Persecution - Are You Ready For It?
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Psalm 1:1-2
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His Law he meditates day and night.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse is:
1 Timothy 6:6
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Today we will be reading from Luke 12:1-12
This past Friday I was reading an article about an immigrant from Thailand who was arrested for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ outside a bar in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
The arresting police officer offered to let him go home for the night if he would stop preaching and this is what the preacher told him.
“My answer was that it was not my desire to go home tonight; I came here to preach! I told (the officer) in all honesty that if I got out of the car I was going to preach, if I stayed in the car I was going to preach all the way to the jail. I’d preach as long as I was in jail, and as soon as I was free I would come to this same place to preach as before. The Word which by the gospel is preached will not cease to go forth.”
Is that kind of boldness for telling the Gospel of Jesus Christ only for preachers or is it for any born again servant of the Lord most High?
What does it say in …Luke 12:1-12
(Prayer for help)
This isn’t a tale from some far off land, it comes from the heartland of the USA.
Was it some rogue police officer who was overstepping his authority? No. The preacher was taken to jail, photographed, finger printed, booked and taken to court where he pled guilty. The entire system had a chance to intervene and release the preacher but it went right along just the same as if a real crime had been committed.
Could anything like that happen here?
Preaching on the sin of homosexuality and other related sexual sin is already defined as a hate crime in Canada. The punishment can be fines or imprisonment. Could that happen here as well?
At the Johnson Space Center, NASA has prohibited a Christian group from using the name of Jesus in any announcement of their activities in the company newsletter.
The House of Representatives has just passed a rule change for any future legislation that would prohibit the use of gender specific words such as mother and father, son and daughter, and aunt and uncle in any legislation that is placed before them. This is intended to prevent offending the homosexual community where there might be only two “husbands” or two “wives” in a “marriage”.
There have been numerous lawsuits in California where the governor not only prohibited gatherings in churches but in-home Bible studies as well.
Is a persecution against Christians in America coming?
We had always thought of that as something that could happen in foreign lands run by communists or dictators.
Could it happen here?
And what if it does? Will we be ready? Will we be willing?
Is our Christianity skin deep or heart deep?
Let’s see if we can answer those questions.
Let’s look again at Luke 12:1-4
“Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs..”
The first thing Jesus does is to give us a warning!
The Pharisees had been held in high esteem in the eyes of the Jewish population.
They knew all of the rules.
They seemed to be perfect on the outside.
No one dared to challenge them because of the authority granted by their prestige in the eyes of the people.
But, Jesus says, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
The amplified Bible says it this way, “Be continually on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is hypocrisy [producing self-righteousness].”
Jesus is saying that the teachings of the Pharisees are always phrased in such a way as to make a righteous life impossible for others and yet insinuating that they themselves have arrived.
At the same time the Pharisees knew that they were living hypocritical lives as He said to them in Matthew 23:27
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”
In Jesus’ day if any person were to touch a dead man’s bones he would become ceremonially unclean and Jesus is saying that the Jewish leaders are not just guilty of touching dead men’s bones but they are filled with them.
They are not only guilty of occasional sin but out filled with sin.
Then Jesus instructs His disciples not to even pretend to be righteous while knowing that they were unrighteous because as it says in Luke 12:2-3
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”
And, as the favorite verse of Christian parents raising their children says in Numbers 32:23b
“Be sure your sins will find you out!”
Don’t be a fake Christian! Be righteous inside and out!!!
And, that is not the end of Jesus’ teaching.
Jesus goes on to say in Luke 12:4-7
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Wow! That is harsh and also wonderful!
Verses 4 and 5 say,
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell.”
Now, you don’t hear many people say, “Don’t be afraid of those who can ONLY kill your BODY.” Most people have a great fear of dying, especially those who have rejected Christ or those who believe this life is all there is!
And then Jesus delivers an even more astonishing pronouncement.
“I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell!”
Who is that Him? That Him is Yahweh, the God of Israel!
“Fear GOD, who after your body has been killed, has the authority to throw you into hell!”
No one else in all of this universe has the authority to assign any person into hell for all of eternity. No one but God alone!
But, Jesus does not just leave it there! He does not want to throw anyone into hell! He came so that no one would need to be thrown into hell!
John 3:17
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it!”
And, then Jesus goes on to tell His hearers and to tell us how much He values us in Luke 12:6-7
“Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Jesus then goes on to give us a warning. This warning directly applies to the issue we spoke about in the beginning of today’s message. Will we boldly speak the Word of God before those who are lost?
Luke 12:8-9
“I tell you, whoever publicly acknowledges Me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever disowns Me before others will be disowned before the angels of God.”
Jesus here is telling us that publicly identifying as one of His true believers is critical to our salvation and He jumps to the time when we will stand in judgment before Christ the Righteous Judge and in the presence of the angels.
If we acknowledge Jesus; if we live a life that proclaims that He is mine and I am His, Jesus will make the same proclamation before the Father and His angels.
However, if we disown Jesus He will disown us.
This is repeated in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 where it is written:
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot disown Himself.”
Are we timid or are we bold for Jesus?
In a sermon entitled, “Tell the Whole Truth” A. W. Tozer wrote …
It is sad indeed to know that there are Christian leaders among us who are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men and women to give to God only that which costs them nothing! The contemporary moral climate does not favor a faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and His apostles.
Christ calls men to carry His cross; we call them to have fun in His name! He calls them to suffer; we call them to enjoy all the comforts modern civilization affords!
He calls them to holiness; we call them to a cheap and tawdry happiness that would have been rejected with scorn by the least of the Stoic philosophers!
When will believers learn that to love righteousness it is necessary to hate sin? That to accept Christ it is necessary to reject self? That a friend of the world is an enemy of God? Let us not be shocked by the suggestion that there are disadvantages to the life in Christ!
Now, that quote is directed at preachers but are we not all called to be those who proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Does my life, your life, acknowledge Jesus or in effect deny Him?
So, what will happen to you and to me if the whole Gospel of Jesus is outlawed?
What if our nation decides that proclaiming that Jesus the Only Way to the Father is hate speech? What will we do?
Will we be silenced? If not, should we prepare a defense just in case we are brought into court for acknowledging Jesus as Lord?
Luke 12:11-12 says,
“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
So, what have we learned?
Don’t be a Christian on the outside and a slave to sin on the inside.
Declare your allegiance with Jesus and He will care for you eternally even if doing so would cost you your life here on earth.
When you are brought to judgment for speaking the Gospel here on earth the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.
This is a difficult teaching to hear especially because someday it could cost you your earthly life.
Stephen depended on the Holy Spirit to teach him what to say and he was stoned to death.
The apostles were arrested for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they were arrested and beaten with whips and ordered to stop proclaiming Jesus. Then “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” Acts 5:41
The apostle John was arrested and exiled to the prison island of Patmos. He describes it this way in Revelation 1:9
“I, John, your brother and companion … was on the island of Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
Does this scare you? This is not like the sales pitch for a timeshare unit where you pay and pay and get little benefit.
Here you may be called upon to pay with your life but the life in eternity will make the life given up on earth seem insignificant.
So, here we stand now, staring at a stark and formidable choice.
We can choose to save this earthly life and receive the due penalty of eternal punishment or we can choose to abandon our claim on this earthly life for the sake of Christ and receive the reward of eternal life with our Savior who gave His life for us. (Matthew 10:39)
And, when we choose to give our earthly lives over to Jesus there are many great benefits in the here and now.
The joy of the Lord
A peace that passes all human understanding
The presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us
The promise of eternity in the presence of the Lord
Jesus promised His disciples in John 14:2-3 (HCSB)
“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.”
Is it worth it? Yes, it truly is but the decision is up to you.
Final thoughts and prayer …
