Bible Questions Answered:
“...as Christians we see, church less
people, gays, drinkers, so many hating Christian people because we
believe the Bible that says sinful practices are evil and wrong and
rejecting the Lord means hell. Are Christians going to be hated more
and more the way this is going?”
Andrew/ Cardiff, Wales United Kingdom
Bible Answer:
Two thousand years ago....
Acts 19:8-10,23-41 NLT (Paul at
Ephesus.)
8 Then Paul went to the synagogue
and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively
about the Kingdom of God.
9 But some became stubborn,
rejecting his message and publicly speaking against the Way.
So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he
held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 This went on for the next two
years, so that people throughout the province of Asia—both Jews and
Greeks—heard the word of The Lord.
(A Riot takes place in Ephesus.)
23 About that time, serious
trouble developed in Ephesus concerning The Way.
24 It began with Demetrius, a
silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of
the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy.
25 He called them together, along
with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as
follows:
“Gentlemen, you know that our
wealth comes from this business.
26 But as you have seen and heard,
this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren’t
really gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in Ephesus but
throughout the entire province!
27 Of course, I’m not just talking
about the loss of public respect for our business. I’m also
concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its
influence and that Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped
throughout the province of Asia and all around the world—will be
robbed of her great prestige!”
28 At this their anger boiled,
and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 Soon the whole city was filled
with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along
Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s traveling companions from
Macedonia.
30 Paul wanted to go in, too, but
the believers wouldn’t let him.
31 Some of the officials of the
province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him
not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater.
32 Inside, the people were all
shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in
confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were
there.
33 The Jews in the crowd pushed
Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned
for silence and tried to speak.
34 But when the crowd realized he
was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two
hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians!”
35 At last the mayor was able to
quiet them down enough to speak. “Citizens of Ephesus,” he said.
“Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple
of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven.
36 Since this is an undeniable fact,
you should stay calm and not do anything rash.
37 You have brought these men here,
but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken
against our goddess.
38 “If Demetrius and the craftsmen
have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials
can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges.
39 And if there are complaints about
other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly.
40 I am afraid we are in danger of
being charged with rioting by the Roman government, since there is no
cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we
won’t know what to say.”
41 Then he dismissed them, and they
dispersed.
The Apostle Paul was stoned to death in
Lystra, by his enemies, resurrected back to life, and his preaching
and teaching ended when in Rome he was beheaded for his faith.
The Rejection of God:
I Samuel 8:7 KJV
And The Lord
said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that
they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they
have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
II Chronicles
30:6-10 NLT
6 At the king’s
command, runners were sent throughout Israel and Judah. They carried
letters that said:
“O people of
Israel, return to The Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, so that He will return to the few of us who have survived the
conquest of the Assyrian kings.
7 Do not be
like your ancestors and relatives who abandoned The Lord, The God of
their ancestors, and became an object of derision, as you yourselves
can see.
8 Do not be
stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to The Lord.
Come to His Temple, which He has set apart as holy forever. Worship
The Lord your God so that His fierce anger will turn away from
you.
9 “For if you
return to The Lord, your relatives and your children will be
treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return
to this land. For The Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you
return to Him, He will not continue to turn His face from
you.”
10 The runners
went from town to town throughout Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as
the territory of Zebulun. But most of the people just laughed at
the runners and made fun of them.
II Chronicles
36:15,16 NLT
15 The Lord,
the God of their ancestors, repeatedly sent His prophets to warn
them, for He had compassion on His people and His Temple.
16 But the
people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words. They
scoffed at the prophets until
The Lord’s
anger could no longer be restrained and nothing could be done.
Psalm 50:17 NLT
For you refuse
My discipline and treat My words like trash.
Psalm 81:11 KJV
But My people
would not hearken to My voice; and Israel would none of Me.
Proverbs 1:7,24 KJV
7 The fear of
The Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom
and instruction.
24 Because I
have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and
no man regarded;
Isaiah 5:24 NLT
24 Therefore,
just as fire licks up stubble and dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots
will rot and their flowers wither. For they have rejected the law
of The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies they have despised The Word
of The Holy One Of Israel.
Jeremiah 6:10
NLT
To whom can I
give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed,
and they cannot hear. They scorn The Word Of The Lord. They don’t
want to listen at all.
Jeremiah
36:16-25 NLT (King Jehoiakim burns The Lord's
warnings, to repent.)
16 When they
heard all the messages, they looked at one another in alarm. “We
must tell the king what we have heard,” they said to Baruch.
17 “But
first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they come directly
from Jeremiah?”
18 So Baruch
explained, “Jeremiah dictated them, and I wrote them down in ink,
word for word, on this scroll.”
19 “You and
Jeremiah should both hide,” the officials told Baruch. “Don’t
tell anyone where you are!”
20 Then the
officials left the scroll for safekeeping in the room of Elishama the
secretary and went to tell the king what had happened.
21 The king
sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s
room and read it to the king as all his officials stood by.
22 It was late
autumn, and the king was in a winterized part of the palace, sitting
in front of a fire to keep warm.
23 Each time
Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a
knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into
the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up.
24 Neither the
king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at
what they heard.
25 Even when
Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the
scroll, he wouldn’t listen.
Zechariah
7:11,12 NLT
11 “Your
ancestors refused to listen to this message. They
stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep
from hearing.
12 They made
their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the
instructions or the messages that The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies had
sent them by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why
The Lord Of Heaven’s Armies was so angry with them.
Luke 7:30 KJV
But the
Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized of Him.
I Thessalonians 4:8 KJV
He therefore
that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also
given unto us His Holy Spirit.
The rejection of The Lord Jesus
Christ:
Isaiah 50:6 KJVI
gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off
the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting.
Isaiah 53:5 KJVBut
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His
stripes we are healed.
Matthew 8:34 KJV
And, behold,
the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw Him, they
besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.
Mark 6:3 KJV
Is not this the
Carpenter, The Son Of Mary, the Brother of James, and Joses, and of
Juda, and Simon? and are not His sisters here with us? And they were
offended at Him.
Luke 4:28,29 KJV
28 And all they
in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with
wrath,
29 And rose up,
and thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the brow of the hill
whereon their city was built, that they might cast Him down headlong.
Luke 23:18 KJV
And they cried
out all at once, saying, Away with this Man, and release unto us
Barabbas:
John 1:11 KJV
He came unto
His own, and His own received Him not.
John 12:48 KJV
He that
rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him:
The Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last
day.
Hebrews 2:10 KJV
For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all
things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make The Captain Of
their Salvation perfect through sufferings.
Hebrews 13:12 KJV
Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His
own blood, suffered without the gate.
I Peter 3:18 KJV
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, The Just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by The Spirit:
Rejection and
anger against God's people:
Matthew 5:11 KJV
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and
shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
Matthew 10:22,39 KJV
10 And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake: but he
that endureth to the end shall be saved.
39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his
life for My sake shall find it.
Matthew 19:29 KJV
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters,
or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's
sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting
life.
Acts 5:41,42 NLT
41 The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had
counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for
The Name of Jesus.
42 And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they
continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is The Messiah.”
Romans 8:17 KJV
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with
Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also
glorified together.
II Corinthians 4:11 NLT
Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.
Hebrews 11:24-26, 36-38 KJV (Read the whole chapter.)
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the
reward.
36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,
moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were
slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts,
and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
James 5:10,11 KJV
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of
The Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the
patience of Job, and have seen the end of The Lord; that The Lord is
very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
I Peter 2:20,21 NLT
20 "...if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently,
God is pleased with you.
21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just
as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow
in His steps.
I Peter 5:8-11 NLT
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls
around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember
that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going
through the same kind of suffering you are.
10 In His kindness God called you to share in His Eternal Glory by
means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He
will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a
firm foundation.
11 All power to Him forever! Amen.
Will evil grow worse and worse?
II Thessalonians 2:5-8 NLT (Apostle Paul)
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about all this when I was
with you?
6 And you know what is holding him (The Antichrist) back, for he
can be revealed only when his time comes.
7 For this lawlessness is already at work
secretly, and it will remain secret until The One (God The Holy
Spirit) who is holding it back steps out of the way.
8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed...”
The earthly stage is readying itself for the Beast Man (Revelation
13:1-10), the Antichrist. Is it any wonder why we see more and more
killings, muggings, rapes, etc. etc. etc.
John 8:44 KJV (Jesus speaks
to unbelievers of His day.)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Paul speaks to Christians:
Philippians 2:15 KJV
That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of
God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the
world;
Luke 22:32 KJV (Our Lord told Peter.)
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not...”
And our Savior, and Great High Priest, intercedes for “us,” as
well!
John 17:9-26 KJV
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for
them which thou hast given Me; for they are thine.
10 And all Mine are thine, and thine are Mine; and I am glorified
in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name:
those that thou gavest Me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the
world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them,
because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world,
but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy Truth: thy Word is Truth.
18 As thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I also
sent them into the world.
19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be
sanctified through The Truth.
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on Me through their word;
21 That
they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in Me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast
sent Me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest Me I have given them; that
they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent Me, and hast
loved them, as thou hast loved me.
24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be
with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which thou hast
given Me: for thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.
25 O Righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have
known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent Me.
26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it:
that the love wherewith thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I
in them.
Luke 12:35,36 NLT (Jesus)
35 “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning,
36 as though you were waiting for your Master..."
