Salvation and Judgment

"And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 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. 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. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved... The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (From Mat. 10). All I can say to that is, Wow! Now that is all Bible, and that is all Jesus, my friend. And I don't know whether you noticed or not, but that mega-powerful passage of truth from the mouth of Jesus was one huge smack-down of a whole lot of what I would call 'Christian Correctness' that is so prevalent today. This is actually a very serious and sobering calling, and Jesus never once tried to paint it any other way. Maybe you should read it again. This is real God-fearing stuff that Jesus was saying. In fact I highly recommend reading it several more times, very slowly and very thoughtfully. This calling, and this Gospel, and this new testament ministry is not the comfy-cozy religious lifestyle that so many today are bound and determined to believe. The simple fact of the matter is that it is a really sobering thing to truly identify with Jesus, in word, in deed, and in spirit. If we truly do that, then everything about our life becomes very serious. It is particularly serious for those we bear witness to, and those we are around on a regular basis, as Jesus plainly pointed out here.

Jesus was not persecuted because all he did was bless children, be kind to people, and smile a lot. The love of God is holy, and it is very clean from the spirits and minds of this world. People don't want you to be free from their spirits and their minds. They want you to be like them. If you aren't and they are not drawn to God's holy love that you project, then they will hate you for it like Jesus said they will. Those who will persecute you the most are those who claim to be 'all-inclusive.' What they really mean is that they will include everyone as long as their lives and their spirits are not a reproof of their sins and perverseness. The love of God reproves sin. Jesus said it does, and Jesus certainly did it (Jn. 16:7-9; Mat. 23:13-33). The love of God doesn't hide under a bushel because nobody wants anything to do with it. Jesus said that too (Mat. 5:14-16). Parents and children are not going to deliver one another up to the death because everyone is focused on 'family values' at all costs, including the cost of compromising the Spirit of God with the spirit of this world. Jesus made it clear in this sermon that dying is not the main issue in life that everyone has been conditioned to think, provided that we die in holiness and in favor with him. I believe the bottom line is 1 John 4:18: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." There it is; if our heart is complete in the love of God then we are not afraid of what this world can throw at us, including death. But let's not misunderstand this to mean that the love of God casts out the fear of God from our hearts. Quite to the contrary in fact. When we rid our hearts of all the fear of this world, the fear of God has full reign in our spirits. David said it best I believe: "Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name" (Psm. 86:11). May God be gracious to all who are honest and humble of heart. God bless.