Sermonette: Persecution

Sermonette: Persecution

#091s
Martin G. Collins
Given 28-Aug-93; 17 minutes

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description: (hide) I Peter was written around 64AD, a time persecution had reached an all time high after the burning of Rome. Peter wanted to encourage the besieged church in these critical times. Because of the need for secrecy during this time, rumors spread that this lunatic Jewish sect was engaged in cannibalism and sexual vice. Nero set fire to Rome (with the motive of building a new more glorious city) and then blamed the Christians. Christians have been subject to psychological abuse as well as the most horrendous tortures imaginable. The apostle Peter claimed that persecution is inevitable, and is ironically often triggered by good works (looked upon as weakness). It is God’s will that we do good works in the midst of persecution. We serve as a kind of conscience to the world. People have been persecuted for home schooling as the bizarre case of Peggy Williams of Michigan, who allegedly violated Michigan Department of Education "standards" resulting in her being dragged away from her home in the dead of night, strip-searched and thrown into jail. The Waco massacre by the federal government (under the auspices of Janet Reno and Bill Clinton) is another disgusting example of persecution in which federal agents used poisonous gas and then torched to death 83 people for NO reason except for President Clinton’s desire to scare people not to join any cults.