Let us turn over to 1 Peter 4. We will start reading at verse 12 and read to the end of the chapter. God tells us here in 1 Peter 4:12-19:
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
I would like to speak a little bit about verse 14. This has been my experience and I am pretty sure that this has been the experience of many as we go out to share the Gospel.
As we are sharing that Judgment Day will begin on May 21 st, 2011, many are not going to receive this information with a smile on their face. As we do this, people are going to look at us as if we are crazy. We are going be slandered. We are going to be called names. We are going to be teased. We are going to be maligned by others.
As these things happen, we should not be shocked by this response because we are sharing some very, very serious information with this world. We are saying that we know, according to the Bible, when Judgment Day is going to happen.
Mankind does not want to be reminded of this. They do not want to hear this because the heart’s desire of the unsaved is right here in this life. Here we are telling them that the end is at hand and they are not going to receive this very gladly. Some of us are going to be accused of being part of a cult. If you can name it, they are going to most likely say it.
So we should not be surprised or shocked by this because God has told us beforehand that this is what is going to happen. If we were out there sharing a false gospel, even then people would be more likely to welcome us. They are willing to hear that, but we are telling the world that in a few short months, 17 months and a couple of weeks, the world will end. This is some very serious information to share with people.
Your families are going to look at you differently. You are going to be treated as an outcast. You are going to be treated as a second-class citizen. This just goes on and on and on. You are going to be looked at as if there is something wrong with your head.
It has been my experience when I have shared this that I have been laughed at and looked at strangely. But these things should not bother us and we should not look down on someone if they do not want to hear this or if they get upset or angry. That should not be our response.
Christ is our example in the Bible. As He shared the Gospel with the people of His day, how was He received? We should not expect to be treated any differently.
If you were born into a family or a country with a different religion and you professed the name of Christ, your life could be in danger. Here in the United States, we do not go through half as much as what other people around the world go through as they share the true Gospel. We have laws to protect us in the states. According to our Constitution, we have freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and so forth. We are protected by the law of our land.
But if you are maligned because you are sharing the Gospel, do not take this personally. Do not take this personally or see this as a personal attack, or anything like that.
We go with the Gospel and we share it very humbly. We share very humbly with our families. Even so, this might break up your families. It might do all sorts of things, but we should be steadfast and immovable, by God’s mercy, as we share the Word of God.
Let us read 1 Peter 4:14 again. Here God tells us:
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ…
This is going to happen if you are sharing the true Gospel. You are going to be reproached and you are going to be reviled. God tells us beforehand that these things are going to happen to us, so this should be expected. Your wife may divorce you. Your children might have nothing to do with you. You name it, it can happen. So we should not be disheartened because these things are going to happen, especially with the information that we are sharing about Judgment Day, that Judgment Day is only a few months away.
With this said, I would like to look at Acts 20. We read here about the Apostle Paul. As we read about him, we can see what he went through. It says in Acts 20:19-27:
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind…
This is something that we can ask the Lord to do for us, to give us this humility of mind.
It continues:
…and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
God is telling us here that as Paul brought the Gospel, we are to look at what happened to him. None of these trials or tribulations or revilings moved him away from sharing the Gospel.
This is as we should be as we share the Gospel. As we share this with humility of mind, we need to realize that we, too, are going to be persecuted and reproached for the sake of the Gospel, and yet we are not going to shun away from sharing this information from the Bible that God has given us, which is that on May 21 in 2011, Judgment Day begins.
So we are not going to worry about what people think of us or say about us. These things are not important. Our concern is what God thinks of us. We should not be concerned about what our fellowman is going to say about us because these things will come. This is going to happen to us as we go out into the world. People are going to look back at you with strange looks. All of these types of things are going to happen. You are going to be called names and reproached, but pay no attention to this because this is bound to happen as we go out into the world with the Gospel.
Returning back to 1 Peter 4, here God tells us in 1 Peter 4:13:
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings…
Christ’s suffering was very unique and we cannot enter into that. Christ went to the cross all alone, but we are part of His suffering.
For instance, go to Colossians 1:24 where God gives us a comment on this:
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
This is referring to God’s elect. We are part of Christ’s suffering as we go out into the world with the Gospel.
Again, 1 Peter 4:13:
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
Our affliction in this life is a momentary affliction. When we enter into Heaven on the day that our salvation is completed and Christ returns and we receive our glorified bodies as a true child of God, we will have the blessing and the privilege of entering into the joy of the Lord with joy unspeakable. Therefore, our momentary affliction in this life is basically nothing compared to the joy that awaits those who are truly children of God. For those who are truly a child of God, all that Heaven consists of is beyond our human comprehension.
So let us return to the verse that I wanted to look at. Here God says in 1 Peter 4:14:
If ye be reproached…
This word that has been translated as “reproached” has also been translated as “reviled.” We find this in Matthew 5 where we read of the Beatitudes. Remember that we are going to be reviled for the Gospel as we share this with our fellowman. We read in Matthew 5:10-11:
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you…
This is the same word as “reproached.” So here God is telling us ahead of time that we are going to be reviled because we are sharing the true Gospel.
It continues:
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
So these revilings will come when we are sharing the true Gospel.
Then we read in verse 12, Matthew 5:12:
Rejoice…
We should rejoice when this happens.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The true Gospel goes hand-in-hand with reviling. Wherever you go in the world, and this could happen within your own family, you are going to be reviled for the Gospel’s sake. However, we should not take this personally. We should rejoice. We should rejoice because these things will happen as we go out into the world and share the true Gospel
Let us also look at Luke 6:22-23 where we will see this same idea. This is almost identical to what we read in Matthew 5. Luke 6:22-23:
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you…
You are going to be hated of men.
…and when they shall separate you from their company…
The attitude of the world is, “Here that person comes again. Here they come. Oh, boy!”
We are not judging our fellowman, but by just sharing the Gospel with them, God’s Word is judging them. They will want nothing to do with you because of this. Your family will want nothing to do with you because they know where you stand on the Gospel. And if you try to share this with your co-workers, you will be maligned by them.
But here He says:
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil…
You will be cast out as evil. And why? It continues:
…for the Son of man’s sake.
This will happen for Christ’s sake. Then it says:
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
Their fathers did the same thing, and here God is warning us that these things are going to happen to us. They can be big or little, but the revilings will come, i.e., the funny stares, the shunning. All of these things are going to happen to us as we bring the Gospel; therefore, we should not be surprised when these things happen to us.
Look also at 1 Timothy 4:10:
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach…
Why do we suffer this reproach?
…because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.
You are going to suffer reproach for the Gospel’s sake. Whenever you take a stand for the true Gospel and if you are truly a child of God who faithfully shares the Word of God, you are going to suffer reproach. This is going to ruin families. It is going to do all of these types of things; however, God, in His mercy, will strengthen you.
As I have said, this information that we are sharing with mankind about Judgment Day almost being here will cause many to take offense. Many people are going to be offended by what is being said. No matter what information you show them from the Bible, no matter how much you tell them that this information is coming from the Bible, they will not buy it. They just do not want to hear this. Some even become threatening, “Stop talking about this information!” This happens especially in the home.
As I said a couple of weeks ago, when we heard about this information concerning May 21, 2011, the first people whom we wanted to tell were those who were closest to us. We wanted to tell our spouse, our children, our friends. Some of them are going to mock. Some of them are not even going to want to hear this. These types of things are going to happen and this is happening to many. As we particularly share this with our own family members, the reproaches are going to come.
Let us look at Isaiah 51:7:
Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law…
Who are these people? This is referring to God’s people. He has written His laws upon their hearts when they become saved.
It continues:
…fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
We are not to fear what man can do. What can he do to us? If God permitted, man could take your life, but what has he really done? When a true believer dies, he leaves his body and goes home to be with Christ. So what can they really do? Can we not put up with a little bit of teasing from our fellowman for the Gospel’s sake? This should not bother us at all. Why should we be so concerned about what others think of us just because we are sharing this information from the Gospel?
No, it should not be this way. Just know that once you start sharing the true Gospel, your friends are going to leave you because they do not want to hear this information. This is just how it is with the true Gospel. Most of the time, you will stand alone with the Gospel as you share this with your fellowman. We know that God is with us, but we will stand alone.
So you should not worry about a little heckling that might happen to you. Even if you give someone a tract and they rip it up right in your face, do not take offence at this. Do not be offended because of these things. These things are going to happen.
Here in Isaiah 51:8, God goes on to tell us what is going to happen to the unsaved:
For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
Once again, we read in Isaiah 51:7:
…fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
This goes hand-in-glove with the Gospel. We cannot avoid this when we stand for the true Gospel.
Look also at 1 Corinthians 4:12-13. Here God tells us:
And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
We are to be patient in sharing the Gospel, no matter what our fellowman might think of us.
It continues:
Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
Do you see how the world is going to look upon you? As I said, we are not even close to enduring what others around the world must endure, especially when we consider what has happened to true believers in the past. It is only by God’s grace and God’s mercy that we are not going through anything like this in our land.
The word that we find in 1 Corinthians 4:13 that is translated as “defamed” is used to indicate being reviled or reproached in many verses. In many places in the Bible, this word is also translated as “blasphemed.”
In 1 Corinthians 10:30, this word is used in another way. We read there:
For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
So we are going to be “evil spoken of” as we share the true Gospel with those around us.
This is also translated as “reviled.” For example, let us look at Matthew 27:37-40 to see this same idea. This is speaking of the crucifixion of Christ and how they viewed Him:
And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
This same word that is translated as “reviled” here in Matthew 27:39 could also be translated as “defamed.”
So when we read in 1 Corinthians 4:13 that we will be “defamed,” we could also understand this to mean that we will be “reviled.” They reviled Christ, too, which means that He was “evil spoken of” as He brought the Gospel.
Also look at 1 Peter 2:20-23:
For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called…
We were called unto these things. We are going to suffer for the Gospel of Christ:
…because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Christ is our example. As we follow in His steps, the revilings and reproaches for His name will happen to us.
It continues speaking of Christ:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled…
He was reviled, but He:
…reviled not again…
So when we are being reviled or reproached for the name of Christ, we do not have to react to it. We do not have to respond to man’s reviling or heckling of the Gospel. We are going to be cursed at and we are going to be called names, but we just continue to serve Christ. We should not let these things deter us or allow us to get discouraged as these things happen to us in this life because:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
This ought to be our response as we share the Gospel with our fellowman.
When we listen to the “Open Forum” program, we can hear the heckling and the accusations. This is what will happen to us as we go out into the world with the Gospel, so do not be shocked at man’s reaction to the Gospel.
This will especially happen due to the nature of this information that we are sharing. This is because for the unsaved, this is his lot. All he is going to get is what he gets in this life and he does not want to see it go up in smoke. He is making his plans and wanting to do all of these things as he looks at this world.
This reminds me of what God tells us in the Bible of how people were living right before He destroyed the world in Noah’s day. They were marrying and given in marriage until the day that the flood came. Mankind was just planning his future life.
In our day, people are planning on college. Man is building his buildings and concerned about making money, just everyday type things. God has told us ahead of time what it would be like at the end. Now here we come with this information that Judgment Day is coming and man is not going to welcome this information with a smile on his face, “You mean to tell me that this world is going to end? I do not want to hear this!”
Although deep within his heart he knows that this world is going to end, he does not want to be reminded of this. He does not want to think that his plans will not come to fruition or that he will not see his children grow up, or any of these types of things. He is very, very adamant that he does not want to hear this, as we know. But the fact is that the Bible tells us, “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world,” and this day is only a few months away. This day is coming very quickly for all of us.
Of course, how we react to this depends on what side of the fence we are on. If we are a true child of God and are born again, we are looking forward to this day with great anticipation and great joy. Yes, there is sadness because of our unsaved loved ones: our family, our children, our spouse, those who do not want to hear this information. As they revile us, we have to live with them; and yet by God’s grace, we are still to do things to the praise and glory of God. We are to still love our families, our spouse, and our children. If God opens a door for us to share the Gospel with them, we have that desire to share with them. However, as we do this, mankind sees us as a wet blanket because we have just put a wet blanket over all of his plans that he will not see come to fruition.
But by God’s mercy, if you are a child of God, you are looking forward to this day when you will no longer have to go through all of the revilings or all of this world’s disappointments. However, if you are not saved, this day is going to be a terrible day for you. This is going to be the worst day of your life. This is because you will see the true believers being caught up to be with Christ and you yourself will be left behind on that day. However, if you are a true child of God, you just cannot wait for this day.
It is only because of the mercy of God that He has let us know what He is about to do. Those who are not looking forward to this day just do not want to hear this, and so the revilings are not going to stop. They will be here, but we will continue.
Let us also look at John 15:17-23:
These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
The true believers in this world will be hated by man, especially in our day because of this news.
It continues:
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me…
This is Christ speaking here and He was persecuted.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
Here again God tells us that these things are going to happen. We are going to be hated among men for the Gospel’s sake.
Look also at Luke 21:17:
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
God consistently uses this phrase in the Bible:
…for my name’s sake.
Because of the true Gospel, we are going to be hated by man.
Robert: Does anyone have anything to add? I am not going to get through all of my verses.
1st Comment: I was thinking of Matthew 7:6.
Robert: Matthew 7:6 says:
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Did you have a comment on this verse?
1st Comment (continued): I would say that this verse is also a test for us who profess to be a child of God. God instructs us right here concerning those who do not want to hear the truth. We are to stop. We are not to rub their noses in it or try to force it upon them.
If we continue, maybe we are, in fact, rebelling against this verse. Maybe I am not as humble as I thought I was, because our actions speak volumes as well. This is why we need to pray for wisdom in every situation.
So we can witness by our actions, can we not? But are we to force the Gospel on them? No.
Robert: Yes, you are right. If you try to share the Gospel with someone but they do not want to hear it, then you just go to the next person.
1st Comment (continued): We can witness our love to them by our actions. Yes, we continue to pray for that opportunity to witness, but are we to press and force this on them? No.
Robert: This reminds me of the command that Christ gives to the wife of an unsaved husband, in that she is to witness by her life.
Okay. We will stop here. We are going to be reviled. The Bible tells us this, and so we should not wonder what is going on. As we go out into the world with the Gospel, we are going to suffer reproach. We are going to be reviled and slandered. Things are going to be said about us. We are going to be perceived as crazy. You name it, it is going to happen, but we are not to take it personally. These things are just going to happen.
Let us stop here and pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You, O Lord, for Thy Word. O Lord, we want to thank You that we know, according to Your Word, that today is still the day of salvation. O Lord, we want to pray for any here or those who are listening over Paltalk who may not be saved. O Lord, could it be that You might have mercy. We pray for our children and for our loved ones. O Lord, we ask that You would strengthen us as we share this Gospel with the world. Have us not to be afraid of man’s revilings, but to just keep our eyes on Christ. We pray also for the activities of this day. May all things be done to the praise of Thy glory. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.