IF THEY PERSECUTED JESUS THEY WILL US
Jeremiah 37:13b You are deserting to the Babylonians!
God’s punishment was knocking on the gates of Jerusalem. God’s warnings and patience had become exhausted, and now all that was left was punishment. In desperation King Zedekiah sent for help from Egypt, but that was not enough to prevent God from using the Babylonians to punish Jerusalem and all Judah. When Jeremiah tried to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the his property, he was stopped and accused of being a traitor and deserting to the Babylonians. For over twenty years Jeremiah had been calling the Hebrews to repent of their idol worship and return to the Lord but they refused. Now lately he had been telling the people of Jerusalem that whoever stays in this city would die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. And that Jerusalem will certainly be captured by Nebuchadnezzar. Now as it was all about to happen they blamed Jeremiah. They accused Jeremiah of deserting them, when in reality they had deserted the Lord!
When we become a Christian, born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, the friends that we had will see us as traitors and deserters. Even though we are right and they are wrong and we are not hurting them, they will begin to attack us. It will begin easy at first in hopes that we will stop being a Christian or at the very least not talk about Jesus or their need to become a Christian too. But the more dedicated, passionate and loyal to Jesus the more they will up their attack on us and our love for Jesus. They will begin to give us a cold shoulder so to speak, and mock us behind our back. It will steadily increase with harassment and ultimately openly not wanting to have anything to do with us.
The more we are around them, try to be nice to them and even love them, the more their guilt will rise up in anger against us. The more like Jesus we become, the more like their father the devil they will become towards us. As compelled as we will become in our love and commitment to Jesus, the more compelled they will become in attacking us.
Someone said that if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Well, in many ways they are right as it relates to being a Christians. If you are a Christian you need to expect you will be persecuted, by Satan, the powers of darkness, the evil of this world, people you work with, friends and even family. If you are not persecuted chances are you are not really born again. The world doesn’t care if you are just religious and are pacifying your guilt by being part of a club. I have personally pastored churches that not only had several people playing church, but I even had churches that asked me to leave because they couldn’t stand being around someone that was so passionate and in love with Jesus. This may sound hard to believe. But as the parable Jesus tells about the wheat and the tares or weeds in Matthew 13:36-43, we will see bad seed growing right along beside the good in the church. Wheat and tare look very similar when they start growing. This is why the weeds or tare are not pulled up right away. New Christians need to mature in their Christ-likeness and in their understanding of correct doctrine. Until they do often religious people may seems almost admirable. But what a difference harvest time shows. For the Lord Lover as Arlie Neaville calls us, we become a bright light shining in the dark sky. Infact Philippians 2:15 even puts it that very way. When a person is transformed into the likeness of Jesus they are a whole new creation. For those that play church and are just religious they may be conformed to look good, but they are still the same old carnal person in their heart. This is why the world isn’t concerned about them. The world just laughs at them and calls them hypocrites knowing they really aren’t any different than the worldly. These religious people don’t bring conviction to anyone! It is only the passionate, loyal, committed, born again Christian that is daily being transformed in Christ-likeness that really gets under their skin to thump them on their heart!
Being persecuted is never any fun. After I became a Christian I had many people, mock me, laugh at me, even get up and walk out of the room when I walked in. I even had not only people in the churches I pastored reject me, but pastors and even some bishops in my own denomination! There were many pastors that didn’t even want to be associated with me to the point the tried to reject my ordination. I am not saying this to condemn anyone or exalt myself, but rather help you understand that the more like Jesus we become the more the world will want to put us on the cross too! The Apostle Paul even went so far as to see his persecution as a honor that he experienced for Jesus. If you are experiencing persecution for being Christ-like don’t become depressed or want to give up on being a Christian loving Jesus. You are doing what is right, and the evil directed towards you only testifies to it. If you are not being Christ-like that is a different story. With your persecution try not to strike out in anger, resentment or self-righteousness pride. Remember that what they do and they way they are would also be you except by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. When you respond in love you heap coals of fire on their head (Rom 12:20) bring conviction for them to change and go on to become a Christian.
We should not try to bring persecution on ourselves, because that can only end in bad ways, not be a good witness for Jesus. In fact Jesus even tells us when we are rejected or persecuted we should flee. (Matt 10;23) Sometimes the best thing we can do for those that persecute us is to give them some space. This may be as simple as to not talk to them about Jesus, the church and etc. When we don’t put fuel on the fire ourselves, even their own condemnation of us will make themselves feel guilty enough to repent and come to Jesus. They may not ask us to help them because of how guilty we make them feel, but they might go to another Christian for help in becoming a Christian. If you are a Christian, a Lord Lord lover, or a Upper Roomer, you will be persecuted! Carry it in humility knowing that it wasn't easy for Jesus either!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please help us to carry our cross of dying to self in humility and thankfulness for what you did for us. Please help us not to become angry or bitter, but daily become more like you!
