Suffering Persecution

There is an unscriptural attitude among Christians that if you are serving the Lord there shouldn’t be any problems.  Paul was very clear in II Timothy 3:12 when he said, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”   We should expect to have problems if we are serving God, but we should not allow it to discourage us.  In John 16:32-33, Jesus told us, “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.”  We have been warned to expect the struggles. 

Peter 4:12-14 makes the same point.  “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But 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.  If 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.”  The fact that you are going through such struggles implies that the power of God is showing in your life, if you are living for him.

Be aware that this is only true if we are obedient to Christ.  I Peter 4:15-18 warns, “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.   For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

If we are suffering for having done right, it is because of the satanic influence on our world, and we can thank God that we are protected from the world.  If we are being disobedient, however, we need to realize that because we are God’s children, he will deal with our sin first.   He will not allow us to continue to blaspheme his name by our actions, although he will not take away our salvation.  If a person who claims to be a Christian can continue in sin without concern, it indicates he really isn’t God’s child.  I John 2:3-4 tells us, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Even Christians are only saved because Jesus Christ took our place, dying on the cross to pay for our sin, cleansing us.   If it required God’s on son to set us free, what do those who insist on staying in their sin deserve.   If we have been cleansed and changed, we ought not be like the pig, going straight back to the pigpen.  Hebrews 10:28-29 asks, “He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”

If we are struggling with persecution and survival, we can depend on God to take care of us in the situation.  I Peter 4:19 advises, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”  In I Corinthians 10:13 Paul tells us the things we struggle with are normal, and we can trust God to enable us to get through them.   “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”  Don’t get discouraged and give in to sin.