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Benefits of persecution, Part 2 - Spreads the Gospel

Persecution causes the Gospel to be spread. The early disciples were happy to enjoy their walk with Christ in Jerusalem. They saw no need to move. But Jesus had commanded them to spread the Gospel to every nation on earth (Matthew 28:19-20). So it took some trauma to spread the Gospel. Acts 8:1 describes this: “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.”

Without persecution, the joy of following Christ was confined to Jerusalem, but persecution caused the Gospel to be spread all over the then known world – and today, all over the world.

Acts 11:19-21 tells us more about it: “Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” The beautiful and sad truth is that we, like them, often need to be forced out of our comfortable lives before we are ready to be obedient to Jesus Christ.

When we see new followers of Jesus, birthed from our ministry, our sufferings for God’s cause are more than worth it. And our reward in heaven will be more than amazing! “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you?” (1 Thessalonians 3:7-9), and in Revelation 2:10: “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.”

God wants to use our mess, or trouble, for good, as Joseph explained to his brothers in Genesis 50:19-20: “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

Whatever it takes to fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is more than worth it!

Are we taking the Great Commission seriously? It will lead to persecution for us, but what joy we will experience seeing people rescued from the darkness of hell into the beautiful kingdom of God when we can keep our eyes and heart focused upward instead of ‘me-ward.’