Last April, after visiting Living Church of God congregations in Britain and Ireland, my wife and I joined Dr. Douglas Winnail for a trip to Rome, Italy, where we spent a few days to get the "feeling" of that great religious center once again. During our visit to St. Peter's Square on a Sunday, a small white-haired man appeared at the window far above us, to give the weekly "Angelus" address to the tens of thousands present. He spoke mainly in languages other than English, but did talk for several minutes in our language. He said, "Because Christ has given the church the authority to forgive sins, I now forgive all of your sins!"
Wow!
Undoubtedly, many to whom Pope Benedict XVI was speaking were not Christian in any sense. Perhaps some were Muslim or Hindu. Yet, without asking about our beliefs—or if we had in any way repented—this man "forgave" all of our sins! It gives you a little bit of a "feel" for this great false religious system when you are right there, dwarfed by a massive crowd of people, most of whom very sincerely follow this man. Later, we saw some women in St. Peter's Basilica, turning away with tears in their eyes after praying at side altars. They had been praying to statues of St. Theresa, St. Bartholomew, St. Ann and others, and were overcome with emotion—sincere emotion—as tears were running down their faces after praying to those idols.
Brethren, millions of these people—remember, there are more than one billion Roman Catholics—are very zealous and extremely sincere. We, too, need to be far more zealous. And we must develop, through God's Spirit within us, genuine Christian courage, to prepare for what some of these zealous people will do! For, in describing this entire religious system, the Apostle John wrote: "I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement" (Revelation 17:6). Hundreds of thousands of people down through the ages have been persecuted, tortured or even killed because of this foul system! And God clearly indicates that a tremendous upsurge of power and influence in this false religion is just ahead—in our lifetimes! Telling all of us, His disciples, what the future holds, Jesus said: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles" (Matthew 10:16–18).
Over the next few years, many of us—including, no doubt, some of our lay members—may be brought before this world's authorities, even in chains. This false religion may heavily influence—or directly order— those authorities to take us into custody.
Jesus tells us: "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you" (Matthew 10:19–20). So we should constantly study the examples of the Bible—much more than many of us have—about what God's will is in these situations. We must be prepared to go through trials and tests beyond anything we have ever faced before. This will take great commitment and profound courage. Jesus continues: "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes" (Matthew 10:21–23).
This passage was not only a commission, but also a prophecy, for it tells us what will happen right down to the end when "the Son of Man comes." Jesus warned us: "These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me" (John 16:1–3).
Do you and I know the living God and the living Jesus Christ enough to completely trust our God and display the Christian courage we will need in the traumatic years ahead?
Brethren, I do not in any way want to discourage or frighten you! But I do want you to realize ahead of time the type of commitment and courage you will surely need. I want to give you the impetus to think things through, to pray things through and to build the ultimate trust and courage you will surely need. The British people rallied during World War II when Sir Winston Churchill said that he offered them nothing but "blood, toil, tears and sweat." How much more committed should we be, as servants of the living God?
It can be so easy to let down, to become involved in material things, to begin to feel that "God is not real"—and so to lose our faith and courage in time of trial. Even Peter, the leading apostle, had this problem. Remember, after Christ was taken into custody, Peter denied Him three times! The third time, as a young woman asked Peter about his relationship with Jesus, he began "to curse and swear, saying, I do not know the Man!" (Matthew 26:74). Immediately, a rooster crowed. "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.' So he went out and wept bitterly" (v. 75). No doubt, this big fisherman became overwhelmed with sorrow upon realizing how easily he had become frightened and had denied Christ.
I pray that a time never comes when I will have to "weep bitterly" because I have been so frightened for my very life that I deny my God and my Savior! I hope all of you feel the same way. For, dear brethren, we—more than many of you realize—are among the very few on this earth called to truly serve the great God and finish His Work among men before Christ's Second Coming. We will certainly need a great deal of courage to do this.
Recall the example of Israel's King David, "the man after God's own heart." David had many qualities that made him beloved of God. One was the profound courage he showed—time after time—when his life was threatened and when other things went terribly wrong. We all remember the inspiring account of David confronting Goliath, an absolute giant of a man. As that huge warrior moved directly toward David, cursed him and threatened him with instant death, the young shepherd shouted, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:45–46).
David had not only the faith, but also the raw physical courage, to face this giant in a life-threatening situation when everything—humanly speaking—seemed stacked against him! In the future, my brethren, there will be times when we, a tiny Church, will face overwhelming odds in doing our job of completing the commission God has given us. We will need the type of faith and courage David exemplified. We need to meditate, pray and think through this need ahead of time—so we can be "ready" when these trials come right at us!
Ebed-Melech's example is a fine illustration of courage shown by a more typical person. The prophet Jeremiah had been let down into a "slime pit" by some of the princes of Judah, although the king only allowed this to happen because of his own weakness and confusion. It was this dedicated and courageous black man, "Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian," who gained the king's permission to bring Jeremiah out from the pit of mire before he perished.
"So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah. Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, 'Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.' And Jeremiah did so. So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison" (Jeremiah 38:11–13).
Because of Ebed-Melech's faith and courage, Jeremiah was able to finish his ministry. Certainly God used this very dedicated individual, but Ebed-Melech had to exercise courage—raw physical courage—for God to use him. God might otherwise have raised up someone else to do the job, but Ebed-Melech was a willing instrument in His hands.
Later, God sent word to Jeremiah: "Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and they shall be performed in that day before you. But I will deliver you in that day," says the Lord, "and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me," says the Lord'" (Jeremiah 39:16–18).
Remember also the example of the Apostle Paul, who went through trial after trial after trial in his ministry, yet trusted God and displayed magnificent courage even in life-threatening circumstances. Paul was even dragged outside of Lystra and apparently stoned to death—but, when the disciples were gathered around him, he awoke and went right back into the city. With Barnabas, he then continued making a circuit through Asia Minor. Then, displaying an amazing degree of courage, Paul came right back through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch—where he had been persecuted so terribly. As Luke wrote, Paul was "strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.' So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed" (Acts 14:22–23).
Paul had just himself gone through horrifying "tribulations," and certainly wanted to warn the brethren that through "many tribulations" we must enter the Kingdom of God! In like manner, I want to warn all of you, ahead of time, what may be ahead for many of us—so we can be drawing much closer to God!
Brethren, even in the darkest hours of the trials and tests ahead, we must always remember that we in God's Church have an "extra edge." For we have the very Spirit of the great God—the Supreme Power by which He created the heavens, the earth and everything there is! And our God tells us plainly, through the Apostle Paul: "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:6–7).
This tremendous power, which comes directly from God, will enable us to have the genuine courage we will need in the years ahead. For genuine faith and courage go hand in hand, and we will need an abundance of both! God's word tells us that we have not been given the "spirit of fear." We must meditate on this—read the hundreds of examples of faith and courage throughout the Bible— and pray for the genuine power, in future trials and tests, to overcome our fears and our lack of faith. God has promised: "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' So we may boldly say: 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'" (Hebrews 13:5–6).
Therefore, as Paul wrote, we may face the future boldly, with faith and courage—and never fear what man can do. For our ultimate trust and source of courage is in the great God who has called us, given us of His Spirit. He is now beginning to use us in His Work, and in His Church, ever more powerfully to carry His message around the world, and truly prepare a people for God. May God grant that you, personally, are able to build on this understanding and—through His Spirit—seek God's guidance, faith and courage. May you be the kind of "Christian warrior" Christ wants you to be! May each of us at the end of our lives be able to say, as did Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7–8).
