Feeling Rejected?
"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isaiah 53: 3
Quiz
Did you know that there is a verse in the bible that in effect says "Your church is so carnal, that If you are looking for the spiritual person among you, look no further than the person in your church no one has anything good to say about." Can you find that scripture?
These are the times the bible calls "the falling away" or apostasy. The last of the 7 churches symbolizes this time. It is called by some "The Laodicean Age". Jesus says of them:
quote:
14) And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18) counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19) As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21) To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
unquote.
Lukewarm Christians, backslidden Christians, carnal Christians, and imposters will give you a hard time and hurt you sometimes. As difficult as you think it is to obey, this is what Jesus said:
Matthew 5:11-12:
"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."
Yes Jesus said to rejoice. In The Sermon on the Plain he goes even further:
Luke 6: 22-23
"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."
Yes! Jesus tells you to leap for joy! To rejoice! Yor reward in heaven will be great! Keep your eye single and concentrate on the kingdom of heaven, and you will remain happy!