Would you turn with me to Acts chapter 23? Acts chapter 23. We are still in the book of Acts. Paul has been experiencing some trauma. And we have reached chapter 23, verse 12. We'll read all the way down to verse 35. So Acts chapter 12. pardon me, Acts chapter 23, verse 12, reading all the way to verse 35. Hopefully I haven't made that too unclear. Let's hear then God's holy word. When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than 40 who formed this plot. They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, we have bound ourselves under a solemn oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. Now, therefore, you and the council notify the commander to bring him down to you as though you were going to determine his case by a more thorough investigation. And we, for our part, are ready to slay him before he comes near the place. But the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush and he came and he entered the barracks and told Paul. Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, lead this young man to the commander for he has something to report to him. So he took him and led him to the commander and said, Paul, the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you. The commander took him by the hand and, stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, what is it that you have to report to me? And he said, the Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the council, as though they were going to inquire something more thoroughly about him. So do not listen to them, for more than 40 of them are lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him. And now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you. So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, tell no one that you have notified me of these things. And he called to him two of the centurions and said, get 200 soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea with 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen. They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter having this form. Claudius Luscius to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings. When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. And I found him to be accused over questions about their law, but under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment, When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you. So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatrus. But the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the barracks. When these had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. When he had read it, he asked from what province he was. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, I will give you a hearing after your accusers arrive also, giving orders for him to be kept in Herod's Praetorian. May God add his blessing to his inerrant and infallible word. Let's pray. Oh, Lord, we affirm the infallibility of scripture. Indeed, Lord, there is nothing more trustworthy in all the universe. The word of God is sure and true. It is worth more than gold. Yes, more than even the finest of gold. Lord, we affirm the inerrancy of scripture. That the word of God given, breathed out by God through your spirit to holy men of old is true. without error in any way, whether in punctuation or word, we affirm the inerrancy of the scriptures. Lord, we give thanks to you for the word, which even to this day communicated to us through various translations over the centuries. Lord, we thank you for its truth and veracity. Lord, we affirm these things and we ask that you would grant to us to understand and to know your word this morning, and to have it planted deep within our hearts. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Here is an illustration in Martin Luther's life. He was to go to the Diet of Worms, or W-O-R-M-S, as we have it in the English. But he was to go there and to give answer as to his writings, his views, and the views he had taken in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. And he was to answer there before representatives of the Roman Catholic Church. And he was told, warned by many, that he would face significant opposition, that he was not to trust those who were to question him because they were demonic and there were demonic influences there amongst the men. And in fact, there were many who saw that some of the men themselves described in very vivid terms, were demons themselves. Now, what they are affirming is the incorrigibility and the wickedness of the men that Luther would face. But Luther says this. When he entered a town, or the account is given, when he entered a town, the people flocked together to see the wonderful man who was so brave and who dared to make a stand against the pope and all the world that held him to be a god. in opposition to Christ. Some gave him poor comfort telling him that because there were so many cardinals and bishops at Worms at the Diet, he would speedily be burned to powder as Huss had been at Constance. But Luther answered such men as follows, and if they should build a fire between Wittenberg and Worms that would reach to heaven in the Lord's name, I would appear and step into Behelmoth's mouth. between his great teeth and confess Christ and let him do his pleasure. What drives a person to do that? What animates a man or a woman, and history is replete with examples of men and women, who have silently walked in the stead of our Savior, as silently as sheep prepared for the slaughter. Those who have walked forth and died for Jesus. What animates an individual to do that? What moves a person to give their lives as an offering to the Lord? What moves a person to invite opposition in order that they may serve? What moves a person to walk forth in service to Christ knowing opposition is coming? Knowing it's not going to be a flowery bed of ease that gets you there, as the Puritans would say. Paul gives us some reasons. Paul illustrates that very idea this morning, that ideal of serving Christ despite known and anticipated opposition. Paul's in crisis, there's a traumatic moment here. When you experience trauma in this world, whatever that is, you're standing at your doctor's office and you receive life-changing news. Or you're out on the road and something happens and you observe something and you're just shocked into that traumatic experience of life and death. Or you're at the mall and all of a sudden there are gunshots ringing out and you along with 30 other people take refuge in the back room. Or you're with your loved one at their last days or you're there and You must tell someone some very, very bad news. You remember the instance. You remember the circumstances. You remember the details exceedingly well. You can picture everything that was happening. It seems that breath itself slows down. All circumstances are remembered vividly. The Apostle Paul is going through such traumatic circumstances, it seems, every single day. What must be vividly in his mind are when they were about to tear him limb from limb only days before. When he looked back, having his back stripped, and he says, are you about to do this to a citizen? You remember when the Romans were about to lay bare his back? Or when Lysias brings him in and questions him, and he begins to answer his questions and remind him and show him that he is, in fact, a Roman citizen. Or I'm sure what burned vividly in his mind from beginning to end of his life was when he encountered Jesus on the road. He encountered Jesus, and he spoke, and he heard his voice. And Jesus said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? But here he is in a crisis this day. It's a traumatic moment. He's planning to go to Rome, and one would think one simply is idling away the time, whistling old jailhouse tunes in prison, and the nephew shows up. And the nephew is there, and he's got some bad news. Uncle Paul, I didn't even know he had a nephew. I had no idea he had a sister. We do know that his father sent him to the school of Gamaliel in Jerusalem when he was a boy. And there he was instructed in the pharisaical way of the Pharisee tradition. And he was trained exceedingly so, exquisitely so. Maybe the Apostle Paul had experienced a cutoff such that Luke doesn't record anything because he has been cut off entirely from his family. Maybe they have forsaken him altogether because he encountered Jesus on the way and now he lives for Jesus. He is forsaken any form of righteousness achieved by the keeping of the law. Now he affirms a righteousness foreign to ourselves that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul experienced the loss of many things. That's why in Philippians 3, he can say, I experienced the loss of all things, but I count them all. What's the word? Rubbish. That includes close connections with his family. But some way it seems that the Lord has preserved a sister and a nephew. Perhaps they're part of the Jerusalem church. Maybe they've come to faith in Christ. Can you imagine the joy that the apostle Paul must have felt? I'm certain that this young man is a believer because he comes and he helps Paul. He's not cut off from Paul. He has come to see Paul. He knows his uncle. Oh, the exquisite joy that Paul must have knowing that at least this boy, this young man is, in fact, of the household of faith. Well, Paul has been through a lot. Paul is very much aware of the fact that God wants him to go to Rome. That's a hard path. How will he get there? Maybe he's simply to buy passage on a ship, a variety of ships in succession, ultimately arriving at Rome. But he had prayed about it. He had spoken about it. He was certain of that fact that God intends for him to do that. He has whispered in his epistles that my hope is ultimately to see you on the way to Rome, he says. He's certain of it, but God is going to answer that prayer in ways that are completely unanticipated. You remember when he came to Jerusalem, he came with an offering that had been given by the Gentile churches to relieve the suffering of the Jews in Jerusalem. So he meets with James and the elders in the upper room. They are certainly pleased that God has provided for them in this way. They are thrilled to hear of the work that has been going on amongst the Gentiles. And James responds, you remember, and says, Paul, we have a problem. There are some here who say that you are teaching in such a way that You want all Christians, Jews and Gentiles, to abandon the law. Now we know that this is misinformation. We've thought of a way that you can help with the crowds and that is why not take these men submitting to a Nazaritic vow, show that you too are in submission to the law, pay for their ability to go up to the temple and perform this vow, do it with them, And we think this will curry the favor of the crowds. They'll feel a little better about you. They'll say, as much as we've heard these other things, we have observed with our eyes that Paul actually submits to the regulations of the temple. Well, Paul does that, but the fact is there are Gentiles in his party that he has brought from Ephesus and the other communities from which he has come. And there are Jews there that are watching the temple and they have said, Paul has gone in with four men and I think they're Gentiles. They have gone beyond the court of the Gentiles into the corner of the court of the Jews where the Nazaretic vows were performed. And we're here to tell you that Paul has brought Gentiles into the court of the Jews. And they incited violence and the crowds They were angry. Paul tried to talk to them. Didn't work. He tried to talk to the Sanhedrin. He tried to defend himself before Claudius Lysias. But there was a public riot. There was an arrest. He's almost flogged by a half-friendly Roman officer. He's rejected by the Sanhedrin. There's conflict there as well. And now he's in prison. Now as Christians, usually what we do when we experience difficulty, we say, God has not blessed me. We say, surely the Lord's hand is far from me. Surely the Lord has turned his face. But let me make this clear. The face of God is directly on his servant. We know that. We can see that. Paul is aware of that. God is the ultimate actor in this story. This is not about what a great man Paul is, it's about the goodness of God. This passage, like every other passage in the Bible, is about God. The Bible is about God. Maybe you don't really realize that. I've heard lots and lots of sermons in the last few weeks. Not all of them great. Some of them I've heard are all about man, all about you. all about the greatness of humanity in their service to God. I've heard all about how God intends to expand your horizons and to build out your tent and pour out on you such blessings from heaven that your cup cannot contain it. Well, I'm here to burst the bubble. The Bible is about God. The Bible is about God and his goodness and how he has addressed your need, your crippling, deadly need for righteousness, which you and I cannot achieve. The Bible is about God's provision of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is about God unfolding a redemptive plan from beginning to end. It's about that plan. It's about that God from page to page, word by word by word. The Bible is not a book about man. It's about God. And the Apostle Paul is one player on that field. But God is. God is the actor. God is moving circumstances. God is preserving life. God enables a young boy to hear, to overhear. I don't know how he overheard this. How does he overhear 40 men speaking to the Sanhedrin? Somehow he was there. God placed him in just the right circumstance. And we don't hear anything more about that boy, do we? It's not about the boy. It's about God. What a remarkable, extraordinary God, such that we use the phrase sometimes, oh, to be a fly on the wall. We want to overhear some difficult circumstance or a hard conversation or to observe something that would be embarrassing to another person or that we would get a chuckle out of. God is no fly on the wall, but he is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. And because he is a spirit, he cannot be contained by doors, walls, atmospheres, planetary bodies, nor the universe itself. God cannot be contained. God cannot be bottled up. The truth is that God sees and hears all things. And when it serves his purposes, he will enable the plans of the enemy to be heard and he will circumvent those plans. And certainly this passage is about that very thing. Well, there's a lot more in Paul's life to come. He's going to be imprisoned in Caesarea in Herod's Praetorium after a midnight ride. There'll be multiple hearings in which the universal statement by the Roman authorities will be, this man is innocent. This man is innocent. This man is innocent. They will all say that. Felix, Herod, Claudius, Lysias, every last one of them will say, this man is innocent. This man is innocent. This man is innocent. But at every point, the Jews argue this man must be destroyed. He has no right to live. At present, he's in the Roman tower. It's in the Roman fortifications in Jerusalem, very near the temple, because often things, the temple was a flashpoint. Often there would be conflagrations that would develop immediately, and there would be riots, and so they had to be close. His own people have rejected him. Where are James and Peter and the disciples? Where are his defenders? So often, I feel for Paul, there were none who stood with him. There were few who ministered to his soul along the way, but more often than not, he was alone. And some of you are alone. You're alone in your home. You're alone often, just in your own loneliness. You may even feel like you're completely alone at work, being one of the few, if any, Christians. We often feel alone in this world, but there was something that was extraordinarily true, truly wonderful, that was shared the last time we were here in this book, and that was earlier in the chapter. And it said, the Lord stood at his side and said, take courage, for as you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem, So you must witness at Rome also. I think some of us have experienced that when the Lord has stood at our side, when we felt the presence of the Lord, when we knew that looking back, the Lord was with us, the Lord preserved us, kept us, the Lord didn't let something harm us that might have. What's keeping Paul alive and motivated to go through this traumatic experience? What motivates a person, a human being whose body is about to suffer, to go through injustice? Paul is cheered by verse 11, not because he's been promised an easy life. Not because the Lord has promised him, look, I'm not going to let anyone touch you. No, he doesn't say that and no such promise has been made. Rather, he's enlivened by the fact that God is with him and what he's doing, whatever path it may take, whatever suffering he may endure, is for Jesus. It's for Jesus. It was last week, my wife did something small and It was a wonderful thing. It was meant for someone else, and we were talking about it. She wasn't complaining or anything. We were just talking about it. And I said, you know, it's a small thing, but the Lord sees that. That was done for Jesus. The Lord knows about that. Well, despite all of this, there are 40 men in in an effort to circumvent the will of God, in an effort to defy the only true and living God, 40 men are determined to put the Apostle Paul to death. They refuse to read Providence properly and maybe their eyes have been darkened by the Spirit of God that has judged them, very much like Romans 1 through 3. One way or the other, we know that there are believers on the Sanhedrin, there are believers amongst the Pharisees, and surely they have come to the conclusion, even the wicked ones, that God is in this work. Gentiles are coming to believe in Jesus Christ. Surely this is a work of God that where healings, extraordinary healings, and demonic possession broken People delivered from it. Surely God is doing this. But these 40, they have determined Paul should not live. Because he defies our traditions. Walk on something that a man or a woman have traditionally in their lives. Suggest a different way than the way that they're normally used to do it. Watch the opposition. People are funny. We are funny. Tell someone that the way that they're doing what they're doing is wrong and there's a better way. Watch what happens. Well, the truth of the matter is that these 40 are opposed to God and his way of doing things. And so they're most likely, they were part of the crowds that only a few days before almost tore him to pieces in verse 20. Well, they go to the Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin is sympathetic, and they say, look, under false pretenses, would you reach out to Claudius Lysias and tell him we want another audience with this Paul? We need to hear him as to his religious complaints and his perspective. We need to listen a little bit more to the witness. Perhaps we might be compelled to believe and to affirm. Maybe there's a hope here to remove the conflict between him and ourselves. Maybe we're just talking past each other, but could you bring him for an audience in the morning? And these 40 individuals have said, we'll kill him on the way. You see, because the Sanhedrin met just inside the court of the Jews. And so what would happen is that Claudius Lysias would bring the apostle Paul through the court of the Gentiles, and right there in that pinch point, they would kill him. Somewhere between walking into the temple and the movement of Paul into the courtyard of the Jews, the court of the Jews, they would kill him. And so the Sanhedrin is sympathetic, and this request is made under false precepts to bring him in. Ananias, he is the chief priest, the leader, and he is just a wicked man. Every interaction we hear of in the Gospels between him and Jesus, the ways in which he interacts with the Apostle Paul, the disciples in the early years, early days, Ananias led the way. He is the son of Nedebeus. He's reigned as priest from 48 to 58 AD. He served himself. He even took the ordinary tithes that were supposed to be given to the ordinary priests. He took it for himself, Josephus tells us. And he used those funds to bribe Roman officials and Jewish officials alike. He walked both sides of the aisle. He was the consummate American politician. Well, this young man comes and he is heard. And Uncle Paul, his life is in danger. So he comes to Paul and he tells him. And Paul says, hey, centurion, Bring this young man who has something to say to the commander, to Lysias, Claudius Lysias. And he pulls him aside and he says, what do you have to tell me? And the boy says, you must not do this. And so Claudius Lysias grabs 200 men and 70 horsemen and various others. And he sends about half of his cohort. Cohort's about 1,000 men. He sends about 400 some odd. And he sends them with horses. And horses for Paul. And says, make your way to Caesarea. And he sends a letter to Felix. And of course, there's a little bit of license in what's said here. And of course, Luke tells us this is a summary of what was said. Someone is familiar with that letter. And the letter had this general form. There's a little bit of license on the part of Claudius Lysias. He says, upon finding out that this was a Roman citizen, I thought he should see you. Well, that's not exactly how it happened. And close enough. And he sends him on to Felix. Now, we're going to hear about Felix. And Felix says, look, I'll hear from you just as soon as your accusers arrive and I can hear their arguments against you. So next week, we'll see this trial unfold. But in the meantime, there are some very practical considerations for us to take home, to take to heart. We've touched on, I think, one or two already. But let me affirm a few of them for you. There is work for us in the kingdom of God, each of us, every one of us. There is work for us. There are quite ordinary acts of service on Sunday, Sunday schools to teach, Bible studies to teach, to attend, or to start. There are prayers to be offered, bulletins to be handed out, visitors to greet, music to be played, sermons to be preached, souls to be won, believers to be discipled. There's so much to be done in the Church of Christ. And oftentimes when Joshua or myself approach people, and God forbid that we might have an occasion where we don't have to approach, but someone actually comes to us ahead of time and says, I anticipate Sunday school is coming in September, isn't it? Only five weeks away. I'd like to teach a Sunday school class. I'd like to teach the young children. I'd like to teach the older kids. God forbid some of us here in the church should actually think ahead, strategize, and prepare for that time using our gifts for God. God gave you the gifts that he gave you, not so that you can just pursue your own personal intentions or needs, but primarily to serve him. I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to think about how God is calling you to service and to ministry and get each of us get off our duff and serve the Lord. We have excuses. I'm so very busy. There are children that I have to take care of. My job requires so much of me. I'm tired. I know there are a thousand excuses. There are a thousand things for why we ought not to do what God is in fact calling us to do. But make no mistake, God has called you, God has called me to service for him and in some small way for service in the church. We are called, we are commanded to do this. The Apostle Paul, his calling was to go to Rome and to proclaim and testify everywhere he went of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He will preach to Felix. He will preach to Herod. He will go before Caesar and proclaim the gospel even in his own household. You don't have to do that. That's the good news. All you have to do is use your time and in some way to serve the Lord here on this side of eternity. Are you doing that? I know we all can say, I'm serving my family. I'm serving my loved ones. I'm reading, I'm having devotions. I'm doing all sorts of things for the Lord. I'm walking with God. That's all good. I'm thrilled. I'm encouraged. I affirm that. But you cannot read the pages of scripture and come to the conclusion that God does not also want you to serve in some fashion in the body, the local body of Christ. Every time we see New Testament or Old Testament saints, we see them connected to the church. We see them affirming the work of the congregation. We see them laboring for God in local contexts there in Christ's church. Every time. We never see an individual Christian who is off on their own, not in any way connected to the church. We always see them connected with the church. Always. Always. Publicly affirmed as believers, submitting to the leadership of the church, supporting the local worship of the church to the best of their ability every time. There's work for you to do. There are some things that don't take place in this small church because you're not willing to serve the Lord. Because you're not willing to use your gifts in service to Christ. You're not willing to make that commitment for a period of time. Doesn't mean you have to do this one thing for forever. Will you serve the Lord? Will you serve the Lord? The Apostle Paul's life says serving Jesus is of greater value and more worthwhile and of greater worth to that man than anything the world could ever give him. You could say that you affirm the same. Yes, knowing Jesus is more valuable than anything that this world could afford. We sing about it. It's a wonderful song. But the proof of our testimony is borne out in the pudding of our lives. What we affirm with our lips is proven in the conduct of our hands and feet and conversation and service and ministry. Can you hear it? Jesus is calling you to service too. First Peter 2 9. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. I think oftentimes we possess God and we leave it there. God possesses you. God possesses your life. God possesses your gifts. God possesses your resources. God is the one who has enriched you. God is the one who has given you the gifts that you have. God is the one who has given you the sharp mind that you have. We need help with a bulletin over the next few weeks. Well, John is on his back. We need elders. We need deacons. We need people to serve and help open and close the church. We need Sunday school teachers. We need teachers. There's a need right now for a mature Christian woman to instruct and train two younger Christian women, one who is a mother, who are asking for this. Is there anyone? A mature Christian woman willing to take two young Christian women and help them learn how to be godly wives and mothers and just how to grow in the Christian life. Open up the word of God, pray with and for them. There's so many things that could go on in this church that could advance the cause of the kingdom of Christ if we would only proclaim only carry out what God has called us to do. It says, Peter goes on, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. You see, we're all, many of us are wondering about our life purpose and we need to have an understanding as to why we are here in this world. There are so many scriptures in the Bible that proclaim what God's purpose for us, purposes for us really are. Here's one. God has called you out of darkness into light so that you may proclaim His goodness, so that you may proclaim the excellence of God. That's your life purpose, to proclaim the excellence of God. Now, how is that borne out in the practical circumstances of your life? You can do that as a Sunday school teacher. You can do that when you participate with the people of God in prayer. You can do that by leading in prayer. You can do that when you're at work and you're sharing the gospel. You can do that here at Grace just by using the gifts of encouragement that God has given you to encourage one another. You know, I've said it and I'll say it again, the Bible is about God. The Bible is about God. Serving the Lord Jesus Christ is, in fact, the calling that he has given to us. We are to serve him, but too many of us really don't think carefully, thoughtfully at our service to him. We don't sit down and strategize. We do about our retirements. We do about family planning. We do about our own personal care and our doctors. We have long lists, pages and pages. We have appointment calendars. We have medications that are mapped out and little pill containers and all those things. We take supplements. We eat the right foods. We exercise daily. We do all those things. Are we carefully, carefully, methodically thinking about, now how can I serve the Lord? What has God called me to do? Do we plan out our service to God? We are, when it comes to spiritual things, we are lazy, selfish, timid, fearful, tired, all those things. Are you tired because you're working so hard for the Lord? Or are you tired because you've got your life to live? I find personally, I'm often tired because I over-obligate myself for my own personal things and I leave little room for service to God. We can do that, you know, we can do that. Even pastors. So I'm supposed to do this because this is my calling, but I'm also privately supposed to use my life in the free moments that I have, even though there are few, supposedly. A pastor is supposed to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I understand that. I do get some time off, but even there, I do carefully and thoughtfully think about my service to the Lord. That's what keeps me going to the Bay State Hospital on Tuesday nights overnight because I'm into I'm well aware of the fact I need to serve the Lord privately and to be an example. I need opportunities for sharing the gospel. But are we thoughtfully, carefully planning out our service to him? Sometimes I come up with excuses to quit and decide, you know, it's just too much. I've got too much going on. Well, am I doing too much for the Lord? No. Is that possible? Can I outdo God? That's not possible. You know, many of us, just as another point, will not face this series of traumatic experiences that Paul does, but we have to courageously face the circumstances that God gives to us, don't we? The apostle Paul was facing imprisonment, shipwreck, beatings, lashes, the embarrassment of being chained and dragged by centurions, Roman soldiers from place to place, having to give an answer for the hope that he has in chains before tribunal after tribunal after tribunal. And we know that Jesus has drawn us to himself. He's present with us. He's in us. He's empowering us. He's cleansed us by it with his blood. He's stirred the impulse of his indwelling life in us. But he hasn't done that for ourselves only. But he's also done that so that we can bear witness and proclaim the excellencies of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. If we muzzle that, If we don't proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, then you know we atrophy. If you don't use a particular muscle, it will atrophy. If you pull a tooth on a particular area of your jaw, the bone will begin to atrophy just a little bit. Truth is that in every circumstance, we should be the means of emanating the aroma of Christ wherever we are. The aroma of Christ should waft off of our lives, out of our conduct, out of the way that we handle ourselves, out of the way that we communicate to other people. We can communicate in a way that is impatient, unkind, mean, Disassociative. What does the Apostle Paul tell the Corinthian church? Whatever you do, even when you eat and drink, do it all to the glory of God. My dear brothers and sisters, we are called to proclaim the excellency of him, our God, who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Remember, we are to be a witness for Jesus. We are to bear witness. Why is there so little Christian witness? As I look at our city, why here in Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, wherever we may live, West Springfield, Brookfield, West Brookfield, why is there so little witness for Jesus? Does that concern us? It should. I think Christians, proclaiming Christians, self-proclaimed Christians, not this church, not you, all of you are the salt of the earth. But I think in modern evangelicalism, so often the possession of Christ is so superficial, so partial. We pursue something else. Wealth and riches and name and recognition. But you know, being a Christian fundamentally is about possessing Jesus Christ. It's about knowing Christ and him crucified for you. Speak, bear witness for Jesus. This will strengthen your faith. If you muzzle it, it will atrophy. Your faith will atrophy. Now, many of us have complaints. We have a lot to say about other people. We have ways in which we think others should be doing certain things. We have a wonderful plan for each other's lives, don't we? And we examine, we look at, we sometimes will say, you know, I think you should go do this. I think you should go do that. And we have lots and lots of plans, but are we thinking about how we can serve Christ? Are we spending as much time thinking about our lives, examining whether or not we are serving the Lord Jesus, whether or not we are using every resource that the Lord has given to us to serve him? May God give us grace to serve where he has placed us until he lifts us to the greater place of joyous ministry and service, where the faithfulness of the steward is exchanged for the authority of the ruler in whose victory we walk and the work of the servant for the joy of our master. Soon we will be with the Lord. Soon we will be with the Lord. Let us serve him thoughtfully, carefully. Let us serve him now before we behold his face. You know, there's a second point to be made here, a practical point. There will be likely losses and crosses that we will bear as we serve the Lord Jesus. In following Christ, there is sacrifice, but the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3, Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. What if you lost everything? What if you lost everything? Will you still hold fast to this this one reality that Christ has died for you and that he loves you and that you are his treasured possession and that he is one day going to bring you into glory, will that still mean everything to you? Have you lost everything? I want to encourage you in light of the passage here this morning in a further practical exposition Why don't you just get overwhelmed by everything that the Apostle Paul is facing here? Isn't it overwhelming? Think about it for a minute. He's almost been, well, he's been stripped bare. I can't imagine being taken by a policeman, having the clothes ripped off my back as they prepare to whip me. Of course, Paul mentions that he was whipped numerous times. He underwent the various scourgings that Romans did at that time. And more than that, he was shipwrecked. He was lost at sea. He was beaten. You remember that if Claudius Lysias didn't come in and save him, they were about to tear his body apart, tear limb from limb. They had hold of him. They were beating him. They had dragged him out of the temple. And Claudius Lysias took him because they were going to kill him. And meanwhile, there are 40 zealots that have said, we won't eat and we won't drink until we kill him. Don't you just get overwhelmed by all of that? Do we really understand what's happening there? This is good versus evil. This is God working out his plan and decree in opposition against Satan. This is Jesus Christ building the kingdom of God before the very gates of hell, which cannot prevail against the kingdom of God. This is Jesus conquering all his enemies. This is God breaking Satan's evil designs. This is the counterfeit kingdom of Satan being destroyed. This is God destroying Satan and all his works. This is God destroying and curtailing and lassoing and holding fast The one who is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. This is God building his church. This is God preserving his church. And those who belong to him, they will overcome. And the apostle Paul is not overcome by Satan and his opposition. but rather the testimony of the Apostle Paul overcomes that opposition in every place, even all the way to Caesar's household. He will write a letter and say, there are many among the Praetorian guard who are holding me, and they have turned to Christ. You see, God conquers all. Jesus is contending against Satan. And Satan will not overcome. Jesus will. Many of us look at the world and we think there is such wickedness in our world. How can we ever achieve any growth as a church? How can we ever really actually lead anyone to faith in Christ? Maybe you haven't had that privilege. I've seen it. It can be done. The Lord is still at work. The fields are white for harvest. Yes, your unbelieving friends and family members, God's not finished with them yet. God's not done with you yet. God's still going to use you where you are. The opposition of Satan cannot prevail because God is more powerful. If it is his will to save, he will do it. Only be faithful. Be courageous. Know that your work is not in vain. First Corinthians 15, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain. I want to encourage all of you who are witnessing to your family members, your coworkers, you're discouraged. Your work is not in vain. I want to encourage you as Christian people who are trying to serve the Lord in the church, keep going. Your work is not in vain. I want to encourage you, even all the saints of God who are privately fighting sin for the glory of God, your work is not in vain. I want to encourage all of you who believe in Christ and you're holding fast to Christ, but your faith is buffeted. It is being beaten back by doubts and concerns and fears and worries and longings for something more and to know with certainty that God is there and that he sees you, that he hears you, that he will provide. Your work is not in vain. Your faith is not in vain. One might be convinced God has forgotten the Apostle Paul because he's gone through so much. It seems like the hand of God is against him, doesn't it? I mean, if we were to judge, our feeble sense always judges improperly, always, doesn't it? We'd look at Paul and say, surely this dude God is against him, this isn't working, give it up. They did that with Jesus too. They looked upon the Lord and they said, surely God is against him. They misjudged him because he rose triumphantly And God the Father spoke of him and said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Mankind looked upon him on the cross and said, surely he was afflicted by man, condemned by God, and yet God was pleased to lift him from the grave. and to receive him to himself, and to say, come, sit at my right hand, and I will make the heavens, I will make your enemies a footstool. We misjudge the providence of God. We do all the time. When we are made to wait, we think that God has abandoned us. When we experience difficulty or hard times, we think that God is very, very far from us. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this morning, your faith is not in vain. Your service is not in vain. The Lord sees it. The same God who was with the Apostle Paul in the prison, who stood with him in the prison, who could find him in the prison, is the same God who has not lost sight of you. Your faith, your service, it is not in vain. So be steadfast. immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And one day soon, the Lord will call you into his marvelous presence and say, well done, good and faithful servant, whose works are received by God our Father as will-pleasing because of his beloved son. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this word this morning. We pray that you would encourage us in our service to you. We pray that you would help us to think very carefully and thoughtfully about how we can serve and then to serve with joy and with the sense that this will not tire us, whereas other things that we obligate ourselves for and over-obligate ourselves for, those are the things that tire us. but service in the household of God, service for the kingdom of God, service for Jesus. That's what animates and refreshes us. That's what enlivens our hope. Oh Lord, lead your people this morning to not give up, to not believe that their service, that their faith is in vain, but rather let them see in the life of the apostle Paul and in your presence with him and your preservation of him. your affirmation of his ministry, that all those who serve and follow the Lord Jesus Christ will find that nothing of what they do is in vain. O Lord, we pray that you would make our faith sight soon. Let us see our Savior in the heavens. Let us see our Savior coming great victory over the grave and over sin and death, bringing with him all the citizens of heaven, proclaiming the excellence and the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and let us ascend and be with him for all eternity. Let us go and be with the Lord. Come, Jehovah, come. And it is in Jesus' name that we pray, amen.