Lesson 8

BE READY FOR PERSECUTION

Joh 15:20 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.

To be ready for ministry without persecution is like running in the rain without wanting to get wet by the rain drops, it’s impossible. Christ was persecuted and told us to be ready for it.

PERSECUTION FROM HOME: ‘He came unto his own, and his own received him not’. John 1:11. Christ was persecuted by His own people; ministers (priest, scribes and Pharisees) in the temple of His day, men that should have understood Him better because they claim to have known God’s word. As ministers, we should be ready to be persecuted by other ministers, both fake ministers and real ones who never understood what God has called us into. He was also persecuted by those who knew Him from home; his kindred and siblings (Mr 6:3, Joh 7:5)

A servant is not greater than His master, if Christ was persecuted from home, we shouldn’t expect less; other ministers would persecute us and even our own relatives.

PERSECUTION FROM THE WORLD: ‘Joh 15:18-19 ¶ 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. ’

The devil who is in control of the world (system of things) instigated the people to hate Christ; Judas was possessed by the devil to betray Christ ( John 13:27), the man Christ healed at the pool of Bethsaida instead of thanking Christ, went and reported him as the reason he didn’t abided by the Sabbath law (John 5:15)  and the multitude Christ healed, delivered and feed chose Barabbas to be released for them (Luke 23:18) and Christ be crucified (the world only loves her own).

Don’t expect to be paid back goodness for the good God has called you to do, don’t expect loyalty from those who surrounds you, and don’t expect love from the world you are interceding and sharing the light of the gospel to. If Christ didn’t enjoy love from the world, we should expect same.

CHRIST WAS CALLED NAMES AND MOCKED: ‘But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils’. Mat. 12:24 (See Mt 20:19) . Christ was falsely accused of being possessed by evil spirit and was mocked by every way, don’t expect less. You’ll be called names; prostitute, cheat, fake-minister, one-sided preacher, deceiver etc. don’t be discouraged when you are falsely accused and mocked because surely you’ll be accused falsely and greatly mocked. If Christ didn’t escape it, you too won’t.

Before we shall partake in glory with Christ, we must first bear our cross daily and follow God’s calling for our lives.

Mt 16:24 ¶ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Christ fulfilled His ministry through the cross, yes, we all need persecution to achieve ours; infact, persecutions are the pathway to fulfilling God’s mandate for our lives. When persecution comes, like Paul you can declare, ‘Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom. 8:37’. Just like Christ conquered the devil through the cross, we too conquer or would accomplish our ministry by overcoming persecutions the devil throws to us as we go about God’s business. Any minister who flees from persecution can’t fulfill his ministry whether be he an usher, intercessor, elder, or any other area of ministry.

Despite these persecutions, Christ said ‘…if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also’, many would believe in you and accept the work of God through you if you don’t give up.

ACTIVITY: (Read Romans 8: 35-39)