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The Christian's Persecution
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The Christian’s Persecution
The plight of the faithful Christian has been that of persecution from the beginning of the Lord’s church on the first Pentecost after His resurrection.
The degrees and types of persecution have varied greatly in different locales and different times. But nevertheless, all do suffer persecution, whether it be simple ridicule by the ignorant who feel they are wise, all the way to horrendous methods of death. Jesus Himself foretold this early in His ministry, before the Christian era began. Here is a quote from His famous “sermon on the mount”
“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5; 10-12)
And in Matthew, He tells his apostles this:
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.” (Matthew 24:9)
Shortly after the Christian dispensation began on that day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts chapter two, persecution was swift and severe in it’s coming. As the Jews of the time rejected Him as the messiah, they thought He was teaching heresy and blaspheming against God, so therefore engineered His death on the cross. Then these same ones who had rejected Him began persecuting and killing those ones who were avidly preaching His word.
All ages since that date, have seen Christian’s being persecuted in some manner. As the Jews found some favor in the eyes of their Roman captors, that government joined in the persecution and slaughter of the rapidly growing church (following) of our Lord.
Then as the church continued to grow and fell into apostasy, they became a strong political power and they, themselves, became the persecutors of those who were striving to remain faithful to the teachings of Jesus. This became so severe that true worshippers were forced to meet and worship in secret or face death.
This form of torture continued until the church of Rome began to be divided and lost much of their power, ushering in the movement of restoration began and numerous groups left to form other protestant bodies. Even so, some persecution continued, especially under certain rulers, and under the influence of the Church of England, etc. Many in Europe were burned at the stake for “heresy”.
Only after founding of American Colonies did Christians find some respite. And since the formation of the United States of America and under our present constitution, has persecution become almost non-existent. It has continued o a very mild basis, normally simple ridicule, in certain cases, unable to obtain some employment from prejudiced people and the like.
But now, it is beginning to show it’s ugly head again. Some Christians are banned from public meetings, many are forbidden to mention the words, God, Jesus, the Holy Bible, at certain assemblies or gatherings. Itg also appears to be highly probable that further heavy restrictions will be placed on those who proclaim His word as to what they can say or even read from that word. Such as the condemnation of abortion or homosexuality, etc., which is commanded of the Christian.
The important Christians have to remember and tolerate, is we are forbidden to take physical action against such prsecution. We have a biblical example of what we must do when faced with such a dilemma. When the Jewish hierarchy had arrested and warned the apostles not to preach in Jesus name anymore, they continued to do so and were once again arrested and brought before the High Priest. The following ensued:
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5: 27-29)
The future appears bleak once more for the true Christian who intends to obey the teachings of the Bible, unless we are able to invoke the providential power of God. I pray that He will never allow this nation to lose it’s freedom of worship or speech.
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