Welcome to the Hackberry House of Chosun. My name is Bob and I'm reading from a devotional book put out by Voice of the Martyrs. It's called Extreme Devotion. This book catalogs the struggles of God's people over past years. Today we visit again Richard Wurmbrand in the nation of Romania, old Romania. It was 1991, the communist Romanian government put on a new face. They feared being overrun by their citizens who hated their activities. They begged Romanian pastors to preach even in public places. However, they ordered the pastors to preach a specific message, love for one's enemies, so the people would forgive them. The government felt they could manipulate the Christian message for their own gain. Well, the Christians gladly took up the call and began preaching openly, although they knew that the government's motive was for its own self-preservation. But some thought, why should we teach the oppressed to love their oppressors? They thought this message of forgiveness would strengthen the hand of the government. It was to this atmosphere that Pastor Richard Wurmbrand returned to Romania after 25 years of exile. He was invited to preach on Romanian television, where he stressed the message of love your enemies. The church was convicted by his words. Love, just because it is love, exposes itself to all risks, he said, even the risk of being misused by the wicked in order to win all. We must not give up teaching love for one's enemies, even though for a time God-haters profit at our expense. We believe that the Word is God, and in the end, this Word will change the hearts of those even who hate God. Genesis 50, 20 says, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. The Bible is full of stories with surprise endings. right up to the last chapter. Just when it looks like evil is getting the upper hand and all the circumstances are stacked against those who are righteous, God brings the righteous to victory. Fortunately, God is the author of our lives as well. It's not up to us to question how the script is evolving. We may feel we are not being effectively used for God's work. We may even feel our best efforts to evangelize are thwarted by others. However, our role is to faithfully preach his message and let him deal with the challenging circumstances. God is still writing the story, and the best is yet to come. If you'd like your own copy of Extreme Devotion, just email the folks at Voice of the Martyrs. It's thevoiceatvom.org, thevoiceatvom.org. This is the Hackberry House of Chosun, and this audio is being released on Sunday, the 18th of June, 2023. Lord willing, we'll get to talk again real soon. Bye-bye.
