We must not get the impression that the Christian life is one continuous conflict, one unbroken irritating struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. A thousand times no. A heart that learns to die with Christ soon knows the blessed experience of rising with Him, and all the world’s persecutions cannot still the high note of holy joy that springs up in the soul that has become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
Persecution
Harold Eberle
People antagonistic to Christianity like to discuss the religious nut who thought he was doing God’s will by killing a family member. Indeed, there are such mentally deranged people out there, and they may be paraded on the nightly news. But let’s not let that oddity of news blind us from the fact that hundreds of thousands of people who deny God are selling drugs, working in gangs, and killing people on the streets. Very few of them are motivated by religious reasons.
A. W. Tozer
Wherever I am whatever I am doing I hope and pray to God that I will have the courage to stand up for the real Jesus of the New Testament regardless of whom I offend.
George Whitefield
If you are going to walk with Jesus Christ, you are going to be opposed. In our days, to be a true Christian is really to become a scandal.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
We are all fighting the same enemy. If you read through the Bible, you will find that. Read through the subsequent history of the Christian church, and you will find that God’s people in times of persecution have always been driven together and cemented together in a much closer manner than they had ever been at any other time. They are fighting the same common foe, so they draw together. And as Christians… it should have this effect upon us: we are aware of one another, and we draw closer together; our love for one another is increased because of our circumstances.
Katherine Walden
As I was falling asleep one night, I ‘heard’ the wail and weeping of hundreds of souls in deep travail. I asked God. “Who are these who weep so?” And God answered. “These are the cries of the persecuted church, who intercede for those Christians who live in freedom of faith and take it for granted.” My heart broke.
David Jeremiah
At times, like the apostle Paul, we will feel hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down (see verses 8–9). However, when we belong to Christ, we can be assured that we will not be crushed, left in despair, forsaken, or destroyed. This should serve as an incredible comfort to us all.
Francis A. Schaeffer
The Lord calls us to love all people, including those who are enemies of the gospel and those who blaspheme. This may not be comfortable, and it may not be easy, but this is the gospel of Christ, for He loved His enemies so much that He died to save us.
Havilah Cunnington
Your greatest test will be how you handle someone who mishandled you.
Billy Graham
Thousands of Christians compromise their faith in Jesus Christ by denying Him. Even some clergymen neglect or deliberately refuse to close a public prayer in the name of Jesus for fear of offending an unbeliever. They cannot endure the persecution that may follow an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ.