Awake To Righteousness And Sin Not

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.  1 Corinthians 15:34  (KJV)

The interesting thing about this passage is that Paul was writing this to the church in Corinth. In other words, he was writing to Christians and he said that some of them didn’t have the knowledge of God. The word know there isn’t talking about an intellectual comprehension of God but an intimate experience with God as in relationship. Some “know” God in their head but don’t “know” Him in their heart.

Christians all over America are sleeping. They think Christianity is all about potlucks and pats-on-the-back. They think that things happening around the world to Christians can’t happen to them.

What they fail to realize is that if a person actually is fiery and passionately in love with Jesus, you will be persecuted. Not so much by the world. The world doesn’t really care so much. They are loving their sin. Persecution will come from the religious–those who have an outward show of piety but their heart is far from God. Jesus was persecuted and killed by the religious of the day. Paul, the same. Most of the prophets suffered the same fate. See for yourself how the religious persecute and denigrate those who follow Christ passionately and freely.

And when [Jesus] was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.  Matthew 13:54-57  (KJV)

This upcoming article is from the China Aid Association, an organization helping bring to light the persecution of the Church in China. Notice how the religious system is actually involved in and helps direct the persecution. This can happen in America. In fact, if everyone loves you and thinks you are a very nice person, it’s very likely that you aren’t passionately serving God.

China’s Official Three-Self Church System Joins in Persecution Against Shouwang House Church

China Aid Association

(Beijing – June 17, 2011) In a development that shows the Chinese government’s determination to use all means available to bring one of Beijing’s largest house churches into compliance, representatives of the government’s Three-Self church system have taken part in the police interrogation of Shouwang Church members detained in the past two weeks for persisting in trying to hold outdoor worship services.

In Shouwang Church’s weekly report on the now 10-week stand-off with the authorities over a place for the church to meet, it said that “in the past two Sundays, Three-Self church personnel showed up at many police stations to persuade, ‘educate’ and even rebuke the imprisoned brothers and sisters in an attempt to get them to leave Shouwang Church and join one of the Three-Self churches or to ask us to unconditionally abandon our outdoor worship.” See the full text of the church bulletin here: http://www.chinaaid.org/2011/06/beijing-shouwang-church-announcement-on.html.

One Shouwang member described on the church’s Buzz site his surprise that, in addition to the usual police and government interrogators, his interlocutors included someone “with deep knowledge about Christianity. For sure he knows much more about the Bible than I do, effortlessly and knowingly talking about Nebuchadnezzar and Ezekiel and so on.”

He said that while previous interrogations were focused on Shouwang’s refusal to join the government-controlled Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee’s church system, this time the discussion centered on loftier questions, including “the central issue” of whether what Shouwang is doing is in accordance with God’s will and Biblical teaching. “This surprised me greatly,” he wrote. “Perhaps this will be their approach from now on.”

At least two other Shouwang members encountered similar experiences with representatives of the Three-Self, according to information posted by church members on Shouwang’s Buzz site.

This clearly shows that the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, which is ultimately controlled by the Communist Party, is directly involved in the government’s attempts to force Shouwang Church to give up trying to continue to meet as an intact 1,000-member-strong church while pursuing government registration as an independent church outside the official Three-Self church framework.

In light of the Three-Self Committee’s clear role in the persecution of Shouwang, ChinaAid urges all Christian individuals, churches and organizations in the free world to boycott all Three-Self events and activities, including an upcoming propaganda tour in the United States of an exhibit of Chinese Bibles that the Three-Self has been invited to bring to Washington D.C. (Sept. 28-Oct. 2), Chicago (Oct. 12-16), Dallas (Oct. 27-31) and Charlotte, North Carolina (Nov. 8-10).  See http://www.worldevangelicals.org/news/article.htm?id=3363&cat=main.

More information about the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee is available in English here: http://www.christiansinchina.com/2010/01/17/a-critique-of-the-three-self-patriotic-movement/.

and in Chinese here: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_53335bfd0100fdp4.html.

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ChinaAid Contacts
Rachel Sparkman, Media Coordinator
Tel: (888) 889-7757, or Rachel@ChinaAid.org
Mark Shan, CAA Spokesperson
Tel: (267) 205-5210, or Mark@ChinaAid.org
Website: www.ChinaAid.org and www.MonitorChina.org