Expect Persecution Series

Today we’ll discover how God accomplishes His purposes through persecution. When we think about persecution, we usually think of believers in closed countries or what happens to missionaries. Let me share with you a true story.

In 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood went from Sweden to the Belgian Congo in Africa. They met up with the Ericksons and felt led by the Lord to go out from the main mission station and take the gospel to an unreached remote area.

When they arrived at the village they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. The two couples opted to go half a mile up the slope and build their own mud huts.

They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but there was none. The only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week. Svea Flood decided if this was the only African, she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. She succeeded, but there was no other fruit.

Meanwhile, malaria struck. In time, the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering and left to return to the central mission station. David and Svea Flood remained near the village in their mud huts up on the slope to go on alone.

Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive wilderness. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her deliver a little girl whom they named Aina. The delivery was exhausting, and Svea Flood was already weak from bouts of malaria. She died seventeen days later.

Something snapped inside David Flood. He dug a crude grave and buried his wife. He came back down the mountain to the mission station and gave his newborn daughter to the Ericksons. Before leaving he snarled, ‘I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God has ruined my life.’ With that, he headed for the port, rejecting not only his calling, but God himself.

Within eight months, both the Ericksons died within days of each other. The baby was then turned over to some American missionaries, who adjusted her Swedish name to ‘Aggie’ and eventually brought her to the United States. Her adopted dad became a pastor and Aggie grew up in South Dakota. She attended North Central Bible college where she met and married a man named Dewey Hurst.

We’ll pick up the “rest of the story” at the end of message but remember, God accomplishes His purposes through persecution.

In Acts 21:12-13, Paul had been warned about problems and persecution which awaited him in Jerusalem, but he was still determined to go: “When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’”

Let’s pick up the narrative in verse 27 where we will see three ways to handle hardship.

1. Endure misunderstandings. If you choose to follow Christ, you will face misinformation and misunderstanding. Listen to Acts 21:27-29: “When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, ‘Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.’ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.”

Some unbelieving Jews from Asia saw Paul in the temple and went ballistic. As we’ve learned in Acts, Paul spent three years in Ephesus, so these religious legalists knew him and didn’t like him. Many of them would have been part of the earlier riot in Ephesus when they had tried to kill Paul. Actually, because of his Jewish background, Paul was allowed to go into the inner court of the temple, but these enemies of the gospel decided to stir up the crowd. The phrase “stirred up” means, “confused.” They deliberately used misinformation to accomplish their malevolent and murderous plans.

Have you noticed how much misinformation is flying around today? This is especially the case online. According to a recent study, nearly 80% of Americans believe misinformation and disinformation has become a real problem. In this same study, 10% admit to deliberately sharing fake news.

These religious people yelled out for help, as if Paul’s an assailant. They made three charges against him, accusing him of “teaching everyone everywhere,” which is a general statement designed to enrage the crowds.