Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven…  Matthew 5:11-13

Suppose you awaken in the morning and as you step outside of your home, you discover that in the night someone has painted a “C” on the front door of your home.  Your heart momentarily stops beating.  Other Christians in the small church you attend have had the same experience, and your blood runs cold.  You also notice a piece of paper wadded under the door.  You pick it up and notice a terse message that says, “You have 48 hours to evacuate your home and leave the village where you live.  Failure to do so will result in your deaths.”

“That couldn’t happen to me!” you say.  We’ve lived here for years.  Don’t be so sure!  In the past couple of decades our world has radically changed and literally millions of Christians the world over have become victims of radical persecution, which disrupted the peace and tranquility of living in a pluralistic society where there were Christians and Muslims with a smattering of other religious groups living in relative harmony.

While the scenario I’ve painted may never take place in the neighborhood where you are, and I hope it will not, the fact of the matter is that vast numbers of Christians in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and elsewhere have experience what I described.  While it was not a “C” that was painted on their doors, it was the Arabic equivalent, and the message was very clear.  They have three choices—flee, pay a tax, or convert to Islam.  No, there’s a fourth choice—that of being a martyr for the cause of Jesus Christ.

The reality is that persecution has radically intensified in recent years; however, this is neither something new nor something that should take us by surprise.  “Persecution of Christians,” says the website Wikipedia, “can be traced historically from the time of Jesus in the first century to the present time.  Early Christians were persecuted for their faith at the hands of both Jews whose religion Christianity arose and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land across which early Christianity was distributed.”

While persecution is never welcomed, it should not be a great surprise when it knocks on your door.  In the Upper Room with the cross on the horizon, Jesus told the disciples that the time would come when they would be scattered abroad, and then He said, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world!”  The word Jesus used was the Greek word “thilipis” that means difficulty, persecution, or affliction.

Some 20 years later Peter, who was eventually crucified upside down for the cause of Christ, wrote to believers and said, “Dear friend, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1Peter 4:12-13).

Question: Right now, where you live, where you work, where you go to church, have you experienced a pushback by some because you are a believer in Jesus Christ?  Perhaps it is the sarcasm that you get because you wear a gold cross necklace, or an ixthus bumper sticker on your car, or you are brazen enough to actually bow your head saying “Thank you, Lord, for my food!” before your eat your lunch.  Vast numbers of you would say, “Yes!  I feel intimidated because of my faith!”  If so, what you will hear on Guidelines this week is just for you!

Resource reading: 1Peter 4:12-19.