We always talk about the person who, in the face of severe persecution, strongly stands until the end. They don't give into torture, and they hold their tongue while being electrocuted, beaten, or boiled to death.
Then there is the person, who just couldn't hold out. They gave in, as their flesh was being ripped from their body, in pieces. The only relief was to deny the Lord, so they do, and the perpetrators kill the person anyway.
You just have to wonder...does God hold this person accountable for caving under a pressure and torture beyond our wildest dreams.
There is one instance, where a Father is told, “Deny the Lord and we won’t kill your son!” They hold the son in front of this Father, and they begin to torture him. The son’s tears and screaming are too much for this Father, so he denies the Lord to save his son.
I have to wonder if that person was really denying the Lord or just saying so to appease the torturers
__________________ Let it be understood that Apostolic Friends Forum is an Apostolic Forum.
Apostolic is defined on AFF as:
There is One God. This one God reveals Himself distinctly as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
The Son is God himself in a human form or "God manifested in the flesh" (1Tim 3:16)
Every sinner must repent of their sins.
That Jesus name baptism is the only biblical mode of water baptism.
That the Holy Ghost is for today and is received by faith with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues.
The saint will go on to strive to live a holy life, pleasing to God.
I believe we have to be strong enough in our faith to withstand anything. We can think of the most horrible situation imaginable, and it still doesn't give us an excuse to sin.
Amen. God promised...
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV (13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
That means no experience is too much for us to be able to withstand denying the Lord. Otherwise, God is a liar.
__________________ ...MY THOUGHTS, ANYWAY.
"Many Christians do not try to understand what was written in a verse in the Bible. Instead they approach the passage to prove what they already believe."
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV (13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
That means no experience is too much for us to be able to withstand denying the Lord. Otherwise, God is a liar.
Ya; see that your attitude if you ever get in this position is not that of victim, but willing victim; it kind of changes the paradigm.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV (13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
That means no experience is too much for us to be able to withstand denying the Lord. Otherwise, God is a liar.
Have you ever been tortured?
Did Corrie ten Boom sin by lying to protect her own life and the lives of the Jews from the torture of the Germans?
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV (13) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
That means no experience is too much for us to be able to withstand denying the Lord. Otherwise, God is a liar.
So, when someone does deny Christ under threat of torture or death, what is the explanation, in your view?
__________________
Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
Did Corrie ten Boom sin by lying to protect her own life and the lives of the Jews from the torture of the Germans?
I wonder how many people ever read Corrie Ten Boom's books?
A couple of quotes from Corrie:
“We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world and the spiritual agents are from the very headquarters of evil. Therefore, we must wear the "whole armour of God," that we may be able to resist evil in its day of power, and that even when we have fought to a standstill, we may still stand our ground.”
― Corrie ten Boom
“Father sat down on the edge of the narrow bed. "Corrie," he began gently, "when you and I go to Amsterdam-when do I give you your ticket?"
I sniffed a few times, considering this.
"Why, just before we get on the train."
"Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of Him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need-just in time.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
__________________
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. (Psalms 118:8)
Corrie Ten Boom shared this burdened message in 1974 named, Preparing for Tribulation. Here are some excerpts from that article: "There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution. In China, the Christians were told, "Don't worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured." Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, "We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes – to stand and not faint."
"I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. We are next. In America, the churches sing, "Let the congregation escape tribulation", but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners. Many, many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation."
Linear Mode
