Hated: Christ in You, On Trial

All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. (9) "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. (10) And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. (11) And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (12) And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (13) But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. -Matthew 24:8-14

In this snippet of what is commonly referred to as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus outlines what He knew was going to be true for those who would follow in His footsteps, embracing Him as the one and only way to deliverance from sin and the inheritance of eternal bliss. God-fearing Christians know His words to have a final fulfillment that occurs in the last days of human life as we know it before He returns to setup His kingdom, one that will never end, Is. 9:7. He tells us there will be birth pains that will eventually give way to the birth of horrible tribulation. Hatred and physical death will be the emotion elicited toward His followers. Because of the weakness of the flesh, the suppression of truth, and the fear that conflict arouses many will be divided; some choosing to side with their majority peers, those who hold to a non-threating and hedonistic worldview, while others, those who side with life, will hold to the truth found only in Christ. They know that the ways of the world are but slippery slopes that have as their end the netherworld of death; and it was from this death that they fled to Jesus finding Him to hold the promise of life. Christ in us, the Hope of Glory would remain their foundation. These divisions will be strong and they will run deep. Family members will divide and hate one another. We saw this one year ago in June of 2012 when Chick-Fil-A took a stand for traditional marriage, lighting up Facebook and Twitter as friends viciously attacked friends and family members unfriended family members.

Jesus also spoke of deceptions abounding as many will rise up and call themselves Christian, even doing good works for humanities sake, but their teaching is the morality of the world--a morality with no foundation--a morality that leads to judgment. Just this week, June of 2013, the president of Exodus International, Alan Chambers, announced the exodus from once being a Christian organization that taught there was deliverance from sin through Christ to standing down for the sake of promoting the homosexual lifestyle. Oh yes, they are rebranding themselves, using Christianity as the cover, but they have backed away from the eternal truth of Scripture and the power of God. This action is anything but God glorifying and those who walk in the Spirit will immediately recognize the deceit.**

Jesus taught that in these final days lawlessness would breed cold hearts and what was once proper etiquette and good moral behavior based upon the Christian ethic, will become putrid and sickening to those who desire to live apart from God's commands--commands that exist for the good of families and the communities they make up. But even so, as society plunges downward God's Word will never become void. And despite it all the gospel will be preached more than ever from the rooftops of communities around the world ever echoing with staccato-like rhythm the call to life found only in Christ. The great Apostle Paul made an outstanding spiritual observation concerning this very matter. He wrote:

"But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice," Phil 1:12-18 (NKJV)

What an awesome revelation to the 21st century believers! And what was the outcome of this mockery and arrest of Paul? The whole Palace guard heard the gospel--even from the untrained lips of the pagans Jesus was preached. Those who were believers grew bolder and bolder and it was Christianity that would conquer the hearts of the people. Fear subsided and the church grew mightily. Jesus was on trial before the cross, yet it was the cross that gave way to the resurrection to life. Jesus was on trial in 1st century Rome, but it would be the gospel that would stem the tide of hatred. Today, Jesus is on trial again. That coupled with the ever increasing prophetic signs of His soon return tell us that it is He that will once again have the final word. The ethnic and family groups of the nations will rage against one another and they will fiercely try to put this Jesus back into the grave, but little do they know that we who hold proudly the banner of the cross of Christ are more than they will ever be able to devour. We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!

Christ may again be on trial; Christians may again be spilling their blood; Families may be torn asunder but the Gospel of Jesus Christ will shine as brightly as ever before. And in the midst of it all, one day a trumpet will sound and we who are alive will be changed and together with the dead bodies of the saints before us, we will all be raised to eternal life, 1 Cor. 15:51-54. Death will have had its day but life will grind it to powder.

The question before us all is this, "How will you stand in the day when you are confronted for your faith?" Jesus once stated, " When the Son of Man returns will He really find faith upon the earth?" Luke 18"8b.

How will you stand?

**http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/20/christian-group-that-helped-people-repress-same-sex-attraction-apologizes-to/

25 Reasons to Believe - In Jesus FREE EBOOK

FREE EBOOK click to download - When book comes up click down arrow on Upper Right to save a copy . A while back the Barna Group released a report titled, "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church." 1 Under reason two, " Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow" they write: "A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests” (24%) or that “the Bible is not taught clearly or often enough” (23%). Sadly, one-fifth of these young adults who attended a church as a teenager said that “God seems missing from my experience of church” (20%)." If one takes a look at the modern church-scape I can see why. The gap between those pastors and teachers that are fired up about Jesus and those that do not preach all of th...

Fornication - The Acceptable Sin?

In the Bible there are several sexual sins that are categorized under the term,"Sexual Immorality." Not the least of these is, "Fornication." However fornication has become an outdated, and in many places, the acceptable sin in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As a matter of fact, many do not even know what the term "fornication" means. Since the advent of the modern Bible translation, many have never heard of it. This article focuses on what the Scripture says about this out-of-control acceptable sin. Fornication is mentioned thirty-six times in the Bible (MT), thirty-two times in the New Testament. In almost all modern translations the word has been substituted with, "sexual immorality" and has come to mean any number of sexual sins. However, sin (missing the mark) is still sin and sin still separates a person from God. So why has this sin become so acceptable even in modern churches???? UPDATE : Here is a testimony of life...

The Bride of Christ Has Made Herself Ready!!

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he...

Understanding Grace…without it no one can be saved!

Years ago as a pastor, I faced an issue concerning the topic of “Grace.” I had noticed some congregants who were taking Grace to the extreme and beginning to teach that since our sins were bought and paid for at the cross—all of them, past, present, and future—there was no need to strive against sin. Thanks to our Lord, this was noticed and the He quickly allowed it to be curbed. This heresy occasionally rears its head in Christian circles and indeed must be stopped before it becomes out-of-control. The good thing is that a proper understanding of Grace can arrest the heresy in its steps. Because this false perception thrives in loose living, many well-meaning Christians go completely to the opposite extreme and throw the Biblical teaching of “Grace” out altogether. That too is heresy. How should we approach it? Grace, as a doctrine, should always be presented in its entirety. By that I mean, a starting definition, followed by why it is important, and concluding with keeping it scri...

Guest post: Hind's Feet

Adrian Bateman, 2016 The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like hind’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high hills. — Habakkuk 3:19 For most human beings the primary goal of life, after survival, is the pursuit of happiness. Indeed it’s one of an American’s “unalienable rights”. But what is happiness? The definition of happy is surely situationally derived. For the hungry it would be having enough food; for the homeless, a home. For the average person it might be having more time, more leisure, more friends, more comforts, more things. Ultimately, happiness involves the removal of obstacles and the correction of problems so that we might live a life without struggle. Or, at least, without what we view as onerous or unnecessary struggle. But this is not God’s definition of happiness. No. True peace—biblical peace, that deep inner peace which we cannot explain—is found only in the presence of G...

Truth Inspires

Search This Blog