Saturday, November 19, 2016, 6:37 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “His Tender Mercies.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Acts 8:1-8 (ESV).
And Saul Approved (v. 1a)
And Saul approved of his execution.
Who was Saul? He was a Jew, a
Pharisee, a student and expounder of scripture, a strict adherent of the Law,
and a Roman Citizen. Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen, and held or
kept guard over the garments of those who did the stoning. Not only that, but he
approved Stephen’s execution by stoning. Then, in his zeal for his faith, he
became a strong persecutor of Christians, thinking he was doing this in the
name of God. Saul later was converted to faith in Jesus Christ, and his name
was changed to Paul. He went on to be a great leader of the Christian church at
that time. He also penned a large majority of the New Testament books in the
Bible.
We have multiple modern-day
Saul’s, I am sure, though I am convinced not all of them will ever truly
believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives, because scripture
teaches us that those who follow the beast will be eternally condemned, and they
will spend eternity in the lake of fire. Yet, I believe we should pray for all
our persecutors to find true faith in Jesus Christ, to be born of the Spirit of
God, and to have eternal life with God.
I would like to bring
attention to just one of those “Saul’s” today, because of the words he is
saying, and of their intended message to all of us, I believe. His name is Pope
Francis. He lives at the Vatican, which is in Rome, although he is not
originally from Rome. For many Catholics, the pope is equivalent to God, as
they believe he speaks for God. He is head over the Roman Catholic church, and
he has an enormous weight of influence world-wide, but not just in the Roman
Catholic Church, but in the church, as a whole, protestant and Catholic alike.
Every day now he is in the news, as are his speeches that he gives. And, his
words are powerful and extremely influential in today’s world.
Pope Francis has a very
specific message which he has been giving for several years now, which our
president Obama has been echoing, as have other religious and political leaders
in the world. It isn’t all bad, though. He has some good points, but they have
a hook (catch) to them. He is concerned about division among the people of the
world along the lines of ethnicity, color of skin, nationality (country of
origin), lifestyle of choice, and religious beliefs, etc. So, he is making a
plea for global unity among all people of all walks of life and of all
nationalities, races and religion.
Part of it sounds good on the
surface, but we have to look at the message which lies underneath it all. Should
there be division among people of different skin color or national origin? No!
Absolutely not! We are all just people, and we all bleed the same way,
regardless of what we look like on the outside or where we come from. So, does
that mean we should have open borders between countries and people be allowed
to live wherever they want? I don’t know that I have the answer to that
question, but I believe we need to have law and order or we have chaos, anarchy
and upheaval.
Would you be ok with just
anyone deciding to live in your house? And, with you not being allowed to lock
your own door at night, because that is putting up walls, is it not? If someone
wants to live in your house, he or she should have to go through the normal
legal process involved in buying a home. Well, I think it should be the same
way regarding national borders. People should not cross our borders illegally,
and then expect to receive special treatment. The only time I see in scripture
that we are allowed to disobey the law of the land is if that law requires that
we disobey God’s laws. And, God’s laws do not give us permission to go in to
countries not our own, of our own accord, and take possession of other people’s
lands illegally.
But, back to the Pope’s
words, he speaks against hearts that tend to judge, divide, oppose and condemn
(1). Now, again, this sounds good on the surface, but there is a catch to it
all lying underneath. For, this includes the gospel of our salvation which
judges sin, divides people by saved and unsaved, opposes evil, and condemns
those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives. We, who
preach this gospel, are thus classified among those who judge, divide, oppose and
condemn, because we confront sin, call for repentance and faith in Jesus
Christ, and we warn of divine judgment, yet promise hope and healing for the
repentant. The pope’s goal is to bring the people of the world together as one,
and he speaks much about removing all which divides us. Well, the gospel
divides us.
A Great Persecution (vv. 1b-3)
And there arose on that day a great persecution
against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout
the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried
Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging
the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women
and committed them to prison.
A great persecution of
Christians has already broken out across the globe, and is now coming to
America – a nation where Christians have had relative religious freedom up to
this point. If we listen to the pope’s words, and to Obama’s, and to other religious
and political leaders of the same thought, we will soon realize what this is
all about. All these speeches about division, judging, condemning, etc. are
intended to show that we have a very broken (universal) society and church, and
that we need help healing ourselves.
The solution, which is
preconceived among those who oppose Christ and his gospel, is to do away with
all which divides us as the people of the world, and to bring us all together
as one unified people. What this means for us is that we will be forced into
compromise with a one-world religion under the authority of a one-world totalitarian
regime, or we will face enormous persecution. And, this is what is coming to
America, and has already come to much of the rest of the world, I believe. The
elite of the world have been plotting out how to bring about this New World
Order (of the beast) for many years, and I believe it is soon to reach its
fulfillment.
Yet, I believe good is going
to come out of this. For one, I believe the church in America (most of it)
needs this, for the vast majority of the church has become complacent,
idolatrous and is living in spiritual adultery against God. I believe this is
going to wake her up, though not everyone who claims to have faith will awaken,
and that God is going to bring about a revival. As well, I believe that through
this persecution, not only will the people be scattered, but that the gospel
will spread throughout the earth and that many will come to faith in Jesus
Christ before our Lord returns for his bride. And, then the end will come when
the gospel has gone to all the earth.
Preaching the Word (vv. 4-8)
Now those who were scattered went about preaching
the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to
them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was
being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean
spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many
who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that
city.
Persecution has a way of
getting our attention, and of getting us to call on God and to bow the knee in
submission to his will for our lives. It is also a great motivator to get us
out of complacency or spiritual laziness, and to make us passionate about
getting out the gospel to as many as possible before our Lord returns.
Yet, don’t wait until you are
persecuted to get serious about God and doing what he has called you to do. Follow
him in obedience today, do what his Word teaches, and share the gospel with
others so that many will be saved from their sins and have the hope of life
with God for eternity. When you are persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ, though,
know that your Lord is with you, he will not leave you, and that he will give
you all you need to endure and to be victorious over our enemy’s evil schemes
at work against us.
His Tender Mercies / An Original Work / January 26, 2014
Fear not! I’m with you.
Be not dismayed!
God watches o’er you.
Trust Him today.
He’ll lead and guide you;
Give you His aid.
He’ll love and keep you
With Him always.
Walk in His footsteps.
He’ll lead the way.
Trust in His love;
Believe that He cares.
He will not leave you.
Faithful He’ll be.
His tender mercies
Now you will see.
Fellowship with Him
Throughout the day.
Tell Him your heartaches.
He’ll heal always.
Rest in His comfort.
He is your friend.
Your faith He’ll strengthen,
True to the end.
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