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2 Timothy 3:12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Persecution is a PROMISE

2 Timothy 3:12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Unwanted promise.Promise that guarantees persecution for serious believers in Jesus Christ.There is great blessing to those who desire to live godly lives.There are no exemptions.There are no exceptions.

Persecution is a NORM

Norm to those who want to live a godly life.It is an essential teaching he experienced it.Jesus taught about it.

2 Timothy 3:12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

2 Timothy 3:10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,

2 Timothy 3:11Persecutions, sufferings what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

Norm to those who want to live a godly life.It is an essential teaching he experienced it.Jesus taught about it.

John 15:20Remember the words I spoke to you: No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also

Stephen- They cast him out of the city and stoned him to death.James the Great (Son of Zebedee)- He was beheaded.

Philip- He was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified.Matthew- He was being slain with a halberd in the city of Nadabah.

James the Less- At the age of ninety-four he was beat and stoned by the Jews; and finally had his brains dashed out with a fullers club.

Matthias- He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded.

Matthias- He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded.

Andrew- He was taken and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground

Mark- He was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the great solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their merciless handsPeter- He was crucified upside-down.

Paul- He was beheaded.

Jude (The brother of James)- He was crucified.Bartholomew- He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters.

Thomas- He was martyred by being thrust through with a spear

Luke- He was hanged on an olive tree, by the idolatrous priests of Greece.

Simon (Surnamed Zelotes)- He was crucified.

Barnabas- He was stoned to death.

John (The Beloved)- He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.

Persecution is not just physical abuse but it can also be verbalCriticismsMockeryRejection

1 Corinthians 10:12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall!

1 Corinthians 10:13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Persecution INDICATES HEAVEN

The majority of time that the word persecution is used in the New Testament, it was translated from Greek verb DIOKO. It means to pursue to run after, follow after, follow eagerly, to press forward.

Persecution is not given to discourage us, it should not stop us from serving Christ, its not a difficulty that would hinder us, but it should STRENGTHEN us to pursue in our walk with Christ.

Matthew 5:10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

1 Timothy 6:11But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.