Each day the world is learning the truth about the blood-thirsty prophet known to history as Muhammad, and his modern day radical followers. In AD 627, Muhammad committed a violent and bloody atrocity against the last remaining major tribe of Jews in Medina, the Qurayza. He and his band of soldiers beheaded, by some estimates, about 900 men and the pubescent boys and enslaved the women and children. Today, some of his followers are still beheading and butchering those who do not submit to the Islamic creed. Women are being stoned; babies are being torn asunder; non-Muslims are being crucified in mockery of the death of Christ. The following news story documents one example.
“BAGHDAD, August 15, 2014 (Reuters) – Islamic State insurgents massacred some 80 members of Iraq’s Yazidi minority in a village in the country’s north, a Yazidi lawmaker and two Kurdish officials said on Friday. ‘They arrived in vehicles and they started their killing this afternoon,’ senior Kurdish official Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters. ‘We believe it’s because of their creed: convert or be killed.’”
As the Jews are not safe in the world, neither are Christians. Those of us in the West must realize that a ruthless army is on the march. Their stated intent is to raise the Islamic flag over the White House. It is not impossible to believe this could actually happen given the attitude and actions of the current government administration, the indifference of a watching world, and a popular theological belief known as Dispensationalism that promises escape by Rapture prior to a great tribulational period. The summary of these converging forces form a perfect opportunity for militant Islam to take over nations, first in the Middle East, and then in the West.
The challenge the church in the West faces is to prepare pampered and protected Christians for the persecution that is certain to come.
Christians will know tribulation because Christ said it would happen. John 16:33, “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Christians will know tribulation because it is the way to enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 14:22, “…we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”
Christians will know tribulation, because, as Tertullian famously stated, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
The question is not whether or not Christians shall suffer for their faith but whether they shall remain faithful even unto death. That decision must be a prepared decision and the time to prepare is now.
Those Christians who are being slaughtered in the Middle East today for their faith are modern day martyrs and are a source of inspiration. They are being faithful unto death and are truly “blessed,” as the Bible makes clear. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:10). The question comes to every Christian in the West. Professing Christian, answer this question. “In the hour of persecution, will you be faithful even unto death?”
