Sermon Tone Analysis

*Date:*      12th August 2007                                                                  (Sunday PM)                                                                        *Ref:* A0327

*Place:     Kambah P.S.*

*Title: Coming Persecution*

*Text:        *& John 15:18-21

 

*Illust:     *On the 22nd June earlier this year a Joint Statement was issued by the Islamic Council of Victoria Inc., Catch The Fire Ministries Inc., Daniel Nalliah and Daniel Scot which in part read.

"The Islamic Council of Victoria (the ICV) has reached an agreement with Catch the Fire Ministries, Pastor Daniel Scot and Pastor Daniel Nalliah about the complaint the ICV brought in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), concerning what it alleged were acts of religious vilification in contravention of s 8 of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (Vic)."

Thus ended a 5 year legal battle costing the 2 Danny's as they became know hundreds of thousands of dollars, all because some Muslims didn't like what was said about them in a seminar on Islam run by Catch the Fire Ministries.

At the ACL presentation on Thursday night, the opposition leader Kevin Rudd was asked a direct question, if a labour Govt would implement similar legislation federally.

- To put it bluntly he danced around the question and in the end didn't answer it.

- The coming Persecution

!

I.                   Promise of Persecution of Jesus

!! A.               Persecution of Jesus

i.                 First off let’s understand that the Christian experience throughout history has always included periods of persecution.

To get a proper perspective of this we need to see why

ii.

Firstly we need to see that Jesus expected and was persecuted, His preaching & teaching was such that the religious & secular authorities of the day were both convicted and annoyed at Him, enough so to want Him dead.

John 5:16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.

(NKJV)

         John 8:59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

(NKJV)

iii.

When you read the accounts & what Jesus did that had them so upset it’s hard to understand.

He healed people, he preached love for one another & yes He preached true, complete obedience to the Word of God.

An irrational hatred - & vs. 24 - 25

         Psalm 35:19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.

(NKJV)

!! B.               Promised to You & I

i.

Not only did Jesus expect & experience persecution He clearly makes it to be an expected part of the lives of those who will follow Him.

& vs. 18 – 19

         Mark 10:30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.

(NKJV)

         Luke 21:12 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.

(NKJV)

ii.

Very definite terms here; you will receive persecutions, you will be persecuted – Not to be surprised by this, we are to be aware of it & indeed expect it.

This was the experience of the early church, Paul, Stephen, Peter

         Acts 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.

(NKJV)

iii.

Even beyond the age of the apostles the church was heavily persecuted for some 280 years.

In fact it wasn’t until 313 AD when the emperor Constantine announced the toleration of Christianity in the Edict of Milan, which removed penalties for professing Christianity and returned confiscated Church property that the harsh persecutions initially ceased.

Throughout history; Wyclif, Tyndale, Luther, Anabaptists, Knox, Puritans of England.

!

II.

An Irrational Hatred

!! A.               World Hates God

i.                 Tempted to ask, why have those that have made a stand for righteousness, for the truth of God’s word, for loving one another have been persecuted.

– Hatred of the world for the things of God.

Desire to be able to live in sin, when the truth of judgement is proclaimed, the conscience is pricked & pride rises up.

Who are you to tell me how I live my life.

ii.

The truth is that world, its systems & people hate God.

         James 4:4 Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

(NKJV)

iii.

Jesus made it very clear:

         John 17:14-16 14 I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

15 I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.

16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

(NKJV)

!! B.               It Hates Christians

i.

This is nothing new, this has been the experience of all those who wish to stand up for righteousness since Abel.

The curse of sin is such that when sinners are confronted they will respond to kill the person or persons that will bring the truth of God’s word.

One commentator a Max Blumenthal's wrote a column about Christians who believe that Jesus is coming back the responses posted in response are extraordinary.

/"Dear Max, You're the best, this report of yours gets right to the heart of the matter.

These Zealots are a danger to Humanity.

Thanks for exposing them, because it is their dreams of "Heaven" that is bringing us to ~*HELL~* on earth.

- DAP"/

       /" I agree Dap . .

.thank you Max . .

these guys need to be exposed and stopped . . .

put behind bars more like . . .

they are insane."

- Macready/

       /"When terms like "Jesus Freak" and "Bible Thumper" prove woefully inadequate to describe such creatures, there's always the clinical yet entirely apt "dangerous psychopath".

- willfarnaby/

       /"Clearly these religious freaks should not be allowed to vote; or drive for that matter."

- editor*[1]*/

       The hatred the comments expressed was aimed at people like you & I

ii.

God, makes it clear that this is not personal against you & I, but it is against God.

– It is the hatred of God that leads people to persecute the followers of Jesus

         1 Samuel 8:7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

(NKJV)

         Ezekiel 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

(NKJV)

!

III.

Not Immune

!! A.               Coming Today

i.

This brings us to is the realisation that we too are not immune, whilst we live in a period of relative freedom & liberty, as the world becomes more unrighteous the hatred & persecution of those who will make a stand will become more & more virulent & intense.

ii.

Now I want you to bear with me as I read this article that will give you a picture of where America is heading.

Think of all the dangerous characters lurking around our schoolchildren these days:

·               There are drug dealers;

·               There are gang members;

·               And there are the sex predators – more and more of them posing as teachers.