LOOK AND SEE IF THERE BE ANY SORROW LIKE MY SORROW – FOCUS ON NIGERIA
There is one certainty in following God, be that 4 000 years ago right up to our current time. It will be a road of sorrow and isolation and persecution. It always has been that way because there is always a war raging. It initially is a spiritual war where the sons of light and the evil demonic sons of darkness are engaged.
Of course that very quickly takes the form of a physical war; that is, a war in the physical arena. We battle against the world’s philosophies and ideas and wickedness in high places. That sees Christians taking a stand on homosexuality and corruptness in our locations and generally in the world. Gender reassignment, WOKE, the Marxist/socialism of our children under Marxist teaching, are but few examples.
However, very sadly, Christians are in the forefront of persecution, torture and death for no other reason than they are enemies of Satan. Satan hates God and all aspects relating to God and that means Christians, goodness and righteousness. The wicked will always want to eliminate the righteousness as Cain did to Abel. So much more can be said here but I will not do that except leave you these verses –
{{2Thessalonians 1:4 “Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith IN THE MIDST OF ALL YOUR PERSECUTIONS AND AFFLICTIONS which you endure.”
Galatians 4:29 “but as at that time HE WHO WAS BORN ACCORDING TO THE FLESH PERSECUTED HIM WHO WAS BORN ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT, so it is now also.”
2Timothy 3:12-13 “Indeed, ALL WHO DESIRE TO LIVE GODLY IN CHRIST JESUS WILL BE PERSECUTED. Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”}}
Millions of God’s own were killed under papal torments over the centuries especially in the later Middle Ages, and the centuries following. Horrible regimes of men have murdered millions more – communism and dictatorships, and in the current day, the most satanic of all – Islam. I have many books on the history of the Church from the time of Pentecost to the present. It is one of my interests. These outline many full and graphic accounts of such horrendous suffering.
Satan is like a gorgon with its many snakes as hair, each one armed with vicious fangs, ruthless and lusting after death and hurt. People living in the western nations may think they are immune from suffering as a Christian, but if this is so, then I would ask, “How real is your faith? Is it a fair-weather faith of little substance? Are you standing firm in your community and church as a good soldier of Jesus Christ?
In recent times I have been looking at Nigeria, a nation that is suffering greatly where Christians are horrible persecuted and killed by Islam. Yet, at the same time, I believe the Spirit is moving in Nigeria with people turning to the Lord.
My interest in Nigeria goes back to the 1970s when I was co-ordinating the Newsletters for a missionary couple who left Australia to do administrative ministry in Jos, Nigeria, for the Sudan Interior Mission. They were Keith and Marjorie Minus, Keith from Armenia and Marjorie from Burma (Myamar). Both those nations have known enormous suffering as well. Keith and Marjorie are with the Lord now, a lovely and gentle couple.
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THE FOLLOWING IS FROM INTERNET MATERIAL:-
[[ Middle Belt threatens self-help as death toll in Plateau killings hit 155
Outrage and condemnation have continued to trail the multiple 2023 Christmas eve attacks on Plateau communities as the death toll yesterday rose to 155. Chairman of Bokkos local government area, Monday Kassa, told newsmen that “up till this moment, our people are still in the bush searching for missing ones. Today we have recovered more than 20 bodies from the bush and the search is not over yet. The death toll from Bokkos local government is now 125.”
Similarly, the chairman of Barkin Ladi local government area, Danjuma Dakil, said the death toll is now 30, not 17 earlier reported. He also disclosed that there are over 1,000 injured victims who were rushed to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
Global watchdog, Amnesty International, yesterday demanded a probe into the latest killing in Plateau, claiming the gunmen operated unhindered for over 48 hours.
It said in a statement that “the Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that allowed the horrific killing of over 140 people by gunmen across over 20 villages in Bokkos and parts of the Barkin-Ladi local government area of Plateau.”
It further claimed that “our investigation shows that the gunmen were on a rampage of killing and destruction for more than 48 hours, moving from one village to another. Apart from Bokkos, where the attacks started and lasted hours, the gunmen also crossed into Barkin Ladi and killed dozens of people in Hurum, Daruwat, Maiyanga, and NTV villages.”
Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, said the killing was unacceptable, demanding that “President Bola Tinubu set up an impartial, independent, and effective panel to investigate the apparent failure of security agencies to halt the bloodshed hours after villages that were attacked were gathering bodies of those killed and conveying those injured to hospitals.
“Patterns of recent deadly attacks on the rural areas of Plateau clearly show that the Nigerian authorities have left these communities at the mercy of rampaging gunmen. Nigerian authorities’ failure to tame the tide of this violence is costing people’s lives and livelihoods, and without immediate action, many more lives may be lost,” he alleged.
The MBF also lampooned the Federal Government for failing to move decisively against the armed marauders despite knowing their location and hideout. National President of MBF, Dr Bitrus Pogu, alleged that the failure of the government to ensure the protection of the lives and property of the people amounted to its complicity in the matter.
According to Pogu, “Section 14(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stipulates that ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
“Conversely, the unrelenting massacre of our people in the Middle-Belt States, particularly recently on the Plateau, has shown without any vestige of pessimism that the government and security forces are complicit in the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous ethnic nationalities, who are not part of the Sokoto Caliphate.
Similarly, the Nigerian Baptist Convention has decried ‘the wanton killings of Christians and destruction of churches’ by Fulani militia in NTV, Dares, Yelwa and Chirang, where a Baptist church was burnt and nine members, including the pastor of the church, Solomon Gushe, were killed. In Chirang village, 40 people were also reported to have been killed by the rampaging militias.
President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Israel Adelani Akanji, who was saddened by the killings, called on security agencies to bring the culprits to justice.
In a statement yesterday by Rev. Eben Durodola, Public Relations Officer, Akanji requested President Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, “provide necessary security to all Nigerians and bring an end to the wanton killings of Christians in the Northern part of the country.” ]]
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THIS NEXT REPORT IS FROM OPEN DOORS 21 NOVEMBER 2023 - NIGERIA | CHRISTIAN MOTHER FACES IMPRISONMENT
A Nigerian Christian mother-of-five, who has been detained for more than a year without trial, faces up to three years imprisonment. Please join us in praying for justice for Rhoda in the days leading up to her hearing on 27 November.
Rhoda Jatau, a health worker from northern Bauchi State, Nigeria, was arrested on 20 May 2022 after she reportedly forwarded a “blasphemous” WhatsApp message to colleagues. In the message, she condemned the killing of Christian student, Deborah Samuel, who was?stoned and burned to death?for alleged blasphemy by a mob one week earlier.
Jatau was arrested and taken from her home in Katanga, Warji Local Government Area, before a mob gathered to attack her. When the attackers could not find her, they?targeted other Christians in the neighbourhood, injuring at least ten people and damaging properties. Jatau’s family was?forced to flee their home?and now live elsewhere.
In December 2022, she was charged with “intention to disturb the public peace by forwarding a video considered blasphemy of the Prophet Muhammad.” The charges carry a sentence of up to three years in prison and/or a fine.
Her case is scheduled to be heard on 27 November. At the time of her hearing, she will have been detained for 1.5 years. During this time, several requests for bail were denied because of the possible risk of riots, according to her lawyer, Joshua Nasara, in a press statement, quoted by?Morningstar News.
‘CULTURE OF IMPUNITY’
“Rhoda Jatau legitimately exercised her right of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief in a peaceful manner,” said John Samuel, Open Doors legal expert for Sub-Saharan Africa. “And it is unacceptable that she is being prosecuted for merely sharing content that condemns the violence against Deborah while no action is being taken against those involved in the mob violence following the disclosure of her alleged blasphemous WhatsApp message. Nor has action been taken against those involved in the mob violence that took the life of Deborah.”
Christians, who are a minority in northern Nigeria, face ongoing discrimination and high levels of pressure for their faith, including casual accusations of blasphemy and insulting Islam. ACCORDING TO WORLD WATCH LIST RESEARCH, NIGERIA IS THE MOST VIOLENT PLACE TO FOLLOW JESUS AND RANKS AS NUMBER 6 FOR OVERALL PERSECUTION.
“The way the mob violence against both Deborah and Jatau is handled clearly shows the concerning culture of impunity against perpetrators of violence in parts of Nigeria,” said Samuel. “The legal criminalisation of blasphemy, which is against the Nigerian constitution and international human rights standards, has contributed to the increase of mob violence.”
GROWING INTERNATIONAL CONCERN REGARDING BLASPHEMY LAWS
Blasphemy laws are?in place across Nigeria. While blasphemy in the southern part of Nigeria is punishable with imprisonment, in the 12 northern states that are governed by Sharia law, it can carry the death sentence.
Both the?European Union?and the United Nations have repeatedly raised concerns and called on the Nigerian government to repeal the laws. Pray for Nigeria ]]
THAT ENDS THE QUOTATIONS
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COMMENTS THAT NEED TO BE MADE
In the last 40 years or so Satan has rallied his followers because his time is short and an unknown number of Christians have been martyred, maybe several hundred thousand to a million in spite of the Christian-hating BBC claiming figures are just 8 000 a year. Each redeemed life is precious to God and so many in heaven will be wearing a martyr’s crown. To the suffering Christians at Smyrna God said, {{Revelation 2:10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I WILL GIVE YOU THE CROWN OF LIFE.”}}
Satan’s two murderous arms are Communism and Islam. These two evil groups will combine in the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel 38 and 39 (Russia, Iran, Islamic north). How many leaders in the western world are standing by Israel in the slaughter it endures? Some, though not many, and I am disgusted with my own Australia that has taken a pro-Palestinian/Hamas stand.
I do not want to outline the tragedies of martyrdom endured by Christians but I will say the wicked United Nations is no friend whatever of Christians, as it is no friend of God’s earthly people the Jews. The atrocities of the past in The Congo are sickening. In the 1960s I listened to a Christian survivor from the Mau Mau slaughters.
I think most of us can recall this – [[ “On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. Prior to the raid, the school had been closed for four weeks due to deteriorating security conditions, but the girls were in attendance in order to take final exams in physics.” ]]
We could fill a book with atrocities and barbarism against Christians and decency, but I want to move to a support area.
HOW CAN WE EXPLAIN SUCH HATRED AGAINST CHRISTIAN PEOPLE?
We could say, “Satan is behind it,” but it is deeper than that. How much have you considered the suffering of Christ on the cross when the sins of the world were borne by the Saviour? Listen to just one small part of that from two prophetic Psalms – {{Psalm 22:13-14 “They open wide their mouth at me, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me.”}}
And {{Psalm 69:2-3 “I have sunk in deep mire and there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters and a flood overflows me. I am weary with my crying. My throat is parched. My eyes fail while I wait for my God.”}}
Sometimes we are called upon to suffer for the Lord and it is terrible, but identification with Christ will gain great blessing in eternity. The world will hate you because it hated your Saviour. Satan’s agents will hate you because Satan hates God. {{John 15:18-20 “IF THE WORLD HATES YOu, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world and I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 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. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”}}
The President of Nigeria has no intention of taking action on behalf of Christians. The world knows that. He is an avowed Moslem opposed to all Christian work in Nigeria. There are Christians all over the world who realise they do not have support from their governments or responsible authorities. What support did Jesus have from his rulers and religious systems? Absolutely none, and so it will be the same with us.
We are in a battle but the only arms we take up are the spiritual ones – {{2Corinthians 10:4 “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”}}
PLEASE PLACE ALL SUFFERING IN THE CONTEXT OF ETERNITY
Yes, I know that is easy to say from one who does not have to face the horrific persecution and terror that people in many parts of Africa and the Middle East have to undergo, but I do know that my God is faithful. God is aware of the smallest turmoil in the heart of one of His children. What parent is not hurt and emotionally churned when a son or daughter is suffering? The Lord God said something once in regard to Israel whom He had to judge because of continued idolatry – {{Hosea 11:8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? MY HEART IS TURNED OVER WITHIN ME. ALL MY COMPASSIONS ARE KINDLED.”}}
That was God speaking because He was sending Israel into judgement, and can you see how the emotions of God were churned up. The Lord is not unaware of the suffering of His children. He embraces them and holds then lovingly. My Nigerian fellow believer, and my fellow Christians in all places, the Lord is tender-hearted and loving and knew you even before you were born.
One minute of terrible persecution and torture seems like an age, and I do not appreciate what some believers are going through; horrible things and inhuman atrocities from the hand of Satan through his agents. I search my heart what to say and for a long while the Lord has given me this special verse – {{Romans 8:17-18 “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him, for I CONSIDER THAT THE SUFFERINGS OF THIS PRESENT TIME ARE NOT WORTHY TO BE COMPARED WITH THE GLORY THAT IS TO BE REVEALED TO US.”}}
The letter to Smyrna was the shortest of the seven letters written by John on Patmos at the Lord’s leading, and this church represented the period of the deep suffering of the Christians for nearly 300 years. Their suffering from about AD 50 to AD 325 was unspeakable and a lot has been recorded by Eusebius and other Church Fathers. It is interesting that in the Smyrna letter nothing is said about resources in suffering, just the fact of it. BUT GOD KNOWS!
KEEP THE EYES FOCUSSED ALL THE TIME ON THE GOAL AHEAD
There is always the small and the greater picture. Sometimes we miss the greater because we are so occupied with the smaller. I know how that is. The present troubles seem to take all our attention. However in times of hardship leading right up to martyrdom, it becomes necessary to focus on the greater picture. Everything then comes into perspective.
Take a look at Stephen when he was being stoned. Did he curse those causing him pain? Did he complain about his condition or suffering? NO, to both questions. This is recorded – {{Acts 7:55-56 but being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God,”}}
These next two verses show where his godly spirit was – {{Acts 7:59-60 They went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” and falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” and having said this, he fell asleep.”}}
Stephen had his eyes on the risen Lord. In suffering, persecution and martyrdom, there is no other place for our eyes and hearts to be. The Lord is in heaven to welcome each of us.
We close with Paul’s own constant goal in the face of approaching martyrdom – {{2Timothy 4:6-8 “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and THE TIME OF MY DEPARTURE HAS COME. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. In the future there is laid up for me THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”}}
The Lord bless and sustain and encourage all His hurting children all over the world. AMEN.
