Speaker 1: If I asked you to name the most persecuted group
Speaker 1: on the planet, you'd probably name the wrong group because
Speaker 1: it's Christians.
Speaker 2: It's Christians.
Speaker 1: It may surprise you that that's the most persecuted group
Speaker 1: on the planet because it is the most ignored, most unnoticed,
Speaker 1: least reported, most overlooked news item on the planet. Without
Speaker 1: a doubt, the International Society of let me get this right,
Speaker 1: International Society for Human Rights. It's a secular organization. It's
Speaker 1: not a Christian organization. Just recently let out a report
Speaker 1: and it says, quote, eighty percent of all religious freedom
Speaker 1: violations in the world today are directed against Christians. Now,
Speaker 1: we're all aware that throughout history, for two thousand years, Christianity,
Speaker 1: the Christian Church, and Christians in particular, have been persecuted.
Speaker 1: We all know that for three hundred years it was
Speaker 1: illegal to be a Christian in the Roman Empire. They
Speaker 1: were feeding Christians to the lions, Nero was tarring them
Speaker 1: and lighting them on fire, and for three hundred years,
Speaker 1: first hundred years years of the Church, it was against
Speaker 1: the law to be a Christian.
Speaker 2: We know about the.
Speaker 1: Different cleansings throughout history, and the tortures and the burning
Speaker 1: at the stake and all of those kind of things
Speaker 1: for two thousand years. But what we don't know, what
Speaker 1: you don't know, is that the worst persecution of Christians
Speaker 1: in all of history is happening in our lifetime. It's
Speaker 1: just not being reported now. Since the Resurrection two thousand
Speaker 1: years ago, about seventy million believers in Jesus Christ have
Speaker 1: died for their faith. About seventy million is shocking. And
Speaker 1: what most people don't know is half of that number,
Speaker 1: thirty five million, have died in the last one hundred years.
Speaker 2: Right now.
Speaker 1: This past year, about one hundred million followers of Christ
Speaker 1: lived in countries. Whether the state or the prevailing religion
Speaker 1: or the dictatorship left one hundred million followers of Jesus
Speaker 1: facing the threat of discrimination, of persecution, of interrogation, of arrest,
Speaker 1: of imprisonment, of torture, of even death. There used to be,
Speaker 1: for instance, about one point three million Christians in Iraq.
Speaker 1: That was about how many there were when the First
Speaker 1: Gulf War broke out. Today there's less than one hundred
Speaker 1: thousand in the nation of Iraq. The most current estimates
Speaker 1: in South North Korea is that they're probably about seventy
Speaker 1: thousand Christians in prison in North kore right now, suffering
Speaker 1: in prison, and about every ten minutes, two Christians die
Speaker 1: for their faith around the world, hour upon hour upon
Speaker 1: hour upon day, upon week upon month, two every ten minutes.
Speaker 1: For the last decade, You've never heard that. No one
Speaker 1: is reporting it. It is the most underreported story on
Speaker 1: the planet. Now, what are we supposed to do about
Speaker 1: our persecuted brothers and sisters in christ These millions and
Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands in refugee camps and displaced and having
Speaker 1: to move to other nations and things like that.
Speaker 2: What are we supposed to do? Well? The first thing
Speaker 2: we're supposed to do is be informed.
Speaker 1: And I want to because I'm not going to talk
Speaker 1: about this a lot today.
Speaker 2: I highly recommend this.
Speaker 1: Book, The Global War on Christians, and I actually ordered
Speaker 1: several thousand of them to be out on the patio.
Speaker 1: I would encourage you to read this book and be
Speaker 1: in the note because nobody's going to tell you this.
Speaker 1: They're not going to tell you the national reports that
Speaker 1: are coming out of all these different organizations. Second, we
Speaker 1: need to pray. The Bible says we are to pray
Speaker 1: for those who are persecuted. Third, we need to give
Speaker 1: to help support families who have loved ones in prison,
Speaker 1: or are being tortured, or have died because of their faith.
Speaker 1: We can give, we can pray, we can learn, and
Speaker 1: we can be advocates for freedom. Let me show your
Speaker 1: verse on the Bible. The Bible says this here on
Speaker 1: the screen Hebrews thirteen three. Remember those who are in
Speaker 1: prison as if you were in prison with them. Remember
Speaker 1: those who are suffering, as if you were suffering with them.
Speaker 1: That's what God tells us to do.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Anybody who thinks that following Jesus Christ, being a follower
Speaker 1: of Christ is easy, is sadly mistaken.
Speaker 2: Sadly mistaken.
Speaker 1: Being a Christian, being a follower of Christ is not
Speaker 1: for whimps, for weaklings. It's not for the faint of heart.
Speaker 1: It's not for cowards. You must be willing to face rejection.
Speaker 1: You must be willing to face criticism. You must be
Speaker 1: willing to face disapproval. You must be willing to face
Speaker 1: peer pressure. You must be willing to face harassments and opposition.
Speaker 1: If you truly live for Christ. Now, the Bible says this,
Speaker 1: look on the top of your outlots two Timothy three,
Speaker 1: Verse twelve. Anyone who belongs to Christ Jesus and wance
Speaker 1: to live right will have trouble from others circle the
Speaker 1: word will. This is not an if, this is not
Speaker 1: a mite. This is a guarantee. The Bible says, it
Speaker 1: is guaranteed that if you stand for what's right, there
Speaker 1: will be people who oppose you. If you stand for
Speaker 1: what's true, there will be people who oppose you. If
Speaker 1: you stand for what's good, evil will simply oppose you.
Speaker 1: Now today we come to the last of the eight Beatitudes,
Speaker 1: looking at these eight Blessings of Jesus, where Jesus says,
Speaker 1: if you want to be blessed by God, here's what
Speaker 1: you need to do in your life. And we've looked
Speaker 1: at humility, and we've looked at generosity, and we've looked
Speaker 1: at integrity. We've looked at how to reconcile a relationship
Speaker 1: being a peacemaker. And in the last of the eight Beatitudes,
Speaker 1: where Jesus says, if you want God's blessing on your life,
Speaker 1: he deals with this issue of opposition, of harassment for
Speaker 1: your faith, of persecution, and we're going to look at
Speaker 1: what to do with it today. Now we're going to
Speaker 1: look at how to handle opposition to your faith. And
Speaker 1: we're going to look at two things. What do you
Speaker 1: need to remember when you're feeling pressured peer pressure? And
Speaker 1: what do you need to do when you're feeling peer pressure,
Speaker 1: when you're feeling harassed or put down or ridiculed or
Speaker 1: maligned or criticized or whatever for your faith?
Speaker 2: What do you need to do? Now, let me just
Speaker 2: be real honest.
Speaker 1: In America, you're not being persecuted, you're not, but you
Speaker 1: are being pressured, and there is subtle pressure to conform
Speaker 1: and to be like everybody else in America. You're not
Speaker 1: gonna face violent oppression, You're just not going to, at
Speaker 1: least not in the foreseeable future. But you are going
Speaker 1: to face not violent oppression, but silent repression. And this
Speaker 1: is the subtle thing for you to just shut up
Speaker 1: and keep your mouth shut and not say what's true,
Speaker 1: and not stand up for Christ and not be a
Speaker 1: public witness, and to just blend in and to fit in.
Speaker 1: And the pressure to conform you feel it all the time.
Speaker 1: I could give you a thousand ways that you do this.
Speaker 1: When a boss pressures you to do something that you
Speaker 1: know is dishonest or unethical and you don't want to
Speaker 1: do it. There's the pressure to conform when people are
Speaker 1: standing around the water cooler and they're all telling dirty
Speaker 1: jokes and you know, I really shouldn't be participating in this,
Speaker 1: and the pressures to stay there, to smile and smirk
Speaker 1: and laugh and not walk away. You will invite it
Speaker 1: to some events you just can't go to as a Christian,
Speaker 1: a single guys, there are some bachelor parties you can't
Speaker 1: go to.
Speaker 2: In fact, nobody should go to them, and you know it.
Speaker 1: And yet if you say I'm not going and say
Speaker 1: why because I'm a Christian, you will be put down.
Speaker 2: You will be harassed.
Speaker 1: You will say, oh, you're out of date, or you're
Speaker 1: no fun, or you're a fuddy duddy, or you have
Speaker 1: no freedom, and all of these there's enormous pressure on
Speaker 1: you to do that. You will feel pressure to be
Speaker 1: silent when people are praising moral choices that the Bible
Speaker 1: says is wrong, and they go, what, you don't think
Speaker 1: that's okay. You don't think that's okay. You don't think
Speaker 1: that's okay, And you don't think that over there is okay.
Speaker 1: What's wrong with you? You're on the wrong side of history.
Speaker 1: Let me just tell you something. History is often wrong.
Speaker 1: You remember Hitler, New York Times and other magazines actually
Speaker 1: praised him in the thirties. History is often wrong. It's
Speaker 1: not important to be on the right side of history.
Speaker 1: It's important to be on the right side. It's important
Speaker 1: not to be popular. It's important to stand with the truth.
Speaker 1: So you'll be pressured to be quiet. You'll be pressured
Speaker 1: when you're standing around and somebody says, you know, all
Speaker 1: Christians they just and they make.
Speaker 2: A derogatory remark.
Speaker 1: They're all bigots, they're all this or this or that,
Speaker 1: and you will have the pressure to stay quiet.
Speaker 2: That is harassment for your faith. Now what should you do.
Speaker 1: Well, there are some things you need to do in
Speaker 1: this some things you need to remember. First, let's look
Speaker 1: at three things you need to remember. Write these down
Speaker 1: when you feel pressured for your faith because you love
Speaker 1: Jesus and other people don't.
Speaker 2: The first thing you need to remember is this opposition
Speaker 2: can make me more like Jesus. That's a good thing.
Speaker 1: Opposition can actually make me more like Jesus. And it
Speaker 1: makes me more like Jesus because Jesus experienced opposition. He
Speaker 1: experienced it in great quantities. Obviously. The Bible says in
Speaker 1: John fifteen, verse eighteen to twenty. When the world hates you,
Speaker 1: remember that it hated me first. The world would love
Speaker 1: you if you belong to it, but you don't. Jesus says,
Speaker 1: I chose you out of this world. That's why this
Speaker 1: world will hate you. No servant is ever greater than
Speaker 1: his master. So since they persecuted me, they will persecute you.
Speaker 2: Now follow me on this.
Speaker 1: If you're going to grow up and be like Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: God wants you to become like him and the way
Speaker 1: you think and act and feel, then you're gonna have
Speaker 1: to go through everything Jesus went through.
Speaker 2: Were there times when Jesus was lonely? Yes? Where there
Speaker 2: times when Jesus was tempted to be discouraged? Yes? Were
Speaker 2: there times he was fatigued and worn out? Yes? Were
Speaker 2: there times when Jesus was tempted? Yes?
Speaker 1: Were the times he was maligned, criticized, and lied about?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: What makes you think God would spare you when he
Speaker 1: didn't spare his own son Of those things? You're gonna
Speaker 1: go through the exact same thing as I said. Christianity
Speaker 1: following Jesus is not for weaklings, it's not for whims,
Speaker 1: it's not for fuddy dudies. And people who don't have
Speaker 1: any backbone don't have any spine. And Jesus said, if
Speaker 1: they persecuted me, they will persecute you. Remember, Jesus was
Speaker 1: hated by many people. He was loved by sinners, but
Speaker 1: he was hated by people.
Speaker 2: Who didn't like goodness.
Speaker 1: One of the greatest joys of my day is reading
Speaker 1: letters from our listeners. It truly is inspiring to see
Speaker 1: how God has worked in your lives, and it encourages
Speaker 1: me just as much as I hope to encourage you.
Speaker 1: So today I want to share a note from Heather,
Speaker 1: who has been discovering the incredible benefits of studying God's
Speaker 1: word every day. Heather wrote to me, she said, Hi,
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick, a friend of mine recently sent me your
Speaker 1: podcast and I've been feeling lost and helpless and I
Speaker 1: didn't I wasn't sure what to pray, or how to pray,
Speaker 1: or when to pray. And it's like I hit a
Speaker 1: wall and I haven't been sure how to get back
Speaker 1: on track. Well, your message really spoke truth to me,
Speaker 1: and it made me realize the missing pieces I had
Speaker 1: in my life because I was not in God's Word daily.
Speaker 1: I was basically living my life without God and I
Speaker 1: was trying to do everything on my own. Well, Pastor Rick,
Speaker 1: it goes without saying that doing life without God has
Speaker 1: been miserable failure. So thank you for stirring the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit in my heart with the words that I needed
Speaker 1: to hear. I have now made the commitment to read
Speaker 1: God's Word every day and to pray daily, and I
Speaker 1: even started praying in the cars I go about my day.
Speaker 1: Just like you, it's hard for me to close my
Speaker 1: eyes and not fall asleep. You were listening. Please keep
Speaker 1: doing what you're doing and reaching people who really need
Speaker 1: to hear about Jesus and God's love. Well, Heather, I
Speaker 1: am so glad to hear that you're back in God's
Speaker 1: word and that you're making it a part of your
Speaker 1: daily life. There really isn't anything more important than deepening
Speaker 1: your relationship with Him, and I love the fact that
Speaker 1: you are praying every day, especially keeping your eyes open
Speaker 1: while you're driving. Do you or somebody know or even
Speaker 1: feel lost yourself like Heather once did? Well, the best
Speaker 1: way to find hope and strength is by staying connected
Speaker 1: to God every day.
Speaker 2: That's the purpose of.
Speaker 1: Daily Hope and that's why I started it, to help
Speaker 1: people like Heather dive into God's Word and experience his
Speaker 1: encouragement on a daily basis. Now, our Daily Hope devotionals
Speaker 1: and our podcasts are completely free and they're delivered straight
Speaker 1: to your inbox every morning. So if you're not getting these,
Speaker 1: sign up today and start each day with biblical wisdom
Speaker 1: and encouragement from God's Word.
Speaker 2: Hey, would you like to sign up for Pastor Rick's
Speaker 2: email devotional You can just scan the QR code or
Speaker 2: go to dailyhopetv dot com.
Speaker 1: Jesus was hated by many people. He was loved by sinners,
Speaker 1: but he was hated by people who didn't like goodness.
Speaker 1: Evil always hates goodness, and the Bible says this on
Speaker 1: the screen John three nineteen. The light from Heaven came
Speaker 1: into the world.
Speaker 2: That's Jesus. He said, I am the light of the world.
Speaker 1: But people love their darkness more than light because it
Speaker 1: hides their evil action. You know, if I've been sitting
Speaker 1: in the dark for ten hours and you come in
Speaker 1: and you turn on a big spotlight on me.
Speaker 2: That's not comfortable. That's very uncomfortable.
Speaker 1: When you've been living in the dark all your life
Speaker 1: and somebody comes and turns on the light. Guess what,
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel good at first, and on second thought,
Speaker 1: you see what a mess room is. Jesus said, I'm
Speaker 1: the light of the world, and he said this, you're
Speaker 1: the light of the world. It's still true today, he said,
Speaker 1: people still love darkness more than the light. You know,
Speaker 1: you may have never thought about this, but it may
Speaker 1: shock you to realize that if Jesus came and walked
Speaker 1: on the earth today, we'd crucify him today. Our culture
Speaker 1: would crucify Jesus today. We're no different than any other culture. Why,
Speaker 1: because darkness can't stand light and evil can't stand goodness. Now,
Speaker 1: what that means is this, even if you were perfect,
Speaker 1: there are people who aren't going to like you. Some
Speaker 1: of you have this myth in your mind. If I'm
Speaker 1: just more wins, if I'm just more likable, if I'm
Speaker 1: just more perfect, then everybody you'll love me. Jesus was
Speaker 1: perfect and people hated him. So you're never going to
Speaker 1: get to the point where everybody loves you and likes you.
Speaker 2: That's just not going to happen.
Speaker 1: The other thing we learned from this verse is that
Speaker 1: opposition means that you're doing something right. You're obviously being
Speaker 1: like Jesus in that moment, and he said, if they
Speaker 1: didn't like me, then they're not going to like you.
Speaker 1: The Bible says, this is one Peter four fourteen. If
Speaker 1: you're abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate.
Speaker 2: Why? He says, it's the spirit of God.
Speaker 1: In you and His glory in you that brought you
Speaker 1: to the notice of others. So you say, when you're criticized,
Speaker 1: when you're judged, when you're ridiculed, when you're slighted, He's going, congratulations,
Speaker 1: consider to confirmation and a compliment. If nobody has ever
Speaker 1: criticized you for your faith, what is that saying about
Speaker 1: your faith?
Speaker 2: You don't have.
Speaker 1: Any If being like Christ, the Bible says over and
Speaker 1: over will bring criticism. If you're never criticized, I should
Speaker 1: ask myself, then, how much like Christ?
Speaker 2: Am I? What's wrong with me? Why is nobody noticing
Speaker 2: my faith?
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've noticed this, but the more
Speaker 1: positive you are, the more negative people dislike you. And
Speaker 1: if you get up in the morning and you're really positive.
Speaker 1: If somebody wakes up in their grumpy they don't want
Speaker 1: you to be positive. They want you to be negative too,
Speaker 1: and that happens. So the first thing I need to
Speaker 1: realize is that Jesus was criticized. Jesus was maligned, he
Speaker 1: was attacked. So the more I'm like Jesus, it just
Speaker 1: means I'm It's a sign, it's a symbol, it's a
Speaker 1: confirmation and a compliment. Second thing you need to remember
Speaker 1: this opposition will deepen my faith. Opposition will actually deepen
Speaker 1: my faith. It's how your faith grows.
Speaker 2: It's like the way you grow a muscle.
Speaker 1: A muscle is grown not by sitting in a chair
Speaker 1: and eating popcorn.
Speaker 2: A muscles grown.
Speaker 1: By stretching it, by straining it, by testing it. If
Speaker 1: you've ever gone to a gym and worked out, and
Speaker 1: obviously many of you haven't, then you know that the
Speaker 1: way you grow a muscle is by straining it, by
Speaker 1: stretching it, by pressuring it, by putting tension against it
Speaker 1: and having weight pull in the opposite direction. You're never
Speaker 1: going to grow any muscle if no weight's ever pulling
Speaker 1: in the opposite direction. So opposition strengthens your faith. It
Speaker 1: deepens your faith. You have no opposition in your life,
Speaker 1: then you have no growing faith. And it is without
Speaker 1: a doubt that the strongest believers in the world right
Speaker 1: now are those who.
Speaker 2: Are having their faith tested the most.
Speaker 1: One Peter four one seven says this, these troubles that
Speaker 1: you're going through will prove that your faith is genuine.
Speaker 1: Just as gold is purified by fire and heat. Circle
Speaker 1: that phrase, fire and heat. Just as gold is purified
Speaker 1: by fire and heat, so your faith, which is far
Speaker 1: more precious than gold, must also be purified by fire.
Speaker 1: By this fire, and when the heat's on, and when
Speaker 1: you're holding your feet to the fire, so it may endure.
Speaker 1: And he says, what happens when opposition deepens my faith?
Speaker 1: He says, then here's the result. You'll receive praise. You'll
Speaker 1: receive praise, you'll receive glory, and and you'll receive honor
Speaker 1: on the day when Jesus Christ is.
Speaker 2: Revealed to the whole world. Your rewards are coming one day.
Speaker 1: If you stand the heat, if you stand the fire,
Speaker 1: if you let opposition deepen your faith, it makes me
Speaker 1: more like Jesus, and it deepens my faith. And the
Speaker 1: third thing it does opposition will give me eternal rewards.
Speaker 1: No opposition you miss out on those rewards and eternity.
Speaker 1: Now we come to the last of the eight beatitudes,
Speaker 1: which we've been studying now for many, many weeks. We've
Speaker 1: been studying this for a long time. And in the
Speaker 1: last one, Jesus deals with how to deal with opposition,
Speaker 1: and he says this, God blesses those who are persecuted
Speaker 1: because they live for Me. The kingdom of Heaven will
Speaker 1: be theirs. That's quite a guarantee. You will be blessed when,
Speaker 1: not if when people insult you and persecute you and
Speaker 1: falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me,
Speaker 1: notice three different things there. Rejoice and be glad, because
Speaker 1: great is your reward in heaven, for in the same
Speaker 1: way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. And
Speaker 1: he says, I'm gonna bless anybody who's persecuted because they
Speaker 1: live for God. Notice you don't get rewarded for being rude,
Speaker 1: you don't get rewarded for being obnoxious. There are people
Speaker 1: out in the world who live very self righteous lives,
Speaker 1: and they're looking down on everybody and putting everybody else down.
Speaker 1: And when you put other people down, and guess what
Speaker 1: they're gonna put you down. And if you live a
Speaker 1: self righteous, nuisance, rude life, when you get persecuted, you're
Speaker 1: not a martyr. You're just a jerk. He's not saying
Speaker 1: you get rewarded for being a jerk. There are people
Speaker 1: out there who are pushy, they're nuisances, they're rude. And
Speaker 1: I said, they're self righteous. They think they're better than
Speaker 1: everybody else. He says, Now, you don't get rewarded for that.
Speaker 1: You get rewarded for being like Jesus. And the Bible
Speaker 1: tells us that when you share your faith, you're to
Speaker 1: do it with gentleness and you're to do it with respect.
Speaker 1: So these are the three things that need to remember
Speaker 1: whenever harassment comes in my life.
Speaker 2: It can make me more like Jesus.
Speaker 1: It can deepen my faith, and I'm going to be
Speaker 1: rewarded for it in eternity, forever and ever and ever. Now,
Speaker 1: there are six things you need to do as America
Speaker 1: becomes more and more anti Christian and more and more secularized. Now,
Speaker 1: the Bible says, what are we supposed to do? And
Speaker 1: it tells us six things. You might write these down
Speaker 1: here's what you do when you handle opposition for your faith.
Speaker 2: Number one, don't be surprised. Don't be surprised.
Speaker 1: You should not expect the world to support your decision
Speaker 1: to follow Jesus. Why would you expect them to think
Speaker 1: that's oh, that's a real popular thing to do. One
Speaker 1: Peter four to twelve says, dear friends, don't be surprised.
Speaker 1: Don't be shocked when you go through painful trials that
Speaker 1: are like walking through fire, as though something unusual is
Speaker 1: happening to you. Jesus had told us. He said, in
Speaker 1: the world, you're going to have tribulation. It's going to happen.
Speaker 1: So don't be surprised. Number two, don't be afraid. So
Speaker 1: don't be afraid. Now, how do I get rid of
Speaker 1: the fear of opposition? How do I get rid of
Speaker 1: the fear of disapproval? How do I get afraid? How
Speaker 1: do I get rid of that fear of being rejected?
Speaker 1: You need to be filled with God's love. The more
Speaker 1: you realize how much God loves you, The Bible says
Speaker 1: there's no fear in love. Perfect love cast out all fear.
Speaker 1: You focus on God's love for you. See, healthy people
Speaker 1: aren't afraid of rejection. Healthy people aren't afraid of disapproval.
Speaker 1: Healthy people don't need everybody's approval. Healthy people know their
Speaker 1: love by God. The Bible says in verse Peter three,
Speaker 1: sixteen thirteen to sixteen, if you suffer for doing what
Speaker 1: is right, God will reward you for it. So don't
Speaker 1: be afraid and don't worry. Instead, worship Christ as Lord
Speaker 1: of your life. And if you are asked about your
Speaker 1: Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. And circle
Speaker 1: the word worry and the word worship. Those are the
Speaker 1: two alternatives you have when you feel put down, when
Speaker 1: you feel pressured to be quiet about your faith in Christ.
Speaker 1: You can either worry or you can worship. You can
Speaker 1: panic or you can pray. You can focus on the
Speaker 1: problem and the pressure and the persecution, or you can
Speaker 1: focus on God. He says, turn your attention away from
Speaker 1: the pressure you feel and turn it toward God. That's
Speaker 1: what worship is, focusing on God. The Bible tells us
Speaker 1: in the Bible that when Stephen, who was the first martyr,
Speaker 1: was stoned to death, it said he looked up into
Speaker 1: Heaven he worshiped instead of worried. As they were throwing
Speaker 1: all those rocks at him that killed him. So don't
Speaker 1: be surprised, And he says, don't be afraid. Worship instead
Speaker 1: of worry. Number three, he says, don't be ashamed. Don't
Speaker 1: be ashamed. You should never be embarrassed for standing for
Speaker 1: the truth. Never be embarrassed for doing what's right. One
Speaker 1: Peter four sixteen says, it's no shame. You shouldn't be ashamed.
Speaker 1: It's no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Instead,
Speaker 1: thank God for the privilege of being called by his name.
Speaker 2: Question, is an.
Speaker 1: Insult gonna kill you? No is a put down gonna
Speaker 1: kill you. No is somebody calling you a name or
Speaker 1: labeling you something because you've made a stand for Christ
Speaker 1: and for what the Bible says. No is somebody some
Speaker 1: troll on the internet who's trying to bait you and
Speaker 1: get you in an argument. Is that gonna hurt you? No,
Speaker 1: it's not. It's not gonna kill you. So he says,
Speaker 1: don't be ashamed, don't be afraid, don't be surprised. Now,
Speaker 1: I want you to write this sentence down, and if
Speaker 1: you get this, it will liberate your life. I don't
Speaker 1: need other people's approval to be happy. If you learn this,
Speaker 1: if this is all you get in today's message, it'll
Speaker 1: change your life because otherwise you are living your life
Speaker 1: for what other people think rather than what God made
Speaker 1: you to be. And you can't be who God made
Speaker 1: you to be if you're worried about pleasing other people