Sunday Evening Devotional – November 7, 2021

Well, good evening, I hope you had a good afternoon, maybe a good afternoon of rest,

I trust, and our gathering together with some other of God's people, or a good time of fellowship, and really,

I hope it'll be a spiritually enriching time. Not only your your time together in just a few minutes, but even the encouragement that I want to offer you in our brief devotional time tonight.

Rather than take a passage of Scripture and expound upon it in some way, what I really want to do, since this is kind of set aside as the

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church, I really want to focus attention on that.

And there is a precedent for us, as God's people, to pray for those who are persecuted for the faith.

When Paul wrote his letters to Philippi and to Ephesus, he wrote these letters, and to Colossae as well, he wrote these letters from prison.

And in Ephesians chapter 6, you know, Paul gives that famous passage about putting on the whole armor of God, and the last thing he mentions is praying, and adding prayer as part of the armor.

But when he does that, he says, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints, all the saints, no matter where they are, no matter what their circumstances.

But then notice how Paul zeroes in on his own particular situation.

And for me, he says, remember he's imprisoned, and for me, he says that utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which

I am an ambassador in chains, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

So as we think about our brothers and sisters in Christ, in places in this world, where they're being, they're being harshly persecuted for their faith, not just made fun of because they're

Christians, but seriously, their lives and their livelihood and their welfare, their health, their physical well -being is at stake.

And for those believers in Christ, we need to pray for them. And at the end of our time tonight,

I'll give a, you know, kind of a list of things to pray as sort of some general prayer requests. But I just wanted to lay that out there as a biblical precedent and basis for for doing so.

Now, what I want to do in the next few minutes, I want to share with you some reports of, you know, believers who are persecuted in other countries.

And then I want to share with you a video, a brief video of the wife of Richard Wurmbrand.

And it's a film that's just been produced, and I think today is the premier showing of that thing.

But this video kind of sets that up and expresses the persecution that they suffered as Jewish Christians.

So we'll get to that in just a few minutes. But first of all, just some things going on in some other countries in the world.

In Nigeria, Nigeria, the report is that jihad is expanding in the

Niger and Kogi states. And I'm reading this, it says in April, Boko Haram seized control of 42 communities in eastern

Niger state. And as of now, Boko Haram controls 500 communities in eastern

Niger. And the residents of those communities have been ordered to replace all education with Islamic education.

And they have ordered all girls age 12 and older to be married, given over and married.

Terror, it's reported, is widespread, as you can imagine. In the

Kogi state itself, it says terror attacks are escalating as bandits and Fulani herdsmen target churches and Christian academies in killings and kidnappings.

In Somalia, it is strictly illegal to convert to Christianity or to evangelize someone to become a

Christian. Christians are actively pursued and when they are discovered, they are immediately killed.

There are no church buildings in Somalia. And Christians, the report is, have to exercise extreme care when meeting in groups.

One believer wrote this. He said in Somalia, followers of Christ look forward to heaven where there is no more pain.

Here on earth, he says, life can be lonely. The families and community of Christians cannot share their beliefs.

The few disciples they manage to share the gospel with seldom meet regularly. There are no church buildings and no fellowship gatherings.

On rare occasions, they may meet for worship in private houses. What a situation to be a believer in Christ in Somalia.

Afghanistan, of course, has been much on our thoughts and in our prayers because of our shameless departure as a nation from Afghanistan and the protection that we afforded, especially to those who were believers in Christ and non -Islamic and didn't follow all the dictates of extreme

Islamism. But in Afghanistan, interestingly, the report is coming out that it says that as new

Taliban government tightens its grip on Afghanistan, people there plainly see the darkness of Islam and they're running toward the light of the gospel.

One individual, a guy by the name of Joel Richardson, he's with a group called Global Catalytic Ministries.

I don't really know anything about that organization. But nevertheless, he says that history proves that oppressive

Islamic governance leads to revival in the church. Iran, he says, has the fastest growing church in the world.

Seven years after the ISIS blitzkrieg, there's a revival in northern Syria. The establishment of Islamic government provides ripe soil for the church to grow.

He says the church in Afghanistan is determined to do the same.

He says they're still actively meeting, studying the scriptures together, and sharing the gospel. He says we actually have a report from one of our leaders who's been sharing the gospel with Taliban members that came into their village and they've actually been engaging in Bible studies and prayer.

One Afghan Christian recently reported back to the organization, there is pain and joy right now.

God hasn't left. There's no need to fear what the Taliban is doing. Yes, bad things may happen to us, but God will do something and glorify his name.

This Mr. Richardson reports that they have given their future, their fate, over to the will of God, knowing that it could result in martyrdom.

They understand that very, very clearly, yet they're pushing forward regardless.

And may God richly bless them in their faithfulness and their boldness. And then in the country of Kazakhstan, in Kazakhstan, religious worshipers are monitored very carefully and fined very heavily.

The report is that since the beginning of 2021, there have been at least 20 court cases against places of worship for holding religious meetings without state permission.

The fines brought against them varied from three weeks to four months worth of average wages.

There are currently amendments to the laws that are being considered and likely enacted that will tighten religious restrictions in the country.

A Baptist pastor in the city of Oral, he reports that his church was previously fined, but is regularly meeting, but he says they're regularly visited by an official who sits in the back of the sanctuary to monitor the church's services, watching and writing down the names of those who are present.

He is also recording the services. So you might pray that the gospel that he's recording and he's hearing will, you know, the

Lord will open his eyes to that gospel and he would come to faith in Christ. And then of course, there's

China. China always seems to come up when you talk about the persecution of believers, but China has greatly increased restrictions and persecution of Christians in the last year and a half since 2020.

And now most recently, the report is that Communist China has ordered citizens in the country's northeastern region to spy on Christians and report any quote, illegal religious activities, end quote, including religious house gatherings.

Informants will be rewarded $200 for each tip. Well, the officials, the report says the officials are looking for any information through a phone call, email, or letter any information on unqualified religious personnel, unauthorized trans -regional activities, preaching and distribution of printed religious literature, audio -visual products outside places of worship, unauthorized donations, or private house gatherings.

So China hasn't let up and they don't, and they won't, and they won't.

We're certainly not in a position here in our country of putting any pressure on them to alleviate any persecution.

In fact, they just continue to step it up. Maybe you saw recently that Apple has taken all copies of the

Bible out of their Apple Store in China so that nobody in China who has an iPhone can go to their

Apple Store and download a copy of the Bible. Again, capitulating to the

Chinese controls and its hatred of Christianity. All right, before I share some, you know, some specific ways to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to share with you this brief video that gives us an introduction to the life of Sabine Richard Wurmbrand's wife and the persecution that they endured at the hands of Nazi Germany.

In 1940, Nazi forces invaded Richard and Sabine Wurmbrand's home country,

Romania. There were no safe spaces for Jews. And though Christian, Richard and Sabine were ethnic

Jews. Do not be afraid for I am with you.

Genesis 26. Do not be afraid of them. Joshua 8.

I am. I'm kind of afraid. They're asking to see

IDs. All our lives remain in our

Jews only. Christian, really? Perhaps we should get out if we still can.

Run away? If we stay, I'll follow the others into prison.

It will be the end of our life together. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.

And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

We believe this or we don't. Richard and Sabine, like many

Christians during World War II, had a choice. Lay low and hope the worst passed them by.

Or get involved and be the hands and feet of Christ. All at great personal risk.

I think we have to stay. We have a job to do. If they are coming, then they are coming.

Let's not think of them as enemies to be feared. But rather as a mission.

Like Sabine and Richard Wurmbrand, today's persecuted Christians, living in hostile areas and restricted nations are bold witnesses for Christ.

Choosing to give up their comfort and safety in this world in order to find a life that counts for eternity.

The first request from our persecuted Christian brothers and sisters is, will you pray for me?

As we pray for them to endure opposition in order to advance the gospel, may we be inspired by their example to pay any price necessary in obedience to Christ.

Well, there you have it. That looks like I'd really be interested in seeing the whole story that is depicted in that brief video.

Well, so let me share with you a few ways to pray for the persecuted church. All right, so number one.

I would encourage you to pray for obviously protection. Protection from wicked malicious men who would destroy the lives and the livelihoods of God's people.

One of the believers in a persecuted country said this, asked that they be hidden from those who seek to do them harm.

They be hidden from them so that, you know, they may be right there in plain sight but not be seen.

Secondly, encourage you to pray for believers to have courage and boldness.

That certainly has to be one of the greatest challenges that would be faced when you know that if you're asked, are you a

Christian? Or if you are caught with some kind of Christian literature or some kind of evidence of being a

Christian, it's very tempting to do everything you can to keep from, just to keep hidden and lack courage, to live in fear, constant fear.

And then thirdly, coupled with that courage and boldness, pray for them to have wisdom and discretion.

Wisdom and discretion. You know, it's not always easy when we live in our relative freedom and don't face this kind of persecution as some of these other countries.

I think especially like Somalia, where, you know, you can't have a church building and you can't gather together.

You can't be a Christian. And if you're discovered as a Christian, you're executed immediately. Summarily executed.

We don't have any idea what that's like. So to pray for believers in Somalia to have courage and boldness, we have to couple that with wisdom and discretion.

There is no wisdom in, you know, just going out with a Bible in your hand and going on a street corner and trying to preach the gospel.

You wouldn't get to John 3, 16 recited before you're executed. Wisdom and discretion.

And then fourthly, pray for believers to have opportunities to share the gospel safely, safely.

And, you know, God knows how to open doors. And in, you know, Paul was told when he was in Corinth, God told

Paul, he said, I have much people here. Don't be afraid. I have much people here.

So in each of these persecuting countries, you know, God has those who will be his.

And he has those who are his own. And he's going to match the people up.

He's going to match the unconverted with those who have the gospel. He will draw them to himself.

Pray for those opportunities to share the gospel. Then fifthly, pray for the encouragement of the gathered church, that when those who are able to gather, they do gather, even under threat or even under duress, pray that they would be encouraged and that they would find strength from one another in that time together.

And then number six, pray for these believers to find favor with their neighbors.

A lot of these countries, there's pressure put on the people of communities to rat out

Christians. Pray for the Christians to gain favor with even the unconverted neighbors who won't comply and go along with and yield to the incentives to report

Christians. Then seventh, pray for the comfort and the faithfulness of those whose loved ones have been imprisoned or even executed.

Just to be able to go on. I've read stories of wives whose husbands, pastor husbands, were taken out in the middle of the night and found dead the next morning.

And they've got to pick up the pieces and go on. It could be easy under those circumstances to get bitter at God and angry at him for what he's allowed to happen.

Most don't. Most are incredibly filled with grace. Pray for God to give them comfort and pray for God to help them to be faithful in the face of those losses.

And then lastly, of course, pray that the Lord would build his church and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

That in each of these places where being a Christian involves such threat, where it seems like it would be impossible for the church to grow, pray that God will grow his church.

Even as that one brother said, you know, in Iran and in Syria, in these places where the

God -haters and Christianity -haters are bearing down, it's like, you know, revival breaks out.

The darkness deepens and the light of the gospel can shine all the more brightly and is all the more attractive.

So, several ways to pray. And I trust that you'll take a few minutes now at the conclusion of this time.

And with whoever you're with, take a few minutes and pray. Pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.