Persecution of Christians as a consequence of professing
their faith can be traced both historically and in the current era. Early
Christians were persecuted for their faith, at the hands of both Jews from
whose religion Christianity arose, and the Roman Empire which controlled much
of the land early Christianity was distributed across. This continued from the
1st century until the early 4th, when the religion was legalized by Constantine
I.
Christian missionaries as well as the neophytes that they
converted to Christianity have been the target of persecution, many times to
the point of being martyred for their faith. What we often fail to realize is
that there have been times in which individual Christian denominations
suffering persecution at the hands of other Christians under the charge of
heresy, particularly during the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The United
States was born out of this kind of persecution.
As painful as the reality of being persecuted by those outside
the faith, it is harder to take as a normal part of our Christian walk, when
that persecution comes from those that should know better. But most spiritual
abuse comes from people that can find justification for their accusations. Usually
by convincing themselves that they are simply trying to show the person that
they accuse the error of their ways. Or some even use the excuse that they are
exposing the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Most do not even realize that they are
doing anything wrong. In fact, many
ministries have been built over the shed blood of another person or ministry.
The scriptures reveal that there are two ministries which
continually go before the throne: Intercession and accusations. The conflict
these two is a focal point between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of
darkness. It is because God has chosen to make the church His dwelling place,
and therefore the place of His throne, it is in our own hearts that this battle
wages.
Jesus Said: “Always lives to make intercession” ( Hebrews
7:25) Since the fundamental nature of Jesus is to be an intercessor, a priest.
To the degree that we abide in Him Jesus will use us to intercede for others.
For this reason the church is called to be a “House of prayer for all nations” (Mark
11:17)
Satin is called the “accuser of the brethren .. Who accuses
them before God day and night”( Revelations 12:10) To the degree that he has a
hold of our own hearts, he will use us to accused others and condemn others. Like
the tree in the garden we can chose which tree we will park take of. For God has given us a free well.
But as wrong and painful as false accusations are, we have
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. As a result, “ Love covers a
multitude of sins” ( I Peter 4 :8) The majority of us still have things in our
own lives that He is helping us deal with. Therefore , it is up to us to learn
to forgive and move on!