Who Are They Really Attacking?

By Dr. Ken Matto

Acts 22:8 (KJV) And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

All around this world we are seeing and reading about the wholesale slaughter of Christians, whether they are true or in name only. ISIS wants to completely destroy every vestige of Christianity in Iraq and Syria. Boco Horam wants to kill every Christian in Nigeria and here in the United States, there is a war against Christians by trying to remove every vestige of Christianity from public life and public schools including Universities.

Here is the reality that all these lunatics have never dreamed of. Their aggressive and murderous attitudes toward Christians are not really aimed at Christians but the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the Apostle Paul was told by the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus that he was persecuting Him when he was persecuting the Christians. These people are actually fighting against the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalms 2:1-4 (KJV) Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? {2} The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, {3} Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. {4} He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

In Psalm 2, God gives His answer to these people who believe they can win against the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 2 plainly states that the leaders of these countries are taking counsel against the Lord and in verse 4 God actually laughs at the arrogance and foolishness of these people who actually think they can eradicate Christianity from the face of the earth. The word “derision” in verse 4 carries with it the idea of mocking or scoffing. It is basically teaching that the Lord is mocking their efforts for trying to take counsel against him and attempting to fight Him. Proverbs 1:26 (KJV) I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; In Proverbs 1:26, the same word is used for “I will mock.” Man is so arrogant and spiritually dead that he really thinks that he can actually win against his Creator.

Genesis 12:2-3 (KJV) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: {3} And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

In Genesis 12:2-3, God gives an interesting challenge since He is already foreseeing the fact that the body of believers will go forth throughout all the earth. God states in no uncertain terms that He will bless those that bless the true born again Christians and He will curse those who curse them. If you notice those countries which embrace Islam have never gotten out of the seventh century mindset and Islam is dedicated to the destruction of true Christianity. They have declared war on Christians everywhere they rule. Therefore the blessing of God is off their countries. Illiteracy, hate, and anger seems to be the ruling mindsets in the majority of these countries.

Right here in the United States where there is an undeclared war on Christianity we are seeing the population grow with illegal aliens and now through the ultimate stupidity of the Government, they have brought EBola to our shores. One need only look at the confusion and incompetence of our Federal Government to know that this country is under God’s curse. The only reason we have not succumbed yet is because there is still a vestige of Christians still sending out the Gospel but eventually that will dwindle and the mighty hand of God will come down on this once great Christian nation.

Luke 21:25 (KJV) And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; In Luke 21:25 we read that in the end times the nations will be in perplexity. The fourth major sign in this verse is totally visible to us right now and that is the nations of the earth are in perplexity. Perplexity means “consternation, distress, confusion, or difficulty.” Does that not describe the condition of this world. The nations seems to see no way out of their problems. No matter how many summits or meetings are scheduled, the only thing that comes out of them is more problems. Then we see that the “sea and the waves are roaring.” This is not a reference to the oceans but it is a description of the peoples of the world. (Isa 17:12-13 KJV) Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! {13} The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. There are probably only a very few countries on this earth who are not suffering from riots, marches, terrorism, gang violence, etc. The people of this world are restless and are looking to government to help fix its woes but they are not getting satisfaction so they take to the streets and burn cities. It seems that countries of this world have no way out of their dilemma except the return of Christ to which they will never admit to.

Do you remember the days when this world seemed to be in peace and there was some turmoil but never on the scale we see today. It seems every nation is under a curse of confusion and troubles, especially the ones which have declared war on Christianity. Remember from the experience the Apostle Paul had on the road to Damascus that the Lord Jesus told him that he was really persecuting Him. The same principle holds true today. These nations that are persecuting Christians or allowing political factions to persecute Christians such as in Nigeria or groups such as ISIS are really declaring war on Christ Himself and that is why Psalm 2 should be especially of concern to these hate mongers.

Psalm 2:12 (KJV) Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The word “Kiss” is the Hebrew word “nashaq” and is in the Piel Stem which means it is showing a more intense display of affection or respect. In the theological mode, Kings and rulers were to kiss the Messianic Son in a show of true homage and submission. As we can see the rulers in the countries where Islam is prevalent or even atheism, they have completely ignored and rejected the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of their rejection of Christ, they are perishing from the way, that is, they are left to their own devices and that is why the world seems to be out of control but it is not. God is readying this world for judgment and these hate-filled anti-Christian leaders will stand before the Lord someday and they will perish in the lake of fire for eternity.

Psalms 33:10 (KJV) The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.

These persecuting countries that hate Christians, the Lord has promised that He is going to bring their counsel to nothing and make the devices of the people of none effect. The devices can be anything from actual machines to purpose or thought. They may plan their strategy as to how to get rid of Christians and Christianity but there is one thing they are neglecting.

Matthew 10:28 (KJV) And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The heathen may kill the body of the Christian but that is as far as they can go. The soul is untouchable by any human being. The part the heathen needs to consider is the fact that God can destroy both body and soul in hell and this is where the heathen is heading. They think they are getting away with murdering Christians and that since they have permission from their government to do so, they may do so with impunity. Not so because they will stand before the very one whom they are persecuting and give an account of their life of murder and hatred against the Judge of all nations and their sentence will be eternal damnation and not 72 virgins. So the persecutors must realize that they may be attacking and killing Christians, but their ultimate goal is to destroy Christ. The sad fact is that Christ will destroy them.

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