An extremely nervous patient came for root canal surgery. He was made comfortable in the reclining dental chair a numbing agent was injected around the tooth, and then the dentist left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold. When the dentist returned, the patient was standing over a tray of dental equipment and in his shock he asked "What are you doing there?"
The man didn’t even look up, "I'm taking out the ones I don't like." (Paula Fontaine Reader's Digest 2/02)
Today we’re going to talk about something most folks would rather not talk about. Suffering for our faith. In our text this morning, Paul tells us that because of Christ “I have SUFFERED the loss of all things”. He also wrote that he hoped that: “I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his SUFFERINGS.”
Now, I got to tell you, that does not seem logical. It wouldn’t make any sense that I would want to suffer as a Christian. And yet… that’s what Paul seems to be saying here. In fact, the Bible repeatedly tells us that we are going to suffer!!!
Jesus said “In this world YOU WILL HAVE TROUBLE. But take heart because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Paul wrote: “For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that WE WERE TO SUFFER AFFLICTION, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.” 1 Thessalonians 3:4
And Peter wrote: “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, WHEN YOU ARE SLANDERED, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” I Peter 3:15-17
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said: "Blessed are those who are PERSECUTED for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others REVILE you and PERSECUTE you and UTTER ALL KINDS OF EVIL AGAINST YOU falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12
ILLUS: I just watched a video that talked about Antioch – the city where Paul was ordained to become a missionary. At the time, Antioch was the 3rd most prominent city in the Roman Empire, and the video guide took us to the place where the early church there is believed to have met. It’s a cave. Then our guide took great pains to show various entrances to that cave… not just the main one, but various escape tunnels. Now, why on earth would the church at Antioch need “escape tunnels?” Obviously, because they faced intense persecution and saw the need to escape quickly to avoid capture and mistreatment.
ILLUS: The preacher at Walton, Bill Collins, told of his daughter returning form college in tears. He asked her what the problem was. She said her sociology class had come to the conclusion that he (her dad) would one day be imprisoned for what he believed. He laughed and said “Honey, I’ve told you that for years.”
In fact, our little group of preachers in this area have a pact – we’ve promised to visit each other in prison when that day comes… or at least try to end up as bunkies.
We live in an increasingly hostile world. California has just passed a law that would make any literature opposing homosexuality illegal. That would seem to include the Bible (which is unabashedly anti-homosexual). And it’s coming to a neighborhood near you. Right now, people get angry when we tell them that homosexuality is a sin, or that transsexualism is unnatural or that “living together” is wrong. And people really get bent out of shape when we say that Jesus is only way to heaven.
And we are gonna catch flack because of Jesus. In John 15:20 Jesus said “The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you….”
A few years back someone wrote this article: (Southeast Christian Church “Outlook” 8/4/01)
“Jesus. A little name. A small word. But say this little name in public - in a way other than an obscenity – and just stand back and watch the fireworks. You can say "God," as a curse word and you won't get a squeak. You can say "Our Father/Mother in Heaven," and few will flinch. You can say "Great Spirit," and people will nod in approval. You can say "Allah" and you will be deemed tolerant. But say "Jesus" and just wait for the sonic boom. Articles will appear in the paper. Reprimands will be posted from the home office. Lawsuits will be threatened by the civil liberties block.
So don't say Jesus. Jesus is divisive. Jesus is an extremist. Jesus is exclusive, so His name amounts to hate speech. So keep His name to yourself. Cloister it in your church. Lock it in your prayer closet. Close it between the covers of your Bible. But for the pity’s sake… don't voice it in the public square! It's immodest. It's immoral. It's unloving.
But there’s only one problem, Jesus is God. There’s only one problem, Jesus alone brings salvation. There’s only one problem, all other gods and forms of morality are nothing.
So speak His name aloud. Shout it from the mountain. Whisper it in the dark. Write it in the sky. Because the name of Jesus is not hate, it's hope.”
Now, here’s the deal. When faced with opposition to our faith lots of folks tend to just lock Jesus in their prayer closet or close Him away between the covers of their Bibles. They don’t mind talking about Jesus in church. But talking about Him the public square…they’d rather not, thank you very much.
Now, I have a problem with that. If a man says he loves a woman - or a woman says she loves a man - do you know what they talk about all the time??? That’s right – each other. In fact, you can’t get them to shut up. They always seem to be talking about that special someone. And you wouldn’t expect it to happen any other way. It’s just natural… it’s normal.
But if I say I love Jesus, and then I run into people who doesn’t like that or are offended - and then I shut up about Christ because I don’t want to offend that person - do you know what that says? It says I love the person (who was offended) more than I love Jesus. DOES THAT SOUND RIGHT TO YOU??? Of course it doesn’t. But it does happen.
Now let’s go back and look at what Paul said again. “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things” (Philippians 3:8). What’s he talking about there?
Well, at one time Paul was an important man. He was an Israelite “of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Philippians 3:5-6
Paul was an up and coming leader in the religious world. When he talked, people listened. People invited him to their parties, and they patted him on the back, and they told him what a wonderful man he was.
But that’s all gone now. Old friends don’t want him around anymore. And you can forget the parties, and you can forget the praise, because everybody knows he’s a CHRISTIAN now.
ILLUS: Back when I was in High School no one invited me to any parties. I didn’t think much about it until a friend later shared that I wasn’t invited because I was a Christian and they knew I wouldn’t go along with a lot of the stuff they did. I never missed that, because I’d never been invited to begin with. But, if you leave that kind of life where you’ve been in the parties and other activities… it all seems to dry up when you become a Christian.
When you take Christ seriously people won’t want you around because they KNOW you won’t partake in their activities. That’s what Peter wrote: “they (non-Christians) think it strange that you do not run with them… and they heap abuse on you.” I Peter 4:4
In other words: it’s gonna happen. So, don’t be surprised!!!
Now Paul’s words are very striking here:
“For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things”. But he doesn’t stop there. He continues: “and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Philippians 3:8-9
In other words, Pauls’ saying: “I DON’T CARE IF YOU DON’T LIKE ME!!! I’d rather have Jesus love me than have you like me. In fact, I’d rather have Jesus than anything you could possibly offer me. PERIOD!!!”
That is the statement of a man who loves Jesus.
The question for this morning is this: Do you love Jesus that much??? Do you love Him so much that you wouldn’t take anything in exchange for Him? Do you love Him more than your job? Do you love Him more than your family or friends? Do you love Him more than being spoken well of? Do you love Him enough to make Him the most important part of your life?
If you don’t, you need to do some serious soul-searching.
Someone once said: “Jesus has many lovers of His heavenly Kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He has many who desire of comfort, but few that would accept tribulation. Many love Jesus so long as nothing bad happens to them.” (a modernized version of a statement by Thomas a Kempis – see footnote).
Now, let’s get back to what Paul said in Philippians 3. Paul wrote that he HOPED that: “I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may SHARE his sufferings.”
Now, why on earth would he want to SHARE in Christ’s sufferings? I don’t want to suffer! I want to sit in my easy chair watching TV and sipping on lemonade. I want to enjoy life, not face opposition. So why would Paul say he hoped to share in Christ’s sufferings?
Well, he could say that because he was convinced that the pain was worth the price. It was worth facing rejection and criticism because Jesus had promised greater glory to those who were willing to suffer for their faith.
Jesus said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for YOUR REWARD IS GREAT IN HEAVEN, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:10-12
Did you catch that? If we’re persecuted for righteousness sake OURS is the Kingdom of heaven. And if we are persecuted because of Jesus we will have a GREAT reward in heaven. Essentially God is telling us that every time we face rejection by this world, He’s up in heaven nudging the angel Michael and saying “Did you see that? Watch was he/she does.” Your name is spoken in heaven when you stand for righteousness and Jesus. God NOTICES what you endure and He has every intention of compensating you for what you go through.
Now we’ve got to be careful that we don’t become annoying just to get persecuted. I mean there a lot of people out there who pride themselves in being obnoxious. Being obnoxious for Jesus is NOT what we’re talking about here. Angering people just to prove your righteousness will not impress God.
Peter writes: “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with GENTLENESS and RESPECT, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” I Peter 3:15-17
But there are rewards to be had for enduring persecution. So I sat down and wrote down some of those rewards:
1. Some of my best stories come from the times I’ve faced the most intense opposition. I’ve not always been clever or powerful or even the “hero” in the midst of those difficulties. But every time I knuckled down and determined not to back off – I’ve had some cool stories of how God stepped up and showed His power. As someone once wrote: “Today's Difficulties are Tomorrow's Testimonies.” (Joyce C. Lock)
2. It’s in times of tribulation that God seems closest to us. These are times when you have no choice but to lean on Him. Someone else has observed “Sometimes God allows us to be knocked down so all we can do is look up.”
3. And sometimes God allows us to face difficulties so we can be stronger in faith.
ILLUS: Back in 1991, a fire raged through Oakland, CA destroying a number of homes in its path. One of the homes it ravaged was a preacher's. The building was totally destroyed, and most of the family's possessions burnt to ashes. BUT one item did survive intact however: a small porcelain rabbit figurine. The next Sunday, the preacher took the item into the pulpit and explained his recent loss. Then he held up the small figurine and noted it was sole surviving item from the fire. And he asked “why would this sole item survive the flames?” He smiled and said: "Because it had already been through a fire once." (“Our Daily Bread” October 02)
CLOSE: But the main promise is that God is so impressed when we are willing to stand up for our faith that He is willing to reward us for that. And sometimes the most powerful reward is when we’ve paid the ultimate price.
The late 1800’s saw an evangelistic explosion in India. Entire provinces formally closed to the gospel were swept up in this missionary movement. Now this revival was remarkable for two reasons: 1st it was led mostly by Indians themselves, and those men became national figures; and 2nd, this missionary endeavor was focused on Northern India which was firmly in the grips of the most oppressive forms of Hinduism. It was a violent and harsh region.
These provinces often prided themselves on the hostile reaction they gave foreigners. Dozens and dozens of these missionaries were martyred - but despite the opposition and violence the gospel made inroads.
In the 1880’s a Welsh missionary who had endured severe persecution finally saw his 1st converts in a brutal village in Indian province of Assam. A husband and wife, with their two children, were baptized into Christ. But the village leaders decided to make an example out of the husband. They arrested the family and demanded that the father renounce Christ. When he refused, his two children were executed by archers. Given another chance to recant, he refused, and his wife was killed. Still refusing to recant, the man they killed him as well.
Witnesses later told the story to the Welsh missionary. The reports said that when asked to recant or see his children murdered, the man said: “I have decided to follow Jesus, and there is no turning back.” After seeing his children killed, he reportedly said, “The world can be behind me, but the cross is still before me.” And after seeing his wife pierced by the arrows, he said, “Though no one is here to go with me, still I will follow Jesus.”
According to missionary, when he returned to the village, a revival had broken out, and those that had murdered the family had since come to faith themselves. The accounts of the family that had been martyred in Assam were so astonishing and so widely circulated that most Indian believers were familiar with it. Soon a famous Indian evangelist there took the martyr’s last words and put them to traditional Indian music in order to make one of the first uniquely Indian hymns. The song immediately became popular in Indian churches and it remains a mainstay of worship music there to this day.
Eventually some American missionaries returned from India and they brought that song with them. Finally, it ended up with Canadian song writer whose name was George Beverley Shea, and he made it a staple at the Billy Graham crusades. (http://thecripplegate.com/why-we-sing-i-have-decided-to-follow-jesus/)
Perhaps you know the song. Sing it with me:
“I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus – no turning back. No turning back."
INVITATION (using this hymn for the invitation hymn)
Footnote: The words of Thomas a Kempis are actually: “Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly Kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He hath many desirous of consolation, but few of tribulation. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities befall them. “
