19. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Be Salt and Preserve what is Good Part 7

Last time we were discussing the need for Christians to reach further than their immediate communities to help preserve what is right in the world.

Imagine that Jesus came to earth and settled in a local church. There He preached every Sunday and did everything routinely as local churches do, only loving the members and meeting their needs. How would that have made a difference to the world and the earth?

Each individual needs a global vision in addition to a local vision. In Acts 1:8, Jesus said to the one hundred and twenty gathered in the upper room: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This was the first church representing all the true churches ever to exist until Jesus comes again. He doesn’t tell them to witness first in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth as it is often preached from the pulpit: first your town, then your county or province, then your country and then the earth. He tells them all to be His witnesses everywhere, at the same time. This is why the Holy Spirit soon scattered them all over the known world and called Paul to evangelize the Gentiles. He probably also allowed an attack on Paul and Barnabas’ relationship, causing them to have an argument as recorded in Acts15:36-41, so they could split up.

God wants us to do the maximum we can as individuals: help in the local church as well as fervently pray for and sacrificially support missions and international evangelism and discipleship. We can give money, prayer, and physical support, but most of all, we need to be available for the Lord to send us wherever He wants. He has called many men and women to do great things, but some sit in comfort, disobedient, simply because their local leaders are not preparing them for the work of the ministry, challenging and sending them (Ephesians 4:11-16). If we equip all members of a local congregation for ministry tasks, then send them, the local church will soon see a big change. Volunteering does not mean everybody planning their own work. Project leaders coordinate the volunteers to meet the project’s needs under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There must also be an urgency about it. Jesus said in John 9:4, 5: “‘As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’” He also said in John 14:12: “‘I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.’”

Because He said we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), the words in John 9:4, 5 above apply to us as well. The night is coming. We can’t live for ourselves anymore. We need to realize that we don’t need all our things and -comfort. If we downscale as Jesus told the rich young ruler in Mark10:17-22, we will see how much time and energy we have to be the salt of the earth.

There is much to fight for and much to teach. For example, children in many countries are becoming a serious problem for society, schools, and the government because of a lack of discipline. We as Christians have learned from the Bible how to bring up our children. The Lord has also risen up anointed authors and speakers (e.g. on YouTube) on child rearing (parenting). If we would get out of our comfort zones and make the world aware of the need to train parents properly in child rearing (parenting), respect, and discipline, the world would be a different place in the next generation.

As Peter said, “Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins” (2 Peter 1:4-9).

Salt purifies
To be continued


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18. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Be Salt and Preserve what is Good Part 6

We are talking about salt that preserves and said last time: In the same way, we as Christians should interfere with the process of decay and change the logical course that the earth would take.

We do this in a number of ways. We should pray without ceasing. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16b, The Amplified Bible). We should focus our prayer away from ourselves and on that which needs change. We should pray fervently for that which the Lord told us to pray about.

            Next we should act. We should make a noise about the sepsis that is so evident on the earth. For instance, when the homosexuals feel they are being discriminated against, they complain. Even more so, Christians should be in the news all the time for speaking out against wrongs. We could write to the newspapers, file complaints with our congressmen or members of parliament, speak out at parent-teacher meetings, and tack posters on notice boards. We could even arrange peaceful, orderly protests and marches if the Lord directs. There are so many ways in which we could stir the consciences of the world and make them aware of sin and righteousness. If we do this, we give the Holy Spirit the mandate to do what He was sent for. “‘When he (the Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8).

The Lord has gifted many Christian authors to write books that could help a lot of people find solutions to their problems, to have a bit of light in their darkness of understanding. We should promote such books as well as television, YouTube, and radio programs that have answers to life’s mysteries. The Lord said we are the light of the world because the world is in darkness. They don’t understand life. They don’t have much wisdom because true wisdom comes only from the Lord.

We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-15) because we have access to and are filled with the ultimate source of knowledge and wisdom of life: the Holy Spirit sent by Jesus (John 8:12). Only God has the answers to life. Only from Him come joy and peace, and we have access to them. We can hear from the Lord and shed light on people’s understanding, or we can refer them to sources of godly light (books and so on). Whatever the case; “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).

This is where faith comes in. If we are salt and light, we will act accordingly and God can use us as He has used Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Jesus, etc. If we believe the Lord can do it and we are worthy in Christ to do it with Him, we will have sufficient motivation.

Christians seem to have an attitude of, “We do our thing, the world does their thing, and we do not interfere.” Who is the Lord of heaven and earth? Whose children are we?

In the parable of the servants (see this post), who is the household of the Master who went away? Is it only the Church? Why would Jesus then command the same servants to be the salt of the earth? God wants to be glorified; He wants the world (the unbelievers) to see His power and His glory, because He wants them to come into the Kingdom as well. That is why He did so many mighty deeds in Israel and why Jesus did so many miracles. He wants us to do what Jesus did and even greater so the unbelievers could find Jesus (John 14:12). If we focus only on our local church and our needs, or even only our town, we make only a slight change over a long period of time. How then will the world be reached, the earth changed?

         Imagine that Jesus came to earth and settled in a local church... To be continued.

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17. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Be Salt and Preserve what is Good Part 5

We have just completed the teaching on salt serving as an antiseptic to this sick earth. Now...

Salt also preserves.

Any food treated with salt is protected against decay. Salt was especially used in the days before freezers and modern preservatives. Still today some meat delicacies such as biltong or beef jerky are preserved with salt.

Christians, who are salt, should preserve values, life, joy, peace, and especially the stronghold that the Kingdom of God has in an area or country. If we apply the principles described in the earlier posts and act as salt that preserves, Christianity will survive in our area. A stronghold is a position of strength. Christianity has the stronghold in countries such as England, the United States, and South Africa, while Islam has the stronghold in countries such as Pakistan and Arabia.

The preserving function of Christians being salt is an active process. Most corruption and decay took place because the church was asleep and passive at the time, or just did not fight hard enough. I’m thinking of things like the legalization of abortion and the removal of the Bible and prayer from the schools. We need to fight. For example, pornography was kept out of the South African family stores because the Christians launched a huge offensive against it when pornography became legal after the 1994 government change.

One of the issues we should preserve is our freedom of individuality and expression. The controversial issue of political correctness is something that we as “salt” Christians should challenge in the spiritual realms. Political correctness is possibly one of the major causes of spiritual apathy among Christians, because it can lead to fear of persecution. Instead of Christians challenging, rebuking, preaching, and training in righteousness, many have become cautious, do-not-disturb Christians. They hear a social gospel in a church that acts as a social club rather than a training center for spiritual soldiers.

Political correctness seems to be a tool designed in the supernatural realm to prevent Christians from evangelizing. From the perspective of political correctness, evangelism imposes religion and therefore offends. Unfortunately, in reality, this only seems to apply to Christianity and allows non-Christian religions to flourish. It is a breeding ground for ungodliness. We should seek the Lord to show us how we could challenge it and persevere in the spiritual battle until we get results.

We want to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). In the midst of setbacks, trials, temptations, and persecutions, Paul kept the faith that God can make a difference.

We should fight the good fight on God’s behalf to preserve His values on this earth, keeping the faith that He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). Being salt demands that we spend much time with God in prayer and it commands us to take up our authority in faith. How do we then actively preserve what is important for an abundant life? When meat is covered with salt, the salt interferes with the natural process of decay and changes the logical course that the meat would have taken. In the same way, we as Christians should interfere with the process of decay and change the logical course that the earth would take.

We do this in a number of ways. We should pray without ceasing. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16b, The Amplified Bible). We should focus our prayer away from ourselves and on that which needs change. We should pray fervently for that which the Lord told us to pray about.

            Next we should act. To be continued.

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16. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Be Salt and Exercise Jesus' Power Part 4

So far we have discussed two of the three things Jesus had said on the topic of salt serving excellently as an antiseptic. The third thing Jesus said was when He told the disciples during the storm:

“You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (Matthew 8:26).

Jesus made two points in this passage. First, by saying, “You of little faith,” he implied that they should have spoken to the elements. They should have commanded the storm themselves, giving Jesus’ power a channel to work through. He expected them to exercise their faith and the spoken word so that He could solve the problem through them.

The second thing Jesus did was to command the wind and waves to calm down. Everything Jesus did was through commands, from the creation until the end of His ministry. He prayed through the night to get rhema; the living word or revelation instructions from the Father, and then He gave His commands. This means that He received the instructions from the Father, which gave Jesus the faith He needed that the Father will back His commands with His power, simply because it was the Father in the first place who told Him what to do. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17 KJV). If we hear from God what He wants us to do, we will have the faith that He will back us up and do what we ask or command, since we do what the Almighty expects of us: His will.

How can we be salt on the earth and clean out its sepsis? Firstly, we need to become aware of God's concern for this sick earth. We need to focus away from our carnal thoughts, doubts, fear, and hatred and adopt His compassion and thoughts.

Then we need to have faith. We need to believe that He can and wants to deal with this sepsis. We need the faith to believe we can be His channels. Then we need to spend much time in prayer and fasting to bring every situation before God and hear from Him how he'd like to deal with it. Lastly, once we know how to deal with it, we need to command His will into every situation as Jesus did.

There is no record of Jesus publicly begging the Father to heal somebody. He rebuked and commanded. So if the sepsis of this earth becomes a concern to you, isolate yourself to God, get the rhema solution to the problem, and then command it into the heavens and onto the earth. “‘What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.’” (Matthew 10:27).

        What do you think will happen to this sick earth if all the millions of Christians do this on a daily basis?

Next, we'll talk about salt as being a preserving agent. To be continued.

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15. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Be Salt and Exercise Jesus' Power Part 3

We are busy with a series on the Sermon on the Mount and this message is a continuation from the previous ones. Kindly please first read the previous related messages.

Where did Jesus get His power to do all the miracles while He was on earth? It was not because He was God. Had He used His divine power while He was on earth, what was the point of Him setting an example to us because He had to be in every way like us (Hebrews 2:14-18)? No, He got it by spending His nights in prayer, hearing from the Father about how to deal with the issues awaiting Him. Then during the day, He did exactly as He was told. He said in John 5:19, “‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’”

Where did Jesus see what His father was doing? Can it be that He saw it while He was in heaven? I’m convinced that He saw His Father in the Spirit while He was praying. God then illustrated what Jesus was supposed to do during His ministry the following day. He probably would have heard something like: “Jesus, today you will meet a blind man. You must spit in the sand, make mud and put it on his eyes. It is imperative that you tell him to go and wash his face in the Pool of Siloam.” Had Jesus have done it in a different way, it probably would not have worked.

He also said in John 5:30, “‘By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.’” Where did Jesus hear? He heard through prayer during the night.

How did Jesus pray? We find the ultimate example in Luke 22:44: “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” This prayer was in Gethsemane and certainly was the ultimate of prayers, but I believe it was typical of all His prayers: earnest and heartfelt. Also, think of His answer when His disciples asked Him why they couldn't heal the boy possessed by demons in Mark 9: 14-29. He said: “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.” When did Jesus have time to fast about it, since He had obviously already done it by the time He met the boy? His father had prepared Him long before the time while He sought His face in prayer.

Jesus could do nothing without relying on His father. How about us? “‘I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing’” (John 15:5). As Jesus needed His Father, so we need Him. As we remain in Him and He in us, what fruit will we bear? The fruit He bore, the same power He exercised, the same difference He made. “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 5:16b Amplified Bible). That is how we should pray.

Some issues can be resolved only through prayer. We couldn’t physically do much about the falling aeroplanes. Concerning certain other issues, though, James said in his epistle that faith without works is dead. Jesus did not only pray against the deception of the Pharisees and teachers of the law; He also confronted them, exposing Himself to persecution and the risk of being killed. These confrontations eventually lead to His death. If we want to be like Jesus we must also be courageous and confront the wrongs in life. This means we have to risk unpopularity, even within the church.

The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16, 17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” And in 2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.”

I have lately become increasingly aware of the words “correct” and “rebuke” in the above passages. How much of these are still being done within the church? If good works demand holiness, then people, who are being prepared for good works, need teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. This will bring them in line with the Lord who is the author of good works. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

Correcting and rebuking is not nice or easy. We fear rejection, but if we don’t rebuke and correct, people tend to compromise. Many people live in sin and are not confronted any more. This result is that the church is weakened because of unrighteousness.

The fear of persecution and rejection causes the church to live in compromise with the world. She became acceptable to the world and even to the enemy, since she does not make people aware of sin and holiness anymore, and is therefore not a threat to anyone. The Holy Spirit wants to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8) and needs the church to work with Him.

The same applies if the church does not correct or rebuke the government. Without correction, the government tends to be led by the carnal nature and evil forces. Our battle against sin and corruption must be intense and focused.

As a family, we love watching movies and have often found great spiritual lessons in them. One day we were watching an action movie involving spies. My wife commented, “Despite the danger and against all odds, these heroes just don’t give up.” How many of us resist evil passionately, against all odds, until we accomplish what we set out to do? The general approach seems to be “I’ll do something as long as it doesn’t affect me personally.”

We need always to work with the Lord under His direction. If we rebuke because the Lord told us to and we do it the way He directs us, it will bear authority and manifest change. The Lord wants us to be channels of His power. If we are available, He is more than willing to teach us how to be different, how to swim against the streams of popularity and accepted behaviour, even of popular Christian beliefs. He would love to raise a salt army that would make a sick earth whole through his power. To be continued

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14. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Don't miss this Article on Salt Part 2

Have you read part one (the previous posting) of this section of the series? Please do it so you could understand the context.

The second thing Jesus said was:

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:12, 13).

Jesus exercised power over sickness, political leaders, nature, and finance. He promised that anyone with faith in Him would do the same and even greater things than He did. The examples in the Bible such as the calming of the storm, Jesus walking calmly through a crowd about to stone Him, and His wisdom in shutting the mouths of the political and religious powers of the time are all examples of what His disciples can do in a much greater measure.

If one studies the efficiency of Christianity in the past twenty centuries, she sees the discrepancies between Jesus’ intentions for us and the reality of the world. Christians seem to have been losing all the way. Countries that Paul evangelized are now largely heathen, everywhere the earth is in chaos, and a very small part of it is truly evangelized. Even in Christian countries, a vast majority of the nation has little or no knowledge of Christ and the Bible. Secularism and other religions have overtaken Christianity in popularity. Christians rely on doctors rather than on Jesus' power for healing, let alone driving out demons and raising the dead. There are many other things Jesus did that we do not touch. Why? It is because today's disciples don't have faith in Jesus.

            “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). And in Luke 17:6: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.”

I have heard many spiritual explanations of this passage, but I think Jesus meant it literally. It fits the effect we should have on the earth. But many of us don’t even have faith as small as a mustard seed. We often pray with a “what if” in the backs of our minds. We are afraid of making fools of ourselves. We simply don’t trust God. If we did, we would see a much different earth. We rely on our own resources, so occupied with ourselves that we simply don’t bother. The condition of the world doesn’t affect us in our comfortable, materialistic cocoon, so why would we worry about being salt? In many ways, the church has become a social club, a controlling power to manipulate people, a moneymaking business or emotional showbiz.

Jesus said in John 14:13 that anything we ask of Him, He will do. What is this “anything?” Is it only our personal wants and needs? I don’t think so. These will be cared for automatically if we get busy with His Kingdom issues (Matthew 6:25-34). If we, however, identify a situation in the earth that needs changing, we need to go before Jesus in prayer and fasting and ask Him what we should command. Once we hear from Him how to go about it, we need to take authority over the spirit behind the situation and then command that which we have heard from God. He will then solve the situation. Obviously, this would demand from us dedicated prayer and separation for God. Believe me, I have seen many issues resolved as a result of taking authority and have also heard testimonies to that effect.

          Some years ago my wife, Julia, and I became aware of a number of airplane crashes, one after the other, within a few weeks. I asked, “Why this trend, Lord?” I then saw a vision of a cloud of demons forcing an aeroplane down as if playing games. The devil’s purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). We decided to take authority in the spiritual realm against these activities, and the accidents stopped. Then we started to look for other trends to pray against. There are many such issues that God can deal with in the natural, political, and social realms. What about the political situations in countries like Zimbabwe, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the health situation in Zimbabwe, or poverty in many countries? When we pray for them, how do we pray? In some cultures, demons are worshiped, which give them the mandate to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). In most of the latter cases, the worshipers are not aware that they worship demons because, through his deception, Satan has given these demons other names, known as various kinds of familiar spirits related to specific cultures. When we therefore pray, we should call these demons to account before the Lord and ask the Lord to bind their works and power (Matthew 16:19). Believe me, it works. Whenever I became aware of violent action such as riots, I prayed like above, having the lying power of the so-called familiar spirits bound, and peace returned quickly to the area. To be continued.

For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way.

13. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Don't miss this article Part 1

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. (Matthew 5:13)

In this passage, Jesus spoke to His disciples. In John 17:20, He also prayed for His disciples, but not for only them. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” We can therefore assume that these teachings are for all who believe in Jesus—that’s us. We are the salt of the earth.

We know that salt makes us thirsty, so our lifestyle and speech should cause people to become thirsty for our life and our Saviour. Salt also gives flavour to food, so our lifestyle should have such a flavour that people desire it.

There is more to it though.

Salt serves excellently as an antiseptic.

As a pharmacist, I have recognised the antiseptic properties of salt. If you swim in the sea with a septic sore a number of times, it usually heals. Saltwater rinses help to cure some mouth ulcers. Sniffing a solution of saltwater rinses the sinuses, clearing away mucus and disinfecting the sinuses, thereby getting rid of sinusitis in no time. 

“You are the salt of the earth.” Notice that the passage includes the word “earth,” not “world.” I believe the Lord wants us, His disciples, to be the antiseptic of the earth. It is the purpose of Satan to make the earth sick, to cause sepsis in every possible area of the earth's set-up or mechanism. I don't have to tell you how upside down everything is on earth, from the politics right down to nature. The sepsis of the earth needs salt as an antiseptic to cure it, and we as Christians are that salt.

Jesus said three interesting things on the topic:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18, 19).

“All power” means He has power or authority over every other power or authority in heaven, which is the sky above us, the universe, God's dwelling, and the earth. Because He has that power, we must go and make disciples who can be channels of that power. We must channel His power to rule over corruption, crime, unstable families, political violence, natural disasters, and so forth. Mark recorded Jesus’ final words as follows: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-18). I believe that if Jesus had time, he would have listed all the powers that believers would be able to exercise.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:12, 13).

To be continued

For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way.

12. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Persecution Part 3: The result of a Godly Life

Contrary to the impression prosperity preachers want to create, the Lord surely did not promise a comfortable life to His disciples. A popular verse that is quoted by such preachers is found in Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” This passage, when used to promote prosperity and a comfortable life as a reward or return from the Lord, is quoted out of context because the Lord is talking to Israel, not to the New Testament church. Yes, the principle of sowing and reaping concerning giving does apply. The Lord will care abundantly for those who give generously, but the word “comfortable” never occurs in the Bible. The word “comfort” appears only in the context of “comforting one another in times of suffering.” The Lord intended for Christians to live fruitful and godly lives (2 Timothy 3:12). Trouble, suffering, persecution, etc. are promised frequently to those in the New Testament because Satan wouldn't want it.

The Lord never intended Christians to live in prosperous financial comfort. He meant for us to live as soldiers do. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer” (2 Timothy 2: 3, 4).

Jesus mentioned false accusations in this beatitude. In our minds, the devil constantly accuses us falsely, making us feel guilty. He is called the accuser of the brothers (Revelation 12:10), who accuses us before God and in our minds. Feelings of inferiority, weak self-image, and so on are often consequences of this kind of persecution and hinder us from reaching our full potential in Christ.

Once again, we can quote Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7: “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” Aside from Paul becoming conceited, I believe Satan didn’t like Paul to receive the great revelations from God and pass them on. He had to attempt to cripple Paul’s faith and confidence through messing up his circumstances and constantly tempting him to sin, which is a form of persecution.

The enemy also uses people to bring false witness, lies, and verbal abuse against Christians in their workplace. These people end up in trouble simply because they witnessed and tried to help people. The destructive words, behaviour, and bullying from peers, brothers, sisters, parents, and colleagues are often Satan’s way of trying to break the spirits of those the Lord has chosen to be His instruments. I personally had many such persecutions ever since I was a boy, because the Lord had a plan for my life and the enemy knew it. Christians, living in the strongholds of God, are not exempt from the persecution promised to those serving Jesus. Only the approach is slightly different.

If we return to our original beatitude, we see that we are to rejoice and be glad when persecuted, but our first reaction to persecution is often to complain. Many people desire to live in Utopia because of impression prosperity preachers create by preaching the Word out of context. However, Jesus said that we must rejoice when we are persecuted as a result of being in right standing with Him. Why? Because then the Kingdom of heaven is guaranteed to be ours, and we are promised a reward.

Another reason to rejoice is because persecution is a sign that we are fruitful, living godly lives, and in right standing with God, making a difference in this world. Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). Can we handle it?

Many question whether they can stand up to persecution. Jesus told us that “My grace is sufficient for you,” “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me,” “I will be with you until the end of the age,” “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” and “Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.”

The best approach to persecution is: “I am being persecuted. I’m going to make it worth the while by being more fruitful and giving the enemy a harder time. He makes things tough for me; therefore I make life even tougher for him.”

11. Sermon on the Mount Secrets - Persecution Part 2: How about Persecution during Religious Freedom?

What do godly Christians do that causes them to be persecuted?

            What causes the world to hate Christians so much? Much of the reason for persecution is spiritual. The more a godly Christian aggravates the devil, the more the enemy will torment him. How does one aggravate the enemy? It is done by tampering with his kingdom, by winning people over from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of God, by revealing Satan's lies, through preaching the truth and by simply adoring the Lord.

Another reason for persecution is that people, in their sinful nature, cannot stand seeing these Christians become everything that they themselves would have liked to be. In their frustration, they give the Christians a hard time.

Regarding persecution by other religions, including so-called Christian religions, persecution is again motivated and instigated by Satan. Those other religions are actually his creation intended to deceive those whom God loves so much and to draw them away from Him.

What do Christians do to be persecuted? They do what is hateful to Satan. They do God's bidding. They affect Satan's kingdom negatively.

What is persecution and who does it?

The Greek word for persecution means to drive away, to pursue (in a hostile manner), to harass, and to be maltreated on account of something.

In Matthew 5:11, Jesus talks about people insulting, persecuting, and falsely saying all kinds of evil against us. The primary source behind persecution, the chief instigator, and the persecutor is Satan. Why? Because Satan’s primary purpose in life is to prevent, in whatever way possible, the growth of God’s kingdom. The methods and instruments Satan uses for persecution are numerous. In countries or towns where he has a stronghold, where most religions are not Christian, he uses open, physical techniques to make life difficult for Christians. He discourages non-Christians and causes them to fear becoming Christians.

Sometimes he uses repressive laws and policies. For example, a Middle Eastern country continues to prohibit its citizens from practicing any faith other than Sunni Islam. Foreign Christians have been arrested, imprisoned and finally deported for being involved in private Christian activities.

In another Middle Eastern country, fundamentalist intolerance has continued to destroy and devastate lives, as murders, gang rapes, destruction of churches and property, and other attacks have been meted out against minority religious groups.

I recently met with Chinese Christians and heard terrible stories of persecution. However, they do not pray for the system to change, because persecution keeps them on their toes and creates witnessing opportunities that bring hope to the hopeless. Some Christians are moved from prison to prison because they preach the gospel in prison. This is done in an attempt to stop the prisoners from hearing the gospel, but in reality, it increases the number of prisoners who hear it, for wherever they end up, they preach the gospel.

In other countries, God is acknowledged but not necessarily served. There the stronghold belongs to God, and Satan does not have so much freedom. Persecution therefore often becomes circumstantial. In other words, Satan uses our daily circumstances to harass, trouble, or mistreat us. Christians are experiencing a turning up of the heat concerning general hardship. These problems are not necessarily brought on by people, but by circumstances that make life less comfortable. Some Christians lose their jobs as a result of false testimonies brought against them.

Jesus said in John 16:33, “‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’” Those who serve the Lord with all their hearts might feel constant pressure in their circumstances. Some may feel they never get on top financially, others seem regularly to have problems with their children, and some are sick. Many lives are disrupted by the malicious lies of human enemies of the cross or people who are not aware of what they are doing. It is for these people that Jesus prayed in Luke 23:34, “‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’” Yet Jesus said that, although we have to go through all these hardships, in Him we have peace. To be continued.

For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way.