Home Page   Contact Us    Service Times   Sermons   Are You Going To Heaven?

NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!

PERSECUTION AND CHURCH

Introduction

Today is an International Day of Prayer set aside for Churches to pray for Christians all over the world who are being persecuted for their faith.

.

I’ve been listening off and on this week to various stories on the radio and reading other stories of various Christians around the world who are being persecuted for their faith.

Usually, not much thought is given to this subject in the United States, primarily because much of the persecution seems so distant to us. We are fortunate to live where severe persecution is the exception rather than the norm. When I say severe persecution, I’m referring to being locked up or having bodily injury inflicted on us unjustly primarily because of our stand for Christ.

In our text we see a very tense situation in the early Church. Here we see that James has been killed and Peter has been locked up to be killed. These Apostles are being subjected to some severe persecution and the rest of the Church praying for the situation.

I.         A SEEMINGLY HOPELESS SITUATION. (Acts 12:1-5)

            Families often have a lasting and powerful influence on other family members.

            This applies both to godliness and wickedness.

Traits and qualities are, more often than not, passed on to the next generation, and the mistakes and sins of the parents are many times repeated by their children.

Four generations of the Herod family are mentioned in the Bible. Each one of these leaders left their evil mark:

                        Herod the Great murdered Bethlehem’s children while trying to destroy Jesus.

                        Herod Antipas had John the Baptist beheaded and was involved in Jesus’ trial.

Herod Agrippa I, the one in this passage, murdered the apostle James and locked Peter up..

                        Herod Agrippa II was one of Paul’s Judges.

As we said, the Herod mentioned here in verse 1 is Herod Agrippa I.

            He was the grandson of Herod the Great and the nephew of Herod Antipas.

            He was sister to Herodias who had John the Baptist killed by Herod Antipas.

Herod Agrippa I related fairly well to his Jewish subjects. Because he had a Jewish grandmother of royal blood, he was accepted by the people, although it was grudgingly.

As a youth he had been temporarily imprisoned by the Roman Emperor Tiberias, but he was now trusted by Rome and got along well with the Emperors Caligula and Claudius.

Then, when the Christian movement in the early Church came along, Herod saw it as an unexpected opportunity to gain new favor with the Jews. Gentiles began to be accepted into the Church in large numbers. Many Jews had been tolerating this new movement as a sect within Judaism, but its rapid growth alarmed them.

In Acts 4:17-23 we read of where Peter and John were threatened by the Sanhedrin not to speak in the name of Jesus.

In Acts 5:17-19 we read of where the Apostles were locked up and put into a common prison, but were delivered by an angel of the Lord.

According to Acts 5:25-41. After they got out of prison they were found preaching again and were brought before both the council and the high priest. They were again threatened and beaten and then let go.

In Acts 6:8–7:60 we read where Stephen was brought to trial with false witnesses witnessing against him and became the first martyr of the Church as he was stoned.

            In Acts 8, the Bible records that there was a great persecution against the Church.

We know that Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, was heavily involved in the persecution and Church scattered.

            In Acts 9, Saul was converted and the persecution subsided. (Acts 9:31)

            Acts 10 and 11 record where Gentiles began to be added to the Church.

That brings us to Acts 12 where we see the persecution of Christians was revived.

James was the first Apostle to be killed and the Apostle Peter was thrown in prison with plans to execute him. All of this was done at the hands of Herod Agrippa I.

            Read Matthew 20:20-23. James tasted the cup.

Herod was not well liked by the Jewish leadership, so when he saw that they were happy that James was taken care of, he threw Peter in prison.

He had Peter arrested at or just after the Passover (“the days of unleavened bread”). This was a week-long feast that directly followed Passover. This was a strategic move because there were more Jews in Jerusalem than usual, and Herod could impress more people.

16 guards watched Peter. 4 would work a 3-hour shift twice a day. Peter was chained to two in the cell while two stood at the gate.

These were bleak times, a seemingly hopeless situation. James was dead. Peter was in prison. The next day he was to be executed. The church was quietly gathered, praying.

II.       A SURPRISINGLY HOPEFUL SITUATION. (Acts 12:6-19)

            The bloodthirsty crowd was waiting for Peter’s execution. The church was praying.

Peter is sleeping when an angel hits him in the side and tells him to get up and get dressed.

            Peter did what he was told, but he was dazed thinking it was all a dream.

With the angel, Peter slipped unnoticed through the prison gates and yard out into the street. When they got a safe distance from the prison, the angel left Peter standing there. He then realized it wasn’t a dream. And then, He headed for a friendly house.

The next scene is a rather comic scene. Imagine it. Peter knocks on the door in the middle of the night. Rhoda, a servant-girl, recognizes the voice. It’s Peter! She is so excited, she forgets to open the door.

She runs in and tells everybody in the prayer meeting that Peter is at the door. They thought she was crazy at first. But she continued to insist that Peter was at the door. They passed it off as being Peter’s angel because they just can’t believe it would really be him.

All the while, Peter is still knocking at the door. Finally, they go the door, and much excitement ensues. Peter calms the ruckus, and tells the story of how God delivered him. Then he leaves.

            As soon as daylight comes, the guards are trying to figure out what happened to Peter.

When Herod finds out Peter is nowhere to be found, he takes out his displeasure on the guards.

            So we see where persecution was taking place and God worked through answered prayer.

III.     A SADLY UNCEASING SITUATION. (2 Timothy 3:12)

            Persecution is as real today as it ever has been.

            I want to share with you some facts regarding modern persecution.

            Around the world today many Christians are being persecuted for their faith.

It is estimated that more than 70 million Christians have been martyred for their faith since the beginning of the Church.

This year an estimated 160,000 believers will die at the hands of their oppressors and over 200 million will be persecuted, arrested, tortured, beaten or jailed.

In many nations it is illegal to own a Bible, share your faith, change your faith or allow children under 18 to attend a religious service.

There have been more people martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ in the 20^th century and the 5 years of the 21^st century than in all the previous nineteen centuries combined. (James and Marti Hefley, By Their Blood)

More people have died in circumstances related to their faith during this time than in all the wars combined during the same period. (Statistical research of the WEF Religious Liberty Commission.)

Pakistan recently passed a blasphemy law that forbids speaking or acting against the prophet Mohammed. The punishment for violators is death.

A 12-year-old Christian child was recently sentenced to death under this law but was freed from Pakistan only by international pressure. He is now hiding in a Western country with a bounty on his head similar to that which keeps Salman Rushdie on the run. -- Mona Charen, Washington Times

The United Nations reports that the militant Islamic government of central African Sudan has declared a systematic battle against Christians. Since 1982, over 300,000 Sudanese Christians have been killed.

Each year hundreds of Christian believers are sold into slavery and taken where they have to work as slaves or as concubines for their Muslim masters. (Religious Liberty Commission of World Evangelical Fellowship.)

(Relate some stories of persecution happening in our world today from “The Voice Of The Martyrs”.)

IV.      WHAT CAN WE DO? (Hebrews 13:3)

            We are left asking, “What can I do?” Sometimes it seems daunting and distant.

            A.        We Can Pray That God Will Give Them Grace In Suffering So They Might Witness For The Lord.

Look at the effect Jesus had on the thief. No doubt Stephen had an affect on Saul. In Acts 16:25-34, Paul and Silas were in prison, and when they were freed, the jailer and his family came to know the Lord.

            B.        We Can Ask The Spirit To Minister The Word To Them And Them To Remember It.

                        There are no Bibles in these prisons where these Christians are incarcerated.

                         There are no Gideon Bibles for them to read in the prison library.

                        Many of them have never even owned their own Bible.

            C.        We Can Ask God To Protect Them And Give Them Wisdom.

                        We saw how Peter was protected.

                        Paul was protected during his many encounters with persecution.

                        God can keep people safe.

                        God also can grant wisdom to avoid dangerous situations.

                        Notice in our passage that God gave Peter the good sense to get out of town.

There is nothing wrong with avoiding danger.

                        In Acts 16, Paul took a whipping, then said that he is a Roman citizen.

                        In Acts 22, Paul proclaimed his Roman citizenship before he is whipped.

                        Paul had gotten a little wiser.

            D.        We Can Ask God That, If It Is His Will, They Be Delivered From Their Suffering.

Jesus prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39)

                        There is nothing wrong with praying for an end to suffering.

Suffering in and of itself is not a virtue. Jesus said we are blessed when we suffer for him, but that doesn’t mean we have to go looking for it.

Persecution is as real today as it was for the Early Church. People are imprisoned, beaten, ostracized, and killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.

                        We gather openly. We have signs, websites, advertising, and the like.

                        We don’t fear authorities. We don’t have to meet in a different location.

                        These people that suffer these things, however, are our brothers and sisters.

                        We are called to pray. That is the least we can do.

Home Page   Contact Us    Service Times   Sermons   Are You Going To Heaven?

NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!