Sunday, August 26, 2018

End Times - Mathew 24:9 - Hatred & Persecution



This is a common verse for many people and I’m sure you have heard about it several times.  The Bible says that people will determine to kill you and hate you for my name.  Because of the name of Jesus, people will hate you and you will get into trouble and you can even be killed because of the name of Jesus.  Today I want to talk to you, are you ready to die for the name of Jesus?

Are you ready for people to hate you because of the name of Jesus? Have you decided in your life to go through troubles because of the name of Jesus?  This is the one of the most powerful and challenging verses in the Bible.  This verse is like what Jesus did for us.  He left heaven and decided to leave everything to die for us.  He accepted to come down and He knew that others will hate Him because of you and I and He accepted to go through trauma so we can be saved.

Now it’s our turn to sacrifice our lives for Him.  This is where many Christians fail.  We are ready to receive salvation, love and blessings but we are not ready to give up on something to glorify Jesus.  Who is going to kill you?  Who will hate you?  Who will put you in trouble?  The first nation that will attack you is your own body.  The desire of your body is the first one to accuse you and put you in trouble for the love of Jesus.

When you want to pray, your body will tell you that you are not able to pray, your body will attack your spirit and your desire to pray and you think, maybe I will pray tomorrow.  You want to do something good for God but your body turns you down but if you remember, I am doing this not only for me but the name of Jesus, then you will stand up and do it and you will be a winner.  If you are only doing it because of your salvation or because you are Christian, then you won’t do it today.  Whenever you do something, do it in the name of Jesus.

“For your glory Jesus, I will do this, for Your Name I will do this,” and your body will turn you down.  I’ve seen Christians give up because of the influence of others.  They will put aside their faith because people say something.  In order to please others, we do what they are asking us to do.  Our mind will push us, you shouldn’t do this now for God, you would be better to do this for yourself.  Most of the time we do things for ourselves rather than God.

Blessed are those that know that they are doing things for God because they will be winners.  Better for us to die for Christ than to die for the glory of the world or your country.  Many people will prefer to sacrifice everything to become somebody.  During the elections, I have seen on tv politians will put aside their family and they will fight because they want to lead the county, they want their political party to rule the country. Men will give up their jobs to campaign, not because they love the people of the country but because they want to be someone of the country.

They tell you they will fight for your needs but once they become leaders, you cannot see them without an appointment.  Once they occupy the post, they no longer campaign but they work.  What type of campaign do you do for Jesus?  How many messages do you send your friends?  How often are you on Facebook?  How many people love you because you are campaigning for Jesus?  How many people will hate you for promoting Jesus? 

Jesus wants us to campaign for Him but very often we don’t have that courage, we often think twice, how will they take this?  How will they judge me?  Better to send a joke or a song of Rihanna than a song from church.  God our Lord is looking at you, “remember Mathew 24:9, you have to accept to be killed for My Name”.

If they attack you and want to kill you, if they hate you, it’s normal.  We should try to bring up the name of the Lord Jesus.  During the campaign, the nationals will talk about national.  What name do you promote in your social media and your day to day life?  Some promote only their jobs, their knowledge but do you promote Jesus in your life and if yes, how do you do that campaign?

This morning I was thinking about advertisements and how they pop up in your computer and you don’t want it but it pops up.  You can turn it off but another will pop up later.  People work so hard to promote what is good for them.  The only thing we must promote is Jesus.  Do we send pop up messages to people?  They will hate us but do we send them?

People will hate you, kill you and put you in trouble because of my name.  I’ve sent messages to people and they blocked me.  Some have even told me to stop sending messages.  Pressure can come but don’t give up.  Your body can fear losing friends but the best friend you can have is Jesus.  Knowing and having Jesus is a privilege.  Your parents can die and your friends can leave you but Jesus will always be by your side.

You are a strong person and God loves you so much.  Love is not a one way street but it has to have reciprocity, it needs a return.  Jesus doesn’t ask a lot like He did with Abraham who had to give up his son, no He just asks you to sacrifice everything for His Name, promote His Name; by doing so you will be a winner.

Mathew 24 is for the church not for the street but today the church has been letting Jesus down because we are shy to talk about him.  Imagine you meet with your friends while you are with your parents and you feel shy to introduce your mother because you believe your friends will judge you.  People prefer to hide Jesus because we are not comfortable that our faith is in Jesus.  Jesus is so good, He has warned us that those who are shy to talk about Jesus, then He will also feel shy about them.

Imagine if Jesus tells you, you were too shy to introduce me to people, I am also shy, I cannot tell My Father about you.  Don’t feel shy anymore.  Put shyness aside, tell it, “you are not part of my life”.  Let people hate you rather than putting your shyness to talk about Jesus first.  Together we must make a small step and then the rest will follow.  Make one step, decide in your life, how am I going to promote Jesus in my life, how will I introduce Jesus to others?

I don’t have to be happy because I am a friend of the prime minister but that I am a friend of Jesus.

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