If there were no purpose to discussing persecution and ultimately being prepared for it other than an intellectual exercise, I’d be wasting your time and mine as well. The ultimate objective in being prepared for the advent of persecution is so we might be equipped to endure it, weather it, and ultimately be living testimonies to the power of God to preserve and keep us whole through whatever the agents of darkness might throw our way.
It may have fallen out of favor with the modern-day church,
but I take Christ’s words seriously and at face value. Between what He said and
what others say He meant by what He said, I’ll believe Jesus meant it as He
said it and go from there.
The ultimate goal of persecution is to break the individual
and bring them to the point of renouncing their faith and denying Christ as
Lord and King. Yes, I’ve heard the insinuations that you can deny Him as long
as you don’t mean it or as long as you cross your fingers behind your back, but
the reality is that Jesus told us what would become of those who deny Him
before man, and it’s nothing to gloss over or take lightly.
Matthew 10:32-33, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men,
him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies
Me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Untested faith is unproven faith. We’d rather God take our
word for it and believe us when we say we are faithful to the utmost, but
sometimes He chooses to test our faith and, at other times, allows us to go
through a situation that, although uncomfortable for the flesh, will bring
glory and honor to His name.
The prism through which many view persecution today is a
negative one. They would do anything to avoid the possibility of persecution
because they associate it with pain, privation, lack, and powerlessness. I’m
not here to convince you it’s a walk in the park, but I will point out that
Jesus said those who are persecuted for righteousness's sake are blessed.
They’re not being punished, taught a lesson, on the outs with
God, or cursed, as I heard a preacher once claim in between asking for money
for his second private jet. Jesus calls those who are persecuted for the sake
of righteousness blessed!
Matthew 5:10-12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when
they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for
My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
The truth will always have enemies in a world of lies. The
light will always be at enmity with the darkness. It’s the reality of the world
we live in, and if you believe that the godless play fair or that they’d never
go so low as to accuse anyone falsely, you’ve been living under a rock for the
better part of a decade.
If there is no friction between the church and the world, it
only means that the church has thrown in the towel, given up the fight, and
acquiesced to the enemy's demands. Light and darkness cannot coexist peaceably.
It’s an impossibility.
If you are a believer actively working out your salvation
with fear and trembling, pursuing righteousness and being light, the darkness
will eventually target you, harass you, threaten you, and ultimately persecute
you. It is an inevitability. It is certain and absolute.
If the devil is leaving most modern-day Christians alone,
it’s because he has nothing to fear from them. They are in a state of such
lethargy, lukewarm, and indifferent when it comes to spiritual matters that the
enemy knows they pose no threat. When someone belongs to Christ in name only,
they belong to the enemy in action and deed. When there is no action behind the
words men utter in affirmation of being followers of Christ, they are likened
to a spouse who, although they took a vow to be faithful until death do they
part, is cheating their way through the telephone book.
If we cannot deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow
Him in times of plenty and ease, when we have no opposition and no threat of
persecution, what makes us think that we will do so when hardship, famine, and
the threat of losing one’s freedom and even life become ever-present?
If we can’t be faithful in the good times, what makes us
think we will be in the hard ones?
When we are instructed to build up our most holy faith, to
pursue righteousness and spiritual growth with the single-minded focus of
someone who has no other goals but to know the fullness of Christ, it’s not
just for the present, but that we might be prepared for the future so that when
we are called upon to endure we will have the wherewithal to do so.
God doesn’t issue baseless warnings. He is not a fear-monger,
nor is He interested in views or clicks. When God warns, it’s with the singular
intent of His children being in a state of preparedness, ready to give a defense
to everyone who asks them a reason for the hope that is in them.
Nobody decides to run a marathon today and then does it tomorrow. They have to work their way up to it, running a little more each day until they are physically and mentally ready. If there is no preparation involved, then we risk being a cautionary tale like Pheiddipides, who ran from Marathon to Athens only to drop dead after delivering his message. Build up your spiritual endurance before your greatest test arises. Once it comes, there will be time for nothing more but to endure.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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