Surviving Attempted Assassinations

Let's pause here for a moment and look at something. Your life is incredible. Since your birth, you have been working at having a very good life. Your life, whether others have told you this or not, is actually rich. It is filled with growth. You are a smart individual. You're very intelligent. You're very capable. Don't compare yourself with anyone else. You are very capable. Around you are things that allow you to have trial and error. You have learned from them. You have grown from them. You have changed in so many ways to this point in life. And you have reaped many successes and accomplishments. And that is the wonderful good thing about life. Now that we are following Jesus Christ and His example, our life just gets better. It gets richer as our choices improve. So the blessings of this life make it even more good. So please view that the way God views that and realize that your life is a wonderful thing at this point. And God is well pleased with it. Now what if somebody comes along now and carelessly kills you? Just takes all that away. Just in a minute, just boom! Everything that you've worked for, all those things that you've built, all those things that you've become, all those things that you've learned, again, through trial and error, the growth you've made. And you feel sometimes that maybe you haven't achieved all that much, but you actually have. What if somebody just ends your honorable life, ruins everything you've done, spoils everything that you've developed into being, tarnishes it? All that's good in your life suddenly is erased in the eyes of others. And instead of being alive, living, happy, profitable individual, you're essentially dead. And when you die, ugliness happens. You just kind of go through corruption. And it's not pretty. All who see you recoil in shock, as they did with Jesus Christ as he hung on the stake. Recoil in shock. What a wonderful life, a wonderful person, but wow.

It's called assassination. And potential assassins are everywhere.

Some hide in the shadows. Some are double agents, pretending to be something, but turn out to be not, as they get very close. When an assassin strikes, the blows are deadly, lethal. They're unexpected. They're unanticipated. But what I want to talk about today, it's not being taken out with an actual bullet, but rather the type of deadly force that would assassinate one's life, one's character, one's purpose, one's achievement, and spoil it and ruin it, to where others would stand back in shock. In James chapter 3 and verse 8, it says, the tongue is an unruly evil. That word evil is not hyperbole. It's an unruly evil full of deadly poison. It's James 3 and verse 8. Deadly poison. See, we're not talking about something here that's kind of a minor inconvenience. No, your life and that of the person sitting next to you is very precious, and it's gone through many iterations of development and progress until now and great accomplishments. And yet, here is deadly poison, an unruly evil. Let's go over to Philippians chapter 3 and verse 2. Let's take a look at a man whose life had also progressed well, and through trial and error and conversion, he had come to a very, very respected place. In fact, he wrote most of the New Testament. Philippians chapter 3 and verse 2. Here is what he experienced from assassins. Beware of dogs. Now, dogs is not the literal animal, but what does a dog do? A dog, if it's dangerous, then you're going to be aware of it, does one thing. It's going to bite. It's going to tear. It's going to inflict a lot of pain. And sometimes you can't get rid of that as it bites your legs and then your hands and you try to defend yourself. And that dog could even physically kill you. Beware of people who are like dogs. Beware of evil workers. There's that end of that name again for individuals. Evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. Ouch. Now, this is a very difficult subject to talk about. Whether you're on the receiving end, it is very painful. And this is the Apostle Paul speaking here. And he's saying, watch out for. Beware of the mutilation. It's coming. Or it has come. This may have happened to you once. It may have happened to you multiple times. But it's something we can address through the scriptures and look at and see how we can take some antidotes for attempted assassinations. The title of the sermon today is Surviving Attempted Assassinations. Now, it may seem like, again, hyperbole, but we've just seen here a couple of examples from scripture of what can come at us. Someone trying to take us out. Sometimes, even physically, as we've seen with Christ, the apostles, prophets, church members, we see in the end time, the church being given over to the beast power, having a lot of individuals who are killed. So this isn't just talking about words only. But for right now, in this time, we do have to take a look at some of these issues because they can upend us. And if we're not careful, some people get destroyed by them, even spiritually. I want to share some antidotes for death by character assassination. Let's look at what it is, how it happens, and find how we can survive an emotional collapse or a near-death experience of who we are and what we've been.

Some of these can be so difficult that a person never recovers, or they're just injured and ruined for life. But the apostle Paul wasn't. He stood back up each time. Jesus Christ wasn't. Let's take some examples from Scripture, then, and find out what we can do to survive attempted assassinations. Merriam Webster defines the word assassination as murder by sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons. This is what humans do to each other. Sometimes we do this to each other in a maybe a lesser way, but it's a sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons. Or you might say vendetta reasons, or you might say religious reasons if somebody has a difference of opinion. Merriam Webster defines character assassination as treacherous destruction of a person's reputation. So it's treacherous, and it's a destruction of a reputation.

Now both of these have affected true believers down through the ages and impacted them greatly. And once again, there are many statements Jesus Christ makes himself about us. If we follow him, guess what? We're going to be treated like them. Many things are going to be said. Many things will be done. So how do we survive these attempts at taking us out? I'd like to give six examples with some tips today, and then I'll follow that with a few surviving antidotes that we can put into practice. The first is assassination attempts will pop up from nowhere. Just, you're having a great day, you're having a good life, and then bam! Let's take an example here in John chapter 5 and verse 15. Jesus Christ is going around. He's quite popular. He's healing people. He has disciples, and now as he comes down toward the last year or so of his ministry in John chapter 5 and verse 15, he heals an individual. And you know, healings are great when you are unable to function, and suddenly you are well. This is good. And so the man departed, and he told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Good guy, Jesus. And verse 16, for this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him. You see how quickly that happens? All of a sudden he finds himself with, you know, crosshairs, literal. He's going to be killed somehow. And if you can't kill him literally, you can kill him by reputation, as it says, because he had done these things on the Sabbath. So with their mouth, they are now assassinating his character to the Jewish community and the religious leaders, saying that he is a sinner. He's breaking the Sabbath. And then kind of as a double entendre, they're going after him physically, after his body, and they want to take him out. But Jesus answered them, verse 17, My father has been working until now, and I have been working. We're doing the good work. Therefore, verse 18, the Jews sought all the more to kill him.

So these things can come out of nowhere. It's not like they have to have some rhyme or reason that you can expect. The second is that the Bible speaks of us distancing ourself from dangerous people or dangerous situations. In John chapter 7 and verse 1, if we go there, John chapter 7 and verse 1, after these things happen to Jesus, he walked in Galilee. Why? Because he did not want to walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill him. So there is a time to move away from and be aware of and leave town. Sometimes the apostle Paul would be warned of certain things, and he would have to leave, or he wouldn't go to a certain place. In Acts chapter 14, if we go there, we'll start in verse 1. Acts chapter 14, verse 1, now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and the Greeks, believed. Wonderful! What a great opportunity! God inspired great messages. Verse 2, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and, notice, poisoned their minds against the brethren.

A poison. This is character assassination by poison.

And therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly, doing wonders, miracles. We drop down here in verse 4. The multitude of the city was divided, part-sided with the Jews, part-sided with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, abuse and stone them for doing good, for doing God's Word. Verse 6, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derby. Okay, so that is an example there of you don't have to stay around with, put in a situation where somebody can bring harm. In 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 17, it says, now I urge you brethren. This is the Apostle Peter. He says, now I urge you brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned and avoid them. Okay, and avoid them. So we don't know the future. You don't know what might come to you, but be aware. Test the spirits. Look at circumstances. Look at situations. Try to stay out of harm's way. The third point is watch out for poison pills. We have a responsibility ourselves because there's a popular method of taking people out, and that is you're eating something, you're drinking something, you think it's good. You know, there's a certain country whose politicians, if they get any pushback or negative press, people as they're eating and drinking get sick. The next thing you know, they tend to die. Well, spurious doctrine is a very intentional poison pill that's given to people to try to take them out. Tastes good, but it results in a rather painful death. We look right here, continuing on in 2 Peter 2 and verse 18. Verse 18, these individuals you're seeing in verse 18. Verse 18, these individuals you're supposed to avoid. For those who are such do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, by smooth words and flattering speech, deceive the heart of the simple. Ah, there's the poison pill. Smooth words, flattering speech will take this person. It's like Eve, you know, she was deceived. She was flattered. She was told she could be like a god and know all things. She took the forbidden fruit because it was to her going to be good and helpful and enlightening. Verse 19, while they promised them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption, for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. Verse 20, for if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and the Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

They can self-destruct. They can take the poison pill. You know, there are individuals who want to take us out, Satan being the chief, and others who he uses as agents who, as this passage says, somehow, you know, quietly, surreptitiously come in among. And that's the case.

There's a technique we can see in Proverbs chapter 7 and verse 21. Proverbs chapter 7 verse 21, and that is it's going to appeal to our own personal senses and vanity. Proverbs 7 verse 21, with her enticing speech, she caused him to yield with her flattering lips. She seduced him. Verse 23, and what was the outcome? Till an arrow struck his liver, as a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life. So the poison pills are going to look attractive. The poison pills are going to come along and try to take us out. We need to be very, very careful about that. Paul says in Romans chapter 16 and verse 17 that we are to note, that we are to observe and be aware so that we don't get taken out, that we don't have a spiritual death, an internal death, by turning our back on God. Romans chapter 16 and verse 17 says, Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

In Jude—Jude only has one chapter, so we'll just say Jude verse 3.

Jude verse 3. Beloved, while I was very diligent to write you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to right you earnestly, to contend earnestly, for the faith which was once delivered to all saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace of our Lord into lewdness and deny the only Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 5, I want to remind you, you know, and then he begins to say, look, God saved the people out of the land of Egypt, and afterward He destroyed them, because they took a poison pill. Verse 6, the angels who didn't keep their proper domain, they took the poison pill. They were deceived by Lucifer, and guess what? He has now reserved them in chains under judgment for the great day. Verse 7, Sodom and Gomorrah, you know, they suffered the vengeance of eternal fire. Dropping down to verse 19, these are sensual persons who caused divisions, not having the Spirit. So this is speaking to the church, and these things will come around in various forms, various types. If we're not careful, we will fall by them. Now, point number four. This is a hard one to perhaps take, but here it is. If you're guilty, take the hit. Everybody likes to say, oh, I'm being attacked, right? Somebody's trying to do me in, somebody's trying to take me out, because they're saying bad things about me, but if you're guilty, take the hit. Remember the priest who came up to David one time and said, there's a situation here. Now, it's very interesting. We all like to support ourselves. We like to support our friends. We like to support family. We like to support those we like. And in doing that, we often are susceptible to lies or exaggerations. We give the benefit of the doubt. And when the sinner cries, I was treated unfairly. Oh, this isn't fair. I'm just being fair. Then everybody jumps and comes to their aid. Oh, yeah, they're treating this poor person unfairly. Well, everybody loves and support that person. Well, it might be an individual who is very, very well-liked and prominent in a big position. Those people are always very, very fallible, because they're so used to everything coming their way and being put up on such a high pedestal, the rich, the famous, the rulers, that they begin to think that more things should come to them than a person should legally have. More of the funds, more of the benefits, more of the affection, more of the sampling of life. And invariably, they fall into this trap of feeling entitled, entitled to things that are not theirs.

And in a sense, they're committing their own character suicide when they fall. In 2 Samuel 11, verse 2, we had the great king, 2 Samuel 11, verse 2. And this is given to us in Scripture. It's very interesting if we don't take for granted that it's here. It's very interesting that God gave us this. It wasn't hidden somewhere. 2 Samuel 11, verse 2, it happened one evening that David arose from his bed. Now here's the great King David ruling over a combined house of Israel and Judah. The wars are all in his favor. I mean, this is fabulous. And he's probably good looking. I don't know. Everybody seemed to like David. And on the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. So he sent and inquired about the woman. In verse 4, David sent messengers and took her, and he lay with her. In verse 5, oops, she conceived and said, I'm with child. And then David took matters into his own hands because he was so great and so special, he tried to work things out. Now that's not assassination from outside. That's self-destruction. That's character, suicide. And everybody can do that. If you're guilty, take the hit. And one of the great lessons in the Bible is that David took the hit. If we go over to Psalm 51, we see, once he came to his senses, we see his response, Psalm 51. We begin in verse 1. His first words are, have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. See, it's just because we do something that is this, you know, this bad, doesn't mean the individual then has to run off and die. You actually can survive your own attempted suicide, as it were, of your character, of your life, of your family, of your kingdom. He says, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions. I acknowledge my transgressions. This is one of the great examples in the Bible of a life lesson. When we're guilty and exposed, take the hit. Change, repent, live.

Repentance results in good, good for all, good for God, good for you, good for people around you. If we look in Luke chapter 17 and verse 3, Luke chapter 17 and verse 3, Jesus said, take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, okay, so people are going to do this, then rebuke him. Let him know, and if he repents, forgive him. That's the goal, life for everybody. Everybody lives. Everybody survives. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to say, I repent, you shall forgive him, because that's the goal. Everybody gets to live.

The fifth point is, instead of being a self-induced victim and bringing things on yourself, be a victim of godly behavior. Be a victim of godly behavior. That's what Jesus Christ was. He was doing godly things, and he was a victim because of his behavior. That's what the Apostle Paul was doing. He was a victim because of his behavior. David, in the instance we just read, was a victim of his own behavior. Apostle Paul talks about that, too. You know, if you're convicted or beaten or whatever for your own fault, so be it. Don't be like that. Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 20.

For what credit is it when you are beaten for your faults? I said it was Paul, it's Peter. But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. So the previous point was, if you're guilty, take the hit. Well, that's the first part of the sentence. For what credit is it if you're beaten for your faults that you take it patiently? But this point is instead be a victim of godly behavior. But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God, for to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps, who committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth.

Now the sixth point I want to bring, and you can see this is sort of, it's hitting a bunch of things, isn't it? It's not just, oh me, oh poor, poor me. No, there's a lot of responsibility here. There's a lot of personal opportunity that we have, and some of those opportunities bring pain. Some of them bring righteous support from God. So point six is commit your situation to the righteous judge and don't return fire. So if somebody's trying to assassinate you or assassinate your character, either physically or mentally, commit your situation to the righteous judge in heaven and don't return fire.

If we continue here in verse 23, verse 2, verse 23, who when Jesus Christ, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. Okay? When he suffered, he did not threaten. You can get into a tit for tat. He didn't, you know, exchange blows. But he committed himself to him who judges righteously. And that's what you have to do. You have to put it in God's hands. And if you have done no wrong, and if you are acting rightly, then as we've read, God commends you for that.

And you can carry on with God, who judges righteously, and ultimately, things will work out. Now, this verse from the John Gill commentary, verse 23, says, Jesus committed his cause to God the Father to vindicate him in the way that God should think fit. He knew God was the judge of all the earth, the righteous judge, to whom vengeance belongs, and which is an example and instruction to the saints to do so likewise, to not render railing for railing or to seek revenge, but to leave their cause with God, who will, in his own time, avenge the wrongs and injuries done them.

That is the proper way to try to survive these character assassinations, and any other type. Now, I'd like to give you just a few points here about surviving assassination. I know it's a big term, but assassination is coming from without, and when these things strike, they are tough. It's a very complex mess, is what comes out of it, and sometimes individuals will follow the biblical instruction found in Matthew 1815.

They'll go to their brother, then they'll take back witnesses, and then it'll be brought to the church. Well, a lot of what comes out of these types of things are a he says, she says, you know, we feel this way, others feel that way, we've heard this, we've heard that, and in order to sort all of this out, it can get very, very complex, a mix of partial truths, hurt feelings, inaccuracies, and it's a tangled mess that doesn't really get cleaned up in anybody's mind, and that's where character assassination really hurts, and if one is not careful, they can just fall into this terrible mess and never feel like they can ever get out.

And life is done. And that's what Satan wants. So I'd like to give you some anecdotes and things or antidotes, things that we can do to survive things like this. The very first one is to respond like Jesus Christ. The first thing that happens if we or you get attacked by somebody, accused by somebody, just trashed, or literally, physically, assassinated by somebody because of your belief, like so many people in the Bible did. I mean read Hebrews 11, for instance. Read the end-time prophecies. How do we respond? Point number one, respond like Jesus Christ.

Respond like Jesus Christ. You've only got that one great example. Go to it first. Go to it immediately. Here in 1 Peter 2, 23 again, verse 23, continuing, who when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. So what do you do? You do what he did.

You respond like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ directed a process which we can use. And again, this is doing it like Jesus Christ. What do you do in a matter like this? Well, if you don't revile in return, you don't threaten in return, there is something you should do. It's found in Matthew 18. We're going to start in verse 15. Moreover, if your brother sins against you, if you get an arrow shot at you into your liver and it hurts, then your brother sins against you and he just, you know, lays it out there, maybe accuses and ruins things for you.

If he sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. You know, don't get on social media and start in. Don't pick up the phone and call your friends and start getting sympathy armies forming. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. If he hears you, remember that forgiveness? Remember that repentance? The restoration that God wants us to have? That's the goal. Even here, that's the goal. Christ wants us all to be one, all to be unified. And this event, as horrible as it is, as bad as it feels, can be solved by two people, kept very, very small.

And those two people can gain their relationship. It's very, very important. Now, Jesus is saying this because he is very involved in this. This is what he wants. In his prayer to the Father in John 17 before he died, he said, I want them to be one as we are one. Wants them to be one with us. He wants in Ephesians 4, verse 16, 15-16, all the body working together in love, contributing, you know.

That's the goal. So if we have that goal, then it can be solved right there. Verse 16, but if he will not hear, well, then the next step would be to take with you one or two more that by the mouth are two or three witnesses every word may be established. Now we've got to have witnesses. These really should be an eyewitness, an individual certainly who has the proof that is undeniable.

Doesn't have to be an eyewitness. There's other types of proof, but it should be undeniable.

And hopefully at that point in time, the individual can solve it there with four people. Three or four people involved. And if he refuses to hear them, then tell it to the church. This is where things then begin to grow. And to the church, you bring the matter to the officials of the church, and the ministry would then look at the situation. And again, now you have all types of elements, and a third party or third parties are going to have to look at this. And they will do their very best to come to an answer. But they also have Jesus Christ working with them. Let's go on down here a little bit further. He says, if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and tax collector. He says, now in verse 18, he's speaking to his apostles, who are part of this process of trying to reconcile two people. This is about reconciliation. They're trying to reconcile. Assuredly, I say to you, 12 apostles as a group, is what John Gilcom, commentary says here, he says, this regards the whole body of the disciples whose decisions in cases brought before them, declaring them just or unjust, and are determinate and unalterable. So this decision then, he says, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth will be bound in heaven. Not that the ministry in this situation would just come to that on their own, but through prayer, through fasting, through seeking God's guidance and inspiration, they would come to what God would want in the matter. That's the goal, is for them to reach God's decision in the matter. And so therefore, what they would be binding in heaven would have already been bound in heaven, and loosing on earth would have been already loosed in heaven. Now, in verse 19, again I say to you that if two of you, okay, now out of the twelve, if two of those apostles are working on a case, or two of the ministry, if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask—they going back up to these parties who have the situation that had been brought to the church—if you too agree on anything that they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Four—now this is the important thing. This shows how important this whole process is to Jesus Christ and why we should follow it. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. During this process of reconciliation, which Jesus Christ was physically shredded and tortured before he was killed so that we could be healed or stitched together, he is there in the midst of these attempts for reconciliation. By his stripes, we are healed, and he is wanting to heal us. So it's very important that we, brethren, are working in these matters the way Jesus Christ did and the way that he tells us to. In Matthew 5 and verse 44, remember, Jesus said, I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. So yes, character assassination is coming, and maybe physical things are coming, persecution. But here's how you handle that. Love them, bless them, do good to them, pray for them. Why? Verse 45, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Be like us. This is how we handle it. So this first point is very, very, very important. When this happens to you, respond like Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul did this, and he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 12 what it feels like. 1 Corinthians chapter 4 and 12. We all want relief. We want everything to return and be better. But here's, in Satan's age, here's what it sometimes is like. 1 Corinthians 4, 12. Breaking into the second sentence, being reviled. We bless. Being persecuted. We endure. Being defamed. We entreat.

So that is how Christ and those who are of Christ will first respond to a situation where they have been wronged. The second point I think is important to bring out so that if this happens to you, it probably has happened to you, sometimes we carry this through our entire life. It may have even been a family member back when we were young that did such an assassination of your character, as it were, that you bumbled along through life, or maybe friends or others, you know, issues. Everybody's told you who you are, right? And what you are. But that's a bunch of opinions. You are you. Let's go back to how we started this. You are a good person. You're an upright person. You're smart. You're capable. You have become the person you are. Point two is what others think about you is none of your business. What others think about you is none of your business. What was said to you in childhood, what was said to you in teenage, what was said to you by an ex, or what was said to you here or there, or what people think of you is none of your business. That's an interesting quote. It's used by many, many authors. I can find no source for that particular quote because so many people say it. You can even buy that and hang it on your wall, evidently. But it is true in this sense. We have no control over how others view us. Their view is simply made up of assumptions or rumors or maybe spite, maybe low self-esteem. They look at your life and do you think others in this world are going to be supportive and awestruck, or are they going to try to be critical? Human nature is criticism. People will form their own opinions.

Opinions of others will influence their opinions. So now you have an opinion, somebody shares his opinion, now you have somebody influencing that opinion, somebody without an opinion now gets a complex opinion, and depending on where you are and who you are, these opinions are bouncing around about you. Their opinions. Oh, and guess what? Opinions change. So they're changing opinions. How would you like to chase popularity under those circumstances? You could waste an entire lifetime trying to please everybody and make them like you. And in fact, what you would be doing is serving them and serving their opinion rather than living the life that God has given you to live. I'd like to tell you a story of a man named Donald James. Donald James is an interesting person. I've listened to him a lot because he wrote an autobiographical book, and I like listening to it. Donald James is involved in engineering and also in relating to public and organizing events and things like that. Donald James grew up in the South. His parents were impacted a lot by Jim Crow. He had a very difficult sort of upbringing as far as the family went, but they stuck by certain principles, and his book speaks to that. To an engineer working at a place called NASA, the National Atmospheric Space Administration, is like working at Disneyland. I mean, it is a great place. It's sort of where some of the premium concepts not only get developed that affect people's lives, but it also sort of hits the edge of possibilities. NASA shares a lot of that knowledge and information with companies and individuals at all levels. It also has the side that is public relations. It's very, very careful for its employees to have very good, let's say, personalities, relationships, lifestyles, etc., so that it's represented well. Donald James, at some point in his life, as he worked up through the various aspects related to that field, found his way into NASA, and he was so excited. I mean, he just writes, he talks about it, he was just, he was great. Now, one thing that you do there is you work there and you try to move up is, you know, you have a good reputation. You have to have a good reputation, and he did. He had an excellent reputation. He was noted for it, etc., etc.

Donald James was shot, not literally. He was assassinated one day. Well, attempted assassination one day. He was having a great day. Things were going along well, and the phone rang.

Picked up the phone in his office, and his wife said, it's in the press, it's online, that you're having an affair with this person.

Family man, children, married, working for NASA, where you can't have things circulating in the news about you. That's pretty much, you know, assassination.

This deadly bullet, it was invisible, but it instantly took out his wife and his relationship, and that would fracture the children in his relationship, and that fractured all that he had worked for his entire life. It reflected poorly on his parents, and NASA could not have that type of individual working for them. That's getting smeared in the press. It was a real end of living, you know, event.

The only problem was, it was false. It was an assassin's bullet. None of it was true. But what do you do? I mean, that type of thing is not really provable, and it's spreading now. What do you do? What do you do? He'd never met anybody like that, never done anything like that. Who would believe him? So you get into the dark days of uncertainty, and now his life is just pulled apart. And he immediately went up to the top floor and told his superiors, he said, I'm so apologetic and embarrassed, I don't know what to do. And they looked at him kind of funny. His wife didn't know what to think. See, these bullets, these things that come out of nowhere, they're powerful, not something that anybody could really survive. Now, let's pause right there. Similarly, there are those who despise God's law, who despise what your blessings are, despise the life that you have, despise the hope that you have.

These get slandered and lied about. You know what they said about Jesus Christ? The perfect individual we've already heard, perfect in all ways. Here's a quote from Luke 7, 34. Look, a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners, a character that is so low, he's breaking the very laws of it. He's a drunkard and he's a glutton. You know, he's a slave to his appetite and to alcohol, and he hangs out with sinners and the most horrible, you know, these tax collectors that take our money and give it to the Romans.

And the apostles.

In 1 Corinthians 4, continuing now, verse 13, notice what Paul says, we have been made as filth, the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now. It's out of nowhere.

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 14, it says, for you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God. That's great. Here we are, we're imitators of God, we're in his church, which are in Judea and Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judean church. Verse 15, who killed both the Lord Jesus Christ, who killed their own prophets, they've persecuted us, and they do not please God and are contrary to all men. Now, let's pause right there. What can you do about that? Let's go back to this point. It's none of your business. Don't make it your business. That is not your business. People's opinion of you, leave it with them. Go back to being you. Go back to being that individual that God has cleansed, that God has inspired to live his way, that's loving, that's serving, that's heading for the kingdom of God. That's the way you are. That's the way you are. That's the way you are. That's the way you are. That's loving, endotrically, that's durable. That's loving, that's serving, that's heading for the kingdom of God. That is contributing love towards the body of Christ. Keep doing that. Keep your chin up. Ignore them.

They do not please God and are contrary to all men. He concludes there. Contrary to everybody. You can't deal with that. A mind who's just going around being contrary to all men. Leave it with them.

Many authors' advice is don't chase approval from others' opinions.

You know, don't make it your goal, the worldly goal, to to curry a light self-image. That's not why we're here. We're not here to have all the likes and everybody like us, and if there's something out of place, we've got to go fix that. No. That's not our calling.

Instead, if we go to 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 1, we need to keep living your best life. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 1.

Don't compare your life with anyone else. Keep living your best life. You have a good life. Make it best life, the best life possible, before God and before others, and just keep living it. Perhaps the detractors' view of you will shift. You know it's possible.

1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 1. I'm going to break in to the middle. If some do not obey the word, so these outside opinions, detractors, or maybe in the church, but they're not obeying the word, they without a word—oh, we don't have to say anything—they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. Won by the conduct. All of us can learn from this example. We're all the bride of Christ, striving to be. The conduct of the bride of Christ without a word, hopefully they will be won by. When they observe your chaste conduct, first-person observation is much different than some rumor that's flying around. What do they say? Don't worry if somebody complains you. Don't try to fix it because they won't believe you and your friends don't need it. Why don't your friends need it? Because they see you. They observe you. They know who you are. And some of those comments don't fit. And so it is when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by reverence, by revering God, by reverence.

Verse 4, let it be the hidden person of the heart. Notice the word hidden. Hidden person of the heart. That's what Jesus did. He didn't get up and start a campaign, an anti-Jewish campaign, an I'm a good guy campaign. No, he just kept living the best life and the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. Donald James' family relationship continued intact. Glad to see. From his book, Manners will take you where brains and money won't, Wisdom from Mama and 35 Years at NASA. That's the name of his of his book. He rose to an executive position with only one person between him and the president of the United States. Now in retirement, his biography reads this. Donald G. James is a husband, parent, brother, friend, and mentor who enjoys reading, traveling, and using his experiences to inspire the next generation. Forget what others think of you. Keep living your best life. Point three. Your business is what God thinks of you. First Timothy chapter 6 verse 11.

First Timothy 6 verse 11 says, But you, O man of God, or you, O woman of God, you, O child of God, whoever you are, flee these things and pursue righteousness. Your business is what God thinks of you. Pursue godliness, faith, agape love, patient endurance, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you also were created and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. And finally, point four. Let it go. Just let it go. You know, assassination attempts and all that stuff, wow, it hurts and it can just swarm the brain and the mind and you don't know up from down. And the example I gave there of Donald James, you know, at some point you just say, that's not real. I am who I am. I am a good person. I am going forward. Let it go.

Remember Jesus Christ's response to his brutal treatment and all the things they said about him, the worst things that Satan could throw at him. He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. He just put himself in their shoes, took a few steps and said, ah, they don't have a clue what they're really doing. So why should I let it bother me? Father, forgive them. Someday, they'll understand. Someday, they'll have a straight thinking. Today, they don't. So just let it go. I'd like to go back to Philippians chapter 3 and verse 2.

This is one of the more, I think, uplifting passages in Scripture. If I ever want to find something uplifting and forward-looking, I like to come to Philippians chapter 3. It begins with that verse I quoted earlier, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. But we drop down to verse 12. He goes through some background commentary then, and he comes down and says, look, not that I'm already perfect, not that I've already attained, not that I'm already perfected. None of us are. But we're doing great, honestly, in God's eyes. I wish God could tell us your name, you know, just say, this is my son, this is my daughter, in whom I'm well pleased. Keep going, keep growing. You're doing fine. You're on a good track. You know, don't stop yet. Point is, keep growing. But he says here, I haven't already attained, I'm not already perfect, but I press on, I keep going, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Eternal life, bride of Christ, forever on his throne with him. Brethren, I don't count myself to have conquered it. But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, let go of it. Forget those things which are behind. And reaching forward to those things which are ahead. You know, God, his word, the entire Bible puts what happened behind and tells us to look forward and pray for his rule, his kingdom, to come. We look forward to the future. We grow. He's happy to forgive us our sins, the ones we committed in the past, the ones we committed today. We're not wanting to do any tomorrow, but there'll be probably some there. He wants us to go forward. Forget those things which are behind. Reach forward to those things which are ahead. I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. So there's a maturity that comes, and to that point, you begin to say, look, it's not about me shining my little image and having a bunch of likes. It's about being godly, and that's going to be tested. It's going to be tried. It's going to be shot at. Sometimes I'll shoot myself in the foot, you know. My own character is as an Asian, but like David, I'll repent of that. I'll get up. We'll put that in the past, and we'll go forward.

So in conclusion, sometimes we make mistakes, and we receive deserved criticism. We need to repent. And repentance and changing character brings high respect from everybody. It really does. So it's a good thing. It's a little stumble, but it's not a fall. However, sometimes we become targets of those who hate God's way of life.

When unjust people attempt to assassinate your character because you obey God, let's go to Matthew 5 and verse 10 and read what Jesus says about that. Matthew 5 and verse 10. Again, the Greek word here is an action word. It means supremely blessed. Almost, oh how supremely blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. It doesn't feel like it at the time. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 11. Oh how supremely blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Supremely blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Let's all be confident that you and I will survive assassination attempts by doing things the way God and His Word tell us to. And we will then be, in God's kingdom, very, very blessed.