Anathema Maranatha - 1 Corinthians 16:22

 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
 - 1 Corinthians 16:22

Those of you who regularly read my posts will notice that the tone of this missive has changed. I have had to approach the meat of this letter in its raw state simply because the message of God’s grace is all too often rejected by those with whom we would share the good news of Jesus Christ. We are without doubt facing the greatest threat and practice of persecution Christians in America have ever had to stand up to. Our prayers are being squelched in the public sector. Our worship is being questioned by the secular powers as to its legality according to “political correctness.” Our symbols of faith are being torn down, removed, and desecrated by those who would see Christianity become a relic of history. How long will it be before crosses are ripped from the ground and forbidden in National Cemeteries? And their barbarous atheist behavior is protected by the “separation of church and state clause.” Yes, that which once protected worship in God is now being used to accuse and condemn us! We, who believe in the one triune God are now cast as villains. Yes, we are being vilified by our own governing authorities! Just to be a Christian has now become “anathema” to the world. In an article from “The Atlantic” (August 22, 2015) Hillary Clinton is quoted, “I don’t believe you change hearts,” Clinton told Julius Jones in an candid moment backstage after a campaign event. “I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate. You’re not going to change every heart. You’re not. But at the end of the day, we can do a whole lot to change some hearts, and change some systems, and create more opportunities for people who deserve to have them.”  They get it; all of them get it: no one, not anyone, is going to change the Christian heart! It is not merely our “evangelical exercises among the unsaved” that are coming under fire; our Christian hearts have now become the bull’s eye and center of fire for the secular world’s hatred.
As Christians we have always been told that we will face both hatred and persecution. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”  John 15:18-20.
 But no where in the Bible are we commanded to become victims of our faith! We may become victims “for” our faith and because of it. But no where in the Bible are we commanded to lay our heads on the chopping blocks! No where are we called to martyrdom! If we must give our lives for our faith in Jesus Christ, then so be it. We will be in Paradise with Him on that day. But within the holy scriptures we have been told that we do indeed have not only the right to life and liberty but the duty to protect and sustain that right!  “Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” - Luke 22:36   Jesus Christ Himself said to us that we may indeed need the sword! Never to be used in aggression, but to defend life . . . defend life!
Our heavenly award awaits us but in the mean time we must continue to preach the word of God to all. We must continue to recognize and worship Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior! And IF IT IS WITHIN OUR POWER, we are not to allow those who would persecute us to have their day. We will not be like sheep being led to the slaughter no matter what our persecutors say. As Christ’s sheep we are to spread His holy word. And we are to be wise in doing so.  “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” - Matthew 10:16. We believe in the word of Christ Jesus. It will enliven us. It will quicken us. And it will sustain us through the persecution awaiting us. And should we survive the day, then all praise and glory be to God Almighty for it is He who brings us through the Valley of Death, and He alone! And to the one who by his hostility and hatred of God would choose the prince of the world over the Prince of Peace, let them be accursed. Lord come quickly!