Mark 13- You Will Be Handed Over and Flogged

I was just talking to Pastor Joseph (children's minister) about how the Gospel is unpopular. There are things in the bible that make me angry and I believe them to be absolutely true. I obey them no matter how uncomfortable they make me because I believe God knows a little better than me. Now, when you tell those things to people that do not want to hear it they are offended and think your message is crap. You will receive persecution on account of Jesus. The apostle Paul says it like this, "if I were trying to please man I would not be a servant of Jesus" (Galatians 1:10). Paul recognizes probably better than anyone that the Gospel is the absolute truth, and that it makes people uncomfortable, and that it might cost him imprisonment or beatings or you name it if he continues to preach the truth. Jesus says it like this, "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them" (Mark 13:9). This verse is talking about the end of the age but I am certain that it is a picture of trials we might suffer even today. It is unpopular to stand firm on your convictions at school. To tell people that Jesus is the only way to heaven. That people have broken the commands of God and that they stand eternally condemned and desperately in need of a Savior. It is unpopular to tell people that the world doesn't revolve around them. So expect persecution. Paul did. The saints before us all did. But please please please do not shrink back from the Gospel. Do not water it down or try to make it easier. Because Jesus didn't water it down. He died a brutal humiliating death to rescue me, the least I can do is proclaim accurately what he did.