THE NATURE OF THE OPPOSITION LUKE 2:33-40
LUKE 2:33-40 33 His father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
LUKE 2:33-40 34 Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary: Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed
LUKE 2:33-40 35 and a sword will pierce your own soul that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
LUKE 2:33-40 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
LUKE 2:33-40 37 and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.
LUKE 2:33-40 38 At that very moment, she came up and began to thank God and to speak about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
LUKE 2:33-40 39 When they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
LUKE 2:33-40 40 The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God s grace was on him.
Those who follow Christ & proclaim the gospel will face opposition from THE world
JOHN 15:18-21 18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you.
JOHN 15:18-21 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.
JOHN 15:18-21 20 Remember the word I spoke to you: A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.
JOHN 15:18-21 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they don t know the One who sent Me.
THE NATURE OF OPPOSITION
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They hated Him
JOHN 15:18 18 If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you.
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They were jealous of Him.
The rivalry between all natural loves and the love of God is something a Christian dare not forget. God is the great Rival, the ultimate object of human jealousy;
that beauty which may at any moment steal from me or it seems like stealing to me my wife s or husband s or daughter s heart.
The bitterness of some unbelief, though disguised even from those who feel it as anti-clericalism or hatred of superstition, is really due to this. - C.S. Lewis
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They slandered Him.
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They mocked Him.
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They falsely accused and arrested Him.
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They tortured Him.
HOW WAS JESUS OPPOSED? They killed Him.
JOHN 15:20 20 Remember the word I spoke to you: A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.
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WHY DOES CHRISTIANITY FACE SUCH SEVERE OPPOSITION?
1. There is a spiritual battle taking place.
EPHESIANS 6:10-12 10 Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil.
EPHESIANS 6:10-12 12 For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
2. People are deceived.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-6 3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-6 5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:3-6 6 For God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God s glory in the face of Jesus Christ
3. People love sin and darkness.
JOHN 3:19-21 19 This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
JOHN 3:19-21 19 This, then, is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
People love sin and darkness. The gospel message shines light on people s sin, exposing it for what it is.
People love sin and darkness. The authentic faith and obedience of Christians shines light on people s sin.
ACTS 19:18-20 18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,
ACTS 19:18-20 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.
ACTS 19:18-20 20 In this way the Lord s message flourished and prevailed.
ACTS 19:23-32 23 During that time there was a major disturbance about the Way. For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.
ACTS 19:23-32 25 When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business.
ACTS 19:23-32 26You both see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods!
ACTS 19:23-32 27 So not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin the very one all of Asia and the world adore.
ACTS 19:23-32 28 When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!
ACTS 19:23-32 29 So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul s traveling companions.
ACTS 19:23-32 30 Though Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. 31 Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to take a chance by going into the amphitheater.
ACTS 19:23-32 32 Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.
Application 1. Understand and be thankful for the grace of God to live in the place and time that we do.
Application 2. Be a light that shines in the darkness.
Application 2. Be a light that shines in the darkness. a. Preach the gospel.
Application 2. Be a light that shines in the darkness. a. Preach the gospel. b. Cherish Christ above all else.