2 Timothy 3:1 “But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].
2 Timothy 3:12 “Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
L A S T M A N S T A N D I N G
“Boldness In The Face of Persecution”
Now some of us are wondering at this point, wait I thought gospel meant good news? This doesn’t sound like good news to me. But I’m here to tell you this is good news. Because everyone in the Bible, and even the martyrs after the Bible was written, considered it an honor to be persecuted for the sake and the cause of Jesus Christ. But what I also wanna let you know is that God has promised us that he will not leave us alone.
John 16:33 Jesus says that “… in this world, you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world and deprived of power to harm you.” So this message I’m sharing this morning is good news. let’s define persecution for a moment.
What is persecution? [define persecution]
- Persecution is facing difficulty, opposition and adversity as a result of our faith and what we believe in. As the church, we sure have experienced a lot of that in recent years haven’t we.
Intro: World Gone Crazy
The world we are living in seems to be getting crazier by the minute. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that. And the ways of the world are continually coming against what we believe.
Preface: Ways of the World
1 John 2:16 & 18 “These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. You have heard that the enemy of Christ is coming, and now many enemies of Christ are already here. This is how we know that these are the last days.”
John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
- The world around us is going one direction, but the church is suppose to be going the opposite direction. We are called to go against the grain!
The ways of the world are controlled directly by Satan himself. How do we know that? Because the Bible tells us that Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2). Meaning he is the one infiltrating himself into our world, society, systems, and culture.
John 17:14-19“I gave them your word; The godless world hated them because of it, Because they didn’t join the world’s ways, Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways. I’m not asking that you take them out of the world But that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world. Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth.”
*Now I want to be so clear this morning, this message and our call is not about us being against other people.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places.”
This message is not about being against people. We love people.
And as SC Church that’s one of our 4 Pillars: Love Each Other
The Bible also tells us that this is how others will know we are His disciples, in that we love one another. So as the body of Christ we don’t put ourselves up against other people, but we are called to stand against the ways of the world and stand up for the ways of God.
– “Age of Conformity”
The truth is we live in the “Age of Conformity”
… but the Bible speaks of and commands non-conformity.
Romans 12:2a “Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, royal priests, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.
// peculiar people
Peculiar NOT popular.
What we believe in is not always going to be popular.
I’m not doing this for popularity.
That’s not why I joined this thing, that’s not what God asked of me.
He’s called us to be different!
Matthew 5:13-16 13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste (purpose), how can it be made salty? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and walked on by people. 14 “You are the light of [Christ to] the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
He ask me to be a city on hill! I’m gonna let my light shine! Hide it under basket!? NO!
What does hiding our light under a basket mean? It means we are limiting the light within us. God needs this light shining bright, the world needs this light! How do we shine light? We bring the truth out into the open. We have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of.
- As salt, God never intended for us to be walked on. As light, he never intended for us to be hidden… no as salt we are meant to bring flavor… as light we are meant to shine.
– T O L E R A N C E
Now, I want to take a moment and talk on the topic of tolerance for just a moment. Because I believe understanding this is what’s going to help us have “boldness in the face of persecution”.
The “ways of the world” have been asking Christians & the Church to increase in our “tolerance” towards their ways. That we are to tolerate the things in their agenda that are not biblical, tolerate their ways that are not godly values, etc. yet they are not willing to tolerate us . The secular world preaches tolerance and acceptance and equality for all… when in reality they want the farthest thing from it.
[*You can change the cover of the book but the contents are still the same. So let’s take a look at the contents shall we?]
You see there is a such a manipulative mixup of verbiage here because the world says tolerance but what they mean is acceptance.
And here’s the truth …
*Tolerance -> Acceptance -> Belief
[ Tolerance leads to acceptance, and acceptance turns into belief ]
As the church of Jesus Christ, we have to get to this place:
- I’m not tolerant // I’m tenacious
And when I say tolerance vs tenacity … I am not saying that towards people, I am directing that towards sin and evil trying to infect our society. We love people – and we love people enough to share the uncompromised truth with them because it is the truth sets us fee.
“Love is not just automatic acceptance, affirmation and confirmation and unconditional support towards everything someone does – love is that we care so much about the other person that we are willing to challenge and point out flaws or evil when we see them and have the courage to articulate it that truth in love.”
Ephesians 4:15 “Instead, speaking the truth in love…”
Sometimes we think those two things butt heads, but they don’t. They are meant to walk in stride w one another. And we don’t give up one for the other.
We don’t tolerate sin — meaning we don’t endorse it or give it a pass — but at the same time, we love people and walk with them while pointing them to truth.
*Jesus wasn’t tolerant towards hell‘s grip on me therefore I won’t be tolerant with hell’s grip on my nation, my family, my state, my society or my culture.
That kind of tenacity is contagious!! That kind of tenacity is exactly what the church needs, and that kind of tenacity is exactly what the church is called towards.
We weren’t meant to blend in, we were meant to stand out and be the example and set the standard. The world isn’t quiet about their gospel, and the church of Jesus Christ doesn’t have to be quiet about it’s Gospel.
The sad truth is that there are people out there in the world that wear tolerance like it’s a a badge to be celebrated… but it’s not a badge – it’s bondage.
If we saw a person about to drink a bottle of bleach or jump off a cliff (suicide) obviously the right natural response would be to warn them, say something, speak up and save them… right? Why? Because we love all people & when they are about to harm themselves it’s our duty to do something about it. So when society says it’s ok to do this or to support that and it’s actually sin – it’s the job of the church to speak up. Why? Because sin is self-harm and spiritual suicide. And love helps people from self harm.
Romans 10:14 “But how will people call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher (messenger)?
Agenda vs Cause
- The world has an agenda, we have a CAUSE. The cause of Christ. The cause of the cross. And that cause doesn’t compromise its truth.
“ALL IN / ALL OUT”
Our reality is this – that we need believers, in our modern day now more than ever, to be all in.
Check out these words Jesus said in:
Luke 11:23 “This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.”
You see I believe there is no gray zone, or neutral ground. It’s the neutral ground that neutralizes us and our potency against the enemy (Satan). We have to stop blending in to the grayscale of Christianity and culture, and we have to start living our lives in living color!
You see a lot of us have learned to ride this middle ground because of the persecution that has come against us. And that persecution has been on the rise since 2020 and 2021. But we have to know and understand as Christians we don’t cower to the power of culture, but we are called to change the culture. We are not a subculture, we are a counterculture!
When it comes to the enemy if we give him an inch, he will take a mile. We have to make sure to not give him o foothold because he will take it and turn it into a stronghold.
*Example: it starts with little things like taking prayer out of schools, that turns into big things like taking God out out of our nation. And let me just say that is never going to happen because there is a righteous remnant rising up.
How can we expect the world to buy in (… to our message) when we’re not sold out?
When we are all in…
… and when you believe in God, you believe in what He stands for.
There must come a time in everyone’s life where they make a stand.
My father-in-love/law has always put it like this:
- If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
For some of us it’s been a long time since we have had to or taken a stand. And with that can come spiritual atrophy.
Atrophy: is when you have a decrease is muscle mass because of a sickness or disease or even lack of activity for long periods of time you you haven’t used certain muscles in a long time. Some of us have spiritual atrophy.
The truth is persecution makes the church active & stronger. It kicks spiritual atrophy in the butt and helps teach us to stand again.
But I’m here to tell you that some of the things that the world is trying to sell, are just not right.
*And… Just cuz it’s common, doesn’t make it normal.
- It’s hard to make a stand for God when we’re not taking steps toward God
We not here to appease the mob, we’re here to please God. We not here to stand by, we’re called to stand up. We not here to bow to false idols, we’re here to rise for the cause of Jesus Christ.
We won’t standby, back down or shut up.
I will stand up & speak up for the cause of Jesus Christ because I know my God saves, I know my God heals I know what my God believes in. And I refuse to confess His name and remain complicit in his ways.
Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
– An [All-Saving] But Offensive Gospel
We have an all saving, but also offensive gospel.
*Look at Jesus’ words in:
Matthew 15:12-13 “Then his disciples approached him and said, “Don’t you know that what you just said offended the Pharisees?” Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant is destined to be uprooted.”
Matthew 21:12
Jesus turning tables, was not silent. He even used offensive words.
Matthew 12:34
There was even a time when Jesus called the religious leaders of the day (Pharisees) a brood of vipers
Matthew 23:27 “..and white washed tombs.”
We can’t be afraid to speak up on behalf of the gospel just because the world finds it offensive.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Why am I referencing these… because Ecclesiastes clearly communicates there is a time and a season for everything.
There is a time & a season for being silent, and a time and a season for speaking up. NOW is the time & the season to speak up for our faith and what we believe in.
We are processing and emphasizing too heavily on the side of “we don’t want to offend people.”
We have so many Christians today that are more afraid of offending people more than offending & pleasing God.
Offending somebody else as a result of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ should either be our concern or our responsibility. the Bible tells us in:
We are here to be the contrast of light and darkness. And it is going to take a “whatever it takes” attitude.
– Fear of God vs Fear of Man
Sometimes what this comes down to the difference of the fear of man vs the fear of God.
Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
S A V E D N O T S O F T
The common perception of love is that it is always soft, and unoffensive. This is not always the case – love is not what Hollywood has made it out to be! Love is strong and proactive.
“I am saved, not soft”
The Stand // Biblical Examples
*Preface: Religion & Politics
“Throughout history, political systems have often been one of the main tools used to hinder or silence God’s people. But Scripture reminds us the real battle is not ultimately political — it’s spiritual. The enemy may use politics, culture, or even false teaching inside the church, but the true struggle is against the forces of darkness.” (Politics is a man made temporary system what but what we stand for is eternal and everlasting…)
1.) Shadrack, Mieshack, Abednego // N E V E R B O W
📖 Daniel 3
The Israelites were in captivity and bondage to the Babylonian empire, under the rule of a man named king Nebuchadnezzar during this time.
King Nebuchadnezzar made a law that everyone had to bow& worship this golden idol/image. Talk about religion and politics. If someone did not bow – the law was that they would be thrown into a fiery furnace.
3 men did not bow.
Daniel 3:17-18 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up!”
The crowd that surrounds you may all be bowing, and you may have to be the only one standing. [ T H E L A S T M A N S T A N D I N G ]
They were willing to walk through the fire for what they believed in. They OWNED their decision. I believe the danger so many believers are in nowadays is that we have become too PASSIVE. We think because when we tolerate the sin and the evil in the world that we are walking in love and peace.
Let me just say this… there is a huge difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker.
- Peacekeepers work hard to avoid all conflict.
- Peacemakers strive to create peace and attempt to reconcile things and people that are at odds with one another.
The stand these three men made, made king Nebuchadnezzar mad. So much so that he heated the fiery furnace of seven times hotter than what it normally was. They threw the three men in there. The fire was so hot that the king soldiers who were tasked with throwing them in the fire died. Talk about some serious heat.
After these three men had been thrown into the fiery furnace, king Nebuchadnezzar, looked into the fiery furnace and asked his advisors around him. “didn’t we just throw three men in the fire? How come there is a fourth man in there walking around with them?” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the God.”
King Nebuchadnezzar ended up seeing that these three men were unharmed, not burned, and didn’t even have the smell of smoke on them.
There are often times that the threat of persecution is often just a smoke screen.
END RESULTS:
- Delivered from the fiery furnace
- King Nebuchadnezzar said praise be to the God of Shadrack, Mieshack, Abednego
- King Nebuchadnezzar decree that everyone must honor the God of these three men
We may think we are doing ourselves or the world a favor by staying silent and not speaking up but we are causing the world to miss out on a supernatural encounter with God.
2.) Daniel // Prayer Outlawed
📖 Daniel 6
Daniel was one of Kind Darius’ top 3 advisors. They were helping him govern and manage everything.
One day, while Daniel was away… 2 of the other advisors had a conversation and convinced Kind Darius to outlaw prayer. (That sounds familiar, outlawing prayer in our school etc.)
Daniel became aware of this law, and the Bible says he went away to pray. Daniel didn’t go into hiding. He went to his place, open the windows… and prayed not in secret but in public. You see there are times that our stand cannot remain private, but must be made public.
- While Prayer was outlawed ~ Daniel prayed out LOUD.
He wasn’t quiet, he wasn’t hidden, he did it openly. Sometimes our stand must be public.
- Sometimes your stand can’t be silent.
- Sometimes our silence is our statement.
END RESULTS:
- Daniel delivered from lions den
- King Darius decreed all must honor and reverence Daniel’s God
Did Darius send his other advisors to the lions den / to be killed?
3.) Esther // Silence = Death
Esther 4:14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline.”
END RESULTS:
- The genocide of a complete people group (Jews) averted
4.) David // Last Man Standing
1 Samuel 17:
16 “For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.”
23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.
26b David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
David ends up taking his stand. And all the reason he needed was because Goliath’s defiance of the living God and the armies of the living God. That all it took.
David ends up defeating Goliath with a single stone.
David… ended up being… T H E L A S T M A N S T A N D I N G
– It was considered an honor to be persecuted
Most of the biblical examples we’ve talked about today are those who had every reason to cower, bow down, stand down, and be silenced for the reasons of self-preservation. They were living in a time where literally losing their life was the likely outcome. Yet they were all of them, willing to stand up with boldness in the face off persecution and speak up for what they believed in.
Romans 1:16 “I have a duty to perform and a debt to pay”
Romans 1:16 “I refuse to be ashamed of the wonderful message of God’s liberating power unleashed in us through Christ!”
Matthew 10:38-39 And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].”
Matthew 10:38-39 And whoever comes to me must follow in my steps and be willing to share my cross and experience it as his own, or he is not worthy of me.” “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”
M A R T Y R D O M
- Stephen was the first martyr of the church. He was not ashamed.
- He stood for his faith, and was stoned for it.
- Every one of Jesus disciples minus ONE died for their faith.
- There have been countless others throughout history that have done the same.
- We must honor their sacrifices.
- We must make their sacrifices worth it.
- Charlie Kirk is now the most recent martyr of the church (American)
- Religion will always be a part of politics.
- Why? Because religion is the moral compass that we govern life by.
- What protects the sanctity of human life? Christianity does!
- What prevents the complete decay of the American society as we know it? Christianity does
- What prevents the genocide of a people group? Christianity does
…and not just Christianity – but Christians who are willing to speak up and stand up for their faith and what they know is right! And I am not talking about is a vague way. I am telling you God is in the details!
2 Corinthians 4:13-15 “We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe.”
“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.” – MLK Jr.
Matthew 10:32-33 “Therefore, the one who confesses and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven. But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword [of division between belief and unbelief].
Matthew 10:32-33 “If you openly and publicly acknowledge me, I will freely and openly acknowledge you before my heavenly Father. But if you publicly deny that you know me, I will also deny you before my heavenly Father. “Perhaps you think I’ve come to spread peace and calm over the earth—but my coming will bring conflict and division, not peace.