Unbelieving World

Jesus endured the agony of the cross for you and I so we could be reconciled to God not so we can escape every form of suffering in life. Christianity is not about avoiding the ugly parts of life. It is about going through them knowing we don’t have to face them alone. Last week we talked about how in everything, we know God is with us.

This week we will look at another aspect of the cross. Persecution. John 15:18- 20 says, “Just remember, when the unbelieving world hates you, they first hated me. If you were to give your allegiance to the world, they would love and welcome you as one of their own. But because you won’t align yourself with the values of this world, they will hate you. I have chosen you and taken you out of the world to be mine. So remember what I taught you, that a servant isn’t superior to his master. And since they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. And if they obey my teachings, they will also obey yours.”

That was Jesus speaking before He went to the cross. He knew He would be persecuted. The Pharisees hated Him. He confronted their bad behavior and they would much rather hide behind religious traditions than embrace the Son of the God and welcome Him into their lives. Isn’t it crazy that it was not the Romans who wanted Jesus dead but His own people? It all came down to them not believing that He was the Messiah they had been waiting for.

So we know that persecution will come. There are a lot of Christians being persecuted right now and being martyred for their faith. It is hard to believe that in our present world today there are believers being slaughtered for their faith in Jesus Christ. I think sometimes we, as Christians, have abused the term “persecution”.  Today, we are not talking about when someone blasts their horn and gives you the naughty finger in traffic, and you say you are being persecuted because of your “I ❤️Jesus” bumper sticker. No. You may be prophetic, but they are not. Learn to indicate!

We are talking about real persecution. We are talking about the Christians who were slaughtered over the Easter weekend in Nigeria. I am talking about Christians who are being targeted and being forced into hiding around the world because if they are seen in a gathering or praying or seen with a Bible it will cost them their lives. Why do we need to talk about it? Because Jesus said if the world hated Him, it would hate us too. If the world persecuted Him and killed Him, they will do the same to us too. It is only a matter of time before the persecution increases.

As it stands, Christians are being asked to compromise on a lot of their values. We are being asked to take the Bible as an outdated book that doesn’t apply to the modern world. Is it that the Bible does not apply to the modern world or has the world moved itself further and further away from God so much so, it now considers Him irrelevant? The Bible is not outdated, nor are its values. They still apply today.

In Matthew 24:9-13 Jesus warned us about the end times, which we are living in now, He said, “You can expect to be persecuted, even killed; for you will be hated by all the nations because of your love for me.  Then many will stop following me and fall away,  and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many lying prophets will arise, deceiving multitudes and leading them away from the path of truth. There will be such an increase of the sin of lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold. But hold your hope  firmly to the end and you will experience life and deliverance.”

How many people have been falling away from their faith and turning around and saying how much they hate Christians? The things spoken of in Matthew 24 are all  happening all around us. Persecution is on the rise, and we need to decide now what we are going to do when it comes knocking on our door. Are we going to deny Jesus and say we never knew Him or are we going to stand even if it costs us our lives? As the world changes some of the things we believe as Christians are being portrayed as discriminatory or “hate speech” and we are being asked to censor the word of God. Persecution is here and it will only get worse with time, not better.

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus warned His disciples again about persecution He said, “Don’t be in fear of those who can kill only the body but not your soul. Fear only God, who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” What does this mean? It is better to hold on to your faith and the truth of God’s word spoken in love even if it will cost you your body (life on earth) than it is to denounce your faith and be destroyed forever.

It’s a hard subject but we need to prepare our hearts. The cross was persecution, if we are to take up our cross, we too will face persecution as we follow Jesus. Even so, we know God is always with us. We hold on to the hope we find in Him and say, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me,” Psalm 23:4. Yes, even in the darkest valleys, God never leaves nor forsakes us.

Love and blessings

Melissa Tsingano.