“Persecuted for Righteousness’ Sake”

And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; - Hebrews 11:36-37

    “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented.” Hebrews 11:36-37

    It has always been the lot of God’s people in this world to suffer persecution at the hands of men, to suffer persecution at the hands of those who profess to be God’s people. The cause of this relentless persecution is the gospel of Christ, the offense of the cross. —“Persecuted for righteousness’ sake!” As Cain persecuted Abel and Ishmael Isaac, so it has been throughout the ages, and so it shall be until time shall be no more.

    The words of Jeremiah describe the condition of God’s church in all ages and in all places in this world. —“Our necks are under persecution…We get our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness…For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim” (Lam. 5:5, 10, 17). Persecution is the lot of God’s saints in this world (Matt. 5:10-12; Rom. 8:34-39; Gal. 5:11; 6:12; Phil. 3:18-19; 2 Tim. 3:12). Sometimes the persecution is open and violent. Sometimes it is very subtle. But persecution is ever the lot of God’s saints in this world.

    The Persecutors

    The persecutors of God’s people are not usually ignorant barbarians, but men and women who are highly educated, of great respectability in society, high rank, political power and religious influence. Magistrates, governors, princes, kings, queens, popes, prelates, priests and preachers have all dipped their hands in the blood of God’s saints. Such facts are so shocking that our historians and educators try as much as possible to explain them away, find excuse for them, and invent horror stories about God’s people that make such persecutions seem justifiable when they must be mentioned.

    Those who have thirsted for the blood of God’s saints have never been content merely to hurt, or punish, or even kill them. They have invented the most cruel, barbaric forms of torture imaginable to inflict as much pain as possible before the objects of their hellish hatred died.

    God’s Purpose

    Why has God allowed such persecutions? What is his purpose? Unlike their persecutors, God’s saints know and understand that the Lord God is in absolute control of all things and all men. “Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” If he permits wicked men to violently abuse his people, he has good reasons for doing so. I cannot pry into the mind of the infinite Lord God. I know nothing about God’s secret will. But those things that are revealed are revealed for our learning. And these things he has revealed.

    •All our trials come from God our heavenly Father, even when they come by the hands of wicked men. – “All things are of God.”

    •Our trials are intended by God to strengthen our faith in Christ and make us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. – “Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope” (Rom. 5:1-5).

    •By our trials our heavenly Father teaches us sympathy with and compassion for one another.

    •By temptations, trials and persecutions, we are taught to lean on our Savior, finding grace all-sufficient in him.

    •Trials are designed of God to wean us from the world, set our hearts on heaven, and make Christ more precious.

    •These trials, especially those offenses that come because of the gospel, separate the precious from the vile (Matt. 13:21; Lk. 8:13; 1 Pet. 1:7).

    That faith which is "the gift of God" endures to the end. Only that faith which comes from God endures the testing of God. In the furnace gold and silver are made brighter. Dross is consumed. So it is in the furnace of affliction. True faith is made better. False faith is consumed.

    Daniel 3

    We are given a strikingly solemn example of this in Daniel 3:13-30. —The fires in that furnace in Babylon did not hurt Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Those three men did not even have the smell of smoke on them when they came out of the furnace. The fires by which they were proved only destroyed their bonds! But they consumed the Babylonians who threw them into the furnace! Then, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the burning and fiery furnace, the king promoted them. And far more importantly, God was honored as the result of their trial in the fiery furnace (Dan. 3:13-29).

    More Precious Than Gold

    True faith is more precious than gold; and our faith itself is only made better by the fire that tries it. But the Holy Spirit would have us understand that the "the trial of faith" (the trial itself) is more precious than perishing gold (1 Pet. 1:7). The trial of faith is precious to us because it makes God’s promise sweet. Our trials are precious to our brethren because one believer’s endurance of hardship strengthens another in faith. Our trials are precious to our God because he is honored by that faith that endures the trial. And the trial of our faith will be found "precious" when the Lord Jesus comes again in his glory (2 Thess. 1:10). Our bitterest trials here will only serve, in the end, to make our heavenly inheritance sweeter and more glorious. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).