Persecution And Its Message For Today

Persecution and Its Message for Today’s Church Introduction Chapters six and seven of the book of Acts records for us the first martyr of the New Testament church, whose name is Stephen. Persecution in the early church was a part of everyday life. Although it was not pleasant it was something that the church learned, not only to endure, but to rejoice when it came. In an earlier chapter we are told that the apostles actually rejoiced when they had been persecuted by the religious leaders. In fact, many may be surprised to know that we derive our word martyr from the Greek word which means to witness or testify. Jesus told His disciples, “You shall be My witnesses both in Judea and Samaria, and even tot eh remotest part of the earth.” So in that particular passage we see the object of the witness—Jesus Christ. They were not just to be witnesses of anything they chose, but of a particular Person and message, that being of the resurrection of Christ. Today, many people have stopped being a witness because they fear repercussions from those around them. Many no longer rejoice as the apostles did when they are treated with scorn or shame because of the cross and Name of Christ. As a whole, the Western church has forsaken its First Love. The Bible has much to say about those who are persecuted for Christ’s sake, as well as those who are not. I would like to briefly examine a portion of this passage and try to extrapolate principles which should be true of the church as a whole and for individuals.

I.

The Source of Persecution

In examining persecution and the reasons for it we should first try and determine why persecution happens. I am a firm believer in the complete sovereignty of God. I don’t believe anything in this world happens without an eternal decree. Scripture is clear on this: remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' (Isa 46:9-10) God makes it very clear that He directs and orchestrates the things that happen. He works everything according the counsel of His will. A prime example of this is seen in the trials of Job. Job was indeed a righteous man and had no cause to suffer. But a quick read of the first two chapters of Job will reveal that it was God who mentions Job to Satan and not visa versa. This is important because many would like to blame Satan for Job’s sufferings. Satan was indeed present and gladly worked his evil and malign trickery in order to bring Job down. But God had a different plan in mind. He used Satan’s own evil tactics against him and eventually restored Job double of what he had lost. When considering persecution against our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, or even against ourselves we would do well to remember this. We need to be keenly aware that God is control of the persecution and although it is evil and wicked to harm another human being, God is working all these things for His own purposes. He is the Director and Producer of all life. This leads us to our examination of persecution.

A. Persecution is God-ordained. As I mentioned, it is impossible to read the Scripture for very long before we realize that God has ordained suffering for His people. Why? We can only assume that because He does all things for His own glory then persecution must be one the tools that God uses. Several key passages tell us about the righteous suffering for righteousness’ sake. Starting in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus outlines that which is to be expected of His disciples: (Mt 5:10-12) This particular passage has two main parts to the persecution:

1. First, it speaks of persecution in general. To better understand the nature of persecution it would help us to understand what the word actually means. The original Greek word, dioko, means ‘to press hard upon, to pursue; to follow after.’ The idea is a continual coming after, not stopping until the task is complete. This word was often used for a person running their hardest in order to win a race. It is no wonder then, that those who persecute believers do so with the most extreme vigor and joy. We see in many countries today, Christians being pursued constantly by

people who hate them simply because they belong to Christ. They are forced to flee their towns and homes, close up their businesses or begin meeting in secret so as to avoid having their meeting places burned. All the while, these things are atrocious and should never happen to anyone, but we may rest assured that God resides on His throne and DOES see that which is happening to His people. We may not think that He does not see but Scripture clearly states that He does. It was this way when God was about to deliver His people from the bondage: (Ex 3:7). It would have been easy for the people to assume that God had forgotten His promises to them or simply left them to suffer at the hands of the cruel Egyptians. From this passage we may draw two conclusions:

i.

God is not blind or deaf to the cries of His people. His expression, ‘I have surely heard. . .and seen’ indicates a personal interest. Why then did He wait four hundred years to act? We are given no real explanation. God’s ultimate plan was to deliver them is such a way that they would KNOW that it was a power beyond themselves; that they could not have delivered their own lives out of bondage. It always this end to which God works and acts. God will always use the means in which He receives the most glory and for this cause He has ordained persecution in the lives of His children.

ii.

Suffering does not occur precociously. In other words, God does not allow suffering of persecution simply for suffering’s sake. God is not a fickly Person who acts upon a whim. He does not begin to do one thing and suddenly change His mind because the other seems better to Him. We can be absolutely sure the things that come into our lives have been ordered by God Himself: (Jas 1:17). We often read this verse and see the word ‘good’ and automatically associate it with pleasure. James puts this in the context of trials and sufferings. He tells us that God brings that which makes us perfect; not in sinlessness but in maturity. The word ‘perfect’ means just that. The “good” is not something that brings us into pleasure but that which leads us to maturity in Christ. The actual word means to fill up what is lacking or to make something complete.

2. The second type of persecution that Matthew 5:10-12 addresses is that of the verbal kind. Sometimes we associate persecution only in the physical realm, but Jesus also addresses the verbal as well. Note that He uses words such as ‘revile,’ and ‘utter evil,’ and ‘speak falsely.’ These are all verbal forms of persecution. In fact, the word ‘revile’ actually means to taunt. When we are taunted simply because of our belief in Christ, God will honor and reward us. In fact, we are told to rejoice on account of two reasons: (1) our reward in Heaven will be great. With the sufferings of Christ come also the blessings of Christ. The apostle Paul preached to his new converts in Acts 14:22, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (2) They treated the prophets the same way. Right off hand this does not sound significant. Jesus’ point was that God had sent the prophets to the people with His message and the people rebelled by persecuting and killing God’s messengers. In Scripture we see that Jeremiah was thrown in prison, kept captive in chest deep mud in an empty cistern, and had God’s words of warning on a scroll burned by the king himself. Tradition has it that Isaiah was eventually sawed in two for faithfully declaring the word of God. When people treat us badly for Christ’s sake it is an assurance that we are being faithful to Him.

B. Persecution is for the perfection of our faith. (1Pe 4:12-14). These verses were written during the throes of intense persecution of the Christians. It is dated shortly after Nero burned Rome and blamed the Christians so as to escape blame himself. Because of this, Christians were forced to flee Rome and were continued to be persecuted long after. Peter’s audience could certainly identify with fiery trials. But it was all for the strengthening of their faith. In the very opening of this epistle he tells his audience that all these things are come to purify their faith because it is better than gold. Even the most precious of metals in those days had to undergo purification in order to prove genuine. The only way it could be purified was by fire. The metal smith would put the metal in the fire and watch for the impurities to rise to the surface. These impurities were known as dross. He would then take his instrument and scrape the dross away from the metal and continue the process until it was completely pure. In the same way, the only way our faith will prove genuine is to be tested by fire. The Father plunges us into the flames of His crucible waiting for our dross (sin) to rise to the top so that it may be scraped away from us. When enough has been done according to His satisfaction, He will take us out of the fire. The day we are removed from the fire is the day we will enter into glory with Him.

C. Persecution is to be expected. We should not expect to live our lives without persecution. If we are truly children of God then we WILL receive persecution from the world. Jesus spoke candidly to His disciples about this fact: (Mt 10:17-18; Mt 10:21-22). These passages reveal a great deal to us. For some, their own families would be the persecutors. For others, they would be dragged before the authorities and asked to give an account for their actions and preaching. Jesus looked at this as opportunity for He tells them that they would be witnesses for His Name. In other words, they would be persecuted partially for the sake of being able to share the good news of the gospel with those in high places. Paul had this same opportunity several times before Felix, Agrippa, and even Caesar himself. And he used every event in order to propagate the Son of God and exalt Him to His rightful place. In the second pastoral epistle to his young protégé, Paul tells Timothy this: (2Tim 3:12). It is not some mere wishful desire or thinking of which Paul is speaking. The word means a lifestyle that is actively pursued; a godly lifestyle which emanates the nature and character of Jesus Christ. Do people scorn and scoff at you because you claim and proclaim the Name of Christ? or do they accept you because you are no threat to them? Be careful, for if you have answered in the positive for the second proposition it can only have a two conclusions: 1. The first conclusion is that you are weak in your proclamation. This is not to say that you must go and seek to be persecuted. The cross of Christ is an offense in itself and those of us who carry it will not have to look for very long or far before persecution comes. It is only the weak that hide from being persecuted and then to their own disadvantage because we are commanded to bear up under such adversities. Returning to Matthew 5:10-12, we can glean another principle from it. Note very carefully what follows immediately after. From verses thirteen to sixteen Jesus immediately launches into the salt and light metaphors. Most of our modern bibles divide the sections between persecution and this section, but maybe they should indeed go together. How is it that we are salt and light to the world? There are many ways to do this but keeping it in its direct context, it may have to do with the way we respond to our persecutors. What better way to be light than to bless our persecutors; to repay them with the glad tidings of the gospel rather than mumble their names as by-words or silently curse them in our hearts. The culmination of this section ends when Jesus tells us to let our lights shine to such a degree that people will notice the glory of God. When we react the way that God would have us to react to persecution you can believe that people will begin to glorify God.

2. The second conclusion is that you do not truly belong to Christ. This is something that Jesus Himself declared. In addressing the crowd about what it would cost to follow Him, He declares: (Mk 8:38). This verse is in the context of discipleship. There are certain things Jesus expects of His followers and being a witness for Him

is one of them. He does not give us an option to do or not do what He says. He tells us to take up our crosses. The cross is certain death. It means that something is going to be heavy and hard. We look at the cross as a nice piece of jewelry to be worn around our necks rather than be carried upon our backs. Jesus’ statement in this passage rings loud and clear: those who are ashamed of Him will also be shamed on the Day of Judgment. In other words, those who are ashamed of Him may not truly be His disciples.

II.

The Cause of Persecution The cause of persecution should not really come as a shock to us. Most of what has already been mentioned can also be said of the causes as well. There are only a couple of things that I would like to touch on in the way of this point.

A. Persecution comes by way of Satan. Satan is God’s enemy and therefore a sworn enemy of the people of God. He uses his devices to infiltrate and harm the church of God. One of the ways he does this is through persecution. Touching very briefly on a point that was previously made, please remember that Satan does not have the ability to “sneak around” as it were, and pull one over on God by harming His people. Satan has boundaries and can only work within those boundaries, and because persecution is real in the body of Christ we must assume that it is one of those boundaries in which he works. We read about these boundaries in the book of Job: (Job 1:12). In this instance, Satan’s boundary was the physical well being of Job. In one of the most revealing passages of Satan’s schemes in the bible we get a glimpse into just how much Satan despises the people of God: (Lu 22:31). This sifting included the fear of being persecuted on account of Christ and would have been successful except being that Jesus had previously prayed for Peter’s restoration, for thus He demanded that Peter strengthen his brothers once he had “turned back,” meaning that he would indeed fail. We are also told in Scripture that Satan was directly involved in Christ’s disciples’ deaths. In the letter to the seven churches of Asia Minor, John writes to the church in Pergamum these words: (Re 2:13). Jesus commended them for being faithful even to death. This place in Pergamum is said to have been where Satan’s throne was. Though we are not exactly sure what this meant, a faithful disciple of Christ named Antipas, obviously suffered martyrdom with the proud approval of Satan himself. Satan will never stop being a persecutor of God’s chosen people until he is finally defeated at the end of time.

B. Persecution comes by way of evil men. Although Satan tempts men to persecute the followers of Christ it can be said that they are simply following the natural inclinations of their own hearts. Jesus astutely points this is out when He tells Nicodemus: (Joh 3:19). Evil men do evil things. It was Satan that prompted Judas to betray our Lord, but it was Judas that carried out the act. Wicked men crucified Jesus though He was innocent. And wicked men stop up their ears to the truth and attack those who lovingly try to point them to the Savior. There is more persecution of God’s people today than in any other time in history, and the numbers of violent attacks continue to increase without sign of slowing down. Conclusion: Persecution is real in the body of Christ today. If you are a Christian expect to be persecuted in one form or another. Do not be surprised when it comes. In fact, resolve this very moment that you will stand firm in the Lord’s strength for it is truly His Name and power that will champion your cause. Dear brothers and sisters do not be ashamed of our Lord. He endured death, even the death of the cross in order to purchase us from among the bonds of sin and death. If you find that upon the Holy Spirit’s close examination of your soul that the reason you have not nor been willing to suffer persecution for the sake of Christ because you are not truly born again, resolve that matter right here and now. Just as we are commanded in the Scripture: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts,” so allow His Spirit to bring you into a relationship with the Living God.

But most of all, be encouraged that persecution brings these two things: (1) The Spirit of the Lord and glory, as Peter tells us in his first epistle. (2) That persecution on account of Christ is a testimony that we truly belong to Him. Take these things with you and be strengthened in the Lord.