Counting The Cost Series

This week I was working on this message at a McDonald’s when I met a man who told me to keep the sermon short. Did one of you put him up to this? Before leaving, he passed along some words of wisdom: “The brain can only absorb what the seat can endure.” I’m going to take that to heart today, because we’re going to take time to pray for persecuted believers at the end of the service.

Wouldn’t it be great to be alive during the time of the early church and see the events in the Book of Acts unfold? It would be incredible to witness thousands of people come to Christ in one day, to see God answering prayer, and to experience entire communities transformed by the gospel.

Living for Christ was not easy in the early church. Someone captured it like this: “A Christian [back then] was completely fearless, continually cheerful, and constantly in trouble.” The first Christians counted the cost and were sold out to Christ. There weren’t many cultural Christians because it was way too difficult to identify with Christ and then not live for Him. It’s becoming that way in our culture today, which is a good thing. I see more and more Christians becoming more committed to Christ and more convictional in their doctrine and discipleship!

In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus spelled out the cost of following Him: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Please turn to the second half of Acts 19 as we continue in our journey through the Book of Acts. We’re going to learn it’s costly to follow Christ, but the cost is worth it. I see three different costs we’ll need to pay as Christ-followers.

• The cost of our plans

• The cost of our popularity

• The cost of our persecution

1. The cost of our plans. Listen to Acts 19:21-22: “Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’ And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.” The phrase “after these events” refers to the events in the first part of the chapter. After magnifying the name of the Lord Jesus, people confessed their unrighteousness and repented of their sins. As a result, verse 20 says, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”

Paul “resolved in the Spirit” to take another journey. In his spirit he wanted to go with the gospel, and He believed the Holy Spirit wanted Him to go. His plan was to travel back to “Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem.” When looking at a map [show map], it seems strange Paul would want to travel west because Jerusalem was to the east.

1 Corinthians 16:1-4 gives us insight into his motivation. Paul wanted to pick up a generous offering these churches collected for the poorer believers in Jerusalem. In verse 2, he gave them some giving guidelines, which apply today: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside.” Giving is one of our four values because we believe when we give what God has given us, He is glorified, and the gospel goes out to our neighbors and the nations. We have Giving Boxes in our lobbies and an online option through the app and website.

After delivering this offering, Paul’s plans were to go to Rome: “I must also see Rome.” Rome was the political center of the known world. Notice he uses the word “must,” showing it was an imperative necessity for him. From this point on in Acts, we see his determination to take the gospel to Rome. He put his desire into words in Romans 1:13: “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented).”

While Paul made plans to get to Rome, it didn’t happen when he wanted it to, nor did it happen in the way he intended. He was arrested in Jerusalem, detained in Caesarea for two years, and eventually, by way of shipwreck, arrived in Rome as a prisoner.

Because Paul couldn’t leave immediately, he sent Timothy and Erastus, while “he himself stayed in Asia for a while.” Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” As someone has said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.”

Do you get frustrated when your plans get upended or don’t happen at all? I do. Remember this truth: God works through people and our problems to accomplish His purposes. Because God changed Paul’s plans, he had more time to devote himself to the effective work in Ephesus as described in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9: “But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” Opportunity often arrives with adversity.