Patience of the saints
This week's goodness is on Revelation 13:9-10:
These verses deal with the persecution of the church. This has happened already, is happening, and will continue to happen as long as there are Christians and people who don't understand Christians. The thing people don't always pick up on is that God already knows about this and is OK with a lot of it. Some people are going to be captured for their faith, and some people are going to be executed for it. Not everyone gets a chariot of fire to pluck them out of harm's way. That's not to say we shouldn't pray to avoid it. Even Jesus prayed to avoid being killed. But if it happens, it happens, and everything is ultimately going to be OK.
This is where the extreme patience and faithfulness of the saints comes in. It's easy to read those verses and insert the word "else" in there:
But what if you're that guy (or gal)? What if you're the guy who gets sent to jail for sticking to the lifestyle God asked us to live? "Sorry sir, but it is intolerant for you to practice your religion amongst people who don't share your beliefs, and we have a zero tolerance policy for intolerance, so off to jail with you!" What if you're the guy who gets executed for telling his neighbour about Jesus, or who is slaughtered by Muslim terrorists seeking to bring yet another land under their rule? What if you're that guy? Are you going to crack under the pressure? What if it's your wife or kids or parents or best friend who this stuff happens to? Will you falter?
If you were a Christian in the early days of the church, chances were pretty good that you would be tortured or killed for your faith. If they cracked under the pressure, or gave up their faith in order to live comfortably, who would have remained to pass the gospel torch on to us? If the early Christian wasn't executed, maybe his faith would have been, and then we would have had no idea that Jesus' offer was on the table today. Maybe future generations will see us as early Christians in the same way.
Most of the people reading this live comfortable lives in comfortable societies who allow the mostly free practice of religion. Still, you never know where life may take you or your society, and it's good to count the cost in advance in case it comes down to it. If it's you who gets knifed by a fundamentalist, or sent off to a labour camp for the "greater good" of your secular countrymen, are you still OK with following Jesus? If your daughter gets raped because someone thinks non-muslims or non-jews aren't really people, or your dad gets shot by neighbours who caught him going to church and don't want their kids to find out about Christianity, are you still OK with Jesus? How valuable is your faith to you? Do you have the patience to endure any trials that it brings upon you?
He who has an ear, let him hear.I'm not a huge Revelation fanatic like a lot of other evangelicals. You won't see me getting in a fist fight over whether the tribulation happens before or after the rapture, or staying up all night trying to figure out who the Antichrist will be so I can stop him and save the world like superman. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, and if I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, everything will work out fine. That being said, there is a lot of really good wisdom to be picked up amidst the story. After all, why would God speak to us if there wasn't something to be gained from our hearing him?
If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
These verses deal with the persecution of the church. This has happened already, is happening, and will continue to happen as long as there are Christians and people who don't understand Christians. The thing people don't always pick up on is that God already knows about this and is OK with a lot of it. Some people are going to be captured for their faith, and some people are going to be executed for it. Not everyone gets a chariot of fire to pluck them out of harm's way. That's not to say we shouldn't pray to avoid it. Even Jesus prayed to avoid being killed. But if it happens, it happens, and everything is ultimately going to be OK.
This is where the extreme patience and faithfulness of the saints comes in. It's easy to read those verses and insert the word "else" in there:
If anyone else is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go (not me).
If anyone else is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed (not me). This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of them (not me).
But what if you're that guy (or gal)? What if you're the guy who gets sent to jail for sticking to the lifestyle God asked us to live? "Sorry sir, but it is intolerant for you to practice your religion amongst people who don't share your beliefs, and we have a zero tolerance policy for intolerance, so off to jail with you!" What if you're the guy who gets executed for telling his neighbour about Jesus, or who is slaughtered by Muslim terrorists seeking to bring yet another land under their rule? What if you're that guy? Are you going to crack under the pressure? What if it's your wife or kids or parents or best friend who this stuff happens to? Will you falter?
If you were a Christian in the early days of the church, chances were pretty good that you would be tortured or killed for your faith. If they cracked under the pressure, or gave up their faith in order to live comfortably, who would have remained to pass the gospel torch on to us? If the early Christian wasn't executed, maybe his faith would have been, and then we would have had no idea that Jesus' offer was on the table today. Maybe future generations will see us as early Christians in the same way.
Most of the people reading this live comfortable lives in comfortable societies who allow the mostly free practice of religion. Still, you never know where life may take you or your society, and it's good to count the cost in advance in case it comes down to it. If it's you who gets knifed by a fundamentalist, or sent off to a labour camp for the "greater good" of your secular countrymen, are you still OK with following Jesus? If your daughter gets raped because someone thinks non-muslims or non-jews aren't really people, or your dad gets shot by neighbours who caught him going to church and don't want their kids to find out about Christianity, are you still OK with Jesus? How valuable is your faith to you? Do you have the patience to endure any trials that it brings upon you?
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