The Persecution of the Saints
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Was there a time in your life when you got advice or a warning that helped you amidst a major setback? Tell us what happened.
โข Have you ever been part of a supportive group or community that helped you persevere through difficulty or opposition? How did they encourage you?
โข Did you ever feel like giving up on something important? What made you decide to push through or persevere instead?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐บ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด. . . . ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ญ
(Study ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ณโ๐ด.)
Christianity is a faith thatโs counter-cultural, a faith that often subverts expectations. You might think that when Jesus died, the momentum would stop along with his death. But His resurrection has strengthened the believers even further. In the same way, when we expect persecutions to slow down the advancement of Godโs kingdom, the opposite has happened. After the humble beginnings in Judea, the gospel of Jesus spread into Samaria, the neighboring cities, and to the ends of the world. This week, we will look at the part persecution played in advancing Godโs kingdom.ย
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น, ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ.ย
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ข, ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด.ย ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ด:๐ญ
When we stand for the gospelโsomething true, strong, and counter-culturalโwe can expect opposition to arise. The gospel challenges prevailing mindsets and sinful tendencies with grace and truth. We can expect questions, spiritual opposition, and push-back from people around us. This does not mean we should stop; this is an invitation for people to know God more, and for us to know the people around us deeply so we can consistently and effectively lead them to Jesus. Has persecution ever discouraged you from stepping out in faith?
๐ฎ. ๐ข๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.ย
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ด:๐ฐ
Because the gospel is not hinged on human effort, the momentum and impact of the gospelโs power is not stopped due to human activity or even human opposition. God is still able to spread the gospel, transform lives, and shape His people. Therefore, we should not be discouraged by persecution. It could even serve as an encouragement for us. Nothing and no one can separate us from Godโs love; nothing and no one can stop His love from reaching out to His people. Knowing that the gospel cannot be stopped, how can you boldly continue to preach the gospel to others?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ป ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐, ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น.ย
๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐บ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด. . . . ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ. ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ต, ๐ฎ๐ญ
Though opposition seeks to hinder or silence the gospel, God often uses it to advance His work in drawing people to Himself. Even when the opposing forces seem strong, we have a front-row seat to seeing God bring about miraculous character-building in the lives of the ones preaching the gospel and even breakthrough to the ones receiving the gospel message. The Holy Spirit can break through barriers and save people, which can result in a ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ believing and turning to the Lord. What aspects of preaching the gospel are beyond our control? How can you rely on the Holy Spirit more?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Do you give up in sharing your faith or preaching the gospel at the first sign of opposition? How may your boldness and perseverance grow in light of what weโve learned today?
โข Preaching the gospel is done better together with a community. How can you develop a greater sense of community and unity in the midst of challenges and persecution?
โข How might God be using challenges or disruptions in your life to open new opportunities to share the gospel?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for sending the Holy Spirit who strengthens you as you bear witness for Christ. Pray that you will be courageous and bold in testifying about Jesus knowing that the Holy Spirit is with you.
โข Ask God for the grace to persevere in the midst of trials and persecution. Pray that you will experience the reality and power of God as you continue to follow Jesus even when itโs difficult.
โข Pray and ask God for open doors to demonstrate His love to the people around you, even those who might be mocking you or persecuting you for your faith.