{"id":532,"date":"2010-06-18T01:22:11","date_gmt":"2010-06-18T06:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/?p=532"},"modified":"2010-06-18T22:26:07","modified_gmt":"2010-06-19T03:26:07","slug":"crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/?p=532","title":{"rendered":"How to get a Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 15:18-21<\/strong> “When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you.\u00a0 The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you.\u00a0 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A servant is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you!\u00a0 The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don’t know God who sent me.<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you living any differently than the rest of the world?\u00a0 Could an unbeliever look at your life and recognize that you belong to Jesus?\u00a0 I’m not talking about having a Christian T-shirt or a Jesus fish on your car?\u00a0 I’m talking about living a life that the world recognizes as standing up for and speaking out for God.\u00a0 Jesus preached to everybody.\u00a0 Do you preach to anybody?\u00a0 Does the world even care about the kind of life you’re living?\u00a0 Or are you living a life of exclaiming Christ to the world so that they have no choice but to respond to you?<\/p>\n

THIS MESSAGE IS CUT OFF.\u00a0 I don’t know what happened, but it leaves you hanging a bit.\u00a0 So go listen to it and then come back and read the following, and it should all make sense together:<\/p>\n

It says they brought the blood of animals into the temple, but dumped their carcasses outside the gate.\u00a0 And that\u2019s just how they treated Jesus\u2026like a piece of garbage.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s take him outside the gates where we throw the trash.\u201d\u00a0 So this verse is saying, if that\u2019s the way they\u2019re going to treat Jesus, we\u2019re not going to stick around either.\u00a0 We\u2019re not going to be friends with the people who hate and reject our Lord.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to go out where he was crucified to stand with Jesus.\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to consider him scum you can consider me just like him.\u00a0 I\u2019ll go with him and face the same rejection.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to be popular with the world.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to be friends with the world.\u00a0 I need one thing, and he\u2019s the one hanging on that cross outside the gates.\u00a0 That\u2019s where you\u2019ll find me too.<\/p>\n

James 5:10-11<\/strong> For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.\u00a0 We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. Job is an example of a man who endured patiently. From his experience we see how the Lord’s plan finally ended in good, for he is full of tenderness and mercy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Remember how they treated Ezekiel and Daniel and Jeremiah\u2014any of those prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord?\u00a0 Life wasn\u2019t fun for them.\u00a0 But we consider them blessed.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because who had the last laugh?\u00a0 How do you think Jeremiah is doing right about now?\u00a0 How does Ezekiel feel now?\u00a0 I think those guys are doing pretty good.\u00a0 Right about now they are more than fine about what they had to endure.\u00a0 Check out Job.\u00a0 Do you think he is still upset about what he had to go through?\u00a0 Or do you think he understands, even more now, about how compassionate and merciful God really is.\u00a0 I think all these guys would tell you right now, that the suffering is worth it.<\/p>\n

1 Peter 2:19-21<\/strong> For God is pleased with you when, for the sake of your conscience, you patiently endure unfair treatment.\u00a0 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing right and are patient beneath the blows, God is pleased with you. <\/em><\/p>\n

This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you want to follow Christ?\u00a0 Here\u2019s the example he left for you: he was beaten and killed.\u00a0 Still feel like following in his footsteps?\u00a0 This is what God has called you to.<\/p>\n

4:12 <\/strong>Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. <\/em><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t strange, it\u2019s what you were called for.\u00a0 Why are you surprised?\u00a0 This isn\u2019t odd.\u00a0 You know what\u2019s strange is when no one is persecuting you for your faith.\u00a0 That\u2019s strange.\u00a0 We\u2019ve twisted things all around to where we think someone is strange when people hate him.\u00a0 We see the guy on the corner preaching the gospel and people are yelling at him, and we think \u2018That\u2019s weird!\u2019\u00a0 No, what\u2019s weird is when we set our lives up to avoid persecution, so much so that you can\u2019t name a single person who hates you because you love Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

2 Peter 2:2<\/strong> Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you slandered for teaching the truth?<\/p>\n

How\u2019s this for a bumper sticker:<\/p>\n

1 John 3:13<\/strong> So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.<\/em><\/p>\n

1 John 3:16-18<\/strong> We know what real love is because Christ gave up his life for us. And so we also ought to give up our lives for our Christian brothers and sisters.\u00a0 But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help\u2014how can God’s love be in that person? <\/em><\/p>\n

Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.<\/em><\/p>\n

What are you doing for the church?\u00a0 We have brothers and sisters in need all over the place.\u00a0 Are you doing anything for them?\u00a0 What good are you if all you do is talk?\u00a0 What good am I if just stand up here and preach?\u00a0 I want to be with the people who are doing something to advance the Kingdom.\u00a0 Who are you giving up your life for?<\/p>\n

Rev. 2:10<\/strong> Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The Devil will throw some of you into prison and put you to the test. You will be persecuted for ‘ten days.’ Remain faithful even when facing death, and I will give you the crown of life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus says life is going to be pretty bad for awhile.\u00a0 Some of you will go to prison and be tortured.\u00a0 It\u2019s ok.\u00a0 Hang in there.\u00a0 Be faithful, endure the suffering.\u00a0 That crown of life is worth it in the end.\u00a0 But you\u2019re going to have to be tough to get to it.<\/p>\n

You know why we don\u2019t see this around here\u2014why we don\u2019t have martyr stories?\u00a0 Because we avoid persecution in America.\u00a0 If Jesus lived here, you can bet he\u2019d be persecuted.\u00a0 You know why?\u00a0 Because he didn\u2019t know how to keep his mouth shut.\u00a0 He spoke up.\u00a0 He would\u2019ve been beaten down in Rockford for the things he said.<\/p>\n

The disciples too\u2014they could have escaped persecution.\u00a0 Remember the leaders said, \u201cJust stop preaching about Jesus.\u201d and Peter said (Acts 4:19)<\/em> \u201cWho should I obey, you or God?\u00a0 Sorry, but we can\u2019t stop.\u201d\u00a0 Paul could\u2019ve lived a lot longer, if he didn\u2019t go against the flow so much.\u00a0 He could\u2019ve taught, \u2018Just stay safe in your homes and have fellowship with your Christian friends.\u00a0 Let a few Christians in, lock the door, go to church on Sunday mornings, and then right back home.\u2019<\/p>\n

Paul could\u2019ve lived a long time.\u00a0 But he said \u201cI know it\u2019s dangerous there, but God\u2019s telling me to go, so I\u2019m going to go.\u00a0 As part of it, I\u2019m just going to suffer for the sake of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason we don\u2019t get persecuted is because we avoid it.\u00a0 We\u2019ve grown up with a gospel that doesn\u2019t have any suffering.\u00a0 We\u2019ve just skipped over those parts and try not to stir up any trouble.<\/p>\n

And this isn\u2019t about suffering for being a jerk.\u00a0 There are some people that say \u201cEveryone hates me because I\u2019m a Christian.\u201d\u00a0 No they just hate you because you\u2019re annoying.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about when you tell people they are dying because you love them.\u00a0 When you tell people what the word of God says for their benefit.<\/p>\n

So am I wrong about all this?\u00a0 Do I have a different Bible than you?\u00a0 Or are we doing our best to avoid pain and suffering?\u00a0 Are you fighting for Jesus or just for what you want?\u00a0 Are you fighting for anything?\u00a0 Are you only paying attention to the verses that justify the way you\u2019re living?\u00a0 Being a follower of Jesus Christ, taking up your cross and following him, means this life is going to be hard.\u00a0 Jesus doesn\u2019t say \u201cJust do whatever you feel like doing.\u201d\u00a0 His message is, come die with me.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be painful, but it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n

Are you willing to suffer with him\u2026to die with him?\u00a0 I don\u2019t like pain.\u00a0 But if that\u2019s what it takes to be with Jesus, I\u2019m willing.\u00a0 I want to be faithful even to death\u2026even if everyone hates me.\u00a0 Whatever it takes.<\/p>\n

Maybe you\u2019ve never really decided to follow Jesus.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to tell you that Jesus just wants to be your friend and that you can say a prayer and everything will be fine.\u00a0 But I will tell you that you need Jesus.\u00a0 Your sin dooms you to Hell.\u00a0 And you cannot save yourself.\u00a0 You will suffer for all eternity for the crimes you have committed against God.\u00a0 And if you want out of that, it\u2019s going to mean giving up your old way of life.\u00a0 Jesus said deny yourself.\u00a0 Die to the old you, give up your wants, be united in death with Christ for the sake of saving people from Hell, and one day you will rise just like him, and live forever and ever with your Savior.<\/p>\n

Is Jesus worth that to you?\u00a0 Or is he just a name you throw around to impress your church friends?\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s time to count the cost and make plans to actually build your faith or stop pretending\u2014to put up or shut up.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to drive anybody away from the church or from Christianity, but I would much rather convince 5 people to commit their lives 100% to living for God than to convince 5000 to pray some meaningless prayer, but never change anything about their lives.\u00a0 How about you?<\/p>\n

Podcast: Play in new window<\/a> | Download<\/a> (Duration: 25:39 — 11.7MB)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 15:18-21 “When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you.\u00a0 The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don’t. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you.\u00a0 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A servant is not greater than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[21,31,175,176,50,59],"class_list":["post-532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons","tag-blessings","tag-comfort-zone","tag-endurance","tag-hardship","tag-selfishness","tag-suffering"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":561,"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions\/561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pastorfrog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}