In the first place, consider the words of Jesus from John 18:36 (KJV)
36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Luke 9:51-54 (KJV)
51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I am by nature, somewhat of a reactionary, and pretty impulsive sometimes and although I would like to think of myself as studious, academic, and reflective, I must confess that when I read the words of Jamie Foxx, "I want to thank God for our lord and savior, Barack Obama," I wanted to call down fire upon him and his audience for laughing at such stupidity...
BUT THEN, as I prayed and reflected, I thought about what Jesus said - Matthew 12:31-32 (KJV)
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
I can't speak for anyone else, but I am by nature, somewhat of a reactionary, and pretty impulsive sometimes and although I would like to think of myself as studious, academic, and reflective, I must confess that when I read the words of Jamie Foxx, "I want to thank God for our lord and savior, Barack Obama," I wanted to call down fire upon him and his audience for laughing at such stupidity...
BUT THEN, as I prayed and reflected, I thought about what Jesus said - Matthew 12:31-32 (KJV)
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
I thought, what more can I expect from those who do not know Jesus personally? He has done a marvelous job of defending Himself and His Word throughout history, and He COULD bring down fire upon that whole bunch of idiots, but He doesn't have to prove anything to them! Most of them are JUST LOST, that's all! Then I thought, what is the difference in the attitude of wanting God to rain down fire and consume them for their lostness, when the truth of the Gospel is that He came to save them, not condemn them. What IRONY!
Do atheists, agnostics, or hypocritical Christians, for that matter, pose some kind of threat to God? Of course NOT! They are really just doing what come naturally. Maybe it's time for the world to come out of proverbial closet about its hatred and disrespect for Jesus. Maybe what He has known about the heart is now being seen by the world. Maybe the "light" and the "salt" that has shown and preserved, but is now being rejected is not such a bad thing. Maybe IN THESE LAST DAYS we shall indeed be HATED OF ALL MEN! Do you suppose there might have been some so-called Christians laughing too? I wonder! Many of us laugh and have paid to laugh at his filth and the filth of other like him who are just pouring out from their mouths (comedians or not), that which is really deep in their hearts. Hmmmm!
We could as Christians, yet shed our blood for our faith - "some through the fire and some through the flood, some through the water, but all through the blood..." Certainly we would be naive to think that the pressure is not rising against us! Surely it is evident that opposition to the opposition by Christians is becoming less tolerated. Maybe, just maybe, it is time for us to get real about our faith and understand that we have been "at ease in Zion" for too long.
Look again at Jesus' words - 36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight...but now is my kingdom not from hence.
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