FORTITUDE
Posted on July 21, 2007
Filed Under Pastor's Blog
In Revelation 17 just as God is about to destroy Babylon an unexpected warning is given, to a most unlikely people. Believers are told to flee the city. It makes one do a double take on what is being read. You’re left wondering what are we doing there anyway? Isn’t this the apocalyptic Sodom and Gomorrah? Babylon is characterized as a place of vast wealth and ease. It reeks with the stench of self-fulfillment and we of all people have to get out before it’s too late.
In some way as followers of Christ (who live in America) we live in Babylon. On Sunday night we have to take into consideration those who are more/less(?) fortunate than us. It is estimated that 160,000 believers will die for the faith around the world this year. Another 200 million will be persecuted in some form (see prisoneralert.com). Of course we have get past this “I feel sorry for them” thing. Suppose they are thinking the same thing about us? What we should be doing is rooting for and praying for each other. The prayer must be for fortitude to withstand persecution and overcome corruption. Perhaps, for those of us who live in Babylon (metaphorically speaking) there are other forms of persecution (as Peter seems to suggest in 2 Peter 2:7-9). The voice of the martyrs cry out from the past, the present and the future for us to live for God now in the midst of a corrupt and perverse generation. WHB
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