Anchor My Faith

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Author: Stephen Weller
702 words, 4 minutes read time

Coming Persecution

Scripture: John 16:1-4

In the previous lesson we consider the role of the Helper in our lives. With this lesson we begin our study in John 16, which begins with a warning of coming persecution.

Jn 16:¹ I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

Jesus has been telling the disciples about what is going to happen to him and the coming persecution they will experience, so that they will not be taken by surprise and fall away from believing in him. They currently don’t understand the details of what is going to happen or the purpose of the crucifixion or his resurrection, but as things unfold and then one day at Pentecost when the Spirit comes to dwell within them, they will be filled with power and understanding.

When Jesus is arrested the disciples will all flee out of fear but after they again see him after his resurrection they will be back as his followers, especially after Pentecost. However, it won’t be long before the Jewish leadership will rise up against them and other followers of Jesus and put them out of the synagogues. Some, like Paul, will even imprison and kill these followers and think they are offering a service to God. This deception is inspired by Satan, who is a murderer and the father of lies (John 8:44).

There are religions today that teach their followers that they are doing good when in fact they are involved in the horribly evil act of killing those who are following the Christian faith. An example of this is found in Acts 8:1 – 3 ESV: ¹ “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. ³ But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”

There are religions and governments in the world today that believe that Christianity is evil and is a movement that is to be destroyed. Jesus informs us that this persecution is because they do not know the Father or him. This was the case with Paul: ¹³ “For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:13 – 14 ESV). These who persecute the church are acting ignorantly in unbelief (1 Timothy 1:13).

At the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, little was said about coming persecution because he was with them to protect them, but now that he is about to leave them he is informing them about this coming hour when there will be those who will rise up against them thinking they are doing the will of God. He is telling them now to prepare them to endure and not fall away.

Conclusion

There are many in the world today that are being persecuted, even killed, because others think they are doing God’s will. I came within a couple of days of being arrested while teaching in an underground seminary in Asia. I grieved for days over how the lives of my students changed that day. The time I spent in Asia between 2004 and 2012 provided me with valuable insight on persecution and gave me a better understanding of the context of verses that relate to persecution.