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So beginning in Hebrews chapter
13 at verse 1. Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Remember
the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated,
since you yourselves are in the body also. Marriage is honorable
among all, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers
God will judge. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as
you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you
nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, the Lord
is my helper. I will not fear. What can man
do to me? Remember those who rule over
you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow,
considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with
various and strange doctrines, for it is good that the heart
be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited
those who have been occupied with them. We have an altar from
which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the
bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary
by the high priest for sin are burned outside the camp. Therefore,
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to
him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we have
no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore, by
Him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But
do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices
God is well pleased. Obey those who rule over you
and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those
who must give account. Let them do so with joy, not
with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Pray for
us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience in
all things desiring to live honorably. But I especially urge you to
do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now, may the
God of peace, who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead,
that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will,
working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. And I appeal to you,
brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I've written
to you in few words. Know that our brother Timothy
has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly. Greet all those who rule over
you and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace
be with you all. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our
Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you that
it's given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine.
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
And this morning, God, give us ears to hear and hearts to receive
this truth. Cause us to reflect upon the
reality that there is a much greater concern in this world
than often meets the eye. We know that our brothers and
sisters in various countries are severely oppressed and persecuted
for the faith. We know there are those in prison.
We know there are those facing death penalty charges. And yet,
Father, at times we live as if that isn't the case. So help
us as individuals, as families, help us as a church to maintain
fidelity in the manner of remembering those in prison. We ask that
you would forgive us now for our sin and cleanse us in that
blood of the Lamb. We thank you for the liberty
that we enjoy. We pray that you would strengthen us, God, for
any eventual difficulties that may come our way. We know that
troubles do assail us. We know that ultimately you do
provide. And we see it fleshed out in the life of the people
of God throughout the earth that you've not abandoned your church.
that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, that
Christ is gathering from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation
a glorious church to worship and serve the living and the
true God. So forgive us and cleanse us
and guide us by your Holy Spirit, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, today is the International
Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. And as a church, we try
to remember those particular needs. We have a prayer meeting
every other Sunday. We sort of use the alternating
Sunday to study our confession of faith. So this morning, we
started the confession. Next Sunday morning at 9.30,
we will have a prayer meeting upstairs. We've been doing this
for many, many, many years now. And in that prayer meeting, we
try to remember the persecuted church. We read requests from
brethren that are in other parts of the world, and we give our
time to pray for them. We do this hopefully on Wednesday
night as well. We try to keep Myanmar in our
focus as there's great suffering there, great turmoil there, but
it's not. confined simply to Myanmar, all
throughout the earth. And in the Bible we see that
there is this enmity against the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. In fact, Jesus' statement in Matthew 16 assumes or supposes,
presupposes, that the gates of hell are going to launch an offensive
against the Church. The gates of hell shall not prevail. they're going to try, they're
going to try to advance, they're going to try to stop the increase
of the kingdom of God on earth. So when we witness that, or when
we see that, it ought to elicit from us a prayerfulness on behalf
of the people of God. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 3. It's
a very simple verse. We're just going to unpack it
and then make some practical observations concerning it. But
in terms of Hebrews chapter 13, the doctrinal section is completed
and now the apostle is bringing some concluding exhortations
to the people of God. So there are these general exhortations
in verses 1 to 6. There's an instruction or instruction
on community relationships with leaders guarding against heresy,
suffering for Christ, and the believer's sacrifice in verses
7 to 17. There is then a request for prayer
in verses 18 and 19, his prayer for them in verses 20 and 21,
and then a final appeal and salutation in verses 22 to 25. So that's
just an overview of this particular context. And I want to look first
at the immediate context of the command. So verse 4, or verse
3 rather, is a command. We are commanded to do something.
We're to remember the prisoners. So I want to look at the context
of the command, and then secondly, the content of that command.
Notice the general statement in verse 1. Let brotherly love
continue. Let brotherly love continue.
And then we see that that is applied in verses 2 and 3 specifically. But when he says, let brotherly
love continue, he's assuming that there is brotherly love.
He's not saying, you know, I've seen you guys and you're just
a bunch of beasts and animals. really need to show love for
one another. Note that he wants it to continue, argues that it
was already present. And even though there are things
that are already present, we do what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians
4, we seek to abound more and more. So let brotherly love continue. Remember in the Upper Room Discourse,
in John's Gospel, in chapter 13, Jesus says, by this all men
will know that you are my disciples. if you subscribe to the Second
London Confession of Faith of 1689. That's not what he says.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you've
read Louis Burckhoff's Systematic Theology. That's not what he
says. He says, by this all men will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another. And so this particular exhortation,
let brotherly love continue, implies that it's present, but
also argues that it needs to continue. It needs to increase.
There never ought to be a time where the people of God aren't
loving one another. That is absolutely paradigmatic
for the people of God, so that we can demonstrate and adorn
the Christian gospel. It is a wonderful testimony when
persons from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation are gathered
together under one roof and they have love for one another. They
engage in obedience to God's law relative to their conduct
with one another. So the general exhortation is
in verse 1, but then it's applied specifically to strangers in
verse 2, and then to sufferers in verse 3. So let brotherly
love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers,
for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." So the love
command applies to strangers, or to be those people that are
large-hearted. Perhaps in the background is
Genesis chapter 18, when those three men come to Abraham, and
he shows them hospitality, he shows them love, he shows them
kindness, he feeds them. We know that that was in fact
the angel of the Lord Most High. Now it's applied to sufferers
in verse 3. He says, remember the prisoners
as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you
yourselves are in the body also." So in terms of the content of
the command, we ought to first notice the duty to remember,
secondly, the objects we are to remember, and thirdly, the
reason we are to remember them. Now obviously, we're commanded
to, but there's a reason why we're commanded to. Notice in
the first place, the duty to remember. When he says, remember
the prisoners, Not just saying, have some sort of a vague notion
that somebody somewhere is suffering for the cause of Christ. Have
some vague sort of understanding that in communist China, the
people of God aren't necessarily treated well. That's not what
he's talking about. The particular word that he uses
means to remember with a view to doing something about it.
Remember with a view to actually taking action about it. And that
action may be writing, that action may be praying, that action may
be encouraging, that action may be instructing, that action has
a multifaceted approach that we're going to end the sermon
on this morning. But with reference to remember,
it's remember to care for them, remember with a view to taking
action, remember for good. to remember in a way which will
benefit the person concerned in some way or other. We might
say it this way. If you have a notion to remember
somebody during the week, pray for that. Don't just say, hey,
I remembered you during the week. What'd you remember? Oh, that
you were. that you existed, that you were out there somewhere.
Great, I'm glad you remembered that. But it's remember with
a view to do something good with reference to that particular
memory. You see the verb used in Luke 23, 42. The thief on
the cross says to our Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
Again, not just have some vague consciousness that there was
another person that died on the cross. Remember me to show mercy
to me and allow or permit access to me to that blessed kingdom
of God. Galatians chapter 2, the Apostle
Paul rehearses when he visited the leaders in the church in
Jerusalem. And they extended to Paul and Barnabas the right
hand of fellowship. And he said, they desired only
that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was
eager to do. So Paul's not saying, I'm just
gonna remember that there's poor people out there. No, he's gonna
remember that there's poor people out there, and he's gonna strive
to alleviate that. You see that fleshed out in the
book of Acts. There are instances where there's
plague, or not plague, but rather famine in Judea. And so the apostle
collects money from Gentile churches to bring to the church in Jerusalem
in Acts chapter 21. So he remembered it, not just
to know that something bad was happening out there, but he remembered
it in order to alleviate it. And in terms of the tense, it's
not just for Wednesday night, and it's not just for Sunday
morning. Remember the prisoners when the
pastor reads a particular letter from Voice of the Martyrs. No,
remember the prisoners. It's continual action. It's something
that you're supposed to emphasize. It's not something you're supposed
to sort of tack on to your already busy prayer life. You're supposed
to actually understand to pray that petition where God's will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. We love our local church.
We pray for our local church. We try to encourage each other
in our local church. Certainly at our prayer meetings,
persons can express their petitions for prayer, but it doesn't stop
at the local church. China is a reality. The Muslim
nations are a reality. The various places on earth where
there is great hatred toward the people of God is a reality.
So we remember them with a view to actually pray and with a view
to actually alleviate their issues. John Owen said, it seems those
that are at liberty are apt to forget Christ's prisoners. Those
who have liberty are apt to forget Christ prisoners. We don't really
think about it. It's kind of out of sight, out
of mind. I've always thought that about abortion. Most people
in Christian churches aren't out engaged in abortion. And
so it's largely out of sight, out of mind. If you don't pay
attention, you don't see what's happening, you don't see that
major political parties are arguing their platform based on that
one particular act of wickedness, you're just not going to think
about it. That's why it's important for us to rehearse that. It's
important for us to call out these prayer requests. It's important
for us to keep these things before us. So he says, it seems those
that are at liberty are apt to forget Christ's prisoners, that
they had need to be enjoined to be mindful of them. He says,
usually more fall in neglect of their duty towards sufferers
and so fail from their profession than do so fail under and on
account of their own sufferings. In other words, this is a failure
on the part of the people of God to not remember the prisoners. My purpose is not to lecture,
my purpose is not to harangue, my purpose is not to browbeat,
but my purpose is to expound this particular command and simply
suggest to you to ponder it, to reflect upon it, to think
through it. Can you be here on a Wednesday
night? Can you be here on a Sunday morning? That is a wonderful
corporate expression of solidarity with the church at large. It
is a wonderful time for us to do something about the things
that we are remembering. We've often said that that Sunday
morning prayer meeting is kind of like a tour around the world.
We get six, seven, eight countries that we hear about. We get glimpses
into the various persons that are suffering for the cause of
Christ. It's not abstract. It's not something that's just
ethereal, but there's real names, real people, real problems, and
real hardships. And we get the privilege to bring
that to the throne of grace and to pray for these people, to
remember them with a view to doing something about it. So
he says, there is this duty to remember. Now notice, secondly,
the objects that we are to remember, the prisoners, those who are
mistreated. Go back to chapter 10 in this
epistle. This wouldn't have been a surprising
statement for the original audience. They wouldn't have said, What
do you mean, prisoners? Who are you talking about? You mean there's
actually suffering for the cause of Christ? There's actually going
to be these trials? There's actually going to be
these hardships? There's actually going to be these difficulties?
You mean there's actually a devil? And there's actually devilish
people that hate Christ and hate His people so much that they
don't just let them coexist, but rather they mistreat them?
They put them in prison? The crime of preaching the gospel
means that you have to go to jail? Talk about a threat from
freedom of speech. These people have absolute lunacy
in their minds. Notice in Hebrews chapter 10,
specifically at verse 32. But recall the former days in
which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle
with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle both
by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions
of those who were so treated. For you had compassion on me
in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods,
knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for
yourselves in heaven. Therefore, do not cast away your
confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance,
so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive
the promise. And then over in chapter 13,
specifically at verse 23, This just brief statement. Well, pick
up in verse 22. I appeal to you, brethren, bear
with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in
few words. Know that our brother Timothy has been set free with
whom I shall see you or see you if he comes shortly. What had
he been set free from? He'd been set free from jail.
He'd gone to prison. He, like the master who taught
him, the Apostle Paul, and the master who taught both of them,
the Lord Jesus Christ, were sorely mistreated for the cause of God
and truth. That was a reality then and it
has continued unabated into the present age. Someone once commented
that the 20th century was far more bloody in terms of Christian
martyrdom than all of the centuries previous. Now for us, that's
hard to entertain. For us, it's hard to get our
minds wrapped around us. We all got up this morning. We
didn't pass armed guards on our way here. We didn't have to sneak
in. We didn't have to give some code
word. I remember during the COVID lockdown, we kind of toyed with
the idea. If somebody couldn't answer, what is the chief end
of man, they weren't gonna come in. The chief end of man is to
glorify God and to enjoy him forever. If you don't get that,
you're not coming in. We didn't do that, obviously, but the point
is, We don't have that threat to our liberty. We have been
blessed richly. And so therefore, when we hear
statements like a bloody century in terms of Christian suffering,
it often goes unnoticed. Or you think, wow, that's an
interesting or curious fact. I'll just tuck it in my pocket
and I'll forget all about it. Brethren, this is a hardship
and a reality that the people of God are presently facing.
It is a hardship and a reality that we in the Western world
may face also. And if we don't remember them
now, then what possible expectation do we have of anybody ever remembering
us? Wouldn't it be wonderful to receive
a letter if you were in the pokey for the cause of God and truth?
Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear that there were churches praying
for you? Wouldn't it be nice to know that people are writing
letters to civil government saying or pleading with them to release
these prisoners? That would be most encouraging.
I've got to imagine, because I've never been in prison, I've
got to imagine that the loneliness would be hard. The thought that
persons think you're in there because of something you did
wrong. The thought that maybe you were a criminal instead of
just being a faithful preacher of the gospel. It's probably
a great boon for the people of God that are suffering in those
particular circumstances to know that the people of God have not
forgotten them. Remember the prisoners, the apostle
Paul says. those who are suffering for the
cause of God and truth. And in terms of those objects,
we have in the first announcement of gospel salvation by Jesus
Christ, the expectation of what's an antithesis. In Genesis 3.15,
God Most High says, I will put enmity between you and the woman
and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise his heel. That's an announcement concerning
the Lord Christ. That's an announcement concerning
the gospel of salvation. It's an announcement that it
will be through suffering and death that this man born of woman
will suffer or will deliver the death blow to the devil himself.
There's a collective seed as well. Those in Christ will also
suffer the way that Christ did. He tells the apostles that in
the upper room. Don't marvel if the world hates
you. They hated me. You think they're
going to like you any better when you come with my message?
Do you think they're going to say, oh, well, yeah, they're
not actually Jesus, but they represent Jesus. They preach
Jesus. They tell others about Jesus.
That's enough for the devil and his minions to eradicate, to
liquidate, to put in prison, to try to stop that kind of thing
from going on. And as you move through scripture,
you have all these examples of godly people suffering under
persecution. You've got Genesis, Genesis chapter
39. Joseph escapes the misery of his brothers, only to end
up ultimately in a cell because he didn't go into Potiphar's
wife. So he is in prison, a godly and upright man, nevertheless
went to jail. 1 Kings chapter 22, Ahab's gonna
go into battle. And Ahab invokes the presence
of Jehoshaphat to go into battle with him. They wanna go against
the Syrians. And Jehoshaphat has the wherewithal
to say, well, what's the prophetic word say? I don't wanna go out
into battle against the Syrians without a word from on high that
we're gonna win. So Ahab says, well, all the prophets
say we're going to win. Every single one of them. And
that's a bit fishy to Jehoshaphat. He says, all of them? Every single
prophet says we're going to win? Well, there is this one. His
name's Micaiah, and he just bugs me. This is Ahab. I mean, that's
a bit of a translation, but that's what's happening. He drives me
nuts. He doesn't tell me what I want
to hear. So what happens? They call for it, Micaiah, and
he is in irony at the beginning. Oh, sure, you go right ahead
and you march into battle. You're gonna win. He's doing
that tongue in cheek. He's not changing up. He's not
capitulating. He's not telling Ahab what he
wants to hear. He's being ironic. Yeah, you
go right ahead. If you just wanna rubber stamp
this decision, go ahead and rubber stamp it. And then he gets to
the hub of the argument. He says, you're gonna go into
battle and you're going to lose, Ahab. So what does that get Micaiah
the prophet? It gets him put in prison. It
gets him put on bread and water. It gets him suffering because
he dared to tell the truth to power. He spoke truth to power
and power said, you're going to jail. That happened to Jeremiah
the prophet also. Jeremiah the prophet, the weeping
prophet, that man who ached over the situation that he faced in
his own generation ended up in jail. Why? Again, not because
he was a criminal, but because he preached the truth. He testified
concerning God's holy words. In the New Testament, many passages. You can turn to Matthew chapter
5. Matthew chapter 5. One of our heroes had this particular
passage hanging in a picture above his bed. His dear wife
had it made for him because he was the target of much persecution
and opposition and oppression. His name was Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
But if you look specifically at Matthew 5 at verse 10, blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Persecuted for righteousness
sake, not because you're a thief, not because you're a murderer,
not because you're a criminal, not because you embezzle things,
but you are persecuted for righteousness sake. That's the prisoners we're
talking about. The persons that don't deserve
to be in prison, for what the state has called a crime. It's
not a crime to preach the gospel. They don't like it. They hate
it. It threatens them. It's their structure and system
that is ultimately going to be tottered if enough people actually
believe that truth. So you see why they want to silence
it. You see why Ahab is upset with Micaiah. You see why the
power structures in Jeremiah's day would rather have him languish
in a pit That's the obvious implication when you're seeking to be faithful
to our Lord. Notice in verse 11, Blessed are
you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets
who were before you. How wonderful of the Master to
give us this encouragement. How many of us, if persecuted,
if reviled, if suffering for the cause of Christ, would actually
count ourselves blessed? Would actually rejoice? I dare
say we'd probably not, at least initially. And so that's why
passages like these are most helpful. What's to be our attitude? What's to be our disposition?
What are we supposed to conduct ourselves like when they put
the handcuffs on? and put us in jail for the cause
of God and truth. Well, as Jesus says, blessed
are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds
of evil against you. Notice again, falsely for my
sake. It's not because you're, you
know, a thief. It's not because you're a criminal,
but it's for the sake of Christ. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets
who were before you. Turn over to the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 5, and again, many instances in Acts show us this
rage of the unbelievers against the church of Christ. Acts chapter
5, specifically at verse 40. Acts 5 at verse 40, Gamaliel
intervenes and he says, look, leave the Christians alone. If
this is of God, your fighting against them isn't gonna help
anything. But if it's not of God, they're gonna fizzle out.
They're gonna just go the way of all flesh. So on the heels
of that good advice given by Gamaliel, verses 33 to 39, look
at how the Sanhedrin responds in verse 40. They agreed with
him. And when they had called for
the apostles and beaten them, why'd you beat them? Why would
you do that? Why would you inflict that kind
of punishment and pain on persons who aren't a threat? Only they
are a threat because of the message involved. The proclamation of
Christ and Him crucified arouses the tyrants in the ecclesiastical
realm and in the civil realm. And we see that coupled in the
Sanhedrin. So they called for the apostles
and beaten them. They commanded that they should
not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they departed
from the presence of the council, notice, rejoicing that they were
counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the
temple and every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching
Jesus as the Christ. Brethren, they had their backs
opened. They were hurting. And yet they were rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. What passage
perhaps did they have in their minds? Well, Matthew chapter
five and Christ's instruction that they rejoice when they are
mistreated for righteousness sake, for his sake, it weighed
on their consciences in such a way that when they met the
whip, they rejoiced as a result. Turn over to chapter 12 in the
book of Acts. Chapter 12, specifically at verse
1, Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand
to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother
of John with the sword. And because he saw that it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was
during the days of unleavened bread. So when he had arrested
him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four squads
of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people
after Passover. Brethren, this passage illustrates
something that I know that is a tough nut to swallow or pill
to swallow, but sometimes governments sin. Sometimes governments sin. Why would he arrest Peter? Or why did he? To please the
mob? Is that any kind of decent behavior? Is that how a civil magistrate
should function? What does the mob want? I will
give it to them. That's never the reason why somebody
should be delivered up. Somebody should be arrested.
But again, you go all the way back to the very beginning book
of the Bible and you'll see that there is this in man, a tendency
as an individual, tendency in families, tendency in churches,
tendency in civil government to actuate sin against God. Now Acts 12 is fascinating because
look at how bad it starts. I mean, come on, James is dead
and Peter's in jail. J.R. Stott made this observation. The chapter 12 opens with James
dead, Peter in prison, and Herod triumphing. It closes with Herod
dead, Peter free, and the word of God triumphing. Skip over
to verse 20. Now Herod had been very angry
with the people of Tyre and Sidon, but they came to him with one
accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide, their
friend, they asked for peace because their country was supplied
with food by the king's country. So on a set day, Herod, arrayed
in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to
them. And the people kept shouting, the voice of a god and not of
a man. Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because
he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and
died, but The Word of God grew and multiplied. It starts bang
on. The chapter opens with James
dead, Peter in prison, and Herod triumphing. It closes with Herod
dead, Peter free, and the Word of God triumphing. Such is the
power of God to overthrow hostile human plans and to establish
His own in their place. Tyrants may be permitted for
a time to boast and bluster, oppressing the church and hindering
the gospel, but that will not last. In the end, their empire
will be broken and their pride abased. Amen, brother. That is absolutely spot on. And
that's what Acts 12 indicates. We start the chapter going, oh
no, James dead, Peter in prison. The chapter ends with the word
of the Lord prevailing. The arch enemy of the church
at that time, Aaron, being eaten before everybody with worms. Imagine that, a politician giving
up, going to give a speech and he's on, you know, CTV and right
before everybody's eyes, he's eaten with worms and dies. That
would be quite amazing, wouldn't it? I would think we'd all be
like, wow, that's a Herod-like moment. I guess you shouldn't
exalt yourself as if you're a God. You shouldn't exalt yourself
as if you own the world and everything in it. I guess you shouldn't
be a rival God to the living and the true God. Notice in chapter
14, chapter 14, verse 19, then Jews from Antioch and Iconium
came there. and having persuaded the multitudes,
they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing
him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered
around him, he rose up and went into the city, and the next day
he departed with Barnabas to Derbe." You've heard about man's
sick, right? Man gets a cold, a sniffle, and
he has to lay on the couch while his wife brings him you know,
saltine crackers and 7-Up. That was what it was for my...
When I was a kid, my mommy would bring me 7-Up and saltine crackers,
seemed to heal every malady, every woe. You know, man-sick.
I mean, women give birth. We get a sniffle and it just
ruins our day, ruins our week. You have to get what's happening
in the passage. Jews from Antioch and Iconium
came there. Now, Pisidian Antioch was about
80 miles from Iconium. Iconium was about 18 miles from
Lystra. So the god-haters traveled long
and far to get Paul. They traveled long and far to
get Paul. Well, why is that? Is he a criminal? Is he an axe
murderer? No, he's a preacher of the truth. Then they stone
Paul and they drag him out of the city, supposing him to be
dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose
up and went into the city. And the next day he departed
with Barnabas to Derbe. That's not man's sake. He's not
like, give me 7-Up and soda crackers. Derbe was 60 miles from Lystra. He's stoned to the point where
they actually think that he's dead, and yet the next day he
makes a 60-mile trek in order to preach the gospel. Boy, I
wonder what part of his experience he's going to include in this
gospel presentation. Of course he's going to preach
the righteousness of Christ. He's going to preach justification
by faith. He's going to preach forgiveness
of sins. He's going to preach the imputation of Christ's righteousness
received by faith alone. He's going to preach that cross.
But he's also going to preach the effects of those or on those
who embrace the cross. In other words, just because
you're a believer in Jesus doesn't mean you're going to live a life
of pain-free happiness. Again, might blast some bubbles
here, but that's my job. Now notice his text. Notice his
message. Verse 21. When they had preached
the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned
to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the
disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying,
We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. Nobody has to say, what are you
talking about, Paul? What do you mean by that, Paul?
What's your point, Paul? Galatians 6, he says, let no
one trouble me. I bear in my body the brand marks
of Jesus. He wasn't tatted up. He didn't
have 1689 all over him. That's not the point. His back
had been opened up. Isaiah 53 speaks of the suffering
of the Savior, and it says, by his stripes, we are healed. Paul
gives a litany of his pain and torment at the hands of not only
civil tyrants, but ecclesiastical tyrants in terms of the unbelieving
Jews. You can turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Specifically, verse 22. I've told you before that in
2 Corinthians, the apostle is engaged in apologetics. Well,
he's not defending the Christian faith per se, he's defending
his own ministry. And he's defending his own ministry
because he knows that if his ministry or his character is
called into question, then that will shipwreck the faith of those
who have believed his message. So Paul, in another place, says,
I don't care if men have envy toward me. I don't care if men
don't like me. Philippians 1. Insofar as Christ
is being preached, I rejoice. It's not that Paul was about
Paul. Paul was about Paul to the degree that if you didn't
listen to Paul, you would go to hell because of rejecting
the gospel of Jesus Christ. So much of 2 Corinthians is a
defense of his apostolic ministry. Because these fake apostles,
these supercharged men came to the church and said, oh, he's
only in it for the money. He's only in it for his own renown.
He's only in it for his own prestige. He doesn't really have a dog
in this fight. It's all about him. So that's
why he defends himself. And contrary to the super apostles,
contrary to the alpha male that always has everything go perfectly
for him, Paul says, I've suffered. I've been hurt. I've been beaten. I've been abused. I've been tormented. I'm not doing this for money. I'm not doing this for prestige. There's certainly gotta be a
better way to make a living, certainly better way to get prestige than
to be beaten within inches of your life on several occasions. So that's kind of the context
in which he says what he says, beginning in verse 22. Are they
Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I.
Are they in the seat of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of
Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more. In labors, more abundant. In stripes, above measure. In
prisons, more frequently. In deaths, often. From the Jews,
five times I receive. Forty stripes, minus one. Three
times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been
in the deep. In journeys often. In perils of waters. In perils
of robbers. In perils of my own countrymen. In perils of the
Gentiles. In perils in the city. In perils in the wilderness.
In perils in the sea. In perils among false brethren.
In weariness and toil. In sleeplessness often. In hunger
and thirst. In fastings often. In cold and
nakedness. Besides the other things, what
comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches.
Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble and I
do not burn with indignation? You see the point there? I'm
not in this for money. I'm not in this for prestige.
I'm not in this because I have some sick twisted fascination
with exalting myself. I'm in this for the cause of
God and truth. And in a world that hates God
and hates truth, those purveyors of it will oftentimes meet with
great enmity, with great oppression, and with great persecution. And
that's the particular lesson he teaches Timothy in 2 Timothy
chapter 3. He commends Timothy that Timothy
had carefully followed his example, his example of being persecuted,
his example of having been in prison, his example of suffering
for the cause of God and truth. And then he draws this principle
out in 2 Timothy 3.12. He says, all who desire to live
godly in Christ Jesus will what? Will suffer persecution. It's an inevitability. Genesis
3.15 teaches that the history of mankind will be marked by
an antithesis. The children of the devil will
hate the children of God. The children of God will try,
by God's grace, to preach to those children of the devil,
to see them plundered from that kingdom by the power of the Christian
message. But when they are not plundered,
when they dig in their heels, more often than not, they are
persecutors of the church. And consider, not the irony,
but the contrast in terms of Paul. How did he start on the
pages of Holy Scripture? Was he leading Sunday school?
Was he doing, you know, tent meetings? He was persecuting
the Church of Jesus Christ. In fact, that's what Jesus says
to him, or to Ananias. I will show him how many things
he must suffer for my name's sake. So the apostle was at one
time the persecutor, but now as he sided with God and his
grace, he is the persecuted. And he writes a lot about that
so that we'll understand the nature of Christian faith. One
other passage, and then we'll return to Hebrews 13. 1 Peter
4, which incidentally outlines a strategy for how to deal with
trial. Imagine that, an inspired apostle
writing an epistle to the people of God actually includes a strategy
on how to suffer. Again, they're reflecting on
the Savior's words in Matthew 5. Blessed are you when men revile
you. Blessed are you when men persecute
you. Blessed are you when you take
a stand for righteousness, when you take a stand for Jesus Christ.
Blessed are you. Rejoice in that. So it's no strange
thing that Peter would include this strategy. Notice in verse
12 of chapter 4. Beloved, do not think it strange
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some
strange thing happened to you. See Peter's logic? It's not strange
to suffer. It's not strange to be persecuted.
It's not strange, as one who stands for God and truth, to
suffer under the hands of godless men. You need to expect it. That
doesn't mean go out and court it. It doesn't mean, hey everybody,
I'm a Christian, spit on me and beat me and hurt me, because
then I'll rejoice. That's not it. We're not masochists. We're not told to be unreasonable
or unrational. But for Peter, there's an expectation
built in to the Christian life that means suffering, that means
trial, that means hardship. Notice he says we should exalt
in it and not exalt. Exalt with an A means to exalt
or lift up high. Exalt with a U, E-X-U-L-T means
to rejoice. He says, rejoice to the extent
that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory
is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you
are reproached for the aim of Christ, blessed are you, for
the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part
He is blasphemed, but on your part, He's glorified. Again,
that's Matthew 5. That's the beatitude. He's imitating
the Savior. He said, rejoice, be blessed,
and count yourself as one of God's saints. Then he says, we're
to evaluate the cause for our suffering. Notice in verse 15.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer,
or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify
God in this matter. See, Christians do this, I'm
persecuted for the faith. No, you might be persecuted because
you have a big mouth. You might be persecuted because
you're a busybody. You might be persecuted because
you're a gossip. You might be persecuted because you're a murderer.
You might be persecuted because you're a thief. You see what
Peter's saying? Just because you're in a jail cell doesn't
mean that that's because of Christ. Don't say, woe is me, I'm in
jail because of my commitment to Jesus. What about that $300,000
you embezzled from your business? Oh, well, you know, it's about
Jesus. No, Peter says evaluate its cause. If you're a busybody and that
offends people, don't claim Jesus' victory. Don't say, well, it's
because I'm a believer. No, Paul wasn't in jail. Paul
didn't have his back opened up because he was a busybody or
he was a thief or he was a threat to the empire. He was a preacher
of the truth as it is in Jesus. And then notice, he says, entrust
your soul to the faithful creator. Verse 17, for the time has come
for judgment to begin at the house of God. And if it begins
with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey
the gospel of God? Now, if the righteous one is
scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?
Now notice, therefore let those who suffer, look at this next
phrase, according to the will of God. Why am I suffering? It's according to the will of
God. Tough pill, brethren, but it's one we need to internalize.
It's one we need to ingest. It's one we need to swallow.
We're not islands unto ourself. If we end up in jail, that's
not reflective of the fact or the thought that God's off the
throne. No, he says you suffer according to the will of God.
So therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God,
notice, commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful
creator. So going back to Hebrews 13,
specifically at verse 3, remember the prisoners, those who are
mistreated. They're the people of God that
are hated by the godless. They're the people of God that
are mistreated by the godless. That doesn't mean if your friend
gets thrown into jail for murder or for theft, you don't pray
for him. Sure you do. You remember him
and you pray for him. But that's not the point in this
particular passage. The people of God were suffering
under the hands of the Godless, and so the Apostle says, you
need to remember them. They're actually in chains. They're
actually being mistreated. And then finally, in terms of
exposition, the reason we are to remember. Notice how he links
us with them in verse 3. Remember the prisoners as if
chained with them. See, we forget them, or I shouldn't
indict you, I forget them from time to time. I don't think it
would be possible to forget them if I was in the cell with them
and I was chained to them. If I couldn't, you know, scratch
my forehead without coordinating with this fellow, I wouldn't
forget him. There's no way, right? The point
or what he says here underscores the gravity of the command. Remember them as if chained with
them. It's not hit and miss, it's not
spotty. Oh, this was the international
day of prayer for the persecuted church. I'm glad we prayed for
them this morning and then we forget them till next year. And
again, take the analogy, Sanctity of Life Sunday. Do we just preach
sermons or just think about abortion or just, you know, remember to
pray on that one day? No, that highlights it, it underscores
it, it bolds it, it calls us to further reflection upon it.
But if we were chained with, you know, these people that are
suffering in a prison cell, we wouldn't forget them. There's
no way you could forget that. If you were eating together,
you were sleeping together, you were living together, you would
not forget that. That's the argument from the
Apostle Paul. It underscores the gravity of
the command. Remember those prisoners as if
chained with them, as if you yourselves are in that prison
cell. And he even goes on to underscore
the solidarity of the church. Remember the prisoners as if
chained with them, those who are mistreated. Notice, since
you yourselves are in the body also. Now this could probably
be interpreted one of two ways. You're in the body. You know
what it would be like to be deprived. You know what it would be like
to be in a cold cell. You know what it would be like to not
have three hots and a cot. You would know what it would
be like because you're a bodily physical existence, have that
bodily physical existence. You know what deprivation is?
You miss a meal and, wow, I can't believe it, I'm so hungry. You're
in the body. You know what it's like to suffer.
You know what it's like to hurt. You know what it's like to be
harmed. But I'm not sure that's what he's talking about. I think
he's underscoring the solidarity of the body of Jesus Christ.
Remember the prisoners as if chained with them because you're
in that self-same body. In other words, the local church
gets attention in the context of, you know, Matthew and the
Word of God. We need to be local church-minded.
But that's not to the neglect of the universal church and the
reality that outside of our four walls there are people deprived. There are people in prison. There
are people waiting death sentences. There are people that are suffering. And we are in that body with
them. There's two passages that I think
corroborate this particular interpretation. Romans 12, 6, 12, 15. The apostle
says, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who
weep. Certainly we ought to be weeping
with those who weep as they're facing the executioner's sword
for the cause of Jesus Christ and his gospel. And then in 1
Corinthians 12, 26, and if one member suffers, all the members
suffer with it. Or if one member is honored,
all the members rejoice with it. So you see, the argument
in terms of the particular command to remember the prisoners, those
who are mistreated, it's twofold. And it stresses, first, the constancy
necessary to remember them, as if chained with them. If I was
chained with them, I wouldn't ever forget them. It's an impossibility. We just couldn't do that. You
know, sometimes wives, you think your husbands are ignoring you.
They might be. I hate to give you some bad news
here, but they just might be. Hard to ignore somebody you're
handcuffed to, right? That's a real practical sort
of illustration. But then the solidarity of God's
people, since you all, you yourselves are in the body also. You're
part of the church. Your particular part right now
gets great liberty. You didn't have to pass checkpoint
Charlie and, you know, show your papers in order to get in. You
didn't have to recite, you know, what is the chief end of man
in order to get it. We have that, that blessed liberty
that God has given us to freely convene, to freely meet. Brethren
in our body don't have that elsewhere. And so what does Paul say? Well,
you know, count yourself blessed, count yourself fortunate, forget
all about that. No, remember them too. Remember
those people, remember those who are suffering and remember
in a way that you can try and alleviate it. If it means seeking
grace for them at the throne of grace, praise God. Sometimes
people say, well, I really can't do a lot. So they do nothing.
I can't get on a plane and go to China and take, you know,
baskets of food to the persecuted Christians. But you can pray,
can't you? You don't even have to get on
a plane for that. You don't have to go to China for that. You
don't have to give out food for that. You don't have to do anything
like that. I mean, it would be great. Those
of you who have lots of money and lots of ability and lots
of time, absolutely positively do that sort of thing. But for
the rest of the slobs that can't do that or afford it, we should
at least be praying for them. I hope under God this church
will never relinquish that emphasis in terms of the persecuted church.
This is a commanded activity from the master himself who said
that in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer
for I have overcome the world. For those not presently tribulated,
for those presently not afflicted, for those presently not tried
to forget about those that are, It's really a betrayal of the
master's calling upon us in terms of remembering them to do something
for them. And I think as well, when we
imbibe the command, remember the prisoners as if chained with
them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the
body also, we need to understand, we need to identify with the
reality involved. We've often mentioned that Leah
in Kenya, right? Leah is in Kenya, so the Fulani
and herdsmen Boko Haram that took Leah, they took all those
girls and they ended up releasing a bunch of those girls except
for Leah. Why didn't they release Leah? Because Leah professed
faith in Christ and won't recant. 18-year-old girl now with two
babies from a Muslim man. She wouldn't recant. She wouldn't
say, no, I'm not a Christian. She wouldn't let go, like all
those other prisoner girls. You just, you know, say you're
not a Christian. We'll let you go. Isn't that
amazing? And yet she's there. We don't
always think about her. I think the text calls us to
think about her, to pray for her. to seek God that she might
get some of this suffering alleviated. I think what it does is that
it calls the members of the church to be concerned with the church
as a whole. I love our church. I do. I love
you. I love the fact that we love
each other. But I also love the fact that
we're part, a small part of a much bigger whole. Every tribe, every
tongue, every people, every nation, okay? Not just us in Chilliwack
in the 21st century. We need to be concerned with
the bigger kingdom of God Most High. We need to be concerned
with the church of Christ throughout the earth. And I'm not making
this up. I already cited the petition
in the Lord's Prayer. Pray that God's will be done
where? In our little church. God, just may that will be done
in our little church, amongst our little flock, amongst our
little people. Let's just do the will of God.
No, on earth as it is in heaven. See, this is where we rail against
the social justice warriors. I rail against them because they're
Marxists. They're commies. They've just
got the wrong thought concerning social justice. But in terms
of abortion, and euthanasia, and the larger concerns affecting
the kingdom of God, we pray that God's will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. That means something, I think.
There's not all that in heaven, and if God says, pray this way,
or Christ says, pray this way, then it behooves us to pray that
way. Not to say, well, it'll never
happen, so we're not going to bother. Our Lord taught us to
pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And so this hopefully will promote in us more of a global perspective. Again, we're very parochial,
very much consumed with the right now and the right here. There
are many passages of scripture that call us to get our eyes
off of self, off of immediacy, and outward. Isaiah 62.7, I love
this passage. It says, and give him no rest.
The text means give God no rest. Well, Pastor Benton, you preach
the doctrine of impassibility. God doesn't rest. He can't rest.
He's pure act. It's metaphor, brethren. It's
metaphor. Give him no rest till he makes
Jerusalem a praise in all the earth. That's not geopolitical
Jerusalem. That's the church. That's the
people of God. Give him no rest. What does that
mean? Pray once a year? Pray once a
week? Pray once a month for concerns
outside of our local body? No, give him no rest. Give him
no rest until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Isaiah
63 and 64. The prophet says, rend the heavens
and come down. Why? Because everything's a mess. We need God. Do we pray that? Everything's a mess, brethren.
I was about to say out there. It's a mess in here too. This
last little while has been hard for everybody. All of us have
tension. All of us have trial. All of
us have hardship. All of us have suffering. All
of us have affliction. I think at times, you know, if
we had a prayer meeting, and I'm not saying if we were honest
as if we're not honest, but if the call went out, hey brethren,
does anybody have anything to pray for? Yeah, I'm a mess. I
sometimes don't even want to get out of bed. I feel crippled
by what's happening in the world. I've got this issue with my child. I've got this issue in my family.
I've got this thing heavy upon me. Our prayer meetings would
breathe a different sort of sigh of relief at that point. You
mean I'm not the only one that's a mess? I'm surrounded by other
people that have mess too? Yeah, we're all a mess. And this
is what Isaiah says, ran to heaven and come down. Who fixes messes? Not us. Whenever I try to fix
a mess, it gets messier. I don't know what that is. You
know, if I tried to take apart a car engine, it would probably
not turn out well. I would have a bunch of parts
sitting on the ground and probably calling somebody, hey, can you
come over here and help me sort this out? God is in the business
of fixing messes. That's why the prophet says,
rend the heavens and come down. Ezekiel 9. Ezekiel 9, one of
the most terrifying passages in the Bible. If you ever ask
me, what is your most scary passage in the Bible? I think I'll usually
say Ezekiel chapter 9. If you're not familiar with the
passage, it's a vision. And the prophet sees six men
with battle weapons, six men with slaughtering weapons, and
then another man with a rider's ankhorn. Kind of an interesting
thing. You got six guys jacked and ready
to go with their battle axes and ready to put the heave-ho
on everybody that gets in their way. Well, who's the guy with
the writer's ink pen? Well, who's the guy in the linen?
Well, God interprets the vision for Ezekiel. The man with the
writer's inkhorn is to go around the city of Jerusalem and mark
the foreheads. It doesn't mean across, that's
not the point. Mark the foreheads of those who
sigh and cry over the abominations in Jerusalem. And then the six
men with battle weapons, guess what their job is? Go destroy
everybody that doesn't have a mark on their head. It gets scarier
because he says, begin at my sanctuary. What do you think
happens? Do you think it's, oh, there's,
you know, one or two that got slaughtered? No. Oh, no, no,
no, no. The bulk got slaughtered. What's
the point? In Ezekiel's day, there was no
regard for sanctuary. There's no regard for Jerusalem.
There's no regard for people of God. And God doesn't say,
well, you know, that's okay. You're busy. You've got your
own things going on. You know, you've got burning
the candle at both ends. You can't really be expected
to think about, to sigh about, or cry about anybody else's issues
except yourself. Read Ezekiel 9 this afternoon,
brethren, after soup. Maybe that'll sober us up to
the grim reality that we need to be those who sigh and cry
over the abominations in the land. Ezekiel 2230, so I sought
for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the
gap before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy,
but I found no one. No one in the covenant people
was going to stand in the gap and intercede on behalf of the
covenant people. Brethren, intercessory prayer
ought to be something that we just do. It ought to be something
that just exudes from us. I'll pray for you. Yes, take
that ethic, that ethos, take that pattern and pray for those
that you don't even know. Why? because you're one in the
body with them, and remember them as if you're chained with
them, and sigh and cry over the abominations in the land. In
conclusion, I wanna get through this, because I don't wanna not
get through it. I preached this passage last International Day,
a prayer for the persecuted church, and I don't think I finished,
and I wanna finish. The examples of those who suffered,
Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11. So go back two chapters,
Hebrews chapter 11. We like triumphant saints. We
like victory. We like when our guy wins. No,
not me, Pat. Of course we do. We want our
guys to win every single time. You don't join a race or battle
to lose. You join to win. That's the point.
So we like the victory stories. We like the winners. And certainly
the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 holds out to us a lot of winners,
a lot of people that by faith did this, by faith did that,
by faith did this. But it didn't always work out. Notice in verse 33, who through
faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,
escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness remained strong,
became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Women received their dead, raised to life again. There's your winners! There's your victors. And they
did that not because they were savvy or strong or better than
the average bear, but because they had faith in the living
and true God. But see, the passage doesn't
stop there. It's not just triumphant saints that mark the Hall of
Faith. but it's suffering saints that
marked the Hall of Faith as well. Others were tortured, not accepting
deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains
and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn
in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these,
having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive
the promise, God having provided something better for us, that
they should not be made perfect apart from us." You see the point? You look at the history of the
church, it's not all just triumph. It's not all just victory. It
is, because even in suffering and in death and in martyrdom,
there's victory, because Christ never loses. But in terms of
the earthly people of God, there's hardship, brethren. There's lias. And we're being told by the Apostle,
under inspiration by the Spirit as he puts pen to paper, to remember
her. To remember them, to pray for
them, to think about them. Getting eyes off of self is always
a good idea. And this is a wonderful means
by which we can do this. The practical benefits of remembering
those who suffer. I've got several things here.
First, remember the prisoners because they're easily forgotten.
Like I said before, out of sight, out of mind. The abortion situation,
they're easily forgotten. If you're not going to abortion
clinics, you're not protesting at abortion clinics, you're not
paying for abortions, then you don't really think about it.
I mean, it's a grisly subject. Who likes to think about abortion?
It's horrific. But it falls into that category
of out of sight, out of mind. When something's out of sight,
it's out of mind. It just is. Same with the prisoners. Secondly,
remember the prisoners because Jesus commends such activity.
In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25, verses 36 and 40, I was naked
and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
I was in prison and you came to me. Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren,
you did it to me. I was in prison and you visited
me. Again, you can't get on a plane
and fly to China, but you can write a letter to some prisoner
that you know of there. I mean, hope and pray that it
gets there. I remember we did that. Somebody
mentioned earlier that we need to do stuff we used to do. That's
something we used to do. We'd write letters to civil government,
to magistrate. Always felt weird writing to
the chairman of the commie party in China. I mean, yeah, he's
gonna get my letter and go, oh yeah, Jim, you're right. We're
gonna free all these prisoners. Well, you know, it was one smooth
stone that fell David. Why? Because God, right? God is God. And I'm not suggesting
every letter you write is going to take out a commie dictator,
but it's certainly not going to happen if you never write
the letter. If you don't employ the one smooth stone, you're
not gonna fell Goliath to the ground. Remember the prisoners
to pray for them. Remember the prisoners to give
tangible aid to them. Remember the prisoners to visit
them. Remember the prisoners to demonstrate
Christian compassion. By this, all men will know that
you are my disciples if you have love for one another. But it's
not just the one another within the context of the local church,
but it also extends to the rest of the body. That is a demonstration
of compassion with reference to our body. Remember the prisoners
to help them to persevere. Right? Again, if I was sitting
in a prison cell and you wrote to me, I'd be great. I'd be happy. Wow, they remembered me. That's
great. I mean, they probably get letters
from wives and kids and family and all that sort of thing, but,
you know, some rando in Canada, hey, we're praying for you at
our Wednesday morning or Wednesday night prayer meeting. I'd like
that. I think you would too. Remember the prisoners to pray
for their persecutors. Pray for the persecutors. Pray
for the commie government in China. That, God willing, they'd
be converted. I mean, that would be awesome,
right? We have an example in Acts 9. The apostle Paul was
breathing threats about the church. He had extradition papers in
his hands. He was going to Damascus, again,
not to teach a Bible study. He was going to seize men and
women, and he was going to bring them back to Jerusalem so that
they would be further punished. So he was the chief persecutor
of the church at that time, and what happens? Jesus meets him
on the road to Damascus in answer to someone's prayer. Whose prayer? Stephen. We're gonna see Stephen
tonight. Lord, do not charge them with
this sin. Wow, he just threw that up there,
didn't he? God heard it and God saved the
man that was guarding the garments of those who were executing Stephen.
Brethren, we have example in scripture of God doing these
very things. Pray that they'd be saved or
pray that they would be stopped. It's not good for them to bash
heads in of Christian people simply because they're Christian
people. The people of God are to have
an attitude of righteousness and justice. That is to image
God. It is to long for God's will
to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Remember the prisoners
to express the love that is ultimately the identifying mark of the believer,
and remember the prisoners ultimately, finally, to get our eyes off
of self. A.W. Pink made this observation.
Most reprehensible and unchrist-like is that selfish callousness which
says, I have enough troubles of my own without concerning
myself over those of other people. Putting it on its lowest ground,
such a spirit ministers no relief. The most effectual method of
getting away from our own sorrows is to seek out and relieve others
in distress. Wow, that's amazing. No, you
know this. We all know this. Every one of
us could have written this list at some level in our Christian
consciousness. We know that Hebrews 13, three
is in the Bible, and we know that we should remember them
more. Again, I don't want to harangue, I don't want to lecture,
I don't want to be your mother today. I want to simply encourage
you to think in light of Hebrews chapter 13, verse three, and
remember the prisoners. And I want to end on this happy
note, this very happy note. Remember Acts 5? We just read
it 20 minutes ago. What happened when they were
whipped? What happened when their backs were opened up? What happened
when the Sanhedrin meted out to them stripes? They went rejoicing
because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
Here's the take-home message. If you're not a believer, I want
to encourage you. Christ is worth suffering for. This brief survey of Scripture
showing that the people of God oftentimes have trials and have
hardships, and have suffering, and have affliction, and can
be persecuted, and can go to jail, and can have, you know,
a myriad of horrible things happen to them. Read Foxe's Book of
Martyrs sometime. Read books about martyrdom. I mean, brethren, there's little
kids here. I'm not going to get too detailed
or graphic on how the Christian people have been treated in history. But all of them would testify,
if I had to do it over again, I'd do it over again. Why? Because Christ is altogether
lovely and chief among 10,000. He's worth suffering for. You're gonna see it tonight with
Peter, or Stephen. He's filled with the Holy Spirit.
He gazes into heaven and he sees the glory of God and Jesus Christ
standing at his right hand. Do you understand that? He's
being pelted with stones. He's within inches of his death.
He is going to die. And yet God floods him with this
vision of the glory to come. That's our God, beloved. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent from your sins and you'll
have everlasting life. And if called upon to suffer,
if called upon to be afflicted, to be persecuted or oppressed,
it'll be a badge. You get to rejoice. You get to
count yourself blessed for having suffered for the cause of Jesus
Christ, the Lord. Well, let us pray. Our Father
in heaven, we thank you for our blessed savior. We thank you
for the reality that he is worth suffering for. And I praise you
that we are enjoying liberty at this present time. but I pray
that you would help us to be thinking in a global mindset,
to be thinking of brothers and sisters throughout the world.
We do pray for Myanmar and we do pray for China. We pray God
for the Middle East and the antipathy of the Muslim religion against
the people of Christ. We ask God that you would bless
your church, bless your saints and grant them grace and health
and strength to persevere in the midst of such hardship and
help us as the people of God to rally around, to pray, not
just corporately, but privately and as families. And we ask this
through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. Well, you can take your
hymn book and turn to 564. 564, we'll stand as we sing praise
to our triune God. Oh And blessed be his foretaste
to all eternity. The whole earth let his glory
fill, a blessed soul let it live. The whole earth that is for me
will, Amen, solemnly be honored. Hebrews, I'm sorry, Numbers chapter
six, we have that benediction. Hopefully God makes it good to
us and to his suffering church as well. So the Lord bless you
and keep you. The Lord make his face shine
upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon you and give you peace. God may that be the experience
of each of your people in this present evil age. May you encourage
our hearts and strengthen us with might in the inner man.
And may you do likewise for those suffering for the cause of God
and truth. We know there are countless multitudes
that are under that kind of persecution, even as we meet. And we pray
that you would be gracious and merciful to them. Grant that
faith necessary to persevere in the midst of hardship and
affliction. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Well, please be seated for a brief time of meditation.
