Strength for Today

Yesterday my wife and I visited the offices of Voice of the Martyrs in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. You can learn about their ministry by going to www.persecution.com. While my wife was being take on a tour of the facility, I chatted with Tom White, Executive Director of VOM. We talked about the "normalacy" of persecution. Christians in countries that are hostile to Christianity understand that being persecuted for their faith is normal. They understand the teaching of Jesus: "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved" (Matt. 10:22). They actually expect to be hated and are not surprised like we in America are when someone hates us for simply being a Christian. Hatred and persection of Christians is not localized. Jesus said, "You will be hated by all nations for My name's sake" (Matt. 24:9). There is something about the name of Jesus that brings hatred to a boiling point to those who are opposed to Him and everything His name stands for. Again Jesus said, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you" (John 18:18). You will never hear teaching like this from Joel Osteen but you will hear it from Jesus Christ. Again: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 18:19). Finally, Jesus warns, "Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (John 18:20). This, then, is the "normalacy" of being hated and persecuted. Our Lord said it would be this way. Perhaps this is the way that we may know "the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10). The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.