· DMM · 6 min read
Jesus Promises Persecution
Are you ever being rejected or persecuted by the world? If so, it's a sign you are a true believer.
What does the Bible say about our persecution?
John 15:18-21 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.”
Matthew 10:16-20 16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
2 Timothy 3:12 12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted”
Luke 21:12-15 12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.”
Our Relasionship to the World
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”
John 3:17, 19 17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 19 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”
What then do we notice about our relationship to the world? According to 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 we are to reconcile the world to God as Christ’s ambassadors. This means:
- We love the world!
- We hate sin.
- We want the world to be cleansed and set free from all sin by applying the blood of Jesus.
However “this is the verdict, the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” Many people simply love their sin more than they love God. Therefore the cross is offensive to them 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” not only is it “foolishness” but often times it is so offensive that people will try to kill you:
Luke 4:28-33 “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
Mark 3:6 “Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”
John 5:16–18 “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
John 7:1 “After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.”
John 8:59 “At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”
John 10:31–39 “Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him.”
John 11:53 “So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”
Acts 7:54, 60 “They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.” 60 “Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Acts 12:1–2 “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.”
Acts 14:19 “Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.”
Acts 9:23–24 “After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.”
Acts 23:12–22 “The next morning some Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty men were involved in this plot.”
Acts 27:42 “The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.”
Conclusion
Following Jesus is a RADICAL way of life. The way you live, speak, and act are all testimonies to the gospel showing that you have been born of the Spirit and no longer belong to the World. Therefore, you no longer fit into the systems of this World. You are a foreigner and an outcast. To some, your testimony of the Gospel in word and act will be attractive and desireable, for they wish to be closer to their God. However, to most it will be a stumbling block. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 Therefore, however much the world hates us we must love the world and implore it on Christ’s behalf “be reconciled to God”.
