Of Sheep and Conquerors

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We are hardpressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed -
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body."
2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Today's sermon topic was Matthew 5:10-12, in which Jesus introduced the correct understanding of persecution. Pastor Jim did a fine job of expounding the principles involved. Since I was already working on a post centered on Romans 8:36-37, I think I will combine the information for a point-by-point explanation of the Christian doctrine concerning persecution.

1. Every Christian who lives with the goal of godliness will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). A careful definition of persecution is an attack (whether verbal or physical) by someone with unrighteous motives on a person in whom the Spirit dwells. This is the rite of passage, in varying degrees, for all Christians; it must be decided when one counts the cost (Luke 14:28-31) and decides to lose their life in order to find it in the end.

2. Persecution is simply an outworking of carrying the cross in the man's environment. Once the man decides to build the tower and fight the war, he must take up the cross in order to accomplish these objectives. The man may know to fear God and not man, but in order to learn wisdom he must enter into the paradigm of men and remain God-fearing in order to make the cross-carrying worthwhile. The proverb commands us to buy truth and sell it not; so too, the man must determine the wisdom of God as superior to his own thinking and feeling.

3. Cross-carrying is understood very differently by the world as compared to the knowledge God has ordained. The world believes in natural selection, and in such a paradigm living by God's standards is considered the conduct of sheep; the bottom of the food chain. However, such a paradigm of persecution did not exist during Israel's time, in which they were conquering their local area and had the civil authority to fight against (and in God's permission, conquer - which we are not now permitted to do, see Deuteronomy 20) persecuting nations. During a period in which the church is a minority can we expect it, as in the case of the Romans to whom Paul wrote. As the earth and its institutions come progressively under the purview of Christianity, justice raises her banner and the unrighteous are condemned in their acts (Psalm 82; 94:1-2, 20-23; 125:1-3; 149:6-9; Romans 13:4; etc). Unfortunately, due to the conduct of some Christians at various time, who acted so sheepish as to confirm the viewpoint of the unrighteous, Christian men and women were needlessly slaughtered when they had means to defend themselves. We must always prevent evil when we can within God's construct of civil and institutional government.

4.  We are more than conquerors whether in flight or in legal battle. Our cross-carrying involves laying our lives down against an enemy who has declared war on us by virtue of our existence. Such a battle is long-term and may involve times of relative peace when the forces of evil realize they cannot at that moment overcome us, but there is no fellowship between light and darkness; the natural man is at enmity with God (Colossians 1:21, Romans 8:7). It is our choice during this war to determine whether we will believe in God that we are more than conquerors and prove it, or conform to the worldly notion that we are sheep in the natural hierarchy.

5. The correct answer to future persecution is not pragmatism but consistent application of cross-carrying. Two principles coincide: first, he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much; second, he who loses his life now will find it, and vice versa. The man who will be rewarded with the fruits of the Spirit and a better resurrection must be living in such a manner to receive both, whether in the days of peace or the days of war.

6. Shame is yet another topic which we must address from God's viewpoint, or we will succumb to the fear of man. Shame involves insufficiency. To man, shame is found by non-conformance to a lifestyle the present culture (by its many manifestations) considers secure. To God, shame is determined by relying on something which is in fact unsupported by God's establishment of truth. It is a war of man's order versus God's order, and one will win out. Because Christ held to God's order, He despised the shame of men, and took on Himself the cross for His church (Philippians 2:7-9, Hebrews 12:2-3).

7. Finally, cross-carrying, whether in days of war or days of peace, has merit in God's eyes; in this we are more than conquerors. As our minds are renewed to the wisdom of God, we come to understand that the testing of our faith in perseverance produces patience, which proceeds to equip us with all the armory of God. Such progress involves rejoicing.

"As it is written, 'For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Romans 8:36-37