Ready to Suffer

Last week I talked about the invested leader, the leader who admonished with tears, who was willing to be with his people night and day.

And it would rebuke them, would encourage them.

But all of it would be done just through this personal relationship.

Just this leader that is humble, this leader that is filled with integrity, this leader that has courage.

And honestly, you can see from Paul's writing, he also gets so blessed by the people that he leads.

He writes to the church in Ephesus, in Philippi, and he just has this love that's just exploding for his people.

I pray for that kind of love that I would have for you.

I pray if you're in a small group that your leader would have that same love for you.

And I pray that you would have that same love for your leader.

And today we continue, because at the end, previously in the book of Acts, chapter 20, we see him saying goodbye to his leaders.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

And they're crying and they're on their knees because he's about to head off.

He's about to head off to Jerusalem.

And the chances are they know that actually he's not coming back.

This is the last time that they see him.

And then the journey begins.

And this is where we jump in, in Acts, chapter 21.

Acts 21 · chapter mention

So if I could invite you to stand for the word of the Lord.

And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Kos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we sailed to Syria and landed in Tyre.

From there, the ship was to unload its cargo.

And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days.

And through the Spirit, they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey.

And they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city.

And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another.

Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemaeus, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day.

On the next day, we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the Evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said,

Thus says the Holy Spirit,

This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns his belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

Then Paul answered,

What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart?

For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

And since he would not be persuaded, we seized and said,

Let the will of the Lord be done.

After those days, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Manassan of Cyprus,

an early disciple with whom we should lodge.

This is the word of God.

Praise be to God.

Please take a seat.

Thank you.

Holy Spirit, we ask that you would be here with us this morning.

I'm not convinced.

My words are they need to hear.

In fact, I'm certain of it.

We all seek to hear your voice.

We humble ourselves before you and ask that you would lead us.

You would speak to us.

You would convict us.

You would admonish us.

You would encourage us.

You would build us up.

We are here for you.

In your name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

I'm going to speed up a little bit during the book of Acts, this final bit now,

because he's just on a journey after journey.

We're on a tour with Paul as he heads to his final destination, which is ultimately death.

And in that journey, there's some things that I think we can pick up that are actually really, really fascinating to me.

We see here in these 16 verses, he travels and he goes to quite a few different places.

And the first thing that I thought when I was reading this passage, I was like, this is a real person.

These are real people living real lives, facing real problems, and that they're also real friends.

It made me ask the question, when was the last time I cried for a friend?

When was the last time you cried for a friend?

Whether it's a goodbye or whether it's just something that they're going through where you're like, it actually breaks your heart.

When was the last time that happened for you? Do you remember?

When was that?

Does anyone have any examples of when that could have been?

Flo, you're nodding.

Yeah.

So seeing friends in difficult situations where they don't really know what to do next,

you don't really know what to do next, and you're just out there and your heart just breaks.

When was the last time you said goodbye to a friend and you were both crying?

That's of course a measure, not the only measure, but of just friends that have really invested in one another.

You've been through times together, the good ones and the bad ones.

And you see Paul here, he's going through.

And actually, something interesting, as you look at the book of Acts, you see him going to these different places.

There's two things that he keeps doing every time.

It's kind of just his kind of MO, what he does.

First thing he does, actually, what is it?

What does he do?

When Paul usually, he goes into a city, what's the first thing that he really does?

Kelly?

I have to go to the city.

He goes to the temple.

He goes to the synagogue.

Why?

To worship and also to engage with the people there to start talking to him.

That's the first thing that he does.

The second thing that he does, he goes to find friends.

He's just on the lookout for friends.

Imagine Paul walking into a city.

He's like, okay, what I need to do is God's given me a mission, so I'm going to go preach the good news.

But I've also got to find friends as I do it.

You see in Acts 16, he hangs out in Philippi.

Actually, he didn't want to go to Philippi.

He wanted to stay in Asia because that's where the good food is.

But he didn't stay in Asia.

And the Holy Spirit in Acts 16 says, don't stay in Asia.

The food is too good for you.

You'll get too fat.

I want you to go to Europe where you will only have fish and chips.

And that's it.

And so he goes to Europe and he goes to Philippi.

And he's there.

And actually, there's not that many Jews there.

So he's hanging around for a while.

This is Acts 16, by the way.

He's hanging out in Philippi.

There's no Jews.

There's actually not even a synagogue.

Why?

Because in order for a place to have a synagogue, you need at least 10 Jews.

There's not even 10 Jews there.

So there's no synagogue.

So he's like, but I still want to find my people.

I've still got to find friends.

So what does he do?

He goes to the outskirts of the city where there are a few ladies.

And one of them is called Lydia.

And that's when the church in Europe begins.

That's the very first church in Europe there.

And then, of course, in Acts 17, he goes to Athens.

And then he goes to, in Acts 18, he goes to Corinth.

And he finds Priscilla and Aquila.

He's looking for friends.

He's always looking for people to be around.

Joe and I, we grew up in this place in England called Leicester.

Has anyone been to Leicester before?

Wow, you have.

What did you think of it?

That was Birmingham, Julia, when you came to me.

So you've never been to Leicester.

So, so cool.

My hopes were lifted there just for a second.

Has anyone, no one been to Leicester?

Good for you.

No one deserves to be doing good to Leicester.

Leora, you've been to Leicester?

What did you think of it?

Unimpressionable.

Correct.

There is literally, what good can come out of Nazareth and Leicester?

That is in the word of God.

So we, we were the only two Chinese kids in, in school, in school.

Just wide working class kind of school.

We were the only Chinese kids.

So naturally I would tell everyone that I was related to Bruce Lee.

And they would believe it and that would be okay.

I counted actually, I don't know about you, I don't know whether, because we had different

schooling systems, as you can tell from the different intelligent level that we have here.

But I think I went to seven different schools.

Seven.

I don't know whether you counted, but for me it was, it was seven.

The only Chinese kid going to different schools constantly.

Looking back, I'm like, man, that was traumatizing.

I guess that explains a lot of who I am today.

And I'll tell you what my MO was every time.

And this was, you know, this was six-year-old James, this was eight-year-old James, this

was 11-year-old James.

I would find the guys who play football and I would try and play with them.

Because honestly, if I become friends with them, I mean, they're the ones that bully

people anyway.

So if I become friends with them, then it's okay.

Then I'll be safe.

And so every time I went to a new school, I would go find, okay, who are the kids that

I need to befriend?

When I came to Hong Kong, when I walked into the Society of the Friendship Group, who says,

oh, who do I need to get to know so that I will be safe?

So I resonate a little bit with Paul.

As he walks into these cities, he's like, I need to find my friends.

I need to find my people so I can actually feel safe.

So I listen to a wide range of different people during my week through podcasts and sermons.

And most of them are pastors you'll be comforted to know.

But every now and again, I really like to listen to people outside who, just to remind me,

it's what Keller says, you know, hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

And just to be connected to the world.

And actually, two of my favorite communicators and thinkers are actually Simon Sinek and Trevor

Noah.

Hilarious on different levels, but actually they just say some really, really insightful things

in the most humorous way.

And it's inspiring for me.

One of their recent podcasts, they talk a lot about friendship.

They said, actually, friendship has completely been left out of society.

We don't even know actually how to make friends anymore.

Actually, something that he said that was really interesting.

He was like, actually, the breakdown of friendship is a real thing because we simply don't have

time for them anymore.

Often when we're in our pursuit of career, in our pursuit of family, what's the thing that

really gets left behind?

Friends.

Friends are the ones that we leave behind.

And he's saying, actually, the problem is when you don't have friendships, actually,

you're missing a key part of just what it means to be a flourishing human.

We need friendships.

So what happens is when we don't have time for friends, we don't have time to be investing

in friends and to be receiving what only friends can give.

Spouses cannot give certain things.

Family cannot give certain things.

And so when we miss what friends can give, we put all those expectations onto our girlfriend,

our boyfriend, our husband, our wife.

And then the problem becomes like, why aren't you satisfying me?

Why aren't you caring for me?

In the way that actually only friends really can.

This week, I told you I had an up and down week and I was telling my friend.

And then again, super busy guy.

The first thing he said was, well, it's not a good week.

Let's jump on a call.

Five minutes.

That's all we need.

Five minutes.

You tell me what's going on.

We pray.

That's it.

We drop it.

And done.

After those five minutes, to be honest, ended up being about 25.

It was like, I was blessed.

Do you have friends?

The Netflix show, The Live to a 100, where it talks about the blue zones, where people

live to 100.

Of course, healthy diet, of course, olive oil and pasta.

But really, community.

Friends.

A place where you feel known.

A place where you know.

The problem here is a lot of us, especially those in big cities, we have kind of,

given up on friendship.

Why?

Because, well, actually, you find this, and we were talking about this the other day.

As you grow up in school, your best friend, and who remembers their best friend in grade

three?

You do?

What's his name?

What her name?

Rain Man.

Dustin Hoffman.

Your friend was a movie.

So you do remember?

Okay.

One or two.

But of course, oh, you remember.

Your best friend's name?

Sixty-some-odd years.

Incredible.

And you still keep in touch.

That is incredible.

What a blessing to be able to have those.

And of course, also sad to say that they are rarities to have those kind of friends

for that long.

Agnes, you've got to...

Still friends?

Vincent?

Huh?

Vincent's not your friend?

I knew it.

Since primary one.

Incredible.

Well, then maybe it's just me.

Maybe I just don't have friends.

Of course, changing school seven times does do that to you.

But actually, you realize that actually, as you get older and older, your friendship circle

just gets smaller and smaller.

In fact, your actual appetite and your interest in making friends gets smaller and smaller.

So by the time you reach kind of like young adulthood, you're kind of like, okay, I've

been there, done that.

Do you remember at university when you walked into university campus for the first time and

you're like, I need to make friends.

I need to survive.

And then what's the saying?

The saying is it takes you three hours to make a friend and then it takes you three years

to try and get rid of them.

But then as you get older, you're like, I just can't have that many friends.

I just need two, three.

Or if you're a guy, just half a friend.

And we just sit next to each other and not talk.

And we're okay.

We're bros.

But in a city like Hong Kong, you invest in friendships and then in a few years time,

they leave.

And then, okay, really miss them.

Cry.

Move on.

Be a new friend.

Get together.

Let's get our families together.

We do it again after a few years.

Oh, cry.

They're gone.

By the third round, you're like, you know what?

It's okay.

I'm just going to watch movies at home instead.

Friendships are hard.

Yet I can see that every time Paul goes into a new place, he's looking for friends.

Why do you need friends?

Because you need people to sit in the mud with you.

This is something that Simon Sinek said.

You need someone who is willing to sit in the mud with you in your worst times.

Friends that are just good for you to hang out and have a laugh with and play board games with.

Good.

Really good.

But you also need that friend who's willing to show up at your father's funeral.

Which is what happened to me.

Actually, when our dad passed, actually two of our friends moved in with us for a few weeks.

I don't remember why.

I don't remember how.

I just remember them being there.

And I remember the funeral, we had a blast.

For some reason, I don't know why.

Of course, the actual ceremony and the service was sad and we were crying.

But as soon as we were downstairs, my friends just kept making me laugh.

And it was mildly inappropriate.

And people were looking at this.

Don't be wrong.

Pray for James.

But it was just such a blessing to me and myself that there would be friends who would be not afraid to have these awkward conversations.

And also not afraid just to have a laugh even in the most dire circumstances such as death.

Do you have those kinds of friends?

I actually think Paul did.

He had Barney, Barnabas.

He had Silas and he had Timmy.

And actually, towards the end of his life, he had Timmy who was, of course, his mentee.

He actually told Timmy, hey, come to me quickly.

Of course, Paul only needed God.

We know that.

And yet he would tell Timmy, please, come to me.

He would tell other guys, hey, remember to bring my jacket.

Remember I left it there at your house?

Bring my jacket to me.

You could see that Paul was just connected to his friends.

And as you see this tour with Paul, you realize it's not just a tour with Paul.

It's actually a tour with Paul and friends.

And you start seeing it in Scripture.

You see Jonathan and David.

You see Ruth and Naomi.

You see Job and his buddies when he's going through the worst time in his life.

And actually, for seven days, his friends, Job's friends were doing pretty well until they opened their mouths.

And then they didn't do well.

But actually, for those seven days, they were just willing to sit there with him in the mud, not saying anything, just crying with him.

Just going, life does really, really, really suck.

And we have no answers.

But there's one thing we can do.

Our one response is that we will be here with you.

Paul had friends.

We see in Scripture we do that.

Paul suffered a lot.

And the next example I'm going to give based by no means the same.

But I remember.

Do you guys remember something called COVID?

So during COVID, there was a few years where none of us were allowed to leave.

Right?

Well, yeah, actually, that was true.

Or you could leave and then not come back for a while.

There's certain parts that I really miss about those few years where none of us were allowed to leave.

Where every time we would meet, we would kind of complain because we read the SCMP article today about what the newest restrictions were.

When it went from three days to seven days to 21 days.

And the amount of cases when we followed it.

It was 56 one day.

And then the next day it was 200 cases.

There was something about being here.

Some of my closest friends right now in Hong Kong.

My fondest memories are during that time.

But we had kids and we have nowhere to go.

So we went to this place called Inspiration Lake.

Has anyone been there?

Inspiration Lake, Disney.

Beautiful.

The restrictions there are super loose.

And so that was our refuge.

That was our hiding place.

And those are friends that I hold so dearly.

Friends are the ones who stick with you.

And you see here, Paul's about to go through something really hard.

And he's about to enter the final chapter of his life.

And what is he doing?

He's surrounded himself by friends.

Let's just have a look.

So he sets sail.

Not on the Royal Caribbean.

But he just sets sail.

And he starts heading.

And he lands at a place called Tyre.

And then he goes to Ptolemaeus.

And then he goes to Caesarea.

And each time he goes, he reaches out to people.

When he goes to Tyre, verse 4.

And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days.

So he goes to this new place.

And he's like, okay, I need to find some friends.

I need to find some people.

So he meets these people.

And he hangs out and stays with them and lives with them for seven days.

And this isn't just then small talk and chit-chat.

What do you do?

What do you do?

But it was literally, oh, you're a follower of Christ as well.

Me too.

And you can tell about because straight away, you know, the next thing that they describe is,

and through the Spirit, they were telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

Why?

Because they were having a time of prayer.

Why?

Because they were hearing from the Holy Spirit that actually this Paul that they'd only just met,

but they had become really good friends with, he was about to suffer in Jerusalem.

So these new friends of his were like, don't go.

They weren't telling him not to obey the Holy Spirit.

They were saying, hey, the Holy Spirit told us that what you're going to face next

is going to be really tough.

It's going to be imprisonment.

It might even be death.

Please, we urge you, please don't go.

Paul acknowledges them, doesn't listen to them.

I'll talk a little bit more about that later.

But then afterwards, he still goes.

Verse five.

When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey,

and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city.

And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another.

Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

I have this beautiful scene, image in my head of Paul and these new friends

with their wives and their children walking along the beach.

I'm going to call this the ministry of the beach.

Can you just imagine these people, these friends, these families walking together,

walking to his death, walking to his imprisonment.

And they would just be on the beach.

And then not caring what other people think,

when it's time for him to get on the boat, they all kneel down on the beach.

Just this beautiful picture of what spiritual friendship looks like.

When you know someone is about to head into danger.

And they are still, they just have this posture of resolve.

I'm going.

In chapter 20, he says, I am constrained by the Holy Spirit.

What does that mean?

I'm so compelled, I can't not go.

Do you understand?

I can't not go.

I've heard the Holy Spirit talk.

I've heard God tell me this.

How can I not go to where God calls me?

And these new friends, they basically accept it.

They have a posture of humility.

And they say, okay.

Well, if you still won't listen and you don't want to stay here,

then we will walk with you.

And we will take you as far as we can.

The Western church struggles with something,

which is the concept and the idea of suffering.

We struggle with it because we don't think it should happen.

We struggle with it because we've heard someone say,

well, Jesus is for our good.

So everything, when we invite Jesus into our lives,

our lives will be happy and peaceful and healthy.

But the moment we get sick, the moment something happens,

our first reaction is, God, are you there?

Are you real?

We've bought into this lie, and I'll call it a lie,

that the human existence does not need to have suffering.

When actually, suffering is very much a part of the human experience.

Francis Chan does this sermon,

and he goes through this example of every single book in the New Testament,

and he points out the points and the places of suffering that happen.

Every chapter, every book in the book of the New Testament,

talks about suffering.

Somehow, somewhere along the way,

we've grown up in church,

where now we've gotten to a point where we're like,

if I follow Christ, there will be no suffering.

How?

How did we get there?

When we see here, time and time again,

that is really all we see.

A famous Christian apologetics guy said this,

that actually that question of,

if there is a God, then why is there still suffering?

He only ever heard that question in the first world,

in the Western world.

Because of the rest of the world,

they are very acquainted with this friend called suffering.

That the world is not in the perfect place.

That it is broken.

That there is pain.

There is war.

There is death.

But somehow, in our Western church,

we've adopted it.

And then we try to avoid it.

And so when something goes wrong in our lives,

the first thing that we say is,

God, this must not be part of your plan.

When actually, sometimes,

suffering shows us, proves us,

that actually we are right in the center of God's plan.

And you can see it.

You can see the examples here.

I'm so sorry.

You can see it.

The question is, then what do we do?

When we go through suffering,

do we pray, God, would you remove the suffering?

Or do we pray, God, would you give me the courage to face it?

I hear about this pastor who was arrested

and put in prison for his faith in Central Asia.

And he was getting tired.

He was getting exhausted.

He was getting discouraged.

Will he ever be released?

And his prayer wasn't that he would be released.

His prayer was that,

God, would you bring me a friend?

And lo and behold, two weeks later,

another pastor gets arrested.

And he has put in.

And he rejoiced.

He didn't tell the other pastor.

That was the prayer, I guess.

But the accounts come out afterwards

that they were released.

They both said that was the best time of their lives.

Can you imagine what that even means?

And you might say, oh, that's...

What is that?

Is that even...

Well, Acts 15 and 16,

you see Paul in prison with his friend Silas,

with his boy Silas.

They've been beaten.

They're bleeding.

They're lying on the floor.

And what does Paul say?

Well, he doesn't actually say.

He's like, should we sing some Hillsong?

Should we worship a little bit?

Why don't you sing the first verse

and I'll sing the chorus?

You worshiped.

And I can imagine they were just close.

Friends that are right and die.

Friends that are so close that suffer with you

that they become family.

That's the spiritual friendship that we're looking for.

That is it.

As the modern theologian says,

what does he say?

I don't got friends.

I got family.

Fasten the Furies.

Do we have those kinds of people in our lives

that actually, even when we disagree...

Do you have a friend who disagrees with you?

And the moment they disagree with you,

you still just love them

and you have that engagement

and that you talk to them?

That's the friend that we need.

Not the friend that when we have a different view to them,

suddenly it becomes,

oh, then we must cancel each other.

We must not belong together.

In fact, I think that's the very reason

why we should belong together,

is when we have friends who have different opinions

because that's how we grow.

And so you see this

and then it carries on.

So they go on aboard the ship, verse 6,

and then the new friends from Tyre return home.

Verse 7,

And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre,

we arrived at Ptolemaeus

and we greeted the brothers

and stayed with them for one day.

On the next day, we departed and came to Caesarea

and we entered the house of Philip the Evangelist,

who was one of the sevens who stayed with them.

Philip the Evangelist, we've seen him before.

He comes from Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

My favorite chapter,

where he meets that Ethiopian

and he runs alongside him.

It's that Philip.

That Philip who wasn't afraid

of following God's mission

and went into Samaria

and went to basically spread the good news.

That Philip.

But now he's settled here

and then he has four daughters

and they all live with him

and they all prophesy.

So if anyone had any doubts

as to whether women get the spiritual gifts,

we see right here,

there's four daughters.

Can't imagine living with four daughters in one house,

but you see that he had friends there.

And then you have Agabus,

another friend who comes,

who also was in the earlier book of Acts,

in Acts chapter 11,

Acts 11 · chapter mention

when he prophesies a famine.

So you see these people just getting together,

spending time together

and coming to us.

And this is where Agabus comes out

with another prophecy.

And coming to us,

verse 11,

when he took Paul's belt

and bound his own feet and hands

and said,

thus says the Holy Spirit,

this is how the Jews at Jerusalem

will bind the man who owns this belt

and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

So a new place,

a new friend,

saying the same thing.

That when you get to Jerusalem,

you will be bound.

You will be put in prison.

This kind of friendship

isn't the type of friendship

that just hangs out

and enjoys dinners together.

This is the type of friendship.

Can you imagine

what kind of place they were in

in their minds and in their hearts

to get to the point

where they are praying

and that they hear from the Holy Spirit

and that the Holy Spirit speaks to them.

These are friends

that are not just on a physical,

earthly level,

but they're on a spiritual level

where they are sharing and praying

and diving into the deep spiritual things together.

And then Agabus here

is a little bit intense.

Borrowes Paul's belt,

straps himself up

and says,

this is what's going to happen to you

is what God is telling me.

It's interesting.

Remember,

who writes the book of Acts?

Luke.

So what you see here is then

before in Tyre,

Luke is saying

they were trying to tell Paul not to go.

In verse 12,

when we heard this,

we and the people there

urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

So Luke's kind of just recording all this

and writing it for us,

for our benefit.

And so this is what happened in Tyre.

And then we're in the reach of this area

and Agabus gives this prophecy.

Luke's like,

oh boy,

this is for real.

We and the people

all tried to stop him from going.

And yet here comes Paul's answer.

What are you doing?

Weeping and breaking my heart.

For I am ready not only to be imprisoned,

but even to die in Jerusalem

for the name of the Lord Jesus.

He doesn't say,

how dare you?

He doesn't say,

I reject what you're saying.

He's saying,

guys,

don't do this to me.

Don't do this to me.

You know

what God is telling me to do.

And yes,

you also know

what I'm going to face there.

It's funny,

just rewind a little bit.

Acts 20,

when he's talking to his elders

from Ephesus,

he says this,

verse 22,

and now behold,

I'm going to Jerusalem

constrained by the Spirit,

not knowing what will happen to me there.

Of course,

he doesn't really not know.

He does know

because he carries on saying,

except that the Holy Spirit

testifies to me in every city

that imprisonment

and afflictions await me.

Joe and I,

our families,

we love going on cruise ships

because we have children

and it's just easier.

And so we go to a place,

we get off,

we walk around,

pretend we know the place well

and then get back on the ship

and just keep eating

and go back to the playroom.

But Paul's tour was different.

Paul's cruise tour

was every port that he went to,

he would face affliction

and imprisonment.

Don't you think there'd be a moment

where he'd be like,

guys,

I think I'm not going to get off the boat today.

I don't want to get beaten today.

And yet the fire that he had,

the heart that he had,

even when his friends,

even when his boy Luke,

that he's writing all this down,

you can imagine him just writing,

oh, I best record this for the people.

And then he's like,

you know what?

Paul, seriously,

there's enough people telling us not to go.

We should stay put here.

It's pretty nice here.

And yet he says,

why are you doing this to him?

Well,

interestingly,

what happens here,

verse 14,

and since he would not be persuaded,

we ceased and said,

let the will of the Lord be done.

And after these days,

we got ready and went up Jerusalem.

And some of the disciples from Caesarea

went with us,

bringing us to the house of Manasson,

of Cyprus,

an early disciple with whom we should lodge.

His friends see that there's no,

there's no turning this guy.

There's no changing his mind.

And they said,

fine,

we will come with you.

The ministry of the beach,

the ministry of just being present.

When friends disagree with you,

yet still go with you

into the fire.

What kinds of friends are those?

Not earthly friends.

They are brothers and sisters in Christ

who have made the same decision

to follow Jesus,

even into persecution.

Now,

I've said this before,

and I'll say this again.

We live in a very comfortable setting right now.

I don't know how much we've paid to be here.

Now,

I also acknowledge there are people in this room

who have counted the cost,

who have actually turned on family

to follow Jesus

and are worshipping with us here right now.

And I want you to know that I see you,

I acknowledge you,

that there has been a price that you have paid

to sit here.

But I also know there's a lot of us here

who don't have that experience.

We've never had to really count the cost

of being a follower of Christ.

We've never really had to be in a place

where,

should I go to church this Sunday?

Because I might get caught by the authority.

We've not had the privilege

of going through that.

And the problem is,

when we don't have,

we've not had the privilege

of going through that,

then there's a chance

that actually our love for Him

hasn't been refined

in the way that those

who have gone through that

have benefited from,

have grown through.

But,

there are things

that we have paid the cost for.

Or at least there maybe are things

that we should.

Again,

it's the same question that I ask.

Often.

What has being here cost you?

And if it hasn't cost you anything,

then what is it worth to you?

If our faith in following Jesus

hasn't cost us anything,

then maybe it isn't really worth anything

to us.

But,

what if we lived lives

in a way where,

okay,

we are not facing imminent danger,

but,

there are decisions

that we're going to make,

the places we're going to be at,

the way we're going to act at work,

that will actually slow

our career progression down.

Where actually,

if I do this

and I follow Jesus in this way

and I live in this way,

actually,

I won't get the promotion.

Because my boss will see

that I'm doing the same thing

as those guys.

What if that was the cost?

And honestly,

big picture wise,

it's still pretty lame.

But let's just go with it for now.

What if it was,

you made decisions

in your workplace

where actually,

I am willingly sacrificing

my promotion next

so I can spend more time

with my small group?

And it's okay

if I get overlooked.

Because what is my job anyway?

I don't get to write it

on my grave.

It's not eternal.

All it will do

is take up more time

for me to do things

that aren't as important to me.

What if we were people

who said,

actually,

I don't mind sacrificing that.

Of course,

there will be people around us

who are like,

what are you doing?

That's less money.

You've lost that job title.

But what if we were people

who said,

actually,

I've counted the cost

and this is nothing compared

to the surpassing worth

of knowing Christ Jesus,

my Lord.

What if we were in positions

where I am in full-time ministry

in my office,

in my workplace

and that's my primary goal

and my work will serve that,

will submit to that

and I will do my very best

in my work

and some of us here,

the Lord has placed us

in positions

of power

so that we can

be a force for good,

that we can show people

that Jesus is Lord

in a way

that only you can.

What if we were

those kinds of people?

What if we choose God

and it means

we don't choose

that relationship?

Then actually,

you know

that the relationship

isn't going to draw you

closer to God

and you wrestle

and you argue with yourself

and you try and rationalize it.

What if that was

your cost today?

What if that was

your cost of saying,

actually,

today I won't choose

look,

I don't know

what the future holds.

If I miss out on you,

I don't know

whether I'll have

someone in the future

but it doesn't matter

because I count

that nothing

compared to the surpassing

worth of knowing

Christ Jesus.

What if we started

making those decisions?

Not every one of us here

will be persecuted

for our faith

but there are costs

that we should consider.

But,

I want to spend

a little bit of time

because I don't want

to just talk about that

and then not actually

acknowledge that there

are people in this world

that are genuinely

facing persecution

because of their decision

to follow Jesus.

The same Jesus

that we follow

and yet their life

looks so different.

There's a few organizations

that I looked up.

One's called Open Doors

and another's called

International Christian Concern

and another called

Voice of the Martyr

where you hear about

some stats

about what's happening

in the world

right now

with some people

who are facing persecution.

388 million Christians

are experiencing

persecution.

That's one in seven.

One in seven people

who have committed

to follow Christ

are facing trouble

because of that decision

alone.

Over half of them

are women

and girls.

A third of them

a third of them

are under the age

of 15.

A young person

who says

I'm going to follow Jesus

even if it means

everything that it means.

We don't have the privilege

of that in Hong Kong.

But we should care

about it.

There's a nine-year-old girl

from Bangladesh

and actually

I have young life colleagues

in Bangladesh

that are suffering

through this

where her family

is

a Christian

in a Muslim community

where they get surrounded

their house

gets surrounded

regularly

by people

telling them

you must go back

to Islam

and yet they stay.

They throw stones

into their house

and yet they stay.

And this nine-year-old girl

isn't allowed

into the school

in the local village

because her family

are Christian.

Nine years old.

That's Elysia's age.

But because of her

family's decision

she can't get

the safety

that she deserves.

But yet there are

people out there

who care for

these people.

So this organization

opened doors.

They go and create

communities

safe homes

for these families

who decide

to follow Jesus

where they can have

a place

where they can be.

And she describes

the church

as the only place

where I am not

alone.

4,847

Christians

were killed

for their faith

this last year.

Nearly 5,000

Christians.

Simply because

they refused

to deny Christ

they lost

their lives.

13 people

a day.

4,700

were detained

without trial

and arrested.

Last September

in a court

in Iran

five people

were sentenced

to eight years

in prison

for simply

just attending

church

and being part

of a prayer

meeting online.

And that was it.

3,000 people

kidnapped

every year

because of

their Christian

faith.

I talked

a few months

ago

about the

situation

in Nigeria

where in November

300 school kids

were taken

away.

a couple

weeks ago

two church

services

were raided.

172

people

who were

worshipping

around the

size of

this group

right here

kidnapped

because they

were worshipping

Jesus.

What do we

do with that?

The story

shared by

International

Christian

Concern

about a

pastor

in Central

Asia

ultimately

it was

released

but his

wife shared

this story

where when

he was in

prison

his story

was heard

and people

around the

world

followers of

Christ

around the

world

would write

letters to

him

to try

and encourage

him.

He didn't

get a

single one

because the

prison officers

would just

not let him

read them.

But they

still ended

up changing

his life

because one

day

one prison

officer

was having

a bad

day

and was

beating

him

and as

he was

beating

him

he said

you are

so annoying

do you

know how

many letters

I have to

throw away

of yours

every day?

Oh my

goodness

that lit a

fire in

this pastor's

heart because

he's like I

don't need to

read those

letters.

There are

people who

remember me

outside.

I don't

have to face

that kind

of persecution.

I don't

think you do

either.

But my

fear is

that then

causes my

faith to

be stale.

It doesn't

need to look

so extreme

as I was

having a

conversation

with Anton

the other

day.

Often even

talking to

someone who

doesn't share

the same

faith as

you,

sharing the

gospel with

them,

that forces

something out

of you.

That causes

you to

double down

in your

faith.

Do I

really

believe this?

Because if I

don't share

it, then do I

really believe

it?

Because the

very nature

of what I

believe is

that I

must share

it.

So if I

don't share

it, that

means I

don't know

if I truly

believe it.

But the

moment I

do share

it, then

it forces

me to

decide, do

I actually

believe this?

It doesn't

mean I have

to answer

every single

question right,

but it does

mean that I

care enough

about this,

I believe

enough in

this, and

I am

willing not

to put my

life on the

line, but

at least to

put my

friendship in

an awkward

place for a

few minutes

where I can

ask them,

hey, do you

this to

varying degrees

of success

and consistency?

But that's my

conviction that

I'm growing in

myself, going

this is something

that I must do.

I was sharing

with my life

group a couple

weeks ago, this

idea of, actually,

how can we not

be hypocrites?

How do we be

people who are

willing at any

moment to share

the faith?

And I was

sharing with

them an epic

fail that I

had the other

day.

The other day I

was playing

basketball with

a group of

friends, and if

you know me

when I'm playing

basketball, I'm

not Pastor James,

I'm just playing

basketball.

And I don't

really want to

talk to people

about Jesus

when I'm just

doing something

like my hobby.

And I met

this person,

spoke to them,

and often they

asked me, oh,

so what do you

do?

And then I

say, I'm a

pastor.

And then I

said, I'm

playing basketball

right now.

But all I

could eke out

of me was,

well, do you

go to church?

And he said,

oh, no, I

don't go to

church.

And then there

was like five

seconds of just

silence there.

Because I was

like, I don't

want to engage

in this.

I've already

just met him.

We're just

about to go

back on the

court.

And then I

chickened out.

I was like,

oh.

Afterwards, I

sat in my

car and I

just felt the

crushing of the

Holy Spirit

going, wow.

I'm not here to

guilt trip myself

and say every

time I speak to

someone, every

waitress, every

clerk, I must

talk to them

about Jesus.

But what I'm

saying is, do

we follow the

convictions, do

we follow the

opportunities that

the Lord gives

us?

So when there

is a moment

where someone

engages us with

the faith or

has an opening

where we can

talk about it,

are we willing

to talk about

it?

So fast

forward to

yesterday, I

was at a

birthday dinner

with a friend

and the theme

was just

Midwest Texan

cowboy thing.

So I'm sat

at the dinner

table next to

two people who

I don't know

in my cowboy

hat and then

the same question

comes up, oh

hi, I'm James,

what do you do?

I say, well,

guess.

And no one

ever can guess.

They usually just

go with mafia.

And then I

say, well, I'm a

pastor.

Do you go to

church?

Have you been to

church?

And the woman

just,

starts crying.

Just disclaimer

here, nothing

that I did.

Good, good

or bad.

Ironically, I

was sat, she

was on one side

and her husband

on the other

side.

So after that

happened, I

turned to him

and I was

like, I'm

really sorry.

Your wife is

crying.

But I say

that not in a

bad way either.

I'm saying

actually, it's

not even me

that does it.

I don't have

to do that

much.

It's the

Holy Spirit

that's doing

and then in

the rest of

the evening

I got to

hear this

beautiful story

how this

couple who

don't know

Christ are

being drawn

into his

presence.

And that

being sat

randomly next

to a pastor

was what

tips them

over.

I did

nothing.

Good or bad.

I was just

being obedient.

I was just

learning from

my mistake.

Not my mistake

from last week.

I think that's

all we need

to do.

There's

another

gentleman in

the Czech

Republic

who serves

in Sudan

trying to

share the

gospel.

They were

both imprisoned,

ended up

becoming best

friends.

There would

be stories

about prisoners

separated by a

wall,

preaching to

each other

by tapping

on the wall

and communicating

through Morse

code,

encouraging

each other

in the

faith.

And just

in case you

feel as though

all those

were years

ago,

the ICC

reported

February 26,

so a couple

weeks ago,

a mob of

Hindu

nationalists in

central India

attacked a

Christian family

after the

family refused

to deny

Christ.

The family

lost their

home and

their belongings

during the

attack,

forcing them

to live

on the

streets.

200 radical

Hindus

surrounded the

house and

attempted to

force Ramsey's

family to

deny Jesus

and reconvert

to Hinduism.

The furious

mob burst

into the

home,

threw the

family's

food and

belongings

into the

street,

and yet

the family

chose to

remain in

Christ.

Last night,

all six

children and

my wife

slept in

the rubble

with no

roof.

God gave

us courage

to come

thus far.

We hope

that God

will continue

to strengthen

us to

remain faithful

to him.

What do

we do

with that?

Apart from

go to God

and give

thanks,

okay,

in this

current

moment,

in this

current

season in

our lives,

we are

in safety.

But Lord,

what is it

that you

want me

to do

where I

can go

out of

my comfort

zones to

share the

good news?

The good

news that

led me from

being dead

to now

being alive.

The good

news that

led me from

first being

blind but

now seeing.

And if

I don't

feel that

conviction,

God,

can you

remind me

again of

my lost

state?

We get

so comfortable

and so

cushy here

when God

pours blessings

out on us

as we think

we deserve

them,

that we're

entitled to

them.

The friendship

of suffering

that Paul

goes through

from city

to city.

And what's

his ultimate

comfort?

His ultimate

comfort is

that he

has a

Christ,

a Lord

that is

willing to

sit in

the mud

with him.

In Acts

9 when

Jesus meets

Paul,

Saul at

the time

and says,

why are

you persecuting

me?

Why are

you hurting

me?

But now

I'm going to

choose you.

You are

going to be

my instrument

and you

are going

to suffer

for my

namesake.

Jesus

himself when

he was

in the

garden

of

Gethsemane.

What does

he need?

Friends.

Stay here

with me.

Keep watch

with me.

I'm about

to do

something

that is

going to

be so

painful.

Blood

is going

to come

through

my pores.

please

stay

with me.

Jesus

willingly

suffering

for us.

Willingly

sitting in

the mud

with us.

Philippians 2

who though

was in

the image

of God

did not

count God

the equality

that he had.

He emptied

himself.

What is

that?

We

translate it

as Jesus

the Prince

of Heaven

was willing

to sit

in the mud

with us.

That's

what keeps

us going.

That's

what kept

Paul going.

And then

later in

John 15

we see

Jesus say

the greatest

example of

love is

when someone

is willing

to lay

down their

lives for

their friend.

And now

I call you

my friends.

And I've

told you

everything that

I know.

I've given

you everything

that I have.

Paul had

the strength

to do that

for others

because Christ

did that

for him.

but then

he calls

us to

do the

same.

Some of

us may

be called

into

dangerous

parts

of the

world.

And just

before you

go,

oh,

that's

such a

far-fetched

thing.

I was

the same

as you

for a

while

until I

met

colleagues

who were

literally

serving in

some of

these

places.

And it

just

completely

broke my

perspective

on what

I think

I'm

going

through

here.

But he

calls

each of

us

friends

and he

calls

each

of

us

to

go

and

lay

down

our

lives

for

someone

else.

And often

it doesn't

even need

to be

our

lives.

It just

needs

to be

that

conversation

that we

need

to

have.

It

actually

just

means

we

need

to

lay

down

our

egos

and

our

fears

and

our

insecurities.

That's

all we

need

to

do.

Can

we

do

go

and

have

an

awkward

conversation

with

someone

and

literally

say

we're

going

to

make

it

awkward.

Well,

don't

deliberately

do,

but be

prepared

for it

to be

awkward

and

to

be

okay.

Why?

Because

we

believe

that

this

matters.

This