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[0:00] Within the last couple of days, there was another rather brazen attempt on the life of one of our law enforcement officers. He came very near succeeding in killing him in some miraculous fashion that I do not understand.

[0:18] I don't think anyone else does either. However, the officer, though severely wounded, was able to give chase to the perpetrator and return fire, and he has since been captured and made it rather clear that what he was doing was in support of and at the direction of the deity that Muslims call Allah.

[0:46] Of course, it was nothing more than one more incident of homegrown terrorism. It is a form of persecution. And what terrorism is designed to do is strike terror in the lives and hearts of people to make them afraid so that they will conform to whatever demands are made upon them, since they will be too afraid to do otherwise.

[1:16] So the whole concept of terrorism, which is a form of persecution, is designed to weaken the resolve of people so that they will comply with whatever the wishes are of the one who is conducting the persecution or the terrorism.

[1:34] This is almost as old as mankind. And we are going to somewhat examine by, I guess you would say, a dissection or an analysis of the phenomenon of persecution, which tends to reveal itself through two particular avenues, one of which is political persecution, and the other is religious persecution.

[2:03] In some cases, as is the case of Islam, they are combined. Because if you know anything about Islamic theology, there is no separation between government and religion in Islam.

[2:17] They are married one with the other. So, when terrorists any place in the world under the banner of Islam are perpetrating acts of persecution or terror, they are both religious and political.

[2:35] The ultimate desire for Islam is actually the same as the ultimate desire for Christianity.

[2:47] And that is to bring the entire world's population under the domination and control of the one whom they believe to be the rightful one to rule over all.

[3:03] And for Christians, we believe that is Jesus Christ, and that that is precisely what he is going to do in the plan and program of God. For Islam, they believe it is the 12th Imam.

[3:18] He is kind of like a Muslim Messiah for whom they are awaiting. I don't know if you recall or ever remember seeing Ahmadinejad, when he was president of Iran, address the United Nations a few years ago.

[3:38] And he made reference to the 12th Imam. And he went on and on about it before this august gathering of dignitaries from all over the world, representing all of the world's nations.

[3:52] And he went on this extemporaneous speech about the 12th Imam and about how he was coming and all the rest of it. And they just kind of sat there mesmerized, not quite able to believe what they were hearing.

[4:05] But that is the Islamic goal. And if you read the Koran and understand Islam, you will come to appreciate that in their view, Jesus Christ was a Muslim.

[4:22] Now, the scriptures make it quite clear that he was nothing of the kind. They even go so far as to say that Abraham, the father of both the Arab and the Jew, was a Muslim.

[4:33] And he, of course, was not either. But that does not keep them from making those claims. And they also claim that it was not Isaac whom Abraham offered, but it was Ishmael.

[4:46] That is another untruth that is not supported by the Bible. But as I pointed out to you, and as I mentioned again this morning in Sunday school class, you need to take into consideration that Muslims are not our enemy.

[5:04] As I have told you times past, they are the captives of the enemy. And their eyes are blinded by the God of this world, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, which is the image of God, should shine unto them.

[5:20] 1 Corinthians 4 and verses 1 through 4. When you read the testimony of men like Nabiul Qureshi, who was a former medical doctor and practitioner of Islam, how he came to faith in Christ, his explanation of it, his understanding of his native faith, which, of course, was Islam, it's quite enlightening, to say the least.

[5:44] And there are, of course, many other testimonies of that kind. So this is what we are up against today. The battle is on. It is not a new battle. It just takes some newer forms.

[5:56] But it's an age-old battle. And it is all due to people trying to dominate other people and control other people. It has been around for as long as man has been around, and it will continue.

[6:13] So, if I may, and I'm going to try, I guess I'm not too optimistic about a Q&A today. I would like to do that, but we probably won't have time.

[6:25] But I'll hurry through this as much as I can, and we'll have a Q&A if I'm able to pull it off. But I'll probably hog all the time again, and you won't get one. So, let me start with some propositions for you to consider.

[6:41] And much of this is going to be review and repetition, but I'm not apologizing for it, because that's the way I have learned most things, is by going over it again and again and again.

[6:52] And I want you to learn these principles, not simply so that you will remember them. I want you to learn them so well you won't be able to forget them, because they are that important.

[7:06] So, here we go. No ethnic group or race of people has experienced and endured such significant and oftentimes brutal persecution as have the Jewish people, the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[7:24] Rather than the persecution destroying them, as was often the goal of the persecutors, it resulted in their strengthening them. No people in all of human history has exhibited or equaled the resolve and resilience of the Jewish people.

[7:43] And no singular group of people have been able to contribute so much to a world bent on their destruction as the Jew. This is demonstrated in the frequently repeated statistic I have given you over the past year.

[7:59] Here, we have stated the undeniable fact that although the Jewish people worldwide constitutes a mere two-tenths of one percent of the world's population, they have nonetheless garnered a stunning 20 percent of the world's Nobel Prize winners.

[8:19] And this, while sometimes on the run for their lives or being under substandard conditions of isolation and deprivation. What is going on here?

[8:33] God is what is going on here. Because God has promised to Abraham and his seed that they are, in fact, a chosen people, the apple of God's eye, and that they would undergo perpetual displacement as an oft-realized refugee on the earth.

[8:51] Yet, despite their alienation and persecution by the world communities, they would be sustained and one day be regathered to the land God originally gave them.

[9:03] It is not a coincidence these people have been referred to as the wandering Jew. Briefly, we have noted that their persecution began in earnest at the hand of the Egyptians.

[9:16] And the Egyptians paid dearly for that. Since God had promised he would bless those who bless the Jews and curse those who curse the Jews, Egypt saw that fulfilled.

[9:29] And when they blessed the Jews, as they did with Joseph, God blessed Egypt, as the years of famine and plenty would prove. And Joseph's leadership resulted in the salvation of Egypt.

[9:41] But when a pharaoh rose up that knew not Joseph, the Egyptians feared the multiplying Jews and began to curse the Israelites with hard labor and the destruction of the male Jewish babies at birth.

[9:56] God subsequently cursed the Egyptians with their destruction at the Red Sea. Upon entering the land of Canaan, the Jews were subjected to numerous attempts to subdue and seduce them with paganism and idolatry.

[10:11] A chief enemy was the Philistines, at one time led by Goliath of Gath, who was summarily dispatched by David the shepherd lad, who would one day be king of Israel.

[10:25] The Jews survived the opposition without, by David subduing all their surrounding enemies. But they would not survive the enemy from within, which led them into moral and spiritual corruption, leading to a gross idolatry of their own.

[10:46] True to form, the Lord God Jehovah chastened and disciplined his people with an equally idolatrous nation in the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar.

[10:57] And in accord with the judgment prophesied by Jeremiah and other prophets, the Jews would be led into captivity, where they would languish for seventy years, until the idolatrous generation died off, and God would bring his people back to the land he had given them, under Ezra and Nehemiah.

[11:18] Prior to that, however, they would endure another attempt to utterly destroy the nation at the hands of the Persians, under which wicked Haman, only to be rescued, through the bravery of a Jewish woman named Esther.

[11:34] Once back in the land, and thriving again, an invasion would eventually occur under the newly arisen Greek Empire, conquering everything and everyone in sight, as it was led by Alexander the Great.

[11:48] Israel would again revolt against its enemies, in what would be called the protracted war, led by Judas Maccabeus, later be called the War of the Maccabees.

[12:02] This occurred during the intertestamental period, that is, the 400 years that lapsed between the writing of the Old and New Testament. And this is why you don't read anything in either of the Testaments about Judas Maccabeus and his seven sons, and the revolt of the Maccabees against their Greek captors.

[12:23] Because these events happened between the time period of the Old and New Testament being completed, a period of about four centuries. So the Maccabees fit into that, and if you want some reference or some history regarding it, you need to consult the Apocrypha that deals with the subject of 1st and 2nd Maccabees.

[12:48] The Greek Empire would then be overtaken by the formidable victories and domination of the newest kid on the European block, and they are called the Romans.

[13:01] By the time Jesus is born in Bethlehem, Rome is solidly entrenched as the only and undisputed superpower in all of the then-known world.

[13:15] And all of this brings us to where we are now in our ongoing study of the Jewish final solution to the world's problems. The establishment Jewish hierarchy.

[13:28] Now this is during the time period that our Lord was here on earth, those three years or so plus. There was then the establishment of a Jewish hierarchy consisting of the ruling class of Sadducees and Pharisees, the priestly class, the high priest, and so on.

[13:47] And they were willing to persecute and eliminate Jesus of Nazareth, and in doing so, they would keep the Roman authorities off their back.

[14:02] There was an uneasy and forced alliance in place between the conquered Jews and the conquering Romans. Neither trusted the other, and each hated the other.

[14:17] You need to understand the political dynamic that was taking place during the earthly life of Christ and the occupation of Rome. And here's the way the situation worked. Rome had virtually conquered everything and everyone in their path.

[14:32] And she deposited troops of occupation wherever they had conquered land with the intent of ruling over that land with government authorities appointed from Rome.

[14:46] And their responsibility would be to keep the Pax Romana. That's the peace of Rome. And to extract from the population, wherever that might have been, taxes, tribute.

[15:02] And the Jews, of course, were forced to pay tribute to Rome. This was the point of discussion. Remember, when they asked Jesus, is it lawful to pay tribute or taxes to Rome or not?

[15:13] And he asked for the coin and said, whose superscription is this? This is all tied in with this. And while Rome occupied with a heavy hand the nation of Israel, Rome was willing to give a certain amount of leverage and authority to the ruling class of the Jews with the intent that if you let them have some leverage, they will be an easier people to control.

[15:43] So they actually entered into a kind of league with the ruling class of the Jews. And what this amounted to, as far as most of the Jews was concerned, was nothing more than a sellout on the part of the religious establishment to the likes of Rome.

[16:03] And of course, Rome was so deeply hated by all of the Jews because they were intensely idolatrous, paganistic, worshipped many gods.

[16:14] They were polytheistic. And the Jews, of course, were distinguished from all of the others in the world because they were the only ones who validated just one true God.

[16:25] So they were kind of at loggerheads. And the chief priests literally were like turncoats. They were feathering their own nest. They wanted to maintain their position of power and influence and domination over the people.

[16:41] But they would have to do so under the authority and permission of Rome. And of course, they hated Rome for that. But they were willing to take whatever liberties Rome would grant them in order to maintain their position of cushiness and power and influence.

[16:58] In other words, it's business as usual. Nothing has changed. This is just human nature. France did the same thing in World War II. When Hitler marched into Paris, a Vichy government was established.

[17:15] This Vichy government was a government that was headed by Frenchmen. Frenchmen who sold out their own people and made an alliance with the Germans.

[17:28] And the average Frenchman hated the Vichy government with a passion because they saw them as traitors. And the Nazis, of course, used them and dictated terms to them.

[17:41] And while Nazi occupation was going on in France, these collaborators, the Vichy government, they were the king of the hill. And they fared well under Nazi domination.

[17:54] So you've got a similar kind of situation taking place 2,000 years earlier in ancient Israel where the religious establishment had for all practical purposes sold out their own people.

[18:09] And of course, the people hated the religious establishment. And the religious establishment hated Jesus because he was in league with the common people and that made him a leadership threat as far as they were concerned.

[18:26] So this tension is going to be in existence almost from the very beginning. And it will, of course, culminate temporarily, at least, in the crucifixion of Christ when the Jewish religious establishment will be relieved and think, aha, at last, we got him.

[18:45] That's over and done with. But they had no idea what was going to happen three days later, did they? So, Rome ruled the world and prided itself in the Pax Romana.

[19:01] And that simply means the peace of Rome. And the peace of Rome, of course, what that essentially means is that peace, that Rome, Rome brought peace to the world.

[19:17] It did. because it completely destroyed all opposition. So, everything that was left submitted to the authority of Rome and when you have all of your subjects in submission, what do you have?

[19:32] You have peace. You have peace. This, by the way, is where there's a lot of confusion with modern-day Islam. I'll never forget the real boner that our former president, George W. Bush, pulled, when, probably listening to his advisors without checking the facts himself, right after 9-11 occurred, said, Islam means peace.

[20:01] Islam is a religion of peace. Mr. President, you have misspoken. It does not mean peace. The very word Islam means submission.

[20:14] Submission. It doesn't mean peace. Peace is the consequence of submission. When you lay down your arms and you're no longer struggling and you're no longer fighting and the conflict is over and you've surrendered, that's peace.

[20:32] That's peace. That is the goal of Islam is to defeat all opposition and then, yeah, then we'll have peace. this follows every war that has ever been fought because, like General Curtis LeMay used to say, war is all about killing people.

[20:55] And when enough people have been killed, the war is over. That's the way it's always been. That's the way it is today. Nothing has changed.

[21:06] So, any conquered people living under Roman authority paid a very dear price for daring to revolt against Rome's authority.

[21:22] Rome had a history of dealing with rebellion in a very brutal and overwhelming way as a lesson to all who even thought about resisting them.

[21:35] This was the rationale behind execution by crucifixion. A very graphic way to die.

[21:49] There were times when literally thousands were crucified and their crosses lined the highway for miles. I don't know about you, I can't even imagine a scene like that.

[22:06] Can you imagine crosses side by side with quivering naked bodies upon them numbering in the thousands? Are you serious?

[22:20] This is not opinion. This is documented history. You can look it up. You can find it online. Would that make an impression on people?

[22:33] Would that not convince people, listen, you better stay in your place. You better forget about trying to get up an army or sabotage Rome or try to oppose them anyway.

[22:46] You'd better stay in line or that's what's going to happen to you. There will be a cross for you. that was the mentality that existed during the time of Christ.

[23:03] So, what we have here in the Gospels prior to the crucifixion of Christ are Jews who are persecuting their fellow countrymen of Jews, partly in order to keep the Romans at bay.

[23:18] And I've got to ask you to turn to John's Gospel chapter 11 and I want you to see in a few telltale verses here exactly how this has played out. And if there was any doubt this certainly ought to remove it because I think it's very clearly stated.

[23:32] I'm talking about John's Gospel chapter 11 and this follows in connection with the incident of our Lord bringing Lazarus back to dead, back from the dead back to life again.

[23:46] It's in John chapter 11. And I'd like to, without reading the whole context, may I just remind you that Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead and of course they're talking about it and so on and in verse 44 is where it actually happens and Jesus says unbind him and let him go.

[24:10] And then if we may begin reading in verse 45, many therefore of the Jews who had come to Mary and beheld what he, that is Jesus, had done believed in him.

[24:23] It would be pretty hard not to, wouldn't it, under these circumstances. They believed in Jesus. But, and there is almost always the but, but, some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

[24:48] Therefore, the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council. They put out the word and said, we need to get together. We've got to decide some kind of a game plan.

[25:00] How are we going to counter this thing? This is what's being said about Jesus, that he brought somebody back from the dead. What are we going to do about this? They said, what are we doing?

[25:13] For this man is performing, meaning Jesus of course, many signs. If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him.

[25:30] But would that be so bad? Well, what would happen if all men, and they're talking about the Israeli population, they're talking about Jews who have already had it up to here with their own Jewish authorities, and they've long since had it up to here with the Romans who have invaded them and are occupying them.

[25:55] And if this Jesus person becomes the catalyst and all of these Jews who believe on him start surrounding him and supporting him and following him, what's going to be the outcome of that?

[26:12] They knew their own people well enough to know, listen, these people are going to be emboldened, they're going to get frisky, they're going to get patriotic, they're going to be more and more resentful against us and the Romans, and we do know which side our bread is buttered on, so we had better take care of this thing now.

[26:39] And look at what happens. All men will believe in him and the Romans will come. What does that mean? Will come?

[26:50] They were already there. It just means they will come to where we are, where our councils is, where our position is, where our headquarters is. They will come and relieve us of duty, of all responsibility.

[27:04] They will fire us. They will put us out of office. They will make us like one of the common people. They will tell us, listen, we charged you with the responsibility of keeping your people in line, and if you can't do it, we'll get someone who will, and they'll fire them, execute them, or throw them out of office.

[27:27] They knew full well what they were doing. That's what is going to make this persecution both religious and political. They are intertwined. The Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.

[27:43] Well, they were already occupying the nation, but a certain one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, you know nothing at all.

[27:54] In other words, Caiaphas says, listen, you're not looking at this thing in the right way. Don't you people know anything? Can't you see what needs to be done here?

[28:05] Isn't it really plain to you? Do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation should not perish?

[28:18] All he's saying is we need a sacrificial lamb and we've got one. We'll kill him. That'll be the end of that.

[28:31] It's a whole lot easier to just kill one man than it is to have to deal with the whole nation of Rome who's intent on taking away our position and our authority. So the text says he did not say this on his own initiative but being high priest that year he prophesied even unwillingly unwittingly that Jesus was going to die for the nation and not for the nation only but that he might also gather together into one the children of God who were scattered abroad and of course Caiaphas had no idea about that at all.

[29:09] But the clincher is in verse 53. So from that day on they planned together to kill him. At this council that they convened a big bullseye was drawn on the back of Jesus the Messiah and all they are going to be looking for is an opportunity to arrest him.

[29:36] but they have to be careful how they do that because they can't arrest Jesus publicly. You know when he goes to the temple and is teaching there's a huge crowd of people there and these commoners these stupid peasants they don't know any better than to just believe what Jesus says.

[29:55] They don't have any sophistication about the law like we do and they will ally themselves with him and that will create real problems for us with the Romans.

[30:09] So we just need to take care of him. We have to be careful how we do it because if we try to arrest him in public all of those people all of those peons who are hanging on every word he says they will revolt.

[30:23] they will rise up against us they'll get bodily and physically and it could be a very nasty scene. Then the Roman guards will come running in and it'll be a big mess. We need to find some way to arrest him on the fly.

[30:43] Enter Judas Iscariot. I can tell you where he will be and when he will be there and you can bring your people and take him to three o'clock in the morning when the whole city is asleep.

[31:05] You won't have to worry about any riot. We'll just arrest him quietly and take him into custody and it'll be all over before people can organize or do anything or say anything about it.

[31:18] Plans sound like a flawless idea. So from that day on they planned together to kill him. And you know what? They planned their work and they worked their plan and it worked.

[31:36] Objective accomplished. Mission accomplished. And indeed they did kill him. But as I said they had no idea what was going to happen three days later. Now would you hurry with me please to the book of Acts right next to John's gospel where we were for just a few moments.

[31:54] The book of Acts chapter 4 and I want to be as brief as I can and yet get this content in because it's all part and parcel of the same package.

[32:05] Here we have after the crucifixion and after the resurrection the first persecution of the apostles. Jesus has already ascended.

[32:18] This is a few months after the crucifixion and resurrection. And in chapter 4 maybe be more accurate to say a few weeks rather than a few months.

[32:31] And in chapter 4 in verse 1 as they were speaking to the people the priests and the captain of the temple guard. These are all Jews.

[32:43] The captain of the temple guard was a Jew. And the Sadducees more Jews came upon them being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

[32:58] We thought we were through with this guy. Now they're saying he's come back from the dead. Here we go again. So what are they going to do? They're going to tighten the screws of persecution.

[33:10] They are going to explain to these common people who insist that Jesus has been risen from the dead. They're going to explain to them the dangers of holding that position and propagating it.

[33:23] And they're going to do it of course not through logic or rhetoric or debate. They're going to do it through violence, through persecution. they laid hands on them.

[33:37] This is physical as you can get. Put them in jail until the next day. It was already evening. So this is the first persecution of the apostles after the crucifixion and resurrection.

[33:50] And if you come over to chapter 5 and those of you with Schofield Bibles can appreciate this because Dr. Schofield outlined it for us. And in chapter 5 and verse 17 we have the beginning of the second persecution.

[34:05] And it reads the high priest rose up. Now these are all Jews. And what we've got here is a situation that has to be understood. These are not Jews persecuting Christians.

[34:17] These are Jews persecuting Jews. And they are all Jews. But these Jews on the receiving end of persecution are not at all what we would call Christians because they will not be identified as such until Antioch later on.

[34:31] These are more correctly referred to as Jews who had come to the conviction that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel.

[34:44] But they are all Jews. So the distinction is between believing Jews and unbelieving Jews. This persecution is Jew on Jew. And it's important that you understand that.

[34:56] And beginning in chapter 5 and verse 17 the high priest rose up along with his associates that is the sect of the Sadducees and they were filled with jealousy. And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail.

[35:10] This is just another expression of persecution. They've imprisoned them. And the angel of the Lord of course miraculously released them. But so far we've got two persecutions underway.

[35:23] And if you come to Acts chapter 6 Acts chapter 6 across the page and verse 8 and Stephen full of grace and power was performing great wonders and signs among the people.

[35:49] But some men from what was called the synagogue of the freedmen including both Cyrenians and Alexandrians came from Cilicia rose up and argued with Stephen.

[36:00] They were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking and they secretly induced men to say we have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.

[36:14] These of course are just trumped up false charges but they were very serious charges. They were charges of blasphemy and under Jewish law blasphemy was punishable by death and we know that's how Stephen's life was going to end.

[36:29] It would be under a hail of stones that would crush his body to death until he dies. So that's the third persecution and it continues into Acts chapter 8 Acts chapter 8 and verse 1 and look at who's here.

[36:58] Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him, that is Stephen, to death and on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered running for their lives fearing, running in every which direction you can imagine just trying to get out.

[37:23] You know what these are? These are refugees. These are refugees who are fleeing for their life because of the persecution. Do we know anything about that today?

[37:35] We certainly do, don't we? So what has changed? Essentially nothing. Now when all of this persecution is going on, I want you to understand the dynamics here.

[37:46] When all of this persecution is going on, who is it that's being persecuted? Jews. Who's doing the persecution? Jews. Where are the Romans in this?

[37:58] Romans are absent. They're there. they're still in charge. They're still in power. But they are not involving themselves in this persecution thing of Jew on Jew because they see this as strictly a religious thing.

[38:13] Ah, it's just those crazy Jews fighting over their religion against among themselves. We got nothing to do with that. And as long as they don't disturb the peace of Rome here, we don't care what they do. That was their attitude.

[38:25] But they were there. So it's very important to note, this is Jew upon Jew. And the chief persecutor of the Jews was Saul of Tarsus.

[38:37] I tend to think of Saul as being the world's first Gestapo agent. It wasn't the Germans who came up with that. It was Saul of Tarsus. He would enter into people's houses sometimes in the middle of the night and drag them off in chains and imprison them.

[38:56] And some were put to death. And he later attests to that and expresses shame and heartache over having done it. But he said, I did it ignorantly and in unbelief.

[39:07] Folks, that will just show you how rabid and how extreme misguided convictions can go.

[39:18] And that's exactly what we have today with this thing called ISIS and militant Islam. It is nothing more than people being persuaded of something being true when it isn't.

[39:34] But they still act on it. And they carry out 9-11. And they carry out San Bernardino. And they carry out who knows what else is coming in France, Germany, things are happening there.

[39:53] All of this has taken place. So Saul of Tarsus became the chief persecutor. He continued by way of Jew on Jew exclusively arresting, interrogating, jailing, beating, and putting to death fellow Jews who believed in Jesus.

[40:12] But we know all of this would gloriously change in Acts chapter 9 which recounts the conversion of Saul of Tarsus and it was catastrophic in terms of its importance.

[40:26] And his subsequent assignment to be the apostle to the Gentiles or to the non-Jews. And now this one who was persecuting and imprisoning his own countrymen before, he is now charged with trying to get non-Jews to believe in Jesus Christ which was the very reason he had been persecuting his fellow Jews.

[40:51] Isn't that a curious twist? And he is designated as the apostle to the Gentiles. Man. Well, this helped to take the pressure off of believing Jews, at least as far as the activity of Saul was concerned.

[41:09] And these items all occurred within a few years after the crucifixion of Christ. So I want to close with just these observations having to do with persecution.

[41:21] Persecution has always been a key factor in human history. The whole rationale behind the acts of persecution has always been to force compliance of thought and deeds of one group to that of a greater group.

[41:40] This is why the mantra, if you can call it that, of Islam today is you convert to Islam and if you won't convert to Islam, we may let you live if you agree to pay heavy taxes and subject yourself to inferior treatment as a resident of our country.

[42:06] And if we choose not to let you live and you choose not to convert to Islam, we are perfectly within our rights and acting under the orders of Allah as stated in the Quran, to kill you and we'll cut your head off.

[42:30] That's their brand of persecution. persecution. The word persecute and prosecute come from the same term.

[42:41] It literally means to hound, chase, or pursue as a dog would pursue its prey.

[42:52] prey. Like you turn a hunting dog loose on a wild animal and he goes after it sniffing and hunting and searching and never giving up until he finds the prey.

[43:06] That's the context and meaning, the picture that is created by the word persecute and prosecute. Because when a prosecutor is trying a case in court, he is doing the best he can to nail that one who has been indicted with a charge of guilty.

[43:26] And he pursues. How does he pursue? He pursues by collecting all of the evidence that he can and he marshals all of that evidence together and he tries to present a compelling case to the jury as to why all of this evidence indicates that this individual is guilty.

[43:43] He is pursuing him, prosecuting him, in that court of law and is using the evidence to do it. So there is a legitimate means for that and of course a no legitimate means.

[43:55] The persecutors are those who are in control and usually in the majority seeking to gain the submission of those who do not agree with them and thus constitute an obstacle to gaining the unanimity wanted by the majority.

[44:12] Persecution may be based on political or religious motivation. Politics relates to things temporal. Religion relates to things eternal such as those found among Jews, Christians, Muslims, and Hindus.

[44:32] Persecution in essence is all about power. Obtaining it and maintaining it and increasing it because gaining power, whether political or religious, gaining power tends to translate into security.

[44:55] Particularly security of one's position, prestige, perks, and influence. people. And this was true in the case of John 11 and the religious rulers who were willing to execute Jesus to provide for their own security.

[45:16] That's exactly how they reasoned it would be done. This persecution was limited to Jew on Jew. It would consist of Jewish religious establishment against Jesus of Nazareth and his disciples.

[45:34] So, once you get out of the scriptures and into secular history, which we will undertake in our next session or two, it will be imperative that we understand how the Jew is going to be regarded by early Christians believers.

[45:58] Not early Jewish believers, but early Gentile believers. And these early Gentile believers, this is really critical stuff, these early Gentile believers are going to morph into the Roman Catholic Church.

[46:25] Jewish and their attitude and treatment toward the Jew, who will still be in unbelief during the second and third century, it's going to be a real lesson we would rather not have to learn.

[46:48] It's going to be very ugly. today, we're going to see a counterpart of what is taking place right now and the big debate that goes on daily and the refusal of President Obama to identify the persecutors and the terrorists as Muslim.

[47:13] You know, that's an argument that has raged on for a few years now. And the reason he will not call these Islamic terrorists is the same reason that we Christians don't want to call the early persecutors of the Jews Christians.

[47:39] We would say their persecution of the Jew, the second and third century, and that will be perpetuated on for centuries later and highlighted under the ministry and influence of Martin Luther, we would say that is not a true representation of Christianity at all.

[48:02] These people hijacked Christianity and turned it into something that Jesus Christ never intended to be. And do you know what? That's pretty much on the money.

[48:13] that is pretty much on the money. Established Christendom has a lot to answer for in regard to our treatment of the Jew.

[48:27] And I'm satisfied that some of those who were dishing out the severest persecution against the Jew, some of them really were true believers.

[48:39] They just didn't know any better. they didn't know anything about the progressive revelation of scripture.

[48:54] And the implications of that are going to be really, really stunning. There are going to be some things and places where you and I are going to have to kind of hang our heads in shame over what has been done in the name of Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ had nothing whatever to do with.

[49:14] And we'll look at the tension between what he did order and what he did command and how that was misinterpreted and carried out by those who named the name of Christ.

[49:27] And it's a pretty ugly business, but it's one you need to know. It is something that we need to acknowledge for the Jewish people today.

[49:42] Well, I told you, I warned you up front, I'd probably hog the whole time and we wouldn't have time for Q&A, so it is. But perhaps we could do this, perhaps next Sunday.

[49:56] And Marie, if you would be so kind as to remind me, next Sunday, let's begin. Let's begin with Q&A. That way I know you'll get it in, okay?

[50:07] And I won't have an opportunity to take all the time. So next, if you've got questions, formulate them and be prepared to answer them or ask them. Yeah, be prepared to answer them too.

[50:19] Someone has said, I think I got this from Jim Jordan. Don't ever ask a question that you don't already have the answer to. Well, I don't know. You won't have to apply that in this case.

[50:31] This is not a courtroom or a house hearing, so it wouldn't apply here. But anyway, what we're doing is we're looking for truth. We're trying to find answers that are those that really relate to reality.

[50:49] So... Well, this has been a very fast-moving journey this morning, and I trust we were able to put it together in some kind of a meaningful way. Would you stand, please? Father, we recognize that in all that we've expressed, there is still so very much that we don't understand and don't know about.

[51:10] There are other vital things that enter into this picture of history that escape us. They don't escape you, and you were able to take all of those into consideration, and you were able to orchestrate everything that we don't even know about, into a plan that you have devised that is absolutely perfect, and we take great comfort in that.

[51:31] Most of all, we thank you that even though ignorance tends to be our forte for all of us, we don't have to remain in ignorance because you've provided the enlightenment that is needed, and it is the entrance of your words that give light, and we are so grateful.

[51:50] Now, help us to be responsive to that light, and carry out whatever it dictates in an honest and a genuine way to honor you and our fellow human beings whom you have created in your likeness and image.

[52:07]  In Christ's name we pray. Amen.