THE SPY WHO LOVED ME?

The Spy Who Loved Me?

In this episode, we will discover if it is wrong to worship and honor Christ secretly, without confessing belief in Him publicly? The answer to this question is simple, but difficult to accept. 

The Year was 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me is released, the tenth spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. The film co-stars Barbara Bach and Curd Jürgens and was directed by Lewis Gilbert, from a screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum.  The film takes its title from Ian Fleming's 1962 novel The Spy Who Loved Me, the tenth book in the James Bond franchise, although it does not contain any elements of the novel's plot. The storyline involves a reclusive megalomaniac named Karl Stromberg, who plans to destroy the world and create a new civilization under the sea. Bond teams up with a Russian agent, Anya Amasova, to stop the plans, all the while being hunted by Stromberg’s powerful henchman, Jaws.

The Film has an interesting enough title, is a highly entertaining action-packed flick, and sought after in TV guides around the world, and let us not forget, it is a favorite of my earthly father. My heavenly, father not so much, you see Jesus is not going to honor any secret Christians.  Even though for many Christians, worldwide, this is a very serious decision. Many believers' lives, or the lives of their loved ones, are on the line the moment they confess Christ.  

Transcript

The Spy Who Loved Me?

The Year was 1977, The Spy Who Loved Me is released, the tenth spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. The film co-stars Barbara Bach and Curd Jürgens and was directed by Lewis Gilbert, from a screenplay by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum.  The film takes its title from Ian Fleming's 1962 novel The Spy Who Loved Me, the tenth book in the James Bond franchise, although it does not contain any elements of the novel's plot. The storyline involves a reclusive megalomaniac named Karl Stromberg, who plans to destroy the world and create a new civilization under the sea. Bond teams up with a Russian agent, Anya Amasova, to stop the plans, all the while being hunted by Stromberg’s powerful henchman, Jaws.

The Film has an interesting enough title, is a highly entertaining action-packed flick, and sought after in TV guides around the world, and let us not forget, it is a favorite of my earthly father. My heavenly, father not so much, you see Jesus is not going to honor any secret Christians.  Even though for many Christians, worldwide, this is a very serious decision. Many believers' lives, or the lives of their loved ones, are on the line the moment they confess Christ.  

So is it wrong to worship and honor Christ secretly, without confessing belief in Him publicly? The answer to this question is simple, but difficult to accept.  Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-37 " 32Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.  34Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Let’s unpack those phrases for just a moment. In verse 32Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Does that sound like a secret Christian to you? Jesus did all his teaching in the synagogues and in the public daily. He did not hide the gospel… He goes on to say in verse 33 if you deny him before men he will deny you before the father…Yikes! In verse 34 he says he has not come to bring peace on earth but a sword. His word will divide families. You are probably already experiencing this in your own family now. This is why he goes on to say in verse 36 A man’s foes shall be they of his own household. Verse 37 Is saying if you love these people more than Jesus meaning you will deny him for their sake, or your own life’s sake. You are not worthy of being His disciple. If you deny him to save your earthly life when faced with accepting the mark of the beast or being killed, for being a Christian, then you will lose your eternal life. If you lose your life for Jesus’ sake you will find it. It being your eternal life. Let’s examine a possible situation with verse 37. You hear a knock on your door and it’s the authorities. They wish to question you about being a Christian? What would you do? What would you say? In the meantime, your mother and brother are talking over the authorities telling you to say it’s not true. Tell them it’s not true. The neighbors turned you in because they don’t like you. So just tell them it’s not true so they can be on their way. What would you do? What would you say? I already know what I will say how about you? I will not let my own family come between Jesus and me. This life is temporal which is short, eternity is forever… and just so you know statistically 100% of all people die. So you may not get to choose when but make no mistake about it you and I are going to die. It’s the choice you make in that moment of time, that will determine where you spend your eternity, so always remember that.   

Jesus said that since the world hated Him, it would hate his followers (John 15:18-19), 18 If the world hates you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. and He promised persecution for those who attempted to live a righteous life (Matthew 24:9; Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Matthew 5:10-12; 10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. 2 Timothy 3:12). 12Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. When Jesus talked of the world in John 15, he was using the Greek word kosmos. Jesus was talking about Satan's evil system and all the people who are plugged into it and controlled by him (John 14:30; 1 John 5:19; Ephesians 2:1-3). Because Satan despises God, he also hates God's followers, and therefore the world hates His followers. (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). To the one we are the savor of death unto death and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? Unfortunately, in some societies today, this hatred of Christians leads people to harm and even kill believers. The Lord anticipated this and said believers would be delivered up to tribulation, and killed, and hated by all nations for the sake of His name (Matthew 24:9). He also said that Christians would be brought before rulers and kings, as a testimony of Christ to those rulers (Mark 13:9). Kind of like how James Bond is brought before the evil genius, right? Then they devise his death and go off and leave him to die by some contraption while he is supposed to witnesses their crowning achievement, as he escapes with one of his Q devices. Well as a Christian There is nothing wrong with a believer making attempts to escape being harmed or killed for what they believe. But you must not deny Christ in order to save your own life. Staying silent about one's faith is not an option for a believer. Christians are to be a light, not hidden, but shining for everyone to see (Matthew 5:13-16). We are ambassadors for Christ, which means we represent Him, and we speak His words to those around us that they might be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). We are to preach the gospel so that others might come to know Him (Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 10:14-15). This is what is meant by picking up one's cross…

Right after prophesying persecution for His followers, Jesus comforted His disciples with these words: 26Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. 27What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. 28And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are, not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. 30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 32Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 10:26-33).

 I know it is terrible, and frightening, to consider the loss of one's own life or the loss of a loved one, but the Lord is gracious and good. First Peter 4:12-19 says, 12Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 14If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part, he is evil spoken of, but on your part, he is glorified. Revelation 20:4 4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Furthermore, we know that God will not let evildoers go unpunished (Psalm 37:1-40).

So while James Bond’s life might seem very appealing as a secret agent, remember this there are no Secret Christians…