Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Signs of the Times (8)


In our discussion of the signs of the return of our Lord at the end of history as taught by our Lord in Mathew 24, we are ready to consider verse 9: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”
 
It is clear that this sign of which Jesus speaks is the sign of the persecution of the saints. I do not intend to discuss this sign in detail at this point, for it is mentioned again by the Lord in verses 15-22. Jesus discusses the final, great persecution of the saints at the time the abomination of desolation is set up in the Holy Place. But we can discuss it in a general way here.
 
This place is not the only place in Scripture where persecution is discussed. In fact, persecution is a chief theme in Scripture, both in the old dispensation and in the new. One can hardly read any part of Scripture without reading about the persecution of the saints. God means to impress on us the fact that the church is always persecuted, throughout all history. It is a sign of the coming of Christ at the end of the world only because it gets worse and worse as the end nears.
 
You may say, “Yes, but we are not being persecuted. So why be so bothered about it? Why does the Bible speak so often of it? Why is this sign important for us?”
 
I think there are a couple of answers that have to be made when we ask that question. The first one is that, while we are probably not persecuted now, God’s people are persecuted right at this moment in many parts of the world. I read an article a year or so ago in a Christian magazine that, on the average about 200,000 Christians are killed every year. Every year! While I do not know if all of them are true Christians, that doesn’t really matter, for many of them are. These are our brothers and sisters. We are going to live with them some day in heaven. They are suffering now for the cause of the gospel. It just isn’t right for us to lean back in our comfortable chairs in our luxurious homes and pat our filled bellies and wipe our mouths and say, “It isn’t happening to us, so why worry about it?” How wrong that would be.
 
I may have told you this story before, but it is worth telling again. When Christians were being severely persecuted in China (persecution has now eased somewhat), an organization of churches in America decided to draw up a letter in which they assured Chinese Christians that the American churches were praying for these battered saints in China. The church in China received the letter and considered it. They wrote back something like this (I put it in my own words): “We are very grateful for your concern for us and for your prayers. But we want you to know that we also pray for you, for you are in greater danger than we are. Persecution has made us stronger and we are thankful that we are given the privilege to suffer for Christ’s sake. But you in America are being drowned in an ocean of materialism and the pleasures of a life of plenty. You are in grave danger of losing your souls. Be assured of our prayers for you, for your dangers are greater than ours.”
 
A second reason for our freedom from persecution is suggested by these Chinese Christians. And we do well to do some serious self-examination to see whether or not what I am about to say is indeed one of the reasons for our relative freedom from persecution. I mean that we are called to live in this world as pilgrims and strangers. That kind of life is evident to those about us when we do not think like the world; we do not consider the same things important that the world does; we do not talk like the world; we do not enjoy the movies, songs, and pleasures that the world enjoys. It also means that we are always ready to give an answer to those who ask us a reason for the hope that we have; that is, that heaven is our home. We are not, in other words, good witnesses. But the world hates God and His Christ and hates believers who are not ashamed of their faith and hope. Maybe, we are not persecuted so much because worldly people say, “They are just like us; they live the same way we do; they talk about heaven and their commitment to the church, but when push comes to shove, no one can tell any difference in their lives. So they must be like us after all. We can consider them our friends.” Jesus warns us, “Beware when all men speak well of you.”
 
If these things are not said of us, and we walk in the world as we ought to walk, then we are persecuted – even if, for the time being, we are only the targets of mockery, laughter, threats, and evil accusations. These are persecution too.
 
We believe with all our hearts that Christ is sovereign. He is sovereign also over our persecutors. It is Christ’s will that we suffer persecution. Read Romans 8:17-18: “And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” This is what Matthew 24:7 means when it talks about suffering “for my name’s sake.” We suffer with Christ; and that is necessary for us to be glorified with Christ.
 
So we are united to Christ when we suffer as He suffered; and God wills it that way for we and Christ are one body (I Cor. 12) and united to him by faith. In other words, we are saved through persecution, for the suffering of persecution is like fire that purifies gold (I Peter 1:6, 7). We can see that in our lives. Maybe we put our trust in our possessions, our retirement investments, the promises of our government that we can collect from them when we get older, the value of our homes and possessions. We do not trust in Christ. We are like the rich fool who built bigger barns for all his abundant crops and then said, “Soul, take thine ease; thou hast many goods laid up for many years. Eat, drink and be merry.” But God said, “Thou fool; this night is thy soul required of thee. Then whose shall all these things be?” And then Jesus’ biting words: “So is every one who is not rich towards God.”
 
When we are persecuted all earthly things are taken from us; we cannot trust in them anymore. But we always have Christ! And without anything of this earth, we turn by faith to Christ who has promised us to take care of us always. He takes care of the sparrow, of the lilies, and of the hair of our head. Why do we think He will not take care of us?
 
Now we can still “have our cake and eat it too” – as the saying goes. That is, we can still have our earthly possessions and Christ besides. But as Jesus points out in verses 13-32, the time is coming when the either-or of Christ will confront us. The time will be past to hide behind our hypocrisies, our halting between two opinions, our preoccupation with the things of this world and our commitments to the church. It will be Antichrist, along with everything this life will and can give us – but without Christ and hell at the end; or it will be Christ and only him – even though it means the loss of all things, even our lives.
 
Two things the text mentions that are important. One is that the word “they” in the clause “then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted,” refers chiefly to the false church. The world is filled with “Christians” and those who claim to be believers in Christ. But they are the ones who finally are the chief agents of persecution. Ahab, king of Israel put Micaiah in prison. Josiah, the “God-fearing” king of Judah killed the prophet Zechariah; Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son and king of Judah made Jerusalem run red with the blood of the people of God; Isaiah was sawed in half with a wooden saw at the command of Manasseh; Christ was crucified, not by Rome, but by the church, the Jews, the Sanhedrin, the Session of the church in those days. The “elders” of the church, meeting in solemn session, voted unanimously to kill Christ. Stephen was stoned by the same church. So it is throughout all history. The wicked world joins in, but the church is the real culprit. “All nations” are mentioned in the text because persecution then will be world-wide; not as now: in China, Iraq, Iran, Nigeria; Zimbabwe, Chile; but in American and Europe – and, Singapore as well.
 
When we think about all this as the sure future for the church, we are inclined to be afraid. I sometimes even want to pray, “Lord, take me to heaven before that persecution comes.” But that is surely a very selfish and self-centered prayer. And I am brought up short by the fact that if I do not know bitter persecution, my children will; my grandchildren, my great grandchildren – and my fellow saints.
 
But we need not be afraid, for we suffer with Christ! That makes it all worthwhile. The apostles rejoiced and gave thanks to God that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ’s sake (Acts 4:23-31, Acts 5:41).
 
Christ is the witness of all our suffering. We are his bride. What man would not be filled with fury to see others torment, abuse, torture his bride? What man would not do everything he could to rescue her? Will Christ do any different? He loves His bride so much He gave His own life to save her. And so He is filled with fury against those who abuse her. He will come again! He will come in judgment upon an apostate church and a wicked world. He will rescue His beloved bride from the clutches of the wicked. And He will reward her with priceless treasures in the everlasting glory of heaven.
 
With warm regards,
Prof. H. Hanko.

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