The writer to the Hebrews exhorts us to remember the
prisoners as though in prison with them. The apostle Paul said something
similar concerning his own imprisonment at the close of his letter to the
Colossians when he said - "I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember
my imprisonment. Grace be with you." It was a common thing in the
early church for the believers to be ill-treated and put in prison for no other
reason then the fact that they were followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Throughout the book of Acts we see various believers being flogged and
imprisoned, and much of the New Testament was actually written from inside
prison walls. This issue may seem like a foreign one to us because we are not
under the constant threat of mistreatment, imprisonment and death like the
early believers were, but this is still a very real threat in many parts of the
world today, and so these exhortations still apply to us. We have brothers and
sisters around the world who are being threatened, fined, tortured, imprisoned
and even killed for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lords
instruction to us is "Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with
them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the
body." When Peter was imprisoned to await his execution, we read in Acts
12:5 - "So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made
fervently by the church to God." This is our primary resource for
the persecuted church. We're told in James chapter 5 that "The effective,
fervent prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much." In remembering the
persecuted church we need to first and foremost remember them in our prayers.
In Genesis chapter forty when Joseph was in prison and
interpreted the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer, he had one simple
request for the cup-bearer. He said in Genesis 40:14-15 - "Only remember
me when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me
to Pharaoh and get me out of this house. For I was in fact kidnapped from the
land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have
put me into the dungeon." However, we read in verse 23 - "Yet the
chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him."
We've been given the simple request by our Lord to
"Remember the prisoners" and yet how often are we just like the
cupbearer? And yet the cupbearer actually had a better excuse than we do. He
had no connection to Joseph, they were just two prisoners who met each other in
the dungeon. But there are Christians who have been imprisoned and beaten
around the world for their faith in Jesus Christ, and we are directly connected
to them. The church is the body of Christ, we are directly and inseparably
connected to one another through Him. So when we are instructed to
"remember the prisoners as though in prison with them" we have no
excuse not to because we are all part of the same body. In 1 Corinthians
chapter twelve the apostle Paul is writing about the body of Christ, and he
says in verse 26 - "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with
it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." If one
member of the body suffers, the entire body suffers. Remembering the prisoners
as though in prison with them is directly connected to the fact that we are all
members of one body. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.
That's the reason given in Hebrews 13 for remembering the prisoners and those
who are ill-treated, "for you yourselves also are in the body." Failing
to remember the prisoners simply demonstrates that the body of Christ is
disjointed. If my foot is in pain my entire body suffers with it, but when my
brother in Christ is suffering in prison and I am unmoved or indifferent then
something is seriously wrong. We are joined together through Christ our Head,
so if I am disconnected from other believers it means that there is a problem with
my connection to the Head.
When we have a problem in our
physical bodies, whether a sickness or disease or a broken bone, we are quick
to ask others to join with us in asking the Lord for relief, and it's right for
us to do that. We should pray about everything and be anxious for nothing, but
how much more should we be praying for our brothers and sisters around the
world who are being imprisoned and mistreated for His names sake.
Right now there is a man in prison in Iran, his name is
Saeed Abedini. I have never met him and probably never will here on earth, but
he is imprisoned and being tortured simply because of his faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. His health is quickly deteriorating and yet he refuses to deny
his Lord. I can't even imagine the trials that he faces on a daily basis, but I
know that we have been told to "remember the prisoners as though in prison
with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the
body." And there are countless others in the same situation. We need to be
faithful to pray for the persecuted church. Pray for them as fervently as we
would pray for ourselves if we were in their shoes. There are also groups who
are working with our government and the government of Iran, petitioning for the
release of this man, as well as working on other cases for the persecuted
church around the world. We can get involved by going to http://beheardproject.com/
and signing petitions and keeping up to date with the latest developments in
the persecuted church. I know that there are many groups, such as Voice of the Martyrs,
and others who are working for the persecuted church around the world, and it's
our responsibility as the body of Christ to "remember the prisoners as
though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves
also are in the body."
I know that there are some Christians who don't sign petitions and really don't get involved in the systems of this world at all because they recognize that God is sovereign and they know that the Lord Jesus said that in this world we would suffer persecution. All that is true. I know that God is indeed sovereign and that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. I know that the kings heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord and He turns it wherever He wishes, and I just want to say that my hope for these imprisoned believers does not rest in the governments of this world. If they are to be delivered from their ill-treatment and imprisonment the Lord is the one who is going to do it, but this just might be the means that the Lord uses to answer our prayers. I'm sure that Josephs hope was in the Lord and not in the Egyptian government, and yet he was not ashamed to ask the cupbearer to mention his situation to pharaoh in order to get him out. In Jeremiah 38 when Jeremiah was cast into a cistern a man named Ebed-melech came before the king to ask that he be brought up out of the pit lest he die, and the king heeded the word of Ebed-melech and brought Jeremiah up. In the book of Acts the apostle Paul took advantage of His Roman citizenship and used their court system throughout his imprisonment. God is able to deliver people from prison in the same way that He delivered Peter in Acts chapter 12, and in the same way as He delivered Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16, but He is not restricted to do it in those ways.
The opportunity to pray for the prisoners is something that
unifies us as believers, and it encourages and strengthens those who are
suffering for their faith. The apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:16 - "The
Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was
not ashamed of my chains." We know nothing about this man, Onesiphorus,
except that Paul was encouraged by the fact that he was not ashamed of his
chains. And I imagine that being imprisoned for Christ sake is very
discouraging and lonely, but what an encouragement to know that you are not
forgotten.
When is the last time that you prayed for a believer who is
in prison for their faith? This exhortation is not merely for the early
believers, this is for us today.
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