HAPPY, I say, because this is the Christian response (though our happiness is mingled with other godly emotions). Why is this the Christian response?
| “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be GLAD also with EXCEEDING JOY. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, HAPPY ARE YE; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” – 1 Peter 4:12-14 |
Slander is what made successful the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and unto His crucifixion hill I am solemnly called (Heb. 13:10-14). Jesus Christ, in the parenthetical verse, is described to be a citywide reject, thus we can be certain of this - we are not to seek citywide respect! This consolation and honor is owned and enjoyed by the false prophets, whose reward is in this life. Their rewards are where their treasure is, and this earthly-city is their comfortable home, but as for true Christians, “here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come” (Heb. 13:14), and why? Because Jesus Christ had no city - He was rejected from His city (the beloved Jerusalem). He was not just rejected, but was rioted against, then crucified, and His crucifixion was “without the camp”! Shall I not therefore join with Him, and as Hebrews 13:13 mandates – “bear His reproach”? If I will bear His reproach, I must therefore enter into His sufferings; sufferings which are, above all, SLANDERS.
Slanders are awfully aggressive. They spread with astonishing speed, though they be spoken by forked tongues. Slanders are borne by hypocrites, and such lies do lay hold upon the mind of a hypocrite with delusive powers until, alas, "they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Slanders are crowd gatherers. Slanders make men martyrs (literally), for they make them out to be such madmen that the crowd rages out of control, crying, "Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live" (Acts 22:22). These are famous words, words which true Christians are unworthy to suffer. Christ's reproach was, namely, worse than a murderer and a thief ("Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas!" [Luke 23:18]). Again they said, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him" (John 19:15)! Just what were the slanders? The following list reveals the surety of God's promise - like Master like servant (Luke 6:40, John 15:18-25):
Slanders are awfully aggressive. They spread with astonishing speed, though they be spoken by forked tongues. Slanders are borne by hypocrites, and such lies do lay hold upon the mind of a hypocrite with delusive powers until, alas, "they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Slanders are crowd gatherers. Slanders make men martyrs (literally), for they make them out to be such madmen that the crowd rages out of control, crying, "Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live" (Acts 22:22). These are famous words, words which true Christians are unworthy to suffer. Christ's reproach was, namely, worse than a murderer and a thief ("Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas!" [Luke 23:18]). Again they said, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him" (John 19:15)! Just what were the slanders? The following list reveals the surety of God's promise - like Master like servant (Luke 6:40, John 15:18-25):
| Christ Jesus (the Master) | --> | - Called "a gluttonous man, a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners" (Luke 7:33-34). - Thought of as a teacher of cannibalism, and unreasonable when questioned by those who were offended (John 6). - Falsely accused by accusers who affirmed themselves as trustworthy witnesses, who said: "We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands" (Mark. 14:58). |
| The Apostle Paul (the servant) | --> | - Accused of a teacher of heresies which are in contradiction and at enmity to the law of Moses (Acts 21:28). - Accused of bringing Greeks into the Temple so as to defile it (Acts 21:26-31). |
| John the Baptist (the servant) | --> | “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.” – Luke 7:33 |
| Stephen the Deacon (the servant) | --> | - Accused by false witnesses, who said: "This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us" (Acts 6:13-14). |
The Unity of the Madness
"And they all cried out all at once" (Luke 23:18) - about Christ
"...the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him" (Acts 21:36)- about Paul
"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar." - Acts 21:26-31
"And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." - Acts 6:8-15
"...the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him" (Acts 21:36)- about Paul
"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar." - Acts 21:26-31
"And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." - Acts 6:8-15
Note: For a more exhaustive study of the aforementioned examples of slander and persecution please see the following sermon series and the informative webpage called, "The Early Church and a Survey of Biblical Missions."
We Are SLANDERED - "We Cut Off Our Families"
In the sight of God, I am compelled to inform you all of the truth concerning the aforementioned slander. Of those who are our (The Church of Wells) earthly families, there are more parents who are in good relationship with us than those who are against us. Approximately 6 families, primarily, have been the leaders of this slanderous revolt against the biblical Christ, and their greatest power is slander...only it is under the guise of religious zeal that we (their children), are not properly honoring our fathers and mothers. Nevertheless, it is they who are not honoring God and His gospel, and it is when men experience the miraculous, instantaneous, and sudden regeneration of God's saving grace, consequentially, a spiritual division is created (and whether or not a physical one comes, this is determined by how each parent responds to a gospel-salvation experience in their children. See The Doctrine of Judgment and The Absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ for more details).
There are more parents who are with us, in good relationship, than those who are against us. By "against us", I mean, they behave in unreasonable contention and anger which disrupts the sweetness of the familial bond. The source of this anger is their utter refusal to be reasoned with according to the scripture, and are rather bent to argue based upon what they feel, think, and rationalize (what the scriptures condemn to be "worldly wisdom"). This is a great dilemma for us to endure, but it is no "new thing" or "new experience" for this generation, which is, shockingly, on the eve of the Anti-Christ's rise to power.
An Old Testament Example
The Lord Jesus was the prophet like unto Moses (see Acts 3:22; 7:37). Jesus came from heaven to the Jews like as Moses came down from Mount Sinai - they both came with judgment and a call to salvation. Look at the nature of their call to salvation, the cry of mercy before judgment, the ark of escape before wrath. Look how Moses contradicted the wave of idolatry when he came down from the Mount, and ponder this: if Moses had such a contradiction, and likewise Christ had such a contradiction, then what of your witness of Christ to this adulterous, wicked, playing generation?
| “And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." (Exodus 32:25-29) |
Moses came down from the Mount with a message of salvation which resulted in division amidst the multitude of wicked and idolatrous men. Thousands of Israelites were in the streets and open areas together as a mass, in the very act of reveling, idolatry, and playing. They had been emboldened to rebellion, thinking Moses died on the Mountain, supposing that he could not be sustained by God for forty days. What is a man of God to do? In seeking salvation with the True God, he went to the gate to confront the mass! "Moses stood". And where? "In the gate”, beside all his brothers who, through the centuries, found their place at the city gate as the voice of rebuke to the land. His call: "Who is on the LORD's side?" What Moses beheld was enmity against God. Therefore Moses heralded the only hope for salvation - separation! "Let him come unto me," Moses said. From this reveling mass wherein all were guilty, the tribe of Levi came forth! As they went from this crowd, they were probably mocked, laughed at, and persecuted. Friends and family supposed they could make them turn back and stay with them by verbal or physical restraint. Splitting a mass of thousands like this was probably a noisome eruption of contention and crying.
The Levites were not saved by merely gathering unto Moses. Moses gave them a charge for repentance – Judgment – by a girded weapon resulting in a bloody sword. Moses sent them back into the mass of rebellion which included their brethren, companions, and neighbors. They armed themselves for war and "put every man his sword by his side." Those who were guilty may have scattered or shamelessly continued in their evil play, and whatever the case, the Levites engaged in war and death before they became the beloved tribe of God who never went to war alongside all the other tribes. It was here that the Levites were saved and supremely honored by the preferential love of God above the other tribes. They set their face to do judgment by a sword and to mercilessly slay their family and friends, withersoever the guilty were found "in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp." Three thousand men were slain. This sword was their salvation and an official consecration which resulted in them being granted the offices of the Tabernacle. They became God's ministers. This was the blessing of God rewarded to them, and it was by the blood of their sons, brothers, and family which they slew with the sword. This is the blessing of supreme exaltation above other tribes. They were consecrated because of the slaying of their sons and brothers, and so the pleasure of God was awarded to them in another place, like what is said in Exodus 32:29 - God said of the tribe of Levi, “It is he who was rewarded because he ‘said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy Covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar’" (Deut. 33:9-10). Like Asa was famed when he judged and dethroned his own mother for idolatry (1 Kings 15:13, 2 Chron. 15:16), so the Levites were famed.
The Levites were not saved by merely gathering unto Moses. Moses gave them a charge for repentance – Judgment – by a girded weapon resulting in a bloody sword. Moses sent them back into the mass of rebellion which included their brethren, companions, and neighbors. They armed themselves for war and "put every man his sword by his side." Those who were guilty may have scattered or shamelessly continued in their evil play, and whatever the case, the Levites engaged in war and death before they became the beloved tribe of God who never went to war alongside all the other tribes. It was here that the Levites were saved and supremely honored by the preferential love of God above the other tribes. They set their face to do judgment by a sword and to mercilessly slay their family and friends, withersoever the guilty were found "in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp." Three thousand men were slain. This sword was their salvation and an official consecration which resulted in them being granted the offices of the Tabernacle. They became God's ministers. This was the blessing of God rewarded to them, and it was by the blood of their sons, brothers, and family which they slew with the sword. This is the blessing of supreme exaltation above other tribes. They were consecrated because of the slaying of their sons and brothers, and so the pleasure of God was awarded to them in another place, like what is said in Exodus 32:29 - God said of the tribe of Levi, “It is he who was rewarded because he ‘said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy Covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar’" (Deut. 33:9-10). Like Asa was famed when he judged and dethroned his own mother for idolatry (1 Kings 15:13, 2 Chron. 15:16), so the Levites were famed.
A New Testament Example
| "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but A SWORD. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt. 10:32-39). "And take the helmet of salvation, and the SWORD of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17). "If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). |
Now, my reader, will you be brought unto Christ even if the cost be the NT sword coming upon your dear loved ones - your sons and daughters, your mothers and fathers, your friends and neighbors? The Levites, in the OT sense, forsook, "hated" (Lk. 14:26), and forgot about their family, so God desired them to be His nearest friends and family. As it is written, "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him" (Ps. 45:10-11). For us, in the NT sense, the gospel is a sword because its experience does spiritually transform and consequentially divide (at least spiritually). If Christ came to bring a sword, then the sword is love! If Christ came to take away peace, then whatever peace the sword disrupts was not true peace! Whatever "peace" men had which Heaven's Darling upsets, it is because men were at peace with sin, at peace with the devil's tyrannical usurpation over humanity, and so on. The gospel of God's love does separate men from sin, praise God! Resulting furthermore - beware of this! - in holy living which is separate from worldly pleasures, and consequentially, worldly people as they are indulging in sinful pleasures! This is the manifestation of God's love in a world who does not love Him back. God have mercy on them!
This deed of the Levites (accounted in Exodus 32:25-29) was famous and praiseworthy in the sight of God. If the Levites would not have done this, they would have been rendered unworthy to understand and comprehend God's judgments and laws, and certainly, would not have been enabled to teach them to the rest of Israel. Their ministerial office before God was rewarded to them - BECAUSE - they were faithful to God above familial bonds (when necessary, and not to the neglect of honoring their fathers and mothers in its biblical and rightful place). God speaks of His mind on these matters in more detail in Deuteronomy 33:8-10.
This deed of the Levites (accounted in Exodus 32:25-29) was famous and praiseworthy in the sight of God. If the Levites would not have done this, they would have been rendered unworthy to understand and comprehend God's judgments and laws, and certainly, would not have been enabled to teach them to the rest of Israel. Their ministerial office before God was rewarded to them - BECAUSE - they were faithful to God above familial bonds (when necessary, and not to the neglect of honoring their fathers and mothers in its biblical and rightful place). God speaks of His mind on these matters in more detail in Deuteronomy 33:8-10.
| "And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar." - Deuteronomy 33:8-10 |
God commended the Levites, namely, because they did not "ACKNOWLEDGE" their family above God's family, or, they obeyed God above their family when their family was bent-crooked in a covenant with hell (certainly speaking of the situation in Exodus 32) - THEREFORE BECAUSE THEY PASSED THIS TRIAL (wherein they were "proved") - God commissioned them to "teach" His "judgments" and His "law" to the rest of Israel. This is how fundamental obedience in this area is, that if you don't pass this trial (with the family), how shall you receive all other doctrines, judgments, and laws which God would have you to hear? This very same conflict was in Jesus' day...let me explain.
Oftentimes, in backslidden generations, God has to start fresh by winning the souls of children. This is because the parents refuse to hearken to God. This is why, overwhelmingly, men were often times young when God apprehended them for a work of revival (Joseph, Samuel, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Spurgeon, and David Brainerd). In fact, Jesus Christ was a child of his generation. He was only 30 years old! He was considered a youth because his elder parents and grandparents were still among the public mass. He could have been accused of leading a rebellion against the honor of people's fathers and mothers, but this was because the parents, primarily, were not following Christ. Jesus rebuked the older generation as they accused Him of being under demonic inspiration, and He answered them with a rebuke, attesting that, it is the children, not the parents, who are following in His ways which are anti-Satanic, the foremost evidence being - it is the children, alongside Christ, that are casting out the devils, and not the parents: "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges" (Matt. 12:27). My reader, do you want your children to be your judges? Then obey God, and God will honor you, but if you dishonor God then He will raise up another man (perhaps your very own children) who will stand for His honor, which will then, consequentially, be a dishonor to you.
When the call for the Kingdom of God went forth to the public mass - The Call being: the message of salvation, obedience to Christ the Incarnate King, the growth of His followers to be raised up for a commission, the establishment of His religion in the midst of an anti-Christ culture, and the demand for continuous proclamation to those who would hear - there was, evidently, a great and primary conflict against it, and it was honoring your mother and father (in one sense). Those who chose to follow Christ were compelled to answer Christ's call - and it was urgent - and thus they were forced to dishonor their parents in various ways:
Oftentimes, in backslidden generations, God has to start fresh by winning the souls of children. This is because the parents refuse to hearken to God. This is why, overwhelmingly, men were often times young when God apprehended them for a work of revival (Joseph, Samuel, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, John Wesley, George Whitefield, Spurgeon, and David Brainerd). In fact, Jesus Christ was a child of his generation. He was only 30 years old! He was considered a youth because his elder parents and grandparents were still among the public mass. He could have been accused of leading a rebellion against the honor of people's fathers and mothers, but this was because the parents, primarily, were not following Christ. Jesus rebuked the older generation as they accused Him of being under demonic inspiration, and He answered them with a rebuke, attesting that, it is the children, not the parents, who are following in His ways which are anti-Satanic, the foremost evidence being - it is the children, alongside Christ, that are casting out the devils, and not the parents: "And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges" (Matt. 12:27). My reader, do you want your children to be your judges? Then obey God, and God will honor you, but if you dishonor God then He will raise up another man (perhaps your very own children) who will stand for His honor, which will then, consequentially, be a dishonor to you.
When the call for the Kingdom of God went forth to the public mass - The Call being: the message of salvation, obedience to Christ the Incarnate King, the growth of His followers to be raised up for a commission, the establishment of His religion in the midst of an anti-Christ culture, and the demand for continuous proclamation to those who would hear - there was, evidently, a great and primary conflict against it, and it was honoring your mother and father (in one sense). Those who chose to follow Christ were compelled to answer Christ's call - and it was urgent - and thus they were forced to dishonor their parents in various ways:
| “And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62) |
If the resurrected Christ revealed His Divine will to your conscience, would you answer His call today? Jesus Christ was not ashamed of their deeds or ways, nor are we (The Church of Wells). The Lord Jesus took opportunity, when necessary, to publicize His stance on the matter - which I'm sure was a controversy - and in one such occasion Christ said staggering things!
| “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." (Matt. 12:46-50) |
Do you see here how Christ did exactly fulfill the words of Deuteronomy 33:9!? As the text states, Christ did not "acknowledge his brethren"! Christ is He who, in this very instance, "said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him" (Deut 33:9), and then He turned to His spiritual family and brethren, all of which were sons of His Father in Heaven, and said, "BEHOLD my mother and my brethren"! Are you ashamed of Christ? Christ did this because they thought that Jesus had gone mad, and consequentially, his mother and brethren thought evil of Jesus' preaching, his city-to-city traveling, his boldness to oppose religiously prominent men who were hypocrites, and finally, the radical claims of the gospel which was preached by an execution device - The CROSS. My reader, do you understand "the preaching of the cross" (1 Cor. 1:18)? What if Christ is, today also, doing this very same thing? What if now, in this generation, we are surrounded by the very same anti-Christ culture which disguises itself in God's Name? If you were standing by in the 1st century, or if you have already stood by now, in this generation, what are you saying about such an experience, or rather, what are you arguing for? Is it, "HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER!" All the while not knowing, however, that you are persecuting the incarnate and ever-living Christ's honor, and you are jealous rather for your own! God have mercy! Our continuous prayers are with you all, that you too, with us, may LOOK unto Christ!
"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there is none else." - Isaiah 45:22
for I am God, and there is none else." - Isaiah 45:22
For an exhaustive witness of respected voices from history, see: "The Doctrine of Persecution"
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