~ by James Fire
MATTHEW 5:10
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We have covered this subject before in FROM the MIND of FIRE with the article Are You Persecution Proof?, and the days being what they are, I feel a need to revisit this issue as the likelihood of persecution here in America seems only a matter of time - it's been happening for some time in isolated, individual cases, but it has yet, in a very overt, direct way, to strike at the heart of the church from coast to American coast – yet! But soon!
We see more and more solid indications that persecution in one form or another will be visiting our American shores (The Covid19 PLANdemic is a rather underhanded, back door method). It's my fervent prayer and desire that this article will encourage, even inspire the saints of GOD in these darkening days of dire and dread to remain steadfast and courageous in the face of such stark opposition and do "great exploits" (DANIEL 11:32b) by the power of GOD and for His glory!
It’s been a viable tactic of fire fighters for a long time now, to “fight fire with fire”. The idea of course is to go ahead of a fire raging out of control and burn up anything consumable, so that by the time the wildfire reaches that area, there is no fuel to consume, and the fire simply dies out. To ensure that the fires of persecution don't have a debilitating, destructive effect, we need the Fire of GOD to refine us, purging out the things of the flesh, any weaknesses that the fires of persecution could feed on!
ISAIAH 48:1-22 speaks about the hypocrisy of Israel that only feigned a love for truth and righteousness (see ISAIAH 48 vs. 1-2) and proved to be obstinate, hardheaded, and stiff necked in their rebellion (vs. 4). God knew that Israel would become spiritually diseased, desecrated, compromised and corrupted much as the Western church has become today.
He provided the solution: “the furnace of affliction” so that they would be refined as silver is refined (silver has always been the Old Testament symbol for redemption) so that His holy name would no longer be polluted by Israel’s pathetic, defamatory testimony (vs. 10-11).
He sent judgment upon the nation through Babylon that brought them under subjection (vs. 14). Ultimately God will redeem the nation of Israel by the One that God the Father and the Holy Spirit sent: the LORD Jesus Christ (vs. 17). Israel frustrated God by her unfaithfulness when He wanted to bless them to overflowing but couldn’t because of their obstinacy (vs. 18-19), yet He will one day indwell His people and cause them to walk in His statutes (EZEK 36:26-27).
This refinement in the furnace of affliction brings sanctification and holiness, the burning away of spiritual dross – that is, sinful habits and practices; brings spiritual strength, resolve and purifies our faith so that we can endure anything that the enemy attacks us with.
God’s holy fire will burn away those things in us so that when the fires of persecution come our way, there is no weakness, no relenting – nothing that the enemy can use as ‘fuel’ to break us and cower us into submission. There will be nothing left to burn!
Each of us will know this purification in our own God-ordained personal forge. Like the sword whose metal has been tested, beaten, refined and purified, so too will we be able to endure any battlefield the LORD places us in – and like that sword, we will not break in the heat of battle!
Then there are times when God uses persecution itself as a refining fire; persecution as with any fiery trial has a way of stripping us our pride, our self-reliance, our attraction to the things of the world, and it resets godly priorities as the greatest of goals, letting lesser things fall away. In so doing, the LORD gains our chiefest affections and devotions so that we, like the nation of Israel, cry out to Him with a heart of contrite repentance (PSALM 51:17; 34:18) and find the sweet fellowship – the fellowship of His sufferings (PHIL 3:10).