Steadfast Faithfulness

Steadfast Faithfulness (John 15:18 – 16:4) More than 43 million Christians have been killed for their faith since the crucifixion of Jesus. Eleven of the twelve apostles were martyred for their faith. John was the only apostle who died a natural death. He was seized by the authorities under the order of Emperor Domitian who reigned from AD 81-96. Tradition says that John drank poison to prove that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were with him to protect him. A condemned prisoner was then forced to drink the poison to prove that it was lethal. The prisoner died and John raised him from the dead. John was then thrown into a caldron of boiling oil which also failed to kill him. He was eventually banished to the Island of Patmos where he received the awesome revelation of Jesus Christ. Heb. 11:35-38 says, "Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them." In ancient Rome, crowds by the tens of thousands would gather in the Colosseum to watch as Christians were torn apart by wild animals. At the Nicene Council, an important church meeting in the 4th century A.D., of the 318 delegates attending, fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith. During China’s Boxer Rebellion of 1900, insurgents captured a mission station, blocked all the gates but one, and in front of that one gate placed a cross flat on the ground. Then the word was passed to those inside that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life, but that any refusing would be shot. Terribly frightened, the first seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free. But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to commit the sacrilegious act. Kneeling beside the cross in prayer for strength, she arose and moved carefully around the cross, and went out to face the firing squad. Strengthened by her example, the last ninety-two students followed her to the firing squad. As he lay on the ground immersed in a pool of blood, the guerrillas now armed with machetes began severing the heads of many of the fallen laborers. “At the moment they approached me, I suddenly realized I had not told them about Jesus,” recalled Alex. “Though I was drowning in my own blood, I could hardly speak; and I was totally blind. With all the strength I could muster, I cried out to them: ‘Jesus loves you! Jesus loves you!’” An angry gunman silenced Alex by shattering his jaw with the end of a rifle. When Alex first visited the prison, the guerrillas were uneasy. As he continued to share the love of Christ with the Marxist murderers, many of them softened and started to cry. They now have a deep respect for Brother Alex and look forward to his regular visits. Because Alex forgave his attackers and told them about Jesus, some of them have now come to Christ. Alex recently graduated from seminary. Although he was blinded in the attack, the young evangelist says he clearly sees the call God has on his life: to continue sharing the love of Christ with the Marxist guerrillas and other hurting Colombians. God has given him a vision to set the captives free!

More Christians have died for their faith in the 20th century than at any other time in human history. There have been more than 26 million documented cases of martyrdom in that century, The 21st century is looking even less favorable for Christians. Today, more than 200 million Christians in over 60 nations face persecution each day, 60% of these are children, of these, 150,000 to 165,000 are martyred each year. Even our own nation is becoming more hostile towards Christians, and in particular, towards the use of the name Jesus. (John 15:21; Luke 21:13-17) In the past year in Nigeria, for example, there have been major religious persecutions in Bauchi, Katsina, Kaduna, and in Adamawa. Thousands have been murdered, tortured, and stripped of all their worldly goods for their faith. To read about modern day persecution against Christians around the world, go to Voice of the Martyrs at: http://www.persecution.com/members/index.cfm What can we do to help these, our brothers and sisters in Christ? Pray for those who are undergoing persecution. That they will stand firm in their faith (1 Pet. 5:8-10) That they will forgive those who persecute them (Luke 23:34) That they will not be fearful of men, but trust God. (Rev. 2:10) That they will not repay evil for evil, but will seek to live at peace with everyone. (Rom. 12:17-21) This persecution is not fair, but neither was the Christ’s suffering and death on our behalf. We are to follow in his footsteps, and we are certainly no more deserving of respect or special consideration than He is. (John 15:20) Why are Christians hated? Because we are not “of this world” having been chosen by God to be “in the world, but not of the world” (John 15:19) Because those that hate us don’t know the One who sent us (John 15:21) Because shining the light of God’s truth reveals the world’s dark deeds (John 15:22-24) If believers compromise with the world, the world may love them, but they fail in their mission to shine the light of truth. We must not let the word of truth be suppressed by those who hate us (Acts 4:1820; Mark 8:38)

When the emperor Valens threatened Eusebuis with confiscation of all his goods, torture, banishment, or even death, the courageous Christian replied, “He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.” Those enduring persecution on earth will be rewarded in Heaven (Matt. 5:10-12) Jesus chose his disciples from among the common people instead of from the priestly class. Why do you think that is? Our guide, and the source of our strength in times of trouble, is God’s Holy Spirit Paraclete, Gk. = counselor and advocate, “one who is called alongside” The Holy Spirit empowers believers to give a bold witness to Christ, in accordance with the promise (Acts 1:8-9; John 14:16) Churches often grow more rapidly and are more vigorous in their witness, during times of persecution. Why do you think this might be? "On that day (the day of Stephen's murder) a great persecution arose against that church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." Up until now in the book of Acts all the ministry has taken place in Jerusalem. No one had moved out to Judea and Samaria. But Jesus had said in Acts 1:8 that the coming of the Holy Spirit was to empower missions in Jerusalem and beyond. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." On January 9, 1985 Pastor Hristo Kulichev, a Congregational pastor in Bulgaria was arrested and put in prison. His crime was that he preached in his church even though the state had appointed another man the pastor whom the congregation did not elect. His trial was a mockery of justice. And he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment. During his time in prison he made Christ known every way he could. When he got out he wrote, "Both prisoners and jailers asked many questions, and it turned out that we had a more fruitful ministry there than we could have expected in church. God was better served by our presence in prison than if we had been free." (Herbert Schlossberg, Called to Suffer, Called to Triumph, p. 230) Some analysts predict that, at the current rate of growth, Christians could represent as much as one-third of China’s population within the next three decades. “China is in the process of becoming Christianized,” concludes a new book, Jesus in Beijing, by David Aikman, Time magazine’s former Beijing bureau chief. Former president Jiang Zemin once privately told friends that he would like Christianity to become China’s official religion, according to sources in the book. - The Globe And Mail, Saturday, February 21, 2004, “Jesus challenging Marx for soul of China,” by Geoffrey York, p. A3.

Hate Crimes On June 19, 2004, Pastor Aka Green was sentenced to one month in prison in Sweden for the “hate crime” of preaching against the sin of homosexuality. He had violated a Swedish law that protects gays from any form of dissent. They are indeed a privileged group there, while Christians keep a low profile. There are now hate crimes laws on the books in Canada, England and New Zealand, where egregious violations of human rights have already occurred as a result. In Canada, an ex gay distributed literature describing the medical risks of gay sex. For his trouble he was fined $17,500 in a civil suit brought by 4 gays who said they were “offended.” The man may spend his life in jail because he has said he will not pay the “ridiculous” fine. A Canadian pastor protested a school policy of handing out Korans and setting aside a room for Muslim high school students to pray, while prohibiting Christians and Jews from doing the same thing. He was found by the Canadian Supreme Court to have "willfully promoted hatred" and was forced to undergo probation and 340 hours of "community service" at the Islamic Society of North America. The Becket Fund is vigorously defending two Evangelical pastors who have run afoul of an Australian state's so-called hate crimes law. The two pastors are appealing a court ruling in the very liberal state of Victoria that could send them to prison for criticizing Islam at a conference. Rev. Danny Nallia and Rev. Daniel Scot presented a seminar for Catch the Fire Ministries. Victoria Judge Michael Higgins ruled that the pastors had incited "hatred and fear" against Muslims. Becket Fund President Seamus Hasson said, "Our clients were expressing their opinions regarding the differences between the two religions; it doesn't matter whether the government or anyone else thinks their opinions were wrong--everyone has the right to be wrong on matters of belief without fear of government sanction." Using the law to threaten Christians will become easier in California if Gov. Schwarzenegger does not veto the just-passed S.B. 1437. That law would require positive treatment of homosexuality in the Golden State's public schools. As we have seen in Sweden, Canada, and Massachusetts, wherever homosexual conduct becomes officially protected, Christians and others who publicly disapprove of homosexual acts face the threat of legal reprisal. Senate Hate Crimes Bill Scores of ex-homosexuals came to Washington this week, led by Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, to join with leading pastors and representatives of the Family Research Council to urge Congress to reject the Hate Crimes legislation sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR). A planned press conference was cancelled in order to honor the students slain at Virginia Tech, but ex-gay citizen lobbyists fanned out across Capitol Hill to share their message with Congress. S. 1105 is now named after Matthew Shepard, a homosexual college student whose murder shocked the country. It would treat "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" (i.e., cross-dressing and sex-change operations) as "protected classes" and make a crime motivated by prejudice, a federal offence. An offender's religious opinions about homosexuality could therefore be on trial and special punishments rendered against him. The bill, if passed, would elevate homosexuals as higher class citizens above the elderly, children, women and all other people who do not have special treatment under the law. Instead of ending

discrimination, this bill helps to create a new caste system in America that gives special treatment to persons because of their sexual behavior - a behavior that just a few years ago, was a criminal offense in many states. The House Hate Crimes bill is H.R. 1592 (see Shepard, Exodus, Stop Hate Crimes). Pray that God will stir the Church and the American people to understand the threat that Hate Crimes laws really are. May sufficient numbers stand to say "NO!" to the Congressmen, and may the bill be defeated. May the President be courageous and stand ready to veto, should the bill somehow pass (Josh 23:6; Pr 17:15; Is 5:20; Rom 1:26-32). For more information on legislation affecting religious freedom in America see: http://www.frc.org/ http://www.lc.org/ http://www.becketfund.org/ http://www.aclj.org/