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Christian? What Do You Mean? General James Green I OFTEN PONDER what it means, really means, to be called “Christian.” This term is used so loosely these days among the “Christians.”
TEXT: “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Peter 4:16-18, KJV) The apostle Peter puts forth the call to “Christian constancy” (4:12-19) during their trials in this world; but we find less and less of this “Christian constancy” among the professors of that name “Christian”—which is derived from the name “Christ.” WE FIND LESS AND LESS WHO WILL SUFFER PERSECUTION FOR HIS NAME. Instead, they find convenient ways to AVOID being singled out by the world and persecuted, mocked, or even tolerated. They find ways to BLEND into the world, conform to its ways, yet still claim to be oh, so, “Christian!” Reproached Backing up to verse 14: “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified;” this is Peter’s version of Jesus’ Matthew 5:11. We also hear several times of the apostles suffering for the name of Jesus, e.g., Acts. 5:41; 9:16; 21:13.
Violent Antagonism As in their day, so now. We are witnessing violent antagonisms all around the world for Christ’s sake these days, especially from the Islamic religion. Here in America, the forces of HELL are arrayed against Christ and His followers: Political Correctness (PC), Pink Perversions, Muslim madness, and socialism/communism are on the rise to infiltrate, educate, and dominate—caring nothing for Christianity. The sad part of all this is more and more “Christians” are being TERRORIZED into denying the Christian faith; others simply go the liberal way, siding with the enemies on points of view, yet holding a very weak stance on Christianity. Unfriendly Spirit When will the church realize that we can’t serve two masters? What we have is a feral, oxymoronic church. The truth is that the spirit of the world is not friendly towards the Spirit of Christ, and those who are “in Christ.” At times, the tension breaks out into overt acts of violent antagonism.
Called Out What does this mean? It means that we’re not only “called out” of the world, but we’re also called to “stay out” of the world. This means, my dear backslidden friends, one “called out” to be a Christian can no longer drift along on the stream of this world’s ideals of living (see Eph. 2:1-5). I FIND IT VERY STRANGE (QUEER) WHEN “CHRISTIANS” ARE NOT PERSECUTED! This tells me that you have safely conformed to the world, conveniently toned down, e.g., “lukewarm” (“pukewarm”).
Refiner’s Fire or Hell’s Fire? Take your pick: the refiner’s fire (Prov. 27:21) does not consume the gold; it consumes the dross (1 Pet. 1:7). The trial of our faith (trial in Gk.=“the tried [or proved] part,” what is genuine in your/our faith) is done by and through God’s refining fires; if we refuse this, Hell’s fire will be the alternative.
Christ= Extra! Many, and I mean MANY, (so called) Christians, use Christ as an EXTRA in their lives; not the ONLY, but the EXTRA. These deceived folks play the church game, never selling out 100 percent, but about 50 percent, with some, maybe 20 percent, or how about 10 percent? Christ is not a serviceable addendum to human life; He IS the radical/revolutionary center to which life must be reconciled and conformed. I believe this; we need the refiner’s fire, to purify us totally/wholly.
God’s Mercy Some think that salvation is all there is. It is only the very beginning of our spiritual journey. Fruitfulness is the end. Conformity to His will/way is the end. Wheat and not chaff is the end. It is God’s mercy to allow persecution, trials, and tribulations in our lives; at times, these are even designed by Him! It is discipline that corrects, matures, and causes the children of His Kingdom to become “partakers of the (His) holiness” of the Lord (see Heb. 12:10). Such tests/trials reveal weaknesses; they strengthen and confirm character; they develop hidden powers. It has been said that GREAT SOULS ALWAYS WEAR CROWNS THAT HAVE BEEN FASHIONED IN FIRES OF GREAT SORROWS. Some, actually MOST, avoid suffering for Christ. But in reality, it is this ingredient that brings us closer to Christ. We only are PARTAKERS of His pain—He died a cruel death! Remember this. Being reproached for our faith is not a curse, but a blessing. Why run away from a blessing?
Die For Allah Take the Muslims for example. Jihad to them, according to Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Qur’an, states on page 442 (referring to one of the dozens and dozens of violent passages): “It may require fighting in Allah’s cause, as a form of self-sacrifice (martyrdom).” And on page 1,315 Ali states what jihad really means (not what their American political/religious propaganda machine spews out to all you unlearned folks): “When once the fight (jihad) is entered upon, carry it out with the utmost vigor and strike home your blows (with weapons) at the vital points (necks!),” he advises Muslims, quoting their holy book (a book of HATE, LIES, MURDER, THEFT etc.), “You cannot wage war with kid gloves.” Well said Ali! Please pay attention to what Qur’an you read from. The English translation (cheap ones they give away) water down the interpretations. They use this to deceive you folks about the real nature of Islam. Check out page 438 (Ali’s) where Ali interprets the Quran’s “sword verse” as a BATTLE CRY against the “People of the Book” (Christians of the Bible) and against Jews: “The fighting may take the form of slaughter, or capture, or siege, or ambush and other stratagems.” THIS, MY DEAR IGNORANT FRIENDS, IS REAL, GENUINE ISLAM; THE KILLING OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS. And we’re not speaking about conventional warfare. We’re speaking about using the SWORD of STEEL to spread their unholy, unethical, repulsive, hateful, and murderous false religion.
Demilitarized for you! Yes, those cheap Qurans they hand out by the millions to you (English) Americans have been demilitarized and rendered more pacifistic for unbelievers. But if you dare to, obtain their (hateful) Saudi versions. I have several, and one can see how deceitful these people are. But even in the cheap English versions, Islam’s militant nature bleeds through, but the blood flow is a trickle, not like the Saudi version where one’s neck is hacked! (Ali’s commentary, which they know most Americans will never buy or read, is published in small print; all 6,311 pages, foot notes alone covers 1,760 pages.
All that Islamic BULL! Don’t believe for one minute that Islam/Jihad is “peaceful.” HA! Look at the flow of blood from their false prophet’s day right up until now—rivers and rivers of blood. They LIE! They DECEIVE! When speaking to dumb American audiences, imams etc., they boldly declare that jihad means “inner warfare” (like that of Christianity, see Eph. Cpt. 6), but to Islamic audiences, “JIHAD IS PHYSICALLY FIGHTING the enemies (non-Muslims) of Islam to protect and advance the religion of Islam”. This is the REAL Islam!
Both militaries and civilians are legitimate targets My point of bringing this up to you, is that Muslims embrace hardships, sufferings, even death for Allah. This puts the “Christian” camp in a real bad light because most “Christians” won’t even wage the inner warfare, die to “self-life,” suffer hardships, persecutions, let alone DIE for Christianity. Tell me “Christians,” who is waging this war? A fundraiser for CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), Wahhaj, boldly declares: “When Allah demands us to fight, we’re not stopping, and nobody’s stopping us;” Wahhaj: “Stand up for Justice”). If you are interested in the truth about Islam, and you ought to be since you are a target!, write for our several dozens of booklets on this Ungodly/Hateful/ Murderous religion. I’m sure you won’t hear these criminals telling you the real truth about Islam.
BACK TO OUR TEXTS: “ But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1 Pet. 4:15-18).
CHRISTIAN was in origin a nickname meaning “a partisan of Christ” and was current in Antioch about the middle of the first century (see Acts 11:26). Actually, the word “suffer” (v. 15, 16) does not necessarily mean “punished by a magistrate.” The word is quite general. Verse 15, Peter deals with “suffering” as a murderer, a thief, or as an evildoer; they certainly will be brought before magistrates, but in v. 16, he deals with “suffering” as a CHRISTIAN, for being “a partisan of Christ,” (see Acts 5:41). There are “radical revolutionaries” (in the physical sense), claiming to be Christian, who have laid themselves open to accusation as seditionaries and members of secret societies which seek to overthrow the government of America. What would they replace it with except something as bad as the government itself. Nowhere are we instructed to overthrow the governments of this world by force (or by lies!). WE’RE SUPPOSE TO MAKE DISCIPLES FOR CHRIST, AND CHRIST ALONE. This is our intent. All this hype of “End of the World” stuff provokes the wrong kind of spirit. We’ve known our share of these “free spirits” who follow their carnal desires, not God’s spiritual directives, and who tactlessly criticize all authority, even God’s! Mistaken zeal can and will bring you disfavor; godly zeal will do the same, but at least we stick to Scripture—REBUKING SIN, NOT KILLING THE SINNER. We here at ACMTC believe in zealous evangelistic outreaches: getting the unsaved saved, warning the damned about damnation, teaching converts Biblical doctrine, and exhorting the weak to be strong. We here would love to see America really be Christian, but if you can’t get heart-service, hand-service is still not good enough. And if we’re not going to lay down our lives for Christ, we surely won’t lay it down for others. There are more ways to be a martyr than blowing one’s self up; dying to “self-life” counts more in the eyes of God.
Moralistic Moralistic Christians who make faith a matter of rules and regulations and seek to impose them upon others are missing the Big picture; get them to fall-in-love with their savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. If we love Him, it is much easier to love the unlovable. We here certainly believe in Biblical laws/regulations/convictions etc., but we know these alone will not/cannot make genuine disciples of Christ. If we love Him, we will keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15). Jesus uses the “if” word: “If you love me, keep My commandments.” The most solid proof one can give is keeping the Words of Jesus, more so than sacrifice or tears alone. And in keeping Jesus’ Words, we will suffer for His Name’s sake...count on it!!
Suffer in His Will Look at the pitiful, pathetic, and putrid state of this thing called “The church.” Because she has played the whore with the world, she has become diseased: spiritual AIDS and STD’s are evident. There was a time when Christians (as a whole) were distinguishable from the world’s people. Their love and commitment to Christ made a difference in their everyday lives, not like these religious fakes and snakes who put on grandiose shows, collect lots of $$, live secretly (some not so secret!) in sins, yet maintaining an aura (behaving as if they are angelic) of spirituality (hey, baby-boy Joel Osteen)!
Singled Out! Oh, ya, being a genuine believer will single you out of the crowd. More hostilities will come from within the “church.” The popular and loosely used term “Christian” has little distinctive meaning nowadays. Perhaps suffering (that dirty word!) at the hands of the world might, I said might, rescue it from meaninglessness. Perhaps? Not that we go around looking for persecutions/sufferings. NO! But if we live godly, we WILL suffer persecution (see 2 Tim. 3:12). Reverse that verse, and we get no persecution because of no godliness, (see also Matt. 5:10-12; 10:22; Acts 14:22; Phil 1:29; 1 Pet. 4:12).
Calling for conformity The world never stops calling for conformity to its sick and sinful ways. Funny how many “Christians” heed this demonic call, yielding to the DELUGE of voices….calling for the believers to CONFORM to their will, their way, laying aside (even trashing!) God’s eternal truths.
Lack of Suffering: ASK YOURSELVES: “IS MY LACK OF SUFFERING A SIGN THAT I HAVE NOT STOOD FIRMLY FOR THE RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR WHICH CHRIST DIED?” ONLY YOU, DEAR READER, CAN HONESTLY ANSWER THAT QUESTION. |