Beatitudes 8

This time of year, as we approach the Passover of the Peace of Pentecost, many times we'll talk about what it was like to be a Christian in that first century. You know, actually, there were 30 events. You know, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What happened to the church afterwards? How it just exploded in Jerusalem. The people came from all over. And there were miracles. And I mean, 3,000 people baptized in one day. But pouring out of God's Spirit, and this open miracle that thousands of people probably there in the temple witnessed and saw it and came rushing.

And so they were famous. And people were coming into the church because they had known, they had seen Jesus Christ, and they believed He was the Christ. And so the church was in a stage of just rapid growth, excitement, all kinds of good things were happening. And yet, right away, it began to be persecuted.

Specifically not by the Romans, yet. Romans was just about another crazy, huge group. But specifically by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders. Let's pick up a story here in the Acts 5. The apostles are arrested, brought before the Sanhedrin, and they're told to stop preaching this nonsense that Jesus the carpenter was somehow a Messiah, this prophesied in the Bible. And in chapter 5, and I'm going to read the story here, a little bit part of it, in verse 27, it says, And they brought them, and they brought them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, Did we not strictly command you not to teach in his name?

And look, you have compelled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intent to bring this man's blood on us. He says, all of Jerusalem is starting to follow you. And, of course, it comes down to them, we're the one who killed him, so eventually all of Jerusalem is going to turn all dust. But Peter said, And the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, and we murdered by any one tree.

And so, they preached to them. It upsets the Sanhedrin so much that now they're trying to inspire how to get rid of them. They put them to prison, kill them, and the baby out comes along and says, Wait a minute, what if the ark were right? We have to be careful what we do here. And they decide, okay, we can't kill them. So he gives verse 40, and he agrees with them.

Now, when they had called the apostles and beaten them, okay, we can't kill you, or I can put you in prison. We're just going to beat the tar out of them. And remember, the Sanhedrin actually had an armed guard.

There was a small contingent of soldiers that the Romans allowed them to have that was there at the top of the mountain. And basically under the guidance of the Sanhedrin. So they beat them and commanded them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

Verse 40, so they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were county worthy to suffer shame for his name. And then it says they went into the temple, continued to preach, and aptly defiance, and ended up going into each other's houses, two people's houses of preaching. Now, that's a great and inspiring story.

But I want you to think about something. If you've ever had any kind of persecution, maybe a threat of church against you, or a family member won't have anything to do with you because you're crazy religious, or maybe you lost a job over the South, or at school you've had some difficulty because of Christmas and Easter parties, those kinds of things. And you sort of consider that persecution. They were beaten.

I don't know any of us who were headed deep for our religion, though. And it says they rejoiced. How in the world did you do that? How did you get beaten and rejoice over it? You actually are happy because you got beaten. I don't say they enjoyed the beating, but they rejoiced if they were counted or defeated. Wow! God, let me be beaten for Christ. That's wonderful. How in the world did you come to that conclusion?

We were going through the attitudes, and I was going to...we have one left, and I'm going to wait until after the days of another prayer. But, I don't know, earlier this week I decided, well, I'm going to go get confused. But I really don't want to talk about this. Remember, we're talking about blessings. The attitude means perfect happiness. Now, we've been covering blessings from God.

Very wonderful blessings from God. That we all love, but none of them are what we expect. Because all of them have to do with an internal change. Inside of us, with a blessing that comes from that of God, there's no blessings of physical lessons that any of us use.

Let's go to Matthew 5. Let's go to Matthew 5 now and look at the last of these blessings. What's amazing about this last blessing from God is actually mentioned twice. And all the other ones are blessed for those who hunger and curse of righteousness. Blessed are those who are peace makers. This was actually mentioned twice. We give it extra importance. First hand. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness. But theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those that is a blessing that you persecute.

Now, it's a blessing that you persecute for righteousness. If you are persecuted just because you're being obnoxious or rude, or trying to cram your beliefs down, somebody else is as well.

Righteousness, remember, we've covered that. This is part of what we've talked about today. The accident. Righteousness is a right relationship with God. It's something that's initiated by God. It's not something you and I can do or not. The initiative's a relationship. We have a right relationship with Him. And if we live by righteousness, that changes the way we treat other people. So it's too full. It goes back to loving God and loving the neighbor. So righteousness is a way of life. It's a way of being. So if you are persecuted for a right relationship with God, God says, What a blessing you have. What? God is a weird idea of blessings, doesn't He? But in the way we look at things. Somebody says next, Blustered you, okay, how does anybody expand this one out? Blustered you when they read vital and persecuted you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely for my sake. Now, think about that statement, and think about the apostles. I can rejoice in because, wow, we were worthy to be persecuted for Christ's sake. They felt blessed. How can you feel blessed? See, I have a hard time with this one. I'd like to do all the blessings that skip this one. I suppose they're going to be blessed for this? And they did. They got beaten and said, wow, we were worthy to do this. Rejoice, He says, this is the command. This is the joy. This is the blessing. Now, there's two full blessings. Rejoice and be a seed in the glad, for great things are rewarded in heaven. In other words, when you were persecuted for God, and you were persecuted because you accepted Christ as your Savior and you were trying to follow Him, and you now have the right relationship with God through Christ, then you're trying to live that way. And He says, you're persecuted. God will reward you for your persecution. Now, that reward comes later.

They understood that so much. They were rejoicing because we will be rewarded by God for what we've entered. And, of course, those men who were beaten on that day had no idea that first level persecution was going to be over. Peter, man, was Christ who told him that He was going to basically be martyred. The rest of them weren't told that, but they were told they were going to be persecuted. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before Him. This is going to be done all the time, all the history. The people who followed God can't be persecuted. Now, let's get...we have been talking to all of us a little small about persecution in our lives.

But none of us have experienced serious persecution. None of us have been put in jail with the terrible things of people and the terrible things of any of us are Christian. So we have been blessed that we have not received great persecution. But all of us have received a little persecution. And sometimes we hang our bitterness about their feelings that God abandoned us. But understand, He told you. He told all of us. Persecution will come, and you will be blessed because of that. So what does that mean in our lives? What does that mean in our lives? Well, the New Testament has a lot of teachings about persecution. And there's a theme that runs through all of the passages where it's being taught. Let's go to 1 Peter. What about Peter's sister? 1 Peter 4.

As he wants to tell the church about the benefits of being persecuted, the benefits of being persecuted, what are the blessings of being persecuted? Remember, when I said we hunger and curse after righteousness. But we hunger and curse. That's uncomfortable. And the blessing comes from that experience. There's a blessing that comes from the experience of being persecuted. 1 Peter 4. Let's start in verse... 2 Peter 4. Let's start in verse...

2 Peter 4. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. There is a general persecution that must be at this time of the U.S. that's beginning to happen throughout the Roman Empire. It's interesting. Jews were used to being persecuted. For the pagans who had come into the church, persecution was a brand new experience. Because pagans all accepted each other. That's not a more religion you have. We accepted the gods, and goddesses, so who cares? So this is a brand new experience for them. But rejoice... Now why is this rejoicing? You're going to have to learn to do something here. You're going to have to learn... You know, some of you are not seat pads. But we're going to have to learn to bear and actually find rejoice, a purpose in the university. Rejoice to the extent that you partake of what? Christ's suffering. So when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. Now we're back to, really, He's almost like He's picking up there off of what Christ said. He will admit it, perfect Savior. But notice he ties into the Christ's suffering.

If Christ suffered for us, and we are His disciples, we must be willing to suffer for Him.

This is an expectation. It's what the relationship produces. We'll see how Jesus told his disciples. If you really follow me, you can't help it. People will despise you for anything. And He said, you and I have lived in a very wonderful time. That time they disappeared in the future. The persecution becomes the Lord. In fact, we know, we're better than we are. The persecution is the Lord. So, He says, understand that when you are persecuted, it helps you identify who you are. If you're being persecuted because of your faith and God, because you're learning to be righteous, and you're learning to become Christlike, if you're persecuted for that, remember the suffering that took you to get there. And that suffering sometimes is the result of what the world will do to you to follow God.

This is hard to understand. It doesn't God protect us from all things. Actually, He does not. God does not promise to protect you and I from all things. He does not promise to protect us from all persecution. He doesn't. Because if He did, He sure failed all the people in the first century who were put in jail, killed, lost their jobs, had to flee from city to city, but look, if actually find out they actually had to leave and flee from place to place. Where was God? Why would they have been persecuted? Because there is no promise of protection from all persecution. Now, we are protected times from some persecution, but persecution is, at times, for the Christians. A way of life is part of the cost for the blessings this promise takes. And as we do it, we have to recognize that we are doing this suffering because Christ suffered for us. That has to be where the real does it. And we are cutting up on the Passover when we can ever be suffering for us.

And the price for that, taking that bread and that wine and accepting His suffering is, by accepting that, you may have to suffer for Him. Now, you see why I wanted to put this one off. I really did want to comment this. There's certain messages in the Bible I don't like. And this is one of them.

That it is part of what? It is to be in Christian. And there are times when suffering is part of it. He says, if your reproach, in the name of Christ, blessed are you. So He says in verse 19, if we are the takers of Christ, He says, if they are repressed, for the Spirit of hell, for the Spirit of glory and of God rest upon you. Now, their party is blessed, but in your party is glorified. So what happens is, as we go through this suffering, we receive clarity of thought. We have clarity of purpose. We're not put on this earth just to have families make money, you know, live nice lives. It's great that we receive that lesson, and most of us here are blessed, right? In all favor. But we are here to be children of God and disciples of Jesus Christ. And there's a Christ to be paid sometimes to that.

And we have to recognize that clarity becomes impersonation, or should come to impersonation.

And then we have to realize that when we receive strength, that we could not have on our own. He says, when you see this, and you're able to deal with this, that's God's Spirit helping you do it. So we have this clarity of what God is doing. We accept that our suffering for Christ is sometimes what's required of us, because of His suffering for us as we become Christ-like. And then we also understand that God will help us. Part of the gift that we get, or the lesson we get, is the ability to do it. It's the ability to do it.

Because you and I can't do it on our own. He doesn't do it. Verse 15 says, But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let it not be ashamed, but let it glorify God in this matter. Remember how they rejoiced that they were worthy of devoting this for God? They go through this for God. They create God, allow them to have to make a stand. And sometimes they have repercussions for making that stand, just for Him. And they knew that God recognized what was going on, and God rewarded them.

He says, He says, And when it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? He said, You know, we're living in an evil world. Judgment is upon us. And that means we have to live in this evil world. And we have to survive in this evil world. And we have to struggle in this evil world. That's part of what we're going through.

He says, Think about traversal leaders. They're coming from God. He then says, Verse 18, If the righteous one scarcely say, Wherever the ungodly and the sinner appear. Now, that's a quote from Proverbs 30. Let's go there. Proverbs... Actually, it's Proverbs 11. It's this verse 31.

And that's not an exact quote. Remember, sometimes, there's a quote from the substitution. I don't think that's from the substitution. I think that's just... I think Peter just paraphrased it. Because he's making it a point. He's not saying it wrong, but it's just a parable. So I'm going to read this from the Jewish Publications Society, which is a little bit more exact with the Hebrew people. If the righteous on earth get their desserts, how much more the wicked may have been a sinner? In other words, if we suffer the consequences, the temporary consequences of sin, right? God calls us to escape the eternal God's consequences. But you and I, who live every day suffering sometimes from the temporary consequences of our sins, our past sins, our present sins, He says, if we suffer the consequences, the temporary consequences of our sins, how much more the person who refuses to turn to God? Now, that's interesting, because when he's saying, remember, if you're being persecuted and suffering for Christ's sake, you get a reward for that. Think about the person who refuses the gospel.

They don't get a reward for God. They don't suffer from God.

He goes on therefore, back in 1 Peter, Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. What we suffer through persecution, the blessing is, God is creating in us.

What we must become to be His child. He's doing that. He's a faithful Creator. So, when we suffer persecution, we need to see, God's doing something in me. God's teaching you how to focus and stand up on what's right. To do what's right, even in the face of opposition.

Now, why does this happen? There's a simple concept that we have to grasp in persecution. Because a lot of times, if we're persecuted, even if it's losing a job or losing a friend, we're not getting enough promotion. We're having a serious financial difficulty. Because you did what was right, sometimes you do what's right, and you can have a financial crisis. You're obeying God in something bad, but you get sick. Now, we're talking specifically about persecution. People do something. Remember persecution is about people doing something. Why? Why are we going to be fear marked for persecution? Why is all this in the Bible about persecution? Jesus told us in John 15. Now, this is something He told His disciples on that Passover, when He was about to be persecuted. John 15, verse 18.

He was trying to prepare them for something they weren't prepared for. He says, If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. This is the price of following Christ. He says, If they hate me, they had no idea how much they hated me. Those men who was talking to you had no idea. He knew the soldiers were going for it. He knew that they were going to hate you. He knew they were going to crucify me. He knew I was going to die. They didn't know that. He says, So remember when you're hated, because they hated me first. If you were the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not in the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. He tells us, Don't be surprised. You and I have lived in a society that allowed religious freedom. The worst persecution we've seen is books about cults, and we're called cults. We have had friends turn our backs on this. Family members. We've seen that. I've experienced that. Family members.

But we haven't experienced absolute hatred. You'll put it right. I hope we don't. But the Bible says, Don't be surprised. Don't. Because that's the cost. He says, Remember the word that I sent you. A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Because our society slides into this societal psychosis, as it slides into the insanity that's happened. And it's not just the attack on the whole world. If you look at the societies of everything from Russia, China, India, Europe, and the southern area, the whole world is sliding into insanity. There's a reason for that. I've been asked a couple questions here at a national about situations. I'm very concerned about that. And insanity has happened. Where's it coming from?

But as we see that, we have to recognize this could become more and more issues in your life. Where people literally believe what you believe. And now it's us. I mean, the worst thing I've ever had in years was because of you all today, I mean, you the elves, of God hates you and I hope you burn in health forever. I mean, you know the person. I mean, that's not like, oh, wow, you sleep on an apple. I mean, harder. So you know, it goes up a touch. And he says.

So let me ask you this. Does anyone should go seek persecution? No.

You know, that's why I remember when we went to the peacemaker. I read from a Roman sual in teen. Paul said, if it is possible, as much as it depends on you, live decently with all men. So if your neighbor is a Hindu, you're still trying to live decently with your Hindu friend. Or an agnostic, or an atheist. You're still trying to live peacefully, right? You don't necessarily need to invest in human. That's right. It's like a human living.

Now, there's a funny thing about persecution. It can affect a person very negatively. In the early forming of the Catholic Church in the second or third century, and I say these were men whose writings eventually became associated with the Catholic. There was no Catholic Church yet, but they became associated as sort of fathers of Catholicism. But there was so much persecution on anybody that was Christian. You know, in the second or third centuries, they moved mannered by the youth of the Church on Sunday, which a lot of people did, the Catholic Sabbath. In the past, the youth were considered a Christian. You could be hunted down and killed. And there was a man named Justin, who got to the place where he just could make me kill. He would run away. I can't wait to go to the lions and let loose in the arena. And I stand up and say, I stand for God in Christ as I rip my arms off, and I will praise God as I tear my guts off. I didn't even broke his. I think that's why he's known as Justin Mar- Mar- isn't his last name.

Origen, actually. He wanted to be, as a teenager, wanted to be a martyr so much, he would go out and pick fights with the broken soul. Every time he saw a Christian who dragged off, it didn't matter which group they were, being dragged off as he put in jail, he would run out and hug them, and praise God. And the Roman soldiers got so used to it, they just thought he was a crazy kid. They just threw him a sign, and he told him to get out of there. And he couldn't get killed! He tried to try to get killed. Bring the energy he tried to get killed, then he would kill you. Because if everything's going to get harder, I want to be one. That would make me special. Martyr to drive people to really think we're here, we're not supposed to seek the Bible.

So that's how we're talking about it. It's talking about that we are understanding that maybe, at least persecution, or we hope not, persecution is part of what it is to suffer for Christ. So let's look at how Christ dealt with a couple situations in which... Before I do that, let me read something he said that helps us understand why we're rehearsing. He just read that, there's another one. Matthew 5. Matthew 7 on the left. Matthew 5. Here's the thing. I have nothing to seek persecution. So maybe what I should do is hide. Maybe if we could just hide. And I never let anybody know what I believe. And that way I can't be persecuted. Matthew 5 verse 13.

He says, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how can we seize it? He said, good for nothing, but to be thrown out, and turn out with others, but my men, you are the light of the world.

We don't shine our light. We are the shine God's light. That's really important. See, if you are, I gotta go shine my light. Well, then it's the wrong light. You might get persecuted for being very sad because you're shining your own light. But the light of God is to be in us. We can't live two lives. If we act one way for, you know, six days out of the week, and we act a different way on the side, we can't do that. The light is in us all the time because it's the spirit of God, isn't it? We must be aware of that. He says you are the light of the world. A city that is settled in hell cannot be hidden. In other words, if you truly have the light in your body, you can't hide it. You can try. Eventually someone says, that person has light. He hasn't been in a really dark room with light masks. It's amazing how much light a match was set off in a dark room. When you're living in a world of darkness, and you say, well, strike my match and cover it up. Well, sooner or later someone sees your light.

He says, nor did they light a lamp, put it under a mask. But on a lamp's door, it gives light to all who are in the house, and here for the community. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in Heaven. If our light ever is there, just to bring people to us, it's not the right light.

The light should break people to God. I don't know what it is about you that's different. But what is it? It's my belief in God. It's my faith in God. It always must take people to God, and I've seen over the years people trying to use their light to bring people to themselves. And never try to hurt us. It is to bring people to know. And it's a command. Now, once again, we have a problem if we decide we're going to blind everybody with their light. There's a big spotlight, and someone walks up and we turn it into your face, and they cover it in their eyes, and they, I'm just shining my light on you. That's not what we're supposed to do either. Cross the light, it doesn't work. I'm just going to go and convert everybody into my neighbor. Well, yeah, you can do that. And you would probably get hurt, too. And it may be an easy one. But there's going to be a light to everybody. See, that's the thing about the light. It's how we live, it's how we talk, it's how we act. It is who we are, because God is in it. It's that light that every other person sees in us. Now, to tell you the truth, most people you come across the light, you never see the light. Because they're not looking for it. They don't see it. You know, everybody goes a little bumpy, right? We just sort of bounce off each other all the time. But sometimes people will notice the light. And some people might want to come to you and ask you a question. Or there's an opportunity for you to say something. Others hate the light, and they feel persecuted. And they simply tell a coworker, you know that person? That's just some kind of weird religion. That's not going to help. Don't talk to them.

Let's turn to 1 Peter. Peter, once again, we're back to Peter. We're back and forth here a lot between Jesus and Peter. First Peter is ready.

This gives us a little practical viewpoint of what we're supposed to do with this light. But again, you can't hide it. If you're living it, you're living it.

You can't always hide the fact that you have a good marriage, right? That's the secret. Why do you have a good marriage? You know? What if I look at what it says?

No. Some people like that. Some people say, what does it say?

Verse 15, not 1 Peter 3. But sanctified, make holy, the Lord God in your hearts. So God comes into us. This is where the light comes from. And always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with weakness and fear. Having a good conscience that when they defame you, this is being ready to give an answer. Whether it's a question, or someone's just struggling with something, or someone that you just give encouragement to. Or it could be as simple as, I've done this in hospitals, I've done this in the Lord somebody, and I have prayed with everybody, especially when they used to have, or they didn't even do a room, they had 10 people per room. I didn't have prayed for everybody in a room. Would you pray for me too? Would you pray for me too? Okay. Got it. You go around and pray for everybody that's in the room. They don't have those kind of doors, where is it? I'd give it a prison. I'd give it a prison a lot of time either. But I'd give it a hospital. If those were usually military cost-backs, they'd have those kind of door-toys I just said. Okay, listen. You pray. You believe in God. Yes. You believe in Jesus Christ. As the son of him. Yes. Okay, I'll pray for him. But they said, no. I'd say, well, I don't pray this for you. You learn about the true God. Jesus Christ. I won't pray for that, okay? Because it's not whatever you do with superstition. He says, sir, you're prepared to give a defense. Now, the problem is, sometimes we're not trying to give a defense. We're trying to give them...we're not trying to give a simple water. We're trying to pour a five-gallon jug of water down their throat. So why do you think God allows this water between the homosome and the Palestinians and the Jews? And it seems so terrible. Well, let me tell you about the Sabbath, the Holy Days. Ancient Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. You had to be a very simple glass-over, and you're like, are you speaking English? Yeah, no, I don't understand. Sometimes all they want is a simple water. It's a little bit of light. Sometimes you can say something...I think I mentioned it at the national broadcast or society conference. But when it comes to simply saying, this is asking questions. So there's an answer. What are you doing on a pats? Oh, okay. So he's asking all kinds of Bible questions. And then she says, I have a podcast idea. It's the same company that does the area of the pats. And she said that he's the big fish, and I'm not the little fish. And I want to have you on my podcast, so I can ask you these questions. Um...you know, I heard her students say that. Oh. That was an interesting day. Oh, this is why they're talking to you. It's like, you're looking for people who have energy. Come on.

But, there was a chance to get a little bit of light. Because I was surprised, every question she asked, she said, I just want to ask you that. And I thought it fairly simple.

You get to shed a little piece of the light. You know, when the time came, you know, you couldn't say, well, you keep the sound of the boy then? You couldn't, but that would have just been shining this spotlight into her face. And we went and ended and went, please, someday maybe you'll come along by the clock. I don't think that would have been supposed to happen. That's what I decided. We share this little piece of the light. Notice her succeed. Having a good conscience that when they defame you, here's what happens when you share light. When you're prepared to give an offense, you're not going to try to convert anybody but you're prepared to give an offense. You're going to gain his and me to. Those who revolve your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better if it is the will of God who suffer from doing good than for doing evil. Wait a minute. He brings this back to annually persecuted. In other words, persecution must be something that we are willing to contemplate in certain situations. Let's look at just a couple of places where Jesus did this and see how he did it. He did the Sermon on Mount Christian, maybe a thousand people. But you know, 1.5 thousand people. We know that he spoke to big groups, he spoke to the synagogue. But a line of his interactions was just with individuals. First, very small group. And it was just everyday sort of talking interaction. So let's go to Matthew 5. No, let's go to Luke 13. Luke 13. This one is very interesting because this actually gives us a chance to talk to people. And not necessarily, you know, not immediately look like, oh, you should try to be a birthday person. Luke 13. Now they were present at that season, verse 1. Someone told him, told Christ, about the Galileans, whose blood pilot had rebuilt their sacrifices. And the ultimate insult was to take their blood, and he looked good, but there's a lot of different things. Those were being sacrificed, and then offered it to a payment card. That was just horrible. And Jesus has said to them, these of those of these Galileans were worse sinners than all of the Galileans, because they suffered such things. I tell you, no, let's not repent. You all likewise perish. That's very interesting. He uses a simple current event to say, do you really think that you're better than everybody else? We all need to turn to God. He says, if those 18 of whom, the Tower of Solomon fell and killed him, do you think that you were worse sinners than all those men who dwelled in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, unless you repent, you also look like a parish. Now, this is very interesting. I'm not saying that it's good to tell people, you, eventually, perish. And, you know, Christ has been made for the good. I can't do it sometimes, just head on. But, when people bring up what's happening in the world, it's how bad things are. And sometimes what you can say is, you know, I believe Jesus Christ is coming back. And He's going off the hat. And we can't lose sight of that. And, you know, there's been times I've said that to people that said, hey, that mother, there's certain stories, they have no answers.

But you look for a way to simply tell them something about God, about Christ. We don't hide the light in one thing. See, that's not preaching, is it? It's just talking. Now, it's obvious if the person's an atheist, people have much to say. I believe the God of the blind person. I have a different view. A lot of times it's like, oh, okay, I don't want to talk to you. Sometimes you do. Sometimes it's a meaningless argument. And there's a point where you just say, look, we have differences of opinions here. Let's just shake hands and forget it, okay? Because you don't want to get into this fight, this party.

Look at Matthew 9, because he's something we need to think about, too. Matthew 9.

Just be example here of Christ and how He interacted with people. Now, he has big ties with these gay servants, and he's not the narrator. In fact, Matthew 9, and this good person. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw, and Matthew said, he got the tax office. Now, remember, why tax collectors are so despised, because that means they weren't the Roman government. Now, you took your ties and your offers to the temple, and you took your temple tax to the temple. In addition to that, the Roman government taxed everybody. So they had a taxation they did that was just, you know, ties and offers and a temple tax that was done as part of their religion. But then, the Romans enforced the Roman tax. And tax collectors meant you weren't for the evil Roman Empire. Because many of them were forced into it. You know, it's not like... When the Romans said, we want you to be a tax collector, you didn't ask, well, yeah, what are the benefits?

What's the starving pay?

You were basically forced into it. That's why you were also famous, because they did make a lot of money. And they were famous for skinning off the top. And the Romans would certainly ignore that. The tax collectors used them with the shicers. Getting people taxes, skinning off the top, getting into the... the Romans. And he said to him, follow me. So he rose and followed me. Now, what happened is Jesus sat at the table in the house, and he hoped any tax collector, the sitter's gate, and sat down with him as his disciples. Now, we don't know what house this is. I've wondered before who's made these house. I can't prove that. Because all these tax collectors come in. And all these sitters are those people who aren't very religious, who are no... that guy's a womanizer, that guy's a drunk. But they all came into the house. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sitters? And why do you associate with them? When Jesus heard that, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I do his own mercy about sacrifice, for I do not come to call the righteous, the sitters to repent. It makes a point, you know, this is partly sarcastic. See, the Pharisees do it, too. But there's a more lesson. I have verified. And it doesn't matter who approaches. If they let it know about God, I will talk to them about it. It doesn't say maybe none of those tax collectors and sitters were converted. We don't know. Maybe some of them are very kind of lost with a whole spirit of support, too. We don't know. The point of the story is, that's how we approach people. Let me say, yeah, he's on the side. Of course he's supposed to do that. If you suffer for him, for his sake, because you're like him, guess what? Now, I'm not saying about, you know, all the guns in the street bring up your house. That may not be false. I'm saying, on the opportunity of our sins, do not always shine red. Some people don't come to people who need God. If they don't need it, they'll just walk away, or take it to shut up. Or start screaming at you, or you and your people. You're crazy. And we're just a family. You know, that's really all this is. Not even your life's shine, it's just the light's on. It's not like, oh, I'm leaving my house and I could have turned the light off. The light's on! It's just on! Because God is living in you through His Spirit. And the light on, there's going to become opportunities. And there's opportunity to just pray and react. And see what God does for us. John 5, this is your final scripture. John 5.

The verse 1.

You know what this is? If there's a man, I just don't see him here. He's by the pull of their Jerusalem, where an angel will come. And when he came, anyone who stepped into the pool, while the waters were being stirred, would be healed. Now, this is mythology. God was doing this. We felt it was always interacting with people. Now, Israel ended. Most Israelites were long, Jews, he's always interacting with them. And this is what we interact with. And there was a man there who had been there 38 years. He had been crippled over the years. And Jesus came up to him and said, why don't you get him to the water? And he says, I can't. I'm too crippled. If you didn't, there are nobody who will help me. Now, it's interesting that Jesus said to me about going to the water. Jesus said, get him to the water. He had suddenly healed and he got him to the water. Now, Jesus is interested. He gave him what he needed. What's interesting is he did preach to them. He just healed them. I think this is a part of pointing. There are times when you just give someone what they need. This is what you need. This is what we are. Here's what you need. This is what you need. But later, something interesting happens. Because some of the Jewish leaders were very upset because he told me, I picked up and picked your bed. Which was a little blanket. He picked it up and put it in the natural bed. So he rolls up his little mat. He carries it off. And now they're like, you're carrying your mat on the Sabbath day. Who gave you the right to bring the Sabbath? And he says, the man who healed me said to pick it up. So I did. You all know me. I've been coming here for years. You all know me. He healed me. So when he said to pick it up, they're getting back to you. So, Jesus, though, had left. Now, this tells us something about light. He shh! Light shh! I did it. He knew it was going to cause a trouble, so he walked away. All the Jewish leaders were all upset. Who is this man? He didn't get into dragging in and arresting. Probably he's an EP. After that all breaks up, verse 14, after Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, Oh yeah, there's something I need to tell you. See that you have been made well. Sinned no more. That's the worst thing that comes upon you. The man who partnered and told the Jews, Oh, I know what was it. This guy named Jesus. What am I interested in? It was going to cause a big problem. He did what needed to be done, walked away until the problem was done, then went back to the man that said, Now turn this on, or your life life is worse than it was.

See the wisdom in it? Knowing when, he couldn't turn his light off, but he knew how to walk out of the room. And it came back, when he should. What we tried to do was turn the light off. Oh, I'll just turn the light off. I know this, what I just said or did. I was reminded one time about it. Just things we think of, man, we don't think about it. I was working at a radio station, and it was a frame. He had the tightest shapes. And someone was going to get darker earlier. And I'm writing commercials. I'm in there because I need to write and produce some commercials. And I'm writing some commercials. And the boss, we thought I was a weird, vicious, bad, and sick. Hey, it's almost Sunday, I'll maybe meet the editor. Look, it's like 15 minutes. Thanks. Instead of producing the commercials, I hand them something else and say, Do this sometime this weekend. Alright, I think I'll just say, I'll cut it the same way. But the boss was. Hey, the staff's about to start. And I was so busy, I would have missed it. Oh, you don't think people notice you? You don't think people notice things? And this guy was about as gone and vicious as you can be. And he didn't say it like sarcastically. He was concerned. Sometimes we don't realize that people are Russians. They are Russians. So the last of the attitudes, these keys to perfect happiness, is to accept persecution for being righteous and an unrighteous world. The reward is that you will be welcomed into the family of God, into the kingdom of God. Sometimes persecution is where we are going to be saved. It's perfect when it's not life-like. Sometimes it can be life-like. But you've seen it in the New Testament. I'm going to have to amend your head. We can't hide this light or try to turn it off. Everything we say, everything we do, should be part of the light. Now, none of us are going to be too bad. At this time, my light is there. It's there, but no one can see it. Because we're just not always perfect. But our goal is to be Christlike all the time. And we're not divided. We are one. We are a person that isn't pretending to be true. That's our goal. But we've had this light of God shine through us. That we are one. Other people are going to see that. And it is our responsibility to interact with them when they do. We can't think preaching the Gospel is just a magazine or a television or a website. You know, those things are really important because they introduce people to teachers. Conversion takes place unless you're a superstar. No one is ever baptized by a magazine. They're baptized by a person. Congregation exists because of persons who come together to become a people. That's where they exist. And so God works through the Word in every way imaginable. But there's at some point, He's one person to another. Always is at some point, He's one person to another. And that's all of our jobs. All the time. That's the answer to that. That's all of our jobs. All the time. Let that light show you. And if you happen to be persecuted because of it, it usually says the Rejoice, that you are able to suffer from Christ. Because God will reward you with eternity in His name.