The Way of Suffering

So if we misunderstand who Jesus really is, then it leads us to a crisis of living. I know this because I've talked to people so many times before, and I've heard statements around, they wanted to share with me about things that were going on in their life. And I would hear something like this, pastor, I know that this was the Lord because everything worked out perfectly. Well, listen, when those times happen, it is a blessing. It's happened with me. It's happened with you. And when that happens, it is a blessing. We wanna thank God for the grace of things working out like we hoped that they would work out. But what happens when they don't? When they don't work out. Then what? Because maybe tucked away in your head somewhere or maybe hidden in the recesses of your heart, is this idea of Jesus. That he's supposed to make every way smooth for you. That he's supposed to make everything work out perfectly all the time. And that maybe he's in the business of just making sure you're happy and never upset. Now, if I were to ask you, if that were the case you would say no. Because you're not stupid. Right? You would say, no, no, no. That's not what I believe, except for, when we actually get pushed to that place. When we get into circumstances that actually force a response, it's possible that what's going on in the back of our mind, in the back of our heart, is we're a little upset because Jesus isn't behaving, like we think that he should. That Jesus isn't acting like we think that he should. And so a crisis develops and it's really two fold because when we have some kind of suffering that happens in our life, it evokes a response. And sometimes that response causes a crisis for us. On the one hand, the crisis is this, is that we begin to think Jesus isn't who we thought he was. That's a struggle for us, right? Because we're thinking, man, the Jesus that I concocted in my head, is not actually the Jesus that I am meeting now, in this moment of suffering. But there's a flip side to that. It's not only the crisis of saying, Jesus is not who I thought he was, but then there's a secondary crisis. And it's this. Maybe Jesus is exactly what he is right now. And that scares us. In fact, I'm reading now for the second or third time, I can't remember, a book by C. S. Lewis called "A Grief Observed". I usually have a few different books going simultaneously but this is one of them. And I'm reading it for the second or third time. I can't remember. But, one of the insights that he has in there when he's watching his wife, remember C. S. Lewis got married late in life. He's married to a woman named joy. She has cancer and is dying. And he's watching it all play out. And he comes to a place of basically observing. It's called a grief observed. Observing what he's thinking and how he's thinking. And this insight was remarkable. He said, this, it's not that I am , in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about him. The conclusion I dread is not, so there's no God after all, but, so this is what God's really like. Deceive yourself no longer. You see, that's the crisis that we find ourselves in. It's one of two things, because many times what we understand about Jesus is not exactly who Jesus is, or maybe, when we read in the gospels, we think to ourselves, Jesus can't really be like that. Right? And then we find out he is exactly what he said he is. You see, our understanding of who Jesus is, and what he actually calls us to and how he calls us to live, and the way he calls us to walk, is crucial to our understanding. And by the way, it's crucial to Mark's gospel. You right now, are taking out your Bible and opening it to Mark's gospel. And you're going to go to chapter eight. If you don't have a hard copy if you're in this room or in the East Worship Center, you can find some that are around you, in the seat backs. I think we kept 'em in there. Maybe. If not you've got a device, and you can look it up on your phone or tablet or whatever you have. It's in Mark chapter eight. Now you might remember that last week, those of you that were here, and that had been tracking with us. I introduced the topic of what Mark was talking about in his gospel. When you open up the gospels, when you begin to read in the very beginning, you start to see what the framework is for the whole book. And Mark started by quoting from some Old Testament prophets about a way. And the reason that he's talking about this word way is because he's going use that term, in the gospel on a number of occasions. And he's not using it just as a throwaway line. You might read it and go, yeah, I would never even pay attention to that. Well, we are supposed to pay attention to it because at the very beginning of the book, Mark told us, this is what he's talking about. This is a theme for what he's talking about, the way ultimately, if we read the whole book, the way of the cross. That's what he's talking to us about. And so when we get to Mark chapter eight, we run into that theme about the way again. We see that key word, and what it's teaching us about the way of the cross. Here's what it says in Mark eight beginning in verse 27. Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea, Philippi. On the, say it with me. On the way. He didn't just use that as a throwaway. He's reminding us of something that he told us at the very beginning of the book. On the way he asked them, who do people say I am. They replied some, say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, one of the prophets. What about you, he asked. Who do you say I am? And Peter answered, you are the Messiah. And Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. Now this question is imperative. When Jesus says, who do you say that I am? This comes to, hey, do you understand who I really am? Do you have some kind of vision of what I'm supposed to be, that's maybe not consistent with reality? Or do you know me for who I really am? Who do you say that I am? And Peter answers, you are the Messiah. Guess what? He got it exactly right. Listen, he got it right, but he didn't understand. This happens to us all the time. We answer questions with the answer being Jesus. Blah, blah, blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Jesus. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. Jesus. Except for, we may not understand the Jesus that we're actually talking about. The real him. The real one. And Jesus hears Peter say, you're the Messiah. And he's right. But Jesus knows that Peter needs some clarification on who the Messiah is, and what the Messiah does. In fact, that's why he goes on to say this, in the next couple of verses that you can see in your text. Jesus then began to teach them that the son of man must, suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law. And that he must be killed, and after three days rise again. Listen to this, Peter answers correctly. You're the Messiah. When Jesus says, who do you say that I am? You're the Messiah. Well, you're right. Lemme tell you what the Messiah is going to do. He's going to suffer. And he's going to be crucified. That's what the Messiah is going to do. This is the way of the cross. This is what I am walking into. He's going to suffer. Peter did not like that answer. He did not have room, for a Messiah who was going to suffer. And so here's what Peter does. Next verse. Jesus spoke plainly about all this. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Would you like that on your earthly resume? Rebuker of the son of God. I don't want that on my resume, but Peter did it. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. Get behind me, Satan, he said. You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. Hear what Jesus is saying right here to Peter. I think this is important for us. Is that right here, he's talking about, Jesus is saying the way that I'm going to have to walk, is going to be the way of suffering, and ultimately the way of death. And Peter didn't like that at all, so he rebuked Jesus. Why? Because Peter doesn't have room for suffering, in his understanding of who Jesus is. He doesn't have room for that. Jesus is supposed to be the conqueror. Jesus is supposed to be the king, that's going to take over in a political way. He doesn't have room in his mind, for the suffering and the death that would ensue for the son of God. And so he tries to tell Jesus, hey, no, you're not. You can't talk like this. Jesus says, get behind me Satan, because you only have the things of human beings in mind. You do not have in mind the concerns of God. Now, when he says that, that's a stark reminder for us, because what Jesus does is not only tells this, but then he expands it by saying even broader things not just to his disciples, but to all the crowd that's gathered there. Listen to what Jesus says. Then he called the crowd to him, along with his disciples. And Jesus said, whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel, will save it. See, Jesus is now talking really straight. Peter doesn't have room for some of these things. He doesn't have categories for some of these things. And Jesus is trying to lay it on all of them, so they understand who he really is, and what he's really actually doing. And he uses some very potent phrases. When he begins to teach this entire crowd. Did you hear them? Listen to them again, in verse 34, whoever wants to be my disciple. Let's pause there for just a moment. You do realize this idea of disciple may not be what you think it is. You see, all of us are Western cultured people. And oftentimes people who grew up in church think that discipleship is going to a class, and gaining some information. Now, there is some context, to gaining some information, right? We do need information. There's no question about that. But that's kind of where our Western understanding stops. Why? Because our Western education system, is built on the Greek education system. And the Greek educational system, which was about the institution and the academy, is really about this. I want to know what you know. You're an expert, you're a professor, you're Socrates, you're Plato. I wanna come, and I wanna know what you know. I wanna grab basically, and I wanna squeeze, and I wanna get all the information from you that I can. That's kind of the Greek system. That's what we've kind of adopted in Western culture. But the Jewish system of being a disciple is different. Because where the Greek system is, I wanna know what you know, the Jewish system is, I wanna be what you are. That's what a disciple is. A disciple is someone who wants to say, I not only wanna know what you're telling me, but I want to become what you are. I want all of that, to infiltrate my life. And I want to go this direction. So what Jesus is saying is this. If you want to know me, if you want to be my disciple, if you want to live as I live, if you wanna walk as I walk, then what? Look at the next phrase. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves. Well, what in the world is Jesus talking about, their wealth. Keep it in the context of his conversation with Peter. When he has a conversation with Peter, Peter has no room for the idea of suffering, or the idea of who Jesus really supposed to be. But instead just has human concerns. Not the concerns of God. You see for us to deny ourselves, is to basically say this, that we are not going to live self-centered. we are not going to live self-determined. We are not going to live self-satisfyingly. But instead we're gonna make room, for the concerns of God in our life. That's what denying ourselves really looks like. It's not just being about our own human concerns and our own selfish nature. It's about making room for the concerns of God. Jesus says, if you wanna really know me, you've got to be able to push aside, being self-determined. Push aside, being self-interested. Push aside, being self-satisfied, and make room for the concerns of God. Then he says this statement. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Now, sometimes when we hear that phrase, take up your cross, we've made a caricature of that phrase in our culture, haven't we? Well, it's just my cross to bear. Daylight savings time. I lost an hour of sleep today. It's my cross to bear. That's not what Jesus is talking about. Yeah, my boss, he's kind of a pain in the neck. It's just my cross to bear. Not what Jesus was talking about. When Jesus says, take up your cross. Do you realize that he's functionally saying to people who live under the Roman empire, and the Romans had a form of torturous death by crucifixion. They perfected it. Where people would quite literally, be nailed to wood that was in the shape of a cross. And publicly, often naked would be hung there for everyone to see. Basically, do not mess with Rome. Do not break our laws. Do not rebel against our authority. Do not mess with us, or this is what you get. And Jesus said to all of those people that were there. Imagine how stark it would be to hear that. Take up your cross and follow me. It would be like saying in our culture, take up your electric chair and follow me. People will be like, what? You mean for us to actually bring with us an instrument of death, as we follow you, why? Because Jesus is saying, let me tell you where I'm headed. To a cross. That's where I'm going. That's the way of the cross. It's suffering and it's death. And if you want to be my disciple, if you want to know me, then you're going to have to stop it with all of your human concerns, and make room for the concerns of God, and walk with me, in the way of the cross. Jesus said, follow me because he's not just saying, hey, you go that way direction. He's saying, follow me. This is the direction I'm going. And if you wanna follow me. We wanna follow Jesus when it's easy. We wanna follow Jesus when we get blessed. We wanna follow Jesus when everything works out perfectly. We wanna follow Jesus when we like the songs we're singing. We wanna follow Jesus when everything's easy for us except for when he actually says follow me, and here's where I'm going. The way of the cross. And the way of the cross is the way of suffering. In our context, we may not really fully understand that but in places all over the world, they understand it in full. They realize what this looks like. You may have heard back in 2010 or so, because it was global news. There was a Pakistani Christian woman named Asia Bibi. You may have heard that name. She was actually convicted, on the charge of blasphemy, in the country of Pakistan which is 98.4% Muslim, 1.6% Christian. There are very few Christians there. She was said to have disrespected the Prophet Muhammad by her neighbors, which she contested by the way. But she made no bones about the fact that she was a follower of Jesus. She was a Christian. Well, they convicted her and they jailed her. And she was in jail from 2010 until she was finally freed in 2019. Under a death sentence the entire time. But it became global news. And everybody around the world was like, this is unjust. And she finally was released after nearly a decade in jail. Now you may know her name, but you may not know another name, Shahbaz Bhatti. Shahbaz Bhatti was the only Christian in the cabinet of the Pakistani government. The only one. He was shocked that he even had the opportunity to do it. He began to advocate for Asia Bibi. Back in 2010 and 2011. So much so that when he was advocating for her saying, she should not be put to death. This is wrong. He began to get death threats from the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, all over the place. And he knew that this might cost him his very life. And in fact, in March of 2011, 10 years ago, almost exactly, Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated in his car, right outside, near his house. Just gunned down. He knew it was coming. And so beforehand, he made a video. Because he wanted to talk about some things and his instructions were, that that video would be released, the day after he was killed. And that's exactly what happened. It's a longer video than what I'm going show you. He talked about a number of things happening in the country. But I want you to hear one part of it. From a man who had just been murdered, and now had the opportunity to speak to it. A Christian man in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti. Take a listen.

Interviewer: Minister Bhatti, we forgot one question in the interview. Your life is threatened by whom and what sort of threats are you receiving?

Shahbaz Bhatti: The forces of violence, militant band organizations, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. They want to impose their radical philosophy in Pakistan and whoever stand against their radical philosophy they'll threatened them. When I'm leading this campaign against the Sharia laws for the abolishment of blasphemy law and speaking for the oppressed and marginalized persecuted Christian and other minority, these Taliban threatened me. But I want to share, that I believe in Jesus Christ, who has given his own life for us. I know what is the meaning of cross and I'm following of the cross.

Jerry Gillis: I know what is the meaning of the cross. And I'm following the cross. This is a man who understood who Jesus was and what Jesus said. And what Jesus asked. He had no grand illusion that he had created in his mind. He believed who Jesus was, in terms of who he said he was. And he followed him, even to his own death. That is remarkable. But what's so significant, is that you're hearing from a man who in the midst of his suffering knew Jesus more deeply. That's the point of what I believe that we need to see here. Maybe to summarize you could jot this down. The way of suffering, invites us to truly know Jesus and to be made like him. That's what the way of suffering actually does. It's an invitation for us to be able to know Jesus, for who he really is, and to be made like him. Now, we see this actually play out, not only in the teaching of Jesus in Mark chapter eight. We see that from that passage of scripture where Jesus teaches us what it's like. But we see it in interactions that Jesus has, with other people, some of which who are suffering. And with some of the thoughts that I had about what I was thinking about. I also borrowed some thoughts from Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin, who was really insightful on some of this. And so kind of, some of her thoughts and my thoughts are being meshed together here so that you know. But in John chapter 11, we are coming to a place where Martha and Mary who are very close with Jesus, along with their brother Lazarus. Martha and Mary have a really sick brother, Lazarus. And they send word to Jesus. You remember the story? They send word to Jesus who's a long way's off to basically say, your friend, our brother Lazarus is really, really sick. And do you know what Jesus' response was? It was interesting to say the least. Look at it. John wants to know, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, right? He loved them. So, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. And then he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judea. Is that what you were expecting? Is that what you expect from somebody? One of your best friends in the whole world, you just find out that they're super sick. Like it's really serious. He loved them so much, that he decided to stay where he was for two more. He did not rush to their side. What? Why? Why in the world would Jesus do something along this line? He stayed where he was, and then he said, well, let's go to Judea. And by the time he stayed where he was for a couple days, then made the long trek to get to where he was going. Lazarus had been dead. He was dead. Had been for days. Listen to what it says. On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now, Bethany, which is where they lived, which is right next to Jerusalem, on the other side of the Mount of Olives. Now, Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem. And many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask. And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. And Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied. I believe that you're the Messiah, the son of God, who is to come into the world. Isn't it interesting, that she answered the same way that Peter did. You're the Messiah. But she needed to understand what that meant and who he was, in a way that she had not previously understood. And do you know what Jesus does in this conversation with Martha? Listen to this. He will not allow for his life and his personhood, to only be a means to an end. If you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Jesus said, I'm not letting this conversation just being about me. Being a means to an end. I am the end. I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus won't allow us to use him as a means to an end, because he is the end. He is the resurrection and the life. You see, this is something we need to understand about Jesus, is that Jesus, actually allowed, his friends to suffer, so that they would know him more intimately. That may not be the Jesus you've concocted in your head. But I'm glad to introduce you to the real one. He allowed them to suffer for a time, so that they would know him more deeply.
Now, did the suffering matter to Jesus? Of course it does. Because if we were to read that story a little bit longer, you know what we find out Jesus does? He weeps. He cries. His friend is dead. He's seeing the pain. He sees it all. He enters into that with all of them. This is not something that's immaterial to him. Suffering matters to Jesus. Listen. But it matters to him the same way, a first meeting matters to a wedding, or to a marriage. Or the way a birth matters to motherhood. It's an entry point into relationship. That's what suffering is. It's an entry point, an introduction into a deeper, more beautiful, more rich understanding. It's wonderful, when Edie and I met, when we were in sixth grade. Me looking all fly. Her this little skinny runner, right? It was cool. We met. We locked eyes as sixth graders. And in my head I was going one day, baby. I wasn't. And she wasn't for sure either. That was just a meeting. We've been married for around 28 years now. And it's better. It's more beautiful. It's richer. That was an introductory point. But that wasn't the whole thing. That was to move us to something even greater, something even better. When you gave birth to that child, that moment was precious, mom. That moment was precious, dad. But aren't you thankful, for the life that you're getting to see? For the relationship that you're getting to have. It was an introductory point. It wasn't the end in itself. You see, because what suffering does, is it pushes us into the actual way of living. It pushes us into Jesus. And Jesus said, I am the way. And when he says, follow me in the way of the cross, he's saying, follow me into life, because ultimately, listen, what's imperative is, is if we're trying to save our own lives, we lose them. He said in Mark eight. But when we lose them for him, and for the gospel, we find it. Suffering pushes us into Jesus. Paul knew this, by the way, the apostle. He knew it full well from his very life. That's why when he was writing in Philippians, he said this in chapter one. Notice these words. For it has been granted to you, on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. It's been granted to you. Here is a gift. You get to suffer for Jesus. It's a gift to you. Why is that a gift? Paul, a few chapters later in Philippians chapter three says this. I want to know Christ. Yes, to know the power of his resurrection. Listen, and participation or fellowship in his sufferings. Becoming like him in his death, and so somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. And then listen to what he says in verse 15, all of us then who are mature, should take such a view of things. All of us who are mature, should recognize that, in knowing Jesus, we are going to have to fellowship with him in his sufferings. That shouldn't be a shock to us, Jesus said it. If you wanna be my disciple, if you wanna know me, if you wanna live like me, you're gonna have to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me. And the way of the cross is the way of suffering. This shouldn't be a surprise to us. This detonates some of the ways in which we've created Jesus in our image. And it should, because we need it to know the true Jesus. And all of us who are mature, will think like this. Now, here's what happens. When we face suffering. When we face trial, we stop being the mature ones. We stop being the parents. We become the children. We want it fixed now. We want it solved right now. But every parent knows something that kids don't know. Every parent allows for their child to suffer temporarily, in order to allow for a better future outcome. Every parent knows it. I've told you the story. My oldest son, he was nine years old. He's pitching for the first time. He's doing terrible. Very first time he's ever out there throwing to real kids. He's doing awful. He's crying. He snotting himself. I'm dad and I'm coach at the same time. And the other coaches like, you gotta go get him. He's been out there for like 20 hours. Everybody's looking at him. They feel bad for him. It's terrible. It's awful. It's rotten. And I said, nope. He's got two more outs to get. The guy's looking at me like, aren't you a pastor? Like, yeah, I'm a pastor. Every single parent in both stands is probably going, boo. Who is that guy's dad? I am. Go get him. No, he's got two more outs to get. He's crying and snotting himself. Yup. He needs to wipe that off if he wants to see the strike zone. He's gonna have to get two more outs. I did walk out there and talk to him. Hey buddy, just two more outs to get. I thought you were coming to take me out. He's trying to hand me the ball, I'm like, no man, you're out here until Jesus comes. You need to get those things done. Like two more outs. The reason is, there was only one way for him to learn how to be a pitcher. One way. He had to just deal with all of that. That was it. But yesterday, pitching college baseball, lit up the other team. My lefty was out there dealing. Why? Because I allowed some temporary suffering to get him to a better destination. Every parent knows this. When you hold that child, that newborn, reasonably newborn. And you're holding them in your arms, mom or dad. And this doctor is putting a shot in their arm, or their rear. And they're screaming, bloody murderer, looking at you as if you are the betrayer. Because you're trying to make sure, that a disease down here, doesn't have access to them. Or when that teenager, gets adolescent cancer. And you allow for their body, to be wracked with poison. Where they lose their hair, and lose their strength, and lose their energy, because you are allowing this temporary suffering to hopefully give them a future. You understand? The mature think like that. But we run to be kids. Don't we? When suffering comes, when heartache comes, we keep listening to that voice in the back of our head, Jesus is supposed to make all my path smooth. Jesus is supposed to make me happy. Jesus is supposed to not upset me. That version of Jesus. We need to detonate. That's not him. He's got something better in mind. Why do we turn into children in those moments? Here's why. We forget where we are in the story. We just lose track. We lose sight of where we are in the story. I'm a big fan of "The Lord of the Rings", big fan of Tolkin. And when he wrote "Lord of the Rings", Samwise Gamgee and Frodo, main characters, are trying to deliver the ring of power to Mordor and get all this thing, so that the bad guys lose, and the good guys win. It's just this beautiful story of good and bad. And they're at this really particular low point, right? Trying to get up Mordor. And they're just basically like it can't, they're just ready to die. And Sam starts telling Frodo, I wonder if kids will tell tales about us. About our adventures. And he starts pumping Frodo up, Mr. Frodo and all the great things that he's done and all of those things, but they're in a really low point. And Frodo ends up cutting him off. And he says this. We're going on a bit too fast. You and I, Sam are still stuck in the worst places of the story. And it's all too likely that some will say at this point, shut the book now, dad. We don't wanna read anymore. I wonder if somebody tapped you on the shoulder right now, and asked you where you were in your life. Some of you wouldn't be able to say too much except for you're in a low point. It's been hard. It's been a hard year, hasn't it? Maybe you don't know what chapter you're in. You've gotten lost. You don't even know where you are in the whole story. And it may make you wonder about Jesus. What's going on. He's not who I thought he was. Maybe. Or maybe, is this a part of who he is? And you're trying to figure all that out. Lemme make sure you understand something. If you misunderstand who Jesus is, and what says, you're gonna misunderstand the story of God. If you miss it with Jesus, you're gonna miss it with God. You see, because when we look at the story of God, if we've got turned upside down, What we do is we try and think with human concerns. We eliminate the idea of suffering because that's just not a part of what we should be experiencing. And we look at the story of God and say, man, it all began so great. Like, look at this garden, husband, wife, get to have kids, eat whatever they want, except for that tree. Right, we get all of this and we get to interface with God. And this is incredible. And then I read the end of the story. And it's a garden city. It's new creation. It's all things becoming new. And in our minds we're saying this, why can't God? At least the God that I have in my head, he should have drawn a straight line. From there, to there. Except for that's not the God of the Bible. You and I both know there's no straight line from there to there. It's going on with doing all of this stuff, right? Upside down, backside out, right? That's what's happening, it seems like. And that's what our lives feel like. Doesn't it? But right in the center, stands a cross. Right in the middle, on which the son of God, the Messiah, who announced to his disciples, who didn't have room for this idea. That announced to his disciples, if you want to know me, if you really want to know me, you're gonna have to stop just thinking about self-centered, self-appeasing, self-satisfying, self-determined thinking, and you're gonna have to make room for the concern of God. Because that is what the cross tells us is happening. And do you know what it says to me. That when we understand who Jesus is, and what he's done with his death on the cross and a subsequent resurrection, it reminds me that in the story of God, apparently, suffering is necessary, to get us to the destination that God has determined. If that wasn't true, what is this cross doing, standing in the middle of history? Why did Jesus suffer like he suffered? Why did Jesus endure all he endured and then teach us to follow him in it? If suffering, wasn't for the opportunity to know him more deeply, to be shaped like him, and to ultimately get us to the destination, God desired. You see, this is ultimately what the gospel teaches us. The gospel teaches us this. That the most beloved of God, Jesus, suffered the greatest. So that by his death and resurrection, we could know him. And know the power of his resurrection but also know the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. Because suffering, is an invitation to know him more intimately and to be made like him, so that we are fit for the destination we are headed for. New creation. This is what we need to embrace and believe because the story ends well. No more tears. But until then, the tears that we shed now, we need to look at as an invitation. An invitation to know Jesus more intimately. And an invitation to be made like him. As we think of that thought, what I want us to do, is allow that thought to saturate our hearts. Our worship team's coming back out, and here's why. What I want you to do, and what I want to do, is to take a few moments and let that truth of who Jesus is, what he's done through his death and resurrection, what he calls us into in following after him. Listen, I want that to bring comfort to your soul. Peace to it. Because here's what I can promise you. Creating a fake Jesus, doesn't bring peace. Knowing the real one changes everything. That's when we start to experience, even in our heartache, even in our sorrow, even in our struggle, even in our persecution, even in our suffering, we experience the fellowship of knowing him for who he really is, and being made like him in the process. So what I want us to do is respond to that in worship. ♪ When peace like a river ♪ ♪ Attendeth my way ♪ ♪ When sorrows like sea ♪ ♪ Billows roll ♪ ♪ Whatever my lot ♪ ♪ Thou hast taught me to say ♪ ♪ It is well ♪ ♪ It is well with my soul ♪
For us to have a life that magnifies Jesus, it means that every season that we're in, every chapter of the long story, that God is writing in our hearts. That we yield ourselves, to the invitation that he's giving to us. And that invitation even in suffering is to know him. To know him for who he is. If you wanna be my disciple, if you want to not just know what I know, but be what I am. You've got to deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me. With whatever that costs. That's what he's called us to. Some may be here, and you may have your conception of what you thought about Jesus just exploded today. Maybe you're new to church. Maybe this has just been a long season and you're like, I need something. I need someone. I want you to know this. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father, except through me. See, Jesus went to a cross to die for your sin and my sin. To pay the price that we could never pay. To satisfy the justice of a Holy God. A God who doesn't just wink at sin. That would be an unjust God. But a God who actually cares so much, and is so just, that he knows that sin must be judged and dealt with. But he himself, is both just and the justifier, of those who believe in him. You see, he has made a way himself, for us to be forgiven and for his justice to be met. And it all comes together in the person of Jesus. And if you've never before turned from your sin and put your faith in him, I want you to know this. My promise to you is not that every roadway will be smooth for you from here out. My promise to you is not that you may not go through heartache, and difficulty and deal with some stuff. You will. Jesus said in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. But you can know this, true life is found in Jesus. He's the way, the truth, and the life. If you try to save your own life, you'll lose it. But if you lose your life, in him, for him, and for the gospel, you'll save it. You see, because Jesus even knows that the hardship that we go through, is really just an introduction to be able to know him more intimately. And that he's got a better future promised for us, than the present that we're in. Paul said, I consider. I consider that our present sufferings, are not worth comparing, to the glory that will be revealed in us. This is the hope that we have in Jesus. And if you've never before entrusted your life to him, it's the most serious decision you'll ever make in your life. Jesus didn't call for fans. He didn't call for spectators. He called for disciples. And he said, if you wanna be my disciple, this is what this looks like. You'll deny yourself. Stop thinking you can save yourself. Stop thinking you're the answer to your own life. You can't do that. Deny those things, make room for the concerns of God, which is Jesus himself. And trust your life to what he's done for you on a cross, paying for your sin, rising from the dead, conquering sin and hell and the grave on your behalf. And if you wanna know more about what that looks like, when we dismiss in just a moment, I hope you'll walk straight across the atrium, and talk to one of our friends in the fireside room. They wanna pray for you, give you something to take home, that's gonna help you in your decision. If you're online, you're gonna hear about that in just a moment from one of our pastors. Father, thank you for everything that you've said. Everything that you've done. How your spirit has worked so deeply in our hearts this day. I pray that you would write on our souls, the truth of who you are, Jesus. Not who we're trying to make you to be, but who you are. That we would walk after you, in the way that you go. We would follow you for all that you are, not who we want you to be. Who we're trying to make you to be but for who you are. Because we know that you are life itself. You are the resurrection, and the life. And so even in our suffering, I pray that you would teach us, that this is the way of the cross. This is the way of intimacy. This is the way of knowledge of Jesus. And that we would look at it as an invitation. Into a deeper understanding of who you are. We love you and thank you in Jesus name. Amen.