The Righteous Persecuted
9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,
The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.
10 Men of bloodshed hate the blameless,
But the upright are concerned for his life.
25 The fear of man brings a snare,
But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.
27 An unjust man is abominable to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked. (Proverbs 29:9-10,25,27 NASB)
If you are walking in fellowship with your Lord Jesus, and if you are committed to his word and to following him in obedience and in surrender to his will for your life, and thus you are speaking the Word of God boldly, and so you are sharing the full gospel message, you will be hated by some people and you will be persecuted. Jesus said so. And that is because you call sin what it is and you call people to repentance and to obedience to the Lord, and it is because you are also refuting the lies of the enemy.
People who know they are doing wrong will not be comfortable being around you. People who like to flatter and to make everyone like them will not approve of you because you speak the truth in love. They will accuse you of all sorts of things which may not be true about you at all. Many will hate you and will reject, ostracize and mock you. If you lovingly confront them with what they are doing wrong or with their need to put their trust in Christ, they may lash out at you in anger, or may choose to gossip about you and to slander you behind your back.
Yet, we must not respond in fear, but we must commit ourselves to our Lord Jesus, and trust him to work all things for good. And we must never retaliate or “trade tit for tat,” i.e. we must not keep a record of the wrongs they committed against us so that we can then retaliate and wrong them in the same or in similar ways. And some people do this. They will do to others as they had done to them rather than to forgive and to love them and do good to them and pray for them and do for them what is for their benefit.
[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]
Responses to Correction
1 A man who hardens his neck after much reproof
Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.
15 The rod and reproof give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.
17 Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;
He will also delight your soul.
19 A slave will not be instructed by words alone;
For though he understands, there will be no response. (Proverbs 29:1,15,17,19 NASB)
There will be various ways in which people will respond to correction, i.e. to the Word of Truth when it points its finger at their sin and cuts deep into their hearts. Some will harden their hearts beyond recovery. Just thinking about that breaks my heart, because I know many people have had so many opportunities to believe in Jesus and to put their trust in him, but they have continually hardened their hearts and remained stiff-necked, because they want to hold on to their sin. They do not want to relinquish control, and thus, if this is where they remain, they will spend eternity in hell.
Another situation which brings me to tears is this false grace gospel which tells its adherents that they don’t have to turn from their sin and that God requires nothing of them. So they are given carte blanche to continue in willful sin and rebellion against God, absent of true repentance, and lacking in surrender to the cross of Christ with their lives.
They are like spoiled children who get their own way because they lack restraint, because they believe Satan’s lies which tell them that Jesus is pleased with them no matter what they do, and that his grace covers it all. They even encourage them to “claim who you are in Christ,” some of which is in error, while they are in the midst of their deliberate and habitual sin, making themselves believe that God is smiling upon them in their sin so that they won’t feel guilty for sinning against their holy God.
But Jesus Christ did not die that horrible death on the cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world in order to free us to continue in sin without remorse and without guilt. What kind of grace is that if it leaves us still bound in sin? No, he died so we would no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us. He died so we could die with him to sin, and so we could walk in freedom in his holiness and righteousness, all in the power and working of the Spirit of God within us.
And he died so we would no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In fact, his grace “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for” his soon return. He died “to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
[Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-24; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24-25]
So, the question today is how will you respond to God’s call upon your life? How will you respond to his correction when he points his finger at specific areas of sin in your life? Will you become stiff-necked and harden your hearts and continue on in sin, thinking God is pleased with you no matter what? Or will you respond with humility, sincere repentance, and with submission to the cross of Christ in your life?
Jesus said that if we would come after him we must deny ourselves, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him (in obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives). He said that if we hold on to our lives (of living in sin and for self) we will lose them (for eternity), but if we lose our lives (die with Christ to sin and to self), we will live (gain eternal life) (See: Luke 9:23-26; cf. Acts 26:16-18; Matthew 7:21-23). So, what will it be? Will you choose life? Or will you choose death? Time is running out!!
Willing / An Original Work / August 17, 2011
I am willing to obey You;
Have Your Spirit live within me;
Know Your power; be Your witness
To a world who needs You greatly.
Love within me spread to all men,
So that they might come to know Him;
Know His power; His forgiveness;
Be transformed into His likeness.
Holy Spirit, come in power,
Change our hearts within this hour.
May we be like Jesus always;
Be a light that shines in darkness.
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