Mark Seven- The Life of the Heart

Mark Seven

The life of the Heart

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

“ ‘ This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart is far from me;

7 in vain do they worship me,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Mk 7:1-23

intro

(At the beginning of this message I bring a plant in and show it. It is obviously not healthy. Where did I put it? Did it thrive? Was it designed to be there?)

What does this passage have to do with this plant?

Out of touch with our hearts

I want you to take one lesson from this passage- These guys had no idea where there hearts were. They thought they were with God. Near God. And yet they were totally wrong. How could they be so wrong? They thought they loved God more than any others, they thought they knew their hearts where closest to God, and yet they were so out of touch with where their hearts were that they actually were farthest away from God. They had it completely wrong! How can this be?

See, this is what I want you to see- very, very often humans do not know their own hearts. They are unfamiliar with them.

Do you know where your heart is?

What do I mean your “heart.” I do not mean just your feelings or your love. I mean that innermost part of you where your desires live, where your decisions are made, where your love resides, that very central part of yourself that defines you, your will, your all. The center of all you are. I am talking about that place in your core where all your wants are, all your longings. That part of you that wants to be loved. The real you, that is what I am talking about. The inner true self, the inner true you.

This inner self, this true you, the inner part that desires and longs, it is this part that I think you have neglected. I wonder how many of you right now really know your heart? I mean really know it- you know what it wants, you know where it has been, you know right now what it longs for. This very central part of us, this thing that really defines us, we so often are out of touch with. We get our hearts wrong.

Why?

We tend to ignore our hearts. We get so distracted with so many things that we hardly ever stop to think about the inner life of our heart. We do not stop to examine ourselves too often. We do not try and understand what we want, and why we want it. Just like these Pharisees, we have neglected to think about our hearts, and why we do what we do and want what we want.

We are so out of touch with our hearts and what they really need that we spend a good deal of time being very careless with them. We are told in the Word to guard our hearts. To be careful with them, to give them the right things, but we don’t. we ignore them.

How are we careless with our hearts?

We are careless with our hearts when we put it close to things that it was never designed to be close to. You see, what this text tonight tells us is that our hearts where designed to be near God. That is what Jesus is saying. The problem with the Pharisees is that their heart was not near Him, as it was designed to be. Jesus says this is so important that even if you make a million rules and keep them, even if you sing the greatest songs of praise, and tell all your friends about Jesus, and prayer the greatest prayers, and give the best sermons, and speak the greatest truths- even if your lips praise Him like this- if your heart is far from Him, all that you have done is in vain- it is worth nothing. Because God does not want lips that say the right things, He wants hearts that love Him, that are close to Him. That beat for Him. Is that your heart?

Have you been careless with your heart?

Really, the only thing most people know about their hearts is that they are not content. They are not ok with what they have, there is something missing that they want. (How dangerous it is, actually, when we don’t feel this way, when we feel completely satisfied with what is here!)

Tozer said this- "thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them.” This feeling in our heart is a gift, and it drives us to put our heart close to things. We are driven to find something that will make it better.

What have you let your heart get close to? Where has it been?

What do I mean? Let me give you some examples-

· Some people have let their hearts get close to popularity. They want just to be admired and be thought much of. They wanted to see if their heart would grow and thrive in that light, and it certainly seems like it will, it feels right. And so under that light it goes, and we take our heart and we give it to the crowds. Imagine that- the crowds! And they trample upon it, and use it, and mold it into what will best suit and entertain them. This trampling of our heart leaves it dirty, and hurting.

· Some people have let their hearts get close to a certain person. They want the love not just of crowds, but of a certain one. You know, Impact has a position on dating for this reason. Dating is not a sin. Understand, there have been people in Impact that have dated with Impact’s blessing- two of them leaders now- Ben and Mark. But, the American idea of dating is one we encourage students to stay away from. Why? Because it is a giving of your heart over and over to different people. We try it here, and there, and before you know it again our hearts have been all over the place, dirtied, and tired.

· All of the things that we might find here to put our hearts close to will harm our hearts, because if our hearts are close to and tied to the things here, our hearts will share their fate. – look-

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.1 Jn 2:15-17

We are told not to love the things here- that is, tie our hearts to them- because if we do, we tie our hearts to something that is dying, passing away, and our hearts will share the fate of what we tie them too. Do you want an argument for not dating an unbeliever- here it is- do not tie your heart to something that is passing away, dying. All unbelievers fit that definition, and to fall in love with and date an unbeliever is to tie your heart to one who is perishing, and so your heart will share their fate. This is why being in a relationship with a believer is different- they are not passing away!

So we have put our hearts close to so many things. Like the plant I showed you, our hearts have been close to things that can not give life, and the result is that they are dying, and sick, and hurting.

The saddest situation is when someone has done that for a long time, and then gives up. Then they try and just ignore the ache in their hearts.

The way we try and fix our hearts

But for some of you, you can not ignore it. And you don’t want to. Maybe you are sitting here now thinking “yes, I have done this. I have placed my heart close to so many things, given it a bit too much to things I should never have given it.”

We realize that we have let our heart get a bit dirtied. It has been too close to things it should never be close to. Our hearts have longed and ached for things, and we thought they could get what they need if we just let our hearts get close to some of the things in the world. Yet we still ache, and in the end our heart is dirtier than before. What will we do?

Our first reaction, and maybe your reaction right now, is to say something like this to ourselves- “ok, that’s all, I am going to start to do good. I will make myself do better. I wont be a bad person anymore, I wont run after those other things, I wont dirty my heart ever again that way.”

This is exactly what the Pharisees did, and I have news for you – it doesn’t work.

Look-

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

The Jews had all these rules and regulations about what they could touch and how to wash and what to do to be clean. They wanted to do what you want to do- have a clean heart, make things right. But this does not work. Listen, I have good news for you- for those of you in here with dirty hearts that have been too close to the world, I have good news. You can not do anything to fix the problem. Now, that doesn’t sound like good news, but it is. It means that you can scrap all your plans to try and just be good and protect your heart. You cant do it. You will fail.

Why do I say this?

Because Jesus makes this clear in the rest of this passage. In the midst of all this stuff about hearts being near or far from God, and being clean or dirty, Jesus says

15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

The problem, Jesus says, is not with what you do, not with what you put your heart close to, but with your heart itself. He explains-

Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The problem, Jesus is saying, is not that you put your heart close to the wrong things, but that it wants to be close to the wrong things, the problem is with your heart. It is dirty through and through. It will always chase after the things that will kill it. It is like a plant that only wants to be in the dark. You can try your best to keep putting it in the light, but it is always wanting to go back in the dark. It is broken. The bible makes this point so clear about our hearts-

9 The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

Je 17:9

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Ge 6:5

Our heart will continue to return to the same things that will dirty it again. The problem is our hearts need to be close to God, but don’t like being close to God. Our hearts are broken, they like the wrong things. They like what kills them, what dirties them.

Maybe, after all, there is no hope for your heart. In fact, i think this is the case. our hearts are hopeless. They will never want what is right, they will never love God over evil, they will never live, they are dying. What hope do we have?

Jesus’ way of fixing our hearts

There is only one hope for our hearts.

Death.

We must hand this heart, and all it’s wicked desires, over to God. We must ask Him to kill it, and give us a new heart.

A new heart! This is our hope, this is what we need.

We are orphans until this takes place. we become His children when He gives us new hearts.

But how can this be? How can you have your heart be put to death?

Understand, every one of you- your heart, your heart that has longed for such evil and sinful things, that has been so close to what it should never have been close to, it will die. It must die. God’s wrath is upon your heart, for your heart has not honored God. It has been far from Him, it runs from Him. This is the heart you were born with. This is what we call sin.

And if our hearts die, we die with them. We are connected to them. We can not just have it taken out and put to death, we can not say “Lord, punish my heart, but spare me.” We are one with our heart. And yet our heart must taste death, it must be destroyed. And so we must be destroyed.

But God is so filled with love, so good, and so caring, that even though our hearts run from Him, even though we have not wanted him, while we hated him, he did a wonderful thing. Jesus Christ came and he took the punishment that you deserve because of your wicked heart and sin. He took your place on the Cross, he was punished as a substitute for all who will believe.

So now you can go to him this night and say this- “Lord, I am sick of my heart and how it runs to be close to what will never satisfy it. I am sick of how it does not want you the way it should. I know there is nothing I can do to make up for that, there is nothing I can do to fix it. And I know that I deserve to never be close to you because of it. Please, let Christ’s death be the punishment for me. Let Him be punished in my place, and give me a new heart, one that loves you and wants what is right. Make me a new creation.”

Friends, your heart must be made new. God promises he will do this!

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. Ezekiel 36:25-29

Our hearts are broken, and evil, and ever wandering, ever going their own way. And the Maker of the stars, he hears the cry of your broken heart tonight, he knows the ache in you, and he comes to set you free from it. This is the love and mercy of God- that He would love you so much that He would make a way for you to be near Him. He has made a way for our hearts to be close to Him. He has taken away His wrath, His wrath at us, by spending it on His son. Now, he will give you a new heart, a heart that is close to Him.

What should you do?

Where is your heart tonight? Is it His? Is it new? If it is not, run to Him, He is waiting to make it new! And if it is new, protect it, and keep it close to Him, and rejoice that He has done such a wonderful thing for you, and that forever your heart will get closer and closer to Him. What should you do? Well, if you are not sure if you are His child-

Realize that your heart has been far from Him, and that it can not be fixed by anything you have done. Understand that the fact that since you have been so resistant to loving Him as He should be loved mean that His anger burns against you, your heart is cut off from Him forever, it is not close, nor can it be, nor will it ever want to be. It is like a plant in the dark, it will die.

Tell Him that you need help. That you want to be close to Him. You want His wrath to be removed, and you want a new heart, a heart that does not love sin and evil anymore, but that loves Him.

Tell Him that you want Jesus’ death on the cross to count for you, and that you want Christ’s goodness to count for you too. Tell Him you want Christ to be your substitute, so that all of God’s anger at you can be poured out on the Son.

Realize that this is the case- God’s anger at you is poured out on Jesus. And realize that when God looks at you now, he sees Jesus’ righteousness and good works, they now count for you, and you are clean in God’s sight!

And rejoice that God is at work in you- let the world know it!

If you are His child-

Examine what you have been doing with your heart, and what it has been close to.

Examine where you have led others- have you led them to put their hearts close to you, or to God? To what will give life, or what will take life?

Turn from anything in your life that is trying to win your heart away from God.

Get your heart close to God so that it will thrive and not die.

Live in such a way that the world knows that He owns your heart, and that you want to be close to Him. The world you are in always is giving their hearts to the things around them. Don’t join them, live differently, let that be seen!

First Impact of the Fall

Tomorrow Night, the 24th, we meet at 6:30, dont forget!

Upcoming event- Concert!

There is a Tenth Ave concert coming up, the details are below. For those attending, we must know ASAP, no later than Wednesday, September 17!

Sanctus Real, Skillet, Tenth Avenue North, and VOTA (formerly Casting Peals) Concert
• Sunday September 21, 2008
• Concert Time: 6:30pm (Doors open at 5:30pm)
• Tickets: $10
• At Calvary Church in Souderton, PA (1 hour and 15 min. away)
Students will travel by leaders' vehicles to and from the event. We will meet outside the Firehouse at 4:00pm on Sept. 21. Estimated return time 10:00pm. If you have any questions, please contact me. Thanks!

Mark 6:7-29- Three responses to truth

7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

The Death of John the Baptist

14 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.” 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Mk 6:7-29
Intro

How much do you want to get closer to God today? How much do you want to know him better, understand more about Him? Are you really seeking to know Him? Is that why you are here?

(matrix clip- Neo meets Morpheus, Morpheus offers him the “pill” to wake him up to the truth)

What is this clip about?
It’s about what we all know- that there is something not right here, we feel “out of touch” with something. Even unbelievers who make these movies know this. Something is not right with the world. What if you were faced with the choice to either find out the truth about the world, about yourself, about God? What if you were offered that pill tonight- would you take it?

You face the same situation tonight. Do you want to know the truth? And how do we come to see Him, to find this missing emptiness filled, how do we remove the veil over our eyes? Not with a pill, but with truth. Do you like truth? Do you want to know the truth?
Sometimes, we don’t.

This is a song by “Stephen the Levite”, it might not be what you are used to, but listen to the words. It has gotten him in some trouble, see if you can see why. It’s called “the Choir.”

The Choir
(1 John, Matt 6:15-22, Gal 1:8-9, Prov 11:9)

Steve: How do I spark this I, don't know how to start this I/ want to get to a few little issues on my heart 'cause I/ heard a few rumors and I seen things on the tube and it's/ really been movin' me to deal with these abuses this/ popular Jesus that, walks with a thievish cat/ rocks to the beat of that, new popular Jesus rap/ how many people eat this crap, that's not Jesus black/ where the believers at, who preach and agree with that/ can I get "amen" if your followin' Him/ and not just hollerin' about Him, talkin', but your not walkin' in/ can I get a witness if your not just a big hypocrite/ you spit with the quickness your faith is legitimate/ this is intimate, family business kid/ you can't get wit' this, until you repent dig it/ what you ain't feelin' it, tough God ain't feelin' sin/ but through crucifixion He saved us when we was killin' Him/ plus Jesus rose again, death can't hold 'em man/ believers receive new life killin' the older man/ already told you fam we die like soldiers man/ gotta be born again, it's more than a culture fam/ freaks on the weekdays, Sundays speakin' in clichés/ he may think he deceived me, but they who can really see say/ "he's fake", believe me, he's playin' with his life these days/ when the games over no replays, he lays in the bed he made// (his grave)

Hook: Please don't be deceived, these mislead the sheep/ teach and believe what's tweaked, they’ll reap of the seed they speak/ All this haughty talk results in body rot/ call me salty Ak’ but dog, they’re not the flock// Keepin' a Jesus piece when he and Jesus beef/ she’s perceived as freak but thinks that he is pleased/ Paul has properly taught that God will not be mocked/ so y’all should not be shocked when all of the folly stops//

Steve: Yeah I said it, so, y'all can spread it too/ but you better let them know that the Bible says it's true/ cats who disagree got half of the recipe/ that's what gets to me the facts should set them free// but know one's preachin' it, they ain't hearin' 'em/ no one's speakin' it, there's too much fear in 'em/ they should be afraid, it's easier bein' saved/ they're gonna see the grave but we're gonna see his face// plus we've known His ways, overflowin' grace/ they're in a hopeless age and believe what Oprah say/ they've been blinded cuz, facially minded bruh/ racially biased they find ways to define him but// that's irrelevant, do you know who He is/ can't rebel against ways that He told you to live/ He is Deity, not just deified/ Gotta believe Him, chief, and he won't just be defied// Read that Bible dog, media lies to you/ speak and write what's false they seekin' to hide the truth/ peeps are deceivin' the youth and God's not pleased with it/ teens are believin' it too, and the called got beef with it/ Little kanYe's in the church who ignore God's holiness/ the Beyonce's in the skirts who conform, not wholly dressed/ I'm not tryin' to cause beef but the Lord's name is mocked/ I'm not lyin' you wanna keep sinnin' don't claim His flock//

It is a hard hitting song. He doesn’t pull any punches, does he? He simply comes out and says some tough things, some true things.
Now, I know, sometimes people are not gentle enough with truth, and we are told to speak truth with love, but let’s just stop and think for a moment. Are there times, even when the truth is spoken in love, that we don’t like it? Is it that we want it spoken in love, or that we want it in teeny tiny parts, not enough to be uncomfortable? Why is truth such a problem for us? The text we just read has three different people responding to truth in three ways, none of them good. These serve as examples for us as to how not to respond to truth. We need to look at them and see if we are doing what they do.
But first, let’s stop and make sure we all understand what truth is.

What is truth?
Let me ask you something. Can two people say two contradictory things and both be right? In other words, can I say “This stand is black, not white” and someone else say “this stand is white, not black”, and both of us be right? Why or why not?
It can not be. There is one truth in this. Either the stand actually is white or black. It is no use saying “what if one is color blind” or something of that nature. The truth is this stand is absorbing and reflecting certain portions of the light spectrum. Period.
What I am trying to explain to you is a very important law of logic, one that you use everyday. You really do believe that there is a reality- something that really is, that exists. And it doesn’t change from moment to moment. It is as it is, always. So, there are facts about this reality. There are nine planets in our solar system. We have one sun. It isn’t that some people think there are two suns, and some one, and well they are both right. No, there is a reality, in the realm of existence there is just one. So to say there is zero, or more than one, this is wrong. It does not correspond to reality.
That is what truth is- a statement that corresponds to reality. It agrees with what is real. It is a fact about reality. As I said, all of you live this everyday. We might pretend this is not the case sometimes- if someone says it is wrong to steal, or lie, for example, we may try and make it “ok” somehow, because we want it to be ok. But we know that it is not both ok and not ok. We know that what the Bible says can not mean one thing to one person, and another completely different and contradictory thing to another, and both of them be right. One is wrong. We know this, that there is one reality, one truth. You do not wake up and think that perhaps you will have a different name today, your home will be in China, and your school now teaches you how to be a plumber. These things don’t just change, there is one reality, and we are in it. And there are facts about it, and these facts are truths.
Truths are facts about reality.

This is vital to understand. What this means is that if we want to be in touch with reality, we need to know truth. And to not know truth is to not be in touch with reality. So, as we talked about earlier, we would be in danger if we did not know the truth. We would be insane. That is what insanity is- we lose touch with what is real. So to deny the truth about the universe is insanity. Our goal, friends, is to be more and more sane. More and more in touch with what is real. How much insanity is there in your life? Not the good, funny, “crazy wacky fun” kind of insanity- but the scary, confusing, hopeless kind of insanity.
Truth is what helps us break free from insanity. If we can get it. If we can believe it. But too often we want nothing to do with truth. We are a people who have a hard time with truth.

Let’s look at the text and see what we often do with truth.

Three examples
Example one
10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.

Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs, to go and preach. And he expects that as they bring this message “repent”, they might meet resistance. There might be those who do not like the truth of the universe- that repentance is needed to find peace with God. And Jesus warns them and tells them that some will not even receive you, they wont listen. What you say will never even enter their ears.

Here is our first response to truth. Not even listening to it.
The truth is we are so broken and so twisted that we often hate truth. All unbelievers are this way. They hate truth. Now, what do I mean? Obviously unbelievers tell truth, and are often people who fight for it- lawyers and judges and such. Well, what I mean is that there is a huge part of the truth of the universe, a huge part of reality, that they hate. The part that has to do with God.
We all are truth suppressors.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Ro 1:18

We suppress the truth about God’s goodness, our sinfulness, God requirements on our lives, our behavior toward others, etc. The list goes on. We suppress what we do not like, and we do not like it that God is God, and we are not.
So far from this truth, so much hatred we have for it, that we are a people who can not tolerate it. Jesus said –

43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Jn 8:43-45 (emphasis added.)

Because he tells them the truth- the very fact that it is truth means they can not believe it. They have a hatred for this truth, they will just not even listen to it.
Sometimes we think that we have to change the truth of who God is, and our sin, before we can talk to unbelievers. They could never go to church and hear messages like that! And in a sense we are right- they cant.

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Co 2:14

They hate truth. But remember, so did you. God must do this work, but we do not change the message! We want to pray that we would be open to hearing the truth, not change the truth to make it something we want to hear!
Is this like you? Do you hear truth? Are you open to it? This is so important, because what happens if we do not listen is scary- after a time of hearing it, if we do not respond, if we do not welcome it, do you know what happens? What did Jesus tell the disciples to do?
These people are to be rejected. He tells them to shake off the dust of their feet against them. What does that mean? Well, for the Jew, this was a powerful statement. The Jews thought that all the ground that was not part of Israel was not as pure and holy as Israel. And if they traveled outside of their borders, they would on the way back stop and shake off the dust of the “unholy” ground, so as to not taint their holy land. Jesus is saying to the disciples “show that you have nothing to do with them, show them that they are rejected.”
There are warnings like this all over the bible-

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thess 2

Do you refuse to love the truth and be saved? Do you love the truth or hate it? Are you open to it, do you long for more of it, do you want to hear what this word says and understand it and find out more about reality, and regain some sanity?
Be careful, a time can come when God will no longer be patient.

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’ ”Lk 13:6-9

That parable, what does it mean? Do you think it has anything to do with what Jesus said before it? Look at the verses before it-


There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”Lk 13:1-5

Repent, turn to the truth, don’t run from it.
Ultimately when we run from the truth, we are running from God. Are you running from God and what He has to say to you? Or do you want to close your ears and not hear His Words?



Example two
Sometimes it is not enough for us to not just want to hear the truth, sometimes we want it dead. Sometimes we hear just enough of it to realize that the truth about the universe is that there is just One True God. And that frightens us- because we have other gods, gods that we love, gods that we want to protect. And in order to protect our gods we will kill truth.
This is Herod’s wife.

17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.


You see what is going on here? Herodias had been married to Herod’s brother. But for some reason she left him and married Herod. My guess is that either she loved him, which is doubtful as you read the rest of the story, or she knew that there was some great benefit for her to be married to him. Either money, or power, or something similar I’m sure. This is what drives her into the arms of Herod. Now, this thing that she is getting from Herod is tied to her marriage to him, so that when John comes around saying that it is not right for Herod to be married to her, she noticed that Herod had some respect for John, and she wondered, “is there enough respect that he would end up listening to John and leave me?”
So John and his testimony that Herod was doing wrong in this marriage scared her, it made her think that perhaps he would leave her, and she would lose what she wanted most. She would lose her idol.
You see, John’s truth about the marriage threatened Herodias’ idol.
Truth tends to do that. It threatens our idols. And sometimes we hear enough of the truth to get scared of it, to get scared of what would have to happen in order for us to live in accordance with it. And so we face this choice- admit that this is the truth, and change, or kill the truth, and keep the idol. Herodias wanted john dead, you see. She wanted to kill the truth. Do you want to do that? Do you get so mad at those who bring truth to you that you hate them? Did you ever hear the expression “don’t kill the messenger?” Sometimes a messenger would bring bad news of a war or some other misfortune to a king, and the king, so angry, would kill the messenger. Now, that’s silly, since the messenger is just relaying the information. But we cant change the information, we cant kill the truth. So we kill the messenger. The anger is at the message- Herodias hates John’s message. And so she hates him, and wants to kill him.
Do you ever find that you want to kill the truth? You wish you could just make it all go away. Only if there were no God, no rules. Only if you were god, and could just do what you wanted. You long to kill the truth. Are there idols that you are trying to protect from the truth? What does God ask you to give up, ask you to leave, that you love so much you would never leave? What are the idols? And do you protect them by killing the truth?
How would we do that? What does it mean to kill truth for us? It means to call it a lie. We kill truth when we say things like “oh, its not that bad, others do it too.” Or “that is probably not what the bible means when it says that.” When we steal the truth from the truth, make it a lie, then it is dead. It has no more impact on us. Do you do this?

Example Three
The third thing we do with truth is represented by Herod. I think this is probably what most of us here do.

19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 For when Herodias’s daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. And the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he vowed to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “For what should I ask?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison 28 and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.

What doe Herod do with the truth, and how is that like us?
Herod hears the truth, and he likes it. In a sense. Let’s observe a few things. First, Herod knew that John was righteous and holy. He knew it was truth that he spoke. While it perplexed him, that is, made him unsettled, he liked to hear it. He approved of it. He knew, in the back of his head, that this was right, and he was afraid.
This is like many of you. You hear the truth, and you agree that it is true. Now, you know that your life does not match up to it, that perhaps you are not living it- but it is true. And you fear this truth, and you even to some degree approve of it. You allow it into your life. But then you do what Herod did- you lock it up. You don’t let it effect your life, you keep it all locked up in a safe little place that cant touch the rest of your life.
Friends, do you keep the truth from touching all of your life? What do I mean? What does it look like to lock up the truth?
Well maybe you agree- Jesus is King of Kings- maybe you let Him rule in your life- in parts. As long as he and his truth do not leave their cage. You might be an expert on the gospel, read all the right books, hear all the right sermons, but the truth that you have is locked up in your mind, and has never been allowed to get at the rest of your life. You will not let it touch you at school, or at home, or your pride or anger or rebellion or selfishness, or whatever it is. This truth is a safe truth for you because you keep it caged. You can not let it out- it would be too much trouble, it would change too much of your life.
Sometimes we feel good if this is us- at least we believe the right things, right? But understand that Herod was lost, and that when pushed he killed the truth too. Our locking the truth up shows that we have idols.

I call upon you to let it go. Set the truth free in your life. Unleash the truth, let it reign in all your life. Do you know what changes it would bring!?
You read the bible, and it is boring. That would change- it is boring because it goes into the cage when you read it, you do not read it in light of all your life, but only in light of your ‘Christianity’, which is locked away from who you really are. When you hear a message, it is old and stale and boring- why? Because it is what is locked in the caged. The cage already is packed with Christianity, and Christian music, and Christian behavior and friends and activities, but the rest of your life is not touched by this. Unleash the truth, and let it spill into all the areas of your life!


Becoming lovers of Truth
It is hard to hear truth. It cuts- the word is a sword.
We find that truth is sometimes so hard for us to embrace. We run from it, we kill it, we lock it up. How can we change that? How can we love truth?
Let me tell you how to start to love truth.
First, realize who it is that hates it. Do you know who hates truth the most? The enemy. As we read earlier in John, he is the father of lies. Why do you think it is that he hates truth?
he fears it because he knows it will bring about your salvation. For the truth is that there are idols, yes, and that we have failed God, yes, but it is also true that God is mercy and love, and has made a way for us to have joy forever.
satan hates the truth that God is eternally reigning supreme. You don’t have to hate that truth. You can love it. You don’t have to hate what satan hates and fear what satan fears. You can love this truth, it is good, it is for you.
That’s the second thing we can do to learn to love the truth- learn what the truth is. Because the truth is good news! Why would we hate this good news? Yes, the truth is that God asks you to give up your idols- and that sounds bad. But the truth about your idols is that they will only kill you, and that what he offers is better. He is better! The truth is, the one who made our idols is better than the things he made!
The truth cuts, I know, but we must embrace it- it cuts away what is dead. It cuts away what is insane.

Long for the truth. He came to be a light, to show us truth, to reveal the Father to us, the glories of the Father. He came to show us how good the Father is. And then he sends us out to go take the truth to others. And I know we think that would be tough, so many don’t like the truth, but what will we do? Is it really loving to let others live in insanity, not know what is real? Is it loving to do that? Would it be loving to drug the whole world to make them feel happy, and never tell them the gospel? Would it be loving to not speak to truth to keep people comfortable, and let them go to hell?
Jesus spoke some tough things, some hard things. And they were loving. He IS Love, and He IS Truth, both. And this grace and truth showed us what it looks like to share truth- it is saying hard things, even if it costs us, because we love others and are willing to suffer for them. So hear truth, and understand what the truth is, and then spread the truth.
Unleash it, don’t lock it up in one part of your life.
Don’t misunderstand and hate it, wanting it dead.
And don’t run from it. Run to it.

Seeing Him when He returns

SEEING HIM WHEN HE RETURNS
How it relates to our greatest longings, and what we need to be ready for it.


9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Php 1:9-11

There is a certain longing in all your hearts. And a day is coming when something will happen with that longing- either something amazing and wonderful, or something horrific, and almost beyond speaking about.
That day is what Paul prays about in these words in this text.
Again, I find it something I long to pray for each of you- something I long to see in each of you.
What is this longing in our hearts, and how do we prepare for that day I speak of, when something either wonderful or fearful will happen with that longing?

Lewis speaks of this longing, and says that we have it in us for a very obvious reason. If it is true, as Christianity states, that we were created for Heaven- created to love God, and we are broken- then we already have a longing for Him in us, but since it is broken, it is not longer attached to Him. It is like longing for food but only having a taste for things that are poison. Which, of course, is a great insult to food. It is a great insult to God to say that though He is the thing we need and were created for, we have no taste for him.

This desire Lewis says is our desire for home- the place we were created to be in forever- the presence of God. It is a longing to be with the one we were created to love and be a part of forever.

Lewis says-
“In speaking of this desire for our own far of country, which we find in ourselves even now, I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you… the secret we can not hide and can not tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name.”

If we try and think about it too much, we find that when we go back into the past and try and think about the times we have felt this longing we find only

“…a remembering. The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things- the beauty, the memory of our own past- are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited. Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am; but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used for breaking enchantments as well as for inducing them. And you and I have the need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness which has been laid upon us for nearly a hundred years. Almost our whole education has been directed to silencing this shy, persistent, inner voice; almost all our modern philosophies have been devised to convince us that the good of man is to be found on this earth.”

All of the world screams at us that the problem we have with our hearts- the longing that can not be put to rest in us- can be solved by things on earth. And it simply is not so. And in our hearts I think we all know it.

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Is 55:2

That is in the scriptures because the truth is we were designed to be satisfied in something more.

But we need to be clearer about this longing- let me let Lewis tell you something even more powerful and true about the longing in you-

“When I attempted a few minutes ago, to describe our spiritual longings, I was omitting one of their most curious characteristics. We usually notice it just as the moment of vision dies away, as the music ends, or as the landscape loses the celestial light… For a few minutes we have had the illusion of belonging to that world. Now we wake to find that it is no such thing. We have been mere spectators. Beauty has smiled, but not to welcome us; her face turned in our direction, but not to see us. We have not been accepted, welcomed, or taken into the dance. We may go when we please, we may stay if we can, no one cares. Now, a scientist may reply that since most of the things we call beautiful are inanimate it is not very surprising that they take no notice of us. That, of course, is true. It is not the physical objects that I am speaking of, but that indescribable Something of which they become for a moment the messengers. And part of the bitterness which mixes with the sweetness of that message is due to the fact that it so seldom seems to be a message intended for us, but rather something we have overheard… the sense that in the universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, the bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret.”

In other words, what Lewis is saying is that when we see beauty in the world around us, and we have moments of longing and wonder and desire, it’s not just that we want to see such things, but that part of our longing is a longing to be a part of it- to be accepted by it- but not by it, but by what it simply was a messenger of.

So God is speaking to us, at all times, through the beauty around us, and we see it, and sometimes feel immense longing through that call He has put there. But we are not being called to the sunset or the stars, we feel a call to be loved and accepted, to be acknowledged by the one from whom all the beauty came.

This should not be surprising. We all live all the time for attention and acceptance, don’t we? It’s one of the biggest idols in our hearts. We want acceptance.
And what I am suggesting today is that the acceptance that you and I want is not just acceptance from one another, it’s His acceptance we really desire.


And a day is coming when we will stand before the one who is behind that message- and we will hear on of two things from him…

It is actually hinted at- even outright stated- that it is really possible that on the day that He returns we may receive from Him acceptance, and honor. He may bestow glory on us, we may be welcomed in.

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Pe 1:6-7

6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
Ro 2:6-7

Matthew 25- “Well done, good and faithful servant…”

3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
1 Co 8:3

To be known by God- to receive honor from Him- to be noticed.
But that’s a strange thing to say.
Doesn’t He know everyone?
And it is only when we see the opposite of this promise that the true meaning of the promise shines through- for not all will be known by Him.

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Mt 7:21-23
Now this is shocking.
For humans, who long to be known, and understood, and accepted, to hear the One who knows all things, sees all things, say- “I do not know you”, this is horror beyond all horrors.
To be erased from the mind of God. To be wiped out of His thoughts. To one day see the face of Him who created all beauty and spoke to us so gently though so many longings and desires, and to hear Him say “I do not know you. You have no place with me. You are not welcome. Depart.”
That is horror. That is a nightmare.
Many, the scriptures tell us, on that day will hear exactly that.

And so that is why Paul prays this prayer, and that is why I pray it for you. And for me.

We want to be found pure and blameless on that day, do we not? We want to be welcomed. We want to be a part of all He is, for we know that He is what we want, and His acceptance and love are what we want- and no one else’s.

How then? How can we be ready for that day?
Paul tells us by his prayer, for he prays for what is needed.

In his prayer he talks about all these things that he wants to see take place so that- that implies purpose- so that they will be pure and blameless. We will look at them more in a moment, but notice that he then sums up what he means by it all- he says “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ.”

We will need this.
In order for you in that day to stand pure and blameless before Him you will have to be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ.
What does that mean? What is the righteousness that comes through Christ?

You have to understand that there is something so different about Christianity.
All other religions, when they talk about the day of judgment, or however they discuss it- reincarnation, whatever- they talk about it like this-
Vodie Baucham said it this way-
They all tell you that you must have a spiritual experience, and then, from that day on, do more good things than bad.
And this just doesn’t work. If I told you that they way to be pure and blameless at the day of Christ was to simply be good, it would be foolish.
• Because we both know- you and I cant be good. We have tried. We are bad at it.
• And not only can we not be good- what about all the bad we have already done? Will we stand before a holy and pure God and expect Him to just overlook our evil?


Christianity is different.
Let me teach you a big church word.
It’s imputation.
To impute something to someone is to put it to their credit. For instance, if I say “put the blame on me for that” I am suggesting that you impute whatever bad thing happened to me.

There are 3 imputations in Christianity.

1- Adam’s sin to us
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Ro 5:12

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
Ro 5:18

2- our sin to Christ
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
1 Pe 2:24

3-Christ’s righteousness to us
30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
1 Co 1:30

Phil 3:7-11
You see! We need righteousness to stand in the presence of God and be accepted and approved. We have none.
But we do have sin. And lot’s of it. So we have a huge problem.
Christ solves to problem for us. We can not fix it, we are helpless. We must have a righteousness that comes through Christ if we are to be accepted on that day.

Do you have such a righteousness?
Have you wanted the penalty of Christ’s death to count for you, and have you given him your sin, and accepted from Him His righteousness, and all this in order to be able to be blameless in His sight and have Him forever?
If so, the Cross is priceless to you.
You begin to understand that the Cross is beautiful in a way we can not understand. It is the bridge to God, the path made for us to get the One we want. In that day there will be rejoicing, you will see his face, He will accept you to Himself- how can it be?- all because of what Christ did, and not at all, in any way because of what you did.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Col 1:21-23

You see- what HE did is what matters, not what you did.


So, to be ready in that day we will have to be pure and blameless by the work of Christ- we will have to wear His righteousness as we approach the Father.

But Paul says something else as well.
He summarized our condition as being “Filled with the righteousness that comes through Christ”- but that summary can be broken down.


And one of the chief parts of that, one of the very things that leads us to being blameless and pure, he says, is “Approving of what is excellent.”

You see- he says , “approve of what is excellent, and SO be pure and blameless…”
This is a essential to being ready- being approving of what is excellent.
That we would have love and knowledge and discernment in such a way that we would approve of what is excellent.
What does it mean to approve of what is excellent?
It means to love what is good. It means to agree that the good things are good and the bad things are bad.

Listen-
If we are approving that which is excellent, we are ready to see Him.
If we are not, we are not ready.
And there is one thing most excellent- Him.

Have you been approving of Him as excellent?
The world teaches us to approve of many things as excellent. And all of them are poison to us. All of them lead to death. Think about how good you are at approving what the world says is excellent.

As I said, we are born not having a taste for him. He is what we were designed to feed on- yet a taste for him is not there. If that does not change, we will not enjoy His return.

So, do you want to see if you are filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Christ?
One of the ways you will see it is if you approve of what is excellent.
In other words, in order to be prepared to see Him that day, you are going to have to want to see Him that day, and you are going to have to think that He is beautiful.


Let me give you two sentences by John Owen that explain this.

1- “No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight in heaven who does not, in some measure, behold it by faith in this world.”

In other words, if we do not by faith see His beauty now, we are not going to see it with our eyes then.
If we do not believe He is beautiful, we will not see Him. Like I have said before- if you do not want him, you will not get Him.

2-“If a man claims to love and desire that which he never saw, he is deceiving Himself.”

And I fear this is true with some of you.
The day will come- He will return. And on that day you will be cast from His presence. You will be told that you are not known. Not recognized.
I fear for some of you the truth is you have never seen His beauty. You have never known Him to be wonderful. You have heard of the cross, and of His mercy, and of His goodness, but He has not captured your heart.

And you think- “perhaps that’s true. But what can I do?”
How can I see His beauty more? How can I see His glory?


How do we do this? I thought we said it’s all God’s work?
And it is- notice, this is Paul’s prayer. It was what Paul is asking GOD to do in them, not what he is telling them they must conjure up themselves.

And so friends, those I love, I pray this for you, because you can not give yourselves eyes to see.
But you can beg for them. And you can believe He is willing. For He is. And he waits for you to call out. He is calling to you.

A life lived worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ is lived in a constant looking toward to that Day when He returns, and we stand before Him. We long and yearn for that day, we desire His return, and our acceptance into that which we have longed for all our days.

Will you be ready that day?
Beg Him to make you ready.

Experiencing God in Everyday Life- Jealous for Him, anxious for His Return

Experiencing God in everyday life through suffering
Jealous for Him, anxious for His return

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

2 Co 4:7-18

Do you want this community, and your friends, and your loved ones to see and understand the power of the gospel?

And what if one of the chief ways God has given us to show the world the power of the gospel happens to be one of the things that is hardest for us to do? What if it is actually something that the enemy has worked so hard at making those of us in this country bad at doing?
I believe this is the case. One of the most central ways God has chosen to put on display the power of His gospel also happens to be one of the most difficult things for us to do. There is, in fact, a whole set of Biblical teaching that just does not quite fit into what we live each day. And I want us to change that. But it will be hard. We will really need to try and live this out as a community. The importance of community will become very clear today as we talk about these things. We will need one another in many ways. We will also face a crisis of belief. Here we are in the last week of the experiencing God series. We have talked about adjusting our lives to God, about being challenged to do that, and how that challenge brings about a crisis of belief. You may experience a crisis of belief this very morning. Are you ready?
You see, experiencing God does not just touch one part of our life, but the whole. Is that ok with us? Are we ready for all of life to be under God’s reign and rule, even if it means something that we are not comfortable with? We often are ok with experiencing God in some ways in some areas- but all the time, in all areas of our life? Isn’t that a bit extreme? Aren’t there neutral areas in life? Things that don’t really have to go with God, things that aren’t bad. Just neutral places where we can rest from glorifying Him, and also aren’t sinful? I sometimes hear Christians talk about these places in life, these things that are neutral. Shopping in neutral, this TV show is neutral, what I do with my leisure time is neutral. Brothers and sisters, what if that is not true, and nothing is neutral, but all needs to be a part of experiencing God? What if we are supposed to be a people who hate the idea of things being neutral. Shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we, if we encounter something neutral, want to make it for him?! What if experiencing God is all the time, in all areas of life? Will that bring about a crisis of belief?
And what if one of the biggest things God is asking us to do is not even something we are familiar with? What if it is something that we are just bad at, and not used to? You will need one another’s help in this. You will experience a crisis of belief as you think about how to adjust your life to God. I know you will, and I will as well, because one of the chief ways that we can show the power of the Gospel to the world is something we are not trained at doing. We are not good at it.
Let me tell you what I am talking about. What is this way to show the power of the gospel?

Here is the sentence I want you to consider- if it is true, it has huge implication on how we minister to each other and to this community:

The suffering of His servants with endurance and joy is one of the greatest means by which God has chosen to put on display the power of the gospel to the world.

Shown in the text
Where do I see this?
Let’s examine the first few verses we read earlier.

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

What is the treasure he is talking about? The treasure is the gospel message. Paul has been talking about his faithful preaching of this message, even though it brought him great persecution and suffering. This message is the treasure- this message about the glories of Christ, this message that he says a few verses earlier shows the beauty of our God. It is a treasure.

Let’s take a second and understand that. Before we talk about suffering to show the power of the gospel, let’s talk about what a treasure it is. Let’s define it. Paul does define what this gospel message is that he has shared with the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in a well known text-


Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
1 Co 15:1-11

Jesus Christ dies for our sins, is buried, and rises again. This is what Paul preached, and it is a treasure.
We have to remember how beautiful a treasure this is. We have to remember what it all means. That God has from the beginning of time done nothing but show us good. He has blessed us over and over, and our response to His blessings has consistently been rebellion, hatred, and curses. We have turned our backs on the good things he has given to us, even loved them more than we love Him, bringing great pain and misery to the world, and then gone and even blamed him for them. We have dishonored Him. And now we are a condemned people. Cut off from our Maker. His anger at our rebellion hangs over us, and we barely understand the weight of it. Think about it. God, the perfect judge of all things, in His wisdom and mercy and goodness has examined our offense and concluded that it is worthy of what? One hour of horrific torture and agony? No. One day? No. A week of it? A year? Ten years? We cant even imagine a day of it let alone ten years. Yet God has looked and said that even if we were to spend one million years in the agonies of hell, after the one million years, we would still have just as much debt to pay. After a billion years, the debt would still be the same. In other words, we do not possess any of the currency needed to pay him back. We can not clear the charges. Do you know what can clear the charge? Do you know what payment is needed to take away this debt?
Blood. And you might think that perhaps there is a chance- you have blood! And many work, in many religions, spilling their blood, working their hardest, to pay God back to earn a place with him. But this will not due, because your blood is not the right kind. It is sin-stained. And only perfect blood will pay this debt off. And you do not have a drop of it.
And so, the King of Kings, robed in majesty, he leaves heaven. Think about it. He takes His robes of majestic splendor, and sets them aside. And then he dresses in flesh. Common. Ordinary. Not majestic. And not only that, but He, with His veins cursing with perfect blood, does the unthinkable. He comes to you, dressed in filthy sin stained garments, and takes your filthy robes off of you, and puts them on His holiness. And He drags them to the Cross where he dies in your place. He suffers in a few hours enough to bear for you what would have been for you an eternal punishment. Does that give you a taste of what he bore? And not just for you, but for many.
Then, he can not be kept by death. Though He dies in your place, he rises again, dressed in perfect righteousness, because His perfect spotless blood was not tainted by our sin stained garments, but his perfect blood makes them new! He comes to us now, friends, and offers us His perfect robes of majesty! He will dress us in His righteousness, so that we can enter into His presence forever! This message,

19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Co 5:19


This is the treasure! It is a treasure in that it shows His beauty, in that it takes away our sin, but most of all, it is a treasure because Christ now becomes a bridge to God- we can now have God, be at peace with Him, live with Him forever. This is what we ache for, this is our longing.



That gospel message, that is the treasure. And we are the jars of clay- that is, weak vessels. Fragile. Not really noble, not really honorable. And Paul says that, in order to show the great power of the gospel God placed it in weak things.
How does that show it’s power?
Well, that alone doesn’t. but read on. In verses 8 and 9 Paul lists a series of events that certainly do not fit anything that we might experience in normal life. You see, he talks about affliction, and not being crushed by it, and of being bewildered, but not despairing. Persecuted, yet not forsaken, struck down, and not destroyed. This is not normal. Normally, affliction brings about crushing. When we are confused and bewildered we despair. When we are persecuted we are forsaken. And when we are struck down, we are destroyed- keep in mind this is a far of clay- if you struck down a jar of clay, what happens? It is destroyed. For it to not be destroyed demonstrates a power that is not natural, not normal. Something else is going on with this far of clay for it to be able to be cast down and not break into a million pieces. It is a weak jar, it is a nothing. How is it withstanding such trials? So you see, the power is displayed as we endure and are not destroyed. We endure suffering with joy, and this is not normal. This puts on display the power of the treasure that we have inside us.
Paul goes on and affirms that this is indeed what he means in the next verses. First, in verse 10 he tells us that the life of Jesus, that is, His resurrecting power, is on display in us as we do what? As we carry about the death of Jesus. What is that? It is affliction, persecution, being struck down, etc- all that he just mentioned. When we go through those things without having the natural reaction that would be expected- destruction and despair- we put on display the life of Christ. And then verse 11, he even more clearly says it. The life of Jesus is manifested in our bodies, for all to see, when? When can the world see the life of Jesus in us? When we are being given over to death for Jesus’ sake.
So we are to be jars of clay that are cast down and not destroyed, so that the world might look at us and wonder by what power this is happening.
The suffering of His servants with endurance and joy is one of the greatest means by which God has chosen to put on display the power of the gospel to the world. If we want to put on display the power of the gospel to the world we will have to suffer with endurance and joy. We will have to not break, not despair, not be crushed. All while suffering greatly.
Do you see why I say that this is not like what we are used to? This is not American. This is not typical for us- suffering? We do not do hard things. We are a people who are trained to eliminate as much suffering as we can from our lives- and do you see how the enemy has destroyed our ability to show the power of the gospel? Now we show the power of the gospel by the size of our church building, by the greatness of it’s sound system, by the greatness of the entertainment we have at our churches. But not through suffering, not through picking up our cross and following Him. That is old fashioned, out of style, not going to work anymore. It’s too hard for American’s to adjust their daily lives to that. Just think about what we are used to, and how the enemy has robbed us of this. We live in this Disneyland of fake peace, fake smiles, fake everything. All for our ease. Are we going to show the world the power of the gospel by how nice a car we drive and by how much we can be like them? We are good at that, but we are not good at suffering.
But what if this is God’s way- will that bring about for you this very morning a crises of belief? will you adjust your life? What would that look like? What kind of suffering would we face? How would we ever be able to handle it this way?

What does that suffering look like?
How will we suffer in this country? We are not being arrested for our gathering here this morning. What suffering would we face? It amazes me that so often Christians are at a loss as to how to suffer. Are we really that out of touch? Have we really lost touch with the fact that Christianity goes hand in hand with suffering?

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 1 Pe 4:12

21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 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. Ac 14:21-22

Through many tribulations. Much suffering.
Let me tell you of at least three ways you suffer here.

1- the suffering of being human
All of you will face suffering just because of the fact that you are human, living in a fallen world, still held fast in the arms of the curse.
Listen, it’s hard to think about, but every one of you will experience great pain in your lives. Slowly you will grow old, and your body will hurt more and more, and you will move toward death. You will be sick. You will lose loved ones. Every one of you in here who loves anyone, you must face this- you will see them die, or they will see you die. This is what we face, people. There are disasters that overtake us. Crimes. Accidents. The world is not a place that suffering is rare. Even here in picture perfect America, we all know that suffering is just under the surface, just a moment away for each of us all the time. When suffering comes to you, and know that it will, how will you respond? Will there be despair? Will there be crushing? Or will your hope and faith remain, so that when those who know you in that time see you they think “where is their hope that they can withstand such a tragedy?”

Greg Laurie, as many of you know, lost his son in an automobile accident last week. At the service for his son, Greg, always the evangelist, made sure to suffer with hope in front of the world. In talking about the death of his son he said of God, “He made this choice. And I say He does all things well and I give glory to God." That is a hard thing to say a few days after you lose your child. That is not the way the world suffers. But that is a jar of clay that is not crushed, that has not despaired. And it makes us look for what in the world is different.


I remember when I was a Sr in high school going to the funeral of a friend who had died suddenly. His mother and father were believers, I knew this well. And I went in to the viewing, and sat down after greeting the family. And I was stunned as I watched his mother, as shaken by grief as she was, standing in the front of the room comforting all his friends and loved ones who came in unable to bear the grief themselves. I thought to myself “where does this woman get her strength?”


There will be grief, and we will face suffering and loss. Will we in those times grieve like those who have no hope? Or will the world see something different in us as we face suffering?




2- Suffer by sharing the load
There is another way we can suffer. We can chose suffering. Why would we ever want to chose suffering? What do I mean by that?
We can find the suffering of others, and then bear it for them. Listen, do you want to really impact this community, those who you come into contact with, those in this body? Find out where people suffer. Find their pain. And then help them, bear it with them. Bear it for them.

A story that paints the picture of this for me so well is that of the missionary Esther Kim. She was a Korean missionary, she went to Japan to share the gospel, was arrested and imprisoned back in Korea, and there she had a wonderful time of ministering to her cell mates. One young girl, just 16, who was sentenced to die was put in her cell with all the other women. As night came she became to cry and call out, and the other prisoners became annoyed with her, and pushed her into the corner by the toilet, where all the new prisoners were forced to sleep. Her crying became worse and worse, and Esther Kim went over to her, and held her, and took her place by the toilet. She shared with the young girl the love of Jesus. For the next four days Esther ate nothing. But, seeing the frail condition of the girl, took every bowl of rice she was given and passed it on to the girl. Not understanding how she could this, the girl asked her why. Esther replied “I have given all I have to Jesus, even the food that is offered to me. It is His, not mine. And He wants to give it to you.” The girl was so moved that she begin to listen as Esther quoted Scripture to her, and before long she became a believer. One night Esther, suffering terribly from a cough, woke to find the girl praying in the middle of the night. She asked her why she was spending so much time awake at night praying, and the girl shyly answered “I have seen how badly you are suffering from your cough. I have been begging God that he would take it from you and give it to me so that I could bear it for you.”

This is what it means to bear another’s pain.
But I know, that’s Esther Kim in prison. You aren’t in prison, you cant do that. What bowl of rice will you give away? It is easy for her to suffer for another, the suffering is right there, so plain. How in the world can we do that?
Brothers and sisters I need to tell you something; the suffering that is all around you is just as great, and just as pressing as any suffering that Esther Kim saw. You just are numb to it. Is there not enough pain in this fallen world for you to find somewhere you could share it? Are you really that blind to the agony all around you? Do you believe the painted smiles on those you come into contact with? Aren’t we aware that there is deep heartache? Listen, one thing I have learned in ministry- in high school students are very willing to talk about heartache and pain, and there’s plenty of pain to come alongside of, and weep over students, and cry out to God for them, and share with them in it. And adults are the same, they just don’t talk about it. There is pain all around you- are you getting involved in the lives of those around you and suffering with them? Bearing their pain?


You see, we bear the pain of those around us not by giving our bowl of rice. But by going to them, and sacrificially spending time to get to see what hurts them, why they suffer. Church, do you want to reach the lost, and show them Christ? Then find out where their pain is, and help carry it.
Where is the pain in this community? Perhaps there are some who need a bowl of rice, but more than that, in our country we will find different pain besides hunger. We will find broken lives and broken marriages and lonely people. Can we find their pain and help carry it? What if we decided to help with that pain? What if we saw the need around us, and we advertised a series of classes free to the community- classes on how to parent, how to restore a marriage, how to handle anger, how to handle money? What if all of you, with the skill and trades that are represented in this room, gave of your time in this way, to teach others in your area of expertise? Or what if we got a group of us to become NANC certified (the counseling certification related to the counseling seminars some have gone to) and offered free counseling to the community? The church that the staff and elders fly out to for this training each year does this, and they have an endless line of people waiting for help.
There are plenty of ways. What about the employee that never does their job, and you cover for them over and over? What about someone who owes you something, and you just forget about it? What about someone who is financially struggling and you struggle for them, by giving of your finances, sacrificing something you want, so that they will not be in want? Maybe we don’t need to just use the word “suffer”- how about the idea of doing something costly and difficult for those around you? Something sacrificial? Doing the dishes when its not your turn. Mowing your neighbors lawn. But let’s try and find the greatest pains of our neighbors and help them bear them. That will take relationships and love and really listening and helping. Let’s do that with one another. Are you willing to bear another’s pain? Parents, do you seek to bear your child’s pain, to find out what brings them suffering, and bear it with them? Do you bear their pain, or cause it? Spouses, do you bear the pain of your spouse, or cause it?
When was the last time you wept over a lost person? When was the last time your heart ached because of someone’s lost condition?

This idea of bearing another’s pain should not surprise us or be strange to us. This is what Christ did for us, isn’t it? This was the Cross- bearing our pain, taking our suffering upon Him. And we are to follow in His steps.


3- Persecution
And that brings me to one more way that we will find suffering.
You see, all that I have talked about so far is not uniquely Christian. Unbelievers experience pain, unbelievers even suffer for one another. They suffer for the civil rights of another, they suffer for better working conditions for others, they burst into plane cabins and push the controls toward the earth so that the plane doesn’t crash into the capitol, saving many lives as the cost of their own- the greatest form of love, so says Jesus, suffering death for another. All these things even unbelievers do. You see, there is nothing uniquely Christian about showing mercy or suffering for an enemy or enduring pain. That is no different than what many have done. This is not uniquely Christian. And not only is it not uniquely Christian, but ultimately it solves nothing- if we do not talk about the greatest source of the lack of peace in their lives- the broken relationship they have with their Creator. Do you really want to be a part of removing pain from the lives of those around you? They must be reconciled to God.

What we do is different, because what we do is always tied to a message. It is tied to the gospel.
That doesn’t mean that every time we sacrifice something we hand out a tract. But it does mean that we are the kind of people who do the things we do in order to bring the greatest good to others- peace with God. You see, when you are the vessel that does not break, what happens is you cause others to wonder- and they ask. Opportunity to speak about the power that we are using arises. The treasure we have been given, we get to show it. We get to show the treasure! And inevitably, most of the time, we will at that point face persecution. People are usually ok with us suffering for them, but there is something about the name of Jesus, when we bring Him into it, that makes them repel. This is normal. They are criminals in God’s universe, and hate what is right, and run from the light.

Someone this week was telling me about how they experienced this. That in many times at their work, in doing good to others, they were appreciated. But the second that they revealed why they did what they did, they experienced rejection.
This should not surprise us, this experiencing rejection, and even persecution, at the hands of those we are suffering for. Isn't this what our savior Himself experienced? Suffering at the hands of those he was suffering for. And that will be our lot as well. This is especially painful. To open our hearts, our homes, or lives to someone, to bear their suffering with them, and then ultimately to be mistreated by them because they hate the God we love. Are you ready for that kind of suffering? Are you willing to open yourself up to that kind of hurt?

We do not lose heart
How in the world would we ever be able to do this? Wouldn’t we be miserable?
How can we be happy in suffering? How can we absorb another’s suffering? How can we face ridicule?
Paul tells us his means of doing this. Now, more than anything else I have said, this is most important. You see, what I fear is that we would become a people who are excited about suffering for others, and doing good to our neighbors, and living in community, but not for any reasons that make what we do Christian, and not tied to any message that makes what we do Christ centered. And I know that the fear is also out there that we would think our job is to just tell people about Jesus but never suffer. But I think that if we fail anywhere, it will be in telling them about Jesus. While it might be easy to lay some tracts around, it’s hard to speak the name of Jesus to someone, and share the gospel- often much harder than just being nice to them.
What is good about Paul’s means of being able to bear suffering is that if they are our means, they not only give us the power to bear suffering, they give us all that we need to do it in a Christ centered way. They make us become people who are not going to be able to show mercy without wanting to speak about Christ at some point.
What are these motives that Paul has? He has two. Let’s look at verses 16-18.


16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.


Jealous for His glory
There is where we want to be- not losing heart. How, Paul? The first reason is hinted at with what he starts the sentence with. He starts the sentence with the word “so”. It is, more literally- “for this reason”- it is a word that is looking back on what was just said. Part of the reason that he does not lose heart is before this verse in what was just said. And what was just said? Verse 15-

15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

Paul is excited about the prospect of grace extending to more and more people, so that as they understand and experience the grace of God in conversion, they glorify God. This is what he is passionate about, this excites him, this is why he does not lose heart- that ultimately God would receive more glory. We could say that Paul, in a sense, is jealous for God, eager to see him get more glory.
I don’t know if I can stress enough the importance of this. Not just for suffering, but for all of the Christian life. This protects us greatly from so many wrongs- to have a strong jealousy for God’s glory, for Jesus’ sake and His Name.
What does this mean, a “jealousy” for God? It means a longing, a deep, heart wrenching yearning to see Christ get what he deserves- the praise of every mouth, the full affection of every heart, the full submission of every will.
Oh, people of God, do you groan for this? Do you weep that this is not the case? This must be our deepest cry, our most passionate plea. Like the Moravians, the German mission minded believers, who would sail off to distant lands, or sell themselves into slavery to witness to those in bonds, and cry out as they left family and home, “May the Lamb receive the reward of His sufferings!” This is the heart cry of all who are His children. Friends, is this your deepest heart cry?
Listen, brothers and sisters, do you know what the most important, and huge, act of faith we can perform is? The one that is most important to our spiritual well being as a body? The greatest act of faith we can perform is not raising the dead, not canvassing this neighborhood for Christ, not deciding that we will in faith purchase the Pitman Hotel and open an outreach center- all things I would love to do!- but do you know what the greatest thing would be, the most important act of faith? For each one of us to look at ourselves in the mirror this day, and really see the truth of how desperately wicked we are, how fallen, how weak, how undeserving we are, and still believe that our Jesus loves us just the same, just as much as His word says He does, and will never love us less, or leave us, or forget us. To embrace who we are as God’s beloved children, rescued at the Cross. To really believe it. To understand first that this treasure we carry is a treasure that applies to us. And then, and only then, we will see well up in us a passion for His glory, for this our Jesus, our savior, our lover, our King! Then we will not be comfortable with anything neutral in our lives. We will not be willing to see the lost live without a knowledge of His beauty. We will want His beauty to be seen and loved and appreciated by all who breathe. It is only when you realize that you carry a treasure that you will be jealous enough for that treasure to suffer with joy for it.


Being heavenly minded
So there must be a jealousy for Christ, that he would get all the glory and praise He deserves. That will give us the foundation we need to suffer, and to do it in a way that honors Him. And there is another way that Paul was able to suffer without losing heart. Not only was he so very jealous for Christ and His glory, but he also kept his eyes firmly looking forward to what he would one day have with Christ.

17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

I have heard it said from time to time that some people are too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good- have you heard that? Paul seems to think that the only way to be of any earthly good is to be heavenly minded. The way that he did not lose heart in the midst of suffering was because he looked forward to the day when His Jesus would return.
Believers, the way to get through earth, the way to get through the suffering of life here is to understand verses 17 and 18. This is Paul’s secret for how to endure the suffering. He sees the suffering three ways in relation to what is to come –
1- As that which prepares for us the good things to come.
The affliction he says is preparing glory for him. What does that mean? It means he is storing up treasure elsewhere through his suffering. We suffer now, and our reward is still future. Like the great heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, we look forward to a home, a place of rest, and we do not find it on this earth. We await the reward with the coming King. He will bring us our reward! He will bring us His very presence, His thanks, His “well done, good and faithful servant.”
2- As much shorter in duration than that which is to come.
He calls what we suffer now as momentary- very light, very quick, very short. You see, suffering is not hard when we see the end in sight. Running a race is easier when you are close to the finish line. The last day of school is so much more light and enjoyable than the first of the year. I remember the story of a prisoner who many years ago was put in jail and made to work at hard labor in a stone quarry. He was chained to another prisoner, and set about his task. His partner sang as he worked, all day, happy songs, big smiles on his face. Finally the new prisoner asked “why do you sing so much? How can you be happy in the midst of this?” And he answered “because today is the last day of my sentence. Tomorrow I will be home with my family.”
Brothers and sisters, tomorrow we will be home with our family. The King returns, and it could be at any moment. He is due back, soon! This affliction we suffer is momentary, especially in comparison to how long the reward is- eternal. All that we see now, the seen realm, it is transient, the unseen, it is eternal. Forever. In a sense it is more real. This is not all there is.
3- As not even worth mentioning compared with the greatness of that which is to come.
Imagine I hire you to work hard outside in a field digging holes all day for 30 cents an hour. For 12 hours. What do you think your attitude would be? Now imagine I hire you for the same job, and I pay you a million dollars an hour. What would be different about the way you dug those holes? You see, when we can look forward to a joy, a great joy, we can suffer now patiently. There is hope.
Paul makes sure he gets this across. He says that the weight of glory, the reward that we will receive, is beyond anything he can describe. He can not compare it to anything. He says similar things throughout the NT.


18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Ro 8:18

(See also 1 peter 1, the end of Hebrews 10).
This idea of a future good that is so much greater than anything we can imagine as an incentive to endure suffering is a key part of living the Christian life. If we are going to successfully adjust our lives to God’s plan for us, and trust Him as He leads us toward suffering, our eyes will have to be on the future, on His return, and our living and reigning with Him forever, if we are to suffer with joy and endurance. We must know that our Redeemer lives, and that we will stand with Him on that day! And that must be the joy in our hearts that pulls us forward through the suffering now.

So the question is, do you see that reward as something worth suffering for? Are you jealous enough for His glory to suffer? And do you see the reward of seeing His face, standing with Him, being fully accepted by Him, and known and loved and perfectly one with Him, is that reward enough? Do you long and ache for it? For that union, that perfect and final union? Do you today, believer, ache with an ache that is beyond words, for the day you will stand as His Bride with Him, beginning an eternity with Him, as His beloved? This is what the treasure of the gospel gets us, the real Treasure, Jesus Christ!


This is the mystery of the Kingdom of God! It moves forward in the world not as we would expect. It progresses through the suffering of it’s citizens, as they show themselves to be a peculiar people to the world. The power that they have, the treasure that they have, it’s worth is shown as they suffer. For us to show the world the power of the gospel, we will have to be jars of clay that do not break, but absorb suffering with joy. The suffering of His servants with endurance and joy is one of the greatest means by which God has chosen to put on display the power of the gospel to the world. Do you want to display the power of this gospel? Out of a deep jealousy for His glory, do you want to see that power on display? Will you suffer for that display, setting your eyes on the day of His return?

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Ro 13:11-12

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Heb 10:24-25