The Public And Costly Nature Of Christianity - Acts 19:18-20

This morning we're going to go ahead and read

verses 18 through 20 of Acts chapter 19. Many

Acts 19 · chapter mention

also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing,

and disclosing their practices. And many of those

who practiced magic brought their books together

and began burning them in the sight of everyone.

And they counted up the price of them. and found

it 50 ,000 pieces of silver. So the word of the

Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. When

you hear the term superficial Christianity, what

do you think of? When you hear about a nominal

Christian, what comes to your mind? When you

hear the words shallow Christianity, what happens

when you think about that? Maybe you think about

those people who say they're Christians, yet

you've never witnessed any love or affection

or longing or desire. for Christ or holy things

in their life. Maybe you think of those individuals

who say they're Christians, but they go to church

three or four times a year when they know there's

activities that they'll enjoy. I think this can

best be... Seen and evidenced when we think about

superficial and shallow churches. When we think

about superficial, nominal, and shallow churches

that are in our world and so prevalent. They're

all around us, brothers and sisters. We all know

it's all around us. These churches which are

filled with individuals. who refuse to sing and

worship God because they don't want to be heard

singing and worshiping God. It's embarrassing

to them. These churches which are filled with

people, and men in particular, who are unwilling

to serve. They might serve, but it has to be

in a capacity where they're not seen or known

to be serving. They'll let the women lead. They'll

let the women be in charge of these things. Maybe

we see this in churches that are full of individuals

who love social activities, programs, individuals

that love social interaction. And they come to

church and they hear about the Word. They hear

about moral and ethical teaching from the Word.

But they only talk about what they've been doing.

They only talk about what they did last week

or what they're going to do next week. Christ

never enters their mind. The holiness of God

is never reckoned. It's never considered. Brothers

and sisters, superficial, nominal, shallow Christianity

is all over this world. And at the root and the

base of this is the reality that people are unconverted.

That people don't know Jesus Christ by faith

and repentance. And typically, superficial Christianity

is always going to be tied with this idea of

private, personal religion. No, that's none of

your business. That's my business. You don't

need to ask me about that. I don't have to talk

about that. This is my business. That's none

of your business. I made a decision this time.

Listen, I go to church every once in a while.

I'm fine. I'm good. You don't need to pry into

that. Religion is my thing. I do it in the way

I want. I carry it out and I function in my religious

capacity according to my desires and my longings.

And the way that pleases me. At the root, at

the bottom of all of these things is the reality

that men and women are reckoned as believers

when in reality they've never experienced any

change whatsoever in their life. They have hard,

stony, dead hearts. They've never been regenerated.

But they're reckoned as believers by the church

and by the culture and by society. That is superficial

Christianity. That's nominal and shallow, privatized

Christianity. And it looks nothing like the New

Testament. It's completely alien and foreign

to the pages of Scripture. In Acts chapter 19,

Acts 19 · chapter mention

we read in verse 19, which is the text we'll

be focusing on today, And many of those who practiced

magic brought their books together and began

burning them in the sight of everyone. And they

counted up. The price of them, and found it,

50 ,000 pieces of silver. What's taking place

in this text is that these new converts, these

new believers in Christ who have heard Paul's

preaching, been converted, been transformed,

been changed, these new believers are realizing

we have to make known that we're no longer a

part of the Spiritism. We're no longer a part

of the occult. We have to let the world know.

We have to let the rest of Ephesus know. That's

not who I am. And so we see that these new believers

are going around and they're gathering up all

their old magic books, all their old magic manuals

that they utilize, and things that are worth

a great deal of money. And what are they doing?

They're gathering them up. And they're doing

this alongside of other believers, and they bring

them into one place, and what does it say? They

start burning them. They start ridding the world

of these things. They start forsaking and giving

up these things. They burn them. But they don't

just do this in groups of one or two in their

homes, do they? They don't even just do this

with the church. What does the text say? The

text says they were burning them in the sight

of everyone. Meaning everyone that was present.

This was a public action. But one of the things

we also see in this text is that it wasn't just

public. This was costly to these. new believers.

So we have to consider three things this morning

from this text. We're going to consider the public

nature of their actions. We're going to consider

the costly nature of their actions. And then

after all of that, we're going to draw some conclusions

based on the text that we've exposited and we've

spent time in. First, The public nature of their

actions. We can see clearly how this text is

speaking of a public event. Luke wants us to

know that this is public. That this is taking

place not in private. That's why he says that

they do it in front of everyone. They didn't

do this individually. They didn't do this by

themselves in isolation from everybody else.

They did this in a public sphere, in a public

capacity. There was public exposure to their

deeds, to their actions, burning them in the

sight of everyone. Now, this most likely means

that they were in the presence of the apostles

and all the fellow workers that were present

with Paul. This means that they were present.

With the church. That was in Ephesus. And most

likely it's gathering steam. And it's a large

group of individuals. But that also means. Everyone

must include. Members of the public. Citizens

of Ephesus. That they knew. Citizens of Ephesus.

That they had relationships with. Imagine. One

of these new converts. In Ephesus. They bring

their scrolls, they bring their books, they've

got an armful, and there's the bonfire. They

bring them over, and they're getting ready to

toss them in, and they look up, and there's their

mom or their dad, who's still actively practicing

spiritism. Who's still actively participating

in the occult and evil practices, and you're

bringing this here, and you're giving it up.

It was public. It was visible. There were public

ramifications and there were public implications

for their coming to faith in Jesus Christ. The

reasons for it being public? We have to surmise

and we have to deduce to a degree. Some would

say that this was done publicly because it renders

the spells inoperative. That the power of spells

and the power of the scrolls was in their secrecy.

And that's literally what occultism is. It's

talking about secret knowledge. There's the potential

for that. And that surely was part of it. But

there's also other reasons that they did this

publicly. We have to remember that these individuals

were those who practiced magic. Those individuals

who willingly, voluntarily practiced this evil

craft. That means that there had to be a general

knowledge that these individuals were involved

in those practices. Meaning the public was aware

that these individuals were practitioners of

the dark arts and wicked things. Therefore, they

publicly... come together and burn their books

because they were publicly known as practitioners.

They publicly renounce and condemn their participation

and the practices themselves. What are they making

a statement about in this? Because that's what

this is. It's a statement. that these believers

are making to the church and to the surrounding

world in Ephesus. What's the statement? When

they take those books and they burn them, they

don't sell them for money and make a profit off

of them. They burn them and rid themselves. What's

the statement? They're saying, I have no more

use for these whatsoever. I'm done with that

lifestyle. I don't have anything to do with these

practices anymore. I have no need of these scrolls,

these spells, these books, these magic potions

anymore. I'm done. That's not who I am. They

are condemning the sinful deeds and the sinful

practices that they once willingly took part

in. But they're also publicly Disassociating

with those practices and other practitioners.

You can't imagine that this is not going to have

any impact on who they affiliate with. On who

they associate with in their life. This is one

of the public consequences of their doing this

action. They are no longer going to associate

with those individuals and those practices that

are currently taking place in Ephesus. They're

no longer going to be a part of that magic association,

we could say. They're no longer going to be a

part of that magic group that meets as a chamber

of commerce. They're done. They're disassociating

themselves. from the practices and declaring

they have no use for these any longer. They're

publicly letting the world know and letting the

church know that that's not who I am. But they're

saying something positive as well. They're not

just saying, this is not who I am. This is not

what I'm doing. This is not what I'm going to

do. They're saying, this is who I am as well.

Because they're also publicly identifying with

what, brothers and sisters? Think about it. Who

are they doing this with? Who are they gathering

these books together with? Who were they converted

under? Who were they converted by? Here's the

name. What's the name that's being exalted in

Ephesus? What's the name that's being reverenced

all throughout the territory? Why did this fear

fall on Ephesus? Brothers and sisters, why? It's

because of Christ. They're not just... separating

themselves from the world and the culture that's

around them and the wicked practices around them.

They are positively identifying themselves with

the Lord Jesus Christ, with Paul and his gospel

message. It's not just negative. It's positive.

This is not just who I am. This is who I am now.

This is what I am now. That's what they're doing.

Now think about that. Think about the public.

Ramifications for that. Oh, it's not just that

he doesn't practice this anymore. No. He's a

Christian now. He believes the gospel now. He's

one of those do -gooders. He's one of those holy

people. He's one of those crazy people. He's

one of those people. that's given his life to

the Lord Jesus Christ. He's one of those people

that maybe was healed and miraculously changed.

He's one of those radicals. He's a part of the

way. He associates and he identifies or she associates

and she identifies with that man, Paul, who's

always going around proclaiming repentance and

forgiveness of sins. They are with him. They're

with the Lord Jesus Christ. So they're not just

saying this is not who I am. They're saying this

is who I am now. Now, we think about this, and

these were very unique circumstances. This will

not be the case for every single Christian and

every believer. Every Christian and every believer

does not live in the context and the circumstances

of... first century Ephesus. But, brothers and

sisters, there is a principle that's present

here that remains and continues. And that is

the reality. That true Christianity is always

public Christianity. True Christianity is always

lived out in the sight of others. True Christianity

is always going to have public ramifications

on a person's life. There are going to be consequences

for knowing Jesus Christ in your relationships

out in the world. On who you work with and who

you identify with and who you associate with

and who you don't associate with. You are living

in a world of men. You have a public life. You

walk in the sight of men. You talk in the sight

of men. You walk in groups. You are around people.

You work with people. You work in an exposed

capacity in a sense. Meaning people look on your

life. They view your life. They see your life.

They hear you talk. That's public. People see

you and they understand the words you speak.

That's public. What we're doing right now is

very public, is it not? We're gathering as a

group. We're lifting our voices and singing.

Other people are hearing our voices. We're going

to come forward to the Lord's table as believers

in Jesus Christ. We'll get up out of our seats.

We'll walk to the front and everybody sitting

down will watch and observe that you are identifying

with Christ. That's public. What about baptism?

Is that public? What about covenanting as a church?

Is that public? What about having your car parked

out front when people drive by? Is that public?

Brothers and sisters, true Christianity is always

public Christianity. Now, that doesn't mean it's

always easy. That doesn't mean that that's not

a difficult thing to experience. To go through

the reality that Christianity and our faith is

public makes it very difficult at times. It has

challenges, doesn't it? And for the very reason

that it is public. When people are talking about

certain things, when people are carrying on certain

conversations, when people are looking at certain

things, or people are talking certain ways about

certain people. Think about that. And then there's

the Christian, the believer in Jesus Christ,

who seeks to live the righteous life unto Christ

and to honor and glorify God. And here they are,

and they try to act differently. They restrain

their speech. They live differently. They don't

look, and they don't talk, and they don't laugh

at the jokes. They don't watch the same things

that everybody else has watched. They don't go

to the same places that everybody else has gone.

That's public, and that's difficult, and that's

hard. That's challenging. Every single believer

in this room knows that it's challenging. And

there's many other things that make it challenging.

There's fearfulness in their own hearts. What's

going to come as a result of this action? What

if I do this or I don't do this? What's going

to happen? What will happen to my family? What

will the consequences be for my income? What

will the consequences be for my career, my calling?

What will the consequences be for my relationship

if I choose Christ? over this. It's hard. And

Christians have to deal with those things day

in and day out as part of living in a dark and

a fallen world. It's public. It's not private.

It's difficult. And it's true of every believer

in all ages. It's always going to be true until

the Lord Jesus Christ But the glorious thing

about this text is this. It's not just that it's

difficult. The glorious thing in this text is

that these men and these women were truly converted,

and they did, in fact, burn their books. They

pushed through it. They gave up the books. They

went through the trial and the difficulty because

they were truly converted. Their Christianity

was authentic and true and real and living and

vital and powerful because they were living.

They had been new. They had been made new and

they had been made alive. They were genuinely

and truly converted in spite of all the difficulties

they went through with this. In spite of it being

public, they went ahead and burned their books.

So we see the public nature of their actions.

But we also have to consider the costly. of their

actions. We see in this text, in verse 9, the

second part, it says, and they counted up the

price of them and found it 50 ,000 pieces of

silver. Now, there's not complete agreement about

how much this is. We don't know exactly what

that looks like and what that would be equitable

to today. But we have a general idea that it

was probably 137 years. This is what one of the

historians says. It was 137 years of a single

worker's wages without a day off. That's quite

a bit of money. That's a lot of value that is

being burned into ashes. It shows two things.

This immense value. It shows the progress of

the gospel. There was a lot of people, brothers

and sisters, coming to Christ because there was

a lot of books being burned. The work of Christ

was successful in Ephesus. Men and women were

being converted. People were coming to Christ.

Christ's kingdom was being built in that place.

Pagan city. So we see that's a testimony of the

power of the gospel in Ephesus. But it also shows

us something else. It shows what those new converts,

what those believers were willing to give up

as a result of coming to Christ. It shows what

they were willing to sacrifice. They were willing

to sacrifice a lot of monetary value, a lot of

financial gain because of Christ. They were willing

to give up their money -making machines for the

Lord Jesus, brothers and sisters. Now, they weren't

doing this because they were trying to be right

with God. They were doing this because they had

been made right with God. They did this. Because

God had saved their souls. They weren't doing

this because they wanted to be right with God.

They were doing this, brothers and sisters, because

God had in fact saved them and they couldn't

hold on to these books anymore. This is the result

of their conversion. This is not them seeking

out conversion. This is what happens when God

truly saves sinners. He makes them willing to

give up anything. What is that parable about

the great pearl? What is that parable about the

hidden treasure? That when you find it, you're

willing to give up anything for it. When you

find it, you'll do anything to have it. Anything

at all, brothers and sisters. Because you value

and you love Jesus Christ so dearly because of

what He's done. Because of who He has made you

into. Because of what He's done in your soul.

Because of what He continues to do in your life.

You would do anything for Him. And you would

give up anything for him. This is what's happened

to these. These Ephesian converts. They are willing

to suffer the loss for Christ. And brothers and

sisters, it was costly. I don't even think we

can fully grasp living in the culture in the

day and the age of privileges. and the blessings

that we have in our society, I don't think we

can fully grasp the cost that these new converts

received and endured as a result of this. There

was certainly personal cost. Every single person

that brought a book to be burned, they experienced

a cost. Every single one of them. They had to

deal with it and appropriate it. and work it

out in their own souls. Each one of these Ephesian

converts had to work it out for themselves. Each

one of them had to decide, I am going to follow

Christ. Every single one of them. And every single

one of them chose to burn their own books. There

was a financial cost. This was their trade. We

don't know if this was their full -time trade,

their full -time craft. But we can see that obviously

there was money involved in their practicing

magic. They were willing to forfeit. To forsake

it and to give it up because of Christ. They

were willing to give up their nest egg, we could

say. Their insurance policy. Maybe one of them

would think, well, I'll just keep some in my

closet just in case the day comes. when I really,

really need some money. I'll just keep some back

here. I'm never going to use it. I'm never going

to look at it. I'm never going to open that closet.

I'm going to put it back. Brothers and sisters,

that's not what they did. They got rid of all

of it. They burned it in the fire because of

the Lord Jesus. So there was a financial cost.

It was personal. But there was a social cost

as well. Think about how this would affect and

influence their relationships. Think about how

this would change the dynamics of their family.

Think about how this would change the dynamics

of how they operate in Ephesus with everybody

knowing that they're a believer in Jesus Christ.

Think about how this would adjust and how this

would affect and impact Their interactions as

they went to the market. As they dealt with people

trying to make money for their families now.

They would lose jobs. They wouldn't get job interviews.

They would lose friends. They would lose family.

They would lose money. They would lose all. Why?

Because they publicly confessed that Christ is

Lord. And they suffer. the consequences for it.

Willingly and volitionally. And there was certainly

a relational cost. It affected all their relationships

as they came to the Lord Jesus. Now again, this

was a very unique circumstance, a very unique

situation that took place in a specific context.

But again, there's a principle that's present

here, isn't there, brothers and sisters? There's

a principle that remains with regards to true,

authentic Christianity. And the principle is

this, that true Christianity is always costly

Christianity. True Christianity always requires

much of its adherents, of those that are Christians.

True Christianity always... Costs. We're not

better than our Lord Jesus, are we? He suffered

shame and persecution. He suffered hardship.

He didn't have a place to lay his head. He was

mocked and he was ridiculed on the cross. Brothers

and sisters. We're no greater than our Lord,

and we will experience hardship as believers

in this life. There's always going to be a cost

involved in Christianity, not in superficial

or shallow Christianity. Superficial and shallow

Christianity says, oh, there doesn't have to

be a cost. Just give that up, let that go, and

be at peace. Compromise and everybody will get

along. Don't talk about it. Don't make it known.

Don't make it public. And there won't be any

friction. There won't be any conflict. Just get

what you need. Go for what you want. And then

leave and that's good. Call yourself a Christian.

Get all the benefits and all the blessings of

it. But none of the liability. That's what superficial

Christianity does. But not what true Christianity

does. Authentic Christianity is always costly

Christianity. This is very difficult, isn't it?

It's a very hard thing to know the Lord Jesus

Christ. To be a believer in a fallen and a dark

world. Yet, what's the glorious reality of this

text? That these men and these women, these former

practitioners, were genuinely converted and they

do, in fact, burn their books regardless of the

cost. They've been so changed. They've been so

transformed that there's not a cost. not willing

to undergo an experience because of the Lord

Jesus Christ. They love the Lord Jesus so dearly,

so much. We read in the Gospel of Luke, chapter

Luke 14 · chapter mention

14. Verses 25 -27 Now large crowds were going

along with him, and he turned and said to them,

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own

father and mother and wife and children and brothers

and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot

be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own

cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Notice that he turns and says this, to a large

crowd. We could say they were the superficial,

shallow masses. And what does the Lord Jesus

Christ turn around and do? What does he say to

the superficial and these shallow disciples that

want, but they don't want to count the cost?

They want what Christ can offer. They want what

Christ can do. They want to see what all this

talk is about. But they don't want to suffer.

What does he do? He turns around and he says

a hard saying to them. And he says, if you want

to follow me, if you want to come after me, then

pick up your cross and die to yourself. That's

what Christianity is. That's what being my disciple

is like. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ himself

says. We see it all over the pages of Scripture.

It's a difficult reality, a hard thing, but nonetheless,

it's the reality of authentic, genuine, true

Christianity. Because of what God has done in

the life of believers, they will experience certain

costs in this life, certain difficulties and

hardships. pains and sufferings, trials, rough

spots in life, because they're no longer of this

world. Because they're different than everybody

around them by the grace of God, because they

think different, they look different, they look

at the world different, and they act differently

than the world around them. Because of what God

has done in the life of these Ephesian believers,

they are willing to count the cost, and follow

Christ publicly in Ephesus. Now let me draw a

few general conclusions about this text, and

then directly following that, I want to give

you a few specific conclusions regarding the

nature of true and authentic Christianity. So

a few general conclusions. We see that these

new converts, We're willing to undergo very difficult

things. We can draw that from the text clearly.

Everything about this scene is difficult. Everything

about this scene is hard. Everything about this

scene brings out turmoil, but also joy in their

souls. I mean, when they publicly identify with

the church, that's hard and difficult, but there's

also joy involved in it. And we see, brothers

and sisters, that everything in this situation

is trying. It's not going to be easy. They have

to face the fears in their own hearts in order

to be faithful. They have to deal with the humiliation

and the public shame in order to be faithful

and to be like their Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And why is it that they were willing? to undergo

these very difficult things for the Lord Jesus

Christ. It's because they were truly converted

people. The reason they publicly burn their books

and the reason they give up this great cost in

their own life is because they have been genuinely,

truly, authentically born again by the Spirit

of God under the preaching of the Apostle John.

Paul, we know this. We know this is true because

it says many of those who practiced, they used

to, in verse 18, many also of those who had believed.

And then in verse 20, what do we see? So the

word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing,

meaning the events that are being described in

18 through 19 are true gospel progress. It's

the gospel really, truly prevailing in this world

by saving sinners, truly converting men and women.

So we have to conclude from this text, brothers

and sisters, that we're dealing with here, in

Acts 19 .19, true, authentic Christianity. The

real deal. So in considering some specific conclusions,

authentic Christianity is always, always, brothers

and sisters, built on true conversion. Always.

If it's not built on true conversion, it is not

authentic Christianity. Now, what do we mean

by authentic? I mean Christianity that's willing

to count the cost. I'm talking about faith that's

willing to live and walk in the sight of other

people. Public faith. Public Christianity. Because

only converted people do that. Only those who

are genuinely born again Only those who have

the Spirit of God, only those who have been regenerated

in their hearts, are being sanctified, made holy,

and made godly in this life. Only those live

distinctively in this world unto the glory of

God in Christ. Nobody else. Only those who are

born again. That's the basis for all true, authentic,

Christianity. Now, we see this clearly and obviously

when we think about it, the problems with superficial

and shallow Christianity don't exist. What is

the root and the cause of those movements and

that reality? It's that men and women have not

been born again. It's that men and women don't

truly know Christ. They may be good, moral, religious

people. They may be some of the nicest folks

in town. They may have been raised in church

their whole life. They can even be the most faithful

churchgoer there is, brothers and sisters, but

their heart's affection is not on Christ. They're

unconverted. Superficial Christianity, at its

root, has unconversion. True and authentic Christianity

is always based and built on true, genuine conversion.

The work of God in sinners' lives. This is why

people are willing to do all those hard things

for Christ. Think about that, brothers and sisters.

Why do people endure and persevere? Why does

anybody continue in the Christian life if they

don't know Christ? Why would anybody? Why would

you continue to crucify your own wicked and perverted

desires if you don't know Christ? Brothers and

sisters, why would you continue giving up hours

every Sunday of your life if you don't truly

know Christ? Why would you give yourself to people

that are holy and completely different if you

don't truly know Christ? You're going to fall

off the boat one of those days. But true and

genuine Christians, they persevere and they endure

in the difficulty and the hardship and the trials

because they're truly born again. Christians

are people that do hard things all the time.

All the time. When you don't get what you want,

and you get angry, repent of it. That's hard.

Brothers and sisters, when you sin and you have

to go to the Lord, you repent of it. That's hard.

When you give up your desires and you put others

first, that's hard, isn't it? When you decide

you're not going to do that behavior or that

action anymore because it displeases God, is

that easy or is that hard? That's hard, brothers

and sisters. When you're a wife that's frustrated

with your husband, and you have to submit to

your husband to honor Christ, is that easy or

is that hard? That's hard. Brothers and sisters,

when you're a husband, and your wife is frustrating,

and you still have to sacrificially lead and

wash your wife in the Word, is that easy or is

that hard? Oh, that's hard, brothers and sisters.

It's hard. It's hard to get up early and come

to church on the Lord's Day. It's hard to focus

our minds to the Word of God. It's hard to make

ourselves do things we don't want to do. That's

the Christian life. Christians are people who

do the hard things all throughout this life until

Christ returns in glory and the things will no

longer be hard. That's true, authentic Christianity.

Perseverance in the hard things throughout this

life to honor Jesus Christ and to bring glory

to the name of our almighty and our mighty God.

Authentic Christianity is always public Christianity.

Always. Now, Not in the same fashion that it

was in Ephesus. But remember, there's a principle

that remains. Christianity is always public.

What I mean by that is this. I mean that the

church, by nature, is public in this world. The

local church is public in this world. As we spoke

earlier about the elements in particular, the

nature of corporate gathering, it's public. And

Christians, in order to please Christ, in order

to honor God, they have to be a part of that.

They have to be a part of God's church and his

ordinances, and they're public, brothers and

sisters. But it also means that individual Christians

will walk in this world before... Men. In the

sight of men. We read in the Gospel of Matthew

again. Chapter 5. The Lord Jesus' Sermon on the

Mount. You are the light of the world, a city

set on a hill. A city set on a hill cannot be

hidden. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put

it under a basket, but on the lampstand. And

he gives light to all who are in the house. Let

your light shine where? Before men in such a

way that they may see your good works and glorify

your Father who is in heaven. Christianity is

public because the believer who is truly and

genuinely converted will walk faithfully performing

their good deeds and their good works in the

sight of men. Men who are part of Christ's kingdom

will live differently than the rest of this world,

brothers and sisters. And that's what this is

teaching us. That it's a public faith that takes

place and happens in the view of others. The

church that God uses and blesses. The Christianity.

that is powerful and vibrant in this world, that

God uses for His kingdom and for His glory. Brothers

and sisters, it's a church that is in the world

and seen by the world, but is seen as holy. It's

seen as God -honoring and distinct and separate

and different from everything else. We also see,

lastly, that authentic Christianity is always...

Costly Christianity. Always. Now when I mean

costly, it's what we've referred to already.

There's difficulties, there's trials, there's

hiccups, there's rough spots, there's suffering,

there's persecution in various ways in our lives.

There's just general hardships that we endure

as believers. And it's part... Of knowing Christ.

If your Christianity. Does not cost you anything

at all. It's not true Christianity. Listen. If

Christ doesn't require anything of you. It's

not the real Christ. If you just give up what

you want to give up and you take what you want

to take and you do what you want to do and you

don't do what you don't want to do, that superficial

Christianity is not authentic, true, genuine,

born -again Christianity. True Christianity is

costly to your very soul as a believer in Jesus

Christ. It's going to hurt and it's going to

be painful, but you're willing to endure it because

you know Glory is coming one day. Resurrection

is coming one day. Suffering before exaltation.

Suffering before glory. And you're willing to

endure it because you want to honor and please

your Lord who is a good master. That's true authentic

Christianity. Give up your desire and do what

you're supposed to do. Give up your pride and...

Do what you're supposed to do. Listen. Die to

yourself and honor Jesus Christ. Can you do that?

Are you willing to do that? If you're not willing

to do that, ask yourself, am I truly a born -again

believer or am I a superficial, shallow Christian

who loves tradition and coming to church? Brothers

and sisters, we serve a good king. A good Lord,

but that does not mean that He requires nothing

of those whom He has saved. He has saved us to

be like Him. He suffered. He was exalted and

glorified. We will suffer. We will be exalted

and glorified after His pattern. True Christianity

always follows the pattern of the cross and then

glory. Every Christian walks that path. Trial

and hardship, cost, glory, eternal joy, eternal

happiness, eternal fellowship with our Heavenly

Father. That's what the cross of Christ has accomplished,

brothers and sisters.