I assume you are speaking of the government removing Christians as a form of persecution. If that is the case, we have a very clear example to consider in Acts 8:1 & 4: “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word” (NKJV). In Acts chapter 7 we read of how Stephen was martyred for the faith and this event was the catalyst for the “great persecution” that we read of in the verses just quoted. They were obviously “forcefully removed from their land.” What were they to do? Should they build an army and begin a revolution to regain their property? No, for instead of “fighting back,” they left their land and began to “preach the word” in the nearby “regions of Judea and Samaria.” In other words, they took this persecution as from the Lord and became actively engaged as missionaries in another part. Why would they accept this as being “the will of God” for their lives instead of trying to get this land back? We will look at two reasons why they humbly accepted this as His will.

1) Before the Lord ascended to heaven (after His resurrection) He told His disciples, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA, and to the end of the earth.” Here we learn that the Lord Jesus had given them this COMMISSION to be His witnesses to everyone living in “Judea and Samaria.” Yet they had NOT obeyed that commission. They had indeed witnessed to the people in Jerusalem, but for some reason they STOPPED THERE. It would seem then that in order to get them to witness to their neighbors in Judea and Samaria the Lord allowed a great persecution to force them to leave. Surely it was man (Jewish leaders and perhaps the Roman government) that initially forced them to leave their homes, but they looked beyond man and realized their Sovereign Lord, who is in control of all events, had allowed wicked men to seize their property. In other words, they bowed to God’s will and obeyed the commission to take the gospel to Judea and Samaria. We also learn in Acts 11:19 that they went beyond Judea and Samaria: “Now those who were scattered after the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only.” In doing this they “going to the regions beyond” in obedience to the last words of Jesus’ commission, “and to the end of the earth.”

2) We are NEVER to take up arms and fight against the government or leaders of our country, for we are a heavenly people whose kingdom is not of this world. Jesus made this clear when He told Pontius Pilate, who asked Him if He was the King of the Jews, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My SERVANTS WOULD FIGHT, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36). Jesus being persecuted and would soon be crucified, but He accepted this as the will of His Father and did not resist, nor would he tell His disciples to resist. The day is coming when Christ will return to establish His kingdom on earth and in that day, HE WILL FIGHT; in fact, He will destroy His enemies by “the sword of His mouth” (see Revelation 19:11-21). But until then, our “fight” is not “against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Because we are in a “spiritual warfare” we are told in 2nd Corinthians 10:3-5: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but might in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thins that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

It is possible that believers here in the United States (and elsewhere) may someday face such persecution and have our property taken from us. If the Lord “allows this,” may we have the faith to “accept this as from Him” and not resort to physically fighting to regain our property. It may be the Lord will have us take the gospel to places we never thought of going to before. If so, may we adopt the attitude of the Apostle Paul who said, “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:12-14).  (480.5)  (DO)