Enduring the Truth
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Enduring the Truth
Jeremiah 29:4-7
Psalm 66:1-12
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
Between the years 1937 and 1941 it is estimated that 12-20 million Christians were victims of persecution within the Soviet Union. Within that time at least 106,300 clergymen were executed. The reason for this is simple. Christ gives freedom even within the chains of persecution. A country or government that is striving for complete central power cannot allow a message of freedom to be shared among the people because a government cannot control a free people. Therefore, they did everything possible to squash this faith. These clergymen who were executed were done so because they were enduring their faith and the truth regardless of how their government was treating them. It was the truth itself for which they were suffering that gave them the strength to endure this persecution.
Our passage in Jeremiah this morning is a letter to the exiles, the elite who were taken to Babylon. They were exiled because of their disobedience and God used the Babylonians to discipline Israel. Being exiled it seems that they now get the point and must endure hardship because of their sin. Jeremiah sends them this letter though from the Lord to encourage them to thrive in their exile. They are told to take advantage of the riches over there. They are told to pray for the land they are exiled to for it prosper because if the land prospers then so will those who are exiled. Their lives are not over. They are to continue to live, get married, have children, and seek prosperity. I time they will see many endure the truth of their faith through fire and through lions. Though they must endure life is not over for them.
Jesus’ disciples are individuals who endure the truth greatly. John maybe so more greatly for though no matter how many times the Romans tried to kill him he just would not die so they exiled him. He had to endure the truth through this time but could not be silent about what he knew to be true. Paul also suffered greatly for the truth. It is ironic that Paul first persecuted Christians for imprisoned them and now the tables had turned on him for he must now endure through his own persecution. Paul says to Timothy that though he is now chained like a criminal the Word of God is not chained. For this reason, Paul says that he endures everything for the sake of the elect, that they may obtain salvation in Christ. The elect that Paul is talking about is those who have him in chains. He is enduring for them so that they might know Christ. Everyone needs to know the truth whether they are on the side of truth or not. Paul desires that even his persecutors know Jesus. This is because Paul knows that his persecutors will face a far worse judgement than the one he is enduring at the moment. Therefore, it is his hearts desire that his persecutors know the truth and he is willing to endure suffering for that truth so that others might be saved.
Jesus endured the truth and paid the ultimate sacrifice for it. He endured a truth that sin is in the world and people are dying and missing out on eternity because of it. He endured leaving paradise to live in this world as a man to testify to the truth. He endured leaders of the faith rejecting him and then ultimately killing him. He endured healing 10 lepers only to have 1 return to thank him. He endured pain and suffering for hours as he was flogged nearly to death and then carried a cross to the top of a hill and then he endured being nailed to that cross and hanging there for hours while many made fun of him and ridiculed him. He endured all of this for the truth. The truth and we all needed a savior from our sins. Jesus endured to be that savior.
A time is coming according to scripture that we also will be required to endure the truth. A time is coming of a new world order in which we are all led under one government and one ruler. In this time people will not put up with sound doctrine. The government of this order will throw those who speak the truth into prison. All of this because they do not want people know the truth because those who know the truth cannot be controlled. Therefore, they will use what ever tools necessary to censor the truth. Emails will be shut down. Social media accounts will be blocked or removed. A day is coming in which our money will be turned off or taken away if we are caught saying the wrong thing or buying the wrong thing that does not follow the agenda of the world order government. In many cases we are in the birth pains of such days for these things are happening even now in some countries and starting to happen in our own. However, we must endure the truth for only the truth can set us free.
The days that are were prophesied in scripture are already here. We saw pastors thrown into jail because they dared to preach the Word and the truth during the pandemic. We saw the bank accounts of people shut down because they dared to protest against their government’s draconian lockdowns and against vaccine mandates. We now see wars and more rumors of wars to come. These wars are not a battle for freedom but are instead a battle for control. This is truth and despite all of that there is one thing we must do. We must warn people that these days are here and we must share with them the truth that we need Jesus to be saved. There are those in this world who want Christians to be silent. The want them to just stay in their churches, keep to themselves, and never speak anything about sin to the world. They don’t want to be warned about the dangers of pornography. They don’t want to be told that abortion is murder. They don’t want to be told the definition of what is a man and what is a woman or that there is even a difference. They don’t want to be told the truth. However, they need to hear the truth and we who know the truth must endure it so that they might be saved from the lies that the world wants us all to believe. Are you willing to endure the truth in this time in history? It will not be easy but it will be rewarding. It seems that we are all like those exiled in Babylon right now. We must pray for this world that it may prosper so that we may prosper. We must continue to live, grow in numbers, and take advantage of what prosperity that we can. For a day will come that we will return to Zion, the City of God, the Holy Kingdom. Are you ready to endure the truth until that day comes?