MATTHEW 24:9-14
Jesus continues to tell us of the things to come in this world as the hand of God loosens it's grip on the evil of this world. Matthew 24:9 does not mince words with the reality that we will suffer persecution, and be put to death for our faith in Christ. Jesus told the disciples early on to not expect the world to treat us any different than it has treated Him.
There is a very important reason for this to happen among the people of God...and it deals with the very real problem of deceit and sin among mankind. It is one of the many reasons for God reading the heart of men rather than dealing with communication in the ways we do with one another. I have often wondered how different our lives would be if we could read one another's thoughts? We tend to be very deceitful with one another most of the time with what our actual thoughts are. That is partly because we may want to keep peace, but if we really take the time to admit it we are also much more sinful creatures than we have allowed ourselves to believe. This thought naturally leads me to ask what about our honesty with God? It is logical to assume that God will not allow those who have played games with their faith in Him or in their fake love for Him to enter into a perfect Heaven with us.
Up til now we have not faced any persecution within this country for Christ...at least the great majority of us have not. Paul reprimanded some in the church for not standing up to the persecution when it came in "that they had not yet contended to blood" which means they really did not believe in what they were saying. Today we have many Christian brothers and sister who are dying for their faith in Jesus Christ. One of the great misleading of this age is that we are somehow separated from all of those people, and that we should not also suffer with them or help them in their plight. When one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers. 1 Corinthians 12:26 tells us that when one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers, and when we come together with one another the whole body benefits.
False prophecy is nothing new...they too preached a message they claimed was from God about health and wealth...these were the things that men have always wanted to hear from the pulpit and yet they are false by nature. Jesus never preached such things. Jesus was never so concerned with the flesh as we are...His concern was for the spirit of man, and while He healed the bodies of so many it was for a purpose to get men and women to listen to the Good News of God's Salvation. The Good News of Jesus Christ has never been about gaining in any way through this physical life, but rather through the Spirit of God in the eternal life we are yet to live. All that Jesus taught was caught up in the perfection of the spirit of men...not in any kind of physical perfection yet still we strive first and foremost to perfect the body; that simple lump of clay that holds the most precious thing we could ever have...our soul. It is this kind of thing that causes false prophets to feed on the basic wants of men which include beauty, health, and wealth. We will pick up again on verse 12 for next time...may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
There is a very important reason for this to happen among the people of God...and it deals with the very real problem of deceit and sin among mankind. It is one of the many reasons for God reading the heart of men rather than dealing with communication in the ways we do with one another. I have often wondered how different our lives would be if we could read one another's thoughts? We tend to be very deceitful with one another most of the time with what our actual thoughts are. That is partly because we may want to keep peace, but if we really take the time to admit it we are also much more sinful creatures than we have allowed ourselves to believe. This thought naturally leads me to ask what about our honesty with God? It is logical to assume that God will not allow those who have played games with their faith in Him or in their fake love for Him to enter into a perfect Heaven with us.
Up til now we have not faced any persecution within this country for Christ...at least the great majority of us have not. Paul reprimanded some in the church for not standing up to the persecution when it came in "that they had not yet contended to blood" which means they really did not believe in what they were saying. Today we have many Christian brothers and sister who are dying for their faith in Jesus Christ. One of the great misleading of this age is that we are somehow separated from all of those people, and that we should not also suffer with them or help them in their plight. When one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers. 1 Corinthians 12:26 tells us that when one part of the body suffers the whole body suffers, and when we come together with one another the whole body benefits.
False prophecy is nothing new...they too preached a message they claimed was from God about health and wealth...these were the things that men have always wanted to hear from the pulpit and yet they are false by nature. Jesus never preached such things. Jesus was never so concerned with the flesh as we are...His concern was for the spirit of man, and while He healed the bodies of so many it was for a purpose to get men and women to listen to the Good News of God's Salvation. The Good News of Jesus Christ has never been about gaining in any way through this physical life, but rather through the Spirit of God in the eternal life we are yet to live. All that Jesus taught was caught up in the perfection of the spirit of men...not in any kind of physical perfection yet still we strive first and foremost to perfect the body; that simple lump of clay that holds the most precious thing we could ever have...our soul. It is this kind of thing that causes false prophets to feed on the basic wants of men which include beauty, health, and wealth. We will pick up again on verse 12 for next time...may you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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