Secular Hostility? Well not Exactly
By Ron Graham
There is a hostility growing which
is aimed at Bible believing Christians. I’m speaking of those of us born again
believers who actually take the word of God seriously and literally. We are
being singled out and maligned by some of the most surprising sources. We would
expect this hostility to come from our adversary, Satan, and all those who
gleefully follow him. Satanic hostility is certainly occurring at an alarming
rate of speed. But what Bible believing Christians should not be enduring in any
form is the astonishingly clear hostility coming from folks who also profess to
be Christian.
“If
the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of
the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,
but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember
the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying,
they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my
name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.”
John 15:18-21.
Jesus Himself tells us to expect hostility
(persecution) from the world and indeed we shall. But from those who actually
profess to be our brothers and sisters in Christ? Doesn’t this fact alone prove
that every person who professes to follow Jesus isn’t necessarily born again but
may actually be following His nemesis? It seems there are some who say they are
Christian yet do everything they can to persecute those of us who study and
believe Bible prophecy. Why? “because they
know not him that sent me”. John
15:21b.
Rick Warren wrote a book a few years back that I’m
sure most readers of my commentaries have either read or are at
least familiar with. It’s entitled “The Purpose Driven Life”. In it Warren
proceeds to tell us that those who study Bible prophecy are not fit for the
kingdom of God. The Bible contains so much prophecy that one could say it’s
basically a book of prophecy; and that fact is what distinguishes it from other
religious books and from other religions for that
matter. God, through His word, is giving us a history lesson in advance which is
percisely how He authenticates His word. When we read and study our Bibles there
is no possible way to avoid studying Bible prophecy, unless of course one were
to completely allegorize the Bible, which would also be completely erronious.
The following is
an excerptfrom
a Lighthouse Trails memo I recently received.
By quoting Jesus out of context, Warren says, "Anyone who lets himself be distracted [by
studying Bible prophecy] from the work I plan for him is not fit for the
kingdom of
God" (Living
Bible). But Jesus was not referring to His return when He made that
statement, which in the King James Version
says: "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for
the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). The Purpose Driven kingdom of God leaves no room for Bible prophecy, and
in fact, condemns those who study it. The apostle Peter, inspired by the Holy
Spirit, had a different view. He writes: "We have also a more sure word of
prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts." (II
Peter 1:19)
“And
Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:62. Anyone who studies their
Bible regularly knows what Jesus meant by the above statement.
We aren’t to take our eyes off Jesus once we are saved because we will
invariably waver and slide off the path He’s set for us. He isn’t saying that
studying His prophetic word would disqualify us from our usefulness as witnesses
for His Kingdom, or that we would be unfit for entering His Kingdom.
Those who agree with Warren and his statements above are just as flawed as those
who follow Warren’s friend Brian McLaren. “We
are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not
us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”
1John 4:6.
There most certainly abounds a spirit of error in the Church today and those
who’ve been given a spirit of discernment recognize it as such.
Another excerpt
from Lighthouse Trails Publishing:
In an April 2009 article in
Sojourner's magazine by emerging
church leader, Brian McLaren, McLaren clearly has targeted Christians. But not
just any Christians. McLaren is talking about Christians who believe Jesus
Christ is coming back again, suggesting that these types of Christians are the
reason there is no peace in the Middle East. He
says what these end-time believing Christians are doing is "terrible," "deadly,"
and "distorted."
McLaren says that he grew up with a dispensational view (the belief that Jesus
Christ will return and establish his kingdom on earth) but has come to realize
this view is "morally and ethically harmful." He likens this belief system to
racism in the 50s and 60s and says:
These doctrinal formulations often
use a bogus end-of-the-world scenario to create a kind of death-wish for World
War III, which--unless it is confronted more robustly by the rest of us--could
too easily create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
“Beloved, I now
write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking
after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?”
II Peter 3:1-4. Can there be any
doubt of the above prophetic scriptures being fulfilled by the very statements
made by these leading Christian men, Warren and McLaren?
McLaren makes it clear that those of
us who believe Jesus is to return to establish His Kingdom on earth, like Jesus
says He will,need
to be confronted robustly by, in his words “the rest of us”. Just who are those
who need to confront true Bible believing Christians? And what does he mean by
robustly? McLaren’s statement “The rest of us” is speaking of those who profess
a Christian faith but who don’t actually believe in the deity of Jesus Christ.
Without a doubt they’re going to have a problem with those of us who believe
Jesus Christ is God Almighty. According to McLaren, those who believe in Bible
prophecy will be confronted, and he emphasizes this with the adverb “robustly”.
If we look up the synonyms for
robustly we get the words
strongly, vigorously,
forcefully. So McLaren perceives Bible believing Christians as
needing an adjustment to their thinking, at the minimum that adjustment must
come forcefully to confront our bogus, terrible, distorted, and deadly beliefs.
Somewhere in all of his ranting I’ve missed the part about loving God with all
our heart, soul and mind,
Imagine,if
you will,our
current government’s leaders with their behavior towards us (Bible believing
Christians) already at a position of diminished favorability, and now believing
that a growing number of those who profess to be Christian (but aren’t) feel we
need to be forcefully confronted. What will be the outcome of a fully
socialistic government’s attitude towards a large segment of its citizenry who
refuse to toe that socialist government’s secular line? Christians who actually
follow the Bible and live their lives according to God’s word are already
referred to by our current administrations leaders as rightwing
extremists/terrorists. Now, by and through the statements made by McLaren and
Warren, these same officials have been given a green light as to how to deal
with all this rightwing dissention.
My brethren, as we traverse this
most destructive course established by the policies of our current leaders in
government, the prophecy of the Church of Philadelphia in the third chapter of the
book of Revelation is seen on the horizon. “I
know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut
it: for thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”
Revelation 3:8. Little strength,
that’s the clue to the future position of the true believing Church, just before
Jesus takes us home.
As truly born again believers who
follow the word of God unabashedly, it’s my opinion
that if you’re reading this commentary and you’re one of those under the
government’s new designation as rightwing extremist/terrorists, you better have
your prayer life well in hand. Jesus is our comfort and our refuge,we
know that. No one can take that fact away from us. Prayer is our direct line to
God and we must be in constant prayer. Our relationship to God is of utmost
importance in these very trying times.
Remember this,those
who are perishing cannot say or do anything that will destroy a Christian who
believes God’s word.We
belong to Jesus Christ, God Almighty, there’s nothing for us to fear from His
creation.
Yet I see fear has set in on many of my brethren.
Be careful my brothers and sisters,doubt
comes after fear. Circumstances surround us which at times seem impossible to
overcome. Our power to “overcome” comes from God and there is no circumstance
and no entity that will overcome God. “There
are many Christians today who seem to think the boat is going down! I am tired
of the wailing of some of my friends who take that view. The boat cannot go
down. Jesus is on board.” G.
Campbell Morgan
“See that ye be
not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Matthew 24:6.
When Jesus says “..all these things must come to pass…”, He is referring to
events which we see happen right before our eyes.
Many Christians are spiritually blind and refuse to acknowledge what obviously
points to the signs of the last days before Christ’s return. A blind person
could recognize the signs, but for many of those who have perfect vision the
signs seem to be invisible. As Jesus states in Matthew 24:6“The
end is not yet”,but
with what we currently see happening all around us the end could be very close.
Something very interesting and
completely relatable to our current times is what Jesus told
His disciples in John chapter 9,
“I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work”
John 9:4. The Greek word
Oudeis translated into English can
be rendered as no man, nothing, any man.
In other words Jesus is telling us there is coming a time when we won’t be able
to do the work God has given us to do. I believe we are getting extremely close
to the time Jesus is speaking about, especially living in a country run by a
secular socialistic government bent on eliminating Christianity from its midst.
The night is coming, darkness is
falling all around us. Many of our own professing brethren seem bent on our
demise. Will we stand firm on our belief in Bible prophecy? Will we stand up for
the true Jesus of the Bible in the face of all adversity? Will we declare His
message with boldness ‘til the end? Standing up for Jesus, in my estimation,
might well become a painful experience. In totalitarian countries around the
world, standing up for Jesus is already a life threatening occurrence. I know
there are many who will say that standing up for Jesus will never become life
threatening here in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We shall
see.
“Therefore,
brethren, stand fast...Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in
every good word and work”
II Thessalonians 2:15, 17.
God bless you all,
Ron Graham
twotug@embarqmail.com
All scripture is
from the KJV
