Latest / Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris / 06 18 2025 Early Church Persecution

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06 18 2025 Early Church Persecution · Your Daily Portion with L. David Harris

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  Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too
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  Speaker 1: much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy
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  Speaker 1: for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect
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  Speaker 1: yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to
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  Speaker 1: keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are
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  Speaker 1: going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words
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  Speaker 1: today and receive the power we need to live healthy,
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  Speaker 1: vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host
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  Speaker 1: author speaker Elle David Harris.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning, it is Wednesday. It's
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  Speaker 2: June eighteenth, twenty twenty five. Hello, my name is El
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  Speaker 2: David Harris. I am your host, and this is your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion where we give you God's Word every single day,
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  Speaker 2: and today is no exception. We are continuing in our
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  Speaker 2: lesson study series Early Church Persecution. But before we do
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  Speaker 2: go into this, I'd like to say welcome to you
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  Speaker 2: and ask you to go over to your Daily Portion
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  Speaker 2: die Please join our online community pick up the Your
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  Speaker 2: Daily Portion Life application guide. Also let us know where
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  Speaker 2: you are in the world at your Daily Portion dot com.
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  Speaker 2: This is one of the ways that we continue to
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  Speaker 2: build faith and fellowship. Let's go ahead and pray, and
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  Speaker 2: then we will get underway. Father, we thank you for
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  Speaker 2: this day and for giving us a window into your mind,
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  Speaker 2: so that we can let this mind be in us,
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  Speaker 2: which was also in Christ. Jesus teach us to humble
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  Speaker 2: ourselves in the way that Jesus did when he lived
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  Speaker 2: on earth. In Jesus's name, I pray Amen and Amen again.
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  Speaker 2: Early Church persecution, I remember reading a quote that says,
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  Speaker 2: we have no fear for the future except we forget
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  Speaker 2: how God has led his people, has led us in
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  Speaker 2: the past. And so we see that in every generation
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  Speaker 2: from righteous Able being destroyed and murdered by his own
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  Speaker 2: brother kin way through history until this day, we see
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  Speaker 2: that God's people, even when we are persecuted, we come
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  Speaker 2: through on the other side with the image of God
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  Speaker 2: fully stamped upon our characters. And ultimately we win. But
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  Speaker 2: because Jesus wins. Because Jesus ultimately wins, his people always win.
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  Speaker 2: But it is not without persecution. Jesus said, when people
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  Speaker 2: say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake,
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  Speaker 2: rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward
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  Speaker 2: in heaven. For so persecuted day. The prophets which were
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  Speaker 2: before you. So if you are being persecuted for being
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  Speaker 2: a liar, then that is not acceptable to God. Like
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  Speaker 2: you don't want to be persecuted for breaking the law, Like,
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  Speaker 2: that's not the issue. The issue is when we are
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  Speaker 2: persecuted for righteousness sake. We are persecuted because we stand
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  Speaker 2: tall and firm and do what God has taught us
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  Speaker 2: to do that is acceptable to God. I wish I
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  Speaker 2: had the time, I wish I had the time. But
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  Speaker 2: let me read first from the book The Great Controversy,
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  Speaker 2: page thirty nine. Great Controversy, page thirty nine, and it reads,
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  Speaker 2: the powers of Earth and Hell arrayed themselves against Christ
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  Speaker 2: in the person of his followers. Paganism foresaw that should
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  Speaker 2: the Gospel triumph, her temples and altars would be swept away.
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  Speaker 2: Therefore she summoned her forces to destroy Christianity. The fires
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  Speaker 2: of persecution were kindled. And so we see when the
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  Speaker 2: enemy feels backed into the corner, or sometimes he doesn't
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  Speaker 2: even feel backed into the corner, he just decides, I'm
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  Speaker 2: gonna go, I'm gonna go for the GUSTO, I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to assault, I'm going on an office and sith to
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  Speaker 2: destroy God's people. Because they look so much like God.
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  Speaker 2: I don't like God. Therefore I will destroy his people
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  Speaker 2: if he allows me to. And so in the early Church,
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  Speaker 2: the first century Church, when we began to be called
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  Speaker 2: by the name Christian, that's a long story, but we
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  Speaker 2: were really called out. We were the people of the way,
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  Speaker 2: the people of the book called out ones at Clesia.
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  Speaker 2: In Acts Chapter twelve, verses one and two, we read
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  Speaker 2: now about the time Herod the King stretched forth his
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  Speaker 2: hands to vex part of me, certain of the church.
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  Speaker 2: He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
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  Speaker 2: What so a world leader destroyed one of God's people
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  Speaker 2: because they were teaching the truth? Yep, yep. In Revelation thirteen,
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  Speaker 2: it also reveals that there was state sponsored persecution targeting
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  Speaker 2: those who keep the commandments of God. So we're not
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  Speaker 2: just identifying the problem we see in history. It has
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  Speaker 2: happened Nebuchadnezzar's time, Deriasis time. I wish I had the
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  Speaker 2: time to really drill us. But the fact is we've
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  Speaker 2: seen with the state when it is not connecting itself
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  Speaker 2: in personal relationship with God, the leaders are not connected
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  Speaker 2: to God, that at some point persecution will ensue. It's
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  Speaker 2: just what it is. And so what we get to
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  Speaker 2: do is prepare spiritually by building habits of obedience even
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  Speaker 2: when it is inconvenient. Persecution tests convictions, not preferences. Persecution
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  Speaker 2: tests convictions, not our preferences. In Acts chapter twelve, in
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  Speaker 2: verse two, we read, and because he saw it pleased
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  Speaker 2: the people of God, he proceeded further to take Peter. Also,
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  Speaker 2: let me read it another way. He saw that it
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  Speaker 2: pleased the people who were supposed to be the people
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  Speaker 2: of God, but they had turned their backs on God
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  Speaker 2: and now had become agents of the enemy. Oh, now
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  Speaker 2: we see that that herod proceeded further to take Peter. Also. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: so the church and the state were in cahoots. When
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  Speaker 2: I say the church and the state, I'm talking about
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  Speaker 2: the apostate church, the people of God that had lost
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  Speaker 2: their connection with God. Now with the strong arm of
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  Speaker 2: the state, they persecuted God's people in the first century Church.
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  Speaker 2: So in Revelation chapter thirteen, verses twelve and fifteen, it
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  Speaker 2: shows that popular demand leads to the death decree for
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  Speaker 2: the commandment keepers. Yep, the kinds of things that matter
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  Speaker 2: to worldly people. Put a bunch of those things in
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  Speaker 2: front of them constantly. I wish I had the time
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  Speaker 2: to say exactly what I'm thinking, but I don't. Hah.
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  Speaker 2: But there are times that the people in society feel
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  Speaker 2: the pressure to the degree that when it looks like
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  Speaker 2: it is a certain subset of people that are causing
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  Speaker 2: the problem, then everybody is focused on those individuals to
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  Speaker 2: destroy their lives. Yes, we have seen that so many times.
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  Speaker 2: It's like pin the tail on the donkey spiritually speaking.
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  Speaker 2: But right now we get to anchor our faith in truth,
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  Speaker 2: not in public approval. Be willing to stand alone if necessary.
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  Speaker 2: We see in Daniel three the people of God stood alone,
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  Speaker 2: just three young men, just three young men. We see
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  Speaker 2: the people of God in Revelation thirteen and fourteen standing
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  Speaker 2: standing on the promises of God. And you have that
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  Speaker 2: privilege every single day of your life. In Acts, chapter
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  Speaker 2: twelve and verse four, it says he put him in
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  Speaker 2: prison and delivered him to four quater well into four
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  Speaker 2: quads of soldiers to keep him. So, just like God's
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  Speaker 2: end time, people will appear trapped. You got four quads
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  Speaker 2: of soldiers guarding you. Proverbially now, or even maybe it
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  Speaker 2: happens in real life. I don't know, but it happened
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  Speaker 2: to Peter in real life. Yeah, will appear trapped, but
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  Speaker 2: no human way to see our way out. But God
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  Speaker 2: is always there. I think the Bible says that the
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  Speaker 2: Angel of the Lord in campeth around about those who
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  Speaker 2: trust in God, who live according to God's principles. So
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  Speaker 2: today I can trust in divine intervention when circumstances feel helpless.
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  Speaker 2: In chapter twelve and verse five, we read, but prayer
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  Speaker 2: was made without ceasing of the church, talking about the
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  Speaker 2: true people of God for him, And guess what in
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  Speaker 2: the last days deliverance will come to a praying and
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  Speaker 2: united people of God, not casual or divided. One start
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  Speaker 2: to join prayer bands focused on spiritual preparation and intercession.
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  Speaker 2: Do you are you in the place where prayer is
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  Speaker 2: wont to be made? Some of you know where that
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  Speaker 2: quote came from. So make it a habit. Make it
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  Speaker 2: a habit to be where prayer, true prayer connecting with
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  Speaker 2: God is the paradigm. He said, whether two or three
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  Speaker 2: are gathered together in His name, he is in the
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  Speaker 2: midst of us and Acts Chapter twelve and verse fifteen.
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  Speaker 2: It teaches us they said, unto her, thou art mad.
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  Speaker 2: When the man of God was delivered, but she constantly
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  Speaker 2: affirmed that it was even so. So be on the
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  Speaker 2: lookout for the answer to prayer. And when you see
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  Speaker 2: the answer to prayer, thank God for the reality peace.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us listening. Friends. Always remember we cannot
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  Speaker 1: live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
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  Speaker 1: from the mouth of God. This has been your daily
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  Speaker 1: portion with el David Harris. Make it a great day. Yeah,