Are We Ready for Persecution? Pastor Daniel Batarseh

If you have your bibles, you're gonna hold on to that in a moment. But as you're joining us, why don't we pray together and ask God to help us in this message? Lord, we thank you deeply from our hearts for your obvious hand upon each of our lives during this pandemic. But, God, we still need you, and we ask that you would give us the heart to receive your word, and that, Lord, you would filter us of all lies and deceptions that we have perhaps, unknowingly believed throughout our whole lives. And, lord, we pray even by the spirit of God for the oil of gladness to replace mourning and for the garments of praise to replace any distress.

And we ask, Lord, that you would make us into oaks of righteousness so that you would may be glorified. We pray that the Holy Spirit, his presence would manifest in every single room and every every single person's heart as they're watching right now, and that, Lord, we would have testimonies of people's walk with you changing drastically as a result of your word. We trust and believe these things as we lean upon you in faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend who serves in the ministry, and, we were talking about what most people are talking about. And I was asking him about his perspective from a spiritual point of view of, what he thinks this all means for the church and for believers. And that's important to ask, whether you're serving in ministry or not because we have a lot of political opinions. We have a lot of conspiracy theories. And if we're not careful, even as believers, we can get caught up in those conversations and miss out on what we need to be focusing on, and that is the spiritual perspective on this whole matter.

Do you know why? It's because you and I are spiritual people, and we need to view things from heaven's point of view and not stay in this place and interpret things the way the world does. And so as he answered the question, he began to give different points, and I agreed with all of them. And then he returned the question. He asked me, what do you what do you believe this is all about pertaining the church from a spiritual lens?

And the answer that I gave him is what I wanna share with us tonight. In summary, I I I pretty much said, brother, I believe that what this pandemic did and what this pandemic is still doing is to provide a wake up call for the church. Now if that hasn't happened, then it's possible that God will continue to allow it to happen until we do wake up. And you might be thinking a wake up call to what? Well, I think there's many things.

But for tonight's message, I wanna focus on one component. But before I get there, I want I wanna say this. Being a Christian in The United States Of America is not the norm, nor is it the experience that most Christians have around this world. What you and I get to enjoy concerning our liberties and all the different things that we don't have to face in terms of fears, that is the exception. That is not the rule.

That is not what many people around different countries are testifying about on a day by day, week by week basis. And so that's important to understand because if I were to ask you even now as you're sitting there watching what you believe the the fastest growing church is right now as we're speaking, where is the fastest growing, conversion rate to the genuine faith that we hold to? Would you say America? We might deceive to think that because we look at these megachurches filled with people. We might think Canada.

We might think Australia. No. If you said Iran, you're right. And if you would say second to Iran is China, you're right. Those countries are experiencing mass conversions on a daily basis.

And what do they have in common? Here's what they have in common, that for you to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to express your faith is illegal. It's actually against the law. There is no liberty to come into a church building and worship like you and I were doing before this pandemic. There is no grace to be able to witness and to express the gospel publicly even on a one to one basis.

If you're reported, you're finished. There is no leaning upon the government to receive some kind of benefit because you are a nonprofit organization. No. And the consequence of being a Christian in just those two countries is way more severe than being in house arrest and being able to watch your Netflix show and have Zoom meetings with other Christians. No.

It's it's jail. It's long years in jail and torture in between those months. That is important to understand because I wanna make a very clear statement. Persecution is very normal for our brothers and sisters around the different corners of this earth. What you and I are experiencing today in terms of the church not being able to gather in a corporate way, let me say that is not persecution.

Now some might disagree. And if you're watching and disagree, we can have a conversation about that. But I believe what we're experiencing today, there's missing pieces to define it as persecution. Yes. We are not being able to express our faith in the corporate sense, but I believe that there are ingredients that need to be met first before we can actually say the church of Jesus Christ in America is being afflicted for their faith.

Now people are saying, well, we're not there, but it's leading there. We're we're getting the feel of it. The the storm is gathering. Maybe so. But what we need to know now is that this is nothing close to persecution.

And I say that because the answer that I continued with the friend that I was spoken speaking to earlier this week is that what this is doing for the church, if if I can give my opinion, that what this whole pandemic can offer to Christians in the West is that this is a dress rehearsal for potential persecution to come. I'm not saying that persecution is coming as a result of this. I'm not trying to be prophetic. I'm just saying persecution is always a possibility for any Christian around any country around any time. And the concern that I have today, it's a deep concern, is that if Christians in America in this time can't find the motivation to pray, can't strategize, can't feel in their hearts, and and seek a way to be able to fulfill the great commission now, if we can't do it now, then what makes us think that it's gonna be a reality when genuine threats surface against us?

Now I know what you might be thinking as you're watching this. Come on, man. Be realistic. We're in the land of the free. You can't be talking like that.

Sure. Church history shows some stuff, but do you see where we're at? We have a constitution. We're backed up. Who says it can't happen?

Who says it can't happen? Have we learned anything from these past couple of months in terms of anything being a possibility that we can be caught by surprise with anything? If we haven't believed that yet, what will it take for it to to be convincing to us? What I wanna say simply is this, that although the church can humbly admit that a majority of the church, at least, could not see this pandemic coming and prepare to adjust of how they would be able to minister, There is one thing that you and I can prepare for as a church of Jesus Christ, and that is potential persecution for our faith. And, again, we're not seeing it now.

But hypothetically speaking, what if all for a sudden it would be illegal that Christians are being targeted specifically, and there would be a violation for you and I to be able to gather corporately for the next x amount of years or forever, what would happen to our faith? Like, what would happen to our spirituality? What would happen to our church? I'm talking about United Evangelical Church. I'm being very specific to our application.

What would happen? And I think we need to prepare for it. Whether it happens in our lifetime or not, I think it's it's it's important to understand that preparation is something that Jesus encouraged, that the early church encouraged, and it's something that we need to encourage more. I know it's not popular. I know we don't wanna be told this right now.

But it's better to be prepared than to fail to do so. Let me give us some components to how we can prepare for persecution. Number one, persecution can swiftly arise just as quick as this coronavirus has locked us in our homes for the past two months. Now what I mean by persecution, I'm not talking about being made fun of for our faith because we hold to certain convictions. I'm not talking about, for example, you and I being mocked at work or mocked at school because we believe that you should not have sex before marriage.

Persecution that comes from ridicule concerning righteousness. When I mean persecution, I mean that there is a specific assault upon the community of faith, and there is a stripping away of freedom to practice any component of your faith, and that there be dire consequences, severe punishment, if those restrictions are defied. That's what I'm talking about. And we're not seeing that today. Someone say, oh, no.

We are seeing that. We're not seeing it today. There's gonna be much more ahead if it does happen that would make what we're experiencing today seem like nothing. Church history has shown us, and biblical records have proved, that if the wrong people get into a place of authority, then the scene of expression of faith can drastically change within a few moments. And so we have this idea almost like, just because we are in America, we are protected.

I am not denying that we are experiencing great freedom. I'm not denying that there is a sense of privilege in our day. But what I am trying to get across right now is that although it is possible to have prolonged freedom in our faith, It doesn't mean that prolonged freedom is promised. We see that in the Old Testament, and we see that in the New Testament. And, again, if at any time you feel like your heart is resisting the points that I'm making, please just pause and look outside and realize we are in the middle of a pandemic.

And in the same way that there can be a physical attack on our bodies with such a tidal wave of impression, so it is possible in the spiritual that there can be attack on our faith at the same rate and with the same aggressive nature. Just realize that. Look at the physical aspect of it and now interpret it spiritually. It can happen just as quick. Let's look at a a testament of that in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.

Think of Joseph. When Joseph came into a position of authority and he had the ability to bring in the nation of Israel, which was just a nucleus, really, of a family, to come in and to escape a famine in their day. And when they had come, Joseph spoke to his brothers, and he brought five of them to come before Pharaoh. And he told them, listen. Request to Pharaoh that you are shepherds and that you can stay in the land of Goshen and take care of his livestock.

What he was essentially trying to say is ask Pharaoh for the best of the best. And so when they came, Pharaoh interviewed them. And then Pharaoh said these words towards the brothers, and it's important for us to understand. It's in Genesis 47 verse six. He says the land of Egypt is before you.

Settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land. Let them settle in the land of Goshen, and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my livestock. So Goshen was essentially the cream of the crop. And what Pharaoh does is he offers it to them based on a request. They said we want, and he says, you can have it.

There's political favor there. There is back backing up there. There is benefits there. And we see that they wanted it, and they received it. And this was a place even where they would not be troubled by neighboring Egyptians because they differed from them.

And so as they came here, this community of faith really experienced, in unusual ways, a favor that would only be deemed as supernatural. And we can almost say the same about America, that what you and I get to drink from during these past couple centuries is not normal. It is grace. It is favor. But how long did this last for Israel?

Was it prolonged? Was it eternal? Was it something that would be immovable? No. In fact, all you have to do is flip a few chapters and go to another book right beside Genesis and Exodus one.

And you read this in verse eight of Exodus one. Now there arose a new king. That's all it takes. That's all it takes. A person in a level and a position of authority who has a different frame of mind, who has a different heart posture, who does not fear God.

Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he didn't just not know Joseph. He didn't know the God of Joseph, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Wow, that narrative changed real quick, didn't it? It went from take the best of the land to they are a threat.

Come, let us deal shrewdly with them. Let us lest they multiply, and if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. Do you see what happened in just a matter of some years? Egypt in Genesis said they were a blessing, and now they say that they're a curse. Israel in Genesis went from a blessing to Israel in Exodus becoming a thorn.

Israel in Genesis went from being treated like royalty to Israel and Exodus being treated as slaves. Israel and Genesis went from having political favor to Israel and Exodus being seen as a political threat. It changed. It changed. And I'm sure they were just as shocked as you and I would be to see a shower of favor go to a storm of affliction in just a matter of a blink of an eye.

You would think, wouldn't you? Here is Joseph, a son of Israel that was sent by God that literally was the means by which Egypt would be protected from a form of extinction. That famine that came could have destroyed that whole nation, but God sends a son of Israel. Wouldn't you think that the ruler at that time would have said, for all the days ahead, Israel will forever be an ally to Egypt? That it is going to be instituted that no matter what Israel requests from Egypt, they have all access to any resources for all time.

You would think so, but that is not the case. That agreement is not set in stone. And even if there is some kind of policy that is established, it doesn't mean that it's gonna be honored for all time. And as we know, the Israelites were visited by a flood of persecution, and just because a new elected leader came into power. Now you look at the New Testament.

What do you see? You see that the church of Jesus Christ is born in the book of Acts. And from Acts chapter two to Acts chapter six, there's great harvest, there's revivals, mass salvations, churches being born, people being born again. And there is, in the midst of those chapters, some kind of resistance from the religious authorities, but only, if you read carefully, only mainly towards the apostles, towards the leaders of the church. But it wasn't until a man, a Christian on on just another day, who was pulled aside and falsely accused for blasphemy, a man by the name of Stephen, who was taken and eventually questioned only really not to have a fair case, but to stone him to death.

And after that moment, not only would the leaders of the church in the book of Acts be afflicted and assaulted, but the entire church would be haunted and hunted down like animals at a rate that was explosive. Look how it reads in Acts chapter eight verse one. It tells us here, and Saul approved of his execution, speaking of Stephen. And I like how the ESV puts it. And there arose on that day, 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.

One day, one afternoon. Just one night of going to to sleep and waking up, and you get the news from your husband. You get the news from your dad. Family, pack up the bags. We have to go because Saul and the religious authorities are coming after Christians, and they're arresting and stripping us away from our freedoms.

And what you have is church groups, leaders, families, ministers, servants, scattering abroad, moving locations into the unknown. And all it took was a day. All it took was a moment, and their devotion would be truly tested to see if they were standing for Christ for the right reasons. Now, again, I'm not predicting anything. All I'm doing is looking into my bible and seeing that Jesus, seeing that our master, our savior frequently spoke on coming persecution.

See, we almost have this idea in the West that it's not gonna come to us. We almost have this idea, like, we're in some utopia, we're in some bubble, and we're just gonna stay here like this until the rapture comes. And that's just how it's gonna be. And you might disagree with the idea that this could even happen in the land that you and I are living in, but that's not what Jesus said. That is not what Jesus prophesied.

Look what he says in the famous verse in Matthew twenty four nine. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death. Now look at this. And you will be hated by all nations. You will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

Some nations, eastern nations, communist nations, all nations, including America, if she's there during this time. Some might dispute, no. You're you're looking into a verse in the near future. You're looking to the the the a verse that speaks about the tribulation and all these other listen. We can talk about the exact time frame, but that does not dismiss the possibility of rising threats towards the church, even if this is speaking about the tribulation period.

If this was just speaking about the tribulation period, then how do we explain all the other persecutions that have been happening over the past two thousand years? Again, we have to escape this mentality that just because we have a constitution and just because we have some political leaders that have some kind of conviction or just because we make the argument that America has some kind of faith based origins, that we are excluded from the possibility of a storm to come and take us by surprise. This verse does not just tell me that there's a period where the whole world will hate Christians. This verse is telling me that it's possible for any nation at any moment to rise up and hate Christians. But, oh, no.

We're Americans. Surely, this won't happen. Let's not be found unprepared just in case it does happen. I want you to know that if I were to share these very truths to different people groups around the world, there wouldn't be a hint of hesitation to believe, oh, yes, we know exactly what you're talking about. Oh, yes, we completely understand that this can happen.

Oh, yes, we know that we have to pay a price for our faith. It seems to only be amongst those of the West that when something like this is presented, it's almost automatically brushed off as a reflex because we just can't see it happening. Well, let me tell you what I didn't see happening in my lifetime, being locked in a house for almost three months. I didn't see that coming. I didn't think that would be a possibility.

I didn't think for a moment that I would not be able to come to church and be with my brothers and sisters in Christ because of a virus. I hope that our perspective on the impossibility of threats coming, whether physical or spiritual, has changed. This idea of a persecution free Christian life is totally foreign to so many millions of Christians around the world. And I'm just gonna take the time to read from a book that gives us different testimonies of recorded truths of Christians around the world that have died for their faith. It's a book called Jesus Freaks.

And, I haven't read it in a long time, but just meditating upon this message, I thought I would pull it out and read through the different stories. And what they are is just brief testimonies of of people from the Roman Empire to today who have stood up for their faith in Christ. And what I chose to do is just stay within the the past hundred years, something that's relatively close, lest we make the argument, well, they were barbarians back then, and they had coliseums, and they were messed up. Okay? Well, we're gonna find out that in the past eighty years, you realize that we've experienced the most blood spilled in the past hundred of years or so than any other generation.

This book testifies that every year, at least a 150,000 Christians, 150,000 Christians don't get made fun of, don't lose their jobs. They die brutal deaths for their faith. So here are just a few stories. Bear with me as I read them, because I don't want to rob from my own telling of the stories, the power of a person who is prepared for persecution. And some of these names are difficult to pronounce, so I might not say the full name.

But here's one story from 1999 in Indonesia. A 15 year old boy by the name of Roy Ponto. Let me read this. The teens could tell that the shouts and chanting were getting closer and closer. An older teen looked nervously at his friend.

The Muslims are coming. We better hide the kids, he said. Others following his lead helped the smaller children find hiding places in the buildings nearby, then they hid themselves. It was January, and a crowd of mostly Christian children and teenagers had gathered for a bible camp at the Station Field Complex at Padamura University on the island of Ambon, Indonesia. We're talking about a conference.

Do you go to conferences? Do you go to conferences every year? K. This is a conference for teens and children. Now imagine this happening at your conference next year if we get to meet.

When the camp was over, cars came taking the laughing, rejoicing children back to their homes, but there were not enough cars to hold the young people. Mekki and three other Christian men had gone to Wakaw Village to try and rent additional transportation to take the rest home, but they had not yet come back. What the kids waiting for rides home didn't know was that on their way to the village, the men were attacked by a Muslim mob who pulled them from their car and out onto the road. Mekki and one of the other men were stabbed to death, and later their bodies were burned by the mob. The two other men escaped with their lives.

Before long, the mob reached the university. I want you to picture this. Here's the last day of the conference. Everybody's saying bye, taking selfies, laughing, crying, I'm gonna miss you. This is what these teens and teenagers are doing at this point.

And what do you have? You have this mob reaching the campus. They found many of the teens and forced them to come out of hiding. Roy Ponto was forced from his hiding place and made to stand before the mob. 15 years old.

15 years old. Not 35, not a pastor. A 15 year old teenager was brought out to stand before the mob. Renounce your Jesus, or we will kill you. They threatened.

Roy was terribly frightened. Though trembling, he answered, I am a soldier of Christ. At this, one of the Muslim attackers swung a sword at his stomach. The sword hit the bible Roy held and ripped into it, knocking it out of his hand. The man's next swing sliced open Roy's stomach.

His last word was Jesus. The mob dragged Roy's body out and threw it into a ditch. Can you imagine a 15 year old boy? Do you have a 15 year old brother? They threw him into a ditch.

Four days later, his family found it. Even though they are wracked with grief, Roy's parents stand proud of their son who stood strong in his faith to the end. You know, many people want their year old boy to just be on a good sports team to get good grades and become a doctor. There's nothing wrong with any of those things. But here's a family that said, we're proud that our son was willing to die for Jesus.

I wonder how many parents of teenagers can say that today. Here's another story of two young women from Mainland China. I'm not gonna even attempt to pronounce their names. They're long and a little complicated. This is during the Red Guard era 1966 to 1969.

The two Christian girls waited in the Chinese prison yard for the announced execution. A fellow prisoner who watched the scene from his prison cell described their faces as pale, but beautiful beyond belief, infinitely sad, but sweet. Humanly speaking, they were fearful. But these two girls had decided to submit to death without renouncing their faith. Now listen to this.

I want you to imagine this. Flanked by renegade guards, the executioner came with a revolver in his hand. It was their own pastor. He had been sentenced to die with the two girls, but as on many other occasions in church history, the persecutors worked on him, tempting him. They promised to release him if he would shoot the girls, and he accepted.

So they convinced the pastor of their own church. If you kill these two girls that attend your church, we'll let you go. The girls whispered to each other, then bowed respectfully before their pastor. One of them said, before you shoot us, we wish to thank you heartedly for what you have meant to us. You baptized us.

You taught us the ways of eternal life. You gave us holy communion with the same hand in which you hold that gun. You also taught us that Christians are sometimes weak and commit terrible sins, but they can be forgiven again. When you regret what you are about to do to us, do do not despair like Judas, but repent like Peter did. I really wanna meet these two girls in heaven.

God bless you, and remember that our last thought was not one of indignation against your failure. Everyone passes through hours of darkness. May God reward you for all the good you have done to us. We die with gratitude. What do you think happened?

They bowed again. The pastor's heart was hardened. He shot the girls. Afterwards, he was shot by the communist. I don't think I need a comment more on that one.

Here's a story called Die With Us. Ham and his family, Cambodia circa nineteen seventies. All during the night, the members of Ham's family comforted each other. This is a family now. Ham is the father.

They knew they only had a few more hours to live on this earth. The Cambodian communist soldiers had tried them all together and forced them to lie down on the grass. Everybody's afraid that here's these rumors that there's gonna be inspectors coming in and pulling people out of their homes if they test positive, lest they infect other family members. Well, here's a family that was pulled out of their house and laid on the front lawn. Earlier that day, Ham's whole family had been rounded up for execution, whether they're in front of the home.

I don't know. Because they were all Christians, the communists considered them bad blood and enemies of the glorious revolution. In the morning, they were made to dig their own graves. The killers were generous. They allowed their victims a moment of prayer to prepare for themselves for death.

Parents and children held hands and knelt together near the open grave. After his family finished their prayers, Ham exhorted the communist and all those looking on to repent and to receive Jesus as savior. You know, one is one of the amazing things about these stories is that these people that were about to face martyrdom, they were more concerned about their torturers' lives than their own. That's what you get the impression of. They're more concerned about where their salvation lies rather than them.

Suddenly, one of Ham's young sons so as Ham is telling these soldiers right there, what while they're standing by their grave, he's telling the soldiers, repent. Give your lives to Christ. As he's preaching to them, one of Ham's sons leaped to his feet, bolted to the nearby forest, and disappeared. Ham was amazingly cool as he persuaded the soldiers not to chase the boy, but to allow him to call the boy back. So he convinced the soldiers, just don't go chasing after him.

Let me let me convince him. Let me talk to him. While the family knelt, they're still on their knees, the father pleaded with his son to return to die with them. Think my son, he shouted. Can stealing a few more days of life as a fugitive in that forest compare to joining your family here around the grave, but soon free forever in paradise?

Weeping, the boy walked back. Ham said to his executioners, now we're ready to go. But none of the soldiers could kill him. They were so stunned by the sense of security, by the sense of composure, by the peace that none of them can shoot him. Finally, an officer who had not witnessed the scene came and shot him all.

I'm telling you, there are stories like this happening all around the world, unknown to us. And what I wanna tell you and tell us today, is there any way that you and I could prepare for persecution? I'm not saying that what we just read will be something that will happen in the next few months. I'm not even saying that it could happen in our life. It could though.

Anything can happen. Any level of persecution can happen. But the question that's more important is, have we built up such an understanding of the eternal, such an understanding of the value of the lordship of Jesus Christ and his honor where these things can be invited with a smile? And is there any way to know that where I am standing right now in my faith can give me some kind of indicator that I am ready to stand for my lord even in the face of a revolver, even in the face of being stripped. And all these stories here, they're not necessarily dealing with death.

A lot of them are, but some of them have been affected by their businesses. Some of them have been threatened greatly. Some of them are living in constant fear. I think that the Bible gives us a prescription, gives us some kind of a measuring stick to know if I am ready for this. And the fact that we are facing a pandemic makes it even easier to identify.

You're saying, what are you talking about? There's a chapter in the bible that gives us insight to how believers should be conducting themselves, of how believers should be operating in the face of a current distress. And it's in a surprising chapter. It's in a chapter that many people go to to find advice for marriage, but this chapter is much deeper than just practical insights to relationships. It's found in first Corinthians chapter seven, and I would encourage you highly to turn there.

We see that Paul gives a lot of instruction about marriage, divorce, sexual relations concerning Christians. But we have to understand the context, and we have to understand what was going on in the background for Paul to give these instructions to the standard that he gives them. We read very carefully here in verse 26 of chapter seven. He says, I think that in view of the present distress, it is good for a person to remain as he is. So Paul is giving these kind of commands and charges and advice in light of a circumstance that the Corinthians were experiencing.

And so he says, there's something going on. Therefore, I want you to interpret your desire to get married in light of this context. Now what is the present distress that Paul is speaking about? Many don't know. Nobody really knows.

But what we can be sure of is that this was most likely persecution. There was some kind of pressure from outside forces against the Christians. And if it wasn't happening at a high level now, Paul was sensing that perhaps on the horizon, something was approaching towards the believers. And therefore, he wanted them to to get their priorities straight. And he didn't want them to add more burden to them if they were to choose to get married during this distress and not be able to brace for impact as they should.

Now it's not that marrying during a distress was wrong or sin. Paul says that over and over throughout this chapter. But what he wants to do and what the Holy Spirit is doing through Paul is that he wants to promote a certain attitude in light of potential threats against a community of believers. And what I see here, really, is four types of attitude. That there are four types of attitude that should be present in the hearts of a Christian as they are in a unique season of pressure.

Let's look at verse 29 and see what he says. This is what I mean, brothers. The appointed time has grown very short. Hold on. See what he's saying there?

There's a present distress in their day, and Paul sees it. He senses that it's only gonna intensify, and he goes, what I'm trying to say is that the appointed time, yeah, it's getting closer. Can I ask you a very honest question? Is Paul a false prophet? Did did Paul prophesy something here and miss it?

Because he said the appointed time, that's I believe that's speaking about the return of the Lord. That day that has been appointed for Christ to come back. And he goes, it's it's grown very short, but guess what? It's been two thousand years. So how can Paul, an apostle, say the appointed time has grown very short only to miss it by two thousand years if we can say that?

I don't think Paul was prophesying. I don't think Paul was predicting. I think what Paul is doing, what every single Christian should do when there is rising distress against believers. He's doing what Jesus encouraged to do. He's doing what the Holy Spirit told us that we should do, is that whenever we do see see things happening around our our world and do see things happening that is putting some kind of pressure, whether directly or indirectly, upon believers, we should think Jesus can come back at any moment.

Jesus can come back at any second. That next week, tomorrow, this evening, this can be the time that we've been anticipating. And so for Paul to do it in his day, there is nothing wrong with that. And for us to do it even now, there is nothing wrong with that. But here's the question.

Have you even thought that thought once during this whole pandemic? Has that some is that something that's crossed the mind at all, the corridors of our conscious? Has it ever even surfaced to think it can happen? Lord, look at our world. Look at the stress, though it's not directly towards Christians.

Look at what's happening in the scene. Christ, are you setting up the platform for you to take us home? If not, what will it take for us to think such a thought? This is what Paul thought. And look what he says from this moment on.

He says, from now on, from now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none. And those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it, for the present form of this world is passing away. Do you see? Paul now goes on to say, in light of this present distress, it's time to rethink about how we view normal life. And the first thing that he says to these Christians, let those who have a spouse live like they don't have a spouse.

Is Paul promoting neglect to family duties? Is Paul promoting a sense of pushing away from the responsibilities of being married? Absolutely not. What he's doing is he's telling husbands, specifically, notice, those who have wives to live as though they don't have wives. He's telling leaders in the home, specifically, you have the responsibility in light of this present distress to take the focus of your spouse and yourself and your children if you have them, and to be off of your family plans, to be off of your dreams and your desires that you have hoped for, and to now begin to prepare spiritually, is that you and your family should now think beyond what you and your family want to do and want to plan for and the things that you've hoped for.

It's not time for that in light of a present distress. Because of what we're experiencing, it's time to take it up a notch. And the leader of the home has to make that choice to say, we gotta think seriously because the appointed time has grown short. And so what what does that mean? It means that, you know, in marriage if you're married, you know this.

But in marriage, it is very easy because it is demanded of us to make your spouse a priority. There is an investment in your energy, in your thoughts, in your planning that go into satisfying and meeting the needs of your spouse. That is a natural pull that comes from marriage. But do you see what Paul is saying here? Because of this distress, you and your spouse take that energy that you would give so much to your spouse and partner together and now give it into the spiritual investment that you need because guess what's gonna happen when Jesus comes back?

You ain't gonna be married. And so you see that there's even a marital priority that is now shifting in light of a circumstance that is worthy of honoring. He doesn't just say that. He says in verse 30, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing. Is Paul saying that you and I should not experience emotions during a pre present distress?

Is he saying that you shouldn't feel anything? No. Again, that's not the case. But what he is saying is do not let circumstantial influences so overwhelm your state of emotions that it now determines the intensity of your service and your devotion to the Lord. Don't let what you feel take you to a place that you don't do.

Don't let what you are experiencing be so burdensome or so exciting that now you dismiss what you're called to do as a Christian in light of the ministry that he's called you to, in light of the devotion that we're all called to. See, in light of a present distress, it was very possible for young Christian couples or Christian couples at any age to feel overwhelmed because they can't get married during this time. Here's persecution. Perfect timing. We've been engaged for how long, and now we can't even have a normal wedding.

And then they would be sorrowful. And Paul says, listen. Let those who mourn, let them not mourn. There are those who in this day perhaps are being so pressured that they can't work, or maybe they lost their work, or maybe they have to move locations and they now have forfeited their financial stability. Let those who mourn during this present distress, mourn no longer.

But it doesn't just say mourn. It says, let those who rejoice live as though they don't rejoice. Meaning what? That it's possible even during a present distress that people make those plans anyway. That they give themselves in marriage anyway.

That that they invest in different things anyway, and it produces an excitement. It produces a sense of adrenaline and joy like normal events of life bring. But the danger that Paul is saying is that you can get so consumed with even the good things in the life that you're experiencing, even in this present distress, that that also can drift you from the focus of putting your energy and putting your investment into the things of God. He doesn't just say that. He says in the second part of verse 30, and those who buy as though they had no goods.

Paul is not saying that you should not remain in business. And this is for certain. Paul is not saying just because you see that there's a present distress and the appointed time has grown short, that you should sell everything because it's the end of the world. So let's get rid of all things and do this with our money or get rid of it or give it away. Paul is not saying that at all.

But he is talking about a preoccupation of buying and selling in a time where there should be a preoccupation with spiritual things instead. Are you uncomfortable yet? This is especially difficult for business minded like people that always interpret life as though they had a calculator in their mind. Now, there is nothing wrong with that. There is an aspect of that that should be in all of us.

We wanna be wise. We wanna be calculating. We wanna know how to manage our resources well. Paul's not saying don't think like that. That would be foolish.

But what he is saying is this. This is what he's coaching for. Don't just think about the businesses. Don't just think about your investments. Don't just think about the stock market.

He's like, look around you and see that there is something here that's potentially alarming us for the return of the Lord. And then in verse 31, he says, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it, for the present form of this world is passing away. So if you didn't fit in any of the categories that Paul mentioned, surely, it is there's a greater chance that you fit into this one. And what Paul is saying is essentially, the things that you are giving yourself for, the unpromising and the impermanent affairs of this life, he goes, in light of what we are all going through, it's very important now that you pause and compare those things that you're investing into compared to the investment of the things of heaven. And what Paul by the spirit is saying, it's time to make sure that the scale of your investment is more into the eternal, unchanging, promising, forever granting instead of the things of this world that are all gonna pass away.

Did you feel it during these past couple months? Did you feel how things are so fragile? Did you feel how things are gonna pass away? Your social life, my social life, to some degree has been stripped away. The the ability to work at a certain rate for many has been stripped away.

All these things have been and what Paul is saying is the same thing. He's saying, in light of this, he's like, don't get so tied into them that you fail to see that what this is is, this is an opportunity because the appointed time is growing short. Interpret it. See it. Feel it.

Realize it, and let it show in your life. In these verses, I believe that the Holy Spirit has inspired a set of instructions to help us understand what God is looking for in us as his people in light of a chaotic season in our lives, in light of outside forces and things that are pulling us outside of our will and transitioning normal issues of life into directions that we would not have planned for if we had the choice. Here's what I wanna say in closing. During this pandemic, it's not persecution. Paul, I believe he's speaking about persecution.

Please pay attention now. During this pandemic, was there even a slight change in the intensity of your spirituality or not? Was there even a slight scale? Was was there a turning up of you saying, in light of what's going on, honey, we gotta pray some more. Kids, we gotta read some more.

Buddy, let's get together at least one day out of the week, and let's just sharpen our spiritual understanding, whatever it may be. Has that even happened slightly? I'm not ask I'm not saying, did you become a martyr these past couple months? Did you sell your home and give it to the no. No.

No. Was there a slight shift in the attitude towards the kingdom of God in light of these past two months or not? Paul, by the spirit, when he's saying this in light of this event, he's saying there should be a totally different attitude in marital affairs, in societal affairs, in financial affairs. He's like, all of this should be different. All of this should be different because it can happen.

And this is the the final thing that I wanna say. If it didn't, if this pandemic didn't do a thing to how you grew closer to the Lord, how it didn't bring you that much more concerned about what will happen when he returns, if it didn't do a thing, What's gonna happen if genuine persecution comes? Will it be different? I say this without condemnation. I say this with hopefully a spirit that would encourage and stir you.

I'm afraid that if genuine persecution comes, it will greatly affect the stance that many Christians in America presume to make in their faith in Jesus Christ. I believe during this day, this generation in America, for most, they're not ready for persecution. You say, how can you say that? All you have to do is see put your heart towards Jesus during this whole pandemic, And it will be a great indicator if you're gonna have the spiritual strength to endure genuine threats because you love Jesus and you believe in his gospel. Oh, I'm not encouraging a spirit like Peter who said, Jesus, if they all deny you, I'll stand with you.

No. We we don't need to make such boast. All we need to do is fall deeper in love with Jesus. When we see all the news and all the craziness and all the theories and all the politics and all, to say, Lord, draw me close to you. Do you know what all these people in this book had in common?

All you have to do is read the language of their prayers. Read the language. I mean, I could read you stories of people in North Korea that were laid on the ground before a crowd, only for a steamroller to come inch by inch, and waiting for people to deny Christ. And all they did was sang hymns as that steamroller came on their toes and their legs and crushed their bones. They had a love relationship with Jesus Christ.

And they all had an eternal perspective, the very thing that Paul was encouraging in light of the present distress of first Corinthians seven. And I'm a little concerned that if this pandemic hasn't sharpened our eternal perspective on life, if persecution comes and takes us by surprise, maybe it might be gradual. You can't meet ever again. You can't come to church ever again. And then arrests.

And then longer arrests. Fines. Are you saying that's what's happening? Are you is that what you believe? No.

I don't believe what we're experiencing is persecution. I'm saying what if would we be ready? Let's ask Jesus to make us ready. Might not happen. We might be like Goshen in a generation that experienced great blessing and favor and freedom to preach and teach and share on our social media.

But what if one shift in our political sphere, just like in Joseph's day? All of that would be different. Might not happen in your day. Might happen in your children's day. Young couples might be sitting there thinking, you're making me scared.

I'm in a pandemic right now. You should be comforting me. I could. And we've had those meetings and we've had those messages. But we also need to be prepared, whether in this generation or the next.

If Jesus returns, he returns. If he doesn't return, what will we do with the time remaining? This is our prayer. Lord, let me stand for you, not just in death, but in life. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for a fresh charge of faith in light of what can happen, and we pray, Lord, that we wouldn't make empty boast, that we would die for you. Help us understand that we can make no such boast if we can't even live for you. We ask God that in the midst of this pandemic, there would be a different attitude towards how we view every sphere of life. Lord, you're not asking us to be crazy. You're not asking us to be careless.

You're not asking us to be questionable in our decisions. You're asking us to simply draw nearer to you. And, Lord, we just pray that you would build your church during this time, that this would be a dress rehearsal for potential persecution if it does come, and that, lord, we would live with faces shining with the love of Jesus Christ. Lord, make us slow to speak during these times, not to make assumptions or to post, comment, share things that we are not sure of. Lord, make us a people that instead are gonna invest in the spirit man to be strong for you.

Lord, we thank you for this nation. We thank you for the freedoms that we've experienced and we're still experiencing. We pray, Lord, that you would give us the the wisdom to know how to use this window of time while we still have it. Lord, we pray for our mare, and we ask that you would visit her with the conviction of the Holy Spirit and that, Lord, she would realize that she needs salvation, and that she would give her life to you. We pray the same for our governor, God.

And we ask, Lord, that you would give us favor from their authority to be able to exercise our faith the way your bible commands us to and that, lord, we would be able to do what your word says with the time that we have. We pray for our president. We pray for those that are trying to figure out all of this, and we ask, god, that you would, by the spirit, not just inspire them with certain laws or certain policies, that, lord, you would inspire their hearts to look to heaven and to meet you, lord, in a special way. Lord, we ask for our brothers and sisters across this world that are facing much more severe restrictions than we are. And we pray, Lord, that you would give them the strength to endure until the end.

We pray for the strength to endure until the end. Make us into the people that you want us to be. In Jesus' name, amen. As I was praying, a certain comment that somebody shared with me, I believe a couple years ago, just came to my mind. I wanna share it and then we'll let you go.

A friend was telling me about his friend that was talking to Chinese pastors via Skype or something. And at the end of their conversations, he was a missionary and he was talking to pastors in China. The American missionary that my friend knows that he was telling me about. Ask the Chinese pastors, how can we be praying for you in China? What is it that we can do here in America to to cry out to you?

And the Chinese pastor humbly said, we appreciate your prayers, but we wanna say that if there's anybody in need of prayer, it's the American church. See, we are we are experiencing persecution, but you guys are suffering from lukewarmness. And so we are praying for the American church to realize that there's so much more than what they are experiencing. When I heard that, you know, America used to send out missionaries. It was the launching pad of missionaries just seventy years ago.

And now we have different countries sending missionaries to America. May God bless you as we lean upon him for his strength.