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“You will hear of wars
and threats of wars,
but don’t be anxious.
Yes, these things must take place,
but the end won’t follow
immediately. |
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Nation will go to war against
nation,
and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be earthquakes in many
parts of the world,
as well as famines,
but this is only the first of the
birth pains.
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“When these things begin to happen, watch
out!
You will be handed over to the local
councils and beaten in the synagogues.
You will stand trial before governors and
kings because you are my followers.
But this will be your opportunity to tell
them about me.
For the Good News must first be preached to
all nations.
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So when you are arrested and stand trial,
don’t worry in advance what to say.
Just say what God tells you at that time,
for it is not you who will be speaking,
but the Holy Spirit through you.
(2)
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“You never said
we would not be buffeted by
evil,
but You did promise that
everyone born of God
will overcome,
and that the Lamb
will overcome all
that wars against the truth.(3)
Since those who suffer with You
will also reign with You -
why not spell your ordeals
‘suffer-reign?’
(4)
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Lord, where conversion
brings a sword into believers’ lives,
cleaving them from all they hold most dear,
strengthen and reward each one
for being so sincere –
for there is none more shell-like
than those who resist
the call on their life
by going their own way.
May we not let fear make us overly discreet
in keeping the good news to ourselves.
We intercede that Your people will reach out
with words as well as deeds,
and with deeds as well as words -for how
will people respond without a preacher?
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“If the time comes when we find ourselves
in the pillory, in spheres where oppressive
forces reign,
may we know freedom from the prevailing
fear,
and the closeness of the Heavenly host.
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The scene at the dockside in Copenhagen was
heartrending.
The year was 1732, and two young Moravian
believers were tearing themselves away from
weeping loved ones to set out on one of the
most remarkably sacrificial journeys
imaginable.
These young men had been so burdened for the
eternal fate of three thousand slaves, who
were about to be shipped off to the West
Indies, without any access to the gospel,
that they voluntarily went with them.
As the ship got under way their cry rang
out,
‘May the Lamb that was slain receive the
reward of His suffering.’ |
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God greatly used the witness of these two men.
They
rose to high places in the Moravian church in later
life
and many others felt the call to the mission
field as a result of their example.(5)
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John Bunyan likewise entrusted himself and his loved
ones
to the everlasting arms
when he resisted the authority’s offer
to set him free from jail –
but with this sting in the tail:
he must promise not to preach.
Irresolute, Bunyan lay awake
while friends clamoured
with him to accept this Lucifer-tipped offer
for the sake of his destitute family.
As Giant Despair hammered home these iron-clad
nails,
he cried out,
“Lord, I feel as though I’m pulling the roof down
over my own head, but I must do it, I must.”
It was because he chose to stay in prison
that he
wrote the most successful
Christian book of all time
-
The Pilgrim's Progress.
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Lord…strengthen all who have to take a costly
courageous stance for you
and all who must one day do the same.
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