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Essential Truths II: Walking With God

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Walking in Persecution
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. 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 perse-
cuted the prophets who were before you.”
These words of Jesus, found in Matthew Walking with God
5:10-12, complete what are called the Beati-
Walking as a Son
tudes, which means “perfect blessedness and
happiness.” The Message captures some of Walking as a Servant
the strength of Jesus’ words: Walking as a Disciple
“You’re blessed when your commitment Walking the Way of the Cross
to God provokes persecution. The per- Walking Yoked with Jesus
secution drives you deeper into God’s Walking in the Spirit
kingdom. Not only that, count yourselves
Walking in His Presence
blessed every time people put you down
or throw you out or speaks lies about you Walking in Blamelessness
to discredit me. What it means is that the Walking as an Overcomer
truth is too close for comfort and they are Walking in the Ways of God
uncomfortable. You can be glad when that
Walking as a Family
happens – give a cheer, even! – for
though they don’t like it, I do! And all Walking in Guidance
heaven applauds. And know that you are
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Walking in Grace
in good company. My prophets and wit- Walking in Humility
nesses have always gotten into this kind
Walking in Forgiveness
of trouble.”
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Walking in Joy
Just as we looked at the paradox of joy in the
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Walking in Persecution
last lesson, so in this lesson we are looking at
the paradox of persecution. The Amplified Walking in Balance
Bible, in its characteristically expansive way, Walking in Perspective
also reveals the paradox in Jesus’ words: Walking in God’s Purpose

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“Blessed and happy and enviably fortunate and spiritually prosperous [that
is, in the state in which one enjoys and finds satisfaction in God’s favor and
salvation, regardless of his outward conditions], are those who are persecuted
for righteousness’ sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven! Blessed – happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous [that is,
with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your
outward conditions] – are you when people revile you and persecute you and
say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account...”
In fact, in the account of Luke 6:23, Jesus tells us...
“Rejoice in that day [of persecution] and leap for joy, because great is your
reward in heaven.”

The Promise of Persecution

Read Mark 10:29-30
This is a wonderful promise from the Lord Jesus. Look at what he says:
“...no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or
children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as
much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and
fields...) and in the age to come, eternal life.”
How easy it is just to focus on the parts of this verse that we like. If Jesus had just
spoken his promise like we’ve recorded it above, oh, what a wonderful addition to
our promise box it would make! This is the kind of verse that we can pin to our
refrigerator or as a post-it note on your computer!
But what is the missing phrase? You’ve probably already made a mental note of
the words that we purposely left out. Those words are:
“...and with them, persecutions...”
This promise from Jesus reveals the inherent dichotomy* of the Christian life.
Like it or not, the promise that we inherit as Christians includes two things in
tension:
Ü Blessing
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Ü Persecution
It is a mistake to focus on one to the detriment of the other, for if we do, we risk
walking an unbalanced path with God. But it is also a mistake to think that one is
the opposite of the other. For persecution, as Jesus so eloquently put it, is merely
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blessing in disguise. For like every other promise of God, persecution is designed
to help you “participate in the divine nature” and “escape the corruption in the
world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).
* Dichotomy means “a dividing into two sharply distinguished and seemingly opposed parts.”

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Read 2 Timothy 3:12

There are two things we need to understand about persecution:
Persecution is the heritage of the believer
Read Philippians 1:29
Down through the ages, in every generation, the righteous have experienced per-
secution (read Hebrews 11:35-38). Persecution continues today in many coun-
tries, expressed in two main forms:
Ü Systematic persecution – this is a top-down persecution, decreed from
a government level
Ü Random persecution – this is a peer-to-peer persecution, instigated
by individuals or groups of people
There are places today where the threat of violence hangs constantly over the
Christian, where even to witness courts the death sentence. Then there are other
places where persecution is more subtle, yet just as real. To become a Christian
means opening oneself to public ridicule and the loss of privilege and status. Even
in so-called Christian countries, anyone who stands out from the crowd as a true
follower of Jesus must be willing to face verbal abuse and negative social pres-
sures.
When you commit your life to Christ, you join this heritage – a heritage of past
persecution (those who have forged the way before you) and a heritage of present
persecution (those who are brothers and sisters with you in cause of Christ).
Read 1 Peter 5:9
Persecution is the destiny of the believer
Read 1 Thessalonians 3:2-4
No one likes rejection, no one likes to lose friends, and certainly no one with a
moticum of sanity welcomes the threat of physical violence or tortuous death. Yet
this is part and parcel of what it means to be a Christian. Any teaching which
belittles Jesus’ promise of persecution not only devalues the heritage we have as
Christians, but also paints a picture very different from the one portrayed by
Jesus.
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Read Luke 6:26

Paraphrasing this verse for today, we could easily use these words:
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“Beware of a sugar-coated Christianity, a softened belief system which blends

into the background clutter of worldly life. Don’t think that because you blend
in that you are on track. In fact, if you do blend in, you show yourself to be no
disciple of mine.”
Are you a camouflaged Christian? Are you one who blends in so well with your

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surroundings that few realize that you are there? Biblical Christianity does not
blend well. In fact, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It is described as a “stumbling
block” and “foolishness” to those who are perishing (1 Corinthians 1:18,23).
The Message renders Luke 6:26 in this way:
“...it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games. There’s suffering to
be met, and you’re going to meet it. There’s trouble ahead when you live only
for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges
them. Popularity contests are not truth contests – look at how many scoun-
drel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not
popular.”

A Clash of Kingdoms
Read Proverbs 29:27
Persecution is the symptom of a conflict between God’s kingdom and the domin-
ion of darkness. Satan does not give up territory without a fight, and that fight
often spills out into persecution. As Peter explained to the early believers in
1 Peter 4:12:
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as
though something strange were happening to you.”
In 1 John 3:13, John expresses this same thought in his own words:
“Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”
The reason we should not be surprised is because we are in the middle of a great
conflict. Whether they realize it or not, people are aligned around one of two camps
– the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness (note Ephesians 2:1-2;
Colossians 1:12-13).
The one basic reason for all persecution, according to the Bible, is that people do
not know the Father (John 15:21; 16:1-2; 1 John 3:1). Jesus even went as far
as to say that the source of all persecution is the father of persecution, the Devil
himself – a murderer and a liar (read John 8:44). People persecute because they
are unwittingly carrying out their father’s desire. This is why, in Ephesians 6:12,
Paul was able to say to those experiencing persecution:
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“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against
the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
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Simply put, persecution arises because of a fundamental opposition between God

and the system of this world. The Cross of Christ is an offense to those who belong
to the darkness of this world (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). This is one of the principal
reasons why Christians are persecuted.
Read Galatians 5:11
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Read Galatians 6:12

The world persecutes us because we do not belong to the world (John 17:14).
But it is because we are already dead to the world that we can stand up under
persecution (Galatians 6:14).
Read John 15:18-21

The Seed of the Church

Read 1 Peter 4:15
The early Church experienced much persecution (Acts 14:22; 2 Thessalonians
1:4-5), but, as Tertullian observed in the third century, “The blood of the mar-
tyrs is the seed of the church.”
Elaborating on this, he wrote:
“Nor does your cruelty, however exquisite, avail you; it is rather a tempta-
tion to us. The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we
grow; the blood of Christians is seed.”1
Down through history, Satan has sought to stamp out the Church through perse-
cution, yet has never succeeded. In fact, history reveals that rather than dealing
the death blow to Christianity, persecution has only served to spread the Gospel
further (Acts 8:1-8; 11:19-21; Philippians 1:12-14).
Read Luke 21:12-13
Note what Jesus describes as being the outcome of persecution? “This will result
in your being witnesses to them.” In fact, the Greek word for “witness” is martyr.
Being a witness for Christ goes hand in hand with persecution – witness often
results in persecution, and persecution inevitably results in witness.
Read 1 Peter 3:14-15
Persecution is not just a matter between you and God. The world is watching to
see how you will respond. If you curse back, you are no different from anyone
who faces suffering. Instead, Jesus says: “Bless those who persecute you” (Mat-
thew 5:44-48; Romans 12:14; 1 Peter 2:21-23; 3:9). When you bless those
who persecute you, God can use your witness to bring even your persecutors to
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salvation (read Acts 7:54-60; 8:1-3; 9:1-20). You are able to bless your persecu-
tors when you recognize that they are not your real enemy. Behind every perse-
cution of Christians is Satan himself (Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8-10).
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Read 2 Timothy 1:8

A Thorn in the Flesh

Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
There have been many debates about the precise meaning of Paul’s term “a thorn

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in my flesh.” What exactly was Paul meaning? Some have suggested a physical
ailment, such as poor eyesight or even malaria. But the most reasonable explana-
tion, when verse 7 is read in its context, is that Paul’s thorn was persecution.
In 2 Corinthians 11:23-30, Paul writes:
“...I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged
more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I re-
ceived from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten
with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night
and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in
danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own country-
men, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country,
in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled
and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have
often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else,
I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and
I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must
boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”
It is in this context that Paul writes of his thorn. The thorn was the weakness
exposed in Paul through persecutions. The Lord’s answer to Paul’s plea is the
same answer he gives to us in the midst of persecution:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
And our response to this promise can be the same as Paul’s:
“...for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in perse-
cutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
This verse provides us with a remarkable insight into Paul’s attitude toward per-
secution. And he was qualified – if anyone was an expert in persecution (both the
giving of it and the receiving of it), it was Paul!
Read 1 Corinthians 4:9
Paul describes his life as an apostle of Christ as being “on display at the end of the
procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.” The terminology he is using
draws from the Roman gladiator contests of his day. Both heaven and earth are
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looking on as the apostles are forging forward with the Gospel, fighting a fight
even to the death. In verses 11-13, he goes on to describe what this gladiatorial
“arena” is like:
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“To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally
treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are
cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slan-
dered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the
earth, the refuse of the world.”

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What a declaration! Does this sound like the kind of theology that would attract
applause in many churches today? Yet it was the experience of Paul, who invited
others to join him “in suffering for the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:8).
In 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, Paul describes the reality of persecution when ener-
gized by the grace of God.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing
power is from God and not from us. 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. So then, death is at work in us,
but life is at work in you.”
Paul knew what he was getting himself into from the very moment he first com-
mitted his life to Christ (Acts 9:15-16). But why was Paul willing to go through
such hardships? In 2 Corinthians 4:15, he explains:
“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more
people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”
The persecution Paul endured was for the benefit of the Christians in Corinth and
other regions where he preached the Gospel (note Colossians 1:24). The grace
that was poured out upon Paul’s life in times of persecution was so overwhelming
“sufficient” that it actually overflowed to reach “more and more people.” No won-
der Paul was able to go on to say in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet
inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary
troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So
we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

The Fellowship of His Sufferings

Read Philippians 3:10
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When we experience persecution, we enter into what Paul calls the “fellowship of
sharing in [Christ’s] sufferings.” We need to understand that people are not sim-
ply persecuting you. They are, in fact, persecuting Jesus (Acts 22:4-8; Matthew
.24:9; John 15:20). The Bible constantly alludes to the fact that we are perse-
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cuted for his name’s sake.

Read Acts 4:25-27
The early Christians rightly saw the persecution they were experiencing as being
directed at the Lord Jesus himself. The rulers of their era were “tak[ing] their
stand...against the Lord and his Anointed One.” This is why the book of Acts
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records the apostles “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffer-
ing disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41). They saw persecution as evidence of
their total identification with the Lord Jesus himself.
In Paul’s own conversion experience, the words of Jesus in Acts 9:4-5 are very
revealing:
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
When Paul* responded, “Who are you, Lord?,” the response was:
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”
Jesus counted persecution against his followers as persecution against himself. It
is not just you suffering for Christ; it is Christ suffering the continued attack of
this world against his Name.
When you are persecuted for the name of Jesus, you participate in the sufferings
of Jesus himself (2 Corinthians 1:5). Paul knew what it was to enter into the
sufferings of Christ and he called these sufferings the “marks” or “branding” of
Jesus (Galatians 6:17).
Read 1 Peter 4:12-14,16,19
There is a deep fellowship in suffering. Any person who has been through deep
suffering has a special bond with those who have been through similar suffering.
Think of those who went through the Holocaust, or who have endured a war.
Such deep suffering produces deep fellowship. This what the psalmist means when,
in Psalm 42:7, he writes:
“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls...”
When we participate in the sufferings of Christ, in the persecution we face be-
cause of his Name, there is a deep calling to deep – the depth of our heart calls out
to the depths of God’s heart. It is at this point that we experience the overflowing
compassion and comfort of God, not just flowing into our lives, but also flowing
through our lives to those around us.
Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

Victory in Persecution
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No matter what you face, God’s plan is that you experience victory. The victory
you have in persecution is of two kinds:
Deliverance from persecution
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Read 2 Corinthians 1:9-10

Read 2 Timothy 3:10-11
Read 2 Timothy 4:16-18
* Paul was his Greek name. Saul was his Aramaic/Hebrew name.

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God is more than able to deliver his children from trouble. But even when he
doesn’t, there is another kind of victory at work.
Victory within persecution
Read 1 John 4:4
Read 1 John 5:4
You need never fear persecution, because the One living in you is greater than
any persecution the world can bring. His love is greater than the rejection; his joy
is greater than the distress; his peace is greater than the turmoil. As someone
once wisely put it:
“Sometimes he calms the storm; other times he calms his child.”
Read 1 Peter 1:6-7
Peter describes persecution as being like a refining fire, producing something of
incomparable value in our lives – faith, the most precious commodity in God’s
eyes. The experience of suffering for Jesus’ sake actually takes you toward the
goal that God has for your life. Persecution produces endurance (Romans 5:3; 2
Corinthians 1:6; 2 Thessalonians 1:4), obedience (Hebrews 5:8-9), joy (1 Peter
4:13; James 1:2), fellowship (1 Corinthians 12:26), power (2 Corinthians 4:7-
9; Romans 8:11), victory over sin (1 Peter 4:1), and ultimately glory (Romans
8:17-18).
Read Romans 8:35-37
As we’ve noted before, it is in “all these things” (persecutions, hardships and dan-
ger) that we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us.” The God we
serve is a God who is able turn even persecution for our good (Romans 8:28).
Like Joseph, in Genesis 50:20, we can then say:
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is
now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Consider Jesus
Read Hebrews 12:2-4
Walking with Jesus means, at times, walking in persecution. But when we do face
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persecution, we are encouraged to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” who is the model of
one who faced persecution and overcame it. In fact, the writer to the Hebrews
advises us:
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“Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will
not grow weary and lose heart.”
When Jesus entered into persecution, he “set [his] face like flint” (read Isaiah
50:5-7), and he encourages us to walk yoked with him in the same determination
to fulfil the purposes of God. In this yoked walk, we will experience persecution

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(read Matthew 10:25), but we will simultaneously experience the Lord’s over-
riding grace. In fact, the Lord gives many promises to those who endure persecu-
tion for his name’s sake:
Ü A crown of life (Revelation 2:10; 2 Timothy 4:8)
Ü A better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35)
Ü The strength of God (2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Isaiah 51:12-16)
Ü The joy of the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:41)
Ü The comfort of Christ (2 Corinthians 1:5-9)
Ü Judgment on our persecutors (2 Thessalonians 1:6-7; Romans 12:19)
Ü Wisdom to witness (Luke 21:14-15)
Ü Great reward in heaven (Matthew 5:10-12)
Is your desire to walk with the Lord on his paths of righteousness? As we have
already seen, those paths will at times lead you through the valley of the shadow
of death. But the one thing that always makes the difference is: “You are with
me” (Matthew 28:20). When you are willing to be yoked to Christ in the persecu-
tion he daily endures, then, as Romans 8:15-16 declares, you will also be yoked
to him in the revelation of his glory.
Read Hebrews 13:12-14
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1
Tertullian, The Apology, Chapter L, translated by Rev. S. Thelwall.
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Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from the Bible are from the New International Version, copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

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