IF PERSECUTION COMES!

IF PERSECUTION COMES!

Ps 7:11-13

11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

          It is not a pleasant thought! Christians, while a formidable group, now find themselves in the minority of opinion. Emboldened by a wildly complicit tyrant, the wicked of our nation now enjoy power by intimidation. Not satisfied with one victory, they press their vile agenda in sweeping reforms.

          It has happened before! We are by no means the first or only generation to feel the sting of persecution, nor has it become as fierce as it might. In the Old Testament, Jezebel repressed the worship of Jehovah and sought to advance the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. Her most satisfying end is an encouragement ( 2 Kings 9:33-35).

          The Romans lighted their avenues with the flaming bodies of the faithful and threw families and communities to the hungry beasts in the coliseum. “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. Heb 11:37-38.

          I fear we are about to be “sifted as wheat” and those who are weak of character and commitment will, like Peter, deny their Lord. Before persecution comes certain firm decisions must be made, and these seem insignificant in the face of other forms of torment. Will we continue to tithe and give if our gifts are no longer tax deductible? Will our pastors be forced to perform homosexual unions because they sign as agents of the state? Will our houses of worship be confiscated and if so where will we gather for worship? Will we gather for worship? Will we worship?

Rom 8:35-37

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Dear God of Battles, gird thy loins to fight. Whet thy sword and gather thy arrows against those who would persecute thy people. Let them be as Jezebel in the streets. AMEN