The Value of Persecution
Persecution is a form of the MERCY of God
Homosexual marriage crusades, Government enforced infanticide, violent massacres, talk of one world government and currency to fix a created “crisis…” The daily news sounds like a prophecy from the bible! Are you READY for the times? Or are you just waiting to disappear?
Jesus said to watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. But nobody ever really teaches the SPECIFIC temptation that he was talking about. Read this message and get prepared to renew your mind!
Persecution is a form of the Mercy of God
Why? It separates you from those who are about to get judged by God. Let’s take a look at some of the wicked systems that will be destroyed by God very soon.
Babylon the Great Whore Gets Destroyed
4: And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5: For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Revelations 18
In this scripture, God is telling his people to come out of the system of Babylon the Great Whore (a personification of the one-world economic and religious system) that is filled with sin. In this same chapter we see that she (Babylon) kills the saints. The love of money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy)
24: And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.
Revelation 18
In this chapter we see that God is punishing this system with death and destruction.
All the false religions that have persecuted and killed people all over the world including: extreme Islamists, Buddhists, Communists, crooked businesses, and wicked governments, dictators, etc… will be destroyed.
Take a look at Revelations 18. In it you will see that the Babylon system controls commerce and economies, products of all types, governments, kings, businessmen, entertainment, music, slaves, and the souls of humans.
Jesus is going to Kill Wicked Government Leaders!
Do you know that your Lord and Savior is going to literally kill thousands of people in the end of this time period? Some people will call me extreme for repeating what is in the Bible. We need to embrace the entire mission of our Savior in order to fully understand Him, and to help prevent people from falling into that judgment, the severity of God. Knowing the terror of the Lord motivates us to persuade men and speak the truth in love (2 Corinthians, Galatians 5).
5: The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
6: He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries.
Psalms 110
The Lord will kill many government authorities (kings, prime ministers, presidents, dictators). He will fill places with dead bodies, and wound the heads over many countries. This is literally going to happen.
Ezekiel 37
11: And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog.
12: And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
Ezekiel 39
This scripture in Ezekiel talks about a huge army from the North coming against Israel in the last days. Some say it will be the army of Russia and Iran. God will kill them all. God will kill so many people that they will have to hire people to bury them all, and it will take seven months to finish! This is a bible prophecy that has not happened yet. It will happen soon.
17: And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18: That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19: And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Revelations 19
This scripture in Revelation describes the Battle of Armageddon. Lots of death will happen here. I’m sure you get the point by now. Let’s move on to a poignant question:
What if you were a part of the Wicked System?
What if you were a part of the Anti-Christ army that Jesus would eventually kill (upon His return)? What if you were drafted into an anti-Christ Army and they decided to go invade Jerusalem… or kill members of illegal house churches? Wouldn’t that suck!? What if you were a wicked business person that was a part of the Babylon system, or a false religion that worshipped your tribal God’s or idols?
The mercy of the Lord Jesus dying for your sins can forgive you of those sins and make you a part of God’s family. But there is another form of Gods mercy that separates Christians from participating in the sins of their nation and/or any system that they may be involved in. This mercy comes to all true believers who desire to live Godly. It’s called PERSECUTION!
When the unbelievers persecute you, they SEPARATE you from their company, so you don’t have to be judged by God along with them!
Persecution is like being pushed off a train track! Your response could be:
“Thanks, you should probably jump off too before that train comes!”
Persecution is like being pushed out the door of a burning building! Don’t worry about your knee getting scraped. Your response could be:
“Thanks, but you should probably leave too!”
Persecution is actually a form of MERCY. Persecution prevents you from participating in systems that will soon be judged by God. It’s God’s way of practically separating you from the judgment of the world. Your haters also get a chance to repent, when they see that you are not phased by their persecution. It also gets you a great reward.
22: Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.
23: Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Luke 6
This is one of the reasons Jesus said: “resist not evil.” This is one of the hardest parts of the Kingdom of God, but if we understand what is going on spiritually, it will help us to do it faithfully.
39: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40: And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
Matthew 5
Don’t be Terrified!
28: And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
29: For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Philippians 1
Don’t be alarmed, or terrified by your enemies hating you or persecuting you for Christ’s sake. If you are unshaken by their persecution, it will be an evident sign of their impending doom, and a sign of your heavenly help and intervention from God! It will give them a chance to change.
It’s your responsibility to not only believe in Christ, but to suffer for his sake. Now that’s something you don’t hear in a lot of sermons! Yet, it’s all over the New Testament. If you believe and live according to the Word of God, you will suffer. Suffer what? You will suffer Persecution and Hatred from the devil and demonically inspired people. You will have victory in your God-given purpose, but you will have haters. Yes, it is a guarantee.
12: Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2 Timothy 3
But what I want you to understand about persecution is that it is actually a BLESSING. It’s a form of Mercy from God, because it practically separates you from those who are doomed to judgment, and sets you up for a literal intervention of salvation from God.
Changing your mental understanding to embrace this particular type of suffering instead of avoiding it will make you a strong and fruitful Believer.
– Never Avoid speaking the truth of Jesus in order to avoid being hated on for doing so.
– Never Avoid doing what God’s Word says in order to avoid being left out, or talked about, or persecuted,
– Always Support persecuted Christians that you see by praying for them, speaking out for them, and supporting them financially. Identify with them, being in the same Body as you. (Hebrews 12:3) This could mean supporting the Christian kid who gets talked about at school, praying for Chinese house churches, or giving to a ministry like Voice of the Martyrs.
– Always Remember that persecution is a good thing. It’s a Form of God’s Mercy, and it’s a Blessing with great rewards. Renew your mind on the issue of suffering.
40: And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41: And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Acts 5
Why did the apostles rejoice that they were beaten and abused for the cause of Christ? Were they weird, or just really excited? No, they were just not as SPIRITUALLY BLIND as you and I sometimes are. They had the spiritual eyesight to see the VALUE of what had just happened to them, and they were genuinely happy about it.
We cry when our Christian message doesn’t sell as much as a wicked one. We cry when people talk bad about us. They rejoiced when they were beaten and commanded by authorities not to do what they were doing.
Let’s see how the disciples learned this new mindset.
What’s the Biggest Temptation?
Before Jesus was crucified He told the disciples to pray that they enter not into temptation. They didn’t pray, so they all ended up entering into the temptation.
What was the temptation? The temptation that they entered into was to avoid persecution by denying Jesus to be accepted by the world (like Peter did), or actually joining in the persecution of Jesus to be a friend of the world (like Judas did).
Jesus told them to pray that they would resist entering the temptation to avoid suffering, which is persecution by a wicked system, which is a form of Gods Mercy to separate you from the judgment of that wicked system. The disciples did not pray, they slept, so they did not understand that concept, and they all ended up denying Jesus (entering into temptation). After the Resurrection, much prayer, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost they came understood Jesus’ Words and were changed.
So right now, take a few minutes and…
Pray that you would never enter into the temptation to refuse Gods Mercy and Blessing by avoiding persecution for your faith in God.
At God’s throne, Commit to always testifying of Jesus when it’s not popular.
Proclaim that persecution is an escape from a corrupt system that will soon be destroyed!
Proclaim that some of your greatest blessings from God come from when you are not accepted by man!
(Take your own five minute break here.)
Jesus succeeded in avoiding the temptation to avoid persecution, suffering, and death! Why? He prayed. When He prayed, He was very honest with the Father. He told God three times, that He wasn’t feeling the suffering, and asked Him to check out any other options to get the redemption accomplished… but ultimately He submitted and did His Father’s will.
…Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
41: And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed,
42: Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luke 22
The Significance of Flesh Sacrifice
Jesus was beaten till blood came out of every part of his body, with a cat of nine tails.
They put a crown of long, thick, thorns on his head, so blood was pouring down His face too.
They stuck nails through His hands and feet, and hung him on a tree. He died from not being able to breath, because his lungs were crushed by the weight of his body, because he couldn’t hold Himself up on the cross. His body lost too much blood.
At what point did He say, “It is finished?” It was at the point of His death. This was the point where He said “It is Finished.”
We know that afterward, He took the keys of hell and death (Rev. 1), and that his soul was not left in hell (Psalms 16). We know that in 3 days, He rose from the dead with all power. Those things are very important to the purpose of God. But when did He say it was finished? It was finished at the cross. It was already finished at the point of His death & suffering.
What was finished? Our redemption was finished! This was the point where He purchased you and I to be His partners, and the Church to be His Bride. His death was the point where it was finished. This was what He was looking forward to. The reason He died was accomplished right there at the point of His death.
Jesus suffered to be able to purchase us. We were the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12).
Why is it important to know at what point “It is finished?”
When you know the value, or reward of suffering for what is right, you are no longer afraid to suffer. When you realize that suffering is actually a form of mercy that separates you from a wicked system and leads to a greater reward, you will avoid the temptation to escape your persecution and suffering for righteousness. Jesus knew the reward for suffering; therefore He prayed that He would avoid the temptation to avoid suffering. Since Jesus suffered in this way, we can expect the same thing. He warned us of this repeatedly.
Yes anyone can suffer, but redeeming spiritual and supernatural power is manifested when the innocent suffers for what is right. People like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks took this one principle and changed nations. What can we do with it? We can turn the world upside down (Acts 6)!
Don’t suffer for your disobedience, sin, or foolishness. Suffer for what is right.
19: For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
20: For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21: For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
1 Peter 2
Follow Christ’s Example and Suffer in Your Flesh; It Will Help You Out!
1: Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
1 Peter 4
– When you resist satisfying the lust of your eyes, that’s a death to your flesh.
– When you resist satisfying your lust and desires for illicit sexual pleasure or excess food –- that is sacrificing your self.
– When someone persecutes you for Christ sake, or because you are not sinning, that’s a sacrifice that is well pleasing to God.
– When you make less money by testifying of Jesus than you could make by not testifying and committing your work to Jesus, then you are blessed even more by God.
Let’s Learn to Embrace Our Suffering Instead of Avoiding It. I’m NOT talking about suffering from sickness, or suffering because of your own sin, or from the results of being lazy or disobedient and unwise. Biblically, the ONLY suffering that is a blessing is the suffering that comes from righteous acts. Let’s pray that we don’t enter into temptation to avoid this form of Mercy from God.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Blood, heaven, Jesus, judgement, killing idols for revival, kingdom of god, mercy, persecution, rejoicing in persecution | 2 Comments »
SoSpression Blog 