The Persecuted Church

  The Persecuted church

In the book of Revelations we read,

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: 

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.  

I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.  

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. Revelations 2:8-11.

Here is one of only two churches mentioned in Revelations that Christ does not criticize. Christs states that while they may seem to live in poverty. It is quite the opposite. They are rich. 

Christ tells them that some of them are about to go to prison, and suffer persecution. Yet He reminds them that if they stay faithful to the point of death they will receive a crown of life.

This is happening around the world today in the twenty-first century. There are many believers in Christ Jesus who are being persecuted, jailed, placed in prison camps even put to death for the name of Jesus.

These believers have the assurance from Christ that they will receive a crown of life.

As believers in the western democracies we should be praying for the persecuted church around the world. 

For as brother Andrew a famous evangelist and bible smuggler once said, “our prayers go where we cannot.”

Please don’t just think about it. 

Pray for the persecuted church now.

Do you turn to Christ?

  Do you turn to Christ?

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

 and I will give you rest.”

                                      Matthew 11:28.

We are not promised a life without trials and tribulations. Problems in life come and go. That being said if your trust is truly in The Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what you are going through you can find rest.

In the very next line we hear Jesus say,

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29.

If we look at the early apostles especially Paul we see that he went through some horrific things. He was shipwrecked, beaten, thrown in jail and ultimately murdered for his faith. Yet his faith in Christ never wavered. If anything it seems to have made him stronger.

As a Christian I find comfort in knowing that no matter what trial or trouble I am going through Jesus is there with me giving me the strength to go through it.

When you go through troubles do you turn to Christ?

Please think about it. 

Where is your trust?

  Where is your trust?

The Psalmist writes,

"God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever-present help in trouble" 

                                             Psalm 46:1.

When you get in trouble, when you are having problems in your life, where does your strength come from? Does it come from God or the things of this world?

Matthews gospel records this interaction between Jesus and a young man,

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 

"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honour your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.''" 

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." Matthew 19:16-22.

Now there’s nothing wrong with having great wealth. The problem comes when we put our trust in that wealth ahead of God. 

The apostle Paul wrote,

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Notice here the apostle Paul here says “for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

Money in and of itself is neither good nor bad. Its what we do with it and how much value we place on it in our life that can cause problems.

Our trust must always be in the Lord God Almighty. Nothing should come before Him.

So where is your trust?

Please think about it.

Pray and Praise

“Is anyone in trouble? 

He should pray.

 Is anyone happy? 

Let him sing songs of praise.”

                                                                                               James 4:13

I think it is safe to say more prayers go up to God when people are in trouble than when they are happy.
Christian, none-Christian it really doesn’t make any difference. If the situation is bad enough people will call on God. To Quote Lisa Simpson of the Fox television show “prayer the last bastion of a scoundrel.”
I disagree with the Simpson quote, I feel it should be the first place we go even before trouble arrises.
The reality is unfortunately, that the only time some people pray is when trouble is upon them.
When we are sick do we call on the elders of our church congregation to pray for us. To hold us up in prayer before God.
Prayer is a powerful weapon. Sadly to few Christians use it and many who do doubt or only half believe it will work.
There is another reality. Too few Christians when they are happy sing songs of praise to God.
When was the last time you actually sang praises to God out side of church or a church meeting? SANG not LISTEN to?
If we are Christians we should be all the way. We should be willing to give praise to God openly when we are happy anywhere, anytime. But do we.
The Psalmist wrote,

“Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD”

                                                                                           Psalm 150
When was the last time you sang praises to God outside chruch?
Don’t think about it and do it.