“PERSECUTION AND ENDURANCE”
LUKE 21:12-19

I. Introduction
Have you ever wondered about how many promises God has for us in His Word, the Bible? Someone who took the time to count them said there were 3,573 promises. I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of that number, but even if there were only half that many, you would have to say that the Scriptures are filled with the promises of God.

As Bible-believing Christians, you and I stand on those promises. In fact, one of the more familiar of the old hymns in our hymn book is “Standing on the Promises.” Listen to the words of the second verse…
“Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.”

In 2 Peter 1:4 Peter says God’s promises are “precious and magnificent.” Later, in 2 Peter 3:13, he says, “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

Our hope for the future is in God’s promises because we know they are sure. We know they are sure because we know the God who made them is faithful.
*Hebrews 10:23-25
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who pro-mised is faithful;
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.

Let’s just skim off a few points from these three verses. In v. 23 the writer of Hebrews tells us something every true Christian already knows – God is faithful and His promises are true! When we grab hold of those two truths and when we cling to them, we can do something with them. In v. 24 we see that we can love our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we can demonstrate that love by being good to them and doing good for them.

How does that work? Where does it begin? Where and how do you find like-minded bro-thers and sisters in Christ? In v. 25 you get the answer. You find them when and where you assemble together. That is to say, you find them in your church. I ask you, where else in this lost and dying world can you find the encouragement and the strength you need to live a godly Christian life? It is in your church, where you can get your “batteries recharged” so that you can return to and function in a world that is hostile to you and your God.
This is important! That’s why v. 25 says we are not to forsake our assembling together. We are to come together for worship. Listen please: Everything about this service is worship. The popular idea today seems to be that worship is essentially what you do when you’re standing and singing and clapping to the music of a “worship team.” Then when that’s over you sit down and listen to a sermon.

There’s no doubt that “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19)” are a vital and integral part of God-honoring worship, but they’re only one part. When we, with hum-ble and contrite hearts, are assembled together, our music is worship. And so is our praying, and so is our giving, and so is our hearing and absorbing the promises of God as they come down to us through the preaching and teaching of His Word. It’s all worship. And there is one more thing that is worship. Our fellowship is worship. When we assemble together as a body of believers – particularly when we assemble together around the communion table – then that is worship of the highest order.

Now someone may say, “I don’t need to go to a church because I can sing and I can pray and I can give to Christian work and I can hear a sermon on the radio or television.” Yes, you can, but you cannot have fellowship by yourself at home.

Look again at Hebrews 10:25. “…not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some…” We need to be together in fellowship. We need to be together to sing, to pray, to give, to hear and learn God’s Word, and to “(be) encouraging to one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”

What day is that? It is the day that Jesus has been talking about on the Wednesday before He goes to the cross. And it isn’t a 24 hour-day. “The day,” often referred to as “that day,” is most often associated with the time of the Tribulation. That day begins when the church is removed at the Rapture and ends with Jesus’ return and judgment of the lost.

To use the words of Hebrews, “…the day is drawing near.” There’s a bit of a theological conundrum here over the question of whether the day that is drawing near begins with the Rapture of the church or with Christ’s glorious appearing when He returns to set His feet on the Mount of Olives. But does that really matter? Aren’t both events drawing nearer?

All Christians, whether they expect the Rapture of the church or not, can readily see that “the day” of Jesus’ return is drawing near. And so, we all need to cling to the promises of God, because we know that things are going to get worse before “the day,” the time of judg-ment, comes on this earth. That’s what Jesus is telling us as we delve deeper into Luke 21.
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II. Review
How have we come to this point in Luke’s gospel? On the Wednesday before His crucifix-ion, Jesus had been teaching in the temple in Jerusalem.
He had given the religious leaders one last opportunity to believe that He was who He said He was – their Messiah. But they continued to challenge everything He said and did. So Jesus turned to His own disciples and warned them against false teachers and the false reli-gions they create – man-made religions that take advantage of the poor and make the false teachers rich and powerful. The widow in Luke 21:1-4 was an example of the victims of such men. Jesus said that they would “…receive the greater condemnation.”

Last Sunday, in Luke 21:8, Jesus gave one more warning about not being fooled by the lies of false teachers. He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and ‘The time is at hand’; do not go after them.” Then in vv. 9-11 Jesus began to tell us what to expect in the last days. There will be an increase in the num-bers and intensities of wars, uprisings, earthquakes, plagues, and famines.

But Matthew 24:8 tells us that Jesus said, “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” In other words, when you see all of this start to happen, it is not yet the end. It is only the beginning of the end. Things are about to get worse, much worse. And that brings us to this morning’s text in Luke 21.
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III. Text
How can we bear up under the onslaught of what will come, and is already coming, upon this world in which we live? As it says in the old hymn, we will not only bear up under the onslaught, we will prevail by “…standing on the promises of God.” No matter how wise or how strong or how prepared we may think we are, there is no other way.

As we look into this morning’s text, we’ll need to remember that there is more than one kind of promise in the Bible. Not all of God’s promises are necessarily encouraging – at least not at first glance. In fact, some of them may seem to be quite discouraging. But every promise of God, regardless of our initial reaction to it, is sure and absolute. And as Romans 8:28 so clearly tells us, “…we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Are you a Christian? Then whatever happens to you is ultimately for God’s glory and your eternal good. This is not “pie in the sky by and by.” This is unchanging truth from our un-changing God. It will help to keep that in mind as we read.
*Luke 21:12-19 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will perse-cute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.
14 “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;
15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.
16 “But you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,
17 and you will be hated by all on account of My name.
18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish.
19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives.”

When you first read a passage like this, you cannot escape the fact that Jesus Himself says things are going to get worse. We’re going to be persecuted. But, as the last two verses also make clear, things are going to get better. We’re going to endure. Persecution and endur-ance – we will be persecuted for a while, but we will endure forever.
*Luke 21:12
12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will perse-cute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.”

Jesus says “before all these things.” Before all what things? The answer is found in the three preceding verses.
*Luke 21:9-11
9 “And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”
10 Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and fam-ines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”

So “these things” are wars, disturbances, nations and kingdoms turning against one another, earthquakes, plagues, famines, and terrors in the sky. Granted, all of these things have been going on from the beginning. None of it is new. But recent history has seen a dramatic increase in all of it. That very increase is, for lack of a better term, “a sign of the times.”

Now consider the chronology of all this. In v. 9 the Lord says, “…these things must take place first.” “First” is the operative word. The things Jesus speaks of are signs that the end is approaching but, as He says in the rest of the verse, “…the end does not follow immediate-ly.” What happens in vv. 9-11 will go on for some pre-ordained period of time. Only God Himself knows how long He will permit it to continue.

Now look once more at v. 12. Jesus says, “…before all these things (the things described in vv. 9-11), they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you…” “Before” is the operative word in this verse. We already live in a day when false teaching abounds, false religions are gaining converts everywhere, and man-made disasters and upheavals in the natural world are all on the increase and intensifying. Therefore I believe and am convinced that the persecu-tion Jesus says will come before things get markedly worse is already upon us.
Someone may say, “Well, we’re still all right. We can still meet publicly. The church isn’t being taxed or harassed. We haven’t been threatened or warned to stop preaching the gos-pel and keep our mouths shut. You’re overreacting and looking for problems where there are none.” I understand that thinking. Who wants to sound an alarm if there is no fire?

But while the fire may not yet be burning in America, there is a fire raging around the world today. Christians in the Middle East, in Asia, and on the African continent are being perse-cuted. They are having their homes and possessions stolen from them. Christians are being faced with the choice of denying Christ or losing their lives. Many are being tortured for their faith and many are laying down their lives for Christ right now – today.

As twenty-first century American Christians one of the problems we have is a very narrow and sheltered worldview. We forget that God’s Word was not written exclusively for those of us who read it today as we sit well-fed, warm, comfortable, and at relative peace within the safety of our own homes and churches.

The Word of God that you and I hold in our hands this morning was written for all of God’s people for all time. Therefore, what God’s Word says to us, it said to Christians in China in the fourth century. What it said to Chinese believers in the fourth century, it said to His children in Sweden in the sixteenth century. And what God said to believing Swedes in the sixteenth century, He says to you this morning. God’s Word has not changed. Nor will it!

We know God’s Word never changes to fit the time or the place or the person who reads it. It is perfect for any occasion because it applies perfectly to every situation. And Jesus’ words in Luke 21:12-19 are no exception. They are for God’s people. They are for us.

He tells us that like those who came before us, and like those who will come after us – we will be persecuted for our faith. This is the fate of the true church well before the end of the church age. That persecution began with the birth of the church at Pentecost, and it will con-tinue until the Rapture when the church will be removed. After that, for those who come to saving faith during the Tribulation, it will be so intense that only a few will survive until the Second Coming. But through it all, as Mark 13:10 tells us, “…the gospel must first be preached to all the nations (Gentiles).” That is what’s happening now, isn’t it? You and I and this little local assembly are part of it, aren’t we?

Why this persecution? Does the world hate you because you’re a bad person? Not at all!
*John 15:18-19, 22-23
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

The reason the world hated Jesus, and by extension, the reason it hates us is made clear…
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.”
23 “He who hates Me hates My Father also.”

Jesus is simply saying that if He had not exposed their sin they could claim they didn’t know about it and could make an excuse for it. But since He did expose their sin, He took that excuse away from them. And so they hate Him, and they hate all who follow Him, and they hate God as well. This is why Paul could say to his young protégé, Timothy…
2 Timothy 3:12
12 And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

In today’s passage we can see that this persecution will increase as the end draws near. Is there a purpose? Yes, there is! Don’t miss this!
*Luke 21:13-15
13 It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.
14 “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;
15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.”

This is a tremendous passage. These words from Jesus’ own lips have to be ranked among God’s most wonderful and reassuring promises to His children. Look again at v. 13. Perse-cution is not to be seen as a repression of the gospel. It is to be seen as an opportunity for a great expression of the gospel. Ask yourself – could any testimony of faith be more power-ful than the one which is given in the face of persecution?

Consider Stephen, the first Christian martyr, who told his murderers the truth before he was stoned to death for his faith in Christ. Consider the apostles who, with the exception of John, were all martyred for their faith. Consider Polycarp, pastor of the church at Ephesus, tied to a stake and burned alive for not renouncing his faith in Christ. Consider the untold number of other Christians, crucified, or fed to the lions for the next two hundred years.

Then jump ahead twelve hundred years or so to the Protestant Reformation. Consider John Huss, burned alive in 1415, William Tyndale, strangled before he was burned in 1536, and English Reformer Thomas Cranmer who suffered the same fate in 1556. Those are just a few of the uncountable number of our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been tortured and murdered for their faith in Jesus. It goes on to this day, and it will until He returns.

Look again at vv. 14-15. When their time came to suffer and lay down their lives, every last one of those just mentioned knew precisely what to say for the glory of God. What a pro-mise that is! You don’t need to plan your defense. You don’t need to rehearse a script. You don’t need to worry that someone with a greater intellect or vocabulary will leave you with-out words. You will have the words; God will give them to you. And they will be words, “…which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.”
If you think Luke is a little unclear on this point, Mark is not.
Mark 13:11
11 “And when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit.”

The persecution of the church began in Acts 4 and will continue throughout the church age. The promise for us is this: Just as God gave Stephen the words he needed to say in Acts 7, so too will He give us the words when we need them. (back to Luke 21)
*Luke 21:16-17
16 “But you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,
17 and you will be hated by all on account of My name.”

By now you might be thinking, “Well, all right, I’ll be able to stand up under the onslaught when it comes from those who hate God and hate me, but how will I be able to stand up under it if it’s my own family and my friends?” I don’t know how, but God does know, and you will stand…and the Holy Spirit will give you the words.

You know how this worked out for Jesus’ followers, don’t you? Stephen died in Acts 7. By Acts 12 the first of the apostles, James, was executed by the Jews. Within a few short years Peter, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew (a.k.a. Nathanael), and the other James were all crucified. Thomas was killed with spears. Jesus’ half-brother James, Matthew, Mark, Simon, and Jude (a.k.a. Thaddaeus) were martyred. And shortly before 70 A.D., Paul was beheaded in Rome. Then Timothy was killed for his commitment to Christ. And so it went, and so it goes.

But the gospel was preached. And so it went, and so it continues to go. Listen, you and I can be stopped, but God’s truth cannot be stopped. You and I can die, but what we stand for cannot die. And with that come two more of the great promises of God.
*Luke 21:18-19
18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish.”
19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives.”

The word “perish” does not mean die. The Greek is “apŏllumi,” meaning to destroy fully and completely. We know that everyone, whether believer or unbeliever, will die. But believers will not perish. Believers will not be destroyed. Only unbelievers perish. Only unbelievers will be destroyed eternally in hell. Many modern translations try to soften the impact of “apollumi” by translating it “lost” instead of “perish.” But that just isn’t what Jesus is saying. Losing your car keys doesn’t destroy them, does it?

The promise for us in v. 18 is that no matter what the persecution is and no matter how long it may last or how severe it may be, God’s children will never be destroyed. Think of it this way: The worst that can happen to you will lead to the best that can happen to you.
Jesus says that very thing in v. 19. But here again, many modern translations can be some-what misleading because of the last word in the verse. It is “psuchē.” It can be translated “life,” but it literally means “soul.” The ultimate point (or promise) of v. 19 is that since Christians will not and cannot perish, they will be saved.

It’s not that you will gain and keep physical life; it’s that you will gain and keep eternal life. That is to say, you will endure. You will endure in the persecution, through the persecution, and when the persecution is over, and it will be, you will endure forever. This is what the martyrs knew and it is what every true Christian knows when facing the persecution that must come upon all of us who “…desire to live godly in Christ Jesus…(2 Timothy 3:12).”

So do you see? While God’s promises include some things we’d rather not have to face, His promises also include sure blessings of such magnitude and of such glory to come that we can hardly even imagine them. In Christ, you and I will be persecuted. In Christ, you and I will endure. And in Christ, you and I have the promises of God. We will never perish and we will live forever.
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IV. Conclusion
I want to conclude this morning with a list of just a few of God’s amazing, encouraging, and comforting promises to those He has chosen for eternal life and has saved. Are there really 3,573 promises in the Bible? I don’t know, but here are eight that will help you to endure when the persecution comes.
Deuteronomy 31:6 (Moses speaking)
6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

Isaiah 41:10-11 (God speaking through Isaiah)
10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing, and (they) will perish.

John 6:37 (Jesus speaking)
37 “All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

John 11:25-26
25 Jesus said to (Martha), “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Romans 5:8 (Paul speaking)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:28
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities (demons), nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Peter 5:6-7 (Peter speaking)
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

Now please take this thought with you. Both our persecution and our endurance have one overarching and eternal purpose – the glory of God. All and forever – the glory of God! So…
*1 Peter 4:12-16
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory (the Second Coming), you may rejoice with exaltation.
14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
15 By no means let any of you suffer as a murderer or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler;
16 but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not feel ashamed, but in that name (the name of Christ) let him glorify God.

~ Pray ~