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Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know
that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of
sufferings. |
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1 Peter 5:8-9 |
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Safely Home |
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“Well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your
Master.” |
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God
chose to include in Scripture His people’s cries for deliverance and
justice. |
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We are objects of reproach…of scorn and derision to those around us.
How long, O LORD? … Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not
acknowledge you…we are in desperate need.… make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants. May the groans of the
prisoners come before you. |
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Psalm 79:1-12 |
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God promises He will ultimately bring both deliverance and justice. |
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They crush your people, O LORD… They slay the widow and the alien;
they murder the fatherless…. They band together against the righteous and
condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD has become my fortress, and my
God the rock in whom I take refuge. He will repay them for their sins and
destroy them for their wickedness. |
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Psalm 94:3-23 |
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God
promises special blessing and eternal reward for His persecuted people. |
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Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the
crown of life. |
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Revelation 2:10 |
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Blessed are you who mourn,
for you will be comforted….
Blessed are you when people insult
you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of
me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the
same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. |
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Matthew 5:11-12 |
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The
persecution of God’s people is directly linked to verbally confessing His
Lordship before others. |
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They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the
people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized
Peter and John…they put them in jail. |
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Acts 4:1-4 |
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“And now you have betrayed and murdered him” [Jesus]….When they
heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. … “Look,”
Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right
hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of
their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began
to stone him…. |
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Acts 7:52ff. |
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If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you
belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. … I have chosen you
out of the world. That is why the world hates you….No servant is greater
than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. …They
will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One
who sent me. |
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Jesus, John 15:17-22 |
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Those
who follow Christ will be persecuted—it is inevitable, and it is promised. |
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If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable
before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. …When they
hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he
made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. |
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1 Peter 2:19-23 |
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Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are
suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice
that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be
overjoyed when his glory is revealed…if you suffer as a Christian, do not
be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
1 Peter 4:12-17 |
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For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to
believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. |
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Philippians 1:29 |
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Everyone
who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. |
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2 Timothy 3:12 |
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So….what are you doing, and saying, for Jesus that is resulting in
you being persecuted? |
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(Persecution isn’t a goal, but an unavoidable byproduct of
faithfulness.) |
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If you are not being persecuted in your school or workplace, is it
because you are “fitting in” by failing to speak up for Christ? |
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God
gives us the example of the persecuted church so we might raise the bar and
take risks for Jesus, in what we say and do. |
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Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has
really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear
throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains
for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have
been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. |
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Philippians 1:12-13 |
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They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered
them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left
the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering
disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house
to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that
Jesus is the Christ. |
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Acts 5:40-42 |
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Being a good witness for Christ is not measured by whether or not people like us or get mad at
us. |
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Being Christlike is not just being “nice” and making everybody
approve of us. |
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God uses persecution and suffering to show the world that his people
have a supernatural inner joy and peace, and an eternal hope. |
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We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not
destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that
the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive
are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may
be revealed in our mortal body. |
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2
Corinthians 4:8-11 |
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Suffering is sure to come. Let’s follow the example of our
perse-cuted brothers and sisters by: |
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Not wasting our suffering in self-pity or
resentment, but giving thanks. |
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Drawing near to God for his comfort, strength
and joy in our suffering. |
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They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word
of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from
death. |
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Revelation 12:10-11 |
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He fell to the
ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute ME?” |
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“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. |
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“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he
replied. |
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Acts 9:4-5 |
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Christ takes it personally when his people suffer: |
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To hurt them is to hurt Him. |
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To help them is to help Him. |
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The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one
of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” |
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Matthew 25:40 |
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I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name
because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. |
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Jesus, Matthew 9:41 |
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[The martyrs] called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord,
holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our
blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to
wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and
brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. |
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Revelation 6:10-11 |
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When they see the smoke of
her burning, they will exclaim, “Woe! Woe, O great city…”
In one
hour she has been brought to ruin! |
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Rejoice over her, O
heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets!
God
has judged her for the way she treated you. |
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Revelation 18:18-20 |
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The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt.
I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned
about their suffering.…So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of
the Egyptians.” |
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Exodus 3 |
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Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights
of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of
the poor and needy. |
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Proverbs 31:8-9 |
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What can we do? |
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Become informed (books, magazines, websites,
emails, videos); “17 Countries
Where…” |
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Pray (for deliverance, endurance,
boldness); “How to pray for…” |
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Fast |
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Give |
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Go |
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Speak up; letters, phone calls |
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Follow their example |
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The
biggest barrier to faith in God:
the problem of evil and suffering |
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The
Logic: “A God who is both all-good and all-powerful could not allow such
evil and suffering. If He is there, He must not care.” |
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“You know that every
traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have
a right to a kill.” |
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“Please—Aslan,” said Lucy, “can anything be done to save Edmund?” |
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The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. They blindfolded
him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” And they said many other
insulting things to him. |
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Luke 22:63-65 |
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“Are you not going to answer?”….But Jesus remained silent. |
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Matthew 26:62-63 |
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Between them they rolled the huge Lion over on his back and tied all
his four paws together, shouting and cheering as if they had done something
brave, though, had the Lion chosen, one of those paws could have been the
death of them all. But he made no noise, even when the enemies, straining
and tugging, pulled the cords so tight that they cut into his flesh. |
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“He is worthy of death.”…Then they spit in his face and struck him
with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who
hit you?” |
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[They] came to
the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed
him over to Pilate.…he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be
crucified. Matthew 26:66-68; 27:1-2 |
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Then they began to drag Aslan towards the stone table. The Witch
said, “Let him first be shaved.” Another roar of mean laughter went up from
her followers…. |
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Why, he’s only a great cat after all!” cried one. “Is that what we
were afraid of?” said another. And they surged round Aslan, jeering at him,
saying “How many mice have you caught today, Cat?” |
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Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus and gathered the whole
company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on
him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. |
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Matthew 27:27-31 |
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“Muzzle him!” said the Witch. And even now, as they worked about his
face putting on the muzzle, one bite from his jaws would have cost two or
three of them their hands. But he never moved. |
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…for a few minutes the two girls could not even see him—so thickly
was he surrounded by the whole crowd of creatures kicking him, hitting him,
spitting on him, jeering at him. |
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They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked
him: “Hail, king of the Jews!” They spit on him, and took the staff and
struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they
took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to
crucify him. |
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Matthew 27:29-31 |
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They dragged the bound and muzzled
Lion to the Stone Table, some pulling and some pushing. |
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He was so huge that
even when they got him there it took all their efforts to hoist him on to
the surface of it. Then there was more tying and tightening of cords. |
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The Witch bared her
arms, then began to whet her
knife… |
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Had the Lion chosen, one of those paws could have been the death of
them all. |
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One bite from his jaws would have cost two or three of them their
hands. But he never moved. |
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Ask yourself: |
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Can you honestly look at this God who became the
suffering Savior and fault him for his lack of compassion or understanding
of those who suffer? |
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Can you accuse Him of staying at a distance and not
doing enough to deal with evil and suffering? |
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Christ chose to give himself over to death to save us. Then he
restrained himself from stopping the worst injustice and worst evil and worst
suffering of history: on himself.
(All for us.) |
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If we remember this, we’ll always be grateful, never resentful,
regardless of what we suffer. No more spirit of entitlement. No more
whining. |
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Because
of our sins we deserve an eternity in Hell. |
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Because of his love and sacrifice, he offers us an eternity in
Heaven. |
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Thanks to Jesus, we will never get what we deserve. |
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To meditate on Thanksgiving week: |
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“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in
Christ Jesus.” |
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1 Thessalonians 5:18 |
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We are never grateful for what we think we’re entitled to. We are
only bitter when it’s taken from us. |
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If God can bring the single greatest good in history, human
redemption, out of the single most horrible event in human history, the
crucifixion of Jesus… |
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Can he also use the suffering of his persecuted people—and our suffering—for
good? |
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Notes
