Text: “Then said some of
them of Jerusalem , Is not this He, Whom they
seek to kill? But, lo, He speaketh
boldly, and they say nothing unto Him.
Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?”
John 7:25-26.
Good morning, bold
Christian! Not for you the way of the
would-be ‘secret Christian’. Not for you
the hiding of your Christian light - you are the salt of the earth; born again
of the Spirit of God; washed in the precious Blood of the Lamb - and nothing
can ever quench your witness for Christ.
Hallelujah! Thank God for bold
Christian witnesses! (Acts 1:8)
Bold Christian witnesses shall
suffer for their boldness; we shall receive the persecutions promised in God’s written Word - but still, ‘…nothing can pluck us from His hand…’
Hallelujah! Bring it on, world,
flesh, or Devil! We have our God-given
armour firmly on! Glory and Victory in
the Lamb!
“Yea, and all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2
Timothy 3:12)
“Blessed (blessed
with blessings) are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for their’s is the Kingdom
of Heaven
I wonder, dear Christian
friend: Have you ever received a serious ‘death-threat’? Has the local
police or Government authorities ever come to your home and informed you, in
writing, that you were personally being targeted by terrorists? Have you ever received letters from
terrorists in the post inviting you to your family’s funerals?
Have you ever survived the blasts of terrorist guns being fired through
the windows of your home - as the servants of Satan seek to shoot you to
death? I have. Praise God, I have!
“No weapon that is
formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue (a very dangerous weapon)
that shall rise against thee in judgement thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the
Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 54:17)
No one in their right mind
would say that they ‘enjoyed’ living under such levels of ever-present danger and
threat to their lives and the lives of one’s family. Such long-term pressures do debilitate
mentally, in spite of our faith.
However, during such times of
grave danger and threat - my family and I have never felt the Presence of the
Lord God more real and near; nor known with absolute certainty His protective
hand around us. What a Lord God we
serve! Glory to the Living Lord God
Jehovah - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
He will NEVER leave us, nor forsake us in time of danger. (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Today’s Bible passage from John’s Gospel clearly shows the Saviour, Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Living Lord God, Himself living under such perilous ‘death-threats’. The question was on everyone’s lips: ‘…Is this not He,
Whom they (the religious rulers) seek to kill?’ (V.25)
The reasoning of the common
people is thus proven: If the rulers
seek to kill this man, and He is here speaking ‘…boldly, and they say nothing unto Him…’ - then the rulers
must know that this is indeed the very Christ Who it is prophesied must
come! Are the rulers actually afraid to
kill this man, because they fully realise that He is indeed the promised
Christ?
A pattern then becomes clear
from Scriptures that has been followed by the world, the flesh, and the Devil’s anti-Christian forces ever since - it is the pattern
of first slandering and smearing the intended ‘target’ then, when socially smeared -
executing them without too much fear of public outcry.
Over the period of the past 40
years of political terrorism and counter-terrorism here in Ulster
(Northern Ireland , UK );
we have witnessed this vile pattern being practiced by all factions -
Government as well as terrorists - time and time again. The slanderous writings go up on a gable
wall, then some time later, the target of such slander is shot dead, or blown
to pieces in a car bomb. When the dirt
of slander is thrown - some of it always sticks. Few but close relatives raise much outcry
over the death of publicly slandered persons.
Doubt must be placed on the target’s character before
death can be dispatched without public uproar. What a dirty, deadly, world
indeed!
“Howbeit we know
this man (Jesus) whence He is; BUT when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He
is.” (V.27) The slandering had begun.
“Then they sought to
take Him; but no man laid hands on Him, because His hour (of death) was not yet
come. And many of the people believed on
Him…” (V.30) ‘…it is appointed unto men once to die…’ (Hebrews 9:27) We die according to God's Own Eternal appointment time. Our God is in full Sovereign control of all things.
Thought: For the true Christian, death is never a ’threat’, merely a shadow.
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