Bible Study Weekly Recap - They Which Are Persecuted For Righteousness' Sake (Plus Bonus Facebook Links)
- jerrybaca18
- Aug 10
- 3 min read
By Jerry Baca
The ultimate form of persecution is to become a martyr for JESUS CHRIST. God uses persecution of the saints to further the Gospel. Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. I believe we saw a form of this when they killed Charlie Kirk. More people saw what Charlie was about after he died when they saw his videos and how he stood for Jesus. He reminded me of Stephen in the Bible who was stoned to death. Prior to Stephen’s martyrdom, the Bible says that they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. (Acts 6:10) These folks had major JDS, Jesus Derangement Syndrome. In Acts 7:57 it says, ‘then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord’. They couldn’t stand him.
After Jesus had healed a man with a withered arm, the Bible says they were filled with madness and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. JDS. (See Luke 6)
During this study, I mentioned a man named Richard Wurmbrand. He wrote a book called Tortured for Christ. He was a Romanian of Jewish descent. He became a Christian and a pastor. He spoke about the incompatibility of Communism and Christianity. He was put in prison and tortured for his faith in Christ. He met many other believers who were also persecuted and shared their testimonies in his book. I highly recommend this book and there is a movie about his life as well. He lived from 1909 to 2001 so there are videos on YouTube that you can look up and hear him in his own words. A mighty man of God.
In the book, he tells us about a pastor that was tortured with red hot iron pokers and with knives, as well as beaten and starved among other things. They could not compel him to betray his brethren, so they brought his 14-year-old son into the prison and in front of the pastor, whipped and beat the boy. The pastor couldn’t take it and cried to his son, “Alexander, I must say what they want! I can’t bear your beating anymore!” The son said, “Father, don’t do me the injustice of having a traitor as a parent. If they kill me, I will die with the words, “Jesus and my fatherland.’” The Communists, enraged, fell upon the child and beat him to death, with blood spattered over the walls of the cell. He died praising God. The pastor was never the same (Excerpt from Tortured for Christ).
This Bible study brings us to the top level of the Beatitudes. Be committed to Christ. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Love Jesus and be willing to die for him. Sometimes God prefers that we live for Him and not die. In those instances, we should be especially thankful and again still be willing in our hearts to do anything the Lord requires from us as Jesus always looks at the heart!
For those that missed it, you can see the PowerPoint and video of the study here (sorry it is a still a bit long this week, but we encourage you to watch if you have the time as it is the Grand Finale of the Beatitudes and a really important message):
Also, we have continued to assist Pastor Ray Cordova during his time away. We are supporting his ministry so if you get a chance to either come in person at 3050 East Desert Inn Suite 125 OR have a FaceBook account, I will be preaching Live until the end of this month at the church! Here are some Links from the services on 08/05/26 & 08/09/26:
Hope you enjoy and be sure to stay tuned for an upcoming series in September. We are planning to begin the second week of next month so enjoy some time on your own with God and family. Bessings!
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