The Happy and the Harassed
Sermon Transcript
0:00:14.0
Led by none other than Franklin Graham, who is the son of evangelist Billy Graham. It's not unusual for me to get a letter from them ‘cause I'm on their mailing list. Cathryn and I have supported the ministry on occasion over the years. And I always love to get a letter from them and find out what God’s doing around the world through the ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Because this week I was working on a sermon from Matthew 5:10-12 about, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,” this letter caught my attention. It was titled Helping the Persecuted Church. And here's how Franklin Graham began his letter. “Dear Friend, I just recently received an alarming call from my good friend Sammy Dagger, key church leader in the Middle East. Sammy gave me a firsthand report on the grave situation of Christians in Iraq. You may have seen news stories about the recent wave of church bombings, but that's just the tip of the iceberg,” he says. “Iraqi believers are living in constant fear of violent persecution. Extremists have used the most vicious tactics in their attempt to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ, including brutalizing women and children. Recent military and political gains in the country have not brought security. In fact, the threat to the Iraqi church has never been greater.” Franklin Graham goes on to say that more than 50 churches in Iraq have been bombed since 2004. He goes on a little bit later in his letter to talk about the work of Samaritan’s Purse in Pakistan, and he says, “In this volatile country attacks on believers have reached fever pitch. Last month angry mobs launched a series of attacks targeting Christians after hearing false reports alleging desecration of the Quran.” He says, “CNN reported that four women, two men and a child, all Christians, were either shot to death or killed when their houses were burned.” He says, “About 50 houses were burned down, and more than 100 were looted.” And then, near the end of his letter he says, “Around the world tens of millions of Christians face oppression, imprisonment, torture and even death for the sake of Christ.”
0:02:56.2
It's a sobering letter. And it arrested my attention as I was studying this passage from Matthew 5:10-12. If you have your Bibles let's turn there together and let's read together these verses. This is the eighth of eight beatitudes that Jesus delivered in what is, in effect, his introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. And this one, I like to think, kind of has an extra shot of espresso in it because it's not just a single verse, a single sentence, it's actually verses 10, 11 and 12 that he wraps up his talk about happiness and blessedness in life with these words about persecution. He says, verse 10, let's read together, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
0:04:11.4
Now, for those of us who are Western Christians here in the United States, the idea of the persecuted church just kind of sounds strange. It sounds a little foreign because when we think of persecution we think of something that happened in another time, in another place, to another group of people in a foreign land far, far away. We think of maybe something that happened in the 1st Century as we read the book of Acts and we learn about the persecution that took place there. We may be informed about Church History and think of the persecution that happened to those in the first three centuries, maybe even on up until the Reformation period, but persecution just seems to be something that is so far away from us personally. Unless we begin to broaden our understanding of persecution and understand it as something that could be severely hostile toward us, in the form of what Franklin Graham describes in his letter, where there's murder and brutality and death and killing and all of that, to something maybe on the other end of the scale that is mildly hostile toward us. There are a variety of ways, a variety of forms in which persecutions comes. It may be something as simple and as mild as ridicule or harassment, it might be discrimination, it might be maybe some restrictions that are placed upon you as a believer in Jesus Christ, an insult, a personal attack on your character. Maybe somebody lies and makes false accusations about you all because you're a follower of Jesus Christ. Because you choose to name the name of Jesus Christ.
0:05:57.4
For all the years that Cathryn and I have been married and in ministry together, we always kind of smile from time to time about those conversations we might have with maybe a couple or a family that we meet on one of our kids’ softball teams or baseball teams, or maybe at school, or just somebody in the neighborhood, and we're having this great conversation, and then, inevitably, the person says, “So brought you here, and what do you do for a living?” It's always an awkward moment for a pastor because you never know quite how somebody's going to respond. When I say, “I'm a pastor, and I serve this church at the corner of Braddock and Backlick called Immanuel Bible Church,” some people are, like, “Oh, great. Tell me more about that.” And other people are, like, “Oh, uh, I think I hear my daughter calling me.” And then, suddenly, the conversation becomes very awkward, it becomes very short. And maybe you've experienced something like as just a follower of Jesus Christ. You mention the name of Jesus in your place of work, or in your neighborhood, and suddenly, the conversation gets, not necessarily hostile, although sometimes it does, but it just becomes a little awkward. And the person kind of does the Heisman to you, or, you know, they treat you like Rudolph. They never invite you to any of the reindeer games anymore. I mean, you just got this plague about you. Okay? So, yes, persecution can come in the form of something very hostile and life-threatening, as Franklin Graham described, as is happening in the world today to some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, but at the other end of the scale it can also be something very mild, but nonetheless intentional. All because you name the name of Jesus Christ and you say that you're one of his followers.
0:07:56.9
Turn with me to the book of Acts. Hold you're place there in Matthew 5. Let's go to the book of Acts for just a brief reminder of what happened in the Early Church. I love the book of Acts. I'd love to set out on a study of the book of Acts sometime. It's a long book. 28-some chapters or so. But it's a fascinating read of how the Early Church just exploded onto the scene. You can't help but be excited about even the first few chapters. You read about the early believers meeting in the upper room, just 120 of them, and they were waiting. Waiting ‘cause Jesus told them to wait. And they were waiting and they were praying, they were praying, they were waiting until the Day of Pentecost came. And the Holy Spirit came, and those tongues of fire, and just lit the place up. On the Day of Pentecost Peter preached his first sermon, and the Bible tells us that 3,000 people came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. I won't tell you what happen when I preached my first sermon, but it wasn't anything like that.
0:09:05.4
I read about, in Acts 2:42-47, where the believers were gathering together and they had fellowship together and they experienced a deep sense of community, and I read about that and I long for that in my spiritual experience today. I read in Acts 3 this exciting scene where Peter is on his way to the temple and he meets this beggar outside them temple. And this beggar is known because he's there every day as people are going to the temple. And he heals the man. He says, “Silver and gold have I none, but I give you Jesus Christ. Be healed.” And then, the man’s now dancing in the temple. Wouldn't you have loved to have been there? And I read these wonderful stories in the early chapters of the book of Acts, and then I come to Acts 7 and 8, and I'm saying to myself, “I don't know that I would’ve wanted to have been there for this.” ‘Cause Acts 7 records the time that Stephen was martyred, put to death for his faith. He stands up before the Sanhedrin and he gives an account of his faith. And he takes the Sanhedrin through this historical tour through the Old Testament up unto the New Testament, and who Jesus is and all of this. And they stone him to death. Stephen is the first martyr persecuted for his faith. And now we come to Acts 8:1-3, and it says, beginning in verse 1, “On that day”—the day when Stephen was stoned for his faith—“a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem. And all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.” I don't know why the apostles weren’t scattered, but they were left back in Jerusalem. Verse 2, “Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul”—Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, who gave us so many of the epistles in the New Testament—“Saul began to destroy the church, going from house to house, and he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.”
0:11:15.3
Sounds kind of like this letter I got from Franklin Graham this week. 1st Century, 21st Century. I'm fascinated by how the Early Church exploded onto the scene, but friends, it had nothing to do with the church being rich and popular. You know, people weren't lining up to be a part of the church because, you know, there's a lot of money there, or because everyone was popular. No. Much to the contrary. The church was poor and persecuted. We might say that the Early Church was characterized by poverty and persecution. They were prayerful, and it was a powerful, powerful church. Oh, not politically powerful. No, no, no. Don’t think that. much to the contrary. But the power of God flowed through that place in a pretty remarkable way. And God in his sovereignty used persecution to carry out the command of Jesus in Acts 1:8. You remember when he said to them, “You are my witnesses, starting in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth”? There was the plan of the unfolding of the gospel. But what had happened up to this point is, the early believers had kind of gathered in Jerusalem. Some scholars believe as many as 10,000 to 15,000 believers were part of the Jerusalem church, and it was wonderful and it was cozy and it was comfortable, and they were having deep fellowship and community and enjoyed that, but they were in Jerusalem. And in Acts 8:1, great persecution. God allowed the heat to be turned up on the church, and the result was, the believers scattered. And verse 2 tells us they scattered to, well, of all places, Judea, and then to Samaria, and we know from the rest of the book, to the uttermost parts. And because of that catalytic event of persecution, the gospel came to you and me centuries later. Isn't it interesting how God in his sovereignty used that persecution?
0:13:28.3
Fast-forward from the 1st Century to about the 16th Century and the Reformation period, you bump into a fellow named John Foxe. He was one of the reformers. He, too, was persecuted by Queen Mary, as were a number of the reformers for their reformed theology. And Foxe, while he was in exile and while he was on the run, compiled a list and the stories of all the martyrs of the church. And he gave us a wonderful gift, known as Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. And he begins with the apostles, with the disciples, with some familiar names as we even read through the gospel accounts and the book of Acts. Here's what John Foxe tells us in his Book of Martyrs. Remember the sons of Zebedee, James and John, also known as the “sons of thunder” by Jesus? Well, James, the brother of John, was beheaded by Herod in A.D. 44. You can actually read about that in Acts 12. James, also known as “James the just,” the half-brother of Jesus, who gave a New Testament epistle, we studied it together last summer, he was stoned to death by angry mob in Jerusalem after appearing to the Sanhedrin. The Apostle Paul was beheaded in A.D. 69 just outside the gates of Rome. St. Paul’s basilica sits on the place where tradition says that beheading took place. Peter was crucified upside down at his own request in Rome in A.D. 67. The site of the crucifixion is marked today with a pagan symbol from Nero’s garden, said to be the last thing Peter Saw. Andrew, remember Andrew who brought his brother Peter to the Lord? Andrew spread the gospel to Russia and was crucified in Greece on an X-shaped cross. Today it is known as “Andrew’s cross.” Luke, Paul’s disciple and author of the Gospel of Luke, was hanged from an olive tree in Greece in A.D. 93. Nathanael, also known as Bartholomew, traveled to Armenia where he was tortured to death with flaying knives, reportedly singing hymns throughout the torture. Phillip, remember Phillip the evangelist in the Book of Acts? He was put to death in A.D. 54 by a Roman proconsul in Asia Minor after he converts the proconsul’s wife to Christianity. Guess he shouldn't have done that, right? Matthew, the tax collector who gave us the Gospel According to Matthew, was pinned to ground and beheaded in A.D. 70 while spreading the gospel in Ethiopia. And the list goes on and on. Matthias, Thomas, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus, James the son of Alpheus, Barnabas, John Mark, Timothy, they all died a martyr’s death. And that's just the 1stCentury. And you can go on through the 2nd and 3rd Century and many of the Early Church Fathers. You can go on into the Reformation period and others, all for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ suffered intense, hostile persecution that even led to their death.
0:16:54.8
But I suspect not a one of them were surprised by it. Not if they were listening to Jesus. Hold your place in Matthew 5, and turn with me to Matthew 10. Matthew 10, beginning in verse 24. Remember when Jesus sent out the 12 on a little missionary journey? Here's one of the things he said to them, 10:24, “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher and the servant like his master.” Now, listen to this. “If the head of the house been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household?” What's he talking about here? Well, there were some people that thought Jesus was of the devil. You know, “He's of the house of Beelzebub. He's just a devil.” And Jesus was saying, “If they thought I was a devil, guess what, they're gonna think you're a devil, too.”
0:17:55.0
Turn here to John 15. This is a section of Scripture, John 13 through 17, known as the Upper Room Discourse. This is the time on the night before Jesus was crucified that he met with his closest friends and followers. Judas betrayed him that evening, but he also shared some things. I like to think of this section of Scripture also as the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. His last words to his friends and followers. And on that night, 15:18, he says, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world it would love you as its own, but as it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, and that is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you, ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me,” Jesus said, “they will persecute you also. If they obeyed (0:19:00.0) my teaching, they will obey yours also.” It goes on in verse 21, and he says, “They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who has sent me.”
0:19:17.2
Now, nobody likes to be hated, including yours truly. We like to be loved, don’t we? And sometimes throughout Church History, because of our deep desire to be loved and accepted and to kind of go along to get along, some have compromised the truth in the Church. Compromise goes something like this, “Oh, I know the Bible says that, ‘Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by him.’ But, ah, you know, I don't want to be too hard about that. Let's just say that he's a way, and let's just all kind of reach out and hug one another. And, ‘All religious roads lead to Rome,’ and that kind of thing.” It's a compromising of the (0:20:00.0) truth. But the true Church of Jesus Christ, friends, has never been accepted into the mainstream of society, nor should we expect it to be. Because here's what persecution is. Persecution comes when Jesus’ value system collides with the world’s value system. That's persecution. It will come when two, let's just say, irreconcilable value systems collide.
0:20:36.9
And so you may be wondering, “Why does Jesus finish his teaching on the beatitudes here by talking about such a sobering topic as persecution?” Well, it's because if you live out the ethics of the beatitudes, if you live out the value system that he's talking about here, and the broader value system that is spoken of in the Sermon on the Mount, which is where the next series is going, if you choose to live that out, your value system, which is Jesus’, will collide with the world’s, and you will experience persecution.
0:21:13.6
Now, let's go back to Matthew 5 and let's take a closer look at these three verses here, 10, 11 and 12. One of the things it's important to note is, well, I said earlier this beatitude comes with an extra shot of espresso. Okay? This one has three verses to it, the others, just kind of a single sentence. In verse 10 he delivers this beatitude like he does the others, in the third person. He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” But the he goes on in verse 11 and he moves from the third person to the second person. He says, “Blessed are you when people insult and persecute you and falsely say all kinds off evil against you because of me.” He personalizes persecution. And I'm glad he does, because when you're persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ, it does seem very personal, doesn't it? And no matter how much we say, “Oh, I know that if the world hated him, they’ll hate me. It's not about me personally, it's about Jesus, it's about these two, you know, value systems that collide.” As much as we try to convince ourselves of that, it still feels very personal, doesn't it? You just feel like you're right in the middle of the bullseye and somebody's getting in your face and very personal in their persecution because you name the name of Jesus Christ. So I'm glad that he does this here.
0:22:41.1
Something else we need to pause and recognize is this, that not everything we consider persecution is persecution. Sometimes…well, always the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive, but sometimes, we as believers can be offensive in the way we carry out our faith. And what we might think is persecution is really not persecution. Let me allow one of my favorite authors, Charles Swindoll, describe this in greater detail. He says, “There is a kind of persecution we bring upon ourselves because we've been discourteous and needlessly offensive with the gospel,” he's saying. “There are certain reactions we can arouse simply because we adhere to some fanatical extreme that is based on personal taste or private opinion.” He says, “But that is not what Jesus had in mind here.” He says, “True persecution occurs”—and here's this idea again—“when two irreconcilable value systems collide.” And he says, “When that occurs, and you choose to stand on the principles of truth, you can count on it, you will be persecuted.” Okay. Get the idea there?
0:24:00.5
John Stott says it this way, he says, “Persecution is not because of our foibles or idiosyncrasies, but, ‘For righteousness sake, and on my account.’ That is because they find distasteful the righteousness for which we hunger.” And what he's referring to is the detail that we need to identify here in verse 10 and 11 where Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.” In other words, as you choose to live out the ethic of the beatitudes here, and the larger ethic in the Sermon on the Mount, as you choose to be poor in spirit and mourn over your sin, and clothe yourself in a meek and humble spirit, and hunger and thirst after righteousness, even as you choose to be merciful, pure in heart and peacemaking, as you live out the righteous ethic of the Sermon on the Mount and the beatitudes, “Blessed are those who are persecuted,” not because of your own idiosyncrasies, but, “because of righteousness.” And later her says, “Blessed are you when people insult and persecute and say all kinds of false things against you because of me,” he says. Get the idea there?
0:25:17.6
Now, having said all of that, let's spend our remaining time together talking about how we respond to persecution. And it's right here in the text, and some other supplementing verses of Scripture. But let's kind of move through this quickly, because it's fairly self-obvious in the text, but good for us to identify. Number 1, don’t be surprised. Don’t be surprised when persecution comes your way. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Yes, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” You say, “Well, when I became a believer in Jesus Christ, I didn't sign up for that.” Well, it was in the small print, sorry. Right here. In fact, it's also in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when his glory is revealed you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” Peter, who was crucified upside down said, “Don’t be surprised by it.” Even Paul, writing from a prison to the church at Philippi, Philippians 1:29, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.” You say, “I didn't sign up for that.” I know. I'm just the deliverer of good news, happy news this morning, right? But don’t be surprised by it.
0:26:59.0
Secondly, act like the royal citizen you are. Let's go back to Matthew 5:10. The backside of this beatitude sounds familiar, doesn't it? “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Where did we hear that before? Well, you have to go back to the first beatitude. Verse 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That's sort of like bookends in the beatitudes, isn't it? It's kind of neat that way. Jesus keeps us focused on the kingdom of heaven. The idea that we are in service to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We are citizens of the kingdom. And as citizens of the kingdom who are being persecuted because of the king, don’t react, don’t retaliate. Rather, respond by acting like the royal citizen that you are as a follower of Jesus Christ.
0:28:01.3
Warren Wiersbe picks up on this idea in one of his books, and he takes us to the Old Testament and to King David, who had already been anointed as king, but Saul, the existing king, was after David. You know, persecuting him and chasing him down. Wiersbe says, “When David could've killed Saul, David exercised self-control and let him go free. When David could've slain others who threw stones at him and slanders, David ignored those and left the matter with God.” Wiersbe says, “When you know you are a king”—he's speaking of David—“it is beneath your dignity to retaliate because that only makes you like other people.” That's a great reminder for us. As citizens of the kingdom, we are never more identified as in service to the King than when we adopt and clothe ourselves with this poverty of spirit that says, “Nothing in my hands I bring, but simply to the cross I cling,” and when we're the target of persecution. And how we respond to the latter says a lot about who we are as citizens of the kingdom.
0:29:10.7
Number 3, Jesus says, respond by, well, look at verse 12, “Rejoice and be glad.” What? Rejoice and be glad? Yeah, you got to remember, we're on a highway to happiness here. he's talking about what supreme blessedness and exalted happiness looks like, and he include persecution here. In acts 5:41 it says, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus Christ.”
0:29:50.5
Number 4, reach for your reward. A better word might be, wait for your reward. Read on in verse 12 there in Matthew 5. It says, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.” Interesting phrase there. I wish we had time this morning to trace the idea of eternal rewards through the New Testament. But do you know that God has a reward system. You say, “Well, I don't serve him for rewards.” Well, it's one of the ways he motivates to serve him. He says, “Hey, there's a reward waiting for you in heaven.” There are five crowns mentioned in the New Testament for specific service to the Lord. There's a place called the judgment seat of Christ, which every believer will come before, and rewards will be handed out. Not based upon whether you were a true believer or not. That's already determined. But your life and my life will be judged, our service to the Lord based on whether it's, you know, wood, hay and stubble, or gold, silver and precious stones, and rewards will be handed out. And Jesus says here, for those who are persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ, you have a reward. No, he doesn't that. he says, “Great is your reward in heaven.” I don't know what “great” means, but it means great. There's something big waiting for those who have been on the receiving end of persecution for the sake of Jesus Christ. And friends, it doesn't come in this life, that reward doesn't. He says, “Great is your reward in heaven.” And the last time I checked, this fallen earth that we're in, it ain't heaven. At least I hope not. But heaven is coming, a new heaven and new earth. And that means that as believers in Jesus Christ we need to be patient. You know, the old reformers talked about the perseverance of the saints. You know why? Because of what some of them went through all for the sake of naming the name of Jesus Christ. A matter of delayed gratification, you know, is how you live the Christian life. But just reach for that reward, wait for that reward, meditate up on it. Know that this life will soon be passed, and great is your reward if you've been persecuted for the sake of Christ.
0:32:28.7
Number 5, remember you're not alone. He says, “In the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” It's very tempting when you're kind of in the bullseye of real persecution for the sake of being a follower of Jesus Christ, it's tempting to think you're all alone. But you're not. First of all, your Savior said, “I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you.” He said, “Lo, I am with you always.” He'll never leave your side, even in the midst of the most hostile and intense persecution. This is why some of those early followers of Jesus Christ could sing hymns at the time that they were beheaded or set on fire or put to death. They experienced a special intimacy with Jesus at that time. But we also, as the persecuted, stand in a long line of those who have gone before us and who have been persecuted. You're never alone, just remember that.
0:33:31.7
And then, finally, pray for those who persecute you. Let's fast-forward in the Sermon on the Mount here to Matthew 5:44. Jesus says, “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Now, if you're like me, in an honest human moment, I want to pray that lightning will strike. No, that's not how we're supposed to pray. We're to love our enemies. We're to pray for those who persecute us.
0:34:08.2
As we move into the Sermon on the Mount we're gonna find an ethic here that is so otherworldly. You wonder, “How can I live up to that?” Well, you can't apart from the power of the Holy Spirit in you. But something happens when we pray for our enemies and those who persecute us. You can't be very long in the presence of our heavenly Father praying for somebody who persecutes but that your heart begins to soften and turn. In much the same way that Jesus came and looked over the city of Jerusalem that was well on its way to rejecting him, and he prayed over the city of Jerusalem and he wept. He saw them as sheep that have no shepherd, and he longed that they would come into fellowship with him. In the same way that he hung on the cross, beaten, bloodied, and he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Who for the joy set before him, he endured the cross and despised the shame.” This was our Savior. He knew there was a great reward waiting for him. And he wasn't the first to be persecuted, but he was persecuted unlike any other, right? And he'll always be with us. He taught us how to pray for those who are persecuted.
0:35:36.9
I don't know what you're facing today, I don't know what you'll face in the future. There may come a time when this sort of letter is written about things that are happening among Western Christians. I pray that never happens, but it's possible. When it does, Jesus gives us, well, a highway to happiness here, and prescription for how to respond as citizens of the kingdom who are in service to the King, the Lord Jesus, himself.
0:36:07.4
Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, thank you for you were word. Thank you for these eight or nine weeks we’ve been in your beatitudes. Boy, this has been a surprising trip. At every turn, at every exit, at every on-ramp there's been something that has collided with a value system in the world that has made us think twice about our relationship to you. And this last one, Father, is a sobering one. We thank you for the words of encouragement that our Lord gives us about those rewards in heaven. About never being alone. The challenge to pray for those who persecute us, those who are our enemies. Never thought I had an enemy list. But, Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ in parts of the world that are experiencing intense hostility all for naming the name of Jesus Christ. Some people are content cursing your name and using it that way, but when we bless the name of Jesus, and when we identify with him as one of his followers, Father, it gets pretty rough down here. And you anticipated all that, you knew all of that, and you said, “I would always be with you even until the end of the age.” So we claim those promises. We draw near to you. We pray for the persecuted church, and we pray for our own brothers and sisters right here at Immanuel Bible Church, and our friends and neighbors who, in the power of the Holy Spirit, are living out this thing called the Christian life and finding that it can be hard to be a Christian. Father, protect us from wanting to be accepted so much so that we compromise the truth. But also deliver us from those times when we become the offense, rather than the cross of Christ being the offense.
0:38:35.4
And Father, I pray for anybody here today who has yet to become a believer in Jesus Christ. Maybe they’ve read or heard some of the fine print today and they're saying, “That's the last thing I want. I don't want to sign up for persecution.” But, oh, Father, may they see the cross of Christ and how they're eternity hangs in the balance. As Christ died for our sins, and was buried and rose again from the dead, he endured such shame and such persecution, and such physical pain and agony to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could be forgiven and redeemed from the penalty of sin and even the very power of sin, and one day, Father, from the very presence of sin in that place you referenced in these verses called heaven. Even so, come Lord Jesus. We can't wait for that day. I pray that today would be a day of salvation for those that you are calling to yourself. In the name of Christ, we pray, amen.
Total Time 0:40:02.7