In An Antagonizing World

John 17:1-26

Message No. 0782 | Twitter @GodandUs | www.wisdom-speaks.ca

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The events that we see in our societies today, especially the persecution of Christians, are not new, nor were they unforeseen. The devil wants to silence Christians, but we cannot allow him to succeed. This week, we examine the world’s antagonism against children of God, and we encourage ourselves to never relent. May the Lord bless you as you read.

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In John chapter 17, Jesus dedicated a whole chapter of the Bible to praying for His disciples and those who would believe in Him through them. His prayers were not just words, they were prophetic. Being all-knowing, He, of course, knew in what kind of world His disciples would live in, and the challenges they would face as they profess Him, especially those who were alive at that time, and those of us who live in the end times.

During the barbaric age, people were tortured, slaughtered and dismembered in unthinkable fashions, just by the snap of a king’s fingers. There were laws, but kings and emperors were, apparently, above them. Jesus was subjected to a cruel and unimaginably painful death. How a human being would nail another human being to a wooden cross, with giant hammers and extra-long nails, and to listen to the continuous cry of pain from the victim and still have a straight face and an unmoved soul, is, quite frankly, unbelievable. But it happened, and not only so, but the crucifiers of Jesus even thrusted a sword into His side to ensure that He was dead.

In John chapter 16 verses 2-4, Jesus told His disciples:

They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.

The things we see in our societies today, particularly the antagonism that we witness against the church and against Christians, are not unknow to Jesus. In many societies where other religions are dominant, you risk jail time or death if you talk about Jesus. And amazingly, even in societies where Christianity is dominant, you see people of other religions try to force you to watch what you say or do, because you may be offending them or their religion. Just mention the name of Christ, and you have ignited fire. Why is the name of Jesus so offensive to the world, one might ask?

Well, the god of this world is not at rest, because he knows that his time is short, and his window of opportunity to deceive as many as he can is closing. This end-time fight is fierce, so he will do all he possibly can to eliminate opposition and any attempt at preaching sanity and holiness in our societies. Well did Peter see this in advance when he wrote in 1 Peter 5:8-9:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

As He prayed for the disciples (and those of us who believe and live in this end time), Jesus did not ask the Father to take us out of this world. Rather, He prayed that He should keep us from the evil one. In John 17:15-17, He prayed thus:

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

We all need to be encouraged. God will not remove us from the antagonism and persecution of this world, but He is able to keep us from the evil one. His Word is truth, and we need to hold onto it, notwithstanding whichever opposition that we may face. The evil one succeeds if we become afraid and stop talking about Christ or stop attending fellowship. We cannot allow that to happen.

What to Do?

In the world you will face tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world (John 16:33).