Every since Jesus died on the cross, wicked men have continued to persecute believers!
What are they afraid of?
Why are they so against the teachings of Christ?
Christ blood bought our forgiveness!
Christ blood bought our eternal life in paradise!
Christ blood bought our freedom!
The price paid was His life's blood, freely given to sinful man!
Are these things to be feared?
No, these are the things that make us sing praise songs of thanksgiving to God for His Son!
These are the things that drive us, even during persecution to proclaim His name with love!
These are the things that set the captives free!
We know why the Pharisees hated the Christ.
They did not want to loose their standing as religious leaders and were filled with hate and jealousy!
They did not listen and hear the word of God being delivered!
Christ did not force God's word, nor a religion on anyone!
What He did was to confront us with our sin!
Is that what people are afraid of?
Yes!
Confront the child abuser, the homosexual, the murder, the adulterer, the thief, the liar, the drug addict, the alcoholic, the swindler, the extortionist, or any other sinner and he will be in rebellion to you because you exposing his enjoyment as sin.
Never mind it's sending him to hell, he wants it regardless of the cost.
There are those who will keep you in the bondage of sin because it's lucrative for them.
The prostitutes are in bondage to pimps.
The addicts are in bondage to their suppliers.
Sin is bondage!
Listen to these verses:
Acts 16:
16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation."
18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.
21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice."
22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.
23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Our job is to preach the gospel.
The word changes hearts!
God has set a time for forgiveness, a time for judgment, a time for repentance but God will leave you in your sin if you don't turn from it!
Sin forever separates you from Him!
Choose life and repent!
Choose death and love your sin!
Choose eternal life by trusting Christ for your salvation!
Choose eternal destruction by living in your sin!
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
2 Cor.4:
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Romans 1:
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
1 Peter 4:
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
18 And "If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
