 Jesus speaking but before all these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons you will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers relatives and friends they will put some of you to death and you will be hated by all for my name's sake but not a hair of your head shall be lost by your patience possess your souls so we're gonna look at a cherry little passage tonight word of encouragement I especially love the scripture verse 17 you will be hated by all for my name's sake that's in my promise box at home and I take it out every once in a while actually what we're looking at here are the conditions that are going to be in existence in the time that is prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus has been given a preview concerning those conditions that will prevail prior to a second coming when we looked at verses 8 through 11 here in chapter 21 of the gospel of Luke Jesus began to speak concerning things that would be in existence he spoke of false teachers he spoke of wars he spoke of catastrophes as these and he also spoke of cosmic signs and and all of these he said would mark the conditions in existence prior to his return in the verses that we're looking at tonight verses 12 through 19 Jesus is speaking concerning conditions that those apostles who are alive at that time are going to experience these are things that he's preparing these people to be aware of and he begins to inform them that they're going to experience terrible persecution for their faith now that's something that as you study the Bible you discover began early in the history of the church all you need to do is look at the book of Acts and if you began to do just a just a short overview of it you would see that the history of the church in the book of Acts is an interesting history when you look at chapter 1 in Acts you see that that is a chapter that basically records the events following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and and in chapter 1 of the book of Acts you see that Jesus gives commandments to the apostles and and then begins to instruct them concerning the promise of his father and there to wait and as they wait for this promise chapter 1 tells us that they fellowship with one another that they prayed in and they waited on that promise and as they were waiting on the promise then a new apostle was selected to take the place of Judas a man by the name of Matthias and so you see the beginning of the church in chapter 1 as they're awaiting the promise but when you get to chapter 2 when you get to chapter 2 in Acts it speaks of the day of Pentecost and how that promise of the father was fulfilled and how the church came into existence it was birthed there were 120 disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem and they were baptized by the Spirit of God and they received the gift of tongues and they began to proclaim the mighty works of God and we know that when we look at Acts chapter 2 that these 120 spilled out of the room that they were in and people began to hear the praise that they were giving and and they started hearing the word of God as it was being preached and and as this is all taking place the apostle Peter begins to preach a message and 3,000 people were added to the church that day later on we see in chapter 3 that Peter and John were in the city of Jerusalem they went to the temple at the hour of prayer which was 3 o'clock and while they were there there was a crippled man at the gate called beautiful and as Peter and John began to walk into that gate Peter looking down at this man said to the man look at us and Luke who wrote the book of Acts says that the man looked up expecting to receive something and as he looked at the apostle Peter the apostle said something like silver and gold have I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I say unto you rise to your feet and walk and the Bible tells us that the apostle Peter reaching down takes the man by the hand and begins to lift him up and the man received strength in his ankle bones his legs he begins to walk he begins to leap he begins to praise God and an incredible miracle has taken place and that opens up a door for once again a message of the gospel to be preached and as a result of that over 5,000 men not including women and children over 5,000 men are now in the body of Christ and so you see God in a very short time has been growing a church from 120 who are waiting on the promise to well over 5,000 and God began to move in a mighty way the church was exploding now that you find in the first three chapters of the book of Acts but when you get into chapter 4 from that point on you begin to see persecution in chapter 4 you see the the apostles taken before the Sanhedrin and they're very upset over the things that have been taking place especially the preaching of the gospel and all and they begin to want to command the disciples to stop speaking in the name of Jesus Christ when you get to chapter 5 verse 17 following you see once again they are taken in they are put in jail when you look at chapters 6 and 7 you see a man by the name of Stephen who gives a tremendous message and the result of his message is that he is killed he is put to death he is stoned when you get into chapter 8 the very first verse of chapter 8 tells us persecution erupts and that's what takes place so the first three chapters of the book of Acts is filled with the wonder of God the miracles of God and how God is moving in the first portion but by the time you get to chapter 4 Jesus's words are already being fulfilled persecution does erupt and that you see throughout the rest of the book of Acts believers began to experience persecution very early in the history of the church and that's what Jesus is preparing his disciples to expect and this is something that they will encounter that's why in verse 12 here in chapter 21 he says before all these things speaking of the things that he had looked at and was sharing in verses 8 through 11 before all these things they will lay their hands on you and persecute you delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons you will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake and so he's saying during your lifetime you will endure severe persecution and I want you to see something we're going to look at this tonight because persecution is basically going to come from four sources and he's going to outline those four sources for us even as we go through this passage the first source that we find is religious authorities he speaks concerning the fact that they're going to be delivered up to synagogues and so that tells us that it's going to come through a religious source it's been said a man with a message from God has to undergo the hatred and enmity of a fossilized orthodoxy and that's what is taking place the message of the gospel is going to cut against the grain of current religious sentiment and it's going to be something that causes those who are fossilized in their orthodoxy to resist to the point of persecution now this is something that Jesus in his personal ministry them had emphasized as a matter of fact on his last night with them he had made it clear that they would experience persecution in John chapter 16 in verse 2 Jesus said to them they shall put you out of the synagogues yes the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he does God's service now that was applicable at that time we'll see this in a moment that is also applicable in our day because there are people today who will put you to death if you were in their country as a Christian evangelizing there's no doubt about that we know that exists even now and they think they're doing their God's service by killing you Jesus said that was going to take place and he said that in John chapter 6 verse 2 during the time of the apostles there was a man by the name of Saul of Tarsus and Saul of Tarsus was a man who vehemently was opposed to Christianity he persecuted that way he hated the Christians Saul of Tarsus and he speaks concerning that because he ultimately as he was breathing out threatenings he had received letters to take any who had he had discovered who were believers in Christ he had received letters of authority to imprison them bring them back to Jerusalem and try them as heretics but as he was on his way to Damascus Syria he was on the road to Damascus when Saul of Tarsus was arrested by Jesus Christ and we all know his story it's found in Acts chapter 9 and that's why Jesus said to him Saul Saul why are you persecuting me who am I persecuting his his response was it's me you're persecuting me when you're when you're taking out your anger on those who believe in me you are actually raising up your hand against me and Jesus Christ arrested him as he was on his way trying to arrest those who believed in Jesus and Saul of Tarsus a great persecutor of the church became became the great apostle of the faith and he speaks about that in his writings in Galatians for example in chapter 1 verse 13 he was writing to the church of Galatia there and he said you've heard of my former conduct in Judaism how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it and so he remembered what he did he never forgot what he did Jesus and stated that there would be those who were in opposition who would take you before the synagogues they would excommunicate you they would cause you great pain they would even put you to death and this is a man who was guilty of doing exactly what Jesus and said and he never forgot what he did and he spoke of it quite often he understood the extreme mercy of God he understood how far God would go in somebody's life to rescue them he was one who was able to share about that and he did quite often in Acts chapter 22 verse 4 after he had been seized while preaching in the temple well while being in the temple and when and he was speaking to a mob this is what he said to them he said I persecuted this way to the death binding and delivering into prisons both men and women Paul never forgot what he did he was a persecutor of believers that's what he did and he said I persecuted this way to the death and that memory again never left Paul it became for him a testimony of the grace and mercy of God one of the more powerful places that he refers to that is found in 1st Timothy chapter 1 when he was writing a young pastor by the name of Timothy a man who was a pastor in a church in the city of Ephesus Paul writing to him letters relating to pastoral ministry began to speak to him and said this to him he said in 1st Timothy chapter 1 verses 12 through 16 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry although I was formerly a blasphemer a persecutor and an insolent man but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief and the grace of our Lord was exceeding the abundant with faith and love which were which are in Christ Jesus this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief however for this reason I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show all long suffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on him for everlasting life I've never forgotten what I did I've never forgotten and I am now the extreme example of how deeply the love of God actually goes and how great the grace of God is and how wonderful his mercy is as it has been poured out in my life Paul never forgot about that and Jesus said this is what's going to take place verse 12 chapter 21 Luke he said before all these things they will lay hands on you and persecute you delivering you up to synagogues and prisons you will be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake so a second source of persecution is human government you will be brought before kings and rulers he says for my name's sake you're going to be hated for the sake of Jesus there are some people who were hated just for their own sake they just don't like them but he's saying you are going to be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake we see that in the book of Acts we see that when Herod reached out and took James and killed him in Acts chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 it says about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the church and he killed James the brother of John with the sword so persecution will have a second source and that is human government when you read church history and especially when you study the the book of Revelation you discover that there were a series of ten Roman persecutions that the church endured you see that Caesar Nero began the first one in AD 54 Domitian in 81 Trajan in 98 Antoninus in 117 Severus in 193 Maximum in 235 D.C. us in 249 Valerian in 254 Aurelian in 270 and it ended with Diocletian somewhere between 284 and 312 8010 persecutions that were actually government authorized there was a governmental persecution against Christian believers there was a bishop of the Church of Smyrna his name was Polycarp he was a pupil of John and he died a martyr's death it's recorded that when he was ordered to recant his faith Polycarp said four score in six years have I served the Lord and he never wronged me how then can I blaspheme my king and Savior so he wouldn't recant and therefore he was burned to death there's a book that is called a history of Christianity it was written by a man by the name of Paul Johnson and he records some of the atrocities that were perpetrated on believers the persecution that early believers endured he writes in the second half of the second century Christians were systematically persecuted this account of a massacre in the Rhone Valley is typical many Christians were tortured in the stocks or in cells Sanctus a deacon from Vienna had red hot plates applied to his testicles his poor body was one whole wound and bruise having lost the outward form of a man Christians who were Roman citizens were beheaded others were forced through a gauntlet of whips into the amphitheater and then given to the beasts severed heads and limbs of Christians were displayed guarded for six days and then burned the ashes being thrown into the Rhone one lady blendina was the worst treated of all she was tortured from dawn until evening till her torturers were exhausted and marveled that breath was still in her body she was then scourged roasted in a frying pan and finally put in a basket to be tossed to death by wild bulls these are people who endured that because of their love for the Lord Jesus Christ it's been estimated that from AD 64 to AD 312 some six million Christians were persecuted to the death since AD 33 and estimated 40 plus million Christians have been martyred 290,000 Christian martyrs died per year during the decade of the 90s alone if you think that persecution only occurred in the early portion of the church it's continuing to this day it takes different forms there is physical persecution obviously there are deaths that occur because your believers I was reading of a young man in an African nation who was a Christian he was kidnapped and taken into slavery and because he was a Christian he wanted to go to church and so he snuck off and he went to a church service and the man who owns him discovered that he was gone and took him and nailed him nailed him to a bench nailed him to a bench I was reading of another young believer in an Asian country who was as a believer was taken and was ordered to no longer speak openly about Jesus Christ and and what they did with her is they they beat her feet and forced her to walk in her own pool of blood as they kept on beating her feet till her feet were opened up open wounds and she would walk in her own trail of blood and she was saying I know that Jesus died and Jesus died and poured his blood out for me this isn't too large a cost for me to pay this happens all the time these are things that are taking place right now in foreign countries you can see that in in the United States persecution through government is undoubtedly something that's very very real I have a book it's by David Limbaugh and it's simply called persecution how liberals are waging war against Christianity and you ought to read it you ought to read the court cases you ought to read what's being done of the little boy I think he was eight or nine years old who was in in in the cafeteria he's been trained by his mom and dad to give thanks to God for the meals that he has and so he bowed his head in prayer and as a result of that he was told that he was taken to the principal he was made a public example he's nine years old he was made a public example in the cafeteria taken to the principal ordered to no longer pray over his meal he went home his parents said do you know what God teaches us to do now we're talking about nine years old he went back and prayed again was taken again went back and prayed again was taken again and and you know it's finally suspended for a week because he gave grace over his meal I was reading about Christian teachers who were told you have to take your Bible and and remove it from your desk in case somebody might see that and see that you read it and that these are these are things that take place right now and you can read that and I mean this is a very thick book that is documenting persecution and indeed it does occur it's happening in our day right now and that's what's taking place and he was saying from the very beginning this is what's going to happen you're going to have sources of persecution now notice in verse 13 how he says but it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony he's saying instead of getting upset about it it's going to give you an opportunity to share it's going to give you an opportunity to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ I mentioned to you about that healing there that took place at the beautiful gate there in the book of Acts chapter 3 when the apostles were taken before the Sanhedrin and they were being tried before them and they gave their defense according to Acts chapter 4 verse 13 it says this is the result this is what happened it says when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus when they saw the answer the answer that was beyond them when they saw the testimony that was given they were amazing and what was interesting is how it says it they realized that they had been with Jesus but the fact is as they didn't realize they were still walking with Jesus and it was the Lord who was giving them that power and that ability listen when people put your faith on the line when it's time for you to share don't be worried about it don't be all concerned about it because Jesus gives us something here in verse 14 he says settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand and what you will answer for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist instead of panicking oh no what am I going to do instead of panicking we trust the Lord and we pray and we say God give me peace and God give me wisdom now one of the things that I would encourage you to right now is very simply put is that if you want to have the words in the wisdom it's always good to get into the Word of God it's always good to have that in your heart you know the Bible makes it very clear that that's what we're to do in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15 the Apostle tells us that we should be ready to give an answer concerning the hope that lies within us and so we should be prepared to do that and the Psalmist told us thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you in Psalm 119 verse 11 and so spending time in the Word of God is what feeds you and gives you the ability to have this answer because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is going to speak Jesus was telling us that in the book of Matthew chapter 12 when he was speaking to those who were opposing him in Matthew chapter 12 verses 34 and 35 he said brood of vipers how can you being evil speak good things for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things our heart is a repository we pour things into it it's like that old thing garbage in garbage out we pour things into us and upon the a moment that you have the opportunity to share you will be amazed how God will awaken your memory to the things that you read you'll be amazed I've had it happen so many times and I'm talking to somebody and a scripture will come to mind and I forget that I even knew that scripture to be honest with you and and I'll just share it and it just comes out and it's it flows out because the Lord he draws it out of you and God will do that you'll be speaking to somebody and they'll be speaking concerning your faith in Christ and and perhaps I'll have a disagreement with it which is understandable many people too but as you're sharing with them and as they're as they're opposing there you are just just sharing wisdom that that you know comes from above and and it's so good sometimes you're thinking man I wish I could tape this and put it on K wave this is good stuff boy this is good that has happened so many times it's thrilling when it happens it's so thrilling it's so exciting when it happens to be to be sharing with somebody or even sometimes having a discussion that that is a debate if you will they're saying this and and then you have a response and it's not like you're making things up it's it's the Holy Spirit is provoking you he's he's reminding you of things that you've studied and you've read and many times I discovered especially prior to coming into the full-time ministry I discovered that there were opportunities given to me because I'd be going to school or going to work that in the morning when I'd read a passage and I'd meditated on a scripture very often I would find a place that day an opportunity to use that scripture as I was sharing with somebody about the things of the Lord you've discovered that too if you share if you read the Word of God and you go to work or school or whatever prepared to share and you say Lord here I am use me you'll be amazed how God gives you opportunities and sometimes you might be that person who's thinking I don't want to talk I'm real quiet I'm real shy I have no desire to talk I want to keep things to myself I want to be a believer I want to follow Jesus and all of that but you know there are other people out there who've got big mouths I don't I just like to keep things to myself you'll be amazed of how the Holy Spirit will use you if you simply say but you know Lord my personality type is quiet you know that but if you use me if you want to use me I'm willing I've had that happen you know contrary to how it appears now after all of these years standing up in a pulpit like this and sharing the fact is by nature I'm very shy by nature I'm very reserved and very quiet I've had people in our church approach me and tell me that they've talked to me outside of the pulpit and and they thought I was kind of like cold to them in fact is I don't mean to be it's just that I'm real shy you know I'm just kind of a quiet guy reserved you know this is not the David show I don't mean to be talking about myself to you that much but might as well I like it no but that's just the truth you know I'm kind of a quiet person and I'm very quiet until I have something that I feel I need to say and so I'll do that and I've done that for many years since when I first got saved since when I first got saved I got saved and the same day I got saved I heard some of the things that the evangelist said and and I remember them and I went home and my sister Madeline was talking to me and and I started telling her what I had heard that day I just repeated what had been said to me just the things I'd heard what do I know about the Bible never read the Bible tried to read it once but I was loaded on mescaline so it didn't really stick with me I was I was loaded I was on a hallucogenic now I was trying to read it and it made no sense of course and so I stopped but I'd only tried to read it once to my knowledge and now I go I hear a message I embrace that message I come home my sister Madeline and Becky are talking to me and as I'm sharing I'm repeating what I heard and it's the basic things you know I was in sin you guys know I was in sin you know what I've been all about but today I heard that Jesus forgives sins and today I heard that I could have the Spirit of God in me that I could be his temple that he'll actually live in me that I don't have to try to be good because I'm bad anyway and so God gave me something called grace I remember sharing these kinds of things and and I and and what I did is I opened my heart I prayed and I told my sister how it happened I told them how it happened I said the evangelist his name was Arthur Blessed the evangelist gave told us if you want to be a Christian to stand up and and I couldn't because I'm shy so I prayed and I hadn't prayed I hadn't prayed since I don't remember I and I and I prayed and I said God I know you're real I know you're telling me I need to stand up but I'm shy and I can't stand up I want to but I can't there were 4,000 people sitting on a carpet 4,000 and and there was just no way that I was gonna stand in front of 4,000 people there's just no way so I told God I said you know I'm shy and you know I can't I can't do that but if somebody would stand with me I would stand and that's when Arthur blessed and I have never had a doubt that God was involved in my salvation never because I prayed and I said God if somebody would stand with me I would stand and I have promised you no sooner had I finished saying I would stand Arthur blessed said perhaps you're afraid of standing by yourself but if one of your friends would stand with you would you stand with them and my friend George Adams tapped me on the shoulder and he said David I'll stand with you if you want to give your heart to Jesus Christ that was a miraculous intervention on the part of the spirit of God into my life I have never had a doubt that God answers for I know he answers prayer I didn't say to George if someone stood I didn't send a message to Arthur blessed say it once you say this that'll get me to stand it was it was just the Holy Spirit's movement it's so neat George wrote me an email just today he writes me sometimes George who stayed in contact over these 37 almost 38 years you know and he wrote me a word of encouragement today which is what George does best and that's how it works the Holy Spirit works he does work in your life and and what happens is yes these words that that you hear you begin to share but if you don't have the word in you you have very little that you can give to anybody else and so when he says here in verse 14 settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you'll answer I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist he's not saying you shouldn't know the word of God what he's saying is don't plan out a strategy just trust me you'll know my word and I will provoke you to be able to give what is necessary at that time because when standing before opponents Jesus gives words and Jesus gives wisdom and the result he's saying is that your opponents will not be able to refute what you say now this isn't guaranteeing that those who oppose are going to automatically become Christians it simply means they're not going to be able to overthrow that message in Matthew 16 verse 18 Jesus said and he was speaking to the Apostle Peter he said I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it and so even though they may not agree with you they cannot in any way shape or form defeat this message it's a message that goes on and continues reaching people now he goes on in verse 16 and he says you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers relatives and friends they will put some of you to death you will be hated by all for my name's sake so a third source of persecution comes from your own family members it's interesting how in Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 through 36 Jesus said do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth I didn't come to bring peace but a sword I've come to turn a man against his father a daughter against her mother a daughter against her mother-in-law as if they need help a man's enemies will be members of his own household that's true I thought that my experience was the normal experience for all people I got saved my sister Madeline after sharing that day with her went to bed that night after I shared on December 27 1970 as I shared with Madeline she went to bed that night and she told me she went to bed and she said Jesus whatever you did for my brother would you please do that for me and my my mom and my dad within three weeks or so of my conversion I led them both to Christ and they came to a saving knowledge of Jesus my mom to this day on occasion and she does this often I'll call her up I call mom a couple times a week at least and I'll visit with her my mom lives in New Mexico and I'll call her up and as we talk at least twice a week we'll speak for some time and and my mom often will say to me thank you for bringing Jesus into our home my mom does that so I thought everybody leads their mom and dad to Christ I thought everybody leads their sister to Christ encourages her brother to Christ I thought that was just natural everybody does that and so when Madeline my sister began to date a young man by the name of Pat and he came to the house one day and I was the older brother that that gives me the honor of sitting him down and he came into the house and we were in my parents Dan and all and and I gave him the third degree you know who are you and how long do you want to live that kind of thing you know don't touch my sister we had a nice talk and as we're visiting I said to him Pat how long you been a Christian he tells her I've been a Christian for so long and I said really I said and your parents are they Christians he says no he said your parents aren't Christians he says no and I looked at him and I thought I wonder if you're a Christian because how come you haven't made your parents to Christ because I thought everybody did I thought that was an automatic I thought you get saved you go home mama says yes to Jesus I didn't know I didn't know that was not my experience I didn't know that some of you go through some terrible times with family members who reject Christ who want nothing to do with Jesus Christ I didn't know about that I didn't have that experience when I got saved the whole family basically followed my my trail the first church I pastored was my parents and my sister that's how it worked for me so I thought that that was the way it is I thought everybody know Jesus said otherwise he said no he said that's not the way it's going to always be some people have the blessing of seeing that most do not and that's why he says in verse 16 you'll be betrayed even by parents and brothers relatives and friends and they'll put some of you to death so the third source of persecution your own family members what happens today when a Jewish person comes to Christ do you think that their family gives them a party some places they give a mock funeral for that because this person became a Christian and for the Jew that automatically means you are no longer Jewish you become a Gentile I have Jewish messianic friends who live in Israel some of whom have never even told their husband or wife that they're followers of Messiah and I've asked why not and their answer has been because they will immediately divorce me that happens to this day what happens if you're in a fanatical Muslim country and you stand up on a corner and say follow Jesus he's the truth the way in the life you know even in England at Hyde Park there are many fanatic Muslims some of you know speakers corner in London been there before where you can come and you stand on a soapbox and you have the freedom to speak and say whatever you want that's what it's all it's called speakers corner and people come and they'll speak what they want but if you stand up and oppose Islam there's this one guy who's been attacked and beaten several times for actually calling into question Islam when the people are there preaching Islam he gets beat up quite regularly for opposing that happens in England we're not talking about Saudi Arabia or Iraq or Iran we're talking about England that happens in various places even in the United States it does happen because they don't want you to come to faith in Christ some families are very radical in their faith and their devotion to their God and when you come to Christ it could mean your own life one of the most compelling true stories that I heard in my young Christian life I heard back in 1973 concerning a man who is a who is a minister who is speaking in chapel at Biola when I was going to college Biola University there in Lamarata and he grew up on the mission field in India and he gave a chapel during missions week and he came and shared how that as a young minister in India a young man had come to him and spoken to him and said to him I'd like to hear about this Jesus that you've been preaching and so this pastor shared the gospel with him and gave him details concerning Jesus and then gave him an invitation he said to the young man would you like to receive Christ the young man responded by saying you don't know what that'll cost me but this minister said well I believe I do and he began to share some things about dying to self and works of the flesh and things of that nature and shared for a few moments with this young man and the young man just looking at this minister kept shaking his head and finally said you really don't understand what is going to cost me if I became a Christian and so the minister said well you're right about that I'm certain that I don't understand what costs you'll pay but the invitation remains do you want to receive Christ as your Lord and your Savior and this this pastor who was speaking to us at this chapel said the young man looked at him for a moment and said yes and he bowed his head there in his office and he said and I led him in prayer to receive Christ a few days later he said a knock came at the door and it was the local police who asked him to please go with them they had to take him someplace he says he climbed into the car and we drove out of the town city limits and went to a dirt road he said and we pulled the car over and as we climbed out of that car he says I walked up and I looked down and there's a tarp that's covering an object on the ground and the police said we needed to bring you out here to ask you if you could identify somebody for us he said you can't imagine what it felt like when they pulled the tarp away and there was the body with a severed head of the young man who had been in my office just a few days before it was the young man who said to me you don't know what it would cost me to give my life to Jesus Christ he said and as I was looking into the face of this man who had had his head cut off he said the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and said do you believe what you told him because if you don't you murdered this young man serious words from the Spirit do you believe because if you don't you murdered this young man because you convinced him to believe what you yourself don't believe Jesus said it he said you're going to be persecuted this man's family was a radical family in their faith and when he came home and shared that he had committed his heart to Christ they cut his head off and left his body on the side of a road that happens to this day and that's what's being spoken about Jesus is saying it's serious business when you follow him in verse 17 when he says you will be hated by all for my name's sake the bottom line is society is also a source of rejection and persecution he says you're going to be hated by all on my account because you see when when you actually stand up for the truth and you speak it boldly and with confidence you will be persecuted there are those who may just mock you verbally and you know some of you in this room perhaps have experienced the physical persecution we were in India in a small church many years ago and during the church service they actually have a time of testimony where people who have been persecuted that week have an opportunity to come up and share and I remember this woman standing up with an enormous black eye and she shared my husband's anger at me because I'm a Christian and he beat me just before she came to church her face is all swollen and they go through that they even have testimony time in church because of the rejection and the things that take place society in general will reject you I know a man his name is Moses Paulos I met him many years ago he's an Indian missionary he ministers in southern India and he and his son minister the gospel and they received an opportunity to go to a city the city actually had invited them to come and preach the gospel so Moses his son and a couple of other team members went to this particular city but did not know that it was a trap when he got there the people who had invited him actually took him to the city center and in some of the villages in India they have an old oldest tree is the place where they do their worship and so they took him to the oldest tree in the city and they tied him and his son to this tree Moses they took rods and they beat these two almost to death they were passed out and they sent for a man who skins people alive they send to go get him the guy wasn't in town so they beat him and they let him go and warning them never to come back Moses his son at that time was a young teen and Moses and his son healed up and when they healed up they went back to that town and as they went back to that town to preach the gospel the people saw them coming and came out rushing towards them and they said we have been waiting for you to come back because your God is very angry at us and what had happened is the tree that they had been tied to withered up and died it was the center of their idolatry it's where they did all their sacrifices and after they had been tied to that tree and beaten the tree died and so these people said to Moses we know we've offended your God you have to tell us how we can make him satisfied so that he's no longer angry at us and Moses planted a church in the city where he had been beaten almost to death society itself will reject you but Jesus is saying no in verse 18 not a hair of your head shall be lost by your patience possess your souls just remember that if the world hates you it hated him before it hated you death doesn't have the final victory over a believer we overcome even if we are put to death because no matter what the circumstances death doesn't have victory that's why Paul could say in 1 Corinthians 15 55 through 57 oh death where is your oh Hades where is your victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of the sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ you see endurance doesn't produce or protect salvation endurance are holding on simply evidence is its reality we hold tightly to the Lord and that's what he's calling us to do that's why Peter in 2 Peter 1 10 says give diligence to make your calling and election sure for if you do these things you shall never fail and so you hold fast Jesus is preparing his disciples for what is coming and by way of application he's preparing us to because the louder you are about your faith the more resistance you're going to have but hold fast to the Lord and watch what the Lord will do through your testimony