I
really want to believe this. But I just don't have enough faith.
It isn't a matter of how much faith you have. It's a matter of whether you have
any faith at all. You didn't have absolute proof that the last building you
walked into wouldn't collapse, but you committed yourself to it anyway. So also,
you can commit yourself to Jesus without having a great deal of faith.
It isn't faith that causes your forgiveness and eternal life; faith simply opens
the door of your life for God to do the work In you. God is capable regardless
how little faith you have, if you will put that little bit of faith in Him. This
is why Jesus said, "... if you have faith as a mustard seed"‑a very tiny
seed‑"... nothing shall be impossible to you" (Matthew 17:20).
Suppose I had little faith that a chair would hold me, but someone persuaded me
to sit on it. Would the chair collapse just because I had little faith that it
would? Certainly not. If the chair had the right properties to hold me, it would
hold me whether I believed it or not.
The amount of faith you have in Jesus isn't important. It's a simple question of
whether you are willing to trust Him. If you do, He promises to receive you, to
forgive your sins, to cleanse your life, to give you eternal life, and to grant
you an abundant life here on earth.RETURN TO QUESTION PAGE
But
what if I suffer persecution because of my Christian faith? I know that happens
sometimes.
It's entirely possible. Thousands of Christians throughout the centuries since
Jesus have suffered terrible persecutions, and thousands suffer persecution
today for their faith.
But remember, the persecutions you suffer from others can only affect this life,
and can only really injure or destroy your body. They cannot affect your eternal
life with God. That is why Jesus said, ". .. do not fear those who kill the
body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). In a sense it's the simple
choice between the chance of persecutions in this life—offset by the wonderful
blessings of abundant life that Jesus promises—and the certainty of suffering
apart from God for eternity.
For centuries Christians testified that the joy of knowing Jesus outweighs any
sorrows of persecution or even martyrdom. The miraculous work of Jesus Christ in
a person's life enables him to be filled with joy and love even while
persecuted. He can even love those who persecute him, as Jesus did when He
prayed from the cross that God would forgive those who killed Him.
A man named Steven was the first Christian martyr. The historian Luke tells us
in the Book of Acts what happened when Steven was murdered because he refused to
renounce the faith. "...when they had driven him out of the city, they began
stoning him, and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man
named Saul. And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and
said, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!' And falling on his knees, he cried out
with a loud voice, 'Lord do not hold this sin against them!' And having said
this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:58‑60). Remember that the Saul who watched
the robes later became a Christian and, as Paul, preached the faith all over the
Roman world and finally died a martyr's death himself
Thousands of Christians were martyred during the first few hundred years after
Jesus' death. They had all experienced such joy in Jesus that they never
complained about their persecution and death. They went joyfully to be burned
alive or to be torn apart by lions or crucified as Jesus had been‑often singing
songs of praise to Jesus while they went and so giving such a testimony of the
power of Jesus that many who had perpetrated the persecutions became Christians
themselves.
One of the most famous of the Christian martyrs was Polycarp, a leader of the
Christians in Asia Minor. After being given several chances to renounce his
faith in Jesus and having turned them all down Polycarp was led off to be burned
at the stake. When the executioners prepared to pin him to the stake with
spikes, he said, "... let me be thus. For he that gives me strength to bear the
fire, will also give me power without being secured by you with these spikes, to
remain unmoved on the pile."
Just before the fire was set, Polycarp, prayed, "Father of thy well beloved and
blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of thee.
The God of angels and powers, and all creation, and of all the family of the
righteous, that live before thee, I bless thee that thou hast thought me worthy
of the present day and hour, to have a share in the number of the martyrs and in
the cup of Christ, unto the resurrection of eternal life, both of the soul and
body, in the incorruptible felicity of the Holy Spirit. Among whom may I be
received in thy sight, this day, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice as thou the
faithful and true God hast prepared, hast revealed and fulfilled. Wherefore, on
this account, and for all things I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify thee,
through the eternal high priest, Jesus Christ, thy well beloved Son. Through
whom glory be to thee with him in the Holy Ghost, both now and for ever. Amen."
The Christian historian Eusebius of Caesarea then relates what happened:
"After he had repeated amen, and had finished his prayer, the executioners
kindled the fire. And when it arose in great flames, we saw a miracle, those of
us who were privileged to see it, and who, therefore, were preserved to declare
the facts to others. For the flames presented an appearance like an oven, as
when the sail of a vessel is filled with the wind, and thus formed a wall around
the body of the martyr. And he was in the midst not like burning flesh, but like
gold and silver purified in the furnace. We also perceived a fragrant odor, like
the fumes of incense, or some other precious aromatic drugs. At length the
wicked persecutors, seeing that the body could not be consumed by fire,
commanded the executioner to draw near to him and to plunge his sword into him;
and when he had done this, such a quantity of blood gushed forth that the fire
was extinguished. So that the whole multitude were astonished that such a
difference should be made between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom this
one, bishop of the church in Smyrna, was the most admirable, apostolical, and
prophetical teacher of our times" (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, ch. 15).
God never leaves His people helpless. Even in death, He is with them and can, if
He so chooses, protect them from pain and even preserve their lives against all
dangers. Without God we are doomed to lives of guilt and frustration, and may
well suffer terrible physical troubles anyway, whether in war, in an accident,
or because of some unjust persecution we might undergo. But with God, we are
assured of His presence, love, and power‑and we are assured of His blessed
comfort after death when we go to be with Him as His friends.
I can understand your fear of persecution, but it should not stand in the way of
your becoming a Christian.
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