Bible-believers chased out of Britain for not keeping to the script

It is perhaps ironic that, on the approach to the 400^th anniversary of the Mayflower’s sailing in 1620,¹ the British nation is plunged into the same sort of fractious, volatile scenario that led to that great exodus of the faithful.

When, following the Elizabethan era, James I ascended the throne in 1603, he introduced a policy enforcing religious conformity which almost blew up in his face.

First, there was the unsuccessful ‘gunpowder plot’ through which Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators registered Catholic opposition to the new king with their attempt to reduce Parliament to rubble.

Then the Puritans and Separatists came in for the monarch’s ire. At a time of significant political and religious tension, he tried to steady the ship by ensuring that all his people followed the same pseudo-Protestant script.

Harrying Out the Faithful

As with the Catholics, he also saw the Puritans as potential enemies, warning that he would “harry them out of the land”.

And indeed his dire threat duly succeeded in driving out the so-called ‘Pilgrim Fathers’, who had inaugurated the Separatist Church on the borders of Yorkshire and north Nottinghamshire.

Like other Puritans, they were devout Christians who believed the Church needed purifying from ritualistic dross. But whereas the Puritans sought change from within, the Pilgrim Fathers were convinced such endeavour was a lost cause and that they needed to “come out from among them” (Isa 52:11).

But some were fined, others were imprisoned and the pressure of persecution eventually led, in 1608, to their escape to a more tolerant Holland.

In the 17^th Century, devout Christians were imprisoned, persecuted and driven out of the country.

James I, whose policy of religious conformity made life difficult for Puritans like the Pilgrim Fathers.Seeking Freedom

It was a further dozen years before they sailed for the New World in the Mayflower, the king having changed his mind and given them permission to establish a colony there.

And so these Christians laid the foundations of what was to become the greatest nation on earth, built firmly on the principles of the Bible that had been challenged back in England.

These courageous pioneers were thus used to loose us from the chains of slavery to religious conformity which saw communities forced to attend the state-recognised Church where ritual and dead orthodoxy reigned, and where the Bible was chained to the pulpit.

Those who sought to experience the vitality of New Testament Christianity with its emphasis on freedom of the Spirit and a personal relationship with God were deemed outcasts.

Back to the ‘Dark Ages’?

It seems we have come full circle. Faced with the ever-present threat of terrorism, along with aggressive lobbying of secular humanists, we are now urged to follow the politically correct script - or else.

The Bible has been jettisoned in favour of what is effectively cultural Marxism, commanding what is and is not permissible to say and do.

Politicians condemn Brunei for proposing draconian new laws on corporal and capital punishment, seen as a return to the ‘Dark Ages’. But we are hardly squeaky clean ourselves in the way we have driven a coach and horses through the Ten Commandments, seriously undermined marriage (which is designed to create safe boundaries for the protection of family life and society in general) and by proposing state-sponsored child abuse through the indoctrination of children as young as four with the idea that they can choose their gender.

I suppose, in a way, this is the natural outcome of the state-sanctioned massacre of nine million unborn babies over the past 50 years.

Today, we are all urged to follow the politically correct script – or else.

The Blame Game

When will we acknowledge our own guilt? When will we stop pointing a finger at other people’s sins and take the ‘plank’ out of our own eye?

Under the proposed ‘no-fault’ divorce law, adultery will no longer be regarded as a sin – not even legally. It is supremely ironic that in a culture in which we are encouraged to blame everyone else for our troubles at a cost of millions, we are about to be exonerated in a key area of life on which almost everything else depends – that is, marriage and the family.

It means that no-one will officially be to blame for break-ups which will have caused untold heartbreak in countless homes. If we are no longer to be held responsible for solemn vows we have made in front of witnesses, what hope do we have of carrying out honest business in the wider world, or of being trusted by others?

What sort of spineless adults will emerge from witnessing their parents split at the drop of a hat? Throwing your toys out of the pram is surely an indulgence reserved for babies who are subsequently disciplined to consider the wider effects of their tantrums.

Shirking Responsibility

New housing estates cannot be built fast enough to keep up with the ever-increasing number of people who no longer know how to live with one another. It’s surely time we encouraged people to take responsibility for their actions.

Instead of honouring role models of commitment to family life, we fawn over celebrities and sportsmen who become the heroes we worship even though, as in some recent high-profile cases, they have set a shocking example of leadership in the home.

On the other hand, rugby stars soon get knocked off their pedestals when they express Christian beliefs on the subject, as did multiple Wimbledon champion Margaret Court.

It’s surely time we encouraged people to take responsibility for their actions rather than resorting to the default position of blaming someone else.

The Way of Escape

The fact is, there is always someone to blame – not just for break-ups, but for the mess we get ourselves in every day, including the Brexit botch-up. That is why Jesus came – to set us free from the burden of brokenness, guilt and regret, and give us new hope, especially with broken relationships.

As we celebrate Easter, we remember that Jesus became our Passover Lamb who frees us from sin through his blood shed on the Cross, prefigured in Egypt 1,500 years earlier by the freedom from slavery of the Jews who marked their doorposts with the blood of a sacrificial lamb.

What Jesus has done for us can be likened to the action of a First World War chaplain who, when asked for prayer by an officer who was about to embark on a dangerous mission into ‘no man’s land’, said he would do more than that – he would go with him. And when a shell exploded near the two men, the chaplain threw himself on the officer and died in his place.²

Offer of Peace

Do not follow the politically correct script. When ancient Israel disobeyed the Lord’s commands, the Prophet Isaiah warned them that “there is no peace for the wicked” (Isa 48:22). But there is peace - and forgiveness, and life - with Jesus!

References

1 Find out more on the Mayflower 400 website.

2 CWR’s Every Day with Jesus, 15 April 2019.

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ story behind Gospel outreach to Jews

With the annual Holocaust Memorial Day fast approaching, it is worth being reminded not only of how many perished, but also of those who escaped the jaws of Nazism – often miraculously.

It is a little-known fact that in spite of terrible persecution in Eastern Europe, thousands of Jewish people were very open to the message of Jesus. In fact, research is currently being undertaken on the so-called ‘Messianic’ believers who died in the Shoah.

Among those who experienced miraculous deliverance from the death camps was Jakob Jocz, a Lithuanian-born third-generation follower of Yeshua who became an evangelist to the Jews of Poland under the auspices of CMJ (the Church’s Ministry amongst Jewish people), a British-based international society already reaping a plentiful harvest of souls throughout Europe and North Africa by the 1930s.

Such was the response to their work that the Warsaw branch CMJ chief Martin Parsons expressed the need for over 700 staff rather than the mere ten suggested at the time.

Miraculous Deliverance

Jocz was sent to Birkenhead, near Liverpool, to train for Anglican ordination, and when he returned to Poland, he wrote: “In spite of anti-Semitism and increasing hatred, the Jews met us in many places with an open mind and with great readiness to hear the gospel.”¹

He added: “Today when the cross is being twisted into a swastika…Jewish men and women flock into the mission halls to hear and to learn about the wonderful Saviour.”

In May 1939, he received an urgent call to England to replace the main speaker of the Church Missionary Society’s annual summer conference, who was unavailable due to illness.

It is a little-known fact that in spite of terrible persecution in Eastern Europe, thousands of Jewish people were very open to the message of Jesus.

In a recent research paper The Rev Dr Jakob Jocz, Dr Theresa Newell writes: “This was indeed a miraculous deliverance as members of his family died at the hands of the Nazis soon afterwards…” Jakob’s father Bazyli was betrayed to the Gestapo and shot to death.

Rich Legacy

The family’s story has something of a Fiddler on the Roof² ring to it. Jakob’s grandfather, Johanan Don, was the local milkman in his shtetl (village) who first encountered the good news of Jesus when seeking medical help for his teenage daughter Hannah (Jakob’s mother) who had been crippled in a fall.

The doctor was a Jewish believer and gave Johanan a Hebrew New Testament. He subsequently became a disciple, but died soon afterwards.

In order to make ends meet, his widow Sarah took in a boarder, a young rabbinic student named Bazyli Jocz. When he read Isaiah 53, he asked his teacher, ‘Who is the prophet speaking about?’ It was of course a situation very reminiscent of the Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion in the Book of Acts (chapter 8). But the teacher was no evangelist, instead hitting him over the head and calling him a ‘detestable Gentile’ for asking such a ‘foolish’ question.

Bazyli was shocked, but undeterred, and after consulting the same doctor who had pointed Johanan in the right direction, he too became a believer.

He duly married Hannah, and Jakob was born in 1906. He became a noted evangelist and theologian whose writings represent a rich legacy of inspiration and encouragement for Christians – all called to preach the Gospel to Jews.

To the Jew First

As the Third Reich stormed across Europe, he wrote a booklet appealing to churches to speak out against the persecution of his people. As an Anglican bishop pointed out in the foreword, “he rightly calls attention to apathy in the church on the subject of missionary effort amongst the Jews.”

Indeed, he challenged the Church to become ‘missional’ as its raison d’etre and to remember the call in that mission is “to the Jew first” (Rom 1:16).

If the Church has no Gospel for the Jews, it has no Gospel for the world.

If the Church has no Gospel for the Jews, he believed, it has no Gospel for the world. He had total confidence in the authority of Scripture and stood on the premise that “loyalty to Jesus Christ is the ultimate test of the disciple”, adding: “Commitment to Jesus Christ makes universalism [the idea that all roads lead to God] impossible.”

He was highly critical of rabbinic Judaism, lamenting that “making Torah into a religion robbed it of life” and saying that the removal of the sacrificial system (following the destruction of the Temple in AD 70) without their acceptance of the “once and for all times sacrifice” of Jesus led Judaism into a pre-occupation with the study of the law. The irony of this, of course, is that the law was anchored in the fact that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin” (Lev 17:11).

One of his theses was that the early Church was much closer to the Old Testament than rabbinic Judaism is today. And he advocated Jewish believers to fulfil the prophetic call to take the Gospel to all nations.

Life in the Midst of Death

Jakob certainly practised what he preached. It is estimated that, through outreach efforts like his, there were as many as 100,000 Jewish believers in Yeshua by the time war broke out in 1939, many of whom would no doubt have shared the fate of their brethren in the concentration camps but who would also no doubt have shared the life-giving Gospel of their Saviour.³

Notes

1 The Rev Dr Jakob Jocz (Olive Press Research Paper, CMJ) by Dr Theresa Newell, to whom I am greatly indebted for the basis of this article. Find out more about CMJ at www.cmj.org.uk.

2 The musical about Jewish survival amidst the oppression of early 20^th Century Tsarist Russia starring a poor milkman famously played by Topol.

3 Peace in Jerusalem (olivepresspublisher.com) by Charles Gardner, p28.

Paul Luckraft interviews a Christian activist daring to expose the hidden deeds of darkness.

Wilfred Wong is an international human rights activist, campaigner and fundraiser for persecuted Christians and also on children’s issues. His life is currently divided between these two strands, but how did this begin and where has God led him along these paths?

Wilfred was born and brought up in Singapore. He did not have a Christian upbringing but was sent to a Christian school where, aged 8, he gave his life to the Lord. He came to the UK in 1986 to study law and qualified as a barrister, practising for a short time. Before long the Lord led him into two specialist areas - persecuted Christians and the welfare of children – and this became a full-time ministry. His background in law would prove helpful but there would be no time for him to continue working as a barrister.

Early Campaign Work

From 1989 Wilfred undertook voluntary work campaigning on behalf of Christian prisoners in the USSR, as well as on behalf of persecuted Christians in some Muslim-majority countries, including Egypt. But the big change came in 1993 when he felt called to leave his legal career and become a full-time activist. Although this was tough at first, God clearly led him, opening doors and overcoming obstacles.

For the next 16 years, Wilfred was a Parliamentary lobbyist with an office in the House of Commons. In this role, obtained through the Jubilee Campaign, he was responsible for arranging meetings and helping MPs speak out on these important topics.

In 1993, Wilfred felt called to leave his legal career and become a full-time activist. Although this was tough at first, God clearly led him, opening doors and overcoming obstacles.

At this time, Wilfred began writing articles for Prophecy Today, including a regular column and feature articles. He was also part of the Editorial Board of the magazine as it then was.

Later, in 2010, Wilfred took a part-time role setting up the UK branch of Stephen’s Children, an Egypt-based Christian ministry. Starting this from scratch and becoming the UK Director was a tough job, but brought its own rewards. The charity is now going strong.

Exposing the Depths of Evil

One of Wilfred’s main concerns is for persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq, an issue which has been slowly gaining attention in recent times. But the intense persecution of Iraq’s Christians had been going on long before ISIS became mainstream news in the West.

The other major part of Wilfred’s calling has been his involvement in investigating and uncovering SRA (Satanist Ritual Abuse). This began in 1993 when he was approached by an MP on the matter. It would occupy Wilfred’s attention for the next 25 years. Being a Parliamentary lobbyist put him in the right place at the right time to take up this challenging issue, but it has clearly also been part of God’s call on his life to expose an extremely dark, covert aspect of our society’s ungodliness.

It is sad and appalling to record that SRA is far more prevalent than is ever reported, and that it is growing in the UK. Thus, it seems, Wilfred has his work cut out, both in terms of raising awareness about this awful matter and in reporting successful UK prosecutions of Satanist Ritual Abusers. To this end he established CASRA (Coalition Against Satanist Ritual Abuse) in February 2014, whose website was launched earlier this year (http://casra.org.uk/).

It is sad and appalling to record that SRA is far more prevalent than is ever reported, and that it is growing in the UK.

Since the revelations concerning Jimmy Savile became public knowledge there has been an increasing acceptance that SRA does exist and needs to be countered. Some of the UK media have reported on Savile’s involvement in Satanism and SRA. The Metropolitan Police Service has publicly acknowledged on its website the existence of satanist abuse (see here).

At the Forefront of the Battle

Evidence is becoming more widely available of the scope and depths of depravity involved in SRA, and there is a growing openness amongst institutions and the public to consider what can be done on the matter to prevent further suffering.

Wilfred is at the forefront of this battle and needs our prayers. He is also available to give talks at local churches or other meetings on this subject. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information or to join the campaign against SRA.

Christians pay the ultimate price as biblical prophecies are played out

The shocking story of Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi, and the persecution of Christians generally in that country, alongside the alarming news of plans to implant microchips in humans, is convincing evidence that we are surely living in the last days.

It was apocalyptic scenarios like this that the risen Jesus graphically conveyed in his Revelation message to the Apostle John, in exile on the Isle of Patmos, as a picture of what life would be like towards the end of the age, shortly before his return.

It would be particularly marked by vicious persecution of his followers, who would nevertheless be rewarded with eternal bliss in his presence by standing firm in refusing to bow to worldly pressure.

Ready to Die?

Asia Bibi was a poorly paid farm labourer who has incurred the wrath of an entire nation for apparently insulting Muhammad – a nation, it seems, that appears unable to protect her from being lynched by angry mobs after the Supreme Court acquitted her of ridiculous charges of blasphemy for which she has endured the best part of the last ten years on death row.

Her alleged crime was committed during an argument with colleagues who accused her of contaminating a vessel used for drawing water from a well – simply because she was an ‘infidel’. Now, finally, she has been freed – or has she?

The Pakistani Government, led by former cricket international Imran Khan, claims no country has so far offered her asylum – we know, shamefully, that this is so far the case with Britain, who fear reprisals from Islamists here – so she is being held in a ‘safe house’.

But she and her family remain in fear of their lives. In fact, at least two of those who have stood up for her, including a former state governor and a Government minister, have already paid with their lives for doing so.

Asia Bibi was a poorly paid farm labourer who has incurred the wrath of an entire nation for apparently insulting Muhammad

Governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer was gunned down by his own bodyguard – shot 27 times in central Islamabad – who was subsequently hailed a hero with an estimated 100,000 mourners attending his funeral.¹

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for minorities and himself a Christian, also protested against Asia’s conviction and sentence. And less than two months after Governor Taseer’s death, his car was riddled with bullets as he drove through Islamabad. He died in hospital.

But he had evidently known what was coming, as was learnt through a video released after his assassination. Speaking to the camera, he said: “I believe in Jesus Christ who has given his own life for us, and I am ready to die for a cause. I’m living for my community…and I will die to defend their rights.”²

Persecution…and Then the End

Christians in Pakistan have suffered dreadfully, with hundreds of lives lost through suicide and other bomb attacks on churches. It is a despicable situation which none of our weasel Western governments have the spine to address.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus warned: “The time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me” (John 16:2f).

And in his revelation to John, this was spelled out a little more graphically: “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been” (Rev 6:9-11).

Later on, a great multitude appeared from every nation, tribe, people and language – all dressed in white robes and worshipping God who would “wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:9-17).

Speaking of the last days, Jesus had earlier said:

Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:9-14)

Alarm Bells Over Implants

Meanwhile alarm bells have been ringing over the prospect of British companies implanting staff with microchips to improve security, according to a report in The Guardian.

UK firm BioTeq, which offers the implants to businesses and individuals, has already fitted 150 in the UK. The tiny chips, implanted in the flesh between the thumb and forefinger, are similar to those for pets. They apparently enable people to open their front door, access their office or start their car with a wave of their hand. Another company, Biohax of Sweden, also provides human chip implants the size of a grain of rice.

Christians in Pakistan have suffered dreadfully, with hundreds of lives lost through suicide and other bomb attacks on churches.

In earlier articles I explained that we would appear to be approaching the days when the biblical warning, also in Revelation, against taking the Mark of the Beast is about to be fulfilled. The prophecy reads: “It [the Beast] also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark…” (Rev 13:16f).

One of our readers, Patricia Jelbert, has already witnessed moves towards using this kind of technology in South Africa, where she warned politicians, churches and schools about it. She writes: “We need to teach our children and grandchildren to say ‘no’. The cost will be high, eventually with no access to anything money buys, but the need not to succumb is vital.”³

In another alarming step towards this apocalyptic scenario, the BBC were recently reported to be encouraging ‘straight’ staff to wear badges indicating their support for LGBTQ+ colleagues, which is likely to ensure that those whose conscience will not allow them to back a gay lifestyle will be discriminated against.

I rest my case. We are living in the last days. Christians, look up, for your redemption is near (Luke 21:28).

References

1 Pendlebury, R. Row over a cup of water that led to murder, riots and global outrage with a Christian mother sentenced to death over blasphemy charges in Pakistan. The Daily Mail, 14 November 2018. 

2 Ibid.

3 Private email communication, 14 November 2018.

As of old, Israelis face flak for following Jesus

It is an undisputed fact that the early followers of Jesus – who were mostly Jewish – came under fiery persecution, often from their own people.

Jesus himself was crucified and many of his disciples suffered similar fates, though more generally at the hands of the Romans.

However, the great Apostle Paul was a leading Jewish rabbi who saw it as his duty to persecute the new movement, presiding over the stoning of St Stephen in the process…until his dramatic encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.

In some respects, things have come full circle since then. Jewish people are once more recognising Jesus as Messiah in significant numbers, and many are experiencing discrimination from their fellow Jews, especially in Israel.¹

Years of Harassment

Among them is Zev Sigulim, from Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, who has witnessed seven years of harassment from Orthodox Jews and been forced to fly to Cyprus to get married because traditional rabbis refuse to recognise Messianic Jews! Some even refused to circumcise his sons.

This is an ongoing issue for many believers, and a campaign is underway to draw the Government’s attention to this gross injustice. Being Messianic is also a potential hindrance to Jews from the diaspora making Aliyah (immigrating to Israel). And yet this does not apply to Jews who follow Buddhism or some New Age religion.

A campaign is underway to draw the Israeli Government’s attention to injustice against Messianic Jews.

But the likeable young Zev is not himself caught up with any campaign for justice. He accepts that being a disciple of Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus) has always been costly, and delights in a way of life totally informed by his faith.

Zev Sigulim – no longer ashamed. Photo: Charles GardnerPraying for Boldness

From an Ultra-Orthodox background, Zev has five children and attends a congregation at Netanya on the Mediterranean coast – a one-hour drive away, quite a distance to travel each Sabbath.

A Polish Jew with blond hair and blue eyes, many of his ancestors perished in the Holocaust but his grandmother survived Auschwitz and the family moved to Israel. However, they subsequently emigrated to Toronto in Canada, where his father married a Gentile convert to Judaism and then made Aliyah to Israel, working for a Christian hi-tech company in Tiberias and becoming a secret Messianic Jew.

Tragically, he died soon afterwards in a car accident, but Zev’s mum had in the meantime noticed the change in his life and became sympathetic with this new movement in spite of opposition from the rest of the family – grandfather Jack disowned them.²

Zev’s widowed mother – pregnant with her third child at the time of her husband’s death – was impressed by the compassion and witness of the Messianic Jews of Arad in the Negev desert and also became a believer. It was at Arad that Zev witnessed the constant harassment of Orthodox Jews protesting at their presence in the city.

“There were pickets outside our house for seven years,” he said, adding:

My two brothers and I are all believers in Yeshua. But I grew up ashamed of my faith. Worried about being spat at and barred from certain activities, I kept it to myself. Then, when I was at the Naval Academy, a friend saw me reading the Bible (which is actually very unusual for Jews) and scolded me for not telling him earlier of my faith, saying: ‘Think of all the conversations we could have had.’

It hit me that I had wasted my time and I prayed that God would give me boldness and opportunities to speak of Yeshua. Inevitably, my faith grew.

95% of Messianics come to faith through non-Jews.

Pointing out that 95% of Messianics have come to faith through non-Jews, Zev encourages Gentiles to share the Gospel with Jews, but worries that most Christians don’t know enough about the Old Testament, which is essential for such witness.

Notes

1 It must be said, however, that this does not usually amount to the sort of vicious persecution Christians are currently suffering in the Muslim Middle East.

2 Many Jews see Christianity as their chief persecutor over the centuries, especially in view of the Holocaust carried out in ‘Christian’ Europe.

News of church growth in Iraqi Kurdistan.

It is not making news headlines here in the UK, but there is a growth of believers in Christ Jesus in Kurdistan. They are getting saved from Islam in the wake of the withdrawal of ISIS.

Below is a collection of reports from personal contacts who have visited the area and comments from believers there. The aim is to encourage believers in the West to think of these brothers and sisters in Christ and hold them in prayer as they struggle in difficult circumstances, often facing persecution and hardship.

They are so very gracious and encouraging in their communications - they need encouragement and whatever support we can give.

In Yeshua,

Peter Adams

The Untenable Situation of the Nineveh Plains Christians

Iraq is split into three general areas: Kurdistan in the north, Sunni Islam in the centre-north of Baghdad, and Shi’a Islam in the south.

The Nineveh Plains of central Iraq are the biblical areas where the Prophets Jonah and Nahum preached. Jonah gave them the besorah (news) and they repented and turned to the God of Israel. 150 years later, Nahum brought news of impending judgment from God. They had, in that short time, turned away from him.

However, Christian societies have survived in this same area for 2,000 years. Those who remain today are facing an existential threat. Their future literally hangs in the balance.

ISIS has all but decimated Christian towns like Qaraqosh and Bartella. I’ve seen their disastrous conditions. There is little or no support from central Government. The powerful Orthodox priests (think of the Jewish priesthood of Yeshua’s day) managed to undermine and ruin the help that was promised by Franklin Graham’s Samaritans Purse. They could have had 500 homes repaired and made habitable, but Evangelical help is not wanted by these men - they’d rather the people suffer.

There is a growth of believers in Christ Jesus in Kurdistan, getting saved out of Islam.

The latest attempt to undermine the demography of the Christian town of Qaraqosh, which has a massive cross at the city entrance that can be seen from miles around, is to infuse Shi’a students into its Christian college. Incredibly, these students are now angered because there is no accommodation for them in town! Meanwhile, 1,000 Christian refugee families returning to the area are themselves desperately trying to repair homes so as to settle down, after three to four years away living in camps.

These people, like my friend RS, need our prayers more than ever before. They are fighting what seems like a losing battle, but for their hope and faith in Yeshua. I do not know how they continue, how they even have the zeal to fight on. But what alternatives do they have? Christians are not welcomed into Europe and America - only Muslims. Such is the skewed world in which we live.

Surely God is coming swiftly and his recompense is with Yeshua, who will wage a ferocious war against his enemies - even these who are destroying the lives of his children.

Thank you father for having a godly heart for the people and the new believers in Kurdistan. It’s true, our area is under threats and [there has been] a hard situation of the economy recently. Please, whenever you guys give help…to the people in Kurdistan, at first pray about it for the families for…grace, peace and [that] hearts would be soft. (HK)

Great Numbers Departing from Islam

I am reliably told that many, many Muslims are departing from Islam in Kurdistan and Iraq. Although they still go to mosque and play the part out of fear, they are no longer practising their faith. This is an indication that the ‘prince of power of the air’ (Eph 2:1-2) is to some degree being challenged.

Yes my father, many Muslims leave Islam. I was a Muslim 5 years ago…I believed in Jesus Christ… (XS)

Many are simply becoming atheists, while others are turning to Christianity. This has been driven by a realisation that the god of ISIS is no god worth following. Attending the mosque has become perfunctory, a way to not draw attention to themselves.

This does not mean all are coming to faith in Yeshua, but it does mean the grip satan has had in these areas is loosening. And in this atmosphere, Kurds in particular are being saved.

These people need our prayers more than ever before. They are fighting what seems like a losing battle, but for their hope and faith in Yeshua.

Meanwhile, the example being set by Christians in the West is no help to these new believers. “It does not inspire Muslims to come to Messiah”, ZH said. “We are coming to Yeshua because of direct revelation from God, reading the Bible and seeing our fellow Muslims in the face of persecution willing to leave Islam to follow Jesus”.

Another commented: “The strength of Islam is the weakness of so-called Christianity in the West...we are bending over backwards to please everybody except Jesus Christ, instead of living to the Glory of the One and Only God the Father.”

Revelations of Jesus

Nevertheless, the Spirit of God is at work in Iraq – for which we need to rejoice! Yeshua, the great revelation of God to man (which the Allah of Islam is incapable of producing), has been causing many Muslims to lose hope in Islam. As they understand and grasp the Judeo-Christian message they are filled with hope.

And the fact that Yeshua suffered persecution gives them greater strength to endure their difficult conditions. It is a motivation to live for him and not to fear any coming tribulation. They are not forsaken, they sense His presence, and KNOW His peace.

A message from XS in Kurdistan who has left Islam:

A God who cannot reveal Himself is not a god…Thanks be to God, the faith is much stronger because God created us in His image. And he revealed [himself in] human flesh to let us not have any doubts about Him...! …that’s the reason we are feeling so pleased because Jesus has been persecuted before each of us, and this persecution is [bearable for] us for the sake of His name.

Others are coming to faith as they see the steadfastness of the believers who have counted the huge cost of leaving Islam. This is truly different from our Western idea of people coming to Jesus to see what they can get out of him. But coming to the Lord is not a formula to a better lifestyle. The reality is that most Christians who come to Yeshua in earnestness find themselves literally surrounded by problems.

Our brothers in Kurdistan see the life of a believer quite differently. They see Yeshua walking beside them in the midst of their storms. This is the type of faith that draws unbelieving Muslims to Yeshua. They are not coming for a better lifestyle; they are coming because he is the only hope we have in this life. A new lifestyle, or a new life? There is a huge, huge difference.

New Death Threats for Kurdish Believers

Recently I had a video call to Christian friends in Kurdistan who I visited a couple of months ago. They have bad news concerning their safety, yet in this darkness there is the encouragement of seeing the light of new believers coming to faith.

After a recent distribution to Muslim widows and mothers who lost sons fighting ISIS, they’ve received death threats. This has unfortunately meant they have had to leave their homes for the safety of Irbil. Quite incredibly, in the midst of these tribulations, they are seeing Muslims come to faith. Another two men have come to believe in Yeshua in these last days.

It seems almost bizarre that while we in the West are busy discussing and debating the rapture, and whether Christians are due to go through tribulation, our brothers are faced with some very trying and testing times. Consider the domestic difficulties on top of this, with some spouses not being saved and the pressure on these marriages.

While we in the West are busy discussing and debating the rapture, and whether Christians are due to go through tribulation, our brothers are faced with some very trying and testing times.

Apart from this, they have the looming political spectre of Iran hanging over them, barely half an hour away. Iran is pushing to have a crescent running from ancient Persia through Iraqi Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon opening the way to the Mediterranean Sea. And of course poised to take Israel from her northern border.

Thankfully we have the scriptures full of exhortation to those enduring hardships and living under an anti-Christ system already. These are two we discussed recently:

They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. (John‬ ‭16:2‬)‬

While the context John speaks about is Judaism, exactly the same applies to those put out of the mosques. The Mullahs have been speaking about our brethren and their need to be put to death.

…strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God’. (Acts‬ ‭14:22‬) ‬‬

Paul gives further warning here that followers of Yeshua must not expect to enter the Kingdom any other way than by tribulation.

I ask you who care to please pray for them. And those already praying, please continue praying the Lord’s protection over them and their families. These people do not have other Christians to look to for guidance and support. They are in desperate need of our prayers and have asked that I convey their deep appreciation for our love and concern towards them.

Points for prayer:

• Please pray for Muslims departing from Islam in Kurdistan and Iraq: that the Spirit of our Lord God may draw them to himself, and that they do not stay in a spiritual vacuum, only for it to be filled by something else. Our prayers can be influential in the redemption of these people, for whom Yeshua died.
  
• Please pray for the believers in Kurdistan who have left Islam - that they continue in this new faith in Yeshua the Messiah.

Point for action:

There are some believers in Kurdistan who cannot afford kerosene for their heaters, and those in Soran and Irbil also need food support through the winter. Temperatures drop below freezing and I am planning to send some money to my contacts there who will see it gets into the right hands.

If anyone has a desire to help, any amount will be greatly appreciated. It would not take much for us believers to make a huge difference in their lives of our Kurdish brethren this winter over a three-month period.

If you would like to contribute, please make a direct payment to Prophecy Today (details below) and include the instruction ‘Kurdistan’ – we will collect the gifts and send them directly.

Bank transfer details: Prophecy Today Ltd / Account Number: 19560260 / Sort Code: 77-66-03

Editorial note: These reports were received via email and have been edited slightly and anonymised for publication. The content remains unchanged. Names of believers have been abbreviated for their protection.

But much of the West is silent as believers are brutally tortured.

Christine Burden reviews ‘Rose-Tinted Memory: Holocaust Truths that Can’t Be Erased’ by Michael S Fryer (Perissos Group, 2016).

Michael Fryer draws on his experience as a police officer in the National Crime Squad, as a pastor of Father’s House Sabbath Congregation, in North Wales and as a graduate of Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial in Israel), to investigate the Church’s involvement and complicity in the Holocaust.

For those who believe that the Gentile Church and the general public in Nazi- occupied Europe were all rescuers of Jewish people, this book will be a startling revelation. For sure, there were 25,685 aptly named ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ that are recognised by Yad Vashem and the author does not ignore this fact. However, the thrust of the book is to examine to what extent Christendom was aware of what happened to the Jewish people in Europe during World War II and what its response was.

How the Church Paved the Way

Fryer documents how Christendom in Germany and Europe helped to create the climate of hate which allowed Hitler and his accomplices to introduce their terrible programme of genocide.

“95% of Germans had church affiliation” (p19). The author asks: why did these people allow God’s chosen people to die in their towns and villages?

Fryer documents how Christendom in Europe helped to create the climate of hate that allowed Hitler to introduce genocide.

Even before the rise of Nazism in Germany, the teaching that came from the pulpits began the process of “de-humanising” the Jewish people. Consequently, it was not long before members of the public seemed to have no problem in “voluntarily shooting Jews- men, women and children - at point-blank range” (p50).

On the Protestant side there was the German Christian Movement (GCM). The aim of this group was to integrate the Protestant Church with nationalistic fervour for German culture and ethnicity. “By the mid-thirties this movement had more than 500,000 members who fully endorsed the Nazi ideology” (p49).

Chapter 11, entitled ‘German Christians’, gives numerous examples of anti-Semitic teachings circulated at this time. For me this is one of the most important chapters in the book. Examples include, “removing any idea that Christianity was in any way connected to Judaism” (p51). Hymn books and Scripture were revised to erase all ‘Jewishness’.

Practical Complicity of the Church

The author describes the national census in Germany, in which Christendom played a major role. Churches provided baptismal and marriage certificates plus other documents to establish whether a person was a Jew or Aryan. This information was used to provide lists of Jews, which then enabled officers to round up the Jewish population.

It is also well-documented that the Vatican knew of the existence of the concentration camps and did nothing to help the Jews. Without guidance from the Pope, the clergy did not know what to say, and often remained silent. Even today, the Vatican has papers concerning the Holocaust, which it refuses to release.

German Hymn books and Scripture were revised to erase all ‘Jewishness’.

The Involvement of the Public in the Genocide

Another powerful chapter poses the question, ‘Just a few Nazis?’ Again, our thinking is challenged as to how many people were complicit in Jewish persecution.

“German perpetrators numbered well in excess of 100,000. There were 10,005 camps which included satellite camps situated on the edges of towns and villages” (p43). In addition to this there were other staff and members of the general public who would have known what was happening.

“In Poland, local people were used to exterminate 3 million people. Local people then buried the dead” (p56). Many people, including professing Christians, must have been aware of the atrocities.

Justice and Accountability After the War

The author highlights some startling facts - some of which are well-known, others less so. For instance, there were 13 Nuremburg Trials held between 1945 and 1949, but they did not call many people to account.

Hitler and others committed suicide and therefore escaped earthly justice. Only 24 senior Nazi officers appeared in court and not everyone was found guilty. Meanwhile, many escaped down so-called ‘rat lines’, often with the help of the Church. Before 1949, 10,000 ex-SS officers were allowed into the UK, while only 2,000 displaced Jews were allowed entry into Britain.

Many ordinary people who had committed racially-motivated murders in their communities, or who had been involved with the camps, were never called to account. People returned home and kept quiet or remained in denial.

Modern-Day Considerations

In the concluding chapter, the author shares his concerns about Christendom allowing the Jewish people to be harmed today. He questions whether this will come in a different guise, that of Anti-Zionism, where teaching “that Israel is an occupying force is promulgated by large sections of Christendom” (p73).

Many ordinary people who had committed racially-motivated murders were never called to account.

Before and during the Holocaust, Christian leaders preached messages of hate. Sadly there are many examples of church leaders saying hateful things against Israel today. In the city of Liverpool, Hope University, the only ecumenical Christian university in Europe, staged an exhibition vilifying Israel. A Jewish lady wrote to Mr Fryer sharing her deep concern about the university, and expressing the fear that she feels at times, living as a Jew in Liverpool.

Conclusion

This book serves as a warning to all believers and hopefully will provoke us to study the biblical plans God has for the Jewish people. It documents uncomfortable truths, but truths that I strongly believe every Bible-believing Christian needs to be informed about.

I have no hesitation in highly recommending this well-documented book. Let us thank God for watchmen like Mr Fryer who attempt to highlight the lesser-known realities of the Shoah.

‘Rose-Tinted Memory’ (95 pages) is available from Amazon for £2.12.

Philadelphian believers were weak but faithful.

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Although Philadelphia was the least distinguished of all the cities visited by John and reported in Revelation 3, the name is now better known as that of a leading city in the USA.

Philadelphia in the USA played a significant role in the American Revolution as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence there in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787.

It served as the temporary capital of the United States (1790–1800) while the Federal City, Washington, was under construction in the District of Columbia. Its foundation had strong Quaker origins, having been built on land granted by Charles II in repayment of a debt to William Penn. Friendly negotiations with the Indian tribes living there gave rise to the name, which is Greek for brotherly love (from philos, ‘love’ or ‘friendship’, and adelphos, ‘brother’), which links it with its less spectacular biblical counterpart.

The ancient Philadelphia was established in 189 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon (197-160 BC) and was named in the love of his brother, who would be his successor, Attalus II (159-138 BC).

‘Philadelphia’ is Greek for brotherly love, from ‘philos’ (love or friendship) and ‘adelphos’ (brother).

Background: Philadelphia Then and Now

Ancient Philadelphia is now called Alesihir in modern-day Turkey. It was never to attain greatness in worldly terms as it was off the normal trade routes, although it was on a pass to the Eastern cities of Asia Minor. Thus it was often seen as an outpost of the Empire of the time - being dubbed a ‘missionary city’ with “open doors that would never be shut”.

At the time of the writing of the letters in Revelation there would have been around 500 Christian churches or fellowships in the whole area – but the Gospel had not spread far beyond Philadelphia so there was still great potential there.

The city was in the centre of an earthquake region and had suffered many quakes, including the great ones of AD 17 and AD 23 after which it was re-built with a grant from Rome. The main buildings were built to survive and the City Hall, with the remains of four of its great pillars, had become a centre of Christianity by the 4^th Century – in fact it still is intact; the city is a strong centre of Orthodox Christianity and remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.

When we have been to this city on a tour of the ‘Seven Churches’, visitors could see the four massive pillars that remain on this site and experience the friendly nature of the current inhabitants. Children crowd around the tourist coaches eager to display their newly learned English from school, to share details of their lives and their desire to become penfriends. Even today there is an ‘open door’!

The Message!

The words from Jesus’ message to the Philadelphians can have great meaning for us today.

Some historians have tried to liken the seven different messages to the Revelation churches to seven eras in the Church’s overall development. They have equated the letter to Philadelphia with the great European missionary movements of the 18^th and 19^th Centuries, as they saw it as having a special message for those in this era who were fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

The message, though, can have continuing significance today to ensure that the Church continues to have this Commission at the centre of its outreach.

Philadelphia, now modern Alesihir, was never to attain greatness in worldly terms – but was and remains a strong centre of Christianity.

The opening salutation in the letter differs from the others – as it does not come using words from John’s opening chapter of Revelation with its powerful description of God. It comes instead from 1 John 5:20 where Jesus is described as the One who is true and who also has the ‘key of David’ (Isa 22:22). Keys are symbolic in opening up hidden secrets in our understanding - whether they are mysteries of God (Job 11:7), or mysteries that have been entrusted to us as servants of Christ (1 Cor 4:1), or mysteries requiring further revelation, as in the deep truths of the Kingdom taught by Jesus.

This message, along with the message to Smyrna, are the only two in which there are no rebukes and there does not seem to be anything that is not pleasing to God. But there are warnings: this small community would not be immune from the time of persecution coming on Christians throughout the Roman Empire. But members of this little fellowship were not to be fearful as they would be kept through these days – they would not be spared the trials and times of suffering and persecution, but would be given the strength to hold firm – no-one would be able to take the crown of life away from them.

Weak but Faithful

There are many other gems and words of encouragement in this letter that can help us in today’s world. Unusually, the words “I know your deeds” are followed by a list of commendable factors but which also includes the recognition that “you have little strength”. In fact, an understanding of our dependence on God’s strength and not on our own, could be an essential part of any strategy for real growth to take place.

The message is not promising untroubled times: obviously, just as the Philadelphians experienced unexpected (and unwarranted?) persecution from those who were nearest to them in beliefs (the Jews), so we too can expect opposition – but if we stay firm and endure patiently, our future is assured.

Though this little fellowship would not be spared trials and times of suffering, they would be given the strength to hold firm.

We are to hold on to the faith that we have, so that we will become pillars that survive the test of time and will be a support to others. We are told that “I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem…and I will also write on them my new name” (Rev 3:13). We will indeed become ‘Ambassadors’ for Christ!

Even those who have been against us will in the last days recognise the truth of God’s word. “They will acknowledge that I have loved you” – they will see God’s love for themselves.
The message to the ‘overcomers’ in each of the letters is significant. The Messiah is coming soon; if we hold onto our faith we will not lose the crown waiting for us and we will be established so firmly that we will be like pillars in the Kingdom of God.

Timeless Truths

The message to the church in Philadelphia is timeless. God has not changed. He is as powerful today as he was in the 1st Century AD and the mission he gave to his Church then is unchanged today. As we noted in our guidebook Ephesus to Laodicea, written with our prayer partners some 12 years ago: “It is still the Great Commission to take his Word to the world, to turn darkness into light, to release the captives, to set the prisoner free and to release his love into a war-torn world that believes it is only the might of human arms can solve the problems of our humanity" (p93).

The message to each one of us continues to be that God empowers the weak, and he takes the things that seem foolish in the eyes of the world and uses them to work out his purposes.

Even though we may be weak, may we be faithful – and live up to the Philadelphian slogan ‘Open All Hours - we are never closed’.

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Believers in Smyrna were poor but faithful, hated but loved. Frances Rabbitts unpacks the letter to this persecuted church.

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death." (Rev 2:8-11)

Revelation was received, written and circulated during a time when Christians across Asia Minor faced increasingly heated persecution – hence its reliance on symbolic language that non-believers would not understand.

Whilst an emphasis on persecution and trial runs right through the whole Book of Revelation, the letter written to the church in Smyrna is particularly devoted to encouraging believers to stand firm in the face of a coming onslaught, during which many would have been imprisoned, tortured and killed.

Great Fire of Smyrna, 1922.The words would have spoken incredibly clearly to believers at the time – and they have lost none of their relevance through the years. The last time believers in Smyrna were attacked en masse was actually in the 20th Century – in 1922, when incoming Turkish soldiers slaughtered tens of thousands of Christians (causing 1.5 million more to flee as refugees) - far more than would ever have died under Rome.¹

Today the words have great poignancy for the millions of Christians worldwide suffering for the faith – and are yet relevant to the whole Body, for "if one part [of the Body] suffers, every part suffers with it" (1 Cor 12:26). As we will also see, its exhortations apply in a spiritual way to all believers, whether they are undergoing trials in this life or not.

The last time believers in Smyrna were attacked en masse was actually in 1922, when Turkish soldiers slaughtered far more Christians than would ever have died under Rome.

Ancient SmyrnaThe agora in modern Izmir, Turkey.

Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, named in 1930 – simply the Turkish rendering of the Greek name) was an ancient Greek seaport on the coast of Asia Minor (about 50 miles north of Ephesus) and a leading city in Greek antiquity. Situated in a sheltered valley between the mountains and the sea, like Ephesus, Smyrna was at the mouth of a great Anatolian trade route. Today it is still an industrial transit city - but known more for its urban sprawl than for its historic glory.

The oldest city on the Aegean coast and founded by the Hittites, Smyrna experienced large-scale migration from the Greek mainland c.1200 BC, completely transforming its cultural fabric. It grew in splendour and was 'talent-spotted' by Alexander the Great in the 4^th Century BC, who deliberately rebuilt the city on the opposite side of the bay to take advantage of the view.

This more 'modern' Smyrna had all the advantages of a purpose-built Greek city – gym, stadium, theatre and broad, well-paved streets.² The city's main street extended from the temple of Zeus in the west to that of Cybele in the east. When governance of Smyrna was transferred peacefully to the Roman Empire in 133 BC, Greek buildings and architecture were not destroyed, but adapted and extended.

The Christians Community in Smyrna

By the time the Gospel arrived, Smyrna was a bustling, prosperous, polytheistic city of many magnificent temples and a fusion of cultures. Smyrna had a Christian population from very early on, the seeds of which were planted and watered by Bishop Polycarp, who was instructed and appointed by the early apostles and later martyred. Smyrna's initial group of Jewish converts grew rapidly into a larger community of both Messianics and Gentile believers.

Believers were not necessarily rich (hence the mention in the letter of their apparent 'poverty'), but they were liberated from the shackles of Greco-Roman religion, into which the Gospel spoke as a breath of fresh air. By the time Revelation was written, there were at least 500 churches in the region; the Gospel was having great success.

By the time the Gospel arrived, Smyrna was a bustling, prosperous, polytheistic city of many magnificent temples and a fusion of cultures.

Spread of Persecution

As the faith flourished, however, so Christianity began to be perceived as a threat, both to the traditional pagan religions of Rome and to orthodox Judaism.

Christians in the Roman Empire were initially tolerated as a Jewish sect, but as the faith spread amongst Gentiles and the differences between Christians and Jews who had not accepted Jesus as Messiah became increasingly observable to outsiders, civic authorities turned against the believing community. Christians were painted as trouble-makers and subversives, refusing to acknowledge the supremacy of Caesar, worshipping in private (rumours abounded) and declining participation in pagan festivals.

Persecution under Nero in the 60s AD (during which Peter and Paul likely were both martyred) was mercifully brief, but took a more serious and widespread turn under Domitian, who enforced the practice of 'Lord's Day' - when all citizens had to declare 'Caesar is Lord' or face terrible persecution – and when John, banished to Patmos by Roman officials, received the Revelation from Jesus.

The Letter to the Church in Smyrna

The letter to the church in Smyrna would have been received during a time of great persecution, likely under Domitian. It is unsurprising, then, that its central aim is to strengthen and encourage believers, whilst being frank about the coming trials. The Lord Jesus does not mince words, deny facts or try to paint a rosier picture to quell the fears of his beloved ones – he clearly states that trouble is coming, and will be tough, but that the crown of life to be won will be worth the fight.

Christians, increasingly isolated and targeted by both Rome and some more militant groups of orthodox Jews (hence Jesus's mention of the 'synagogue of Satan'), lived in daily fear of false accusations and even infiltration of their churches by those who would betray them to officials. The letter gives a prophetic warning of "ten days" of trial, not unlike Daniel and his companions in Babylonian captivity, who publicly put themselves to the test for ten days to prove that God could sustain them on a diet of vegetables and water.³

The ten days mentioned for Smyrna may have been literal, or symbolic, or both – but the principles behind the Lord Jesus's encouragement echo down through the ages to all believers undergoing suffering: this is an opportunity to let the fire of testing prove the capacity of God to sustain his beloved children; for them to learn that though they may have nothing in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of Heaven they have everything (see Gal 4:6-7). Though they should expect to be hated by those who still belong to the evil one, they should also know that they are enduringly loved by the One who is victorious above all.

The Lord Jesus does not paint a rosier picture to quell the fears of his beloved ones – he clearly states that trouble is coming, but that it will be worth the fight.

Do Not Be Afraid - Be Faithful

Unlike the other letters, the one addressed to those in Smyrna has no rebuke or call to repentance. These were beloved children undergoing – and about to undergo further - immense difficulty. There is a sense here of the Lord Jesus coming alongside his brothers and sisters in solidarity, reassuring them that he knew of their circumstances and encouraging them to endure, faithfully (also John 14:18). How often do we cry out to the Lord to relieve us of our trials, instead of humbly recognising that he might require us to walk with him through the valley, rather than around it – even though he knows our suffering and cares deeply about our pain?

As the Father did not relieve the Son of the cup of suffering, so often we too must drink from it, for the eternal joy set before us. In fact, the letter itself puts everything in perspective, beginning as it does by addressing the Lord Jesus as "him who is the first and the last [the Alpha and Omega], who died and came to life again": the same words Jesus also used to reassure John when he was afraid at the beginning of the Revelation vision (Rev 1:17-18).

The perspective here is clear: the Lord Jesus IS LORD OF ALL and had already gone ahead of us, through death, emerging victorious. Like the other letters, this one also refers to those who 'overcome' the trials at hand – those who follow Jesus into his victory - who are "more than conquerors" according to Romans 8:37.⁴

Persecution Today

Today our brothers and sisters around the world need our prayers and aid more than ever, as Sunday's terrible slaughter of worshippers in Cairo demonstrates. The number of Christians killed in the last year almost doubled on 2015 figures, exceeding 7,000 according to Open Doors' conservative figures - and this is without counting atrocities in Syria, Iraq and North Korea, where accurate records are not kept.⁵

The number of churches attacked and destroyed has also more than doubled in the last year, and millions of Christians are on the move around the world as refugees fleeing religious violence. The greatest source of persecution continues to be religious extremism – not just Islamic, but also Hindu and Buddhist.⁶

Meanwhile, the Western Church is just beginning to feel the pinch of an intolerant secular humanist culture, and many discern the Lord at work sifting too-comfortable church-goers by allowing various deceptions to proliferate, including liberalism and new age occult. But for the most part, we in the West in this generation do not know what it is to suffer the fires of persecution. That road may lie ahead for us, as yet untrodden. Furthermore, we are also largely ignorant of the suffering of other parts of the Body around the world.

As the Father did not relieve the Son of the cup of suffering, so often we too must drink from it, for the eternal joy set before us.

Life Through Death

Yet, the message to Smyrna is actually relevant to all believers everywhere – not just those undergoing dreadful persecution. There is a process that God wants every Christian to undergo, regardless of where they are in the world, how materially blessed they are or what difficulties they face: it is that costly process of refining that feels very much like trial on the inside (whether or not it looks like it on the outside), and is with eternal and Divine purpose. For our God disciplines those He loves, desiring that they be purified by holy fire, even though this process might be painful.

In this sense, every believer is called to a life of suffering, as our flesh-life is put to death that the new, eternal life in the spirit might grow and flourish. We are therefore to expect 'trouble' in this life (John 16:33), both within and without. God's desire is to purify us to such an extent that when he has finished, no earthly trial can stand against us or stop our light from shining.

David Wilkerson unpacks another facet of this: he talks about God wanting to share his heart of grief with those who are willing and hungry to walk closely with the Lord Jesus.⁷ This is the road less travelled, which includes sharing in the Lord's own heart for this broken world and allowing ourselves to be brought low by it, counting it all as heavenly privilege that we get to somehow participate in what Jesus himself went (and still goes) through.

This is the honoured road along which I believe God shepherds all believers who diligently and wholeheartedly seek him. As missionary Helen Roseveare, who died last week, said: "God never uses a person greatly until He has wounded him deeply."

Today our brothers and sisters around the world need our prayers and aid more than ever.

'The Privilege is Greater than the Price'

The world is approaching a critical point – so many things are on the verge of complete collapse – even unbelievers sense the severity of the age. The Lord is looking for those who love him enough to give up their worldly desires and aspirations, to the point of laying down their very lives, submitting themselves to his process of refining and saying always "Thy will be done", even when it hurts.

But let us take heart, as those in Smyrna hopefully also did: for those who overcome will not be hurt at all by the second death, but will be given the crown of life by "him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again". Ultimately, to quote Helen Roseveare again, "The privilege He offers you is greater than the price you have to pay. The privilege is greater than the price."

References

1 See Hill, C & Hill, M, 2005. Ephesus to Laodicea. Handsel Press. This is a fantastic biblical guide to the Revelation churches written particularly for those visiting the region. It is highly recommended as accompanying reading for this series.

2 See Wikipedia's page on Smyrna for a brief history.

3 Lehman, R. "And ye shall have tribulation ten days". 17 October 2008.

4 See note 1.

5 Persecution: The Key Facts. Open Doors.

6 Ibid.

7 Wilkerson, D, 1992. Hungry for More of Jesus, chapter 3. One Pound Classics.

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