Withstanding Persecution
The Acts of the Apostles • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we talked about the return of Paul on the scene. He hit the ground running, and was completely transformed over how he had been previously. He had been humbled by all of the grief that followed him. He went from being an arguer, to being a humble man, seeking not to win an argument, but rather to win souls. Back when we first hear of Saul’s conversion (when he had his name changed to Paul), we hear God tell Ananias what kind of future Paul was to have.
Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Paul had led a violent persecution of the Church, and while God granted him salvation and chose him, God ordained that he would have to suffer the same type of persecution that he caused.
Can you imagine getting that kind of word when you first got saved? You probably would say, “well, perhaps this isn’t the best idea.” So that’s why we don’t see that Ananias told Paul what God showed him. So let’s pick up briefly on some of the situations that happen to Paul next.
In Iconium:
But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. And they were preaching the gospel there.
At Lystre
Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.
But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.
Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
In Syria
Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” Now Barnabas was determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. And so Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus; but Paul chose Silas and departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.
So Paul and Barnabas get into a fistfight and part ways.
At Philipi
And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
So everywhere, he goes, he must suffer for the sake of the Gospel. But everywhere he goes, there is one common denominator- one secret to Paul’s success and today, I’m going to give you that secret. OK, are you ready? It’s a long passage and I hope you can keep up with me. It is:
Rejoice always,
That’s it! All of it. Just two little words, but here is the note I have written for it:
This is a command that is just as binding upon Christians as any you can find in the word of God yet it is the one most commonly violated- why?
Well, let’s look at this together because I believe it is key to how we live our lives as victorious Christians.
It has been my observation that many Christians fall far short in carrying out this command in their lives. It is often apparent as we go about our daily living, you can really see it in worship.
How many times do we just sit there during worship, looking around at other people, wondering what they are going to have for lunch? Hmm, what time is the game on? We just go through the motions, totally bored or un-enthused. We listen to the message and we might even struggle to stay awake.
Or we listen to the message and are good and well until we walk out the door then our face drops to our feet and we walk around like defeated puppies. Why is it that so many Christians don’t seem to have joy in their lives? There may be many different reasons I want to go through some of them today, but first let’s define and understand joy.
What is Joy?
What is Joy?
The Greek word for joy is “CHARA” according to the Vine’s dictionary it means “joy, delight, or gladness.” It is closely related to the word “CHARIS” which means grace and “CHARISMA” which means gift.
We might then think of CHARIS and CHARISMA as that which produces the “CHARA”.
It is important we understand the close relationship between joy and gift so that we can understand a very important principle: We have or show joy in direct response to the value of the gift received.
To illustrate this principle, close your eyes with me and imagine the following three gifts, and your reaction to them.
The first gift- now get ready, hold out your hand- because this is great- a penny! Well, not the most exciting gift is it? I mean if it weren’t for the superstition that finding a penny brings good luck most of us wouldn’t even stop to pick one up off the street. The joy factor of a penny is well- nil.
Now ready for the next one? Close your eyes, hold out your hand. A brand new crisp $100 bill! Now we’re talking! That’s a nice gift! Well, as nice as it is, $100 doesn’t go that far. So the joy factor is “that’s nice!”
Finally, close your eyes and imagine that you receive in your hand the keys to a brand new house with full amenities in a nice neighborhood. WAHOOO! Goofy happy dance time! The joy factor on that is “AW MAMMA!”
Can you see how the response or emotion of joy is in direct proportion to the value we place on the gift itself?
You’ve heard me mention from the pulpit that our joy as Christians is not based on outward circumstances the way happiness is, it’s based on something much more lasting. It is based on the gift we receive when we call upon the name of Jesus for our salvation. When we learn to see the gift and its greatness, then the rest just fades away. This is what victorious living looks like!
So what exactly has God given us?
So what exactly has God given us?
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
So we know that the gifts from God are good and perfect. They come from heaven from our Heavenly Father. He can give the best gifts because there is no shadow of turning with Him. The most valuable of these good and perfect gifts then is
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Eternal Life! This involves freedom from the condemnation of sin and it was purchased by the blood of Jesus! But with eternal life we also receive a restored fellowship with God as we journey through life.
With a gift as great as this, shouldn’t our joy just overflow? It did for one person:
So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing.
But as I mentioned, many of us possess these great gifts but we are not as joyful as we should be, the question is why?
Maybe it’s because we don’t appreciate what God has done for us. Perhaps if we had an idea of what sin does to us, we could appreciate what He has done for us.
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.
The worst thing about sin is that separates us from fellowship with God. We were created to have an intimate relationship with God. When that relationship is broken it violates our whole reason for being.
The ultimate violation of that fellowship takes the form of spiritual death and hell.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
There is a spiritual death, but beyond that there is a real and literal hell. I know it’s gone out of vogue amongst pastors in this day and age, but realize that without understanding the severe consequence of sin, we have no way to appreciate what we have been given.
If we look at sin from the world’s point of view: “sin is not that bad, it’s only a violation of human relationships that can be fixed with two little words- I’m sorry” then we fail to grasp the magnitude of our sorry state. We need to put away the world’s point of view and embrace what God has to say about the matter.
There is no such thing as a “little sin” just one sin makes a person guilty of all!
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Sin is so bad that God had to send His one and only son to die for us. Until we realize the horror of sin, we won’t appreciate the salvation that God offers us then we don’t appreciate what Jesus’ sacrifice means for us.
But Jesus has reconciled us back to a loving fellowship with God
that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
God reconciled us to Himself and put off our trespasses. He basically wiped away our debt. And so as Christians we can lay claim to the proclamation of Paul in
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Jesus then goes on to say that when we are grafted in Him and abiding in His word, we will demonstrate the joy that we are talking about today.
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.
John wrote about the things that Jesus spoke and he had this to say
that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
The problem is that we never take the time to contemplate and understand the things that Jesus taught. If we did, we’d appreciate how terrible our sin really is, and understand the value of the gift that God provided us through Jesus.
Instead we allow ourselves to be influenced by the world and its standards. We value the things that the world values, and as a result rejoice in the things in which the world rejoices. Things like, a new job, a promotion or a raise; perhaps a new house or a car, or even a spouse or our children.
I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t thank God for the material gifts that God gives us, but if we are not joyful over the spiritual gifts, if we do not grasp the value of what Jesus did for us, we will never achieve the level of joyfulness needed to become the victorious Christians that God has called us to be.
Once we understand the value of what God gave us we must guard it jealously. There are three major stumbling blocks to joy.
Lack of a good worship life.
Lack of a good worship life.
We need to worship God for what He has given us:
Be glad then, you children of Zion,
And rejoice in the Lord your God;
For He has given you the former rain faithfully,
And He will cause the rain to come down for you—
The former rain,
And the latter rain in the first month.
Anxiety
Anxiety
But this holds not only during the good times, but the bad times as well. Paul instructs the Philippians in this type of sacrificial praise.
Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
There it is! In the midst of our anxiety we are to rejoice! We are to worship!
Sin
Sin
Finally, there is the unrepented sin in our hearts that keeps us from being joyful. Consider the words of David:
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Putting it All Together
Putting it All Together
As we learned last week, we Christians should know that we are likely to experience persecution. Our response to this persecution should mirror that of Paul. We need to be bursting forth with joy because we know the value of the gift we have received, and that no amount or degree of persecution can take that from us. We are called by the name of Jesus, we need to take up the refrain of Jeremiah and call out:
Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
When we grasp this understanding or our salvation then we will have the joy of the Lord.
Let’s Pray
Benediction
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’