Yes, the Kingdom in the church Age has absolutely nothing to do with violence, force or threats of any kind. That is because the fundamental logical argument (if it can be called that) that Satan is making is that
violence always wins. It is as though Satan has said: "Violence
is power so, when Jesus claimed, 'All
power in heaven and earth has been given to me,' he was full of crap because Jesus is 'merely' building his church with truth and reason (through the Spirit), instead of violence."[1]
This is why our weapons are not earthly weapons. Rather, we are fighting against the fruitless deeds of darkness (Eph. 5:11) with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23), armed not with shields and swords (or even rifles) but with the armor of God. In this way, Jesus is proving
through us that the devil was defeated at the Cross, and that Satan's "worldview" -- that chaos defeats order, war defeats peace, anger defeats harmony, hatred defeats love, despair defeats joy, and so on and so forth -- is false and defunct.
The key is to realize that, while Jesus is the one doing this great work (with his almighty power), he is literally and tangibly performing it
through us. So, spiritual warfare is not (as we might sometimes be tempted to feel) "imaginary warfare"... it is as literal, real and present as any tanks, rifles and bombs. We are not merely a living temple (stationary), we are a living
body (in motion)... the physical hands, feet and mouths of the Lord insomuch as we are in his will. This is how we can speak with the authority of God-- even the spirits must submit, not to us (personally), but to the authority of God within us, that is, to the name of Jesus.
But I think you prove more than you mean to. I have argued on another forum that we should think of the Gospel as the original "psy-op" (or information warfare), so we see eye-to-eye on that. Really, these are all just sub-headings of spiritual warfare (and even physical warfare is, even though we do not physically fight back against it). I propose the following idea for consideration: Q is a "type" or "shadow" (reflecting to the past, in this case, not the future) of the Gospel. There are many parallels that can be drawn. And the point/purpose of this type/shadow is not to supplant, replace or even augment/assist the Gospel. Rather, it is a purely logistical operation whose purpose is to "amplify" the Gospel in a new way that is only now possible with the emergence of the Internet, computers and social media:
And this is far from the first time this has happened in history. Each new technological development in Western history has been attended by distinct changes in the way that God is working in history. Consider the change in the breadth and depth of biblical scholarship after the invention of the printing press. Prior to the printing press, there were only hand-written manuscripts. These were extremely costly and easily destroyed or lost. After the printing printing press, the manuscripts were widely translated, converted to print form and studied widely. It can even be argued that there is some causal link between the advent of the printing press and the Protestant Reformation because the cost of owning a complete copy of the very Scriptures went from being extremely precious and prohibitive for all but the Roman Church, a few secular institutions and very wealthy private individuals, to something that could be found in virtually every local church and even the households of ordinary private citizens. To use an engineering metaphor, the widespread availability of the Scriptures started to act like an "error-detection code" on the often capricious claims and teachings of the Roman church. But instead of repenting of their errors, they dug their heels in and clung to tradition just like the religious rulers that Jesus rebuked 2,000 years ago in person.
So, in my opinion, the idea that the advent of the Internet and social media changes nothing (in how God is working in the world) is ludicrious. It requires us to believe that "this time is different" from every other time. We need to keep our eyes on heaven but not get our heads stuck in the clouds-- real changes in the material world happen for a (spiritual) reason. God isn't up in heaven strumming a harp while the world is changing beneath his feet. He is the active agent bringing about these changes, and he is doing so for a reason. The purpose is to bring about the end of the Age and usher in the Kingdom in its fullness (whatever that will look like... we simply don't know).
Hmm, this sounds familiar: "No true supporter of mine could ever endorse political violence, no true supporter of mine could ever disrespect law enforcement or our great American flag. No true supporter of mine could ever threaten or harass their fellow Americans. If you do any of these things, you are not supporting our movement. You are attacking it and you are attacking our country. We cannot tolerate it." (Donald Trump, after the Jan. 6 event at the Capitol)
You do not know either of those claims with certainty. They are merely claims.
And I suppose it is God's will for the blood of the martyrs to flow forever, never to be avenged? God has said he is
eager to avenge his enemies and he will surely do so-- the only reason he asks some believers to endure martyrdom is to entrap his enemies and bring the full measure of justice upon them. The age of martyrdom is coming to a close
soon. Each day is one day closer.
"He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." (Revlation 12:12)
That is not correct. It is the angels who will separate the wheat from the chaff (as they are commanded by the Lord). (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43)
I would urge caution in wishing for more martyrdom upon the church. Violence and bloodshed serve no good purpose whatsoever. While God has permitted it for his own purposes, the Antichrist is perfectly thrilled with the idea of eternal martyrdom. Chop off their heads forever!
In addition, the end will not come until there is a falling away (the great apostasy) -- the false prophet is going lead many "Christians" off to hell, while preaching "name it and claim it" and every other heresy that was ever heard from a pulpit. Because this is an
apostasy, we know that it will happen
within the church. The great apostasy will be performed in the name of Jesus himself (this is why many false messiahs will arise).
(a) The empty vessel makes the loudest sound. I assert that we have been lied to about the prevalance of these attitudes among believers. I come from a conservative, "backward redneck" background and I have a pretty good idea of what the moral problems in these communities are. Whenever you find yourself agreeing with the MSMBS about the real moral problems in our country, that should be an automatic red-flag.
ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
(b) The age of persecution and martyrdom was always temporary and is drawing to a close. Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 that there is coming a great tribulation unlike anything the world has seen. But the purpose of that tribulation is not to teach redneck (professing) Christians that black people are created in the image of God (that's a matter of course), rather, the purpose of that tribulation is to separate the sheep from the goats (the wheat from the chaff)
once and for all. When it comes, the great tribulation will not be a "lesson" that is taught to anybody, it will simply be the final condemnation of the damned, and the final deliverance of the righteous.
(c) The Antichrist would be thrilled to rule over a martyrdom Olympics fought between Christians and Muslims. While Paul expressed a personal view that he would welcome martyrdom, there is nothing normative in Scripture that we should seek or desire martyrdom. If it comes, it comes and, along with it, God will give the grace to endure it. But martyrdom is truly, truly extraordinary. "God is love." We worship a loving, perfect Heavenly Father, not a bloodthirsty Ba'al.
I think you are assuming that the return is very far off. It could be tomorrow for all you know. The church has
already endured 20 centuries of persecution and martyrdom. Maybe there are 20 centuries more but I doubt it. And it's not our place to tell God how he will purify his bride. The Kingdom reaches culmination at some point. The purification is completed at some point. At that point, the tide will turn. The church will no longer be beaten and ravaged by Satan's hordes. Instead, the church will be glorified and the victory of the Lamb will become visible for all to see-- for those who are in Christ, to his praise and glory, and for those who are outside of Christ to their
unendurable agony.
I think you have a serious misconception -- persecution itself is not about purification. Persecution is about the testimony of Jesus and the damnation of the wicked who receive the mark of the Beast and follow him into perdition. The church is a type of Israel, but it is not Israel itself. They are different and God relates to them differently.
This was written almost 2,000 years ago. Was God twiddling his thumbs these past 2,000 years? The purification of the church is not through persecution and martyrdom, rather, it is through the living work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification:
As we are transformed into the image of Jesus, we become empowered by the Spirit and we know God directly, without intermediaries. This is not something that can be known by the carnal mind, only the living Spirit himself can teach this. But this spiritual process of sanctification has absolutely nothing to do with the carnal act of persecution and martyrdom. Violence, in any context, has no claim upon the conscience. That is the foundation-stone of the Kingdom that Jesus is building. Violence is useless, it teaches
nothing, and has no redeeming value except that which God has miraculously extracted from it in raising the name of Jesus above all names through the testimony of the martyrs and the countless persecutions of believers.
Satan is already defeated!
[1] - This sentence was edited because it was misunderstood by one RPF member, so perhaps I did not write it as clearly as it could have been written
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