The Two Sides of the Gospel: Rising and Falling

1. Today's Topic: Many Will Fall, Many Will Rise!
2. Today's Scripture: Luke 2:34
3. Prayer
4. This scripture is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus!
5. The Gospel I believe in has two sides: it can cause people to rise and it can cause people to fall.
6. The Lord Jesus is a stumbling stone! The most people stumble on His truth!
7. The Lord Jesus never stumbled people for His own benefit!
8. We must be those who rise!
9. Conclusion: Live out the prosperity promised by God.

Contents

1. Today's Topic: Many Will Fall, Many Will Rise! 2
2. Today's Scripture: Luke 2:34 2
3. Prayer 3
4. This scripture is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus! 3
5. The Gospel I believe in has two sides: it can cause people to rise and it can cause people to fall. 3
6. The Lord Jesus is a stumbling stone! The most people stumble on His truth! 3
7. The Lord Jesus never stumbled people for His own benefit! 4
8. We must be those who rise! (Prosper) 5
9. Conclusion: Live out the prosperity promised by God! 6
10. Today's Topic: Many Will Fall, Many Will Rise!
    Today, the topic I want to share is: Many Will Fall, Many Will Rise!
    I have observed one thing: the world is constantly changing. This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that in this change, some people rise (Shake Up), and some people fall (Shake Down). Some companies rise, and some companies fall. As the world changes, for many people, a crisis is just a crisis. But for others, a crisis is an opportunity!
    Take the experiences of our brothers and sisters among us. Many are going through ShakeUp. In the blink of an eye, several years have passed, and we truly see how blessed our brothers and sisters are! We also truly see that the distance between some people around us and us has begun to widen!
    The Gospel we believe in is a miraculous Gospel. This Gospel can cause some people to fall and some people to rise! The church is a place that causes people to rise. We come to church every week to learn the word of God, and that is a significant thing. Don't underestimate this day-to-day learning. A young man I know, after working for two years, found himself confused and didn't know which way to go. So he came to me. After listening to him, I can summarise his words in two words: negative. He sees everything negatively. Think about it, what will happen to a negative person in the future? It certainly won't be good! If we hadn't come to church, we would probably be very negative too. It's just that when we started to be a little negative, we came to church, heard the word of God, and the negativity was dealt with! Day after day, year after year, we are lifted up, and they slide down. This is true not only for work but also for physical health, interpersonal relationships, financial situation, and even happiness index! May God greatly lift us up! May we prosper in our days on earth! Although the purpose of our lives is not on earth, and we are not troubled by earthly things, we absolutely hope to prosper on earth, and our God also hopes that we prosper on earth! Amen!
    This knowledge of prosperity is not something you can come up with by racking your brains. Racking your brains is not the solution. Reading the word of God is the solution!
    Today, let's share a topic: Many Will Fall, Many Will Rise!
    Let's look at today's scripture.
11. Today's Scripture: Luke 2:34

Simeon's Prophecy and the Two Sides of the Gospel

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Let's pray together!
3) Prayer
... Pray in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen!
4) This scripture is a prophecy about the Lord Jesus!
There was a prophet named Simeon. When you hear the name prophet, don't be surprised. There really are prophets. I myself have met them. They speak very accurately! Much better than fortune tellers. Because true prophets receive revelation from God, the Creator of the universe. God told this Simeon that he would see the arrival of the Messiah, the Saviour, before he left the world! That day, Mary and Joseph took the child to the temple to worship God. The prophet Simeon saw them and said:
Luk 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. Luk 2:26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Luk 2:27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Luk 2:28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: Luk 2:29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. Luk 2:30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, Luk 2:31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: Luk 2:32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” Luk 2:33 The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. Luk 2:34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign spoken against, Luk 2:35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
When Luke wrote this, the prophecy had already been fulfilled!
Today, when we read this, we know even more that these words are still faithful today!
It turns out that the Gospel we believe in is a Gospel that causes people to rise and causes people to fall!
5) The Gospel I believe in has two sides: it can cause people to rise and it can cause people to fall!

6. The Lord Jesus is a stumbling stone! The most people stumble on His truth!
   Don't misunderstand Jesus, thinking He is Santa Claus, smiling and giving gifts to everyone!
   Know that Jesus is a stumbling stone! He trips up the most people!
   1Pe 2:6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 1Pe 2:7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 1Pe 2:8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
   Jesus caused the Pharisees to fall (brood of vipers, hypocrites!)
   As a pastor, never invent your own method, thinking you are right. Learn from Jesus.

Steadfastness in Truth and Abandonment of Personal Rights

If the Lord Jesus was uncompromising in truth, even if it meant offending or stumbling people, so be it! God will surely prosper you! Before, we built churches by compromising the truth, pleasing people, and holding onto everyone, resulting in offending God! That is not imitating the Lord Jesus! In the Old Testament, the prophet Samuel was also a stumbling block to Saul!
In fact, if the Lord Jesus offends or stumbles people for the sake of truth, it is not woe to the one who causes the stumbling, but woe to the one who is stumbled! Of course, I will share another aspect with you later.
Jesus offended his own townspeople!
Jesus offended his own family!
Jesus offended his own disciples! (Many left)
Jesus offended his great disciple Peter!
Jesus offended his good friend – Lazarus!
Jesus offended the Canaanite woman (whose child was sick) by calling her a dog!
Jesus offended John the Baptist!
For the sake of truth, stumbling people does not count as stumbling people!
Do not think that pastors, in promoting gentleness, humility, tenderness, and patience, have become compromisers!
For everyone's benefit, I have not avoided mentioning anything! That is true humility!
7) The Lord Jesus never stumbled anyone for his own rights!
Mat 17:24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax came to Peter and said, Does your teacher not pay the temple tax? (The temple tax was about half a shekel.) Mat 17:25 He said, Yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth collect customs or taxes? From their own sons or from others? Mat 17:26 Peter said, From others. Jesus said to him, Then the sons are exempt. Mat 17:27 But so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.
All these things belong to the Lord Jesus; all things in heaven and earth come from Him. As a result, He gave up His rights and paid taxes so as not to stumble people!
Rom 14:13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.
Mat 18:5 Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, Mat 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Mat 18:7 Woe to the world for offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to the one by whom the offense comes! Mat 18:8 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. Mat 18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

We must stumble people, and we must also not stumble people! - In truth, we would rather stumble people for God's sake! Regarding our own rights, for our own sake, do not stumble people! Amen!
Such are those who are raised up!
8) We must be those who are raised up! (Prosper)
Psm 92:12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psm 92:13 They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. Psm 92:14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green. Psm 92:15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

The Mystery of Humility and Being Raised Up

Eze 17:24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.
Mat 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Mat 18:2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them Mat 18:3 and said, Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Mat 18:4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 20:26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, Mat 20:27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, Mat 20:28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Jas 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Jas 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

The key to being raised up is not to be stumbled by the rock of truth, nor to stumble people for one's own rights!
9) Conclusion: Live out the prosperity promised by God!
There is a cartoon: a young man pulling a rickshaw. Two old people are sitting in the rickshaw at the starting line. Next to him is another young man sitting on top of a car, with his parents in the car, driving a sedan. It is clear that the cartoon is talking about unequal competition!
Today, we are all standing on the rock of Jesus Christ, which is not a car or a plane, but the God who created the universe. He will be our help, and those who trust in Him will surely prosper! Even if many people fall, we will still be raised up!