On July 15, 2023

NOTES ON THE COMING PERSECUTION II: TRIALS FROM WITHOUT AND FROM WITHIN FOR THE HONOR OF OUR KING

SCRIPTURE. “Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position) were befalling you.” – 1 PETER 4:12, AMPC

KEY TERMS. Amazed; Fiery Ordeal; Test

QUOTATIONS

COELHO. “Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won’t suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when that person looks back – and at some point, everyone looks back – she will hear her heart saying,‘What have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days? What have you done with the talents God bestowed on you? You buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of losing those talents. So, this is your heritage; the certainty that you wasted your life.’” ― Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, 2021; edited

JESUS. “Remember that I told you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master [is not superior to him]. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word and obeyed My teachings, they will also keep and obey yours.’” – JOHN 15:20, AMPC, c. 30 AD

I. FIRST THOUGHTS

MY AWAKENING. Some of you have heard this story before, but the nexus of it bears repeating here as a platform for what will follow. I was in my 10^th year at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia in March 2016. My tenure there was a fruitful one, having made many friends among my colleagues and precious students who had given me five-star teaching ratings every single year.

But then the First Blow to my long-sustained naïvete about the true heart of American Christianity: I was summarily fired by JERRY FALWELL, JR. for refusing to support Donald Trump for President.

This would be followed by several more failed attempts to secure employment with religious institutions from 2017 through 2020, precipitating a period of homelessness for my family and as close to abject poverty as we have ever experienced before or since.

The Narrative to be found in the entrails of my job seeking efforts: VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP! This hard against my continued refusal to sign onto his rapidly rising domination of the American Evangelical Church.

LAST ULTIMATUM (2019). “Cliff, your Commentaries do not serve the interests of this mission” [The Board members were all Trumpers]. I did not stop, nor will I stop, save for a direct Countermand from God! Following that firing, I heard God whisper to me for the very first time ever: “I am proud of you.”

II. ORIGIN OF PERSECUTION FROM WITHIN

I have already written extensively about what I believe to be perhaps the American Church’s greatest failure to date, and that is our shameless sin of GROTESQUE NAÏVETY about wickedness inside our own houses of worship. As I look back over my own thinking and conduct during the last 30 years and more, I am painfully aware now and deeply ashamed of my inability to discern the Hucksters and Charlatans among us.

They are legion, beloved, as far as from the East is from the West.

BACK TO THE FUTURE. One of the most overlooked Triggers of the ultimate Seduction of the Republican Party and the American Church began with an informal Meeting in 2015 between then-presidential candidate DONALD TRUMP AND MICHAEL COHEN, Trump’s “dirty tricks” specialist and personal attorney.

Here is an excellent account of that meeting by award winning journalist MCKAY COPPINS, writing for The Atlantic on September 20, 2020, just after the release of Cohen’s blockbuster book exposé, Betrayed (Sep. 8, 2020). WARNING: Scatological language is quoted for accuracy.

“One day in 2015, Donald Trump beckoned Michael Cohen, his longtime confidant and personal attorney, into his office. Trump was brandishing a printout of an article about an Atlanta-based megachurch pastor trying to raise $60 million from his flock to buy a private jet. Trump knew the preacher personally—CREFLO DOLLAR had been among a group of Evangelical figures who visited him in 2011 while he was first exploring a presidential bid. During the meeting, Trump had reverently bowed his head in prayer while the pastors laid hands on him. Now he was gleefully reciting the impious details of Dollar’s quest for a Gulfstream G650.

Trump seemed delighted by the ‘scam,’ Cohen recalled to me, and eager to highlight that the pastor was ‘full of shit. They’re all hustlers,’ Trump said … In speeches and interviews, Trump routinely lavishes praise on conservative Christians, casting himself as their champion. ‘My administration will never stop fighting for Americans of faith,’ he declared at a rally for Evangelicals earlier this year. It’s a message his campaign will seek to amplify in the coming weeks as Republicans work to confirm AMY CONEY BARRETT—a devout, conservative Catholic—to the Supreme Court.

But in private, many of Trump’s comments about Religion are marked by cynicism and contempt, according to people who have worked for him. Former aides told me they’ve heard Trump ridicule conservative religious leaders, dismiss various faith groups with cartoonish stereotypes, and deride certain rites and doctrines held sacred by many of the Americans who constitute his base.”

THE COLLAPSE. By the time Trump invited and met with 400 of the premier Christian leaders and pastors of the Nation’s Church in his New York City lair in June 2016, the seditious Faustian Bargain was fully struck.

Spearheaded by two of the most despicable Churchmen in America today, FRANKLIN GRAHAM AND JERRY FALWELL, JR, the original assembly of 400 would balloon to 1,000, as more and more leaders eagerly scrambled onboard this New Commander’s rancid, truculent juggernaut to the White House.

Then that first thousand traitors to Christ and Canon would rapidly build to no fewer than 83% of the entire, primarily White Church, a percentage that holds steady today, in spite of 82 felony charges brought against Trump filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Here is an explosive excerpt of that dark event by Christian Post Deputy Managing Editor SAM SMITH on June 22, 2016.

“‘FRANKLIN GRAHAM started off his speech [to the other leaders] by talking about the flaws of Moses and how Moses disobeyed God and was punished, and how David committed adultery and killed a man, and several biblical leaders and people throughout the bible that have sinned,’ [Terry Schilling, the executive director of the conservative think tank American Principles Project] recalled. He said, ‘Look, I am a big sinner. Franklin Graham, standing before you, is a big sinner. But I have been forgiven and seek forgiveness and there is no reason why Donald Trump can’t be a good leader for us. God picks the imperfect and turns them into leaders for us.’

DK. Beloved, the entire Donald Trump political coup d’etat of the American Order was hatched by those leaders no less pernicious and blasphemous than the ones Christ Himself labeled, “Brood of vipers!” (Matthew 12:35) in His day. Yet here in 2023 we see Mr. Graham feted as Hero to the Christian Cause, continuing to lead countless millions of spiritually deluded Christians to Trump’s Maga Nationalism as the Greek term rendered:

“Like dogs licking the hand of their Master.”

If that Biblical phrasing offends you, I promise you I could have used much stronger words from Scriptures to describe what the Church largely became on that fateful day in June 2016. SPIRITUAL HARLOTRY comes to mind, but I thought I would soften the blows.

III. THE TEACHING

KEY TERMS. Now to our important drill down on the Central Ideas that largely define this passage.

AMAZED. ‘Xenizó’ [ξενίζω]: “To surprise, startle; bewilder; to ‘appear’ [as opposed to what is really, real]; to astonish by the strangeness and novelty of a thing; to be shocked [or made apprehensive]; confounded with fear, surprise or wonder.”

FIERY ORDEAL. ‘Purósis’ [πύρωσις]: “A burning, a refining; severe trial or fiery test; an ignition, smelting, conflagration, calamity (as a test of character); the burning by which metals are roasted or reduced; suffering that puts strength, patience of faith to the test.”

TEST. ‘Peirasmos’ [πειρασμός]: “A putting to proof by [Divine] experiment or examination; the experience of evil; solicitation, discipline or provocation; adversity, temptation; calamity or affliction; a trial in which God brings His people through a crisis to encourage and prove their confidence in Him.”

COMMENTARY. “‘A time of universal calamity was at hand,’ as foretold by our Saviour, Mt. 24:9,10. And if such things befall in this life, how awful will the Day of Judgment be! It is true that the righteous are scarcely saved; even those who endeavour to walk uprightly in the ways of God. This does not mean that the purpose and performance of God are uncertain, but only the great difficulties and hard encounters in the way; ‘That they go through so many temptations and tribulations, so many fightings without and fears within.’

Yet all outward difficulties would be as nothing, were it not for lusts and corruptions within. These are the worst clogs and troubles. And if the way of the righteous be so hard, then how hard shall be the end of the ungodly sinner, who walks in sin with delight, and thinks the righteous is a fool for all his pains! ‘The only way to keep the soul well, is to commit it to God by prayer, and patient perseverance in well-doing.’ He will overrule all to the final advantage of the believer.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK. The key to an effective witness for Christ in the Last Times that are now here and all the more in the Days Ahead, is a healthy Fear of the Lord. As Moses records: “And the lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day” (DEUTERONOMY 6:24).

This shall surely prove to be the beginning and the end of our Perseverance that will lead to honor, or toward shame and even apostasy by its absence. As the Apostle made clear: ‘Fear God, honor the King, give men the respect they are due’ (1 Peter 2:17). This to preserve a pure witness so vacated from the American Church these days.

III. TRIALS FROM WITHOUT OR FROM WITHIN?

HISTORY. Persecution of Christians throughout history has nearly always been attributed to the non-Christian world. ALERT: This has clearly not always been the case, as some of the deadliest persecution has come from INSIDE THE CHURCH.

A brief HISTORICAL REVIEW should clear the air, in further preparation of what is coming to American shores in the years directly ahead. Adapted from the excellent overview by European Baptist Pastor NIGEL T. FAITHFULL of Cardiff, Wales (Evangel Magazine, July/August, 2015; edited).

NEW TESTAMENT PERIOD. Immediately after the STONING OF STEPHEN, ‘a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem… Saul began to destroy the church… going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison’ (Acts 8:1-3). Paul later became the object of much hostility, being flogged, lashed, beaten and stoned (2 Cor. 11:23-27) and finally executed under Nero at Rome. Nero’s cruelties included dipping Christians in oil and lighting them as candles to illuminate his sporting festivities. Paul followed those in the Old Testament Church who were killed, even sawn in two, for their faith (Heb. 11:35-38), of whom ‘the world was not worthy.’

EARLY CHRISTIAN PERSECUTIONS. We can only give a brief survey of various periods of tribulation endured by Christ’s Church, especially in Europe. TEN PERIODS OF PERSECUTIONunder different Emperors began with Nero and ended with The Great Persecution during the reign of Diocletian (284−305AD). This was especially fierce after he had issued an Edict in 303 strictly enforcing adherence to the Imperial Cult, when about 3,000-3,500 Christians were executed, as described by the historian Eusebius (ca. 262-340AD), Bishop of Caesarea. Persecutions continued until the Edict of Milan, 313AD, under Constantine the Great and Licinius, legalised Christianity.

WALDENSIAN PERSECUTIONS. In the mid-twelfth century PETER WALDO of Lyons annoyed the Roman Catholic priests by insisting that only religious practices derived from the Scriptures could be justified. He therefore spoke out against image-worship, indulgences, the mass, purgatory, and praying to saints. Their persecution continued into the 15^th century, with an inquisition covering a large area, including Aix, Geneva, Vienna, Venice and Avignon. Those convicted of ‘Reformed Doctrines’ were delivered to the civil authorities to be burnt and their goods confiscated. In 1400, those living in the valley of Pragela were driven into the Alps in the depth of winter, where they froze to death. In 1488 in the valley of Loyse, 3,000 men, women and children were either cast down the rocky precipices or suffocated by fires lit at the mouths of the caves in which they were sheltering. The persecutions continued for a further one hundred years. In a similar manner, the Bible-believing Albigenses in southern France were exterminated during the 13^th century.

JOHN WYCLIFFE. This celebrated reformer, the ‘MORNING STAR OF THE REFORMATION,’ lived from 1324 to 1384 in the reign of Edward II. He highly valued the Bible as the ground of all doctrine, so translated the New Testament into English, while others translated the Old Testament. He fearlessly proclaimed his beliefs, including his views against the doctrine of the mass and Papal authority. His followers, THE LOLLARDS, would dress simply and go from place to place preaching the Word in a language the locals would understand. He survived opposition during his lifetime, but in 1428 Pope Martin V ordered Wycliff’s bones burnt before being scattered into the river Swift.

WILLIAM TYNDALE. Tyndale was born in Gloucestershire in 1494 and had an aptitude with languages, graduating from Magdalen College, Oxford. Then, after studying theology at Cambridge, he was ordained a priest. He was disgusted at the behaviour of the priests which contrasted with the teaching of the Bible. This was still in Latin and considered too holy to be read by the common man, yet Tyndale was passionate that it should be accessible to everyone. He commented in a warm debate with one priest, ‘If God spare my life, ere many years, I shall cause a boy that drives the plough to know more of the Scripture than you do!’ HE TRANSLATED THE BIBLE but was molested by the priests, so moved to Hamburg in Germany, then later to Antwerp. He exported printed copies of the New Testament to England and later completed the whole Bible but was betrayed at Antwerp by Henry Phillips and Catholic Bishop John Stokesley He was eventually strangled and afterwards burnt to ashes, but not before he called out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!’ This was fulfilled when Henry VIII ordered Miles Coverdale’s Bible, based on Tyndale’s, to be used in every parish in the land.

THE MARIAN MARTYRS. Queen Mary was called ‘Bloody Mary’ because during the last four years of her reign, from 1555 to 1558, 288 Protestants were burnt for adhering to the Word of God. These included one archbishop and four bishops, 21 clergymen, 55 women and four children. It was through reading [J.C.] Ryle’s account of the joint martyrdom of old Bishop [Hugh] Latimer and the younger Bishop Ridley that I was truly brought to saving repentance and faith as I read Latimer’s words encouraging his friend while the flames were licking up the faggots around them: ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’

HARRASSMENT. There followed a period when Evangelical Protestants, THE PURITANS were hounded by the Church of England’s High Church Party. John Bunyan (1628-1688) was imprisoned for 12 years in 1660, and then for a further 6 months when he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. His contemporary, John Flavel (1627-1691), was one of the 2,000 Puritan ministers who suffered in the Great Ejection following the Act of Uniformity in 1662. Flavel had to leave his church at Dartmouth, meeting secretly in nearby woods to minister to his congregation. Philip Henry (1631-1696), father of the commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714), also lost his living. These troubles only ended with the Glorious Revolution following the accession of William III of Orange to the throne in 1688.

THE PRESENT DAY. It is not militant Catholicism which causes most concern today but militant Islam. The atrocities of the Islamic State in the Middle East and Boko Haram in Nigeria and beyond that horrify us. These terrorists even kill Muslims who fail to support their harsh laws, but Christians have been singled out for particular brutality. We should never forget to pray for our brothers and sisters in these situations who uphold the word of God and refuse to convert to Islam.

NOTE. One cannot responsibly overlook the reality for the last 1,000 years and more, it has overwhelmingly been ‘Christians persecuting and killing Christians!’Which brings us to the Present Moment in 2023, when faithful American Christians are for now at least, quietly persecuted, maligned and threatened by a NEW FOE one would never have predicted just ten short years ago.

But everything is about to change, I suspect, catastrophically for true American followers of Jesus Christ.

IV. LAST THOUGHTS: THE MAGA MOVEMENT

As expected, and as I have reported to you in earlier Commentaries, there is precious little, if any, solid analysis about how MAGA Christians persecute those of us in the Never Trump column. Most of the reasons are obvious, but some are hidden just beneath the surface where the potential for ‘American Pogroms’ may be in the offing in the years just ahead.

HARD SOIL. An excellent piece by executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global, MARK WINGFIELD, proves to be a rather lonely exception to that general dearth. In his essay, “Who are you? Non-Trumpist Evangelicals Struggle to Be Identified” (Jan. 4, 2022; edited), he lays out some of those darker possibilities for us to prayerfully, wisely consider.

“What do you call an Evangelical Christian who hasn’t bought into Trumpism? ‘Rare. And likely frustrated.’

Ever since the Ascendance of Donald Trump as the Republican Party presidential nominee in 2016, a Chasm has been exposed among a once-loosely defined group known as Evangelical Christians. And now, after four years of a Trump presidency and facing the anniversary of the Trump-inspired Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the Gap is wider than ever …

‘Many white, non-Hispanic Evangelicals who are not Trump supporters may not realize what ‘a small minority’ they have become among their co-Religionists,’ explained BNG columnist ROBERT P. JONES, founder of Public Religion Research Institute and author of the book White Too Long. ‘The overwhelming majority of White Evangelicals are not just Republicans but Trump Republicans. They have paved the road and given moral legitimacy for Trump’s Takeover of the Republican Party’ …

Here’s a test. If White Evangelical Christians put up even the most basic set of moral and democratic principles they expected all public leaders to follow and character traits they expected them to exhibit, could Trump possibly clear that bar? The fact that two-thirds [or more] of White Evangelicals nonetheless continue to support Trump is a sign of the peril not only our Democracy, but our Faith, is in.”

CIVIL WAR. Sadly, tragically and eminently dangerously for all, I believe it is coming. The First Shots were not fired this time at Fort Sumpter on April 12, 1861, but at the Nation’s capital city in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, when the Trump Legions – including thousands of Christians and their leaders – nearly overthrew the Presidential Election of 2020 and shattered the American Order in a single day.

These concerns were recently supported in a stunning piece by CHRIS CALIMLIM writing for The Conversation just recently (July 10, 2023) entitled, ‘Idiots,’ ‘Criminals’ and ‘Scum’ – Nasty Politics Highest in US Since the Civil War.” Here is an excerpt.

“Perhaps most ominously for the near future of U.S. democracy, the growing Trump legal troubles have escalated to violent rhetoric. After Trump’s indictment in June, Republican U.S. Rep. ANDY BIGGS of Arizona tweeted: ‘We have now reached a war phase. Eye for an eye.’ The uptick in nasty politics in the U.S. is both a symptom of the country’s deeply divided politics and a harbinger of future threats to democracy.”

The EDITORS of The Guardian put it bluntly in their article, “These Are Conditions Ripe for Political Violence: How Close Is the US to Civil War?” (Nov. 6, 2022; edited). Here is their concluding graph following a thorough analysis.

“Look for the next Civil War to take place after the 2024 Election Cycle, when the next wave of violence is likely to emerge. Similar to the original Civil War, there’s too much at stake for both sides. Then, as now, the threats are existential. In the 19th century, Democrats viewed the newly established Republican party as a threat to their way of life. Republicans, for their part, saw Southern intransigence on the issue of slavery as a threat to the Union.”

And, I sadly add, the Trump Nationalist Christians shall be enfolded into the very Center of this sedition of both Country and Canon, since they were largely the ones who placed Donald Trump in office in 2016.

And are very likely to do so again in 2024.

I fully expect this Internecine Religious War already being waged comparatively quietly inside the Church to escalate in the years just ahead, since I see not even a hint of Church-wide Repentance over their support of ‘The Beast.’ It’s coming, beloved. It’s only a matter of just a little more time – and the results of the most important Presidential Election in American history on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

Selah.

Cliff Kelly, Ph.D.

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