April 27, 2025 • 44 mins
"Is it worth it?" This question confronts every believer when following Jesus brings hardship rather than ease. Through Paul's remarkable journey from respected Pharisee to persecuted apostle, we discover the profound answer.
Before encountering Christ on the Damascus road, Paul enjoyed status, education, and power. After his conversion, everything changed—but not as our prosperity-minded culture might expect. Rather than comfort, Paul faced rejection from all sides: former Jewish colleagues plotted his death, forcing an escape in a basket through a city wall, while skeptical Christians initially doubted his transformation.
The pattern continued throughout his ministry. Paul endured five floggings, three beatings with rods, one stoning, three shipwrecks, constant dangers, sleepless nights, hunger, and exposure. Yet remarkably, he maintained an attitude of joy, writing from prison: "Rejoice in the Lord always." He counted "everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ."
Paul understood that suffering serves divine purposes: identifying with Christ, developing humility, advancing the gospel, confirming salvation, and producing spiritual growth. His confidence remained unshaken even facing execution: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
Like missionary Jim Elliott, who was killed reaching an unreached tribe (and whose widow's forgiveness later led to their conversion), Paul declares that losing everything for Christ isn't foolish when we gain what cannot be lost. Nothing—not persecution, danger, or even death—can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus.
When you face your own challenges, remember Paul's testimony: following Jesus, despite every cost, is worth it a million times over.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Acts 9, 23 through 30 in the ESV.
When many days had passed, theJews plotted to kill him, but
their plot became known to Saul.
They were watching the gatesday and night in order to kill
him.
But his disciples took him bynight and let him down through
(00:20):
an opening in the wall, loweringhim in a basket.
And when he had come toJerusalem, he attempted to join
the disciples and they were allafraid of him, but they did not
believe that he was a disciple,but Barnabas took him and
brought him to the apostles anddeclared to them how, on the
(00:43):
road, he had seen the Lord whospoke to him and how at Damascus
, he had preached boldly in thename of Jesus.
So he went in and out amongthem at Jerusalem preaching
boldly in the name of the Lord,and he spoke and disputed
against the Hellenists, but theywere seeking to kill him, and
(01:05):
disputed against the Hellenists,but they were seeking to kill
him.
And when the brothers learnedthis, they brought him down to
Caesarea and sent him off toTarsus.
May God bless the reading ofhis word.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thank you.
Well, when facing challengingcircumstances often let's say
we're engaged in something andwe face difficulties often we'll
ask this question is it worthit?
Is it worth it?
(01:37):
So, by way of example, imaginethat you receive a promotion at
work.
How many would say amen to that?
You get a substantial payincrease so you could actually
afford eggs, right, and this isgreat.
But then you get the job andyou realize, in addition to the
money, there's also a lot ofadded responsibility and a lot
(01:57):
of extra headaches and it'staking you away from your family
.
And you will likely askyourself this question is the
money worth it?
If you have children, when yourchild hits about two years old,
you might ask is it worth it?
And then, once you get throughthe terrible twos, you're good
for a while until guys, theybecome teenagers.
(02:21):
And then, jerry, you go.
Man, I really wonder if it'sworth it.
Right, you know, I went back toschool as an adult, went to
graduate school and to studytheology and I, man, I, I was
excited about it before Istarted.
I knew it was going to help mein my preaching and my pastoral
(02:42):
leadership.
But I remember at the time Iworked here full time I built
websites just to help pay bills.
In addition to that, I hadfamily responsibilities and all
of that, and then I would be uplate every night with rigorous
(03:02):
study, and I cannot tell you howmany times I've asked myself
the question is it worth it?
Well, I want to think aboutthat question in the context of
our Christian lives.
Is it worth it to follow Jesus?
Last week we started lookingwe're going through the book of
(03:24):
Acts as a church, and last weekwe started looking at Acts,
chapter 9, where we find thisprofound conversion of the
Apostle Paul, who turns toChrist.
You might remember that beforeChrist excuse me, before Christ
meeting Christ, paul was apersecutor of the church.
(03:45):
As a matter of fact, you goback to Acts, chapter 7, and it
was Paul.
And in the chapter 8, it wasPaul who condoned the first, the
execution of the firstChristian martyr, namely Stephen
.
So at this point, in thebeginning of chapter 9, we find
Paul, who is also called Saul,goes to the high priest and he
(04:07):
says listen, the Christians havescattered and I want to go
about 150 miles away to thistown of Damascus, where there's
a large population of Jews whoare following Christ, and I want
your permission, would youdeputize me?
Let me go down and arrest themand then bring them back to be
(04:28):
dealt with through theirjudicial system.
I mean, this was a mean dude,okay, he was very, very angry
and antagonistic towardsChristians.
So Paul makes his way youremember the story to Damascus?
And on the way, remember abright light this is the
glorified Christ appears to him.
Paul is blinded, knocked to hisfeet, and Jesus begins talking
(04:53):
to him and saying listen, you'repersecuting the church, which
means you're persecuting me, andI truly am the Messiah, I
really am the risen Christ, asyou have heard.
And so Paul's life would bechanged by this encounter
forevermore.
Jesus instructs him at thatmoment to get up and to go on to
(05:15):
Damascus, but for muchdifferent reasons than he had
intended.
And so he goes and he's stillblind, and for three days he
prays to God.
I would pray too after thatencounter.
For three days he prays and hefasts.
He goes without food or water.
Well, in the meantime, as he ispraying, jesus appears to
(05:36):
another man named Anais orAeneas, I don't know how you say
it.
I think I called him Ananias mywhole sermon last week, wrong
person.
So anyways, aeneas is, you know, he's just minding his own
business.
And Jesus shows up and he sayshey, paul is in Damascus.
(05:57):
I want you to go and I want youto find him and I want you to
lay hands on him so that he willreceive his sight.
Well, ananias begins.
He's hesitant, right, he's likeGod.
Do you know who you're askingme to go see?
Like, maybe you're getting yourpeople mixed up.
I don't want to go see him.
(06:19):
Understandably so, paul hasbeen condoning the execution of
Christians.
So, anyways, jesus responds toAnais like this.
He says go, I have chosen Paul.
I have chosen Paul, thispersecutor, this murderer, the
(06:39):
one with blood on his hands.
I've chosen him as a vessel tomove my mission forward on his
hands.
I've chosen him as a vessel tomove my mission forward.
He's going to preach the gospelto Israel.
He's going to go before kingsand even to the Gentiles to take
the gospel to the uttermostparts of the ancient world.
And we stand back and we go.
What a glorious story, doesn't?
(07:01):
It just show us that God canchange anybody's life.
God can use anybody, even theperson sitting next to you.
Right, that's a glorious thingand this is a wonderful story.
But there's another verse thatI didn't really point out last
week.
It's verse 16 in chapter 9.
So if you have your Bible open,go to verse 16.
(07:22):
And this is what else Jesustells Ananias.
He says Now.
This to some Westerners seemslike a paradox.
Paul is chosen as a vessel tosuffer, chosen to suffer.
(07:46):
This is exactly Paul's life.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
And this was not an exaggeration.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Paul suffered, and I think that's an understatement.
So here's what I want to dotoday.
Your and my suffering forChrist is not going to probably
be anywhere near his, and you'llsee that in a minute.
But his story relates in somesense to our story, because the
(08:24):
Christian life is hard.
I know there are preachers whowill tell you that if you come
to Jesus, your life's just goingto be all cupcakes and rainbows
, but it's not.
Let me ask you this have any ofyou ever, like started really
getting your life with the Lordand you think, man, this is
going to be great and all of asudden, all hell breaks loose in
your life?
It's like the more you try, themore that happens right?
(08:46):
So when you follow Christ, asglorious as it is, there is an
element of difficulty andchallenge, and the question I
want to pose before you today isis it worth it?
Is it worth it and spoileralert, I'm going to go ahead and
tell you my answer it is, andthat is, it is extremely,
(09:10):
infinitely worth all the painand the heartache.
Following Jesus is worth it all, and I'm going to try to show
you that through Paul's storytoday.
So number one I want to look atfirst the cost of following
Christ, but then the benefit ofthe challenges that come as part
(09:31):
of our lives.
All right, it's a little warmerin here today, so if you stop
falling asleep, it's going to bean ice box, I'm just telling
you.
All right, so let's look at thecost Acts 9, 19b through 22.
So let's look at the cost Acts9, 19b through 22.
So Paul has just been convertedand it says immediately he
proclaimed Jesus in thesynagogues.
When you're saying that oughtto be immediately what you do,
(09:54):
tell people about what Jesus hasdone for you and what he is
offering to them.
And this is what Paulproclaimed he is the Son of God.
This is exactly what Paul hasbeen denying and he realizes now
Jesus is who he claimed to beand he's excited.
So he goes to the synagoguesand it says all who heard him
(10:15):
were amazed and said is this notthe man who made havoc in
Jerusalem of those who calledupon this name?
And he is not.
Has he not come here for thispurpose, to bring them bound
before the chief priest?
But Saul increased more instrength and confounded the Jews
who lived in Damascus byproving that Jesus is the Christ
(10:36):
.
Paul spends we know fromGalatians 1.17, three years
after his conversion, in Arabiaand then Damascus, going to
synagogues and telling the Jewsin the synagogues his colleagues
even listen, I was wrong, hewas really like he killed
(10:58):
Christians because he was soconvinced he was right about
Jesus.
And he says listen, because hewas so convinced he was right
about Jesus.
And he says listen, I'm wrong.
And so many would think that,as Paul obeys the Lord and does
exactly what God has called himto do, many people would expect
(11:21):
that his life would just be fullof blessing.
Right, it would kind of be easystreet that God would shield
him from anything that wouldcome his way.
But that is not the case.
Trouble begins as he's inDamascus.
So, number one, he experiencespersecution from unbelievers.
So look at verses 23 through 25.
So when many days had passedmany days, by the way, is three
(11:43):
years, galatians 1.17, the.
Jews plotted to kill him.
Guys, these are the people he'sdone life with, these are the
people he's given his life to.
These are Jews who, like heused to, who have rejected Jesus
as the Messiah.
And it says they plotted tokill him, but their plot became
(12:05):
known to Saul or Paul.
They were watching the gatesday and night in order to kill
him, but his disciples took himby night and let him down
through an opening in the wall,lowering him in the basket.
So think about this.
Paul has just realized.
The Jews have been waiting forcenturies on the promised
(12:28):
Messiah, the deliverer, whowould come and inaugurate God's
kingdom on the earth, restoreall things, bring justice to the
world, peace to the world.
They've been waiting on thisMessiah.
Well, we know that Jesus isthat Messiah.
But Paul, along with many ofhis fellow Jews, he was a
(12:50):
Pharisee, many of his fellowPharisees, leaders in the temple
, they man, they rejected Jesusas the Messiah.
So, paul, when he meets therisen Christ, he is excited and
he wants to go tell the peoplehe loves so much.
Listen, the Messiah is here, hehas come.
I mean, think back to when you,jesus, found you.
(13:12):
I should say and think when yougot saved.
That was probably.
I love new converts becausethey're excited and they want to
tell everybody about what'sjust happened to him.
And they want to tell everybodyabout what's just happened to
him.
That's exactly what Paul wantsto do.
And so he goes from synagogueto synagogues and he says listen
, it's true, jesus is theMessiah and he's risen.
(13:41):
But he didn't get the responsethat he probably thought he
would.
The Jews, who at one time hadso much respect for him, the
leaders in the temple, theyweren't glad about his
announcement by and large, andthey weren't even neutral.
They wanted to kill himfollowing Jesus.
(14:11):
Jesus makes this very clearfollowing Jesus may cost you
relationships.
I've heard of, you know, ahusband or wife getting saved,
and maybe the husband and wifeare both atheists, and one or
the other gets saved and thespouse leaves.
And one or the other gets savedand the spouse leaves.
You've heard of people ofdifferent faiths.
(14:32):
Their families have a differentfaith.
One person in the familyreceives Christ and they're
excommunicated from the family.
There are people who have beensevered from their mother and
father.
There are mothers and fatherswho have come to the Lord and
their kids, their adult children, want nothing to do with them
(14:52):
anymore.
They become estranged.
Well, this is why Jesus says inMatthew 10, 37, whoever loves
father or mother more than me isnot worthy of me, and whoever
loves son or daughter more thanme is not worthy of me.
The question is what are yougoing to do when they walk away
because of your faith?
Well, jesus says to be mydisciple, you've got to have
allegiance.
(15:12):
Let them walk, as difficult asit is, and my question I want to
ask you today is is it worth it?
Is it worth it, paul, thepeople that he had done life
with since childhood?
They have stepped away becauseof his belief in Christ.
Paul isn't worth it.
So he experienced persecutionfrom the outside.
(15:35):
Secondly, he actuallyexperiences, in this text,
persecution on the inside, orlet's call it skepticism.
Skepticism on the inside.
Look at verses 26 and 27.
And when he had come toJerusalem, he attempted to join
the disciples and they were allafraid of him, and for they did
(15:57):
not believe that he was adisciple.
But Barnabas took him andbrought him to the apostles and
declared to them how the road,on the road, he had seen the
Lord, who spoke to him, and howhim to the apostles and declared
to them how, on the road, hehad seen the Lord, who spoke to
him and how, at Damascus, he hadpreached boldly in the name of
Jesus.
So think of this Paul is inDamascus and he's going from in
the synagogues, he's preachingto people who are hostile
(16:19):
against the faith and he's runout of town.
He's lowered that.
The city was fortified andthere were houses within the
city walls, and so he was putout a window in a basket,
lowered down.
A bit of precarious situation,right, and what he does is he
flees for his life and here'swhat he thinks I can go to
Jerusalem, where the 12 apostlesare, and find safety and
(16:43):
acceptance and all that.
He's been threatened by thepeople he loves so much.
I'm going to go to my newfamily that's what he's saying
the household of God.
And he gets to the disciplesand they're scared of him and
they doubt that his conversionis real.
Come on, he's not.
He hasn't really changed.
(17:04):
Wow, that's not the last timePaul would deal with problems
within the church, the church ofCorinth, who he loved so much
man.
They were questioning hisapostleship and brought all
kinds of accusations against him.
You know, let me ask you thishave you ever seen someone be
honest, someone that you know,come to church for the first
(17:27):
time and they've got let me benice, let's say a checkered past
.
Are you with me?
And they come to the altar andthey start weeping a little bit
and you, if we're honest, youthink they're not going to
change.
Okay, you don't have to raiseyour hand.
They're not going to change.
Okay, you don't have to raiseyour hand.
(17:47):
Maybe that was your experience.
Maybe you've lived a reallycolorful life, let's say.
And when you came to Jesus,your family, those around you
thought come on, you're going togo right back to your old
lifestyle.
And that's discouraging, isn'tit?
Thank God for Barnabas.
Barnabas, his name, this is hisnickname that the apostles gave
(18:08):
him.
It means son of encouragement.
How many are grateful forencouragers?
I'm looking around and I see alot of encouragers.
I see also a lot ofnon-encouragers, but thank you
for those who encourage me.
Right, and just kind of even itout, here's what I love.
(18:28):
I want to point your attentionto verse 28.
Here's what Luke's right.
So he's just been rejectedtemporarily by the disciples.
Barnabas stands up from him andnow they say all right, we
believe you, verse 28.
So he went in and out amongthem at Jerusalem, preaching
boldly in the name of the Lord.
He went in and out among them.
(18:51):
Here's what I want you to see.
Paul experienced church hurt.
How many have ever been hurtwithin the church?
Okay, yeah, I feel like mydeath is going to be the death
of a thousand cuts from fromcantankerous church people.
None of you all right, exceptthe non-encouragers.
(19:14):
But here's what I love.
You know I don't want todiminish the hurt that you've
experienced in church, but nomatter what you've been through,
it's not a reason to leave andwalk away.
We're family.
We're the family of God, andGod has called us to be
(19:35):
reconciled one to another.
Okay, this is really reallyimportant.
So don't let church hurt stopyou.
He joins with the apostlesimmediately, the ones who just
said you're not real man.
So, soon after Paul's lifebegins with Christ, he
experiences persecution from theoutside unbelievers that he
(19:58):
knew and once he did, then heexperiences skepticism from the
believers inside.
There's another enemy at playhere, and it's the devil himself
.
This is really important.
This is interesting.
The same group of Jews who are,after Paul's life, wanting dead.
It's the Pharisees, amongstothers.
(20:18):
They're the ones who wantedJesus dead and ultimately had
him turned over to be crucified,and I want you to listen to
John, chapter 8.
I'll read it for you.
I think we have it on thescreen.
In verse 44, this is what Jesussays to those who are
persecuting him, the Pharisees.
They think they're godly, bythe way.
(20:39):
Okay, here's what he says youare of your father, the devil,
and your will is to do yourfather's desire.
He was a murderer from thebeginning and does not stand in
the truth, because there is notruth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out ofhis own character, for he is a
(21:01):
liar and the father of lies.
Listen, the Pharisees want Pauldead, but Paul knows that
ultimately, his fight is notagainst flesh, that there's
another power at work here, andhe says as much in different
places, but especially and veryclearly explicitly in Ephesians
(21:24):
6.
You know this text aboutspiritual armor.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Finally, he writes verse 10,.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his
might.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over
this present darkness, againstspiritual forces of evil in the
(21:52):
heavenly places.
Paul recognizes that there isnot just a human realm who is
against him, but there is aspiritual realm that we don't
see, but it's just as real aswhat we can see.
See, but it's just as real aswhat we can see.
And today, as Peter said, wemust remember, folks, we have a
(22:15):
real adversary, the devil, whogoes about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
He doesn't want to wound you.
He wants to devour you when yousuffer.
You know what he wants you todo.
He wants you to doubt God.
He wants you to doubt God'slove.
He wants you to doubt even thatGod exists.
If God's real, why would he let?
me go through this, you knowwhat he wants to do.
Ultimately, he wants to makeshipwreck of your faith, just
(22:38):
like he did Peter.
Think about that.
I've got good news for you,though.
Satan is a force to be reckonedwith in Iran.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
He's a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
We don't take him lightly, but your God is
infinitely more powerful.
This is not Star Wars, whereit's a battle of good and evil,
the dark side and the Jedi.
This is like we know theoutcome.
The devil, the dark side, is nomatch for our great God, amen.
Let me just read you Revelation12, 9,.
(23:14):
Because Satan was decidedlydefeated at the cross and the
great dragon was thrown down.
This is looking forward to thelast day that the ancient
serpent who was called the deviland Satan, the deceiver of the
whole world.
He was thrown down to the earthand his angels were thrown down
with him.
Ultimately, he's thrown intothe lake of fire.
Our God is infinitely morepower than the powers of
(23:37):
darkness.
So let's just think about Paul'slife before and after coming to
Jesus.
Before coming to Jesus, awell-respected Jew, educated,
has friends and family allaround him who are cheering him
on.
He was a Pharisee, a person ofstatus, wealth.
He wielded a certain amount ofpower.
(23:57):
By the world's standards, thiswould be, he would be called
successful.
Now he comes to Christ and letme just tell you, paul is
getting towards the end of hislife and he summarizes his life
in Jesus.
Are you ready for this 2Corinthians 11, 24 through 28.
(24:23):
Do we have that on the screen?
Oh, here it is.
Five times.
I received at the hands of theJews, 40 lashes less one, 39
lashes with a whip, the whip ifused rightly, could whip up to
700 miles per hour and it wouldtear the skin from your back.
(24:44):
39 lashes he received and madehis back like jelly.
And he received that treatmentnot once, not twice, not three
times, not four times, but fivetimes.
And he kept serving Jesus.
As if that were not enough,three times I was beaten with
rods, once stoned three times.
(25:06):
I was shipwrecked night and day.
I was adrift at sea on frequentjourneys, in danger from rivers
, danger from robbers, dangerfrom my own people, danger from
Gentiles, danger in the citythis could be a song danger in
the wilderness, danger at sea,danger from false brothers in
toil and hardship, through manya sleepless night in hunger and
thirst, often without food, incold and exposure.
And apart from other things,there's the daily pressure on me
(25:28):
from all you church folk.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And we complain because God let our refrigerator
go out.
Although, why am I suffering somuch?
You know we're ready to throwin the towel.
Guys, listen, as Christians, Idon't care what the TV preachers
have told you.
Christianity is not your bestlife now.
Now it is more glorious becauseyou know Christ.
(25:56):
But your best life as far asyeah, let me just stop there.
Your best life will be when theLord returns, what we sing
about today, when every tearwill be wiped from your eyes.
No more pain, no more sorrow.
Christians, you see it here.
We experience the same problemsof the world.
We believe in healing, butChristians still get sick.
(26:17):
We live in an already, but notyet kingdom.
So while we believe in miracles, they're not guaranteed, no
matter how much faith you have.
But everyone will receivehealing someday, be it in this
life or the life to come.
We're not shielded from naturaldisasters.
Christians, just likenon-Christians, just experienced
(26:38):
flooding in different parts ofKentucky and lost everything.
So Paul says I was in danger.
He's a Christian.
Rivers, robbers on people,gentiles on and on in the city,
in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers,
sleepless nights.
Paul even went hungry.
That's the cost of followingJesus in Paul's life.
(27:02):
What are the benefits, though,of suffering?
Because I would ask Paul, paul,is it worth it?
Is it worth it?
Paul understands that there aresome benefits to suffering, so
I want to give you five.
I'm just going to list theseand give you a scripture for
each one.
These are all letters writtenby Paul.
(27:24):
Okay, this is not an exhaustivelist, but here's how God uses
suffering in our lives.
Number one we identify withJesus in our suffering.
Galatians 6, 17,.
From now on, let no one causeme trouble, for I bear on my
body the marks of Jesus.
You have a Savior who sufferedfor you, and we, you know, the
(27:48):
apostles, earlier in the book ofActs, said when they were
threatened and beaten, they saidwe count it.
They went away rejoicing thatthey were worthy to suffer in
the name of Jesus.
We identify with Jesus in oursuffering.
Number two suffering leads tohumility.
In 2 Corinthians 12, 7-10, paulwrites so, to keep me from being
(28:09):
conceited because of thesurpassing greatness of
revelations, a thorn was givento me in the flesh, so we don't
know if this was a spouse or not.
We don't know if it was aperson, if it was a sickness,
and I think it's intentionallyvague, because every one of us
in life have a thorn that you'dlove to get rid of.
(28:29):
Paul says a messenger of Satanto harass me, to keep me from
being conceited.
Some of you are going.
He is talking about my spouse.
Three times I pleaded with theLord God, take it away Again.
Just because you have a lot offaith, if God's will is not to
take something away from you,it's not going.
(28:51):
But here's what he says.
The Lord said my grace issufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, I will boast all themore gladly in my weaknesses so
that the power of Christ mayrest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then Iam content with weaknesses,
insults, hardship, persecution,calamities, for when I am weak,
then I am strong.
You know, if everything wentwell in your life, you may never
(29:14):
see your need for God.
Isn't it interesting thatpeople will, sometimes some
people will only come to churchwhenever things fall apart in
their life.
But God uses suffering to keepus humble and dependent upon Him
.
Number three suffering leads tothe spread of the gospel.
(29:35):
Philippians 1, 12 and 13.
I want you to know, brothers,that what has happened to me his
imprisonment, by the way, hasreally served to advance the
gospel, so that it's becomeknown throughout the whole
imperial guard and to the restthat my imprisonment is for
Christ.
I mean, they locked Paul up andhe was chained 24 hours to a
(29:55):
guard, and so you know what hedoes.
He just preaches to the guardand then the gospel goes to the
whole out the prison and to thewhole imperial guard and it
moves forward.
It's unbelievable and God usessuffering in our lives often to
move the gospel forward.
Number four suffering, or let'ssay perseverance in suffering,
(30:22):
brings an assurance of salvation.
Romans 8, 16 and 17.
I want you to really listen tothis.
The Spirit Himself bearswitness, with our spirit, that
we are children of God.
So you know, people doubt am Ireally a child of God?
Am I really saved?
And the Bible says that God'sSpirit, the Holy Spirit, will
bear witness with ours.
Man, you belong to God.
And then he says if children,then heirs, heirs of God and
(30:47):
fellow heirs with Christ.
Now watch this provided, or inother words, only if we suffer
with him in order that we mayalso be glorified.
Here's the point.
Jesus gives a parable.
I believe it's in Matthew 13,where he talks about the.
It's the parable of the sowerright Sowing seed on different
(31:09):
types of soil.
And one of the points that hemakes to this parable is that
some will claim to have receivedthe gospel, but when
persecution comes, they're out.
That happens to a lot of people.
They come to Jesus thinking man, he's going to fix all my
problems, but when that doesn'tnecessarily happen or things get
(31:30):
even worse for them or they'repersecuted or opposed, they're
out.
In other words, they just wantGod for the blessings, not for
Christ himself.
But when you suffer and youpersevere through it, the Holy
Spirit will bear witness, giveyou an assurance of your
salvation.
Suffering also causes spiritualgrowth.
(31:51):
Finally, romans 5, 3-5.
Paul says this we rejoice inour sufferings I'll talk about
that in a second Knowing thatsuffering produces endurance and
endurance produces character,and character produces hope, and
endurance produces characterand character produces hope, and
hope does not put us to shame,because God's love has been
poured into our hearts throughthe Holy Spirit who's been given
(32:13):
to us.
I've never heard people sayalmost never that you know what.
My biggest season of growthactually I don't think I've ever
heard this was when things weregoing really well.
How many can look back to achallenging time in your life
and say, man, that's when I grewin the Lord.
That's what the Lord usessuffering for in our own lives.
So you weigh the cost offollowing Christ and you
(32:40):
contrast that with the benefitsof following Christ.
And so now we ask Paul is itworth it?
Is following Jesus, giving Himyour life, is it worth it?
Let's look at his answer inclosing.
(33:03):
We previously read Romans 5,verse 3, where Paul says we
rejoice in our sufferings.
Philippians 4, 4,.
He says while he's imprisoned,rejoice in the Lord.
Always, through the good, thebad and the ugly, rejoice in the
Lord.
(33:23):
And then he says, and again Isay rejoice Paul.
Through all the shipwrecks anddangers, everything he went
through, listen, he still hadjoy in the Lord.
Why?
Here's why Because Christ isthe supreme treasure of our
(33:46):
lives.
To go back to Matthew 13, again,there's a one verse parable.
I think it's my favoriteparable, not just because it's
one verse.
But a man is walking through afield.
This is the parable.
He's walking through a fieldand he comes upon this great
treasure, more beautiful thanhe's ever seen.
And so the man goes.
It's not his field, so he goesand he sells all that he has to
(34:08):
buy the field that he mightobtain the treasure.
And it says, importantly, hedoes so with joy.
And the point is this the manwe don't know how much he had,
but all of his possessions,everything that he owned, he had
to sell it in order to obtainthis treasure and he did it
(34:30):
joyfully.
The Christian life may cost youeverything, but it's worth it.
So, paul, he can suffer andstill rejoice and be glad and
say all because he sees Christis more glorious than his
possessions, than his money,than his friends that walked out
(34:50):
on him, than his life.
It's profound.
So in Philippians 3, 7 and 8,he writes whatever gain I had, I
counted it as loss for the sakeof Christ.
Whatever gain I had, I countedit as loss for the sake of
Christ.
Indeed, I count everything asloss, the flesh ripped from my
(35:13):
back, loss, rubbish, because ofthe surpassing worth of knowing
Christ.
Jesus, my Lord.
If you know Christ, your soulcan be satisfied.
If you lose everything else Forhis sake, I have suffered all
things.
The loss of all things, and Icount them as dung, is what it
means Rubbish, in order that Imay gain Christ.
(35:35):
In order that I may gain Christ.
Paul at the end of his life, hewrites his final letter to the
book of 2 Timothy.
He's writing to his apprenticeand he's on death row under the
brutal emperor Nero.
And Nero was known for hisbrutal executions of Christians,
(35:57):
often slow and painful.
And Paul doesn't know what he'sin for exactly, but he knows
it's going to be bad.
And he's sitting at the end ofhis life and he's writing to
Timothy.
And what we might expect him towrite after all we've
considered is Timothy, don't gointo ministry, whatever you do,
or maybe even don't followChrist.
(36:18):
Do, or maybe even don't followChrist.
It's not worth it.
It's not what he says.
2 Timothy 4, 6-8.
For I am already being pouredout like a drink offering my
time of departure.
He's not just going to die andbe annihilated, he's just
(36:43):
changing locations.
He said himself to be absentfrom the bodies, to be present
with the Lord, and here's whathe says.
I hope we can all say this atthe end of our lives I fought
the good fight, I finished mycourse and I have kept the faith
Henceforth.
There is laid up for me a crownof righteousness which the Lord
(37:06):
and the righteous judge willaward to me on that day, and not
only to me, but all of us, allof you, he says, who have loved
his appearing, never hurtanybody at the end of their life
.
I've been by ministry for, Ithink, 25, 20, I've been saying
that for probably five years, along time, and I've been by a
(37:29):
lot of Christians' bedsides intheir final moments and I've
never had a Christian say andI've been with some believers
who suffered greatly.
I never heard them say not once.
You know, I regret giving mylife to Jesus.
Paul, is it worth it?
(37:50):
Is it worth the cost offollowing Jesus, he has said.
He would say to us today inglory yes, yes, a million times
over, yes, he is the supremetreasure.
So how do you have thisattitude?
(38:13):
Like paul, you do what he did.
You keep your eyes on jesusrather than your suffering.
He tells us as much as Hebrews12, 1 and 2.
He says continue to look toJesus, the founder and the
perfecter of our faith, who, forthe joy set before him, he
endured the cross, despising theshame, seated at the right hand
of the throne of God.
You know, thank God that heknows of suffering.
(38:38):
You have a savior who cansympathize with you.
Keep your eyes on him and Iwould just say to you, like Paul
, just continue to revel in hisglory, in the love of God.
Revel in the love of God, thesalvation that you have in
Christ, the sacrifice of theLord Jesus.
One more passage Romans 8, 35through 39,.
(39:01):
Paul's words.
And the point here is that, youknow, remember, he says in
another I think it's secondCorinthians he says what's he
say?
What's trading my sorrows?
That's how I know it.
Pressed but not crushed,persecuted not abandoned, struck
down but not destroyed.
Here's what he knows.
Christ is supreme and the deviland people in this world can
(39:22):
throw all that they have againstus, they can even take our
lives, but here's what hedeclares and this is hope for
all of us today.
Romans 8, 35.
Who shall separate us from thelove of Christ, us from?
the love of Christ Shalltribulation or distress, or
persecution, or famine, ornakedness or danger or sword, as
(39:45):
it is written, for your sake.
We're being killed all the daylong.
We are regarded as sheep to beslaughtered.
No, paul says, in all thesethings we are more than
conquerors, through Christ, wholoved us, for I'm sure that
neither death nor life, angelsnor rulers, nor things present,
(40:05):
nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in creation willbe able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus, ourLord.
And Paul's point is if you havethat, then who cares what you
lose?
That's the point, paul.
Is it worth it?
Yes, there are many dangers,toils and snares.
(40:25):
I have already come.
Grace has brought me safe thisfar and grace will lead me home.
One final story, and I'm done.
Some of you may be familiar withthe missionary, famous
missionary, jim Elliott.
So Jim Elliott graduated fromWheaton College in 1945.
(40:53):
He was a Bible major.
He graduated with honors and hewas man preparing his life to
be used in whatever way Godwanted to use him, to be used in
whatever way God wanted to usehim.
On October 28, 1949, eliotpenned in his personal journal,
as he was preparing for ministry.
His most famous words and theyread like this he is no fool who
gives what he cannot keep togain that which he cannot lose.
(41:17):
In other words, it's his way ofdeclaring that losing
everything for Christ is notfoolish it's all going to be
burned up one day anyways.
He is no fool who gives what hecannot keep to gain that which
he cannot lose.
That's 1949.
In 1953, as a young man, hemarried his wife Elizabeth and
(41:37):
they had one daughter together.
Soon after a missionary fromEcuador told Elliot, in 1953, as
a young man, he married hiswife Elizabeth and they had one
daughter together.
Soon after, a missionary fromEcuador told Elliot of an
unreached, violent Indian tribein the jungles of Ecuador, and
Elliot was determined, he feltGod leading him to get the
gospel to this very violenttribe of people.
(41:57):
In the fall of 1955, after muchpreparation, elliot joined four
other missionaries and theymade their initial contact with
the tribe.
They were in an airplane andthey would drop bags of goods as
kind of peace offerings to letthem know they were there to do
them no harm.
Then, finally, they came over aloudspeaker and said some
(42:19):
phrases in their native tongueto do them no harm.
Then, finally, they came over aloudspeaker and said some
phrases in their native tongueto let them know again man, we
just are here to talk to you, wemean you no harm.
And so, on January 6, 1956, themissionaries made their first
landing, where they were greetedby a young lady and two men,
and they were warmly welcomedand they said we've got to go,
(42:43):
but we're going to come back ina couple of days and we want you
to bring more people so we canshare with them about Jesus.
So the missionaries did as theysaid.
They returned on January the8th, expecting a large group to
come hear about Christ, who werehungry for God.
That's not what happened.
Instead, a large group ofviolent men came out and speared
(43:05):
all five missionaries to death.
Elliot was survived by his youngwife and his 10-month-old
little baby, and I would justsay to you today that Elliot was
no fool for giving up what hecannot keep to gain what he
(43:28):
could not lose.
You say, well, what good didthat do?
I'll tell you what good it did.
Elliot's wife and another ladyreturned to that same tribe
sometime later.
They lived amongst the peoplewho killed her husband for two
years, learning the culture, thelanguage and then sharing the
(43:49):
gospel with them, andElizabeth's courageous act of
forgiveness and love had such aprofound impact on this tribe
that they ended up embracingChristianity and turning their
back on their violent ways.
I don't know what you'll haveto go through as you commit your
(44:12):
life to Jesus.
I'll tell you this it'sglorious in some ways, but it's
challenging.
But a million times over it'sworth it.
Acts 9, 23 through 30 in the ESV.
When many days had passed, theJews plotted to kill him, but
their plot became known to Saul.
They were watching the gatesday and night in order to kill
him.
But his disciples took him bynight and let him down through
(00:20):
an opening in the wall, loweringhim in a basket.
And when he had come toJerusalem, he attempted to join
the disciples and they were allafraid of him, but they did not
believe that he was a disciple,but Barnabas took him and
brought him to the apostles anddeclared to them how, on the
(00:43):
road, he had seen the Lord whospoke to him and how at Damascus
, he had preached boldly in thename of Jesus.
So he went in and out amongthem at Jerusalem preaching
boldly in the name of the Lord,and he spoke and disputed
against the Hellenists, but theywere seeking to kill him, and
(01:05):
disputed against the Hellenists,but they were seeking to kill
him.
And when the brothers learnedthis, they brought him down to
Caesarea and sent him off toTarsus.
May God bless the reading ofhis word.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Thank you.
Well, when facing challengingcircumstances often let's say
we're engaged in something andwe face difficulties often we'll
ask this question is it worthit?
Is it worth it?
(01:37):
So, by way of example, imaginethat you receive a promotion at
work.
How many would say amen to that?
You get a substantial payincrease so you could actually
afford eggs, right, and this isgreat.
But then you get the job andyou realize, in addition to the
money, there's also a lot ofadded responsibility and a lot
(01:57):
of extra headaches and it'staking you away from your family
.
And you will likely askyourself this question is the
money worth it?
If you have children, when yourchild hits about two years old,
you might ask is it worth it?
And then, once you get throughthe terrible twos, you're good
for a while until guys, theybecome teenagers.
(02:21):
And then, jerry, you go.
Man, I really wonder if it'sworth it.
Right, you know, I went back toschool as an adult, went to
graduate school and to studytheology and I, man, I, I was
excited about it before Istarted.
I knew it was going to help mein my preaching and my pastoral
(02:42):
leadership.
But I remember at the time Iworked here full time I built
websites just to help pay bills.
In addition to that, I hadfamily responsibilities and all
of that, and then I would be uplate every night with rigorous
(03:02):
study, and I cannot tell you howmany times I've asked myself
the question is it worth it?
Well, I want to think aboutthat question in the context of
our Christian lives.
Is it worth it to follow Jesus?
Last week we started lookingwe're going through the book of
(03:24):
Acts as a church, and last weekwe started looking at Acts,
chapter 9, where we find thisprofound conversion of the
Apostle Paul, who turns toChrist.
You might remember that beforeChrist excuse me, before Christ
meeting Christ, paul was apersecutor of the church.
(03:45):
As a matter of fact, you goback to Acts, chapter 7, and it
was Paul.
And in the chapter 8, it wasPaul who condoned the first, the
execution of the firstChristian martyr, namely Stephen
.
So at this point, in thebeginning of chapter 9, we find
Paul, who is also called Saul,goes to the high priest and he
(04:07):
says listen, the Christians havescattered and I want to go
about 150 miles away to thistown of Damascus, where there's
a large population of Jews whoare following Christ, and I want
your permission, would youdeputize me?
Let me go down and arrest themand then bring them back to be
(04:28):
dealt with through theirjudicial system.
I mean, this was a mean dude,okay, he was very, very angry
and antagonistic towardsChristians.
So Paul makes his way youremember the story to Damascus?
And on the way, remember abright light this is the
glorified Christ appears to him.
Paul is blinded, knocked to hisfeet, and Jesus begins talking
(04:53):
to him and saying listen, you'repersecuting the church, which
means you're persecuting me, andI truly am the Messiah, I
really am the risen Christ, asyou have heard.
And so Paul's life would bechanged by this encounter
forevermore.
Jesus instructs him at thatmoment to get up and to go on to
(05:15):
Damascus, but for muchdifferent reasons than he had
intended.
And so he goes and he's stillblind, and for three days he
prays to God.
I would pray too after thatencounter.
For three days he prays and hefasts.
He goes without food or water.
Well, in the meantime, as he ispraying, jesus appears to
(05:36):
another man named Anais orAeneas, I don't know how you say
it.
I think I called him Ananias mywhole sermon last week, wrong
person.
So anyways, aeneas is, you know, he's just minding his own
business.
And Jesus shows up and he sayshey, paul is in Damascus.
(05:57):
I want you to go and I want youto find him and I want you to
lay hands on him so that he willreceive his sight.
Well, ananias begins.
He's hesitant, right, he's likeGod.
Do you know who you're askingme to go see?
Like, maybe you're getting yourpeople mixed up.
I don't want to go see him.
(06:19):
Understandably so, paul hasbeen condoning the execution of
Christians.
So, anyways, jesus responds toAnais like this.
He says go, I have chosen Paul.
I have chosen Paul, thispersecutor, this murderer, the
(06:39):
one with blood on his hands.
I've chosen him as a vessel tomove my mission forward on his
hands.
I've chosen him as a vessel tomove my mission forward.
He's going to preach the gospelto Israel.
He's going to go before kingsand even to the Gentiles to take
the gospel to the uttermostparts of the ancient world.
And we stand back and we go.
What a glorious story, doesn't?
(07:01):
It just show us that God canchange anybody's life.
God can use anybody, even theperson sitting next to you.
Right, that's a glorious thingand this is a wonderful story.
But there's another verse thatI didn't really point out last
week.
It's verse 16 in chapter 9.
So if you have your Bible open,go to verse 16.
(07:22):
And this is what else Jesustells Ananias.
He says Now.
This to some Westerners seemslike a paradox.
Paul is chosen as a vessel tosuffer, chosen to suffer.
(07:46):
This is exactly Paul's life.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
And this was not an exaggeration.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
Paul suffered, and I think that's an understatement.
So here's what I want to dotoday.
Your and my suffering forChrist is not going to probably
be anywhere near his, and you'llsee that in a minute.
But his story relates in somesense to our story, because the
(08:24):
Christian life is hard.
I know there are preachers whowill tell you that if you come
to Jesus, your life's just goingto be all cupcakes and rainbows
, but it's not.
Let me ask you this have any ofyou ever, like started really
getting your life with the Lordand you think, man, this is
going to be great and all of asudden, all hell breaks loose in
your life?
It's like the more you try, themore that happens right?
(08:46):
So when you follow Christ, asglorious as it is, there is an
element of difficulty andchallenge, and the question I
want to pose before you today isis it worth it?
Is it worth it and spoileralert, I'm going to go ahead and
tell you my answer it is, andthat is, it is extremely,
(09:10):
infinitely worth all the painand the heartache.
Following Jesus is worth it all, and I'm going to try to show
you that through Paul's storytoday.
So number one I want to look atfirst the cost of following
Christ, but then the benefit ofthe challenges that come as part
(09:31):
of our lives.
All right, it's a little warmerin here today, so if you stop
falling asleep, it's going to bean ice box, I'm just telling
you.
All right, so let's look at thecost Acts 9, 19b through 22.
So let's look at the cost Acts9, 19b through 22.
So Paul has just been convertedand it says immediately he
proclaimed Jesus in thesynagogues.
When you're saying that oughtto be immediately what you do,
(09:54):
tell people about what Jesus hasdone for you and what he is
offering to them.
And this is what Paulproclaimed he is the Son of God.
This is exactly what Paul hasbeen denying and he realizes now
Jesus is who he claimed to beand he's excited.
So he goes to the synagoguesand it says all who heard him
(10:15):
were amazed and said is this notthe man who made havoc in
Jerusalem of those who calledupon this name?
And he is not.
Has he not come here for thispurpose, to bring them bound
before the chief priest?
But Saul increased more instrength and confounded the Jews
who lived in Damascus byproving that Jesus is the Christ
(10:36):
.
Paul spends we know fromGalatians 1.17, three years
after his conversion, in Arabiaand then Damascus, going to
synagogues and telling the Jewsin the synagogues his colleagues
even listen, I was wrong, hewas really like he killed
(10:58):
Christians because he was soconvinced he was right about
Jesus.
And he says listen, because hewas so convinced he was right
about Jesus.
And he says listen, I'm wrong.
And so many would think that,as Paul obeys the Lord and does
exactly what God has called himto do, many people would expect
(11:21):
that his life would just be fullof blessing.
Right, it would kind of be easystreet that God would shield
him from anything that wouldcome his way.
But that is not the case.
Trouble begins as he's inDamascus.
So, number one, he experiencespersecution from unbelievers.
So look at verses 23 through 25.
So when many days had passedmany days, by the way, is three
(11:43):
years, galatians 1.17, the.
Jews plotted to kill him.
Guys, these are the people he'sdone life with, these are the
people he's given his life to.
These are Jews who, like heused to, who have rejected Jesus
as the Messiah.
And it says they plotted tokill him, but their plot became
(12:05):
known to Saul or Paul.
They were watching the gatesday and night in order to kill
him, but his disciples took himby night and let him down
through an opening in the wall,lowering him in the basket.
So think about this.
Paul has just realized.
The Jews have been waiting forcenturies on the promised
(12:28):
Messiah, the deliverer, whowould come and inaugurate God's
kingdom on the earth, restoreall things, bring justice to the
world, peace to the world.
They've been waiting on thisMessiah.
Well, we know that Jesus isthat Messiah.
But Paul, along with many ofhis fellow Jews, he was a
(12:50):
Pharisee, many of his fellowPharisees, leaders in the temple
, they man, they rejected Jesusas the Messiah.
So, paul, when he meets therisen Christ, he is excited and
he wants to go tell the peoplehe loves so much.
Listen, the Messiah is here, hehas come.
I mean, think back to when you,jesus, found you.
(13:12):
I should say and think when yougot saved.
That was probably.
I love new converts becausethey're excited and they want to
tell everybody about what'sjust happened to him.
And they want to tell everybodyabout what's just happened to
him.
That's exactly what Paul wantsto do.
And so he goes from synagogueto synagogues and he says listen
, it's true, jesus is theMessiah and he's risen.
(13:41):
But he didn't get the responsethat he probably thought he
would.
The Jews, who at one time hadso much respect for him, the
leaders in the temple, theyweren't glad about his
announcement by and large, andthey weren't even neutral.
They wanted to kill himfollowing Jesus.
(14:11):
Jesus makes this very clearfollowing Jesus may cost you
relationships.
I've heard of, you know, ahusband or wife getting saved,
and maybe the husband and wifeare both atheists, and one or
the other gets saved and thespouse leaves.
And one or the other gets savedand the spouse leaves.
You've heard of people ofdifferent faiths.
(14:32):
Their families have a differentfaith.
One person in the familyreceives Christ and they're
excommunicated from the family.
There are people who have beensevered from their mother and
father.
There are mothers and fatherswho have come to the Lord and
their kids, their adult children, want nothing to do with them
(14:52):
anymore.
They become estranged.
Well, this is why Jesus says inMatthew 10, 37, whoever loves
father or mother more than me isnot worthy of me, and whoever
loves son or daughter more thanme is not worthy of me.
The question is what are yougoing to do when they walk away
because of your faith?
Well, jesus says to be mydisciple, you've got to have
allegiance.
(15:12):
Let them walk, as difficult asit is, and my question I want to
ask you today is is it worth it?
Is it worth it, paul, thepeople that he had done life
with since childhood?
They have stepped away becauseof his belief in Christ.
Paul isn't worth it.
So he experienced persecutionfrom the outside.
(15:35):
Secondly, he actuallyexperiences, in this text,
persecution on the inside, orlet's call it skepticism.
Skepticism on the inside.
Look at verses 26 and 27.
And when he had come toJerusalem, he attempted to join
the disciples and they were allafraid of him, and for they did
(15:57):
not believe that he was adisciple.
But Barnabas took him andbrought him to the apostles and
declared to them how the road,on the road, he had seen the
Lord, who spoke to him, and howhim to the apostles and declared
to them how, on the road, hehad seen the Lord, who spoke to
him and how, at Damascus, he hadpreached boldly in the name of
Jesus.
So think of this Paul is inDamascus and he's going from in
the synagogues, he's preachingto people who are hostile
(16:19):
against the faith and he's runout of town.
He's lowered that.
The city was fortified andthere were houses within the
city walls, and so he was putout a window in a basket,
lowered down.
A bit of precarious situation,right, and what he does is he
flees for his life and here'swhat he thinks I can go to
Jerusalem, where the 12 apostlesare, and find safety and
(16:43):
acceptance and all that.
He's been threatened by thepeople he loves so much.
I'm going to go to my newfamily that's what he's saying
the household of God.
And he gets to the disciplesand they're scared of him and
they doubt that his conversionis real.
Come on, he's not.
He hasn't really changed.
(17:04):
Wow, that's not the last timePaul would deal with problems
within the church, the church ofCorinth, who he loved so much
man.
They were questioning hisapostleship and brought all
kinds of accusations against him.
You know, let me ask you thishave you ever seen someone be
honest, someone that you know,come to church for the first
(17:27):
time and they've got let me benice, let's say a checkered past
.
Are you with me?
And they come to the altar andthey start weeping a little bit
and you, if we're honest, youthink they're not going to
change.
Okay, you don't have to raiseyour hand.
They're not going to change.
Okay, you don't have to raiseyour hand.
(17:47):
Maybe that was your experience.
Maybe you've lived a reallycolorful life, let's say.
And when you came to Jesus,your family, those around you
thought come on, you're going togo right back to your old
lifestyle.
And that's discouraging, isn'tit?
Thank God for Barnabas.
Barnabas, his name, this is hisnickname that the apostles gave
(18:08):
him.
It means son of encouragement.
How many are grateful forencouragers?
I'm looking around and I see alot of encouragers.
I see also a lot ofnon-encouragers, but thank you
for those who encourage me.
Right, and just kind of even itout, here's what I love.
(18:28):
I want to point your attentionto verse 28.
Here's what Luke's right.
So he's just been rejectedtemporarily by the disciples.
Barnabas stands up from him andnow they say all right, we
believe you, verse 28.
So he went in and out amongthem at Jerusalem, preaching
boldly in the name of the Lord.
He went in and out among them.
(18:51):
Here's what I want you to see.
Paul experienced church hurt.
How many have ever been hurtwithin the church?
Okay, yeah, I feel like mydeath is going to be the death
of a thousand cuts from fromcantankerous church people.
None of you all right, exceptthe non-encouragers.
(19:14):
But here's what I love.
You know I don't want todiminish the hurt that you've
experienced in church, but nomatter what you've been through,
it's not a reason to leave andwalk away.
We're family.
We're the family of God, andGod has called us to be
(19:35):
reconciled one to another.
Okay, this is really reallyimportant.
So don't let church hurt stopyou.
He joins with the apostlesimmediately, the ones who just
said you're not real man.
So, soon after Paul's lifebegins with Christ, he
experiences persecution from theoutside unbelievers that he
(19:58):
knew and once he did, then heexperiences skepticism from the
believers inside.
There's another enemy at playhere, and it's the devil himself
.
This is really important.
This is interesting.
The same group of Jews who are,after Paul's life, wanting dead.
It's the Pharisees, amongstothers.
(20:18):
They're the ones who wantedJesus dead and ultimately had
him turned over to be crucified,and I want you to listen to
John, chapter 8.
I'll read it for you.
I think we have it on thescreen.
In verse 44, this is what Jesussays to those who are
persecuting him, the Pharisees.
They think they're godly, bythe way.
(20:39):
Okay, here's what he says youare of your father, the devil,
and your will is to do yourfather's desire.
He was a murderer from thebeginning and does not stand in
the truth, because there is notruth in him.
When he lies, he speaks out ofhis own character, for he is a
(21:01):
liar and the father of lies.
Listen, the Pharisees want Pauldead, but Paul knows that
ultimately, his fight is notagainst flesh, that there's
another power at work here, andhe says as much in different
places, but especially and veryclearly explicitly in Ephesians
(21:24):
6.
You know this text aboutspiritual armor.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Finally, he writes verse 10,.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his
might.
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle againstflesh and blood, but against the
rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over
this present darkness, againstspiritual forces of evil in the
(21:52):
heavenly places.
Paul recognizes that there isnot just a human realm who is
against him, but there is aspiritual realm that we don't
see, but it's just as real aswhat we can see.
See, but it's just as real aswhat we can see.
And today, as Peter said, wemust remember, folks, we have a
(22:15):
real adversary, the devil, whogoes about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
He doesn't want to wound you.
He wants to devour you when yousuffer.
You know what he wants you todo.
He wants you to doubt God.
He wants you to doubt God'slove.
He wants you to doubt even thatGod exists.
If God's real, why would he let?
me go through this, you knowwhat he wants to do.
Ultimately, he wants to makeshipwreck of your faith, just
(22:38):
like he did Peter.
Think about that.
I've got good news for you,though.
Satan is a force to be reckonedwith in Iran.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
He's a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
We don't take him lightly, but your God is
infinitely more powerful.
This is not Star Wars, whereit's a battle of good and evil,
the dark side and the Jedi.
This is like we know theoutcome.
The devil, the dark side, is nomatch for our great God, amen.
Let me just read you Revelation12, 9,.
(23:14):
Because Satan was decidedlydefeated at the cross and the
great dragon was thrown down.
This is looking forward to thelast day that the ancient
serpent who was called the deviland Satan, the deceiver of the
whole world.
He was thrown down to the earthand his angels were thrown down
with him.
Ultimately, he's thrown intothe lake of fire.
Our God is infinitely morepower than the powers of
(23:37):
darkness.
So let's just think about Paul'slife before and after coming to
Jesus.
Before coming to Jesus, awell-respected Jew, educated,
has friends and family allaround him who are cheering him
on.
He was a Pharisee, a person ofstatus, wealth.
He wielded a certain amount ofpower.
(23:57):
By the world's standards, thiswould be, he would be called
successful.
Now he comes to Christ and letme just tell you, paul is
getting towards the end of hislife and he summarizes his life
in Jesus.
Are you ready for this 2Corinthians 11, 24 through 28.
(24:23):
Do we have that on the screen?
Oh, here it is.
Five times.
I received at the hands of theJews, 40 lashes less one, 39
lashes with a whip, the whip ifused rightly, could whip up to
700 miles per hour and it wouldtear the skin from your back.
(24:44):
39 lashes he received and madehis back like jelly.
And he received that treatmentnot once, not twice, not three
times, not four times, but fivetimes.
And he kept serving Jesus.
As if that were not enough,three times I was beaten with
rods, once stoned three times.
(25:06):
I was shipwrecked night and day.
I was adrift at sea on frequentjourneys, in danger from rivers
, danger from robbers, dangerfrom my own people, danger from
Gentiles, danger in the citythis could be a song danger in
the wilderness, danger at sea,danger from false brothers in
toil and hardship, through manya sleepless night in hunger and
thirst, often without food, incold and exposure.
And apart from other things,there's the daily pressure on me
(25:28):
from all you church folk.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
And we complain because God let our refrigerator
go out.
Although, why am I suffering somuch?
You know we're ready to throwin the towel.
Guys, listen, as Christians, Idon't care what the TV preachers
have told you.
Christianity is not your bestlife now.
Now it is more glorious becauseyou know Christ.
(25:56):
But your best life as far asyeah, let me just stop there.
Your best life will be when theLord returns, what we sing
about today, when every tearwill be wiped from your eyes.
No more pain, no more sorrow.
Christians, you see it here.
We experience the same problemsof the world.
We believe in healing, butChristians still get sick.
(26:17):
We live in an already, but notyet kingdom.
So while we believe in miracles, they're not guaranteed, no
matter how much faith you have.
But everyone will receivehealing someday, be it in this
life or the life to come.
We're not shielded from naturaldisasters.
Christians, just likenon-Christians, just experienced
(26:38):
flooding in different parts ofKentucky and lost everything.
So Paul says I was in danger.
He's a Christian.
Rivers, robbers on people,gentiles on and on in the city,
in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers,
sleepless nights.
Paul even went hungry.
That's the cost of followingJesus in Paul's life.
(27:02):
What are the benefits, though,of suffering?
Because I would ask Paul, paul,is it worth it?
Is it worth it?
Paul understands that there aresome benefits to suffering, so
I want to give you five.
I'm just going to list theseand give you a scripture for
each one.
These are all letters writtenby Paul.
(27:24):
Okay, this is not an exhaustivelist, but here's how God uses
suffering in our lives.
Number one we identify withJesus in our suffering.
Galatians 6, 17,.
From now on, let no one causeme trouble, for I bear on my
body the marks of Jesus.
You have a Savior who sufferedfor you, and we, you know, the
(27:48):
apostles, earlier in the book ofActs, said when they were
threatened and beaten, they saidwe count it.
They went away rejoicing thatthey were worthy to suffer in
the name of Jesus.
We identify with Jesus in oursuffering.
Number two suffering leads tohumility.
In 2 Corinthians 12, 7-10, paulwrites so, to keep me from being
(28:09):
conceited because of thesurpassing greatness of
revelations, a thorn was givento me in the flesh, so we don't
know if this was a spouse or not.
We don't know if it was aperson, if it was a sickness,
and I think it's intentionallyvague, because every one of us
in life have a thorn that you'dlove to get rid of.
(28:29):
Paul says a messenger of Satanto harass me, to keep me from
being conceited.
Some of you are going.
He is talking about my spouse.
Three times I pleaded with theLord God, take it away Again.
Just because you have a lot offaith, if God's will is not to
take something away from you,it's not going.
(28:51):
But here's what he says.
The Lord said my grace issufficient for you, for my power
is made perfect in weakness.
Therefore, I will boast all themore gladly in my weaknesses so
that the power of Christ mayrest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then Iam content with weaknesses,
insults, hardship, persecution,calamities, for when I am weak,
then I am strong.
You know, if everything wentwell in your life, you may never
(29:14):
see your need for God.
Isn't it interesting thatpeople will, sometimes some
people will only come to churchwhenever things fall apart in
their life.
But God uses suffering to keepus humble and dependent upon Him
.
Number three suffering leads tothe spread of the gospel.
(29:35):
Philippians 1, 12 and 13.
I want you to know, brothers,that what has happened to me his
imprisonment, by the way, hasreally served to advance the
gospel, so that it's becomeknown throughout the whole
imperial guard and to the restthat my imprisonment is for
Christ.
I mean, they locked Paul up andhe was chained 24 hours to a
(29:55):
guard, and so you know what hedoes.
He just preaches to the guardand then the gospel goes to the
whole out the prison and to thewhole imperial guard and it
moves forward.
It's unbelievable and God usessuffering in our lives often to
move the gospel forward.
Number four suffering, or let'ssay perseverance in suffering,
(30:22):
brings an assurance of salvation.
Romans 8, 16 and 17.
I want you to really listen tothis.
The Spirit Himself bearswitness, with our spirit, that
we are children of God.
So you know, people doubt am Ireally a child of God?
Am I really saved?
And the Bible says that God'sSpirit, the Holy Spirit, will
bear witness with ours.
Man, you belong to God.
And then he says if children,then heirs, heirs of God and
(30:47):
fellow heirs with Christ.
Now watch this provided, or inother words, only if we suffer
with him in order that we mayalso be glorified.
Here's the point.
Jesus gives a parable.
I believe it's in Matthew 13,where he talks about the.
It's the parable of the sowerright Sowing seed on different
(31:09):
types of soil.
And one of the points that hemakes to this parable is that
some will claim to have receivedthe gospel, but when
persecution comes, they're out.
That happens to a lot of people.
They come to Jesus thinking man, he's going to fix all my
problems, but when that doesn'tnecessarily happen or things get
(31:30):
even worse for them or they'repersecuted or opposed, they're
out.
In other words, they just wantGod for the blessings, not for
Christ himself.
But when you suffer and youpersevere through it, the Holy
Spirit will bear witness, giveyou an assurance of your
salvation.
Suffering also causes spiritualgrowth.
(31:51):
Finally, romans 5, 3-5.
Paul says this we rejoice inour sufferings I'll talk about
that in a second Knowing thatsuffering produces endurance and
endurance produces character,and character produces hope, and
endurance produces characterand character produces hope, and
hope does not put us to shame,because God's love has been
poured into our hearts throughthe Holy Spirit who's been given
(32:13):
to us.
I've never heard people sayalmost never that you know what.
My biggest season of growthactually I don't think I've ever
heard this was when things weregoing really well.
How many can look back to achallenging time in your life
and say, man, that's when I grewin the Lord.
That's what the Lord usessuffering for in our own lives.
So you weigh the cost offollowing Christ and you
(32:40):
contrast that with the benefitsof following Christ.
And so now we ask Paul is itworth it?
Is following Jesus, giving Himyour life, is it worth it?
Let's look at his answer inclosing.
(33:03):
We previously read Romans 5,verse 3, where Paul says we
rejoice in our sufferings.
Philippians 4, 4,.
He says while he's imprisoned,rejoice in the Lord.
Always, through the good, thebad and the ugly, rejoice in the
Lord.
(33:23):
And then he says, and again Isay rejoice Paul.
Through all the shipwrecks anddangers, everything he went
through, listen, he still hadjoy in the Lord.
Why?
Here's why Because Christ isthe supreme treasure of our
(33:46):
lives.
To go back to Matthew 13, again,there's a one verse parable.
I think it's my favoriteparable, not just because it's
one verse.
But a man is walking through afield.
This is the parable.
He's walking through a fieldand he comes upon this great
treasure, more beautiful thanhe's ever seen.
And so the man goes.
It's not his field, so he goesand he sells all that he has to
(34:08):
buy the field that he mightobtain the treasure.
And it says, importantly, hedoes so with joy.
And the point is this the manwe don't know how much he had,
but all of his possessions,everything that he owned, he had
to sell it in order to obtainthis treasure and he did it
(34:30):
joyfully.
The Christian life may cost youeverything, but it's worth it.
So, paul, he can suffer andstill rejoice and be glad and
say all because he sees Christis more glorious than his
possessions, than his money,than his friends that walked out
(34:50):
on him, than his life.
It's profound.
So in Philippians 3, 7 and 8,he writes whatever gain I had, I
counted it as loss for the sakeof Christ.
Whatever gain I had, I countedit as loss for the sake of
Christ.
Indeed, I count everything asloss, the flesh ripped from my
(35:13):
back, loss, rubbish, because ofthe surpassing worth of knowing
Christ.
Jesus, my Lord.
If you know Christ, your soulcan be satisfied.
If you lose everything else Forhis sake, I have suffered all
things.
The loss of all things, and Icount them as dung, is what it
means Rubbish, in order that Imay gain Christ.
(35:35):
In order that I may gain Christ.
Paul at the end of his life, hewrites his final letter to the
book of 2 Timothy.
He's writing to his apprenticeand he's on death row under the
brutal emperor Nero.
And Nero was known for hisbrutal executions of Christians,
(35:57):
often slow and painful.
And Paul doesn't know what he'sin for exactly, but he knows
it's going to be bad.
And he's sitting at the end ofhis life and he's writing to
Timothy.
And what we might expect him towrite after all we've
considered is Timothy, don't gointo ministry, whatever you do,
or maybe even don't followChrist.
(36:18):
Do, or maybe even don't followChrist.
It's not worth it.
It's not what he says.
2 Timothy 4, 6-8.
For I am already being pouredout like a drink offering my
time of departure.
He's not just going to die andbe annihilated, he's just
(36:43):
changing locations.
He said himself to be absentfrom the bodies, to be present
with the Lord, and here's whathe says.
I hope we can all say this atthe end of our lives I fought
the good fight, I finished mycourse and I have kept the faith
Henceforth.
There is laid up for me a crownof righteousness which the Lord
(37:06):
and the righteous judge willaward to me on that day, and not
only to me, but all of us, allof you, he says, who have loved
his appearing, never hurtanybody at the end of their life
.
I've been by ministry for, Ithink, 25, 20, I've been saying
that for probably five years, along time, and I've been by a
(37:29):
lot of Christians' bedsides intheir final moments and I've
never had a Christian say andI've been with some believers
who suffered greatly.
I never heard them say not once.
You know, I regret giving mylife to Jesus.
Paul, is it worth it?
(37:50):
Is it worth the cost offollowing Jesus, he has said.
He would say to us today inglory yes, yes, a million times
over, yes, he is the supremetreasure.
So how do you have thisattitude?
(38:13):
Like paul, you do what he did.
You keep your eyes on jesusrather than your suffering.
He tells us as much as Hebrews12, 1 and 2.
He says continue to look toJesus, the founder and the
perfecter of our faith, who, forthe joy set before him, he
endured the cross, despising theshame, seated at the right hand
of the throne of God.
You know, thank God that heknows of suffering.
(38:38):
You have a savior who cansympathize with you.
Keep your eyes on him and Iwould just say to you, like Paul
, just continue to revel in hisglory, in the love of God.
Revel in the love of God, thesalvation that you have in
Christ, the sacrifice of theLord Jesus.
One more passage Romans 8, 35through 39,.
(39:01):
Paul's words.
And the point here is that, youknow, remember, he says in
another I think it's secondCorinthians he says what's he
say?
What's trading my sorrows?
That's how I know it.
Pressed but not crushed,persecuted not abandoned, struck
down but not destroyed.
Here's what he knows.
Christ is supreme and the deviland people in this world can
(39:22):
throw all that they have againstus, they can even take our
lives, but here's what hedeclares and this is hope for
all of us today.
Romans 8, 35.
Who shall separate us from thelove of Christ, us from?
the love of Christ Shalltribulation or distress, or
persecution, or famine, ornakedness or danger or sword, as
(39:45):
it is written, for your sake.
We're being killed all the daylong.
We are regarded as sheep to beslaughtered.
No, paul says, in all thesethings we are more than
conquerors, through Christ, wholoved us, for I'm sure that
neither death nor life, angelsnor rulers, nor things present,
(40:05):
nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in creation willbe able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus, ourLord.
And Paul's point is if you havethat, then who cares what you
lose?
That's the point, paul.
Is it worth it?
Yes, there are many dangers,toils and snares.
(40:25):
I have already come.
Grace has brought me safe thisfar and grace will lead me home.
One final story, and I'm done.
Some of you may be familiar withthe missionary, famous
missionary, jim Elliott.
So Jim Elliott graduated fromWheaton College in 1945.
(40:53):
He was a Bible major.
He graduated with honors and hewas man preparing his life to
be used in whatever way Godwanted to use him, to be used in
whatever way God wanted to usehim.
On October 28, 1949, eliotpenned in his personal journal,
as he was preparing for ministry.
His most famous words and theyread like this he is no fool who
gives what he cannot keep togain that which he cannot lose.
(41:17):
In other words, it's his way ofdeclaring that losing
everything for Christ is notfoolish it's all going to be
burned up one day anyways.
He is no fool who gives what hecannot keep to gain that which
he cannot lose.
That's 1949.
In 1953, as a young man, hemarried his wife Elizabeth and
(41:37):
they had one daughter together.
Soon after a missionary fromEcuador told Elliot, in 1953, as
a young man, he married hiswife Elizabeth and they had one
daughter together.
Soon after, a missionary fromEcuador told Elliot of an
unreached, violent Indian tribein the jungles of Ecuador, and
Elliot was determined, he feltGod leading him to get the
gospel to this very violenttribe of people.
(41:57):
In the fall of 1955, after muchpreparation, elliot joined four
other missionaries and theymade their initial contact with
the tribe.
They were in an airplane andthey would drop bags of goods as
kind of peace offerings to letthem know they were there to do
them no harm.
Then, finally, they came over aloudspeaker and said some
(42:19):
phrases in their native tongueto do them no harm.
Then, finally, they came over aloudspeaker and said some
phrases in their native tongueto let them know again man, we
just are here to talk to you, wemean you no harm.
And so, on January 6, 1956, themissionaries made their first
landing, where they were greetedby a young lady and two men,
and they were warmly welcomedand they said we've got to go,
(42:43):
but we're going to come back ina couple of days and we want you
to bring more people so we canshare with them about Jesus.
So the missionaries did as theysaid.
They returned on January the8th, expecting a large group to
come hear about Christ, who werehungry for God.
That's not what happened.
Instead, a large group ofviolent men came out and speared
(43:05):
all five missionaries to death.
Elliot was survived by his youngwife and his 10-month-old
little baby, and I would justsay to you today that Elliot was
no fool for giving up what hecannot keep to gain what he
(43:28):
could not lose.
You say, well, what good didthat do?
I'll tell you what good it did.
Elliot's wife and another ladyreturned to that same tribe
sometime later.
They lived amongst the peoplewho killed her husband for two
years, learning the culture, thelanguage and then sharing the
(43:49):
gospel with them, andElizabeth's courageous act of
forgiveness and love had such aprofound impact on this tribe
that they ended up embracingChristianity and turning their
back on their violent ways.
I don't know what you'll haveto go through as you commit your
(44:12):
life to Jesus.
I'll tell you this it'sglorious in some ways, but it's
challenging.
But a million times over it'sworth it.
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