Persecution of Christians Continues

The Apostle John writes that he was exiled to the island of Patmos because of his witness to Christ. The Lord Jesus had predicted that his disciples would be persecuted.

You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. - Luk 21:16-17 ESV

Again, the Apostle Paul wrote,

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. - 1Co 4:9-13 ESV

The Bible only mentions the death of two apostles,  James, son of Zebedee, put to death by Harod Agrippa shortly before Passover in year 44 (Acts 12:1-2), and Judas Iscariot who committed suicide. According to tradition or early historians, eight of them died as martyrs. John, as noted earlier, was exiled for a time to the island of Patmos. Various dates for his death were given by early writers, some saying it occurred around 100, some as late as 120 A.D. One tradition says that after his exile ended, he lived in Ephesus as the pastor of the church there and that Jesus' mother was with him (John 19:26).

Christians are still persecuted to the present. We read of various beheadings and other atrocities by members of ISIS in the Middle East. This is horrible and these brothers and sisters in the faith need our prayers. A new form of persecution is becoming the norm in the 21st century in Western countries and in the United States. Such concepts as 'true marriage' and 'natural family' are being attacked by the law in many Western countries. Rev. Franklin Graham of the Samaritan's Purse says that while the  type of bloody persecution of Christians in the Middle East has not yet reached America, the threat of Christian persecution on American soil is imminent. Graham claims there are radical Islamists advising the Obama administration, and that it is getting worse.

Rick Santorum, CEO of EchoLight Studios, and now announced presidential candidate, thanks God that the type of persecution occurring in the Middle East is not happening here, "but things weren't always that way in other parts of the world either. It starts with a gradual erosion."

Managing Anger By Faith

Now that we have defined faith and come to understand that time, life and everything else was created by the Word of God, we take a look at some of the faith-filled men and women who exercised their faith in their daily lives. And as we do, we ask ourselves how we may emulate them and their lives.

The first to step before us is Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, the first humans on planet earth. His name means breath. We're not told why his parents named him Abel. We hear nothing about his childhood or how he came to be a shepherd. We only learn that in the course of time he and his brother Cain both brought offerings to the LORD. Cain was a farmer, a worker of the ground, so what he brought was an offering of the fruit of the ground. No mention is made of what it was or of how they made this offering. A thousand questions hover around those statements. Yet that is not the point. The point is that

"for Cain and his offering the LORD had no regard." —Gen. 4:5 ESV

To have regard is to pay attention, to look upon a person favorably. In this case, it means that the LORD looked into Cain's heart. The LORD did not see faith there. Already, in this very early stage of mankind's development we find a man who did not put his trust in the LORD and His promises. Already we find a man who went through the motions, but meant nothing by them.

It is also interesting to note that the LORD spoke directly to Cain. Did the LORD speak as He did to Cain's parents in the Garden? We're not told whether it was Adam through whom the LORD spoke or whether this was a direct communication. We're not told about other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve until after Cain murders his brother. Only then do we read that . . .

Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." - Gen 4:25 ESV

Undoubtedly there are many events and many other children of the first couple that are left out of this history. And there were many, many years for having many, many children, etc. All we read is

The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. - Gen 5:4-5 ESV 

The emphasis in Hebrews 11 is upon faith in this small nuclear family. One brother walked in faith. The older did not. Cain did not offer his praise and worship in faith. Abel did. Instead of faith Cain hated his brother. He burned with anger and the anger captured and controlled his heart in the same way that a hungry beast hunts down its prey and seizes it. He could not manage or control it in spite of the LORD's warning.

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." - Gen 4:7 ESV 

In our day we hear much about "anger management." Some make their living trying to teach others how to do just that.  I even found an anger management brochure on the American Psychological Association website. They say that

Anger can be suppressed, and then converted or redirected. This happens when you hold in your anger, stop thinking about it, and focus on something positive. The aim is to inhibit or suppress your anger and convert it into more constructive behavior. The danger in this type of response is that if it isn't allowed outward expression, your anger can turn inward—on yourself. Anger turned inward may cause hypertension, high blood pressure, or depression.

Good advice. The psalms say essentially the same.

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. - Psa 37:8 ESV

HOWEVER ! the psalms speak in the context of faith. They do not assume that anger can be controlled easily or always. Instead David writes,

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. - Psa 37:1-8 ESV

 This is how the man of faith acts. He turns his anger over to the LORD and focuses upon Him. He may be angry because of what has happened and the injustice of it all, but he commits his way and his life to the LORD and puts his trust in Him. He believes that the LORD will act to bring forth righteousness even though at the moment he cannot see how.

We all have much to learn about anger, hate and how to manage our feelings. The Word of God teaches us to begin with forgiveness even as we are forgiven in Christ. Then focus and meditate upon God's Word and find peace.

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. - Psa 55:22 ESV

Baby Christians Try To Live On Milk

Yesterday I wrote about Christ's suffering for all mankind, a very difficult topic. It is easy to say. Even little children can say, "Jesus died on the cross," but to grasp the implications and even begin to understand the meaning—that is another thing. So the Hebrews letter writer says,

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. - Hebrews 5:11-14 ESV

In fact, the writer goes into much detail in the next chapters, trying to explain. So let me try to explain the difference between the basic principles of the oracles of God—what he calls milk—and solid food. 
Lets start with milk. We'll be coming back to this again and again in the future.

Paul writes to the Corinthians about milk:

I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human? - 1Cor 3:2-4 ESV 

I've served congregations dealing with these issues. People line up behind one pastor and start mocking the other for what they consider his failures or weaknesses. The same thing happens between members of church staffs or church committees. Criticism, accusations, lies, complaints. Some examples.

"She made a pass at my husband."  

"He's been stealing from church funds for his own purposes."  

"We worked so hard at this project and she gets all the credit."

And on and on. Soon come notes and emails flying back and forth or phone calls, secret gatherings and special secret meetings! And then an all-out war of jealousy and strife.  This is what Paul means when he says, ". . . are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?"

Do you see the connection between what Paul is saying and the Hebrews writer? What are the basic principles of the oracles of God? Again, the baby or the baby-Christian can say, "Christ died for me," but what follows? What follows is what the Apostle John points to in his letter. Strife, jealousy, hate—this is of the devil. This is not how the new born child of God acts. The child of God rejoices in the fact that Christ died for sinners—and he seeks to follow in that path. He / she forgives as we all are forgiven in Christ. John writes,

No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. - 1John 3:9-16 ESV

 Are you there yet? Look at your own heart. Do you still harbor jealousy, mockery, anger? Are you spreading stories, busily telling tales? Stop this instant. Stop and take a long, careful look at your own heart. How dare you pray our Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our debts," and then not follow up on your promise to forgive others their debts? You are still living on milk. And if you don't know how to deal with your feelings of hate and anger, here is another bit of counsel for you. Jealousy and strife are evidence of sickness in the body of Christ, of immaturity and childishness. If you are struggling with these issues it may well be time for you to visit with your pastor or elder.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. - James 5:14-16 ESV

We'll go on to pursue maturity as we work our way deeper into this great letter to the Hebrews.