Page 22 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Apr-Jun 2023 - 122

THE WORD
The fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians provides the perfect assurance for dealing with persecution including martyrdom, says Release International’s Charlie Frank
Three pleas we would do well to act upon
his issue we’ve encountered build our lives upon anything else sting. We stand condemned when stories that may have left us is akin to building a house on sand. we stand on our own. Therefore, my pondering: ‘What would I do His promises are like his steadfast dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.
in that situation?’ For those of us love - they endure forever. Scripture Let nothing move you.
engaging with that question, and makes it clear to us that worldly goods, Whether life is going smoothly, or for our brothers and sisters whose treasures and comforts do not last - whether life is hard, give yourselves reality of faith is intertwined with but life in Jesus does. So stand firm. fully to the work of the Lord. When
martyrdom, 1 Corinthians 15 provides Some things are too important to say you face death, give yourselves fully us with the facts, assurances and tools only once. Paul needs his readers to the work of the Lord. For there are
we need when faced with evil. and listeners to understand, to really ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, understand, that they have nowhere O death, is your sting?’ else to turn outside of the loving arms
those who are lost and do not know Christ. There are those for whom the sting of death is both real and permanent. We may face suffering, but we have an inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade. Those killed for Christ are now with Him and have received that inheritance.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
When you face death, give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.
For there are those
who are lost and do not know Christ.
of Christ. Apart from Him, there is no
They always gave themselves fully to the work of the Lord, knowing that their labour in the Lord was not in vain.
(1 Corinthians 15:55-58) victory. Without Him, death regains its
Can we say the same?
The hope and promises of the gospel, as described in 1 Corinthians 15, are more glorious than anything this world has to offer. It is the hope of this glory that upholds our brothers and sisters and keeps them faithful, even unto death. This is why the Apostle Paul ends with three pleas, three exhortations, to the Corinthian church. Our martyred brothers and sisters listened to these and acted; we would do well to do the same.
INSPIRING FAITH
‘The Underground Church is a poor and suffering church, but it has few lukewarm members.’
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned for 14 years in communist Romania in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1968 he inspired the founding of Release International, which today continues his ministry to serve persecuted Christians around the world in the name of Jesus.
Throughout the gospels and the epistles, there are repeated calls and commands to stand with Jesus, and only with Jesus. His teaching is the solid rock upon which we stand - to
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