Calvary Road Baptist Church

“DON’T LOOK TO ME”

Ephesians 3.13 

Most human beings are followers. Look at a group of young people and take note of their predominant hair and clothing styles as an illustration of the point. That is, people tend to be thermometers rather than thermostats. Which is to say, we tend to respond to what is happening around us rather than grabbing the bull by the horns and influencing what’s going on around us.

Sports fans are great examples of this truth. A study was conducted some years ago, and it was discovered that, from a purely economic point of view, it makes no sense whatsoever for a city or a municipal government to spend one thin dime to attract a professional sports franchise to their city or to spend any money improving facilities to keep the franchise from moving to another location.

The study went on to conclude that what the various cities that spend money to keep sports teams do, and the cities that are trying to attract sports teams do, is seek to justify vast expenditures of public money on something that will not, when all the cash registers and receipts are tallied up, financially profit the community as a whole. Of course, the professional franchise owner reaps a considerable windfall, and the politicians can brag.

You can guess what the general public's reaction was to that report, as well as those involved in professional sports and local government. At least those who heard of the study before the results were buried. “Oh, that’s impossible. How ridiculous. Sports are great for a city. It’s wonderful. Great cities need professional sports.”

I tend to agree with folks who say that great cities need their own sports franchises, but not for the reasons they cite. The real reasons for wanting to get or keep a sports team have to do with ego and self-esteem. Think about it. The mood of whole cities rises and falls with the fortunes of their teams. Isn’t that true?

Things were great in Pittsburgh when the Steelers and the Pirates, and the Penguins were winning. And do you remember how great folks thought it was to live in Los Angeles back in the days when Laker Showtime was running and when the Raiders won consistently?

This is all a part of our tendency, we who are followers by nature, to live our lives vicariously through the activities of others. When your team wins, you feel great. When your team loses, you feel lousy. And unless taken too far, that’s not too bad.

Sadly, however, in our modern era, people do take things too far. And many have no more sense than to pin all their hopes and aspirations on the unpredictable activities of a bunch of semiliterate, steroid pumped, CCP sympathizing, anti-American, overgrown children who happen to be able to run faster or jump higher than anyone else.

In the Apostle Paul’s day, before the advent of television and radio, even before the printed page and newspapers, people were the same as we are today. But the choice of heroes a person could look to for inspiration was far more limited then than it is in our day.

If you were a Christian, you couldn’t go in for the Greek stuff; the Olympic games every four years or other versions of their games. After all, half of their athletes were sodomites, and all the competitions were performed in the nude, with women not allowed at the venues except in particular circumstances. So Christians didn’t devote too much energy to following track and field or wrestling.

If you were farther to the West, you still couldn’t devote too much attention to sports. The Roman version of good sport was to sit in the Coliseum and watch some fellows kill people or watch some lions eat people. And how many of those people killed or eaten were Christians?

So, how would Christians in Paul’s day express the natural human tendency to want to admire someone and live vicariously through someone else? How would believers in Paul’s day get their thrills by watching someone else experience great victories?

Believe it or not, they looked to spiritual leaders. And especially for those Gentile believers whose lives were so dramatically affected by his ministry, the man they looked to as a spiritual leader, as the point man in the Christian life, as the groundbreaker, was on occasion the Apostle Paul, himself.

However, despite the inclinations of those believers to look up to Paul, there was a downside to their admiration of him. When things seemed to go well in his life, they were thrilled when he appeared to experience great victories. But when things seemed to go against Paul, when everything seemed to sour, when persecution and terrible opposition rose up against him, those who tried to live their lives vicariously through him became discouraged.

Such was the case with the Ephesians when the Apostle Paul, the man they admired, the man they looked up to, the man they thrilled to see succeed for God, the man who established their congregation and brought so many of them to Christ, wound up in a Roman prison.

Locate Ephesians 3.1. When you find that verse, I invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word: 

1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)

5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 

Our text is verse 13. Writing from imprisonment in Rome, carefully consider what Paul wrote.

He started the verse, “Wherefore,” where he gathered together all that he had written before in this letter for our consideration. Because of the mystery, because of their mission, and because of their access to the Father that he had just mentioned, he wrote, “wherefore.” Take into consideration, readers, all of these things when you think about how you are going to react to Paul’s current situation.

“Wherefore I desire.” Usually, Paul is in his communiqués either informing his readers or commanding his readers. But here, he isn’t doing either of those things. Here Paul humbly asks them to do something that he wants them to do, something he would like very much for them to do for him.

What does Paul want his readers to do? It is actually what he wants them not to do: 

“Wherefore I desire that ye faint not.” 

From the meaning of the word “faint,” we can surmise that Paul is asking his readers not to give in to evil, not to become a coward in the face of adversity, not to become discouraged when things don’t go the way they want them to go, not to grow weary when things turn out to be more difficult than you’d thought at first.

Paul hit a nerve with that comment. Christians can wimp out and become pouting cry babies when things don’t go like we want. We have all known people who somehow come unstuck when things don’t go as they had anticipated. Paul is telling his readers that this is no way to act. Please don’t fold when something happens contrary to your desires or expectations.

What caused the Ephesians to contemplate behaving in that way? Paul was in prison. 

“Faint not at my tribulations for you.” 

The Gentile Christian community considered Paul to be their banner carrier. And he was. And they knew that they ought to follow his lead. And they should. But they were wrong when they began to admire him as the hero on whom all their fortunes rode.

They anticipated nothing but good things happening to Paul because the good guys always win. Right? And our side will, ultimately, triumph. But between then and now are too many things we do not understand. Therefore, when Paul, their banner carrier, was taken into custody for doing what the Lord Jesus called him to do, and when his imprisonment dragged on for years without resolution, and when he finally was taken to Rome in chains, they had lost all the wind that was in their sails.

They correctly surmised that Paul had been arrested, basically, because of his ministry to and for them. So, when this man, who was God’s man to them, started going through all his trials and troubles, they began to wonder about themselves. Confusion reigned. How could this be happening? This is not the way it’s supposed to go.

Folks, it happens. How many sports fans were overcome with grief decades ago when they found out Magic Johnson contracted HIV? How many people are frustrated and discouraged in Buffalo, New York, because their quarterback, Jim Kelly, got cancer and after a long battle died? That was why they were discouraged and contemplated throwing the towel in.

Marina remembers when her country went to war with El Salvador over the outcome of a soccer game. I remember a soccer star being murdered when he arrived home after accidentally scoring a goal for the opposing team. And how bummed are people by the unpatriotic conduct of football players and Olympic athletes?

Things like this happen to people. But things like this should not happen to Christians. The Ephesians did not understand. Paul concludes the verse with these words: 

“Which is your glory.” 

They did not understand that Paul’s troubles and suffering were not because they were unimportant to God, or because they were low on God’s list of priorities, or because God wasn’t in control of all things.

Not at all. In God’s sometimes challenging to understand scheme of things, Paul’s suffering was a demonstration of how valuable they were to God, how important it was to God that Gentiles be reached, and what a knowledgeable and committed man of God was willing to go through for His Savior to reach such people as they.

But they missed all that because of one wrong misapprehension on their part. They missed the distinction between following someone’s leadership and admiring that person; between looking to someone for guidance and thinking the quality or meaning of your life is affected or influenced by what happens to that individual. In short, the Ephesians had their eyes on Paul instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer of Hebrews put it this way: 

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”[1] 

What Paul might have said in just a few words was, “Don’t look to me.”

Are your eyes on other individuals for good or evil? Are your eyes on me? Have I disappointed you in one way or another? Get your eyes off mere mortals and onto the Lord Jesus Christ. With Him you will never be disappointed or disaffected. It is sad that we live in an age of cry babies and whiners, sometimes called snowflakes.

People pout and whimper and sulk and have spells of depression for who knows how many different reasons. Disagreements about just about anything are seen as the basis for not only ending a friendship, but seeking that person’s termination at his or her workplace. We’ve already seen from our text that Paul asked the Ephesians not to despair on his account. Don’t feel sad or depressed for his sake. He wasn’t crying the blues.

Ask yourself, “Why was it that Paul paid such a high price, endured such opposition, such persecution, such suffering, without quitting, without whining, without shirking his duty?” And Paul wasn’t the only one. Down through Christian history there have been countless numbers who have gone through what Paul went through, enduring suffering that’s difficult for us to imagine in our comfort and ease.

How did Paul do it? How have the Christian martyrs and sufferers stuck fast, without compromising, for Christ’s sake? Because they realized that suffering is a small price to pay to serve God, exalt Christ, and prayerfully see a precious soul come to Christ.

Do you realize that same truth? Will you suffer to see God glorified, to see Christ exalted, and perhaps see a soul come to Christ? Will you suffer Sunday evenings? Will you suffer Wednesday evenings? Will you suffer a missed promotion at work? Will you suffer physical discomfort?

I think you will, Christian when you do what Paul and others like him did. I think you will suffer to see God glorified, Christ exalted, and precious souls saved when you take the time to compare your suffering to the following three things: 

First, COMPARE YOUR PRESENT SUFFERING TO YOUR OWN FUTURE 

Let’s say that to serve God, you have to suffer some sleep deprivation, some physical pain, even some stress. All this to somehow exalt Christ. Or perhaps so you can get to work early enough and help out the guy ending the night shift that you think you can reach for Christ. Getting up extra early, helping him lift things, fighting traffic. And eventually, the guy comes to Christ. Is the suffering worth it? Why don’t we ask Paul? Romans 8.18: 

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” 

Remember, this was written by a man who had been caught up in the Spirit to heaven to see things which he was not permitted to write about.[2] But he does let us know what his conclusions are. So, when comparing the suffering that a human being could go through to the glory we shall experience in heaven, there is no comparison. A woman labors and travails in labor, delivering her child. While the labor proceeds, she suffers, sometimes tremendously. But how many minutes or hours does it take for the joy and the bliss of that newborn baby being in her arms to obliterate the memories of her very real suffering in delivering that child?

Infinitely greater is the disparity between the worst suffering a Christian might endure and the glory of heaven. So, when contemplating the suffering that oftentimes must be endured in order to glorify God, exalt Christ, and perhaps see a lost soul come to Christ, whether it be the willingness to suffer persecution at work or the willingness to do without rest and relaxation, or the willingness to stand against sin and compromise in your own family ... it really is worth it. The glorified Lord Jesus Christ told Ananias in Damascus, who baptized the man who would later be known to us as the Apostle Paul, in Acts 8.16, 

“For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” 

Paul knew that suffering was his lot in life. But he also knew what glory would be like. And that, in part, made it humanly possible for him to endure the suffering. When you consider what you are presently enduring in your Christian life, and when you compare that to what heaven is going to be like, it makes the suffering just a little bit easier to endure. 

Next, COMPARE YOUR PRESENT SUFFERING TO ANY LOST PERSON’S FUTURE 

What pain and suffering and torment and lost sleep and distress and all the rest, what you and I call suffering, compares to what a lost person will endure who dies without Christ if we are not willing and able to suffer so that we reach that individual for Christ?

What will happen to you, sir, if one of us doesn’t inconvenience ourselves to show you how important it is for you to be saved and how horrible it will be for you to die in your sins and go to Hell? How will you be saved if none of us shows, by our willingness to endure hardship and suffer a little, how important your soul is to God and how much Jesus loves you? In Luke 16.23-24, we are shown the plight of an unsaved man who died and went to Hell: 

23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 

Three things about this man’s suffering in Hell, which continues to this very day. First, it is conscious. This man is not asleep. He is very aware of what is going on. He perceives his situation, and he experiences conscious and constant agony. He is in torment. Second, he is consumed. Not that he burns up, for that never happens in Hellfire. By consumed, I mean that the agony is so severe that nothing else matters. He is literally writhing in pain. And third, it is constant. The pain and the torment and the agony is never-ending. It is everlasting. It is eternal, as Matthew 25.46 makes so tragically clear and plain.

As I ponder on it, I think every person I have ever seen and heard of who truly amounted to something for God has been someone who has had a real appreciation of the horror of Hellfire. Think about it. People who die without Christ go to Hell. And from Hell, they go to the lake of fire. Have you ever thought about Hell? Have you ever considered what it must be like for a lost person to be in Hell? Do you want anyone to go to Hell? In light of the horrors of the torment people must suffer who die and go to Hell, and in light of the fact that the absolute worst thing that can happen to a Christian is to go to heaven, can’t we inconvenience ourselves a bit to bring folks to Christ?

Not that our suffering will necessarily impress people, causing them to want to be saved. They may never actually see us suffering or be in any way inconvenienced. That’s okay. But sometimes, it takes a willingness to suffer some hardship and deprivation to get the Gospel message out. Is anyone who is saved after being contacted on a rainy night less saved than someone who is saved after being contacted on a nice clear night? Do people only go to Hell on warm and sunny days? Must converts be only conveniently converted? I don’t think it’s too much for God to ask of us to be willing to go out of our way some in order to see some lost man or woman saved so that person doesn’t suffer the pain of Hellfire. Amen? And for some of us the suffering isn’t even physical. It’s just the personal anguish we feel when we expose ourselves to the rejection that must inevitably come when you try to be a witness for Christ.

Be that as it may. When you consider the level of suffering endured by folks who die without Christ, when you ponder their pain when you imagine the cries and the shrieks and the wails, is it not just a little easier to suffer for Christ’s sake to get the Gospel out? I supposed it’s because our objections to doing right seem pretty trivial in comparison to the loss of a soul to Hell. 

Finally, COMPARE YOUR PRESENT SUFFERING TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST’S SUFFERING 

What did the Lord Jesus Christ endure to provide for us a Gospel message to preach? What indignities did He suffer? The King of all glory allowing Himself to be degraded and humiliated and taunted. The Son of the Most High God allowed foul men to strike Him and spit upon Him and strip Him naked and torture Him.

The Bible shows us that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered unspeakable indignities at the hands of His captors and judges. Mocked and ridiculed. Slandered and profaned. Oh, how very cruel sinful man can be when he really tries. But this was not the worst of the Lord’s suffering for us.

Remember, He became sin for us Who knew no sin, Second Corinthians 5.21. And when He became sin for us, the Father, in all His holiness and righteousness, poured upon the Lord Jesus Christ all the pent-up rage and wrath of God. The horrors of the Father’s wrath and fury was poured out on His Own Son. And for what? So that He might offer Himself a sacrifice for our sins, the Just for the unjust that He might bring us to God, First Peter 3.18. 

As summer draws to a close and we move into the fall season, I propose that we realize that God’s plan for our lives involves a measure of suffering. First Peter 2.21 reads, 

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” 

And though we all shrink at the thought of suffering, when it comes right down to it, you will do right at the right time. You will serve God and preach Christ when it comes crunch time ... if you compare what you need to go through to get the job of serving God done to three things: #1, how wonderful it will be for you when you get to heaven, #2, how horrible it will be for that unsaved person who gets to Hell unless brought to Christ, and, #3, how great a price the Lord Jesus paid to write the Gospel message. Surely, then, we can deliver the Gospel message.

My unsaved friend, I have put myself and the rest of us on the spot. I have declared that you are worth my personal suffering or someone else’s personal suffering to get the Gospel message to you in an effective way so that you will trust Jesus and be saved.

But even if I or someone else dies to get the message to you, it won’t do you any good unless you respond to it. It is the Gospel. That Jesus died, was buried according to the Scriptures, and rose on the third day.

If you will come to Him as a sinner and trust Him to wash your sins away in His blood He will save you. And if you are saved, Jesus will want you to suffer for Him as a Christian to see others saved, but you will never suffer Hell. Ever.

__________

[1] Hebrew 12.2

[2] 2 Corinthians 12.2-4

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church