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. PERSECUTION. "If you are being reproached for the name of Christ, you are happy, because the Spirit of glory, even the Spirit of God is resting upon you." (1 Peter 4:14).
"Happy are those who have been
persecuted (1)
for righteousness' sake,
since the Kingdom of the heavens belongs to them. Happy are you when
people reproach you and persecute you and lyingly say
every sort of wicked thing against you for my sake. Rejoice and
leap for joy, since your reward is great in the
heavens; for in that way they persecuted the prophets prior to you." (Matt 5:10 "How blest you are when men hate you, when they outlaw you and insult you, and ban your very name as infamous, because of the Son of Man. On that day be glad and dance for joy; for assuredly you have a rich reward in heaven; in just the same way did their fathers treat the prophets." (Luke 6:22,23 NEB). "As a result we ourselves take pride in you among the congregations of God because of your endurance and faith in all your persecutions and the tribulations (2) that you are bearing. This is a proof of the righteous Judgement of God, leading to your being counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which you are indeed suffering." (2 Thess 1:4,5). 'It is not persecution we should bless, but the opportunity to develop in the spirit while we suffer and overcome it righteously.' (R. Thomas). "Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? Just as it is written: "For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering." To the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God's love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:35-39).
"If the world hates you, it hated me
first, as you know well. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its
own; but because you do not belong to the world,
because I have chosen you out of the world, for that reason the world hates you.
Remember what I said: "A servant is not greater than his master."
As they persecuted me, they will persecute you; they
will follow your teaching as little as they have followed mine. It
is on my account that they will treat you thus, because they do not know the One
who sent me... I have told you all this to guard you against the breakdown of
your faith. They will ban you from the synagogue; indeed, the time is coming
when anyone who kills you will suppose that he is performing a religious duty.
They will do these things because they do not know either the Father or me.
I have told you all this so that when the time comes
for it to happen you may remember my warning."
(John 15:18 "Yes, persecution will come to all who want to live a Godly life as Christians, whereas wicked men and charlatans will make progress from bad to worse, deceiving and deceived." (2 Tim 3:12,13 NEB).
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