Counting The Cost

A letter from Iranian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani who currently faces the death sentence for apostasy. Please continue to pray. (This message has been translated from Farsi to English.) Dear brothers and sisters, Salam In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am continuously seeking grace and mercy to you, that you remember me and those who are bearing efforts for his name in your prayers. Your loyalty to God is the cause of my strength and encouragement. For I know well that you will be rewarded; as it’s stated: blessed is the one who has faith, for what has been said to him by God, will be carried out. As we believe, heaven and earth will fade but his word will still remain. Dear beloved ones, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few verses, although you might know them, So that in everything, you give more effort than the past, both to prove your election, and for the sake of Gospel that is to be preached to the entire world as well. I know that not all of us are granted to keep this word, but to those who are granted this power and this revelation, I announce the same as Jude, earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. We are passing by special and sensitive days.They are days that for an alert and awake believer can be days of spiritual growth and progress. Because for him, more than any other time there is the possibility to compare his faith with the word of God, have God’s promises in mind, and survey his faith. Therefore he (the true believer) does not need to wonder for the fiery trial that has been set on for him as though it were something unusual, but it pleases him to participate in Christ’s suffering. Because the believer knows he will rejoice in his glory. Dears, the “ judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore those who are enduring burdens by the will of God, commit their souls to the faithful Creator. Promises that he has given us, are unique and precious. As we’ve heard he has said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” How can it be possible for a believer to understand these words? Not only when he is focusing on Jesus Christ with adapting his life according to the life Jesus lived when he was on earth? As it is said ” O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Have we not read and heard: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Many attempt to flee from their spiritual tests, and they have to face those same tests in a more difficult manner, because no one will be victorious by escaping from them, but with patience and humility he will be able to overcome all the tests, and gain victory. Therefore in the place of Christ’s followers, we must not feel desperate, but we have to pray to God in supplication with more passion to help us with any assistance we may need. According to what Paul has said: In every temptation, God himself will make a way for us to tolerate it. O beloved ones, difficulties do not weaken mankind, but they reveal the true human nature. It will be good for us to occasionally face persecutions and abnormalities, since these abnormalities will persuade us to search our hearts, and to survey ourselves. So as a result, we conclude that troubles are difficult, but usually good and useful to build us. Dear brothers and sisters, we must be more careful than any other time. Because in these days, the hearts and thoughts of many are revealed, so that the faith is tested. May your treasure be where there is no moth and rust. I would like to remind you of some verses that we nearly discuss everyday, (Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.) but as long as our human will has priority over God’s will, his will will not be done. As we have learned from him in Gethsemane, he surrendered his will to the father, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” What we are bearing today, is a difficult but not unbearable situation, because neither he has tested us more than our faith and our endurance, nor does he do as such. And as we have known from before, we must beware not to fail, but to advance in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, And consider these bumps and prisons as opportunities to testify to his name. He said: If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. As a small servant, necessarily in prison to carry out what I must do, I say with faith in the word of God that he will come soon.”However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Discipline yourself with faith in the word of God. Retain your souls with patience. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. May you are granted grace and blessings increasingly in the name of Lord Jesus Christ. Yusef Nadarkhani Lakan Prison in Rasht 2/June/2010

I’ve enclosed an email/blog from Trevin Wax which he posted of the letter sent last year from Youcef Nadarkha who has been convicted in Iran and now faces the death penalty for apostasy.  His crime?  He believes in Jesus and is a faithful pastor.  As I read this many thoughts came to my mind in no particular order.
 
Christians around the world still suffer persecution for the Gospel.  This is not just Fox’s Book of Martyrs, this is the New Millennium.  This is today!
Freedom of religion is a precious thing which needs to be cherished and defended in our nation.
The Bible calls us to remember and pray for these, acknowledging a special bond of fellowship.  Heb 13:3 “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”   When one member suffers, all members suffer with it.

Pray for Youcef, and especially his family.  Any word to our State Department cannot hurt.   Government only responds to one thing, public pressure.
Here’s a real pastor:  although he is going through great suffering himself, his concern is for the sheep and their welfare.  Especially to see them unmoved and standing strong for Christ and the power of genuine faith in Jesus Christ.
This kind of faith to endure suffering is supernatural, and it is only possible and sustained by the power of the Word of God.  There will be times that this is all we have to hang on to, but in those times, it will be enough!

I also couldn’t help but think that our trails in the West are nothing compared to what others have to endure for the sake of the Gospel.  At the same time, if Jesus tarries, a Biblical faith in Jesus Christ will continue to bring persecution our way in America since, “ALL who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2Tim.3:12).

Are we really dealing here in radicalized Iran with a “peaceful religion?”  This is a powerful illustration of the difference between a religion of conversion (Christianity) and a religion of coercion (Islam).

Finally, it confirms the “Mount Everest” of promises that God makes to His children in (Rom.8:35-39) no matter what your particular situation might be.  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
I woke up this morning, and this was one of the first things that I read, and I’m sure it will affect me all day long (as it rightly should).  Even though for a short time I am unable to be in church because of my issues of wound healing, it is nothing compared to this man and his family.  Brethren, we can’t all do everything, but we can ALL be faithful to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with all of our hearts.
 
Special thanks to Trevin Wax who made this available so we can be aware and respond as the Body of Christ here in Tucson, AZ.