Imitate those that Imitate Christ

Introduction

Good morning LaFayette Baptist Church.

Scripture

If you would all please rise for the reading of God’s Word today. The words to the scripture will be on the screen, please read along with me as we are reading. When I am done I will say “this is The Word of The Lord” if you will all please respond with “Thanks be to God.” Let’s Practice that for a second. First, let’s pray.

Father God, we thank you for who You are and what You are doing to us now, in this place, and as we go into the world, into the mission field that you place each and every one of us in. We pray this day Father, as we are about to participate in the reading of Your word Father, that it penetrates each of us and effects us deeply. Make You Word refine, reproof, and correct us wherever we may need it. Obey our ears, our hearts, our minds, our hands, everything about us so that we can take in anything that You are about to show us about Yourself and apply it. Take away in distractions that we may have, because we want to know and Love You all the more. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and Precious Name that I pray, Amen.

23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Context

If you haven’t already would all please go ahead and turn in your Bible’s to Acts 9, Acts 9:23-31 will be our sermon text today. We continue this week through Acts Chapter 9, still going through the actions of Saul as a new believer. Remember last week, we looked at what happened to him as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the church. He had an encounter with Jesus, and this would lead to his conversion to becoming a follower (a disciple) of Jesus, a Christian. A verse from last week that I want to remind you of is Verse 6. Here, God is addressing Ananias (the man who would come and minister to and baptize Saul. This verse reads: 6 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” So, it is clear here Saul (Paul) will go on to suffer much. In fact, in our scripture today you will notice that he suffers in a few ways. 1ston two occasions his life is in danger. 2nd on two occasions he has to leave the city he was at in dramatic and spy like fashion. Saul will go on to suffer much much more for the Name of Jesus, just as Jesus tells all of his followers (you included) will happen as in John 15 and Luke 6 that the world will hate us because of Him (Jesus).

As I was reading, writing, and studying through this week’s text, I began to make connections that I hadn’t before. This is because, I am doing my best (and I challenge you to do this as well in your own personal devotional time) to remember that the main Character in any part of the bible is God (either all of the trinity or one of three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit). While doing this, I started to notice certain similarities between Saul in this text and Jesus in the Gospels. Then, this took me to another verse that Paul himself wrote in 1 Cor 11:1 which reads: Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ. This brings us to our main idea: Imitate those who imitate Christ. Know this believer, the World doesn’t want you to do this. The World, Satan, and Sin want to do whatever it can to take your eyes off of Jesus and even your eyes off of people who are pointing towards Him. So, we have to be alert, and know what doing so does and doesn’t look like. This brings us to the text today, where we do see an example of someone who points to Jesus. So,From the text, I want you to observe these similarities of Saul when compared to Jesus; so that we can see that we are to imitate those who imitate Christ.

Message

The first similarity to observe is: Enduring for the Kingdom.

23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, 24 but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.

The passage begins with a verse that is unassuming at first but bears some impact. The “many days that had passed.” Most biblical scholars agree that this is somewhere between 2 and ½ years and 3 years’ time, and even included a brief stay in Arabia (which Paul tells us about in Galatians 1. So, after spending time as a believer, learning, and sharing Jesus’ name; the Jews in Damascus schemed to kill him. There would have been danger for him everywhere in the city. Saul, likely through one of his disciples Paul learned about this scheme. (note that if he had disciples that means he had people who learning about Jesus through him). These disciples snuck him out of the city by night, lowering him down through a large basket, completely avoiding the dangers that would have been waiting for him at the gate of the walled city. So he left, leaving The Church and its leaders he had raised up in the city.

Know this, enduring for God’s Kingdom will not be a comfortable and easy thing, no matter the time or place. Now granted, some will suffer more than others as they day after day endure for the kingdom; doing the work of Loving God, Loving Others, and Making Disciples. This reminds me of an extreme example that happened to a street evangelist, in New York just a few years ago. She was born in a single mother household, poor, and had a life of strife with drugs and other elicit acts; until she heard about Jesus and took Him as her savior. So grateful was she for the precious gift of freedom from sin, that she spent her days sharing Jesus with others, no matter the price. One day, with her and her group 17 people on the street had repented and confessed Jesus. This must have caught the vengeful attention of a local drug lord or leader. He came up to her, saying that she was ruining his plans (it must have been his people or customers that were the converts). She told him, get this, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done, Jesus loves you regardless and invites you to be one of His own. Well, he didn’t like that answer and lets just say not long after this evangelist breathed her last. That was endurance, she knew what was coming, but she endured for the Kingdom.

Jesus likewise suffered for us, for you, for the world. He was the sinless and blameless one. The Holy One of Israel. God the Son. Yet, on his last night alive, in the garden of gethsemane, His prayer (knowing that soon he would die a horrible death) was not “Father stop this.” It was, “Father, take this cup from Me; BUT if it be your will, let it be done.” Jesus suffered for His own kingdom. The Kingdom of God. That his treasured creation (mankind, yes you) might be redeemed and freed from slavery and death from sin. Saul was just getting a taste of this in his suffering and endurance. Believer, know this, that you too will suffer and have to endure many things, including suffering for the kingdom of God. Just because you are suffering, or going through difficult situations and trials; does. Not. Mean. That. God. Has. Forgotten. You. In fact, it’s a sign that He has remembered you; that he is using what you are going through to show you more about Himself. So, as you are enduring through the trials and difficulties of this life like (lack of money or resources, failing health, your loved ones suffering, your own body denying you what others seem to have, and no hope) remember that God is teaching you and showing you something, so keep your eyes open for Him. And here is a pro-tip if you are having trouble, ask Him to show you and give you wisdom; which he will. Now that we have seen an example of enduring the Kingdom,

the next similarity to observe is: Speaking truth about God

26 When he arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, since they did not believe he was a disciple. 27 Barnabas, however, took him and brought him to the apostles and explained to them how Saul had seen the Lord on the road and that the Lord had talked to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus.

Even after 3 years, the disciples in Jerusalem feared Saul; remembering what he had done in the past. It’s natural that these people would be scared, but it also reminds me of how Jesus was rejected by his own people…. They would reject him until a certain man stood in Saul’s corner. This was Barnabas, who we first heard about at the end of Chapter 4, where we learned that he was both a generous and loving man who was an encouragement to others; this is why he is called Barnabas, because he frequently encouraged people. Barnabas, who would go on to be numbered with the Apostles later himself, would take Saul to the apostles and share with them that this Saul has seen the risen Lord, is a believer himself, and was frequently seen speaking boldly about the truth of Jesus, the name of Jesus, in Damascus.

Jesus Himself, often spoke truth about God, truth about the Father, truth about Himself, and truth about the Holy Spirit. He taught us, for example, that only God is good; everything else is not. He taught us that we are to pray to The Father in The Lord’s Prayer. He taught us that we are to seek The Father, through His own example of leaving to go pray to Him and by custom attending synagogue. He taught that The Holy Spirit would come, and He would direct believers after The Christ’s sacrifice. He taught about Himself, that He is the only way to The Father. He taught us that He has power to forgive sins even while He was roaming The Earth. So, Jesus went about His earthly ministry, teaching and speaking truth about God; truth that many didn’t want to hear because they didn’t want to hear about this God or they have given false attributes and laws of God to God (making Him into their own personal God and Idol) and they didn’t want that challenged because they liked this false God they had fashioned.

Our generations are very guilty of doing this ourselves. In fact, the current state of The American Protestant church is in very bad shape here. A recent poll found that 52 percent of church goers say that their church teaches that God will bless them if they give more money to their church and charities. This number has skyrocketed up from 38 percent in 2017. In addition now 76 percent believe that God wants them to prosper financially compared to 69 in 2017. What does this mean? It means that as a people we are obsessed with the False God of wealth, and see our charitable giving (WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE AN ACT OF REVERANCE AND WORSHIP TO GOD) as a means to an end to do better financially. It means Protestantism is heeding the false words about God from The Prosperity Gospel; or maybe we should call it now The Prosperity Heresy…… Let me be clear and candid here, do not teach this and do not believe this, reject it. Look at Paul here as he is serving The Kingdom of God, he is having to dodge murder and flee to different cities (doesn’t sound like a man who is worried about wealth does it)?........ That sounds a lot more like a man who is more interested in telling others about Jesus than wealth and comfort. Rather than teaching about false God’s, we each need to speak the truth about God, and Speaking truth about God requires that you share that Jesus is The Way. The Truth. And The Life, that no one get’s to the father except through Him and really, nothing else matters to us; because we exists for the purpose of magnifying and glorifying our God. When you do this, then you are speaking truth about God!

The next observation about the similarities of Saul when compared to Jesus; so that we can see that we are to imitate those who imitate Christ is: Departure brought us peace

28 Saul was coming and going with them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 He conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30 When the brothers found out, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. 31 So the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

While in Jerusalem, Saul went about what he has been doing since his conversion; sharing Jesus with others, boldly. He even conversed and debated with the Hellenistic Jews. Why is this important? Well, these were the Jews that killed Stephen, who’s execution Saul was present at, the event that started this whole process. Well, just to be blunt; they didn’t like Saul sharing Jesus either, so they tried to kill him. When The Church found out, clearly they were fearful for Saul’s life. So they sent him to Caesarea (a port city) so that he could be sent back to his hometown of Tarsus (a Roman Province), which is in Modern day Turkey. So great was the anger in the Jews from Saul and his presence, that after he left; the Church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced a time peace, strengthening, and through the Holy Spirit it even grew. So, Saul’s boldly speaking of Jesus was so offensive to the people, that the simple act of leaving brought a spirit of peace upon and within The Church in the Land.

I know every one of us here have been through a particularly nasty thunderstorm before right? In fact, we had quite a few earlier this year. Now, Imagine one that didn’t have straight line winds, but one that just had thunder, lightning, and rain. These storms can be fun to watch roll in, because you get to see the power, might, the strength of it. Maybe you really enjoy seeing the menacing looking clouds rollsin, and threat of the lightning in the distance. We all know, that we can only watch the storm for so long, because soon the storm will be where you are, so it’s time to come inside. During the storm, outside is Chaos, it’s dangerous to go out , so unless you have a real reason to go out, well, you just don’t. What happens after these storms? Something really interesting. After all the chaos, comes calmness, comes peace, and perhaps even comes a nice and refreshing cool air and breeze. Sometimes, things leaving, something departing from us, is a good thing.

In our text, Saul had to depart Jerusalem, just like he had to leave Damascus as well. Now, we know that Paul could have done a lot of good in these towns, but he had to leave, and this caused something even greater to happen; The Church had peace, it increased in size, so God was further glorified as more believers turned their lives over to Him. In turn, Saul would go on and spread The Good News in a new and different areas, so soon we are about to be begin the (to the ends of the earth) section of The Book of Acts. Notice this, Saul having to leave; reminds me of someone else who had to leave. Someone who had to leave this earth. Guess who that is…. Jesus. Jesus’ departure from us, His death on the cross to pay for our sins gave us great peace; great peace with God because now we can be redeemed, now we can be spotless before God and able to be judged as righteous and Holy before Him, because of Christs sacrifice. After this death of Jesus, what happened next? He Came Back in victory over death and sin and the grave and was seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses! After ministering to the world again for a short time, he departed once again, the prince of peace, but sent to us God the Holy Spirit, which each believer has. He points us to the Prince of Peace, who in turn points us to the Father who we can now stand before and are adopted as beloved sons and daughters where before we were His enemies. So, observe this. Jesus’ departure brought us peace.

Conclusion

As I think on Jesus and think on the suffering that he had, and the suffering that Saul had (and will have much more as he continues in his ministry). I am reminded of a song. It is called Man of Sorrows. Now this song is in many hymnals, and I think it is in our own. However, it has had a modern remake, one that is played very often in church worship services and when it was new some 10 years ago was played on Christian radio very often. This song is also called man of sorrows, but it is performed by Hillsong United; and I know a few of you here have told me you listen to their songs often. I want to challenge you today when you go home, to listen to this song and listen to the points in our sermon today, enduring for the king, speaking truth about God, and departure brought us peace. For those of us that don’t have access, after we are done with testimony time, we will play this song over the speakers as we leave; I invite you to stick around and listen if you can.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.