Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20040314.htm

SAMPLING GOD'S "FEAR NOTS"
Part XI: God's Solutions For Fearing Persecution For Righteousness

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

We can talk about taking Biblical stands in accord with God's leading only to face persecution for it, but it is much more difficult to go ahead and take the stand and face such persecution in our lives!

Some time ago, as I sat in my chair on this stage in the first part of a morning worship service, I was wondering if I should use a sermon illustration I had planned to utilize, an illustration that stated a stand on a sensitive subject! I knew the stand was Biblical -- that was not the problem! I also knew giving the stand fit 2 Timothy 4:1-2 where God told pastors like myself to preach the Word and to do so by reproving and rebuking! However, experience had taught me to be very careful in how I proceeded on very sensitive issues!

In the process, I decided to mention the illustration only if God clearly signaled me to DO so BEFORE I was scheduled to give it!

A few minutes later, I uncharacteristically had to leave the stage during a prayer time to go downstairs and address a personal need that had suddenly arisen. As I walked between the water cooler and dehumidifier, a believer came up and began to tell me of that one's stand that had just been formed in accord with my stand on the same subject I had considered sharing in the sermon upstairs! I was stunned by the coincidence of it all, and told about my struggle upstairs! We had a good though brief time of fellowship over the matter. Thus, I took this meeting as God's signal to go ahead and give the illustration!

When I did share it in the sermon, some hearers not only shared their opposition to me on it, but when they learned this other party had interacted with me on the matter, they criticized this other believer!

Well, that other believer then approached me to ask that I leave that one's name out of the fray -- the party did not like being accosted by the others! [Yet, this one later privately and repeatedly shared how appreciated they were for my having voiced this stand!]

I admit I was at first disillusioned by this believer's response to the pressure; yet, upon further reflection, I knew I could not adequately judge: my own initial hesitancy to VOICE the stand had led God to arrange that downstairs meeting! I thus realized we all need help in overcoming our FEAR of being persecuted for taking righteous stands!

Fear of ungodly persecution -- HOW is it to be handled?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "I am being pressured to yield to a godless party's will on an issue or face psychological, mental, physical or financial wear and depersonalizing mistreatment without an opportunity for justice if I don't yield to him! What is the value, then, of doing what is right?!"
  1. Believers throughout Biblical history have faced a wide variety of persecution pressures for God's sake only to handle them by God's provision to stand out as heroes of the faith.
  2. We view SOME of God's MANY provisions for them to face persecution as lessons for application for our needs as follows:
    1. Ezekiel overcame the psychological wear of foes to his work for God by trusting God's spiritual provision of psychological strength as he chose not to fear his persecutors in doing God's will, Ezekiel 3:4, 7-9:
      1. God sent Ezekiel to give God's truth to sinful Israel, Ezekiel 3:4.
      2. However, the Lord informed Ezekiel sinful Israel would reject his words due to their spiritual hardness against God, Ezekiel 3:7.
      3. Yet, God told Ezekiel to "fear not" his hardened audience's efforts psychologically to wear him down; God would bolster Ezekiel's resolve to wear down his hearers as a whetstone wears down a knife blade in sharpening it, Ez. 3:8-9; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, ftn.
    2. The Christians under Roman emperor persecution overcame massive physical, mental and financial pain of their torments by not fearing their foes or their deeds, but by entrusting themselves to Christ's enabling to do His will in standing for Him in the process:
      1. When Christ addressed the "Church at Smyrna" in Revelation 2, we learned [in a previous sermon series] that He prophetically spoke to Christians who would suffer ten eras of persecution under various Roman emperors in A. D. 64-313, cf. our sermon, "Christ's Commentary On Church History: Smyrna - Discerning and Handling Satanic Assaults Through People, Revelation 2:8-11."
      2. At this time, Christians were fed to the lions in Rome's coliseum, and between 1.75 and 4 million graves of believers were made in underground in caves around Rome, Z.P.E.B., vol. One, p. 761.
      3. Jesus urged believers of this era to "fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer" (KJV), and He would miraculously shield them in their persecution experiences from feeling the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual pain people in HELL will face in eternal torment, cf. Revelation 2:11 with Revelation 20:14.
      4. [Testimonies abound of believers who were thus persecuted and who spoke of such divine nurture, (Fox's Book of Martyrs, et al.)]
    3. Christ encouraged believers not to fear their failing to gain justice for what legal wrongs persecutors did to them for their stands; God would eventually deal out rewards and discipline to all involved:
      1. Jesus revealed to His disciples that since His opponents called Him the mocking name, Beelzebub ("lord of flies"), His followers would be even more badly slandered by persecutors, Matt. 10:25.
      2. However, Christ's followers were to "fear them not," for God would be sure to uncover all such injustices either in this life or at the final judgment, and deal out just retributions, Matthew 10:26.
      3. Believers would also be appropriately and eventually rewarded by the Lord for bearing such persecution, cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9.
    4. Christ told believers not to fear dehumanizing mistreatment for taking righteous stands; God greatly valued them and would supply encouragement in persecution to reveal their stand was worthwhile:
      1. Some degrees of persecution are so vile that the victim can be tempted to feel less than human while experiencing persecution.
      2. In light of this challenge, Jesus told His disciples God respects and even notes the hairs of their heads that they lose in persecution for mental or physical distress that is caused by persecution, for their suffering for righteousness is worth a lot to God, Luke 12:4-5, 6-7.
      3. They were to recall God valued them as equal to the great Old Testament prophets who were also likewise mistreated, Matthew 5:11-12; they would thus also be similarly rewarded in heaven for their invaluable work of suffering for standing for God's cause!
Application: (1) If we have not done so, we must trust in Christ as Savior from sin to come under God's "Much More Care," cf. John 1:11-13 and Romans 8:31-32. (2) Then, if THREATENED with possible persecution for taking a GODLY stand, (a) claim God's promise of help for what concerns us about the threat, be it psychological wear, physical, financial or mental pain or loss, a lack of justice or dehumanizing efforts. (b) With faith in God's help, OBEY God in STANDING for Him, for doing so will put you in GOD'S view at the level of His Biblical prophets of old!

Lesson: In every way, if a believer is persecuted for taking a godly stand, he need NOT be AFRAID: by FAITH he can expect God to help him to HANDLE it, be it perseverance over psychological wear, perseverance in various areas of pain (physical, financial, mental) or vengeance for wrongs suffered or dealing with dehumanizing deeds done by one's foes!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 I began this message by reporting how God had years ago arranged for me to have an unusual rendezvous with a believer downstairs between our water cooler and dehumidifier! This meeting encouraged me to go ahead and make a stand public in the sermon that followed, a stand on a sensitive matter about which I was wrestling.

As though it was in line with that illustration, exactly when I started to work on this very page on Tuesday morning right after I had typed up this sermon's first draft, another believer called me up to say how deeply he appreciated the ministry of the Word here at Nepaug. He shared of an idea of getting our sermon material arranged into a PDF index format according to application topic so these lessons could be even more effective in discipling the thousands of people worldwide that the web master has learned view our messages on the Internet.

In view of the TIMING of his call, especially in accord with the same focus -- that of God's TIMING years ago to get me downstairs during that morning service to meet that believer as noted this sermon's opening illustration -- I found his words to be priceless: the God Who had led me to meet that believer years ago downstairs to encourage me to make that stand is the same Lord Who was now leading me to be encouraged He would bless us NOW in part due to our having obeyed Him in taking such stands in years past!

Realizing that fact left me greatly encouraged in light of that former stand of years back and of its resulting persecution! In this context, Peter calls it "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:6-8)! To take a stand God had so clearly led me to take, even if there was some "fallout" from it, only to see Him time another, encouraging event using another unsuspecting believer in accord with typing up the illustration of that former event brought me "joy unspeakable and full of glory"! As they say, "It just doesn't get any better than that!"



May we NOT be AFRAID to take the STAND we need to take to obey the Lord just because we might face persecution "fallout" for it. GOD will be WITH us IN the stand and make our EFFORT in TAKING the stand ETERNALLY WORTH so much MORE than we can now IMAGINE! We will taste God's "joy unspeakable and full of glory" that Peter mentioned -- trust me!