Judeo/Christian heritage, and see what conclusion you can come up with:
I have also read that the International/American Red Cross organization
is taking into consideration the adoption of a new symbol to represent its
more global mission. But I get the impression that the underlying motive
for the change is that the symbol of the "CROSS" has become too offensive
to an ever-growing atheist society.
It’s time to heed the warning.
Will we be able to stand?
We should have been prepared. The Bible has foretold of the coming events:
{Matthew:5:11:
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.}
{Mark:13:9:
But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.}
For now, our "persecution" is limited to mere ridicule by the unbelievers who judge us to be too "narrow-minded" or "simply out of touch." They refer to us as the religious nuts who want to put prayer back into our schools or maintain the phrase "under GOD" in the PLEDGE of ALLEGIANCE. We are
referred to as homo-phobes because we do not pander to same-sex marriage or support homosexual clergy.
But the social-political climate, which has been churning for decades now, is about to boil over into a global anti-God, anti-Christian frenzy. The pointing of fingers, the bitter criticism, and outrageous falsehoods invented against us could all turn into flat-out persecution if the trend in Washington, D.C. and in other “free-world” capitals cannot be reversed. But we knew this day would come sooner or later, didn’t we?
Are we really prepared to be persecuted and martyred if so required by God, as the Apostles were, or the many in the Mid-East, China, Asia, Russia, and in the far corners of the earth are still being subjected to today?
We had better be ready. THE PERSECUTION IS COMING!
