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There are people who are hated in this world for no other reason than that they belong to Christ. And that somehow doesn't seem very fair. And we may get our feelings hurt, but the Church needs men and women who understand the cost of discipleship and are willing to bear that cost, patiently trusting God and not allowing persecution or slights or slanders from outside the Church to make us bitter or hostile towards the people who are bringing that persecution. Because among them, we all once were.
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The cost of discipleship is high. Many before us and many in our day have paid the ultimate price for the cause of Christ and the advancement of his kingdom. Welcome to Renewing youg Mind on this Monday. Over the next two days, RC Sproul will consider the persecuted church as he explains why the early church grew so strong and what we can expect by remaining faithful to Christ. Let's join RC now.
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One of the oldest maxims that we have in Christian history is the axiom that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Of course, that phrase calls our attention Back to the 1st century Christian community where so many of the members of the early church bore witness to their faith, even to the point of death. In fact, the New Testament word for witness is the word martyria. That is, martyria means witnessing or to bear witness. And from that Greek word that means to witness, we have derived the English word martyr. Now, obviously, in the New Testament community, not all of those who bore witness to the truth claims of Christ were martyred, but all martyrs bear witness to their faith. Now what I want to do today is look briefly at some of the things that took place in the early church and see how they relate to the persecution that has been the cradle of historic Christianity. In the eighth chapter of the Book of Acts, we have the first introduction of the Apostle Paul under the name saul. In chapter 8, verse 1 of Acts, we read, now Saul was. Was consenting to his death. Now that consent was to the death of Stephen, who was stoned to death in a kangaroo court in a spontaneous outburst of rage by the officials against him for his preaching. And he became, of course, the first of the Christian martyrs. And so chapter eight begins with Saul consenting to his death. And then we read, at that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, dragging off men and women committing them to prison. Now we notice something strange in verse four. Therefore, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. That introduces then the narrative account of Philip's preaching to the Samaritans. But we notice this simple statement that those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word. Now, who were those who were scattered? The Scripture answers that question. Earlier in the text it says, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles, that is, the people who were part of the Church in Jerusalem when this great persecution arose. This caused the early Church to scatter. And as a result of this scattering, those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Gospel. They didn't just flee for their lives to go into hiding, but they did flee for their lives, but they didn't flee from their faith, and they continued the proclamation of the Gospel. And we see that the expansion of the Church outside of Jerusalem was not immediately the direct result of the preaching of the apostles, but it was the rank and file, it was the laity of the Church who were the evangelists who carried the Gospel beyond the confines of first century Jerusalem. And the historical occasion for this spreading of the Gospel was persecution. It seems that in every age when the Church experiences persecution, she grows. She not only grows spiritually, but she tends to grow numerically. These were the people in the first century who were so severely persecuted, who at the same time were called the people who turned the world upside down. Now, in theology, we make a distinction with respect to the Church between the Church Militant and the Church Triumphant. The Church Triumphant refers to the Church in Heaven, the Church in glory. But before the Church can ever be the Church Triumphant, she must first be the Church Militant. Now, the term militant is somewhat misleading here, because in contemporary jargon, militancy suggests people who are of a belligerent, bellicose nature, who are severe and harsh and intolerant and so on. But really, the original concept of the Church militant means the Church engaged in struggle. And in every generation, as I said, the Church has had to struggle for its own survival and for its own strength. Now we look back in the Gospel of John and we read Jesus teaching about the potential for struggle, for persecution that attends the preaching of the Gospel In John 15, beginning at verse 18, Jesus says, 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 persecute me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my word, they will keep yours also. Let me just stop there for a second here. Jesus links persecution with hatred and the hatred of the church with a hatred of Him. Now this is an interesting connection that Jesus has. Jesus is saying in terms of analyzing the generation to which he came in his incarnation, as depicting them as as haters of Christ. Now, Paul says that basic to human sin is that we are by nature haters of God, that we are at enmity with God in our fallen humanity. Now, this is a tough pill for many people to swallow. I talk to many people who say, well, I'm not particularly religious, but I don't have anything against God. I'm not opposed to other people's having their religious beliefs and so on. I believe in tolerance and all the like. And yet the New Testament says that by nature we are so estranged and at enmity with God himself that the Bible describes that enmity in terms of hatred. That our natural disposition is not indifference towards God. And by no means is it a positive affection, but it is actually a hatred we find God odious to us. Now, Jesus here says that if the world has hated me, they will hate
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you,
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and if the world has persecuted me, they will persecute you. It's in this vein that the Scripture warns us. Beware those of whom everybody speaks well, because the person who gets along with everybody must in some way be concealing or compromising his commitment to the mission of Christ. Because if we are identified with Christ and are faithful to Christ, then Christ's words of prediction will necessarily, at some point or another, come to pass in our lives that we will be hated for his name's sake. Now this link between persecution and a hatred for Christ can be seen later on in the Book of Acts, in another narrative that links what we've read here in chapter eight with respect to this initial persecution that rises up here in Jerusalem right after the martyrdom of Stephen. And we remember that it's noted in passing that Saul was a bystander and that Saul consented to the death of Stephen. We are told that he was causing havoc throughout the church by arresting people, dragging them from their homes and sending them into prison. And then in Saul's zeal to continue his. His attack upon the early Church, he received the official papers and authorization to extend his persecution to Damascus. And so he set out on his journey to Damascus. And we are told in the Book of Acts, of the extraordinary event that took place while Paul was on the road to Damascus. We're there. He is blinded by the appearance of Christ, who speaks to him in the Hebrew tongue, saying to him, saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And do you see how Jesus speaks to him? Because Jesus had already died, had been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. And so Saul is not persecuting Jesus, he's persecuting Christians. But when Jesus appears to Saul, he says to him, why are you persecuting me? Because from Christ's perspective, anyone who persecutes his church, anyone who persecutes his people, is viewed by Christ as persecuting him because of the inseparable union between Christ and his church. Now, this was the occasion of Saul's conversion. Saul, who becomes Paul, who becomes the chief apostle to the Gentiles, who had been the church's most militant persecutor. But again, we ask, why persecution, not just in the first century in the early church, with the uprising against the pristine community in Jerusalem, but later on the massive persecutions that were carried on by the Romans against the Christian community. The persecutions under Nero, for example, in which both Paul and Peter were slain. Later on, the persecutions under Diocletian and others. We were in Rome last summer, and one of the things that we did was visit the catacombs to see where the Christians met in order to escape the. The watchful eyes of the hostile authorities of Rome. But not just in Rome, not just in Jerusalem, but throughout the world. And throughout church history, the Christian Church has faced persecution after persecution after persecution. A few years ago, I was in Oxford in England, and I had visited the university. And as I was walking down the street, I noticed a little mark, a little X or cross or something in the middle of the street. If I recall, the street was brick or cobblestone. It was a stone street of some sort. And I noticed that students were walking across the street and milling around, walking over this little spot. And I wasn't sure what the spot indicated. And I looked about and there was a little plaque on the edge of the road. And it gave the explanation for this mark on the street, that this was the spot where Ridley and Latimer were burned at the stake for their faith during the Reformation, where they proposed to be the spark that would light a flame in the souls of people throughout England. And I looked at that and I said, here is where history took a sudden dramatic turn when these two men began, became burnt sacrifices to the faith of Christ and Now I see people milling about and walking over that spot. With no awareness of their heritage. But yet, if it weren't for the persecution of those two men. I wonder how much vibrancy there would be in the English speaking church today. And it's not just something that we look to the past, to the 16th century. And to pilgrims fleeing to the shores of America to escape persecution. But we need to be alert that right now, as I speak, in many corners of the world today. There are vicious outbreaks of persecution against the Church of Christ. You remember the bloody regime of IDI Amin. Who was vehemently opposed to the Christian faith. We think of many of the Muslim countries in the world today. Where it's illegal for Christians even to hold a job. Or the saints in Hungary, who, during the communist regime in Hungary, for bad people to pray. And it was the policy of the state that which was inculcated into the children in the schools. That if their children saw their parents praying at home. The kids were required to inform on them at school. So that the government could come and arrest them, their parents. And in many cases, they were executed. My best friend, growing up in college and in seminary. He grew up in the mission field in Africa. Where his father was a pioneer missionary. And on one occasion, after 40 years on the mission field. My friend's father and my friend were rousted in the middle of the night. By some communist guerrillas. That raided the village where they lived, lined up people and shot them in cold blood. And in that raid, from 3ft. One of these communist guerrillas shot and killed the pioneer missionary, my best friend's father. And shot at my friend from three feet away. He saw the muzzle flash. He instinctively fell to the ground. Assuming that he had just been killed. And to his astonishment, was not even hit from three feet away. But he pretended that he was hit. And faked his own death. Until the communist guerrillas left. And he alone survived the massacre. And was left with the unenviable task. Of burying his father in the ground that night before he escaped himself. And stories like that continue to come to our attention. From various quarters of the world. Now, in this country, in many ways. We have been spared the bloodletting of Christian persecution. We have been spared to such a degree that because in the founding of this nation. America was founded as a haven from persecution. Where the constitution in the very First Amendment guaranteed the right of free expression of religion to all who come to our shores. But of course, in these days, the danger of losing that protection from persecution is acute. To my knowledge, People are not being lined up and shot in America for being Christians, but the persecution has begun in much more subtle forms. Go to New England and you will see the architecture of every town and village where the church is at the center of the public square. Go to the new communities where I live in Florida and see if you can find a church building in the middle of the community. The churches tend to be built outside the residential areas, in strips that are designated by the government, and the zoning requirements and the zoning laws make it exceedingly difficult for the church to be established in the middle of the lives of the people. It's a subtle thing, but it is a real thing. And I'm afraid that part of the absence of more vicious persecution is because of our lukewarm commitment to the truth of Christ. It's when Christians are vibrant and bold in their faith that persecution becomes more and more severe. Now, obviously we're not supposed to be looking for it, but our devotion to Christ, if it is consistent and if it is public and if it is open, will bring to his people persecution. Sometimes we are shocked, not merely surprised, but undone, when a form of persecution arises towards us. When people express hostility towards us simply because of our commitment to Christ. Well, again, we ought not to be surprised, because our Lord Himself promised us that if we identify with him, we will, in that identification, identify with his humiliation, with his affliction, and with his persecution. There are people who are hated in this world for no other reason than that they belong to Christ, and that somehow doesn't seem very fair. And we may get our feelings hurt. But the Church needs men and women who understand the cost of discipleship and are willing to bear that cost patiently trusting God and not allowing persecution or slights or slanders from outside the church to make us bitter or hostile towards the people who are bringing that persecution. Because among them we all once were.
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May God grant us the strength to be such believers. This is Renewing youg Mind and today you heard A message from R.C. sproul's series the Persecuted Church. If you'd like to obtain this series, we'll give you lifetime digital access when you give a donation in support of our effort to serve local churches around the globe@renewingyourmind.org in addition to the series to thank you for your generosity, we'll also send you two 40th anniversary books from Dr. Sproul. His popular titles the Holiness of God and Chosen by God. So that's a series and two books. When you donate at renewingyourmind.org before midnight tomorrow. Thank you for helping take the truth of God to the nations. Today we considered the cost of discipleship, but what is the reward of discipleship? I hope you'll join us tomorrow as we consider that question here on Renewing youg Mind.
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Sam.