And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. 1Pe 2:8 Those who reject Christ remain lost in bondage to the Sin Nature, in darkness unable to distinguish good from evil.     They are disoriented and incapable of finding there way out.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Mat 11:6 When we believe in our hearts that His Holy Spirit has raised Jesus from the dead we cannot be offended in Him.     It is that belief that results in us being born of His Holy Spirit.     We experience Spirit Salvation and have Eternal Security.

Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. Mat 13:21 We must have our roots in the Truth so that we can survive the onslaughts of Satan.      Notice that the shallow believers are offended by the Word.      We are seeing the abandonment of the Word in some churches even today.     This is likely to increase as pressure is applied to accept immorality and wickedness as normal.

And they were offended in him.     But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house. Mat 13:57 The result of them being offended in Him was that they shunned Him and spoke evil of Him, defaming His character and undermining His ministry.     The same will occur with us as we manifest as Sons Of The Holy Spirit.

Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? Mat 15:12 The Truth is always offensive to those who refuse to receive it.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name`s sake. Mat 24:9 Persecution for Christ`s sake will arise and intensify.     hatred against Christians will spawn torment and death.

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Mat 24:10 Shallow Christians will attempt to save their lives by turning in other Christians.     To do so they must hate those they turn in.     why?     Because the shallow Christians will seek to save their lives.     Those In Christ will be offensive to the government and will bring government wrath upon all Christians.

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. Mat 26:31 Offended in being connected with Jesus.

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?     and are not his sisters here with us?     And they were offended at him. Mar 6:3 When a person rises above the level of the people who know him there is jealousy, envy and offense.

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son Of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Joh 6:53 We must receive Christ in Truth with no reservations or doubts.

Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? Joh 6:60 They were believing for the healings, loaves and fishes but not for Eternal Life.

When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? Joh 6:61 The rational, Carnal Mind, is enmity with our Lord.     Why?         ➛ because it prevents us from grasping spiritual concepts.      Spiritual Minded individuals will always offend Carnal Minded people because they shed light on the foolishness of their vain pursuits because of their wrong assumptions about virtually everything.

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 1Co 1:23 Jesus is a stumblingblock to the Jews because they count their genetics as sufficient for salvation.     Mat 3:9 The gentiles see spirituality as foolishness preferring to focus on the carnal.

If you remember, the multitudes that followed Jesus to hear his teaching, see the healings and eat the loaves and fishes left Him and cried out CRUCIFY HIM in the end.   

They were all offended by Him.   

Was that His desire?   Was that His plan?    NO!   

But the Truth hurts.   It forces you to repent or rebel - to draw near or to fall away.   

So, though Christ was and is the epitome of God`s love, He was offensive by what He said.   

It was actually His honest admittance that He is the I AM that offended them the most and resulted in His crucifixion.   

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2Ti 3:12 To live godly is to be a witness of Christ Jesus at every opportunity.      It is to speak the Truth in all situations so that people can be made free.      Persecution comes not from living a good, moral life.     It comes as a result of the preached Truth being rejected by the unbeliever.

Nobody gets persecuted for being good people and living a clean life.   

People get persecuted for what they say - their testimony.   

So, get ready to be persecuted for the offense caused by your testimony or get ready to Deny Christ Jesus before men.   

But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Mat 10:33 Jesus is saying that to willfully and verbally deny Him before men is the Unpardonable Sin.      Why is believing on Jesus and confessing Him before men so important?         ➛ Because Jesus is `God`.      No one can be accepted by `God` who has rejected Him.      Jesus states that a person`s words against Him requires Him to speak against them to His Holy Spirit Father.      What does that mean?         ➛ It means that His Holy Spirit will not dispense Grace to the denier and so leave them to inevitable destruction.      If Jesus is not a person`s advocate before His Holy Spirit they are condemned to the Lake Of Fire Mat 12:32.      Faithfulness is a characteristic of our Lord Jesus Christ.     If faithfulness is not a part of a person`s character they will deny Him eventually.      A person`s denial of Him will require His denial of them.      See Denying Jesus for clarity on how unbelievers of different levels Deny Jesus.