This study was first taught on December 13, 2020

Topic: After Persecution Failed

(use the audio to study)

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Background
Last week we saw how Satan planned to stymie the spread of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He used threats, incarceration, beatings, executions (death), entered into homes and hurled people away for trial and death in some cases. He also introduced ‘poison’ by spreading messages of error to counter the true gospel as well as to deceive the unsuspecting. In some nations, he made the conversion to Christianity illegal and punishable by death for both the preacher and the convert.

But as Satan seeks to stymie the spread of the gospel, the Lord has commanded that we spread of the gospel. And as Peter and John asked the Sanhedrin, said that they would rather obey God and spread the gospel, so must we regardless of the cost to our lives. Our actions or inaction will always show whether we are spreading the gospel or stymying it, and by that token if we are on the Lord’s side or Satan’s side.

Scripture Text(s)
Acts 4:14-21
As we take a deeper look at the goal of Satan, we can classify his strategy of threats, incarcerations, beating, executions, etc., as persecution. We observe from a wider perspective that even though Peter preached and souls were won in Acts 2, there was no harassment. But after the Acts 3 incident of the lame man walking and Peter and John preaching and winning 5,000 souls, they were harassed by the religious and political leaders of their day. Thereafter the persecution of the church escalated! Thus, we see that as God eased Israel into battle through the Way of the Wilderness rather than the Way of the Philistines, even so, God eases us into the challenges that we face in life.
For all the effort toward stymying the gospel through persecution, the gospel continued to spread in leaps and bounds. Even the Roman Emperor heard the gospel, as were Roman soldiers who guarded Paul and other Christians. It soon became clear that instead of stymying the gospel, persecution actually enabled the spread of the gospel because of the willingness of the Early Christians to endure hardship. However, Satan introduced another means, and this time it had a devastating effect, and it continues to wreak havoc in the Church of God.
Hebrews 10:32-35; Acts 20:22-24; 21:8-15; Colossians 4:3-4; 2 Timothy 2:8-10, 2, 3-4; Matthew 24:9-12; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 2 Timothy 4:1-4; Hebrews 11:24-26; Philippians 4:10-19; Amos 6:1; Jeremiah 7:1ff.

Conclusion
Since persecution became counter-productive to Satan’s goal of stymying the gospel, he used another tactic, the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel introduced teachings that encouraged believers to focus on the earth and the trappings of the world, rather than of the gospel and the attendant suffering and sacrifice needed to advance its cause thereof. The prosperity gospel made its adherents to become pleasure-seeking and pleasure-loving individuals, giving no care in the world for the things of God.

The church has thus become they that are at ease in Zion. But all is not lost. The situation is redeemable if we would repent, and turn from our wicked ways, and begin to meaningfully engage in the spread of the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ henceforth. May the Lord help us.

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