They Persecute Me Without Cause

Psalms 119:161-168 ESV

"Princes persecute me without cause,

    but my heart stands in awe of your words.

I rejoice at your word

    like one who finds great spoil.

I hate and abhor falsehood,

    but I love your law.

Seven times a day I praise you

    for your righteous rules.

Great peace have those who love your law;

    nothing can make them stumble.

I hope for your salvation, O Lord,

    and I do your commandments.

My soul keeps your testimonies;

    I love them exceedingly.

I keep your precepts and testimonies,

    for all my ways are before you."

In Ephesians 5:11 ESV we read: 

“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

Now, in context, this is in reference to those who are living in sexual immorality and in impurity but who are calling themselves Christians. This is about immorality going on within the church, and it is instructing us that this should not be. And then it is warning us that those who are living in sexual immorality and in impurity and in idolatry have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. For the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience, even those professing the name of Jesus.

And then we are instructed here that we are not to become partners with them, which isn’t just partners with individuals who are sinning against God deliberately and habitually, while claiming faith in Jesus Christ, but it is partners with those church fellowships where they are teaching that we can believe in Jesus and still live in sin and we will still go to heaven when we die, and those church congregations which are then coddling sinners in their sin and are giving them permission to keep on in their sins.

And this is where I am going to connect this passage in Ephesians 5 with the passage in Psalms 119. In the quote above we are instructed not only that we are not to take part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but that we are to expose them. We are not just to be the people of God who are spreading the Good News of the gospel of Christ, but we are to be those who are calling out the lies of the enemy which have infiltrated the church gatherings and which have deceived the people into believing they can keep sinning.

For when we obey the Lord in this, and so we are teaching the truth of the gospel, and we are calling the people to true repentance, to leaving their lives of sin behind them to follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands (New Covenant), and to living holy and morally pure lives, to the glory of God, and we also are exposing the lies and the fruitless deeds of darkness, we are going to face opposition. And much of that opposition is going to come from those who also profess faith in Jesus Christ.

And we may be persecuted without cause because we are exposing the lies and the works of darkness going on within the gatherings of the church. And this persecution may come in different forms. I have found that one way in which it is happening is that those of us who love the commandments of God and who hate lies and deception are being targeted for removal – removal from “church” gatherings, “church” small groups, and “Christian” websites, etc. One pastor told me he was warned about people like me, i.e. people with (biblical) “strong convictions.”

Since so much of what is called “church” here in America today has gone the way of the world and of big business, and so they are marketing “the church” to the people of the world, they are weeding out those of us who are still holding on to the tenets of the Christian faith and practice, and who are teaching repentance (turning from sin) and walking in obedience to our Lord, as required by God for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God. And this is because so many of them are teaching a diluted gospel message.

For they are teaching that we can make a once-in-our-lifetime decision to believe in Jesus (not usually biblically defined), and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die, and it can’t be taken away from us, regardless of how we live. But “regardless of how we live” is not what is taught in the Scriptures. The Scriptures teach that how we live impacts our salvation and our eternal life with God, and that if sin is what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

So, again, if we hold on to what the Scriptures teach, in context, with regard to our salvation and eternal life with God, and if that is what we share with others, and if we expose the lies of Satan, and we call out false doctrines, then we are going to be opposed and persecuted. But great peace have those of us who love and who obey the commandments of God under the New Covenant. Nothing can make us stumble, for the Lord and his Word are our support, regardless of how we are treated.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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