Matthew 10:16-31
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. 26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
When Jesus had finished his great saving work, and had laid down his life to save millions and millions of people who would believe in him, and had risen from the dead, he gave this final mandate to his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
That mandate—to go and make disciples of all the peoples of the world—is as valid today as the promise that supports it: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” If the promise is valid today, then the mandate is valid today. And the promise is valid because it’s good, Jesus said, “to the end of the age.” So until Jesus returns the promise holds that he will be with us. And that promise is the basis of the mandate, and so the mandate holds today. Jesus is commanding us—commanding Bethlehem—“Go make disciples of all nations.”
The Apostle Paul’s Ambition: Frontier Missions
The apostle Paul is the most prominent missionary in the New Testament. He gave his life in obedience to Jesus’ mandate. He said in Romans 15:20-21, “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.’”
This is the difference between and local evangelist and a frontier missionary. Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:5, “Do the work of an evangelist.” That means: As the pastor of a local church in a place where the gospel as already taken root, keep on winning people to Jesus. They may know about Christianity and live near lots of Christians there in Ephesus, but keep on evangelizing them. Tell them the gospel. Show them love. Keep on trying to win them. That’s local evangelism. And all of us should be a part of it.
But this is not what we mean by frontier missions. Frontier missions is what Paul did: “I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.” Frontier missions is crossing a culture to plant the church where the gospel has not already taken root. This is the mandate that is still valid for us today. The job is not done. And the word of our risen king Jesus is binding on us today as much as when he first gave it.
Unreached People Groups
This is why we speak of unreached people groups. The most helpful website I know of for understanding and researching the unreached peoples of the world is the Joshua Project. It lists a total of 15,965 people groups in the world. Of these, 6,434 are still unreached, defining unreached as a “people group among which there is no indigenous community of believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize this people group”—which means, in their definition, fewer than 2% evangelical Christian.
So Jesus gave the mandate to us to make disciples of all these groups, and Paul modeled what frontier missions looks like, making it his ambition to proclaim the gospel where the church was not already planted. And today the mandate holds (“Make disciples of all nations”), and the promise holds (“I will be with you to the end of the age”), and the stakes are eternal (“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him,” John 3:36).
Who Will Go?
So the question is, “Who will go? Who will proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ where the church is not yet planted and flourishing? Should I go? I ask myself this at least once a year. And I mean it seriously. I am willing to go. I think every follower of Jesus is bound by the cords of love and obedience to say, “I am willing to follow you wherever you lead me.” Every believer in Jesus should say, “Here am I, send me, if that is your will.”
It is not the Lord’s will that all of his followers be frontier missionaries. But some he calls. How he does it is a wonderful and mysterious thing. No one can explain how the work of God in your life rises to the level of a compelling call to missions. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it is marvelous and unfathomable in our eyes. But this we know, from Scripture and from church history and experience, that one of the instruments God uses to awaken a compelling calling to missions is the preaching of the word of God. And specifically the preaching of passages of Scripture that describe the mandate and its costs and blessings. So that is what I want to do in the time we have left.
The Coming of the Son of Man to Judge Israel
In Matthew 10:16-33, Jesus is telling his disciples what it will cost to bear faithful witness and make disciples in the coming years and what blessings they can count on to sustain them. The text relates directly to the next forty years after he departs, but it is true in principle for the rest of the age. He says in verse 23, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” I don’t understand the “coming of the Son of Man” in this verse as the second coming of Christ. If it were, this text would be false.
Just like the New Testament speaks of the coming of the kingdom of God in several stages and manifestations, it also helps to think of the coming of the Son of Man in several stages and manifestations. He came to earth the first time and died; he came as the risen Christ from the dead; he came in judgment in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Romans armies; he has come in power from time to time in Great Awakenings. And he will come in visible bodily form at the end of the age. So I take Matthew 10:23 to refer probably to the coming in judgment in AD 70. “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes to judge the Israel”—which happened in a decisive way forty years later.
A Fearless Witness in the Face of Danger
But the fact that these verses refer directly to the work of spreading the gospel to unreached people between AD 30 and 70 does not mean they are irrelevant for us. What Jesus says about the cost and the blessings of the missionary mandate in these verses is true today. And his main point is crystal clear: Be a fearless witness in the face of danger. My prayer, as I draw your attention to it, is that the Holy Spirit would use it awaken or confirm his calling on your life.
Six Costs of Frontier Missions
This text powerfully speaks for itself. So let me, without too much comment, focus our attention on six costs and ten blessings of being on the frontline of frontier missions. These difficulties are the kind of thing we may expect today even if in God’s forbearance we may be spared some of them. First the costs.
1. The cost of being arrested by authorities. Verses 16-18: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”
2. The cost of family betrayal. Verse 21: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.” This is almost unbelievable: Fathers and children will so be so opposed to the Christian faith, they will want each other dead rather than believing.
3. The cost of being hated by all. Verse 22: “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Be careful that you don’t elevate friendship evangelism to the point where this text makes evangelism impossible. You will be hated by all does not mean: You can’t do evangelism.
4. The cost of being persecuted and driven out of town. Verse 23: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.”
5. The cost of being maligned. Verse 25b: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” Jesus died in our place so that we might escape the wrath of God, not the wrath of man. He was called to suffer for the sake of propitiation; we are called to suffer for the sake of propagation.
6. The cost of being killed. Verse 28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” So they can kill the body. And sometimes they do. Don’t ever elevate safety in missions to the point where you assume that if one of our missionaries is killed we have made a mistake. Jesus said plainly in Luke 21:16, “Some of you they will put to death.”
For two thousand years, thousands of missionaries—unnamed people of whom the world is not worthy—have counted this cost and put their lives at risk to reach the lost with the only message of salvation in the world. And the reason they could do this is because the blessings so outweigh the costs.
Ten Blessings of Frontier Missions
May the Lord make these ten blessings that I am about to name overcome all your fears and give you a passion to know him like this.
1. The blessing of being sent by Christ. Verse 16: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” “I am sending you out.” It is deeply satisfying thing to be sent by the living Christ into his work.
2. The blessing of being given words by the Spirit of God. Verses 19-20: “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” What a wonderful thing it is to sense the presence and power of the Spirit in your life, giving you the words you need.
3. The blessing of experiencing God’s fatherly care. Verse 20b: “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” Jesus makes explicit that the one caring for you is your Father in heaven. You may have to leave father and mother to be a missionary. But you will always have a Father who cares for you.
4. The blessing of salvation at the end of it all. Verse 22b: “But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” When all the costs have been paid, we will have the great end of salvation. We will be raised from the dead with no sorrow or pain or sin, and we will see Christ and enter in to his joy and hear the words, in spite of all our imperfections, “Well done.”
5. The blessing of knowing that the Son of Man is coming in judgment and mercy. Verse 23b: “You will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” This was a great encouragement to those persecuted disciples. Jesus comes at just the right time in historical judgments and deliverances, and he will come at the last day and vindicate all his people.
6. The blessing of belonging to Jesus’ household. Verse 25b: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.” Whatever rejection we may experience, Jesus wants us to be sure we are ever aware: This rejection is a sign that you are mine. You are part of my household.
7. The blessing of knowing that the truth will triumph. Verse 26: “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” Nothing is hidden that will not be known. For a season in this world, people will mock your proclamation of the truth. They will say, “What is truth!” But know this, and hold fast to this blessing: The truth will be known. Your proclamation will be vindicated. “Nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” Count on it. What is scoffed at now will be written across the sky someday. And one minute of that vindication before all your enemies will make every act of patient endurance worthwhile.
8. The blessing of having an immortal soul. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” The soul of the Christian is indestructible. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). We have already passed from death to life. Henry Martyn, the missionary to Persia, said that he was immortal until his work on earth was done. True. And he would have also agreed that in the fuller sense: You are immortal after your work on earth is done. That is Jesus’ point here.
9. The blessing of having a heavenly Father who sovereignly rules the smallest details of life. Verse 29: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” Jesus mentions the fall of a sparrow to the ground because nothing seemed more insignificant than that. Yet God, your Father, oversees that and governs that. So you may always know that your Father, who loves you as his precious child, oversees and governs every detail of your life.
10. The blessing of being valued by God. Verse 31: “Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” God does not despise his children. He values his children. For two reasons: One is that in union with Jesus Christ all of his perfection is imputed to us. The other is that by the Spirit, we are being changed from one degree of glory to the next, and God loves the sanctifying work of his own hands. He delights in what we are becoming.
God’s Call to Frontier Missions
How does God call people to give their lives in missions? He does it, along with other influences, by the mysterious and wonderful awakening of fear-conquering desire for the work through the preaching of his word. He does it by helping us count the costs so there is no romantic naiveté about missions. And he does it by filling us with a longing to know these blessings to the full.
For many of you God has been doing this for some time now. And this message is a seal to what has already been done. For others of you, this message has awakened a new sense of calling. And you really believe God is stirring you to go. May the Lord confirm his work in your life.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Questions for the discouraged Christian Worker
CHRISTIAN WORKER, DO YOU EVER GET DISCOURAGED BECAUSE SOME FOLK LAUGH AT YOU AS YOU PUBLICLY IDENTIFY WITH THE CAUSE OF CHRIST?
You stand in the street at an open air meeting, or giving out tracts or whatever, and you become the target of a sneer. A crowd goes past and someone cracks a joke at your expense - a cruel jibe designed to inflict hurt as opposed to good natured banter - and you are almost ready to pack the witness in. If so…consider the following:1) Who is laughing at you? Perhaps one of what the writer of the Book of Acts called "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort" (Acts 17:5) It need not be Pharisaical to view them (if applicable) as Job did in chapter 30 of his book. Quite a number of observations flow from the lips of this holy man of God: that they were children of fools and base men (v8) whose fathers he disdained to set even among the dogs (v1) viler than the earth (v8) Is it a shame on you that such should but mock you in passing? Job complained that they spat upon him - into his face - and perpetuated the abuse into the lyrics of a song which became a by word (v10)
2) OK perhaps it is not a crowd of yobs, but someone very respectable. A college professor or a well to do person who sneers at your stand. Does this radically change the situation? Such betrays his standing in society. Nabal was a very well to do business man (1 Samuel 25) with much going for him. But when he sneered at David and his stand for God, he but denigrated himself and lived up to his name which means "folly"
3) Consider their laughter. It is the laughter of a fool which is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, and also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 7:6) Does such laughter worry you? John Gill comments on this point: "As the noise and sound of the one under a pot is very short, they make a blaze for a while, and is soon over; so though the laughter of a fool is loud and noisy, it makes no melody, no more than the noise of thorns; and is but for a moment, and will be soon changed for weeping and howling, which will last for ever; Job 20:5 "
4) Remember what the Bible further declares of such laughter: Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. Answer me this. Would you like to possess such humour as theirs? Where does it lead? What is the end of such humour? Not merely that it dies out. That would be bad enough. But the end of such humour is sorrow and depression. Their barbed wit is momentarily. It will soon past and they will pick on someone else…indeed it is likely that they pick on one within their own number for such society cannot live in peace among themselves, being like the troubled sea that cannot find rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
5) Why do they pick on you? It is not you personally, but Christ in you that is so obnoxious to them. Why do they hate Christ? Did He not die for the ungodly? Did He not provide for such as them a road to escape the madness of their sin? If a mentally deranged person made you a target of his sense of fun, would you be offended? Would you think less of yourself? Would you not put it all into perspective and realise that such humour has no real basis in normal society? The laughter of the ungodly against you is equally unfounded. Such is spiritually deranged. Those who sneer at you only denigrate themselves. They are laughing at wisdom. Your embracing of the truth as it is in Jesus is like Noah entering into the ark. By doing so, he condemned the world (Hebrews 11:7) Your stand for the Bible upsets the wicked because the Bible condemns their sin. It condemned your sin too, but you have made peace with God which shows that it can be done. Your decision to follow Christ only highlights and further condemns their refusal to do so. Hence the sneer. * See below (No.16 for additional thoughts on Noah)
6) Notice how the sneer has replaced the reasoned arguments. What does this tell you? What argument is there for following in the way that leads to death? Even if they insist on following such a road, what reason can they give to have you leave the right way to go with them? A sneer often covers up a bankrupt mind void of any reasoning. It is bad manners to sneer - a thought for Christians too! Be careful never to sneer at anyone. Yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal…(1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1) You may oppose, but do not wrap your opposition in a sneer. Such tactics denigrate the worth of your argument. The Lord Jesus did not sneer. True, he said some pretty hard things against individuals ("that fox" meaning Herod: Luke 13:32) and different groups ("Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Matthew 23) but these are not sneers. The sneer is found in the attitude that gives rise to the words. If you must oppose, do so in a manner befitting the cause you are seeking to defend.
7) Note how mockers usually need a crowd before engaging in vilification. All pure show feeding their vanity. How many actually laugh? By contrast, especially if you are standing on your own, you need no human eye to praise. You look further ahead to the praise that matters - that of God. The scoffer on his own might well be a different kettle of fish. No false courage now to back him up. No friends to give him support…perhaps a very lonely character indeed. What help does his scoffing give him then?
8) Often the chief mocker goes too far…and sickens one of his own. What is acceptable to one man is often unacceptable to another. The writer has witnessed the friends of mockers almost pulling away the chief mocker and rebuking him. The devil often oversteps himself. Always remember that God is in control. I think it was Calvin who observed that the Devil may go about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour…but there is a bit in his mouth and God holds the reins. It has not been unknown for a companion of the mocker to quietly apologise afterwards for the embarrassing behaviour of a friend. But such will largely depend on your response. You have nothing to lose if being reviled, you revile not again. Reviling should not be confused with rebuking. A rebuke can be delivered graciously without a raised voice or bitter words or recriminations.
9) Even if you have a loner…is this what he gets his kicks out of? Opposing that which is good and wholesome and godly. Rather infantile is it not? Inflicting his godless views upon you who has chosen the better road. Not even "views" in any reasoned way, but words usually loaded with lies and innuendoes but very little if any of logic or fact. When he has finished his harangue, ask him has he exhausted his repertoire? Show him a more excellent way. Ask him is he willing to sit down - say over a coffee - and discuss what he is offering you and compare it with what you are offering him. It may be that his scorning is a cry for help. If he cannot so much as defend and explain his hostility to you or the gospel, then it is an further admission of the bankruptcy of his views. Be sure to tell him so!
10) Onlookers observing your response may be impressed with your response. Follow the determination of the Psalmist who wrote: "I said, I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me." (39:1) This might lead to that situation spoken of in 1 Peter 3:1 where a soul "may without the word [of God] be won by the conversation [life]" i.e. where the life seems to speak louder than words…although obviously the word of God must come in sooner or later. Peter however is elevating the power and influence of a godly life (v2)
11) The darker the night, the brighter the light shines. Spurgeon said that every star is precious in the darkest night. The rudeness of the other will make your decency look even better! We mentioned Noah above (No.5) What makes Noah stand out is that he stood practically alone. Even when Elijah thought he stood alone, God assured him that there another seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Not so Noah. Only seven others joined him in the ark. How his life for God would have stood out in the midst of a scene harrowingly described in Genesis 6:5. Let this really encourage you if loneliness overtakes you in the work of God or you are being verbally assaulted (or worse) It is another case of the Devil over stepping himself and God in His sovereignty overruling.
12) The mocker riding on the wave of his own glory will soon betray his folly verbally, perhaps giving an opportunity to expose such & preach truth. Just sit back and listen. The lie must always be exposed. It is only a matter of time, and experience will teach you to detect, expose and exploit the world's folly. [Click here to go to our page which deals with this very subject] There is an old principle that the bigger they are, the harder they fall and this is true when they feel they are on the crest of the wave. Preface your remarks with something like: "Hold on mate. You've got problems with that. What about…? It doesn't add up does it? But the Bible does. The Bible says…" The Lord Jesus used this method very effectively when the Sadducees sought - with an element of mockery - to overthrow the Bible teaching of the resurrection. They assumed that the Bible taught that there would be marriage in Heaven (and thought wrong) Their whole argument depended on it and was easily toppled. Note how the Lord Jesus very effectively silenced them - to the marvel of all men - in the silence that followed their downfall. Ride out the storm and then come out of the bunker with all guns blazing! Truth is on your side. Although it might be temporarily fallen in the streets…it can't stay there for ever.
13) Suppose you did keep silent - or quit - how long for? Perhaps some day you come home really discouraged. In your hurt, you say that you will no longer put your head over the parapet and you take it a lot easier. Jeremiah tried that one when the going got tough. Listen to his words: Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. (Jeremiah 20:9) It is not really the answer. If you have a bad day… do what the disciples of John did when they laid the decapitated body of their master in the grave (a most discouraging moment) They "went and told Jesus" (Matthew 14:13) Tell Him of your sorrows (Psalm 55:22/1 Peter 5:7) and then put it all behind you and get out again. Every war has its causalities. Every war sees individual battles won and individual battles lost. Remember that over all we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37)
14) Suppose you were so discouraged as to turn back altogether? I mean: Pack in the whole matter of being a Christian? It is possible that the pressure being brought to bear upon you may even bring you to that position. In your heart of hearts you know that this is the road to nowhere. What are you going back (note the word) to? The old ways of sin? The lack of peace that passeth all understanding? A conscience full of guilt and overflowing? Do you think that would bring you peace even with your tormentors? It is likely that they would pick on something else. They would not even be content that they had drawn you aside, but would probably throw it up into your face. On a practical note…remember that you do not have to take mockery of your faith if you are in the workplace or school or wherever. Does the attacks upon you amount to practical bullying? If so, then you have recourse to the proper authorities, even if secular. The state is ordained of God (Romans 13) to protect you. Obviously, we are speaking about extreme cases.
15) Such trial, like any trial, only serves to toughen you and make you a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When you think of good soldiers - crack regiments - you think of awesome training grounds with assault courses and screaming Sargent Majors etc., You do not tend to think of afternoon teas in drawing rooms. If you are under the attack of a sneering mocker...let the experience toughen you. See it as training for the day when evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13) The old soldiers look at their medals with pride. They remember the various battles they fought. Do thou likewise. It will help you face the next one. With the whole armour of God...you cannot lose.
16) I remember preaching once on Noah building the ark. I thought of the various people who would "come from miles around" to see what all the hammering was about and to certify the rumours: "You're joking, aren't you. Is this a wind up?" First of all when Noah told them what he was doing, they would have said: "Noah…you'll never build it!" Then when its huge frame dominated the sky line, the second line of attack would be: "Noah…you'll never float it!" Probably when the rains came and the huge vessel was lifted up by the waves, I'm pretty sure, someone managed to thump the side with his fist and cry defiantly ere he drowned: "Noah…you'll never survive it!" Always remember, they all with one accord began to make excuse. Don't be disappointed if you don't get the last word…be content to leave that privilege to God. Remember, there is coming a day when the every mouth will be stopped and the whole world will become guilty before God (Romans 3:19)
17) I read recently a quote from John F. Kennedy who said: "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." If a worldly man can think like this…how much more the child of God? Paul saw his imprisonment (surely a crisis?) merely as another means of furthering the gospel (Philippians 1:12) If you are being scorned…see that it is part of the all things that work together for good (Romans 8:28)
You stand in the street at an open air meeting, or giving out tracts or whatever, and you become the target of a sneer. A crowd goes past and someone cracks a joke at your expense - a cruel jibe designed to inflict hurt as opposed to good natured banter - and you are almost ready to pack the witness in. If so…consider the following:1) Who is laughing at you? Perhaps one of what the writer of the Book of Acts called "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort" (Acts 17:5) It need not be Pharisaical to view them (if applicable) as Job did in chapter 30 of his book. Quite a number of observations flow from the lips of this holy man of God: that they were children of fools and base men (v8) whose fathers he disdained to set even among the dogs (v1) viler than the earth (v8) Is it a shame on you that such should but mock you in passing? Job complained that they spat upon him - into his face - and perpetuated the abuse into the lyrics of a song which became a by word (v10)
2) OK perhaps it is not a crowd of yobs, but someone very respectable. A college professor or a well to do person who sneers at your stand. Does this radically change the situation? Such betrays his standing in society. Nabal was a very well to do business man (1 Samuel 25) with much going for him. But when he sneered at David and his stand for God, he but denigrated himself and lived up to his name which means "folly"
3) Consider their laughter. It is the laughter of a fool which is as the crackling of thorns under a pot, and also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 7:6) Does such laughter worry you? John Gill comments on this point: "As the noise and sound of the one under a pot is very short, they make a blaze for a while, and is soon over; so though the laughter of a fool is loud and noisy, it makes no melody, no more than the noise of thorns; and is but for a moment, and will be soon changed for weeping and howling, which will last for ever; Job 20:5 "
4) Remember what the Bible further declares of such laughter: Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness. Answer me this. Would you like to possess such humour as theirs? Where does it lead? What is the end of such humour? Not merely that it dies out. That would be bad enough. But the end of such humour is sorrow and depression. Their barbed wit is momentarily. It will soon past and they will pick on someone else…indeed it is likely that they pick on one within their own number for such society cannot live in peace among themselves, being like the troubled sea that cannot find rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
5) Why do they pick on you? It is not you personally, but Christ in you that is so obnoxious to them. Why do they hate Christ? Did He not die for the ungodly? Did He not provide for such as them a road to escape the madness of their sin? If a mentally deranged person made you a target of his sense of fun, would you be offended? Would you think less of yourself? Would you not put it all into perspective and realise that such humour has no real basis in normal society? The laughter of the ungodly against you is equally unfounded. Such is spiritually deranged. Those who sneer at you only denigrate themselves. They are laughing at wisdom. Your embracing of the truth as it is in Jesus is like Noah entering into the ark. By doing so, he condemned the world (Hebrews 11:7) Your stand for the Bible upsets the wicked because the Bible condemns their sin. It condemned your sin too, but you have made peace with God which shows that it can be done. Your decision to follow Christ only highlights and further condemns their refusal to do so. Hence the sneer. * See below (No.16 for additional thoughts on Noah)
6) Notice how the sneer has replaced the reasoned arguments. What does this tell you? What argument is there for following in the way that leads to death? Even if they insist on following such a road, what reason can they give to have you leave the right way to go with them? A sneer often covers up a bankrupt mind void of any reasoning. It is bad manners to sneer - a thought for Christians too! Be careful never to sneer at anyone. Yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal…(1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1) You may oppose, but do not wrap your opposition in a sneer. Such tactics denigrate the worth of your argument. The Lord Jesus did not sneer. True, he said some pretty hard things against individuals ("that fox" meaning Herod: Luke 13:32) and different groups ("Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Matthew 23) but these are not sneers. The sneer is found in the attitude that gives rise to the words. If you must oppose, do so in a manner befitting the cause you are seeking to defend.
7) Note how mockers usually need a crowd before engaging in vilification. All pure show feeding their vanity. How many actually laugh? By contrast, especially if you are standing on your own, you need no human eye to praise. You look further ahead to the praise that matters - that of God. The scoffer on his own might well be a different kettle of fish. No false courage now to back him up. No friends to give him support…perhaps a very lonely character indeed. What help does his scoffing give him then?
8) Often the chief mocker goes too far…and sickens one of his own. What is acceptable to one man is often unacceptable to another. The writer has witnessed the friends of mockers almost pulling away the chief mocker and rebuking him. The devil often oversteps himself. Always remember that God is in control. I think it was Calvin who observed that the Devil may go about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour…but there is a bit in his mouth and God holds the reins. It has not been unknown for a companion of the mocker to quietly apologise afterwards for the embarrassing behaviour of a friend. But such will largely depend on your response. You have nothing to lose if being reviled, you revile not again. Reviling should not be confused with rebuking. A rebuke can be delivered graciously without a raised voice or bitter words or recriminations.
9) Even if you have a loner…is this what he gets his kicks out of? Opposing that which is good and wholesome and godly. Rather infantile is it not? Inflicting his godless views upon you who has chosen the better road. Not even "views" in any reasoned way, but words usually loaded with lies and innuendoes but very little if any of logic or fact. When he has finished his harangue, ask him has he exhausted his repertoire? Show him a more excellent way. Ask him is he willing to sit down - say over a coffee - and discuss what he is offering you and compare it with what you are offering him. It may be that his scorning is a cry for help. If he cannot so much as defend and explain his hostility to you or the gospel, then it is an further admission of the bankruptcy of his views. Be sure to tell him so!
10) Onlookers observing your response may be impressed with your response. Follow the determination of the Psalmist who wrote: "I said, I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me." (39:1) This might lead to that situation spoken of in 1 Peter 3:1 where a soul "may without the word [of God] be won by the conversation [life]" i.e. where the life seems to speak louder than words…although obviously the word of God must come in sooner or later. Peter however is elevating the power and influence of a godly life (v2)
11) The darker the night, the brighter the light shines. Spurgeon said that every star is precious in the darkest night. The rudeness of the other will make your decency look even better! We mentioned Noah above (No.5) What makes Noah stand out is that he stood practically alone. Even when Elijah thought he stood alone, God assured him that there another seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Not so Noah. Only seven others joined him in the ark. How his life for God would have stood out in the midst of a scene harrowingly described in Genesis 6:5. Let this really encourage you if loneliness overtakes you in the work of God or you are being verbally assaulted (or worse) It is another case of the Devil over stepping himself and God in His sovereignty overruling.
12) The mocker riding on the wave of his own glory will soon betray his folly verbally, perhaps giving an opportunity to expose such & preach truth. Just sit back and listen. The lie must always be exposed. It is only a matter of time, and experience will teach you to detect, expose and exploit the world's folly. [Click here to go to our page which deals with this very subject] There is an old principle that the bigger they are, the harder they fall and this is true when they feel they are on the crest of the wave. Preface your remarks with something like: "Hold on mate. You've got problems with that. What about…? It doesn't add up does it? But the Bible does. The Bible says…" The Lord Jesus used this method very effectively when the Sadducees sought - with an element of mockery - to overthrow the Bible teaching of the resurrection. They assumed that the Bible taught that there would be marriage in Heaven (and thought wrong) Their whole argument depended on it and was easily toppled. Note how the Lord Jesus very effectively silenced them - to the marvel of all men - in the silence that followed their downfall. Ride out the storm and then come out of the bunker with all guns blazing! Truth is on your side. Although it might be temporarily fallen in the streets…it can't stay there for ever.
13) Suppose you did keep silent - or quit - how long for? Perhaps some day you come home really discouraged. In your hurt, you say that you will no longer put your head over the parapet and you take it a lot easier. Jeremiah tried that one when the going got tough. Listen to his words: Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. (Jeremiah 20:9) It is not really the answer. If you have a bad day… do what the disciples of John did when they laid the decapitated body of their master in the grave (a most discouraging moment) They "went and told Jesus" (Matthew 14:13) Tell Him of your sorrows (Psalm 55:22/1 Peter 5:7) and then put it all behind you and get out again. Every war has its causalities. Every war sees individual battles won and individual battles lost. Remember that over all we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37)
14) Suppose you were so discouraged as to turn back altogether? I mean: Pack in the whole matter of being a Christian? It is possible that the pressure being brought to bear upon you may even bring you to that position. In your heart of hearts you know that this is the road to nowhere. What are you going back (note the word) to? The old ways of sin? The lack of peace that passeth all understanding? A conscience full of guilt and overflowing? Do you think that would bring you peace even with your tormentors? It is likely that they would pick on something else. They would not even be content that they had drawn you aside, but would probably throw it up into your face. On a practical note…remember that you do not have to take mockery of your faith if you are in the workplace or school or wherever. Does the attacks upon you amount to practical bullying? If so, then you have recourse to the proper authorities, even if secular. The state is ordained of God (Romans 13) to protect you. Obviously, we are speaking about extreme cases.
15) Such trial, like any trial, only serves to toughen you and make you a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When you think of good soldiers - crack regiments - you think of awesome training grounds with assault courses and screaming Sargent Majors etc., You do not tend to think of afternoon teas in drawing rooms. If you are under the attack of a sneering mocker...let the experience toughen you. See it as training for the day when evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13) The old soldiers look at their medals with pride. They remember the various battles they fought. Do thou likewise. It will help you face the next one. With the whole armour of God...you cannot lose.
16) I remember preaching once on Noah building the ark. I thought of the various people who would "come from miles around" to see what all the hammering was about and to certify the rumours: "You're joking, aren't you. Is this a wind up?" First of all when Noah told them what he was doing, they would have said: "Noah…you'll never build it!" Then when its huge frame dominated the sky line, the second line of attack would be: "Noah…you'll never float it!" Probably when the rains came and the huge vessel was lifted up by the waves, I'm pretty sure, someone managed to thump the side with his fist and cry defiantly ere he drowned: "Noah…you'll never survive it!" Always remember, they all with one accord began to make excuse. Don't be disappointed if you don't get the last word…be content to leave that privilege to God. Remember, there is coming a day when the every mouth will be stopped and the whole world will become guilty before God (Romans 3:19)
17) I read recently a quote from John F. Kennedy who said: "When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity." If a worldly man can think like this…how much more the child of God? Paul saw his imprisonment (surely a crisis?) merely as another means of furthering the gospel (Philippians 1:12) If you are being scorned…see that it is part of the all things that work together for good (Romans 8:28)
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