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17 May: 

There Will Be Persecutions:  John 15:20 “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”

Last week we looked at the story of the paralytic who was let down though the ceiling in order for Jesus to heal him. In that lesson we saw in Mark 8 that the crowds who came to Jesus often times traveled long distances and stayed with Him for long periods of time.

My response to that was to ask that we consider our own lives and see if we show the same devotion and desire to know the Lord and have Him be an integral part of our lives – teaching us and guiding us in our daily lives and the decisions that we must make.

Last week we received our quarterly bulletin from the church that is supporting a missionary program in India and, as luck would have it (or maybe as God wanted it), a number of the articles spoke of the struggles that our Christian brothers and sisters are having to endure in their Christian walk. I want to share those situations with you:

A) Jeremiah, a new team leader, teaches classes in a city 2 hours away. I don’t know how many days a week he does this but to do so he must catch a bus at 4:30 a.m. and arrive there at 10 a.m. due to the many stops the bus must make. A local preacher picks him up on a motorcycle and takes him to the class. He teaches from 10 – 4 p.m. and then rides back to the bus stand where the bus takes him back home around 9 p.m.  suffering

B) Due to persecutions in one city a local church was forced to close its doors by the government. They moved to another location and after they built another structure the government then forced them to tear it down until all the ‘red tape’ was completed. When it was approved, they constructed a permanent building. When it was completed, they had a preacher class on the 1st day. Two days later it was demolished by one local government official because of a  ‘loophole’  he found in the registration law. They are meeting in a bank until the matter can be resolved. 

C) See first page/article:   Persecuted But Not Forsaken:         read

D)  Scriptural warnings:

            1) Are We Being Persecuted/Mistreated Because of Our Faith?

:   mistreated because of your faith

Mtt 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.”

 

Acts 14:22 - "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."

 

2 Tim 3:12 “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 

 

2 Cor 12:10 “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

1 Peter 4:12-13 - "Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, but rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings."

 

            2) Are We Suffering Because We Are Christians- being Christ-like:      giving up time, money, resources because you have been given and opportunity to help others. 

 

Mtt 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

 

Mark 10:29,30 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.” 

 

Acts 4:32,36,37 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and should and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.  . . ..  Now Joseph who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles; feet.”   

Ananias/Sapphira;   Good Samaritan;   Sheep;    collections taken up for Jerusalem

Eph 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Phil 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

            3) What Is Our Response to Persecutions/Suffering:     how do we react to painful/costly situations/opportunities?

MTT 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

 

Rom 12:14, 21 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.. . . .Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Col 3:1 “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

 

            4) Reward:    Why enduring is a benefit to us!

Rom 8:18,35 “For I consider that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  . . . . . Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . . If we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."

Col. 3:23,24 “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

 

            5) Summary:    Does our lives illustrate that we have taken up the Lord’s cross?

John 15:8 “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

 

 

 

10 MAY:  

And again, He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house.  Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

LESSONS To Be Learned:

  1. THE  CROWD  VS.  US    COMING TO JESUS - Mark 8:1-3 “In those days, when there was a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, ‘I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.’”   I don’t know how far the people in this particular crowd has come but I suspect it would be probable for some to have journeyed just as far as with Marks crowd.   My question:  How FAR would you go to see/hear Jesus? How much time and effort do you sacrifice to better know Christ and His Word? How much time do you spend time in prayer/meditation? Are we truly illustrating a heart and life that obeys the First Great Commandment? Quote   John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  Know them 1st.  Jer 31:33 “ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.” Has this happened in OUR lives, hearts and minds?  Acts 17:11 “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Is this true of us???  Their coming in order to know the Lord and hear His word and receive His blessings required time, travel and money (food). What is the required cost of us in order to better know Jesus? What sacrifices are we having to make in order to better know, love and serve Him?

 

  1. THE FOUR MEN – These men were certain that Jesus could do something for their paralytic friend and was determined that it happen Their actions spoke of their faith. Or another way to put it is ‘their faith resulted in action.’ What has James told us? “…. I will show you my faith by my works.” (Jas 2:18)  And what did Jesus say in John 14 – ‘if you love Me, you will do what? Keep My commandments! That word KEEP indicates ACTION motivated from love.

Notice also that they illustrated a sense of urgency, not waiting to come back later when they weren’t sure where Jesus would be. How far are we willing to go to fulfill the 2nd Great Commandment?  You will remember that when Jesus healed the man that He first forgave him his sins. Jesus ‘helped’ the man in the physical and spiritual realm. In the parable of the sheep and goats we are taught to see to the needs of the hungry, naked, thirsty homeless and lonely (prison).  There are too many verses to recount them all about the importance of the lost to Jesus and the Father; too many verses of the need for the lost to hear the gospel and our being a light leading them to God. If we see and respond to their physical needs how much more important is it that that we address their spiritual needs?

  1. Jesus – Jesus was NEW on the scene. It is little wonder then when the scribes immediately questioned Jesus’ statement of forgiving sins. They are right about a number of things. They are right in that no one has the power to forgive sins but God (cf. Isaiah 43:25). By offering to forgive this man of his sins Jesus is thereby equating Himself to be on the same level as God. They are therefore also correct about Jesus committing blasphemy – IF He isn't God.            

We see a similar situation in John 5:17,18 “But He answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.; For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”

So it is true that He has blasphemed if He is not God. Their failure then is in not “seeing” what happens next. It can also be seen that they are failing to ‘listening’ to what Jesus tells them – “Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk.’”  And the paralytic proceeds to do exactly that. Jesus miraculously heals this man, and because He has done so physically, then He can and has forgiven him his sins as well. If Jesus could do one, He could do the other. He undeniably healed the man therefore He has also undeniably forgiven the man. You see a very clear example of this happening again with the thief on the cross. Christ undeniably  Christ’ authority.

The import of this event is to bring us to self-awareness. Have we been united with Christ in baptism and had our sins removed/forgiven; do we have the faith needed to motivate us to obedience to God’s commands? Do we have the devotion, commitment and desire to take up our cross and follow Christ in order to be God’s ambassador to the lost? Do we truly love God and therefore love His children? Do we truly put God’s kingdom before this world and all its enticements and passions? Are we as passionate for God as we are for self? Its true – actions do speak louder than words. How are people seeing us live our lives – for God or self?

This paralytic left a completely new man. Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh.

When your tombstone or obituary is written, how much of what will be written will speak of how your faith affected how you lived your life and impacted the lives around you?