Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Well hello my dear Friends! It’s a new day, and it surely feels good to be alive! So please give the Lord some thanks and praise for that. Or as 3 Canal says: ‘Chant a chant and welcome the morning.’ (smile) Today’s Bit comes from a section of the gospel where Jesus warns His disciples that following Him meant sure persecution. Driving into Toronto yesterday, I saw a sign flashing on a billboard that said, ‘Get rid of your nightmares by remembering your dreams.’ That sounds like good advice, for whether they’re talking about real nightmares during sleep, or just waking problems, concentrating on your dreams will certainly drive away some of the negative emotions besetting you. When you remember all those big, positive dreams you had, or still do, where you were going to change the world, make a significant difference, right some wrongs, whatever, it does get the adrenaline flowing and takes your mind off the negative stuff. It might also come in useful when handling persecution for your beliefs. Note that Jesus did not hide or deny the fact that His followers would suffer simply by identifying with Him. ‘And ye shall be hated by all men for my name’ sake.’ That’s being totally up front and straightforward. Earlier on He told the twelve; ‘Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless (innocent) as doves.’ (Mat.10:16) Now that’s certainly asking a lot. Yes, people, Jesus does expect plenty from us, excellence at all times, though being wise and innocent amongst a group of wild, savage, snarling, bloodthirsty wolves is a bit much. But Friends, since nothing has changed in Jesus’ teaching over that period of time, though the wolf pack has certainly become larger, hungrier and more bloodthirsty, it means that we, His current followers also need to adhere to that warning while obeying the principle. Sorry, but I prefer harmless to innocent, cause innocent conjures up images of naivety. And we definitely don’t want to go out in today’s world naive, else we’ll be eaten alive in no time flat. So we’ll use harmless, which sounds more plausible. Anyway, after that, Jesus made a statement of supreme importance: ‘But beware of man.’ It was true then, and possibly more so now, and is indeed a sad commentary on our society. For as Jesus reasoned, His followers would be betrayed, beaten, intimidated, falsely accused and taken before all kinds of authority to try and destroy His Church. (Mat.10:17-18) And so said, so done. Through the intervening years, up to this day, believers have been persecuted, oftimes for simply believing. In the western, supposedly Christian society, we’re fairly free to worship, though recently we’ve experienced some setbacks. But my people, in many other societies around the world, just the very mention of the name Jesus, or Christianity, is liable to have you imprisoned, even executed. Now that’s totally unacceptable two thousand years later. Oh Friends, we have to stop that kind of persecution, at least reduce it substantially, by diligently helping those believers out in the field, and the pockets of Christian resistance and assurance in those countries that are hostile to the Word and won’t allow Christ to be preached openly. It wasn’t easy in Jesus’ time, neither is it today. But fortunately my brethren, Jesus was prepared for it all. Listen to His stellar advice: ‘But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.’ (Mat.10:19-20) Oh praise His Holy Name people! Yes Friends, our Saviour, like the savvy leader He is, already had a plan worked out; namely the Holy Spirit would advise His followers how to behave and what to say when they were falsely accused. What a giant; our Saviour! And an honest one too. He never lied or pretended that His followers would have smooth sailing, but rather candidly informed them that suffering would abound if they preached in His Name. Now how many other supposed deities have been that honest eh? None that I know of. Another sad consequence that Christ warned would pursue His followers was dissension amongst families. ‘And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.’ (Mat.10:21) Ah mih people, it happened, and is still happening. We all know of families that have been destroyed by opposing beliefs. It’s not a nice situation, but one we have to deal with. However people, Jesus wasn’t moving clueless, remember we said He had a plan. And here’s the best part of it, the saving grace; though we are persecuted for believing in Him: ‘he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ And all God’s people joyously sang: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Worthy is the Lamb to be praised!’ Yes Friends, even though there seems to be no way out of our problems, when we listen to Jesus and obey His instructions, He opens a way for us. Jesus promises, that those who persevere to the very end, in spite of all the trials and tribulations, will be saved. And remember, He is faithful that promised, so there’s nothing to worry about. Oh, the scholars also bring up a good point here. It doesn’t mean that if we don’t persevere salvation will be lost, but rather those who are truly saved will have the parts and will indeed endure to the end. That means we can’t give up my people. We’ve got to keep on keeping on, to grow and mature in the faith like children becoming adults. There’s still a lot of work to be done before Jesus returns. So let’s get diligent and be persevering. And the best way to do that is by listening to that guiding Spirit within us and studying the Good Book, so we can fully LOVE our God; LIVE our Faith; and SPREAD His Word. Much LOVE!…Christian persecution will only cease…when the whole world’s converted…so let’s work diligently towards that fateful day…
Well hello my dear Friends! It’s a new day, and it surely feels good to be alive! So please give the Lord some thanks and praise for that. Or as 3 Canal says: ‘Chant a chant and welcome the morning.’ (smile) Today’s Bit comes from a section of the gospel where Jesus warns His disciples that following Him meant sure persecution. Driving into Toronto yesterday, I saw a sign flashing on a billboard that said, ‘Get rid of your nightmares by remembering your dreams.’ That sounds like good advice, for whether they’re talking about real nightmares during sleep, or just waking problems, concentrating on your dreams will certainly drive away some of the negative emotions besetting you. When you remember all those big, positive dreams you had, or still do, where you were going to change the world, make a significant difference, right some wrongs, whatever, it does get the adrenaline flowing and takes your mind off the negative stuff. It might also come in useful when handling persecution for your beliefs. Note that Jesus did not hide or deny the fact that His followers would suffer simply by identifying with Him. ‘And ye shall be hated by all men for my name’ sake.’ That’s being totally up front and straightforward. Earlier on He told the twelve; ‘Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless (innocent) as doves.’ (Mat.10:16) Now that’s certainly asking a lot. Yes, people, Jesus does expect plenty from us, excellence at all times, though being wise and innocent amongst a group of wild, savage, snarling, bloodthirsty wolves is a bit much. But Friends, since nothing has changed in Jesus’ teaching over that period of time, though the wolf pack has certainly become larger, hungrier and more bloodthirsty, it means that we, His current followers also need to adhere to that warning while obeying the principle. Sorry, but I prefer harmless to innocent, cause innocent conjures up images of naivety. And we definitely don’t want to go out in today’s world naive, else we’ll be eaten alive in no time flat. So we’ll use harmless, which sounds more plausible. Anyway, after that, Jesus made a statement of supreme importance: ‘But beware of man.’ It was true then, and possibly more so now, and is indeed a sad commentary on our society. For as Jesus reasoned, His followers would be betrayed, beaten, intimidated, falsely accused and taken before all kinds of authority to try and destroy His Church. (Mat.10:17-18) And so said, so done. Through the intervening years, up to this day, believers have been persecuted, oftimes for simply believing. In the western, supposedly Christian society, we’re fairly free to worship, though recently we’ve experienced some setbacks. But my people, in many other societies around the world, just the very mention of the name Jesus, or Christianity, is liable to have you imprisoned, even executed. Now that’s totally unacceptable two thousand years later. Oh Friends, we have to stop that kind of persecution, at least reduce it substantially, by diligently helping those believers out in the field, and the pockets of Christian resistance and assurance in those countries that are hostile to the Word and won’t allow Christ to be preached openly. It wasn’t easy in Jesus’ time, neither is it today. But fortunately my brethren, Jesus was prepared for it all. Listen to His stellar advice: ‘But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.’ (Mat.10:19-20) Oh praise His Holy Name people! Yes Friends, our Saviour, like the savvy leader He is, already had a plan worked out; namely the Holy Spirit would advise His followers how to behave and what to say when they were falsely accused. What a giant; our Saviour! And an honest one too. He never lied or pretended that His followers would have smooth sailing, but rather candidly informed them that suffering would abound if they preached in His Name. Now how many other supposed deities have been that honest eh? None that I know of. Another sad consequence that Christ warned would pursue His followers was dissension amongst families. ‘And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.’ (Mat.10:21) Ah mih people, it happened, and is still happening. We all know of families that have been destroyed by opposing beliefs. It’s not a nice situation, but one we have to deal with. However people, Jesus wasn’t moving clueless, remember we said He had a plan. And here’s the best part of it, the saving grace; though we are persecuted for believing in Him: ‘he that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ And all God’s people joyously sang: ‘Glory Hallelujah! Worthy is the Lamb to be praised!’ Yes Friends, even though there seems to be no way out of our problems, when we listen to Jesus and obey His instructions, He opens a way for us. Jesus promises, that those who persevere to the very end, in spite of all the trials and tribulations, will be saved. And remember, He is faithful that promised, so there’s nothing to worry about. Oh, the scholars also bring up a good point here. It doesn’t mean that if we don’t persevere salvation will be lost, but rather those who are truly saved will have the parts and will indeed endure to the end. That means we can’t give up my people. We’ve got to keep on keeping on, to grow and mature in the faith like children becoming adults. There’s still a lot of work to be done before Jesus returns. So let’s get diligent and be persevering. And the best way to do that is by listening to that guiding Spirit within us and studying the Good Book, so we can fully LOVE our God; LIVE our Faith; and SPREAD His Word. Much LOVE!…Christian persecution will only cease…when the whole world’s converted…so let’s work diligently towards that fateful day…
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