We live in the last days. We know that because the end times began when Jesus came and died on the cross (Heb 1:1-2; 9:26; 1 Pet 1:20). As Jesus was hated and persecuted so will His followers, His hangers-on, His disciples, His faith-ers. Jesus says so: "Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake ... and you will be hated by all for my name's sake" (Mt 10:17-18, 22). Also, "They will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake," (Mt 24:9). In addition, Jesus declares: "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you ... If they persecuted me, they will persecute you," (Jn 15:18, 20). The apostle John teaches: "Do not be surprised, bothers, that the world hates you," (1 Jn 3:13). Do not despair. Consider it a blessing just as Jesus Himself says: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account," (Mt. 5:10-11; also 1 Pet 3:14; 4:12-14). Rest assured. Jesus will use it for an opportunity to proclaim the gospel all the more: "to bear witness" (Mt 10:18) before those who hate you and persecute you. When you are brought before earthly authorities, you will have the opportunity to confess Jesus as Lord. In addition, you will have the occasion to ask them: "Would you like to believe in Jesus too? Would you like to receive holy baptism in His Name?"
The freedoms that we have enjoyed in this country for over two centuries are in jeopardy. It used to be that being a Christian and going to church in America was, humanly speaking, a feather in your cap or something that enhanced your social standing or resume. Not anymore! Those days are most likely completely gone. There are powerful people, who if they have their way, will eliminate faithful Christianity and faithful Christians from this country. They are already working to do just that all under the guise of preserving American "democracy" and "values."
We hope for the best. However, one should prepare for the worst. The church lives under the cross. It just goes with the territory. The cross is a mark of the church. One might want to read Paul Kengor's The Devil and Karl Marx as well as Wurmbrand: Tortured For Christ: The Complete Story in order to get a glimpse of what this means. Richard Wurmbrand, a Lutheran pastor, tells his story of life under the cross: “The Communists rigged elections with fraud and violence, taking total control of [Romania]. Opposition leaders, police officers, and civil servants were liquidated in a swift wave of terror. Then the Communists focused their sights on the church. Catholic bishops and countless clergy, monks, and nuns were targeted next. Tens of thousands of ordinary people disappeared, sent to jails and labor camps…No one’s life remained the same.”
As a Lutheran pastor who refused to deny Christ and the Christian faith, Rev. Wurmbrand was, as you can guess, arrested. For 14 years he was a political prisoner. He was not registered under his real name on the prison rolls. Why? Well, so his family never knew where he was let alone if he was alive or dead. Rev. Wurmbrand was beaten and questioned 24-7-365. Visitors and mail were forbidden. Those that tortured him said his beloved wife had left him. Others said she was dead! Others told him she had been arrested. That was true. Sabina was sentenced to a forced labor camp. She barely survived.
The Communists devised all sorts of sadistic methods to torture their prisoners. According to Rev. Wurmbrand, who had been a prisoner of both the Nazis and the Communists, “The Communists were far more skilled than the Nazis at extracting information from prisoners…At first the human body can withstand even the most severe physical trauma. But when the body is injured repeatedly, the memory of the pain accumulates until it gradually breaks the will.”
One particular method of torture inflicted on Rev. Wurmbrand was a device that he called “the cupboard.” “Only twenty inches around, the cupboard was studded with nails. It prevented the prisoner from moving." He was locked in the cupboard for two days! Move your body in any way and you would be pierced by the razor sharp nails. You had to remain perfectly still. The Communists would also try to break prisoners by torturing family members. One particular prisoner had his son beaten to death right in front of him. With his dying breath the boy begged his father not to deny Christ.
In Finland, just recently, two faithful Lutherans, a medical doctor and member of parliament, Dr. Päivi Räsänen and pastor Dr. Juhana Pohjola are now being formally charged for hate speech for upholding the biblical teaching that it is God-pleasing for only a man and a woman to be married and have sexual intimacy in the estate of holy marriage. This now "oversteps the boundaries of freedom of speech and religion" according to the Finnish government. The LBGTQ+ cause reigns supreme in Finland. If convicted they both face two years in prison. For more on this story go to www.patheos.com in which Mr. Gene Veith has provided invaluable information on this topic.
Do not think that cannot happen here in the United States. It can. If the Equality Act is passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, all religious freedom in this country will be null and void. That is not an exaggeration! And to a certain extent it is already happening. Read Mao Zedong's Little Red Book and you'll begin to see the parallels with what is going on right now in our country. Are you prepared for the kind of terror that Rev. Wurmbrand experienced? Are you prepared to have your loved ones taken by sadistic street thugs working for a tyrannical government? Are you prepared to suffer daily through physical and mental anguish? All because you are a faithful Lutheran Christian? Are you prepared to stand strong in the Lutheran Christian faith in the face of intense persecution?
To be prepared you need to take full advantage of the freedom to regularly attend the divine service, Bible classes and other services that the church and your pastor provide. Make sure that the number one priority in your life is spelled: F-A-I-T-H! Faith in Jesus the Good Friday Savior of sinners who sustains your faith in Him through the Word preached, studied, meditated upon and His Word hooked with bread and wine by which He feeds you in this wilderness world with His precious and salutary Body and Blood until He brings you into the Promised Land of heaven!
Live a holy life according to God's Word. Why? So that, "when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil," (1 Pet 3:16-17). Jesus is the greatest example of this. Remember? Peter teaches: "Do no repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless," (1 Pet 3:9). "But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed," (1 Pet 4:15-16).
Be engaged as a citizen. Vote. Run for local offices in your community or state. Be active at the grass roots level.
In addition, pray. Pray the Lord's Prayer daily. Pray for the church and your pastor. Pray for those in authority that they would be men and women of the highest integrity and that they would have the wisdom of Solomon and the honesty of the prophet Daniel. Hold the Lord Jesus to His promise that not even the gates of hell will prevail against His church. Pray even for your enemies just like Jesus did: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Start memorizing large chunks of Scripture, hymns, the Small Catechism, prayers and the liturgy. You'll need that in your head and heart so that you can, if needed, pass on the Christian faith to the next generation. After all, like all the tyrants that have gone before, the 21st century tyrants will jail, exile or murder the faithful pastors and destroy all church buildings, Bibles, and liturgical and prayer books. It's happening all over the world at this moment in China, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, etc.
Prepare to meet underground. Like the early Christians in Rome who met in the catacombs. Have a plan in place about where you can gather to hear God's Word, pray, receive the Lord's Supper and help those in need.
Trust the Lord! "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," (Ps 46:1). "He's by our side upon the plain / With His good gifts and Spirit / And take they our life / Goods, fame, child and wife / Though these all be gone / Our vict'ry has been won / The Kingdom our remaineth!" ("A Mighty Fortress" #656:4 LSB).
The freedoms that we have enjoyed in this country for over two centuries are in jeopardy. It used to be that being a Christian and going to church in America was, humanly speaking, a feather in your cap or something that enhanced your social standing or resume. Not anymore! Those days are most likely completely gone. There are powerful people, who if they have their way, will eliminate faithful Christianity and faithful Christians from this country. They are already working to do just that all under the guise of preserving American "democracy" and "values."
We hope for the best. However, one should prepare for the worst. The church lives under the cross. It just goes with the territory. The cross is a mark of the church. One might want to read Paul Kengor's The Devil and Karl Marx as well as Wurmbrand: Tortured For Christ: The Complete Story in order to get a glimpse of what this means. Richard Wurmbrand, a Lutheran pastor, tells his story of life under the cross: “The Communists rigged elections with fraud and violence, taking total control of [Romania]. Opposition leaders, police officers, and civil servants were liquidated in a swift wave of terror. Then the Communists focused their sights on the church. Catholic bishops and countless clergy, monks, and nuns were targeted next. Tens of thousands of ordinary people disappeared, sent to jails and labor camps…No one’s life remained the same.”
As a Lutheran pastor who refused to deny Christ and the Christian faith, Rev. Wurmbrand was, as you can guess, arrested. For 14 years he was a political prisoner. He was not registered under his real name on the prison rolls. Why? Well, so his family never knew where he was let alone if he was alive or dead. Rev. Wurmbrand was beaten and questioned 24-7-365. Visitors and mail were forbidden. Those that tortured him said his beloved wife had left him. Others said she was dead! Others told him she had been arrested. That was true. Sabina was sentenced to a forced labor camp. She barely survived.
The Communists devised all sorts of sadistic methods to torture their prisoners. According to Rev. Wurmbrand, who had been a prisoner of both the Nazis and the Communists, “The Communists were far more skilled than the Nazis at extracting information from prisoners…At first the human body can withstand even the most severe physical trauma. But when the body is injured repeatedly, the memory of the pain accumulates until it gradually breaks the will.”
One particular method of torture inflicted on Rev. Wurmbrand was a device that he called “the cupboard.” “Only twenty inches around, the cupboard was studded with nails. It prevented the prisoner from moving." He was locked in the cupboard for two days! Move your body in any way and you would be pierced by the razor sharp nails. You had to remain perfectly still. The Communists would also try to break prisoners by torturing family members. One particular prisoner had his son beaten to death right in front of him. With his dying breath the boy begged his father not to deny Christ.
In Finland, just recently, two faithful Lutherans, a medical doctor and member of parliament, Dr. Päivi Räsänen and pastor Dr. Juhana Pohjola are now being formally charged for hate speech for upholding the biblical teaching that it is God-pleasing for only a man and a woman to be married and have sexual intimacy in the estate of holy marriage. This now "oversteps the boundaries of freedom of speech and religion" according to the Finnish government. The LBGTQ+ cause reigns supreme in Finland. If convicted they both face two years in prison. For more on this story go to www.patheos.com in which Mr. Gene Veith has provided invaluable information on this topic.
Do not think that cannot happen here in the United States. It can. If the Equality Act is passed by Congress and signed by President Biden, all religious freedom in this country will be null and void. That is not an exaggeration! And to a certain extent it is already happening. Read Mao Zedong's Little Red Book and you'll begin to see the parallels with what is going on right now in our country. Are you prepared for the kind of terror that Rev. Wurmbrand experienced? Are you prepared to have your loved ones taken by sadistic street thugs working for a tyrannical government? Are you prepared to suffer daily through physical and mental anguish? All because you are a faithful Lutheran Christian? Are you prepared to stand strong in the Lutheran Christian faith in the face of intense persecution?
To be prepared you need to take full advantage of the freedom to regularly attend the divine service, Bible classes and other services that the church and your pastor provide. Make sure that the number one priority in your life is spelled: F-A-I-T-H! Faith in Jesus the Good Friday Savior of sinners who sustains your faith in Him through the Word preached, studied, meditated upon and His Word hooked with bread and wine by which He feeds you in this wilderness world with His precious and salutary Body and Blood until He brings you into the Promised Land of heaven!
Live a holy life according to God's Word. Why? So that, "when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil," (1 Pet 3:16-17). Jesus is the greatest example of this. Remember? Peter teaches: "Do no repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless," (1 Pet 3:9). "But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed," (1 Pet 4:15-16).
Be engaged as a citizen. Vote. Run for local offices in your community or state. Be active at the grass roots level.
In addition, pray. Pray the Lord's Prayer daily. Pray for the church and your pastor. Pray for those in authority that they would be men and women of the highest integrity and that they would have the wisdom of Solomon and the honesty of the prophet Daniel. Hold the Lord Jesus to His promise that not even the gates of hell will prevail against His church. Pray even for your enemies just like Jesus did: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Start memorizing large chunks of Scripture, hymns, the Small Catechism, prayers and the liturgy. You'll need that in your head and heart so that you can, if needed, pass on the Christian faith to the next generation. After all, like all the tyrants that have gone before, the 21st century tyrants will jail, exile or murder the faithful pastors and destroy all church buildings, Bibles, and liturgical and prayer books. It's happening all over the world at this moment in China, the Middle East, Nigeria, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, etc.
Prepare to meet underground. Like the early Christians in Rome who met in the catacombs. Have a plan in place about where you can gather to hear God's Word, pray, receive the Lord's Supper and help those in need.
Trust the Lord! "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," (Ps 46:1). "He's by our side upon the plain / With His good gifts and Spirit / And take they our life / Goods, fame, child and wife / Though these all be gone / Our vict'ry has been won / The Kingdom our remaineth!" ("A Mighty Fortress" #656:4 LSB).