Standing Firm in Faith: Discussing Persecution and Commitment

You're listening to the Bible, guys, a podcast where a couple of friends

talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Well, Chris,

we're back. It's a new week. It's a new week. We want

to welcome every person who's either listening or watching. Yes, that's right.

And we have just over half of the people who just listen on different what

what call? We have quite quite a bit more people who listen on podcasts.

Yeah, podcast platforms, like podcast platform that's where I was looking for.

I like Spotify or Apple podcasts, Speaker one of those. And then

you know, less than that, the watch on YouTube. So yeah,

very cool, it's really cool. Thank you guys. Well, hey,

today is Monday for us, and hopefully if you're listening day by day it

is for you, that's right, or whatever other day? Yeah, sure,

every day. Yeah you can stream, that's right. They're binging.

They're binging on Saturday. Yes, I don't know. Yes, So we

always like to start off with a special segment, and this segment is law

or flaw. So Chris is going to have to determine I'm going to read

a law or a flaw. Yeah, Chris is going to have to determine

which it is. And these are all Old Testament so they are levitical type

laws or flaws, okay, and the most common Old Testament law. They're

mostly all sort of scrunched in a lot of them, yep, most of

them. Yeah, so these ones would be So it says don't eat animals

with split hoofs. Oh well, yeah, that's a lytical laws, which,

by the way, remember you and I had a converse law. Is

it really? Yes, you're supposed to only eat animals that have split hoofs

that chew the cud. But you can't eat animals they have split hoofs that

don't chew the cud like a goat. They eat a sheep. They have

split hoofs, but they chew the cud, so you can eat them.

A pig has a split hoof, but that's true the cut, so you

can't eat it. So I get it, I get it back, I

get it backwards. Yes, or is it like are you saying it was

written incomplete? It's split, it's a split thing. But this one just

flat out it's a band. The question is is it a band to eat

all animals with split hoofs, And that's a flaw. It's not a band,

not all animals, only some animals. A split hoofs Oh, well,

that was a trick question, sort of like a trick question. Was

a little bit of a trick question, but it was legit. Yeah.

Wow yeah. Leviticus eleven talks about that that you can only eat the ones,

you know, Yeah, like a camel, you can. You can't

eat a camel because it doesn't chew its cut or whatever. Right, So

anyways, here we go. Huh next, uh, don't plant two different

kinds of seed in your field. Hmm. That sounds like something they would

say. I know that there's two different types of fabric, and I'm gonna

say, law. Is it a law? Yes, Liviticus nineteen nineteen No,

good job, awesome. Yeah. Uh. Don't trim your beard.

Oh, we just talked about this. We just talked about this. That's

definitely a lot. Yeah, that is, it's a lot. Livitic Is

nineteen twenty seven. Don't leave anything in your vineyard. Oh, don't leave

anything in your vineyard. It seems like it should be a law, but

I don't remember it. Um, don't leave anything in your vineyard. That

doesn't sound specific enough. The weird part about every laws. I just remember

it being so seemingly random. I'm gonna start to talk yourself into circles.

I'm going to say, flaw oh look at that. Yeah, there you

go. Because the way it's started, don't lead anything. I would agree,

Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, I should have said

to leave excess or something, but yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

And then you've already referenced this one. Don't wear clothing made of two different

fabrics. Oh that's hilarious. That's hilarious, I said it. Yeah.

So that's that's a lot. That'steen nineteen, dude. I'm going to kind

of give you. I'm going to give you a half a point on the

the first one on the trick question. Yeah, yeah, so you get

four and a half. I was going to mention that, remember we read

several weeks ago about you strained for a nap, but you swallow a camel.

That's right, And then you were like, oh, yeah, I

don't think camels are well, went back and look and it is unclean.

Right, that's right, we're not allowed to eat. Yeah I saw that.

Yeah. So so it's in that same chapter Leviticus eleven, is it.

Yeah, So Yeah, that that that's pretty that's pretty tricky the way

that you laid that out there for me. Yeah, let me let me

just read that little piece there, because it can be confusing to people.

Right. So, when God is giving the rules about what they can and

can't eat, he gives this big long rule about the kind of meats they

can eat, and it says, give the following instructions, people, user

of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food.

You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and choose the cud.

Right. You may not, however, eat the following animals that have

split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. Right. So,

the camel choose the cud but doesn't have split hoofs, so ceremonially it's

unclean for you. The high racks choose the cud, but does not have

split hooves, so it's unclean. The hair choose the cud but does not

have split hooves, so it's unclean. The pig evenly split hoofs but does

not chew the cud, so it's unclean. Right, And then he goes

on and he talks about other stuff. So basically it's sheep and goats and

cows. Sheep, goats and cows, that's basically it. I think deer.

You can eat deer, right, venison those things, so, but

no camels and camels, it's pretty crazy. A camel burger. Have I

ever had a camelberg? No, I've not. I've had. I've had.

It's good, a bunch of weird things, but never camel. Yeah.

I had a camel burger in in Fez in Morocco. Oh wow,

Yeah, yeah that's really good. No, okay, I would I would

guess it'd be tough. It's not. It's super super good, super good.

Yeah. Anyways, that's weird. That's a weird topic, isn't it.

Yeah. Well, you know, we did a game show. I

said this before the podcast started, but usually when you say laws from the

Old Testament, usually people are referring to the Lilyvitical Laws and or the six

hundred and thirteen, you know, all all that, right, the uh,

we did like this thing for Old Testament history, Bible history, and

we did this game show and we studied as a floor, so our whole

entire third floor smith gathered up in the commons area and we were like and

now the contested number three, And then we were taking turns. We would

see how long a person can sit on the seat fo and so we'd say

you got five in a row. It's like whoo, and then the other

person would go up, you know, and it was really fun, you

know. And then I'm trying to know of the six hundred and thirteen laws.

Yeah yeah, yeah, and then law or flaw yeah, and we

just studied them, which is how I in Bible college. Yeah, in

Bible college rd yeah right, right, hey man, you do what you

can when when it's that kind of that's right, that's right. We don't

have a TV in the dorm. That's what you do for fun? Right,

like what do you what do you do? What do you do for

fun? We study for an exam? Oh okay, good? Yeah?

Well hey. In John chapter fifteen, we're looking at all of these statements

as Jesus is heading towards the cross. These are like all of his last

words to his disciples before he gets arrested. They've already had the last supper.

Yep, they broke the bread, they shared the wine, they sang

their hymn. They head out, and they're heading towards the Mount of Olives,

and apparently they're having this conversation as they're walking along, and they stopped

in a vineyard. That's right, so Matthew, Chapter fifteen, verse eighteen.

These are some of the last things he really wants as disciples to know.

And he says, if the world hates you, remember that it hated

me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you

belong to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I

chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do

you remember what I told you? A slave is no greater than the master.

Since they persecuted me, naturally they'll persecute you. And if they had

listened to me, they would have listened to you. They will do all

this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent

me. They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to

them, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates

me also hates my father. If I hadn't done much miraculous signs among them

that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as

it is, they would. They have seen everything I did, yet they

still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what has written in their scriptures.

They hated me without cause. But I will send you the Advocate the

Spirit of Truth, and he will come to you from the Father and will

testify all about me. And you must also testify about me, because you

have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. I've told you those

things so that you won't abandon your faith, for you will be expelled from

the synagogues. And the time is coming when those who kill you will think

they are doing a holy service for God. This is because they have never

known the Father or Me. Yes, I'm telling you these things now so

that when they happen, you remember my warning. I didn't tell you earlier

because I was going to be with you for a while longer. Yeah.

Okay, Well that's everybody's favorite topic, right, Yeah, being persecuted following

Jesus when it's going to cost you a lot. Yeah, And you know

it's interesting, how remember when remember when Jesus having a conversation with Peter and

he literally tells him that you're going to basically give your life for me,

like he says it like in a pretty decently clear way, and Peter still

chooses to follow Jesus way back then. And then, you know, he

just had a conversation a couple of podcasts ago where he actually said would he

say, they said, we'll follow you, we'll even die for you,

right, and he says, I tell the truth, you're gonna, Peter,

You're gonna, you know, deny me before the rooster crows twice.

And then he just goes on to say, now he's telling them that people

are going to persecute, you're going to receive persecution in the same way.

Well, imagine this. You know, it always says after the resurrection,

it makes references to the fact that then they remembered all the things that he

taught. Then it made it. Then it made sense, you know.

It's it's a maturing of faith that comes later where we see that Peter does

give his life, right, all the disciples give their lives. And this

reminds me, honestly, I'm going off on a tangent, but just give

me bear with me here. I had a really good friend who has been

a Christian for a very long time, and he was even in ministry for

years, and he just recently told me that he no longer believes you,

no longer believes. He thinks that maybe Christianity's a croc and and this was

a guy from the past. And and I've just absolutely blown away because you

know, if the Disciples, there's there's evidence, there's there's and he's read

these books, he's he's done the studies. He's seen that the Disciples gave

their lives. They didn't make up the resurrection, they gave their lives.

Right, this is recorded in history. You know, you read Fox's Book

of Martyrs. You read that. You know, nobody gives their lives for

something that they don't believe in, and it's recorded outside of the Bible.

You know in secular history that these gentlemen have all given their lives for what

they believe. And I'm just thinking, like, I mean that plus a

million other things. So so anyway, all that to say, I'm talking

about strength of faith. I'm talking about resolve and conviction to where you're willing

to pay the price for your faith because you absolutely know it's true. The

difference between like today there are martyrs for other faiths because they believe that their

faith is true. Right, And that's significant and there's something about that.

But a Muslim, a radical Muslim martyr, you know, who wears a

vest into somewhere and blows up a place or whatever it does that because they

are absolutely convinced that what they believe is true. So a listener could say,

yeah, but other faiths do that too. The difference is the reason

why these guys died was because they were not saying, I believe it's true.

They died. These twelve died because what they were claiming was I saw

the resurrection happen right, right, So they died because they were not claiming

right. They were not saying I believe because my pastor told me I believe

because I read a book. They were not saying I believe because that's what

our faith believes. They died because they said I saw the risen Lord.

I ran into the tomb and it was empty, and later Jesus stuck his

hands out in front of me. He said, go ahead, stick your

fingers in the holes. I saw him. He made breakfast for me on

the beach in the Sea of Galilee. After he rose from the dead,

I watched him die on the cross. I saw him as the resurrected Lord,

I watched him as send to heaven. That kind of belief is very

different from just saying I read a book and a pastor told me, or

I read a book and a mom told me. Right, And this is

huge. And this is why I'm so flustered with my friend from the past

who went to Bible College with me a long time ago, because I'm thinking

of all the stories that I know in his life. I'm like, Okay,

what about that time when you told me this miraculous story that was like

completely defy the odds where you saw God work beyond any calculable odds, right,

and then and it was just and it's it's one of the most famous

God stories that I know of. And what about that, right, Like,

what about all these things that you've you know, which is sort of

which is sort of that whole undeniable I've experienced Christ kind of thing, right,

Yeah, and uh, and I'm telling you, it's just it blows

me away. But thank goodness that you know, well, I was gonna

say, thank goodness that we know, you know, we probably won't have

to decide whether we're going to give our lives for our faith. You never

know, you know, but I just got off the phone with the Great

before I walk in here. Yeah, with a bunch of pastors in the

Middle East. Yeah, who are saying? We want to plant churches,

We want to lead people to Jesus, but we need to be careful where

we do the training because it's very dangerous for us. Excuse me. So,

Yeah, you just never know, you never really know, you know.

Along those lines, we have our staff at Heritage Church reading a book

called The Faith by Chuck Colson. If you've never read, if you want

to read a fairly easy, easy to read book about the what Christians believe

and why we believe it. The Faith by Charles Coulson is really good.

But Chuck was before he became a Christian. He was Richard Nixon's hatchet man.

He ruined people's careers, he ruined people's lives, and that was his

job. He was a really horrible human right, and it was all about

political power. So when Watergate happened, Richard Nixon had let all everybody know,

I'm the most powerful man in the world. I'll protect you. Just

stay quiet, don't say anything, right, all you insiders. But then

the FEDS began to put the screws to Spiro Agnew, the vice president,

and Agnew broke After just like a couple of weeks, he gives up and

he's like, Okay, I'll spill the beans, and he spills the beans

on everybody. Chuck Colson winds up going to prison. He says, Chuck

said, the proof, the greatest proof to me that Jesus really did resurrect

from the dead is that in my lifetime, the most powerful man in the

world promised to protect us. The second most powerful man only had to keep

his mouth shut in a firm a lie. It's all he had to do,

and we all could avoid prison. And instead, the second most powerful

man in the world was afraid the first most powerful man in the world wouldn't

protect him, and he rolled on all of us, and we went to

prison and Nixon lost his job as president. He said, so when Bartholomew

was standing there before the executors and they were about ready to run him through

with spears, or when they were about ready to cut off somebody's head,

or when they were going to crucify Peter to the cross upside down, these

thinking go, ha, I was just joking because they were given the opportunity

to recant. In many situations, recan't just go back to worshiping the emperor

because you're Roman citizens. You guys don't have to die, you know,

some of them. And the same thing for Paul. Paul was a Roman

citizen. All see. What they had to do was re can't say,

you know, I was making the thing up. I didn't see the resurrected

Lord. And he probably very likely would have avoided the death sentence. And

so when you've got the most powerful people in the world rolling over on the

president after just a few days, surely one of the twelve would have done

the same. Surely, right, Surely when they're faced with death, not

just three years, I think. I think Colston went to prison for like

two or three years. They weren't facing two or three years in club fed

prison. They were facing death. And they looked them right in the eye

and said, no, I cannot recant what I saw. I saw the

resurrected Lord. That's very different than just reading a book or being told by

somebody, right, And so Chuck Colson said it was the single greatest evidence

to him that what the Jesus says, he said as he is is because

his followers died claiming that they saw it. Well, yeah, that's really

great. So I guess the application for us is, you know, what

are we what are we willing to call you know, it's sacrifice or what

does it? You know, whatever it costs us? Are we willing to

stand up for our faith? Because there are people out there who their families,

their entire families say, you know, because you've made this choice and

you've converted to Christianity or you believe this, you're going to disown you.

Yes, and and and there are families who who you know, have to

make this really painful choice, and they say, well I can't. I

can't deny what I believe to be absolutely true. And I love my family,

but I have to follow my Lord. And Jesus talks about that in

other places where he says, unless you, you know, choose me over

your father and your mother, you cannot be my disciple. And and so

Jesus, you know it has to be our number one priority, regardless of

circum stances or even family, as long as nothing conflicts with my faith.

So I just want to, you know, just just remind all of us

today, like there are times where you know standing up for what is right

is going to cost you, maybe a relationship or maybe some favor with the

boss. Or you may be a refusal to do something that somebody asks you

to do that goes against your conscience, that goes against your faith, and

you know that it's your boss asking you, and if you refuse to do

it, it's going to cost you, you know, and those those are

hard choices. So Jesus says in verse two of chapter sixteen, for you

will be expelled from the synagogue. Right to be expelled from the synagogue in

the Jewish world was you were kicked out of society, right, completely expelled

from because it wasn't just going to church, it was their way of life,

that's right. This was their whole life centered around the synagogue. And

so basically he's said, you'll lose your identity, you will lose everything.

They'll do it, and you know, that's kind of surprising to the kind

of Christian And so I think we have to be careful sometimes how we preach

that God's plan for you is to make your life so amazing and make all

your wildest dreams come true, when in reality, Jesus says, hey,

it's not entirely that way. This is next level. Next level of Christianity

is they're gonna hate you because of me. There's a really good chance.

And so we are surprised and we feel like somehow God failed us because somebody

said something harsh to us or something. You know. So here's my caution

to our listeners as we wrap up. Don't be persecuted because you're a jerk.

Right, Sometimes Christians feel they're just mean in the way that they say

what they say, and they feel like then when people react to them,

that you know, people are persecuting them. So he doesn't say I'm going

to reward you for being a jerk, but he does say, if you're

like me, they're gonna hate you because they hated me. So we need

to be like Jesus. And if we're like jess and then they hate us

because they see Jesus in us, we shouldn't be surprised by that. Yeah,

and we know that that is the lens in which he's talking about,

because the very I was going to say, the very next verse, it's

the previous verse of where you started was h this is my command love each

other. That's great. So he just came off of talking about this is

how people will know. This is the evidence how people know that you're my

followers, truly my followers. If you love one another, that's correct.

So well, that's a great place to end, and that's our time,

so we will see you hopefully next time on the Bible. Guys,