The Refining Fire of Persecution

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"I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”

Luke 12:49-50 NASB

These verses are a prophetic word from Jesus to His disciples. This section began with the question from Peter. "Lord, are you addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?" (Lk 12:41) His question was immediately preceded by Jesus' discussion of staying on the alert for the second coming of the Son of Man. 

"I have come to cast fire upon the earth." Some commentators believe that this casting of fire relates to the fire of the Holy Spirit, sent at Pentecost, and that may very well be correct. Because this is sandwiched between the verses referencing the coming of the Son of Man and those that follow, speaking of persecution and divisions, I interpret these two verses differently, and concur with Matthew Henry on this. I believe these two verses speak of persecution as well.

What Jesus did, in coming to earth, was to start a process that began with His arrival, proceeded through His death, burial, and resurrection, and continues until His triumphant return. Metaphorically, He "cast fire" upon the earth, for His teachings threatened the religious establishment and brought wrath upon His followers. A consuming fire of persecution followed.

Jesus had tough times ahead and, like most of us, He dreaded them. "How distressed I am until it is accomplished." Despite knowing he would be brutally executed, He taught a lifestyle of love, including love for our enemies. We, too, need to remember His teachings regarding praying for our enemies.

Persecution was coming, he warned, and it would be a fire that blazed and consumed. Jesus was right. Christians would be eaten by lions, sawn in two, stoned, imprisoned, scourged, made destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, and more. (Hebrews 11:36-38)  Jesus knew these things were coming, yet He saw them as temporary, just as the agony of crucifixion was temporary. 

These tortures would not be just a temporary suffering. They would serve as a refining fire. When believers stood in the midst of the coliseum, chained, as a lion roared toward them and opened its mouth wide, white teeth glistening, moving in for the kill, he (or she) would know the truth of their faith. No one would be eaten alive for a convenient faith. It was only for a real, vibrant, living faith that one might die.

Persecution separated the wheat from the chaff, the believers from the crowd. 

Following Jesus was no longer a trendy fad. It was truth worth dying for, and thousands of believers gave their lives for that truth. Instead of burning out the disciples of Christ, it caused them to flee ahead of the fire, and literally took the gospel around the world. 

We have begun to see the same refining fire of persecution blazing throughout the earth once again. The beheadings of believers in the Middle East are only the beginning. Persecution has, in some ways, begun in this country, as well. We can expect the fire to burn hotter, to blaze brighter. 

We will not all escape the flames, but the cause of Christ will not be burned out. 

The accelerating persecution will have an important effect on the church. Those who are "country club Christians" will fall away. If our involvement in church activities is merely a social event, we will not stand in the face of trial. That trial, however, will clarify (for us and for the world) the truth of our relationship to Christ.

Am I a committed follower or a convenience follower?

This is a question we may soon have the opportunity to answer, but, if we hope to stand in the midst of trial, we must make our decision now. 

Will we follow Him regardless of the cost or not?

There is nothing sweeter than the joy of serving a living Lord who comes to us in our trials and comforts us in our suffering, even when that trial is a trial by fire, to the death.

Jesus will return, but many hard and terrifying things will happen before that glorious day. They are part of the process and will serve as a refining fire. We will not all suffer great affliction, but many of us will. 

Not one moment of suffering will be overlooked by our Lord. Not one drop of blood will be wasted.

"And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained... and there was given to each of them a white robe... (Rev. 6: 9-11 NASB)

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You can read more about the refining fire of persecution and lessons from the life of William Tyndale here.

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Our Father, forgive our wavering faith and make us strong, sure, ready to stand, no matter the cost. We pray for our enemies and those who would harm us for our faith. May our sacrifice draw them to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#persecution #readytodie #martyr #JesusChrist #disciple

The Recognition, Part 13: the Saving

For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:24-25 NASB)

The "saving" mentioned here is a complex issue and one we need to examine carefully. The word translated as "save" in both instances is sōzō, and is a word that can have multiple meanings. To the woman with the hemmorhage, Jesus used the word sōzō when He said, "Your faith has saved you."  In that instance, sōzō meant "made whole". In this verse, however, the word is used twice and has a different meaning each time. 

"Whoever wishes to save his life" is the first use of sōzō, and in this case, it indicates the preservation of the physical life. In this instance, Jesus says that the one whose focus is to save his physical life (even at the cost of denying Christ), will end up losing his soul-life. This indicates a denial of Christ rather than be martyred (physical death). Our refusal to abandon the life we hold dear for Jesus will cost us dearly in the end.  

There is a tendency in the church today to assume that "there is grace to cover that".  There is certainly far more grace than we deserve available to cover our sins, but we, in this country, tend to be entirely too cavalier about our Lord and the life to which He has called us. Jesus, Himself, spoke these words, and we do well to take heed. "But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:33 NASB) What about that is not clear? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot deny Christ and, at the same time, be a faithful follower. Discipleship is costly. Jesus never indicated that it was otherwise.  You cannot stay the same and be a disciple. It is the nature of a disciple to become like the master. This decision of whether or not we will deny Christ to save our physical life is not one that can be made in the heat of the moment. This is a decision that must be made ahead of time and lived out in a consistent routine of dying to self, so that we can hold firm to our faith when the trial comes. 

The enemy of our soul would have us believe that this willingness to die for Christ is only for fanatics, not the "routine believer".  Dear ones, there is nothing in the words of Christ that offers the option of being a "routine believer".  Jesus called us to radical faith as a disciple and it was the only option He offered. 

"Whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it" is the second use of the word sōzō, and indicates the preservation of life in a spiritual sense, the saving of one's soul. In this instance, the disciple is willing to die for Christ physically, having first died to self spiritually. Jesus indicates here that the willingness to die physically for Him (which must be preceded by a willingness to die to self) may result in physical death but not the death of the soul. This is a great promise from our Lord, who said, "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32 NASB)

It is the decision to die to self that must be made, for it is only after a willingness to die to our own selfish, worldly desires that we can be willing to die for Christ physically. Does this physical death seem unlikely? Our brothers and sisters around the world are imprisoned and dying for the cause of Christ on a daily basis, and we, too, could easily face this persecution. 

There are decisions to be made. Will you be a disciple of Christ or not? Will you be willing to die to self on a daily basis or not? Will you stand for Him if it means you must die for Him? Preservation of our soul comes as a result of a choice to relinquish our life for the one Jesus offers, and it is a choice we cannot avoid. Choose well, friends. Your eternal life depends upon it. 

Be a Voice, Not an Echo: Lessons from the Life of Tyndale

Life has not always been easy for Christians.

William Tyndale lived in England in the early 1500's, at a time when the Bible was only available to the most learned men who read Greek and Hebrew.  The lack of an English translation of the Bible was a great vexation to Tyndale, who saw grave corruption in many of the church leaders of the day.

The common person had no defense against their edicts, because they had no way of knowing what the Scripture really said.  There was a feeling that, "We would be better off without God's laws" than without the laws of the church leaders.

Tyndale was stunned and replied that he would "cause a plowboy to know more of the Scriptures" than the current leaders before he was through.  Tyndale's insistence upon lining up teaching in the church with the Word of God caused many leaders in England to hate him and brand him a heretic.

Because of plots against his life, Tyndale fled to Germany where he translated the New Testament and later the Old Testament into English.  The Bishop of London attempted to buy all the copies Tyndale had printed so that he could burn them, but Tyndale and his friends used the money to print three times as many Bibles as before.

Intending to squelch the spread of the Word, the Bishop actually helped spread it.  When that failed, Sir Thomas More, then Chancellor of England, did not rest until he had obtained a proclamation from the King to ban the Bibles and had arrested Tyndale.

In 1536, William Tyndale was burned at the stake for his all-consuming love of the Word of God and his dedication to ensuring its availability to the common man. His last words were a prayer for those who had persecuted him.  "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."

Tyndale's obsession for the Word of God has made this post, the Bible in your home, the online Bible we use, the Bible studies we attend possible.  As William Tyndale was tied to the stake and the flames rose up around him, he probably never imagined the number of English Bibles that would be available nearly 500 years later.  He was simply faithful to the cause of Christ with no promise of the outcome.  He did not see the fruit of his labors before his death.  The lack of obvious fruit did not deter him from faithfully performing the task God had given him.

After Tyndale's death, an amazing thing happened.  Less than two years later, King Henry VIII authorized the first English Bible, known as the Great Bible, for the Church of England.  That is amazing enough in itself, but what is really astounding is that the Bible he authorized was Tyndale's translation! God answered Tyndale's prayer in a wonderful way, and his work is still bearing fruit in my life and in yours today.

G.K. Chesterton wrote in What's Wrong With The World, "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."  Micah 6:8 was my mother's favorite Bible verse, and it sums up what the Christian life looks like.  "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

William Tyndale was a man who cared about both mercy and justice. He was burdened by the ignorance of the masses about the Word of God and the injustices of the clergy of the time.  He knew he needed to put truth (in the form of the Word of God) in the hands of the masses so they could confront evil for themselves.  He was heartbroken by an injustice and took action to correct it.  In fact, his commitment to his task cost him his life.

There are still people around the world who are imprisoned for the cause of Christ.  There are still people around the world who are dying for the cause of Christ.  This quote from Wikipedia sums the situation up:

 "According to Pope Benedict XVI, Christians are the most persecuted group in the contemporary world.^[125] The Holy See has reported that over 100,000 Christians are violently killed annually because of some relation to their faith.^[126] According to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith."^[127] 

According to Voice of the Martyrs, Christians in more than forty countries face active persecution for their faith.  The stories on their website (www.persecution.com) will break your heart.  They will likely convict you, as well.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world are sacrificing themselves for the cause of Christ, and in many instances dying for their faith.  Their discipleship is costly.  In this country, however, it is a much different story.  We complain about loss of religious liberty, but do we take advantage of the liberty we have?  How effective are we as disciples?  What difference are we making in the world around us?

Doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God are not easy tasks.  It requires being salt and light in the world around you.  Silence about injustice is not optional if you are going to live out the Christian ideal, and neither is taking action.  Committing yourself to the task will change your life.  I know.  It has changed my life in ways I never imagined, many of which are harder than I expected, but sweeter than I ever hoped.

The first century Christians lived as if Jesus would return any day, and so should we.  Our discipleship should make a difference in the world around us.  If it does not, one could ask if it is discipleship at all. What are you doing to change the world around you?  Will the world be different 500 years from now because of your faith walk today?  That's the kind of difference I want to make.  Don't you?  I want to be a voice for Christ, not an echo of the world around me.  Being a voice for Christ was costly for William Tyndale, but judging by the Bibles in my home, I think it was worth it, and I expect he would say so, too.

The life and work of one man, doing one task faithfully, no matter the cost, still impacts my life on a daily basis five centuries later.  Let's live in such a way that we, too, can make a lasting difference.

Let's be a voice, not an echo.