JOHN 16:1\u20134<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThey will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
(John 16:2).<\/i><\/p>\n
Jesus warned the disciples of many things\u2014the world\u2019s hatred, persecution, temptation. He gave these warnings so that when they faced trials of this sort, they would not be shocked and overcome with fear and disappointment. As Matthew Henry wrote, \u201cIt is easier to welcome a visitor who has been expected than one who has not.\u201d So, Jesus prepared them by describing what they could expect, and one thing that they could most assuredly expect was persecution by those who claimed to serve God. He specifically had in mind the Sanhedrin who would, after His death, raise the sword against all those calling themselves Christians. And they would do this in the name of God Almighty. The most infamous example of this \u201creligious persecution\u201d is Saul of Tarsus, who persecuted Christians out of \u201czeal for the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is true that our enemies are not always obvious. They do not always come from the \u201cworld,\u201d from those who blatantly reject Christ. Sometimes, persecution and discrimination come from those who claim to be doing God\u2019s will, who drive true believers from the church in the name of righteousness, who call those who are in the right heretics and impostors. Such actions have been evidenced throughout church history. Men like Hus, Wycliffe, Calvin, Luther, the Protestant Reformers, and the Puritans of England all suffered at the hands of those who claimed to be doing God\u2019s will. Such persecution can be extremely discouraging as you try to stand for true doctrines of the faith only to be opposed by those who believe they, too, are acting in the name of Christ.<\/p>\n
Do not be surprised, then, if a time comes when you are driven from the church for upholding true doctrine and standing for right principles. Jesus said there would be those who persecute His followers in God\u2019s Name, yet do not really know Him. \u201cThough they might claim to act on His behalf, they are really acting out of their own self-interests, which are driven by ignorance of the truth.<\/p>\n
It is a sad day in the life of any church when this happens, when the ignorant stand in judgment of those who defend the truth. But, it has happened since the beginning, and it will continue to happen until the church is purged of all unrighteousness.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Proverbs 15\u201316<\/p>\n
2 Corinthians 1<\/p>\n
Read Romans 10:1\u20134. The Jews of Paul\u2019s day had great zeal but no knowledge. They persecuted the Christians zealously, but they were ignorant of the truth about Christ. Why is it important for you always to temper your zeal with knowledge? Do you subject your exuberance to Christ\u2019s Word before you discuss issues?<\/p>\n
For further study: Acts 8:1\u20133; 9:1\u20139 \u2022 Gal. 4:8\u201320 \u2022 Phil 3:1\u201311<\/i><\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
september<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JOHN 16:1\u20134 \u201cThey will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service\u201d (John 16:2). Jesus warned the disciples of many things\u2014the world\u2019s hatred, persecution, temptation. He gave these warnings so that when they faced trials of this sort, they would not … Continue reading “ENEMIES IN THE CHURCH”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13061\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}