Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. – Matthew 10:28
A May 2021 report by The Heritage Foundation said the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Christians has taken a disturbing new turn – Chinese Christians are being detained at secretive “brainwashing camps.” Most are detained in “transformation” facilities, in windowless rooms without ventilation, and subjected to verbal and physical abuse. Threats and beatings and intimidations are used to force detainees to renounce their faith. One escapee revealed, “After you’ve been in there a week, death starts to look better than staying there.” Tibetan Buddhists, Muslim Uyghurs, and others are also targeted by the CCP, which wants to erase any form of religious practice that threatens its power.
The persecution of Christians is not new. Over the centuries, though oppressors have done their best to suppress it, the Gospel has continued to advance. According to the Voice of the Martyrs, revival and rapid church growth still characterize believers in China, who refuse to compromise their faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” While the kind of persecution that exists in China and other places in the world has not yet crossed the thresholds of America, the cultural trends of the day threaten churches, pastors, and other faith leaders, families, and children.
The apostle Paul asks in Romans 8:35, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” Be encouraged by his assurance in the verses that follow that nothing can separate you from God’s love. Hold fast to your faith. Pray for American Christians to grow stronger in faith in Jesus Christ and trust in God’s will for them. Pray for believers in Congress who stand firmly on Biblical principles, not giving in to the schemes of the enemy.
Today’s Verse: Matthew 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: John 15:18-27
18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
