Let’s think for a moment about a man who was moving up the ladder of success in his field, having been taught in the finest schools, awarded most likely to succeed among his peers, powerful and on fire with a bright future before him. But suddenly he threw it all away. He gave up marriage, comforts of a home, he gave up sleep, food, safety… just listen to his own list: 2 Cor. 11:23b I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.
27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
And again he says about himself and his present company:
1 Cor 4:11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
Why?
Why would anyone chose a life which he himself would say, “If this life is all there is, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Cor. 15:19). We are the most miserable of all men!
You know who I’m talking about, don’t you? This is a man who met Jesus one day. From that day forward nothing in his life was the same. The Jesus who he had hated so much before he met him… this Jesus became his richest treasure, his brightest hope, his only purpose and focus in life.
Let’s face it, this sounds like the story of an extremist. But this so called extremist wrote most of the books in our New Testament. God inspired the life of this man, and he preached and proclaimed Jesus Christ and him crucified everywhere he went. In most of his letters it is hard to find a complete sentence where Jesus is not mentioned. He begins and ends and fills the middle with Jesus Christ.
Paul was brilliant, but he didn’t dare lean on his clever intelligence. He was extremely talented, but he didn’t dare let his talents take the center stage. He was a prolific writer, but as we just said, his pen could hardly move on the page without writing the name of Jesus on every line. He was educated, was from the right family, trained in the right discipline, reputed to have the politically correct posture, and by the law, he was squeaky clean in character.
But listen to what happened:
Phil 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God and is by faith,
10 I want to know Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
I love the song that goes:
All I once held dear, built my life upon, all this world reveres and wants to own,
All I once thought gain, I have counted loss, spent and worthless now compared to him.
Now my hearts desire is to know you more, to be found in you, and known as yours.
To possess by faith what I could not earn… your surpassing gift of righteousness!
Knowing you, Jesus! Knowing you! There is no greater thing! You’re my all, you’re the best, you’re my joy, my righteousness! And I love you, Lord!
Oh, to know the power of your risen life! And to know you in your suffering!
To become like you in your death, my Lord! So in you to live and never die!
Knowing you, Jesus! Knowing you! There is no greater thing! You’re my all, you’re the best, you’re my joy, my righteousness! And I love you, Lord!
As I prepared this lesson, the light of God’s word here hit me with deep conviction. How easy it is to sit comfortably behind a computer screen and type out lessons! How convenient it is to live here on Signal Mountain and receive all the comforts and benefits of being surrounded by a wealthy community where I work for a wonderful, supportive fellowship, and worship in a beautiful classically designed mountain stone building. I’m pursuing higher degrees of education, and am able to send my children to fine schools and Christian college. Where is my cross?
John Piper said, “Christ died to save us from hell but not to save us from the cross. He died so that we could be glorified, but not to keep us from being crucified. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily." For the Christian the cross of Christ is not merely a past place of substitution. It is also a present place of daily execution.”
What I am asking myself is a serious question. The test of genuine Christian faith is not whether you come to all the church services: including Sunday school, Wednesday and Sunday nights. True Christian faith is whether or not you take up a cross and follow Jesus Christ.
The cross of Christ is the center and core of salvation. Christ crucified, shouts volumes doesn’t it? All the clever intellectual educated slick worldly wisdom you can find, (and there is plenty of it!), will never get you an inch closer to God. It won’t effect the temperature of hell one degree! It won’t keep one soul from eternal death and destruction. All the clout and muscle and political, judicial, governmental, scientific, power this world can muster can’t even begin to touch the need of your soul.
The cross of Christ! There is no replacement. No substitute. No other option.
The power of God is there. The hope of every man, woman and child on planet earth is there. All the treasures of heavenly wisdom and spiritual understanding are there. What God did in Christ for you and me at the cross is worth giving up everything you have and all that you hold dear here.
What does it mean for you and me to be able to say, “I’ve been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ, liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me! (Gal. 2:20).
How important is the cross of Christ to you today? Have you met Jesus? Have you heard his call to come follow me? Are you willing to take up your cross and follow him, daily?
Pray with me, please.
Oh Lord, help us. Have mercy on us, for we are sinful people who have nothing to offer you and no way to help ourselves. Lord convince us that this is true. Convict us of our need for you! Come and call us clearly through Jesus who died on the cross. We confess to you that we so easily look away from the cross because we do not want the burden or the shame. We so easily look to things that surround us and find comfort in those things instead of giving up ourselves only to you. We entertain our minds with worldly entertainments instead of feeding on the bread of life. We seek security in our retirement plans instead of trusting in your eternal plans for our lives. We have so much, oh Lord, yet it seems at times that what we have has us. Teach us how to value the cross the way your servant Paul did. Teach us how to love you the way you want us to and to obey you the way you want us to. Help us Lord. Help me Lord. I don’t want to serve this church another minute in my own strength or in my own education or in my own wisdom. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation in my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, my wisdom, my hope, my first love, and my only salvation! In Jesus name, amen.
