That the apostles suffered
persecution, is without dispute...Peter and John were imprisoned (Acts 5), and
repeatedly threatened...James was put to death (Acts 12), the apostle Paul was
a prisoner (Acts 20). Others, such as Silas and Stephen, were persecuted and/or
killed (Acts 7 & 16). Yet, all these were "faithful unto death"
(Rev. 2:10). Have you ever given thought as to WHY persecution was directed
toward them?
On the part of those who
suffered persecution, it was a result of preaching salvation thru Christ. On
the part of those who did the persecuting, it was because salvation thru Christ
was preached!
At first glance, you might
say, "well, it was the same reason for both". I submit that, such was
NOT the case at all. The reason I know that this is true, is because not all
who heard of salvation thru Christ, reacted by persecuting those who preached
salvation thru Christ. In fact, they readily accepted the same message that
others rejected. It was this DIFFERENCE
in the reaction to the message (i.e.,
the gospel) that relates to the title of this article, "abolishing the
stumbling block".
Christ was prophesied to
be a "stumbling block", and a “rock of offense”. Not in the sense
that God intended for people to "stumble" over Him, or to be
purposefully offended, and thereby eternally lost (1 Tim. 2:4); but in the
sense that, in their rejection of Him as a Savior…as THE ONLY means of
salvation (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), He would be the CAUSE of stumbling and
offense. It is here that a most important bible truth be understood. There are
many texts that relate to this, but one will suffice:
1 Peter 2:6-8 – “For this
is contained in Scripture: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious
corner stone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed’. This
precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, ‘The
stone which the builders rejected, this became the very corner stone’, and,
‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense’; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and
to this doom they were also appointed.”
Notice the phrase, “disobedient to the word”…this explains
HOW Jesus would be a ‘rock of
offense’ and a ‘stone of stumbling’...HIS
WORD! This is a simple, yet most important truth that is missed, as it
relates to why some REACT in DISOBEDIENCE to the word, whereas others OBEY the
same word.
The ‘word’ is what is
disobeyed. This ‘word’ is the teachings
of Jesus. It is crucial, for the ‘word’ is that which instructs man HOW to
respond to God’s offer of salvation through Jesus. This ‘word’ also explains
and reveals what ‘sin’ is…DISOBEDIENCE
to God’s word. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s word, and all who disobey God,
disobey His WORD. Disobedience is what ‘stumbling’ at the word means.
Why do some NOT ‘stumble’, whereas
others ‘stumble’?
This is explained by John,
in John 15:18-25: “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me
before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love
its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the
world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I
said 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 keep yours
also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s
sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I
had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they
have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father
also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else
did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and
hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to
fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a
cause’.” Notice especially what is said in verses 22 and 24. It relates to the
‘word’, and explains why some ‘stumble’ and are ‘offended’.
Jesus’ ‘word’, (i.e., his
teaching) brought an awareness of, and a conviction of sin, as well as its ‘wages’.
(Rom. 6:23) To avoid these consequences, this ‘word’ also demanded repentance
and acknowledgment of Jesus as the Son of God. However, to acknowledge Jesus as
the Son of God meant acknowledgment of God’s ‘word’, which Jesus was commanded
to teach.
John 12:48-50 - “He who rejects Me and does not receive My
sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him
at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but
the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what
to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal
life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told
Me.”
Those who didn’t want to
acknowledge this ‘word’, which made them aware of their sin, persecuted Jesus.
Here, in John 15, Jesus informs those who were commissioned to preach this same
message, that they too would receive persecution from all who did not want to
give up the pleasures of sin, in acknowledgment of the ‘word’. Earlier, Jesus
had told Nicodemus in John 3:19-21, “This
is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the
Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates
the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be
exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so
that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
This explains why some
react with persecution. Their ‘stumbling’ is disobedience to the ‘word’. The ‘word’
is the ‘stumblingblock’. The ABOLISHING of the stumblingblock, can be done in
one of two ways. One way is by persecution toward the teacher of the ‘word’, because
of hatred of the ‘word’ that convicted them of sin.
Another way to ‘abolish’
the stumblingblock, is to ACCEPT the word by obeying it. It is a simple
concept…if ‘stumbling’ is by disobedience to the ‘word’, then the ‘stumbling’
is removed by obedience to the ‘word’.
The response to the ‘word’
reveals the nature of the heart. A good heart, obeys; a bad heart disobeys.
Peter explained it in 1
Peter 1:22-23 as follows, “Since you have in
obedience to the truth purified
your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another
from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed
which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring WORD of God.”
Our attitude toward God’s
word reveals our heart. Attitudes govern actions. If you consider yourself ‘born
again’, it was by the message that Christ and the apostles delivered. If you
believed the message, you obeyed something that the message commanded. If you
were born again apart from obedience, then the message was not what Christ and
the apostles delivered. The apostle Paul said, “But God be thanked, that ye were
the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the
servants of righteousness.” (Rom. 6:17-18).
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