Scripture Reading
May I turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 13? Hebrews chapter 13, this morning we joined with a lot of other churches, not physically, but in terms of prayer for the persecuted church. It's good for us to remember our brothers and sisters, not simply because organizations tell us to do so, but because the Word of God tells us to do so. In fact, it is the manifestation or a manifestation of brotherly love that we remember the prisoners.
This is what the Apostle instructs, this is what the Apostle exhorts, this is what he commands here in Hebrews chapter 13 at verse 3. I just want to read verses 1 to 6 so we can see the text in its context. Open up the passage and then make some application to us as a congregation. Hebrews 13, beginning in verse 1.
Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing, some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.
Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper.
I will not fear. What can man do to me? Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we thank You for this, Your Word, and we pray for the ministry of Your Spirit now. We pray that You would guide us and lead us and instruct us and affect us, God. Help us to be obedient to the Scripture. Help us to live in light of our Christian profession.
Help us to see our responsibility at the throne of grace, to remember prisoners, to remember those who are mistreated. to pray to you, the living and true God, on behalf of others. Help us to be faithful intercessors. Help us to exercise that privilege as the New Covenant priesthood, and to bring these supplications and prayers and intercessions and giving of thanks to you for all men. Father, help us in these things, we pray, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. Well,
Introduction
in the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus, as He brings it to a conclusion, says that the narrow way is difficult. In John's Gospel, in the Upper Room Discourse, the Lord Jesus Christ says, in this world you will have tribulation. That difficulty and that tribulation is oftentimes connected to our own foolishness, and our own sinfulness, and our own waywardness. That foolishness and that difficulty and travail and tribulation, though, is oftentimes connected to evil men.
In the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians 6, the apostle says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness, in the heavenly places. So they are the enemy, but they do manifest themselves through ungodly men, through ungodly religion, through atheism, through all manner of viciousness targeting the people of God from time to time. This morning, as I said, we read several prayer letters or several updates from several parts or several countries in the world, and it's just grieving. It is absolutely distressing to see predominantly, not just predominantly, not only, Hindus and Buddhists and atheists persecuted.
There is that growing threat of Islam. I mean, as much as they want to trump this idea that it's a religion of peace, they are brutal, and they target the people of God. and it really is something to take consideration of. The Muslim Brotherhood and these various groups are not sympathetic to the people of the book by and large. And so as we consider this whole concept and idea, we do have a very specific command or a directive in the Scripture that bids us to be concerned about these sorts of things.
In the prophet Ezekiel, there's a vision. given to Ezekiel. Where Ezekiel sees these men with slaughtering weapons, with battle weapons. He sees six of them. They're all decked out.
And then he sees one man who's dressed in linen and he has a writer's ink horn. And what is instructed to that man with the ink horn is that he's to go around and he's to mark the foreheads of everybody in Jerusalem that sighs and cries over the abominations in the land. And so the man with the rider's inkhorn dutifully engages in that activity. And then the instruction is given to those men bearing the battle weapons.
They are told to go and utterly destroy everybody that does not bear the mark. And he says, to start at my sanctuary. And by the time the vision is over, the city is filled with blood, which indicates that people in Jerusalem, people in Israel, didn't sigh and cry over the abominations in the land. They just didn't care.
It didn't affect them, it didn't bother them, as long as they themselves weren't victim of violent crime or opposition to God's people, well then we just don't have any concern for it. I've often times wondered if a similar thing took place today and God's men started at the sanctuary, how would we fare? It is imperative that we take seriously this particular mandate that we find here in Hebrews 13.3.
Context of Hebrews 13
Note specifically the context. The context, the author is bringing the book to a close. Chapter 13 is about concluding, exhortations, a few requests, and greetings, benediction and greetings. Here specifically in verses 1 to 6, he deals with love, hospitality, compassion, fidelity, and contentment.
These are good things for us to concern ourselves with. As God's blood-bought children, we are to be a loving people, a hospitable people, a compassionate people, a faithful people in our marriage relationships, and we are to be a content people. not always grumbling and complaining and murmuring about the sorts of things that we don't have. Here specifically, in verse 1, there is a general command. There is a general exhortation.
Let brotherly love continue. That ought to be part and parcel of the Christian church. We ought to let brotherly love continue. This assumes or supposes that there is brotherly love.
Paul in Ephesians 4 says, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That presupposes there's a degree of unity that we are able to keep. Well, here the author, Paul I believe, assumes that the people of God love each other. That's a good assumption.
Remember, Jesus says, by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Right? He didn't say, by this all men will know you're my disciples, if you can recite the catechism. That's good, though.
Recite the catechism. He doesn't say, by this all men will know you're my disciples, if you've memorized Berkov's chapter on eschatology. I don't know how good that would be, but go ahead and do that. But Jesus says, by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
Here the apostle assumes that the Christian church loves each other. And he says, let that brotherly love continue. That's the general command. Then he gives two specific applications in verses 2 and 3.
Let brotherly love continue, vis-a-vis show hospitality to strangers. Verse 2. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. This is a manifestation of love, showing hospitality to others. being kind, being gracious, being open, having people in our homes, specifically your strangers, not necessarily brethren from your church.
They could be brethren from another church. They could be non-converted people. You are to exercise hospitality as an expression of Christian love. Another specific directive is found in verse 3.
Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also. So you see the general exhortation, let brotherly love continue, and the two particular applications of that, toward strangers, toward sufferers. Verses 2 and 3. Philip Yu says, "...true faith, which springs into being from the love of God, must itself blossom out into love for our fellow men.
Brotherly love is the hallmark of the genuine Christian." Brotherly love is the hallmark of the genuine Christian. And in light of what Jesus says there in John 13, 35, Hughes is right on. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. the context,
The Command: Three Considerations
let's consider the command, verse 3. We'll look at this under three considerations. First, the duty to remember, the objects we are to remember, and the reason we are to remember. But notice,
The Duty to Remember
first of all, he says, remember the prisoners. This isn't just a bear running through your day, oh yeah, there's people suffering for the gospel. It isn't just that assent. It isn't just that acknowledgement that somewhere out there somebody doesn't have it as good as me.
That's not what's in view here. It is to remember to care for them. Remember with a view to taking action. Remember for good.
To remember in a way which will benefit the person concerned in some way or other. Now you may not be able to go to Pakistan, you may not be able to visit Pastor Abedini in Iran, but certainly you can take that man to the throne of grace. Certainly you can pray for his wife and his children in Idaho. You can bring them before the God of heaven and earth and actually obey this command in the privacy of your closet.
The duration. It is a present tense verb. That means it is to be a continual action. It's not just one day out of the year in November.
Oh yeah, there are those who suffer for the cause of Christ. This ought to be something that finds its way into our prayer lists. It ought to be something that we avail ourselves with. Anymore, for the most part, you have to look for these kinds of stories.
In other words, the media doesn't always report the targeting of Christians. Why is that? Because probably they don't care. So you have to take the time, you have to investigate, you have to ask some questions.
Now sometimes they're so grisly and so barbaric, even the mainstream media will carry those stories. But at times it alarms me and it amazes me how Christians don't really understand or know just what's going on out there. Remember that idea of Ezekiel 9. go after them and slaughter everyone that does not have the sign or the mark on his forehead as one who sighs and cries over the abominations of the land. And the demand here is we are not simply to give a verbal assent that we know Christians are suffering in the world.
We are to remember them with a view to doing something about it. That's the nature of the command.
The Objects of Remembrance
Notice, secondly, the prisoners, those who are mistreated. The original hearers would understand this. Go back for just a moment to chapter 10. Chapter 10 at verse 32.
This is the immediate context. We are to remember the prisoners. We are to remember those who are mistreated. This would not be a surprise to the people in chapter 13. because they've been told, chapter 10, verses 32 to 36, they have been told as well with reference to the suffering servants in the hall of faith in chapter 11.
So suffering, trial, mistreatment, imprisonment, all these things were not foreign concepts to the original audience. They were tracking. They understood. They were being reminded.
They were being exhorted. This is a concrete application of the general exhortation to let brotherly love continue. Exercise hospitality to strangers and exercise remembrance for sufferers. Notice in 1032, recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.
For you had compassion on me in my chains." You see, he's commending them for this very activity. When he gets to chapter 13-3, he doesn't just assume they'll continue to do this. We need reminder. We need these things set before us.
We need sermons like these. We need to be told what our Christian duty is. And here he says, "...for you have had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that, after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise." So within the immediate context, these believers would be conscious of the fact that there were those in prison.
There were those who were mistreated. They are being admonished to remember them with a view to doing something for them. And this sets the stage for a consideration of the larger context. It was in the Garden of Eden that this animosity, or what some have called an antithesis, was announced.
In other words, the seed of the woman would be hated by the seed of the serpent. Genesis 3.15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. It is God-wrought enmity.
It is a God-wrought antithesis. By virtue of the fact that the Lord is going to save His people from their sins, those who are not saved, those who are outside the pale of redemptive grace, will be in animosity toward God and toward His people. And we see this emphasis on tribulation, we see this emphasis on mistreatment, we see this emphasis on difficulties for Christians all throughout the Old Testament, but focusing on the New Testament. The Lord Christ said, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
In other words, what the apostle is not doing in Hebrews 13.3 is saying, can you believe it? There's actually those who are mistreated and there are those who are prisoners. That's assumed. The antithesis is there.
There is enmity between the woman and between the serpent. There is enmity between Christ and the devil. And Jesus highlights that reality, and he says it's going to be the lot of God's people, when they go through this world, to suffer. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Now if I ask any Reformed Baptist, who are some of the heroes of the faith? I'm sure C.H. Spurgeon's name would come up in the top five when we talk about particular Baptists.
Spurgeon didn't call himself a Reformed Baptist. He was a particular Baptist. John Gill was a particular Baptist. So those men would make it high on the list.
And today you can find Spurgeon books even in Armenian bookstores, right? I mean, you go in, you see Morning and Evening. He's something of a hero today, isn't he? I don't think just in Calvinistic circles, not just in Baptistic circles.
I mean, people like Spurgeon. When I go to the old people's homes, I'm sure Cam can attest to this when he goes to the Linnwood, the people know who Spurgeon is. You don't have to have a 1689 confession to like Spurgeon. We don't have a corner on Spurge.
He wasn't a hero in his day. His people loved him, he had a big flock to be sure, but he was hated. It was quite common for Spurgeon to be in the local papers. And when I say local, we're talking about London, England.
This is a big locale. He was castigated. He was, you know, put down. He was mocked.
He was caricatured. All these things. His wife took this passage, put it on a plaque or a picture of some sort, so that when he would wake up in the morning and he'd get up and he'd start to put on his clothes or slippers or whatever it was he was looking at, he would start the day by looking at this text. You see, he wasn't walking through the streets of London with everybody... doing this.
People in Geneva named their dogs John Calvin. At the time, the great reformer labored in that city. That wasn't because they were so fond of the great reformer. It's because they despised him.
I mean, look at the brethren in the history of the church. It is a time of trial. There is difficulty. There is persecution.
We have seen in our studies in Matthew, when Jesus dispatches His disciples to go preaching and teaching, what does He say to you? The time will come when they will scourge you in their synagogues. The time will come when they will kill you. They will chase you, flee from this city and go into another city.
They are going to persecute you. There is going to be trial. What about the book of Acts? We no sooner begin that blessed record of the history of the early church, and what do we find?
We find the likes of Peter and John scourged. I mean, these were men that a couple of years ago were just happy to throw their nets in the Galilee Sea and bring in a bunch of fish. Their connection with the Savior, their call to apostolic ministry didn't make their life a whole lot better. It made it a whole lot more difficult.
It's very interesting, too. This is a theme replete in Scripture. When you go way back in redemptive history, you know when David's troubles began? Really, do you know when David's troubles began?
It's when the Spirit came upon him. We're not saying that the Spirit is to blame and all that sort of thing. But when he was a shepherd boy out dealing with the sheep, He was just left alone. It's when he's filled with the Spirit and given God's mandate and called to lead Israel in a particular way that the difficulties and the trials come.
You cannot read the book of Acts, you cannot read the New Testament epistles, you cannot read the scriptures and fail to reckon with this reality that in this world you will have tribulation. The apostle promises in 2 Timothy 3.12, All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. In 1 Peter chapter 4, the apostle there assumes that the people of God will know tribulation. 1 Peter 4.12, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. Right?
What happens with us? Oh, they said a bad thing to me. I can't believe it. Why can't you believe it?
They hated Jesus. The Lord Jesus says, if they hated me, they're going to hate you. How is it that we can't believe it? How is it that we can't believe that the liberties of Christians are being stripped away?
How is it that we can't believe that you can't say Merry Christmas, but you can wish anybody and everybody a Happy Kwanzaa, or a Dillwall, or whatever they call it? Notice the target of opposition! It is against God and His Christ! That's the reality that we face today.
We really don't have to look at the Muslim nations. We don't really have to go over to those Roman Catholic lands. We don't have to survey the third world. That opposition is increasing here in the first world as well.
Peter says, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. If you are faithful, if you are godly, if you are pursuing righteousness, if you are seeking to honor the Lord Christ in this lower world, Don't think it's crazy when they persecute you. He says, Rejoice, verse 13, to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
On their party is blaspheme, but on your party is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. If you're a fool, You're wrong, or any of the things described here, don't say I'm suffering as a Christian. You're not.
If you are suffering for these reasons, that's legit. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. They don't like me because I talk about Christ. Maybe they don't like you because you're a busybody.
You've got to make sure that what you're suffering for really is Christ. So many times, Christians are suffering for the gospel. Really? Maybe you're suffering because you're not legit.
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. Verse 19 says, Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God. Don't miss that. Those who suffer according to the will of God.
What happens to us? We suffer. We say, what happened to God? This is His will.
This is His plan. If the Son of God was perfected, or learned obedience rather, through suffering, then what about His sons? What about us? We are going to learn obedience through suffering as well.
Therefore, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good as to a faithful Creator. There are prisoners, there are those who are mistreated. Owen says this, bonds and imprisonment for the truth were consecrated to God and made honorable by the bonds and imprisonment of Christ himself. and commended unto the church in all ages by the bonds and imprisonment of the apostles and primitive witnesses of the truth." Owen goes on to say this, it is better, more safe and honorable to be in bonds with and for Christ than to be at liberty with a brutish, raging, persecuting world. It's better to suffer with Jesus, it's better to suffer for Jesus than have the favor and the smile of a brutish, raging, and persecuting world.
Those who are in prison, to be sure, and those who are mistreated. That's what the text specifies. Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated since you yourselves are in the body also. And then
The Reason: As If Chained With Them
notice, thirdly, we are to remember, or the reason we are to remember, as if chained with them. I gotta say that I would be praying more for release if I was in the cell with them. Wouldn't you? You're sitting in a prison cell, I bet your prayers would be more importunate than if you're sitting in your living room.
That's the argument. Remember them as if you are chained with them. There's an interesting video, it's called Criminal or Hero, about a man, Shi Wen, I forget his last name, a Chinese fellow, Shi Wen, I think it's John Stone would be the equivalent in English. This man was a book publisher.
He printed books in China. He also printed Bibles. He made sure that Bibles got into all the house churches. Well, in 2007, they arrested him. and they put him in jail.
He says, Beijing is like New York, it's cold in December. They put him naked outside and they poured water on him. I mean, the guy suffered for the cause of Christ. Throughout the course of this story, it's about 10 minutes, I mean, 10 minutes.
Criminal or hero, type that in Google and you'll find it. In the course of the story, one of his daughters says, what really helped was the letters. The letters that we received. You know, oftentimes we read these prayer and persecution updates and they give an address you can write here or there.
They had bags and bags and bags and bags of letters. And this little girl said, you know, it was really hard because you start doubting, right? Maybe my dad is a criminal. I mean, my dad has done something wrong.
You know, you're not this bold, triumphant faith. He's a hero for Jesus. No, I mean, the state, the state we love, the state we thought was looking out for us. I mean, she sounded like typical commie.
We love the state. We adored the state. We thought the state was looking out for us. So when the state throws your father in the prison, maybe that doubt will arise." She said, but then the letters came.
I mean, bags and bags and bags of letters from all over the world. She said, that was such an encouragement. It was such a blessing. It was such a boon to help us to persevere.
I thought to myself, one letter might actually do something like that? I need to get busy on this sort of thing. It doesn't take, you know, what, five minutes to type a letter? He says, remember the prisoners as if chained with them.
If I was sitting in a cell, I'd want letters. If I was sitting in a cell, I'd want prayers. If I was sitting in a cell, I'd want somebody to come and visit me. You see, the emphasis of the text is to remember them in such a way that you do something for them and to highlight or to bring some severity to this situation.
Imagine yourself chained with them. And then he says, since you yourselves are in the body also, we are one with them in the body of Christ the Church. That's how the older interpreters took it. I think that's certainly in the case, or certainly in the text.
We are one with them in the body of Christ the Church. We're not only to rejoice with those who rejoice, Romans 12.15, but we're supposed to weep with those who weep, same Romans 12.15. But as well, we also lead a bodily existence, and we know how hard it is to suffer. I mean, for many, a sniffle will sideline your pursuit of holiness.
For many, a difficult morning will upset the apple cart so that you fall apart and you don't read or pray. Imagine being in a prison cell. Imagine being in Beijing in December. Imagine being naked outside in the snow and having people pour water on you.
This is what the author wants you to do. He wants you to identify with the reality of the suffering. He wants you to identify with just how difficult it is, and he wants you to remember that. And as well, I think it goes three ways.
We're one in the body with them in terms of the church. We're one in the body with them in terms of we can identify and relate to that suffering. We're one in the body with them and the potential exists for us to be arrested, to be in prison, and to be mistreated as well. Certainly the golden rule applies here.
Shouldn't we want people to pray for us? And if that's the case, should we not pray for them? O'Brien says, this unusual expression is intended to convey the notion of intense identification with those who are suffering. intense identification with those who are suffering. That is what the Apostle is calling for as an expression or a specific application of the general exhortation to let brotherly love continue.
A manifestation of that is hospitality to strangers. A manifestation of that is to remember the sufferers. Remember these brothers and sisters. Avail yourself of information.
Know what's going on in the world. You're not supposed to sit from morning till night doing nothing but research in terms of these things. But have some clue, have some understanding, have some idea of what is happening in the world around us with reference to the persecution of our brothers and sisters so that we can take seriously the imperative of Hebrews 13.3 and remember them. Well,
Suffering Saints in Scripture
in conclusion, There are some examples of suffering in the Scripture, in the very context. There's a general statement in Acts 14. The Apostle says, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. Paul knew of what he spoke because he had just been stoned.
He understood what this text meant. When his hearers heard him, they understood what this text meant. They weren't puzzled because they saw a man who had recently been stoned. Certainly it leaves its marks on one's body.
Certainly when he hobbles into the pulpit, or hobbles into wherever he's going to speak, and he starts talking about tribulations, they're not asking questions. Hey, what do you mean, Paul? What do you mean by these tribulations? It's Paul who's able to say to the churches of the Galatian region, he says, let no one trouble me anymore, for I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus.
I love that story. In Sinclair Ferguson's book, I think it was on the Sermon on the Mount, he's talking about that very thing, and he illustrates with Galatians 6 there. He says, imagine you're at the church picnic, and the great and mighty apostle Paul is back from his missionary journeys. Some of the kids say, let's go into the lake, Paul.
Paul takes off that outer garment, and there you see Galatians 6.17 engraved in his flesh. I bear in my body the brand marks of Jesus. There are specific references to the sorts of things that the people of God suffer for the cause of Christ in Hebrews chapter 11. Notice, Hebrews chapter 11, the kingdom is not punctuated simply with triumphant heroes, but it also has its suffering saints.
Notice in verse 32 of chapter 11, And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Beric and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of a sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn into, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy They wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." Mocking and scourging. Chains and imprisonment.
I mean, just think of some of the biblical characters. Joseph is thrown into the pokey for no good reason. Micaiah the prophet is smacked, and then put into prison, and given a ration of bread and water. For what?
Telling the truth to Ahab. Jeremiah the prophet. I mean, it took a pagan to feed him when he's in the pit. They were stoned.
Zechariah the priest, 2 Chronicles 24. Tradition says Jeremiah was stoned in Egypt by the apostate Jews. They were sawn in two. Tradition says this occurred to the prophet Isaiah under the reign of Manasseh.
That Isaiah the prophet was sawn in two is truly a testimony to the depravity of man. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins. They were destitute, afflicted, they were tormented. They wandered in deserts, they wandered in mountains, they wandered in dens and caves of the earth.
Hughes says the language is vividly descriptive of the savage indignities and severe hardships which men and women of faith have been willing to endure rather than deny the truth by which they have been liberated. It depicts, moreover, the fierce hatred of the unbelieving world and its guilty hostility to the truth as it ruthlessly hunts and assaults those whose trust is in the immutability of the divine promises." As I said, on Wednesday nights, Sunday mornings, we read the letters, we read the prayer updates, we read concerning people in Pakistan, in Eritrea, in North Korea, in China. We see these continual patterns. We see the sufferings of God's people.
You see little kids who no longer have parents because their parents love the truth and would not give it up. I realize not every single person out there dots their theological I's and crosses their theological T's as we do. But brethren, if a tenth of these reports are accurate, or a tenth of the people are the real deal, it is horrific. It is horrendous.
Historians tell us that the 20th century is a far more bloody century in terms of Christian martyrdom than centuries 1 to 19 combined. Communism is certainly no friend to Christianity. Atheism is certainly no friend to Christianity. I used to think, in my naivete, that Hindus were a peace-loving folk, that Buddhists were a peace-loving folk, until they're stabbing Christians and cutting their throats and dispossessing them from their homes.
They're not just these simple people banging tambourines and wearing orange robes. There is an antithesis. There is an hatred. There is a despising of the true people of God.
Edwards is absolutely right. Because men cannot ascent and rip God off of His throne and throw Him down and kill Him, they will kill His people. They will destroy the saints of Jesus Christ.
Application
A practical benefit of obedience to this command? It is always good to obey God. I mean, I have ten things here, and that ten isn't going to take us long, so don't let ten make you go, oh man, we're here for the long haul. It's always right to obey.
God says remember the prisoners, remember the prisoners. You don't need any enticements from Jim on why you should do this, but just consider some of these things.
Ten Reasons to Remember
Remember the prisoners, because they're easily forgotten, because they're out of sight. Right? We're not there. We don't see them.
It is a conscious attempt on our part to make sure we remember these people. So I think about abortion as well. We don't visit the clinics. We're not there where babies are being murdered.
You have to consciously fill your head with these things so that you remember in order to pray. You've got to write it down. If you're aging and you forget things, write it down. text yourself, whatever your process is, the scripture says we are to remember. They're out of sight and unfortunately out of mind.
Secondly, Jesus commends this mindset. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.
Again, you may not ever go to China. You may never go to Iran. You may never go to Turkey. But if you send a letter, and it makes its way into that man's hand, or into his daughter's hand, so that they're buoyed up, so that they're encouraged, so that they're able to persevere, that's a Matthew 25 situation.
Remember them, number three, in order to pray for them. In Acts 12, what do we find? Peter's in jail. What's the church doing?
They're praying for him. It's a great illustration of this very principle. Four, remember them in order to give tangible aid to them. Where was Paul when he wrote to the Philippians?
He was sitting in a prison cell. The church in Philippi dispatch Epaphroditus. They send him to visit the apostle in prison. Epaphroditus brings a gift to him.
It probably wasn't an Xbox. It was probably food. Might have been a blanket. Might have been a jacket.
Might have been something to sustain his life. You see, the federal government didn't look out for the prisoners in those days. It was friends and family. You didn't get access.
You weren't entitled to everything that prisoners are entitled to today. Fifthly, remember them in order to visit them. It may be the case that somebody that you know is mistreated or in prison for their Christian faith. Go visit them.
Sixth, remember them in order to write to them. Seven, remember them in order to help them persevere. Again, I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a situation like that, but to get letters and to say, praise God, you were printing Bibles and giving them to people that needed it. That's right.
I'm not a criminal. That's good. That's what I should be doing. Eight, remember them in order to pray for their persecutors.
I think when it comes to praying for the persecutors of God's people, that prayer should go in two directions. The first, as we've learned in 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 to 4, is to pray for their salvation. Pray for kings and all who are in authority. Pray for those men in high places.
Why? Because God desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. So pray that God will save the persecutors. But it's interesting as well, secondly, we ought to pray that God stops the persecutors.
In Revelation 6, 9, and 10, at the opening of the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Romans 12 says we are not to take vengeance in our own hands. We are not to avenge ourselves, but we are to give place to wrath.
How do we give place to wrath? But at the throne of grace. Take Psalm 94 before the throne sometime and pray that God will stop those men who persecute the church of Jesus Christ. Remember them nightly, and this is, I don't want to say a mercenary thing, but there is benefit in remembering others.
Remember them in order to get your eyes off of yourself. You know, when I preach on the fourth commandment, like this morning and last Sunday, you know, it's that tendency to say, if we just cleaned up the fourth commandment, if everybody just obeyed the Sabbath better, the church would be a great place. Or whatever our particular thing is. If everybody would just do it this way, then we'd have a better...
You know, I think fundamentally the problem is, is the first commandment. When we trip on that one, everything else just goes right down the tubes. Our problem is, is that we love ourselves at times far more than we love God. And when we look at the needs of others, and we remember others, and we pray for others, and we intercede for others, that's a good thing.
A.W. Pink says, most reprehensible and unchrist-like is that selfish callousness which says, I have enough troubles of my own without concerning myself over those of other people. Putting it on its lowest ground, such a spirit ministers no relief. The most effectual method of getting away from our own sorrows is to seek out and relieve others in distress." It's a blessing.
It's a good thing. And then 10thly, one of the church fathers is going to help us here. Remember them as this is an evidence that one has believed the truth of the gospel. The title for tonight's message is A Manifestation of Brotherly Love.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. We are not saved by love, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus and its chief manifestation, its chief expression is through love. There was a father named Ignatius. He was martyred during the reign of Trajan. was about AD 98 to 117.
So he's an early church father, what we call the apostolic fathers. He wrote to the Smyrnians. He says, note well those who hold heretical opinions about the grace of Jesus Christ that came to us. He says, beware, be on your guard, be on the lookout of heretics.
Note well, or now note well, those who hold heretical opinions about the grace of Jesus Christ that came to us, note how contrary they are to the mind of God. They have no concern for love, none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the oppressed, none for the prisoner or the one released, none for the hungry or thirsty. He is saying that a fruit of heresy, a fruit of not believing the truth of the Gospel, a fruit of not having been saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, a fruit of that is a lack of love, a lack of concern for the prisoner, a lack of concern for the hungry or thirsty, a lack of charity. So when we manifest such things, when we express such things, it indicates that we have, in fact, by the grace of God, believed the truth of the gospel.
And finally, we need to understand, with reference to this concept of being a prisoner or being mistreated, the Lord Jesus Christ is worth it. He is absolutely worth our suffering. If we are called upon to suffer, if we are called upon to be in prison, if we are called upon to be mistreated, we are blessed. That's what Peter says.
That's what Jesus says in the Beatitude. Blessed are you when you are persecuted. Remember, when the disciples were clogged, when they were scourged, they left that place rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Christ is altogether lovely.
He's chief among 10,000. He is the pearl of greatest price. If we suffer for Him, we're not losing anything. We are blessed beyond measure.
We are in the company of godly men and women in the past, and we are in the company of the Savior Himself. He Himself went through such trial. He Himself went through such imprisonment. He Himself went through such mistreatment, and it culminated in the crucifixion of the Son of God.
He is worth it, and we need to keep that fresh. and focused in our mind, this Christ is worthy of any mistreatment or any suffering that you and I are called upon to in this lower world. Well, may God take these things, seal them to our hearts, and may we be a people of prayer with reference to those who are in prison, those who are mistreated. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for your grace and mercy, and we do pray for those suffering ones throughout the world. God, we pray for those in prison currently, for those families who have been deprived of a father or of a husband or mother. We just commit them to you, and we pray that you'd help us as a church to be specific in these things, to learn of these things, and to be conscious of the reality. Give us grace as well, Father, to remember with a view to doing something at the throne of grace or writing letters or whatever it may be.
God, lay these things on our heart, we pray. And go with us now and watch over us in this coming week. Help us to honor and to glorify your holy name. And give us grace to live in such a way as to bring honor to your great name.
And we pray through Christ the Lord. Amen.