“Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.

And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

For I will give you a mouth and wisdom which your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

But there shall not a hair on your head perish.

In your patience possess ye your souls.” Luke 21:10-19

Familiar passage there, I have used it several times, but I want to think about one aspect of it tonight.

Before we do, I just want to give a little insight to it.

This has been the persecution of the true church all through time and the disciples bearing out much of it and as we know it still goes on today.

I always feel it is important to use the bulk of that passage because it is so important for us to know as Jesus wanted his disciples to know.

As the church suffers horrendous persecution the world over now it is so vital to understand what he is saying, he will be with us, and we are not to worry and fret about how we are to answer for ourselves because he will give his children the words the moment that they are needed.

Persecution can come in many forms, and we hear so many stories about various religious groups of persecution, especially for trying leave that particular group, I think of the Amish and the Shunning, the Catholics and the ex-communications.

Other belief systems in which the members will literally risk their very life in order to flee and those who hunt them down and try to beat them back into submission.

Only with Jesus Christ do we have true freedom, and we are not required to hate and wish death upon others.

We are not required to force others to convert or face torture, death, and I do realize that many have done this under the guise of Christianity, especially the treatment of the Jews, but that is not Christ.

Check out what he said about it: John 16:2: “…yea, the time cometh, that whosever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”

So deceived in their own minds that they are righteous and yet persecute those who actually do belong to God and only God can make them see the truth, however some are just so evil that they have reprobated themselves to never knowing the truth.

Jesus is kind, gentle, and merciful, there is no comparison to his love in the entire universe, and he came to save all. Though many refuse that salvation, it is still freely offered unto them.

Many do face rejection from friends, family, and truly lose the life that they knew with the decision to follow Christ.

Those we often think would be happy for us are quite the opposite and being labeled fanatic is just par for the course.

That’s what I want to look at tonight, the truth in following Christ, the ease, the simplicity, the fact that he is not up there with brimstone just waiting to send everyone to hell (even though judgment will come to the wicked, but his children have no need to fear)

It is not about thousands of rules and regulations, we are to keep the commandments and his statues but show me one command that is not for our benefit, it can’t be done.

It is all for our benefit, to keep us, help, and instruct us in good living and for the good of our souls.

It is not about fifteen hundred different denominations; many again forged with rules and regulations that are man-made.

When we seek him and begin to pray and study his word, we do see the truth of his word.

It is not bashing everyone, but we must speak the truth when the truth needs to be spoken, and it is certainly not about being holier than thou.

True believers in Christ are those who have repented their sins and asked for forgiveness and salvation, and as the Bible teaches, all have sinned and we are all offered forgiveness by the same and only God.

Jesus is very one on one, if you notice in scripture, his meetings were with people right where they were in life, he didn’t drag them off and parade them through the towns proclaiming their sins, just his presence brought darkness to light and turned death into eternal life.

Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Same Jesus, never changes, the same one who calmed the seas, healed the sick, cast out devils, raised the dead, and wept as his daughters wept for their dead brother, same Jesus that holds out his hand to us today.

We’ll look at a few verses that expound on the expectations set for us, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Philippians 2:12-15: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed (the Lord), not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (reverence and seriousness).

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.in

Do all things without murmurings and disputings; that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons (children) of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights.”

Romans 10: 8-13: “But what saith it? The word is nigh (near) thee. even in thy (your) mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt (you will) be saved.

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For scripture saith, whosoever believeth in him shall not be ashamed

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

We don’t read references to “we said, or they said” in that passage, only that the scripture said.

Super simple, believe, faith is believing.

We believe in our heart, speak it out loud, regardless of who doesn’t like it or who rejects us, and we are saved.

James 1:27:” Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

That is not asking much, it is not a tangent, it is not hate speech.

It is a command to do good to the vulnerable to keep ourselves from the snares and traps of this world.

1 Peter 1:18-22:”Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (conduct) received by tradition form your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish or spot:

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in these last times (days) for you,

Who by him believe in God, who raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned (unconditional) love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”

All still sounding pretty good!

If you have not accepted Christ, what is there not to love about one who is pure love?

If you are rejected by every family member in order to follow him, suffer that rejection, he can save them also and anything you feel you have lost in order to follow Christ will be replaced with even greater value.

You will be adopted into a family whose numbers are immeasurable, as Abraham’s descendants, as the sands of the sea.

Trust and Believe.

Have a good night, Love and Peace Thank you for reading!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2026 Rev. N. Brown Johnson