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Losing Your Life - The Blueprint Series
35 Plays5 days ago
In this sermon, Ridley Barron preached about the transformative journey of dedicating one's life to Jesus, emphasizing self-denial and aligning personal dreams with God's will. He reflected on Apostle Paul's sacrifice, highlighting the importance of perseverance, genuine repentance, and actively spreading the gospel. Insightful Preacher underscored the power of the Holy Spirit in empowering believers, the necessity of small group connections, and the vigilance needed against false teachings. He concluded with an invitation for deep reflection on one's devotion and offered support for those seeking to strengthen their faith.
Timestamps:
00:00 Following Jesus requires self-denial and sacrifice.
03:26 Paul likely heard Jesus’ teachings, impacting him.
07:04 Join small groups for connection and discipleship.
12:19 Paul urges vigilance, faith, and truth adherence.
16:04 Paul's emotional farewell, anticipating never returning.
18:53 Total surrender to Christ requires denying self.
23:22 God initiates; response involves human choice too.
24:25 Everything is empowered by the Holy Spirit.
27:28 Trust God with your fears and decisions.
32:53 Live for God's glory; testify His grace.
33:56 Live for Christ; gain life, eliminate competitors.
38:16 Struggle indicates commitment to faith and salvation.
41:24 Commit fully to Jesus; embrace spiritual growth.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
it It was shared with me earlier this weekend that on Friday during a political rally for Kamala Harris that a young man was bold enough to stand up and say, Jesus is Lord, to which she replied, you're at the wrong rally.
00:00:19
Speaker
Yeah. So i'm I'm saying that again, not because I'm endorsing any kind of candidate. There's like seven other names besides Trump's on the ballot. Okay. What I am saying to you, this is what happens when you take God out of your platform. If we can't speak the name of Jesus with comfort and boldness in our country, we're losing and we don't need to be. We need to get mad enough to vote. Now I'm encouraged because here's a commercial for you. You still have time to vote.
00:00:44
Speaker
You can go next week, early vote, and of course November the 5th is the big vote. Lisa and I went and voted Friday morning right here at the Chapel Hill Methodist Church. They said the day before they'd had over 650 people vote, which is normally the full amount they have during the early voting, so they had it all in one day. So I'm encouraged to see that number of people voting. Vote, okay? Vote, it's important. ah If you're a guest here, I want you to know you're at the right rally, because Jesus' name will be spoken over and over again.
00:01:12
Speaker
And we will not apologize for that at any point. And if you ever get into one of our Bible studies and somebody doesn't talk about Jesus, you need to call me or John or Kyle so we can spank them in the name of Jesus and get that straightened out. Because that's what we're here about, right? Proclaiming the name of Jesus. I'm very excited this weekend. 65 of our youth and adults are at a fall retreat. They've had an incredible weekend. Kyle called me this morning and said they've had two rededications and four kids come forward to get baptized. So we're were excited about that. Yeah.
00:01:44
Speaker
Earlier this weekend I was praying with a friend and we both prayed this prayer that by Monday morning when these kids go back to school that their friends are looking at them going, what happened to you over the weekend? That's the kind of testimony we want to have. Hey, we're are ah we're still in the book of Acts. We're walking this journey through Acts. But I want to actually start over in Matthew 16 this morning. This is probably not even on your listening guide. That's okay. It's still biblical.
00:02:09
Speaker
um Matthew 16, you're reading along, reading through the book of Matthew, and you get to something that's a very uncomfortable phrase, uncomfortable teaching from Jesus. He says this, he says, to his disciples, if anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself.
00:02:28
Speaker
Take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it." Now that's a tough teaching, an incredibly hard thing to swallow. This morning as I was rereading it, a couple of things that struck me. Number one,
00:02:49
Speaker
when you When you invited people to lay down your life on the cross in that day and age, that was like if you were here today speaking, saying to somebody, go sit in the electric chair and let me pull the switch. It was the most horrible, most incredibly painful way to die that they could imagine.
00:03:05
Speaker
So for for Jesus to use that as an example and say, hey, I want you to do this was a very challenging thing. The second thing is that you're going to hear reflections of this in what we're going to be talking about today, Paul's life. Now, the reason I think this is true, and I don't i don't think there's any scholar out here who's ever actually studied this or or proved or disproved this, but if Paul, before he became Paul, was Saul, if he was the great Pharisee that he professed to be,
00:03:33
Speaker
then there's a really good likelihood that as a Pharisee he heard Jesus teaching while Jesus was here. Because he would have been like all the other Pharisees we read about in the Gospels. They would hear about Jesus and they would run out to to listen, to hear with their own ears what was going on. At the very least he probably heard teachings like this from the other apostles who had been around Jesus during those three and a half years.
00:03:57
Speaker
He heard things like this. He also heard Matthew 5 through 7, where Matthew records the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount. And I want you to just be aware of that because as you listen today, you're going to hear echoes of that kind of teaching that has obviously impacted Paul as we get to the latter part of his life. Now, to set the stage for this and just to kind of catch up where we are,
00:04:19
Speaker
ah Paul has spent three years in Ephesus planning the church at a feast of the Ephesians. Three years was the longest he spent at any particular church. Had a real affinity for them, really, really deep relationships with them. He goes to Corinth, to winter at Corinth, where he planted another church, obviously the Church of Corinthians.
00:04:40
Speaker
And then decides, if you remember, he's got a ah collection, an offering that's been taken by the other churches to support the people in Jerusalem. He's wanting to get that offering to Jerusalem before the day of Pentecost occurs. And so when he's going back, instead of going back through Asia and stopping at Ephesus like he normally would have done, he purposely bypasses it.
00:05:01
Speaker
two Two thoughts on that. Number one, possibly because he knew his affinity for those people, he thought to himself, man, this is going to be hard to to get in there and see all those people. Any of you ever gone to your hometown after leaving, after a long time, and you're like, I need to sneak into town, see my family, get out, because if they find out I'm in town, everybody's going to want to talk to me. ah Maybe that's kind of what Paul was thinking in that moment.
00:05:22
Speaker
Or maybe Paul just knew because of the popularity of the way Christianity was spreading in Ephesus, he was thinking to himself, if I go there, I'll get stuck and I'll never make it to Jerusalem in time. So instead, as we read, Paul bypasses ah Ephesus and sends for the leaders at Ephesus and says I need you to come I need to say some things to you but I can't make the stop there okay so that's where we pick up the story today I think Paul's got some incredibly challenging things for us to hear this morning I hope your heart is ready for this
00:05:54
Speaker
um I think God just wants to to raise the bar for us a little bit this morning with with his with his words. It says, for paul had decided to sell past ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of asia because he was hurrying to be in jerusalem if possible on the day of pentecost Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. When they came to him he said, You know from the first day I set foot in Asia how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.
00:06:32
Speaker
You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house. I want you to stop there for just a second. I want you to hear that this verse is a validation of the way we structure Grove Hill Church.
00:06:45
Speaker
He says, I was there, I was teaching, I was proclaiming to you, that's the large gatherings that were taking place in the synagogue, sometimes out in the marketplace. But he said, we went from house to house. Why? Because that small group setting was the place Paul understood that the best accountability, the best encouragement could happen. Not gonna happen in a large group setting, it's gonna happen in those small ah intimate intimate groups of people where you can gather around. This is my plug for you to find that group.
00:07:12
Speaker
If you are not in a small group setting in our church, you need to see this man right here before you leave here today and find a discipleship group, a small group Bible study, a life group. You need to connect because you're not going to receive and account accountability here on the level that you'll receive it in one of those small groups. You're not going to get encouragement in the same way that you would being face to face with other brothers and sisters and allowing them to look you in the eye and say, How can we pray for you? How can we stand with you? How can we encourage you? You have got to find that place. But that was not done to the to the exception of the large gatherings where they would come together and listen to Paul as he would preach and teach and disciple these people, okay? All right, verse 21. He says, I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. That's the gospel right there.
00:08:04
Speaker
repentance towards God and placing faith in Lord Jesus. He said, I am now on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in every town, the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me. You hear those words? How many of you, if your pastor called you from Shelbyville, Tennessee this afternoon and said, I need you to come, I need you to come see me today. And oh, by the way, when you get here, you will be arrested and thrown in prison.
00:08:35
Speaker
Now, if you're like me, if you're like me, let's be honest, most of us are gonna go, what excuse can I come up with? I don't need to be in Shelbyville this afternoon. I love the pastor, but I don't love him that much. that I love Jesus, but maybe Jesus will give me an exemption here because surely he doesn't want me to be in prison, right? that That's our self-preservation kind of thing. That's the way we think as human beings. Paul says, I know that this is what's awaiting me. The Spirit's made it very clear to me.
00:09:03
Speaker
He says, I consider my life of no value to myself. My purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I receive from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God's grace. That's his ministry. Now, how many of you know who the ministers are in this church? Anybody know who the ministers are? Who who are the ministers?
00:09:27
Speaker
Thank you for saying that with confidence. The 8 o'clock crowd this morning kind of mumbled at me a little bit. Yes, it's every single one of us. You are the ministers of the gospel in this church. There are some of us who are called to do this full-time as a career to lead the congregation, but you, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, are called to be a minister of the gospel.
00:09:46
Speaker
No, so what that means is, if Jesus isn't being proclaimed in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, it's not the pastor's fault, it is our fault. If ministry's not taking place in this community, if people are going through their days not knowing they are loved by Jesus Christ, if they're not knowing that Jesus died so that they can have forgiveness of their sins, it's not the pastor's fault, it's not John's fault, it is the fault of the ministers. We are the body of Christ. Thank you for that, amen.
00:10:16
Speaker
Not yours, the first one.
00:10:21
Speaker
We have to understand that because too many churches have fallen into the celebrity status of their leadership. Oh, we pay you to do that. No, you don't pay me to do anything except for to lead this body. You don't pay me to be the hands and feet of Christ.
00:10:36
Speaker
My job is to remind you that you are the hands and feet of Christ. You are the ones to carry forth the gospel. You are the ones to carry out the ministry. You are the ones to embrace the least of these. So what are you supposed to do? You're supposed to do what the gospel has commanded you to do.
00:10:53
Speaker
And we'll dig into that a little bit more specifically here in just a second. But man, Paul said, my ministry, just like your ministry that we have received from the Lord Jesus is to testify to the gospel of God's grace. He says, and now I know that none of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Can you hear the power of those words? Remember, he spent three years developing relationships with these people.
00:11:18
Speaker
I have been here for seven years with you. I would hope that if I stood on this stage this morning and said, I love you, but today is the last day you will see me, at least one of you would go, aw. Not laugh, say aw. Thank you. Now, I hope that there would be something that you felt between you and I, not not ah not emotions, but a connection by the blood of Jesus Christ that says, man, that's my brother, and this is the last time I will see him here in this place.
00:11:49
Speaker
What if today were the last day you had to be in company with the people around you? How would you live differently? Remember, these are the last words of Paul and he's saying to these people, here's what really matters to me because I only have one more shot with you.
00:12:06
Speaker
We talk a lot about the Great Commission because those were Jesus' last words. You see, when people are talking in their last moments, whether it's last hours or last days of their lives, they don't waste their time talking about frivolous things. They talk about what's really important. And so this is what Paul's saying to them. He said, this this is the last chance I'm going to have with you, so open up your ears, open up your heart, because I'm about to share some things with you.
00:12:28
Speaker
He says, therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God. I pray that on the last day I'm with you whether that's five weeks from now or five years from now or 25 years from now that I'm able to stand on this stage and say I am innocent of your blood because I never failed to teach you the truth.
00:12:53
Speaker
I don't wanna waste your time or my time or more importantly God's time by dealing with things that don't matter. The only thing that matters is that you have placed your confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for your eternity. He says, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure,
00:13:21
Speaker
Savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them." This is an exact echo from the Sermon on the Mount. I told you you would hear this, these echoes of Jesus' teaching. Jesus says the same thing. He says in Matthew chapter 6, I think it is,
00:13:44
Speaker
Be aware because there will be guys who come out among you. They will be wolves dressed in sheep's clothing. They want to lead you astray. You guys have to hold each other accountable. You have to hold me accountable. Any man that stands on the stage to preach, you've got to hold him accountable. The problem with many of our churches is that we're all afraid to speak up when we hear the gospel not being taught. I texted Cliff Vines this morning, the pastor of our Lewisburg church. I said, I'm praying for you.
00:14:14
Speaker
Preach Jesus and prepare to be amazed. That's all he's got to do. Just preach Jesus. He doesn't have to make himself ah a popular personality. He doesn't have to have a winsome personality. He doesn't have to tell jokes as good as I do.
00:14:33
Speaker
What was that laugh?
00:14:37
Speaker
Yeah, there we go, laughing with me. He says, therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years, I never stopped warning each of you with tears. And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.
00:15:04
Speaker
In every way, I've shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus because he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Quick side note here, those words are not found in scripture anywhere.
00:15:18
Speaker
Okay? So what's the lesson we learned from here? If Paul said it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, it was definitely said by Jesus, but it's not recorded, which means that we can know with confidence Jesus taught lots of things, but not all of it was recorded in the Bible. In fact, at the end of the book of John, it says this much. It says, if we tried to record everything that Jesus taught and everything that he did, the books in all the world could not hold it.
00:15:43
Speaker
so Can you imagine? The book we have is so powerful. Could do you imagine? Somebody actually tried to write everything Jesus taught us. And this this is just one of those things. He says it's better to ah more blessed to give than to receive. after this he After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, grieving most all of all over his statement that they would never see his face again, and they accompanied him to the ship.
00:16:15
Speaker
I can't read that last verse, no matter how many times I read it, I cannot read it without having a emotion just well up in me to to think about what he's dealing with right here. Paul, and investing his life in these people, spending his time and literally offering his life for them because he would be thrown into prison, he would face persecution, all of those things in order to make sure they heard the gospel. And here he is saying to them, this is the last chance I'm gonna get to see you ever.
00:16:41
Speaker
Now, one thing we're not sure about, scholars can't agree. Some people think the reason he said this is because they knew that the next part of his journey was to take him to Rome and that most likely he would spend the rest of his life in Rome. I tend to believe it's more likely because he had just had the Holy Spirit telling him, you're living on borrowed time at this point.
00:16:59
Speaker
your Your ministry's coming to a close, you're facing all kinds of persecution, that persecution's only gonna get worse, just be ready for it. And so likely he thought between being in Rome and being under persecution, there was no good chance that they would ever see him again. So what we read here and what we've just got through looking at is a bit of encouragement from Paul to the church where he served the longest ever in his ministry. It's a very personal word about what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
00:17:26
Speaker
It is a very powerful moving challenge because this is the man who's about to walk the last few miles of his journey as he follows Christ. But his radical words in this season cause me to admire him even more because of his willingness to do the very thing that Jesus talked about in Matthew 16, to lay down his life and to deny himself. Now the thing I know about the cross is this,
00:17:55
Speaker
When you die on a cross, you don't have a take back. There isn't a point where you can say, oh, can I have my hand back? Or you can have my hand, but you can't have my feet. Or you can have both of my hands, but you can't take all of me. You see, this is the reason why Jesus used this example, because what he was saying is, with me, it is all or Nothing. All or nothing. You don't get to hold back parts of your life. You don't get to say, I've got this really bad habit. If you'll just overlook it, I'll give you everything else. I've got this addiction in my life that I just can't seem to get past. But if you're just if you'll just bear with me on that, then we'll just pretend like it doesn't exist. I've got this broken relationship that I refuse to offer forgiveness to that person. But will you forgive me?
00:18:41
Speaker
And Jesus says, this is an all or nothing taken. You have to deny yourself, lay yourself down on the cross, and come follow me. And it happens in that order. You learn to deny yourself, to put your dreams on the back burner. Because if you are at any point pursuing yourself, even if 1% of you is pursuing your dreams, your visions, your goals, then you have not totally surrendered your life to Christ Jesus.
00:19:10
Speaker
Now that doesn't mean you can't be a Christian because ah the point of being a Christian is that you are daily putting those things to death. You're learning different areas of your life that have to be put under his authority. There are areas of your life where you are sanctified on an almost daily basis as you're putting to death those things that are contrary to the walk of Jesus Christ. But it's an all or nothing kind of thing. There's no place where Jesus says, oh, we won't worry about that part of your life.
00:19:40
Speaker
And so Paul is saying something really, really important to us, and I want you to hear what it is. It's summed up in one sentence. If you're ready to check out and daydream or go to sleep, get this before you do. It is better to lose your life than to waste it. It is better to lose your life than to waste it. And I would go and add a couple of other statements, because this is ah a good conclusion to this entire passage right here. It is better for us to be faithful and die to than to be unfaithful and live.
00:20:11
Speaker
Because every day that you and I live as unfaithful followers of Christ, we bring shame to the name of Jesus. Every time we disobey a command He's given us, every time we put Him off, we put something else in His place. We but we allow something else to have authority in our lives.
00:20:29
Speaker
If we today are saying, hey, can you just give me a little more time? Can you just give me a few more days? Can you get me past this point in my life? Let me get married. Let me graduate. Let me get that new job. Then Jesus is not being Lord in your life. He is being misplaced or replaced by something else that's more important to you. And that's not being a follower of Jesus Christ. Lastly, I would say this, our goal should not be to stay alive. It should be to stay on course.
00:20:59
Speaker
Our goal should not be to stay alive, it should to be to stay on course. Again, it's human nature, right? Self-preservation. When things get uncomfortable, we remove ourselves from the comfort. Starts at an early age. Mom and dad says, don't touch the hot stove and you get close to that stove and you start to feel the heat, what do you do? You immediately pull back your hand because you're trying to preserve yourself. Self-preservation is natural. Following Jesus is not.
00:21:29
Speaker
Following jesus is not Jesus is not calling you to a place of comfort. He's not offering you ah a stay at a hotel that's all all expenses paid. you know here's Here's your comfort level. Here's your luxury items. Here's all these things. He's saying, if you follow me, guess what? You will face suffering.
00:21:49
Speaker
You follow me, you will go through trials. You will go through persecution. You will experience things like you've never experienced before. And oh, by the way, persecution is not your neighbor getting on your nerves. Persecution is not the cop pulling you over to give you a ticket when you're speeding. Persecution is not somebody unfollowing you because you said something about Jesus on your Facebook feed. That's not persecution.
00:22:17
Speaker
So let me try today to answer a couple questions, two important questions. Number one, what does it mean to live with this mindset? It is better for me to lose my life than to waste it. It's better for me to lose my life than to waste it. And number two, this question, why is that the case? Why is that the case? We're gonna answer both of those questions. I wanna start by answering the first one. What is it like to live with a mindset that faithfulness is better than life itself?
00:22:47
Speaker
Well, first of all, it means your life is mastered by a person and a power that does not come from you. It's mastered by a person and a power that does not come from you. um What do dead things do?
00:23:02
Speaker
Well, you are not real confident today. Yeah, that's a pretty pretty safe answer. Yeah, nothing. Dead things walk. Dead things talk. Dead things breathe. Okay, we're all on the same page. What does the Bible say we were like before we came to know Jesus Christ?
00:23:18
Speaker
We were dead in our trespasses and sin. You were lifeless. You are lifeless. A dead thing can't choose to do anything, okay? So what that means is that for in order for you and I to to receive Christ, God had to initiate that transaction. God had to put his hand on you and his spirit had to quicken you so that you could respond to the gospel. Now I'm not gonna get into all the details of predestination, freewill, all that kind of stuff. Just suffice it to say I don't think that's a
00:23:50
Speaker
ah doctrine that you and I can fully understand this side of heaven. There are some aspects of Scripture that are very clear that God predestined things. There's also lots of equally important transactions that say it's about you choosing life, about you choosing to follow Him. We're not going to get in all that today if you want to. Take me to lunch. I'll be glad to do that. I won't answer the question but I'll get a free lunch.
00:24:11
Speaker
um what we What we are talking about here is this, until God's finger touches you and says, here is what I have done for you, you have to choose it, you are you out powered to do that, okay? But when you do, when that when that moment comes where God's spirit quickens you for that question and gives you the opportunity to answer it, from that moment on, everything you do is done by the power of the Holy Spirit.
00:24:39
Speaker
your Your ability to come in this place and sing praises comes from the spirit inside of you. Your ability to have gospel conversations with people about Jesus, the spirit inside of you. Your ability to obey the commands that Christ has given you done by the spirit inside of you. And that's why we talk so much about allowing the spirit to do his work in us, to cleanse us, to quicken us, to move us, to motivate us. And we talk a lot about this whole idea of quenching the Holy Spirit.
00:25:09
Speaker
What does that mean? It's basically just like not listening to your wife when she's telling you something to do. We have selective spiritual hearing, many of us, and the spirit begins to speak and we start to tune him out. And that's a very dangerous place to be, just like it is avoiding your wife when she's trying to tell you something to do. Right? Y'all have a different wife than I do. So anyway, oh sorry, she's watching online.
00:25:34
Speaker
um So ah yeah, the the Holy Spirit comes in. We all start on this race. We started from a place of being dead. Now we're alive in Christ and we are given this ability to now follow after him, but the Spirit enables us to do that. The second thing, it's not being worried about tomorrow or what tomorrow may hold.
00:25:55
Speaker
It's not being worried. You see, the unwasted life, the one that you and I are called to live, looks death in the face and says, you are no threat to me because it's better to die than to waste my life. It is better to die than to waste my life. Now, this life, this journey we're on as Christians, does not come with any guarantees. There is no trailer at the beginning of the movie to say, this is how it's gonna end for you. You and I can't even look out five hours in our lives and know what's gonna happen next.
00:26:25
Speaker
I got Ari to do this fantastic drawing for me. This is one of the reasons why I pay Ari, so I don't have to do this. This this drawing. Let's give Ari a hand. Way to go, Ari. So here you and I as Christians, we're all on this journey, right? Our journeys all look different. They all go different places. They take us through different stages, different things. Some are longer, some are shorter, but every Christian journey has this in common. They all disappear over our eyes into what we call the future, and none of us can see the future.
00:26:54
Speaker
None of us know. So what's in the future? Notice over here it says the unknown is in the future, but the one thing we are guaranteed is that God knows the unknown. Why does God know the unknown? Because everything in life from the day that Adam and Eve were created, the earth was conceived, all those things, to the day where the revelation occurs and all that takes place, everything in between is present to him. He is not confined by time. The future for him is the present.
00:27:25
Speaker
The past for him is the present. So when you get all worried and scared about what's gonna happen next week or next month or next year, the best possible thing you can do is turn to the God who's already been there and say, you got this, because I sure can't. To trust him and to give over those anxious moments to him and say, I will follow you no matter what this takes.
00:27:51
Speaker
This adventure where God calls us to live out on the edge of the unknown also causes us to lean into Him more closely. Because if you don't, then you get scared of tomorrow. You get scared of the consequences of every choice you make. You're afraid to do what He commands. But when you trust Him, when you trust that He's out there in that unknown and that He's the one inviting you into this adventure,
00:28:18
Speaker
You don't worry about the decisions because you know one thing for certain. If it's he who called you to it, then it will be he who blesses you for your obedience in it.
00:28:31
Speaker
Number three, it's having the courage to never stop running when the race leads through trial and suffering. The courage to never stop running. Paul says there is one thing about the future he knows as he's given this speech to these elders. He says, the Holy Spirit has testified to me that in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. You see, our course isn't just filled with unknown things, it's also containing one thing that we know for sure, that we will experience pain and tribulation just like Jesus did. We'll experience suffering.
00:29:04
Speaker
Take a look at a couple examples. In Acts 14, 22, we've already read this passage and looked at it a few weeks ago. Strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them it is what? Necessary to go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. Do you know what the word necessary means?
00:29:23
Speaker
End of story, you got to. You got to, there's no exceptions. Why do we have to go through suffering? Because it is suffering that produces greater endurance and endurance that produces better faith. God is taking us through those things, walking with us in those things. God walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. Why? Because what comes out the other side is a stronger follower of Jesus Christ and a better relationship with the one that we trust in. Look at this next passage.
00:29:50
Speaker
Paul writing here says, in fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Again, we're not talking about somebody making fun of you. We're not talking about some of the silly things that worry about we worry about that we think, oh my gosh, I can't believe they did that to me. They must have done it because I'm a Christian.
00:30:08
Speaker
We're talking about your stance in front of the world, professing Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord causes them to cause conflict, affliction, trials, tests, whatever the case may be against you because of that stance. And and can I just politely say this to you? It's coming.
00:30:30
Speaker
It's coming when a presidential candidate in our country can stand up and say, you're at the wrong rally because you talked about Jesus, you know that it's just around the corner. When when social media can eliminate comments because they don't like what those comments are, you know that it's coming. This week in the United Kingdom, a man was arrested for praying for people who are going into abortion clinics.
00:30:59
Speaker
That seems like such a bizarre thing to us. Because it's coming, why? Because they don't like the people who carry the light. People are drawn to the darkness. Not my words, Jesus's.
00:31:15
Speaker
John 3 16, we love the passage, for God so loved the world, He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not die but will have eternal life. But it goes on at the end of that very passage and Jesus says, but they chose the darkness, they preferred the darkness and would not take the light. That's the world we live in. So look at this next one.
00:31:39
Speaker
Brother will portray brother to death and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. This is not the parent going, you're gonna drive me to my death bed. That's not what they're talking about, okay? You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. You will be hated for professing and living a faith that is grounded in Jesus Christ.
00:32:07
Speaker
That's why the bible so Bible says this is a fight. This is a marathon we're running. Marathons come with trials. They come with struggling points. They come with places where endurance is the one requirement you have to have. For Paul, the Holy Spirit was specific and said, you're gonna you're going to taste imprisonment and affliction because of me. I don't know what persecution or tests or suffering or struggle you may be in or that you may be coming up against.
00:32:36
Speaker
but the course of the Christian life always leads through suffering. So when it comes, two things I would encourage you. Number one, don't ask why. Ask God, what are you teaching me? And number two, don't believe you're taking it on alone because God is with you. Fourth thing, it is living for his glory alone to make his greatness known to the nations, remembering that he alone is the hero of the story.
00:33:05
Speaker
Right there in the middle of that sermon on the Mount, that great sermon that Jesus taught, he says these words, probably the most haunting words that any Christian ever has to listen to from Scripture. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven.
00:33:24
Speaker
He says, on that day when you stand before me, there will be some who will say, Lord, didn't we give out food in your name? Didn't we drive out demons in your name? Didn't we pray over people? Didn't we serve people? Didn't we minister to people? And his words to them will be, depart for me because I never knew who you were. Now, we don't have the same gifts or passions or talents, but we all have the same goal, to testify to the gospel of God's grace.
00:33:52
Speaker
This is the course that all true Christians will run. We don't get there the same way, but we get to the same place if that's the one we're living for. If this is who we're following, if this is who we have given the throne of our life to, Jesus Christ, then our only goal in everything we do is to make him great and to eliminate all other competitors from our life.
00:34:21
Speaker
The reason that I know that this is worth doing, I told you that was the second question. Why is this the case? That it's better to lose your life than to waste it. Here's the answer to the question why this is the case. Because when you use it for Christ, you don't lose it. You gain it. Jesus' words also. He said if you will lay down your life and lose it for my sake, then you'll actually gain it.
00:34:50
Speaker
you'll actually find the life that you've been looking for. you'll You'll discover what you really were hoping for. You'll find that everything else has been misleading and this is the one truth you have been seeking.
00:35:03
Speaker
Following Jesus brings us lots of things. It brings us peace. It brings us joy in the midst of even strius ah struggles and trials and sufferings. And it brings us eternal rewards.
00:35:18
Speaker
Paul again near the end of his life wrote these words, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time for my departure is close. You know what every drink offering has in common? When it's poured out, there's nothing left. When it's poured out, there's not one drop left in the cup. Every ounce of the offering is his.
00:35:43
Speaker
He keeps going, he says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing. When I used to read that passage growing up, still trying to understand and comprehend scripture for myself that last phrase kind of was puzzling to me all those who have loved his appearing what what does that exactly mean and I think somewhere around college it hit me the only people who are gonna love his appearing are the ones who loved him with their life the ones who denied themselves laid themselves out on a cross and said not my will but yours because there will be no fear in that moment
00:36:33
Speaker
there There will be no doubt, there will be no second guessing because when you see your Savior face to face, when you know you've given your all for Him, there will be such joy at His appearing that all of this is done.
00:36:49
Speaker
Now, I want to offer you some assurance. I told him at the end of the last service, that may be Jesus calling, that's my answer to that. When I ask,
00:37:02
Speaker
the Holy Spirit to work really hard in my life. when i When I really am in those seasons of man, I just need you to just come in and evaluate who I am, figure out who I am, look at those areas. It's like um it's like kicking over an ant bed for me.
00:37:18
Speaker
I like to kick over ant beds. It's actually something I enjoy to do, and I'm not speaking figuratively. I really like to kick over ant beds. I find an ant bed. I'll kick it over. I'm one of those kids that plays in it, you know, and and tries to stomp as many as possible. I know they're God's creatures. We'll deal with that later on, but I do. I like to i like to to kick them over, stomp on them, and just stand there and watch them for a little while. And what's inevitably true, I know, um hey, this is your pastor. I'm being very transparent here in this moment.
00:37:46
Speaker
I will stand there and I'll watch them and I'll stomp on a few more, but inevitably there are more who keep coming out, right? There are more that keep coming out. The Holy Spirit's job is to draw out those things in our life. Our job is to give them to Jesus so he can put them to death.
00:38:03
Speaker
Step by step, moment by moment, putting this to death. That addiction done. That broken relationship done. That unforgiveness done. That emotion that consumes me done. But inevitably, in the joy of being sanctified, there's more that comes to the surface. They just keep on coming. The reason I say that is because I don't want you to feel like if I'm struggling with a particular area of my life trying to put in submission, God, that doesn't mean you're not saved. The struggle is the indication you are saved.
00:38:29
Speaker
because if you didn't struggle, if you just gave into it, that would mean you weren't interested in following Jesus. I wanna make that really clear here, because the challenge today is this. There are some of you in here today who have not yet laid yourself on the cross. ah You may have put your foot out there, or you may have gotten half of your body up on the cross, but you know what's interesting in in Romans 12, 1 and 2, Paul again writing says, offer yourselves as living sacrifices.
00:38:57
Speaker
Living sacrifices like to crawl off the altar. And that's what we do many times as believers. So some of you here today have never really taken that final step and said, okay, Jesus, I'm i'm not just umm not just entertaining the idea. I'm not just considering the idea. i am I'm taking that step to follow you. Today is the day of salvation for you. You have heard the gospel and now is the time to receive it because you don't have any guarantee of tomorrow. You don't have a guarantee that this afternoon will happen.
00:39:24
Speaker
Others of you, you're on that sanctification journey and what you may need to do is just spend a few minutes up here this morning, maybe getting a brother or sister in Christ to come and pray with you, pray over you and say, hey, I've still got the struggle that I'm dealing with and I just can't seem to conquer it. If I were to go around with a microphone, I would guess that 99% of you would say I've got something like that in my life and the other 1% would be lying.
00:39:46
Speaker
We all have those things. Paul even said it. He said, man, the things I want to do, I don't do. And the things I don't want to do, that's exactly what I do. We we are battling against the old flesh all the time. And then there may be some of you, third group, who say, you know what? I've been sitting here thinking about it. I've been trying to process. you You're saying there's areas we hold back. And the very area I'm holding back is this thing right here.
00:40:09
Speaker
I've been scared to death. I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you're going to ask me to sing a solo or do something up here and it scares me to death. I am petrified. You saw what we did this morning. This is what we do. This is your chance to say to all the world, this is what Christ has completed in me. This is not your salvation. It's the first act of obedience after your salvation. And if you've never done that, nothing would give us greater pleasure than to do that for you today.
00:40:40
Speaker
I called Don and Sherry Lynn. Y'all can come on up. I called Don and Sherry Lynn. First of all, thank you for leading worship while Jaden's with the youth this weekend. I said, hey. I was walking out to the barn this morning. listen to me I usually have my phone on playing while I'm going out there and this song came on. And this song, ever since the first time I heard it, just kind of wrecked me emotionally. um I said, can we do this one instead of what y'all had picked out? He said, yeah, absolutely. we'll We'll learn it. So thank you guys for doing that. I want to invite you just maybe just to sit.
00:41:12
Speaker
If you feel like you wanna stand out of obedience to God, feel free to do that. If you wanna sing, feel free to do that. You may just wanna just take a prayerful attitude and just listen to these words. And ask yourself this question, have I really given my all to Jesus? Have I really trusted him with every part of my life? And if not, can you Father draw those things out so that we together can put him to death? So that we can put him behind us and keep moving on towards the high price of what it means to follow Christ Jesus.
00:41:41
Speaker
I'm gonna pray for you this morning, whether you're a guest, a member, a long time attender, this is for you. If you're watching online, call us, text us, email us. We would be Father, we just come to you right now Just acknowledge that you are indeed God above all other imitations. There's nothing like you, nothing in the world that even comes close. So I pray this morning for those who've yet to discover that, that this would be the season, this would be the day, this would be the moment where they take that step.
00:42:35
Speaker
Others of us, Father, we just need a little bit of work in certain areas and so
00:42:42
Speaker
We figuratively probably need to come to the salt or lay that thing out before you and say, it's yours, desire it anymore. Don't let me seek it anymore. Let me dream about it anymore. Make my dreams yours.
00:43:02
Speaker
Father, we have to stand.
00:43:17
Speaker
It's been given as a gift, and all we can do, all we've been asked to do, indeed, is to receive it. So for those of us who are fighting real hard to earn this this morning, I pray that you would teach us what it looks like to rest in the completed work of Christ Jesus on the cross.