2015.10.25_Delight in Persecution

Let us come with sincere faith when it comes to the time of worship.

The way and the direction of flow to which God leads Christians is absolutely different to those of the world. Hence it is nothing strange that Christians are persecuted and faced with hardships in the world. This, even Jesus experienced during His short time on the earth, and had also foretold of to all His believers.

While those who live solely for their flesh will not be subject to a great persecution, those that live for the spirit will encounter much persecutions. If we consider the truth as only being that which is visible, we cannot fully understand what life is about. The visible world is only a fraction of the entire world that exists. As Christians, we do not entrust ourselves to the visible world, but rather follow the flow of God’s kingdom, fulfill the will of God’s kingdom, and are heading for His kingdom.

During our stay on the earth, we must not let any harm come upon that which is most precious to us, that is, the merits of Jesus Christ. One thing we should not forget when we are being persecuted is the fact that Jesus, our Lord, King and God was also persecuted when He was on the earth, and that we have been saved today as a result. We must not let anyone steal or ruin the grace that we have received.

Throughout their lives in the world, people’s hearts are shaken without even realizing it. Their minds deviate towards the things of the world, they even doubt the truth, and lost the passion that had once filled their hearts. It is hard to say that everyone who attends the Lord’s Day service all have sound faith. Some people are busy trying to finish the service with the idea of satisfying

the minimum requirement to enter Heaven, and go out to meet their friends afterwards. Their faith is not strong enough to protect their own soul in this world which is like a battle field. Nevertheless, the person whose faith is weak as well as the one whose faith has been scarred by the adversities and hardships of the world, should not remain always as the least.

We are the ones who possess Jesus Christ. God gave us a gift called Jesus Christ, which is the token of His love for us, life that will never diminish, and glory that nobody can ever take away. If we are to keep these to the end, we have to assert our right at all times, and never despair at our own weaknesses. Even if we might have constantly lost something in the world because of our shortcomings, we should not take a pessimistic view, as if we have lost the gift of God as well. Though we could have been disappointed at our own selves until yesterday, we must come before God with sound faith at least when we are gathered at church to worship.

While there are church members who are zealous in the faith lives, there are others who struggle as if they are toiling up a steep hill. However, even a person who has been battered and torn in the world and hence thinks his faith is not good enough, should demonstrate his truthfulness to God when it comes to the time of worship. As one leaves the church after the service, he should not still be bearing the countenance of a failure.

Even those that often sit behind the column during the service should acknowledge that they were able to come because God called them, and have their hearts wide open. God gave us the opportunity to worship not only because He has called us to be His children, but also because He deems us as His servants. It is a misunderstanding to think that God will be disappointed by our shortcomings and turn His face away from us. God is waiting for us even now.

Though we might not be the greatest Christians overnight, we need to strengthen our knees and stand up. God, who knows our weaknesses, gives us opportunities to be trained. The biggest factor that draws us away from God is the very thought that we have been forsaken. God can use even the least of people in useful ways for the benefit of the church. So although our past may have been a series of failures, we should be strengthened and stand up once again while we are worshipping God.

Make contribution to the church through your faith life.

The fight that saints have to fight cannot be done alone. If it was possible, God would not have necessarily made many people gather at church and worship together. But from the beginning, God gathered the saved ones to the church and nurtured them. Since the historical day of the Pentecost when the Holy Spirit first descended, God works inside the church and with the church. To believe in Jesus Christ and receive salvation is up to the individual. However a person does not lead his faith life on his own after he is saved; he forms a church with the rest of the members to be nurtured and work together.

In general, the people of this world are self-interested; nevertheless, those who are in Jesus ought to be different. The latter should be concerned with works of Jesus, and unite their hearts with other members in order to achieve those works. It is possible for even the notion of being filled with the Holy Spirit to easily be taken on just a personal level. But a person who is truly filled with the Holy Spirit will be full of determination and zeal in seeking the benefit of the church. Having promised that He will not leave us as orphans, in what way is Jesus now looking after us? He allows us to be loved through the saints, encouraged by the saints, and through the saints gain the strength to overcome persecutions.

If anyone is a Christian, he would have experienced persecution at some point, and probably determined themselves that they would surely overcome by faith when later faced with a great persecution. However, in overcoming persecutions, the support given between members is as important as one’s individual faith. In fact, the number of people in the church who have the solid faith to actually withstand persecution is uncertain. A healthy Christian would be able to really rejoice when persecution comes, but it is not easy to find a Christian like that. However, that would change if there are other members to back him or her up.

Because there is so much competition between people out in the world, it is not easy to be encouraged through our encounters with other people. Yet in the church, we should be able to and we can receive encouragement from the members around us. For that, each and every member of the church needs to have the heart to support the church. The church is the Lord’s body which we must love, and the scene where we must fulfill our calling from the Lord. The church is where we can demonstrate our love for the Lord while we are on the earth.

Those who received the Holy Spirit have angels sent by God to help them. A person with many ministering angels does not struggle so much in his faith life. Such a person actively participates with ease in church activities including dawn prayer, and consistently maintains his life of prayer, Bible reading and praise. On the contrary, those with a fewer a number of angels will struggle in keeping the same pattern of life. We need to note the fact that the number of ministering angels around us can actually increase while we are listening to the sermon, praying, and praising at church.

There are people who, depending on their mood, would either choose to sing or just keep their mouths closed during worship at church. When the whole church is praying together in one accord, they refuse to participate if they are not willing. This is because they simply consider praise and prayer as individual matters. However, we must understand that every act of our faith life is the way we serve God and strengthen the church. If, with the heart to serve God and support the church, we praise, pray and altogether respond to the message with “Amen”, God will send us many more angels to help us.

Our faith life is not just a matter of personal concern. Every saint’s individual faith lives are a source of vitality to the church, and empower the church to overcome all kinds of spiritual impediment. Some people label themselves as passive Christians saying, “I’m not a very active member in the church. I don’t even attend cell prayer meetings.” Even so, if they at least

acknowledge the fact that their souls have been saved by the meritorious works of Jesus, and that He is leading them to the eternal kingdom, they should be willing to contribute to the church through their own faith lives.

Training is required for us to be well-grounded in our acts of honoring God.

When we come to church and worship, even the person who has weathered every storms of life in the world, should lay aside everything and focus on honoring God, for only then, the Holy

Spirit will be able to work vigorously inside us. Through our worship, we ought to bring joy to God and desire to be showered with God’s love. Instead of only thinking about what we can gain from God, we must express our willingness to worship Him. We should demonstrate in action our love for God who has called such little ones as us.

Of those who have been a Christian for long time, there are some who do not show any fervor but are stuck in a rut and have become complacent because they have a lot of knowledge about their faith life. However the fact that the person knows a lot cannot itself draw God’s attention. Regardless of how much a person knows, he will not be accepted by God unless he puts them into practice. A person’s heart is the most untrustworthy thing in the world. And people who have lived long are likely to agree with this. Would God say to us, “The world doesn’t trust you, but I will”? We are all untrustworthy people, and we cannot make God put His trust in us. It is meaningless to say, “God, don’t you know my heart?” Our hearts are always prone to be tempted by the thoughts given us by the Devil. The question is what we would choose out of those that are inside our hearts and put into action.

Of course, just because we set our hearts to do something, does not mean that it is easy for that to be firmly grounded into action. That is why training is necessary. There is no one who is adept at church life, immediately upon becoming a Christian. Just as a baby learns to crawl and take his first steps, everyone must learn and be trained step by step starting with the very basics of church life. Whoever bypasses this process will struggle to mature into a healthy Christian, let alone think about facing persecutions.

Training is definitely not easy. However if all the members of the church join together, it will become much easier. God does not neglect us saying, “Do whatever you want. I’ll have no part in it.” Even today, He desires to work through us. Anyone in Christ, no matter how little he is, is a new creation created by God’s own blood. Therefore, we must let go of our past and come before God with sound faith.

Let us be trained starting from our manner of praise, prayer and listening to sermons.

For the church to gather together in worship to praise, listen to the message and pray is fundamental to our faith life. And honoring God must all start from these. When we sing, we need to have our mouths wide open. While this is necessary in order to sing out loud, it is more important in that the worshipper has to surrender himself before God to do so. There are probably some people who find it awkward to clap their hands and sing in a loud voice. However, if they are mature Christians prepared for persecutions, they should be able to overcome their personal disposition for the benefit of the church.

Prayer also should not be considered a personal matter. During personal prayer times, it is up to each individual to choose how they want to pray. However when the whole church is praying together, every member has to be aware that they all make up the church’s body. As the whole church joins together in prayer, one person’s earnest prayer will become an ardent appeal that cries out, “Wake up, O saint! Let’s unite our hearts together for the church!” and awakens the souls of those around him.

When we are receiving the word of God, it is important that we respond by saying, “Amen!” The word Amen contains the meanings ‘that is correct. That is indeed so’. Instead of just listening to sermons, moving our lips to respond with “Amen” is of advantage in making a leap forward in our faith. Whoever wants the word of God to be fulfilled in him has to receive the word without any resistance, and for that, he should at least have the zeal to respond to the word with “Amen”.

The word of God does not come through the void; rather, He speaks through His servants. Indeed, the Lord’s servants were sinners in the past, lost in the world. However God saved them and chose them to preach His words. Thus when they preach the will of God, we must receive it as the word of God not as that of man, and by saying, “Amen” we should awaken, not only our own souls, but also the souls of those around us. We should have ourselves heard by the angels, and even the unclean spiritual enemies.

Though a person has become a wreck from all the scars he received in the world, he still needs to show his faith in the best manner as he praises God, listens to the sermon and prays. He ought to do so for the benefit of both his soul and the entire church. Even if we are not used to singing and praying out loud, or saying, “Amen” during the sermon, we need to train ourselves starting with the very basics, so that God can feel at ease to use us. God will not ignore such efforts of ours, and make us grow into mature Christians who are able to withstand every kind of persecution.