Bulletins
“All Who Desire to Live Godly in Christ Jesus Will Suffer Persecution”
2 Timothy 3:10-12: But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, persecutions, and sufferings - those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
Persecution is difficult but inevitable for Christians. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:20, “if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
Physical persecution was common for early Christians. After Paul’s conversion, he was “in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, and in deaths often” (2 Cor. 11:23). He said, “Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.” (verses 24-25).
We should remember, though, that persecution is not always physical. When Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matt. 5:11), He referenced mental persecution.
Christians are often ridiculed. The tenderheartedness of the meek and lowly can lead to oppression from the proud and greedy. Standing for the truth often angers those whose choices defy it (Gal. 4:16). Persecution can include being made fun of, falsely accused, or “un-befriended.”
Jesus summarized the cause of His disciples’ persecution in John 15:19: If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus said that the person who receives seed in “rocky places”…that is, the one who has a shallow faith…will fall away when persecuted (Matt. 13:20-21). We must have a faith that endures persecution.
Enduring persecution is made easier when we remember God’s promises.
While it is hard to consider oneself blessed when persecuted for obedience to Christ (Matt. 5:11), those who face this please God (1 Pet. 4:14), and those who endure will be with Him forever (Rev. 2:10). The temporary suffering Christians face is “not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us” (Rom. 8:18). will be revealed toward us” (Rom. 8:18).
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