Kaleo San Diego Church

INTRODUCTION

We have read several statements by the Author John and by Christ that are bold proclamations in the face of tremendous opposition and religious pressure. And we have read of some of the actions of Jesus that caused much frustration and anger that fueled the religious hypocrites hatred of Jesus.

Last week we took an excursus into the biblical doctrine of the Trinity as we studied verse 30 in chapter 10 of John’s Gospel. Christ makes an astonishing claim to the Jews after guaranteeing our salvation is secure in Him and in His Father in verses 28 and 29, He then shifts attention to the validity of this promise by telling us in verse 30 “I and my father are One” making Himself equal with the Father and identified as being One with Him.

As we continue this week, we see this statement did not sit well with those Jesus was agitating.

We see the Pharisees reaction to Jesus truth claim in the next verse.

Verse 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.

This is the result of truth to those that oppose it. It either creates fear, frustration, or hatred to those that are unwilling to accept it.

This was not the first time the Jews wanted to stone Jesus.

If you remember in 8:58, Jesus says to the Pharisees that “before Abraham ever existed, I AM.” The reaction to this was the following verse 59 “Then they took up stones to throw at Him…”

You see, there is a cost for truth. For Christ, He paid the ultimate cost with His own blood. As the perfect Son, He was committed to the Fathers will every step and breath He took while in human flesh. This obedience to His Fathers will lead Him to the cross. His feelings did not subvert His Fathers truth.

As Christ set the example of walking the road to Calvary, He tells us to take up the cross and follow Him.

Our church that we are blessed to gather in has been built on the blood of the martyrs before us.

Starting with Jesus Himself we read story after story of the ultimate sacrifice that our brothers and sisters have made through the last 2000 years up to this very day.

The cost of truth was first paid in the book of acts by the first martyr Stephen.

We are told that Stephen was “full of faith and power” and was nothing more than a servant of the widows and Apostles.

Yet we are told that he debated and frustrated the Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia, so much as He spoke of Christ, they devised a plan to have him taken into custody.

He then stood before the council with his face shining like an angel and proceeded to give the council a Jewish history lesson, speaking of the Old Testament fathers, until he finished with his lesson and then shift the attention to the council;

In Acts 7:51 he abruptly ends His long speech on Jewish history by speaking directly to them. 51 “You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 "who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."

What was their reaction to the truth Stephen spoke?

Acts 7:54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 8:1 Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

This cost was paid by the Apostles after Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.

James the son of Zebedee, was executed by Herod about 44 AD (Acts 12:2).

Peter and Paul were both martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. Paul was beheaded. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

Andrew went to the "land of the man-eaters," in what is now the Soviet Union. He was the first to bring the gospel to their land. He also preached in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and in Greece, where he was crucified.

"Doubting" Thomas was most active in the area east of Syria. He preached as far east as India, where the ancient Christians revere him as their founder. He died there when pierced through with the spears of four soldiers.

Philip had a powerful ministry in Carthage in North Africa and then in Asia Minor, where he converted the wife of a Roman proconsul. In retaliation the proconsul had Philip arrested and cruelly put to death.

Matthew the tax collector and writer of a Gospel, ministered in Persia and Ethiopia. He was stabbed to death in Ethiopia.

Bartholomew had widespread missionary travels attributed to him: to India with Thomas, back to Armenia, and also to Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. There are various accounts of how he met his death as a martyr for the gospel.

James the son of Alpheus ministered in Syria. The Jewish historian Josephus reported that he was stoned and then clubbed to death.

Simon the Zealot, ministered in Persia and was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.

Matthias was the apostle chosen to replace Judas. History tells us that he was in Syria with Andrew and put to death by burning.

John, the writer of this Gospel, is the only one of the Apostles who died a natural death from old age. He was the leader of the church in Ephesus and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of Jesus in his home. During Domitian's persecution in the middle 90's, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There he wrote last book of the New Testament--the Revelation.

The cost of truth has been paid through our early and middle church history.

By 500 A.D. the bible had been translated in over 500 languages.

By 600 A.D. the bible was only allowed to be read in Latin due to the Roman Catholic Church influence.

A decree was given by the RCC, that any found with a bible in their own native language would be painfully executed.

Thousands of Christians were martyred because of their opposition to the tyranny of the Roman Catholic Church.

Many men, women and children were burned to death because they dared to read the bible to their children in their own language so they could know God’s Word.

Those that dared to translate the scriptures from the original languages into their native language did so under threat of execution. Many fled their own country to translate the Bible, many stayed and were imprisoned and then executed.

The martyrs of the reformation came into full swing with Queen Mary. She issued a decree to have all those that opposed the Roman Catholic Church hunted down and executed.

She received the nickname “bloody Mary” because or her actions.

Instead of stopping the spread of the Gospel, it grew and grew. The blood that had been shed for the sake of the truth of God’s Word became a motivation for those that followed Christ, not a deterrent.

Today, the cost of truth is paid by our brothers and sisters.

1893-1923 Turkey destroys 5 million Christians.

1930-1953 Sixteen million Christians were executed under Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.

Since the crucifixion of Jesus more than 43 million Christians have been killed for their faith.

160,000 believers were martyred in 1996 . . .not 160,000 in this century, but in 1996. Countless others were subjected to unimaginable horrors.

More Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than in the previous 19. Sudan, China, Ethiopia, Kuwait & Egypt are just a few of the many countries in which atrocities are documented today.

Some 165,000 Christians will die for their faith in Jesus this year. Religious statistician David B. Barrett writes in his new book "Today's Martyrs."

That means there will be around 452 Christians murdered today!

605 million Christians live "under political restrictions on religious liberty" and 225 million endure "severe state interference in religion, obstruction, or harassment" - in other words, outright persecution.

Persecution under Islam

GENOCIDE IN SUDAN - No place in the world are Christians more brutally persecuted then in Sudan, Africa's largest country. Since gaining independence from Britain in 1956, Sudan has become increasingly torn by political instability and religious strife. In 1989, militant Islamic military officers seized power over the democratically elected government and declared a virtual jihad against southern Sudanese "infidels" - which is to say, against Christians which occupy the south. A scorched-earth policy was adopted in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains, scene of some of the most horrifying religious persecution since the Holocaust. Whole villages have been bombed, burned and looted. Many inhabitants have been relocated into concentration camps where they have been starved until they agreed to convert to Islam. Christians have been subject to torture, imprisonment and assassination. Enslavement, rape, deprivation of water and systematic starvation are also commonplace.

1 Million men, women and children have been brutally murdered because of their faith in Jesus Christ over the last 30 years in Sudan.

PERSECUTION IN IRAN - In Iran, Christians live under what amounts to a religious apartheid. They are not allowed to work for the government or for any state owned companies, they cannot receive promotion in the military, nor can they prepare food eaten by Muslims. Islamic radicals have in recent years assassinated several Christian ministers.

PERSECUTION IN SAUDI ARABIA - In Saudi Arabia, Christianity is expressly prohibited. Bibles, Christian artifacts, literature and churches are banned. Nevertheless, there are an estimated 580,000 Christians living Saudi Arabia, 98 percent of whom are foreigners working in the country. Persecution of these foreign nationals has intensified in recent years. Thousands are said to be in prison and some have been beheaded. Others have been beaten, flogged and deported.

PERSECUTION IN PAKISTAN - The 2 to 3 million Christians living in Pakistan find themselves increasingly at the mercy of Islamic terrorists which the government is either unable or unwilling to control. Many Christians in Pakistan fear that a policy of "communal cleansing" is taking place. In 1986, a blasphemy law was passed which states that anyone who says, implies or insinuates anything about the Prophet Muhammad or the Koran can be punished by death, imprisonment or fine.

Christians have been beaten, they have had their villages raided and their homes plundered and destroyed. Their daughters have been kidnapped, raped and forced to convert to Islam. Discrimination is pervasive. Ninety percent of Christians are either unemployed or are forced to take the most menial jobs society has to offer, such as removing human excrement from the streets.

PERSECUTION IN EGYPT - In Egypt, especially in southern Egypt, militant Islamic groups are allowed to assault and murder Christians with impunity.

PERSECUTION UNDER COMMUNISM

The other great ideological motivator of persecution against Christians is Communism. What is most extraordinary is that, despite the systematic persecution that generally prevails against Christians in Communist nations, Christianity is flourishing in some Marxist countries.

PERSECUTION IN CHINA - This is especially true in China, which in recent years has experience one of the most phenomenal explosions of religious belief in the history of the world. According to figures compiled by Tony Lambert, a former diplomat who worked in China, Protestantism in China has, since 1979, expanded by at least a factor of 20, and possibly as much as 30. Estimates now place the Christian population of China somewhere between 60 million and 100 million.

Believers can be arrested and tortured merely for holding unauthorized prayer meeting or distributing Bibles without state approval. Reports have surfaced of Chinese women being hung by their thumbs with wires and beaten with heavy rods, denied food and water and shocked with electric probes. Religious leaders are fined, thrown into prison, tortured and sent to concentration camps.

Throughout this ordeal, Chinese Christians have tried to remain upbeat and philosophical about their plight. "It's good for the church, like growing pains with children," said one church leader, 84-year-old Allen Yuan, who spent 21 years and eight months in a labor camp. Other Christian leaders are fond of referring to prison as "our seminary."

PERSECUTION IN NORTH KOREA - Conditions in other Communist countries like Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea are no better. In fact, conditions are probably worse in North Korea, where Christianity is completely outlawed by the state. Nonetheless, it is believed that the number of Christians in North Korea is growing, and some analysts project that there may be as many as 400,000 Christians living under Kim Jong-II's Marxist tyranny. They are forced to meet secretly in small groups, rarely numbering over six, in order to avoid attracting attention.

If found holding private bible studies, they are immediately taken out in the street and shot in the head. No trial, no jury, no legal system. If you are a bible believing Christian that teaches God’s word, your life expectancy is not much better than a soldier on the front lines of a war.

Jesus tells us in John 15:18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”

Q-In what way are we persecuted for our faith in Jesus in our culture?

A-Loss of friends and family. Mocked by co-workers, called intolerant bigots, described by the media as small minded and dangerous.

Peter and John after being beaten for their witness.

Acts 5:40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Christ speaking about Paul says:

Acts 9:16 "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.

2Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Verse 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"

Jesus reminds the Jews of the good works the Father has done through Jesus.

The Jews knew He had healed a man that had been paralyzed for 30 years, and had healed a man who was born blind.

They didn’t dispute these miracles.

They answer Jesus in the next verse..

Verse 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."

They knew what Jesus was saying when He said that He and the Father are One. They knew the implications of such a claim.

They wouldn’t argue His good work, they refused to accept that He was the Messiah, because they had their own picture of what the Messiah would look like, though it wasn’t Scriptural.

Verse 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?

Please turn with me to Psalm 82:

1 A Psalm of Asaph. God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. 2 How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. 5 They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable. 6 I said, "You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. 7 But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes." 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.

This Psalm refers to man having dominion over people and things. It is referring to leaders. Much as we would say one was a “lord” or a “king” we are not saying that they are “THE LORD” or “THE KING” who is God. It is a title. A mark of authority and is used in the Old Testament to signify one that speaks for God, or exercised power for God.

Unfortunately cults take this verse out of the context of the rest of the Psalms, and the rest of the Bible and make a doctrine that teaches you can be God’s, like The God. It is called Mormonism!

Verses 35-36 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

Christ uses an argument from the lesser to the greater.

He claimed that since people in the Old Testament were called sons of God, how much more is he the unique Son of God. This is another claim to divinity by Christ based on a distinction between God the Son, and all the other sons of God.

Followers of Christ are made sons of God by grace, but there is a distinction in the Bible between us and Jesus.

Jesus is the "only begotten Son," and all true Christians are sons by adoption. It is very important that we always keep this distinction in mind.

The distinction itself comes from a more basic idea in the Bible. One name for this is the Creator/creature distinction. The idea is that there is a basic difference between God and all his creation, including man.

So when we say that all men bear the image of God, we do not mean that all men are Godlike in identity. Only Jesus Christ contained the fullness of the deity. All our "godlike" traits are like God’s traits, but essentially different.

God is all-knowing, but we have derived knowledge. God is all powerful, but we have limited power. God is naturally immortal, but man’s immortality is a gift from God. God has self-contained identity, but we receive our identity from outside of ourselves. The easy way to think about this Creator/creature distinction in reference to our text is simply this. Jesus Christ is Divine by nature, and all other men are divine pictures in nature.

Verses 37-42 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true." 42 And many believed in Him there.

The primary goal in Christ’s ministry was to bring light into this world. You see in verse 38 that Christ was not primarily interested in the personal faith of those who were listening. "Even though you do not believe me, understand . . . " In the wilderness many people came to him. He did not chase them. He realized that only those who the Father enabled would come to faith in him.

We should think deeply about this identity of mission. Many Christians speak of their mission as converting the lost. Yet, this was not Christ’s primary mission. It’s very arrogant for believers to claim to convert anyone. The only thing that converts sinners is the power of God’s grace, not us. Our mission as followers of Christ is to bring light to our world through our words and actions. God works through that. In every sphere of our lives this is the mission of the Christian.

The identity of mission in the Christian home is to be the foretaste of the kingdom of God. Children learn by example and as parents we need to represent Christ to your children.

The identity of mission in the Christian Church is to be a redemptive society on God’s earth. As the Bride of Christ we are Christ’s helpmates in the redemption of this world. Christ teaches us that servanthood is the pattern for greatness, so we need to focus on service. The service of others within the family, and the service of our community are our two main objects.

This is lived out by being truth bearers. Not just in the words we use but the lives we live.

It is said that we are to preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.

Realize however, that there is a cost for truth. As we examined in the context of Jesus, he was hated and despised by his opponents. They wanted Him dead, and eventually His death came. Not by their will, but by the will of the Father.

He paid the price with His blood. The cost was great.

We too are to expect that the cost of truth in our lives will be paid. If you are Christian that seeks to live biblically, then that cost will be paid by you. If you don’t think the cost of Christ blood is significant enough to tell others, you will shirk your God given responsibility and pass it off to others.

Jesus says in Luke 14:28 28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it --

This parable represents the absurdity of those who want to be disciples of Christ, without considering what difficulties they will meet, and what strength they have to enable them to go through with the task. Those of us that want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ require no less than the mighty power of God to support us; because both hell and earth will unite to destroy us.

Have you counted the cost?

Are you willing to pay the cost of truth?

I pray God enables you to answer honestly before Him, and then strengthens you for the task of living your life for the One that gave His life for yours.

Let’s pray…

Communion

0 Comments | Login to Post Comments

• Calendar
• Agenda