It seems as though all the nations of the earth have gathered together and devised a scheme against Christians, having made a vow in their hearts to defy the One and True God. And it seems as though the rulers of the nations have conspired to agree to become self-appointed theologians and distort the holy Word of God. Politicians pride themselves in their professionalism, and like fools they trust their own misguided scriptural interpretations as opposed to the professional interpretations of Spirit-filled theologians. And like fools, the world decides to follow the misguided interpretations of politicians. God's Word is not good enough for them, and as a result they create their own words. Like the Pharisees of Christ's day, the politicians of today are self-righteous by their own merit, thinking that somehow through their political works of human law they will be saved.
The days pass by quicker each day and I see more wolves in sheep's clothing. For such abundant iniquity I fear for my brothers and sisters' future. But such persecutions must pass in order for us to meet our Lord and Saviour. The wicked shall not prosper for long, for their perishable fate is inevitable. Still, I pray for the abundant lost souls to remove the darkness from their eyes, for such an eternal fate brings a sadness to my heart. It is right to accept the inevitable fate of the wicked, for the Word of God says it will be so, but it is wrong to tolerate such destructive sin — apathetic towards such bondage. For we have all suffered under such bondage, and it is likely that we have all come to Christ due to another human being's intercessory work in our lives, to whom we owe our ultimate gratitude, for without such people we would not know Christ. Ergo, the practise of evangelism hath been commanded (Matthew 28:19-20) to share and proclaim the Good News of forgiveness and the eternal life that God has enabled us to receive through the Light of Jesus Christ the Messiah, all according to His grace.
I'm afraid to admit that we live in dark times, but there is a lingering light. The times may not seem dark to some of us, for it is a subtle darkness. There is nothing that so defines the works of Satan than his subtlety. It is his subtlety that has led to numerous Christians tolerating sin, forgetting and misunderstanding grace, becoming self-righteous and judgemental. It is his insidious, patient subtlety that has caused Christians to preach Law and ignore grace. Such Christians have caused a public rejection of Christianity — causing those outside the faith to believe that Christianity is about judgement and preëminence, carrying the "holier than thou" persona. But not a single Christian is a judge, and neither is one preëminent. We are all equally sinners, all equally guilty of sin, but through Christ we are all enabled to become equally forgiven whilst maintaining equality among all others. There is a lingering light. There are the significant few Christians who see the danger the Church is in and aim to change that. Many aim to muffle the light, but the Light of God cannot be extinguished. The Light of God shall prevail; it is only a matter of time — time that we must be patient with. We know not the day or the hour of the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:36). We must live each day, however, as though we expect His coming to occur at any given moment. We must prepare; we must be ready. The coming of the Son of man is the lingering light at the end of this dark tunnel we currently live in.
I now give encouragement with the words of Paul: ...we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you" (II Corinthians 4:8-12). Our enemies and our personal tribulations may afflict us, but they shall never destroy us. At times in our lives we may become bemused by the tribulations we face, but we never lose the hope we have in Christ. Our enemies may persecute us, but our God shall never forsake us. Our enemies may strike us down, but they shall not destroy us, for whoever loses their life for the sake of Christ shall find it (Matthew 16:25). We will always carry about in our bodies the dying of Christ — those who hate Jesus Christ will take out their vengeance on we who represent Him, our sufferings the badge of our loyalty to Christ. As Christ was delivered to death (and indeed resurrected), there is the potential that some of us may be delivered to death for Jesus' sake, and indeed be resurrected with our King. We must be willing to pay the price of death if it means salvation (life) for those to whom we preach.
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