During WW2, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a series of messages in London as his country faced the very real threat of destruction at the hands of Hitler's Germany. These and other messages from the same era are combined under the title of The Christian in an Age of Terror. It seems very fitting that we today also call on the power of God and ground ourselves thoroughly in God's eternal Word.
Trials Encourage Intercessory Prayer
An example comes from the first sermon in the book, "Religious Persecution," which he preached in August of 1941 on Acts 12:1-3.
You are aware of the terrible things that took place in Germany [in the 1930s and early 1940s], and formerly in Russia [in the days of Stalin]. I believe it is one of our duties as Christian people to acquaint ourselves with things like these, were it only that we might pray intelligently, and that we might play our part rightly as members of the Christian church who know something about the ministry of intercession and who feel for their brethren.
He then, somewhat prophetically (he attributes it more to reading the indications) goes on to say:
Indeed, perhaps more urgently, we ought to consider this matter because we ourselves may one day be faced with the exact and selfsame thing. . . . But certainly there is a great danger that a spirit of materialism may sweep over this land of ours, and that Christian faith from being patronized and often ignored will be actively opposed. It is well therefore that we should prepare ourselves, and that we should acquaint ourselves with the nature of this spiritual warfare.
Citing attacks against the weak early church in Acts, Lloyd-Jones draws this conclusion:
What happens to the church collectively can happen to us individually and one by one. For we are all face to face with the same enemy, and we can emerge as triumphantly as the church did on this occasion which is recorded for us in this twelfth chapter of the book of Acts.
4 comments:
Wow, the posthumous Lloyd-Jones books just keep on coming! This one sounds very good, a bit like From Fear to Faith on Habakkuk but within the context of WWII.
Yes, of him it can truly be stated, "He being dead, yet speaketh." Thanks, Bob, old friend.
I think prayer meetings like those that took place in Acts 12 went well beyond the token type prayer meetings that happen in many churches today and the prayers I give. The worship of all our material goods and gadgetry seems to get in the way of earnest prayer.
Amen to that! Phil. Thank you as always for your input
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