Matthew pt. 32

Compromising, Holy and uncompromising.

That's the dove part. Sheep.

I depend upon Jesus. I need him, and I need to stay

close with the other sheep. I'm wise like a serpent.

I pay attention. I know what's what.

I know when to speak and I know when not to speak.

But I'm like a dove. I am uncompromising.

That will make sure that you speak.

If you're like a dove, you won't stay silent because you will

speak up when the time is right. Oh, I'm going to be wise as a

serpent. I'm just going to bow down to

the idol because I'm being wise to spare my life.

No, no, no, no, no. That would not be dove.

Like, that's that. Now you've stepped into the area

of compromise. Well, if I bow down, then

they're going to, they're going to flog you in the symagogue,

they're going to throw you in prison.

You're going to lose your job. You're going to get called in

the HR department. There's all kinds of

consequence, but you have got to be a witness.

That's the whole mission. Otherwise, your own, your

mission becomes preserving your life.

And that was not the mission. You were called to take up your

cross and to follow him. We're not trying to die.

Well, I know if I do this then I will suffer.

And yet we have to be faithful to the king.

We have to be faithful all the way through to the end.

Some of those testimonies I gave you in the beginning of service

and and just the quick references, whether it was the

Muslims who blew up the church. And again, like, there's just

infinite amounts of these things that are still happening.

Or. Or the pastor who was drowned in

front of his church, That church had been meeting multiple times

and they had been warned multiple times.

And they had been warned and warned and warned.

And finally they came back. And that's when they killed the

pastor in front of his church. And that's the point.

They want to use intimidation. And who is they?

Well, whoever they are, they're inspired by their fault of the

devil. They're lost.

They are our enemies. And yet we pray for them and we

want them to be saved. We want them to be rescued.

I was watching as I was preparing.

I watch different testimonies from different Christians.

Nigeria is actually a country that experiences the most

persecution right now on the planet.

Probably there's plenty of others who compete with them.

But Nigeria experiences a ton and it was this woman who she

was out in the fields and Boko Haram.

Did I say that? Right?

One of the Muslim groups comes and they just start shooting

people into her village, kills her father right there in the

field. The guy comes up behind her,

puts a gun up to her, shoots her in the head, doesn't kill her,

like damages her head. Obviously she's now blind in

both eyes. And they were just interviewing

his sister and they said what would you say to the men to the

man who shot you if he was here right now.

And she lit up like a light bulb And she said I would pour him

water and I would prepare a seat for him and I would and if he

wanted to rest for a nap I would make his bed.

And she just shares her love and the and the guy interviewing her

and says like why? She said because Jesus commands

me to do this, the what? What other reason do you need?

Jesus said So is her answer. It's what Jesus wants.

Like I have a Bible and Jesus told me that that's what I'm

supposed to do. Her husband still reads her

Bible to her, but that was her response.

She loves her enemy and she prays for him.

She doesn't know him, but she hopes to see him.

So we're to be like a snake, but we don't bite.

We're to be like a snake, but we have no venom.

We're to be like a snake because we're wise.

We're to be like a dove, because we're to be holy and

uncompromising. And we're going to have wisdom.

And we're to stick to our convictions.

Trust Jesus. Stay close to Jesus.

Stay close to the flock of God. Be wise as a serpent.

Pay attention. Read the situation.

When it's time to speak, you speak.

You do not hold back. You don't go well, I'm not so

sure if everyone else is casting their vote and you're being

lumped in and assigned false doctrine or whatever it may be.

And that's why wisdom is needed, because the details matter.

Some of you have complicated work situations, and some

people, your convictions, are going to land in different

places. I've got friends who they were

told they had to put their pronouns in their bio, they had

to put their pronouns in there on the zoom calls.

And I've had some Christian friends who say I got no problem

saying I'm a man, I'm a man, you know, fine.

And then I've had others who say I'm not playing this game.

So they you need to follow conviction.

But then when it comes to absolute truth, 'cause there's

some things you go, OK, well, that's that's, that's secondary,

that's tertiary. But there are some things that

there's no compromise, there's no conversation for for

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They didn't say, well, we'll

just kind of bow down. We don't really mean it.

We'll bow down to it. We don't mean it.

The Lord knows that. On the Lord sees my heart.

He said, no, no, no, no, no, yo, we're not going to bow down.

We're not, we're not going to bow down.

So what? We're going to throw you into

the fire? He said.

Just so you know, if you throw us in the fire, we're still not

going to bow down, Which is kind of a funny thing to say because

like, well, they think you're going to die when you go in the

fire. That was the point.

So, like, well, what? Just so you know, King, we're

not going to bow down no matter what.

And he's like, well, I figured you wouldn't after I burn you

alive. And like, we'll just know no

matter what, our God will save us.

But even if he doesn't, we won't bow down.

It's like, well, the king was expecting they would be dead.

Of course Jesus had other plans, and Jesus joined them in the

fire. They left the fire without even

smelling like smoke. It's not a promise that we all

have, by the way. That is not a promise.

That is something that happened. It is something that is still

possible, and the Lord has done that for many.

But it's not a promise. The promise is that the godly

will be met with persecution. So, Jamichael, how does this

compare to the fact that we say God is good, but he also

promises that we will be met with persecution?

I'm so glad you asked. You all are so smart and you're

so thoughtful and you always ask good questions because this is

an issue that people mix up all the time, all the time, all the

time. So when someone here is

preaching and teaching on the goodness of God, they will then

often make the I don't know if it's a straw man, I don't know

what the logical fallacy is. But then they will then quote

some passage about persecution and they will say what do you do

with that And say you just it's it's not the same category.

I'm talking about the goodness of God in that this is what the

Lord's will is compared to the inevitable persecution that will

come because of the Saints. Also not the will of the Lord.

How can you say persecution isn't the will of the Lord?

Well, is it the Lord's will that anyone would sin?

It's not a trick question, right?

So is it the Lord's will that the Boko Haram soldier shot that

woman in the back of the head? No, it's not OK, I agree.

I'm with you. And yet isn't persecution

inevitable still, as some people are following their father the

devil and some people are following King Jesus.

So that's why it's a guarantee, that's why it's a promise.

But it's not that the Lord is orchestrating persecution

against his own church, because Jesus said a house divided

against itself can't. Pretty simple stuff.

So persecution is not the same thing as the goodness of God,

and the fact that we understand that God is good and he has good

motives for people, but we're understanding that Jesus gives

us all these critters and he's laying all this stuff out.

He says be like sheep, be like snakes, be like a dove.

But you need to understand how and why you're going to be like

each of those things. Let's keep going.

We made it all the way to verse 17.

Now beware of men, for they will deliver you over to the courts

and flog you and their synagogues.

Beware. So this message that Jesus gave

to his 12 and that he gives to us, this is not supposed to make

you anxious. This is supposed to make you

aware. This is supposed to make you

vigilant and to make you wise. He's sending out the 12.

He's going, guys go. The harvest is ready.

That's how he starts this whole thing off.

He's going into. He's telling them what they're

going to do. Hey guys, be aware there's going

to be persecution. You're actually going to be

dragged in places you don't want to go.

You're actually going to suffer terrible beatings.

They're going, whoa, I wouldn't. Hey, don't fear them.

All they can do is kill you. They're going.

Thanks for the pep talk, he says fear God, who can kill your body

and throw your soul into hell, man.

Can't do anything else to you now, guys, go get after it.

You're loved, You're treasured. Go get on the mission.

So this was not intended to be like, have second thoughts.

The point is go be faithful because you're loved.

Go be faithful because Jesus is worthy.

You're supposed to be aware. You're supposed to be vigilant.

You're supposed to be wise. So what kinds of people should

we be looking out for? If we're supposed to be aware,

we're not supposed to be naive, we're supposed to be paying

attention. What kinds of people should we

look out for? Well, religious people is one of

the categories that he gives here.

He gives multiple categories, but religious people is one of

them. So who would that include?

That would include all false religions like Islam, Hinduism,

Judaism, and cults like Mormonism and Jehovah's

Witnesses. But it also includes false

Christians who have their weak convictions exposed when they

would rather see you suffer and they don't want to be named with

you. There's all kinds of possible

scenarios where this could show up.

There's all kinds of places. Obviously these are Jewish men

being sent out who understand who the Messiah is, and they're

going to go be beaten by Jews who Jesus told the Jews.

He says you're of your father, the devil, so Jews against Jews,

but not the same group of people because one of them, one of

those groups of people, is actually following Christ.

The interesting thing is you'll also find persons of peace in

all these environments. Because otherwise, who are we

going to make disciples of? How?

Who are we supposed to evangelize?

Who are we supposed to rescue from the flames if not Muslims

and Jews and Hindus and Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.

And not just non believers who aren't doing anything religious.

But right now we're focusing on the religious people.

So you'll find, you'll find friends, you'll find favor in

these environments. Why?

Because Jesus said the harvest is ready, the harvest is ready.

So we're not looking at everybody through a lens of

suspicion going are you after me?

Are you after me? We'll be wise.

Read as best you can. But but, but take action.

You've got to speak. You've got to share the gospel.

You've got to tell people Jesus is king.

He died for our sins. He is Lord today.

You should walk with him. You should know him.

You should serve him. Let me tell you what he's done

in my heart. Let me tell you what he's done

in my life. We've got to be about that

mission. But even the even Christians or

false Christians, or maybe weak Christians, have their

conviction. Their weak, their weakness is

exposed. And then in those moments,

you're betrayed by who, what you thought was a brother, or

betrayed by what you thought was a sister.

These are possibilities. These are things that some of

you have already experienced in different situations.

Another people group, he explains.

Political people, he says, you'll be dragged before

governors. These could be local magistrates

who simply use a bureaucratic process to hinder your business

or your personal life or your just because of your testimony.

They know who you are. They know you're one of those

Jesus people and now there's problems.

Now there's challenges. When we were at Cornerstone

years ago and we were getting the the new sign installed that

was up there, the county would not let us use colours on the

sign like the the the meetings that the county had were

laughable. It was so absurd like that the

sign could only change this often, even though the state of

Virginia's law states that it's safer the more frequently the

sign changes because otherwise people are spending time to wait

for it. But the county superseded the

state. Why?

Well, we'll leave their motives to the Lord, but I can only say

it was ridiculous. It was obnoxious and it violated

even the state code. And the county said we're going

to do what we want to do. Boys, they said you can't use

the color because we don't want this place looking like Vegas,

you know? So it's silly.

It's it's obnoxious. It's foolish.

Why I don't. I can't know all their motives.

But I'm not an idiot. I've got a little bit of serpent

in me. I've got a bit of wisdom to

recognize the situation and to read the room and go

Interesting. And now, thankfully, that's

changed because the fire department got to use a colored

sign. And therefore, I guess what's

good for the goose is good for the gander.

It's it's now safe in Matthews County to have a colored sign.

But years ago, apparently it wasn't.

So you just recognize, he say, it could be that simple.

That's subtle. Is that persecution?

Level one. But it.

But it's something. It ain't nothing, You know, it's

obnoxious, but you could experience the same kind of

thing in the workplace. You could experience the same

kind of thing in all kinds of different situations.

So it could be bureaucracy like that, or it could be your Co

worker who reports you to HR because you shared your

conviction on something. Everybody else is allowed to, by

the way, But you're not. Yeah, everybody else is sharing.

Well, I think this or this is stupid or that's good or that's

bad. You say, well, I think this and

they go stop pushing your religion on me.

Isn't that funny how that works? They can push their godlessness

on me. And I'm just like, I'm tolerant,

genuinely tolerant as Christians should be.

And then as soon as I share something like, she's shoving it

down my throat. No, no, it's called love.

But there could be a consequence for that, or it could eventually

even be a hostile government. Who throws you into a prison

camp? Level 10, right?

Like, there's there's a full spectrum there, but it could

look like anything. We're paying attention.

We're being wise. We're noticing persecution.

You would be dragged before them, he says.

But he says it's for my sake. And that's the great comfort

when you're being dragged before somebody to remind yourself that

this isn't personal. Don't make it about you.

It's not about you and your situation or the thing you're

trying to get done. And that's why at Cornerstone,

that's why we prayed for for the board, the Board of Supervisors

and Matthews. There was no animosity among us,

pastors towards them. We just, we saw it for what it

was and then we prayed and and we recognized, all right, if we

have enemies, then we're going to love our enemies.

Why? It's for his sake.

I'm not taking this personally against me.

I I I feel it for him. I feel it for him.

And that draws me. That fills me with his

compassion. It's still a time to knock the

dust off my feet and move on, but I'm filled with compassion

for people. You'll be dragged before them

for my sake. That is the great joy to bear

witness before them for Jesus. Jesus is going to use his sheep

to shame the wolves and to judge the wolves on the Day of

Judgement. He's actually even going to use

your testimony against others. The testimony that you shared

about the gospel of the Kingdom will be replayed, I believe, in

front of those people. And he'll say, you said this

right. And Adam will say yes, Lord, I

told them well, and then well, that that's when that's when

they you lost your job, or that's when you lost the client,

or that's when you lost that friend.

And the Lord will show them. I sent a messenger to you.

I sent somebody to you. I sent you, Matt.

I sent you, Kaden. I sent you Linda.

I sent them to you on that day. And you mocked them.

I sent them to you on that the horror, the horror that they'll

have. Then you wish that somebody had

shoved Jesus down your throat on that day.

So our love, our compassion draws us to share and to tell

people the truth. But on earth, it's going to be

difficult for the Saints when they have your false trial.

There's going to be moments where you're to stand up with

boldness, like the boldness of Stephen, and to say true things

no matter what the consequences will be.

To remind potentially even a judge that there is a king that

even that judge will answer to. This is what Saints have done

throughout history. There's books written about the

martyrs, There's testimonies, there's ministries that focus on

the martyrs. If you want to be inspired, if

you want to be challenged, if you want to be encouraged, if

you want to be humbled, go read some of their testimonies.

Like just the woman, the recent woman in Nigeria who watched a

video on the other night. There are Saints who will

encourage you and bless you and say, God make me bold, Holy

Spirit, fill me up with strength.

You will borrow strength from those Saints.

You will borrow courage from them.

You will be encouraged when you're at the family gathering

and you tell of God's goodness again and your loved ones roll

their eyes or lose their temper because again, you're shoving

your religion down their throats in every situation.

You are an ambassador for the Kingdom, for the king and his

Kingdom. And then he tells you, don't

worry about what to say when you're dragged in front of

people. So this doesn't mean that we're

not prepared to share our testimony and to talk about the

goodness and the glory of God at any times in a general way.

But specifically, when the stakes are raised and you're in

an intense situation, when you are brought into the HR office

and say, hey, what do you think about this situation?

What do you think about what we're doing with our restrooms?

What do you think about what we did with the locker room?

What do you think about this? What do you think about that?

Don't worry, don't rehearse. It's in that moment And those

high pressure situations, that's where you just say Bah, that's

where you ask the Lord God help me right now to be wise as a

serpent. Help me to be as harmless as a

dove and as pure as a dove and as sincere as a dove.

But God make me faithful. Help me to say what's right and

what's righteous I'm giving. I'm giving lightweight examples

regarding gender nonsense that we experience in our country

right now. I call those lightweight

examples because that's probably the that's that's the most heat

that we're going to feel right now.

Issues regarding homosexuality issues regarding gender and and

the confusion and the sin around all that, that's where most of

of us feel the pressure right now.

All of the persecution we experience right now is is

largely going to be in those areas That is the that's

persecution, but it's in its it's in its embryonic state.

It's still immature. 2 generations from now would look

very, very different because how can you say 2 generations?

Cause a lot happens in two generations.

We're backwards 2 generations and what do we have?

Look at America, 1940s and 50s and and could anyone have ever

imagined that it would have been this today?

Imagine, if you, if you dare, two more generations apart from

the Saints and the sheep, doing what Jesus has called them to

do. Those two generations were lazy.

They were lazy in their evangelism.

They expected the government to assist the church.

We no longer trust the government.

We've we clearly recognize the distinctions between spheres of

influence, and we know who the king is Overall.

The church will be the pillar of truth, the household will care

for one another, and the government can establish laws

that protect people. That's all we want them to do.

Don't worry about what to say. Don't rehearse your lines.

Jesus will give you the words. That's when the shepherd will

lead his sheep. We're going to go to verse 21.

We're going to start wrapping this thing up.

Brother will deliver brother over to death and father his

child and children. Rise up against parents and have

them put to death. And you will be hated for my

name's sake. But the one who endures to the

end will be saved. What a nice Mother's Day sermon.

But Jesus goes on to say later he said he didn't come to bring

peace, but a sword. He divides people.

He did it then and he's doing it now.

Be aware. Don't be afraid.

Don't be naive. Hated by family, Hated by oh

man. It's hard for me to imagine me

too until it happens. But many Saints have experienced

these very things. Verse 23.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next for.

Truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the

towns in Israel before the Son of Man comes.

What are we supposed to do when we're rejected?

Just move on to the next one. Just move on to the next one.

Why? Because the harvest is ready.

That's the weight you're supposed to take away from this

thing. The harvest is ready.

Go get in the harvest. Hey, PS There's going to be some

persecution from the harvest that's not ready.

The few that aren't there yet. But the harvest is ready.

So go get me. Go get me my harvest.

Go get me my harvest. Go tell people the good news.

What if something happens to me? What is your life?

Jesus went first. That's the point.

Our God doesn't just sit on a throne and say, let me just

throw my sheep into the gauntlet.

Jesus became the lamb. Jesus is the Lamb of God.

He's the one who went first. He's more humble than you.

He's more humble than me. He's perfect.

And he was willing to go to the cross.

He says I'll go for the mission. Follow me, Be willing to follow

me even unto death. I hope it doesn't come to that.

I think that's a normal or natural desire.

And still be faithful no matter what It comes to steal your

heart, to be faithful no matter what, not just go.

I'm glad I live here. I'm glad I live here too.

But I don't want a faith that's dependent upon my environment.

I don't want a conviction that's dependent upon my comfort.

I want a conviction that could survive in Nigeria.

I want conviction that would survive in Afghanistan.

I want conviction that would survive a North Korean prison

camp breaking rocks and starving to death.

Denounce Christ. I would rather die.

I would rather die. Literally, I would rather die.

Oh, you could just say it. No, I couldn't.

I can't because he said I can. And he goes on to say if you

deny me before men, I'll deny you before my Father who's in

heaven. But if you confess me before

men, I'll confess you before my Father who's in heaven.

Amen. What a glorious moment that's

going to be when we stand before the Father and the Father looks

to Jesus and Jesus says, Oh yeah, she's mine, He's mine.

That's the only way anybody's getting anywhere.

It's the only way anybody makes into the eternal Kingdom.

The blood of Jesus, The name of Jesus.

What are we supposed to do? Just move on to the next one?

We're not trying to die. We're not trying to get

persecuted. We're move on, escape, he said.

I need you for the mission. I don't need you dead.

I need you moving. On, I need you to move on.

I need you to move on. I need you to move on.

William Tyndale, famously. He was getting the Bible printed

and what was what was my time period there?

Tyndale, 15 hundreds, yes. Yeah, 15 hundreds.

And he's being persecuted. And his because of the Bible,

the the spreading of the Bible and, you know, printing it in in

languages that people could understand it instead.

Yeah, in English instead of just Latin.

And people were just sitting in a mass and they don't know

what's being said or what's being taught or what's

happening. And he was printing it in

English And and as right before they burned him alive, his

prayer was God open the King of England's eyes.

That was what he prayed. And now of course we have a

whole publishing company named after William Tyndale and we

still honor the man who. So I wonder if the enemy tempted

him. Though as as the flame took to

the wood that was underneath him.

I wonder if he thought, man, maybe this was worthless.

Maybe my life didn't count. I wonder if those thoughts came

into his mind. Well, they didn't last long

because he was moments away from the king who said well done,

well done. And the guy and God did move and

God did open eyes and he did bring repentance and revelation

and reformation. And England became a Christ

following nation. But it's not a permanent thing

is it? England is now post Christian.

America is heading towards a post Christian reality, but not

on our watch. We're going to be faithful to be

witnesses. Faithful to be witnesses.

They called Jesus a demon. They're going to do the same

thing with you. You need to recognize when

you're dealing with a dog or when you're dealing with a pig.

He told us to remember Matthew Chapter 7, every non Christian's

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

favorite verse in the Bible, judge not.

And they didn't read anything else he said afterwards, which

is literally teaching you how to judge.

Judge not. And then he clarifies.

The measure of judgement that you use is what's going to be

used on you. So you better judge wisely.

You better judge graciously. You better judge accurately,

judge appropriately, not not hypocritically.

And then he says you need to know when somebody's a dog or a

pig. Don't give your pearls to dogs

and pigs. You have pearls, the Pearl of

great price, the Lord Jesus Christ.

When someone reveals they're a dog, they're a pig.

This looks like unreasonable accusations.

This looks like I've had someone call my teaching demonic before.

My very explicit Bible teaching on husbands and wives I had a

wife once accused me of. She's like, your stuff is

demonic. Natalie was there.

She said your stuff is demonic. I was too naive at that point.

I didn't have enough Serpentine in me yet.

And I said, Oh my goodness sister, how is it demonic?

An hour and a half later. Nonsense.

Just wasting my time. Wasting Natalie's time.

Just accusations, no clarity. And I find that sister how I'm

show me. And eventually it came to

nothing. And I I have learned a great

lesson that night. To not give my pearls to dogs

and to not give my pearls to pigs.

And to not give my peace away. If your peace rests on them,

then you stay. But if your peace bounces off

and hits you in the head, you go, OK.

This ain't right. This exchange isn't right.

This isn't a person of peace. Peace.

So we're looking for those persons of peace.

Is there a reception here? Is there a warmth?

Something's going on here. We can trust the Lord.

But you've I've been called demonic.

Praise God, just like my master. I've been called worse.

By the way, I'm sure you have too.

So be aware of men and follow your God.

Don't be afraid. Don't be anxious if you're

anxious. I I graciously call you to

repentance, to trust in the one who loves you and who knows you.

Second, Timothy 312 tells us all who desire to live a godly life

in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

There's your refrigerator verse. There's your coffee muggling.

But we're going to end with this.

And then we're going to sing a song as we dismiss Jesus in John

1633. In this world you have trouble,

but be of good cheer for I've overcome the world.

Well, that's a promise. Put that on the other side of

the coffee mug. All who desire to live a godly

life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

But also in this world you will have trouble but be of good

cheer for have overcome the world.

Who can talk like that? Who can talk like that?

Nobody dared talk like that. No religious leader has ever

dared talk like that. Nobody ever said I have overcome

the world except for the King. Who actually has he built?

The world? He spoke it into existence.

He ruled over it. He came to save it.

He's going to make it new and he will rule and reign with his

Saints forever.