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Sometimes we look at the situation of the persecuted
church and feel overwhelmed at the thought of their suffering. How do they
stand under such horrific repression?
The answer, at least in part, is in keeping their eyes
fixed on Jesus and on eternity.
Once we take our eyes off the Lord and his incomparable
sacrifice for us, the burden becomes too heavy to bear.
But when we look at Jesus and all that He did for us and
His unfathomable love, the focus changes.
The Treasure of Jesus
Christians suffering for their faith are strengthened to
stand by knowing the depths of Jesus’ love and being completely delighted
and besotted with Him.
They understand that they can never find a treasure like Jesus, that if they
lose everything they have ever had and suffer beyond all description, this
can never match the value of Jesus and what they have found in Him. They
have an understanding of His beauty, loveliness, glory, justice, truth,
utter perfection and compelling loveliness. Once they have seen that,
nothing can compare or be worth loosing it for.
Regrettably, our understanding of the immense value of
the Lord is often rather dim.
Imagine owning all the diamonds in the world. You would
not give them up for anything less, such as all the cubic zirconium the
world has to offer! So is the contrast, but so much greater, between knowing
God and having that which the world offers.
Jesus illustrates this in the parable of the priceless
pearl:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.”
- Matthew 13:45–46
Spiritual Lessons from the Persecuted Church
Persecuted believers have long taught us how we should
consider our priorities.
Soon Ok Lee was imprisoned in a prison camp in North
Korea for six years. During that time she saw many Christians being brutally
treated and murdered in front of her eyes. Yet she says that, despite being
the worst treated, Christians were the most cheerful of the prisoners.
Although they were subject to the harshest abuse to force them to abandon
their belief, she says she never saw one recant their faith. Rather, they
would say ‘Amen’ and call out the name of the Lord while they were being
beaten. When she was released there were six times as many Christians in the
prison as when she arrived.
A detainee in North Korea described how she was
incarcerated with a woman who had been repatriated from China and discovered
to be a Christian. The Christian lady was different from the other
detainees. She had one simple request of her cell-mate - to relay this
message to her friends about her forthcoming execution:
“Tell them I am going there with a smile.”
Pastors imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution in
China, a situation with many parallels with North Korea today, describe how
they survived. One elderly pastor explained:
“Twenty years in prison camp was
easy. It was a little thing compared to eternity and all that Jesus has in
store for me. I am ready to go to prison again. I am not afraid.”
Church leaders are even positive about suffering for
Christ. Veteran Chinese pastor Samuel Lamb who was also in prison for twenty
years for his faith is not afraid of further persecution, boldly stating:
“Persecution is good for the church.”
Christians in the suffering church frequently refer to
the persecution as the way of the cross and as a natural consequence of
following a Saviour who suffered and died because of love for others. They
know they can never suffer for Jesus as much as He has suffered for them, so
no offering is too great:
“We Christians are ready to carry our crosses to
follow Jesus - this means we will go on as before.”
The following is the reaction of a Chinese church leader
as he was tortured and hung in an excruciating position for hours on end
because of his Christian faith:
“My first thought was of Jesus and where it says in
the Bible that what we suffer is for such a short time. When we die our
physical life is finished and we go to Jesus. I felt this is just a short
time and maybe then I'll be taken to heaven. My second thought was “Jesus
I love you and I really feel your love.” Because I was also suffering like
Jesus I could feel the love Jesus felt as he was hanging on the cross.
“The Bible says we should have a heart like Jesus had. Jesus was in the
image of God, He was equal to God but He was as humble as a slave. He took
the form of a human being! And here He died - even on the cross. So God
exalted Him above all else, the Name above all Names, that all of
Creation, the Heavens and the Earth would kneel down and worship Him,
giving all glory to the Lord. We see that Jesus took the cross for our
sakes, so we also have to take our cross and follow Jesus. When Jesus was
crucified the soldiers nailed a sign that said “The King of the Jews”, so
we should follow that example. Like Jesus we should offer ourselves. When
we are crucified with Jesus we also can share in His glory, like a king.
Jesus' kingship was a crucifixion, so we also should go to “Jerusalem” to
follow him. That is my understanding, that what I suffered was just
following Jesus. I don't think that what I have done is so much. Jesus has
done so much more for us. Jesus prayed “Forgive them, they know not what
they do”. He prayed even for those who were crucifying him. So we must do
the same. In all that happens we must give thanks to the Lord.”
As you think of the suffering of our
persecuted brothers and sisters, think about how you would survive in such
conditions. How deeply do you value:
Jesus
The cost of what he has done for you
The eternal promises God has given you.
Do you feel you base your life on these now?
Meditate on the following Scripture and how living in
awareness of eternity can affect the way we live:
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain
great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was
like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It
had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the
gates… The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as
glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of
precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the
third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the
seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth
turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve
gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great
street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. I did not
see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for
the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”
- Revelation 21:10-12, 18-23
Glorifying God in the Heavenly Realms
Although
the devotion of the persecuted church is tested in a more tangible way than
ours is at present, God wants us to have the same love and devotion towards
Him. We may not know the glory that it will bring Him. It is not just
important that we demonstrate our love for God to human beings but also to
heavenly beings. When Job was tested he proved in the heavenly realms that
Satan’s allegations - that he did not truly love God - were false. He did
not understand his suffering, but a battle was being waged in the heavenly
realms and his refusal to dishonour God in the midst of inexplicable
suffering glorified God in the heavenlies. In the same way we may not see
how our integrity and love for God in suffering brings him great glory – and
yet the spiritual powers are watching us closely and God is glorified by our
faithfulness in trials and testing. (See Job 1.6-12)
(We
gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Christian Solidarity Worldwide for
the development of this material.) |