Many of the TV preachers seem to have a particular theme that runs thru every sermon they preach. For some that might be "The End Times". For others it might be "Health and Wealth". For some others it might be "Self-esteem" or "Take Control of Your Life", or "Don’t Worry; Be Happy". I try not to do that in my own preaching because there is so much more to God’s word than continually emphasizing only one theme. Attempting to let the text speak for itself allows a preacher of sermons to cover "the whole counsel of God."

The reason I bring up this matter is because last week (April 27) and this next week (May 4) there is a thread that runs thru both the passages from 1 Peter and, consequently, thru the sermons coming from those passages. So, I want to assure you all that I am simply preaching these particular lectionary passages and not working myself, and you, into a rut! (By the way, after Pentecost we will return to the weekly examination of the book of Romans.) However, that theme is an important one: persecution for persons who believe God and are trusting in Jesus Christ.

We have little if any experience of being a persecuted church in the US, and in most of Western Civilization. Not so throughout the larger part of history and the major portion of the world! Further, I believe a reasonable case can be made that we may be approaching a time in which the bubble of peace and security/tranquility we have known in "The West" is on the verge of bursting before our very eyes. I do not have space in this article to develop that point. I’ll do that in the message on Sunday. But I will make a few salient points about how Jesus calls His people to respond in the face of persecution.

First, when His church is mistreated, Jesus takes it personally! See Acts 9 where Saul of Tarsus is going to Damascus to bedevil Christians. Jesus confronts him on the road saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Mistreating the Son of God is not a career with a happy future.

Second, we are not alone, though we may lack human companions. Jesus has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. More than this, He has promised that the Father and Holy Spirit also dwell with those who are obedient.

Third, those who suffer persecution for the sake of Jesus are blessed and have a rich reward in heaven. We are not told the exact form of these blessings, but surely they include a heightened sense of our LORD’s presence and more than sufficient grace to withstand whatever we might face.

Fourth, we have additional spiritual resources. Prayer, God’s word in the Bible to read and study for assurance and counsel, access to God’s throne in our personal worship and devotional time, and the fellowship of the church to encourage us and to hold us up in prayer to name only a few of these.

Fifth, we have the promise of ultimate victory. "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good courage. I have overcome the world," are the words directly from Jesus’ lips. Along with those words of encouragement is the warning that difficult times will come. In other words, we have advance notice so we can develop the spiritual disciplines that will help us to stand firm in the day of trouble.

If you have not been at work developing your "spiritual muscles," so to speak, there is no better time to start than now. As in other matters involving some type of conditioning, the relative difficulty or relative ease with which we make it through trials and tribulations depends upon our having done our preparation beforehand. Here endeth the lesson. Let him who has ears to hear respond accordingly.