Good Morning Friends,
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under
the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and
the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long,
Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and
avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told
to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers
who were to be killed as they had been was completed.” (Revelation 6:9-11)
How long will God allow people to be killed
just because they are Christians? It seems foreign to us because we live in
freedom, but not every place in the world enjoys the same blessing. I’ve read
story after story of people who have lost their jobs because of their faith,
lost their homes when those opposed to Christianity set them afire, and lost
their lives to angry mobs or government persecution. Such stories aren’t from
years ago, they are happening right now in some parts of the world. How long will
God allow it to continue?
How long will God allow the world to keep
going from bad to worse? The hope has always been that things will get better,
but they haven’t! Surely, we think, people will begin to see the folly of their
sin and turn to the Lord. Won’t revival sweep across our land and restore
righteousness? But it hasn’t. Sin continues to increase and people become more
and more accustomed to it until it becomes accepted. Righteousness is spurned,
sometimes even rejected as wrong. The mind of the world becomes more and more
twisted. How long will God allow it to continue?
How long before God will put an end to sin?
How long before God will bring persecution to an end? How long before God will
bring justice to those who have made His people suffer?
We ask those questions and so do those who
are already in God’s presence. And God has answered -- be patient, keep
waiting. Judgment will come according to His time, not according to ours. When
the last martyr has given his life for the faith, then God will act. Right up
to the end people will suffer for being Christians. That is God’s plan. He’s
giving people every opportunity to turn to Him, even at the cost of the
suffering of His people. But the promise of God still stands -- one day that
suffering will end! One day reward will come for God’s people and judgment will
come for those who oppose Him. Wait patiently!
His, by Grace,
Steve
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