It’s not easy for a true Christian to live in a fallen world.
@luke “It’s not easy for a true Christian to live in a fallen world.”
True!
As far as being afraid of persecution for Christ, I’m afraid of not being persecuted for Christ! If no one ever persecutes me for being a true Christian, I wonder if I’m doing it right!
One of my favorite Bible teachers has this attitude:
He can smile, because he knows that when he is persecuted for Christ, he is storing up treasures in heaven!
Matthew 10:26-31
26 “Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered and nothing hidden that won’t be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim on the housetops. 28 Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s n consent. 30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. 31 So don’t be afraid therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Jesus provides three reasons persecuted Christians need not fear. First, a persecuted disciple of Jesus should not fear because God is sovereign over what we know and don’t know. Not even the most secretive, subtle forms of persecution we might experience will go unhidden in the long run, and therefore we ought not fear what we experience at the hands of those who would seek to destroy our faith.
Second (and related to the first), a persecuted disciple of Jesus should not fear persecution because God could destroy far more than anything one who persecutes us could. Reputation? Well-being? Material goods? Pish-posh compared to the soul. There is no reason to fear those who persecute our faith more than the God who gave us our faith.
Finally, a persecuted disciple of Jesus should not fear persecution because God can be trusted with all of our life’s experiences, trouble included. Jesus assures his disciples that they can trust God’s sovereignty in their protection or their death (10:29–31).He cares for even those creatures we think most insignificant, and knows every details of those things about us that we might regard as insignificant. How much more so is this true of His children!
yes, i am very fraid. of this. yes, i face alot, i am in China, and see some churches were closed one by one.i do not knoe how can protect them.
Yes, once my church was persecuted by the goverment; at the begining I was a little scared, but later I felt more peaceful and God protected us from more persecution.