Persecution: What the Disciples of the Apostle Saint Paul Suffered and Endured in Rome
108
Persecution: What the Disciples of the Apostle Saint Paul Suffered and Endured in Rome
108Paperback
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781491817773 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 09/17/2013 |
| Pages: | 108 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.26(d) |
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Persecution
What the Disciples of the Apostle Saint Paul Suffered and Endured in Rome
By ELPIDIO ESPINOZA
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2013 Elpidio EspinozaAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4918-1777-3
CHAPTER 1
There were seven leaders who had worked very closely with the Apostle Paul, and they had to come together to keep up the work of the ministry. Six days after Paul's death, there was a meeting to discuss the way they would go forward. The responsibility to guide the church of the Lord unexpectedly fell on these leaders.
Rufino was a faithful minister of Christ and a former Roman soldier. He was blind in his left eye, and his right leg had been severely hurt in battle, so he limped when he walked. He had a strong but likable personality and image.
Justino was an elder of the church, full of faith, and had very strong and firm convictions. He was a middle-aged farmer who was humble and likable. He had a well-built physical image, but was completely dedicated to serving his Lord and Savior.
Alfonso owned a bakery. He was an elderly family gentleman who was respected and beloved among the brethren. He was a faithful minister of the gospel of his Lord and savior Jesus Christ.
Fausto was a faithful, dedicated elder and servant of the Lord Jesus. He was an elderly man who traveled from one end of the empire to the other because of his work.
Claudia was a wealthy elderly widow who had her own clothing business. She was full of faith, hope, and the word of truth and had a Godly personality. She was respected, beloved, and revered. Her participation in the church was to help the younger women to be good Christians, mothers, and wives.
Antonio was a rich, ambitious businessman. He didn't like to be confronted by anybody, and he liked to be the first one in everything. He also liked to surround himself with weaker people. He was a corrupt minister and a traitor. As a result, nobody liked him.
Silvio was an employee of Antonio, so he did whatever his boss told him. He was a weakly coward who was a compromising, unfaithful, and unreliable minister. Everybody knew that among the faithful brethren, he was not respected.
These seven leaders each had their own opinions about how to keep guiding the flock, and their differences came up at the meeting.
It was ten am on a Saturday morning when everyone came together at Rufino's house. It was cold and cloudy. The atmosphere in the room was the same. Everyone sat in a circle, and thanks to Isabella, Rufino's wife, they were enjoying tasty, warm cups of tea.
Rufino opened the meeting. He knelt down and prayed. "Father, we come to you this morning in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, asking for wisdom to understand and follow the path and will for us as leaders among your people, to guide us through these times of trial and persecution. Give us courage to be faithful to your word until the end. Amen."
After he had finished praying, he sat down on his chair and looked at each person in the eye, with a look of deep love and compassion.
He said, "Brothers and sister in Christ Jesus, you have been witnesses to the recent acts of violence and the crimes against us Christians. I don't need to go into details, because you know everything as well as I do. Today is the sixth day since the death of Paul, our Apostle, pastor, teacher, friend, and spiritual father. He went home to be with the Lord of glory, but we are here, and we must keep following the Lord, like he told us to do many, many times before his death, without looking back or getting off track."
The rest of them were listening very carefully and with reverence. They only nodded their heads to approve what he was saying.
"I called you to this very important meeting to ask you to pray, fast, and stay in communion with God. We need to hear His voice and guidance more than ever before to help all of us continue to walk in obedience to His holy commandments and precepts, following after what we were told by the Apostle Paul."
Almost speaking over him, Silvio and Antonio both wanted to talk. Rufino, signaling with his hand, gave the floor to Silvio.
"I agree with everything you just said to a certain point. Nonetheless, I think we need to be practical and make some needed changes in the way we practice our faith."
You could still feel the pain in the atmosphere, and all of them were still very emotional because of what had happened. They all looked at each other with interrogation in their eyes, and the tone changed.
Antonio said, "Silvio is right. We need to bring some major changes to the way we do things going forward, but we need to do it the proper way. People tend to oppose change, but if we do it one step at a time, we will succeed without any suspicion."
Lifting her hand, Claudia asked to speak, interrupting Antonio, who did not want to stop talking. "Can I finish what I have to say? Even God says to do things little by little. All I ask to do is what is going to be good for everybody."
Everyone's moods quickly changed for the worst, and everybody looked very disappointed.
Knowing that the meeting was heading south, Rufino intervened in a firm voice.
He said, "You may speak, Claudia. I urge all of you to hold your composures. I know it is not easy to face what we are going through, but we have to remember who we are, in Christ."
Claudia spoke, "What kind of changes are you both speaking of? We cannot make any changes without confirmation from the Holy Spirit of God. Whatever you are trying to do has to be according to God's word and not contradict anything that Brother Paul taught us."
Silvio and Antonio looked at each other nervously. They knew their secret plan was not welcome, and after looking at each other, Antonio said, "We believe that Brother Paul got what he was asking for."
When the rest heard these words, they were very upset. Paul was very loved, respected and honored by everybody. Claudia started to weep, and the rest were very disappointed, as well.
In a firm voice, Justino said, "I would like to ask for a favor from you two gentlemen. If you do not have anything good to say, be quiet and speak no more."
Silvio rudely interrupted, "We cannot keep being so intolerable and rigid in the way we practice our faith, or no one will continue in this path. I am not going to continue practicing my faith like this. I do not want to end my life like Brother Paul."
After Silvio finished his remarks, Alfonso said in a serious tone, "I think I understand where you are trying to take us, and I do not agree with it. It seems to me that you two have your own plan. I know that this plan is not to follow and pass on the Holy Doctrines the Apostle Paul taught us."
Alfonso was interrupted by Antonio, who said the following in a very loud and angry voice, "I think it is very clear what Silvio and I are trying to do, and we just want everybody to be in agreement with us."
Before Antonio finished speaking, Fausto interrupted him and spoke for the first time. "For the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, I ask that we keep our composure. We are getting mad at each other, and that is incorrect. Let us continue in a respectful manner."
Rufino raised his hand. He said, "It is obvious that we are never going to agree on anything like this, and by tomorrow morning, we need to have a clear message for our brothers and sisters on how we are going to continue guiding the church. Let us concentrate on what is ahead of us and not allow the enemy to distract us from achieving our goal."
Antonio raised his hand and said, "Everything can be fixed very easily. Just name me the leader of our group. Silvio will be my helper. You all will be under our authority and will accept without question the changes we make. I guarantee that everything will keep going as though nothing happened."
Instantly, Justino said, "If we do not agree with your being in charge, what will happen?"
Antonio replied, "If you really love the rest of the brethren, you will have to agree with our offer. If not, we will take it to the assembly and let its members choose who they think is capable of leading. You will stay with the ones who agree with you, and we will stay with the ones who agree with us. What do you think about that?"
Alfonso spoke of how soon the predictions of the Apostle Paul were going to pass. Paul had said many times that false brothers would arise from within the group who would teach different doctrines according to the spirit of error that reigns among the sons of disobedience. He had said that these false brothers would try to destroy the church of God. He had also said that even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and that his ministers would do the same.
"To answer your question, Antonio, I do not agree with you, and I will never approve of that. I would rather die than betray my Lord and turn my back on the Holy Gospel." When Antonio and Silvio heard what he was saying, they became very furious. Looking at each other, they did not say anything else.
Rufino then asked everybody who agreed with Antonio and Silvio to raise their hands. Only the two of them raised their hands. Then he asked everyone who agreed with Alfonso to do the same. The remaining members of the group raised their hands.
Then Fausto said, "I think we should let some time go by. That way, we can pray and ask God for guidance. I believe that nobody in this room has purer or holier interest than God Himself, to keep His people moving in the right direction. I suggest that tomorrow morning, we pray and ask the brethren to do the same with us. The following Sunday, we will have an answer for everybody as for who will be our leader.
In a broken voice, Claudia said, "I have a request for Antonio and Silvio. I am asking this in the name of our Savior. I ask that you please reflect and think on what you have planned to do, because it will divide God's people. I guarantee that it will not bring honor and glory to His name. He has called us to build each other up, not to tear one another down, and what you are trying to do is just plain wrong. It goes against God's holy word."
When she finished speaking, there was silence in the room. The atmosphere was full of negative emotions, including anger, disappointment, frustration, dissolution, and pain.
Then Rufino spoke, saying the following with authority, "I believe that we should do like Fausto has suggested tomorrow and that we should gather here next Saturday at the same time."
When he finished his remarks, Silvio and Antonio stood up and left without saying a single word.
The rest of them looked at each other with questioning eyes. They could not believe how low these two men had descended in just a few days. After looking around the room, Rufino said, "My beloved, what we just witnessed today is just the beginning of a very painful and tragic process. As you heard, these two men have very bad ideas. If we let them implement their plan, they will destroy the faith of many of our brethren."
He continued, "I know in my heart that these things are going to turn for the worse day by day. In addition, the Roman emperor keeps trying to destroy Christianity and imprison more of our brothers and sisters in Christ. I suspect that if we do not let them get away with their plans, they will turn us in to the authorities. I want every single one of you to know that and prepare for the worst. I am not trying to scare you by any means—I just want to share what I believe is coming."
He looked to the floor, placed his left hand on his forehead, and said the following, "If my God requires of me to be martyr because of my faith, the only thing I ask of Him is to give me His strength. I do not want to deny Him."
In an edifying and comforting way, Alfonso said, "My beloved brethren, I happen to agree with my brother Rufino's beliefs. I share his way of thinking and believing. I suspect that these two men will betray us. I believe that they are capable of turning us in and that way they will stay as leaders, so they can implement their evil plan. May God protect us from all the evil that has come over the faithful. We have to keep going, even if that means suffering or giving our own lives for our faith. The only thing left for us to do is trust in God with all our hearts and keep praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit."
When he finished his remarks, he looked at everybody with his eyes full of tears. Everyone else's eyes were teary, as well.
Full of faith and hope, Justino said, "We do not have another choice, my beloved ones, but to keep following our Lord, even if in doing so our lives our endangered. I remember the words of the apostle Paul, when he said, 'Because of the Lord's cause, we are going like sheep straight to the slaughter.' We have to remember that our hope is not in this life or in this world. It is placed in the world that is to come, in the incorruptible, glorious, perfect, pure, and Holy One. Because of that, we should never give up faith and hope. We are pilgrims going by in this world, full of sin and evil. It does not matter how bad it gets—with God's grace, we will stay strong until the end."
With this, the mood in the room changed for the positive. They were smiling now.
Then Fausto said, "Our brother Paul, man of God, died for what he believed with all his heart. He never compromised his faith. He always fought like a warrior of God's army for what he believed. He gave us an example to follow, and by God's grace, that is what I intend to do until the last day of my life in this world. It makes me very happy to know that I am not alone, that you think and believe the way I do. I feel surrounded by soldiers of the cross of Christ our Lord, and together, we will help each other and others. We will keep going and never look back."
It was obvious that the five of them were real disciples of Paul and that they were trying to build each other up with words of faith, courage, valor, and honor. All of them said gracious things to motivate each other. The final one to speak was Claudia.
She said, "I rejoice in my heart to hear from you, my brothers, your strong commitment to follow our Lord and savior. Your words full of faith, love, compassion, hope, and resolution have filled my heart with strength to keep following the Holy Gospel and obeying God's word."
"I will commit myself as you have, to be faithful and follow our Lord Jesus Christ until the end, whatever that may be. I believe when it was His time to give His life for us, He did not even think about changing His mind when He saw the cross waiting for Him. He gave Himself to be beaten, spit on, humiliated, laughed at, and nailed to the cross. He did it because He loved us that much. The reason He did it was to save our souls. Therefore, if we have to glorify Him with our own deaths, the only thing I will ask of Him is to give me the strength to endure until the end."
She was emotional like the rest of the group, and they all sat down to eat.
CHAPTER 2
Antonio and Silvio returned to the workshop where both men worked. They were iron workers who made swords, knives, spears, sickles, shields, and more supplies the army used for warfare.
Antonio asked Silvio, "What do you think about the meeting?"
Silvio replied, "I think that it is not going to be easy to implement our plan. Honestly, the way things are for Christians right now, we need to change. Otherwise, we are going to end up in jail, tortured, or dead like a lot of believers have lately. I don't think we should take things to an extreme—that way, we do not commit suicide."
Antonio said, "Yes, and not only that, but these people who also embrace the extreme beliefs of Christianity are following the practices and faithfulness of Paul to try to be heroes like him. They don't realize that he could have guided the church in a more tolerable way. I assure you that if he would have done that, he would still be alive today, and he would have had a lot more followers than the ones he left. His extreme beliefs took him to his grave, and that is what is awaiting all of those who think and believe like him."
"What can we do but to change ourselves?" Silvio asked.
Antonio said, "I have an idea. I want to see what they are going to do and say tomorrow at the assembly. Whoever speaks is the one who wants to be the leader. How that person speaks will dictate how we respond."
Silvio said, "I don't think it would be wise to start arguing with them in front of everybody, because they will see us as extremist too. Our position needs to be seen as prudent, tolerant, wise, and appealing."
Antonio replied, "Do not worry about it. I understand. You are right. It would not make us look good. But you have to start talking to every single member of the assembly about our plan. We have to convince them that what we are pursuing is a peaceful lifestyle full of prosperity. If we do not do that, we will end up dead like criminals."
Silvio said, "Yes, I agree with you. It is a good idea. Let the others be the ones who portray themselves as extremist, unwise, and unreasonable. That way, we can convince everybody that we are right and they are wrong."
Antonio said, "If they do not want to do it on their own, they will face the same fate like the others."
"What are you talking about?" Silvio asked.
Antonio replied, "I am talking about my friend Eustaquio, the Roman centurion. I have known him for many years. He will be glad to help us make the ones who do not want to change their minds disappear."
Silvio asked, "Do you believe this is not going to create more problems for us?"
"Let me take care of that part of the plan. Your part will be to follow my instructions," Antonio said.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Persecution by ELPIDIO ESPINOZA. Copyright © 2013 Elpidio Espinoza. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Dedication.................... vii
Introduction.................... ix
Chapter 1.................... 1
Chapter 2.................... 11
Chapter 3.................... 21
Chapter 4.................... 29
Chapter 5.................... 41
Chapter 6.................... 49
Chapter 7.................... 57
Chapter 8.................... 69
Chapter 9.................... 77
About the Author.................... 91
About the Book.................... 93