In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of listening and being slow to speak and anger. He highlights the need to trust in God during times of shaking and suffering. The sermon also discusses the significance of faith and how it is strengthened through hearing the word of God. The speaker references the story of David and Goliath to illustrate the idea that although there may be defeats and setbacks in life, the ultimate victory has already been decided in our favor.

Tonight, Father, we pray that you would give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us, this church, and how we might live a life that is filled with disciplines, that we might be ordered, and that we might be equipped and well able to be servants of yours. There's no greater joy than to be used by you, Lord. And so, Lord, use us now, in Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Amen. Church, grab your Bibles tonight as we pick up in our series, the Disciplines of Life, and turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 28, as it is the theme of our series, Matthew chapter 28. And while you're turning there, you're going to want to stop off at Matthew 13. Matthew 28 and Matthew 13, the theme being found in Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, Jesus said, As he spoke to his disciples, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Make followers of the Lord Jesus to every nation. Now listen to this, Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. A disciple is a disciplined believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And tonight, we look at the discipline of disdain. You say, What is that word? Well, predominantly, it's an old English word that we need to be very familiar with, disdain. But as we get ready for it, the launch point for our study tonight is found in Matthew 13. Look at verse 53. Now, it came to pass when Jesus had finished these parables that he departed from there. And when he had come to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue so that they were astonished and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works, the miracles that Jesus did? Verse 55. Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers, James, Joseph and Simon and Judas, not the Judas who betrayed him? This is his brother, stepbrother, Judas and his sisters, Joseph and Mary clearly had at least two girls after the birth of Jesus. Are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? So they were offended at him. And Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country and in his own home. What an amazing statement. Verse 55 is the launch point for the discipline of disdain. What does it mean to experience disdain? Well, listen, the American Dictionary defines disdain as the looking upon or the treating of another with contempt. The word means disgust or to scorn someone. The word means to think of someone unworthy of notice or of your response or your consideration. The word also means a feeling of contempt for anything valued as worthless or unworthy. They looked that is those who were in Jesus's neighborhood. I'll put it that way, who when they saw his ministry began, they said, wait a minute, there's a contradiction here. He is able to say these tremendous things and do these mighty miracles. But here's the part they tripped over. And I wonder if you trip over this tonight. Is this not the carpenter's son? That is a statement of disdain. That's not a compliment. They are mocking Jesus. And you know that from his Christmas birth, the scandal that surrounded the fact that Mary was found to be pregnant with child. And his whole life was surrounded by gossip and innuendo and attack. And I love the fact that the son of God came into the world in such humble settings and grew up under such a scrutiny of critique and criticism, which is awesome to me. He is the most cursed name on earth. Think about it, Jesus. He is the most despised name on earth. His name can generate wars, Jesus. And yet at the same time, it is the most worship name. He is he is the most attractive and his name can spawn great peace in your life. And for that matter, salvation and eternal life. He is the dividing point for all of mankind. The Bible spoke about his coming and he came and the Bible speaks about all of his ministry and he ministered and what he ministered to us was his love, faithfulness, kindness, God's heart toward all of us, no matter who we might be or whatever kind of sins we've racked up in life. It is the Bible that says that God will forgive you if you come to him. It's amazing to me. It's awesome to me to think that somebody would look at Jesus with disdain and scorn. And yet people do that today. And honestly, I've got to tell you, I am increasingly amazed. This is the fun part about, I think, kind of getting older. You young people tonight, listen up. It seems to me that when I hit like 45, things began to settle in. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on the on a way to a party when I was 19 years old. That was 1877. And as I was going down to the beach, I pulled into a church service. It happened to have been at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and heard the gospel presented and changed my life that night forever. And from that moment, my walk with God began. And all along the way, I've got to tell you, all along the way, God has never forsaken me. He's never abandoned me. I have forsaken him. I've abandoned him. There's times when I wish I would have been more I'm loyal to him. And I wasn't. I wish there were times when I would have been more faithful to his command. And I wasn't. But he's never abandoned me. And Jesus said, I'll never leave you or forsake you. And that is true. But I've got to tell you that as you grow older with Jesus, when I hit about 45 years of age, and I don't think it's the age that matters. I think it's the experience with Jesus that matters, that there becomes a settling in of what it means to be a Christian. And you can kind of enter into that rest that the book of Hebrews talks about, where people are fretting and worrying about things, and you don't. You begin to realize that God's in control for reals, that you don't have to panic. And you see the world going nuts around us. My goodness, I saw on the news tonight, just coming here, that in one year of 2010, the year 2010 in Mexico, along our borders, more people died in Mexico with the drug war, the drug cartels. Then all the soldiers, times two, U.S. losses and coalition losses since 1990 in the Gulf War, all the way to now, just in one year in Mexico, along our borders. Violence and mayhem. And you look at these things, and there's a temptation to panic. But then Jesus said, as the last days approach, there's going to be great lawlessness and great violence in the earth. And we're seeing that everywhere. But I got to tell you, when you think about what's happening, there is a settling in of peace in the midst of the storm. And what brings me great comfort is to understand that even now today, that as a Christian, if you take a stand, listen up, everybody, if you take a stand for what the Bible says, you're going to be marked, labeled and ridiculed and disdained by people. And I got to tell you something, in this culture, that should be a badge of honor to every one of us. We should get in line to get criticized by this cockeyed goofball culture of ours. We claim to know all the answers, but why are we having so little success? We claim to be so brilliant and enlightened, but we have more disruption and more disconnect than ever. What's going on? The truth of the matter is that when we reject God, when we disdain God, we suffer for that. The Bible says in Luke chapter six, verse 26, woe to you when all men speak well of you. Listen to this. For so did their fathers to the false prophets. Every one of us want people to speak well of us. Listen, let's be honest. I'll confess it for you. You want people to speak well of you. Here's the thing for you to get people to speak well of you. That's impossible because listen, let's be, you can please everybody in this room tonight. What is today? Wednesday night. Tonight's Wednesday night. Hey, my brain's on a fast track, man. So you can have everybody speak well of you tonight, but listen, 24 hours from now, it can be a different story. If you go about in this world, trying to please people, you will upset a lot of people. The truth is, if you go about life, trying and willing to please the only one who matters, and in all honesty, I'm not saying this as a fudge factor, but if you live to please God, then you'll probably wind up knowingly or unknowingly blessing a lot of people throughout life as you seek to please God. The very thing that you want to accomplish in the eyes of people to a good degree, you can only do that through the Lord, but don't ever become someone who is bound by people's opinions because all of our opinions change constantly. The Bible says in Proverbs 29, 25, the fear of man is a snare. Man, is that not true? Can I hear an amen to that? Oh, what's people going to think? He ever thought about what are people going to think? Oh, if I do this, what will they say? It's called peer pressure. And it's very destructive. Peer pressure, it's native to our hearts, but the more confident we become in God, the more liberated we'd be from the opinions of men. And so tonight, as we look at the discipline of disdain, we'll give you five things to consider. Number one, jot it down, and that is identifying disdain. To identify rejection, scorn, and mockery. The Bible says Jesus said it in John 15, 18. Now listen to this. Some of us really need to hear this. He says, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, that is of its fiber. The word means if you were woven into it, if you had your tentacles or your claws, in our case, our feet sunk into the earth, he says the world would love its own. The world would love you because you know what? You're not causing any ripples. You're just a little lemming like everybody else. And you say yes when you're supposed to say yes, and you say no when you're supposed to say no, and you don't ask any questions. Oh, students, I know we have students in here. You want to, listen, off the record, you want to drive your professors nuts. You're supposed to say yes. Ask questions a lot in class. Remember when you're a little kid growing up, you drove your mom nuts when you'd say, how come? Why? How come? When, you know, mom would say, because, like, that's an answer. Because why are you doing this? Because, listen, out there in the world, shake it up, man. When somebody says something in class, ask them, can you explain what you mean by that? Oh, man, you'll stump them. It may be above their pared grade, but ask it anyway. Ask it. So Jesus said in John 15, 19, if you are of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, Jesus said, they will also persecute you. Disdain. Listen, Christian, being disdained by this world is native to Christianity. It's normal. It's normal Christianity. When the world says, hey, what are you doing wearing a cross around your neck? You can't do that on the job. And what's that? You, you want a Bible? Keep it off your desk. We've all heard that stuff. You can't do this. You can't do that. We've all gone through that. The world will disdain or reject or refuse us. Why? Because Jesus is being refused. Jesus is being rejected. And it's absolutely enigma to me because why would someone refuse Jesus? Honestly, let's be, let's be honest about this. Why would someone today? I don't care if you're an atheist. Why would somebody today say, I can't handle Jesus. I can't mention his name. You can't have his nativity up, or you can't have his cross on the mountain and you can't have a Bible. And why what's the problem? What here's what I love to ask. What has Jesus ever done to you? Because listen, people have always upset people. It's very normal for somebody to come back and say, I'm not going to be a Christian because I had a pastor who upset me. Well, get in line. We've all had that happen. Well, I can't be a Christian because my dad was a Christian and he beat my wife or beat, beat my mom, beat my mom. Hey, him beating your mom has nothing to do with Christianity. He was just shooting his mouth off and living godlessly. It doesn't mean he was a Christian. Remember that just because somebody says they're a Christian doesn't make them a Christian. What's that old saying? It was really cute 50 years ago, but going to Winchell's donuts. Remember Winchell's is okay. Scratch that. Going to Krispy Kreme, going to Krispy Kreme doesn't make you a donut. And that is an absolute truth. Listen, you can say you're a Christian. It doesn't make you a Christian. Are you following Jesus? That's what makes you a Christian. Big difference. But this was Jesus's experience to be disdained. And he's telling us tonight, you can identify disdain. It's going to come to you. If you're going to live godly for the Lord, you will be attacked is what the Bible teaches us. In first Corinthians 411, the Bible says to the present hour, says Paul the apostle, we both hunger and thirst. This is the apostle Paul. Think of that for a moment. The apostle Paul to the present hour, we hunger and thirst and we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless. And we labor working with our own hands being reviled. We bless being persecuted. We endure being defamed. We entreat. And we have been made as the filth of the world, the obscuring of all things until now. This is the apostle Paul. His face and his, his name adorns churches around the world. And he's saying, yeah, sign up for the ministry, be a Christian. You'll be rejected homeless, beat up and next sign up. Wow. But disdain is a badge of honor for the believer. And to identify it is to know this, that it will come from the world who does not know God. It will come from the world that doesn't know God. And here's the truth. Don't raise your hand right now, but how many of you are Christians who live with or married to someone who's not a Christian and you go home and you are mocked, you're ridiculed, you're attacked, you're tested. I want to encourage some of you tonight, because I know that there are especially women, wives in this church. There are many wives who go home to unbelieving husbands and they make fun of them and they mock them. And that's a tremendous thing to go home to. In fact, you come to church for a lot of reasons, but one of them is just to get relief. And that's a that's a tragic thing. But listen, the Bible says that by your godly actions, you may just win your spouse to the Lord. And the constant probing, you know, old J. Vernon McGee. Well, he's not old anymore. He's dead and he went to heaven. So he's very young and doing fine. He said, if you take a rock and you throw it into a pack of dogs, the dog that yelps the loudest is the dog that got hit. And when you go home or when you go to class or when you go to work and the and the co-workers or the family say, oh, went to church Sunday, huh? Did you? Hey, did you worship you, Jesus? They will mock and ridicule and make fun of you. Understand this. The person that's usually spouting off the loudest is the person who's actually really thinking that what you believe in may actually be worthy of their faith, but they're testing to see. If it's worthy of their affection and worthy of their attention, and so you will become the brunt of their criticism and their attack to see if it takes the shot. This is a good thing. It doesn't feel like a good thing. I know it doesn't feel like a good thing. I'm sure when Jesus was attacked and spit on, mocked and ridiculed that it didn't feel good. Jesus Christ, though God and human skin, he had our feelings. We forget about that. We think that he snapped his finger and he didn't feel the ridicule, mockery or the disdain. No, quite the opposite. He felt everything that you and I feel hyper. So tremendous. When he was rejected, it hurt him the most. Why? Imagine, look, if a stranger rejects you, what do you care? If a friend rejects you, it hurts. If a family member rejects you, it hurts all the more. If a husband or a wife rejects you, it hurts tremendously. Can you imagine if your own creation that you understand and love and under and concluded that it was worth you leaving heaven and coming to earth to die for them? Turns and spits in your face literally. And mocks you. With ultimate disdain. You want to talk about pain and suffering, you and I don't even know what that's like. Is he not love? And love rejected of that magnitude? I can't even can't even fathom that it's beyond my world. Identifying disdain. Yes, it comes from the world, it will be absolutely painful. But God uses this, it's not unusual for the believer. In Psalm two, listen to this. In Psalm two, verses one to three, it says, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? What's a vain thing that the people plot? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together. What are they doing against the Lord and against his anointed? That's Messiah saying, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. That is amazing to think that they would reject. The world rejects God tonight and Jesus, the one who loves them. How could Jesus suffer under disdain? And the answer is he considered the source of the attack that it was coming from the spirit of the world. Identifying disdain is something that you and I need to do. Matthew 27. Listen to this. You can just listen as I read this to you. Matthew 27, verse 39 says, and those who passed by Jesus, blaspheming him. Wagging their heads, that is a very naughty thing to do in the Middle East, in Israel. It's a physical gesture and saying, you who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. Listen. Likewise, the chief priest also mocking with the scribes and elders says he saved others himself. He cannot save. They're trying to provoke Jesus to do some miracle to get off the cross. And I'm wondering if just for a moment, Satan wasn't catching on that the son of God was dying on the cross for the sins of the world. Come down from there and then we'll believe he saved others himself. He cannot say, you know, the truth, the truth is he saved others himself. He would not save. That's the truth. Mocking. Imagine hanging there, mocking your creation is mocking you, slapping you in the face, spitting on you and trying to provoke you. And Jesus took the disdain. Number two, we want to learn about the discipline of disdain and that. How do we handle disdain? How do we deal with it? Remember, disdain is that rejection mockery. And it most often listen, Christian, I want to encourage you. And most often happens to you and I when we are growing the most in our relationship with Jesus. Okay, listen, someone's going to get convicted by this. And if the shoe fits, then wear it. God's speaking to you. But listen, maybe some of you in the same voice will be comforted by this. If you're not growing in your relationship with Jesus, you probably have no enemies. Things are pretty cool. It's easy going. There's no ripples on your lake. It's smooth sailing. Everything's fine. If you are growing and advancing in your Christianity, there's going to be storms, there's going to be activity, there's going to be attacks, there's going to be hardship. Again, that's native to the Christian life. How do we handle disdain? When it comes to us, it's to be understood that it happens when we are growing the most. Come on, if somebody told us now, look, I know you're a Christian, but you're not going to I don't want you to say anything about Christianity. I don't want you to say praise the Lord around here. I don't want you to care. You know, I'm saying that it's lay it down. And you just do that, then there'll be no disruption, there'll be no cultural clash. And the worldview of this age will prevail. But if you stand like a Daniel, if you stand like a Jeremiah, if you stand like an Isaiah, if you stand like Paul, and if you stand like Peter, there's going to be a storm. There's going to be something going on and you're going to want to know how to handle disdain. David, King David nearly almost fell victim to disdain the guy. Don't you love David's life? I want to be like David and not all cases. But like 90% of them in First Samuel, chapter 25, you can read it later. But in verse 10, it says, the navel answered David's servants and said, Who's David? And who's the son of Jesse? Now let me insert this into the bulk of the story. In First Samuel 25. You know what's going on? David had been defending Israel with all of his troops. They're fighting battles, they're doing everything to preserve the nation. And his men needed food and care. And Nabal was incredibly rich. He had 10s of 1000s of sheep and goats, super blessed guy. He had a pretty famous white will she became famous. Abigail was his wife, he was an idiot. And she was a knockout. The Bible says she was a knockout. It says that she was very, very wise and beautiful to look at. And Nabel was a rich, shrewd man and a bitter guy. So check this out. You ever seen people like this? David says, man, we need food. And we we've learned we've come to know some of Navel shepherds, have them have them go home with you guys and ask Navel if we can have some, some care. And David's guys with Navel shepherds go to Navel and ask, Hey, and very humbly, you can read it later. It's very sweet. We are David's servants and my servant humbles himself to ask you, my Lord, can we have a lamb sandwich? And Navel says, Who's David? Well, I already knew who David was. But he said, Who's David? And then he goes on to say, if I give David some food, then I got to give everybody some food. And David hears about it. And David almost got hooked by disdain, when they came back to David and they can you imagine, they come walking up to David, David, this guy kills giants on a weekend. David. David, he said that, basically, who are you to ask him for something to eat? And David says, Really? That's what he said. Well, we've been out here fighting the battle and preserving the nation. I tell you what, everybody get your swords out. That's what David said. Get your swords out. Polish those babies. We're going to go cut Navel's head off and all of his servants. And they got on their metro or camels or whatever they rode, and they rode to Navel's house and Abigail heard about David's anger. And she interceded, she got there before David arrived to kill Navel. And she said, David, listen, I humble myself before you. Don't, don't do this. Don't do this thing and bring sin upon your own hands. And she caused David's anger to subside. And David said, Wow, you are more righteous than I am. And he almost fell for it. You guys listen, handling disdain without the Lord governing our lives. You know what happens when we don't handle disdain? It's called revenge. And it's bad every time. Why is it listen, everybody, why is it that we think in our minds? Well, what happened? They said that? Well, I'm gonna do you understand that's truly I'm not joking. It's borderline insanity. When that happens, it's temporary insanity. You go off, you snap, you fly off the handle, we call it and you're going to go settle the situation. That's when people get killed. And God's not in that. You say, well, what am I supposed to do? Well, first of all, sit down. Have you ever noticed that when people get into a brawl like that, they're I mean, I mean this with all due affection and great accuracy. They're fools. Have you seen a fool in this folly? What's that? What? Come over here. Who do you think you are? Everybody knows that is a fool in his folly. It's absolutely amazing. When we handle disdain properly, we yield to the Lord. David reacted in self-defense. And that sounds good. But Abigail interceded, she went out and David was spared from sinning. Proverbs 26, four says, do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Good verse. Next one. Proverbs 16, 32. He who has who is slow to anger is better than the mighty and he who rules his spirit than he who takes the city. Calm down. Take a walk. Call out to God. Isaiah 40, 31. Great verse. Isaiah 40, 31. Well known. But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. That is the strength and the power from the Lord that causes us to handle disdain properly. Also, James 1, 19 says, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath. Think about that for a moment. Take that verse and just kind of meditate on that for a second. If we're slow or I should say swift to hear, we'll be slow to react. You know, the old saying, you got two ears and one mouth, you're supposed to be listening twice as much as you're talking. So you be listening, be listening. And the Bible says, wait and listen a little longer and watch out before you open your mouth. Be slow to wrath. Why? Because the moment you open your mouth, this is sad. We've all known everyone. We all know this. As soon as you open your mouth and something comes out of it. Oh, this is fun. Something comes out of it. It's out. Did you know, in theory, anyway, there's people debate if it's. We know it's true to a degree, but how far? And that is this sound theoretically travels forever. Now, you would say, no, I've had some classes, Jack, in physics, and I know that over time, the sound wave begins to dampen out and it goes flat. That is true to the observable eye or to an oscilloscope or something like that. That is true. But theoretically, sound continues on. And that's the whole basis behind radio telescopes that listen out into space for distant conversations of some worlds that once were. I mean, don't laugh. You're paying for this right now. If your tax dollars. And so theoretically, when I said something 16 years ago on a Tuesday at two o'clock in the afternoon, that sound that is that we're still going. And now that's really great. If I was saying God bless you all and to all a good night or hey, you'll own a ticket out of my lane. It's going out there. Kind of scary to think, huh? Let's just move on. We don't dwell on that too long. The discipline of disdain also requires that you and I be surviving disdain. We're going to be attacked. How do I survive, Pastor Jack? Well, how do I get through this? Let me first tell you how not to not to survive disdain. This is what you don't want to do. Poor Peter. We always use him for the example, but he's so good for us to learn from what not to do, how not to survive disdain. Matthew chapter twenty six, verse thirty three. It says Peter answered and said to him. Now, this is a very heated moment, energized moment. He says, even if all are made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble you. And Jesus said to Peter, assuredly, I say to you that this night before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. See, everybody else. Jesus was laying it down. And Peter says, well, listen, I'm not going to leave you. I'll never deny you. Be careful for anyone. You know, I know it comes from great intentions and you mean well when somebody says, well, I'll never sin. I'll never fail. I told some guy recently here at this church, he did a really great job at something, and I said, listen, that was really awesome. Let that go to your heart, not your head, because the moment it goes to your head, it's over. You won't be able to get your head through the door in here and then you'll self destruct. Take it to the heart. Don't let it go to your head. Big different. Eighteen inch difference can save you between heaven and hell. What's going on in here and what's going on in here is never not always the same thing. And Peter's going, oh, never. These bums, they'll deny you, but not me. And Jesus, can you imagine the shocker Rooney that he gave to Peter? He's out there boasting away. And Jesus says, I tell you, I put you in on something, Peter, before the rooster crows this night, you will deny me three times, not two times, three times. Three times was a confession of absolute truth. And what did Peter say three times? I don't know him. I don't know him. I don't know him. And what happens as soon as he says it the third time, the Bible says the rooster crowed. And Jesus was being held in the praetorium courtyard, and he turns over and he looks at Peter at that last moment of rejection. Can you imagine? What do you think? How do you think Jesus looked at Peter? I think I actually know. It doesn't say, but I think I know. I think the same attitude in Jesus at that moment and his face looking at Peter is the exact same attitude in the face, though you'll never imagine this in the garden of Eden when the Lord said, Adam, where are you? Where are you? I don't think God said, Adam, where are you? Get over here. I don't think he did that. I think God's heart was broken. Adam, where are you? And I think Jesus, without saying Peter, what in the world are you doing over there? I think when Jesus looked at Peter, I think it communicated, where are you? Where are you? And the Bible says that Peter went out and wept bitterly. How in the world can he survive such a thing? He survived such a thing because of God's grace, the awesome grace of God. You don't want to falter at dealing with disdain by trusting in your own resources and abilities. You'll fail every time. I can take care of this one. You guys, we do this all the time. We don't want to admit it, but we do it. I'll take care of it. Be careful when we're strong in something or we think we can do this. I'll take care of it. No, Lord, we need you. Now, our absolute role model and how to survive the ultimate survival training comes from Jesus himself. In Matthew 27, 27, the Bible says, then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus to the praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around him. You guys, that is a horrible moment. That's a horrible sight. And they stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him. And when they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews. Then they spent on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. Those barbs on that. Crown of thorns was wicked, and they took that staff and. Among other things, they did. How did Jesus survive such a thing? He absolutely listen, church, because in our lifetime. It will happen to each and every one of us at some point in some degree, Jesus. Yielded his life completely into the hand of the father without any reservation. In absolute dependence, and he took what came according to the father. And in every one of our lives, every one of us, you may be here today saying I'm not a Christian. It's not going to come near. It will happen to you. It's native to life, except for the Christian. We've got hope. If you don't know Christ, you have no hope. There'll be that phone call. There'll be that blood test. There'll be that lump. There'll be that news, and your world will be rocked to the core. It happens to all of us. It's coming. If it hasn't happened already, it's coming to us. It could be globally. My goodness. Do you see what's going on in Australia today? Unbelievable suffering. Things that are going on. It could come nationally, globally. Personally, maybe you're fit. It doesn't matter. Your foundation will be shaken. And in that moment of shaking, how will you survive? You'll have to trust in God. And I'm grateful for you being here tonight because you have seen fit to invest in your faith. The Bible says in Romans 10, 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That's what's going on right now. Your faith will be strengthened and encouraged. It's supernatural. It's amazing. The Bible says in Matthew 26, 67, that they spat on Jesus's face and they beat him and others struck him with their palms of their hands. By the way, palms, that word means in Greek, open-handed, a slap. If you've ever been in a fight, it's much better to get punched than it is to get slapped. You can much more endure a punch than you can a slap. A slap can kill you. Horrible. They slapped him and they said, prophesy to us, Christ, who is the one who struck you? Remember, he was blindfolded. Jesus took it. You see, Jack, what are you saying? I'm saying this, are you and I willing to submit to mistreatment by other people for Jesus' sake? This is very unheard of in our culture to even talk about. But you guys, most of the church today on the earth is suffering under some form of persecution right now. In John 16, 33, Jesus says, these things I have spoken to you, that in me you will have peace, but in the world you'll have tribulation. Be of good cheer. Amazing, huh? Be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. See the focus? Are you guys with me? You're so quiet tonight. You see the focus? Because let's be honest, we are the map. When I say we, not only Americans, but Southern California, we kind of give, we kind of given birth to this culture of amusement. We're really famous for it. You know what amusement means, yes? Amuse. Muse is, this is to muse. Think, meditate, pour yourself into something, to muse. I'm musing on this issue. To amuse is to unplug your brain, to have nothing, cricket sounds, no thoughts, nothing going on in there. Amusement parks. That's what it means. You use your brain, you get to the place, you have your thinking. Your thinking gets clouded when you pay a hundred bucks to get into the place. And then you get greeted by a rodent. I mean, that ought to tell you right there from the start. What's wrong with this picture? And as soon as you walk through the gates, you go, come on, you don't go and just, I'm serious. Take a camera and go. It's true. And it may be that you realize, I don't know. I just, I'm broke. And you kind of go into this zone of amusement, a place, a park where you do not think that's what the word means. It does a park. Yeah, I'm not joking. I'm serious. Amusement park, a park where nobody thinks that's the meaning of it. Why do we do that? Because we don't want to, we don't want to be too close to reality where we live here. Okay. We don't want to be too close to reality. Freaks us out. We don't have to do with it. Something happens and we look at it and go, um, let's go to a movie movie. Let's go to a movie. Right. Is that not true? Something happens in, uh, oh, well, um, put on some music, turn it up loud. That's what we do. What's wrong. That's wrong, man. That's scary. That's how you get to people when someone's being raped or shot at or something. And the community just looks the other way and turns up the radio. That's how, and that's what Germany did when the Jews were being destroyed by Hitler. The church just turned up the organ music. So they couldn't hear the Jews being carted away to Auschwitz and Dachau. Just sing louder. And we have this, and it's a danger. Are we willing to be mistreated for Jesus's sake? Now let me define something right here right now, because in my flesh, I can't do that. I'm confessing tonight, my own weakness. I, I can't do that on my own. Maybe some of you, and I'm not mocking, I'm honestly saying some of you are so sweet natured that if somebody were to, uh, make fun of you or somehow push around, I, I, you guys, I have been raised and trained to eliminate the issue. Uh, and, and so I can't do that unless Jesus controls my heart. When Jesus said, for example, if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to them the other, the context is a religious persecution. They're attacking you for being associated with Jesus. I need strength to do that. I need the grace of God to pull that off in my life. I'm more, are you familiar? Remember when Paul, I'm more like Paul in this area, when Paul was smacked, remember when Paul was speaking and he didn't know he was speaking to the high priest and Paul responds and says, well, the Lord, you know, deal with you, you whitewash sepulcher. I mean, that was radical language for Paul to say, he called this guy a graveyard and the, and the, and the guard slapped Paul in the face. He go, what'd he hit me for? I'm a Roman citizen. And he says, you just called the high priest, uh, a tomb. And he says, well, I didn't know anything. Cause you see Paul going, I didn't know he was a high priest. I have to pray God that's more like me. I need to not be like that in the religious context. And here's the book of the month. If you don't come here on Sundays, the book of the month is Fox's book of martyrs. It's about this very thing we're talking about right now. God's grace. I'm so grateful for this. Hope God's grace shows up in that moment of absolute challenge where you, you know, that thing in your life where you don't have the strength to handle that thing, whatever it is, God's grace shows up and says, I'll take it from here. You thank you God, because I'm about ready to snap. Now, please don't misunderstand me. And I've had Christians actually say this and, uh, it's amazing to me. Well, you know, um, if somebody breaks into my home and tries to kill my wife and kids, Jesus says to turn the other cheek. Hey lady, if you live in that house, I'd move out now. That's not what it means. If they all come in with machine guns and they say, deny Christ, or we're going to machine gun you down. That's different. God's grace will be there powerfully. But if some lunatic breaks into your house at two o'clock in the morning or that matter, two o'clock in the afternoon to attack your wife and kids, the Bible is very clear. You take the guy out and call the call nine one one. I mean, I don't, I don't mean take the guy out to lunch. I mean, take him out. Some of you are going where, where do you take him? The Bible says, if a man does not provide for his home, he's worse than a non-believer. But when it comes to a religious context and you're being disdained for the glory of God, that's different. God's grace will be there. Number four, overcoming disdain. The Bible says a lot to the believers, to us Christians of our relationship to Jesus, who we are as Christians. We're the bride of Christ. That's amazing. We are the sheep of his pasture. The Bible says we are the beloved of God, the children of God. It's amazing. Overcoming disdain. Think about this. Overcoming disdain is literally guaranteed to the Christian. When we are being mocked, ridiculed and scorned, the Bible guarantees victory for us. I think when God really has control of our hearts, when those that are attacking us and ridiculing us, there's a deep sense of sympathy toward our attacker. They're blind and they don't understand. It's what the spirit, when Jesus said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. Didn't Stephen echo that same thing in the book of Acts? Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. Where'd he learn that from? From the spirit of God. There's sympathy. Overcoming disdain. Listen to this quote. When the Lord calls us into his ministry, there are no losses. There will be defeats and there'll be setbacks. We will lose some battles, but the war and the victory has already been decided in our favor. And that's a beautiful truth. In first Samuel 17 verses 40 to 43, you know the story. David is there. He's a young man. It's come to see his brothers at the war. They've come to the Valley of Elah and Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, comes out every day for 40 days. He's taunting Israel. He's this grotesque, freakish-looking, massive human being, a son of Anak. He's got six fingers and toes on each foot and hand. He's a weirdo. The Bible says that his spear was as a weaver's beam. That's 135-pound spear. How can a man throw 135-pound spear? That he was about nine feet, six inches tall. That's freakish. Can you imagine Shaquille O'Neal going, whoa? And he's mocking Israel. And David is just a young man. And the Bible says in first Samuel 17 that David says, I can't take this. I'm going out there. And he goes out. He gets five smooth stones in his sling. He goes out there. And the scripture says, and I'll read it to you. First Samuel 17, 42. It says, when the Philistine looked about and he saw David, he disdained him because he was only a youth. He was ruddy. The word ruddy means red. We assume that he had reddish-tinted hair. Some Jews, Hebrews, have reddish-tinted hair. Does it mean they have reddish-colored skin? Could be. We don't know for sure. But he's ruddy. He's reddish-like, reddish. Hmm. Sunburn? We don't know. But it says that he was handsome. The word has also been translated smooth skin. He's a boy. And Goliath's and he looks, what are you? What is that? And David's standing there. And he starts cursing David, the Bible says. And as he's cursing David, David says, oh yeah, you know what? Don't you love this moment? You know what? I come to you in the name of the Lord. And David runs toward Goliath. He runs toward him. Can you imagine if you and I now look, you say, how do you do that? Well, no one does that. You don't run toward a lunatic maniac like that. You run away from a guy like that. Unless God is in it. David saw stuff that people didn't see. And I think, I don't know, making this part up right now, but maybe, maybe David saw the shadow of his God on Goliath. Maybe David didn't see much of Goliath because his God was standing behind Goliath. Maybe David was running towards his God and Goliath was in the way. And so he just takes off and then he starts. And you got to read the Bible carefully. The rock did not kill him. It says the rock sunk into his forehead. There's no way that a kid can do that. Unless an angel is driving the rock. And he just goes, falls back. And David runs over, pulls out his sword, a kid with a ginormous sword, Goliath sword. And he puts it on Goliath's neck. Can you imagine? He's got to saw that head. And the Bible says he took the head and walked all the way to Jerusalem with it, hanging onto the thing. It was like, hey, look at that guy. David was disdained by the enemy. And God was in that. Psalm 62 too says, he only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense and I shall not be moved. Who wrote that? David wrote that. How does he know? Oh, he knows. And then finally, enduring disdain. We end with this. We endure it. Enduring disdain. The Bible says in first Timothy four, one that in the last days, you guys, the Holy spirit expressly says that in the last days, some will depart from the faith. How sad giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. The Bible says in the last day, second Timothy chapter three, but know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come. The word perilous means the wearing out or the wearing down for men will be lovers of themselves. Lovers of money, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving slanders without self-control, brutal despisers of good translation. They will fight hook line and sinker against you and the God that you love and what you stand for. And you and I are living in the last days. Jesus said in Matthew 24, 13, but he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved. We are to endure disdain church family. Listen, we're at a time. I just want to share this with you. You got to understand, please, when someone, if you are being silenced for fear of someone rejecting you, will you hear this? The spirit of rejection against you is already out there. Understand this, please listen, it'll be victory for you. Regarding disdain, you don't need to be afraid of it. Know that if you live a godly life, they are attacking Jesus that they see in you. They're not attacking you. You and I are not even a blip on the radar. They're upset at the Jesus part they see in your life. And that's what causes people who are of a different spirit to just come unhinged. And when they begin to attack, when they begin to ridicule, you've got to understand this is a badge of honor. The amazing thing, though, with us as Christians is that we have great sympathy and love for our accusers, our attackers and our accusers. And we care more about their soul than they care about their soul. Isn't it weird? They're content at being wrong about God. We are right about God and we worry and fret for their own safety. Isn't it weird? Isn't it strange that because of the Bible, it teaches us that you and I desire to pray for our leaders, that we might live a quiet and peaceable life. And yet our enemies do everything to stir up and make this culture of ours anti-God. And they just notice, they just won't leave God alone. They're constantly taking a swing at him nowadays. In the spirit of Babel, the spirit of Babel is back. If we could just build a tower tall enough, we'll shoot God down. That was the ministry of Nimrod. And it's back. But you're in the way. And when you are disdained, it's because they've seen Jesus in you. So don't lose heart. Don't give up. All those who live godly shall suffer persecution. Father, we thank you for your word, your medicine tonight for us. This is a spoon of B12 for our blood. And Father, tonight we ask you, Lord, in Jesus' name, that you would settle in our hearts this truth right here, right now, that without the power of your Holy Spirit, we will not survive. Without the power of your Holy Spirit upon us, we will not advance. And so, Father, we ask you, Lord, this evening, that you would manifest in each and every one of our hearts, Lord, a refreshed, renewing, refilling of your Holy Spirit to come upon us, to strengthen us. And Father, tonight, if there's a soul here this evening that does not know the God, the Lord, Jesus Christ, who died for them on the cross and rose again from the grave, that tonight that they would make that decision. Tonight they would say, Lord, forgive me of my sins, and my life is really insignificant. I don't even know why I'm living. What's my purpose? I see everything around me in life having a purpose. The clouds have a purpose even, the street has a purpose, a light bulb has a purpose. But maybe tonight you're asking, Lord, what's my purpose for existing? And my friend, that's a great question. In some respects, it's where it all begins. You have been created in the image of God. You're a child of God, but you've fallen far from God. You were born, you and I were both born wayward from the Lord. And all of us need to come back home. And no matter what we've done in life, he will forgive us of our sin. That's what he says. He delights in doing that. So tonight, don't let anything keep you from knowing his forgiveness, his love, his grace, his joy, and his purpose for you. And Father, we pray that you'd galvanize this church for the remainder of this week with all power, with all grace and all wisdom. Thank you, Lord. We praise you now in Jesus' name and all God's people said, Amen.