The Strange Occult Secret of Christian Persecution

Message Of The Week – From the Book of Acts, an amazing phrase coined by a pagan and yet has everything to do with your walk – and even the cultures and times in which you live.

Monday, October 30, 2023 – Cheap Wine and Priceless Love

Song of Solomon 1:2 says, “Ki tovim dodecha mi’yayin.” “For your love is better than wine.” What’s the difference between love and wine? Wine is bought and can be expensive, but you can’t buy love, it’s free. The bride’s saying, “nothing I could buy is even worthy to be compared with your love.” As Messiah’s bride, we’re to have the same heart. Too often we run after things we can touch, taste, smell and purchase. But it’s not even worthy of being compared to God’s love. The love of God is always free. There’s nothing we can do to earn it. But don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s cheap. The love of God is free not because it’s worthless, but because it’s priceless. All the worldly treasures we labor after mean nothing, compared to the love of God. The love of God is free because it’s beyond price. His loving kindness is better than life. So set your heart on daily receiving the treasures of heaven; the riches of His love that the world can’t contain. Then you as His bride can say, “Your love is better than wine.”

It was a clash of kingdoms, Rome, the Roman empire, and Israel or the kingdom of god.
Caesar, on one hand, Messiah on the other.
In the year, 303.
The Roman emperor diocletian, along with his co emperors, launch what would be known as the great persecution of Christians.
He issued a number of edicts that removed all legal rights from Christians.
This is the greatest persecution in the Roman empire. He required Christians to offer sacrifices to the gods.
He targeted ministers. The property of Christians was confiscated. Christians were arrested ministers, especially.
The prisons became so full of Christians and ministers that the Romans had to release criminals to make room for them.
The imprisoned Christians were given the choice.
Offer up sacrifices to our gods, or you will stay imprisoned or we will kill you.
And there were believers who compromised and gave in offered up sacrifices. Most did not.
As far as we know, but though there were those, a good many who did.
Believers were killed for their faith. Some were burned alive.
In the hills of the Ionian coast of modern day turkey are the ruins of an ancient temple, the temple of Apollo of Didema.
And the temple was an oracle, a woman, a priestess, who is said to be possessed by the gods.
She would go into trance’s shake and and writhe, and and people would seek revelation from the gods to come out of her mouth She would give answers.
At the end of the year, 302, the emperor sent a representative to the temple of Apollo to the oracle and asked to inquire from the gods, the question, should I launched this persecution against the Christians.
The oracle’s answer told him, yes. Do it.
And so the greatest persecution of Christians in the Roman empire was launched by a possessed woman channeling the spirits said to be the god, Apollo, and others.
You know, it’s goals with what we shared last week.
When I shared the message called a case of possession, and what we have to pray that behind what’s happening in the nation, there are spirits.
Even behind the political realm, there are spirits, principalities.
So what would you have done back then?
If you were confronted with a choice, offer up sacrifices to the gods and save your life, or refuse and be killed.
What would you do? There were those who said, well, I’m just gonna do it, but it won’t mean anything.
But for those who refused, they were killed. Or they were left in prison for years. They could be.
How did they how did they resist? How did they resist? What was their their power?
Their strength to resist of the the the loss of all things and still say, I don’t care.
The seeds of all these things, the persecution of believers, and the power of the disciples to stand against it all begins in the book of acts.
And we’re gonna look at one short passage in one chapter of acts in which all all these seeds are there.
It was recorded over 2 centuries before the great persecution, and it’s this. Act 17.
The disciples are in the city of Thessalonica. There arises an uproar against them. Verse 6.
When they, the the multitudes, the mob, those searching hunting down for the apostles, did not find them.
They began dragging Jay in and some brothers before the city authority is shouting.
These men who have upset the world or turned the world upside down, Our here also, and Jason has welcomed them in, and they all act contrary against the decrees of Caesar saying there is another king Jesus What I want you to note are 2 phrases here.
In the Greek, it has the men act contrary to the well, English, it says to the decrees or laws of Caesar.
But in the Greek, the word translated decrees or laws is the word dogma.
The dogma of Caesar or the doctrine of Caesar It can be laws, but interesting dogma.
It clearly has a religious connotation. And you see behind the political realm is the spiritual realm.
Today, we’re gonna focus on the next phrase.
It starts out by saying they go against the dogmas of Caesar, and then it says the next word, then it says saying there is a Basel use in Greek, a Basel use header us.
Basel use. With Basal use means there is a sovereign. There is a king.
This word this was used of the emperor, this Caesar himself.
Now this is one of the few times when when yeshua Jesus is called king.
As in the book of acts, He’s called King a number of times in the gospel of Matthew, but in acts, you won’t see so much why.
The gospel of Matthew was written first to the Jewish people. Of the Messiah. The Messiah is king.
It’s okay to tell Jewish people that Messiah is king. Jesus is yeshua is king.
Of the Jewish people and of everybody, but he’s king.
So he’s spoken of king, but in acts, the gospel’s now going forward to the Roman Greek world.
And the in the Roman world to speak of a king, a sovereign, other than Caesar is treason unless it’s a local authority that Caesar is set up, but you simply say He is king.
You’re putting him in conflict. You’re putting yourself in conflict with Caesar, and it’s considered treason.
And that word is used in act. That’s that’s, again, that same word, Basal use of the emperor.
In John 19, when when Messiah is brought a pilot to be killed. Notice what they said.
He declares himself king. Going against Caesar. That’s treason. So, ultimately, it’s an issue.
And, you know, even though these are charges made by the enemies of the gospel, this is the truth.
It was a clash of kingdoms. Rome, the Roman empire, and Israel or the kingdom of god.
Caesar, on one hand, Messiah on the other. Messiah was crucified.
The king was crucified under the reign, the authority of Caesar. So one king and another king at war.
A war of kingdoms, but then Messiah rises from the grave and the power of this king starts entering into the Roman world, it will ultimately overturn it.
So the gospel is spreading through Rome, 2 kingdoms.
The persecution of Rome against the people of the science, a war of kingdoms.
So notice here, who is calling him king here, not the believers, but those bringing charges against the believers because it was a dangerous thing to say.
And that’s what Rome feared and hated about the believers.
Not that they were religious people, but that they were they were in Rome, but they were like they were not of Rome.
They were another kingdom. They were under another sovereignty.
So in the days of persecution, what are they trying to do?
They tried to make the people of god bow down and offer sacrifices to the gods of Rome.
Notice that happens again and again and again to offer to bow down before our god. Hi.
I’m Jonathan and I hope you were blessed with the video.
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