PERSECUTED AS CHRISTIANS
The true Christian does not fear the death of martyrdom – our greatest fear may be that of disappointing Jesus and renouncing Him in the process. We must, however, accept the fact that, in many instances, God mentions in His Word persecution of His children. This did not only relate to the Old Testament prophets, but also to the Christians in particular. Please read for yourself the following texts from Scripture in this regard:
1Kings 19:2, 22:27; 2Chronicles 16:10, 24:21; Jeremiah 20:2, 32:2; Daniel 3:20, 6:16; Acts 4:3, 5:40, 8:1 and Hebrews 11:36
JESUS PERSECUTED
Then of course we are familiar with the persecution of Jesus Himself, reaching its climax with the atrocious death on the cross. Therefore Jesus warned all His followers that they will also be persecuted by this evil world, to the point of death, when they remain faithful to His Word and strive for the Kingdom of God. Matthew 10:16-18 says
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.”
John 15:19-20 adds:
“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”
UNPRECEDENTED PERSECUTION
Now, we know from the history of the Church that there were numerous disciples of Jesus who paid with their blood while obeying Jesus’ commands. How often it happened that Paul, Silas and some of the other apostles were attacked by defiant Jews! Many times they were flogged by the Romans, while Paul spent a large part of his ministration in gruesome gaols. Modern history has also yielded millions of martyrs who paid with their lives for their faith. Many of our own ancestors fled from Europe to “dark” Africa before the tyranny of persecution in their countries. Jesus explicitly pointed out that the time would come of unprecedented persecution, bearing relation to the appearance of the Antichrist, and reaching its peak at His second coming as these scriptures show.
“All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”
“And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
“And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
ONLY THE BRAVE
From these texts we see clearly that God allows Satan to persecute and even kill Christ’s followers in his rage. For some this might be hard to accept or believe, but we must keep in mind that God is keeping the unblemished Bride of Christ in mind. The purging can only be achieved through persecution and hardships. Only those who love Christ to the point of death will remain standing in these times – through them the complete plan of God will be consummated.
THE TRUE CHURCH
All the false prophets, false doctrines, lies and misleading that have infiltrated the churches will fall away and the Bride, that is the Body of Christ, the true Church, will be revealed. They will, true to the pure testimony of Christ, turn against the power of Babylon, following the command in Revelations 18:4-6:
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.”
A CALL TO ACTION
This command, clearly a call to action, has up to now been strange and unreal to many Christians. In fact, whenever I proclaim it, most people stare at me with astonishment. Even after the nature and objectives of the modern Babylon have been clearly spelled out to them, the incredulity is still obvious. The tentacles of this monster have already twisted themselves around our everyday way of life so that many of our own customs, notions, loyalties and ideas have become part of the world system. Many more infamous idols have penetrated our Christian national fabric: breaking the Sabbath in the name of sport and business; psychology and humanism against sanctification and Godly justice; dissension between churches due to churchism and politics, and jealousy and avarice due to materialism are all thriving. Even occultism, the New Age philosophy, Eastern martial arts, addiction to medication and hypnosis are all being embraced by churches for their so-called wonderful benefits.
GOD’S JUICY STEAKS
Seeing how small a number of Christians are really testifying for the Lord in their everyday lives, it is understandable that the enemy succeeded so easily to enter and divide churches. For too long we have been satisfied to accept rice water and potato peels from paid hirelings instead of juicy, thick steaks from God’s Word! Satan only had to infiltrate the theological training institutions with his false doctrines, to hijack the churches. The stuff and nonsense dished up to Christians by some preachers is shocking – and then the flock still lap it up like ProNutro, in their craving for heavenly manna.
THE HOLY COVENANT
The major reason for this massive seduction is undoubtedly that we, parents, have left religious instruction in the hands of unsaved teachers and professional preachers who do not really have God’s interests in their hearts, but rather their own financial maintenance. Religious instruction should be done at home by parents who regard their covenant with God as holy and trustworthy. This is sadly asking too much of most parents, because they themselves neglect their own Bible study. I pray that, since the law no longer safeguards a Christian code and we Christians may be confronted with persecution, God’s true children will stand up again to fulfil their duty in all areas.
True children of God are of course called to spiritual warfare, and in this we get more than enough training through studying the lives and works of Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul. The call to war is already sounding clearly across the plains of our country, and the thirst for true power is driving God’s children to smaller house-church meetings where the professionals have no say.
DR KRIGE AND HOUSE REGENERATION
This adapted content was extracted from Make your Stand, authored by Dr Ado Krige, the Founding Director of House Regeneration, a South African drug rehabilitation centre offering a comprehensive discipleship training program. By applying principles of Biblical Therapy, using the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train in righteousness, House Regeneration counsellors show anyone who has suffered from addiction how to fully understand why they do what they do and how to bring their belief systems in line with the Word of God.
