What You Should Do When You Are Persecuted For Christ’s Sake
You should rejoice and be exceedingly glad!
That’s what Jesus said you should do when you were persecuted for His sake.
Matthew 5:11-12 (KJV)
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Therefore being persecuted for doing what Jesus says or standing for Him is not something you should be ashamed of, but that which should make you feel really proud, because according to Jesus, your reward shall be great in heaven, so instead of feeling sad and sorry for yourself, you should make a joyful noise unto the Lord and shout hallelujah!
Although this may not make sense to the carnally minded, but that is because this saying was not meant for those of this world but those who are not of this world but of the Kingdom of God.
That’s the reason why Peter and John after they were arrested and beaten for preaching the Gospel according to what Jesus had commanded them to do, instead of feeling sorry and shame for themselves, they were instead rejoicing and thanking God for being worthy to suffer shame for Christ sake.
Acts 5:40-41 (KJV)
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
Such is the unusual kind of orientation of the leaders of the church in the Bible that I saw and was profoundly amazed and blown away
