Alright, good evening. We'll go ahead and get started. Good to see everybody this evening.
Go ahead and find your seats and pull out your hymnals. We'll open up to our first song
161. Number 161, our great Savior. 161.
Friends may fail me, both assail me. He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Alleluia, what a Savior! Alleluia, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.
Jesus, what a strength in weakness! Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing. He, my strength, my victory wins.
Alleluia, what a Savior! Alleluia, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.
Jesus, what a help in sorrow! While the billows o'er me roll.
Even when my heart is breaking, He, my comfort, helps my soul.
Alleluia, what a Savior! Alleluia, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.
Jesus, what a Guide and Keeper! While the tempest still is high.
Storms about me, night o'er takes me. He, my Pilot, hears my cry.
Alleluia, what a Savior! Alleluia, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.
Jesus, I do now receive Him. More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness. I am His and He is mine.
Alleluia, what a Savior! Alleluia, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.
Brother Travis, we're going to pray for a season.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for this day.
We thank you for the opportunity to go out bowling today.
Lord, also we thank you for the baptisms that we had today.
We pray that you would lead others to this church, to help grow our church,
and send more laborers out into the harbor.
Lord, we pray and ask that you would bless this service this evening,
and that you would help all of us to pay attention and to gain from the message.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen.
Let's go ahead and turn to your second song. It'll be song number 100.
Song number 100, day by day. Song 100.
From the first.
Day by day and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what he deems best.
Lovingly is part of pain and pleasure, Bingling toil with peace and rest.
Every day the Lord himself is near me, With a special mercy for each hour.
All my cares he fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is counselor in power.
The protection of his child and treasure Is a charge that on himself be laid.
As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure, This the pledge to be made.
Help me then in every tribulation, So to trust thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's weak consolation, Offer me within thy holy word.
Help me, Lord, with toil and trouble meeting, Heir to take as from a Father's hand.
One by one the days, the moment's fleeting, Till I reach the promised land.
Amen. Good singing.
If you need a bulletin, you can grab one off the cabinet, or Brother Henry will get you one.
On the inside we have our service and soul winning times, as well as salvation totals.
Was there an account from this afternoon, Brother Jeffrey? What was that?
Thirteen.
Thirteen, praise the Lord on that.
And then I'm going to go ahead and get, is there anything else to report from Friday?
Was there anything, what about Saturday yesterday? Was there anything on Saturday?
Okay, and then was there anything outside of that group total for some reason?
Okay, keep up the great work on soul winning.
And then we're on Proverbs chapter number one, we're still working through that.
On the right we have our note about our baby shower in honor of Miss Christian Rogers and her baby girl.
And that's going to be next Sunday, December the 27th.
They registered at Amazon.
Also we have a list of several ladies that are expecting, if you please keep them all in your prayers.
As well as we have our preaching schedule next Sunday.
Brother Nick Keneery is going to be here preaching.
And so really excited to have him come out here.
Also Brother Chris Segura is coming back January 17th.
We also have Pastor Bruce Mejia coming February 21st.
And so lots of great guest preachers, as well as, I made the announcement earlier this morning.
But also Brother Marcel is going to be working for our church.
And he's going to be coming here and preaching on a regular basis.
And he's really evangelistic.
And you know I've gotten to know him for about two years now.
And when he was in Jacksonville he was bringing people in the church.
And just really zealous for the Lord.
Doing a lot of soul winning, leading soul winning.
He's led several soul winning missions trips.
And so I'm really excited about what he can get to work.
You know and start doing stuff for the church.
And his primary responsibilities will be Pure Words Baptist Church.
So obviously I'm still the pastor of Pure Words Baptist Church.
And obviously I'm still the main leader here.
But in my absence Brother Marcel will be your go to guy.
And he can lead.
And then if he's absent for whatever reason then Brother Nick will also be there to help guide and lead things.
And then we still have other men.
Obviously lots of things.
Brother Jeffrey leads so many times.
Brother Mo leads so many times.
And so we got lots of great guys doing lots of great things.
And so we're really excited about this opportunity for their family to help us and serve.
And so please get to know them better.
And rally around Brother Marcel and try to encourage him.
And try to provoke him and help him in any areas that he needs.
Also we have our prayer requests if you need any.
If you have any prayer requests.
Email those to our church and we'll try to put those in a bulletin.
And we'll kind of update every week on that.
One that I put in there was for the Santos family.
They're going to be traveling to Sacramento.
He asked me how do you move all your stuff from Houston to Sacramento.
And I'm like I have no idea.
That sounds really tough.
So by a miracle.
Right?
So just be praying for them.
Make sure to tell them that you appreciate seeing them and that you'll miss them.
As I will definitely do.
And so I think that's pretty much all I have on the announcements.
If you didn't already grab a shirt.
Please make sure to get a shirt for showing up.
We have several different sizes.
If you have a kit.
The kit sizes are only in the black ones.
So that's the only one.
It's on the far right.
And then we have the adult sizes.
And so please make sure to grab one.
And really appreciate seeing you guys being down here.
I'm still going to be coming on Thursday.
So I expect to see every single one of you on Thursday.
Alright?
And so that's pretty much all that I have.
Four announcements at this time.
Let's go ahead and sing our third song.
We're going to do our little handout.
Or in your Bible.
Psalm 150.
On the first.
Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God in His sanctuary.
Praise Him in the
firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts.
Praise Him according to His
excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the
sound of the trumpet.
Praise Him with the
psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance.
Praise Him with stringed instruments
and organs.
Praise Him upon
the loud
cymbals. Praise Him upon
the high sounding
cymbals. Let everything that
at breath praise the
Lord. Praise ye
the Lord. Praise God
the Father. Praise
God the Son.
Praise God the Holy Ghost.
Praise God
in premium
sons.
Good singing. So this time if you're going to pull out your Bibles and turn in your Bibles
to John chapter number 15. John chapter number 15.
Brother Samson will come read for us. We'll go and pass the offering plate.
All right chapter number 15. John chapter number 15.
If everybody finds your places and as usual
we read this chapter together. We'll start right here in chapter number
15 verse 1 where the Bible reads.
I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that have it
not fruit he taketh away and every branch that
bears fruit he purges it that it may bring
forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the
word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me
and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
except it abide in the vine. No more can ye
except ye abide in me.
I am the vine and you are the branches. He that abideth in me
and I in him the same bringeth forth much
fruit for without me ye can do nothing.
If a man abideth not in me he is cast
forth as a branch and is withered and men gather
them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
If ye abide in me and my words abide in you
you shall ask what ye will and it shall be done
unto you. Herein is my father glorified
that ye bear much fruit so shall you be my
disciples. As the father had loved me
so have I loved you continue ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love
even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide
in his love. These things I have spoken unto you
that my joy might remain in you and that your joy
might be full. This is my commandment
that ye love one another as I have loved you.
Greater love had no man than this that a man
laid down his life for his friends. Ye are my
friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants
for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.
But I have called you friends for all things I have heard
of my father I have made known unto you.
Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you
and ordained you that ye should go forth
and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should
remain that whatsoever ye shall ask of the father
in my name he may give it you.
These things I command you that you love
one another. If the world hate you
you know that it hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world the world would love his own
but because ye are not of the world but I have chosen you
out of the world therefore the world hated you.
Remember the word that I said unto you the servant is not
greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted
me they will also persecute you. If they have kept
my saying they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my
name's sake because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them
they had not had sin but now they have
no cloak for their sin. He that hated me
hated my father also. If I had not done
among them the works which none other man did
they had not had sin but now
have they both seen and hated both me
and my father. But this cometh to pass
that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law
they hated me without a cause.
But when the comforter is come whom I was sent unto you
from the father even the spirit of truth which proceeded
from the father he shall testify of me and ye also
shall bear witness because he have been with me from the beginning.
Let's bow our heads for a quick word of prayer.
Heavenly father we come before you again just to
expound on what brother Travis said. Thank you for the soul winning.
Thank you for all your spiritual gifts and thanks for
continually feeding us your word. Praise you be with
Pastor Shelley again. Let him preach another bold sermon to us.
Let us be edified by it. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Look back at verse number 13 where the Bible reads
greater love hath no man than this
that a man lay down his life for his friends
and what I want to preach on this evening is martyrs
in the Bible martyrs in the Bible
and the most famous martyr of the Bible is none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That is the ultimate
sacrifice that we see demonstrated for us
and we see Jesus Christ giving an admonition saying
the greatest love that you could actually see a man
portray would be to sacrifice himself
for his friends for his family for those
of whom he loves. Now the word martyr
is found in your Bible in a few different places but I'm
also going to give you a dictionary definition which I think matches
the Bible very well but it says this in the dictionary
a martyr is a person who voluntarily
suffers death as the penalty of witnessing
to and refusing to renounce a religion. So that's what a lot
of people think of as a martyr is it's something to do with
spirituality, it's with a religion, it's with a specific
ideology. Another aspect
of a martyr the second definition a person who
sacrifices something of great value and especially
life itself for the sake of principle.
So this is someone is not going to back down
they're not going to go back and what they believe they're not
going to compromise they're going to say they're going to be steadfast
in their conviction they're going to hold to that which
they believe in and ultimately we see the Lord
Jesus Christ he laid down his life for us.
He stood on that principle of loving us and being the son of God
what do they want him to do they wanted him to denounce the fact that he was the son of God
but he wouldn't stay he wouldn't get off that principle he continued to say
nope I've been sent to the father nope if I say I haven't seen the father then
I'd be a liar like you guys is what he tells the Pharisees and the Jews
and because he held his convictions of being the son of God
of being the truth the Jews had to kill him because they thought he was a
blasphemer they rejected him and they ended up crucifying him
but go if you go to Matthew chapter 20 you go to Matthew chapter 20
I have four points this evening on martyrs in the Bible attributes
we see of martyrs because here's the question why would someone
do this why would someone hold to their conviction
and be steadfast all the way to losing their own life.
Now we understand why Jesus Christ did this because he tells us very plainly
he was motivated by love he was motivated by
love Jesus Christ laid down his life for us
he did it he was a sacrifice for us everything he did
and his sacrifice was motivated solely by
love and really a martyr in a genuine sense
in a biblical sense would be someone who's motivated by
love that's what would cause them to actually be a martyr
look at Matthew 20 verse 28 even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto
but to minister notice this and to give his life
a ransom for many so notice he realized what he was doing
he realized his purpose he realized what God had commanded him to do
that he was going to give his life as a ransom for many
now what's a ransom a ransom is essentially some kind of a payment
unto someone to retrieve something right whether that be
a debt or whether that be you know in a malicious sense where someone's holding
someone hostage and you know who's holding us hostage it was sin
it was death and it was hell and so Jesus Christ paid that ransom
he offered himself as that ransom payment so that we could be rescued
we could be saved from hell but in order to do that he had to pay that ransom
he had to give his life and he had to taste death for
every man go to Philippians chapter number two Philippians chapter number two
I'll read that verse from Hebrews 2 it says but we see Jesus
who is made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory
and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man
so Jesus Christ did this because he was motivated
by his love for every man you know the Bible makes it clear for God
so loved the world and it makes it clear that Jesus Christ loves every single
person he tasted death for every single person the Bible says that
God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come under repentance
so we see the motivation for Jesus Christ to be a martyr was
out of love and the Bible just hammers this look at Philippians chapter 2
verse 3 let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem other better
than themselves verse 4 look not every man in his own things
but every man also in the things of others let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus so the first two verses
you have to understand this this is what Jesus thought
Jesus literally esteemed other better than himself in what way
obviously Jesus Christ is God so we're never going to
be measured in the same value as Jesus Christ himself
but this is what he esteemed he esteemed us going to heaven is more
important than him not suffering us going
to heaven us being the sons of God was more important than
him not suffering so he has to suffer he has
to humble himself he has to lower himself he has to sacrifice
himself and in any area of service you have to be
inconvenienced to convenience someone else you know
it's not service if you're being convenienced it's
not service if you're the one that's benefiting no service is
taking something that you have and giving it to someone else
and you know that's obviously a micro chasm of a martyrdom because martyrdom is like
the ultimate of giving your own life giving everything that you have
just for the benefit or for the prosperity of
others now let's keep reading these verses though it says this verse 6 who being the form of
God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but
made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was
made the likeness of men now I think these verses are easy to skip over
but think about what verse 6 is saying verse 6 is saying this
Jesus Christ fully understood the fact that he is
God he didn't like you know it'd be easy to be
humble if you didn't realize you were God like he's like well of course you know
if you didn't realize you were God then it's like well he's not being humble he's just ignorant
of the fact of how great he truly is but the Bible is making it clear Jesus
truly knew how great he was he truly understood that he was God
he truly understood he was equal with God yet even
knowing all that he still made himself of no reputation
it's meaning like hey just because you realize how great you are doesn't mean
you have to go around telling anybody about that just because you might realize you're really
successful or you might be doing things well or you might be really talented hey you don't
have to go and tell other people like that notice what Jesus did he just made himself of no
reputation there's nothing special about me he didn't go around trying to tell
people how great and wonderful he was he wasn't going around singing his own praises
no he was a lowly servant going out and just doing good and his
work spoke for themselves I mean hey he's forgiving sins he's walking on
water he's healing people he's feeding people five thousand loaves you know
five thousand people with loaves and bread I mean feeding just fifty people is hard
I can't even imagine feeding you know five thousand I mean man that takes
a long time but it says also in verse number eight being found in
fashion as man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross
so notice it was God's will it was God's command that Jesus would do
what die now here's the thing
Jesus Christ was obviously sent to die
that was his purpose so at the end of the day he was to be a martyr that
was his calling on his life but you know there's other people that they're calling on their life
is to die God will want some
men to die that is God's purpose for their life
so I think this sermon is very important because you know there is some people out there
that God will want them to be a martyr for Jesus Christ but you know
what it's hard to be a martyr and it takes a lot of things to understand
and so one of the things you have to have is you have to have a lot of love
you know whenever push comes to shove we see in Judges chapter 19 this guy
offers his own wife at the threat of his life
doesn't sound like he had a lot of love for his wife did he that he would offer her to
his son Zabeliel to be taken advantage of to be forced and you know
the reality is a lot of men in this world when push comes to shove they'll sacrifice someone else
they wouldn't be willing to sacrifice
themselves and you know why because they lack love
the ultimate picture of love is someone who's willing to sacrifice himself
go to John chapter 12 go back to John I'll read another verse for you 1 John 3 says this
hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren
hey the Bible says just as Christ laid down his life we ought
to be willing to lay down our lives for the brethren
now I often focus on not the martyr aspect
of this but more of a practical application because you know it's not everyday
you have to take a bullet for your brother ok it's not everyday that you have to actually face physical death
for your brethren one way you could lay down your life is just
you know putting your own wishes desires and the things that satisfy
you on the back burner and elevating things for your brethren
blessing your brethren doing good unto them and ministering unto
them that's one way but also I think the most literal interpretation
is also available here someone that's literally willing to die for their brother
for their sister in Christ willing to put their life on the line
you know the Bible talks about people who laid their necks down or laid
their necks on the line for the apostle Paul you know people
hiding him people trying to get him out of town trying to conceal
him trying to help him get away you know Rahab the harlot is putting her life on the
line by trying to conceal the spies by trying to allow them to
escape and go another way and you know what throughout the Bible you see a lot of people
willing to put their life to the ultimate risk for their brethren's sake
and that's the type of love that we should have you know God willing we would
never have to go through that you know I pray the Lord would deliver us from evil
you know he wouldn't tempt us above that we're able but when push comes to shove I would hope
we could have enough love in our hearts that we would even be willing to lay down our life
for our brethren that's the type of love that Jesus Christ has look at John chapter
12 verse 25 he that loveth his life shall lose it
and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it
unto life eternal notice the Bible says you need to get a looser
grip on the things of this world and the hardest thing to lose a grip on is
your own life but you know if you're willing to give up your own
life then it's a lot easier to serve God too I mean if
you could actually get enough love in your heart and you had the right mentality that Jesus
did it's easy to serve when you're willing to go to such an extremity of even laying
down your life and the people that aren't even anywhere close you can tell
they're not even serving right now they can't even give up an afternoon to go out and preach the gospel
they can't even give up the pleasures of this world for five minutes
of helping their brother or sister in Christ how are they going to lay down their actual life
but the person that's willing to lay down their actual life to go to such an extremity
it's a lot easier to actually serve in the everyday life too
I want you to go to another place in your Bible go to the first John chapter three
so point number one martyrs in the Bible they're motivated by love
they're motivated by love and so you know you don't have to worry about being a martyr
you shouldn't even think about it honestly what you should think about is I need to have more love
in my heart would I really lay down my life and you know you say I don't know
if I would well let me ask you this question how much do you actually sacrifice for other people right now
I don't really sacrifice for people that much
well let me just give you the cold hard truth you won't lay down your life then
because a person that can't even sacrifice in little ways right now
they're far from being able to actually be martyred for the cause of Christ
okay the apostle Peter he could talk a big talk
hey I'll die with you Christ and then a little girl comes up do you know Christ
I swear I don't know the man and I've never seen him
look we're talking about Peter here he had been with Jesus
Christ for three years night and day
training with the word itself seeing all kinds of miracles
and I believe that when he said he was willing to die he thought he meant that
but he didn't and you know
reality is that most people can talk a big talk but you know what's going to happen
when it's actually tough what happens when a little girl asks you if you go to Pure Words Baptist Church
you know don't look at my shirt
you know
yeah we joke but what if the little girl is in HR at your company
well I would die for Christ but I wouldn't tell
my HR department I go to Pure Words it's like okay
you know where are you really at how much love do you have at the things of Christ and look
you don't have to say you go to Pure Words to be right with God but you know what you shouldn't lie
look at 1 John chapter 3 verse 11
for this is the message you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another
not as Cain who is of that wicked one and slew his brother and
wherefore slew he him because his own works for evil and his brother's
righteous marvel not my brethren of the world hate you we know that we have passed from death
and life because we love the brethren he that loveth not his brother abideth in death
whosoever hated his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer have eternal life
abiding in him hereby perceive with the love of God because he laid down his life for us
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren so we read verse 16
but notice what's the precursor to this it talks about a story of Cain and Abel
now Abel is a martyr and you know why Cain killed Abel
because Abel was righteous and you know why
people are going to be martyred for being righteous you're not going to be martyred
for being ungodly that's not being martyred that's being punished
okay you get martyred for being righteous and doing that which is
for being righteous and doing that which is right and then getting persecuted for it
not being buffeted for your faults and so you say well you know what
I want to be willing to be a martyr we also have to be willing to be righteous
the same person that can't choose to live a righteous life is the same person
that won't lay down his life either
look if you can't sacrifice the little things how are you going to sacrifice the big thing
and you know what to be righteous it takes a lot of sacrifice it takes a lot of
self-discipline it takes a lot of motivation through love
and determination you know if you love me keep my commandments
how are you going to say well I would die for Christ but I won't actually follow
his commandments while I'm alive that doesn't even make any sense
you know the martyrs in the Bible if you want to I always ask myself this question
because I heard stories like this and growing up going to church you know and there's a lot of false preaching
but they would talk about martyrs and I always think about this I'm like would I really die
I'm like I don't know well here's your test how much do you love Christ
how many of his commandments are you following
we're already starting to figure out if you really would
now go to 1 Kings chapter 21 go to 1 Kings chapter 21 now Cain he's full of murder
he hates his brother he kills his brother and you know what the wicked hate the righteous
and if the wicked want to kill you it sounds like you're pretty righteous
now obviously there's going to be exceptions to this obviously the wicked hate each other sometimes
you know don't get too crazy with this statement don't start thinking that Donald Trump's really righteous
just because lots of people hate him but you know what sometimes it makes me sympathize for him
because man they just hate that guy so hard you know sometimes you just kind of feel like
man that's kind of like a Christian's life you know they just lie and rail and slander and hate on him
but you know a lot of times when they hate on Donald Trump it's true
you know and they shouldn't be true when they hate on a Christian they should be only lies
and they shouldn't be true when they hate on a Christian they should be only lies
and only slander and only that which is wrong and we see the righteous
constantly getting destroyed by the wicked in the Bible
and you know some people think well if I serve God nothing bad will happen to me
you know that's true and not true at the same time it's true that God's hand of protection will be on you
but sometimes God's will for your life is to die
are you going to tell me that God's hand wasn't on the Lord Jesus Christ when he died on the cross?
look there's plenty of martyrs in the Bible but there's plenty of martyrs in the Bible
and it was God's will that they would be martyred
the Bible tells us that yea and all that will of God in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution
so there's going to be problems there's going to be difficulty
but the good thing about persecution is God's still there with you God will still strengthen you
and you're getting greatly rewarded for it
so you know it's just like just think about it going to work you know I'm going to work today alright
persecuted again going to work you know overtime you know I'm getting a bonus Christmas bonus
people are hating me you know they're persecuting me they're attacking me
it's just like more and more presents you know so don't look at it in a negative way
and look a martyr's death is going to get a great reward in heaven
but some people will have to experience this
and one of the reasons why is because they're righteous look at 1 Kings 21 verse 1
it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard
which was in Jezreel hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria
and Ahab spake unto Naboth saying give me thy vineyard
that I may have it for a garden of herbs because it is near unto my house
and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it or if it seem good to thee
I will give thee the worth of it in money and Ahab said to Ahab the Lord forbid
at me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee and Ahab came
unto his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite
had spoken to him for he had said I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers
and he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face and wouldn't eat no bread
so we have a story about Ahab, Ahab is a very wicked king, he's a northern king of Israel
and he wants Naboth's vineyard
he wants Naboth the Jezreelite's land, he wants to buy it from him
and he's trying to exercise eminent domain, this is where the government comes and steals your property
for an unfair price, that's a different sermon
but he wants to take Naboth's land and notice what Naboth says
he doesn't just say like I don't want to sell it to you or I'm not interested
he says very clearly in verse 3 the Lord forbid at me
so he says he's going to be sinning and if you study this out he's not supposed to sell
his inheritance to someone that's not of the same tribe, Ahab's not of the same tribe
it's a wrong transaction, so Naboth fears the Lord
Naboth is trying to follow God's commandments and because he's righteous
because he wants to do that which is right and is unwilling to sell his land against
God's commandments because he fears the Lord, Naboth is displeased
Naboth goes home heavy, now Naboth is kind of a coward
but his wife is a witch and she's just going to go
and attack Naboth now and for the sake of time
I'm not going to read the whole story but she's like aren't you the king of Israel?
Don't you get to do whatever you want? So she sends letters in his name to sons
of Belial, they always keep bringing up in the story, in the Bible
and these sons of Belial, you know what they do? They lie, shocker, they lie about Naboth
they bring a false witness, they say that Naboth cursed God
now think about that, isn't that the exact opposite of what he actually did?
Then he says he's not going to break God's commandments and now
they're accusing him of blasphemy, now you know why Naboth's
in the Bible? Because he's just like Christ, because he was a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ, what did the Lord Jesus Christ do? He preached the gospel, he preached good things
the Lord Jesus Christ was righteous and then what did they do? They lied about him
and they called him a what? A blasphemer, the same thing
that they did to Naboth, didn't they? And you know what? Just like
they killed Jesus Christ, they killed Naboth in the story, look at verse 11
...
An incredible story because it's exactly what's going to happen with the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ has this triumphal entry into the city
of Jerusalem, doesn't he? And then what do they do? Oh, he's
a blaspheming God and he's saying he's a king which
is attacking Caesar because we have no king but Caesar, so it's the exact
same accusations they're going to bring against Jesus Christ himself
and because Naboth is righteous, he's going to get killed as a martyr
and you know what? The blood of Naboth is put on the head of Ahab
just like the blood of Christ is put on the Jews that killed him
but you know what? It was Naboth's calling
to be martyred just like Jesus would, so we'd have such a great and incredible
story and you know what? Naboth got a crown of righteousness when he went into heaven
and you know what? Who cares about the land? It wasn't about the land, it was about following
God's commandments and because Naboth was righteous, that's why
he was martyred. You know, Ahab wasn't going to martyr people that were doing wicked.
They're being punished. Ahab wasn't going to kill a bunch of drunks
and losers and fornicators and murderers. No, that's not martyrdom, that's punishment
but you know what? Naboth was martyred. You know why? Because he was righteous
and if you want to be a martyr, you have to be righteous. You cannot be a martyr
without righteousness. Go to Hebrews chapter 11. Let me give you another attribute.
So number one, you need to be motivated by love. Number two, you have to be righteous
if you want to be a martyr in the Bible
and you say, well, you know, I'm not really interested in being a martyr.
Honestly, who would? I mean, from a fleshly perspective
it's not like you want to die. It's not like you want to die a gruesome death. It's not like
you want to be killed but here's the thing. If God says this is what I want you to do, why would you not
want to do that? And when you're in heaven, you know, you want to be like
well, I died from COVID.
Or do you want to be like, man, I was beheaded for the cause of Christ.
You know, I got that stupid COVID disease, you know.
I tripped and fell on my bike and broke my neck.
You know, I choked while I was eating a bunch of fat.
You know, whatever. I mean, you know, you could die in so many different ways
and let me just tell you this. All of you will die.
Unless the rapture happens. I mean, we're all going to die. Everybody before us, they died.
So which death do you want? I mean, if you're really going to equate it
it's like, why not have a martyr's death, you know? Since I'm going to die somehow
why not die for Christ? Right? I mean, why not
go to the bank? And you know what, I'd rather do that than just
die from Alzheimer's or die from some horrible cancer that's just eating
me forever and just like, I'm just deteriorating and just nobody cares
about me and I'm just rotting and they're just sliding food to me under the door
at the nursing home or something. It's like, you could just, you're just sitting there like
man, I wish I just died for Christ like ten years ago, you know. Like, I could be in
heaven already. And so don't be afraid of death.
You know, oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory?
You know, it's not something to truly be afraid of because if you're afraid of death, I have some bad
news for you. It's appointed unto man who wants to die.
You're going to die. Did you realize that?
I mean, it's going to happen.
You know, I know for some of you, hopefully it's in a long time from now and God willing it would be
but at some point people will die and you know what, I'd rather die serving
God than having been doing something else.
Now here's my third attribute of a martyr is he has to be faithful.
Martyrs have to be faithful. Look at Hebrews 11 verse 1.
Notice this, that he was righteous.
Now, obviously, Abel is considered righteous
because of Christ's imputed righteousness. Okay, and obviously,
you know, we're going to talk about that in a second.
But let's talk about that in a second.
Okay, let's talk about that in a second.
Christ's imputed righteousness. Okay, and obviously everyone that's saved
their righteousness is because of imputed righteousness of Christ
but we also can have our own righteousness as well and so my point two
is not just having Christ's righteousness, it's also having your own righteousness.
But point number three is this, you need to have faith to be a martyr.
You know, it takes faith to die for Christ because otherwise why would you die?
I mean, it doesn't make any sense. There's no physical benefit.
I mean, that's why people in panic of death, of the fear of death
will do anything to escape it. And I mean, really, there's tons of people
they try to take their own life and they fail
because just internally, there's something that kicks on when you try to hurt yourself
that just says like, no. You know, like if you just try to hold your breath
until you pass out, you probably won't be able to do it.
You know, people that try to hurt themselves, they can't even end up doing it in many cases just because
there's something inside of you that's trying to preserve your life. There's this natural
instinct, this natural fight or flight mode that kicks on, this adrenaline
rush that'll try to preserve your life. I mean, if you've ever been in a near-death accident
or you've been in a dangerous situation, I mean, your whole body
is just like going at like a hundred percent. I mean, you're all of a sudden alert
and you're like, wow, you know, all the hairs in the back of the neck, you know, all your muscles
are kind of running and you're just like, man, you're ready to go. I mean, if you've ever been
in the military, but I can imagine if you're in a gunfight or something, I mean, man, you're going to have
some adrenaline rushes because you know you could die any moment. And so
there's going to be this natural instinct to evade
death, to avoid death. So how do I get past
that? I mean, to actually die for Christ takes faith.
What's faith? It's not something you see. It's where you're putting your trust.
You know, hey, God's going to take care of me. This is what God wants me to do. I haven't seen where
I'm going. And you know what? That gives the most glory to God, someone that doesn't
even know for a fact. They can't even see it, but they just believe it in their heart.
They just have that much trust in the Lord to take care of them and to deliver them from such
a horrible thing. I mean, it takes faith for Jesus Christ to die on the cross and go to hell.
Knowing that God will raise them again.
You know, because you're kind of like, are you sure I'm coming out?
Like, I'm definitely getting out after three days, right? Okay.
You know, because that's not a place you want to just hang out for a while.
You know, it's not a place you want to, you know, if someone was like, hey,
you're going to go to hell, but we're going to bring you back. You're going to test to make sure
that method of getting back is going to work. You're not going to be like, are you sure it works?
You know, we haven't tested it, but let's just go for it. It's like, no, I want to know that
that thing's bringing me back. Right. And at the end of the day, it takes a lot of faith
to trust in the Lord no matter what difficulty you go through. Look at verse 13.
It talks about, this is the hall of faith. It says, these all died in faith having,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off
and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth for they that say such things declare plainly
that they seek a country. So notice they already had the right attitude. They're saying, you know what,
I'm just a traveling through. I'm just a passing through. And it says the people
that say those type of things, it's because they already realized this stuff's just temporary.
Anyways, this stuff doesn't matter anyways. So you know what?
If you're going to take me out of here and go up to Jesus Christ, you know what?
So much the better. You know, the apostle Paul said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is far better. He's like, you know, I'd already been stoned three times.
I wish I'd have been once. I wasn't looking
to go for that again. You know, I wasn't looking to, you know, be in the depths of the sea,
you know, doggy paddling for 24 hours. That didn't sound like fun to me. I didn't want to be
beaten with rods and I didn't want to be shipwrecked and I didn't want to be hungry
and fasting. He's like, my life's not the best life now.
My best life's next life, right? With the Lord.
It was eternal life, okay? And so he had a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better. And so when you have that mentality,
when that's what you're looking towards, it's easy to not care about
these things as much. To say, you know what, if that's what God wants me to do,
then so be it. You know, so much the more I'm going for it. Verse 32,
I'm not going to read every story here, but it says this,
Is that like UFOs? No. Don't listen to Bill McGregor, right?
Verse 35.
Now, people love the first few verses of this. You know, it's like victory
after victory after victory, but then all of a sudden it turns. Notice it says in verse
number 35, women receive their dead, raise life again. You're like, yeah, and others
are tortured. Oh. Not accepting
deliverance. That's incredible. He's saying, man,
these people were so faithful that even
in the midst of actual torture, of the most agonizing
pain, they didn't get any deliverance. You know who did that? Jesus.
Because, you know, when Jesus was suffering and going through all the turmoil,
they offered him gall. They offered him some kind
of a poisonous drink that would have alleviated some of his suffering.
Whether that be through inebriation or would have killed him sooner, it was some
type of a drink or mixture that was going to lessen his suffering. But you know what?
Christ spit it out. Christ didn't accept any kind of deliverance,
any kind of lessening. He didn't take Tylenol while he was on the cross.
No, he felt it all. He felt every single bit of it
and noticed, why would someone do that? You know, that doesn't even make
sense. Well, it says very clearly in this verse that they might obtain a better
protection. He's saying, hey, I want a bigger price.
You know, whenever you go to work out, you get to put, you know, especially in most
gyms, you get to put the weight on the dumbbell, you know? And it's like,
why would someone put more weight? Why would someone do another rep so they can get
stronger, so they could do more, so they could be better?
And from this perspective, a martyr's perspective, it's not about
avoiding pain. It's about doing the most for God.
And he's saying, you know what? I'll take it all. I'll take all the suffering.
I'll go to the extremity. You know why? Because I want the greatest prize
in heaven. You know, and they're not doing this just out of price. Ultimately, it
just gives glory to God. It's the ultimate glory to God that someone
would be willing to suffer anything and everything for the cause of
Christ. It shows your love for Christ. It says in verse 36,
We're tempted, we're slain with the sword.
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute,
afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.
And these all, having obtained a good report through faith,
received not the promise. God having provided some better thing for us
that they without us should not be made perfect.
He's saying these people didn't receive any benefit on this earth.
They didn't receive the promise. They didn't get the things that they were
wanting in the flesh. They died wanting. They died not
having it. But you know what? God is going to greatly reward them.
It said that this world is not worthy of them. It's not worthy of the martyrs
in the Bible. Go to Revelation chapter 2. Go to Revelation chapter 2.
So we have martyrs in the Old Testament mentioned here. We have the Lord Jesus Christ.
But you know what? Martyrdom didn't stop with Jesus Christ.
It got bigger. The apostles.
But then even beyond that, we have even more evidence, more
stories about martyrs in the Bible.
And here's an aspect of it. It has to take faith. Faith is what's
going to get somebody through this type of an experience. Revelation chapter 2, look at verse 10.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be
tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. But be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Notice Jesus Christ is giving explicit instruction to Christians
in the New Testament saying, look, be faithful unto death.
That is an incredible commandment. Can you imagine if someone just
sent a letter? Oh, I got a letter in from Faithful Word.
Obviously we don't have new revelation, but if we did, and it's like, uh, Jesus wanted to let
you all know that you need to be faithful unto death.
You know, you're going to be singing, like, it is well with my soul or something after that service.
I mean, you're going to be singing, you know, my home in heaven or something. I mean, you're going to be singing something
a little bit more somber, right? But isn't that the call in these people's life?
Now, that would sound horrible.
But at the end of the day, they're going to get rewarded greater, too.
Even though it's a downer in the flesh, it's
a gain in the spirit. You know, you could be the church where he's like,
I'm just going to spew you guys out of my mouth. I would rather have him
tell me that he wants me to be faithful unto death than say, you guys suck.
You guys have a name that you live and you're dead. I'd rather
him say you're going to physically die than say you're spiritually dead.
Why? Because they have faith. Look at verse number 13.
I know thy works and where thou dwelleth, even where Satan's seed is,
and thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my faith, even in those days
where an Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain
among you where Satan dwelleth. Notice what Satan's
goal is to kill Christians. And notice Jesus Christ, God, will
sometimes allow one of his men to be slain for
the cause of Christ, to be faithful unto death. Go to John chapter 21.
Say, why would Jesus let someone do that? Why would God let
his Christians be killed? Well, there's a lot of reasons,
but one reason specifically is for his glory.
Let me prove this beyond any shadow of a doubt. John 21, look at verse 18.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself,
and walkest whither thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old,
thou shalt stress forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee and carry thee, whither thou wouldest not.
This spake he signifying by what death he should glorify
God, and when he had spoken this, he saith unto him,
follow me. So he's telling Peter, hey, you get to pick
where you want to go, but when you're old, someone's going to bound you
and they're going to lead you off to a horrible death. But notice what that death
is. It's going to glorify God. Why?
Because someone willing to die for God shows that he's of great value.
You know, if you're willing to die for something, it shows how much value
that thing has. You know, if you said, hey, Pastor Shelly,
would you die for this pulpit? The answer's no, because it doesn't have that
much value. I can replace that, you know. Would you die for
McDonald's fries? No, you know. There's not a lot of value there, okay. It might taste good,
but it's not something to die for, right? But then
hopefully if it was your child, if it was your wife, what does that show? It shows that you have a lot of
care, love, and appreciation for that item. It shows the value
of that item that you'd be willing to lay down your life for it,
and when someone's willing to lay down their life for God, it shows how
much God is worth laying your life down for. It shows the value
of God, and it glorifies God that someone who's haven't never
actually seen God would lay down his life for him.
Go to Mark chapter 6, go to Mark chapter 6.
Here's my fourth point.
Why would someone be martyred? Well, because they have,
they're righteous. They're motivated by love.
Not only that, they have faith, but here's why people
get martyred, because they preach the truth.
You're never going to be a martyr by preaching lies.
None of these people that preach lies are ever going to be martyred,
they're going to be punished again. So you have to be righteous, you have to be faithful,
you have to be preaching the truth, and you have to be ultimately motivated by love if you want to be a martyr.
But look what it says in Mark chapter 6 verse 16.
But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John whom I beheaded.
He has risen from the dead. So Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen again.
And it's going to explain why he thought he had been risen again, it's because he had died.
Well how did he die? It says in verse 17, For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold
upon John and bound him in prison for Herodias sake, his brother Philip's wife,
for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have
thy brother's wife. So notice John the Baptist was preaching against Herod,
rebuking him for his sin, telling him he's committing adultery,
telling him it's wrong to be married to this woman, and because of that, he was
put in prison. Why? Because his wife didn't like that kind of preaching.
And Herod's a henpecked man, all right? Herod just does whatever his wife tells him to.
And she's like, put him in prison. And he's like, all right. You know, Herod kind of
secretly likes John the Baptist a little bit, kind of when you read between the lines.
He at least respects him, he realizes he's probably a man of God. But he does
it because his wife rules the home, she wears the pants, and so
he lets her just make all the dictation. But you know what I like about
this verse, and this is a side point, but is Herod a Jew?
No. That's a pretty obvious statement, right?
But people say this, oh, you can't tell me what the Bible
says, that's Old Testament, that was for the Jews. Okay, well
then why is John the Baptist rebuking Herod with the law when Herod's not a
Jew? Because the law of God is for every single person.
It wasn't just, hey, obviously it was given to the Jews, but you know what?
The laws of God are for man. It wasn't like, oh, you know,
you Jews, you can't lie, but the world, you lie.
You can't murder, but the world, murder. No.
The laws of God are for every single person, and notice John the Baptist felt
comfortable rebuking Herod with the law of God, even though Herod wasn't a Jew,
was he? Because it was still wrong, it's still sin whether he's a Jew or not,
my friend. Now, why is John the Baptist in prison? Because he preached
the truth, because he preached the hard truths of the Bible, and that's why a lot
of people will end up getting killed. Look what it said, I'll just skip the story for a second, but look at what
it says in verse number 27, and immediately the king sent an executioner
and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison
and brought his head into charge and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. And when his
disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse and laid it into him. So John the Baptist, he ends up
being beheaded for preaching the truth, for
preaching the word of God. And you know what, Jesus Christ said there's not a man born
among women that's greater than John the Baptist. He didn't even do a miracle.
He did no miracle, he didn't dress nice,
he didn't eat good, okay, he didn't eat well,
but you know what, he preached the truth. And because he preached the baptism of repentance that they should
believe on him, which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus, you know what, he got a lot of people
saved, he got a lot of people baptized, and he preached the truth. You know, that sounds like a Baptist
preacher to me. Man, it sounds like a Baptist church.
No miracle, but you know what, they preach hard, they dress rough,
and the food's a little, you know, iffy sometimes, the building's a little
iffy, you know, what wouldn't you up for in the wilderness to see, alright?
Okay, but you know what, he preached the truth, and that's hard to find.
You have to go out in the wilderness to find someone to preach the truth these days, it's sad.
It's ridiculous. But you know what, when you preach the truth, people
hate it. People come after you, they will attack you. You know, Stephen
is another example of this. He preached the truth to the Jews, and they couldn't stand it.
Go to Acts chapter 22, I wanted to show you a verse on him.
For the sake of time, I'm not going to read all of it, but
it was Stephen's calling in his life to be a martyr. He was a man full of faith,
so he fit the criterion, wasn't he? He was someone who loved,
he was someone who had great faith,
the Bible says he was full of faith, he was a righteous guy,
the Bible talks about him being an upstanding guy, and you know what, he preached the truth,
and because he preached the truth, the Jews couldn't stand it, they couldn't resist,
and they basically just plugged their ears and stoned them to death.
And look what the Bible says about him, Acts 22, verse 20.
You say, why would God allow Stephen to be martyred? Well, you know what, someone
saw that martyrdom, it was Saul.
Saul saw, not for the sake of
using the same word, Saul witnessed Stephen
die for Christ. He saw someone die for Christ.
You know what, I believe that that experience is what allowed the apostle Paul,
helped the apostle Paul, go through the difficulties and struggles he did.
He's like, hey, Stephen's like his hero. You know, a lot of Christians
are heroes, Paul. Paul's hero is Stephen.
You know what I mean, you think about it? Like, we're all excited to see Paul, Paul's like,
I can't wait to see Stephen. You know, because Stephen is the one
that died in front of his eyes, and he's just like, wow, this guy just died for the
cause of Christ. I bet that allowed the apostle Paul, you know what,
I'll be stoned. And he's like, dang it, I couldn't be like Stephen, I got back up.
And he's like, I'll try it again. Third time's a charm.
The Lord just keeps delivering me, all right? I guess it's needful that I abide in the flesh for you
guys, all right? But you know what, I tried to be Stephen three times and it never worked out.
But he's going to go up and he's going to be like, Stephen, that was awesome. You know, that was
cool. And you know what, Stephen got to see the Lord Jesus Christ stand up.
What an incredible vision to have seen.
Go to Revelation 17. The Bible says this, Jesus said,
my time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world
cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it that the
works thereof are evil. You know why they hate men of God? Because they preach the truth.
And you know what, when you preach the truth, it's not you
that they hate. They hate the truth that's coming out of your mouth. And you know what that truth is? It's Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ said he is the way, the truth, and the life, no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. Look, if you preach lies, they're not going to hate you.
They're going to hate you when you preach the truth. And they
hate the truth. It's incredible how this world hates
truth today. You know, James was killed by the sword. A lot of people were killed.
Look, there's a lot of martyrs in the Bible. But you know what, a martyr's death is to be honored.
It's to be, you know, it's a great glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not something that's bad. It's not something that's negative. And you know what,
we need to have the type of faith that we could even, you know, go through such an
experience. And let me tell you this, you know, we've read about a lot of martyrs that are in
the past. Everything we've read is basically past.
But why would you preach a sermon like this then, Pastor Shelley? Because there's going to
be a ton, a ton of martyrs in the future.
And when I say a ton, I mean a ton. And you know what, it's not something
that you have to fear. He said don't fear.
Don't fear those things. You know what you should fear is God. You know what you should fear
is your calling in your life to be martyred and you decide not to.
Because that's not the death you want.
You know, I'd rather have the martyr death that God prescribed for me than the alternative
compromising death that I get. It's going to be way worse.
And you know what, being beheaded is even probably not that horrible. I mean,
you know, you might blink a couple times, but
I mean, it's like, man, you know, what's five seconds of pain? You know, hell's forever.
Okay. And you know, cancer and some of these other diseases,
they're like a long time. You know, they're suffering for a while.
Revelation 17, look at verse 1.
Notice this.
And when I saw her, I wondered with great
admiration. You know, the Bible warns that the great whore
in the end times, she's going to be drunk with the blood of the saints
and drunk with the blood of martyrs. And the Bible warns
about the greatest tribulation known to mankind coming.
Right before Christ coming. You know, when the anti-Christ gets up and says,
if you don't worship me, you know, you're going to die. It's going to be
on. It's going to be real. And lots and lots of
people are going to die a martyr's death. Notice the
Bible says the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. You know what, if you want to be a martyr,
you have to be motivated by love today. If you want to be a martyr, you have to be righteous.
If you want to be a martyr, you have to be faithful. If you want to be a martyr, you have to preach the truth.
Otherwise, you're going to be punished. You know, we like
to focus on the stories of victory, like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego,
Daniel and the lion's den, David and Goliath, but you know what? A martyr's
death is a victory. The victory of the cross.
You know, it's not like the pope who blasphemed Jesus and said it was the failure of the
cross. It was the victory of the cross. What a wicked devil.
Why would I be martyred? You obtain a better resurrection. Why would I be martyred? You get a crown.
Why would I be martyred? The eternal glory. Why would I be martyred? How about the glory to God?
To show the value that God's worthy of dying for.
You know, it takes a lot of faith to leave all that we have behind.
Go over to 1 Peter 4, I'm almost finished this evening.
The Bible says about Paul
talking to Timothy, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord
the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all
them also that love his appearing. So he says, hey, there's
going to be a lot of people that get a crown just like me. You know, I want when I get
into heaven, this is what the Lord says unto me, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
I mean, when you know that's right on the other side of the martyr's death,
isn't that kind of, that kind of helps. You know, it's better than the home and Christian
standard Bible that says, well done, thou good and faithful slave.
You're kind of like, what? That's weird. No, it's servant, okay?
Look at 1 Peter chapter 4, verse number 16,
yet if any man suffers a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on
this behalf. For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God,
and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungod on the sin of your prayer?
Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping
of their souls to him in well doing as unto a faithful creator.
You know, it takes faith to say, hey God, why did you ordain it? Why did you
pick it that I would die a martyr's death? That's not for you to ask.
Just go ahead and commit your soul to whatever
he has planned for you, and just say yes to whatever he has planned for you.
And just follow his commandments and just be faithful unto death so he can give you a crown
of life. If that's what God ordained, why would you want to get out of his will?
You know, just commit yourself to whatever God has picked for you to do.
Go to Philippians chapter 1, the last place I'll have you
turn to. Philippians chapter number 1,
last place I'm going to have you turn.
You say, well I want to die, you know, my old sleep and there's no pain.
You and everybody else, okay?
But at the end of the day, you know,
I either want that because I was faithful all the way to the bitter end
and I can glorify God in the fact that I kept my faith all the way to the end, or I want to die a martyr's death.
But there's not really another option in my mind. I mean, what else,
there's not something else that's better. And really, we shouldn't be
afraid of the martyr's death, but rather we should just serve God
and wherever we find ourselves and whatever situation we find ourselves
continue to be faithful, continue to love the Lord,
continue to be righteous, and you know what, continue to preach the truth.
The worst thing is a compromiser. The worst thing is the person
that's confronted and just like, oh, you know, I don't know.
I don't know the man. You know, that's why Peter wept bitterly.
And you know what, it would be a bitter weeping that you would have if you decided
to just, well, I don't want to die right now. You know what,
if that's what God has in your life, and look, I'm not asking for death. I'm not seeking it by any stretch
of the imagination. I will avoid it. But you know what, when push comes to shove, if that's what God
has ordained for me, then so be it.
You know, the Bible says in Acts chapter 5 when the disciples were, or the apostles
were, they were punished for preaching in the name of Jesus Christ,
it says, and they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing
that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
They were excited. They were like, wow, that's awesome that I suffered.
That means that God really, you know, thinks highly of me.
Because why would God want you to suffer if you weren't, hey, righteous, loving,
you know, having faith, if you weren't someone that was preaching the truth.
You know, the fact that you're suffering for his name isn't evidence of the fact that you're on the right track.
You see, you know what, I've never been persecuted for serving God. That's because you're not serving God.
If you're serving God, the
persecution will come, and you know what, you should rejoice in that day because you've been counted worthy
to suffer for his name. You shouldn't look at that, you know, like, oh man,
why do my family member lie about me? It's like, you should be like,
hey, I'm counted worthy to suffer. Hey, why did this bad thing, why are
people attacking me? Why are people persecuting me? Hey, look, it's because you're
serving God. Don't think it's strange,
the fiery trial, which is to try you, as some strange thing happened
unto you. You know, why have I gone through all the difficulties and the struggles of my life?
You shouldn't look at it as why, you should think like, oh wow,
God is counting me worthy to suffer amazing, you know, incredible things for
Christ. And look, none of your suffering compares to any of the stories
we've read. Not even close, okay? Go cry to
Job and he'll be like, come on buddy.
Look at Philippians chapter 1 verse number 23, for I am in a strait betwixt two, having
a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Why would you be afraid
of death when it's better? Everybody likes to complain about how rough it is
in America and Trump and all this COVID and whatever. It's like, well then just die already,
you know? Why just get to the finish line quicker? You know, if you're running a race
and someone's like, hey, do you want to get to the end of the race quicker? You're like, yes.
Why not? Look, you only have one life to live,
why not go out with a bang? And you know, when you read stories of martyrs
in the Bible, let that inspire you to have more love, let that inspire you
to be righteous, let that inspire you to preach the truth,
and let that inspire you to have faith. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Father so much for your word, thank you for this great
church. I pray that whatever you have, whatever calling you have for us, whatever you decide
for us, that we would just be faithful unto that calling, that we could serve
you to the best of our ability, that you would increase our faith and our love,
and that we would have a desire to be righteous and be pleasing in your sight.
And I pray that we would never shy away from preaching the truth of God's word, no matter
what the outcome. We know that that's going to give honor and glory to you, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
We'll sing our last song, song number 120,
Jesus, Savior, Pilot, Me, song number 120.
Sing nice and loud.
First,
Jesus, Savior,
Pilot, Me,
Over life's
tempetuacy, unknown
waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous
shore, chart and
compass come from thee,
Jesus, Savior, Pilot, Me,
As a mother stills
her child, thou canst
hush the ocean wild, boisterous
waves obey thy will,
When thou say to them, Be still,
wondrous sovereign from the sea,
Jesus, Savior,
Pilot, Me,
when at last I near the shore,
and the fearful breakers roar,
twigs me and the peaceful
rest, then while leaning
on thy breast, may I hear
thee say to me, Fear not
I will pilot thee.
Man, you are dismissed. We have plenty of food
still in the back. Help yourself, grab some food. You have a blessed night.
.