Dear friends, it shouldn’t be surprising to any of us that there are ‘fiery’ trials to go through, especially when we follow Jesus as His genuinely committed disciples, for He made it as clear as day in His word that the rest of the world will hate us in the same way that it also hated/hates Him.
In fact, it is even written in scripture that EVERYONE who wants to live a godly life in Christ will suffer persecution at some point in their lives, perhaps unto torturous death for some of us. Why then would any of you be taken off guard and begin to lament when it finally happens to you? Of course we should not ever live in fear, but instead we SHOULD wisely prepare for the worst case scenario, both physically and spiritually. The Lord has also made it clear in His word that there will be a prophesied time of great persecution of the church in the last days, that is still yet to come, but that is really not far away, and should be expected any time now. Things really could change worldwide overnight, and it’s promised that everyone who confesses the Lord will be involved in the sufferings foretold. Yes, WE will be dragged into public places of execution and high security prisons, and we may even stand trial before very important people in society, all because we are His followers who refuse to betray Him and His gospel. But don’t for a second think this is all totally negative to consider, because the Lord God in His wisdom uses this kind of persecution to exhibit His justice on both His people and their enemies, and to make us worthy of His Kingdom, of which we are asked to suffer for. Jesus put it this way; “Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword.” He is basically breaking the ‘bad’ news to us that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently for the allotted time of the rise of the satanic kingdom on earth, and for us to remain faithful during it all as a test of the genuineness of each of our faiths.
Yes, we must always endure such persecution patiently, obeying His commands to love God and others (even our enemies) and maintaining our faith in Jesus at any cost to ourselves. God has called us all to always do good, even when (and especially when) it means suffering for Him, just as His Son has suffered for us. HE is our example, and we must follow in His footsteps along the straight and narrow road that leads to eternal life. Counter intuitively, we must find gladness in the persecution we all face, for such trials make us partners with Christ in HIS suffering, so that we will then have the inexpressibly wonderful joy of seeing HIS glory when it is revealed to all the world on the day of judgement. To be clear, we must share in His suffering, to then later share in His glory, by His grace. Like in baptism, we must die with Christ to be raised with Christ. It is no longer we that live, but Christ lives in us… we therefore present our bodies as a living sacrifice, and pick up our own crosses, denying ourselves to follow Him. We must all stand firm against the devil then, and work hard to be immovably strong in our faiths for the coming tests that are coming to the body of believers. Remember that many of our family of believers all over the world are already currently going through the same kind of terrible suffering we must all one day face, so we must considerately pray for them and do our best to help them as though we ourselves are literally there suffering along with them.
Dear friends, cast your minds back and think deeply on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you did your best to remain faithful, even though for many of you it sometimes meant considerable suffering in some form or another, or at the very least you were inspired to live such a tested faith because of others you had heard of and seen who had suffered before you, not least the Lord Himself. Some of you hearing this message now have perhaps been physically exposed to public ridicule and were maybe even beaten for your faith, and some of you have witnessed such events in other brethren, and then gone to help those in need with prayers and medical aid, perhaps even taking them into your own houses until they recovered, at the risk of being attacked yourselves. But try to understand, this is right and good, and that brethren should always encourage each other to continue in the faith no matter what, reminding each other that we all must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. Be aware that the Lord’s good and perfect will is to allow us to suffer much hardship for His glory, only to then restore us to true and pure life again, lifting us up from the depths and dregs of this corrupted earth into glory. So then, we should all live in such a way that no one else will stumble into sin or rebellion against God because of our own failures to be absolutely perfect, and continually pray that no one will find fault with our own ministries, whether they be large or small, taking care to examine our works constantly under the microscope with a Holy Spirit lens. Yes, in everything we all do in this vapour of earthly life, we must work hard to show that we are true ministers of God’s words and ways, being careful to exude humble holiness to others for their benefits, and for the glory of God. We therefore must patiently endure any troubles, hardships or calamities of any and every kind… believe me, if you haven’t had any such hardships yet, they ARE coming, should you remain in the faith. Our faiths will be tested and refined, until they are either purified or perished. That’s why true disciples take great pleasure in their weaknesses, as well as in the insults, the hardships, the persecutions, and the troubles that we will all eventually suffer for serving Jesus Christ. Godly wisdom tells us that when we are weak, then we are strong, for God can and will use our weaknesses to display His great strength in and through us, and then glorify Himself because of His incredible grace in spite of us.
We should proudly tell the rest of God’s church about the endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships that others we know and love are suffering through, without shame, for when we endure such hardship, we will actually reign with Him! And the church needs to know this intimately, so as not to shirk it. But if any of us deny Him in this way, He will then deny us, and no one who loves God would ever want that to happen, to ANY of us. Well then! Are any of you out there suffering hardships at the moment? You should pray fervently, never ceasing, and you should ask others to pray for you too. Are any of you happy out there, loving your earthly life for where you are right now and being grateful for what the Lord has done for you? You should sing praises and give continual thanks, and try to go out of your way to be generous and considerate to the rest of the body of Christ who are currently in darker times than you. If you want examples of patience in suffering to take inspiration from, and to mentally and spiritually prepare yourself (as we all should do), look closely into the scriptures at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, and learn every lesson possible through them simply through considering those heavenly words deeply; it will help greatly in the long run to do so.
The Lord has never ignored or belittled the suffering of the needy. He does not turned His back on them, but listens to their cries for help. It is a comfort that those who suffer like this have a witness on that great day, when all souls are judged. There WILL be justice. Yet suffering is still good for us, and should not be evaded, for it teaches us to pay attention to His decrees, and has a refining influence on us. It is painful, for sure, but it all has meaning when you know the Lord, especially if you are suffering directly because of His kingdom. Jesus wonders of His disciples; “Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering that I drank from? Are you able to be baptised with the baptism of suffering I was baptised with?” Yet even the Son of God prayed; “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” He overcame, and bought our souls with His blood. There is a high cost, but also a great reward to what the Father asks of us.
Suffering for the Lord is a little bit like a woman suffering the pains of labour, for when her child is born, her severe anguish gives way to a wonderful joy because she has brought a new baby into the world, and the pain melts away as though it was never there. Since we are His children, we are also His heirs; together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s glory! But if we are to share in His glory, we must also share in His suffering, although anything we would suffer now is really NOTHING compared to the glory He will reveal to us later. All creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children REALLY are, those who were tested in the refining fires of suffering for His name. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, creation looks forward to the day when it will join all God’s children in such glorious freedom from death and decay! It is through such suffering that our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus, so that the LIFE of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. We have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ, but also the privilege of suffering FOR Him, like He did for us. If I was to suffer for any of you in this body I have here on earth, I would actually be participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for His body, the church, for all believers ARE His body, we are living stones in that holiest of temples; we all share in one bread.
We can all be greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, because others before us and maybe even among us have remained strong in their faiths and triumphed through the power of the Spirit. I exhort you all to endure suffering along with them, as good soldiers of Christ Jesus. Because committed people all over the world preach the Good News of Christ without fear or restraint, many of them are suffering and have been chained up and thrown into dungeons like criminals, even as I speak. But always remember that the word of God can never be chained. Whilst it is daylight, learn your bible by heart so you can cherish those words in your heart, in case you are one of those selected for such trials, without a physical bible to hand; you will never be sorry for learning the words of eternal life. No matter what, try not to let the devil intimidate you into being afraid of suffering for the Lord. Instead, work gladly and tirelessly at telling others the GREAT news that Jesus’s sacrifice can redeem us from eternal damnation, and fully carry out whatever ministry God has given you to the best of your abilities. Jehovah, FOR whom and THROUGH whom everything was made, has chosen to bring many children into glory – praise His holy name! And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader to us, fit to bring us into our salvation; and the way of that salvation is always via the cross.
The flesh must be executed, and the cross must be applied to it, for the torture of crucifixion is paradoxically the only way to true life, and all souls who want to truly KNOW the Lord must unswervingly and courageously walk that way, just as the Master of the entire establishment did, once upon a time, not too long ago.