Dr. David Jeremiah: END TIMES - BE PREPARED | David Jeremiah Sermons [10:02-13:25]

Did you hear that phrase? Tenderly cradled in free fall. I have been shown in darkness, light, and I have learned that even in prison, you can be free. And I am grateful. Caleb Mueller died at the hands of Baghdad. Yet she is victorious today because her story is proving once again that the power of light is greater than the power of darkness. And that freedom over tyranny and love over hate is always the right equation. Caleb's witness will forever reveal the power of the gospel, a power that endures even to the face of death. So Jesus said, as you talk to these four men, Peter James, John, and Andrew, he said, now guys, I want you to understand something. There's some tough days coming. And here's something you need to know. You're going to be persecuted. They're going to try to kill you. And here's why. Then you will be hated by all nations from my name's sake. I would ask this question right now and you don't have to shake your head or poke your neighbor. Have you ever felt anything negative because people know you're a Christian? Have you ever felt any pushback or anguish or maybe even fear or rejection because people know that you're a Christian? One of the grammar realities of Jesus' revelation in this verse is that persecution against his followers is not clinical or detached. It's the persecution of God's people during the world of the end fueled by emotion. We will be hated. Of course, such hatred is unwarranted. It will be unwarranted in the future. But for 2,000 years, the world has raged against us, seeking to disband the movement that Jesus began, seeking to ban the Bible that he gave, seeking to disrupt the ministries he started, and seeking to destroy the souls that he saved. So what motivates people to do that? I mean, we're good people. We help our neighbors. We try to be kind and why do they hate Christians? Why do they look down their nose at Christians? The motivation behind it is the motivation that goes back to who Jesus is and what he has done. He came to deal with sin. He came not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. He offers salvation. But in order for you to be saved, you have to admit that you're lost. And my dad used to tell me as a pastor the hardest thing about getting people saved was getting them lost. Because most of them don't think they're lost. They think they're pretty good. They think they got it made. They think they're good enough to go to heaven without God. They don't need Jesus. Jesus said, you'll be hated by all nations and then he said it for this reason. For my names sake. The reason Christians experience persecution is because we have aligned ourselves with Jesus Christ and the world hates Jesus Christ. If the world hates you, Jesus said, you know that it hated me before it hated you. John 15, 18, John 15, 20 says, if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Now it's important for me to clarify this because I hear this word used a lot improperly. I got a D on that test. I'm just going through persecution. No, you didn't study.