Persecution of the Godly
by Jeff Cox
I. As a Christian you were promised many things, and one of these was persecution. You may have been persecuted because of your Christianity, and I have some bad news. It is not going to get any better. These are the last days, and the Bible tells us that we will be hated because of him.
A. 2 Timothy 3:12 “All who life Godly in Jesus Christ will be persecuted.”
B. Matt 24:3, 9 3 “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? 9 Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.”
1. A lot of Christians are struggling today because they have found out that their faith has caused them to lose their friends, jobs, clubs, social life, and many times family members.
a. Don’t be surprised if struggles find you once you make your commitment to Christ. 1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;”
b. Luke 17:37 “And He said to them, ‘Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered.’" If you are a part of the body, vultures will find you, and you will be persecuted.
2. You have not been promised an easier life once you get saved; actually, it is the opposite. Once you have been born again, the devil will turn up the heat of persecution on you, seeing if you will give up.
C. Jesus was hated.
1. Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him
2. John 15:18,19 20 "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, `A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
II. How can the church be a pillar of the community if the world hates it?
A. If you are highly esteemed by the world, you are an abomination to God
1. Luke 16:15 “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Basically, you won’t be popular—and if you are, then something is wrong!
2. We are only visitors and strangers here.
a. John 15:19 “but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world.”
b. 1 Chron 29:15 states that we “are sojourners and only here for a little while.”
c. Since we are only visiting, we should not get involved in all the ways and events of the world. We are here to glorify God, convert others to Christianity, and leave as overcomers.
B. The church can’t be an important part of the community. How can it if it is hated? How can a Christian run for office if he is hated? He wouldn’t get a vote!
C. Was Jesus a pillar of the community? Was he a respected public figure?
1. He was hated and feared. You will be too.
a. John 7:7 "The world cannot hate you, but (except) it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.”
b. You make the world look at itself and not like what it sees. Compared to you, they are imperfect and dirty, so they hate how you make them feel.
c. The world will make things hard for you. They will resist you, and will reward their own, while they keep you down.
11. Amos 7: 10 “Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is unable to endure all his words.”
III. Eph 6:13 “… and having done everything, to stand firm.” Are you standing firm in the midst of adversity and persecution?
A. Did Jesus fight back?
1. John 8:59 “Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” Sometimes you just have to get out of the situation.
2. Look at the comparison of Peter’s reaction and Jesus’ reaction in the next scripture. Peter is how our flesh wants to react, but Jesus personified the “turn the other cheek” reaction.
3. Luke 22:50 “And one of them struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, "Stop! No more of this." And He touched his ear and healed him”
4. First of all, why do you care what they say or do? 1 Cor 6:20 “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
a. John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.”
b. John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
5. Jeremiah discussed what would happen if he gave in and quit preaching the word and denounced his faith in the passage known as Jeremiah’s Complaint.
a. Jeremiah 20:7-9 O LORD, You have deceived me and I was deceived; You have overcome me and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; Everyone mocks me. 8 For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted F202 In reproach and derision all day long. 9 But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire Shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it.
B. Do you want to turn back? After all, if you serve God, you will suffer here on earth.
1. Matt 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”
2. Numbers 16:12-14, 31-33 “12 Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, "We will not come up. 13 "Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also lord it over us? 14 "Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards.” … 31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.”
a. These Israelites gave up, it was too hard, and turned back. Bad idea…..
3. Remember in Genesis when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, but before he did so, he told Lot to take his wife and get out of town—and not look back! Gen 19:24-26 “24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”
a. If you turn back, all you have done is for naught. Can the world make you turn back? Is eternal damnation worth it?
b. If you don’t watch out, God can “turn you back” to the world if you are a disobedient servant. 2 Kings 19:28 “Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose, And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back by the way which you came.”
B. How do we react or persecution?
1. Matt 5:44 “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Sometimes it is hard, but we must pray for those who persecute us (and not pray for something bad to happen to them!).
a. Embrace the persecution, and relish it as a symptom of spiritual success.
11. Acts 5:40-42 They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. 41 So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
22. After all, if darkeness rejects you, then you must be of the light. Luke 9:50 “for he who is not against you is for you."
b. and love your enemies, after all, their persecuting you proves that you are a son of God!
c. James 1:2-12 2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. 12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
C. You have a choice to make, hold on to the world, or hold onto God. Choose you this day.
1. Matt 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other.”
2. Either you choose to be accepted and liked by this world, or you turn your back on it and choose Christ. You can’t have both. If you think you are having both, then you are fooled. You have unwittingly chose the world.
a. In John 15:18, it states that “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” This statement uses the word “IF” rather prominently. If the world hates you implies that maybe they won’t. If you compare this to the statement that 2 Tim 3:12 “All who life Godly in Jesus Christ will be persecuted.” Basically, if you are Godly you will be persecuted, if you are not, you will live an easier life. Are you persecuted? Do you hide your Christianity?
b. If you choose God, you will be rewarded many times over what you are giving up. Matt 6: 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
1. Matt 10:22 "You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
2. Confess Jesus to the world. Do they know you are a Christian? If you are not being persecuted, then you need to take a hard look. Matt 10:32-33 “If you confess me before the world, I will confess you before my father in heaven, and whosoever denies me before my father will be denied by him also.”
aa. If you have already done this, remember all is not lost. Peter denied Christ 3 times and was forgiven, and went on to make a difference in the kingdom! Repent and get busy!
3. Hebrews 10:32-39 “ 32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. 35 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. 38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.
39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”
1 John 4:5 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
John 17:14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
John 8:37 "I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
Being a believer will cost you everything. New Christians should know this. You should all count the cost, and see if you are willing to go until the end.
