This is NOT melodrama. This is reality for a true Christian today.
Acts 9:29 – And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.
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For many years, now, the church has really had it quite easy. It might be said we have been at ease in Zion. The Scriptures have some things to say about that sense of comfort. For instance, we are warned that when men cry “peace, peace, then cometh sudden destruction.” Some may think that taken out of context, but the fact remains, that is what has happened in many respects to the modern church. During my own lifetime, now some seven decades, and I believe much longer, the church has not been under the attack of the enemy that we see today. Most of the church’s battles were from within. And while many of those same battles and even new ones exist, in this modern era, the church is under a most obvious attack from outside forces; politics, government, rampant sin, and in this hour more than ever in history, religious attacks, especially from the Islamic religion.
In earlier writing we saw how the Jews sought to kill Paul. In the context of our Text for Today, it was the Grecians who sought to kill him. It was a different place, a different moment in history, a different culture, and a different people, but the intended outcome was the same. They were seeking to kill Paul because he was a voice of the Word of God; the Word they feared so greatly. Learn this principle, dear reader. Why don’t people generally go about just generally killing chickens? The answer is simple. They are not afraid of chickens. But that same general group of people who ignore chickens will run from every snake they see, and in most cases, if possible, kill the snake. Why? Because they are afraid of the snake.
Now I fully realize that God is love. Perfect love casts out all fear. But people in darkness, regardless of their religious background, naturally fear light. The entrance of the Word brings light. Jesus said the world hates light, and what the world hates, it fears. No, the world is not afraid that the Word will hurt them, but they do fear its power to change them. Are you a proclaimer of the Word? Are you a progenitor of the Gospel? If you are, the world fears you for they see you are called by the Name of the Lord. The Spirit of the fear of the Lord is upon you. You represent change to the world; light that dispels darkness; an overcoming of sensual pleasure by replacing it with spiritual power. Generosity that expels selfishness. Service that rises above being served. They world hates that, and therefore hates that which causes it – that’s YOU SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD. Be ready to be hated and sought out by slayers.
Manna for Today – Acts 9:1-31; Ephesians 6:10-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Isaiah 54:17; Luke 22:31-36
My Second Miler by Dr. Beechard Moorefield 