The Full Gospel Church

1. The Full Gospel Church May 3, 2009 Vol. XIII Number 14 Love Your Enemies

2. Know Your Enemy As Christians we need to know who our enemy is. We need to realize that the Government of the United States is doing everything possible to prevent the Christian from speaking out against the sin and wickedness all around us. When we say that abortion is murder, the government will use a hate crimes bill to put us into jail. When we say that Islam is a religion of Satan, we might be thrown into jail. The government of the United States is a n agent of Satan! Pennsylvania Hate Crime Law Puts Christians In Jail One of the most serious attacks on free speech and religious freedom came in Philadelphia in 2004. Eleven Christians were arrested on felony charges for preaching the Word of God at a gay pride rally. Eight charges were filed against them: three felony charges and five misdemeanors. Charges were eventually dropped against six of the Christians, but the five left faced potential prison sentences of 47 years in jail and fines up to $90,000! They were charged under Pennsylvania’s hate crime law, which had recently added “sexual orientation” to their statute. The Christians were charged with: criminal conspiracy, possession of instruments of crime, reckless endangerment of another person, ethnic intimidation, riot, failure to disperse, disorderly conduct and obstructing highways.

3. Hate Crime Legislation The “instruments of crime” were bull horns for witnessing! The “ethnic intimidation” section of the hate crime statute was used against the Christians for having preached to the homosexuals in the parade and rally. Their “speech” was considered ethnic intimidation. The charges were eventually dropped against the Christians for having no basis in fact – but their free speech and religious freedom were violated and they had to spend thousands of dollars on legal fees. The bottom line is that hate crime laws supposedly designed only to combat violence, can easily be construed to suppress free speech as “intimidation” and an incitement to violence. The Christians arrested in Philadelphia are prime examples of this slippery slope.1 1 http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3617

4. Matthew 5:38-48 38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. 43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

5. Love Those Who Persecute You Now that we are seeing the born-again Christian being persecuted by the state and thrown in jail for preaching against the wickedness of our society, we know that we are now living in the last days. Still Jesus has taught us that we are to love them who are throwing us into jail! We are even to love the wicked judges who love depravity and hate the Christian. We live in a society that worships evil and wickedness,while condemning good and righteousness. As the first century Christians were arrested for preaching, we are witnessing the return of the same evil. This is a fulfillment of prophecy! We are at the dawn of the rise of the Antichrist and the false prophet. The Bible has warned us of these times, but we have thought that it is never going to happen in America. Well, it is happening now and we are going to see worse! The days are coming where your own family will have you condemned to prison for trying to tell them about the love of Christ, or they will have you committed to an insane asylum. We no longer can say that it will never happen here! It is happening here and it is happening now! When you are brought before a magistrate for telling others about Jesus Christ, you need to be filled with the Holy Ghost the same as Peter was and tell the judge about Jesus Christ!