“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)
There are several running themes throughout the New
Testament writings, and one of the predominant ones is the persecution of the
saints of the Lord. It keeps recurring over and over because we need to be
reminded that if we follow Jesus Christ with our lives that this is to be
expected, so that when it does happen that it does not overtake us, and so that
we do not lose heart. And perhaps in a sort of backward way, this serves as an
encouragement to us when we are being persecuted, knowing that we are not alone
in this.
And another reason we need to be reminded of this is because
it appears that the majority of those who are preaching “the gospel” these days
are overlooking this fact, and so many of them are presenting only the positive
aspects of the Christian faith, and so they are not really preparing the people
for this reality. Or if you are being persecuted, then they will try to put you
on a guilt trip that it must be your fault, kind of like what Job’s friends did
to him in accusing him of sin because of the trial he was going through.
And then there are those who, when you are being persecuted,
immediately counsel you to leave and to go someplace else, “because God wants
you to be happy.” But Jesus, over and over, kept telling us that we would be
persecuted. Yes, there are times when he says to leave, but there are times
when he says to remain and to see the salvation of the Lord. If all we do is
keep running from persecution in order to be happy, then we will not be able to
fulfill the great commission of the Lord in taking his gospel to the people.
And then if you do remain in situations where you are facing
persecution, like Jesus did, and the NT apostles did, and the prophets before
them did, then they want you to just keep it to yourself, as though that is
just your problem. But Paul all the time told the people of his sufferings and
of his persecutions, and he asked for them to share in the fellowship of his
sufferings, and of Christ’s sufferings, and to pray for him and to encourage
him and all other Christians who were suffering persecution.
So, basically if you are staying somewhere where you are
being persecuted, but even if God is using this in your life for good in your
own life and in the lives of others to whom you are ministering, it appears
that most people do not want to hear about it so that they can pray for you,
for they assume that is your problem. And I understand that there are people
out there who just like to complain and to gossip about other people, but the
Scriptures do teach that we are to bear one another’s burdens and to pray for
each other.
And the reason that I am bringing all of this up is that the
persecuted are often being persecuted by those who are supposed to be
supporting them and encouraging them and praying for them. And so they are
being abandoned and forsaken and cast off by the people who are to be praying
for them. And so they end up not only being persecuted by those who are
supposed to love and encourage them, but then they are abandoned, too, especially
by those who think they should just live for their own happiness.
But Jesus didn’t call us to live for our own happiness. He
didn’t call us to run away from suffering so that we can be happy. He called us
to suffer for the sake of his name and for the sake of his gospel, and for the
sake of righteousness, and that we are not to be ashamed to suffer for Christ.
He called us to lay down our lives and to be willing to suffer and to die to
see others be set free from their bondage of sin and to now walk in holiness
and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord.
But this doesn’t mean that if we are suffering for the sake
of Christ and for his gospel that we are to keep silent about it and that we
are not to ask for prayer. We need prayer! And the solution is not always to
abandon ship, especially just so that we can be happy. For the Lord sometimes
puts us in such situations to make us into the people he wants us to be so that
he can use us in the ways he wants to use us, and running away would be
abandoning his calling on our lives. But we still need prayer.
For when we make that decision to follow Jesus with our
lives, we are choosing to be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. But this
is the choice that all of us who call upon the name of the Lord are making for
ourselves if our faith in Christ is genuine God-persuaded faith in Christ. For
this is a decision to take up our cross daily to follow Christ in obedience and
to be willing to be hated and persecuted in order to share with others the
gospel of our salvation so that they can come to know him, too.
And yes, sometimes our fiercest opponents and enemies may be
the people of our own families, even in our own households. But what did Jesus
say? He said that whoever loves father or mother more than him is not worthy of
him. For if we choose the acceptance and approval of our family members over
the will of God for our lives, we are not worthy of Christ. We are not fit for
the kingdom of heaven because we loved our lives more than we loved Christ. We
have to be willing to be hated by people in order to love God.
And if we are not willing to die daily to sin and to follow
our Lord in obedience to his commands, and if we are not willing to suffer for
the sake of his name and for the sake of his gospel and for the sake of
righteousness, for our own comfort and enjoyment and happiness, then we are not
worthy (suitable, fitting, deserving) of our Lord and his salvation and eternal
life. For we are called to suffer for the sake of his name, not to abandon all
suffering for our own comfort and enjoyment.
So don’t be ashamed or afraid to suffer for the sake of
Christ and for his gospel. And don’t believe the lies which tell you that you
should live for your own comfort and enjoyment, even if it means abandoning the
call of God on your lives. For we are called of God to deny self, to take up
our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and to follow our Lord in
obedience wherever he leads us. But if we hold on to our own lives for our own
comfort and enjoyment, we will lose our lives for eternity, no matter what we
profess.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5;
Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4;
2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23;
Matthew 7:21-23]
Why Are You Afraid?
An Original Work / December 5, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
Do not be afraid.
Your Lord is always
by your side.
Serve the Lord in
righteousness
Before Him all your
days.
Those who hate the
light
Will not come to the
Lord.
They fear their
deeds
Might be noticed.
So, they hate the
light,
And they embrace the
night.
Do not be afraid,
Although your enemy
attacks.
Dare to share your
testimony
Of God’s saving
grace.
Do not fear their
threats,
But honor Christ,
your Lord.
Be prepared to give
an answer
For the hope you
have,
With gentleness;
respect.
Why are you afraid?
For all that’s
hidden will be shown.
What I tell you,
speak in daylight.
Let the truth be
known.
Do not be afraid
Of those who’ll take
your life.
Fear the Lord with
understanding.
Trust Him with your
life,
And give not up to
strife.
Do not be afraid.
Take courage, it is
I, your Lord.
Bow before Me; now
adore Me.
Oh, why do you
doubt?
Listen to the Lord.
Get up and bear His
name!
Run and tell the
world He loves them.
Jesus came to save.
Give Him your all
today.
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