A number
of years ago I was blessed to hear Brother David Sain preach a sermon about the
permanent nature of marriage from Matthew 19:4-6. The message stressed
the need for commitment if marriages are to survive and thrive and endure. To
illustrate commitment, David told a story about Grandpa and Grandma who had
been married for over 60 years. One evening. Grandpa leaned over to Grandma and
said, "Grandma, I’m proud of you." Grandma said, "Eh?"
Grandpa repeated, "I’m proud of you." She still didn’t get it and
again said, "Eh?" This time Grandpa shouted, "I said I’m proud
of you!" Grandma said, "I know, Grandpa. I’m tired of you,too."
One was proud and one was tired, but they had a tough, stubborn love that held
them together through thick and thin!
I’ve
said all that to get to some statements about and from the apostle Paul. No one
who is aware of Paul’s life and ministry could ever doubt that Paul was proud
of Jesus Christ and the gospel. That fact is made clear in many passages from
the book of Acts and Paul’s letters. One place that demonstrates his
love for Jesus and pride in being a preacher of Christ’s gospel is found in the
book of 2 Timothy. At 1:8-12 Paul pleads with his young protege
and preacher friend Timothy to "not be ashamed of the testimony of our
Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the
gospel according to the power of God." He mentions the fact he "was
appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles" in verse
11. Then in verse 12a he declares, "For this reason I also
suffer these things." Paul preached about Christ even though it often
brought him, not amen’s and praise, but animosity, persecution, and much
suffering and pain. Later at 1:16 he mentions "my chain."
He wore that chain almost like a badge of honor! If you know anything about
Paul you know he spent a lot of time in jail.
From 2:8-9 we read that he
was suffering "trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of
chains." Then, very near the end of the book at 4:6-7 we learn
he is not only in prison but on Death Row – writing that "the time of
my departure is at hand," a metaphorical reference to the fact he was
expecting to soon be martyred for Christ. A question is in order – didn’t the
apostle ever grow tired and weary of all the pain and chains and prison cells
and suffering? No doubt he did. But he was never just tired – he was also proud
and unashamed! Proud of Jesus Christ and the gospel he had faithfully preached
for some 30 years. Paul’s love for Christ and his pride in being a preacher of
the gospel proved tougher and more enduring than any and everything the devil
and opponents of the cross could throw at him! Now he appeals to Timothy to be
gripped and spurred on by this same conviction.
Every Christian, especially
elders and preachers, ought to hear the tired but proud apostle’s appeal in 2
Timothy 1:13-14 – "Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have
heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing
which was committed to you keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us."
The question for all of us is not do we ever grow tired. We do. The question is
will we hold fast and hold out and hold on and refuse to quit as we struggle
toward eternity. Will our love for Jesus and pride in being His servants sustain
us even when we are tired and hurting?
Think about it.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
A story told about a young preacher gets at a problem all preachers
face. One Sunday morning, early in his ministry, he stood at the back door
"shaking the brethren out" after the morning service. He thought the
sermon had gone quite well, and the remarks he was getting about the lesson
were all complimentary. Suddenly, a little old man walked up and said bluntly,
"You preached too long" (what preacher hasn’t heard that?). But the
novice preacher wasn’t fazed by this remark, especially in light of the many positive
comments he had gotten. Suddenly, he was jolted by another negative comment:
"You didn’t preach loud enough" – and he realized it was that same
little old man. The preacher thought it strange the same sermon-critic had come
through twice, but before he could gather his composure here came the same
little old guy a third time. This time he blurted out, "You mispronounced
‘propitiation’ and used too many big words." This spooked the young man,
so he sought out a deacon standing nearby and asked him, "Do you see that
little old man over there? Who is he anyway?" The deacon smiled and
replied, "Brother, don’t pay any attention to him. All he does is go
around and repeat everything he hears."
It is a lesson all preachers must learn – no preacher can
please everybody. Jesus Christ was the only perfect, sinless preacher who ever
lived. He always did what pleased His heavenly Father (John 8:29), and
spoke just as the Father told Him to speak (John 12:50). In spite of
that He had critics who hated Him even though they did so "without a
cause" (John 15:25). They didn’t just go around repeating bad
comments about Him – they hated Him so much they hypocritically orchestrated
His death on a cross. So much for the notion that a preacher, any preacher,
will always be popular and able to please everyone. If Jesus couldn’t do it,
how could anyone else ever hope to? Another preacher we know well is the
apostle Paul. Unlike Jesus, he wasn’t perfectly sinless, but his life and
commitment to Christ continue to challenge all professed disciples of Jesus,
and especially those among us who preach. What did people go around saying
after they heard Paul preach? Some said "he is not fit to live"
(Acts 22:22)! Some said, "We have found this man a plague, a
creator of dissension ..." (Acts 23:5). And one man said, "Paul,
you are out of your mind" (Acts 26:24). Through it all, good and bad,
Paul would not be deterred or distracted. We see his determination in 1
Corinthians 2:1-2 – "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of
God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified." There is something important in those words for both preachers and
those who listen to them. Preaching that pleases God and profits people will
center around Jesus Christ and His person as the Son of God, His position as our
Savior and substitute and sacrifice, and His plan of salvation as laid out in
the New Testament. In this day of fuzzy and fickle and "feel-good"
religious thinking, may God bless His church to be determined to be determined
to preach Christ and all that preaching Him requires. Think about it.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
There’s a story about a cantankerous man who was always
ready to start a fuss. He was so ornery and combative that when he died, his
adult children had this epitaph etched into the headstone on his grave:
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" As it turns out, that’s not a bad question
to consider. It’s one I’m convinced God would have us to ask ourselves. One
particularly powerful passage that makes that clear is 2 Corinthians 4:16-18,
which reads as follows: "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even
though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not
look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For
the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are
eternal." The apostle Paul penned those words 2,000 years ago. "What
are you looking at?" is a question that seems to leap out of that passage!
And, as it does so often, the Bible cuts to the chase and confronts us with the
simple but profound thought that, after all is said and done, we are spending
our lives primarily "looking" at and
living for one of only two kinds of things – "things which are
seen" – or "things which are not
seen." Here’s the real kicker – all these
"things" fit inescapably into one of only two possible realms – "temporary"
or "eternal." Millions live their life obsessed daily with and
chasing after seen things! Seen things are everywhere you look! From the
stressful to the sublime, from the good to the bad, from the pleasurable to the
painful, from the happy to the hellish, from the delightful to the deadly – we
are surrounded by and immersed in "things which are seen." What we
sometimes forget is precisely what the devil wants us to forget – all these
"things which are seen" are temporary. As in Temporary! That’s TEMPORARY!
From cars to clothes to cancer: TEMPORARY! From pain to pleasure to
possessions: TEMPORARY! From jobs to jeans to joy (based on material
circumstances, that is): TEMPORARY! We ought to write it on our eyelids
and stamp it indelibly on our hearts – if you can see it, if it is of a
material physical nature, it is TEMPORARY! Oh, and I almost forgot –
these bodies we live in and obsess over and spend so much time and money and
energy trying to decorate and beautify and preserve – the apostle declares the
uncomfortable but undeniable and unalter- able truth in verse 16 that
they are "perishing" (ESV "wasting away").
Little wonder, then, God would urge each of us to ask ourselves, "Self,
what are you looking at?" Are you primarily fixed and focused on seen,
temporary things or unseen, eternal ones?
Joan Rivers said, "Looking 50 is great if you’re
60." Whether 5 or 15 or 95 – the outward man is perishing. Does that
reality along with the stress and suffering and disappointment you see in life
discourage you? It does so many. Remember the apostle’s words: "Therefore
we do not lose heart." If you are a discouraged Christian, fainting
instead of flourishing, pulling back instead of continuing to serve, I would
urge you to carefully consider this question: "What are you looking
at?" Have you lost sight of Heaven? Are your eyes fixed on temporary
things or eternal ones? Just asking.
– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
