The Cost of Following Jesus

The Cost of Following Jesus, November 3, 2019 Cornerstone Community Church, Kouts, IN.

Today has been observed by many churches all over the world as the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. This day was first established in 1996 as an initiative of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

North Korea and Other Places

Video – North Korean Sang-chul. From Voice of the Martyrs

It’s hard for us to identify with Sang-chul and many others like him in other countries. We in the western world, including Europe and the Americas, have been blessed with religious freedom for many years. In fact, our country was established by immigrants who chose to flee Europe due to religious persecution and established a nation with the freedom to worship and practice our faith. We are a very unique nation.

But as Bob Dylan once sang, “the times, they are a changin”. The western world is becoming increasingly intolerant of the Christian faith, and we see cases of persecution such as the legal harrassment of Jack Phillips of the Masterpiece Bake Shop who couldn’t in good conscience provide a cake for a same-sex “wedding”. There have been many other similar cases.

Corrie Ten Boom, who spent time in a Nazi concentration camp for her faith during WWII, said years ago in the 1970s, “America, get ready. Your time of persecution is coming”.

No Surprise

But we shouldn’t be surprised at this.
1 Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you. Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed.

John 15:18-20 If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

Persecution is Normal Christian Life

Persecution is the NORM, not the EXCEPTION. Peter’s “fiery ordeal: refers to Nero’s persecution in Rome, one of the worst times and places ever for believers. Because we in this country have been so insulated from persecution for so many years, we don’t think much about it. We are comfortable, and free to worship wherever and however we choose. That’s why it is so important to be aware of, and pray for our brothers and sisters who are experiencing persecution in various degrees all over the world today. Believers like Sang-chul have learned in a very real way what this scripture means for them.

Matthew 16:21-25 From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

Jesus Perspective

Jesus was all about God’s concerns, not human concerns. When life is safe and comfortable, it’s very easy to be preoccupied with our own concerns.
Following Jesus means denying ourselves, denying our own concerns.
Take up his cross – you’ve all heard the phrase “this is my cross to bear”, which often refers to the person’s troubles, or things they don’t like in their life, but really has nothing to do with Jesus’ command. They forget the first part, “deny himself”. Our cross is our willingness to lay our lives down and share in His sufferings.

1 Peter 4:14-15 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.
In other words, our cross is NOT simply our hardships, sometimes brought on by ourselves, but our cross is being identified with Jesus and suffering because of His Name.
Follow Him. 1 Peter 2:21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

In His Steps

About 125 years ago, Charles Sheldon wrote a book called “In His Steps”, based on this scripture. It was written during a time of revival in New York City where many lives were changed. A pastor who had a very comfortable life and church was challenged by a sick, homeless man who walked into a Sunday morning service and later died in the pastor’s home. The pastor was so shaken by this, especially the lack of concern and aid from churches that the homeless man had experienced, that he challenged his congregation to make a pledge based on 1 Peter 2:21.

Many of them pledged to make no major decisions in their lives without first asking themselves “what would Jesus do?” As the pledgers prayerfully asked themselves this question, their lives and their city was transformed. Many of them suffered, made sacrifices, lost money and jobs, but their joy was more than ample payment. They experienced the last part of Jesus’ challenge in the Matthew 16 passage, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.

One of the characters, who owned a local newspaper, was led to stop taking ads for alcohol and bars (alcoholism was rampant in that time), stopped reporting on boxing matches (a really brutal sport in those days) and lost circulation as a result. But his own life became one of joy in the Holy Spirit as he obeyed these promptings, as he sought out what God’s will would be in his business and his life. Some of you may remember the WWJD bracelets a few years ago. That idea came from this book.

Our Challenge

I found myself really challenged by this book. I started asking myself the question, what would be different in my life if I took their question seriously, what would Jesus do?
The bottom line is that the cost of following Jesus involves obedience. Taking up our cross and following him means giving up our ambitions, our comforts, our very lives, and embracing His concerns, his ambitions to save anyone who will listen and respond to the gospel that we present, and live out by our obedience.

Persecuted people have these choices thrust upon them every day. But how does this apply to us in our relatively safe culture? I’m in the process of asking myself, how will this work out in my life now? For such a time as this? Can I have what Sung-chul and other persecuted believers have without the intense persecution? That kind of quality of faith, that stands in the midst of opposition

I don’t have clear answers yet, but I’m seeking Him for it. Would you also be willing to do this? As you seek God as to what he would change in your life, he will show you.
At this time, we aren’t in fear for our lives, or our families’ lives, but can we learn to follow Him in our world?

It may be that you know someone at work or school who has no friends, not well-liked, and the Lord would have you reach out to that person sharing His love.
There may be someone in your life who has hurt you, and you haven’t forgiven them.
Maybe you are watching things on TV or the internet that you know you shouldn’t be.
Maybe there is something material that the Lord would have you give away.

Throw Off Every Hindrance

Immediately after Hebrews 11, that we just studied, we read this:
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Our examples: the saints who have gone before, Jesus (follow in his steps), and our fellow believers around the world who are now facing their “fiery ordeals”.

Some things in our lives are not sin, but may be hindrances or encumbrances to us. What is there in your life that is hindering the Kingdom of God, or something missing that could advance His Kingdom? God will show us if we ask Him. And as we lose our lives in this way, because of Him, we will truly find new life in Him, full of joy in the Holy Spirit!

Prayer. Invite some to pray using the VOM presentation, how to pray.

Iran

Three Christian converts from Islam were sentenced recently to six months in prison because of their Christian faith and activities. On Sept. 16, 2019, Asghar Salehi and Mohammadreza Rezaei, along with another Christian convert, were summoned to court and issued six-month prison sentences for “propaganda against the system through promoting Zionist Christianity.” Intelligence officials had arrested Asghar and Mohammadreza in September 2018 after raiding their homes. Asghar was blindfolded and interrogated for three days before being transferred to another prison, where he was held for eight more days until being released on bail. Mohammadreza was also released on bail. Pray for these men and their families.

Indonesia

Two elderly Christian men who were imprisoned in February for distributing gospel tracts on the island of Sumatra have been released. Andreas Sarno and Bintang Sirait were sentenced to eight months in prison for distributing several copies of a booklet about Jesus Christ in a Muslim-majority region near their home in Jambi City. Andreas has distributed Christian literature regularly since his partial retirement five years ago. Praise God for these men’s release and for their desire to share Christ with their Muslim neighbors.

Sri Lanka

A group of 10 villagers assaulted six Christians as they were on their way to church on Saturday, Sept. 21. The villagers beat the Christians with sticks, injuring five of them so badly that they required hospital stays. Police later arrested two of the assailants, and they appeared before a judge the following day. The pastor of Berea Prayer House and his congregation have faced continuous harassment from the same group during the past year. Christians are allowed to practice their faith in majority-Buddhist Sri Lanka, but community members sometimes object to what they see as a foreign religion. Pray for this congregation as they determine how to respond.

Nepal

An extremely poor family who came to Christ has experienced intense persecution but also rapid spiritual maturity. The family is so poor that they live in a shelter on government-owned land and lease land to grow crops. At each harvest, they owed their landlord half of their crops and they struggled to survive. They met a pastor who told them about Christ. Eager for the hope Jesus promised, they accepted Christ as a family and began attending church, walking eight miles each way.

Then the persecution started. Their landlord confiscated their land. Their neighbors prohibited them from using the village water tap. “They are alone from society,” their pastor said. However, he is impressed with their mature faith in such a short time. The family told him, “The Christian life is like a rose that blooms and spreads aroma in the midst of a thousand thorns.” The family asks for prayers that they will continue to grow, stand firm in their faith and have strength to face their difficult situation.