Meeting: Sunday School
Theme: The Church Life In Times Of Troubles/Tribulations
Minister(s): Bro David Kilanko
(Matthew 10:22) – “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
Man would hate you for God’s name sake and you must endure for you to be saved. (Matthew 24:9-10) – “9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” (John 15:18-24) – “18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. 23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.”
If we are to be received by the lord, there are things he will allow to prove us. Nobody enters the kingdom unproven and untested. If Satan doesn’t come at you, he probably has you where he wants you to be. If there is no pressure, Satan is happy the way you are.
The truth is, there is no persecution that we would see that is greater than what Jesus has passed through. So we have Jesus as a forerunner. The Lord wants to reculture our hearts so that whatever the devil brings, we will stand.
The Persecution Of The “Post Apostolic” Church
We must have a resolved heart to hold on to our faith even in the midst of tribulation. The church of old went through a lot of tribulations that if subjected to the current generation, there would be no church as people will not be able to stand the tribulations.
The Christians of old died from commitment to “apostles doctrine”, not word of righteousness. The weapons available on the earth are able to wipe off the earth 500 times, but the age can only be closed by the Lord. It was the persecution of the dark ages that brought about the Roman-Catholic Church.
In the church of Old, there was nothing like faith. They believed that salvation was gotten by works. These teachings were propagated by the Roman-Catholic Church. God had to raise many believers who fought for the preservation of the faith – men like William Tynsdale, etc. Men like this made determinations to ensure that men knew the bible for themselves by making the bible more accessible. And because of these, they were persecuted. Many of us can’t go through even the littlest persecution now because we’re very lily livered.