Pray When Persecuted

Persecution Guaranteed

In Acts 4 we read of the first persecution experienced by the early Christian church. After the miraculous healing of a forty-year-old congenitally crippled man, the apostles Peter and John were brought to stand trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin to explain by what power or name they had performed this miracle. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter declared that the man had been healed by Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who had been recently killed and raised to life and was now ruling as the Sovereign Lord of the universe. The Sanhedrin ordered the disciples to stop speaking about Jesus, but Peter boldly proclaimed that they could not do so, because they had a command from Jesus to preach the gospel throughout the world. Unsure of what to do with the apostles, the Sanhedrin released them after threatening them with further persecution should they persist in speaking about Jesus.

Persecution is a normal part of the Christian life. We must realize that Jesus Christ never promised a life of ease for his church but he did guarantee that his followers would be persecuted. Throughout the gospels we read that Jesus commanded his disciples to deny themselves, take up the cross daily, and follow him, and after he was raised from the dead, our Lord told his chief apostle Peter that when Peter finished his apostolic ministry Peter, like Jesus, would also be crucified. In 2 Timothy 3:12 Paul also wrote, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Persecution was part of the apostolic teaching.

Does persecution destroy the church of Jesus Christ? Absolutely not! What Jesus builds, the gates of hell shall never overcome. As Christ’s church, we are in vital union with him, and nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39). We have eternal life through Christ, and no sword, persecution, or death can destroy eternal life.

We must remember what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt. 5:11-12). A godly life is not a life of ease, but a life of trials, troubles, and persecution.

The apostles Peter and John were not surprised when they were arrested, jailed, tried, and threatened by the Sanhedrin. But they were determined not to remain silent. They would rather obey God than men and were prepared to die for the gospel because they knew they had been given eternal life in God’s Son.

Speak to the Church

If, then, persecution is part of the Christian life, what should we do when we are persecuted? First, we must speak to the church.

Every Christian must belong to a local church. I have no respect for a person who floats from church to church, all the while saying that Christians do not need to be planted in one local church. Such a person is arrogant and living a disorderly life. Why? Refusal to be a part of and to submit oneself to the authority of a local church opposes the plan of the Lord Jesus Christ, the builder of the church. It also causes such people to miss out because they have no local church to go to when persecuted.

What is a biblical local church? It is a community of God’s people, established by him–a company of those who are called out from the world. In the church the communion of the saints is a reality, so if the world persecutes us, the church becomes a place of support, peace, and acceptance. It is our family where we have fellowship with the Father and the Son, as well as with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is where we worship God together, fellowship with one another, bear one another’s burdens, and spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

In Hebrews 10:25 we read, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the day approaching.” Do you have a church to go home to from the world of persecution, pressures, troubles, trials, and problems? Peter and John did, as we read in Acts 4:23, “On their release Peter and John went back to their own people.” We see the same thing in Acts 12. Peter had been put in jail by Herod, but the angel of the Lord rescued him. When he realized that he was really free, Peter “went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where people had gathered and were praying” (Acts 12:12). Peter went home to his church.

In this passage, Acts 4:23-31, we see Peter and John returning to their own people, meaning the church, although it was probably not to the five thousand but at least to the original one hundred and twenty. The apostles spoke to the church, telling about their arrest, their life in the jail, and their trial before the high and mighty Sanhedrin. Then the apostles described the threats the Sanhedrin made if the apostles continued to teach and preach in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, a command which stood in direct opposition to the command of the supreme Lord of the universe and the head of the church, Jesus Christ. What do you think these threats were? I am sure they were something like this: “If you speak to anyone at any time in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the captain of the temple guard and his officers will come upon you again and arrest you, jail you, try you, flog you and kill you.” All those things did happen to the apostles later on, as we read in the book of Acts.

It is safe to assume that the church was earnestly praying for Peter and John during their imprisonment and trial. In Acts 2:42 we are told that the church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ preaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” We see this also in Acts 12:5, “So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.”

We need a place to go home to, and the church is that place. There prayer is offered in behalf of those who are suffering and there we share our burdens and joys with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Being a member of a local church is a great privilege and responsibility. In fact, it is a severe punishment to be expelled from the fellowship of a local church.

What, then, is the first thing we should do when persecuted? We must go the church and speak to it, telling it what is going on in our lives.

Speak to God

Second, we must speak to God. In Acts 4:24 we read that when the members of the church heard the apostles’ report, “they raised their voices together in prayer to God.” The church was not sitting silently or mumbling something in prayer. The whole church lifted up its voice with great earnestness and prayed to God. When we experience persecution, we must speak, not only to the church but also to God. Do you depend only on the church and think it should take care of you? You must learn to pray to God.

What are some characteristics of the apostles’ prayers? First, they prayed in one accord. The context of prayer is the unity of the Spirit. When the world is persecuting you, you should be in one accord, not divided. Effectual prayer is prayer offered to God by people who are united in the unity of the Spirit, whether in the church or in the family.

Second, they prayed earnestly. Acts 4:24 tells us they lifted up their voices together to God. In essence they were shouting to God–not because God couldn’t hear if they didn’t shout, but because of the great urgency they felt. “God, you must help us!” they prayed.

Third, they prayed to God the Father as “Sovereign Lord” or “Despot.” The Greek word despothV means one who has absolute authority over his universe and his church. In Acts 4:29, the apostles called themselves slaves, as if to say, “O God, we are slaves and you are the despot. You are the one who has all authority. Defend us, we pray!” The apostles realized that they were praying to the Judge of the Supreme Court of the universe who had jurisdiction over the Sanhedrin of Israel, over Rome, and over every other authority in the world. They were appealing to the highest authority for their protection.

Earlier in history the sovereignty, power, and might of God had been displayed to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar when he became proud and arrogant. One day Nebuchadnezzar boasted that all of his great accomplishments were due to himself. God heard Nebuchadnezzar’s boast and caused him to live like an animal for seven years. At the end of the time God gave Nebuchadnezzar sanity, and we can read what he said in Daniel 4:34-35: “At the end of that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my sanity was restored.” When you raise your eyes to the heavens, your sanity will be restored. “Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?'” Nebuchadnezzar had claimed to be the greatest king of the greatest kingdom of the earth, but here he was speaking the truth: “I am nothing.” And in verse 37 he said, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

No Plan B

The disciples lifted their voices high in earnest and unitedly prayed to God the despot. Why do you think they were so serious? Because they didn’t have a plan B. Their only hope was in God. They were not thinking about establishing a Christian lobby in Jerusalem and Rome or beginning a political action committee. They were not planning to appeal to Rome or hoping to influence the Sanhedrin through some powerful friends. And they were certainly not planning to compromise the gospel and say, “Well, members of the Sanhedrin, we’ve thought about what you said, and we have decided we will just preach about a Jesus who is just a man–a nice man, grant you, but just a man, not God. And we will tell everyone that, yes, Jesus died, but he did not rise from the dead, and he is neither Lord or Christ. Don’t you think that will ease the tension between us?” This is what happens even today in many churches around the world. The authorities will not let ministers in officially recognized churches preach that Jesus Christ is Lord of the universe. If ministers want to preach in those churches, they will preach a Jesus Christ who is only a man and then they throw in a little morality as well.

Pattern for Prayer

Knowing they must preach and teach the truth about Jesus Christ, the disciples had no alternative plan, so they began to pray and cry out to God, following the model of the Hebrew king Hezekiah as recorded in the book of Isaiah. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, sent a letter to Hezekiah, threatening to conquer Jerusalem and humiliate Hezekiah, the Lord’s anointed, who trusted in Jehovah. When Hezekiah received the letter, he took it to the temple and spread it before God, saying, in essence, “Sovereign Lord, here is a letter which is written against me and, ultimately, against you. Would you deal with it?”

We find Hezekiah’s prayer in Isaiah 37. In verses 16-17 we read, “And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: ‘O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.'” Hezekiah understood clearly that Sennacherib’s threat was against God as well as against Hezekiah, and if you read further, you see how God himself dealt with Sennacherib and destroyed the Assyrian army.

How did the apostles pray? In Acts 4 we find that first they addressed God as despot, as the Sovereign Lord of the universe. In verse 24 we read, “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. ‘Sovereign Lord,’ they said, ‘you made the heaven and the earth and the sea , and everything in them.'” God is the God of creation, the God who spoke and the universe came into being. We need to have a view of God which is large before we talk about our little problem. We must understand that this God is the God of creation, who created all, maintains all, rules all, and owns all.

Not only that, the disciples realized that God is the God of revelation. In verse 25 they said, “You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David.” He is the God of revelation, the God of redemption, who revealed himself to us and inscripturated this revelation in his authoritative, infallible word. My prayer is that when we are persecuted and intimidated we will come to the Bible, because that is where God is revealed! May we read it, believe it, and trust in its declarations and propositions, so that we may receive comfort, hope and encouragement from it.

Then the believers remembered Psalm 2: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” The emphasis in that sentence is on the Greek word kena, meaning “in vain.” In other words, all the power structures of the world may unite together–the Sanhedrin, Rome, Caesar, the Gentiles, the nations, the apostate church–but the question is, “Why? Why do you rage? Why do you come together and plot and take counsel? Why do you neigh and snort like horses, pretending you can do something against this God of creation and revelation, the almighty, sovereign, eternal God? It is all for nothing.” Man versus God. It is the same as nothing versus God. Man is of but on breath. He is nothing, and all his opposition to God is in vain.

Persecution Ordained

In Acts 4:27 the disciples prayed, “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.” In other words, Peter and the church understood that when Rome, Herod, the Gentiles and the people of Israel all came together to conspire against Jehovah and his anointed Jesus Christ, they were fulfilling Psalm 2, and their efforts would come to nothing. These powerful authorities thought they had succeeded in their rebellion against God when they killed Jesus and disposed of him, but it was all in vain. On the third day, according to the Scriptures, God raised Jesus up. He came back, and now rules as the Sovereign Lord of the universe.

In verse 28 the disciples prayed, “They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.” The early church believed in predestination, meaning what happens in the universe is what the God of creation, revelation and history ordains to happen. In the third chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith, “Of God’s Eternal Decree,” we read about this in article one: “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.” There is no chance, in other words. God ordains everything that comes to pass.

The disciples understood God’s ordination and so they prayed, in effect, “O God of creation, God of revelation, and God of history, nothing happens which is not ordained by you, including the death of your Son. They killed Christ but you raised him, exalted him, seated him as Lord. Even this persecution is of your ordination.” And in verse 29 we read, “Now, Lord, consider their threats.” In other words, “Not only did they treat your Son in this manner, but now they are against us, his apostles, and we are experiencing their rage.” But Peter and the others understood according to Psalm 2 that it was all in vain, fruitless, and that not one of their proud plans would succeed. They knew God was laughing in heaven because his plans always triumph.

God’s plans alone succeed. We read this also in the Ephesians 1:11, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” Let me assure you, all man’s attempts against God and his anointed will fail. And if you yourself are against God, I guarantee that your effort will become as naught.

How essential it is that we study and understand the Bible! The apostles and other believers received tremendous encouragement from their knowledge of Psalm 2. They had full assurance and peace knowing that any secondary agents–the people of the world, the devil, and the demons–could only do to them what the Sovereign God had already predestined.

What else did they learn from Psalm 2? That God’s servant Jesus is his Son, whom he made King, shall rule his enemies with an iron scepter and dash them to pieces with it. “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry,” Psalm 2 concludes, and I say to any of us, young or old, “Kiss the Son, that you may be saved.” Why? This Son rules with an iron scepter and will destroy his enemies with it.

We see Psalm 2 quoted again in reference to Jesus Christ in Revelation 2:26 in the message to the church of Thyatira: “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations–‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery.” And in Revelation 19:15, in the context of the second coming of this servant of God, his Son, the great King, we read, “Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.'” Again, Christ’s sovereignty and lordship over the nations is clearly stated. What great comfort and hope the church received from reading and believing the Bible!

The Disciples’ Requests

The disciples made three requests of God in their prayer. First, though, we must note that, unlike our prayers, the prayer of the disciples did not include a request of deliverance from troubles nor a request that vengeance be taken against the Sanhedrin.

What was the disciples’ first request? In verse 29 we read, “Now, Lord, consider their threats. . .” In other words, “Jesus, you commanded us to preach the gospel, but these authorities commanded us not to preach and threatened us if we did. O God of creation, God of revelation, God of history–great God–we want you to know what they are saying. They want to prevent us from bearing witness to the gospel so that your people, the elect of God, won’t be saved by hearing the gospel. O God, they are opposing your great plan of redemption. Look upon their threats and do whatever is necessary so that we may be able to proclaim the gospel and fulfill your eternal purpose.”

The disciples knew that if God considered the threats of the enemies, he would act in their behalf. In Zechariah 2:3-5 we see a promise God made concerning the city of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem will be a city without walls. . . I myself will be a wall of fire about it.” God’s people did not need any walls, but he promised to be a wall of fire for them, and God would fulfill his promise.

In Exodus 14 we see the people of Israel fleeing Egypt, with the enemy in hot pursuit after them. Pharaoh opposed God’s salvation but his army was no match for God. In verses 23-24 we read, “The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. During the last watch of the night, the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion.” The Lord looked upon their threat and did whatever was necessary to save his people.

What was the second request? “Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” This is a request that the disciples be filled again with the Holy Spirit, because earlier in the book of Acts we are told they would receive great power to witness when the Holy Spirit came upon them. In other words, these disciples were praying, “O God, take away our timidity, confusion, depression, and propensity to anxiety and worry. Fill us with your Holy Spirit that we may bold, strong, courageous, and fearless of death itself, that we may declare the gospel.”

What was the third request? “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

Speak to the World

When persecuted, then, first we speak to the church and then we speak to God. What is the third thing we must do? We must speak to the world. The purpose of speaking to the church and speaking to God is so that we can share the gospel with others.

In Acts 4:31 we read that when the disciples finished praying, there was a great quaking of the building in which they were staying. God had heard their prayer and he was saying, “Amen” to this prayer offered in the will of God. Now, we are supposed to say “Amen” to what God says, but here God was saying, “Amen,” with a visible shaking. It was a demonstration to these believers of the presence of God. “I am for you, I have heard your prayer, and I will do what you requested,” God was saying.

This shaking demonstrated God’s presence with his people. In Exodus 19:18 we read, “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently.” God was present and the earth trembled. Not only that, in Acts 2:2 we read, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.” This phenomena was a declaration that God was there.

In Acts 16 we find Paul and Silas beaten up and thrust into prison in the city of Philippi. In the middle of the night they got up and in verse 25 we read, “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake. . .” What was happening? God was manifesting himself in their midst. He was giving his apostles strength and courage so that they would not be intimidated, but , rather, that they would open their mouths and declare the gospel. The apostles were emboldened and so, when jailer asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?” they told him, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” The earthquake was God’s divine “Amen.” In effect, God was saying, “Don’t be silent. Go ahead, speak the gospel.”

In Acts 4:31 we also read, “they all were filled with the Holy Spirit.” This was a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. This is what we need also, rather than a Christian lobby or political action committees or negotiations with power brokers. We know how to do those things, and I am not opposing them because we may need all these things in a democratic country. But I am saying that what we really need is a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.

What happened whenever they were filled with the Holy Spirit? They spoke the word of God. So we read, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly,” and it is understood that they were speaking to the world.

Can you put such people into a cave, seal it up and shut them off from the world? No! If we speak to the church and to God, and if God answers our prayer by giving us great grace, power, clarity and fullness, we will speak to the world.

Pray for Signs and Wonders

Notice that the disciples prayed that God would perform “miraculous signs and wonders through the name of [his] holy servant Jesus.” In Acts 5:12 we read how God answered that prayer: “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.”

Many people today, especially some Christian scholars, would say, “Well, you know, God doesn’t perform any miracles anymore.” If you say that, you have been in the ivory tower too long! You have to get out of that place and go to the far ends of the earth. Begin to declare the gospel and see what happens.

I agree with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the issue of signs and wonders, as well as with the famous Anglican theologian John R. W. Stott. In his commentary on the book of Acts, Stott says, “Moreover, since we believe that the miracles recorded in the Bible, and not the least in the Acts, did happen, there is no a priori ground for asserting that they cannot recur today. We have no liberty to dictate to God what he is permitted to do and not to do. And if we have hesitations about some claims to ‘signs and wonders’ today, we must make sure that we have not confined both God and ourselves in the prison of Western rationalistic belief” (John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts, [Downers Grove, IL: 1990, Inter-Varsity Press,] 101. Originally published under the title, The Spirit, the Church and the World.) I oppose the assertion that miracles no longer happen. At the same time, I oppose the claim that miracles are everyday occurrences.

The Word Is Not Bound

In Acts 9:1 we see a wild beast of a man named Saul of Tarsus. Educated in the university of Tarsus and in the university of Jerusalem under the great Pharisaic scholar, Gamaliel, Saul was doing everything he could to destroy the church of Jesus Christ, as he himself said in Galatians 1.

In Acts 9:1 we read, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.” But something happened to Saul. God had heard the prayer the disciples prayed in Acts 4:24-30, and Saul’s life was changed. As he was traveling to Damascus to arrest Christians there, God arrested him, converted him, changed him, and made him an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Acts 9:20 we observe this man who had been breathing out slaughter and threatening, who had been determined to silence the people of God. What was he doing? “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.” What a wonderful demonstration of the power of God!

Now, we must be clear on one point: The exercise of God’s power in the lives of his saints does not mean he will prevent their martyrdom. He permitted Stephen to be stoned, James and Paul to be beheaded, Peter to be crucified, and thousands upon thousands of others to be tortured and killed for Christ. Even today in China and in many Muslim countries those who preach the gospel are being arrested, jailed, tried, flogged, and killed, and possibly their organs are being harvested and sold by their oppressors. But the word of God is never bound. There will always be God’s servants preaching the gospel so that God’s elect may be saved from the far ends of the earth.

In Acts 6:7 we read, “So the word of God spread.” The authorities, the enemies of God, didn’t want the disciples to preach or teach in the name of Jesus, but here we read, “The word of God spread, the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” What a disappointment for the Sanhedrin! In Acts 9:31, Acts 12:24, and Acts 19:20 we read the same thing: the word of God grew and multiplied.

What to Do When Persecuted

Jesus builds his church through the preaching of the gospel by his Spirit-filled ministers, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. In vain the kings and rulers of the earth, the Gentiles and Jews alike, oppose the Sovereign God and his Christ. They killed the Lord’s Christ, but God raised him up. They failed in their attempt to oppose him, and they shall fail in every attempt to oppose the true church of Jesus Christ from preaching the gospel to the far ends of the earth. Yes, they may kill us and even harvest our organs, but Jesus Christ will continue to build his church.

Therefore, be fearless, church of Jesus Christ! Be filled with the word and the Holy Spirit. March on, soldiers of the cross, and preach the gospel of God’s salvation, the good news, to the poor. When you do, the Lord shall be a wall of fire around you.

When the Lord Jesus Christ made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his disciples praised God, saying, “Blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” Filled with jealousy, the Pharisees told them to be quiet, but Jesus said, “If they are quiet, the rocks will cry out.” It is the same with preaching the gospel. Why? Because it is the determination of God that the gospel be preached, his people saved and the church built. It shall be done, and when it is done, our Christ will come again.

May God help us not to be intimidated when we face opposition to the gospel. May he help us to abide in his word and be fearless, filled with the Holy Spirit, so that we may open our mouths and boldly declare that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the world. Amen.