ABIDING DISCIPLESHIP: “Sheep among wolves”
Matthew 10:16 NKJV
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
4 AREAS OF REJECTION
Matthew 10:17 NKJV
“But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
1. Religious
Quran Sura 8:12
"I Will cast terror into the hearts of the disbe-lievers; strike above their necks and strike all their fingertips."
Revelation 20:4 NKJV
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands
Quran 2:171
The example of those who disbelieve is like that of one who shouts at what hears nothing but calls and cries cattle or sheep - deaf, dumb and blind, so they do not understand.
Quran 8:22
Verily! The worst of (moving) living creatures with Allah are the deaf and the dumb, those who understand not (i.e. the disbelievers).
Matthew 10:18 NKJV
“You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.”
2. Political
Deuteronomy 28:43-48 NKJV
The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever. “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.”
Matthew 10:19-20 NKJV
“But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.”
Matthew 10:21 NKJV
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.”
3. FAMILY
Matthew 10:22 NKJV
“And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.”
4. ALL
Matthew 10:23 NKJV
“When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
Matthew 10:24-25 NKJV
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!”
Matthew 10:26 NKJV
“Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.”
II Thessalonians 2:7-8 NKJV
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”
Matthew 5:13-16 NKJV
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”