Introduction: Last Sunday was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Today is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. As we consider the freedoms God has allowed us to have in this country, we have a lot to be thankful for.

Summary of Last Week’s Sermon:

1. Jesus taught us to react to mild personal persecution with patience, kindness and generosity (Matthew 5:38-42). “Turn the other cheek,” and “Don’t resist evil” apply only to these mild personal persecutions, not to criminal actions.

2. When persecution comes, we must go to prayer (Acts 12:1-4).

3. When persecution comes, we may stay and endure, or we may flee, depending on the circumstances and God’s leading (Acts 8:1-4).

4. We should use all our legal remedies to resist persecution, as did Paul on several occasions (Acts 21:37-40).

Today we examine three Biblical principles that will help us understand our strategy and tactics in defeating persecution.

I. The Christian’s role in “Battlefield Earth” is to be an aggressive force for God.

We are not to give up, hide in our fortresses, and pray for Jesus to come and rescue us. We are commanded by God to carry the battle to the enemy and to defeat him (Matthew 28:18-20; Matt. 5:13-16). Not just missionaries and pastors, but every Christian should so let Christ rule in his life that he affects all he touches and everyone he meets. Thus we will transform the arts, journalism, the sciences, the law, government and every area of life. Most Christians today wimp out and hide their light under a bushel basket, but that is not what Jesus wants us to do. The Apostles were accused of “turning the world upside down” in their generation. Luther and Calvin and the Reformers turned their world upside down. If we act with courage and devotion to Christ, we can turn our world upside down, too.

II. The Christian is required by God to defend himself, his family and his community against criminals.

A. According to the Westminster Larger Catechism, the sixth commandment (thou shalt not commit murder) requires us to “...preserve the life of ourselves and others by resisting all...which tends to the unjust taking away the life of any; (and) by just defense thereof against violence.”

B. The eighth commandment (Thou shalt not steal) requires us to “endeavor by all just and lawful means to procure, perserve, and further the wealth and outward estate of others, as well as our own.”

C. The Bible teaches us that good people may even bear arms and kill criminals that attack them (Exodus 22:2). Abraham is a good example of a man defending his family by force of arms (Genesis 14:14-15). Jesus taught that it was normal to be armed for defense (Luke 11:21 and 22:35-38). All of us don’t need to carry weapons, and we don’t need to have bazookas and rocket launchers, but Christians in general ought to have some weapons. We ought to know how to use weapons safely, and we ought to be willing to use them to defend ourselves, our families and our communities (Proverbs 24:10-12). Anyone in any country who murders a man simply because that man is a Christian is a criminal. We ought to defend ourselves against criminals, and we ought to require our government, and the other governments in the world to prosecute murderers. Christians in America ought to be doing more to rescue our persecuted brethren in ungodly nations where they are suffering. Our State Department is required by law to investigate persecution by foreign governments, and to apply sanctions against them. It is wrong for good people to let criminals have their way (Proverbs 25:26).

III. God requires governments to terrify the wicked and reward the just (Romans
12:17--13:5.)

A. God has laid down responsibilities for governments that are not usually to be taken up by private citizens (we are not speaking here of self-defense). According to Romans 12:19 we are not to "avenge ourselves." If you come home and find your home has been burgled, or that your loved one has been murdered, you are supposed to rely on your government for vengeance. Vengeance is God's work, and God has appointed police and soldiers to carry it out for Him (Romans 13:3-4). When certain soldiers got right with God, they came to John the Baptist, and asked Him what they should do. His answer: keep on being soldiers. Enforce the law. But, don't fight, don't lie, and be content with your wages (Luke 3:14).

B. Governments which become corrupt, and which do the opposite of Romans 13:3-4, and terrify the righteous, have lost the mandate of Heaven. They are no longer God's ministers, but Satan’s ministers. They are governments of criminals. God withdraws His support. God says that He regards them with contempt and anger (Psalm 2:4-5), and promises to break them in pieces (Psalm 2:9). Christians are not bound to submit to anti-Christ governments (Acts 4:18-30). Romans 13:5 says we obey because they are God's ministers. Christians who live under criminal governments which oppress the innocent, assist the wicked, and who imprison, kill or enslave the people of God, have a duty to try to overthrow their government, in obedience to God’s command to “Love your neighbor.” Hebrews 11:32-34 records as heroes of the Faith men who took up the sword to deliver Israel from wicked governments. It is no accident that the anti-Christ governments of today’s world forbid the preaching of the Word, and the importation and distribution of the Bible in their borders, because the Bible condemns them, and calls for their overthrow. Christianity and the principles of the Bible about government cannot co-exist with Communism, Islam or Totalitarianism in any form. The Bible promotes freedom and justice.

Conclusion: Jesus spoke concerning mild "persecution" in Matthew 5. There we should turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, pay no attention to minor law suits, and so on. On the other hand, major persecutions involve criminal injustice; and we have been commanded by God to care for our families, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. This means that criminals must be resisted and punished, and that rogue states must be put down, and legitimate governments set up in their stead, as the Lord gives us power to do so. We must not take up arms to convert the world to faith in Christ. People must come to Christ freely by the power of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. But we may take up arms, if necessary, to insure justice in the world, as God gives us power and opportunity. As a wise man once said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." God has not called His people to be pacifists, but to be salt and light. He has not called us to “circle the wagons,” but to move out and “make disciples of all the nations... teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. Amen.