Finding Christ in an Age of Affliction

1 Thessalonians 1:4-10

I think the greatest thing in the world is to see someone turn to God through Jesus Christ after living for the internal government of the mark of the beast. That is a person who lived daily in atrocious sins against other people and the Spirit of Jesus Christ. I’m sure it’s not that easy to just walk away, considering all the possible backlash that would follow. Everything that the society of human robots gave that person would be taken away. Including employment, wife and children, friends, money, possessions etc. That is not mentioning all the enemies that might have been made in the process of serving the mark of the beast. It would be a total 180-degree turn,

“For whosoever will save his life will lose it:
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 16:25

People who turn away from the sin of living for the internal government are welcoming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the midst of severe affliction of Christians. It is only through an inner sense of human decency that can be done. The Holy Spirit gives a person an awareness of sin with a deep conviction to live for Jesus Christ. I am much happier in suffering for Jesus Christ than to suffer the misery of constantly battling against God and His people. I have that peace and joy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is able to change lives, even in this year 2022 when the Holy Spirit is attacked on every side. The faithful few will exist until the very end. People who feel the tug of human decency, who begin to reject the mark of the beast, are surrounded by thorns on every side. The human robots want to put barbs through the heart of those hearing the Holy Spirit.

The believers who come to Jesus Christ, after living a life of sin for the internal government, are an example to all of us serving God through Jesus. To see them willing to lose everything to live for Jesus is an inspiration of a sincere and Spirit-filled life. A life set apart by the Holy Spirit is something I want to mirror. The dedicated Christians during the time of Paul, Silas, and Timothy gave their all for Jesus Christ, and today the Gospel is worldwide. Even today as this scripture text is read, they continue to be a model for all of us. Now, us Christians who are living during the age of the mark of the beast will wait. We will wait for God’s Son, who He raised from the dead, to come from Heaven to rescue us from eternal condemnation.

“For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.
You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord,
for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so, you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—
your faith in God has become known everywhere. 
Therefore, we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves
report what kind of reception you gave us.
They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—
Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
1 Thessalonians 1:4-10