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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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Handling Dark and Difficult Times 0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? It is always a joy and a privilege to bring God's word into your homes. Today we're going to be talking about handling dark and difficult times.0:12 Revelation chapter 2 verses 8 to verse 11. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this moment. We acknowledge your sovereign presence in our midst. I pray that you0:24 give us listening ears and a heart that is willing to obey your word. Holy Spirit be our teacher, in Jesus name, and the people of God said, amen. Handling dark and difficult times. Revelation0:36 chapter 2 verses 8 to verse 11. Shall we read that together church? The word of God says, and to the angel of the church in Smyrna, write the words of0:48 the first and the last who died and came to life. I know your tribulation and your poverty, but you are rich and the slander of those who say that they are Jews1:00 and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be1:11 tested, and for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him1:23 hear what the spirit says to the churches. The 1 who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. I want you to listen to me carefully. Over the past few weeks, we've been talking1:35 about the book of revelation from chapter 1 onwards. Last week was chapter 2 verses 1 to 7 in which we studied in detail the letter that Jesus wrote to the church in1:47 Ephesus. Now church in Ephesus is the loveless church. Today we are studying the church in Smyrna. It's a letter written to a church that is1:58 faithful in the midst of suffering. 1 thing you can see, this church is a small church. It's financially poor church, and they are struggling. They're going through severe2:09 persecution and trial. And Jesus comes to give them a challenge, something to encourage them, to strengthen them. As you read this scripture together with me, I hope that2:21 you paid attention to the counsel that Jesus gives to them. There's a twofold counsel that Jesus gives them. It is be fearless and be faithful.2:34 Now when I look at this, I examine this, I ask myself this fundamental question, how can we glean from this letter? What can we glean? And in fact, what we can glean is, how can we prepare2:46 ourselves to handle dark and difficult times? So the key question this morning is, how can we handle dark and difficult times? And that is where you gotta look at2:58 the counsel that Jesus gives to this church. Look at that counsel again. Go with me to verse 10. Let's read it together. 3, 2, 1. Do not fear what you're about to suffer. Behold, the devil is3:09 about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and for 10 days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life. 23:21 imperatives that Jesus gives here. 1 is the, stop doing this, and the other 1 is start being this. What is that? He says, do not fear. In other words, stop3:33 being afraid. It's a forceful command. It's an imperative that says, don't be afraid. Do not be afraid. In other words, be fearless. Second imperative is be3:45 faithful. Now these are the 2 councils Jesus gives to the church that is suffering and whose faith is being tested.3:57 Now many times when you hear these 2 counsel, be fearless, be faithful, we somehow know or think that we know it already. So we don't,4:09 we fail to capture the important things that Jesus is communicating in this letter. So this morning, I want us to recapture. What do I want to recapture? I want us to recapture 24:21 important things about this important council. What are the 2 important things? 1, it's the boldness of the council in relation to its source and the brilliance of the council in4:32 relation to its scope. He says, be fearless, the boldness of the council in relation to its source, and be faithful, the brilliance of the council4:44 in relation to its scope. Let's look at it 1 by 1. The bible says in verse 8, to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, the words of the4:56 first and the last who died and came to life. Jesus is reminding this church that is going through severe persecution who he5:07 is. See, want you to listen to me carefully. Theology plays a major role in our lives. Especially Christology is necessary for us. The more you understand5:19 Christ and the more you understand who you are in Christ, whose you are, you will be able to overcome every challenge in your life, and especially5:31 when you're going through painful seasons of life. Here the bible says that it is Jesus who gives them this counsel. It is the 1 who says, I am the first and the last. And he's the 15:43 who says, I died and came to life. He says, I'm the 1 giving you this counsel. So there is a counsel that you unite to take, and it comes from the Lord Jesus himself, who refers to himself5:55 as the first and the last. What does it mean to be first and last? It means that he is sovereign over everything. He is the sovereign over the beginnings, and6:07 He is sovereign over the finishings, the endings. He is sovereign over every aspect of life. He's eternal. He's the 1 who controls the affairs of men.6:19 And not only that, he says he has glory in everything. He is the first in in glory. He's preeminent. That's what it is. First and last. Not only6:31 that, he goes on to say that he is also the 1 who died and the 1 who came to life. Now why does he mention this specifically in this context?6:43 You know, in this context, as you read from verse 8 to verse 11, you would have heard death being mentioned and the second death being mentioned. Be faithful unto death, and6:55 those who overcome, they will not be hurt by the second death, the bible says. Why does the word death appear over and over again here? Because the worst thing that can happen to you in this world is they7:07 kill your soul. But the bible says, you and I do not need to fear what happens to us, isn't it? Because the bible is very clear. Jesus says to us in Luke chapter 12 and verse7:18 4 and verse 5, I want you to read this, I tell you my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But instead, I warn you7:31 whom to fear. Fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. I want you to listen to me. Jesus himself7:42 said, don't fear the 1 who can kill you in your physical body, but fear the 1 who has power to cast your soul, your spirit, into7:54 eternal fire, into hell. Listen. This is you and I, we need to fear God. And here Jesus says, that is why don't fear. Why? Because8:06 I died and I overcame. See, listen to me carefully. Jesus says, I died. Now just think theologically with me. Jesus is an eternal son of8:18 God. The eternal son of God became incarnate son for us. And the human the fully human, fully God, Jesus went through8:29 death. Now death cannot hold him. He has to he has to submit to death. He has to be willing to die because death cannot overcome8:41 him. He's full of life. So what happened is he allowed himself to die, but at the same time, life came back and overt overtook everything, and from then8:53 on, he's alive forevermore. The bible says Jesus is the 1 who stepped into Hades and death and took the keys. So today, he holds the keys of death and Hades. Revelation chapter 1 and verse9:05 18, Jesus says, I'm the living 1. I died, and behold, I'm alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. So listen to me. Do not fear the ones who can kill you in your9:17 physical body, but cannot do anything else. But fear the 1 who has control over your body and can cast you into hell. That means your spirit.9:29 So you and I, we need to pay attention to this. The 1 who's saying to you, don't fear, he's the 1 who has overcome everything. Hallelujah.9:41 Now this is important for us to grasp. You know, when the church in Smyrna received this letter, they would have been so encouraged. In fact, to the point where many of them9:53 died as martyrs for their faith. And 1 specifically is mentioned. His name is Polycap. He was the Bishop of Smyrna. In the year10:04 AD hundred and 56, he was the bishop, and he was a disciple of John, and he would have read this letter, and he would have held this letter so dearly to10:16 him. And he must have been so faithful to Jesus that when he was 86 years old, he was thrown into fire and he was killed as a10:27 martyr. Before his death, they asked him this million dollar question. All it takes for you is just throw a pinch of incense and call Caesar his lord.10:39 Why can't you do that? Because you're an old man. Why do you want to go and die? They even threatened him to throw his body into, to the wild beasts, but he refused. And he says, you10:51 are worried about this earthly body. You are worried about this fire that can kill me, but I'm worried I'm worried about eternal fire, and he is able to save me.11:03 And 1 thing that Polycarp said has been recorded to us in a letter from his disciple. This is what he said. I'm 86 years old, and I have not, I have I have served my Lord11:15 faithfully all these years, and not once has he has he been unfaithful to me. So why would I deny him? I want you to listen to me carefully. You and I11:26 have a Lord Jesus who is the first and the last. He is sovereign, and he is overseeing everything, and he knows everything. And the Bible says he's the11:38 1 who will be there for us because he has overcome death, and he lives forevermore. Hallelujah. The second counsel is be faithful.11:50 We must recapture the brilliance of the counsel in relation to its scope. Look at that word in verse 9. In verse 9, it says, I know.12:03 This Jesus who is the sovereign God, who is the first and the last, he declares, I know. I know what? I know your tribulation. And then he mentions 3 things, tribulation, poverty, and slander.12:16 Now that word tribulation here is the word very, it's a it's a rich word that speaks about a pressure that is crushing pressure. See, these people live in the city of12:27 Smyrna. City of Smyrna, the word Smyrna, the root word comes from the word myrrh. Myrrh is a fragrant giving root.12:39 It's an oil, isn't it? That's the it's a precious ointment that was given to Jesus as a baby, as a gift. Now this same myrrh is used to embalm physical12:51 bodies, dead bodies. So it's associated with death. So I want you to listen to me carefully. This, how how do you get myrrh? You get myrrh by crushing it.13:03 Then the fragrance comes out. You crush it to produce the oil. The same manner that Christians in the city of Smyrna, they are being crushed. That's the picture. And Jesus13:15 uses this unique word. He says, they are going through a crushing pressure, and they are being squeezed, and they're going through intense severe pressure, and pressure in where? There are 4 kinds of13:27 tribulation he talks about. 1, there's a tribulation of persecution. There's a tribulation of poverty. There's a tribulation of profanity. In other words, people are slandering them. And then there is even a in13:39 verse 10, it talks about prisonment. Prison sentence. Some of you will be thrown into prison. So they're going through a severe testing. Now you and I, we need to13:50 ask ourselves this question. Jesus is all powerful. In verse 8, he's the first and the last. He's sovereign over everything. He is almighty. He's preeminent. He's glorious. He14:02 is victorious. He has overcome death, and he lives forever, and he is for his people. And yet he says, I know you're going through these things.14:15 And then in verse 10, he says, do not fear for what you're about to suffer. He allows the suffering. He allows the pain and the persecution. Now14:27 if you and I, we were in the presence of God, we will ask him this question, isn't it? Lord, you are all powerful, almighty. Why can't you just stop this? See,14:39 you and I, we need to understand the wisdom of God. God is not interested in just keeping us comfortable. He's interested in conforming us to the image of his son.14:50 God is not just interested in keeping us happy. God wants us to be holy. He's looking for a church that's continuing to be refined, and part of the refining process, he goes you and I15:02 go through necessary journeys of life. In this house, we call it the necessary journey. And here, they are going through a necessary journey of being purified, and this is a crushing15:13 pressure, pressure of, pain and poverty and even imprisonment. Now you may say, but pastor, we are living in a country where we don't go through15:25 such severe persecution. Yes. You're right. We don't go through severe persecution. But can I humbly say this? If you want to live a godly life, you will be15:37 persecuted, the bible says. Look with me in Second Timothy chapter 3 and verse 12. Indeed, all those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will15:49 be persecuted. Anyone who desires to live a godly life will be persecuted. So if you're not being persecuted, you should ask yourself, am I really living a godly life?16:01 Why? Because the persecution we sometimes think of the word persecution as only other people putting, inflicting pain or suffering to us.16:13 But sometimes, it's also a mental agony. It is also emotional trauma that you and I go through. Why? Because pressures can come from any different place, many different place. Look at this. In16:25 Matthew, chapter 5 and look at verse 10 to verse 12. Look at what it says. Matthew chapter 5 verse 10, it says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness16:37 sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you, persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.16:49 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Here Jesus was saying, blessed are you, and you17:01 should rejoice that you're being persecuted. And he extends that definition of being persecuted to being reviled. Right? Not only that, that when others utter all kinds of17:12 evil against you, falsely accuse you. Now, this means the persecution is much broader in its definition, in its scope. That17:24 means if you want to live a godly life as a young person, maybe when you go to school and you don't want to use that opportunity to smoke like others are smoking, and17:36 you say, I don't want to smoke. I don't want to I don't want to take drugs. I don't want to commit sexual immorality. I don't want to be watching that kind of videos. I don't I don't say such17:48 vulgarity. I don't want to speak such vulgarity. Now when you do these things, your friends will mock you. They may even call you that you're not bold, you're not audacious, you're not, you you you're not18:00 man enough. I want you to listen to me carefully. The pressures of this world. But if you take a stand for Jesus and you say, no, I want to live a godly life. I want to live a life that pleases18:11 God. You will be unpopular. That's a persecution. So some of you will go through that kind of pressure, that crushing pressure, whether you're a young person in school or university. It's18:23 gonna affect you in different aspects of life. You know, some of you may say, pastor, I'm so tempted to go out with a non Christian, but I want to live for Jesus.18:36 So you many people won't understand why you can't go out with a non Christian. But you take a stand, you'll be a laughingstock. Many many Christian young people take that commitment not to have,18:47 premarital sex. They want to keep themselves as virgin. They want to keep themselves pure, not only to honor God, but also to give to their, to their married partner, to 1 day to their husband or18:59 to their wife. They want to present their body to them. They want to keep themselves. And this is you do it in obedience to God's word. Because marriage, sex is created for in19:11 the confinement of a marriage. So you want to live righteously. You will be persecuted. People will laugh at you. You're a 40 year old virgin, they would call. And that's a movie title, by the way. But these are things19:23 that people will mock at us. So these are things that you and I go through. We So sometimes our persecution could be verbal, sometimes it could be relational. Do you know how so many people who take,19:35 take a faith and they believe in Christ, they are ostracized from their own family members. They are cast out from their own family members. They are disowned. They are they are written off the will, so to speak.19:47 Listen. Whether it's verbal, whether it's relational, whether it's some for some of us, it could be, it could be a physical challenge. It doesn't matter. When you want to obey19:58 Christ, when you want to pursue godliness in your life, you wanna live for the glory of God and you want to enforce the kingdom of God, you will be persecuted, the Bible says.20:11 But I want you to understand this. You may not date you may not know you you may not have that many choices who I can date, but can I humbly say this? Honor God.20:23 God will reward you. Be faithful. Be faithful. That's what Jesus is calling us to. Doesn't matter what your age group is, be faithful. Hallelujah.20:34 So 1 of the things that you and I, we need to understand is we are living in the kingdom of world, kingdom of this world. And the kingdom of this world is being dominated by the kingdom of darkness. But at the20:46 same time, Jesus says the kingdom of God is also advancing. Kingdom of God is where Jesus is king, and he rules and reigns in and heart in through the lives of his people. So we allow him to rule and20:58 reign over us. So when the kingdom of darkness is pushing in and taking dominion over the kingdom of the world, we, as people of God, we push back. We we we resist the21:10 devil. We resist the power of darkness. We don't wrestle against the flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities and powers of darkness. Why I say this is because in21:22 this context Jesus is actually saying, who is behind their persecution? If you had noticed in verse 10, he goes on to say, the devil is21:34 about to throw some of you into prison. He says the devil. In verse 9, he says, the Jews slander them. The Jews21:46 are the ones who are throwing some of them in court cases against some of the Christians and throwing them into prison. And in fact, Jesus says, they are they are Jews, and they are not Jews. They21:58 claim to be Jews, but they are not real Jews. Why? Because they deny Jesus as Lord. See, true Jew is not someone who is just circumcised in the flesh. According to Romans chapter 222:09 and verse 8 and 28 and verse 29, what does it say? For no 1 is a Jew who is merely outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is 1 inwardly, and the22:21 circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit and not by the letter. In other words, who is a real Jew? The real Jew is not someone who just had a circumcision on the outside. He's a person who is circumcised in22:33 his heart. He loves the Lord. He knows the bible points the old testament points to a messiah, and the messiah is Jesus. That's a true Jew. So here, this22:45 letter written by a Jew, he says, they are not really Jew, but they say they are Jew, but they are not really Jew, but they are a synagogue of Satan. In other words, Satan has now taken22:56 over the religious ritualistic Jews, and he's operating through them. See, devil always operates through others,23:08 to bring opposition to us, through bring tribulation to us. And here the bible says, don't be caught up with the people, know who's behind it. Who's behind it? It is the devil. Now why is the devil going23:20 to go after the church? Why does the devil go after Christians? You know, devil hates Jesus, but devil cannot do anything with Jesus because devil has been defeated before Jesus. On the cross,23:32 Jesus crushed him. Now listen. But he goes after the ones that Jesus loves. So this is where you and I, we need to understand. It's almost like this. You may understand this. If a23:44 girlfriend is dumped by the boyfriend, the girlfriend cannot beat up the boyfriend. She cannot punch him. She cannot do anything to him. So what does she do? She takes his photo and does what she wants, tears23:56 it into million pieces and eats it. I I think it's from 1 of those, Bollywood movies. But I want you to listen to me carefully. Why is this so, important for us24:08 to understand? You and I are loved by the Lord, and that's why the devil is looking for an opportunity. So that's why the Bible says, you know who is behind24:19 it, but don't be afraid. Why? Because Jesus has overcome the devil. Jesus has overcome death, and he gives us life. He's the 1 who gives us this counsel. Not only that, he says,24:31 be faithful. Hallelujah. Now you and I gotta understand this. In verse 9, he goes on to say, I know your tribulation and your poverty. And in the brackets, he24:43 says, but you are rich. I love that. I love that the fact that he says, you are rich. Outside, they are poor. Externally, they are poor. To24:55 the eyes of the world, they are poor. But in the eyes of Jesus, they are rich. Rich because greater is their reward in heaven for their faithful endurance. Greater is the25:07 reward. They have Jesus as their lord. They have Jesus as their king. They have all of heaven's resources at their disposal. They are seated together in heavenlies. They have the same holy spirit25:18 that worked in Jesus. All these are riches that the world would never understand. And Jesus says, you are richer than you think. In Philippians chapter 125:30 and verse 29, the bible says, for it has been granted to us, for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his25:42 sake. I want you to pay circle that word granted. It is that word so unique. It says it's the word grace. It's a grace gift. It's a charisma. It's a charismatic25:54 gift. What is that gift? It has been granted to you, gifted to you, that not only you believe for for the sake of Christ, but you also suffer. In other26:06 words, when you go you and I go through that period of tribulation and persecution, it is a gift that has been26:17 granted. No wonder the early apostles had this, testimony. Look at this in Acts chapter 5 and verse 40 and verse 41. When they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not26:29 to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for their name. Look at that. They got beaten up, and then they were26:41 told never to speak in his name. But they left the council, and they came out rejoicing. Why? Because they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. Finally, they26:53 come to that place to recognize, God, you are with us. You're glorified even in this season. Now I know that some of you are going through really dark and difficult27:05 times in your life, and I pray that this word comes to encourage you because what is required of us when we go through that season is to remain27:16 faithful. And we can remain faithful because he is sovereign. He's watching over everything. Yes. The devil is the 1 behind it. It's the devil's action, but I don't want you to27:28 forget, it is the Lord's intention. There is an intention of the Lord, and there's an action of the devil. What is the Lord's intention? The Lord actually allows it. He27:40 superintendents it. He sovereignly orchestrates it, so that his purposes can come to pass in our lives. What is his purpose? His purpose is found27:52 in verse 10, and I want you to catch that verse 10 1 more time. It says, that you may be tested. It's that word, so that. It's the purpose clause. Why does28:04 he allow all this? Why does the Lord allow the devil to do that? There is a limit. He doesn't The devil doesn't have a free rein to do anything and everything he wants. Look. He says, for 10 days, you will have28:15 tribulation. In other words, there's a limitation. 10 days here doesn't literally mean 10 days. It means for a small, short period of time. But after that, he has no room to do28:27 anything. So it is a it is it is a for that short period, Jesus says, I allow it. But here, I want you to listen. Why does he allow it? He says, so that you may be tested. So can I give you28:39 a perspective of suffering? The right perspective for suffering I want you to have is this. From a human viewpoint, it is misery. From a devil's viewpoint, satanic viewpoint, it28:50 is mystery. He knows that God is powerful, and yet God is silent. He knows God is sovereign. He can stop it anytime, but yet he allows it. It's a mystery to the devil. But I want you29:02 to understand, from the divine viewpoint, from the Lord's viewpoint, it is ministry. From your viewpoint, it's misery. From the devil's viewpoint, it's a mystery. But from the Lord's viewpoint, it is29:14 a ministry that you may be tested. Isn't that what James says in James chapter 1 and verse 2 to 4? He says, count it all joy, brothers, when you meet trials29:26 of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, And let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Listen29:38 what how he says, that when you come through the testings and you remain faithful, you it produces steadfastness. And this steadfastness will equip you, will refine you, will29:50 qualify you to become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. In other words, you become mature. That's the ultimate goal that the Lord allows certain things in our30:01 lives. Look at it in other words. First Peter chapter 5 and verse 10. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself30:13 restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Praise God. The Lord will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. He wants to do all this, but he brings you30:25 through a necessary journey. And that is why towards the end of this passage, Jesus actually says to them in verse 10, he says, I will give you the crown of life.30:37 Verse 11, he says to the churches, the 1 who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. Jesus gives you 2 rewards. He gives you the confirmation. He gives you the words that will strengthen you. He says, if30:49 you endure all the way to the end, I will give you the crown of life. The word crown there is not that you'll be wearing a crown in heaven called life. It's it's the way of what is the crown? The31:01 crown is life. So it's not the word for a crown like what the queen wears, but it's a crown like what a a person receives when they run a race in those days. They31:12 receive a a floral wreath. And here Jesus says, that's what I'll give you. I'll give you life as a crown. He's the only 1 he can give you life. That's why it says, you will not be hurt31:25 by the second death. Hallelujah. Now what is the second death? Let's finish by saying this. Everybody who is born in this world will die once.31:37 Right? And after that, the bible says face judgment. Now if you have been born in this world once and you did not born again, you did not have31:49 a born again experience, you will have to die another time. Those who are born once, that means they refuse to be born again,32:02 they will die twice. They will die once physically, and then they will also die second time. In Revelation chapter 20, it says, they will be thrown32:13 into the lake of fire, and that lake of fire is a spiritual death. It's what the Bible calls a second death, and that death is eternal. It's not that they will be nonexistent after32:25 that. They will be eternally existing in a lake of fire. It's torment to the soul. Listen to me carefully. That's the second death, the bible says. So if you're born once, you die32:37 twice. But if you're born twice, in other words, you're born in this world and then you're born again in Christ, then you will only die once. So I want you to catch32:49 this. Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once. And this is the picture that God wants you to carry. So who is this that is saying to us?33:01 Be fearless. Be faithful. It is the 1 who is sovereign, the 1 who is good, the 1 who is wise, and the 1 who is always in control, and the 1 who will bring his purposes come to33:13 pass. He is the 1 who is saying to you, be fearless, be faithful. So have recapture the boldness of the council in relation to33:25 its source. At the same time, who is the 1 who is saying this? He's the 1 who is faithful to you. He's faithful to see you through the end. Don't just be worried33:37 about the physical life here. Be concerned about the eternal life. And he's the 1 who says, I promise you, both in this life and the life to come, I will be with33:48 you. And he says, be faithful. So that's why we need to recapture the brilliance of the council in relation to its scope, scope of now and in eternity.34:00 Now how do we apply this? I wanna apply this sermon in 2 ways. 1, I want us to pray for the persecuted church. Secondly, I want you to be34:12 faithful in whatever persecution you're going through. It's a limited persecution. Firstly, I want you to think about the persecuted church. Do you know, accumulatively, there has been34:24 36000000 people, 36000000000 people that have lived in this world? 36000000000 people so far, people who have lived in this world, accumulatively, 36000000000. Out of that34:36 36000000012 billion have been evangelized. Out of that 12000000008 billion have become Christians. Out of the 8000000000 Christians that have34:48 lived in this world so far, or currently living, 70000000 have been murdered. I want you to listen. Out of that34:57 70000055 million had been killed by their state. Many of them were actually killed in the twentieth century. Nearly 4500000035:09 were killed in the twentieth century and many of them that were killed were killed in Soviet Union. Now these are important figures for us to understand. In other words, what happens these35:21 days? Nearly hundred and 60000 Christians are killed every year. That is 1 in hundred and 20 Christians. 1 Christian for every hundred and 2035:32 Christians go through persecution and martyrdom as a result. You and I, we need to pray for the persecuted church. You may never be persecuted like that, but you and I, we need to pray for the persecuted35:44 church. Secondly, you are going through some sort of verbal, physical, relational, emotional persecution. And I want to encourage you in your limited35:56 persecution, I want you to remain faithful. Be fearless and be faithful. Now my question as a pastor is this. In36:08 this day and age, in this western world that we live in, you experience a lot of freedom, religious freedom. And people say they36:19 want to be faithful to the Lord, but they find it so difficult to be faithful. They can't be faithful to a church. They can't be faithful to reading the scriptures.36:31 They can't be faithful in praying and worshiping the Lord. They can't be faithful in attending a small group and keeping themselves accountable. They can't even be faithful in their finances, in tithing, in36:43 giving. They can't even be faithful in fellowshipping with other believers. They can't be faithful in sharing the gospel to their pre believing friends and family members.36:56 You and I struggle to be faithful when times are good. I wonder how many of us will really be faithful if we are thrown in a place like37:08 the Middle East, surrounded by other religion, and you are a small minority where you don't have freedom of religion, or whether you're thrown into a war torn37:20 society where your your your your religion is is an outcast. If you say, I'm a Christian, you will not get a job. If you say, I'm a Christian, you will not be welcome in a37:32 community. If you say, I'm a Christian, you cannot rent the house or even buy a house. You cannot find a job. Nobody will come and shop in your shops. I want you to listen to me. How will we cope?37:44 Now as a pastor, it it I have this concern. We are living in the last leg of the last days. This kind of persecution will only increase. And37:56 I would never I would not be surprised if that happens even in some of our Western developed nations, where today there is freedom of religion. But what if in the future if it38:08 doesn't? So I want you to listen to me carefully, church. I want you to take to heart this whole message. Be faithful. Be fearless. And now in small ways,38:20 be faithful in your life. Be faithful in your giving. Be faithful in your serving. Be faithful in being part of a loving church. Be faithful in serving in a small group. Be38:32 faithful to your small group members, and and keep yourself accountable, and grow together. Be faithful to your husband. Be faithful to your wife. Be faithful to your parents. Be faithful to your children. If you can't38:44 do this in good times, I don't know how we will do it in the in the persecution times. So come back to that place. In closing, let me say this. You and I are living in the last leg of the38:56 last days. I pray that the Lord would raise among in our midst people who are fervent for the Lord. People who are strong in their faith, and they are faithful,39:08 and they are bold, and they are fearless. And I pray that the Lord will send us into the ends of the earth to minister the word of God. Some of us, you He will call you to go to difficult39:19 places. Some of you will be sent to dangerous places, but be bold. Be fearless, because the 1 who promised you life, He's with you, and HeShow more In this video 0:00 Handling Dark and Difficult Times46:13
Habakkuk | Part 02 | Moving From Reason to Revelation | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Paul Jeyachandran
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Paul Jeyachandran
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