There Is A Price To Pay

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12

Jesus mentioned three forms of that oppression: persecution, reviling, and being spoken evil against.  

Persecution speaks of physical attacks, reviling speaks of personal insults, and all sorts of evil spoken is falsehood being spread about us. Sometimes, there is very little you can do about this. You just have to learn, as the scripture says, to rejoice in being persecuted for the cause of Christ.

The Cost of Your Calling

“But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”” Acts 9:15-16

Every great calling comes with a great cross. Every Biblical purpose will carry a level of persecution.

The word “witness” in Acts 1:8 is μάρτυς (martus), meaning to testify or witness. It also carries the implication of witnessing unto death, as seen in Acts 22:20, where Stephen is called a “martyr” (the same Greek word). Therefore, when Jesus commissioned us as His witnesses, the text indicates that we will preach the Gospel and we will be willing to testify unto death, like Stephen. We don’t like persecution; we don’t expect persecution but we are ready if it comes because the Lord prepared us for it.

 1. Persecution is the price for walking in power

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” – 2 Timothy 2:3

“Who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.” – Mark 10:30

When I was young, I believed that all I needed to do to get the power of God was to humble myself, pray, fast, and then it would come. What never occurred to me was that the moment God starts using you, not only does the devil hate you but religious people will hurt you. When you walk in the purpose of God, you have to have purity. If you do not have perseverance, the surprise attack of persecution will stop you in your tracks. The devil will not be able to stop you because you lack purity but because you lack perseverance. When you have a calling of God in your life, you need purity but you need a purity that is matched by perseverance or you will be stopped.

If they did it to Jesus, they will do it for you. The cost isn’t just sleepless nights of prayer and intercession; the cost of walking in the power of God is the ability to live with constant attacks and persecution without giving up your passion. You have to learn to love people while they are attacking you.

While prayer can be the price to get the power, persecution is the price to walk in that power. Share on X

2. Not experiencing persecution is an exception, not a promise. 

Persecution is the normal experience of true believers in this age. Not all persecution is the same. Jesus’ promise of persecution is only for His real followers. Suffering comes to everyone – believers or non-believers – but persecution is specifically for Christ’s followers (2 Timothy 3:12).

• Around 365 million Christians are subject to “high levels of persecution and discrimination.” This compared to 340 million in 2021.
• 1 in 7 Christians are persecuted worldwide, including 1 in 5 in Africa and 1 in 7 in Asia. This is compared to 1 in 8 worldwide in 2021.
• 4,998 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons. 90% of those killed were in Nigeria, where attacks on Christians have become more common since 2020 as part of a wider rise in political violence against civilians. 
• Open Doors estimates the number of Christians killed for faith-related reasons worldwide was 5,621 in 2023, 5,898 in 2022, and 4,761 in 2021.
• 14,766 Churches and Christian properties were attacked.
• North Korea, Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, and Yemen had the highest rates of reported persecution against Christians.

Christ In Us

Christians, by their very existence, make unbelievers uncomfortable. 

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.” – John 15:18-21

Persecution is the normal experience of true believers in this age. Not experiencing persecution is an exception, not a promise. Share on X

3. Persecution weeds out compromising Christians

Sometimes, God takes us through the fire to set us on fire. 

“But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” Matthew 13:20-21

Two persecuted churches (Church of Smyrna, Revelation 2:8-11; Church of Philadelphia, Revelation 3:7-13) were commended for their faithfulness, and they received no rebuke from Jesus in the letters to the seven churches. Comfort can do more damage to a Christian than persecution.

Persecution has a purifying effect on your soul. It exposes how weak your foundation is.

“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7

Persecution does not stop genuine Christians; it causes them to spread.

“If the devil were wise enough and would stand by in silence and let the gospel be preached, he would suffer less harm. For when there is no battle for the gospel, it rusts, and it finds no cause and no occasion to show its vigor and power. Therefore, nothing better can befall the gospel than that the world should fight it with force and cunning.” – Martin Luther

4. Suffering for stupid decisions is not persecution 

Being full of ego, arrogance, laziness, and bad habits is not persecution, it is punishment. We have to be very careful that we don’t take scriptures out of context and comfort ourselves in our compromise when we should be repenting.

Christians suffer for righteousness sake (1 Peter 3:14), godly living (2 Timothy 3:12), the kingdom of God (2 Thessalonians 1:5), as Christians (1 Peter 4:16), and for Christ (Philippians 1:29). 

We suffer persecution from religion (Matthew 10:17), government (Matthew 10:18), family (Matthew 10:21-22, 34-36), society (Matthew 10:22), and the devil (1 Peter 5:8-9; Revelation 12:7). 

Responding To Persecution

We are commanded to rejoice, but not to retaliate when we are persecuted. At the same time, we must stand up for our rights while we still have them, (Acts 22:25).

To avoid persecution all you have to do is compromise or be a cowardly Christian. Be bold for Jesus. Live for Jesus. That is the only life worth living. You cannot enjoy the Christian life if you are compromised or a coward.

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” – Revelation 21:7-8

Persecution weeds out compromising Christians.  Share on X