When All Men Speak Well of You

Luke 6:22-23 Blessed are you when men hate you,  when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. ²³“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. 

These words of Jesus were spoken directly to His Disciples.  They were told to go forth and make disciples teaching the people to obey all that God had commanded.  These words were said to encourage the Disciples by reminding them that their rejection by man was a sign of their eternal reward in heaven.  These words were for us also, the modern day disciples of Jesus.  

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and you are too if you are following Jesus from the heart.  I know I am beginning to do a few things right with God as I am beginning to sense some persecution coming from a variety of fronts.  God is showing me that I have to make a choice, either to speak up in word and in deed to show my faith or choose to keep my faith hidden and place winning the approval of man ahead of pleasing Him.  If we choose the latter, our faith is fake as we are not willing ot put it all on the line for Jesus.  If we are led by the Spirit of God we are promised that persecution will come upon us.  It is not a matter of IF, it is a matter of WHEN.  When this comes upon us, Jesus tells us to rejoice and leap for joy because of the reward we will receive in heaven, IF we endure to the end.  There is a great story of persecution of Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13.  The Jews got jealous of the crowds that were gathering and were offended by the message that came against their earthly kingdoms so they conspired to persecute Paul and Barnabas.  The Apostles kept pressing on, following the Spirit and we are told they received the joy that Jesus spoke of in the opening passage.

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.  It is indeed supernatural joy, it is not based on carnal logic or man-made philosophy.

But let us also understand that the persecution I speak of pales to what many are enduring around the world.  A growing church is China was just locked up and the leaders arrested and our prayers need to be with those enduring a level of persecution we cannot imagine in the “western” societies.  I continue to see encouraging yet disturbing reports of church growth and persecution in places like India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Laos.  No matter the persecution we are to always be on watch and pray that we may be able to endure what is about to happen, so we will be able to stand before the Son of Man

John 15:20 If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also

It is written that those that preach the truth about God’s word will be hated even reviled by others, even condemned by those calling themselves Christians.  Darkness hates the light and when the light of God is shown upon darkness, darkness is exposed.  Walking in the Spirit is what brings persecution upon us.  The flesh and the powers of darkness hate all things of God’s Spirit.  Our flesh cannot please God and is hostile to the Word. 

Romans 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so

The lessons of avoiding the pursuit of the approval of men is not often spoke about.  It is “TABOO” and considered dangerous ground to tread.  The carnal mind does not trust in God, it operates out of the flesh.  So it rationalizes a message that is watered down that is pleasing and ear tickling to the flesh.  This message is not the truth and woe to them who preach it.  The fear that is behind this carnal logic is from you know who as God did not give us the Spirit of fear (timidity).   A true disciple of Christ simply cannot live their life or walk their faith by being afraid of what other people think.  Any such desire is of the sinful nature as it is indeed selfishness that makes us seek the approval of our fellow-man and place it above pleasing God.  Go read what Jesus said in the gospels.  You think he walked around preaching an ear tickling message that pleased the flesh of the Jews?  No indeed, He spoke the truth so boldly that the Jews tried to push Him off cliffs, stone Him and eventually crucified Him.  What did Paul say about it?

Galatians 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

We are not serving Christ if we are trying to make people happy.  We must take a stand for Christ at some point we cannot do that if we are worried about what men think.   Most Christians simply are taught that the persecution spoken of is simply when non-believers reject us for believing in an unseen God. While that is part of it, it is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak.   The Biblical truth about persecution goes to the heart of defining what a true walk with God really looks like.  By no means do I have it all figured out or suggest that my walk with God is perfect because it is not.  But I am burdened and called to share the light of truth I am given.  I  don’t speak this out of judgment, I speak it out of love that it may help the reader come to a fuller knowledge of the truth. 

Paul gave instructions to Timothy about the suffering he would face as a true Christian in an otherwise alien and hostile land.  We must be careful not to water down the gospel and out of political correctness or selfish ambition; shrink away from God’s instructions.  Our flesh will be tempted to do this in order to avoid persecution and be buddies with our friends and neighbors.

2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, ALL who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

I have written often that salvation is not a cake walk and that is spot on accurate.  Nowhere does the Bible tell us we can just say some words and be saved.  Being saved is not a ceremony, it is not a ritual.  The Bible shows us the path that leads to life, the path we need to keep walking all the way to the end to finish the race.  We are told we must overcome trials of all kinds and endure to the end to be saved.  The Apostate Church has fallen away from the truth as was prophesied.  We cannot water down the Word to please men or  meet friends half way – that is shrinking away from the faith which carries a very stern warning in Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10:32-34,39 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. ³³Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. ³⁴You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions….. ³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

As I have come to a fuller knowledge of the truth of God’s Word and have begun to speak out on it and more importantly live it,  I am losing my popularity amongst my fellow-man.  I do not seek this rejection or any hatred and at times it has bothered me and I have cried out to God to give me wisdom about it.  But I take comfort from the comforter, the Holy Spirit in me that has shown me the truth and validated I am walking the right way on the path.  

Warnings to Teachers

Christians need to be careful and not seek to win the approval of men at the expense of the approval of God.  Jesus gave a stark warning to all that seek to be popular and tickle ears to build followings and earthly kingdoms.

Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

The false prophets told the Jews everything was fine, the land was at peace, they were safe  – when it was all a big fat lie.  These men were seeking reputation, fame, fortune, friends and did not speak the truth.  The false prophets were idolized, put on pedestals and were held in high esteem for the ear tickling false prophesy they proclaimed.  The true prophets came and rebuked the Jews for their sin and rebellion to God’s Word and they were criticized, condemned and killed.  It was only years later when the judgments spoken by the true prophets came true that they were properly seen as true prophets and their writings added to the collection of Scripture.  In their time, Jeremiah, Isaiah and others were viewed as heretics.  Sadly man does not want to learn from history, much less the very words of Jesus.

If we tell the truth about God and His judgments and commandment, we will be persecuted.  It is not a maybe, it is a promise from God.  This does not mean that just because someone is being rejected that their message is true, as indeed we need to search the Scriptures and test all spirits against the Word of God.  But alarm bells should be going off when we see anyone teaching that is beloved by all and has immense popularity and very few critics.  The Word of God divides as we saw earlier. 

 Satan is our enemy.  The powers of darkness will come along and speak to us directly or through people to convince us we are being too harsh in speaking the truth from our hearts.  The scheme is for us to elevate the approval of men higher than our pursuit of righteousness with God.  Do not be deceived and ensnared by the wiles of the devil.

Showing Partiality

I recently wrote about pursuing selfish ambition.  While we should be doing good deeds and showing love to our neighbors, we cannot do so while showing partiality.  Partiality is sin and when we treat people differently, we are selfishly seeking some kind of gain, be it reputation, esteem, popularity, money or other favors.  It took me a while to see the real spirit behind the work of partiality in this world.  It is not of God.  Jesus had some harsh words for us about such hypocrisy.  

Luke 6:32-34 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. ³³And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. ³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full.

The Lord told us that in the end times, the persecution will be ratcheted up significantly.  Jesus spoke of persecution from outside the church but also from inside the church that would come.  Nearly all nations have eliminated the true God as their guiding light, muffling the practice of true worship little by little, piece by piece.  I would not be surprised in a few years if the overt persecution of Christians reaches levels we cannot even imagine even in the western world and the USA specifically.  The stage is being set right now.

Matthew 24:9-10 Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

Notice verse 10 that speaks to the great falling away from faith that will occur and these fallen Christians will betray and begin to hate each other.  I see this happening and feel the beginnings of persecution and hate coming on me personally.  I have seen it come on others I see speaking truth on blogs or YouTube.   It is hard to find a true teacher on the radio any more as the true ones have been rejected and shunned and their access to the media has been denied.   It is all part of God’s plans and I am counting it pure joy my brothers and sisters.  I encourage those that know the truth to boldly proclaim it and not worry about what people think.  If we do that we may well end up denying the Lord.

 2 Timothy 2:12  if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us

What is missing from the gospel message is the fear of God.  I have written on Godly fear a few times with my latest post HERE.  The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge of God.  Without this fear, we will not see the truth.  Our flesh seeks the approval of whatever it fears.  Think about that!  If we do not fear God, we will fear men and will be seeking their approval instead of God’s.  This prevents us from doing God’s will.  When we do not fear God, we do not receive the discipline that comes on all legitimate sons of God.  Without the fear of God, we will be blind to the truth, we are devoid of knowledge and will lack understanding and be ineffective in our walk. 

When we truly have given God our whole heart, we no longer live for ourselves we live for God.  We will not be seeking to please men much less our own flesh. 

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

May God Bless You Richly!