They Will Badmouth You

[Christsfreeservant]

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.​

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“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:24-33 ESV)​

There are a lot of professing Christians here in America who have this false notion that they should not have to suffer for their walks of faith in Jesus Christ. For many charlatans are teaching them an altered gospel message, which includes an altered character of Christ and of his church, too. And so many of them assume that all that they have to do is to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now they are good to go to heaven regardless of how they live. And so many of them never change how they are living.

And since many of them are teaching or implying that we do not have to put sin to death in our lives, and that we do not have to follow the Lord in obedience in holy living, they continue living in sin and for self while claiming Jesus as their Savior and Lord and while claiming heaven as their eternal destiny. And then on top of that they are being taught that one day Jesus is going to return and to take them to heaven and that they won’t have to suffer tribulation like the rest of the world.

So the message that many are teaching and accepting is this feel-good message that everything is alright and that they can keep living however they want and that God will not judge them for their sinful rebellion against him. And they are pushing this idea that everything about Christianity needs to be the feel-good and positive stuff. Nothing “negative,” i.e. nothing that makes people feel bad or that upsets them or that offends them, and thus not the truth that we have to die to sin and obey our Lord.

But if we are true followers (disciples) of Christ, which we must be if our faith in Christ is genuine faith, and so we are walking in obedience to his commands in holy living, and so we are out there sharing the gospel with other people while also refuting the lies of the enemy, we will be treated like Jesus was treated. We will be called of Satan. We will be called crazy and heretics and teachers of works salvation and legalists and judgmental and negative if we are teaching the Scriptures in their appropriate context.

And we will have people coming against us and attacking us and rebuking us because we are not following the ways of the world and of the flesh and of man in his deceitful scheming, but because we are following the Lord in walks of righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord. We will be opposed when we teach on repentance and obedience because so many charlatans have convinced so many people that repentance and obedience to the Lord are not required by God and for salvation.

But we are not to fear what they are doing to us or what they might do to us or against us or what they might say about us or to us. But we are to keep speaking the truth of God’s word, even if all hell breaks loose against us. We must keep speaking the truth and keep refuting the lies even if our enemies are able to convince the masses or even our friends or family members to turn against us and to call us evil or of the devil, like they did to Jesus. For we are not to fear people, but we are to walk in the fear of God.

For our God is fully sovereign over our lives, and nothing can touch us but what God allowed it and that he will bring good out of it in our lives, if not in this life, then in the next. For Jesus Christ was not exonerated before they put him to death on that cross, and we may die with everyone thinking we are evil, too. And we may even have people spit on our grave out of bitterness of spirit against us. So we must be prepared to be hated and to even have those closest to us betray us, like did Jesus.

But the hope that we have is that if we honor Jesus for who is he before other humans in full alignment and agreement with him as to who he is and as to why he gave his life up for us and as to what he expects of us, too, as his followers, i.e. by speaking the truth of his word to others, and by living the truth of this word before others, then he will own us as belonging to him before God the Father. But if we deny him by how we live our lives and by the words that we speak, then he will deny us before the Father.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 5:3-6; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Jude 1:3-4]

For one day Jesus is going to come back to judge the earth and the people of the earth and to take his holy and righteous and faithful bride to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete, and not until then. And then all this hate and sadness and persecution and evil and pain and suffering will all be gone, for we will be forever with our Lord if we remained faithful to him while we are still on the earth. And then everything will be alright because the Son (Sun) returned and he made it alright.

The following is a secular song used for illustrative purposes. Just swap “Son” for “Sun” making Jesus the Sun/Son who comes back:

Here Comes the Sun

By George Harrison

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright

Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here
Little darlin', the smile's returning to their faces
Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been here
Little darlin', I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright