JOY EXPECTED: TO LIVE OR DIE
Main Idea: God desires self-sacrifice for church growth and His glory.
Key Question: How often do you think about sacrifice for the church family?
1. True life comes through unconditional deliverance. (v. 19-20)
A. The supplication of God’s people. (v. 19)
2. True life come through unhindered rewards. (v. 21-26)
A. We win in death. (v. 21, 23)
B. We win in life. (v. 21-26)
Such statements can only mean that Paul’s relationship with Christ was so close that his entire existence derived its meaning from his Lord.
Many Iranian believers, on the other hand, have learned Paul’s perspective on death, and they, like him, provide an example for Westerners. Mehdi Dibaj, for example, was imprisoned by the government of Iran in 1984 on charges of “apostasy,” since he had converted from Islam to Christianity. The penalty for this crime according to the Islamic law that ruled Iran was death. Mehdi languished in prison for ten years before his case came to trial; when it did, his written statement of defense was a simple and straightforward reaffirmation of commitment to Jesus Christ. The last few lines of that defense contain this remarkable paragraph:
[Jesus Christ] is our Saviour and He is the Son of God. To know Him means to know eternal life. I, a useless sinner, have believed in His beloved person and all His words and miracles recorded in the Gospel, and I have committed my life into His hands. Life for me is an opportunity to serve Him, and death is a better opportunity to be with Christ. Therefore I am not only satisfied to be in prison for the honour of His Holy Name, but am ready to give my life for the sake of Jesus my Lord.…
On December 12, 1993, the court before whom this defense was made sentenced Mehdi to execution. Then, under intense pressure from people in the West who knew of the case, including the U. S. State Department, the Iranian government arranged Mehdi’s release in January 1994. Seven months later, he was found dead “under suspicious circumstances” in a Tehran park, the third Christian murdered in Iran after his release from prison. Some Christian groups suspected the complicity of the Iranian government.