Signs of the Times, Part 4

For the next several weeks, the
Christmas message is notwithstanding. I’m not sure exactly when we’ll
get into those, but we’ll make it. We have been looking at this
lengthy section called the Olivet Discourse, the longest discourse,
as you know, in all of Christ’s teachings, the longest answer
that Jesus ever supplied to a question. The longest version of the longest
discourse is, of course, in Matthew’s gospel, as I pointed out, occupying
the 24th and 25th chapter. And we know, as we have looked
at it, that this discourse is a discourse about the end things,
the future things, those things yet to take place, some of which
have already taken place. It is Jesus’ presentation of
those things that would take place in the future. And up to
this point, it might even be somewhat disconcerting to the
apostles that Jesus, while answering their question, hasn’t really
told them what to expect. And today, even as I alluded
to in my prayer, Jesus does turn the topic of conversation to
the disciples, to the followers of Christ particularly, and tell
them in very specific terms what they can expect with regards
to the end, the end times. If you would, I want to pick
back up in verse 5. Most of this we have already
commented on and considered fully all the way up through verse
11. But so that we can put it in its context, we want to start
in verse five and we’ll pick up with new consideration of
beginning in verse twelve and following. While some were talking
about the temple that it was adorned with beautiful stones
and votive gifts, he said, as for these things which you are
looking at, the days will come in which there will not be one
left. There will not be left one stone
upon another which will not be torn down. They questioned him
saying, teacher, when therefore will these things happen and
what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?
And he said, see to it that you are not misled, for many will
come in my name saying, I am he and the time is near. Do not
go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances,
do not be terrified. for these things must take place
first, but the end does not follow immediately. Then he continued
by saying to them, nation will rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom and there will be great earthquakes and in various
places, plagues and famines and there will be terrors and great
signs from heaven. But before all these things,
they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. delivering
you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and
governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity
for your testimony. So make up your minds not to
prepare beforehand to defend yourselves. For I will give you
utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able
to resist or refute. But you will be betrayed even
by parents and brothers and relatives and friends. And they will put
some of you to death and you will be hated by all because
of my name. Yet not a hair of your head will
perish. By your endurance, you will gain your lives. As we resume our consideration
of Luke 21, just a brief reminder that we are midway through midweek,
rather, of the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It is
Wednesday. He is conducting what is known
to us as the Olivet Discourse. The triumphal entry was just
two days behind him. The cross is just two days in
front of him. And he turns in this very solemn
occasion to a very in-depth, very solemn presentation of the
future things. The disciples, in their naivety,
respond to Jesus about the beauty of the temple. Jesus tells them
the temple is going to be wiped out. And it’s that that really
captures their attention. It’s that that provokes a series
of questions as we’ve looked at. There were four recorded
in the Gospels, four questions. When will these things happen?
The destruction of the temple is what Mark and Luke seem to
focus on. When will these things happen
and what will be the signs? How can we know when is it going
to happen and what will be the harbingers of the destruction
of the temple? Mark, rather Matthew, records
two additional questions. And Jesus, I believe, begins
by focusing on those particular questions. What will be the sign
of your coming? And what will be the sign of
the end of the age? Jesus, it is as if he will address
those other questions later. His focus is not on the temple. The temple is far secondary to
him. Even though it occurs first historically
and dramatic as it sounded, Jesus focuses more on the prophetic
history of the future, that of the end of the age. So the question
that Jesus is focusing on is the question regarding his return
and the end of the age. Primarily because his followers
were so uncertain, unclear about the future, so caught off guard
by this news, they were in a very vulnerable position. They could
have fallen for almost anything. And Jesus, in order to help them,
issues a series of warnings to them. The church is always needed
and to some degree has heeded and parts of the church have
succumbed. Parts of the professing Church
of Christ have succumbed to some of these false signs, thinking
at the end of the age was literally at hand, have sold all their
possessions, cashed in everything only to be left empty handed.
Jesus issues a series of warnings about false signs, signs that
pointed not to 70 A.D., but to the return of Christ. We’ve talked
about these things in weeks past. We want to just review briefly
what these false signs we’ve seen have been. The false signs
that we’ve already considered is, number one, false messiahs.
Verse eight, where Jesus talked about false messiahs creeping
up and popping up in every age and claiming to be the very Christ
himself or messiah-like figures that gather in a great number
about them. Beyond that, false labor. What Matthew and Mark both refer
to as false labor, I thought that we were going to have to
add to this incredible list of calamities, earthquakes and wars
and famines. I thought we were going to have
to add riot last week when I said that these false labor, that
false labor isn’t that bad. It’s false labor. It’s not real.
It really doesn’t compare to the real thing. Jesus, in identifying
false signs of his return, says not only will there be false
messiahs, there will be false labor, earthquakes and wars,
famine and the like in verses 9 through 11. And so we come
this morning to another one of these false signs. What I would
call false incrimination, not only false messiahs and false
labor, but false incrimination will also be a false sign. There will always be, there has
always been persecution in the life of the church and it will
continue to be. There will be persecution. That
is a certainty. But to look on society and to
see persecution and to judge that as being the definitive
mark of the end times is premature, Jesus says. Mark begins our consideration. What I’ve done is synthesize
not just the gospel of Luke, but the other gospels as well,
because each one of them brings some fascinating detail to this
discussion. And Mark begins by telling us,
be on your guard. It’s the first thing that is
said in this context. Be on your guard. Mark starts
off this section by reissuing a warning to vigilance. Be on
your guard. We have a tendency as a people,
as a church, toward complacency regarding the Lord’s return.
Don’t we? Don’t you? I do. It is kind of what I would
call the Christian equivalent of 2 Peter 3, 3 and 4. Second
Peter 3 reads like this. Know this, first of all, that
in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following
after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell
asleep, all continues just as it was from creation. There are
those unbelievers who say, look outside. It’s always been this
way. The earth has been here for billions and billions of
years and everything is just as so. The sun comes up every
morning. It sets every evening. And Peter
goes on to rebuke that. But for Christians, there is
an equivalent. We say, yeah, we know the Lord
is coming. But where is the promise of his
return? What is taking him so long? It
has been, after all, nearly 2000 years and we keep hearing about
Jesus’ imminent return all this time. Some have even stirred
up our emotions and our expectations by setting dates. And the hopes of his imminent
return have been repeatedly disappointed. And the tendency is toward complacency
regarding the whole subject. This ought not be. We are to
be dressed and ready as Christ exhorted. We are to be living
in faithfulness. Faithful expectation at the time
of Jesus’ return. We are to be looking up and looking
out. Not casually indifferent about the Lord’s return. Not
indifferent about it. Not doubtful in frustration as
if the promises have been broken. So, Mark records here Jesus as
urging watchfulness. Watchfulness. Watchfulness. Be
on your guard. Watch over your lives. Watch
over your watchfulness. Watch over the fact that you
are looking up to Christ and expecting His return and living
accordingly. But Luke picks up from there.
If you would look at Luke 21, verse 12. But before all these things,
they will lay their hands on you.” And with this begins the
very difficult section of the persecution that the church will
face. Not just the apostles. Not just
those living immediately in those early days of the church, which
were so horrible from a standpoint of persecution, but all Christians. All Christian, regardless of
the time period in which they live, stand the potential of
facing this very truth. They will lay their hands on
you. But Luke records Jesus as interjecting
one little phrase that the other gospel writers don’t catch or
don’t record before all these things. Luke interjects only
Luke only interjects that little detail here that persecution
will come to Christian before all these things. And commentators,
as I began to read, brought up an interesting question. Regarding
the use of the word before. Is Jesus point here? that before
there are earthquakes and wars, there are going to be these persecutions.
That certainly is what it seems to say, doesn’t it? Or is the
point here that these persecutions are even more important to the
Christian than those external troubles? One describes the first option
this way. He said the preposition is certainly
used of time and not superiority in magnitude. Persecutions are
among the first things to be expected. So be it. Another defined the second option
in these terms. He said it refers to the importance
of this of the sign, not to its time. Among those signs, this
is one which might most easily throw his disciples out of the
calm attitude in which they ought to persevere. In other words,
first and foremost, most importantly, let me tell you, the wars and
the earthquakes set those aside. Focus for a moment with me on
something even more germane to your lives, that of persecution. It would be in that case first
in priority or importance, earthquakes and wars. Those are outside of
ourselves. But these things will happen
to us. And therefore, our chief concern. Before then would take the kind
of the position of referring to poignancy, what is most poignant
to us, an earthquake in Turkey? or persecution, a local persecution
here that affects us. What is most relevant first in
the sense of what was most surely to affect them personally? Now,
you know what? You say, you know what, I see it the other way
and that’s fine. It’s true. I mean, those things did happen.
The persecution came almost immediately to the church. I’m not willing to die on this
hill. It is an interesting consideration. But Luke moves on and the more
important point is what he points us to. Regardless of whether
you take that as referring to time or importance, before all
these things, they will lay their hands on you. If you begin to
look at this section, what you have is the details in the persecution
of the church of Christ, details in the persecution of the church
in Christ. And the first detail is apprehension. They are going
to apprehend you. Not all of you. But they denotes the vicious
enemies of the church and laying hands on you, unlike the phrase
used in the ordination to ministry, is an indication of hostility
of the authorities. This is no solemn prayer of dedication
like we lay hands on a brother becoming an elder. This is a
mark of hostility. There is a certain sense of violence
clearly implied in the words. Literally, they throw their hands
on you. It is the language of arrest
and seizure that issues forth ultimately in capture and captivity. As one said, people in places
of authority, people in a position to take decisive action who will
take action against the disciples. And it happened. Even if you
just wanted to stop at the 12th, you could say this has already
happened, but it continues to happen and will continue to happen
until Christ’s return. They will apprehend you. Apprehension
is a key detail in the persecution of Christ. They are going to
put their hands upon you. This past couple of weeks, I
spoke to a Christian who had been a Christian for many, many
years. And we were just in a conversation
and asked if they had ever read Fox’s Book of Martyrs. And to
my amazement, they said that they hadn’t. My reply was simple. I judge Fox’s Book of Martyrs
as being one of the must reads for every Christian. How on earth
are you going to know what history has done? What has taken place
in history? How evil men have treated the
church in history? And how will you know what to
expect of the future of evil men? It is a must read. Absolutely a must read in Fox’s
Book of Martyrs. He details what took place with
regards to the apostles and those associated with them. Stephen,
you know, from Acts chapter six, the first martyr. Stephen suffered
first. His death was occasioned in the
faithful manner, says Fox, in which he preached the gospel
to the betrayers and murderers of Christ. To such a degree of
madness were they excited that they cast him out of the city
and stoned him to death. James. It is recorded of James,
10 years after the death of Stephen, that the second martyrdom took
place. Herod Agrippa appointed governor of Judea, desiring to
ingratiate the Jews to him. determined to make an effectual
blow, striking at the leaders of the Christians, says Fox.
James was led to the place of martyrdom. His accuser was brought
to repent of his conduct. In other words, the very person
that accused him said, you know what? I was wrong about this
guy. And they were both killed, both dispatched, Philip scourged. thrown into prison, afterwards
crucified in AD 54. Matthew suffered martyrdom, slain
with a halberd in the city of Nabata in AD 60. Matthias, stoned
in Jerusalem and then beheaded. Andrew, taken and crucified on
a cross. Mark, dragged to pieces by the
people of Alexandria. And on and on it goes. Peter, as you know, wouldn’t
suffer himself to be crucified. So legend has it that he was
crucified upside down. Paul, Paul, you know, well, even
his own epistles speak of his impending
death. Jude allegedly crucified at Edessa
in eighty seventy two, Bartholomew crucified by impatient soldiers
who beat him prior to his crucifixion to the point where he hardly
hardly needed to be crucified. Thomas thrust through with a
spear. Simon crucified in eighty seventy
four. Barnabas, we don’t know the details
of his death. Eighty seventy three. And on
and on it goes. Fox’s Book of Martyrs doesn’t
stop there because martyrdom didn’t stop there. It was interesting
as I was studying this past week, I thought how interesting one
pastor made the point. You know what? Christianity is
the only religion that really has a book of martyrs. There
is a modern day religion that claims that if you do such and
such an act, you will achieve martyrdom. But Christianity is
the only one that achieves martyrdom by living a holy and righteous
life, a life of kindness and goodness and love, and suffers
for it because of Christ. His point was that only Christianity
has a fox’s book of murders. We are considering the details
of the persecution of Christ’s church Not only apprehension,
but persecution. They’re not only going to lay
their hands on you, but there is an evil motive behind that. The evil motive is persecution. Be on guard before all these
things. They will lay their hands on
you and will persecute you. Luke adds to the indication of
hostility that apprehension seems to bring. If you only had that,
you might still be wondering, well, they said they’re going
to lay their hands on us. We’re really not sure what they’re
going to do. Luke makes it absolutely clear. This indication of hostility. At the declaration of the authorities,
hostile intent, their intent is persecution. The word is a
simple word. It literally simply means to
run after. As it is, it is used in a good
sense in the Scriptures many times, almost in the sense of
pursuit, to run after. Romans 14, 9, we pursue the things
which make for peace, right? We run after those things. First
Corinthians 14, 1, pursue love. Yet earnestly desire spiritual
gifts, spiritual gifts, Philippians, Paul used it. We saw it several
times in preaching through Philippians. Philippians 3.12, not that I
have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I
press on. I pursue. I press on that I may
lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Again, in 3.14, 1 Thessalonians 5.15, see to it that no one repays
another for evil, for evil, but always seek after that which
is good. Pursue those things. And so it’s used in that good,
simple sense. Unfortunately, it’s also used
in a dark sense. It has a dark side, the usual
word for communicating the idea of persecution as it is here. As such, this persecution refers
to harassing a person or persons, a people who are from a different
religion or class or region. And that is commonplace throughout
the world. The Church of Christ had barely been established when
it began to experience this, right? Jesus had told them to expect
it. In John 15, Jesus says, remember
the word that I said to you, a slave is not greater than his
master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
John 16, verse 2. echoed that when it said, they
will make you outcasts from the synagogue. But an hour is coming
for everyone who kills you to think he is offering service
to God. We’ll talk more about that verse
in weeks to come. These things they will do because
they have not known the father or me. Jesus told them it was
going to happen. And so in Acts chapter four,
as things begin to unfold, it did happen. And all the way through
the book of Acts, we saw it unfold. Go to the book of Acts, if you
would, please turn to the book of Acts. Go to chapter four. We’ll start there just briefly,
and in verse three, it says they laid hands on them and put them
in jail until the next day, for it was already evening, already
a literal fulfillment of that word that Jesus had just given.
Jesus said they’re going to lay hands on you, and here it is.
The first indication of that. And it isn’t for good. They laid
hands and threw them in jail. Flip over, if you would, to chapter
five of the book of Acts. In Acts, chapter five, look at
verse 17. The high priest rose up along
with all his associates, that is, the sect of the Sadducees.
They were filled with jealousy. They laid their hands on the
apostles and put them in a public jail. Now, if you read along,
the angel of the Lord releases them. The religious leaders hear
of the escape. And if you pick up down in verse
26, the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to
bring them back without violence, for they were afraid of the people
that they might be stoned. When they had brought them, they
stood them before the council. The high priest questioned them,
saying, We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this
name. And yet you have filled Jerusalem
with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon
us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, we must obey God rather
than men. We can’t stop preaching. Peter
gives them a lengthy sermon, which no doubt was quite convicting
because the response in verse 33 is they were cut to the quick
and they intended to kill them right there on the spot. Gamaliel. Appeals for calm and in verse
forty, they took his advice and after calling the apostles in,
they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name
of Jesus. And they released them. The persecution
didn’t stop there. You could say that it was literally
fulfilled over and done with, but it doesn’t stop. It doesn’t
stop to this day. The martyrdom of Stephen recorded
in Acts chapter six, verse eleven. Herod’s murder of James, Acts
chapter 12, verse two, persecution and ill treatment of Paul in
chapter 16, verse 19, and on and on it goes. Fox, looking back on the history
of the early church, said this. What force of princes? Kings,
monarchs, governors and rulers of the world, with their subjects
publicly and privately, with all their strength and cunning,
have bent themselves against this church. How the said church,
with all this notwithstanding, yet has endured and hold its
own. What storms and tempests it has
overpassed, wondrous it is to behold. And yet, notwithstanding
all these continual persecutions and horrible punishments, the
church daily increased, deeply rooted in the doctrine of the
apostles and the men of apostolic and watered plenteously with
the blood of the saints. The persecution of the church
didn’t stop there. As Fox points out, it continued
and continues on to this day. Considering the details of the
persecution of Christ Church, thirdly, not only apprehension
and persecution, but thirdly, incarceration. We’ve already
seen a glimpse of that. They threw them in jail. But
I wanted I want to I had to really grab at a word to encompass really
four different. Little nouns. If you’re looking down at verse
12 of Luke’s gospel, you have only part of the data. It says
before all these things, they will lay their hands and persecute
you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons. That’s part of the
data, the synagogues and the prisons. Matthew adds, they are delivering
you to tribulation. Mark adds, they deliver you to
the courts. All three of the gospel writers
provide detail here. Matthew says that believers are
delivered to tribulation. Mark says deliverance is to the
courts. Luke speaks of believers being
delivered to the synagogues and prisons. There is no contradiction
here. And I sewed them all up in one
little noun called incarceration. The detail, the persecution of
Christ’s church, thirdly, is incarceration. We are taken against
our will and we are placed into circumstance against our will. Tribulation,
courts, synagogues, prisons. The picture that I get is we’ve
all seen it, right? The orange jumpsuit, the shackles,
the chains, and they walk you in, right? Hopefully not you. They walk the criminal in. The
first thing I want to look at here briefly, is tribulation. And it’s unfortunate now this
word tribulation brings us some unnecessary difficulty, given
the context of our study, eschatology, the return of Christ and those
things. People hear the word tribulation
and immediately they want to say. They want to point to a
time of the rapture. The question is the great tribulation
that relates to the rapture of the church, is that the tribulation
mentioned here? Not all trouble is to be found
in the period of time known as the Great Tribulation. In fact,
the word isn’t even always translated tribulation. That’s good because
the Great Tribulation isn’t always the trouble that is in view.
We can have trouble every day. We don’t have to be in the midst
of great tribulation. If your car gets a flat, that
could well be said tribulation. That doesn’t mean that you’re
in the midst of it. Throughout the book of Acts,
the word is often translated affliction or persecution, sometimes
even tribulation. Those references aren’t referring
to the great tribulation. Remember that lengthy section
in Second Corinthians that we took almost a year to consider
chapters two through six in that section on the Christian ministry,
that word tribulation or translated is used frequently there. and
translated almost every time as affliction. Which was Paul’s
regular companion in ministry, remember? And likewise, in the
rest of Paul’s epistles, Ephesians 3.13, Philippians 1.17, 4.14,
Colossians 1.24. Those aren’t talking about the
Great Tribulation. It’s just the trouble, the afflictions
that Paul faced in the ministry distresses. Another way it’s
translated. Those references aren’t discussing
the Great Tribulation, and so even here, even though we’re
in a section that pertains to the end times, just because Matthew
uses this loaded word, he isn’t necessarily pointing us to the
Great Tribulation period. In fact, just a few sentences
later, he will do that. In verses 21 and 29, he moves
to discuss the great tribulation, but not here in verse 9. There, it’s big trouble. The
great tribulation. Here, it’s trouble. We’ll get to Luke 21, 21-21 later,
about March, I think. The bottom line is, as one said,
they will hand you over the verb used in Mark’s or in Matthew’s
gospel with incredible frequency. They will hand you over to trouble.
God’s people need to begin to expect a special trouble in the
last days and not simply suffering what they share, the troubles
they share with other people, famines and earthquakes and the
like. They will suffer because of who they are, said one Christians,
the trouble that crushes. Not only will we be delivered
to tribulation, but will be delivered to courts. The courts were local
Jewish disciplinary stations attached often to the synagogues. They handled cases of the offense
of the law and charges of heresy and teaching. And so closely related, I think
Luke here is using a different word from Mark. Mark says courts. Luke says the synagogues. So
be it. Synagogues contain the local
Jewish courts, as one said, dispensing local justice, both criminal
and civil to be brought before the court was considered a severe
discrediting and indignity. They’re going to march you in
and your head, unless you are a follower of Christ, is going
to hang. The world, pardon me, the court
would listen to the case, make a decision. The judge would render
his verdict. Punishment was executed immediately
on the spot. Now, the point that I want to
make here, when you hear the word synagogues, it doesn’t necessarily
need to be Jewish persecution. The word literally refers to
an assembly. Now, granted, that’s exactly
what the apostles faced, is Jewish persecution. But we know already
that that would end in A.D. 70. There have always been two prongs
of persecution that Christians have faced, religious and civil.
That’s exactly what Christ faced from the Jews, religious, from
the Romans, civil. That’s what the apostles faced,
religious and civil. That’s what the church, early
church, faced. That’s what the reformers faced. How can that be if the Jewish
system was eradicated in 1870? Are we to suppose that for 1900
years, there could be absolutely no ecclesiastical persecution
since the Jews had no synagogue and therefore no courts? But if you step back and you
see this as ecclesiastical religious persecution, you get a much clearer
glimpse, not only of history past, but I believe history future.
Fox’s book details how quickly Roman Catholic machinery ramped
up to full speed early in the church and what we call the Middle
Ages, popes and councils and all all their resources at their
disposal in an undying attempt to force and enforce the Roman
Catholic system were applied. Read it for yourself, entire
sections of the martyrs is devoted to that Fox introduces it in
this way. Fox said, we come now to a period
when persecution under the guise of Christianity committed more
enormities, and by that he says just evils, more enormities than
ever disgraced the annals of paganism. He said here under
the guise of Christianity, more evil was done than even in pagan
societies. He goes on. Disregarding the
maxims and the spirit of the gospel, the papal church arm,
arming herself with the power of the sword, vexed the church
of God and wasted it for several centuries. A period most appropriately
termed in history, the dark ages, potpourri, and I’m not talking
about that flowery stuff that smells in the bathroom. What
he’s talking about is the system of the pope. potpourri, having
brought various innovations into the church and overspread the
Christian world with darkness and superstition. Some few who
plainly perceived the pernicious tendency of such errors determined
to show the light of the gospel in its real purity. In every
age, there were those that held to the gospel and sought to proclaim
the gospel and sought to illuminate the errors of the Roman Catholic
Church. And what did they get for it?
And to disperse these clouds, which artful priests had raised
about it in order to blind the people and obscure its real brightness. In other words, they saw it with
everything in them. To put out these lights and nothing
has changed, nothing has changed. The Roman Catholic system, they
haven’t repented of that. They haven’t repented of their
past deeds. They haven’t repented of their position that they are
the true church. And that anyone outside of it
is errant and wayward and needs to be brought back in. I’ve said
this before in mixed circles, I don’t think I’ve ever said
it in public and certainly not on tape. It won’t surprise me a bit, in
my opinion, it’s a matter of time to think that the end can
come without the Roman Catholic Church and its entire evil system. cannot play a major part in that
is almost absurd. And if the Roman Catholic Church
ever pairs up with Islam and don’t think it unthinkable, if
they have a common foe, beware. Not only that, they will
throw you in prisons They will throw you there to let you rot,
until which time they can kill you, as we’ll see in a moment.
John Bunyan, one of my personal heroes of the faith, John Bunyan
faced that. Some of you have seen my what
I consider one of my greatest earthly treasures, the complete
works by John Bunyan. John Bunyan there in that great
book, The writer of the Pilgrim’s Progress, it shows his jail,
probably which was submerged underwater in a deep, dark, rat
infested prison. That’s what John Bunyan got. Fox records of John Bunyan. Then came his turn for persecution. He was arrested for preaching
without license. Before I went down to justice,
I begged of God that His will be done. For I was not without
hopes that my imprisonment might be an awakening to the saints
in the country. Only in that matter did I commit
the thing to God. And verily, at my return, I did
meet my God sweetly in the prison.” It’s not all dark. It’s not all
without the glory of God. But Fox goes on to point out
that his hardships were genuine on account of the wretched condition
of the prison of those days. To this confinement was added
the personal grief of being parted from his young wife and four
small children, particularly his little blind daughter. While
he was in jail, he was solaced only by the two books which he
had brought with him, the Bible and complete up to that point,
Fox’s book of martyrs. Could Bunyan have even imagined
that one day his name would be included in that? There is a fourth and I will
introduce it and close for the morning, because we will never
make all seven points. The fourth point is actually
entailed in Mark’s gospel in thirteen nine. We’re looking
at the details of the persecution of the Christian church. not
only apprehension and persecution and incarceration, but fourthly,
oppression, because Mark goes on to point out that once you’re
there in the synagogue, once you’re there in the prisons,
once they have you and they have apprehended you and incarcerated
you, they will oppress you with beatings. Now, I know what you’re thinking,
because our society is just so nice, right? We are in such a
comfortable day. The worst that we ever have,
and we call it persecution when our neighbors just roll their
eyes, right? That’s what we consider persecution in our day. Or our
boss, you know, won’t let us hang a cross on our cubicle.
We’re not that far away. This thing could unravel tomorrow. Interesting piece of legislation
they just passed just weeks ago. Congress approved law extending
hate crime protection to gays. I’ve already told you the day
that that becomes law that I to preach against homosexuality,
to call it a sin from the pulpit is the day that we begin studying
Romans one over and over and over. It won’t surprise me a
bit. I’ve told my wife to expect it.
I expect to go to jail in our time. The question is. When so many of the saints of
God throughout history have experienced the force of persecution in the
world. Can we expect any less? Can we
expect, as the hymn writer says, to be carried on flowery beds
of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through
bloody seas? Be aware. Be aware, don’t be
caught off guard by this. Let’s pray. Our merciful God, we are thankful for Your Word,
even for the difficult portions, the dark portions, those that
speak of things that don’t sound pleasing to us. But Lord, we
rejoice that in those moments, in that time, You are there.
You will be there. It is for Your purpose and glory.
Lord God, we know that Your grace is sufficient to carry us through
those dark and evil times. Lord, we sense that we are even
near such times. Although our persecution currently
doesn’t compare to what others in other days have faced. Lord, we pray that you would
grant us the grace to be faithful, not only now, while it’s easy.
But particularly when things get difficult, grant us the grace
not to turn our back on Christ, not to repent of him. but to
uphold Him and to proclaim Him, even to the dying death. Father,
we thank You and we praise You. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
Amen. You’ve got to win. You’ve got to win.