Suffering for the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ is part of the lives of Christians (the church). Where the Name of the Lord is established and His Name confessed, and the people are followers of God’s Word, there is persecution. From the beginning of time, God’s people (the assembly of God) have suffered. Why? Because of the Name of the Lord. Those, who belong to God and bear His Name shall suffer persecution in the world. Why are they persecuted? Because of the hatred towards God and His Name of the adversaries of God; the devil and his army in the spiritual realm (fallen angels) and on earth (fallen man). Let’s look at what the Bible says about suffering for the Name of the Lord God and the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s chosen people suffered persecution
When Joseph was alive, everything was fine with the Israelites, who lived in Egypt. The seed of Jacob lived in Goshen in peace and freedom. But then Joseph died and a king arose, who didn’t know Joseph and considered the Israelites a threat to the nation.
The Israelites were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and became very numerous. The land was filled with them.
Pharaoh and the Egyptians saw that the Israelites were more and mightier than they were. They were afraid that they would join with their enemies and fight against them and get them out of the land.
And so they afflicted the Israelites and made their lives bitter with hard bondage. They even cast every male child into the river to destroy God’s people.
But God saw His people and the evil of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. He witnessed the persecution of His people.
God didn’t stop the persecution and didn’t deal with the evil of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, immediately. He allowed (temporarily) the bondage, slavery, suffering, and the killing of the sons that were born.
Meanwhile, God prepared the deliverer of His people and made him ready to redeem His people from the bondage and slavery of Pharaoh.
At God’s appointed time, when the cry of the children of Israel came unto the Lord, God sent His deliver Moses. Moses went in the Name of the Lord and represented Him to Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the Israelites.
And so God showed His love for His people and His greatness through the signs and wonders, the redemption, and the victories in the battles (Exodus 1-20).
The pagan nations, whose god was the devil, both feared and hated the house of Israel. Not because of the people, but because of the Name of the Lord.
God’s people blended with the pagans and paganism
As long as the Israelites stayed faithful to their Lord, by keeping the Law of Moses, they lived under God’s protection and He fought for them in the battle. But as soon as the Israelites deviated from the Lord and His word and became unfaithful to God, God withdrew His hands from them and they were left alone.
Instead of staying faithful to God, the Israelites deviated from their God and left His words and commandments many times.
Although they kept the temple service and visited the temple, they didn’t obey God’s words and commandments.
So the Israelites left their God because the Law of Moses was not present in their hearts, but their hearts were full of their own ways.
Despite the warning of the Lord, they adopted the pagan cultures and their religion and gods.
They blended them with the words and precepts of God, whereby they defiled the holiness of God and lived as the Gentiles in rebellion and disobedience to God.
The suffering of the prophets, who spoke in the Name of the Lord
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the Name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure (James 5:10-11)
Although they were born of the seed of Jacob (Israel) and maybe confessed the Name of the Lord, they didn’t belong to God.
Whenever a prophet of the Lord arose and confronted the house of Israel with their evil works and called them to repentance, the Israelites did not always listen and repent.
Although the prophets confronted them with their rebellious behavior and evil works (sin), they didn’t show remorse. They didn’t repent and turn back to God and submit to Him and did His will. Instead, they silenced the prophet and continued their evil works.
And so the true prophets of the Lord were persecuted and many times captivated and killed because of the Name of the Lord.
The false prophets were loved, received, and praised by the people. But the true prophets of the Lord endured hardships and persecution. The true prophets of the Lord suffered for His Name. But despite the suffering, they stayed faithful to God and brought His word (Read also: How to recognize false prophets today?).
The suffering of Jesus, Who came in the Name of the Lord
At God’s appointed time, Jesus, the Son of God and Redeemer of fallen man came to the earth. Jesus came in the Name of the Lord and was the express image of God. He spoke His words and did His works and walked by faith in God ((a.o. Luke 10:22, John 1; 3:16-21; 4:34; 5, Hebrews 1:1-3).
But just like the prophets, who spoke the words of God and were persecuted, Jesus was also persecuted by his countrymen. He suffered because of the Name of His Father and His word that He delivered to the people
Jesus was also rejected, captivated, and killed. The people thought they had gotten rid of Jesus, but they were wrong.
The death was not strong enough to keep Jesus in his power. Since the power of God is stronger than the power of death.
And so after three days in hell, Jesus rose as Victor from the dead and became the Author and the Way of salvation for fallen man (Read also: The sufferings of Jesus Christ).
The birth of the church
After Jesus ascended to heaven and took place on the throne at the right hand of the Father, the Father sent the Holy Spirit to the earth, according to the word and promise of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit came to earth and took place in the people, who were baptized and made righteous by the sacrifice and the blood of Jesus Christ. Together they were the church of God of which Jesus had become the Head. And they lived in the New Covenant that is sealed by the blood of Jesus.
Those, who were born again in Christ and had become a new creation and belonged to the church, fulfilled the commission, which Jesus had given to His followers and witnesses.
But with obedience to the Word, living according to the will of God, and the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ, came persecution.
The persecution and suffering of the Church
The saints, in whom the Holy Spirit dwelled, preached the Name of the Lord and were persecuted by their own countrymen (who didn’t believe in Jesus the Christ and refused to repent). They commanded the saints to stop preaching the gospel and stop teaching in the Name of Jesus.
The (high)priest(s), Scribes, and leaders of the house of Israel were threatened by these followers of Jesus Christ, who walked in the same authority as their Master, spoke the same words, preached and brought Christ and the Kingdom of God and in the same authority, preached Christ and the Kingdom of God, and confronted the people with their sins and called them to repentance.
They were not only a threat to their position but also to their sinful life.
Although these religious leaders looked pious and sincere in the things of the Lord on the outside, on the inside they were ravenous wolves, who walked in darkness and lived in sin and tempted the people to sin, and led them to hell.
The one to whom they belonged and who dwelled in them, hated the saints, who belonged to Jesus Christ and God the Father and had the Spirit of God abiding in them. Therefore they also hated them.
They hated the saints so much, that they took them captive, mistreated them, and many times even killed them. Just like they had done with the prophets and Jesus. Only because of the Name of the Lord.
But the saints and witnesses of Jesus Christ, who bore and confessed His Name, were not intimidated by them, despite their threats and commandment to stop preaching Jesus Christ to the people and to stop teaching them in the Name of Jesus and making disciples of Jesus.
The saints yielded to their High Priest and King
They didn’t yield to the authority of the (high)priest(s) and rulers of the house of Israel and the foreign king, who ruled in Israel and didn’t obey them, but they submitted to the High Priest and King of the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus and obeyed Him only.
Despite the threats, they didn’t change their message. Nor did they stop preaching the gospel. But they endured the persecution and suffering for the Name of the Lord because they loved God.
God had shown His love for humanity by giving His Son Jesus and through His redemptive work. Now they showed their love for God with their lives.
the persecution drove them into the world
The persecution in Jerusalem drove them to go into all the world and to preach the gospel and teach all nations in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Because that was the commission of Jesus (the Head of the Church) to the Church.
They went into the world preaching the gospel and the way of salvation and calling the people to repentance.
While preaching the gospel and establishing new churches and teaching in the churches, the saints were persecuted and suffered because of the Name of Jesus.
They bore the persecution and suffering for their Lord in their flesh, knowing that their Lord and Saviour had gone the same road and suffered for the Name of the Lord and their salvation.
Many churches were planted in pagan nations
And so they went to the dark pagan nations, where the people walked in lies, worshiped false gods, lived in enmity with the law of God (the will of God), and did all the abominations of God.
Instead of being fascinated by what they saw; their culture, religion, pagan temples, idols, arts, idolatry, sorceries, rituals, etc. and opening themselves to it and blending it with their message, they preached Jesus Christ, the truth and the way of salvation and warned the people and called them to repentance and the removal of their gods and sins.
They were not intimidated by the people and their work. They were neither ashamed of the Name of the Lord Jesus. Why would they be intimidated and ashamed?
They had the power of God within them and carried the Name of the Most High, the Name above all names. They possessed the spiritual truth of the Kingdom. (Read also: I am not ashamed of the gospel, but I am ashamed of…).
The witnesses of Christ possessed the knowledge and words to save people and the power to deliver them from darkness and redeem them from the power of the devil, who kept them in bondage and tortured them.
They knew that these people would be lost without them and their message.
They knew that if these people, who belonged to the devil and lived in darkness, wouldn’t repent, then when they died, they would go to the same destination as their master and father (the devil), whom they believed, obeyed and served, which is hell and the eternal lake of fire.
The followers of Christ preached the gospel boldly
With all this knowledge, they preached the word of God boldly. On their testimony, many people gave heed to their call and repented and became born again in Christ.
And so many churches were planted in those pagan countries and the world was taken for Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.
This wasn’t easy, since the enemy doesn’t slumber nor sleep. And so the gospel and the works of the saints came with persecution and suffering because of the Name of the Lord.
The suffering of the churches for the Name of the Lord
All the churches of God suffered because of the Name of the Lord Jesus. This was normal to the saints, because they knew their enemy and his hatred towards God.
They knew that Christ lived in them and that they bore His Name. And because of that, they were also hated by God’s adversary the devil, and all those, who belonged to him both in the natural (visible) and in the spirit (invisible) realm.
But instead of complaining about it, they took it as it was and bore the suffering for their Lord in their lives and many of them even in their flesh.
The persecution and suffering of the church in Thessalonica
For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16)
Everywhere a church was planted that was called by the Name of the Lord, followed Jesus, and bore the fruit of the Spirit, there was persecution by the countrymen.
The saints of the church in Thessalonica were followers of the churches of God which in Judaea were in Christ. Therefore, they also experienced the same persecution as the churches in Judaea. They were persecuted by their own countrymen and suffered for the Name of the Lord.
How did they persecute the church? By forbidding the saints to speak to their countrymen and the Gentiles about Jesus Christ and the way of salvation and eternal life. So that they might be saved.
But the saints didn’t listen to their commandments and threats and didn’t compromise. Because of their decision to stay faithful to the Lord and serve Him only, they experienced hardships and suffering for the Name of the Lord.
The church is still suffering for the Name of the Lord Jesus
The church that bears the Name of the Lord Jesus is still persecuted today. The people who belong to this world and live in darkness still force Christians to deviate from their faith and compromise.
They force Christians to stay silent about Jesus Christ and the preaching of the truth of God. They force Christians to keep their faith to themselves, confess their faith in silence, and stop enforcing their faith on others.
But they don’t stay silent about the lie(s) they believe and walk in.
They don’t keep their faith (what they believe) to themselves. But they are vocal and dominant in the world. They preach their lies and impose what they believe to others and announce and publish it everywhere they can.
While they force Christians to respect others and accept pagan religions, philosophies, rituals, and sinful behavior, they don’t respect Christians and don’t accept their faith but they have to renounce their faith and the Bible.
And so they make children of the devil under the cloak of new age love and humanism. They force everyone, to believe the lies of the devil and to accept the works of darkness. And if someone refuses or gives a counter-sound, then they pay and suffer the consequences.
The church bears the Name of the Lord. Those who belong to the church and do what Jesus says and bear the fruit of the Spirit will be persecuted.
If we read in the Bible that all those, who belonged to God were persecuted, and Jesus said that His disciples shall be hated and persecuted by the world, because of Him, then it shall be so.
The attitude of the cowardly
Those, who are carnal and cowardly shall be intimidated by what the world says and do what the world says. They shall embrace other religions and philosophies and allow pagan temples and the works of darkness in their country.
Because they are fearful, they don’t warn people, who live in darkness and are on their way to hell. They don’t preach the way of salvation to them, but leave them alone. Why? Because they don’t want to interfere with other people’s lives and experience discomfort, rejection, and persecution in their lives.
This may seem loving and humanistic from them, but in reality, it is selfish and evil. Because they don’t care about other people and their destination, but they only care about their own lives.
Despite the knowledge that Jesus Christ bore the suffering for them, they don’t want to suffer for Jesus and the Name of the Lord.
They don’t want to be rejected and persecuted by the world and suffer for the Name of the Lord Jesus. But they want to be liked and accepted by the world.
A life in Christ always comes with persecution
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 hates you. 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. But all these things will they do unto you for My Name’s sake, because they know not Him that sent Me (John 15:18-21)
But a life in Christ after the Spirit shall never be without persecution. Everyone, who belongs to God and bears the Name of the Lord and is a follower of Christ and lives in obedience to Him, shall suffer because of His Name and experience hatred and persecution of their fellow countrymen.
If this doesn’t happen, then the words of God are not obeyed and spoken, the will of God is not done, the commandments of Jesus are not kept, the people don’t walk in the authority of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit is not borne.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
