Jesus to His servants
NIV 1 John 4:4-6 You, dear
children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are
from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does
not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit
of falsehood.
NIV Matthew 5:11-12 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
NIV Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus went
through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the
good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw
the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest
is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into his harvest field."
NIV Matthew 10:11-23
"Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there
and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your
greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not,
let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words,
shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the
truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be
as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. "Be on your guard against
men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their
synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as
witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry
about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through
you. "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children
will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate
you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you
are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will
not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
NIV Matthew 10:26-36
"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be
disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark,
speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather,
be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two
sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart
from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all
numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my
Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before
my Father in heaven. "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to
the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
"`a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- a man's enemies will be the members
of his own household.'
NIV Matthew 10:40-42
"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one
who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive
a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a
righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a
cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell
you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
NIV Matthew 11:2-6 When
John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him,
"Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The
blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf
hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed
is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
NIV Matthew 13:10-17 The
disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in
parables?" He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom
of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given
more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has
will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though
seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "`You will be ever hearing but
never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this
people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they
have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with
their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' But
blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I
tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see
but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
NIV Matthew 13:57-58 And
they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown
and in his own house is a prophet without honor." And he did not do many
miracles there because of their lack of faith.
NIV John 15:18-19 "If
the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to
the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.