Straight Talk From Jesus

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?  Mat 10:17-25

STEADFAST UNDER PERSECUTION

Likeness to the teacher in wisdom is the disciple’s perfection. "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." "The disciple is not greater than his master." "It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master." If that be a true principle, that the best that can happen to the scholar is to tread in his teacher’s footsteps, to see with his eyes, to absorb his wisdom, to learn his truth, we may apply it in two opposite directions. First, it teaches us the limitations, and the misery, and the folly of taking men for our masters; and then, on the other hand, it teaches us the large hope, the blessing, freedom, and joy of having Christ for our Master. Look first at the principle as bearing upon the relation of disciple and human teacher. All such teachers have their limitations. Each man has his little circle of favorite ideas, that he is perpetually reiterating. In fact it seems as if one truth was about as much as one teacher could manage, and as if whensoever God had any great truth to give to the world He had to take one man and make him its sole apostle; so that teachers become mere fragments, and to listen to them is to dwarf and narrow oneself. It is safe to follow Christ absolutely, and Him alone. In following Christ as our absolute Teacher there is no sacrifice of independence or freedom of mind, but listening to Him is the very way to secure that in its highest degree.
 Turn to the second application of this principle. Likeness to the Master in life is the law of a disciple’s conduct. There is no discipleship worth naming which does not at least attempt that likeness. They whose earthly life is following Christ, with faltering steps and afar off, shall have for their heavenly blessedness, they shall "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."
 Likeness to the Master in relation to the world is the fate that the disciple must put up with. If we are like Jesus Christ in conduct, and if we have received His word as the truth upon which we repose, depend upon it, in our measure and in varying fashions, we shall have to bear the same kind of treatment from the world. If you do not know what it is to find yourselves out of harmony with the world, I am afraid it is because you have less of the Master’s spirit than you have of the world’s. The world loves its own. If you are not of the world, the world will hate you. If it does not, it must be because, in spite of your name, you belong to it.  (A. Maclaren, Christian Commonwealth, June 18th, 1885)

The Disciple is Not Above His Master

That is, you must expect the same treatment which I have received. They have called me, your Master and Teacher, Beelzebub, the prince of the devils (see Mat_12:23-24; Luk_11:14-15; Joh_8:48), and you must expect that they will call all of the family by the same name.
Mat 12:23  And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? 
Mat 12:24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Luk 11:14  And he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. 
Luk 11:15  But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. 
Joh 8:48  Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 
“Beelzebub” was a god of the Ekronites. See 2Ki_1:2. The word literally means “the god of flies,” so called because this idol was supposed to protect them from the numerous swarms of flies with which that country abounded. The correct reading here, as in Luk_11:15, Luk_11:18-19; Mar_3:22, is supposed to be, not “Beelzebub,” but “Beelzebul” (Griesbach, Hahn, Robinson, Lexicon) an Aramean form of the word meaning the “god of dung” or “filth.” The name, thus altered by the Jews by changing a single letter, was given to Satan to express supreme contempt and aversion. The Jews seem to have first given to Satan the name of a pagan god, and then, to express their sense of the character of Satan, to have changed that name by altering a single letter so as to express their aversion in the most emphatic manner. By giving the name to Christ, they poured upon him the greatest possible abuse and contempt.  (Albert Barnes)

My thoughts on these verses: 
I've listened to many preachers, and teachers of the Bible since my salvation in 1978, and have heard almost none of them preach anything on these verses, especially the TV preachers, with mega churches. It's not hard to understand why. They do not fit the narrative that these false teachers want to portray to the world. They preach a cotton candy message that's another gospel, not the gospel of the cross, and what it really means to preach repentance and discipline, walking in the commandments of God, and seeking to put away the flesh. They may skim over a few verses to make it seem they are legitimate, but they are really seeking to be applauded, popular, and enticing a following, to gain the donations to keep financing them. If they preached these verses, and others like them very often, they'd quickly lose a majority of the people, and they know it.
God uses many ways to test someone, and what their motives really are in following Him. He never forces anybody to serve Him, or love Him, but he doesn't tell you any lies either. These verses, and many other's like them, make it very clear what a follower of Christ will have to deal with, and over the years, I've had enough experiences to know His warnings were clear and completely true. Every time I've dealt with the same insults, and mistreatment, it's been a test for me to see whether I'd walk away from Jesus, to follow the crowd, or keep walking on with the Lord. Or, will I give in to the temptation to twist the scriptures, and give a smooth teaching that tickles the ears, and makes people think there's no cost in following Christ. There's no turning back for me, I'm made my choice. There's nothing in this world worth losing His presence, and the assurance of heaven, when this life is done. What this world thinks of me is unimportant, what He thinks of me, is all that matters. I'd rather live under the shadow of His wings, and His approval, than the crowds of the world, or any king of this earth.
​Lorna Couillard
Mat 10:32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 
Mat 10:33  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.