NOTES ON THE LION OF JUDAH’S WORD TO HIS REMNANT OF THE LAST DAYS: “PEACE, BE STILL!”

1. THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE. “And He got up and [sternly] rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still (muzzled)!’ And the wind died down [as if it had grown weary] and there was [at once] a great calm [a perfect peacefulness].” – MARK 4:39, AMP

WORD: MAY 20, 2024 (3 AM). “Peace, be still. It is well with you. You are about to see the salvation of the Lord.”

KEY TERM: “BE STILL!” ‘Phimoó’ [πεφίμωσο]: “‘To put to silence; to muzzle;’ to close the mouth with a sheath; to be kept in check; to make speechless [or powerless]; to fasten (down), compress; to restrain from hurt.”

QUOTATION. “During our storms, you and I have the same God with us that the disciples had with them: ‘We can trust that He is in the boat.’ He may or may not calm the storm immediately—we may have to endure great suffering—but He will not leave us.” ― TRILLIA J. NEWBELL, Fear and Faith: Finding the Peace Your Heart Craves, 2015, p. 141; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘And He arose and rebuked the wind.’ He arose from off His pillow, and stood up; and in a majestic and authoritative way reproved the wind, as if it was a servant that had exceeded His Commission; at which He shows some resentment.

‘And said unto the sea, “Peace, be still!’” As if that which was very tumultuous and boisterous, and threatened with shipwreck and the loss of lives, had raged too much and too long. ‘And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.’ Which was very unusual and extraordinary; for after the wind has ceased, and the storm is over, the waters of the sea being agitated thereby, keep raging, and in a violent motion, for a considerable time; whereas here, as soon as ever the word was spoken, ‘immediately, at once,’ the wind ceased, and the sea was calmed.

‘A clear proof this, that ‘He must be the Most High God,’ Who gathers the winds in His fists, and stills the noise of the seas and their waves.’” – JOHN GILL, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

II. DK’S TAKE

There is here the sacred admixture of Storm and Calm, of Danger and Deliverance, of Fear and ultimate Fearlessness. Christ the Royal Captain of all the earth and sea is in full control of The Boat of Life. There is no thing nor any thought nor contravention of His Plans that He has not already planned to overcome.

‘At just the Right Time.’

THE CAVEAT (“A Proviso of Specific Stipulations or Requirements”).Contrary to what we have heard preached in most churches during the past two generations (from the 1980’s forward), God does not hand out Divine Favor to just anyone who calls themselves “a Christian.” ‘Grace’ is one thing; ‘Favor’ is quite another.

There is only ONE FUNDAMENTAL STIPULATION that the Scriptures are indelibly clear in requiring of the true follower of Christ that will invite His Favor. Tragically, it is the one element we rarely if ever hear preached from our over 300,000 Christian Churches in America:

OBEDIENCE!

Now that is a comparatively harsh term that again we hear little of anymore from our many Evangelical Pulpits across the land. Instead, we hear mountains of sermons that are designed to make the congregation feel comfortable inside the velvet-lined deceptions of the OSAS doctrines of demons.

But hold on – It is true that ‘Salvation’ is by sincere, heart-felt Faith and Confession (Romans 10:9-10). But ‘Favor’ is won by our Faithfulness to Christ and Canon over an extended period of time, beloved. And that is achieved by a rich composition of: (1) Individual Free Will, (2) God’s Supernatural Power, and (3) Zealous Labors to demonstrate my fealty to the King.

And, I add, some would argue that even ‘Salvation itself’ depends on those three ingredients – I am one of them.

LESSONS FROM THE PERSECUTED CHURCH. After reviewing a dozen or so Christian writers who were essentially handing out fluff pieces about how to win God’s Favor (by ‘Being Fluffy!’), I finally came across a real authority who wrote with fire in his pen and teeth in his substance.

The author is TODD NETTLETON is Vice-President of Message for the Voice of the Martyrs Radio. His most recent book is titled, When Faith is Forbidden, published in 2021, which won the Christian Book Award for 2022 in the category of Biography and Memoir.

His article, “Lessons of the Persecuted Church,” was published by the Lausanne World Pulse Archives as Issue 11, in 2005 (edited). My infamous BULLET POINTS follow as review of his superb essay.

• THE CONTEXT. “It must be understood that: ‘There are no nominal, halfhearted, lukewarm Christians in Russia or China.’ The price Christians pay is far too great. The next point to remember is that ‘Persecution has always produced a better Christian’—a witnessing Christian, a soul-winning Christian. Communist persecution has backfired and produced serious, dedicated Christians such as are rarely seen in free lands. These people cannot understand how anyone can be a Christian and not want to win every soul they meet.” — PASTOR RICHARD WURMBRAND, in Tortured for Christ, 1967; edited

• THE CHURCH. “For Christians in the Western world, this concept is a foreign one. How can Persecution be good for the Church? How can Christ’s followers in restricted nations be truly jubilant in the face of terrible suffering? Wouldn’t prosperity, large new Gospel Palaces and overflowing congregations be a greater sign of God’s blessing and lead to more and happier, healthier Christians? The Reality is that the Church in restricted nations and hostile areas is indeed growing faster—much faster—than churches in the West.’”

• EXPECT PERSECUTION. “‘God is using Persecution’—as He always has—to build and purify His Church. He is using it to call more people into sacrificial service to the Kingdom. He is using it to spread his love and reach new people with the Gospel message of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Persecution has purified God’s servants in restricted nations. But how do they prepare and persevere? … Here are FIVE QUALITIES I’ve seen that enable believers to flourish.”

1. A Focus on Eternity. “Persecuted believers choose not to focus on present circumstances or surroundings. Because they don’t, they are able to worship from a jail cell or witness to a policeman beating them with rods. They focus on The Promise that they will spend Eternity in the presence of God. This allows them to smile from a prison yard and to feel blessed as they are persecuted. They know that in Eternity their rewards will be great. They have seen the truth that Jesus promised–that His followers would face Persecution (John 15:20). Now they eagerly await the fulfillment of His Promises and the Hope of Eternity with Him (Revelation 22:12).”
2. A Passion for Soul-Winning. “As with Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, believers in restricted nations are willing to become all things to all men in order that they may win as many as possible to Christ. ‘Their zeal for soul-winning’ is producing an incredible harvest,’ as thousands are coming to Christ in hostile nations every day. Earlier this year I met a man in Bangladesh named HASIM. He had been a Christian only six months, and he didn’t even know how to read. Yet already he’d led more than thirty Muslims to Christ. He had also been beaten for his Christian witness. The Persecution didn’t slow him down; it deepened his desire to share the Gospel with those who haven’t yet heard.”
3. A God-Centered (Not Self-Centered) Spirit. “JOHN PIPER wrote an essay in World magazine in which he stated that: ‘Many American believers have lost their enjoyment of God.’ ‘In place of this (enjoyment of God), we have turned the love of God into a Divine endorsement of our delight in being made much of,’ he wrote. His essay points out that Western believers often get far more blessing out of what they get from God than what service they can do for Him. Underground Church believers don’t have this luxury. They are not ‘made much of,’ in the worldly sense. In fact, they are beaten down at every turn. But they have a different focus–God. Rather than material blessings, their joy comes from knowing him and doing his work (Matthew 6:33).”

• Dedication to God’s Word. “‘Bibles in restricted nations often have more value than gold to believers.’ I have seen Christians in restricted nations smile and laugh like children at Christmas when they open a suitcase of smuggled-in Bibles and other Christian literature. Many feel blessed to have just one page of God’s Word. They memorize their page, then trade with another believer and memorize that page as well. They know that if they go to prison, the only Bible they will have is the one hidden in their hearts (Psalm 119:11). Therefore, they make it their goal to memorize as much of Scripture as possible.”

• Readiness to Serve. “Chinese believers know that the Public Security Bureau could come at any time. Believers in Indonesia know that their pastor could be killed. If the pastor is unable to minister in a given gathering, someone else stands up with a message, Scripture or Word from the Lord. Believers in house churches seem to have left behind the ‘here we are; entertain us’ attitude prevalent in many Western churches today. Instead, they have grasped Isaiah’s words of dedication, ‘Here am I; send me’ (Isaiah 6:8).”

NETTLETON’S CONCLUSION. “Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:12, ‘Dear friends, when (not if, but when) the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don’t be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.”

The Message is Clear: ‘Persecution is a not an abnormal part of the Christian walk.’ Whether we endure direct persecution or not, may we dedicate our lives to growing the qualities in our churches that are so evident among Christians in restricted nations. These qualities will indeed help us to serve our King of kings more passionately and effectively.”

III. LAST THOUGHTS

While I don’t normally place much stock in many of the “Words” I hear, there are some times when I feel compelled to pay attention. This is one of those times. So a few CLOSING THOUGHTS for our encouragement as I reflect on these powerful ideas in relation to the onslaught of our inarguably Perilous Times.

• FIRST. We are all about to enter the stormiest times in American history if our reckonings of the times have been reasonably accurate. As PAUL wrote of them: “But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].” – 2 TIMOTHY 3:1, AMP

• SECOND. However, God Promises that in such times He shall become more powerful on our behalf than ever before. As THE PROPHET said: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives].” – ISAIAH 59:19, AMPC

• THIRD. Therefore, the Word I heard comports with all of this to the extent that we have ‘Remained Faithful to Christ’ these past eight years. Consequently, now this directly from our MESSIAH: “Listen carefully: ‘I have given you authority’ [that you now possess] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and [the ability to exercise authority] over all the power of the enemy (Satan); and nothing will [in any way] harm you.” – LUKE 10:19, AMP

CODA. I will dare to push this Word out a bit further and propose that JUNE 2024 may well prove to be a Divine Pivot for The Remnant. More specifically, I expect that: (1) The Times will become more precarious; but (2) God will substantially expand and increase our ability to confront them ‘in His perfect peace.’

‘But only if we are willing, beloved!’ Only if we are willing, even eagerly desirous for Him to change us from an ‘American Christian’ to a fully capable, fully prepared ‘Last Days Christian.’

It almost feels that we have matriculated during these past eight years to be Divinely Appointed to “Our Finest Hour!” The very one we were born to enter from before the First Sounds of Creation were even heard, beloved. This Time. This Hour. For This Purpose –

‘THE RESCUE!’ Of as many as will come, beloved.

And then and only then, to ‘The Great Extraction’ of all true ones from the face of this tortured Earth, to Rule and Co-reign with the One who has sent us for this Holy Purpose. SELAH.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/SsNAM60oIiI