Core Conviction No. 5: Christ-Followers Are Commanded to Love Their Neighbors and Their Enemies and to Make Disciples of All Nations
The day Pastor Shakir and I met, we were not only going to visit Muslim Background Believers in a village near Mosul. We were also, at his suggestion, going to do a project to care for poor and needy Muslim children near Mosul. It was an amazing thing to see a former terrorist loving a group of underprivileged children and their parents, and doing so unconditionally. They did not believe what he believed. Indeed, they lived in a region where many hate Christians and seek to kill them.
He did not try to force his belief in Jesus Christ on any of them. Despite the fact that he is a gifted evangelist, Pastor Shakir did not even share the gospel that day. He simply demonstrated God’s love for these Muslim families by bringing relief supplies and giving them out freely, without the expectation that these families were going to convert to Christianity and certainly without the expectation that he was going to gain personally in any way, least of all financially.
In this way, Pastor Shakir was following the model that Jesus set for us in the New Testament. Jesus taught His disciples to love their neighbors and their enemies.
What’s more, Jesus practiced what He preached. He loved people whether they deserved it or not, whether they wanted His love or not, whether they said thank you or not, whether they chose to follow Him or not, whether they blessed Him or whether they cursed Him. Even in the last moments of His life on earth, while hanging on the cross—after having been beaten and mocked and tortured in the cruelest and most inhumane ways—Jesus demonstrated His love even for His worst and most violent enemies by saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). And this is what He expects from His followers, in the Middle East and around the world.
Consider the following words of Jesus:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” —Matthew 19:19
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” —Matthew 5:43-44
“Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. . . . Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way. But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” —Luke 6:22-36
To be sure, loving one’s neighbors—and particularly loving one’s enemies—can be difficult if not impossible in the Muslim world, humanly speaking. But Jesus commanded that we follow His example and do it anyway. He knew that only someone supernaturally transformed—born again—by God’s love and empowered by the Holy Spirit could obey such commands. Thus, when we obey these commands in the power of the Holy Spirit, we demonstrate that we are, in fact, true followers of a living and all-powerful God.
Chapter Thirty-One
Making Way for the Messiah
Biblical eschatology is a hot topic in the epicenter
In 2007, I was invited to speak at a conference of two hundred Christian leaders from Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Syria, and a host of other countries in the Muslim world. For security reasons, I cannot say what country the conference was held in, but I can say it was one of the most fascinating events I have ever been privileged to attend.
The hall was packed with Revivalists—MBBs and NCBBs—each of whom was doing heroic work to advance the gospel and make disciples under extreme conditions in some of the most difficult and dangerous countries on the planet. All had amazing stories of what God was doing in their countries, and I counted it a great privilege to spend time with them and to soak in as much information as I possibly could. It was in many ways like being transported back to the book of Acts, when God first began miraculously building His Church in the epicenter. Today, He is at work miraculously rebuilding that Church and breathing new life into the people of that region. Meeting servants that Jesus Christ has personally chosen to lead such important work was like meeting people right out of the book of Acts. I almost felt like I was talking with Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, and Priscilla and Aquila, among others.
What made the conference particularly remarkable for me, however, was not simply learning from these dear Revivalist leaders but also seeing their eagerness for Jesus Christ to return to earth and set up His Kingdom, and their hunger to understand what the Bible teaches about the end of days. All of them believed without a doubt that they were living in the last days before the return of Christ. But few of them had ever had any in-depth teaching on biblical eschatology, or end times theology.
That said, given their own sense that Christ’s return could be soon—and given the buzz in the Muslim world in recent years about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s eschatology—they had lots of questions, and I counted it an honor to answer them from the Scriptures as best I could. The following year, they invited me back to go deeper and answer more questions.
Bible prophecy and current events are increasingly a hot topic in the epicenter. Wherever I travel in North Africa, the Middle East, or central Asia these days, I find deep and growing curiosity about such subjects. During my first trip to Iraq, for example, I met with a group of thirteen Iraqi Christian leaders to interview them about what God was doing in their country. They graciously answered all of my questions but then insisted that I extend my visit with them for several hours so they could ask me questions about what the Bible teaches about the future of Iraq, the future of Iran, and the future of other neighboring countries.
On that same trip, I was invited to preach at an Iraqi congregation that didn’t even exist before the 2003 liberation. It was planted by a young pastor and is now filled to standing room only with new converts to Christianity, many of whom are from a Muslim background and most of whom had to flee the violence against and persecution of Christians in Baghdad. What did the pastor want me to speak on? “Are We Living in the Last Days?”
When I returned to Iraq in September 2008, I again found enormous interest from pastors and other Christian leaders there in Bible prophecy. The same was true when I traveled to Afghanistan in October 2008.
Unfortunately, too few pastors and Christian leaders in the epicenter have been taught much if anything about biblical eschatology. Too few feel equipped to study the subject on their own. But in my experience, it is certainly not for a lack of interest. At the same time, many Muslim leaders in the region are also interested in biblical eschatology, if for no other reason than that they want to compare it with what the mullahs and political leaders in Iran are teaching and what millions of Muslims are discussing in the streets and in their homes.
Here are my answers to the some of the questions I am asked most frequently.
What does the Bible teach about the second coming of Jesus Christ?
The Bible describes two separate and distinct future events, both of which are often described as the Second Coming.
The first event is what Bible scholars c
all the Rapture. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, the apostle Paul writes that “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” In this passage, Paul is describing an event in which Jesus Christ will not physically, literally touch down on the earth but will first come “in the clouds” and snatch away His true followers from the earth in an instant of time. Those who have not chosen to follow Christ, those who have not been “born again,” will remain behind on the earth and will have to go through a terrible time of wars, famines, natural disasters, and divine judgments known as the Tribulation.
The second event occurs at the end of the Tribulation. This is when the Bible teaches that Jesus will physically, literally return to earth, destroy His enemies, and set up His own righteous government based in Jerusalem. He will reign on earth for one thousand years. In Revelation 19:11–20:6, the apostle John writes, “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. . . . He will rule [the nations]. . . . And [an angel] laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss. . . . And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God . . . and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. . . . Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; . . . they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
Are there any signs that will indicate when the return of Jesus Christ is close at hand, and if so, what are they?
One day while Jesus and His disciples were sitting on the Mount of Olives, overlooking the city of Jerusalem, the disciples asked Him this very question. Their query is recounted in Matthew 24:3.
“Tell us,” they said, “what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Jesus could have refused to answer the question. Instead, He answered them at great length and detail. His answers are recorded in Matthew chapter 24 and in Luke chapter 21, and they provide a checklist of signs to watch for. Among them:
• Revolutions (Luke 21:9, NIV)
• The rise of false prophets and false messiahs (Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 23-27)
• Wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6)
• Nations rising against nations (Matthew 24:7)
• Kingdoms rising against kingdoms (Matthew 24:7)
• Famines (Matthew 24:7)
• Plagues (Luke 21:11)
• Earthquakes (Matthew 24:7) and “great earthquakes” (Luke 21:11)
• “Terrors” that lead to “men fainting from fear” (Luke 21:11, 26)
• Persecution of the believers (Matthew 24:9)
• Apostasy and betrayal of one another (Matthew 24:10)
• Increasing lawlessness (Matthew 24:12)
• People’s love for one another growing cold (Matthew 24:12)
• “The roaring of the sea and the waves” (Luke 21:25)
• The good news (the gospel) of Christ’s love and forgiveness will be preached “in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations”—even Muslim nations, even Radical nations—“and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)
Jesus cautioned His followers not to speculate on the exact time of the Rapture or the Second Coming. In Matthew 24:36, He said that “of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” But “day and hour” is a very narrow slice of time. By giving us at least fifteen other specific signs that would be happening in the last days, Jesus clearly wanted us to know when the time of His return was rapidly approaching.
Why did He want His disciples to understand such signs? Jesus gave the answer in Matthew 24:42, when He said, “Therefore, be on the alert.” He reinforced the point in the next verse, when again He urged His followers to be “on the alert.” In Matthew 24:44, He stressed this critical point for a third time. “You also must be ready,” He insisted, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”
Revivalists who study these signs are coming to the conclusion that they are being fulfilled today and that we are, in fact, living in the last days. They are, after all, living through revolutions, wars and rumors of wars, and horrifying persecution, for starters.
They have no idea precisely when Jesus will return, of course. But given how closely world events are tracking with Bible prophecy, they find themselves increasingly motivated to “be ready” and “be prepared” for His arrival by living lives of holiness, by sharing the gospel with Muslims and nominal Christians, by making disciples of all nations, and by planting new church congregations throughout the region.
Is it possible that we will see the emergence of an actual figure that Shia Muslims will point to as the Mahdi?
While I would not go so far as to predict that this will happen, I do believe followers of Jesus Christ should be on guard for such a possibility. Jesus repeatedly warned of false prophets and false messiahs in the last days before His own return. Therefore, we cannot rule out the possibility that someone claiming to be the Islamic messiah could appear, possibly even doing “great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect,” as Jesus specifically warned about in Matthew 24:24.
If such an alleged “Islamic Messiah” does appear, a media feeding frenzy will ensue. People from all over the world will want to travel to the Middle East to see this false messiah. But Jesus warned His followers not to join the crowds. “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be,” Jesus promised in Matthew 24:27. In other words, the Rapture of the Church will come fast and dramatically, like a bolt of lightning. True followers of Christ won’t need to wander into the desert to find Jesus. The true Messiah will find them and snatch them away from this world in the twinkle of an eye.
Are these all the signs of what will happen in the “last days,” or does the Bible speak of others?
There are actually a number of other noteworthy signs of the last days.
One very important sign can be found in the Old Testament book written by the Hebrew prophet Joel. The Lord God said through this prophet, “It will come about [in the last days] that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days” (Joel 2:28-29). Revivalists note the millions of Muslims coming to faith in Christ through dreams and visions as evidence that this sign is currently coming to pass as well.
Another set of important signs that will occur in the last days can be found in Ezekiel 36–39. I explored the details and implications of this series of prophesies at some length in my first nonfiction book, Epicenter. In these passages, the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel, writing more than 2,500 years ago, prophesied that:
• Israel will be reborn as a country (chapters 36–38)
• The Jews will return to the Holy Land after centuries in exile (36:10-11, 24, 37-38; 37:12, 21; 38:8, 12)
• The ancient ruins in Israel will be rebuilt (36:36)
• Israel’s desolate, desert lands will again blossom and produce abundant food, fruit, and foliage (36:8-9, 30-35)
• Israel will have an “exceedingly great army” (37:10)
Many Arabs, Iranians, and others in the Middle East are not happy that Israel became a country on May 14, 1948, that millions of Jews have moved to Israel, and that the Israeli military h
as become powerful and highly effective. Nevertheless, a growing number of Revivalists are beginning to realize that these recent historical events—as difficult and as painful as they have been for themselves, their families, and their fellow countrymen—are actually the fulfillment of ancient biblical prophecies and thus further evidence that we are living in the last days.
What’s more, a growing number of Revivalists are beginning to consider the possibility that other prophecies described by Ezekiel may not be far from fulfillment. Ezekiel wrote that when Israel is a country again and the Jews are feeling more secure in their ancient homeland than ever before, several dramatic events will occur. Among them:
• A dictator known as Gog will rise to power in Russia, referred to in the Bible as Magog (Ezekiel 38:1-4). This is raising eyebrows, since some believe a dictator has been rising to power in Russia in recent years.
• This Russian dictator will then form an alliance with Iran (Ezekiel 38:5). This was odd given that for most of the last several thousand years the Russians and Iranians have hated each other. In recent years, however, Moscow and Tehran have aggressively developed military, diplomatic, and economic ties.
• The Russian leader will then form other regional alliances with countries such as Sudan and Ethiopia (the territories known in ancient Bible times as “Cush”), with Libya and Algeria (ancient “Put”), with Turkey (ancient “Gomer”), and with the Turkic-speaking peoples of central Asia (ancient “Beth-togarmah”) (Ezekiel 38:5-6). Geopolitical analysts note that Russia has been forming these very alliances over the past decade or so and selling billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to these countries.
• The Russian leader will then “devise an evil plan” and marshal Iran, Libya, and these other countries to form a military coalition to surround Israel and try to destroy her (Ezekiel 38:10). Iran has been steadily preparing to attack Israel. Sudan and Libya have demonstrated hostility towards the Jewish state as well. Russia’s invasion of Georgia in the summer of 2008 raised new questions about whether it is developing hostile intentions toward other states to its south.
Inside the Revolution Page 52
