Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you,
and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
New King James Version
How does Jesus Christ expect us to face persecution?
What attitudes should we have when it comes and as it continues?
Let's take a look at a few more scriptures that touch on this subject for the answer.
Primarily, we need faith ( trust in God ),
and patience.
Understanding that God is working on transforming our character into a reflection of His own, and that takes time.
James writes ( chapter 1 verses 2-4 ),
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
But let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing.
And Peter wrote ( 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 19 and 20 )
For this is commendable,
if because of conscience toward God one endures grief,
suffering wrongfully.
For what credit is it if,
when you are beaten for your faults,
you take it patiently?
But when you do good and suffer for it,
if you take it patiently,
this is commendable before God.
Peter uses the Greek word hupomone, which implies "endurance," "perseverance," or "unswerving constancy."
We are to wait on God for deliverance,
bearing up courageously through our suffering and not giving in.
As David writes in Psalm 40:1-2:
"I waited patiently for the LORD;
and He inclined to me,
and heard my cry.
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my steps."
No matter how difficult the situation,
He will save us from our persecutors;
We just have to trust Him to effect that deliverance when it is best.
I would call this patiently trusting in the Love of God.
In the middle of trouble, perhaps the last thing on a person's mind is to be positive.
Most people just want to cry, to feel self-pity, to complain, to become depressed, and to feel abandoned.
However, Peter advises in I Peter 4:16,
"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed,
but let him glorify God in this matter."
This means that, as we suffer,
we should give Him praise and thanksgiving.
Paul and Silas, unjustly thrown into prison in Philippi,
did not let their situation get them down.
Acts 16:25 informs us that
"at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns"!
We are told that the other apostles, on trial before the Sanhedrin, were
"rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" ( reference Acts 5:41).
We also glorify Him in how we endure the suffering—
not just in the words we speak
but also in our behavior.
Paul saw persecution as a means to give glory to God.
He writes in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verses 17-18
But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me,
so that the message might be preached fully through me,
and that all the Gentiles might hear.
And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work
and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.
To Him be glory forever and ever.
Amen!
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
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