Power In Persecution

1Pe 4:14 If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.

16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

The core problem is that we live in a culture that is looking for the innovative versus the inspired. We want excitement more than exegesis. Give us 10 easy steps to holiness or the 1minute disciple program and we are into it. Gather up a bunch of ideas that have been preached for years by many men and package it as new and you have the purpose driven craze. Take a simple prayer and mold it into an evangelical rosary and you can sell millions of books to people who are looking for the thirty day silver bullet to their problems. Yet, human nature has not changed since the Fall and if I could have access to every sermon preached or book written in two thousand years I would probably find similar books as I have mentioned and similar attitudes among men.

Our problem is sin and the solution is salvation and discipleship. Salvation is instant but discipleship is until death or Rapture. When the bulk of Christians finally accept that and quit seeking quick fixes we may again see the power of the early church. Albeit since we are in an age of apostasy and quite likely in the last days before the Rapture I don't foresee another Great Awakening, but I can pray for one.

All you have to do is look around to see it. Marketing and branding churches, if the Holy Ghost does not brand you and your church all the name changing and logo design are not going to cut it. Skinny jean, tats, piercings, smoke machines, demographics studies or hiding your denominational ties with a vanilla name will not get you what you need and what you think you want. You get a crowd, but they may be shallow Christians, if Christians at all. They may just be fans and not converts.

Someone asked John Wesley why people came to hear him speak. He replied, "I set myself on fire and people come and watch me burn." We could use far more men on fire than fancy buildings and rock concert sound systems.

The Body is sick though we have numerous "doctors" in the house. We lack real prophets, but are full of false sunshine prophets. Everyone wants to be a general or have some sort of worldwide ministry. No one wants to be a private slugging it out with the devil in the battlefield of the unknown like those in the last few verses of Hebrews 11. No one wants to be just a godly mom or dad raising up godly children impacting all of their family and community. Indeed, those that would aspire to such are made, intentionally or non-intentionally, to look like second class citizens in the kingdom.

We are all to be rich and healthy when Paul said that it was given to us to not only believe, but also suffer with Him and all who will live godly shall suffer persecution. Somehow prosperity and persecution do not go hand in hand.

Indeed, it looks like the only way now for Acts 2 power and impact is for the American Church and other 1st World churches is to go through a period of harsh persecution like many of our brethren have for decades and even centuries.

Take away our glitz and glam and replace it with whips and prisons to see how many of the current leaders and members will still be singing the praises of Jesus instead of denying Him like Peter. I hate pain and have no desire for persecution, but I think it will be the purifying of the Church before the Rapture.

I believe in a Pre-Trib rapture because we are not called to suffer His wrath, but that does not preclude us from suffering the wrath of man as a means of purification. I am not a prophet nor a son of a prophet like Amos. I just see this as a real possibility and it may come sooner than we think.

If all you have left is Jesus, will it be enough? Maranatha!!