He would have said, “Because of what they believe, because of what they teach, because of what they do in worship, because of how the churches are conducted. And when I go out after them, I know…who…I…am going to find.”

One more thought: Think about the Jews who persecuted Christians. How did they know what to do? There’s an interesting little passage in 1 Thessalonians 2, and verse 14. Paul is writing, now, to brethren in Thessalonica, and notice how he speaks: “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea [Judea] are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews…” Now, we’ve got a most interesting passage.

First, Paul is talking about the church in Thessalonica, and he says, “You brethren became followers of somebody”—followers in the sense of knowing their example, knowing their faithfulness and loyalty in the service of God. Well, who were these people they were following? Paul says they are “the churches of God in Judea…in Christ Jesus.” Well, he’s says there’s something else about this thing. He says, “You folk have been suffering from the Jews.” (If you read Acts 17, for example, you’ll see how that’s happening.) Now, he says, “You are being persecuted by the Jews in Thessalonica, but the persecution you have received is like the persecution that was received in Judea; and the reason the Jews persecute you in Thessalonica is the same reason those Jews in Judea persecuted the church down there.”

So, here you’ve got a situation where not only did the Jews in Jerusalem know about the church and the churches in the various places, but the Jews also knew that up in Thessalonica there was a group known as the church of God in Thessalonica, or the church of Christ at Thessalonica, and when they started persecuting, they were doing the same thing against the same people in both instances—Judea and Thessalonica.

Now, how is that true? How can it be that the persecution that was going on in Thessalonica was directed against people who were in faith and doctrine the SAME as those in Judea? The reason is: There had been established in Thessalonica, by Paul, a church that was the same in faith, doctrine, practice, etc. as in Judea.

Now, notice another matter. Suppose for a moment that there are two churches in Judea. Church “A” is different in belief and practice and faith and doctrine from church “B”. Well, here come the Jews…

“We are going to persecute churches!!”

“No, you can’t do that now. You can persecute church ‘A’ and leave church ‘B’ alone.”

“Why?!”

“Because they don’t believe the same thing.”

”Oh, well, we’ll just persecute ‘A’ then.”

“That’s fine.”

You say, “That’s crazy! That’s absurd! The Jews would never have done a thing like that.” So, if you had two, or a hundred, churches of Christ, they were KNOWN to the Jewish persecutors! And they knew that when they went against one, there would be another and another and another, and they were persecuting all of them—all of the churches of Christ—because of their faith, because of what they did.

Now, that tells us several things. That tells us that the Jews KNEW which church, or churches, to persecute. And they knew that when they went after them, they would be of the same faith in Jerusalem, in Thessalonica, in Galatia, in Ephesus, or wherever. Now, the more you ponder these little verses, it becomes amazing to try to claim that these churches were different in what they believed, in what they taught, in how they worshipped, in what they did in the way of good work in the community, etc.! Now, that’s not at all hard for us to imagine in our day. In fact, we know that it’s not the case! If there are ten churches on a given avenue, you will have ten different sets of belief. You will have ten different ways of worship. And if anybody were to tell you, “Now, really, all ten of these are the same church…” No way! Not true. Well, then, you’ve got a situation in the 1 st Century that is totally different from the situation that is present in our day in many, many instances.