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THE GOSPEL & PERSECUTION Acts 21:27-22:29

THE GOSPEL & PERSECUTION Acts 21:27-22:29. 15 April 2012. Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism, and the Threat of Christianisation towards Muslims. What is the role of teachers?. 1. Persecution happens within God’s will and serves His purposes. Acts 9:15-16

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THE GOSPEL & PERSECUTION Acts 21:27-22:29

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  1. THE GOSPEL & PERSECUTIONActs 21:27-22:29 15 April 2012

  2. Strengthening the Faith, the Dangers of Liberalism and Pluralism, and the Threat of Christianisation towards Muslims. What is the role of teachers?

  3. 1. Persecution happens within God’s will and serves His purposes

  4. Acts 9:15-16 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

  5. Acts 20:22-24 22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

  6. Acts 21:12-14 12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

  7. Brother Wang (Chinese pastor) “If there is no persecution, Christians will become “religion-ized.” They will become Christians to have a good moral life and good families-to get the blessings for this life. The Chinese Church will lose its drive to evangelize. Yes, they will want to give money but not go to reach the lost. They will want to stay home and be prosperous.”

  8. Brother Tan (Chinese pastor) “Real Christians here don’t chase titles or degrees. They seek the laying down of their lives and pleasures. They seek to love the people of God; our Chinese pastors are giving their lives away.”

  9. Acts 20:24 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

  10. 2. Persecution is not a rejection of Christians but of Christ

  11. No foreigner may enter within the barrier which surrounds the temple and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will be personally responsible for his ensuing death.

  12. John 16:2-3 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.

  13. Parallels between Jesus & Paul • Determined to go to Jerusalem despite knowing the danger • Rejected by their own people who want them killed • Arrested without cause & imprisoned • Unjustly accused & misrepresented by false witnesses • Subjected to a series of 5 trials • Slapped on the face before the Sanhedrin • Target of secret Jewish plots • Heard frenzied mob screaming for their deaths

  14. John 15:18-20 18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

  15. Luke 9:26 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

  16. Acts 23:11 11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

  17. 3. Persecution should spur us to defend the gospel above ourselves

  18. Acts 22:1-5 1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” 2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.    Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

  19. Acts 22:6-11 6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ 8 “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.    “ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.    “ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

  20. Acts 22:12-16 12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him. 14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

  21. Acts 22:17-21 17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw the Lord speaking. ‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. 20 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ 21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

  22. 4. Persecution will not have the final victory

  23. Luke 12:4-5 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

  24. Acts 28:25-27 • 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet: • 26 “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding;    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused;    they hardly hear with their ears,    and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,    hear with their ears,    understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

  25. 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.

  26. Hebrews 10:32-34 32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

  27. Hebrews 10:35-39 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,    “He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back,    I will not be pleased with him.” 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

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