Godly commitment provokes persecution.

“You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution.”ⁱ

“God blesses those people who are treated badly for doing right. They belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. God will bless you when people insult you, mistreat you, and tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be happy and excited! You will have a great reward in heaven. People did these same things to the prophets who lived long ago.”ⁱⁱ

“PERSECU'TION, n. The act or practice of persecuting; the infliction of pain, punishment or death upon others unjustly, particularly for adhering to a religious creed or mode of worship, either by way of penalty or for compelling them to renounce their principles.”ⁱⁱⁱ

“In all ages, in one form or another, the people of God have had to suffer persecution. In its earliest history the Christian church passed through many bloody persecutions. Of subsequent centuries in our own and in other lands the same sad record may be made.”^iv

“Happy are you, when men have hate for you, and put you away from among them and say angry words to you, turning away in disgust at your name, because of the Son of man. Be glad in that day, and be lifted up for joy, for your reward in heaven will be great: for their fathers did these same things to the prophets.”^v

“Be exceeding glad - Αγαλλιασθε, leap for joy. There are several cases on record, where this was literally done by the martyrs, in Queen Mary’s days.”^vi

“Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven - They have evidence that they are Christians, and that they will be brought to heaven.”^vii

The ultimate persecution of the righteous was suffered by Jesus Himself. The great reward is that some of us have chosen to give our lives to Him.

There's a lot more on the subject of persecution of the righteous, some of it will be included in other posts.

I have referred to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2010

This post was written using Open Office 3.2.1, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

iMark 5:10a "The Message" paraphrase of the Bible.

iiMark 5:10-12 Contemporary English Version of the Bible.

iiiWebster's 1828 Dictionary.

ivEaston's Dictionary of the Bible.

vLuke 6:22-23 The Bible in Basic English.

viAdam Clarke's commentary on the Bible.

viiAlbert Barnes' notes on the Bible.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christianity is unique, being the only religion which celebrates the death of it's leader, Jesus Christ.

When sin entered the world, death and destruction came with it. Jesus died to pay the price for the sins of the world. Before His death Jesus predicted that He would rise on the third day.ⁱ

After Jesus' death His body was taken, wrapped in clean linens and placed in a new tomb freshly cut out of stone with a large stone across the entrance. While they did this Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb, watching where they placed Jesus' body. Then they went away and prepared sweet smelling spices for His burial. On the Sabbath they rested as commanded by the Law of Moses. After sundown the High Priests and Pharisees had a meeting with Pilate, they said that Jesus had claimed He would rise from death on the third day and requested that the tomb be guarded so that the disciples could not steal the body and claim that Jesus had been raised from the dead. So Pilate said to take some soldiers and secure the tomb the best they could. So they sealed the tomb and placed soldiers there to guard it.ⁱⁱ

When the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome bought spices to embalm Jesus' body. On the Sunday morning they went to the tomb. On the way they were wondering who would roll away the stone from the tomb. Suddenly there was an earth quake. An angel of the Lord rolled the stone away from the tomb and sat on it. The guards shook with fear and fell like dead men. When the women arrived they walked straight into the tomb and saw an angel (who looked like a young man) sitting on the right side wearing a white robe. They were frightened.ⁱⁱⁱ

The angel said to the women “ Do not to be afraid. Jesus isn't here because God had raised Him to life, look here is the spot where Jesus' body was laid. Go quickly, tell His disciples that Jesus has been raised to life and is going ahead of them to Galilee. They will see Him there. The women hurried off to tell the disciples the good news. Matthew records Jesus appearing to the women at this time. At first the disciples did not believe them.^iv

Peter and John took off running to the tomb. John got there first, stopped outside, looked in and saw the linen cloths laying there but didn't go in. Peter arrived and went straight in. Peter saw the cloths lying there with the cloth that had been around Jesus' head rolled up separate from the others. John went in also. Then they walked away wondering what had happened.^v

More information on this can be found in the final chapters of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

For those who would like to get right with God I suggest a simple prayer:

• God I admit that I have sinned and fallen short of your standards.

• Thank you that you sent your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for me, paying the price for my salvation from sin, to be raised on the third day and to later ascend to Heaven. as an assurance

• I choose to place my faith in your Son, Jesus Christ.

• Thank you that Jesus' resurrection and ascension to Heaven are my assurance that you will take me to live with you there forever after my life on Earth is over.

You should now develop a habit of reading the Bible and talking to God every day. You should also join a Bible believing church (that does not add any other books to it) and fellowship there regularly¹.

I have refered to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program. For further information I recommend reading the Bible.

© Ken Glasgow 2009 edited 11 April 2021

This page was written using Open Office, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.

1Hebrews 10:25

iMatthew 16:21, 17:23 & 20:19; Mark 8:31 & 10:34; Luke 9:22, 18:33 & 24:6 See also: Matthew 26:16, 27:40; Mark 14:56-58, 15:29; John 2:18-22

iiMatthew 27:57-66, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:52-56, John

iiiMatthew 28:1-6, Mark 16:1-6

ivMatthew 28:7-10, Mark 16:7-11, Luke 24:1-11

vLuke 24:12, John 20:2-10