Father, we praise you that you have made us your chosen, precious children by the sacrifice of your son in our behalf, Jesus Christ. Thank you in his name. Amen. And be seated. And open your Bibles with me this morning. Open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10, yet again. We're going to go back to the very beginning of Christianity. It isn't even formally Christianity yet, but Jesus is sending out his beloved hand-picked 12 apostles, and he's warning them about what to expect in the world. And it's not a pretty sight. So let's go right to it. It's chapter 10. I'll read verses 16 to 23 for you this morning. And so Matthew writes, behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, but beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues You'll be brought before governors and kings for my sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father who speaks in you. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father, his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in the city, flee to another for assuredly I say to you, you'll not have gone through the cities of Israel before the son of man comes. Oh father, we praise you for this, your holy word. May you be with your servant as I proclaim it father. May you be with the flock of God this morning as we internalize this, your holy word. Amen. All right. Not an encouraging set of instructions, it seems to me. I'm sending you out as sheep. He's calling them sheep, which are helpless animals. Pastor Ken used to say, we're all dumb sheep. He used to really emphasize the dumb part. He always looked at me when he did that. But he's calling them sheep, which are pretty docile, innocent, I guess dumb animals and he's putting them out in the midst of wolves and he's calling society a wolf pack. So he's warning them to be wise as serpents. and harmless as doves. We've talked about this already, I'm not going to go into this again this morning, but that's a difficult combination. A serpent and a dove, and both must be present in our Christian character as we witness of Christ in the world. But then he says this in verse 22, you will be hated by all, not you might be hated by all, not some people might not like you, He's really very strong. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. You're guilty by association with me is what he's saying. And then he says this remarkable statement, but he who endures to the end will be saved. Now this is, as I've said, part of Jesus' instruction to his 12 apostles as he sends them out with what? Nothing but a message. They're not even allowed to bring a change of clothes or a money bag. They are totally out there, vulnerable in the midst of wolves, as helpless sheep, hopefully wise as serpents, hopefully harmless as doves, and hopefully blessed by Christ in their walk. And he tells them, as I send you out, you'll be hated, you'll be delivered up, you'll be challenged. So he sends them out really with nothing but a message. That's really the clothing Christ gives us. He gives us a message to disseminate in a world and a place that should have been ready to receive that message but wasn't. As Paul said in another place, or they would not have killed the Lord of glory. He tells them that they will be hated, but that they must endure. It could be condensed to simply saying, endure hatred until the end. Endure hatred until the end. So how is it, how is that friends for a gospel message? You will be hated, but endure it until the end. He who endures hatred until the end will be saved. The implication is he who does not endure it, who gives up the message, who tires of being hated for Christ's sake, I have to assume will not be saved. I've had people ask me over the years, Pastor, how long do I have to do these things? How long must I love my enemies? And I would say, you're in luck, only one lifetime. And they might ask, Pastor, how long must I give to him who asks and forgive those who offend me and make offerings to the church and keep the Sabbath? How long, Pastor? And I would say, not long, only until the end of your life or the end of the world, whichever comes first. And so Jesus instructs his disciples to endure. Friends, we're put here to endure. And if you think that he's being dramatic, he later says to them, take heed that no one deceives you. All right, there are deceivers out there. Many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ. and will deceive many, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Boy, is not that the way of humanity? Somebody calculated how many years from then till now have been warless years. How many years of peace in the earth? I think somebody came up with a number. There's been four peaceful years since then. Wars and rumors of wars are abundant. They are perpetual. See that you're not troubled. Things are really bad, but see that you're not troubled. For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famine, pestilence, earthquakes in various places. And these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. So they're going to hate you until they kill you, and they're going to hate you after they kill you. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. This will turn the church against itself, it seems. It's too hard. then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. How does a false prophet deceive us in a time like that? He softens the message. He softens the message because of a fear of men. Paul talks at length about that elsewhere. And then he says, because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But again, he says, he who endures to the end shall be saved. There's the gospel. That is difficult. That's not the popular evangelical slogans that we're used to, is it? Now somewhere in that prediction, in that diatribe of Jesus Christ, I'm certain that it's implied that God loves you and that he will never leave you nor forsake you, that he will send the helper to assist you Friends, but the gospel of Christ is far more consequential than some of the evangelical slogans we peddle today and put forth uncritically as gospel truths. It seems to me that the Christianity that defined those times, friends, the Christianity that the Savior calls the disciples to endure is a death sentence. And we know from history that it was to those 12 apostles. It's a death sentence with regard to this life, but it's a life sentence with regard to the next. Indeed, the more we can bring ourselves to live for eternity in the here and now, the better equipped we are to endure the hardships of these times and prepare for the glory of future times, eternal times. So I'm going to make an observation, friends. It seems almost needless to say that Christianity is in a better place in our day than it was in that day. Can I get away with saying that? I can't stand here and tell you you're all going to be killed for Christ, but he just told them that, and it was true. And that better place that we are in is due to the endurance of the hardship experience by those who went before us. You don't see a lot of Christians burning at the stake today. Although, as I pointed out many times, we tend in our delicate era to put forth more palatable and more positive and more popular themes of Christianity than what the gospel actually calls for. We say God loves you, and surely he does. The only enigmatic part, the only puzzling part, the only part you have to figure out in those three words, God loves you, is who are the you. Right? Paul, on the other hand, makes some distinctions. He doesn't just blatantly say, God loves you. He says, you are the aroma of death leading to death to those who are perishing. Those who come with the gospel, they smell like death. True Christianity is an aroma of death to those who are perishing. In fact, I would say to you that the many testimonies of God's love for us is the empowering agent that allows us to endure until the end. Thank God we know he loves us. Or it would be quite difficult to strap on those instructions each day and go out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Well, let me give you some samples from Romans 5, 8. We read, God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Friends, he didn't love us because we were lovable. He loved us for some unknown reason that it pleased him to love us. We know from gospel of John that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3 16. So we know that he loved us. We read this also God being rich, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. The enigma there again is who are the us? Now, if us is the whole world, and it seems to me sometimes it's preached that way, but Paul here is writing to the saints. The New Testament is written to those who love Christ. That's the you of the New Testament, and that's the us of the New Testament. Greater love has no man than this, that he would lay his life down for his friend. And so God surely speaks of love for somebody. The Old Testament speaks volumes of God's enduring love for the saints from Zephaniah. When's the last time you turned to Zephaniah? The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. That ought to keep you going in a tough place. The Lord will rejoice over you with gladness. And if that doesn't do it, think about this. He will quiet you by his love. He'll calm you. He'll quiet you by His love, and He will exalt over you with loud singing. God Himself will sing of His love for the saints. That ought to give us some confidence to endure. You know, it's been debated as to whether the angels actually sang. We always say the angels sang. Hark, the herald angels sing. It doesn't really say the angels sang anywhere in scripture. Now, I know you're all going to go home and check me out, but I think you're going to find out that I was right. But here it says God actually does some singing. Friends, Jeremiah too extols the love of God. He said, the Lord appeared to him far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you, God says in this case to Jeremiah, to his prophet. But as soon as we can reconcile these twin concepts of gospel truths, the better equipped we are to answer the why me and the how long questions of life. Why me, oh Lord, and how long? All we have to do is look back at Jeremiah's life and say, how much he endured, and look how much the Lord loved him, both at the same time. He certainly loves the apostles, but he's telling them how much they're going to have to endure, and how long they must do it, just one lifetime. So when we can reconcile those twin concepts, we will be better prepared to answer the why me's and the how long's of life. How many times have you said it in prayer? I have, how long, oh Lord, must I endure this? Why me? Oh Lord, what have I done? Surely both hardship and endurance of hardship and love and rejoicing in his love go hand in hand in the Christian life, if the Christian life is rightly lived. He promised them that he would be with them to the end, but he also stipulated that the years that they had left would be difficult, even violent years. It ought to come to us with no small amazement that in a world where the multitudes of needy pilgrims came to the Messiah for healing and received it when they came, that Jesus would still need to warn his apostles of this sort of needless antagonism against the Savior and his close disciples. They will hate you. After all, I've done for you. You will hate me, Jesus is saying. They came with miraculous cures for the most debilitating diseases of the times. They were commissioned to go and to preach as they go. As you go, preach, he said. So they were commissioned to go, but they didn't go empty-handed, friends. They came with healing in their wings. They came with food. They even fed the multitudes when they came. They came on a divine mission with divine powers and a divine message and divine instructions from Christ. He said, you freely received now freely give. Have you got on your knees and thanked God for all the blessings that you revel in today? And if you have, recognize you freely received them, and now it's incumbent upon us to freely give. There were no collections when they came. There were no offerings. There was no charge for the services, services that the apostles rendered. They just came and freely gave. Jesus came and freely gave. No one paid him for his sacrifice. He just gave it. Now, I think it was Harry Truman. Everybody know who Harry Truman is? I think it was Harry Truman who first said, we could accomplish so much if no one cared about who got the credit. I know Ronald Reagan said it later, but I think he was quoting Harry Truman. I didn't look it up. I'm going from memory. Sometimes I do that. It gets me in trouble. We could accomplish so much if no one cared who got the credit. You see, they were envious of Jesus. The religious elite that hated him were angry that he got credit for what they wished they could have done. Multitudes were not following after the scribes and the Pharisees in those times. Right? When men call bad things good things, suspect envy. You see that a lot today. Men call bad things good things. It's terrible. News media, so untrustworthy. Isaiah wrote of that very thing. He said, woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. When the Lord appeared on the scene, he not only eclipsed the presence and popularity of the religious elite of the day, but he did what prophets traditionally did. Prophets weren't sent into the world to tell people how good and deserving they were. You go through the scriptures and you'll find that I'm right about that. Prophets were sent to tell people how bad they were and to repent. He rebuked the current leaders and the so-called wise men of the moment, not to mention kings and emperors. Jesus interfered with people in high places. He spoke truth to power. Now I can reproduce for you many instances of such occasions. From the great sermon on the mount he proclaimed, I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. In other words, you're all sitting here, the multitudes are here on the hill, and we all know that the scribes and Pharisees are the righteous people of society. Well, they're not righteous enough, Jesus said. You've got to shoot higher than that. Now that was an unpopular thing to say, and the leaders certainly weren't going to take it lightly. He said elsewhere, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. In other words, you're going to leave here the mountain today after my sermon, and you're going to know things that these wise men don't know. He said, oh, faithless and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? Faithless and perverse generation, how long will I bear with you? The scribes and Pharisees, he said, sit in Moses' seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do. In other words, they break all their campaign promises. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad. You know what phylacteries are? They're little scripture containers. And they wore them right on their heads. Sometimes on their arm, I think. It's a little box. Jews do it today. They call it a tefillin. And they put scripture verses in this box and they tie it to their forehead. as sort of a monument that the Word of God is in my head and in my heart. And he said, they make their phylacteries broad. In other words, they take the whole Bible, I guess, and put it up there. They enlarge the borders of their garments. What does that mean? Well, they had embroidered scriptures on the garments. They were very beautifully clad. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called Rabbi, Rabbi. They like that. I like to be called Your Grace. Someone said to me this morning, hi, Pastor Dan. I said, I prefer Your Grace. And they did that. They laughed. In other words, he exalted the faith of foreigners, and he decried the faithlessness of the Jews. Have you ever noticed how insulting that was to the Jews? We saw it just recently. He said to a Roman soldier, assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. And then he could have said, where it was supposed to be found. I can't find faith among my people. I wonder how much of that we could apply in our day. in our lives. He reminded the religious leaders of the Gentiles of old, whom the Lord regarded as blessed. He spoke of a Syrian. He spoke of a Phoenician. Now, Phoenicia refers to Lebanon, and those are the nations right above Israel. They're still there today. They still have trouble with Israel today, and they did then. They were not friendly to Israel for most of their existence, even to this day. And Jesus goes out and exalts a Syrian and exalts a Lebanese person, a Phoenician. And so he says, assuredly I say to you, I've not found such, oh, I'm sorry. He said many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah. So he's going back some hundreds of years, but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath in the region of Sidon. The widow of Zarephath was not a Jew. Elijah could have gone to many needy widows in Israel, but he went to one Phoenician woman. And then he says, and many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. And none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. It was extremely objectionable that the prophet of Nazareth would not exalt the favored status of the chosen people, but he would exalt these people, but he's proving it to them through scripture. He would exalt. outsiders before his own people, it seemed. And that would certainly irritate his detractors. He outwitted them in their accusations against him at every turn. Wise men don't like that, when you outwit them. Most notably, when they asked about taxes, remember that? He said, render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's. There's an implication there, friends. Caesar is not God. You see, Caesar claimed to be God in that time. King of kings, he was called. That was his title, by the way, Augustus. And so Jesus made no attempt to be merely polite when he spoke of the indiscretions of the elite. He took the prophet's role. Prophets don't adhere well to social custom. Have you noticed that as you read your Old Testament? They don't adhere well to social custom. It's been said that pastors comfort the saints and prophets convict them. Jesus does both these things at once and it seems to me that's the role of a good pastor, to do both. So suspect envy, always envy. Envy came among the elite even before the birth of Christ. Imagine that, he's not even born yet, the wise men come into Jerusalem, they run into Herod the Great, and they tell him, because this would be protocol, kings from a far country, they called them Magi, right? They came in, they went right to the king of the Jews at the time, and they said to him, we've come because we've seen the star of your savior in the east, and poor Herod's there pouring over his blueprints for building greater monuments and things in the city of Jerusalem, and completely forgot about the stars. But these holy men from other lands came in, and told him, we came to find the Messiah. He's been born. And they were duped by Herod, of course, into giving up where he was. So even before he was born, people were envious of his position. Herod must've been sitting there in his chambers thinking, boy, wise men never came to the East to worship me. He duped them into informing against the newborn Messiah and famously sought to extinguish him from the earth, not even considering the collateral damage to the several or many other infants and families that suffered in the carnage. You remember? So when Jesus speaks of opposition, when he speaks of antagonism against his disciples, against his mission, against his message, he speaks with spiritual discernment. There's a spiritual enemy out there. There's an invisible enemy afoot who plants designs against the cause of Christ in the minds of unsuspecting men, even wise men. Hence, this speech and this instruction that we're looking at today. He knows that his disciples will go out into a hate-filled, antagonistic world. I don't know that it's changed so much. As I've said, it seems to have. We're not seeing a lot of Christians burned at the stake today, but we're not seeing a lot of Christians preach a difficult gospel like this one. And so he concludes, you'll be hated by all for my name's sake. In other words, you're guilty of sacrilege before you take a step in my behalf because of your association with me." It's sacrilege to be associated with Jesus. Remember when he healed the blind man? Bartimaeus, Gospel of John, go to. He healed the blind man. And the Pharisee didn't like that. Everyone saw it happen. They knew this man since birth. He was blind. And he came in and what did they do? What happened? They went to the man's parents to ask the parents if he was born blind and if he could now see. And what did the parents say? Jesus said, mother will turn against daughter and father against son. They said, oh, our son's of age. Go ask him. We're not going to get in trouble with you guys. and get thrown out of the synagogue. So they went and asked Bartimaeus, if you remember this, and he said, who? He said, do you call this man the Messiah? He said, well, I don't know, but he healed me, a man born blind. It's never happened before. What would you call him? Is basically what he said. And what did they do? They threw him out of the synagogue. There was a price to pay for saying a simple, obvious truth about Christ and associating yourself with him. So he gets specific. Verse 17, he says, beware of men. They will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. Jesus didn't simply say prepare for the worst, but rather he says unambiguously that the worst is coming. That's, I mean, being delivered up to councils and killed is about the worst, I think, right? It's one of the conundrums of history that holy men are repudiated in holy places. Why is it that the place of Christ's greatest antagonism was in the synagogue where he was being preached up until the time where he showed up? The synagogue system was a phenomenon of the intertestamental period. You don't see it in the Old Testament. It just appears. It happened in between the two testamental times, 400 years in between, right? And so the, the system was there. It was like the local church system. And it's the precursor to that idea, right? We don't say they don't belong there because Jesus didn't say that Paul preached in the synagogues, right? They simply pop up. They're simply there and Jesus goes to them. That's the place where they were supposed to be learning the scriptures. Learning what Pastor Bill read today from Isaiah, right? That sounded like it was New Testament teaching. They became the precursors of the local churches, the synagogues, and the Lord never repudiated their existence. We therefore accept them as developments of the time. But an application for our time would certainly include a warning that the churches do not fall into the role of accepting those they should reject and rejecting those they should embrace. The synagogue system accepted the people that decried the Messiah when he showed up and repudiated him. They accepted them, but they rejected the Messiah himself and his disciples. The churches should be taught to receive the message of Christ with all the harbingers of rejection and violence against the saints, as well as the promises of peace and protection. It's about the message, friends. Remember when the disciples of John came to Jesus and they said to him, are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? He didn't say, yeah, it's me. That's me. He didn't say that. Do you remember what he said? He said, go tell John that the blind see and the leopards, the leopards, the leopards are cleansed, the blind see, the leopards are cleansed, the leopards have changed their spots. There was a method to my madness. and the dead are raised, and blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." He identified himself by his message. It was almost like a secret password. You know? Tell John this. And then John, who knew the message, of course, could rest in the fact that the Messiah was here. So just as churches, friends, come with pastors, synagogues come with rulers. Remember rulers? Remember Jairus? daughter died and Jesus went he was the ruler of he was he was Peter's local pastor so to speak in the synagogue in Capernaum where Peter lived and he came in and he raised the daughter of Jairus now there's some good rulers and there's some bad rulers and having a Having said that, that some are good and some are bad, I think we could safely assume that even the good ones were still misinformed. Nobody was really ready to accept Jesus. He went to his hometown of Nazareth and was run out in fear of his life, right? And up until that point, they would have preached the coming of Messiah. The gospel records do not deal so much with the council spoken of by Jesus. They'll deliver you up to councils. You don't see a lot of that in the, in the gospels, but the book of acts is rife with such things, isn't it? The disciples are in front of counselors and Kings all over the place. Steven, one of the first deacons of the church was the first to go. In Acts chapter seven, he takes them on a long tour of scriptural truths and the so-called synagogue of the freed men, right? And he preaches biblical history pointing to Christ. And then accuses them of murdering their Messiah. They didn't like that. They rise up against Steve and stone him to death for his trouble. They stoned him to death for his message. The things he told them were not flattering things, friends, but they were true. The gospel is not always polite. And then we read, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him, Acts 7, 58. And such as the gospel and such were those times. Imagine, friends, claiming that one Jewish holy man healing another of his countrymen was somehow an abomination to God. His timing was off. Did it on the wrong day, in the wrong way. And all of that began in synagogues and continue to take place in synagogues as a result of the healings of Jesus and the apostles. Now I might've entitled the sermon, Jesus goes political, but I thought not, but let's not miss the very next verse and what it says. Verse 18, you will be brought before governors. and kings for my sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles." In other words, my 12 hand-picked holy men are going to witness of Christ before governors and kings. Is that a fair reading of what we just saw? So I tell you that there are a plethora That means many historical examples of government interfering with religious enterprises to the detriment of religion. We see that all throughout the scripture, all throughout the books of the kings. We saw it with Jeroboam. Jeroboam rose up. in the North, in the Ten Tribes, we call them, right? And he became king, and what did he do? He set up idols, golden calves, no less, in Bethlehem and Dan, so it would be nice and convenient, you know, so you could go out and worship the idolatry. And he required idolatrous worship. That's government interfering in religion for the bad, not for the good, right? Government-mandated idolatry has been the hallmark of history, friends. The government mandates idolatry throughout the scriptures. Let's not forget the statue of Nebuchadnezzar that he required people to bow down to. The bronze idol, right? Or was it a golden idol? Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, you remember those names, they wouldn't bow to it. They couldn't bow to it. They'd rather go to the flames and burn. Instead, they went to the flames and were protected. But government interaction with religion that has aided the cause of Christ is rarer, but it has happened. Now, when I began to speak today, I noted that Christianity is in a better place today than it was in that day. I think it is. I base the statement on the fact that we need not presume to be hated. I don't think we all presume that when someone finds out we're a Christian that they will hate us. But in Christ's day they did because they were associated with him and the leaders said he was a false messiah, false prophet, right? In fact, we might even be respected in some quarters due to our spiritual status as believers in Christ. You ever have someone take the Lord's name in your presence, and they go, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there, or something like that. I have that happen a lot to me. And I say, well, it's not about me being here. It's God who's offended by that. So it's also true that things are better for us with regard to our public witness than for them, and that formal government regulations contributed to the dissemination of truth in the world, and most specifically in our land. Famously throughout the world, as a precedent of all history, we have what? A First Amendment. That's government saying we have no power in this area, we leave religion to you. That's what the Bill of Rights is. Those are the things that our founders wisely said government could not government does not rule in. They do not rule in areas of personal conscience and speech and worship and such things. And so we read this, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or the press or the right of people to peaceably assemble like we're doing now. We're assembling peacefully. Government can't tell us we can't do it. If they do, we have redress. We take them to court. And they look at this and they say, you shouldn't have gone in and bothered those people. They have a right to do it. That's because Christian men who went before us took the blows that earned us those rights. And who did they say the rights came from? They're endowed by our creator, they said. So sometimes it's for the good. And I think maybe Christianity is in a better place today than it was then. A lot of government officials claim to be Christians. But whatever you think of mixing religion and politics, an informed Christian should know that constitutional freedoms with regard to speech and belief are enshrined in the laws of our land. Indeed, Christianity may flourish and did flourish in such a culture where government found its place before God. Nebuchadnezzar learned that the hard way, right? But he found his place before God. That's my reading of the book of Daniel. and it found its place due to the Christian influences of our founders and a profound fear of God and respect for Jesus Christ. My fear, however, I should say, my observation, is that in many cases the church has pandered to government. In other words, we've become so tame. What did C.S. Lewis say? He's not a tame lion, right? When he talked about Aslan, the symbol of Christ in the Chronicles of Narnia. The church isn't supposed to be a tame lion. Are we a little too tame, maybe, that the government has no argument with us anymore? You know, with our little pride flags on the buildings? You know, Daniel was searching for a church in Boston and finally he was not happy with the with the assortment that was available to him, and friends of him were saying, well, why don't you try this shirt? Do you know what he asked him? First question, do you have a pride flag hanging on your building? No? He said, I'll give it a try. That's where it's come, I mean. I had a friend of mine say, having a religious conversation, and I mentioned the freedom of religion in our land, and he said this, thought himself very wise to have said this, there's nothing wrong with any of the religions. And I thought to say, except that they all preach falsehood except for Christianity. That's the only thing I can see that's really wrong with them, you know. There's only one true approach to God, and that would be the message of the gospel, Christ and the Bible, right? But, you know, we think ourselves very magnanimous. I mean, the church is like, oh, no, there's nothing wrong with the other religions. No, except that they're all wrong. They're false in what they teach. Our subject today would almost certainly violate current perceptions of polite discourse. Friends, how can anyone reject a gospel of love in a world of safe spaces and microaggressions? To run around and say God loves you, nobody's going to argue with that, you know? But when you start exegeting who the you is of Scripture and who the us is of Scripture, it gets a little more feisty between the participants. So the church and the world will not be morally reconciled or theologically agreeable, ever. And as soon as it seems so, We all ought to be suspect and I for one have been suspect for a long time. I think our president is kidding when he speaks of solving the world's problems and preventing the scourges of war as the path to heaven. Have you heard him say this? He says it a lot now. He says it a lot, well, if that doesn't get me in, you know, he says, I think he's being facetious, but we're not sure, right? So what does that tell me? He's surrounded by well-known religious leaders, right? Well-known Christian leaders, some better than others I think but does he really think if he solves the Ukraine thing that that's the path to heaven that's a great thing and I'll tell you I hope he solves it and I pray that he solves it and as a church we've prayed that he solves it but we get to heaven through the blood of Christ through faith in his person and in his promises so I'm still wary of the probability that the spiritual advises he has before him advocate that very thing I was watching Fox News the other day, and that came up. It was one of the shows where there's several pundits. There's always these shows where there's several pundits talking with each other. And they weren't being real formal about it, but a lot of them claimed to be Christians on some of the conservative networks, right? You know that. And they were bantering around people who have written religious books and have Bible study courses online, you know, that are news journalists and stuff. They weren't really sure about the path to heaven. And one of them said, you know, I just read a book about that today and apparently you can't do anything to earn heaven. You just have to have faith in Christ. And they're like, you know, I've heard that. I mean, it was like, this was like new stuff. So in other words, these people that said they were Christians and put themselves forth as Christian leaders don't know the basic thing of Christianity. Friends, that's not a Christianity that anyone's going to object to. Oh, just do good things and you'll be fine. No one objects to that. You know why they don't? Because they think they're good. They think they're, what would they say? Good enough. Right? We're good enough. No, I think the president's kidding when he speaks of solving the world's problems as the path to heaven. When he speaks of, you know, stopping all the death and carnage and destruction, which is a wonderful goal for him to have, Christ is called the Prince of Peace, right? But it's not the path to heaven. We can't mix the two. Somebody has to stand up and say that to him. So the true gospel is hidden behind peace motives between earthly aggressors. Surely peace is better than war. What is forgotten, however, is that humanity is at war against God. And that's rarely mentioned in such circles. There are several denominations today who openly embrace secular morality as a God-honored standard. And pride flags fly on the grounds of many such places of worship today and are heralded as speaking God's thoughts after Him. Well, why wouldn't you be okay with that? God loves everybody, right? Verse 19, though. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak, for it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak." This is not an encouragement for lazy preachers. And I've heard it preached that way. This is not even in the context of preachers. This is talked about when an antagonistic world arrests you for your message, as happened to the apostles after the time of Christ, right? Certainly all throughout the book of Acts. After they arrest you and imprison you and put you before them to explain yourself, he's saying the Holy Spirit will be with you at that time. He doesn't say you'll win your case. He says he'll give you what to say. That doesn't mean, as I've said, I had a gentleman say to me recently, and this is nothing new, I can't listen to your sermons because you prepare them. They're not from the Holy Spirit. I'm supposed to come up here, I suppose, and just stand here and go, oh, there it is. Now I can talk. I mean, the Holy Spirit always came to Pat Robertson right on cue. When he looked out to the camera and he could see the earache in Idaho and the dandruff in Denver, and he would heal all these people. He did things the apostles couldn't even do. And I thought, here's a great man who's done some great things. But that was ridiculous. That wasn't gospel teaching at all. It will be given to you in that hour what you should say. So call it preaching politics or mixing faith with political policy. But don't miss the implication from our passage today that God is present also in political arenas. He's present in political arenas. Or do you forget 1 Samuel, where Samuel came in and anointed Saul? And God told Saul when he goes in and takes the Amalekites not to take their stuff, which was the custom in war to do, right? He told them not to take their stuff, and then Samuel comes in and he says, why do I hear sheep bleeding? Why do I hear sheep? He goes, oh, well, the people did that. It's kind of like what Aaron said when they made the golden calf. Well, we just threw in our jewelry and a calf came out. Right? He knew it was wrong, and here was God's prophet straightening out God's king. The prophet was above the king. There's a great scene in an old movie that I saw once. I don't know how old the movie was. It was about David. And there was the scene when Samuel came up to the cave, where Saul was in there reveling over his victory over the Amalekites, and the sheep were bleeding in the background. And the two soldiers threw their swords across the opening of the cave when the prophet came up with his prophet's robe. And Samuel threw the swords aside and he said, since when did the affairs of state take precedent over the affairs of God? No, God interfered in politics all the time. He went right in there, he sent his prophet in there, and he told the king, your days are done. God has found another in the house of Jesse. Right? Let's not forget. that Jesus himself spoke truth to religion in his home synagogue of Nazareth, where he and his message were summarily rejected. Let's not forget that he commented on national leaders and national policy when it suited his agenda. When some of the Pharisees informed him that Herod wants to kill you, he said, go tell that fox. Could you imagine a Billy Graham type saying that about a president or a king or a pope? Go tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I shall be perfected. Called the King of Fox. Although I want to tell you, Herod wasn't really a king. This is the son of the Herod at Jesus' birth. This is Herod Antipas. He wasn't even a king, he was a Tetrarch. He liked to call himself king. He was a king over a quarter of his father's kingdom. when one governor said to Jesus, do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Jesus said, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. He could have just said, you know, Pilate, I really don't talk on political issues. I don't get into that. It's not my lane. I'm a holy man. You're a government man. We really have very little to say to each other. No, he didn't say that. He said, therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. So what will you say when you're delivered before councils and kings, governors and princes? Will you say, sorry, governor, I'm not commissioned to mix politics and religion? Or will you say that what Jesus said to one governor, you have no power except that given you from above? And then open up to Romans 13. When Paul was before king and governor at the same time, Festus and Agrippa, who was a Herod, Herod Agrippa II. He was the son of Herod Agrippa I from Acts chapter 12. This is Acts chapter 26. Festus, the governor of the region, said to him, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driven you mad. At least he gave Paul credit for having much learning. I always thought that was good of him. Much learning has driven you mad. And Paul said, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king, before whom I also speak freely, he said, knows these things. Why did Paul say, I speak freely before the king? because he was a Roman citizen. He knew his rights. He was brought before Agrippa, and he knows he can speak freely, and the king must allow it. For the king before whom I also speak freely knows these things, for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. And then he turns to Agrippa, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do. The Herods were great scholars of the scriptures, friends. He says, I know you believe the prophets. And Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. But since you mixed politics and religion, I'm rejecting it. No, he said, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. How is that a bad thing? And Paul said, I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains. It's an awesome thing to say to him. And yes, I don't believe Paul thought of it ahead of time. I think the Holy Spirit told him that on the spot. And that's why it's in here. And if the Holy Spirit tells you something on the spot, we ought to add that to the Bible. That's what always irks me when people say, oh no, you've got to wait for the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit speaking to me directly, I ought to write it down and publish it as Book 67. I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, which are all these government officials sitting around in the council, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains." And where did Paul go when he left the king's presence? He went into the presence of the emperor, Caesar Augustus. Actually, by that time, I think it was Nero. Father, we ask that you give us a balance in what we do and what we see in your Word. We recognize differences of times, differences of development, but the same message echoes down through the ages. We are given it originally. We preach the same message today, not changing jot or tittle, Father, and striving by the advocacy of the Holy Spirit who lives and reigns in us, O Lord, to speak accurately your truths. to a wicked and wayward world. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.