Entering an anti-Christian era
Birmingham Biblical Examiner – Joel Hendon
Biblical and secular history reveals that true followers of God have always been in the minority. The Bible itself confirms that fact. Yet, their influence and moral standards have penetrated deeply into all the world. They have steered many other religions toward less superstition and less radical activities such as human sacrifices, immorality, etc. Although over one-third of the world’s population characterize themselves as “Christian”, there is a very small percentage who live the devout and dedicated life as required by the Holy Scriptures.
A recent writer in a “Speak Out” column of a local paper stated that the Bible is either the word of our Almighty God or it is not. He is exactly right. If the Bible is not the inspired word of a supernatural power who spoke this universe into being, it is not worth the paper on which it is written. And if this Almighty God is incapable of absolute truth, He is not God. Yet, we have preachers with advanced educational degrees who state they cannot accept His word as absolute truth. They have chosen the remunerative profession of proclaiming that truth, but cannot accept it as being absolute. Whatever fame and fortune they may achieve is their reward. Strong and unwavering faith which prompts obedience in man is the only way to obtain salvation from our sins.
The Christian religion, although far reaching and acknowledged by many, has always been unpopular as well, even by more than those who have accepted it. Jesus was both popular and unpopular while he lived upon the earth. Herod wanted Him dead shortly after His birth. Many tried to kill Him on other occasions. And those Jews who refused to accept Him as the messiah, sent Him to His death as had been prophesied through the ages.
The first century Christians underwent an enormous amount of persecution, many were tortured, even unto death in an effort to make them recant their belief in Jesus. This was at the hands of the Jewish Sanhedrin with the help and encouragement of the Roman government. But even so, it grew stronger until it began to apostatize and became allied with the government. But then, the apostate church began anew more severe persecution of those who were trying to remain true to the dictates of Jesus and the Apostles doctrines. Those were burned at the stake as heretics if they refused to recant. Readers might like verification of some of this and can find it online in reading Fox‘s Book Of Martyrs: http://www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/home.html This book records the persecution of Christians from the time of the Apostles, including their own martyrdoms, until the missionaries of the early 19th century.
“This is a book that will never die — one of the great English classics. . . . Reprinted here in its most complete form, it brings to life the days when “a noble army, men and boys, the matron and the maid,” “climbed the steep ascent of heaven, ‘mid peril, toil, and pain.”
“After the Bible itself, no book so profoundly influenced early Protestant sentiment as the Book of Martyrs. Even in our time it is still a living force. It is more than a record of persecution. It is an arsenal of controversy, a storehouse of romance, as well as a source of edification.” (Preface quote from the above website link.) Well worth reading.
But throughout this entire period, Christianity (and I use the term to include all who claimed to follow Jesus, irrespective of their faithfulness) continued to flourish. At some points in history, there were at least a few in every part of the world. At the time of the settling of America, freedom of religion in parts of Europe was practically nil and thus many ventured to the new land in an effort to follow the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles as dictated in the New Testament. And again, the church of our Lord flourished. But where ever true Christianity is, satan has his henchmen and uses every wile at his command to hinder and destroy that church.
Political correctness of our day, has labeled anything spoken against any religion as bigotry and/or hate speech. Yet we have the inspired word of an all powerful God who declares Himself the Only God, that He is a jealous God and no one is to put any other god before Him. He has given His subjects the charge to teach His truths and to teach against those in error. Should we obey our political correctness advocates or the Omnipotent God? No contest exists there. The words, Jesus, God, Jehovah, Christ, Christians, Holy Bible and related words, have become unmentionable. References made to them are booed by the audiences of television, or public gatherings. And two thirds of those doing the booing claim to be nominal “Christians”. Those of us who feel compelled to proclaim God’s word are classified as bigots when we declare that such and such religion has no biblical authorization whatsoever.
Many of those who reject God, accept in His stead the baseless hypotheses of macro-evolution and the “Big Bang” while proclaiming there is no empirical evidence for His existence. This stance is nothing short of ludicrous. The evidence, albeit not empirical, is overwhelming to an open mind for the existence of God, while there is no evidence whatsoever to even give the idea that one species has ever evolved into another species. And there is no evidence that a massive explosion of several billion years ago has any basis whatsoever. There is no explanation for the existence of anything without the circumvention of natural laws. Every pertinent natural law stops macro-evolution and the self-creation of the universe dead in their tracks. The most indisputable of these is the law of causality (cause & effect), followed immediately by the three laws of Thermo-dynamics.
It is readily understood why so many choose the myriad ideas and paths which are in opposition to God’s word. By eliminating Him from one’s psychic, the need for serving a Superior Being is removed and life becomes “fun and games”. You just “happened” to be here and when you die, you are “just dead”. Not a very profound and/or intellectual observation.
Historically, God has destroyed nations and even the entire world populace, with the exception of the minority of eight righteous, when evil and disrespect for Him and His Son becomes overwhelming. So it becomes obvious that man can self destruct by dismissing God from his life and thoughts. This author’s personal opinion is that the downfall of America is imminent because of our rapid separation from God. And, with the world’s current capacity for mass destruction, I cannot but be apprehensive as to the dissolution of the universe.
The one thing that I find encouraging is the fact that a number of third world nations are turning to the New Testament teachings by the thousands. Several African nations, India, the Philippines, and such as little Nepal, are responding to the gospel call in droves, even under threat of extreme persecution in many instances. Many of these nations have known only pagan religions or other false doctrines and their level of education has been low for many centuries, but now they are becoming more educated and are leaving their superstitions and false gods to accept Jesus Christ. God is “…long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Therefore, there is some room for hope concerning the end of time, but I do not find the same hope for the United States.
God hears the prayers of his faithful children and it should behoove all of us to pray fervently and continually for forgiveness of our negligence in proclaiming His word and all of our other shortcomings. Had we been unified and diligent in pleading for strict adherence to Apostolic doctrine, we should have been able to avert the downslide of true Christianity. About the only thing most now agree on is that our own feelings are just as cleansing as Jesus blood which he shed for us. That thought makes everyone happy. And nothing could be farther from truth.
If you have stumbled onto this blog and are not a Christian, get yourself a hot drink, pull up a comfy chair and then tuck into the following article written by one of the best in the business:- All Of Grace by Charles Spurgeon
Tags: Christianity