Five Reasons Not to Fear Perseuction

In 10:16-25 Jesus gave the disciples the raw truth. Obeying Him would not be easy. He commanded them as sheep to go out into a world filled with wolves. As they obeyed the Lord, they would face major hardship:

They would be beaten in the Jewish synagogues.

They would be hauled before Gentile political rulers and put to death.

They would be betrayed by their own family.

They would be hated.

They would be persecuted.

They would be called evil.

Jesus is going to warn them again about the hardships they will face in 10:34-42. But first he takes a moment to encourage the disciples. The disciples aren’t immune to fear. They are common men. What Jesus has just told them is very difficult. They need encouraging.

Admittedly it is difficult for us to understand how the disciples felt. We live in a culture that doesn’t see much physical persecution. Eventually that will change. The Bible says the end of days will be marked with worldwide persecution of Christians. I believe we are seeing the birth pangs of a major persecution of Christians in America now.

This past week on November 12 a Supreme Court Justice, Justice Samuel Alito, said religious liberty and freedom are in danger of being demoted to second class rights. When a sitting Supreme Court Justice says something like that, we had better pay attention.

I am convinced it will be difficult for my children to live the Christian faith in the USA and it will be extremely difficult for my grandchildren. We should keep that in mind as we look at texts like this one. There must be a boldness in believers. I can promise you persecution is coming. Before it arrives, we had better be prepared.

Our text this morning will help prepare us. Jesus gives us five reasons not to fear persecution:

1. The enemies of Christ will be exposed (26).

2. The words we speak are the words of Christ (27).

3. The worst man can do to us cannot be compared to the worst God can do to us (28).

4. God cares for us (29-31).

5. Our confession brings great reward (32-33).

1. The enemies of Christ will be exposed (26).

A. The fear of man.

Proverbs 29:25 says “The fear of man bringeth a snare:”

Our desire to be liked by men will cause us to behave in a certain way. We fear people. We fear people:

May not like us

May not promote us

May hurt us

May embarrass us

May take something from us

Peter feared the crowd and denied Jesus.

Elijah feared Jezebel and tried to quit the ministry.

Abraham feared Abimelech and almost lost his wife over it.

The fear of man is a snare because it promises one thing and delivers another. The fear of man says, “If this person likes me things will go well for me”. The fear of man is a temptation to sin that will lead to awful consequences.

Nevertheless, we still fear man. We see it early even in our children.

Why does bullying happen? Because children fear the bully.

Why do children who look differently get picked on? Because children fear the ones who are doing the picking.

Why do kids as they get older have to dress in a certain way or have their hair in a certain style? Because they fear a certain group will not like them.

The fear of man continues into adulthood.

We fear family members.

We fear the boss.

We fear our political party.

We act and, in some cases, fail to act because we are afraid of what people may think of us. As adults we should know better. We know how silly it is to care what the children at school think. We have grown up. We know that once you graduate from high school you have little if any interaction with your former classmates.

When we are in heaven what will it matter what a lost world thought of us?

What will it matter if they ridiculed us?

What will it matter if we weren’t invited to their party?

What will it matter if we were looked over for the promotion?

When I go to the woods and the animals see me, they run. They are afraid.

The deer run

The rabbits run

The squirrels run

They run because they are afraid of people. They know I have more power than they do. When a Christian sees another person, they should not run. We have no reason to fear man. The lost are mere people. We are Christians.

We are the salt of the earth!

We are the light of the world!

We are more than conquerors!

Hebrews 13:6 says, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

B. The foolishness of fearing man.

Jesus says everything that man has done will be revealed. The context suggests that those who persecute Christians will not get away with it. God knows what they have done to His people. One of these days God is going to rip the covers off. What a scary thing this is for lost people. As Christians our sin has been covered by the blood of Jesus. When we stand before God, we are safe. But when the lost stand before God every sin they have ever committed is revealed.

Look in faith if you can at an ungodly man standing before God. The books are opened. This man’s name is found. Listed is every sin he ever committed. He stands there shivering in fear before all creation.

The sins of his youth are read.

The sins of his adolescence are read.

The sins he committed in private are read. These are sins that not even his closest friends knew about.

People are horrified to hear the gross and ungodly thoughts of this man.

He has no defense. He just stands there as charge after charge is read. He is loaded with the sins of a lifetime. This man is humiliated, he is disgraced, he is shamed. He is pitiful. There is not a soul in the world who envies him. No one wants to be like him and certainly no one needs his approval.

See that in your minds eye. As you see in your mind’s eye that guilty, disgraced, ungodly man shivering before the court of God ask yourself this question “Why would I ever fear him?” How foolish it is to fear condemned sinners. How foolish it is to follow them. The enemies of Christ will be exposed for who they are. We have no reason to fear them or follow them.

2. The words we speak are the words of Christ (27).

A. Christ was preparing these men for a public preaching ministry.

Jesus was spending most of His time with twelve men. He was poring Himself into them. He was teaching them the truth. He was teaching them:

On mountainsides

In homes

On the seashore

From boats

As they walked down the road

Throughout the gospels we see Jesus teaching these men the truth. When we get to the book of Acts, we see how much these men learned. He turned them loose and they became preaching machines. We wondered in the gospels if they would ever get it. They were slow learners at times. But after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost we see these men have graduated from the school of Christ and they turn the world upside down with their preaching. Their success came because they were not sharing their own words, they were sharing the words of Christ.

B. We have the same obligation the disciples had.

We have the words of Christ in the bible. Jesus makes it clear that our faith is to be public. He says what I tell you in darkness speak in the light. “Darkness” refers to private.

What you hear preached from the Bible in your church, speak in the light.

What you read in your home during your devotional time, speak in the light.

What you hear in your ear preach from the housetops. That may not work for us. We have a pitch on our roof. In Jesus day rooves were flat. It wasn’t uncommon for speeches to be given from them. If you were on the roof you could be seen and heard better.

We should speak the truth of God publicly, clearly and in such a manner that many people can hear it.

As we speak the word of God, we have nothing to fear because we are speaking the words of Christ. When someone is saved, we cannot take the credit because it was the Words of Christ that saved them. When someone gets angry, we cannot take the blame because it was the Words of Christ that angered them.

3. The worst man can do to us cannot be compared to the worst God can do to us (28).

A. This verse proves a few things.

1. Heaven exists. If heaven did not exist, then we would have every right to fear man. If this world is all we have then dying is a horrible thing.

2. No one can touch the human soul except God. Certainly, no man can touch your soul. In addition, the devil cannot touch your soul. Devils and demons do not torture souls in eternity. Hell is not the devil’s heaven.

3. Hell exists. God created hell. It is God who puts people in hell. People do not die and then go to hell on their own. They are cast into hell by God. The destruction Jesus mentions is an eternal destruction. It also includes both body and soul. The entire person is eternally punished.

B. We should fear God more than we fear man.

1. If you lose your soul you lose your body too. We spend so much time trying to save our body. We change the way we eat. We exercise. We go to the doctor. We take our medications. The Bible says bodily exercise profits little. Why does it say that? Because this body is going to die anyway. We ought to care for our body. It is a temple. But we ought not seek to save it while neglecting our soul.

Jesus is telling the disciples that it is foolish for them to seek to save their own lives by being disobedient to Him. In saving their body they are losing their soul. The only way to preserve your body is to preserve your soul. If your soul is saved you will receive a glorified body. If your soul is lost both body and soul are cast into hell.

Man can kill you, but man cannot condemn you. Our utmost concern should be our soul. Jesus asked the question “What does it profit a man if gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”

2. The enemy primarily wants to suppress the truth. The threat of death is just a means to accomplish his ultimate task. We yield to fear when the threats of man silence us concerning the truth of God. Most of the time we don’t have to be threatened with death.

We are silent when we are afraid a friendship may die.

We are silent when we are afraid a family member may get upset.

We are silent when we are afraid our reputation may take a hit.

How do we know we fear God more than we fear man? Nothing can silence us when it comes to the truth of God. Not even the threat of death.

In Acts 21 it was made Paul was about to head to Jerusalem. No one wanted him to go because they were afraid, he would be killed there. The people were begging Paul not to go. They were literally weeping because they believed he was walking into his own grave. Paul said “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

Did you notice what Paul said? He was more broken hearted over the sorrow of his friends. To him being killed for Christ was nothing to fear. But he couldn’t bear to see his brothers and sisters in Christ weeping. His friends were more afraid of him dying than he was.

Do we fear God more than we fear man? We should. The worst man can do to us cannot be compared to the worst God can do to us.

4. God cares for us (29-31).

A. Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater to prove His point.

He asks them about the price of dead sparrows in the market. They were selling two for a farthing. A farthing 1/16 of a daily wage of an average person’s pay in that day. Jesus says you could buy two sparrows for a farthing. Luke says you could get five for two farthings. So, if you bought four, they would throw one in for free. It seems they were so cheap you couldn’t buy just one. They were like ramen noodles are in our day. They were a very cheap source of food.

Sparrows were abundant and easy to find. Jesus says not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it. Jesus is saying that God is sovereign even over the most insignificant events. God is in complete control over everything in his creation.

I was thinking about sparrows falling to the ground, dying and God being completely aware of it. We live in the South and my mind went to possums. I see expired possums on a regular basis. I looked it up and approximately 19 million possums a year are killed on our US highways. We drive by them without a thought. But God knew when every single one of those possums expired.

The fact that God knows implies He cares. In 6:26 Jesus says God feeds the birds and gives them everything else they need to live. God is concerned with even the lesser of His creation.

B. Humans are of more value than sparrows (30-31).

Jesus says in verse 31 that one human is over more value than many sparrows. Our friends at PETA would disagree. But the Bible teaches that humans are made in the image of God and are therefore the crown of His creation.

He says that God cares for us so much that even the hairs on our head are numbered. There is an average of 100,000 hairs on the human head. Some of you are below average. You have a bout 100 hairs. But no matter how many hairs you have God has numbered them.

You mother may have washed your hair, but she never numbered it.

Your mother may have combed your hair, but she never numbered it.

She doesn’t love you enough to number every single one of your hairs. God loves you more than your mother does. The surprising thing is not that God knows how many hairs you have. He is omniscient, of course He knows. The surprising thing is He cares. That’s the point Jesus is making.

God cares when a sparrow dies, certainly He cares if you do.

In fact, God cares if someone hurts a single hair on your head. That is how concerned He is with you. How insignificant is it if we lose a single hair? It doesn’t hurt. Normally it will grow back. Jesus point is God cares for us dearly.

If the disciples lose their life, God cares.

If the disciples lose a hair, God cares.

The love of God should swallow up any fear of man we may have. God will take care of us!

5. Our confession brings great reward (32-33).

A. Confession of Christ is rewarded.

Jesus says if we confess Him before others, He will confess us before the Father. What does it mean to confess Christ?

It means we are not ashamed of Him. We proclaim:

His Deity

His Humanity

His Life

His Death

His Resurrection

His Authority

In Luke 9:26 Jesus says, “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”

The words of Jesus are important. That’s why Jesus said in 10:27 to shout His words from the housetop. If you are ashamed of the Bible you are ashamed of Jesus.

If we have confessed Christ privately and publicly, we will be rewarded by Christ Himself. I don’t mean a moment of confession. I mean a lifetime of confession. We have confessed Him through word and deed. Christ must be the confession of our life

What does it mean for Christ to confess us before the Father? It means:

Forgiveness- He has paid for our sins.

Righteousness- He has given us His righteousness.

Acceptance- we enter heaven.

Eternity- His confession continues forever.

What a joy it will be to hear Christ confess our name in eternity! In the beginning of this message I mentioned the horror of a sinner being exposed on judgment day. Jesus said in verse 26 that everything about the ungodly will be revealed. Imagine if you will, standing before God. The books are opened. It is your turn in the courtroom of God. Here comes Christ, your Advocate. Instead of your sins being listed Christ confesses your name before the court. You are pardoned! You are forgiven! There are no charges against you. What a moment in eternity it will be when Christ confesses us before the Father.

B. Denial of Christ is rewarded (33).

It is rewarded in a negative sense. Those who were too ashamed to confess Christ are now denied entry into heaven. Christ says, “I never knew them!”

The eternity of all humanity depends on their relationship with Jesus Christ. If you have denied Christ, then you have denied salvation.

There are many reasons people may deny Christ. But the context here is fear. These are people who are afraid they will lose something if they embrace Christ. We often think of ungodly people as the ones who go to hell. We think of the murderer, the drunk, the liar.

Revelation 21:8 gives a list of people going to hell. It lists, unbelievers, whoremongers, idolaters, liars, murderers, etc. But at the top of that list is cowards. It says cowards are cast into the lake of fire.

It seems that fear is going to keep many people out of heaven. The fear of man is a dangerous thing.

Perhaps that’s where you are today. Perhaps you have denied Christ already before men. If you have there is hope. Peter denied Christ not one but three times. He did it out of fear. By God’s grace he turned from his sin and found forgiveness and restoration. He become a bold witness for the Lord. God will forgive and restore you as well.

Friend listen, the only thing we have to fear in death is God. If we are saved, we have nothing to fear in death. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Is your life a confession of Christ? When you die will Christ confess you before the Father? Nothing matters more than that.