What I would like to speak about today is something that I did not completely finish last time. I figured I would finish what I was saying.
Last time, I was speaking a little bit about when we read through the book of Jeremiah, we know that it is speaking to us today. The whole Bible is. But today when we read Jeremiah, God is particularly speaking to the time in which we are living in, in relation to the churches.
We now know that the churches are under God’s judgment and that Satan rules there. As we read through Jeremiah, we see how God warns the pastors in the churches that if they do not teach God’s Word faithfully, they are going to come under God’s judgment.
When we look at Jeremiah 23, God starts out with a warning to the pastors and the churches, to whoever is declaring God’s Word. If we are saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” we had better make certain that God has said it and that it is not coming out of our own minds. Maybe we are repeating what somebody else said, which could also not be true.
So we have to make sure when we are sharing the Gospel with our children or we are sharing the Gospel over the radio or teaching the Bible or handing out a tract that what we are saying is something that God has really said. We have to make sure that it is being faithful to God’s Word.
In Jeremiah 23:1-2, we read:
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people…
How do we feed His people? If the pastor is teaching the Word of God, he is feeding them.
He goes on to say:
…Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
Do you see how God starts out this chapter by warning the pastors and the churches, “Make sure that what you are teaching is based on the truths of God’s Word and not on what you have been told or on what somebody else has said”?
This means that we cannot be lazy. We have to study the Bible. We have to spend time reading the Bible and praying to God for wisdom, that He will open our spiritual understanding.
None of us has 100% truth, but one of the wonderful things about being children of God is that we are teachable. God has given to us a teachable spirit. If you are a child of God, you realize this.
All of us, to a certain degree, had a teaching or a doctrine that was not true. We know that God’s Word is given to us for our correction. Pride cannot be involved. We have to humbly come before God’s Word, the Bible, and listen to what He says. We are willing, more than willing, to say, “I was wrong,” and let the Bible correct us. We gladly change and we try to be more faithful to what God has said.
So that is one thing about the true believer. God has given us a humble spirit. Where we have been taught wrong or had an idea that was not faithful to God’s Word and we are being corrected, we thank God for this; we thank God.
Last time, I was looking at Jeremiah 23:27. I will begin reading at verse 27 and read through verse 32, Jeremiah 23:27-28:
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully…
Do you see God’s admonition to us? If we say that we are teaching God’s Word (or whatever the case is), we must speak it faithfully, faithfully. Is what I am saying true to God’s Word and not my own ideas? Remember in Proverbs 3, God tells us not to lean on our own understanding. God tells us that we cannot trust what comes out of our own minds. We have to listen to the Bible.
Continuing in Jeremiah 23:27-30:
…What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD. Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.
This person is bringing a false gospel. God is against them because they are saying, “God has said,” when He did not.
Jeremiah 23:31:
Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
This is very important. When we are declaring God’s Word, we had better make certain that He said it. Because if He did not say it, we are making God a liar and we are lying because the Bible did not say it.
Jeremiah 23:32:
Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
Only the true Gospel will save someone. The false gospel has no profit and it is not bringing salvation to anyone. It is a doctrine that is a lie.
We know that we are living in that day where we are right at the end of the world. We know, according to the Bible, in the churches of our day, Satan rules. Therefore, what is being taught there is not true. There is no possibility of salvation in the local churches of our day and that is a sad thing.
Many of us have loved ones who are in the churches. How our heart weeps for them! It could be children, it could be wives, it could be mothers, it could be friends, it could be anyone. They are in the church and they are being fed poison by the pastors, spiritual poison. The pastors have assured them that all is well, and yet they are under God’s judgment. They are worshipping Satan and it is a sad thing.
As we look back on the church age, we can see why God’s judgment is upon the churches. We can see how pastors are teaching things of grace. They will use the word “grace,” as in, “God saves by grace.” They say that they believe this, but then they say that you have to do this or you have to do that in order to get yourself saved, and that is a false gospel. If any amount of works are involved in it, it is another gospel; it is not a Gospel of grace any longer. God is the One who saves, yet they cannot see this for dust and they are teaching these lies. They are saying, “Thus saith the Lord,” and the Lord did not say it. How sad this is!
When you go over to Jeremiah 14, you see the same warning there by God. In Jeremiah 14, we will begin with verse 11, Jeremiah 14:11-14:
Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
You see, their gospel is not based on the Word of God. They are telling you a deceit and a lie out of their own heart, out of their own thinking, because they are adding works to grace. Some of them have a gospel where they believe that God is speaking to them through a dream or a vision, or whatever, and this is not the true Gospel. It is a false gospel out of their own minds.
Verse 15 says, Jeremiah 14:15-16:
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land…
They are promising the people that all is well. They are saying, “You do not have to worry about the day and the hour of God’s judgment; God loves everybody,” and they are reassuring the people that all is well, all is well:
…By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
And God goes on.
So a very, very, very important issue when we are teaching God’s Word or sharing the Bible is that it be based only on the Word of God. Otherwise, you are feeding these people a pack of lies and it is of no profit because it does not bring salvation.
As we bring the Gospel faithfully to the world or to our family members, we are going to be treated as outcasts. We do not expect that the world or our family members are going to embrace us. We are coming with the horrible news that if you are not saved, God is going to destroy you. Also, we are telling them that we know the day, the month, and the year of Christ’s return.
I am pretty sure that many of you have received weird looks and have probably been laughed at. You are coming with this horrible news to your loved ones that in a few short years, judgment day will be here, the end of the world. Their response is most likely going to be, “Yeah right; how do you know this?” We tell them, “Well, we know this according to the Bible.” However, the last thing that they want to be reminded of is that the end of the world is almost here, so their response is going to be offensive. The offences will come.
Let us look at Luke 17; God warns us about this. When you bring the Gospel faithfully and you are standing for Christ, normally, you stand alone. In Luke 17:1, here God is telling us:
Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
An offence will come when we bring the true Gospel. You are going to be shunned. You are going to be treated like an outcast. You are going to be mocked.
Do you remember when Lot went to Sodom and Gomorrah with the Gospel? He was mocked. He was laughed at, but he had the truth.
Do you remember Elijah? Let us look at 1 Kings. When you stand for truth, normally, you stand alone. But we know that the true believers are really never alone, because God is with us. In 1 Kings 19, do you remember the account there of Elijah the prophet? Do you remember wicked Ahab and Jezebel his wife?
We read in 1 Kings 19:1-2:
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.
Elijah had slain the prophets and here, now, his life was at stake.
Let us drop down to verse 14, 1 Kings 19:14. Elijah is speaking:
And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only…
Alone, he was standing alone:
…even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
Here, this faithful prophet of God stood alone for truth.
Oftentimes, many of us will be in a situation where we are the only one in our family who is saved and we are standing alone; no one else wants to hear the truth of God’s Word. Oftentimes, it is like this.
Let us also read verse 18. Here, God is going to assure Elijah that he is not alone; there are others in that place who are truly saved. 1 Kings 19:18:
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
Elijah did not know. He thought that he was the only one there who would stand up for Jehovah, God of the Bible, but there were others there also who were truly saved.
Let us also look in Matthew 10. This same idea is found in Matthew 10:34-36, where Christ is telling us:
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
When we stand for truth, normally, we stand by ourselves. When you stand for truth—on your job, in the home, or wherever you might be—at times, you are the only one there who is declaring God’s Word faithfully. How sad this is!
Let us go back over to Jeremiah 23. God’s warning to us is in verse 28. Jeremiah 23:28:
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully…
We have to examine our doctrine. Is it true to God’s Word? Did God really say it? This is a very important topic, particularly in our day.
God tells us that Satan goes about in the churches; he is there. Satan took over the churches. So as we go out into the world with the faithful Gospel, we are going to meet with opposition. However, if you are bringing a gospel that is based on what man wants to hear, more than likely you will not have opposition. If you are going to tell somebody that God loves everybody or that He has a wonderful salvation plan and a wonderful plan for their life, then all is well.
You see, mankind loves this type of thing. But from the moment you come with judgment—sin, righteousness, and judgment to come—people get offended. The offences come, “Oh, you are too negative. Why do you always have to talk about destruction or hell or all these things? Why can’t you just be positive?”
Many gospels on TV have this power of positive thinking message, “Do not bring this negative stuff; bring things that uplift people. Tell them the good things. Do not come with this judgment stuff,” and this is what people want to hear.
Look at Christ when He came. Was He received wonderfully by the people? No, He was not. The scribes and the Pharisees and the Jews were chasing Him all over the place to kill Him, to take His life.
Should we expect any less when we are bringing the true Gospel? It is expected that the offences will come. People are going to be offended by the true Gospel. If people are not hackling us, then maybe something is not right because we should expect to meet with opposition when we are bringing the true Gospel.
In verse 30, Jeremiah 23:30, He says:
Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words…
Remember that we looked at John 10 the last time, John 10:1. Let us read this again. I said it last Sunday, but let us look at this again.
How do we steal the Word of God? We do this by bringing a false gospel. In doing so, we are being a thief. If we are not bringing the true Gospel, God sees us as a thief and as an emissary of Satan.
Let us read John 10:1 again:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door…
Here is somebody who is trying to get into heaven through another way. Remember that Christ is the Door. But here, he is entering not by the Door into the sheepfold:
…but climbeth up some other way…
He is trying to get into heaven through another way, through another gospel.
…the same is a thief and a robber.
If someone is bringing another gospel, they are being a thief and a robber. Who in the Bible is a thief and a robber and a murderer? Satan is. Satan is a thief and a robber and a murderer, and they are emissaries of Satan.
Verse 2 says, John 10:2:
But he that entereth in by the door…
This “door” is Christ. We enter into the kingdom of heaven through Christ. He is the Door. He is the Shepherd of the sheep.
John 10:3-5:
To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger…
Who is this “stranger”? This stranger is someone who is bringing another gospel.
And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
When the true believers hear this kind of teaching, they know immediately that it is not true. Satan uses the Gospel to entice people into false gospels, and they go for it. But the true believers are not a thief or a robber, because they are faithfully bringing forth God’s Word, the Bible.
So those who have another gospel, they are a thief and a robber. They are stealing from the Word of God and they are marrying their ideas with the Bible. They have their own whatever and they are not being faithful to God’s Word. They are being a thief and a robber of God’s Word.
Let us read, in the same chapter, verses 31-33. Here, Christ is bringing the Gospel and He is being met with opposition. Let us begin reading at verse 31, John 10:31:
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
Here is Christ bringing the Gospel and they are about to stone Him. Christ is the perfect preacher and yet here are the Jews about to cast stones at Him. Why? They want to stone Him because He is being faithful. He is the Word of God and He is telling them the truth. But mankind, by nature, does not want to hear the truth from the Bible. We do not want to hear it.
John 10:32-33:
Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
They understood that Christ was making Himself God. However, they did not understand why they were saying these things. God is having them to say these things, that Christ is making Himself God, because He is.
And, you see, this is a good proof text to prove that Christ is God. They understood this—that Christ was making Himself God—and they were greatly offended at Him. They failed to realize that He is God, Emmanuel, God with us.
Here, they are about to stone Him because they realize that He is making Himself God. And as we stand for truth, this is what happens. Of course, we are not going to get stoned today, but people are going to shun us. They are not going to want to be around us. Family members will not come around you as often as they used to anymore. You are sharing the truth of the Gospel with them and yet they do not want to hear it. So you will be treated as an outcast.
As I said, this is going to happen as we go out into the world with the Gospel. From the moment mankind sees the tract, “Does God Love You?,” most of them, no matter where you go in the world, most of them are taken aback by it. They do not want to be reminded of it and you might get cursed at. You might get all sorts of responses, because mankind, by nature, does not want to be reminded that there is a God whom we have to deal with, so they have nothing to do with you.
You see, the offences for the Gospel, the offence of Christ, is going to be here as long as this world exists. We listen to the “Open Forum” and we hear the confrontation on the radio because the true Gospel is being proclaimed. There are those who are arguing with the Bible, “It cannot be so. How can we know these things? We cannot know the day or the hour.” This is the first thing they tell you, “You cannot know; you cannot know this; you cannot know that; you cannot know that you are saved.” They say all sorts of things. But we can know because God is opening the eyes of the true believers to say these things.
Let us look at John 8. Remember that we said in John 10:1 that there are those who steal the Word of God, and they are the ones who are being a thief and a robber. Here, God is speaking to the Jews. They are remonstrating with Christ, and God is telling us in John 8:42-43:
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? …
There are those who, no matter how you try to explain salvation and grace to them, cannot understand it because their spiritual eyes are not open. Here, Christ is going to answer the question:
…even because ye cannot hear my word.
There are those whose spiritual ears have not been opened and they cannot hear it. They cannot hear it because they are still spiritually dead.
John 8:44:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
So these false prophets that we have been speaking about are bringing another gospel. Satan is their father and he is also the father of lies. These false prophets are emissaries of Satan, so they are also speaking lies. They are speaking lies. Satan comes with his deceit, with his false gospels. Here, God is telling us that those who are bringing this false gospel are emissaries of Satan and that they are also speaking lies, just like their father the devil. So you see, it is the same idea.
Let us look also at 2 Corinthians 11, where God clearly spells it out for us who these are who are bringing a false gospel. He tells us in verses 13-14, 2 Corinthians 11:13-14:
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers…
You see, a false prophet is a deceitful worker, because he does not know the truth and he is marrying God’s Word with his own ideas. He is being deceitful, just like Satan who is the father of deceit and of lies:
…deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
They are changing themselves in this way. Remember that God tells us that Satan comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
How deceitful can you be? Satan does not come in a red suit with horns on his head and say, “Hey look, I am Satan.” He comes using the Bible. He comes using the Word of God to deceive people. He is the father of lies and he is going to use the Bible. It worked in the Garden of Eden, “Did God say…?” He tried to use it when Christ was in the wilderness [note: speaker inadvertently said “garden” instead of “wilderness”] being tested, but it did not work. He uses the Bible and he twists it for his own gain.
Verse 15, 2 Corinthians 11:15:
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
This is how he operates. He comes as “Reverend so and so” or “Doctor so and so.” These false denominations have been around for centuries. He comes subtly. He is a very subtle individual. He comes into the church and he deceives “the hearts of the simple,” a term the Bible uses. He deceives the hearts of the simple.
Remember in Proverbs 6 or 7, it speaks about the woman who goes about deceiving. This is because a false gospel goes about to deceive those who have not had their eyes opened to truth. They are being conned by Satan and they cannot see it for dust. He has them, you see, and that is how he operates. God calls him a murderer, and that is what he does. He murders people with a false gospel, but they do not realize it. It is a spiritual thing; it is a spiritual murder. You do not have to kill someone with your hands to kill them; just feed them a false gospel. If they are drinking a false gospel, they are being murdered.
It is sad when there are families who have another gospel and they are teaching this false doctrine to their children. Their children are sitting there listening to Mom and Dad and they are just drinking in this false gospel. They are killing their children; how sad that is. How sad. Let us move on.
As we go out into the world, as God commands us to do, He tells the true believers that we are light bearers. We are light bearers of the Gospel, which means that Christ is the Light. When we truly become a child of God, we are light bearers and we are going to share the true Gospel. Our spiritual eyes are being opened by God and we are going to be faithful carriers of this wonderful Gospel that God has entrusted to us. Only the true believers are the true witnesses of the Gospel. They are the true light bearers of the Gospel in the world.
Let us look at the Gospel of John again. In John 3:17-21, God tells us:
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned…
But we have to be careful with “believing” and so forth.
…but he that believeth not is condemned already…
Those who are not saved are under condemnation and they are already judged by God. They are already being condemned by God.
…because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world…
This Light is Christ. He is the Light who has come into the world.
…and men loved darkness rather than light…
Is He talking about literal darkness? No, spiritual darkness. Before we are saved, where are we? We are in darkness. We are in the dominion of Satan and we love it. We love our sin; we love the way we are. We love darkness; we love our sin rather than Christ. Why?
…because their deeds were evil.
Our wicked works; we love our sins and we do not want to give them up. Although we hear that the wages of sin is death, we do not care until God opens our eyes to truth; then we see the error of our ways. But we love our sin, particularly in our day. In our day, we see sin multiplying, because mankind loves it that way.
It continues:
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light…
By nature, we hate Christ; we hate Him. We want nothing to do with Him.
We sing the song “Amazing Grace,” which indicates, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…” But we are in our sinful state and we are comfortable right there, “Just leave me alone; I am doing fine, thank you.”
But if we are not saved, are we doing fine? No, we are not.
It continues:
…neither cometh to the light…
Of ourselves, we cannot come to Christ. God has to bring us to Himself.
…lest his deeds should be reproved.
We do not want to have anything to do with Christ, in our condition.
It continues:
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
The only way, as we said, the only way we can come to Christ is when He has done all the work of drawing us to Himself, else we will never come of our own accord.
Let us look at another passage in Matthew. We are light bearers of the Gospel when we truly become a child of God. Christ is the Light and we are the reflected light of Him.
In Matthew 5:13-16, we read:
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? …
If we are bringing the Gospel but we are not bringing the full counsel of God, then the Gospel that we are bringing is really good for nothing. We have to warn mankind about sin and judgment and these things, that he is in trouble with God. We have to bring the whole Word of God, truthfully.
…it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
This gospel is no good. If we are bringing a false gospel, it is no good. God cannot use it.
Ye are the light of the world…
The true believers are the light of the world.
…A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
We are light bearers. When we are bringing the true Gospel, we are bringing praise and glory to God. If the person whom we are sharing the Gospel with is one of the elect, God will use it to save that person. We are light bearers of this wonderful Gospel that God has given to us and we are going to be faithful light bearers of the Gospel; we cannot help it.
When God has opened our eyes, we do not worry about what people might think of us; this is the least of our concern. You might be called names or whatever, or your family members might leave you—you name it—but we are going to stand for Christ no matter what. We cannot help but do it God’s way, because He has opened our eyes to truth.
As I said earlier, the offences will come for the Gospel. Offences will come; it is expected and it is par for the course. Your wife might leave you, your husband might leave you or your children may have nothing to do with you, but it is par for the course when you are standing for truth.
Let us look at Acts 5. When you read through the book of Acts, you can see that as the apostles were bringing the Gospel, the opposition came. Because they were being faithful light bearers of the Gospel, the opposition came.
In Acts 5, Peter is preaching. Do you remember what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in this same chapter, how they fell down dead? We will pick up the context a little bit. Let us go to verse 17, Acts 5:17:
Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation,
When you are being faithful to God’s Word, do you see what happens? It brings man’s anger, “Who are you to tell me this and that, that God is going to destroy me in hell? Who are you?” To those who brought the Gospel, the Jews were angry and they rose up against them with indignation.
Acts 5:18:
And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison.
See what happened to them as they were bringing the Gospel? They were thrown into prison.
If you go to verses 27-29, Acts 5:27-29, we read:
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council…
These are the apostles who were taken out of prison.
…and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? …
This is talking about Christ.
…and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
If we are going to stand for truth, we ought to obey God rather than man. So you put up with man’s hackling or laughing, or whatever they do to you, and it is nothing. We cannot but obey God’s Word, His commandments. The true believers are going to stand for Christ.
Let us read on in verses 30-33, Acts 5:30-33:
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
You can see what happens as you bring the true Gospel.
Let us go to verses 40-41, Acts 5:40-41:
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them…
They were beaten.
…they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
We rejoice because we are bringing praise and glory to God’s Name. Look here at what they have been through, and yet they are rejoicing. The little things that we go through in this present life are only “but for a moment.” It is a “light affliction.”
What is it if I am being teased or mocked because I am saying that 2011 is the end of the world? The majority of the world is not going to believe it; they do not buy it whatsoever.
As I said, you stand alone when you stand for truth. Most of the time, you are all by yourself and the offences will come. The laughing and the teasing will come, but do not be afraid of the faces of men, do not be afraid of them.
I think I will stop here.