Does Persecution Strengthen the Church?

Direct Answer

Yes—persecution can strengthen the church spiritually by driving believers to deeper dependence on God, producing patience, and proving their faith.

Les Feldick shows that early believers faced relentless persecution under Rome, yet they did not flinch and often went to death singing hymns. He teaches that the same Lord who permits persecution also provides the strength and consolation to endure it. Since God remains sovereign, tribulation tests believers' mettle and makes God more precious to true hearts.

Key Scriptures

Romans 8:31 — This verse assures that persecution and opposition cannot change the fact that God is for the believer.

2 Corinthians 1:5 — It directly answers by promising that increased suffering brings increased consolation through Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:7 — It ties being partakers of Christ's sufferings to also being partakers of His consolation.

Romans 5:3 — It shows that tribulation produces patience, a direct way persecution strengthens believers.

Hebrews 11:35-36 — It records believers who endured torture and imprisonment rather than accept deliverance, showing the strength persecution can produce.

What Does the Bible Say?

Scripture never promises that believers will be immune to persecution. In Romans 8:31 Paul asks, 'If God be for us, who can be against us?'—but that assurance comes even while the faithful have suffered torture, imprisonment, mockings, and scourgings (Hebrews 11:35-36). Those who endured were not accepting deliverance because they were looking for a better resurrection. In 2 Corinthians 1:5-7 Paul writes that as the sufferings of Christ abound in believers, their consolation also abounds by Christ. Those who are partakers of the sufferings are also partakers of the consolation. Romans 5:3 adds that tribulation works patience. Scripture therefore shows persecution as a circumstance in which God's comfort and endurance are magnified in His people. It does not present persecution as meaningless or as a sign of God's abandonment.

What Does Les Feldick Teach About Persecution and the Church?

Les Feldick warns that believers should never interpret verses such as 'If God be for us, who can be against us?' to mean nothing bad can happen to a believer. God is sovereign and in total control, and the same Lord who permits persecutions and testings is the same Lord who provides the strength to go through them (Clips 0-1). He reminds us that early believers under the Roman yoke were immediately under persecution, that becoming a believer under Paul's preaching was 'an invitation to persecution,' and that the Roman Empire once tried to stamp out Christianity (Clip 1). He also recalls that Saul was a persecutor of Jewish believers from the very beginning (Clip 5). Les describes the early church martyrs as people who never flinched, often going to their death singing hymns, just as Paul and Silas did (Clip 6). He teaches that God brings times of testing and tribulation to test our mettle: some people become bitter, but the true believing heart finds God all the more precious when hard times come (Clip 7). He also connects 'tribulations' with patience, and says believers are not promised a 'rose-petaled pathway' in this world—yet God says He will see us through (Clips 3-4). Even in America, Les says there is no guarantee democracy will spare believers from persecution, so they must rest in the fact that God is for us (Clip 2).

How Did the Early Church Experience Persecution?

Les shows that from the beginning, persecution was a defining reality for believers. Paul (then Saul) was a persecutor heading up a terrible persecution against Jewish believers (Clip 5). Under the Roman Empire, early believers were under constant surveillance and could not speak freely about their faith; the Empire at one time tried to stamp out Christianity (Clip 1). Despite this, Les says the believers went through horrible persecutions without flinching, and many went to death singing hymns (Clip 6).

How Does God Help Believers During Persecution?

Les teaches that God is still in total control and sovereign, even when persecution comes (Clip 0). The same Lord who permits persecutions and testings is the same Lord who provides the strength needed to go through them (Clip 1). Scripture confirms that as the sufferings of Christ abound, consolation also abounds (2 Corinthians 1:5). Les also reminds believers not to fear what can only hurt the body, because the soul is secure (Clip 2).

Why Does God Allow Tribulation in the Lives of Believers?

Les connects tribulation with a purpose: it produces patience (Clip 3). He says God brings times of testing and tribulation to test our mettle—some respond with bitterness, but true believing hearts find God all the more precious when hard times come (Clip 7). God does not remove believers from the trials of this world, but promises to escort them through (Clip 4).

Could Persecution Come to Believers in America?

Les points out that the human race has had advantages under democracy for about 200 years, but there is no guarantee it will continue. Even in America, believers may suddenly find themselves under the same types of persecution. His counsel is to rest in the fact that regardless of what comes, God is for us (Clip 2).

From the Teaching

God's Sovereignty Over Persecution

Les teaches that even when believers are attacked, God remains in total control and sovereign, so persecution is not outside His care.

Consolation Equal to Suffering

Les shows that the Lord who permits persecution also provides the strength to endure it, and that early believers knew persecution was part of following Christ.

Facing Persecution in America

Les applies the same warning to American believers—democratic freedoms are no guarantee—and urges resting in the fact that God is for us.

Tribulation Produces Patience

Les connects times of tribulation to the patience God is building in believers, showing persecution has a strengthening purpose.

No Rose-Petaled Pathway

Les reminds believers that faith does not remove them from trials, but God promises to see them through every valley.

Persecution From the Beginning

Les recounts Saul's role in a terrible persecution of Jewish believers, showing that the church has faced opposition from its earliest days.

Martyrs Who Did Not Flinch

Les points to early church believers who endured horrible persecution without flinching, going to death singing hymns—evidence that persecution did not break the church.

Tribulation Tests Our Mettle

Les teaches that God uses testing to prove believers' love; true hearts find God more precious when hard times come.

Bible Verses

Romans 8:31: What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

This is the anchor Les returns to when telling believers that no persecution can change God's being for them.

2 Corinthians 1:5: For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

This verse shows the divine exchange God provides when suffering abounds.

2 Corinthians 1:7: And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

This connects suffering with the consolation believers share in Christ.

Hebrews 11:35: Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

This describes early believers who endured torture rather than renounce their faith.

Hebrews 11:36: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

This lists the persecutions that believers patiently endured, showing the severity of their trials.

Romans 5:3: And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

This explains how tribulation becomes a tool for producing patience.

Frequently Asked Questions