Haters of truth

George Orwell, who famously wrote 1984, said, “The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” These words agree with the words of Jesus, for He said, “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22).

Regarding John the Baptist, Jesus said, “But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed” (Matthew 17:12). The Hebrew Christians were also persecuted: “Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used” (Hebrews 10:33).

God’s children are going to be persecuted, just like the saints of old. Paul warned of persecution of God’s children: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). George Orwell was correct, the more our society turns toward attacks on the Bible’s reliability and toward immoral behavior like homosexuality, the more God’s saints will be ridiculed, persecuted, and perhaps even regulated. “Speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) means standing for the truth (Jude 3), even in the face of mistreatment.

Kyle Campbell