Sermon Tone Analysis

I. Introduction

A. Overview of Series

1. Today we come to our second lesson in our series titled “Organic Christianity.”

Our goal in this series is to examine the first century church and to see what Christianity looks like without manmade additives and changes, with the goal hopefully, to follow in their steps.

Being “organic” – whether this is in reference to being Christians or a local church as God designed them to be, I believe, should be what we aim for if we have devoted ourselves to the Apostles doctrine.

Our goal; our aim as Christians, is to be pleasing to God, and we know that the Christians in the book of Acts, as they followed the direction given to them by the Apostles of the Lord Jesus, were pleasing to God

B. For today’s lesson, I would like to study with you one of the “evidences” that we have in the book of Acts that our earliest brothers and sisters in Christ were devoted to the truth and to the God who gave it, and this evidence is: their willingness to suffer for the Gospel.

II.

Body

A. Our devotion tested:

1.

How devoted we are to ANY cause is often seen in what we are willing to endure in order to be successful…

a) The sacrifices we are willing to make

b) How much “pain” we are willing to go through

2. Examples: School & Work

a) Work – to get that next raise, you put in extra effort… you endure the overtime you need to work or the menial things that are asked of you… you put up with being mistreated by customers or the employer

b) School/College – long nights cramming for tests or doing homework that you put off till the last minute… torturing yourself with sleep deprivation so you can have more time to study… the terrible diet that comes along with being a college student because you don’t have the time to make something to eat that is good for you...

c) Sports – The kind of time that is put into sports by those who are good at them is amazing… sacrificing time with family and friends, suffering through injuries and fighting back from them to be even better than one was before the injury… A lot of work and sacrifice is made to be successful.

d) People are willing to put up with some things not being ideal for the short term and are willing to fight through negative things associated with these things because we are devoted to being successful.

B. Examples of how our earliest brothers and sisters put everything on the line for Jesus

1.

They were willing to sacrifice anything.

We already saw this in how they sacrificed their possessions in order to serve one another, but they also showed this in how they were willing to sacrifice their relationships, their health, and even their lives for the sake of the Gospel

a) Sacrificed their reputation… Made fun of or mocked.

What the world did to Jesus, they do to His disciples.

From the very beginning God’s people were mocked and maligned for their faith in Christ.

They were counted as fools by those who they taught.

(1) à They were viewed as fools, as the scum of the world by many who heard their message…

(2) – Paul is viewed as a “babbler” for what he was preaching about the resurrection

(3) A sect of heretics that were troublemakers and nobodies.

b) Sacrificed their comfort…

(1) Threatened () James & John before Jewish leaders...

(a) They were warned in this passage to not speak the name of Christ any longer… "And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people, for all were praising God for what had happened."

().

(2) Beaten ( & ).

(a) "and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go."

() (b) "The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely" ().

c) Sacrificed their property & their relationships

(1) Loss of possessions (Hebrew 10:34)

(a) "For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one."

()

(2) Taken out of their homes and away from their families ()

(a) "But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women…” () (b) It is possible that these believers were betrayed by their own families for becoming Christians…

d) Their freedom…

(1) Arrested (, )

(a) When Saul ripped our brethren out of their homes, we are told that he "… committed them to prison."

() (b) We have examples in the Apostles being arrested in Acts (Paul and Silas in ).

e) Sacrificed their lives, being killed

(1) Stephen & James.

(2) "And I did so in Jerusalem.

I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them."

()

C. Their response to the persecution and trials:

1.

In spite of the persecution and hardship, these Christians give us a wonderful example of how we should respond whenever we stand up for the truth and are persecuted for it

2.

They remained bold with God’s help

a) Prayer (; )

(1) This is not to say that they never had any fears.

They did.

When Paul entered Corinth, he tells the Corinthians that he did so with weakness, fear, and much trembling… and Jesus appeared to Paul while in Corinth and told him not to be afraid.

They had their fears, but their fears did not keep them from doing what they needed to do… Paul still preached when he entered Corinth…

(2) When James and John were arrested and threatened by the Sadducees in , they still spoke boldly, and when they were released, met with their brethren in order to spend time in prayer asking God to help them to continue to be bold.

3.

They rejoiced that they were able to suffer for Christ

a) Apostles ()

(1) "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name."

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(2) They wanted to honor Jesus and show their devotion to him by their willingness to suffer as He did.

b) Paul and Silas ()

(1) "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them," ().

c) This is how they taught Christians to respond to trials ()

(1) "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

()

(a) James tells them to “count it all joy…when they fell into various trials.”

Consider it a joyful thing… What James is talking about here is all about perspective.

From an earthly perspective, this is not usually what one would think about doing when trials come, but Christians think about affliction differently!

We look at it from God’s perspective and how HE is working in the circumstances.

(b) They knew God was working in them when they suffered.

HE was strengthening them, helping them to mature and grow, ultimately w/ the goal of making them like Christ.

(2) “Trials are joy when God is our goal.

When we believe that knowledge of God and intimacy with God is supremely satisfying, then trials, which cause us to trust, lean on, and pursue God, are a really good thing.

Pure joy.”[i]

(a) AMEN!

What God allows to come into our lives is for our good if we are His people.

God is deserving of our praise even at these times because He is helping us to draw nearer to Him.

4. They understood who was in control and that it was God’s will for His people to suffer

a) Part of “doing Christianity right” is to suffer hardship for what you believe.

(1) "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted," ()

(2) "When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God." ()

(3) "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."

()

D. Would we fit in with the “organic church”?

1. May we be watering things down to stay comfortable?

Are we too concerned what others will think of us when we speak up?

2. Whenever trials come, how do we respond?

Do we complain.

Do we get angry.

Do we feel sorry for ourselves?

Are we moved to despair instead of looking at trials as we are instructed to do by the Apostles?

3. Or do we speak up with boldness and speak truth, no matter what the consequences may be?

Do we respond with joy knowing that God is on His throne and is at work among us in conforming us to the image of Christ?

III.

Closing

A. As we have seen in these lessons, organic Christianity is not easy and it is not comfortable…

1.

It makes demands on our time, our money, our possessions…

2. Christianity in its purest form without manmade changes, challenges us to put everything on the line for Jesus Christ, including our lives… This is what devoted Christians are willing to do to honor their Lord

B. Prayer

[i] [1] David Platt.