Luke 6:22-23
"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, for the Son of man's sake. 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," Luke 6:22-23.
Wherever Christ went He taught the people truth. He never compromised, He never changed the message or the method so people would not get mad, and He never apologized for proclaiming truth. Christ was not tolerant of false teachers or false teachings. We should not be tolerant of false teachers or their teachings either. One of the reasons people do not call out false teachers is because people are not able to articulate the truth in a confident way. They know what the person is saying is false, but they don't have the ability to use Scripture to refute the false teacher. This is another reason we should continually study the Scriptures. We should take advantage of every opportunity we have to consume the Scriptures. "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth," II Timothy 2:15. Like those of Berea in Acts 17:10-12. They believed what the Scriptures said, not just what some person said. Multitudes follow the opinions of men and not the Word of God, which is another reason they are not able to openly refute false teachers. It is alarming to see the amount of people who repeat a slogan etc. and call it bible. All of us are students of Scripture, some are good students and some are bad students. Another problem is when people try to bend the Scriptures to line up with what they believe instead of believing what the Scriptures say.
As we have learned that Christ was intolerant of false teachers, He also called them out. He boldly called them out, while looking at them face to face. He pointed out where they were wrong in how they lived, but also in what they taught the people. This made the religious crowds extremely angry. How angry? They sought how to murder Jesus and ultimately teamed up with their enemies to have Christ crucified. When the Lord saved the apostle Paul he immediately began proclaiming the gospel, and he immediately came under persecution (Acts 9:20-25). When the Lord saves a person He makes that person new, and that persons eyes are now open and that person is able to see like he has never seen before. He sees himself different, and he also sees others different. By God's grace he saw that he was poor in spirit, he hungers and thirsts after righteousness, and he sees others as being in the same spiritual state he was in and he wants them to see their spiritual state so he proclaims the truth to them. This produces an effect. If the Lord is working in the lost person the effect is joyous, but if the Lord has not extended grace to that person the effect is often hatred. How should we view it when others hate us for the cause of Christ? Let's find out what Jesus Christ says about this in Luke 6:22-23. "Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake," Luke 6:22. "Blessed" in this verse speaks of those receiving God's favour, regardless of what their circumstances may be. Let us read that definition again. False teachers proclaim that you know you have God's favour when everything in your life is going good. They often resort to positive thinking, which always puts emphasis on man and worldly things instead of on God and heavenly things. The end result is terrible. Turn to I Kings 22:1-27. They hated the one who spoke truth, but loved all those who spoke lies. "A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so, and what will ye do in the end thereof," Jeremiah 5:30-31. Turn to II Timothy 4:1-4. I hope we see how important it is that we not only know the truth, but that we accurately proclaim the truth.
We must understand that we are living in a world that believes in all kinds of things but the truth. Picture all the world going in one direction, then here comes someone going in the opposite direction proclaiming the opposite of what they are used to hearing, and the opposite of what they want to hear. How will the world respond? Luke 6:22 says they will hate you, ostracize you, reproach you, and cast Christianity as evil because it goes against what the world calls good. True Christianity is so offensive to the lost world that if it were legal, they would kill every Christian and destroy everything that pertains to Christianity. The most persecuted people on the face of the earth today are Christians. We see very little physical harm to Christians here in the U.S.A., but around the world our brethren are under persecution, and are martyred daily. The world hates Christ, but Christ is not physically here for them to persecute, so they take out their hatred on those who represent Christ in this world. To add to this is the biblical fact that some of those who hate us are they who are closest to us. Turn to Luke 12:51-53. "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household," Matthew 10:36. This is heartbreaking because we want to see the Lord save souls, especially those whom we are closest to.
"Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their father's unto the prophets," Luke 6:23. The religious crowds, and those who hated the truth, killed those who proclaimed the truth. We can read Hebrews 11, follow the life of Paul before the Lord saved him, all through the Old Testament all the way back to Cain and Abel, and we see this truth all through the Scriptures. We should be tactful when sharing the gospel. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: by ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves," Matthew 10:16. We don't use the gospel to pick a fight, we share the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe. We love others, and we don't want anyone suffering the wrath of God for eternity. When we are persecuted for the name of Christ, we are blessed to be counted in that number. This should cause us to rejoice and leap for joy (Acts 5:41).
It is truth that cuts to the heart. It is truth that offends. It is also truth that binds up the broken hearted (Psalm 147:3). It is truth that sets the captives free (Isaiah 61:1-3). Those who, by God's grace, see their spiritual state love the truth they once hated, and love those who proclaim the truth to them. When the Lord saves us He gives us a love for Him, His word, and His people. According to the Scriptures, has the Lord saved you? If so, rejoice, but if not, I beg you to run to Jesus Christ, trusting Him alone to save you. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37.
Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Sole Deo Gloria.
