The believers in Thessalonica faced great persecution. We see how the religious leaders treated the man who was allowing Paul to stay with him when Paul first came to Thessalonica.

Acts 17:5-9 (ESV) says, ”But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.“

‭‭Because of jealousy, these men, who were supposed to be followers of Yahweh, formed a mob. They set off to attack Paul. When they couldn’t find Paul they settled on dragging Jason, who had been hosting Paul in his home, to the council. I have no doubt these men hoped the council would sentence Jason to death. Instead they had to settle for bribery. Basically Jason paid the men so he could go home. 

As a result Paul writes to these believers in Thessalonica and says, ”And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.“ ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬

It Didn’t Stop

Make no mistake, the persecution didn’t stop just because Paul left. I am sure in many ways the persecution became greater once Paul left the area. Think about it. As long as Paul was there he would get the brunt of the persecution. However, once Paul was no longer there, that persecution turned to the citizens of Thessalonica who gave their lives to Jesus. I can imagine their own family and friends likely turned on them. Despite all the persecution they joyfully became an example to all the believers not only in Thessalonica, but in the regions of Macedonia and Achaia.

We Will Face Persecution Too

When we face persecution, we have a great opportunity to become an even greater witness to not just our persecutors, or even our friends and family, but to the people who live in our city and nation. I think of how just a few years ago the church as a whole faced great persecution. This persecution came in disguise as a pandemic. We were told that this virus was so bad we had to shut down the church meeting in person. We were made out to be grandma killers if we even questioned this logic.

Still, there were many leaders across the world who stood up for truth. The truth is that we were fed a pack of lies. After a while it didn’t take a genius to see that the agenda was to shut down the work of the Holy Spirit. After all, there were places where strip clubs opened, yet we were told that even singing might kill people.  

An Example In Canada

I think of pastors like Artur Pawlowski from Canada who stood up against the antichrist agenda. He faced tremendous persecution by the government in Canada. In fact he found himself in circumstances much like we see Paul went through in Acts. Artur was arrested and made to be a villain to the people in Canada. Because of his persecution, his fame grew. He became an example to people like me of how important it is to stand up for truth and obey God even above the government. 

There are heroes like Artur all across the world. I know of pastors in California who refused to be controlled by the government officials. They remained open, despite the threats. They did their homework, they prayed, and they chose obedience to God above obedience to men, whose only goal was domination. I believe these great leaders will reap a great reward for their brave actions. 

What Choice Will You Make

We may not find ourselves in predicaments like Artur Pawloski. We will likely find ourselves being forced to make the decision to side with the Word of God vs. the word of the world. We definitely find ourselves being forced to agree with what the Bible says about sexuality and biology or what the world wants us to believe about those subjects. Are you going to agree with God that sex is to be between one man and one woman who are married, and that people are born either a man or a woman and can never change that fact? 

On the flip side, are you going to come into agreement with the teaching of the world that it doesn’t matter who or how many people have sex with each other? Love is love as they say. Furthermore, people can be whoever they feel like on the inside. It doesn’t matter what that feeling says, it is their truth and we must agree with those feelings. 

What Will You Choose?

Which ideology are you going to stand for? What are you going to do when faced with someone who comes against you and demands you come into agreement with what they believe about these subjects? I believe we need to have a firm stance on these subjects. We need to know exactly what we believe and why we believe it so that we can stand firm when the persecution comes our way. I believe we show God’s love when we affirm what he says about them. It doesn’t matter if that person believes a lie, we show them love by telling them who they really are. Sometimes love means telling the truth even when the person doesn’t want to hear the truth. 

When persecution comes our way, remember it is in those moments we have the greatest testimony. We can choose to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to be joyful in all circumstances, even when we are treated unfairly because of our beliefs.