Transcript: Christian Response to False Accusations and Slander: A Biblical Perspective

Music Music Have you personally ever experienced being slandered by someone who has accused you of saying or doing something that was not true? Today, our subject is dealing with this charge, and it is called, How Should a Christian React When Falsely Accused or Slandered? What is slander or false accusation, and how do we explain such an insidious word that has destroyed the reputation of many innocent people? While looking up the word in the Bible dictionary, we find the word slander means uttering false speeches against our neighbor to the prejudice of his fame, safety, welfare, and that out of malignity, vanity, rashness, ill-natured, or bad design. The principal kinds of slander are these. 1. Charging others with facts that they are not guilty of. 2. Affixing scandalous names or odious characters which they deserve not. 3. Aspersing a man's actions with foul names, importing that they proceed from evil principles or tend to bad ends when it does not and cannot appear to be so. 4. Perverting a man's words and acts disadvantageously by affecting misconstruction. 5. Partial or lame representation of men's discourse or practice, suppressing some part of truth or concealing some circumstances which ought to be explained. 6. Instilling sly suggestions which create prejudice in the hearers. 7. Magnifying and aggravating the faults of others. 8. Imputing to our neighbor's practice judgment or profession evil consequences which have no foundation in truth. So, summing up this term slander, we can say that it is evil, malicious talk intended to damage or destroy another person. King David said in Psalms chapter 31 verse 13, For I have heard the slander of many, terror is on every side, and while they scheme together against me, they plot to take my life. slander is prohibited in the ninth commandment which declares you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor the greatest slanderer of all is the devil or satan who is the adversary who opposes God's people and accuses them before God and we see this in Revelation chapter 12 verse 10 which declares Then I heard a strong, loud voice in heaven saying, Now the time has come, the salvation and power and the kingdom, the dominion and reign of our God, and the power, the sovereignty and authority of his Christ, the Messiah, for the accuser of our brethren. He who keeps bringing before our God charges against them day and night has been cast out. the evil one hates God and his people and will do anything to wage war against them and has on down from the ages to ages until this present day he is merciless and diabolical and we can see this effect on humanity even in our day especially in politics throughout the world and most certainly in every nation even our own, the United States of America. The lies, character assassination, accusing others of crimes that they are not guilty of, perverting words that they haven't spoken, magnifying and exaggerating the faults of others, is a slanderous and most sinful web to be caught in. Dear listener, This horrible and most unfortunate injustice in our country today is by the law in our nation called defamation of character or character assassination. It must be understood as well that it is not only in the political world that we see this most unjust and sinful hurt and act being perpetrated on innocent people, But even in the church, between members, there are those who have been so hurt by unkind and perverted words of so-called members that they have left their congregation to find solace in their own surroundings at home or in small church home gatherings. Understand, there are a large number of political people in our government in the United States of America who are guilty of crimes perverting the rule of law which requires the government to exercise its power in accordance with well-established and clearly written rules, regulations, and legal principles. the people who have taken office in the United States of America have vowed to follow the rules under oath that they would uphold them specifically they swear I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same that I will take this obligation freely without mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. We have a large number of people in government in this year of 2024, in the present administration, who have ignored the rule of law and made up their own ruthless laws to accommodate their own criminal practices and personal perversions and appetites. What we see happening and forming in our beautiful nation of America is a global agenda called communism or Marxism, which is a plan to take over and steal the freedoms which this country has enjoyed for over 200 years We see how this great battle labels sane people in their right minds as lunatics crazy and demented when in fact it is the accusers who are the ones who are deranged, which means they have a very sick or abnormal state of mind. So out of all of this, at the very foundation of communism and Marxism is the hatred of Christians in their faith in Jesus Christ. This hatred stems from having a different God than the God in which the believers in Jesus Christ love, worship, and serve. Communists and Marxists follow the God of this world called Satan the devil, and their allegiance to him comes under the same name and title called the Evil Cabal, which is an organization of Luciferians, which are Satan worshippers. The sobering fact that this secular despotic government accounts for is over 93% of all violence and war in human history. The number is said to be almost 170 million men, women, and children who have been tortured, starved, worked to death, and murdered in many different ways in which these governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners. Today, also, in adding to the secret crimes that most of the population in America that go on mostly underground is the slavery of children, young women, and young boys. This is mainly for the purpose of self-gratification by pedophiles, satanic sacrifice, adrenochrome, which is the draining of blood from frightened children for the purpose of injecting into their bodies as to gain a high and also for maintaining a youthful appearance. How disgusting. How abominable in God's eyes. If you go to the internet to look up this insidious practice, you will find the liberal or fake news tell you that this is a conspiracy theory. This is a tactic and practice of the rogue, evil, globalist, and cabal agenda. So why do communists and leftist governments and their followers hate Christianity? When we go to our book of life, we see in the explanation in John chapter 7 verse 7, where Jesus told the disciples, The world cannot hate you because it hates me, because I testify of it that its works are evil. And also, in John chapter 15, beginning in verse 18, Jesus said, If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as 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. You see, the anti-God mandate, along with today's prevailing widespread anti-Christian thinking of Marxists and leftists, is something that has proven itself already to be deadly. in the past with evidence of despot rulers such as Hitler's regime, Mao Zedong, Stalin, Mussolini, and so forth. Today, dear listener, we are running a parallel with these latter despot rulers, but the world around us is deaf and dumb as to the reality of this insidious, secret agenda and crime-ridden plot to take over America and the world for that matter. America has enjoyed her freedoms for over 200 years. This is why many other countries' inhabitants have desired to migrate and become U.S. citizens like my Italian grandparents and my Irish relatives. I believe we need to look closely at what we learn through words in 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 12 through 22 as he tells us as believers that we will suffer for the sake of righteousness that is found in Jesus Christ. Beginning in verse 12, for the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, those who are upright and right standing with God. And his ears will be attentive to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who practice evil, to oppose them, to frustrate and defeat them. Verse 13. Now who is there to hurt you if you are zealous followers of that which is good? But even in case you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed and happy to be envied do not dread or be afraid of their threats nor be disturbed by their opposition but in your hearts set Christ apart as holy and acknowledge him as Lord always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you but do it courteously and respectfully And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, unimpaired, so that when you are falsely accused as evildoers, those who threaten you abusively and revile your right behavior in Christ may come to be ashamed of slandering your good lives. Verse 17, for it is better to suffer unjustly for doing right, if that should be God's will, than to suffer justly for doing wrong. Verse 18, for Christ the Messiah himself died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, that he might bring us to God. In his human body he was put to death, but he was made alive in the spirit. Verse 19 In which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, the souls of those who long before the days of Noah had been disobedient, when God's patient waited for the building of the ark, in which a few people, actually eight in number, were saved through water. Verse 21 and baptism, which is a figure of their deliverance, does now also save you from inward questionings and fear, not by removing the outward bodily feel of bathing, but by providing you with the answer of good and clear conscience, inward cleanness and peace before God because you are demonstrating what you believe to be yours through the resurrection of Christ Jesus And he is now entered into heaven and is at the right hand of God with all angels and authorities and powers made subservient to him. We learn as a lesson in our Christian behavior that we need to be tender and kind-hearted. For this reason, God has given us his precious Holy Spirit to enable us in this process. Verse 14 declares, But even in case you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you're blessed, you're happy to be envied. Do not dread or be afraid of their threats, nor be disturbed by their opposition. but in your hearts. Set Christ apart as holy, acknowledging him as Lord and always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you but do it courteously and respectfully. You see, our lesson here is that we should be kind-hearted no matter what even if the good that we do causes others to malign and to hate us. Our righteous deeds should not be done in expectation of reciprocal kindness. This question asked in 1 Peter 3, verse 13 contains two possible expectations. In most cases, people will love us and be grateful for our goodness. but in some cases there will be some will malign us for having being kind and caring and generous you see scripture warns us despite our attempts to live a godly life we may run into opposition now and then but we have a consolation because we're told that the believer is blessed who suffers for righteousness sake Suffering for doing good as a Christian instills the fact of faith that by being faithful to God, to his commands, we do it because we love him. And it brings reward in the end for adverse situations and persecutions. Verse 13 again declares, And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? Verse 14, but even if you should suffer for righteousness, say, you're blessed and do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. True Christians in Jesus Christ have no reason to be afraid of the threats or rage of their enemies, because our enemies are God's enemies and his face is against them. His power is above them, and they can do nothing to hurt us but by his permission. And therefore, our scripture tells us not to trouble ourselves about them. In reading on in verse 15, we see that instead of terrifying ourselves with the fear of men, we're told to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and let him be the one that we fear. verse 15 declares but sanctify the Lord your God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear it's another translation with meekness and fear and having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed And verse 17 declares, For it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than doing evil. You see, we are not to fear those who can kill only the body. But we are to fear him who can destroy body, soul, and spirit. In Luke chapter 12, beginning in verse 4, Jesus teaches the fear of God when he declares, And I say to you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body. After that, they have no more they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear. Fear him who, after he is killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, fear him. So we learn that we are to sanctify or set apart the Lord God in our hearts. And this takes place when we with wholehearted sincerity and fervency adore and love him with all of our hearts. When all of our thoughts of the Lord are constant and reverent and when we rely on his power to trust in his faithfulness. To add also that we must submit to his wisdom, imitate his holiness, and give him the glory for all of his wonderful promises that he has given us. All of these mandates are requirements. They are not lists of things to check off and to do, but rather they become our spiritual way of life found in Jesus Christ alone. We sanctify God before others when our conduct and behavior invites and encourages others to glorify God and honor Him in their lives too. We will only experience little of the presence of God if we merely reap what we have sown. The blessing comes only when we suffer for our kindness and compassion and not our wrongdoing. Dear listener, it is only because of the presence of Jesus Christ within us that we can be made fully satisfied and keep our precious peace despite hardships that come along. Matthew chapter 5 verses 10 through 12 declares clearly shows that being blessed may lead to suffering, but that this should in no way reduce one's joy in Christ. Contrarily, persecution for the sake of righteousness actually increases blessedness. That's a blessing. Praise God. Let me repeat it. Persecution for the sake of righteousness actually increases our blessedness. Let's read in Matthew chapter 5, beginning in verse 10, where Jesus tells us, And this is why Peter tells believers in verse 14 that they should not fear or be disturbed by people who hurt them because of their kindness and gentleness. You see, actually the word happy or glad is exactly the opposite of what blessedness means. The word happy in its Greek equivalence never occurs in the New Testament because it means satisfaction if all goes well for us. But the Lord never promises happiness in our circumstances, but rather blessedness or inner peace in spite of what happens to us. And we read this in John chapter 16, beginning in verse 32, when Jesus declares, But take notice, the hour is coming, and it has arrived, when you will be dispersed and scattered, every man to his own home, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. Verse 33, Dear one, we come to learn and grow in understanding that as a believer, our response in suffering is to glorify God Almighty. Peter tells us that in the face of persecution, believers must sanctify the Lord. But God is already holy. In what way can we sanctify him? and we find that answer in the Lord's prayer which teaches us to pray which means to venerate God's name as holy and not to allow his name to be spoken evil of it is to honor God and to know him as your protector, your all in all hallelujah as a Christian today especially important for us to observe and see how he or she behaves when they suffer unjustly. How do you react? Do you launch into a tirade of defense and anger? Or do you handle it with kindness in responding? A believer in times of persecution has the opportunity to glorify God before the watching world. We must be ready always, the scripture tells us, give an answer to every individual who may ask you the reason for the hope that is within you. Peter admonishes in verse 15 saying, But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy and acknowledge him as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully. You see, suffering affords true believers a wonderful opportunity of his or her hope, which is found in Jesus Christ. One should avoid stressing over his or her heroic stand in suffering, because this would only be vain self-glory. Peter advises in verse 15 to witness, courteously and respectfully. Another thing Peter advises in verse 16 and tells us, having a good conscience, which means that the believer knows his motivation and actions are pure before God, even if not understood by men. Verse 16. And see to it, he says, that your conscience is entirely clear, unimpaired, so that when you are falsely accused as evildoers, those who threaten you abusively and revile your right behavior in Christ may come to be ashamed of slandering your good lives. And dear listener, the final goal of a Christian, that is by his style of life and patience in affliction, he will show his accusers to be false and God to be true. and ultimately the bottom line here God is glorified in your life nothing is more important than with the life of a Christian that God is glorified and shown honor by mere creatures of clay who have grown to love him with their whole hearts their minds, their souls everything within them this lesson today is called How Should a Christian React when falsely accused and slandered in this year of 2024. It is vitally important. Vitally important. Our world is in a volatile state of chaos, war, and confusion. Christianity in our beautiful nation, the United States of America, is being targeted, threatened, and even removed from the Internet. Our own ministry has experienced this already by removal from YouTube and even, get this, even a ministry site called GodTube has removed us. And this shows us that we're on the right track. When we speak the truth and call out warning of the wolves in the midst of the church and the perilous times that are closing in on us as believers, please take this word today to heart and know that yours and my Christianity will be tested in these next few years to come times will get tough and possibly very dangerous but with life bound in Jesus Christ I say that again if your life is bound in Jesus Christ a believer can weather through the tough times knowing that their love for their Lord and Master will prevail even in the face of death. Let us all pray earnestly for our own salvation and the salvation of others. And remember that repentance is a vital part of our salvation, because salvation is not a one-time act, as some believe from the teaching of John Calvin, which teaches once saved, always saved. May God be merciful to all of us. May he be merciful.