John 5:16 (King James Version)
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
John 15:20 (King James Version)
20 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.
Holy Spirit taught me that two types of hate are mentioned in the Bible. One is the human being type of hate, in which a human being has a strong inward desire to pursue another person until he or she can cause some pain or hurt to the other person. In a very real sense, this is the definition of persecution. The other type of hate mentioned in the Bible is the God-Head type of hate. This is much different than the human type of hate. This is based upon the eternal truth that good, and evil cannot exist together. Therefore, Our Father knows that He has to bring about a separation of good and evil. This is why, at the time of physical death and at the Second Coming of Christ Our Lord, there is a separation of good (Born Again Christians) from evil (sinners or wicked people). The Born-Again Christians live in Heaven as Saints, and the sinners live in Hell as wicked beings. The Our Father type of hate or wrath does not have any desire to hurt or destroy anyone. I do not totally understand this, but I know Our Father has a great heart of compassion when He separates good people from evil people.
That said, we want to understand more about why persecution occurs. The goal is that as Born-Again Christians, we have some understanding of the reason for persecution, thereby being able to keep our joy as we move through times of persecution. The basic teaching of our text verses is many of the Hebrews who saw Christ Your Lord preach and even saw some miracles began to persecute Him. At first, this was done with questions and debates. They criticized Him very strongly. This was the human type of persecution that had as its goal the killing of Christ. Though those criticizing Him at that time did not yet have this as one of their goals, they did not realize Satan was influencing them, and that was his goal.”
In our second and third text verses, what was the cause of the persecution that Christ received? The cause of it was hate. This was the human type of hate. “Since the source of this type of hate is Satan, not the Godhead, this means that even though the Hebrews were doing the actual actions, it was Satan who was doing the persecution. Our text verses also state that those who are followers of Christ Your Lord will also be persecuted. Why do You think that Satan persecuted Christ Your Lord and continues to persecute His followers who are living on Earth?
The key to understanding this is that in our first text verse, it is stated that the goal of the persecution of Christ Our Lord was to put Him to death. The goal of Satan was to destroy Christ Our Lord because Satan knew that He was going to bring forth His Church to be Our Father’s Kingdom on Earth. Since Satan does not want any kingdom of any type on Planet Earth to compete with his kingdom, the main goal of Satan has always been and still is to destroy the Church of Christ, Our Lord. This includes both the Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church.
This is the fundamental source of persecution. Until Satan is enclosed in Hell, he will always be trying to destroy the Church of Christ, Our Lord. Satan’s method in this matter is to destroy the competition. This persecution of Satan will come upon everyone who is part of the Church of Christ Our Lord. What I’m saying to you is only about explaining the basis of persecution. This is not about explaining why Our Father permits Satan to continue persecuting those who are part of Christ Our Lord’s Church. It is very important, though, to understand the basis of persecution. Remember that Our Father has created us human beings in such a way that the more understanding of His Word or Truth you have, the happier you are. This is part of the explanation of why there can be joy in persecution.
One of the purposes of the fruit of joy is to consistently bring you into new beginnings, which are staying free of darkness and a content anointing of his presence. Joy does that, but the method by which we accomplish it is during a time of confession and repentance of sin. We need that because we make mistakes because we are not perfect, plus we receive spiritual pollution from living in this world. So, we need daily confession and repentance for a new beginning. Angles experience the meaning of a new beginning in an eternal context. They have the joy of the meaning of a new beginning, but it is an ongoing continual experience for them. There is no time when they are not experiencing the meaning of a new beginning. This is how it will be for You when You begin to live in the eternal realm of Heaven. Holy Spirit also wants it noted that Your experiences of new beginning help you, Born Again Christians, move through your times of persecution.
As the earth moves closer to the time of the Antichrist, there will be more and more limitations put on Your freedom to worship in public places and to be able to preach the Gospel outside of your places of worship. At present, Angels are not preparing for a time when you will experience pain and suffering because you function in the public area as a Christian and as the Church of Christ Our Lord, but they are being prepared to minister to You in a time when there are many limitations placed upon your freedom to worship in public places and to function as a Born Again Christian in public places. For example, there are already restrictions being put in place to control what Born Again Christians can say about homosexuality and abortion in public.
Secondly, anti-Semitism will continue to be on the increase on Earth. The Born-Again Christians who continue to have compassion for the Hebrew People and pray with understanding for the peace of Jerusalem will experience more and more persecution. Angels are being prepared to minister to Born Again Christians who are receiving this type of persecution. There are also Angels who are given up-to-date training for their ministry to the Hebrew People. Holy Spirit seems to be preparing us for an increase in persecution, for the time when Our Father will pour out His Judgments upon Planet Earth. These types of persecution are coming because Satan is still trying to destroy the Church of Christ, Our Lord. The people of the Old Testament Church and the Testament Church must remember this.”
Revelation 12:13 (King James Version)
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
These scriptures are for the purpose of studying verses that support the idea that the major source of persecution for Born Again Christians is Satan. This is important to understand because sometimes Satan’s persecution is understood to be some of the judgment of Our Father. All of us have experienced it; when we are not healed or receive the blessing we need from our Father, the enemy immediately moves in to torment you as to your faith or sin in your life when none is there. You have to realize that some negative things continue in our lives because of the providence of Our Father. There are four basic reasons why we are looking at the Joy of Persecution.
(1) Born Again Christians need to understand that the primary source of persecution is Satan. (2) Persecution is an act of Satan, and judgment is an act of Our Father. (3) Born Again Christians need to begin to know how to discern between the persecution of Satan and the Judgment of Our Father. (4) Through His Grace, Our Father provides deliverance from judgment, and through His Grace, Our Father sometimes provides deliverance from persecution, but most often provides ministry as one journey through persecution. It is important for Born Again Christians to begin to understand these matters if they want to keep their joy during their time of persecution.
Our text verse for this teaching is another one of those verses of Scripture that reveals truth that Satan is the basic source of persecution. What is the meaning of the word dragon in the verse? It refers to Satan.” “What is the meaning of the word woman in the verse?” One is that this refers to the Hebrew People of the Old Testament Church who gave us the Christ Child, Messiah-Savior. The Miracle Conception of Mary through (HS) power was a climax from the faith of the Hebrew People of the Old Testament Church from the time of the creation of Man and Woman. “Satan tried and is still trying to destroy the Old Testament Church. (HS) inspired Apostle John to classify this as persecution. The New Testament Church, Born Again Christians, are now expressing the Grace of Our Father to those living on Earth. In a very real sense, this is giving birth to the Gospel. Thus, Satan is trying to destroy also the New Testament Church. This means that Satan is trying to destroy the New Testament Church made of Born-Again Christians living on Planet Earth. This is why Born-Again Christians need to be able to discern between the persecution of Satan and the judgment of Our Father. This is important if a Born-Again Christian is to keep his or her joy during times of persecution.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 (King James Version)
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
I believe the Great Falling Away is directly connected to believers not keeping their Joy and discerning what and why our Father is allowing persecution into their lives. Failure, too, will result in becoming offended with the Lord and trigger the biggest backsliding of all times, or what the Bible calls the Great Falling Away.
John 10:10 (King James Version)
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Acts 9:1 (King James Version)
9 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Acts 9:4 (King James Version)
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
This word thief has two basic meanings: (1) one who robs or steals. (2) The word is also used to describe a false teacher of the Scriptures. This one teaches the Scriptures but is inspired by Satan rather than the Holy Spirit. Since Satan is actually the one who inspires false teachers, Satan is the one who is the thief in this verse. Of course, this is the parable of Jesus the Good Shepherd. Those in the sheepfold are the followers of Christ Our Lord, and Satan is trying to steal them, that is, get them away from Christ Your Lord. Satan does this through people. What is Satan's method stated in this verse?” “If the one working for Satan cannot persuade a follower of Christ Our Lord to stop following him, then Satan has his workers ready to kill, destroy, or murder the physical bodies of the followers of Christ.
Our second text verse is about Apostle Paul's life before his conversion experience: Saul felt that the Hebrews, who became Born Again Christians, were blasphemers. His attitude was very much like the attitude of Satan expressed in our first text verse. Saul tried to verbally persuade the Born-Again Christians to stop being followers of Christ. He also threatened to have them suffer some pain if they did not change their minds. He even murdered or killed some of them when they chose to continue to be followers of Christ. The Lord's words are very important to believers today.
The Lord told Saul that what he was doing to Hebrew People who became Born Again Christians was persecuting them. Then he told Saul that when he persecuted these Christians, he was persecuting him. As we prepare for the future, we need to understand this. Satan is still trying to destroy Our Father by trying to destroy Christ. The teaching of this verse is that when Satan persecuted Christians through Saul, and when he persecutes Christians today, even though it is usually through other human beings, he was and is persecuting Christ. Satan understands the compassion Christ has for His Family and thus is involved in the lives of His Children. Based upon this, Satan still has hope; it is a false hope that he somehow can destroy Christ Your Lord by destroying the children of His Family.
Satan's thinking explains some things. (1) This explains why Satan will continue to bring about persecution in the lives of Born-Again Christians and Hebrew People. Satan will continue to do so until he is imprisoned in Hell. (2) Though Born-Again Christians suffer persecution in a personal way, as far as Satan is concerned, it is not a personal matter. Persecution is Satan trying to destroy Christ, Your Lord. (3) This is part of the cross that Christ taught about when He stated that His Followers should take up their crosses daily and follow Him. (See Luke 9:23.) (4) Understanding these matters will help Born Again Christians keep their joy during times of persecution.”
