Endure to the End
Scripture: Matthew 10:22Devotional Series: Preparing for Persecution
Teaching: Preparing For Persecution pt. 1 (SUN_AM 2021-03-28) by Pastor Star R Scott
Persecution is coming. They’re going to call us names. Ooooooohhhhh. “What will we do? How can we stand against them calling us names? They might even call us a cult. Then what do you do? They’re going to say all manner of evil against us. You know what they were saying about the church in the first century? They were saying they were people that practiced incest because they called each other brother and sister. They were accused of being cannibals because they ate the body and the blood of Jesus. People can take anything they hear and make it anything they want it to be; amen? We as a fellowship have even had things that weren’t true said about us. It’s going to intensify. There’s no question. The point I want to make is this: Does it make you feel blessed? When you hear people saying all manner of evil against us for the name of Jesus, do you stand up and go, “Praise God! What a privilege to be identified with Jesus”; amen? Because of His name. Blessed are you. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you. Now, this part needs to be in there: falsely. Amen? It can’t be true, what they’re saying, and us be happy. If it’s true, we need to repent! Amen? We need to fall on our faces and repent, praise God! But if it’s false, we need to rejoice. And we need to be happy. And we need to know why it’s happening.
He says over in the tenth chapter of Matthew, verse 22, as we look over there, and it says, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” You know, it’s not as easy to finish this race as some of us may think. Peter gets all the bad press about denying the Lord. Now, first of all, he had the biggest mouth about saying he wasn’t going to deny the Lord, right? So, Peter’s boasting in himself and, “Lord, though everybody else forsake you, not Peter, man. I’ll be—when the smoke clears, I’m going to be right at your side. All these other people may leave you, never happen with me.” Do you ever think that about yourself? Better not. Better deal with that. Now, can you by faith declare it in Jesus’ name? Yes! Because He’s promised us all things that pertain to life and godliness in Christ Jesus, that we’re already possessors of these things. We have the promise that if we do these certain things, we shall not fall; amen? Hallelujah! But you’d better not be trusting in your own strength. You had better be trusting in the indwelling Spirit of the Holy Ghost, the Lordship of Jesus in your life. And you’ll know that by your fruit, today. How are you living for Him today? How victorious are you, today, over the small things? If you’re not winning these “little fox” battles, you need to get concerned. For some of us that little fox has turned into a grizzly, we’ve given him so much power and so much attention.
These persecutions, these trials are going to come. So many of us have so much confidence in ourselves. And Jesus responded to him and said, “Before the cock crows, you’re going to deny me three times.” And we all know the story. That is, in fact, what happened. But we see in the Gospels also, that the Scripture makes it very clear that they all forsook Him and fled. They all forsook Him and fled. What do you think’s going to happen to you when your neck is on the line? They all forsook Him. What about when it’s your wife and your child whose life is on the line? And all you have to do is recant and say, “No, we’re not Christians.” And save your wife and your children. I know what some of you are thinking. “Well, and then when they leave, then I’ll just repent, and we’ll be right back with the Lord, praise God.” We’re going to look at some Scriptural passages that speak toward those very situations. Oh, thank God, He is merciful, He’s longsuffering; amen? Thank God that Peter and the rest of them found a heart broken and repentance. The question that we’re asking in these next couple of sessions is: Are you preparing for this time? The Scripture gives us a basic principle that it’s by reason of use that we have our senses exercised to discern good and evil. The more we become experienced in denying the flesh, the more we take steps to get out from under this world’s system’s mentality, thought processes, the safer we become. The more we know the Scripture and hide it in our heart, we are less apt to sin against Him, praise God!
He says over in the tenth chapter of Matthew, verse 22, as we look over there, and it says, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” You know, it’s not as easy to finish this race as some of us may think. Peter gets all the bad press about denying the Lord. Now, first of all, he had the biggest mouth about saying he wasn’t going to deny the Lord, right? So, Peter’s boasting in himself and, “Lord, though everybody else forsake you, not Peter, man. I’ll be—when the smoke clears, I’m going to be right at your side. All these other people may leave you, never happen with me.” Do you ever think that about yourself? Better not. Better deal with that. Now, can you by faith declare it in Jesus’ name? Yes! Because He’s promised us all things that pertain to life and godliness in Christ Jesus, that we’re already possessors of these things. We have the promise that if we do these certain things, we shall not fall; amen? Hallelujah! But you’d better not be trusting in your own strength. You had better be trusting in the indwelling Spirit of the Holy Ghost, the Lordship of Jesus in your life. And you’ll know that by your fruit, today. How are you living for Him today? How victorious are you, today, over the small things? If you’re not winning these “little fox” battles, you need to get concerned. For some of us that little fox has turned into a grizzly, we’ve given him so much power and so much attention.
These persecutions, these trials are going to come. So many of us have so much confidence in ourselves. And Jesus responded to him and said, “Before the cock crows, you’re going to deny me three times.” And we all know the story. That is, in fact, what happened. But we see in the Gospels also, that the Scripture makes it very clear that they all forsook Him and fled. They all forsook Him and fled. What do you think’s going to happen to you when your neck is on the line? They all forsook Him. What about when it’s your wife and your child whose life is on the line? And all you have to do is recant and say, “No, we’re not Christians.” And save your wife and your children. I know what some of you are thinking. “Well, and then when they leave, then I’ll just repent, and we’ll be right back with the Lord, praise God.” We’re going to look at some Scriptural passages that speak toward those very situations. Oh, thank God, He is merciful, He’s longsuffering; amen? Thank God that Peter and the rest of them found a heart broken and repentance. The question that we’re asking in these next couple of sessions is: Are you preparing for this time? The Scripture gives us a basic principle that it’s by reason of use that we have our senses exercised to discern good and evil. The more we become experienced in denying the flesh, the more we take steps to get out from under this world’s system’s mentality, thought processes, the safer we become. The more we know the Scripture and hide it in our heart, we are less apt to sin against Him, praise God!