Remaining Faithful to Jesus....No Matter What! | Matthew 24:9 | August 8, 2024

[00:00:00] We'll truth, Daily This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman.

[00:01:00] Celebrate and rejoice that were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the gospel, and then what? They just kept on proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. In Acts 7, Stephen gave this powerful and penetrating and probing sermon, letting the people know, especially

[00:01:18] the Jewish leaders, that they were responsible for the crucifixion of the Son of God. He pointed them that Jesus was the Messiah, and they hated His speech. They were disconcerted by His words, and what did they do? They took them outside the city,

[00:01:36] and they stoned Him to death. Fulfilling those words that Jesus spoke. No, yes, 11 as you know, 11 out of the 12 disciples died a martyr's death for the sake of the gospel. Confessing the name of Jesus, they said, we will remain faithful to

[00:01:53] Christ no matter what, even to the point of death. Now in the early church, many Jews converted to Christianity, and as a result of that, they were hated, ostracized, and in many cases put to death fulfilling what Jesus said here in these words. Now we know that

[00:02:12] persecution is happening today in the world, especially in Africa and China. And even though we may not be persecuted to that point yet here in the United States, we can pray for those

[00:02:24] people and help out in any way we can. We know there are many agencies who are supporting and praying for and sending money to persecuted Christians in these far-off places, and we should be a part of supporting those efforts as well. And yes, we shouldn't be

[00:02:44] surprised here in the United States if we as Christians are hated, we shouldn't be shocked by that. However, we shouldn't withdraw from associating ourselves with non-believers. Otherwise, how in the world would they ever hear about Jesus? Are they going to go to church?

[00:03:02] If there are atheists, absolutely not. If there are agnostics, absolutely not. If they've read all the liberal media stuff about how the gospel has just made up, absolutely not. So we need to continue to build relationships with unbelieving people so that they too might

[00:03:20] see Jesus in us and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us might see the attractiveness of the gospel as we carry out the fruits of the Spirit might have their interest peak so

[00:03:32] that they start to ask questions, what is it that's different about you? We don't know when persecution is going to come here in the United States to the degree that it has

[00:03:43] in Africa and China. Could it happen? Yes. Could it happen in our lifetime? Yes. But I think of those words found in the book of Revelation and those words can encourage us and

[00:03:56] build this up in the faith as well. There are these words, be faithful and to Christ even to the point of death and I'll give thee a crown of life. No matter what happens, no matter

[00:04:09] what persecution comes our way, no matter what kind of trials we face, no matter how difficult life gets, we will remain faithful to Jesus Christ. No matter what, amen? Amen. Let it be

[00:04:27] so and let it be done to the glory of God's holy and saving name and that is today's daily truth. Have a great rest of the day in the Lord Jesus Christ.