A House Church in a city of the Soviet Union received one copy of the Gospel of Luke, the only Scripture most of these Christians had ever seen. They tore it into small sections and then distributed them among the body of believers. Their plan was to memorize the portion they had been given, then on the next Lord’s Day they would meet and redistribute the scriptural sections.
On Sunday these believers arrived inconspicuously in small groups throughout the day so as not to arouse the suspicion of KGB informers. By dusk they were all safely inside, windows closed and doors locked. They began by singing a Hymn quietly but with deep emotion.
Suddenly the door was pushed open and in walked two Soldiers with loaded automatic weapons at the ready.
One shouted… “All right everybody line up against the wall. If you wish to renounce your commitment to Jesus Christ, leave now!”
Two or three quickly left, then another. After a few more seconds, two more.
“This is your last chance. Either turn against your faith in Christ”, he ordered, “or stay and suffer the consequences.”
Another left. Finally, two more in embarrassed silence with their faces covered slipped out into the night. No one else moved,Parents with small children trembling beside them looked down reassuringly. They fully expected to be gunned down or, at best, to be imprisoned.
After a few moments of complete silence, the other Soldier closed the door, looked back at those who stood against the wall and said, “Keep your hands up but this time in praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. We, too, are Christians. We were sent to another House Church several weeks ago to arrest a group of Believers.”
The other Soldier interrupted, but, instead, we were converted! We have learned by experience, however, that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted.
”Do we wonder what we would do if we were in the same situation as these Christians, would we stay or walk away, some feel that unless we are confronted with something we don’t know how we will respond…
Thankfully the Scriptures tell us something different and we can see that it is confirmed in the lives of many Christians in the Persecuted Church today.It is not us who will stand firm to the end, because we can’t not in ourselves, only as we surrender to the Lord and Trust Him and believe we have Victory in all things, then as we choose to do good we are empowered to do so, we have been set free.
The wonderful promise that the Lord gives us and we can always hold onto is … No matter what happens He will be with us and Strengthen us, so we will be able to overcome any trouble or danger that we may encounter even the threat of death or death.
We can see this Truth in The Apostle Peter’s life, before Pentecost he denied Jesus and the remaining Disciples also fled, but after when empowered by the Holy Spirit, Peter and the other Disciples were willing to die for Him as were many believers in the early Church and so it is today.
1 Corinthians 1: 8- 9 He will keep us strong to the end, so that we will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, who has called us into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful in all things.
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Elissa has Posted a very detailed account of the persercution that we may all face in the future before the Rapture or First Sickel as it is called in Reverlation, this message is very well documated and shows that we as Christians need to be prepared and commited to The Lord, but we don’t need to fear as He will be with us through it all.
Isaiah 43:1-3 – Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.”
Music – Onward Christian Soldiers
Freedomborn 
Once again, I am filled with joy and inspiration as I read each word of hope and encouragement. Wonderful story. Thanks.
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Yes it is a wonderful story of commitment Island Traveler and I felt you would enjoy it even if others could not see the Big picture. We never have to fear, even in our worst moments we are not alone, to have someone hold your hand when your hurting is very special but to have someone cry with you when you feel lost and confused is wonderful, God crys with us and holds us even closer to His heart in His Loving arms and then He strenghens us so we can continue to endure but when needed He carries us.
Christian Love from both of us – Anne
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This reminded me of some of the stories in “The Insanity of God”. It’s hard to imagine there are so many who tear the scriptures into to pages and share with other believer’s because they are not allowed to read or own the Word. Well written, Anne!
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Thank you for visiting Marie and your encouragement , it is surprising to realise how many people, do not have the Bible, Brother Andrew’s True stories of smuggling Bibles into countries where they are banned, paints a picture that many do not know.
Thankfully when we really have Jesus in our hearts by the empowering of The Holy Spirit we also have His Truth but sadly many don’t listen to Him they Trust in their own understanding or others and so they are confused or deceived, we ask for His wisdom and we receive, Jesus is our Teacher and leads us into all Truth.
Thanks again Christian Love – Anne
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Thanks Anne for the reminder that most times we in the western world , take for granted our access to bibles etc , if there was a death of bibles, perhaps we would treasure what we have. I quess, more importantly we store up God’s Truth in our heart and gain a better understanding of the Author, if we know Him we will understand the Scriptures.
Blessings
Ron
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Hi Love, I agree if we know God then we will know the Scriptures, these people did know Him in their hearts, they were willing to give all for Him, and they never even had the Bible, how many would do so in our Countries and they have the Bible.
In the early Church it was the same they passed on what they heard and God kept His Truth pure so that today we can read it in the Bible, of course some claim there is error in Translations and this is True but God shows us man’s error so we can correct it, mostly it is the cults that distort God’s written words, this is why we need to know His Truth and not man’s interpretation of it, yes indeed we need to know Him.
Christian Love Always dear – Anne.
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Amen
Very true unless we are in such status we can not know
I trust too that God know how much each of us can bear
Thank God for His Grace
Love your post
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Hi Dunia, good to see you back blogging, I will visit you soon, thank you for visiting.
Yes we can know that as God’s Redeemda Children no Temptation, no matter how great will be greater then we can bear, to reject Jesus is the unforgivable sin, all Christians will be asked to make this choice before the Rapture but like Peter when he was filled with The Spirit, he did not deny Jesus like he did before, he chose to die a cruel death instead the same as Jesus did.
In Christ Jesus, God will keep us strong till the end of this life as we know it and we need not have any doubts about that, He promises us He will.
Christian Love – Anne.
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