Enduring because of the truth

Topic today – Enduring because of the Truth

I am realising how selective we can we as we look at Acts and desire what the church in Acts was like. We want what we perceive as good, namely the miracles and healings, revival, great preaching, great community, a united church, we want to witness the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit and see hundreds and thousands of people pouring into the Kingdom. But that’s not the full story of Acts. We want those things without the wrestling, the persecution, the suffering, the trials and the pain. Yet, if you ask me, this could be why we never get to experience God like the people in Acts.

It wasn’t long before trials, persecution, hit the church. Acts 1 we see them getting Jesus final commission, and they watch Jesus ascend into heaven and they feel alone. Acts 2 the Holy Spirit comes and 3000 are saved. Acts 3 Peter and John heal the crippled beggar and things look very exciting. Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested because this man was healed. Acts 5 the Apostles are arrested, an angel releases them, they are rearrested, beaten and released and they go “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name”. Acts 6 Stephen is arrested. Acts 7 he is killed (first martyr). Acts 8 persecution comes. Acts 9 is the story of Sauls conversion and God says, “I will show him how much he will suffer for the sake of my name,” and he quickly discovers the danger of Christian living as people want to kill him so he escapes from Damascus. Acts 10 & 11 are chapters of the Gospel going to gentiles. Acts 12 tells of James getting killed – the first of the Apostles to be martyred. Don’t forget that each one of them, except John, was killed. John lived to an old age but that was not before being thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, miraculously surviving, and exiled to Patmos. And so the story continues right through today.

I want us to take us to Acts 16 and look at the experience of Paul and Silas who face opposition but don’t give up.

Read Acts 16:16-34

This is Paul’s ongoing/normal experience. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul tells us of the many trials he has faced. But he keeps going. Later he writes a letter to these same Christians to encourage them while he sits in jail waiting trial that would probably end his life. Yet he says, “Rejoice in the Lord!”

Without a doubt, the example we learn of following Jesus is it is messy. But we must carry on. The Bible does tells we will all face trials. In actual fact, James 1:2 says that you should, “count it all joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.”

We’re not to give up but to demonstrate the Gospel. We’ve been called to endure because of the Truth!

Too often we are like Peter when he gets out of the boat to walk on the water - he takes his eyes off Jesus and sees the wind the waves. We’ve got Jesus there and He has said, “Come!” We take a little step but all of a sudden we look around and things look too big and we believe what we see, rather than Jesus who said come, and so we sink.

Finances aren’t enough – we sink.

Problems at home – we sink.

Changes in church – we sink.

Struggles at work, we sink.

YET, these are times for endurance because of the TRUTH that is in us.

But they keep going! I have to ask how?!

1. We endure when…

1.1. Christ is your treasure

It is not this life, not our possessions, not our popularity, not our profession, not our peace, not our families, not our comfort, not our financial stability, but CHRIST!

When is Christy our treasure?

This is a important question, and later we find Paul writing to this same church and giving an understanding of what this looks like. And even as he writes Philippians he is sitting in jail.

When your life is to honour Jesus at whatever expense that might be to you Phil 1:20

Philippians 1:20 CSB

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For Paul not being ashamed is that Christ is honoured whatever happens. He doesn’t want to stand ashamed before God.

When our identity is wrapped up in him – and we love that. Phil 1:21 Whether I live, or whether I die, Christ is gain. To gain it there is total cost.

Philippians 1:21 CSB

For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

When suffering for Him is seen as a privilege Phil 1:29.

When we see Him as the One who is worthy of giving up everything for because we see Him as the superior treasure – see Philippians 3:8-11

When trials result in worship not despair Phil 4:4. They worship - Acts 16:25

Philippians 4:4 CSB

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

When making Him known becomes natural not contrived. We may lose it all but we have Him.

This is particularly important when people all around us are on a treasure hunt and they are trying to discover lasting joy and delight, but everything falls short of that. Then you see treasure which is Christ.

We weren’t made just for now. We were made for God and for His glory. Sin has distorted what we were made for – that is why all people are worshippers but few worship God. Christ has come to restore that in us. When you see Christ and His incomparable beauty, you know that you have this treasure. This is what Paul sees, and says that he considers everything else as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.

1.2. Grounded in the Truth

God’s Sovereignty – that means that God is God and He is good and He is in control. There must be some reason for them being here and we submit to that. (God never wastes an experience)

The Gospel

The resurrection

Convinced of God’s love – Had they not been convinced this would have resulted in a pity part not a worship party. They were standing on the conviction of the fact that the cross of Christ, a perfect Jesus laying down his life for rebel sinners, was the greatest display of love. What shall separate us from the love of God (see Romans 8:35-39)? Why do we doubt it?

Secure in our justification. This is the foundation of our Christian hope – Christ in me is the hope of glory. We don’t live as people without hope.

Psalm 73:25–26 CSB

Who do I have in heaven but you? And I desire nothing on earth but you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.

Faith is often weak because we are not grounded in the great truths of the Gospel. This is one reason why I believe the church family is important. How do we build faith? “Faith comes by hearing…”

1.3. Convinced of God’s purposes

God is at work in the midst of trial.

Perfection of the saints.

Building of Character – Romans 5:1-5 -especially verses 3-5

Romans 5:1–5 CSB

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Refining in holiness. This includes God’s discipline in our lives, but that is the assurance that God is for you. If He never loved you, He wouldn’t discipline you. If you never felt that, you could have no assurance of His love because it is a loving thing.

Helping us see Jesus more clearly.

Helping us to rest in Jesus more readily. We learn to lean into Jesus when it’s tough! Prayer becomes so natural to desperate people.

Salvation of sinners

Someone made the following statement. “Acts 8:1 represents an important principle of thermodynamics: "The greater the heat, the greater the expansion." Ever thought that your trial prepares you to minister to others who face the same. Steve Saint says, “Sufferers want to be ministered to by people who have suffered.” From 1900 to 2000, the world’s urban population grew from 220 million to 2.8 billion. We live in this age and we must embrace it!

1.4. You expect it

Jesus said in John 16:33 (NLT) “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” This never took them by surprise. In actual fact, in 2 Timothy 3:12 we read, “Anyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Have you ever thought that maybe this gives us an indication that godly means God-like quality but also absolute Godward devotion and surrender? Jesus said the world will hate you. Why do we expect anything different UNLESS...

2. You won’t endure when…

This is the reality for some that there are things that they allow into their lives that will keep us from enduring. Jesus spoke about some of these things in the parable of the sower which is found in Luke 8:4-15.

2.1. You don’t view this life as war

2.2. You won’t believe God

We don’t believe that He is for us and He is with us and that He is in us. We’re at church and we acknowledge all the right things, but we practice a form of practical atheism. So life get’s hard and we say, “God couldn’t love me.”

We also don’t believe that heaven is real and better than here!

We don’t believe that to die is really gain.

2.3. You really fear man not God

This means you never actually understood God who called you to a life

2.4. You love this life too much

People can see it and you might even be blind to it. This is abandoned to God.

2.5. You haven’t surrendered

Some times we want to run our lives and we want God to fit in. We’ve set the terms for God. In other words, we love ourselves too much and Christ is not our treasure. Jesus has asked for everything.

3. Application

· Allow your trials to drive you closer to Christ rather than away from Him.

· Setting an example for the next generation of open and honest passion for Jesus. We want radical generation after us, do they really have to learn that themselves – where are the examples.

· Identify the areas of lack of faith and do something in that.

· Surrender in faith