How to Respond to Persecution

Published by Stanley Pouw in 2016 · 6 March 2016

We are dealing with how to handle persecution and this our concluding study of these verses. The book of Acts records the life and times of the early church, from its birth through the early years of its growth and its spread to the whole world. So along with the birth of the church, we anticipate a reaction from the world.

In John 15:18, Jesus had warned by saying, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” John 16:2 says, “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” So persecution comes in Acts 4 in the very early days of the church. Because of the great sermons of Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, the church grew and by this time, there were at least 20,000 people.

And opposition will come politically and religiously. Now the event that teed off the persecution is recorded in Acts 3. Peter and John stood on Solomon's porch and the healed man was standing between them when Peter preached a great sermon on Christ. He announced that their Messiah was Jesus of Nazareth that they had rejected their own Messiah and executed Him. And he indicted them for that. And then offered them salvation through the grace of God.

In response to this sermon and to the growth of this new faith in Jesus, there was a tremendous antagonism on the part of the leaders of Israel. And in Acts 4 that breaks out and it became more severe as we go through Acts, just as it did in the case of Jesus. Now the persecution in Acts was physical abuse, although Satan knows that we fall prey to the temptations and the persecutions in the areas of ego, reputation and pride.

Paul recognizes persecution and in Philippians 1:29 he says, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for his sake.” That is the response to the Christian who really showes his Christianity in the world. And he says in verse 30, “engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” Paul is saying, you are going to get what I got when I did it.

Acts 4:5-31 gives us principles to respond to persecution. And that is what we began to study last week. But before that let us look at James 1:2, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” Why? Verse 3, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” God has a plan, He wants to make you patient. Verse 4, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” God is bringing you to maturity.

The plan of God is that you be perfected and made mature. And there are really two things that bring you to maturity. Number one is the Word of God, 1 Peter 2:2, “long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation.” But number two, trials, persecution, suffering and problems. These two things are to bring you to spiritual growth and maturity.

James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” Persecution brings maturity and also reward. In 1 Peter 2:20 he says, “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” Doing good here means proclaiming Christ.

Glory is connected with persecution. 1 Peter 5:10 says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” All through Peter he connects glory with suffering, first the suffering then the glory. That's part of growth into maturity. That is being where God wants you, proclaiming Christ by your life and your lips that sets up a reaction in the world by Satan and you understand it.

What happens if we are out there and the Lord leaves us? Romans 8:35-36 says this, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

In Philippians 2:17-18 Paul says, “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” Paul considered persecution a blessing, because he was getting persecuted in order that others might hear about Jesus. We have to look at persecution as an opportunity to suffer for the sake of somebody else’s salvation.

There is another way Paul looked at his suffering in Colossians 1:24, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.” Paul says in Romans 14:8, “For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.” So this is all for you.

Now Paul says two things here. Number one, I suffer for your sake. But secondly, I am given the great opportunity of filling up in my flesh the afflictions that are meant for Christ. The world still hates Jesus. So that when we are persecuted, they are really persecuting Jesus Christ. And when a Christian stands in place of Jesus Christ and gets persecuted, he is really getting that which is directed at Jesus. That's what Paul means.

Now that's how much Paul loved Jesus. He said, I will take it all for Jesus. So He can just be up there in glory getting what He deserves, I'll stick around down here and I'll take it. I'll fill up in my body the afflictions meant for Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 1:5, Paul said, “For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” And in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

There are seven principles here to respond to persecution. Last week, we looked at the first three. Principle number one is to be submissive to it. Peter and John just willingly went along. God must have some reason. Second principle we saw last week was to be filled with the Spirit. Verse 8, "Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit." They didn't try to handle it in their own strength and develop their own strategies. They just yielded to the Holy Spirit.

Third principle, boldly use it as an opportunity to present Christ. Jesus had told them to go into the entire world to preach the gospel to everyone. And now they were given this opportunity at the Sanhedrin. And so Peter in verses 8-13 preaches Jesus. And he even indicts them for crucifying Him. And then in verse 12 he says, and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Now what was the effect? Verse 13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” They were shocked. How could you explain two unlearned amateurs handling a dispute with the Jewish high Supreme Court and coming out on top? These two guys had such assurance and confidence that is unbelievable in the face of possible death.

And they kept remembering that these guys had been associated with Jesus and what reminded them of it was the fact that they were doing the same thing that Jesus did. The thing that shocked the Jews about Jesus was this: He taught them as one having authority. And Peter too was teaching the same way.

Not only that, Peter and John had done a miracle just like Jesus. Another thing that Peter and John had done so well is in verse 11, handling the Old Testament. Jesus was the master at using the Old Testament and applying it. And they had done the same thing just as masterfully as Jesus did it, because they did it directly under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So the Jews were saying, it's obvious that these guys have been with Jesus.

That brings us to the fourth principle in responding to persecution, be obedient to God at all costs. Verses 14, “But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.” His legs are doing terrific, he has been standing for at least three hours. But what is interesting is that though they could not deny the miracle, they wouldn't accept that it was from God either. This is the blindness of sin.

Verse 15-16, “But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.” So there was no way they could set it aside, and yet they were intent on rejecting it and getting rid of these people. That is unbelief in its hardest type.

Here is their decision, verse 17, “But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.” So they brought them in, verse 18, “So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” Wow. The early church had to be commanded to be quiet and the modern church has to be commanded to preach the gospel.

But that is not acceptable, they are so bold. Verse 19-20, “But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” They don't cower away. They simply say we have a higher authority. There comes a point when you must be obedient to God. That is when we obey Christ and disobey the government.

Verse 21-22, “And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.” So they were afraid of the people. Persecution breaks out, but it doesn't break them. They remain obedient in the middle of it.

Number five, be more closely bonded together. Verse 23, “When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them.” Severe trials bind us together for the common love and security of the body. If we really confronted the world, there will be community.

The sixth one, is praising the Lord. This is the reaction to persecution, verse 24-26, “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed.”

Verses 27-28, “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” So much is happening all over the world that is against believers, but here we see the faith in God that we all should have, because He has planned everything already and He knows what is going to happen.

Verse 29-30, “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” They asked for all boldness. They didn't pray for the Lord to smash their enemies. They were looking for not an escape, but for power.

How many times have we been afraid to speak up and to witness for Christ? Do not be afraid of what people think about you, the only thing we need to be concerned about is what God thinks about us, right? So ask the Holy Spirit for boldness in every situation, because He will give you the right things to say and do for His glory. We are just an instrument in God’s hands.

So God did it in verse 31, “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” God answered their prayer. And the effect of persecution is the opposite of what Satan wanted. Verse 32 says, “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”

Now some of you have never experienced this, because you have never lived a godly life. A few of you will live godly, and you will suffer persecution, and if you are submissive, Spirit-filled, and boldly use it as an opportunity, are obedient at all costs, you will bless the Lord and God will give you greater boldness and victory, and the glory and the reward and the joy that comes with it. Let's pray.