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Continuing our discussion from part three, as you can see, the real Gospel of Jesus Christ results in offense, and in division. The fiery truth of God's Word exposes the sins of the rebellious, and it also separates the believers from the nonbelievers, oft times even within the same families. It divides the sheep from the wolves. Similar to myself, some of you who are reading this series can no doubt attest to this truth, because you have likewise experienced these things in your own lives as well. Exactly as Jesus stated in the previous set of verses, the First Century Apostles did in fact suffer a lot of persecution at the hands of their oppressors, due to their boldness in preaching the Gospel. Following are some additional verses which clearly reveal how this indeed came to pass:

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."


"And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls."


"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 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. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me."


"‭‭They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.‭"


"Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison."


"When they [the Jews] heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him [Stephen] with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 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. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison."


"Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people."


"And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers, And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks."


"For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:"


"I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 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. 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."


"For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day."


"But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;"


"Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness."


"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:"


"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."


"‭‭And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and ‭of‭ Barak, and ‭of‭ Samson, and ‭of‭ Jephthae; ‭of‭ David also, and Samuel, and ‭of‭ the prophets:‭ Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,‭ Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.‭ Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:‭ 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;‭ (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and ‭in‭ mountains, and ‭in‭ dens and caves of the earth.‭ And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:‭ God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.‭"


"I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth."


"And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."


"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."


"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years."


Allow me to conclude this series by saying that if we modern Christians in the West do in fact become the subjects of even more serious persecution due to our willingness to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the face of growing adversity, at least we have the comfort of knowing that we are by no means alone. As we have now seen, our spiritual forefathers and ancestors down through the ages have suffered the very same thing for their faith. Thus, we are in very good company. Let me leave you with a few closing verses:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."


"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 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 . . . Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."


"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:"


"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Abundant Life Doctrine: Scripturally Exposed!
Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?
Are You a Burning Ember for the Lord?
Christian Witnessing: Winning the Sheep and Waging the Warfare!
Civil Disobedience and Christian Persecution
Exposing the Tactics of the Enemy
God's Golden Teeth, or Satan's Delusion?
Have You Been Slain in the Spirit?
He Who Fights and Runs Away: Choose Your Battles Wisely
Humility in Our Understanding of God's Word
Lying Wonders of the Endtime
Money-Making Bible Hucksters and Mammon
MP3s, Commercialized Christianity and Christian Hypocrisy
Parable of the Sower: Salvation and Service
Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth
The Battle is Not Yours Alone!
The Faith of a Little Child
The Gospel of Thomas: Introspection or Heaven-Spection?
The Lord Will Lift You Up
The Only Credentials You Need
The Wisdom of God vs the Philosophy of Men

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