Is my walk characterized by the fear of man, or by the fear of God?

22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.  23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! 26 “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.  27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.  28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

INSIGHT:  In the document I wrote years ago called Once Saved Always Saved?, I pointed out one of the biggest causes for confusion on this subject could be removed by asking the question, When do we actually receive salvation?  By compiling all the verses, it became obvious to me that we cannot actually lose something we never had to begin with, because the Bible states, in several places, exactly what Jesus has just spoken in vs. 22,  that we are not actually saved until we have persevered all the way to the end of our life, in the narrow path of obeying the Lord’s will by faith.  Please read that document to see that what we have now is only an inheritance for future salvation, if we meet those conditions, contrary to what modern false Christianity may have taught us for years!

In v. 23 Jesus says the reason for our need to persevere is the persecution we will all face to live like Him and follow Him, which causes men to hate us (v. 22).  And contrary to what some believe it means to “man up” and be a solider for Christ, the first command He gave his disciples about handling persecution was not to confront, argue, defend, or fight back boldly with truth, but rather to flee from it, if they could.  They were being persecuted because they had already boldly proclaimed the truth.

Jesus said in v. 25 that the same thing will happen to us.  “If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household!” If you follow Jesus closely enough, there is no way you will not eventually be called or thought of as a devil, because your life will condemn theirs!

After 10 years of persecution which failed to stop me, Satan brought his most clever attack, which nearly killed all my public credibility as a minister.  The attack came in Sept. 2022, through a 21-year-old sweet and innocent looking/sounding girl, (Satan masquerading as an angel of light, 2 Cor 11:14).  Her YouTube video became a gathering place for hundreds who hated me because of the gospel I live & preach.  It attracted over 1,600 comments of slander and evil suspicions against me, evening spawning other similar videos.  When my first spouse came spewing the most wicked false accusations against me under the video, a lynch mob mentality began and I had to flee and leave the state exactly as Jesus commanded in v. 22.

In v. 26, the Lord says not to be afraid of those who persecute us because everything will be exposed.  I never replied to any of the 1,600 comments, but instead trusted the Lord to defend me.  I never fell to the ground (v. 29), and eventually, the Lord exposed the deceived fool behind her video, rendering it totally impotent, leaving me with all the Romans 8:28 spoils.

You cannot escape men hating your righteous life in Christ, but will you fear them when it comes, or God?  You can trust Him my friend!  He will keep you indeed!

“A man of God in the will of God is immortal until His work is done.” – George Whitefield