What are you passionate about? Do like football, basketball, or some other sport? What about shopping? Do you call everyone you know when you find a good sale? Is it easy to talk about these things with family, friends, or strangers?
Many times a complete stranger will start talking about the weather or a traffic jam, or just about anything. Most of us don’t have a problem talking about what we think is important. We will even fight over politics because that is what we are passionate about. But what about God?
11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32
If someone asks if you are a Christian, do you tell them you are? Are you ashamed to tell them? Are you afraid of what they might think or say? What if it could cost you your life? If others don’t ask if you are a Christian, can they tell by your actions that you are?
This is not anything new. People denying Christ goes back to when Jesus dwelt among men in human flesh. Joseph of Arimathea was a closet disciple until Jesus death (John 19:38; Luke 23:50-53 ). Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, for fear of the Jews (John 3:1-21).
Probably the best known denial of Jesus was that of Simon Peter. When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72).
When I was a boy, I proudly professed my faith in Christ. I took a tongue lashing on numerous occasions for this. By the time I was in high school, I was selective of who I professed my faith to. At eighteen, when I joined the Marine Corps, I was embarrassed to reveal that I was a Christian. I had actually thought when I became a Marine I wouldn’t care what others thought of me. The problem was, this was a sickness in my spiritual life. I had to get my life right with Him before I would have the boldness to proclaim my Savior and not care what the world thought. Needless to say, satan was always there to plant seeds of doubt wherever possible. I would have thoughts about how little I knew of the Bible.
If someone asked me a question, I might not know the answer. Pride was my disease. It wasn’t until later, when I began to grow in my faith that I began to profess my faith no matter what anyone thought. Today I am proud to proclaim my faith, but it is not based on what others think, or if I know all the answers. It is based on my love for Him, because He loved, and saved a wretched sinner like me. He lives in my heart, and because of that, I seek to tell all others about Him. It is He that gives me the courage and the strength to share Him with others. Praise God He has done such a work in a hopeless sinner such as I. Like Paul, I am honored to suffer for His sake. Compared to the cross He bore for me, anything I suffer is nothing.
The hatred of the world: John 15:18-27
Jesus warns of persecution: John 16:1-3
“I have overcome the world: John 16:25-33
If we deny Christ, can we be restored? The answer is a resounding “Yes!”
After Jesus rose from the grave and talked with the disciples, he asked Peter three times if he loved Him (John 21:15-19). I believe Jesus asked Peter for affirmation for each time Peter had denied Him on the night He was arrested. With Peter (as with all the disciples except John), this came with a cost. Peter would be killed, but he would never again deny his Lord.
Some of those who gladly proclaimed Jesus are:
John the Baptist; lived in the desert (Luke 3:1-20)
Mary Magdalene; was there to see where Jesus was buried and came to anoint Him on the third day (all four Gospels)
The Samaritan Woman; an adultress (John -30)
The Demoniac; was possessed (Luke -39)
A Prostitute (Luke -39)
A Centurion; Roman military commander (Luke 7:1-10)
A Blind Man (John 9:1-38)
Lazarus, Mary, and Martha; Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11;1-46)
The Desciples; after Pentecost
The question today is, are you willing to suffer persecution, even death for the sake of Christ? What a little thing it is to suffer what others say about you, even if it costs you your life, for the reward that awaits you in heaven.
How much do you want to hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter in to the presence of thy Lord.”
I apologize for the break in the study of Romans. For reasons unknown to me, I can not retrieve those files. I will continue to work on this.
No comments:
Post a Comment