2015.07.12_Why Do You Persecute Me?

Teach As Jesus Did if You Received the Holy Spirit

God is our living Father. For man, three functions called the spirit, soul and body work together to form one person. Since the body returns to dust at the end of its lifespan, it cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven. The one that can enter the kingdom of Heaven is the soul-spirit. Among those who will go into Heaven, there are some who will depart the flesh and rest in Paradise until the resurrection upon Christ’s return, while others will remain in the body and be transformed in a flash upon the return of Christ.

Jesus Christ is presently in Heaven. It was after He ascended into Heaven that He began sending the Holy Spirit to the believers (Jn 7:39). Just as He commanded His disciples not to leave the city of Jerusalem but to wait and receive the Holy Spirit, the eleven apostles and disciples received the Holy Spirit in Mark’s Upper Room, and the descent of the Holy Spirit still continues to this present time. If it was while Jesus was on the earth that the Eleven and other disciples received the Holy Spirit, then we might view the Holy Spirit’s descent upon them and upon us today as two different incidents. However it was after Jesus ascended into Heaven that the Holy Spirit first descended on the believers. Hence, there is no difference in the working of the Holy Spirit for the early church saints and us today.

If we, in our life of faith, don’t witness the miraculous signs and wonders that were actively present in the early church, it is not because the working of the Holy Spirit has changed since then but because we are ignoring the promise of God. The reason people do not fervently evangelize but blame the times saying, “It’s difficult to preach the Gospel in this generation”, is also that they do not acknowledge the working of the Holy Spirit which is always the same and unchanging. There were many similar times in the past when it was difficult for people to accept the Gospel. When we consider the persecution the early church saints encountered, we can even say there is relatively less persecution today.

If anyone received the Holy Spirit, he mustn’t blame the times but continue doing what Jesus has done. In the past, a great angel in Heaven guarded the throne with the name Jehovah and ruled over Israel. However all of God’s authority was given to God’s Son after He resurrected. After receiving all the authority of Heaven and earth, the Son of God commanded His disciples to teach and make disciples of all the nations (Matt 28:18-20).

We Repented of Our Sins Just As Jesus Taught Us

The first thing Jesus taught us to do is repentance (Matt 4:17). We are not those who selected Christianity out of many religions. When it comes to choices, it is not that we chose God first, but God chose us when we heard His message to repent and obeyed. A person without the experience of repentance cannot be seen as a true Christian.

Then what sins do we have to repent about? First of all, we must repent of our ignorance of God. We weren’t even aware of God’s existence in the past, and as result, we disobeyed God’s will and opposed His works. Though God was at work for our sake, we were acting as His enemies because we didn’t know God. This is called the original sin. Second, we must repent of our personal sins, that is, sins which we commit by following our flesh and carnal desires. Third, we must repent of our intrinsic sins. Because everyone has different backgrounds, personalities and interests, there is always the possibility for conflict and hostility between people as they live together. Jesus said that hatred towards one’s brother is murder even if he is not physically harmed. Therefore we must not ignore and leave hatred toward others in our hearts unsettled, but repent. Such sins that rise from one’s personality are called intrinsic sins.

Repentance means to transfer our sins upon Christ. In other words, there is no way for us to transfer our sins apart from Christ. Christ carried our sins and paid the price, and by acknowledging this truth, our sins have been placed upon Him. Thus whoever does not have Christ does not have the proof that his sins have been moved over. On the contrary, whoever has Christ has the assurance that his sins have been transferred to Him.

The Various Members of the Church Must Love One Another and Be United

The church is a gathering of people who received the forgiveness of sins through Christ. The church is the body of Christ, and Christ is the head of the church (Eph 5:23). Just as there are many parts in the body, the church is also made up of many diverse people (1 Co 12:12). Eyes, nose, lips, ears, hands, feet, etc are all members of the body. Each of them has different functions and features, and yet they all synchronize and interact harmoniously to form the body of Christ.

For instance, the hand says to the foot, “How come you’re always talking about your hope in Heaven but only tread the earth?” The foot then answers, “Then why are you always playing in mid-air while I am supporting the weight of the whole body?” In this way, every part has its own separate roles to play. What happens if the foot tries to imitate the arms like when we lift up our arms towards Heaven to praise God?

It is not right to criticize another member whose role is different to us. Just say that a person was eating a nice bowl of soup and the eyes say to the mouth, “Are you going to eat that all by yourself? Let me have some.” What would happen if that hot soup was poured on the eyes as it had requested? Since the eyes cannot eat but only see, and the mouth cannot see but eat, they have to cooperate and support each other. Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

In the church, there are zealous members as well as those who are not so; people who are quick in action and people who are not so swift. The former will probably get frustrated by the latter. Nevertheless, all of those members must synchronize and be united as one. Just as the disciples were all filled by the Holy Spirit together as one in Mark’s Upper Room at Pentecost, every member of the church must unite together and become one.

Whichever member it is, we have to realize that s/he is a person forgiven by the blood of Christ, that is, whose sins have been placed upon Christ. This person is Christ’s beloved, for whom He shed His blood. Moreover, this person is battling against sin to the point of bloodshed. Even if the world persecutes, we who are members of the same body must never hate or persecute him/her.

For the flesh which cannot inherit the kingdom of Heaven will eventually return to dust, the church is indeed our body. Since the church is Christ’s body, and we are the members of Christ, the church is in turn, our body (Jn 17:11-12). As the body of man is made up of many members, the church is our body comprised of various different functions.

This is something a pastor must be well aware of. As a person cleans, looks after and adorns his own body, the pastor must take care of the church with all of his heart. He must even manage his own facial expressions so that none of the church members will feel left out, because they can be affected positively or negatively by the expression of the pastor who shares his greeting with them. Some even fall into temptation because they feel that the pastor’s disposition is different towards them than to others. That is why the pastor always has to be very careful. While the members’ temperament is all so diverse, the pastor mustn’t ever dislike any one of them. It is difficult for a church to grow in number if there are members that the pastor dislikes. A pastor ought to regard the Lord’s beloved people as his own body.

Do Not Persecute the Lord

Paul was a teacher of the Law, who believed it was God’s will to bind and put away those that broke the Law. The one whom Saul tried to catch was not Jesus but those whom Jesus loved. Saul had never even met Jesus, and yet he heard a voice saying, “Why do you persecute me? I am Jesus whom are persecuting” (Ac 9:4-5). To persecute the beloved ones of Jesus is equivalent to persecuting Jesus.

Is there any member of the church whom you dislike? If yes, the Lord will ask, “Why do you persecute me?” Then you might ask, “Lord when did I ever persecute You?” But the Lord will answer, “I shed my blood for that person; I carried his sins. I loved him with all my life and poured the Holy Spirit on him. Why do you persecute him? By persecuting him, you are persecuting me.”

Just say a certain person was cleaning the church with the intention to serve the church. At that moment, he saw another person walking back and forth past him and says, “Why don’t you come and clean with me?” The person replies, “Oh, I’m a bit busy right now.” Then this person gets annoyed and says to himself, “What, don’t you think I’m a busy person as well?” However, if anyone volunteered to clean, he must do so with a joyful heart. He mustn’t resent others just because they are not the same as him.

We must take caution that we do not rashly spit words to other members. James 1:26 says, “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.” No matter how much a person prays or how great his faith is, one slip of his tongue can nullify his piety. Jesus also said, “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt 12:37). Out of the spring that praises God, must not proceed bitterness and slander against one’s brother.

There are some people who look on other church members with displeasure for having zeal in their faith lives. This was exactly how Cain felt in his heart when he murdered Abel whose offering God had accepted. While some give offering to God with all of their might, others criticize them. “I don’t understand why he gives so much offering. It’s unreasonable. Shouldn’t the pastor say something to him?” This is probably what Judas Iscariot thought when he criticized the woman who broke the alabaster jar of perfume for the Lord (Jn 12:5).

We mustn’t persecute the Lord. Though the Lord carried all of our sins, the sin of persecuting Him He did not bear. To persecute the Lord is an act of opposition against God. The members of the church must not persecute but encourage and support one another. Even if a person’s action is difficult to understand, we have to be understanding that he probably has a reason for doing so.

Our enemy is not people but the Devil. When Adam ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, God asked Adam, “Who told you that you were naked?” and to Eve He said, “What is this you have done?” Yet He didn’t ask anything to the serpent (Gen 3:11-14). This is because he is the source of sin. The Bible says that Cain sinned because he belonged to the evil one (1 Jn 3:12).

Cain was to rule over his sinful desire, but he didn’t have the Holy Spirit to help him do so, and in the end he was cursed. Now, the Holy Spirit abides inside us, and we need to control ourselves by the help of the Holy Spirit. We mustn’t persecute the Lord, but love the members of His body.