Ready to Die for Jesus
Notes
Transcript
And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, 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 at Tyre, for 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 Ptolemais, 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 this 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 ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”
After these 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 Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.
Our passage today brings Paul just about back to Jerusalem. He had been gone for several years, but now he was heading back to where the church started and what was still the traditional Jewish center. You can see on the map where his traveling took him. We’re going to hear all in verse 1, how he went from Miletus to Cos to Rhodes to Patara. Verse 2 tells us he then headed in the direction of Phoenicia, which is where we get this second grouping of cities in the southeast corner. He spent a week in Tyre, then a quick day stop in Ptolemais, and a number of days in Caesarea before heading to Jerusalem.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I don’t consider myself to be a very reckless person. I don’t ever plan on skydiving. I don’t have a desire to ride motorcycles. I’ve rappelled several times, and I used to know how to set that up safely, but I hate taking the first steps backwards—it doesn’t make any rational sense to go over the side of a cliff or a tall wall. Yet this is coming from one of those guys who thinks it’s a good idea to drive a truck over an ice-covered lake just to go fishing and who feels fine speedily weaving through traffic. What qualifies as reckless can be different for different people. Yet it pretty much always involves something that’s legitimately dangerous.
There are dangerous situations, however, which aren’t looked down upon as reckless, but for which people are praised as selfless. As our country remembered the anniversary of September 11, 2001 on Friday, I read some memories about first responders at the World Trade Center towers. Instead of running away from the dust, debris, and devastation, they ran toward it. Some of them went into the buildings multiple times to rescue people, to guide them out. In the course of saving lives, it cost hundreds of them theirs. Maybe even more, when innocent people put themselves in harm’s way to save others, a situation where they could lose their life, we praise them as heroic.
All of this shows the value that many people, including us, place on life continuing. If we compare how things are here today compared to much of history and compared to different parts of the world, peoples’ life expectancy is quite high. Particularly if we’re healthy and young, we want to push death as far away as we can. We don’t want it to come “too soon.” We want it on our terms, because there’s always more we want to do or see or celebrate. Yet I shared at Myra Van Someren’s funeral that one of the most wonderful things for me as a pastor to hear, usually from older Christians, is that they’re ready to go. In the certainty of their faith, whenever they die, and some of them long for that, it’s fine with them.
This morning we’re looking at the topic set forth in our passage of being ready to die. We begin with the question: what does it mean to be “ready to die”? We started to consider this last time, and it’s been with us throughout our study of Acts. If a person is persecuted, death may be the result. Paul comes straight out and says it in verse 13, though, “‘…I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’” We heard it last time, we hear it similarly today, when Paul said these goodbyes, there was weeping and grieving; they pleaded, maybe even begged, him to stay safe, to stay away from Jerusalem, away from those who wanted to harm him—that wasn’t a secret! Yet Paul was saying, “I’m okay with that; I’m ready for it.”
I’ll give a bit of a spoiler if you don’t know how the story ends—Paul was still several years from his death. He didn’t die in Jerusalem; in fact, his death isn’t recorded in Scripture. But his imprisonment that continued through much of his remaining years started in Jerusalem.
I want us to just focus on this statement, though. What does it mean for him to say, “I am ready…to die…for the name of the Lord Jesus”? Maybe we’re wondering about whether it’s right or not for him to say that. We’re pro-life, pro-health, pro-staying alive because God made us; does that leave room for a person to talk or act like this? Can we put our lives in jeopardy for the Lord?
Paul’s readiness for death at the very least meant he didn’t fear death, he was looking forward to it. That might sound really morbid, really dark—“He wanted to die,” really? I know we’ve gone here at least one another time in this series, but let’s look again at what Paul says in Philippians 1. Starting at verse 20, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me…I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.”
“To live is Christ and to die is gain.” What Paul was saying is if he continued to live, it’s because Christ was in him, sustaining him, having work for him to do. If he died though, there was a better life waiting for him. He’d get to “be with Christ”!
Paul knew, or at least believed, he would be killed, persecution of some type would be his cause of death. His life would be taken by others because he believed in Jesus and refused to hide that. We can’t minimize that part of his life. He did have all these people who loved God, loved him, wanted him to be around—it was hard to say goodbye to them, but getting to be greeted and received by his Savior would be so much better. To leave the brokenness and hatred and violence that exists in this life and trade it for the joy, the peace, the perfection that Jesus holds for all who believe in him; that’s a no-brainer. We can’t forget or neglect the reality of what is to come.
We might summarize what Paul committed himself to was being both ready and wanting to die, if it was God’s will. Maybe we wonder, is that what all of us ought to be pursuing—not just living for Jesus but wanting to die for him, too? Our second point seeks to answer that: putting one’s life in danger for the purpose of the kingdom is the calling of some Christians. Suffering is the calling of all Christians. Throughout this section of Acts, the Holy Spirit seems to have been working both sides—telling the people Paul would suffer if he continued on and having them warn him, yet preparing or reminding Paul that this was the reality that laid ahead and he needed to go forward. There are different ways that people look at this, but perhaps part of it was to encourage Paul. He would know there were people who had been impacted by his evangelism—through the Spirit—their love had been expressed and they would perhaps continue to pray for and encourage him as long as he lived.
It seems quite appropriate and true to say it was God’s will for Paul to die a martyr. While that may be difficult, if we can accept that which the people in Caesarea and Paul’s colleagues proclaimed together, then we can understand when missionaries express a desire to go somewhere or to engage people who may threaten their lives—they’re not crazy; they’re not necessarily being reckless. Some are called to areas where they may be and will be killed, and God has led them to accept that as a possibility. We also should remember it isn’t just missionaries who are sent to dangerous places, but there are plenty of believers who live in places that are hostile, and who God keeps in place for the benefit of his kingdom.
Yet that does not mean that all of us should be pursuing death and peril. As God works through people, calling specific people to different kingdom tasks, people who are alive are needed to share the gospel, to go into neighborhoods, to go to the ends of the earth, and show and tell the love of Jesus. We can enjoy life and enjoy material blessings. But this doesn’t mean we should seek to escape all pain for the sake of being followers of Christ. Paul wrote to Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:10-15, “You…know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings…Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…As for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of…[the holy Scriptures] are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:12-19, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you…If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name…Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…” “…Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ…You are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” Brothers and sisters, no one wants to suffer anything, whether it’s for a good cause or not. Yet God’s word tells us, it shouldn’t be if you suffer but when you suffer for Christ, know that God is with you, know that you’re following the road that was walked in its most painful track by our Savior Jesus Christ.
Now we come to our final point: are you ready to die no matter your age? Are you ready for your brothers or sisters in your blood family or in the family of God to die—whether expectedly or sudden and seemingly too soon? Being ready doesn’t mean that it won’t be difficult, or we’re not allowed for it to feel hurt and full of sorrow. No, when death happens, things may change drastically from what we’re used to. We no longer get to see that person, to talk with them, to experience them in our lives. Death is a consequence of the fall; it is part of the curse for sin—we weren’t originally intended by God to die.
Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, you have no reason whatsoever to fear death. Whether it happens as part of persecution or any other circumstance at any age—you can be ready for it. Is it scary to think about what may come in the dying process? I think it can be. Is it strange to be anxious about the unknown? I don’t think so. None of us knows exactly how the post-life experience will be—are we asleep, are we conscious, do we just wake up in front of Jesus? Yet there’s comfort in being able to read and know the promises and assurances that God has set forth in his word—he’ll be with us because of what Jesus has done for us.
Pastor and Christian rapper Trip Lee has a song called, “I’m Good.” In the lyrics he talks about how he can “hear [trouble is] coming for [him, and] death is at [his] door way. Fear says, ‘[He’ll] perish,’ but that ain’t what [his] Lord [says].” He talks about how he’s full of joy because he’s drank the living water. He feels pain, but he can’t be knocked down because he’s in Jesus. He’s “good to go,” ready to die whenever, because there’s “nothing on this planet that satisfies [his] soul. [He’s] living for tomorrow. Today is out of control.” You can take all his money, give him pain, kill him, but he has that Philippians 1 mentality, “to die is gain.” In the last verse, he raps, “Death is just a doorway to take me to my faithful lover. The Lover of my [soul is] with me…you’ll never…take me under.”
That sums up well what it means for any of us to be ready to die—to not be in fear of the finality that many people often associate with death. There is finality in death; there’s no getting around that. But it is not our final page, our last breath, the end. If we believe in Jesus Christ, we will not perish because we have eternal life. If you have not believed, it is my prayer that you sense the Holy Spirit stirring faith in you, causing you to long for something more than the devastation and brokenness of this world. If you want to talk to someone about the confidence we can have about the life to come, please talk to me, an elder or deacon, or a friend who believes. However that day and time comes for each of us—whether it’s sudden and tragic or expected and even longed for, whether it comes by way of persecution or accident or sickness—let us be ready for that day, not fearing what death brings, because we know the One who gives us new life. Amen.