"It has Hated Me"

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. (John 15:18-20 ESV)

Christ told us there would be persecution for those who followed Him. Christ never lies. In the United States, we have little understanding of persecution. Oh, we talk about our “rights” and how we could not gather during the pandemic and these sorts of inconveniences. My brothers and sisters, we have no idea the depth of the vile persecution of Christians today. Eventually, we will.

On the 22nd of this month, I read an article reporting that in the DR Congo, inside a church, 70 Christians were beheaded by Islamist Militants. They were beheaded with large knives or machetes. This means they waited for their turn. Did you hear about this? The world is silent.

These people lived in a small community in the Libero District. They were taken hostage and moved to a town called Kasanga, where they were tied up and herded into a building that had been a sanctuary. There, they were beheaded. On top of this, the Islamists refused to let Christian leaders bury the dead for five days.

This was purely targeted violence and the persecution of Christians. Sub-Saharan persecution of Christians is widespread. This trend is not ending. I ask that you pray for Africa, especially for our brother in Christ and ministry partner, Pastor Hesbon Awrasa, in Kenya.

As the second coming of our Lord draws closer, the persecution of the church will increase, knowing no boundaries. Are you prepared? If not, remember Christ's word: "When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:19-20)

Many of you know of Corrie Ten Boom. Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews escape the holocaust during WWII. She once spoke to her father because she was worried she would not be strong enough to persevere during her time of martyrdom, saying:

“Daddy,” she had said one day, “I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a martyr for Jesus Christ.”

“Tell me,” her father wisely responded, “when you take a train trip from Haarlem to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before?”

“No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train.”

“That is right,” he replied, “and so it is with God’s strength. Our wise Father in heaven knows when you are going to need things too. Today you do not need the strength to be a martyr. But as soon as you are called upon for the honor of facing death for Jesus, He will supply the strength you need — just in time.”

“I took great comfort in my father’s advice,” Corrie told her audience. “Later I had to suffer for Jesus in a [Nazi] concentration camp. He indeed gave me all the courage and power I needed.”

Foxes' Book of Martyrs should be read by everyone, Christian and non-Christian. The Christian should read it to remind us that faith in, trust in, and the grace and mercy of Christ and our salvation are worthy of dying for.  It should be read by the non-Christian so that they may come to understand God exists; thousands of people would not willingly die for a lie, not in the first century nor the twenty-first century.

The world is silent because it is in the control of the prince of the power of the air. Martyrdom and denying the Lord is what he wants. We should not be silent. The worldwide persecution of Christians needs to be heard everywhere.

Grace and Peace.