Jesus, in sending out his 12 disciples to go and to proclaim
the kingdom of heaven, gave them a list of instructions, and he also gave them some
warnings.
He told them that he was sending them out as sheep among
wolves, so they were to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. And he
told them that they would be flogged in synagogues, and dragged before rulers
for His sake, to bear witness to them.
And, then he warned them that family members would betray
one another to death, and that they (the disciples) would be hated by all for
his sake, but that the one who endures to the end would be saved.
And, then he told them that just as he was persecuted, and
just as he was falsely accused and even called Beelzebul, how much more would
the Lord’s enemies also malign those of his household, i.e. his servants, his
followers.
Yet, he told them that they were not to fear those who can
kill the body but who cannot kill the soul. They were to speak whatever the
Lord said to speak to whomever he said to speak it from wherever he said to
speak it. For, the Lord was watching over them, and he would take care of them.
For, he said, whoever acknowledges him before men, he will
acknowledge before his Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies him before
men, he will also deny before His Father in heaven (See: Matt. 10:1-33).
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39 ESV
A False Picture
Many people these days are presenting a picture of Jesus
Christ that is not a completely accurate description of who he was and is. They
are painting this picture of Jesus as this person who just went around doing
good to everyone, healing the sick and afflicted, feeding the hungry, and
ministering to the poor, but that he never did anything to ruffle people’s
feathers or to make people uncomfortable or to offend anyone. They paint a
picture of him as just a “nice guy” who went around being “nice” to everyone
and who just went around “loving on everyone” and “blessing them.”
They also present this idea of his salvation which he
provided for us, via his death on a cross and via his resurrection back to
life, as totally being about us and about giving us forgiveness of sins and the
hope of heaven when we die, but that absolutely nothing is required of us other
than some nondescript belief in him absent of repentance and walks of
obedience.
The way a lot of people present the plan of salvation these
days, you would think that God’s grace is all about making life easy for us. It
is all about gifting us salvation, giving us forgiveness of sins, and promising
us heaven when we leave this earth, but that it is easy sailing from this point
forward.
Very few people sharing the gospel these days talk about the
cost of being the Lord’s disciples, or taking up our cross and following Jesus,
or how we are going to have to suffer for the sake of his name.
And, very few, it seems, talk about how we need to die with
Christ to sin and live with Christ to righteousness, and how we need to walk
daily according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.
They don’t like to even say the words “sin” or “repentance”
or “obedience” because these words offend people and they make them feel
uncomfortable, and they want the world to feel at home in their gatherings, not
be offended with the truth of the gospel which convicts people of sin and calls
for repentance and obedience to Christ’s commands.
Not Peace, A Sword
But, Jesus didn’t come to the earth to bring peace to the
earth, not the way in which the world clamors for peace, anyway. For, his
gospel of salvation is not this “nicey-nice” feel-good message that tells
everyone they can just pray a prayer, they are now part of the family of God,
heaven is secured for them, and it can never be taken away no matter how they
live their lives.
His message was and is one that says if we truly follow him,
and we do what he says, and we go where he sends us, and we say what he
commands us to say, we will be hated, persecuted, beaten, falsely arrested and
even killed for the sake of the name of Jesus. And, we will even have our
family members, our loved ones, turn against us, and even betray us to death,
and it is the one who endures this suffering to the end who will be saved.
His was a message that said if we deny him before men, he
will deny us before his Father in heaven. And, we can deny Jesus in many
different ways, and not just verbally. We deny him by ignoring his commands to
us, and by going our own way and doing what we want to do despite what he says
we are to do. And we deny him when we are too ashamed to even mention his name
in front of others for fear that they may think we are weird.
And, his was and is a message which says that if we love our
family members more than we love him, and so we compromise our faith and
convictions to be liked, and to be accepted, and so we don’t talk about him in
front of them, and so we don’t share his gospel message with them, because we
are afraid they might not like us, then we are not worthy of him.
And, his was and is a message that says if we are not
willing to take up our cross daily and follow him that we are not worthy of
him. For, Jesus didn’t die on that cross just to forgive us our sins and to
promise us heaven when we die. He died that we might die with him to sin and
live with him to righteousness. And, he demands that we deny self and that we
die daily to sin and the self-life and that we follow him in obedience if we
want to be his followers and if we want to have the hope of eternal life with
him.
For, he says that if we are not willing to give up our
former lives of living for sin and self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
Heaven will not be guaranteed us. But, if daily, by the Spirit, we are putting
to death the deeds of the flesh and we are walking in obedience to his
commands, then we have the hope of eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom.
8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
Thus, the way to eternal life with God and salvation from
sin is not this easy broad road that many are traveling, for it leads to
destruction. The way to salvation from sin and eternal life with God is on a
narrow (restricted) road that few find, and that few travel, for it is the way
of the cross, in death to sin and living to righteousness, and in suffering for
the sake of the name of Jesus and for the sake of his gospel, even unto death.
In
Truth
An
Original Work / January 10, 2012
Fellowshipping with my Lord, Savior, King.
He is Lord of all; Lord of ev’rything.
He is with me through ev’ry hour of day,
List’ning to me speak, as I humbly pray.
He cares for my needs,
and He intercedes for me,
‘cause He loves me in ev’ry way.
Obey His commands, and do all He says.
Sitting at His feet, daily in His word,
Let His word speak to me in ev’ry way,
Giving comfort and healing through each day.
Oh, how Jesus loves,
And He cares for you,
Which is why He died for our sins, in truth.
Love our Lord God, Savior, and King of kings.
Worship Him in truth, for He reigns supreme.
He created us with a plan in mind
For us to be His servants, and Him mind.
Follow Him in truth;
Go where’er He leads.
Share His love with others, and their needs meet.
Others: their needs meet.
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