PERSEVERING CRACKPOTS
Text: II Corinthians 4:5 - 12,
2 Corinthians 4:5-12 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. (6) For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (7) But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (8) We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; (9) persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (10) always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. (11) For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. (12) So death is at work in us, but life in you.
In his book Courageous, the Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffress has a profound observation. He says, “I’m convinced, that more than ever, we live in a time when victomhood is celebrated. There’s even a name for people who seemingly cannot cope with the difficulties of life: “snowflakes.” These people are self-absorbed, easily offended, and often retreat to so-called safe places when they are unable to cope with opposing viewpoints. Actions like these perpetuate the general notion in our culture that we are all victims---victims of our parents’ shortcomings, victims of our society’s ills, and victims of poor education, hypocritical churches, or government incompetence and corruption”. (Dr. Robert Jeffress. Courageous. Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 2020, p. 98). Why is this a problem in the spiritual realm? It is a problem because it can create a false gospel that blinds people to the light of true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Victimhood can easily turn into an agenda of manipulation where squeaky wheels will always be screaming for grease. How many people world today are blinded a this man-made gospel or any other man-made gospel that blinds people to the light of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ? The devil always divides and subtracts but God adds and multiplies!
How did Paul respond to his critics who opposed the true Gospel? This is not the first time that Paul dealt with this topic in his letters to the people of Corinth. In I Corinthians 1:23 Paul said, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (NRSV). The true Gospel takes away all pretentiousness! The true gospel of Jesus Christ removes all crutches that people use to prop up their pretentiousness!
Today we will address false gospels, resentment and trust.
FALSE GOSPELS
Why do non-believers oppose the true Gospel so much? The true gospel of Jesus Christ removes all crutches that people use to prop up their pretentiousness!
1) False gospels: How many people build their lives on the blue prints of false Gospels? Neither The “victomhood gospel”, the success gospel, the materialism gospel, nor any other gospel can save us. No one can save himself or herself from the wages of sin which is death or the power of sin that enslaves them.
2) An avowed infidel’s challenge: “The strongest argument for the Gospel of Christ is the personal testimony of someone whose life has been changed by it. Charles Bradlaugh, an avowed infidel, once challenged the Rev. H. P. Hughes to a debate. The preacher, who was head of a rescue mission in London, England, accepted the challenge with the condition that he could bring with him 100 men and women who would tell what had happened in their lives since trusting Christ as their Savior. They would be people who once lived in deep sin, some having come from poverty-stricken homes caused by the vices of their parents. Hughes said they would not only tell of their conversion, but would submit to cross-examination by any who doubted their stories. Furthermore, the minister invited his opponent to bring a group of non-believers who could tell how they were helped by their lack of faith. When the appointed day arrived, the preacher came, accompanied by 100 transformed persons. But Bradlaugh never showed up. The result? The meeting turned into a testimony time and many sinners who had gathered to hear the scheduled debate were converted”. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. [original source unknown]. How many people do we know that would accept a challenge like that?
Remember how Saul was once an adversary to Christians?
1) Transformation: Remember how Saul was like the equivalent of a bounty hunter of Christians? Saul had witnessed and approved of the stoning of Stephen. Then Saul began to ravage the church going from house to house gathering Christians to be sent to prison until he encountered the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ himself on the road to Damascus (see Acts 7 - 9). As we know, Saul also came to be known as Paul after he became filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:9). Although he might have looked the same on the outside, Saul had a changed heart on the inside.
2) Polarized rebel: Saul was a rebel. In his bounty hunting days, Saul thought he was doing God a favor by tracking down Christians. Keep in mind that Saul was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were all about piety, tradition and keeping the law. It was not until after his conversion that Spirit sealed, Spirit filled, Spirit fed and Spirit led Paul became God’s rebel. Paul was never the same after he experienced God’s grace.
3) Shaking: I like the way the Rev. Dr. Tony Evans likens the earthen vessel to an old fashioned piggy bank. The kind that you would have to turn upside down and shake to get the change out. Tony put it this way: “God’s given us a great treasure in our earthen vessels, but there is so much callousness, hardness, independence and self -efficiency on the outside that it keeps the beauty of Christ trapped on the inside. What God’s got to do is shake us up until He can get out of us what He knows is in there. (Tony Evans. Tony Evans’ Book of Illustrations. Chicago:Moody Press, 2009, p. 31). Do you think God has been shaking the church during this era of Covid 19 to help us see our dross and refine the gold in us?
RESENTMENT
Do you know others who opposed someone after they became a Christian?
1) Unequally yoked: Imagine a husband and wife who are not saved. Then one day the wife gets saved and the husband resents her. He even chastises her about going to church. Recently, I heard the story of a
non- believing husband who used to make his believing wife walk in the snow to go to church. Later on he finally did become a believer.
2) Clashing: The saved will often clash with the lost because we are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Our saltiness stings and our brightness invades the darkness. Our presence can make people feel uncomfortable for that reason.
3) Bad decisions: It has been said that “ Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. "Why," he exclaimed, "when I went a-courtin' I never carried one of them things. I always went in the dark." "Yes," the hired man said wryly," and look what you got!"" http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/light.htm [Source Unknown.]. Could our light make people regret some of the decisions that they made in the dark?
Have Christians not faced opposition in every age?
1) Timeless opposition: There are timeless things that Jesus told us about being a Christian disciple who openly bears witness of Him. Jesus told us that others would insult, harass even slander us because of Him. He told us to be glad and full of joy because our reward in heaven for being faithful would be great (Matthew 5:11 - 12). It is tougher to be salty and bright (Matthew 5:13- 16) when we encounter opposition but our perseverance could lead others to Christ!
2) Counting the cost: Jesus told His disciples to count the cost of being disciples (Luke 14:28). The cost can mean ridicule, humiliation, harassment, threats, exclusion, boycotting, persecution, imprisonment and even in the worse case scenario execution.
3) Leave or die: There were Christians in the middle east who were even told by members of ISIS to leave their community or die. Glenn Beck once shared on his radio show a story about Christians who refused to be intimidated. Some have even called this current age the age of a Christian holocaust.
4) Family opposition: Jesus told us that others would hate us, including family members (Matthew 10:34 -39).
“Among our converts in Poland is a woman who has showed much faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ in spite of the hostility of her family. Her two daughters an her son, angry when they learned that their mother attended evangelical meetings, decided that they would prevent her from going in the future. One day, therefore, when she was about to go out to a meeting her daughters pushed her back into the corridor. One caught her by the hair, the other held her fast, and the son came and stood in front of her with an ax while he demanded her promise that she would not attend any more.
She trembled with fear at the threatening look on her son's face as he stood there brandishing the ax, but desiring to be faithful to her Saviour, she exclaimed, "I love the Lord Jesus."
Then she burst into tears and from weakness sank to the floor. The son dropped the ax and left her.
For about a year she was obliged to remain at home. Her children sometimes refused to give her anything to eat. In answer to prayer one of the daughters came under the conviction of sin and soon made it possible for her mother to go to the meetings once more. The mother's joy was increased when the daughter came with her and before a crowded congregation confessed her wrongdoing and sought God's forgiveness”. http://www.moreillustrations.com/Illustrations/persecution%201.html [original source]—European Christian Missions. Again, it is tougher to be salty and bright (Matthew 5:13- 16) when we encounter opposition but our perseverance could lead others to Christ!
TRUST
We trust God when the sun shines but what about those cloudy days?
1) Trust: Are our trials not a test of both our faith in God and its weak points? Remember how Jesus embraced the cup of His suffering in His crucifixion? Like the statement of a bumper stick I saw earlier this week “Jesus Died Because All Lives Matter!” Isn’t Jesus’s victory over sin death and the fear of death the reason we completely trust Him?
2) Perseverance: Paul calls us crackpots who face death while even while we witness in the worst of circumstances. “Paul reminds us that though we may think we are at the end of our rope, we are never at the end of our hope”. (Life Application Bible Study Notes [an e-sword download] We bend but we don’t break! We are under pressure and crack but we don’t break! We know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). Greater is Jesus in us than the power of the god of this world who opposes us (I John 4:4).
Never underestimate what difference your witness will make! Consider this story and the perseverance of the young man and the difference his witness made.
“Pastor J. H. Crowell, when about sixteen, shipped on a sailing vessel, where he was the only Christian, in a crew of twelve. Before leaving his mother he promised to meet her three times a day at the throne of grace. So regularly he went below and prayed aloud. He thought he must. They threw wood at him and poured buckets of water over him, but could not put out the fire in his soul. Then they tied him to the mast and laid thirty-nine stripes on his back. Still he prayed. They tied a rope around his body and threw him overboard. He swam as best he could, and when he took hold of the side of the ship they pushed him off with a pole. At last his strength gave way, and, supposing they meant to kill him, he prayed that God would forgive them, and called out: "Send my body to my mother and tell her that I died for Jesus." He was then pulled on deck unconscious, but after some time came to. Conviction began to seize the sailors. Before night two of them were gloriously converted. Inside of a week everyone on board, including the captain, was blessedly saved”. http://www.moreillustrations.com/Illustrations/persecution%201.html [original source —Sunday School Times].
It was a miracle that the sharks didn't smell the scent of his blood in the water! Again, the devil always divides and subtracts but God adds and multiplies! Like Pastor J. H. Crowell there might be times that we are the only Christian in the crowd because God is not willing that anyone should perish but that all come to repentance ( II Peter 3:9)!
In the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!
