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Discussion Forum : Articles and Sermons : The Coming Great Persecution - Greg Gordon

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 Re:

Another thing that comes to mind is immersing ourselves in the Bible, at least the New Testament. We need to have his word dwelling in us richly to sustain us during those times of imprisonment. Letters from believers imprisoned past and present encourage those saints still free to hide the word of God in their hearts.

Bearnaster.

 2012/5/26 18:23
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 Re:

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Greg read the other article. Tried to post a response but could not enable the sign in protocals. In a nutshell the article is very thought provoking and sobering. Persecution will come upon the whole workd and soon. Those who live in foreign countries such as Eritrea, N. Korea, China, Iran Nigeria, etc. will be able to withstand what is coming. They live with the reality of dying for Christ daily



Amen we must start to consider this reality for ourselves also dear brother, great comments.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

 2012/5/26 19:27Profile









 Re:

Ro 5:1 ¶ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only so, but we glory in "tribulations" also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 2012/5/26 20:01
rbanks
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 Re:

we are to please God by being caught up in His love and presence. We are to be filled with the Holy Spirit rejoicing in Him always knowing that He will give us power to witness Jesus after the Holy Ghost has come upon us.

We don't need to focus on persecution but to only focus on the Lord's love and power over everything. Let's not fool ourselves into fearful and feigned pious thinking.

 2012/5/26 20:56Profile
ccchhhrrriiisss
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 Re: The Coming Great Persecution - Greg Gordon

This is a timely article with very good suggestions, Greg.

Believers, in the west, have largely been sheltered from the persecution that believers around the world have endured for 2000 years. The threat of persecution or even martyrdom is a daily part of life in many nations. I have met believers who lived under the scourge of communism and

I think that Foxe's Book of Martyrs" is a very important read for believers to understand the devotion by which saints have historically served the Lord. It is such an honor to lay down our lives for the Lord. It isn't difficult or unthinkable for those who have already laid down their lives as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1-2). It is simply the final measure of devotion to Christ.

Lately, I have been thinking about how individuals face death. The people of this world -- especially those who believe that life is nothing more than a cosmic accident or the result of "lucky physics" -- face death without hope. Many of them think that life is all there is...so they hang on tenaciously to it. Those who kill themselves often do so because they either believe that all life and consciousness will end at the moment that they die. They see it as just ending that accident.

Yet we are not like them.

The hope that we have (as believers) is that death has no sting. At death, we pass into Eternity. After a billion years, life will seem as if it has just begun. A trillion years later, all of our light and momentary afflictions will seem so petty. So, we can have the attitude that our Lord displayed as he face death. "For the joy that was set before him," the Lord endured a hideous beating and crucifixion (Hebrews 12:1-3).

I don't know what the Lord might desire of me in terms of life and death. While I will gladly die for Him if the time comes, I am content with living for Him for now.

I think that we should be so mindful of what things believers have endured throughout history and what many still endure elsewhere today. If we did, we might not spend so much time arguing over non-essential doctrinal issues, pointing fingers at or making assumptions about others with whom we disagree on issues that just aren't vital in the scope of Eternity. We might just appreciate one another even more.

We should never lose focus of Eternity. Dallas Holm, the man who used to lead the music during David Wilkerson's meetings, used to say that our standing in Eternity from the verdict on the Day of Judgement will be decided upon what we did with this little thing called "life" that is so very fleeting when compared with the vast expanse called "Eternity." If we were so Eternally minded, we might rethink some of the things that we do with our time.


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Christopher

 2012/5/26 23:03Profile









 Re:

Heb 11:33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

 2012/5/26 23:31









 Re:

In The Real World They Say "Identification" - Not Persecution By Betty Crouse


Have you ever sat in a crowded room where more than half the people have been imprisoned because of their faith in Jesus Christ? Having been held in stark prison conditions and dark, backbreaking labor for two to twelve years, Chinese itinerant evangelists traveled, some for hours, to meet with us during our trip to China. They sat on every available space including windowsills, the bed, and the floor in the back room of a tiny apartment tucked away down a cobblestone alley in an isolated Chinese city. However, even the isolation had not allowed them to move about freely. One-by-one or two-by-two to escape police surveillance, they arrived at the apartment.

We also had traveled for hours across "heart-stopping" dangerous, mountainous roads, arriving at our destination at 2 a.m. After many maneuverings the next morning because a co-worker had been taken to the police station for questioning, we arrived at the apartment. One hour later, the room was filled with the evangelists. As they shared their stories, the place truly became hallowed ground for me. I wept as they related their experiences, though they were certainly not asking for sympathy. Their emphasis was on God’s triumphant grace. We learned that they do not use our word for persecution in Chinese because it has a negative connotation. They use our word for identification and were quick to point out that identifying with the sufferings of Christ is what they do with JOY!

One of the evangelists was in prison at the time but was able to get a message out. "Don’t pray for my release. The police aren’t bothering me in here. Already I have led 40 to Christ!"

A husband and wife were among the evangelists. Giving up the opportunity to travel together, in order to reach more people with the Gospel message and spiritual nurture, they only see each other every six months. This small and humble group was itinerating among thousands of people who otherwise would not hear the Gospel. Every testimony was worthy of a gold medal. My tears flowed freely as I pictured these friends and co-workers standing before God’s throne and receiving His reward. We left the room as we had come, one-by-one and very carefully to avoid attracting attention. For us it was a rare experience, but for them it was a lifestyle of risking their lives daily for their Lord and Savior.

We learned of others. Just recently in one province alone, 100 pastors were arrested. There is no word of their whereabouts.

We traveled to other groups hidden away in woods or caves in high mountain areas. In the pitch-blackness of night with only stars giving light, we went to the highest mountain ranges I have ever seen. A little Chinese lady helped me put one foot in front of the other and kept me from falling as we made our way up to the top. We went through an iron gate to a stone courtyard leading to five large caves. One cave was the kitchen, another the eating area, two were dormitories, and another was the classroom or workroom. There we found teenagers studying God’s Word for five to six hours in the middle of every night. During the daytime, they work in home industry. There weren’t any athletic events, TV, or the usual teenage pastimes for them. They were immersing themselves in God’s Word. I wondered…are they part of the final generation which will have opportunity to reach their generation for Christ?

On and on, the journey and the experience went like ever-changing scenes etched on my heart. After hearing one young pastor’s stories, we asked him if he thought conditions might improve and there might be less surveillance. He said, "Possibly." He thought for a moment and then quickly replied, "But God may choose to purify His people through suffering. We’re ready for that."

When we left that part of the world, I gathered in my mind the kaleidoscope of experiences from sightseeing at the famed Tiennenmen Square and Forbidden City to visiting seminary students cloistered from inspectors to become biblically trained, to being spiritually and emotionally touched by incredible stories of Chinese co-workers. The piercing revelation came like a lightning bolt—the persecuted are not lists of names in books or on police records. They are real people with faces, families, emotions, hopes, dreams, and LOVE for Jesus that extends beyond all earthly ties to the eternal vision of His glory, when they will see Him face to face.

As we returned to Indiana, I knew I was leaving a part of the real world where people are imprisoned for their faith, pastors are beaten, families are separated, churches are burned, Bibles are confiscated, living conditions are Spartan, food is for survival—not luxury, economic and political unrest exists, and police surveillance is common. But I saw the political and geographical walls not as boundaries but as borders to be crossed by the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through cleansed, unselfish vessels.



https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=28291

 2012/5/28 14:14
InTheLight
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 Re: The Coming Great Persecution - Greg Gordon

I'm reminded of something that Josef Tson said;

"This [persecution] is the new phenomenon that has arrived and it is going to increase," said Tson, president of the Romanian Missionary Society. "But we are the aggressors. God faced evil by sending his Son as the answer to it. Jesus came with three things: truth, love and self-sacrifice. When you are slaughtered, you win the battle … and you win with these things."

Tson also said,

"When the secret police officer threatened to kill me, to shoot me, I smiled and I said, 'Sir, don't you understand that when you kill me you send me to glory? You cannot threaten me with glory.' He looked at me and said, 'Look, when I threaten to shoot [you] or kill [you] at least get scared. … You are not normal.'

"I'm not normal," Tson continued. "I am not natural — I am supernatural — because I know that my life is only training for glory. The more suffering, the more troubles, the greater the glory. So, why say, 'Stop this trouble?' Because the more of them the greater the glory up there.

"If you look at things like that," Tson told his seminary audience, "you have the courage to stand the coming persecution in America."

In Christ,

Ron


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Ron Halverson

 2012/5/28 16:20Profile









 Re: What they can teach us.

The persecuted have much to teach us. For one thing because what they experience they have learned the value of what is important. In one if the preceding post the account was given where teenagers, teenagers mind you, spend six to seven hours studying God's word training for ministry. This is after working all day in the home industry. These were Cbineese young people. They had none of the other distractions that western young people had. They probably were too busy doing the work of Christ when not hiding from the authorities.

It is said the average American spends about 3 to 6 hours in front of the TV. This is not counting internet or the other social media web sites. How much time does the average Christian spend reading or listening to the word. Imagine if one spend three to six hours a day in the word. Good night we might actually see revival.

For some to get a solid hour in the word would be an accomplishment. Next time a KJV debate erupted in this forum I would like to ask how much time do you spend reading your KJV? If we spent as much time reading our Bibles instead of debating them we would be further along.

Ok. Greg has warned us. Persecution is coming. The Cbineese are dhowing what is important. Now where is my New Testament.

Bearmaster.

 2012/5/29 14:38





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