1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

[Hidden In Him]

How God's True Army Is Languishing Due To Neglect

     Where does most of the funding in the Church go these days? To those ministries truly dedicated to the spiritual war, or to those who are promoting a lifestyle of luxury and privilege? Most Christian ministries in the West are unfortunately too caught up in the good life to pose any real threat to the kingdom of darkness. Meanwhile, their brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are suffering greatly on the front lines, standing for truth in the face of severe persecution. Wives with children are being left homeless and penniless after Christian husbands are imprisoned and/or executed for standing for Christ. And Christian families are losing their children to the sex trafficking industry at the hands of Muslims. Yet most of the money continues to get funneled into making sure the prosperous can keep leading their lavish lifestyles.
     Certainly the Western church has the finances to help those who are suffering, but unfortunately the plight of those doing the real fighting is being almost completely ignored. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ in the West is too busy sending boatloads of money to those promising them greater financial returns on their giving. Until the church finally wakes up to where the true spiritual war is actually taking place, this trend will only continue.
     Paul understood very well where the real spiritual war was taking place in his time, and urged believers to practice brotherly love with those who had the greatest need, whether Jew or Gentile. The Thessalonians and Philippians in particular were especially famous for being generous in their support of the oppressed, even in the midst of their own crushing poverty. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

     And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. (2 Corinthians 8:1-4 NIV)

     It is in this setting that Paul now wrote to the Thessalonians about continuing to give and show brotherly love to those who were suffering the most, encouraging them to abound in it more and more:

     But concerning brotherly love we have no need to write to you, for you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. For you also do this towards all the brothers in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to abound in it more. But earnestly endeavor to live quietly, and tend to your own affairs, and work with your own hands, even as we commanded you, so that you may walk respectably towards those without, and have need of nothing. (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12)

     Everywhere in scripture where brotherly love is mentioned you'll find a discussion on money matters in the immediate context, for this is how true brotherly love was being made manifest: Sending clothing, food and/or money to those in most desperate need, so that the entire church might have all things common (Acts 4:32). This is why "working with their hands" was here tied to manifesting brotherly love in this passage. They were to not only provide for themselves, but have enough to give to manifest brotherly love towards others as well, and still "have need of nothing," which was the example Paul himself set for the churches:

     I desired the silver or gold or clothing of no one. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my needs and those who were with me. I showed you all things [by example], that thus laboring we ought to help those who are weak, and remember the words of our Lord Jesus, who Himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:33-35)

     But conspicuously absent from this list of instructions was any mention of "sowing seed" into ministry so that God might grant them a hundred-fold return on their "investment." One would think that if such instructions were indeed from God then these poor people would have needed them the most. They were as poor as dirt. But while some may be truly well intended, most who teach such things today are merely exploiters, and the Spirit of God is now revealing that those who give to such men and their ministries are not supporting the true army of God in the field. They are giving to those who squander it.


The End-Time Army: Not Where The Money Is Going

     Most church funding today doesn't go to those whose lives are having a significant impact on the spiritual war in our time. It goes to those who are merely play-acting rather than doing any real damage to the kingdom of darkness. This was brought out by a Rick Joyner vision entitled "The Turning," cited earlier in this series. In it, the present-day army of God was compared to a giant fleet of warships, most of which are now in terrible disarray due to neglect:

     I had an extensive vision over the last couple of days ... I asked this question: "Where are we?" I believe He gave me this as an answer to it. I saw the Church like a fleet of ships at sea... this fleet was made up of all different types of vessels. Having been in the Navy I recognized most of them. There were some Aircraft Carriers, there were Battleships, all kinds of other gunboats like Cruisers and everything else. There was a huge convoy of Supply Ships.
     But what seemed very incongruous about this fleet was there were more Luxury Liners than any other type of ship. The Luxury Liners were actually the center of the fleet, and all the other vessels were trying to protect these Luxury Liners.
     Now I was a part of a fleet. I was part of the 6th Fleet when I was in the Navy. The Aircraft Carrier is supposed to be the center. That's what you call your capital ship, the main ship, and all the other ships are for its protection and screening. In this fleet the Luxury Liners were the main ship. The Aircraft Carriers were constantly being hit by torpedoes. Every one of them was severely damaged. Some of them were very close to sinking. Most of the supplies from the Supply Ships were going to the Luxury Liners instead of the other warships, and all of the warships looked like what we call "rust buckets." They didn't even look seaworthy…

                                         

     Why is this happening? Did not Jesus teach that if we gave to the poor we would have treasure in Heaven? Surely what He said to the rich young ruler still applies today (See Matthew 19:16-21). But prosperity teaching has become so prominent in the Western pulpits that we are now blind to what's going on with the persecuted church. Preaching about the persecuted church doesn't fit well with the current Western church's endless pursuit of being "blessed."
     But are we truly blessed in God's eyes? Many Western Christians have indeed attained to the prosperity they're continually promised, but to what end? They have only further fulfilled what God prophesied to this age nearly 2,000 years ago: We call ourselves "blessed," but in reality we are wretched, blind, poor, naked and poverty stricken in the eyes of God:

     And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans, write, "These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing" — and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked — I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. (Revelation 3:14-18)

     Gold tried in the fires of persecution is now hard to find in the Western Church today, but we could at least be helping those whose faith is being severely tried. Unfortunately, most believers in the West are also so poorly informed about what's really going on in other parts of that world that they don't even know where the real battle is anymore.
     Before going into this, however, let us return to looking at how the early church handled their finances, and how they were directing funds to where they were most needed during New Testament times.
 

Jerusalem: The Front Lines During New Testament Times

     True brotherly love involved seeing past racial differences to treat believers everywhere as all part of one family, one spiritual body, regardless of race, culture or nationality. Paul often taught this to the Gentiles in his letters, including those he sent to in the Galatians and Colossians:

     For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. But if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:26-29)

     Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new men, which is being renewed unto recognition according to the image of the One having created him. Where there is no Greek nor Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave [or] free, but Christ is all, and is in all. (Colossians 3:9-11)

     Jerusalem is where the brotherly love was needed the most during New Testament times. Starting with the persecution that arose around 45 A.D. when James was put to death and Peter was thrown in prison, Christians would be under almost continual persecution from the Jews from that point on. The persecution that arose from the Jewish religious leadership in the city made it a very dangerous place to live in. The number of Christian widows and orphans grew with each passing year as their husbands increasingly suffered and died for the cause of Christ, leaving them dependent upon the church.
     This is why James made specific mention about providing for widows and orphans. He was probably writing from Jerusalem itself at the time, and knew all too well the troubles Christian families were facing there:

     A pure and undefiled religious life in the sight of our God and Father is this: To visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and keep oneself unspotted from the world... And if a brother or sister is insufficiently clothed and may be lacking daily food, and anyone from among you says unto them, "Go in peace. Be warmed and filled," yet does not give them the things the body needs, what help is it? So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. (James 1:27, 2:15-16)
 
     As a result, Paul often wrote to the Gentile churches about collecting offerings to send to those suffering in Jerusalem. As he wrote to the Romans:

     But now I go to Jerusalem, ministering unto the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. (Romans 15:25-26)

     Paul even developed a system for raising funds among the Gentile churches, so that those in Jerusalem might be guaranteed to receive the help they needed. He told the Corinthians to set money aside every week, so that it would be ready when he arrived:

     Now about the collection for the saints: As I directed the congregations of Galatia [to do], do so yourselves also. On the first of the week, let each of you put aside unto himself, storing up whatever he may be prospered in, that there should not be collections when I come. And when I shall have arrived, whomsoever you may have approved through these epistles I will send to carry your gift to Jerusalem. And if it be suitable for me to go also, they shall go with me. (1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

     Thus, the Gentile churches like the Corinthians and Thessalonians were providing for the needs of the saints where need was being felt the most, in Jerusalem. Their severe persecution, which was being exacted primarily against the men, was leaving many Christian women widowed and children orphaned. But the church was not leaving them to go it alone, nor were the church's leaders being silent about where the need was being felt the most.


The Front Lines In The Real Spiritual War Today

     So where is the need being felt the most today? It is always changing and fluctuating, but as of the writing of this study, one region where Christians have been suffering terribly over the last decade is Nigeria. Granted, the Christian population in Nigeria consists of many different denominations, but they are all believers in Christ, and would not turn away support from any denomination willing to help them. Christian organizations like Voice of the Martyrs are in place to funnel resources their way, but they are rarely sent relief because the church in the West has far more "important" work to see to.
     The following are excerpts of a recent article taken from Raymond Ibrahim's website, Islam Translated:

Thousand Churches Destroyed in Nigeria: Muslim Persecution of Christians, October 2014
by Raymond Ibrahim on January 2, 2015 in Muslim Persecution of Christians

     In just two months, from August to October, nearly 200 Christian churches were destroyed by the Islamic organization Boko Haram and its Muslim allies after their capture of towns and villages in the north-eastern states of Borno and Adamawa. In the words of Reverend Gideon Obasogie, the director of Catholic Social Communication of Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State: “The group’s seizure of territory in both states has seen 185 churches torched and over 190,000 people displaced by their insurgency.”
     In 2011, hundreds of Christians were killed and 430 churches destroyed or damaged in Nigeria by Boko Haram. In 2012, 900 Christians were slaughtered and an unknown number of churches destroyed.  In 2013, 612 Christians were slaughtered and approximately 300 churches destroyed.
     This suggests that in the last four years alone, approximately 1,000 Christian churches have been destroyed by Boko Haram and its Muslim sympathizers in a nation that is approximately half Christian, half Muslim.
     A typical church attack in Nigeria that occurred in October was reported as follows: “Armed Muslim extremists stormed two churches in Taraba state on Sunday (Oct. 19) and killed 31 people as they worshipped… Two pastors, one pastor’s son, and 28 other Christians were slain in the attacks.”  According to the Rev. Caleb Ahema, president of the Christian Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria, “The attack on Christians in Taraba state is a planned genocide against Christians by Islamic insurgents who have invaded the southern part of the state, inhabited mostly by Christians, since February.”
     The experiences of Adamu, a 28-year-old Christian man who refused to abjure Christianity for Islam, appeared in October.  One day while working on his farm, a Boko Haram member came to him:
     He told me to convert to Islam and join them in waging a jihad to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria.  I told him that I will not renounce my Christian faith in order to embrace Islam. He left me there on my farm without saying anything again.  [Two days later, five other Boko Haram members showed up.] They said their member told them that I refused to renounce being a Christian and wanted to know whether it is true that I refused to become a Muslim.  [Adamu repeated his decision again.] They then told me that since I refused to recant, they would kill me….  They pinned me down and told me they will make death painful and slow, as they are not prepared to waste their bullets on me.  They also said they would not give me the honor of slaughtering me by cutting my neck from the front, because that is the way they slaughter their rams. They forced me down on my stomach and then proceeded to slaughter me by cutting my neck from the back. I was bleeding and went blank as the knife cut through my neck. It was pains I cannot explain to you. After cutting my neck, they left me bleeding….  It was only after I was taken to the hospital that I was told that the Boko Haram members who attacked me on the farm had gone to the village shortly after leaving me bleeding to death and had warned other Muslims that if any of them dares to rescue me, he would be killed.  They sternly warned other Muslims in Musari, “We have butchered an infidel there on his farm. Be warned that if any of you Muslims dares to assist him, he is also an infidel and we shall make sure that he too is killed.’”  [Days later, a fellow Christian snuck onto the farm and rescued the barely living man.]

                                       


Silence In The West As Persecution Intensifies

     Because most Western Christians are sheltered and are not being informed about the atrocities increasingly being committed against Christians in many parts of the world today, most fancifully still think of stories from the Bible when they think of Christian persecution, as if it were for the most part a thing of the past.
     As William Stark of Persecution.Org recently wrote,

     "How are Christians persecuted today? This is a question not often thought about in the Western Church today. When Christians in the West actually think about persecution, they think about Ancient Rome, the Coliseum, and things of that nature, as if Christian persecution is something that can only be found in Church history. People rarely think about Christians suffering in modern times, even though Christianity is the most persecuted religion around the world."

     Why do Western Christians think this way when so much persecution is taking place today, especially in Muslim countries? A web article from Voice Of The Persecuted entitled, "Silence As Christians Die" implicates both pastors and the media as culpable in this regard: 

     Why is the West so shamefully silent in the face of the onslaught against Christian peoples and communities throughout the Islamic realm?... if the silence continues, we are almost sure to witness bloody religious/ethnic “cleansings,” if not actual genocides… Obama has not spoken out, and sadly, neither has Christian leadership. Why are both the left and the Christians abandoning these people to their fate? (Voice Of The Persecuted.com, Silence As Christians Die)

     He goes on to mention several reasons why Christian leadership may be remaining silent, among them the desire to maintain "peaceful relations" and America's history of not being terribly concerned with people in other countries. But as already mentioned, the Spirit of the Lord Himself is also implicating yet another reason, one that is hitting the target a bit more accurately: The Western church is too caught up in its own prosperity and luxury to care. If they even consider themselves as fighting in a war at all, it is certainly an imaginary one, because they are showing no concern whatsoever for the real one presently going on in other parts of the world. The persecution of their brothers and sisters in Christ continues to intensify in nations like Egypt, Syria and Iraq, and remains ongoing in countries like Nigeria and Sudan, yet most Western believers remain blissfully unaware because their leadership apparently does not consider it to be a matter worth addressing.
     How can this silence and total lack of response on the part of the Western Church be considered anything resembling brotherly love? Certainly we should expect virtual silence from the Western press, but for Christian leaders and pastors to be silent is a travesty, a witness to the world that Western Christians are little more than self-absorbed and superficial, and care nothing for the plight of their own brothers and sisters in Christ outside their own immediate environment, if that.
     Some who are told of these crimes against humanity often assume that the US military would be stepping in in defense of innocent civilians if such atrocities were indeed taking place. But this, too, reflects an incredible amount of naiveté of the part of most Western Christians today. In more cases than not, under the Obama regime, the U.S. is actually funding militant jihadists rather than those seeking protection from them. As a result, our fellow believers in countries like Syria are questioning why we, as a Christian nation, are arming the terrorists rather than fighting against them.
     In an a web article entitled, "Syrian Christians: 'Why Is America at War with Us'" from CBN:

     Syrian Christians are asking why the United States supports extremists who want to turn Syria into an Islamic state. That testimony came during a congressional hearing on Syria's religious minorities Tuesday... Nina Shea, director of the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, testified that Islamic insurgents are targeting Christians for "ethno-religious cleansing." Christian Solidarity International CEO Dr. John Eibner, who also testified at the hearing, said displaced Christians are asking him, "Why is the U.S. at war against us?" (CBN.com, CBN News, 'Syrian Christians: 'Why Is America at War with Us' June 27, 2013)

     In the case of President Barak Hussein Obama, he has publicly stated in writing since the beginning that he would side with the Muslims in international disputes if things got ugly, and has since proven it by giving strong financial support to Muslim jihadist organizations like Al-Queda and the Muslim Brotherhood, while withholding it from their strongest opponents in their regions, such as Egypt and Syria. But let there be no mistake. The U.S. financial support of Islamic jihadist organizations will not end with Barak Obama's presidency. There is now a strong and increasingly influential pro-Islamic faction embedded within the U.S. government, and when the time comes it is prophesied that the US will not only wash its hands of Israel completely but even take part in an Islamist-led holocaust of the Jews that will make Hitler's "Final Solution" look like child's play. (see Joyner, The Harvest, P.187)
     Thus, those with wisdom should know already the it is up to the Church to help Christians who are suffering around the world. In eternity, it may not only be they who ask us why we had so many resources at our disposal and yet refused to help. God Himself may ask why we turned a blind eye to the suffering of our brothers in Christ when they were suffering just as He once did. 


When Brotherly Love Returns, As A Witness To The World

     Thankfully, it is prophesied that a time is coming when the the church will stop wasting its resources on frivolous spending and turn to helping the real war effort currently underway in persecuted regions. As is made plain in "The Turning," a time is coming when the church will wake up to the revelation that we are in a WAR, and that we must return to acting like it:   

     As this fleet turned to 120 degrees it went directly into the wind which enabled the Aircraft Carriers to launch their planes. These planes were scouts. They were eyes and ears of the fleet, and when they're not in the air - I know this in the natural - the fleet is blind and deaf. As soon as they got airborne they started receiving more messages (in fulfillment of Joel 2:28)... one of the first messages that they got were further orders that also came in code, and that was 2nd Timothy 2:4-5. It says, "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who has enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules." And this was decoded and interpreted to mean that they needed to transform the Luxury Liners into Troop Carriers and Hospital Ships. And they started that transformation. And they took the Aircraft Carriers and the other warships that were in such bad disrepair, they started taking the Luxury Liners apart, and giving the parts to the warships, and they were restored and rebuilt that way. The rest of the Luxury Liners that were not taken apart were made into the Troop Carriers and the Hospital Ships.
     But as soon as this part was completed, it was like ... thousands of fishing vessels all came and joined the fleet... These are the harvesters, these are the evangelists. There were thousands, and I tell you, this sea was so full of life, it was so ready to be harvested. But that only happened after the Luxury Liners were changed, and the warships restored. (Joyner, "The Turning")

     By the warships being restored, it is clear that this vision predicts a day when those in persecution-torn regions and the ministries trying to give them aid will once again begin receiving the financial help they need, and the brotherly love and support they truly deserve. This day is also prophesied about in other visions as well:

     [During the harvest], the church will become the greatest demonstration of order and harmony ever witnessed in human affairs… the level of cooperation between ministries, churches and every individual who serves His name will be a marvel to the world which confounds even the greatest thinkers of the day. Without human organization, the flow and interchange of ministry will be breathtaking in its precision… When His teams need capital, food, or other resources, they will not even need to ask before it is provided. When Bibles or other materials are needed, they will arrive. When a body of believers needs instruction, the right teacher will passing through right on time. There is no computer system or organization known to man that can match the efficiency and timing with which the Lord will direct the harvest. This will all be even more remarkable because of the increasing chaos into which the world will be degenerating during this time. (The Harvest, P.50-51)

     When this time finally arrives, the brotherly love shown by the saints toward one another will again be a testimony to the unbelieving world just as it was during New Testament times. By receiving financial aid at the perfect time, believers will know they are not alone but loved and valued as fellow members in the body of Christ, no matter where they are or what they might be going through. Satan's arguments that Christianity is a religion of hatred and bigotry will be refuted in that the brotherly love being made manifest among the saints will surpass anything the socialist governments of this world can accomplish. The children of God will once again have all things common because they will again manifest true brotherly love towards one another, as they did during New Testament times.
 
 


Links to sources:
http://www.raymondibrahim.com/muslim-persecution-of-christians/thousand-churches-destroyed-in-nigeria-muslim-persecution-of-christians-october-2014/
https://voiceofthepersecuted.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/silence-as-christians-die/
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2013/June/Syrian-Christians-Why-Is-America-at-War-with-Us/