Are You Ready?

It was reported last Sunday that an Egyptian business man was kidnapped and killed by Isis because he supported the construction of a church in his community.

A February 2020 article in Christianity Today cites research showing that a total of 2.4 million Christian’s were killed for their faith in the first 20 years of the 21st century. But the good news, according to christianity.com, is that Christian murders are down. In the 20th century, the deadliest century ever for Christians, 26 million Christian’s were martyred, that was more than all previous centuries combined, from 33A.D. until 1900 only 14 million Christian’s were martyred.

Right now, in the United States, Christians are being sued for expressing their Christian faith, and Governors are sending police to stop worship gatherings, claiming they are a “public health threat.” Don’t think it can’t happen here in Breckenridge, because it can, and it will.
Now more than ever, we need God’s plan of salvation.

Jesus Christ The Son of God took the flesh of the Virgin and was made man -
He came simply that mankind would have a Savior. He died for our sins taking
upon Himself the iniquity of us all. He then rose from the dead and ascended
into heaven - at which time, by His own Blood He entered into the Holy of
Holies and made atonement, propitiating the wrath of God making the way for
us to be at peace with the Father and made sons and daughters of God.
As Christian’s, sons and daughters of God, we are called to be little Christ’s
following the pattern of Christ’s life. We are asked to literally conform our lives
into the image of Christ. We are called to die daily to our own desires, to suffer
willingly, and to intercede for those around us.

We do this by daily endeavoring to follow after Him rejecting this world and its
vain pomp and glory, the Devil and all of his works, and the sinful desires of
the flesh.

In pursuing a life in Christ, we, through the Holy Ghost are made partakers of
the Divine Life and are not only restored to our pre-fall purity, but are elevated
to a higher existence.

Through this higher existence we are commanded to be witnesses - meaning:
1. To seek and save the lost - with God’s help.
2. Witness literally means Martyr in Greek.
3. We are left here in this world to share our faith and draw men to Christ.

Our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, promises to be with us in these endeavors
and provides a sober warning to us that this world will hate you if you are
successful in following Him.

Christ promises that we as Christian’s will undergo trials of many kinds
because of our relationship to Him. Such as death, scourging, starvation,
imprisonment, mocking, beatings, beheading, Etc…

Jesus does not promise us security in this life here. He does promise that in all
these things He will be with us, He will not leave us in our trials. He promises
that if we follow hard after Him, that even when we encounter difficulties of
many types He will provide for us. And in the most severe trials He will
strengthen us through His Spirit, giving us even the words to say at the right
time.

It is an eternal home and reward that we look to, Christ being eternity is our
reward. So He promises to Shepherd us in life and in death that we may have
full confidence in Him.

This world is passing away. Not as the climate change advocates promise, but
that governments, hero or saviors, utopian scheme’s, we can put no faith in the
promises in any of these. These fall short of anything God has already
accomplished for us in the person of His Son Jesus.

Scripture warns us that Satan will be loosed at the end. Progressively evil
anti-christ’s will arise, and there will be many. These are those who offer a
form of salvation through delusion, but ultimately lead many to their
destruction. This leads to the Anti-Christ, the physical embodiment of Satan
who will arise and plunge the world into tribulation.

These anti-christ’s are essentially forerunners to The Anti-Christ, “The Man of
Perdition,” “The Lawless One.” Little by little, Satan’s strategy is to slowly,
progressively, build his plan step by step over time. He does not offer one
“Mark”, but many. Each mark entices us to place our trust in an earthly, worldly
savior, or utopian scheme or device, as a means of achieving heaven on earth.
Have you heard of the “Mark of the Beast?”

These “Marks” progressively condition us not to trust in God’s plan of
salvation, but to place our hope in an humanistic plan. Each time we accept a
loss of freedom for safety or security outside of Christ, we buy into the Anti-
Christ and accept his deception. Eventually this will condition us to accept
“The Mark.”

So what are the Marks? Some say The Mark could be cell phone’s, a chip placed
under the skin, a vaccine, a tattoo of a bar code. No one knows for sure.

The final Mark, we are told by the Church Father’s, will be given when each
person is commanded to bow before the Anti-Christ and worship him. It may
not even be a physical mark, but will seal the one who bows for destruction.

Some from among us will turn from Christ and receive the mark because they
do not recognize the danger and prepare for suffering and spiritual battle. It
could be your neighbor, your friend, your children. It might even be you.

So today I must ask you: ARE YOU READY FOR THE COMING PERSECUTION?

In the end, Christian’s will be despised in the same way they despised,
tortured, and murdered our Savior. Your training ground for that battle is right here, before this altar, where you learn to suffer through the example of the Saints. Where through the practice
of your faith— prayer, fasting, almsgiving and study—you gain the skill and
discipline to do spiritual battle. And most importantly, where you receive
supernatural, spiritual power through the Eucharist.

Gird yourself, my friends. Get ready. THE BATTLE IS ALREADY RAGING AND
WE ARE SOON TO JOIN THE FIGHT.