Persecution

1) Christ suffered persecution:
Ps 69:26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
Joh 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

2) Christ voluntarily submitted to persecution:
Isa 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

3) Christ was patient under persecution:
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

4) Saints may expect persecution:
Mr 10:30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
Lu 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

5) Saints suffer persecution for the sake of God:
Jer 15:15 ś O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

6) Persecution of saints, is a persecution of Christ:
Zec 2:8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
Ac 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Ac 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

7) All that live godly in Christ, shall suffer persecution:
2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

8) Persecution originates in your persecutors from:
8a) Ignorance of God and Christ:
Joh 16:3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
8b) Hated to God and Christ:
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Joh 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
8c) Hatred to the gospel:
Mt 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
8d) Pride:
Ps 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
8e) Mistaken zeal:
Ac 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
Ac 26:9 I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Ac 26:10 Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
Ac 26:11 And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

9) Persecution is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel:
Mt 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

10) Men by nature addicted to persecution:
Ga 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

11) Preacher of the gospel subject to persecution:
Ga 5:11 And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

12) Persecution is sometimes to death:
Ac 22:4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

13) God forsakes not his saints under persecution:
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

14) God delivers out of persecution:
Da 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Da 3:28 ś Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
2Co 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
2Ti 3:11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.

15) Persecution cannot separated from Christ:
Ro 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

16) Lawful means may be used to escape persecution:
Mt 2:13 ś And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
Mt 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
Mt 12:14 ś Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
Mt 12:15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

17) Saints suffering persecution should:
17a) Commit themselves to God:
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
17b) Exhibit patience:
1Co 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
17c) Rejoice:
Mt 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
1Pe 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
17d) Glorify God:
1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17e) Pray for deliverance:
Ps 7:1 ś <> O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
Ps 119:86 All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.
17f) Pray for those who inflict persecution:
Mt 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
17g) Return blessing for persecution:
Ro 12:14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

18) The hope of future blessedness supports under persecution:
1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
1Co 15:32 If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.
Heb 10:34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
Heb 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

19) Blessedness of enduring persecution for Christ's sake:
Mt 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Lu 6:22 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.

20) Pray for those suffering persecution:
2Th 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.

21) Hypocrites cannot endure persecution:
Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

22) False teachers shrink from persecution:
Ga 6:12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

23) The wicked:
23a) Addicted to persecution:
Ps 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
Ps 69:26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
23b) Active in persecution:
Ps 143:3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.
La 4:19 Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
23c) Encourage each other in persecution:
Ps 71:11 Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.
23d) Rejoice in its success:
Ps 13:4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
Re 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
23e) Punishment for persecution:
Ps 7:13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
23f) Illustrated:
Mt 21:33 ś Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mt 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mt 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mt 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mt 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mt 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mt 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

24) Spirit of persecution exemplified:
24a) Pharaoh &c:
Ex 1:8 ś Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Ex 1:9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
Ex 1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
Ex 1:11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
Ex 1:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
Ex 1:13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
Ex 1:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
24b) Saul:
1Sa 26:18 And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?
24c) Jezebel:
1Ki 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
24d) Zedekiah &c:
Jer 38:4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
Jer 38:5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.
Jer 38:6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.
24e) Chaldeans:
Da 3:8 ś Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
Da 3:9 They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
Da 3:10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
Da 3:11 And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
Da 3:12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Da 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Da 3:14 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Da 3:15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Da 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Da 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Da 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Da 3:19 ś Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
Da 3:20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Da 3:21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Da 3:22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Da 3:23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Da 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
Da 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Da 3:26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
Da 3:27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
Da 3:28 ś Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
Da 3:29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
Da 3:30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
24f) Pharisees:
Mt 12:14 ś Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
24g) Jews:
Joh 5:16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
1Th 2:15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
24h) Herod:
Ac 12:1 ś Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
24i) Gentiles:
Ac 14:5 And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
24j) Paul:
Php 3:6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
1Ti 1:13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

25) The suffering of persecution exemplified:
25a) Micaiah:
1Ki 22:27 And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
25b) David:
Ps 119:161 ś SCHIN. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
25c) Jeremiah:
Jer 32:2 For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
25d) Daniel:
Da 6:5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.
Da 6:6 ś Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
Da 6:7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.
Da 6:8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
Da 6:9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
Da 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Da 6:11 ś Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
Da 6:12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
Da 6:13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
Da 6:14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.
Da 6:15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.
Da 6:16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.
Da 6:17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
25e) Peter &c:
Ac 4:3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
25f) Apostles:
Ac 5:18 And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
25g) The Prophets:
Ac 7:52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:
25h) The Church:
Ac 8:1 ś And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
25i) Paul and Barnabas:
Ac 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.
25j) Paul and Silas:
Ac 16:23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
25k) Hebrews:
Heb 10:33 Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used.
25l) Saints of old:
Heb 11:36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

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