Christianity And The Pursuit Of Happiness: Stephen's Reality Check
Here’s a summary of this week’s sermon:
The passage from Acts 7 describes the defense of Stephen before the council, which ultimately leads to his death. The talk challenges the idea of a Christ-belittling Christianity that focuses on the potential side benefits of following Jesus, rather than the sacrifice and suffering that come with it.
Christians throughout history have been willing to give up everything for the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus, and the talk encourages listeners to embrace this perspective, rather than seeking a comfortable, self-obsessed Christianity.
Pete argues that we should envy Stephen's deep satisfaction in having just Jesus and finding joy even in death. The testimony of Stephen and the consistent testimony of scripture teach that Christ is all-satisfying and supreme over all other loves.
The vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God sent the high priest and council over the edge and reminded them of passages from the Old Testament that speak of judgment and the coming of Jesus as a judge.
While our culture promotes self-love and prioritizing individual happiness, true happiness and fulfillment can only be found in God. Self-love must be rooted in loving others as ourselves and seeking our ultimate happiness in Christ.
On the day of judgment, we will either bear the wrath of God ourselves or flee to Jesus who bore it for us, and being in the presence of the exalted Jesus will be our greatest joy. Only Jesus can satisfy the infinite longing in our hearts and make us right before God.
💬 CONVERSATION STREET --
Dan + John discuss:
How is Pete’s talk serious and sobering in today’s scenario?
Why does Stephen call the religious leaders stiff-necked people?
How can we find true satisfaction in Jesus alone and not in other things?
How do we as Christians make sure that we keep our focus on Jesus and don’t go off-track pursuing nice things?
How is the effort of grace to surrender?
When Stephen sees heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, what can we infer from the fact that Jesus was standing and not sitting in that moment? How is it significant?
Why can’t we tag Jesus along with all the other gods of other religions?
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Pete: Hello, Crowd church. It's lovely to be with you again. So today we're gonna be continuing in our series on the book of Acts. And, uh, today we're in chapter seven. Um, we've already seen that Stephen has been brought before the, the high priest, uh, and the council. And they've, they've gathered false witnesses against him.
And after all of the false accusations are, are brought, um, Stephen then begins his defense where he basically chronicles Old Testament history leading all the way up to Israel's present rejection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Um, so in today's passage, Stephen is rounding off this preach of his life.
Um, and it's the preach that will ultimately cost him his life as well. Sorry, I should have given a spoiler alert there. Um, but before we go to the text, um, I'm gonna do something a little bit different and I just want to read a little quote that I heard, um, while I start the same time as, um, starting to think about this talk.
Um, was very by a very popular preacher, and he said, God doesn't just want to give you Jesus. He wants to give you abundant life. Now I just want you to hold that phrase in your mind as we read, um, this piece of scripture and we'll use God's word as a plumb line to see if that quote is straight or crooked.
So this is acts seven verses 51 through 56, and this is Stephen speaking before the council, the council. You stiff necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you, which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute and they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and murdered. You, who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.
Now, when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him, but he full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, behold, I see the heavens opened and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.
But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out. Lord Jesus received my spirit and falling to his knees.
He cried out with a loud voice. Lord do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. It's heavy, it's heavy stuff today. Um, but I promise you, uh, that I'm gonna be preaching to myself as much as I am to you. Um, So going back to that quote we had before, God doesn't just want to give you Jesus, he wants to give you abundant life.
Um, now this quote in its wider context really didn't help it. Um, but the implication here is that having just Jesus is not abundant. Not enough, or that having Jesus plus is somehow more or better than having just Jesus. Now, I want be very careful with how we talk about this because it would be wrong for me to sever Jesus from the things he gives us.
Like for example, if you have Jesus, you also have forgiveness. You are also adopted into a family. And we could go on and on and on with this. Um, one John five, verse 12 says, whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not have the, the son of God does not have life. But I address this quote because I think it does encapsulate what I believe to be a disease that's eating away or trying to eat away at Christianity in the West.
So let me me explain. This kind of statement or this brand new of Christianity just would not hold water in most places around the world or throughout most of church history. I think the only reason we can get away with saying this kind of thing about following Jesus is because the, the cost of following Jesus in the West is so close to zero, and the chances of having just Jesus are virtually zero.
The ease that we've had in the West, um, It is a total anomaly when you look at, uh, global, the global church throughout history and, and I think that this ease with which we live the Christian life in 2023 might have more than just a little to do with how we, how we are compromising in order to avoid opposition, name calling and persecution.
Um, because friendship with the world is so alluring and our affections are demanded by a thousand of the loves, and our gaze is pulled in every direction. And I, I think that this, yeah, I do think this statement is, is indicative of, of a virus and it of a, a Christ belittling Christianity where Jesus, um, is kind of just, uh, another means, um, Another means to prop up our self-obsession and, uh, and a supporting actor on our journey of self-discovery, really.
Um, and I do believe that at times we've been guilty of foregrounding all of the potential possible side benefits of walking with Jesus. And in doing so, nudged Jesus out to the periphery where we can still enjoy him on our terms, um, but still live our best life now. So it goes something like this, come to Jesus and you'll have a really exciting life.
Things will go well with you. You'll have better relational health, and you'll get through that rough season in your life. And hey, look at this great community you can be part of. And look at the Quiche. I'm a nineties kid, so grew up with a lot of Quiche. Um, um, but what happens when the Quiche disappoints you or you are inevitably hurt by, this community of, of similarly broken people.
Um, well, if that's how it's been sold to you, I, I, I'm sorry to break it to you, but you've been shortchanged to countless people throughout history and even today. Calling King Jesus means a death sentence, and it means being disowned, means being stoned, means that in every material sense, your life looks pitiable.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 19, if in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. He went on to say in, in Romans five, we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance. And endurance produces character. And character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame.
Paul did not view, he just did not view following Jesus as the best way of securing and maximizing comfort and prosperity in this life. In fact, it was the total opposite, but he was convinced that unspeakable joy awaited him, and this was his hope, and there was nothing that he wouldn't sacrifice in order to attain it.
In, uh, Philippians one, verse 21 says, for to me, to live Christ and to die is gain. Imagine saying that, that to die is gain, that, you can rejoice in your sufferings. Christians throughout the ages, uh, have have been able to call death and suffering and persecution the sweetest of names. Um, Philippians three eight says, indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing. Jesus, Christ, my Lord, for his sake, I've suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ.
So if following Jesus has cost you know that this is your hope to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus. Jesus promises to be everything to you in such a way that you will be able to say at the end of it all, you'll be able to look back and say, along with countless Christians throughout history, I never made a sacrifice. I count it all as loss.
But what we'd rather do in 2023 is tear Jeremiah 29:11 kicking and screaming for its context. Um, that that verse says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future, and, and we decide for ourselves what?
What hope means. What a good plan means. We stick it on screensavers and blindly believe that the Christian life is gonna be a walk in the park and good vibes and goosebumps on a Sunday morning. But I ask you the question, should we feel bad for Stephen? Is his story a tragedy? Did God not have a wonderful plan for his life?
I do think that there's a sense in which we should actually envy Steven. In that moment when Stephen saw the glory of God standing and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, he had everything and he knew it, but he found supreme all surpassing joy even in death. And the testimony of Stephen still speaks today that Christ is better.
God ordained that Steven would be so deeply satisfied in having just Jesus, that he would die in such a way that demonstrated to the world that his greatest treasure lay beyond this life, and that even 2000 years later, his testimony would still be speaking. So the testimony of Stephen and the the unified consistent testimony of scripture
is that king Jesus is all satisfying and supreme over all other loves. Jesus is not the means to an end. Jesus is the end. He's to be your greatest treasure and your your deepest joy and the object of all your affection. He's not a springboard to all the things you ever wanted. He himself is the ultimate and only fulfillment of all of our misdirected and corrupted and scattered desires.
So, yes, God had a good plan for Stephen. I think that one of the reasons that, um, this message is, is so jarring, um, is that our culture tells us that there's no, there's no higher good than the pursuit of the self. It's self, self, self. And self-love. Um, at least the way that the, the world understands it is that your, your mental and emotional equilibrium is your highest good.
And, and that anything which endangers that is toxic and needs to be done away with. So like if another person is, um, Uh, if you are no longer making an emotional profit on a relationship, the other person's expendable. Um, and this has even started kind of seep into the way that I think we, uh, we, we, we speak in, in, in the church.
So, um, verse like Mark 12:31, where Jesus says, you shall love your neighbor as yourself is sometimes spoken of as like, well, You just need to love yourself more then. In order to be able to love others, you need to love yourself more. But that's not the point. Jesus was not saying here that you need to love yourself more in order to love others.
He was recognizing the fact that you already do love yourself. You already do seek your, uh, your highest good. You seek the best for yourself. So now extend that to others and love others in that same way. Um, this is something that, um, Blaise Pascal just put beautifully. Um, when he said, all men seek happiness.
This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end the cause of some going to war and of others avoiding it. It is the same desire in both just attended with different views. The will never takes the least step. But to this object, this is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.
There was once in man a true happiness, of which there now remains to him, only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent. The help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate because the infinite abyss can only be filled with an infinite and immutable object, that is to say only by God himself.
Um, so Blaise said there about how, uh, these things that we, um, chase after are inadequate. And Ephesians four actually touches on this when it speaks about how without Christ. We are all corrupted by deceitful desires. The things that we think will satisfy us will actually deceive and betray us. Um, and so, uh, in John 12 as 25, it says, whoever, whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
This, uh, this type of self-love is radically different to the self-love that the world is trying to, um, trying to get us to, to believe in and live by. Um, and, and I remember it saying a while back, uh, on Crowd Church, God is more concerned with your character than your comfort. Um, I've heard similar, similar things like that said like, um, God's more concerned with
your holiness, then your happiness. Now, there is a way that those statements could be gravely misunderstood because you would not believe how much God is concerned with your ultimate eternal, lasting and unending comfort and joy and happiness in him. Uh, the the problem is not that we seek happiness, we all seek happiness.
Um, that's something that God placed inside of us. Uh, the problem is where we are gonna look for satisfaction. Um, CS Lewis put it like this. The New Testament has lots to say about self denial. But not about self denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find, if we do so, contains an appeal to desire.
Um, I haven't got loads time left, but I just want to go back to the text to, to draw something out. Um, from verse 54, it says, Now when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him, but he full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and he said, behold, I see the heavens opened, and the son of man standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him.
So the um, the coun, the high priest and the council's anger had really reached fever pitch, but something really sent them over the edge. What was that thing? It was the, the vision of the exalted Jesus standing at the right hand of God and there, um, There is some debate as to the significance of, of Jesus standing, and there's a bit of disagreement as to whether the best translation is that Stephen saw Jesus established at the right hand of God in that place of, um, unique singular authority.
Uh, or, or if it's that he saw Jesus standing, um, there is something peculiar about Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Um, was he standing in, in salute? A standing ovation to the first martyr of the early church. Was he standing to welcome Stephen into eternity? Very possibly all those things. Um, but I think the council and the high priest would've been aware, um, this vision of Jesus, standing at the right hand of God would've brought to mind some passages, um, from the Old Testament. In psalm 110:1.
It says, the Lord says, to my Lord, To Jesus, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Psalm 68, verses one to two say, God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered, and those who hate him shall flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away. As wax melts before fire so the wicked shall perish before God.
Isaiah three, verse 13. The Lord has taken his place to contend. He stands to judge peoples. And there will be a day when Jesus will judge the world in righteousness. And 2000 years later, I don't think anything's really changed. This still sends us over the edge. Um, I, I've heard someone say, can't remember who, but someone has said that, um, we are okay.
We're all okay with Jesus as long as he stays a baby in the manger. But you call him King and you call him a judge, and there might not be a more ignored and maligned vision of Jesus than of him as judge, especially today when it's, it's really worse to call something evil than to do evil. But only God can judge me is not really the flex that we think it is. There will be a day when Jesus will judge the world in righteousness.
Now you might think, well, it's, gosh, it's a bit of a relief that I'm not like those ill tempered, murderous men who's who stoned Stephen. Like I sh I should be okay on that day. Um, but it says in James 2:10, for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point, has become guilty of all of it. Um, Romans 3 verse 23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
And it's here that I'd like to look at, um, what is perhaps the most profound and important question that has ever been asked. In Job nine verse two, it says, how can a man be in the right before God? If we go back Romans three again, it says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.
This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just, and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Jesus. Um, God put forward as a propitiation by his blood. That means that Jesus took upon himself all of the wrath and the condemnation and the, the judgment and the curse that, that we deserve. He took it all upon himself and. And, his perfect righteousness, his perfect record was attributed to us. Um, if we, if we receive him by faith.
So on that day, when Jesus comes to judge the world in righteousness, you will either bear the wrath of God yourself or you'll flee to the one who, who bore it for you. And the sight of Jesus standing ready to judge will not cause us to shudder and shrink back in terror. On that day, there will be, there will be no valid, legitimate accusation brought against those who are in Christ Jesus.
There will be no judgment. There'll be no fear of judgment. There'll be no wrath or condemnation. Being in the presence of the exalted Jesus will be our greatest joy and we will boldly approach our master and will say, along with the psalmist, in your presence, there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So we've kind of looked at two questions today. What could possibly fill the infinite abyss longing in our hearts? What could satisfy the human heart and captivate our gaze for, for a lifetime? Not to mention eternity. It is just Jesus, and how could I possibly ever be in the right before God? It is just Jesus. Thanks for listening, guys.
Matt: Coming up, we have Conversation. Street, but before we get into that, here's a clip from our podcast. What's the story which you can subscribe to on all your favorite podcast apps.
Peter: Sometimes there's things that you go through that you don't want to go through. You're praying for blessings and, and favor and, and healing. Um, and he doesn't deliver that. And it's because it's actually not what you want. It's what you need. And so it's just, it's so interesting how God works. Um, I think maybe I shared with you before, but the book, um, living Fearless by Jamie Winship, talks about Prayer just praying like, Lord, what do you want me to know and what do you want me to do? And that's it. Cuz we, we, we can't handle much more than that. We won't understand it. Um, and it's not gonna be our plan, you know? Mm-hmm.
Dan: Well, welcome back. Um, firstly, the What's the Story podcast are brilliant. I'm looking forward to, to listening to, to, that one. Sounded, sounded good. Um, So that was a pretty powerful talk, wasn't it?
That was probably one, yeah. One of the most softly spoken, powerful talks I've ever heard. yeah, yeah.
John: Yeah. it's super challenging. Um, and, and loving in the sense that speaking truth, um, I mean, let's face it Dan. You and I we're, I, I've known you for a long time. We we're only on here doing what we're doing because we're concerned for people for more than just their immediate life on earth.
We, we, we believe in an afterlife with our whole heart and I, and I don't think, and and I know you are the same, that we've secured some sort of place in heaven by our own decency or goodness on merit, but simply, Receiving Jesus into our lives. And, and so, you know, thank you, uh, Peter for bringing that, that message, that reminder, uh, that we frame our life in earth as just a moment, a br a, a blip, uh, compared to eternity.
And really then the question is, how are we living now in a way that prepares us for eternity? Um, so yeah. Powerful talk, challenging talk, serious and sobering in the right sense of the word. And I, I do pray for anyone who's, uh, been watching it, that you'd really hear the heart in it, really, of an invitation to freely receive that eternal life that Jesus offers.
Dan: Yeah. Absolutely. That's what I was, was thinking, like you said, we're, we are not here just because we want to be on YouTube. That's not my goal. We're here because we want to tell people that Jesus is eternity. There is more to life than than this earth.
There's more to life than joy here. There's more to life than suffering here. There is Jesus at the right hand and just to to know. Um, Stephen's heart, as he said that, you know, he starts off with, what does he call them? In one translation, you stiff-necked people, you know, all, all hardened and don't want to, don't want to listen, don't want to turn, or, um, try to understand something a a different way and then just sees Heaven opened.
He, he. He knew where he was going. He knew that he was rooted fast in, in eternity.
John: And that's the point of a stiff necked imagery. It's an unwillingness to think, maybe I'm not right here, maybe I've got it wrong. And um, and, and for Pete, the example he used of that, which I think is worth you and I just chatting about a bit, is like some of the messages that we get in society about how if you pursue this or if you go for this, or if you try this technique, or if you try this resource, or if you buy this, or if you sign up to this, then your life will be what you want it to be.
And fundamentally what Pete was saying is that the only thing that really matters and really delivers is Jesus. And, and there's all sorts of variations and shades of it in Christianity that just don't deliver. And we wonder why people get disappointed with Christianity. Listening just to someone this morning after the church service telling me how 20 years ago they left the church because it didn't deliver according to the message that they had believed and received and, and so
so yeah, I just think pursue Jesus, seek Jesus, and you get all those other things in the way you pursue peace through meditation, through yoga. You're not gonna get true and lasting peace. Pursue joy. You're not gonna get true and lasting joy, pursue happiness. Um, it does not work. Pursue Jesus. And seek him and surrender to him and you'll, you'll get all those things in the wake of it, but as soon as you make those objects the goal the focus, it just doesn't work. We just become yet another religion that really doesn't deliver.
Dan: Yeah, exactly. No satisfaction is there? There's no satisfaction in the things. It's satisfaction in the, in the one who created us and, and in, in the answer. Yeah. And, um, he
John: Are we like, um, like Pete quoted CS Lewis and I mean, I've been quite challenged by CS Lewis in the early years of my Christian life, particularly mere Christianity. And, and I would say that um, there is a sense that as Christians we do pursue pleasure.
He tells a little story CS Lewis about, um, like kids going to the beach in the car and before they get to the beach, this family stop off. And then the kid splashes around in a muddy puddle and hasn't realized that there's a greater joy and a greater pleasure just around the corner.
And it says that's like the problem for humans with sin. Uh, we think that sin will bring us pleasure and joy, but there's a greater pleasure and a greater joy and a greater satisfaction that is found by being in union with Jesus. So I think, like Pete was saying, it's a nuanced thing. We can pursue happiness, joy, peace, as long as we know that we're finding them in him. It's only in him. in intimacy and union with him, with Jesus that we truly get those things.
Dan: Yes. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I liked it. I put it in the comments. Um, we turn up for the Quiche, you know, let's not, whatever it might be with, um, religion or church or, um, or a club that there's, there's, there's much more than that. There is community in the, in those things isn't there? But like you, like you just said, focus our eyes on Jesus. And those other things are, they're just, they're, they're part of it. They're, um, the, the completion of that. But it's, it's Jesus and it's eternity and it is vastly the most important message, the most important question that every one of us needs to answer is, what, what do we want to put our, who are we gonna put our focus in?
John: Yeah. So how do we do that, man? How, how, how do we, and, and, this is possibly a message as much for christians who've been Christians 60 years as it is for someone who's just exploring the faith. How do you do that? How do you make sure you've not gone off track pursuing all these nice secondary things? How do you keep that singular focus, that singular pursuit on Jesus and only Jesus?
Dan: Yeah, I, um, I think for me that there's, if we put our focus in him, so in his word and the word that he's. He's given us, um, if we're, um, we're asking him questions, not, not even people around or like, like we've talked about, but sort of self-help or God help books. But if we're just keeping our eyes on him, that's the, that's the way forward. For me it, it's, every day's got to be that.
And, um, again, getting back again to that stiff necked people. I think, um, I, I've fallen the same, I can get into well, I, I understand that bit and I'm not changing from my, my views and it could be that that view is, is right, but I want to, I want to be have a, a mind and a heart that's always moldable, that's always open to what God wants me to do.
And if that means I need to physically go another way or my life needs to, to change or my actions, my places, my work, my, my lifestyle, then I need to be free to do that. Mm-hmm.
John: Yeah, you're absolutely right, Dan. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm, a pastor. I've not always been a pastor, but the past nine years I've been employed, um, by the church. And let me tell you, um, you still have to work to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and not to get caught up in the business and administration and logistics and strategy of leading an organization. And, um, the thing that's probably the phrase that's probably helped me most in it. Um, this idea of gospel in yourself, getting the gospel into yourself. It's like we, we think of the gospel message which Pete preached. He talked about the sinfulness of human humanity, the wrath of God, and the forgiveness of sins and restoration with relation with Jesus.
Like that is not just a message that Christians speak to those who don't know the message. I preach that to myself all the time. I, I gospel myself all the time. We've used the Four Points, um, quite a lot in Crowd Church. We use it at our church, um, www.4points.com. Got, uh, and, and so I wear my four points band or have it in my, on my card just to remind me that God loves me, that I've sinned, that Jesus died from me.
And today I need to choose to make him first in my life and live for him. And so I don't ever wanna get beyond that core essence of the gospel in my own life, because otherwise I just swerve if I do. And I get into self-help and striving and all those other sorts of things. And the, the truth is when we're talking about things like, um, self-love and I get the Blaise Pascal quote, I think Pete's quite right.
Think humans innately are selfish creatures. Of course we are. I mean, I, I, I certainly am. Um, but there's also. Like a loathing that humans can have of themselves. And, um, if we're quite honest, in the darkest recessions of our minds, there's lots of things about us that we don't like and don't love, even though we are selfish in our pursuit.
Um, but what I found is when I come to the cross and I gospel myself, and I remember the great love of God displayed on the cross for someone like me. God's great love for me, that actually does empower me and help me to, um, receive God's love and have a much healthier self-identity, uh, a much robust self-identity, which helps me to love others. Um, so so the, these things are connected together, I think, and they all flow out of that, that core message of the good news, the gospel.
Dan: Yeah. Yeah. I think you, you said, um, with the four points I put. Jesus first. And I think that's the, the key, isn't it? If, if Jesus is first, then everything else is just, has to be, um, secondary. Everything else has to be, not necessarily in the background, but Jesus gotta be first and then everything else follows on after that. Our life with God follows on because
John: I think like, I was talking this morning, um, in our gathered service about giving and generosity and finances, and I was just trying to root it really in God's grace because, um, like what Pete has done is entirely right and, and brought what we might call a really high bar, high challenge, um, high level challenge. And the point with any talk is it should lead us to thinking, I can't do this.
That way that Peter's just described, I can't do. And like you, I think what you were talking about before, it was, I, I was thinking in my head when you were saying it, I was say thinking that is humility. That's recogni. I think as soon as we get to that point saying, whoa, I can't live like that, um, God's like, great. Step aside.
Dan: And that's, the opposite of self-love, isn't it? That's taught in, in books of the media. It's, you can do it, it's the Disney way. You can do anything you put your mind to it. Um, but it's completely opposite of that.
We can't, we can't live up to those standards. We need Jesus. He's the only one that can do it. That has, he has done it for us. If we just accept, accept that,
John: We just surrender. I, I say that all the time. The effort of grace is to surrender. It's just to yield. And I just really encourage folks who are watching this and think, you know, don't let it fall on you as, um, as, as condemnation, let it be convictions, free it to the Lord and say, Lord, um, help me.
Grace me. Give me grace. Lord, give me, empower me. Help me in this place where I just can't live in that way. Because that is the point I think of Stephen, the proto martyr. Um, the church throughout generations from the earliest times has always taught about, um, sacraments. A grace that is gifted to per a person in the moment, like the sacrament of marriage.
The Lord knows marriage is difficult. You need God's grace in order to do you know what I mean? It's like a gift and sacrament of martyrdom, um, the church has talked about from history because you know, you think, well, what would I do in that situation? I, I've spent Sunday afternoons usually with a, a little group of Iranian leaders, um, coaching some iranian leaders, um, and. Um, huge issues for the church in Iran, the secret church in Iran, uh, persecution.
You think, well, how, what would I be like in that situation? Well, the promise is God would give you grace in that moment. Grace to be able to enjoy and walk through, uh, what you are walking through. My little speculation, just to add to Pete's speculation, um, I'll say mine. I heard my, my brother do a great sermon on this.
Um, he didn't quite say it, but if you, when you think of how Jesus is described in heaven, he's described as seated at the right hand of the Father. In this moment, he stands up. I just think there's something quite beautiful about that shift in that moment from him being seated to standing.
Um, yeah, I'm sure it is more than one thing, but in the same way he's described as standing as judge, I think. It's also a standing to, for, for Stephen's benefit, it's a, it's like, um, the same sort of standing you would do if you saw your kid wobbling on a bike. Do you know what I mean or about to fall or, or whatever. It's a, it's a drawing towards, it's a drawing close type of standing. Um,
Dan: It's a ready to greet, isn't it? I, you know, on Facebook you get all these memes come up. Um, one just came up today, it's like one father tells his son and it's never sit down to shake someone's hand. It's, it's that you stand up, you know you're there, ready to greet and ready to congratulate. Yeah.
John: That's really good. Yeah, that's how I imagine this moment. But it's just a little bit of, um, feature speculation, isn't it really?
Dan: Yeah, yeah, But I like that. Um, yeah, I like that little, that little difference, the standing and the seating. I've never, never. Read it lots of times and never picked up on that.
Mm-hmm. I like, um, I mean, we have touched on it, but, uh, Peter says, you know, Jesus isn't, uh, sort of the, the, the by byproduct or he isn't. The weight isn't the happiness isn't the end. Um, satisfaction isn't the end. Jesus is the end. He's the, um, he's, he's the source, but he's also the, the goal. Um, and those other things that we've talked about, just.
A part of, part of who he is.
John: And I've met people over the years and shared my favorite people and invited people to follow Jesus over the years. Um, maybe you are in the city center and you get chatting to someone at a bus stop or whatever, and there is that sense that for some people it's like, I've tried yoga. I've tried mindfulness, I've tried living my own way.
I'll give Jesus a try and I'll, I'll add it into my life and tag it onto my life. I do a lot of work with, uh, churches in India and um, that's one of the challenges of syncretism in the hinduistic traditions, that you just accept Jesus as one God amongst many, and, uh, and just tag him into the rest of it just so you've got all bases covered. You know, and um, and when people take that approach after a while, they get disillusioned. They get disappointed cause you cannot tag Jesus onto your life.
In addition, it's not even your life. It's like when people say, there used to be that there used to be that song, Jesus take the wheel, country and Western Christianity, uh, like, I'm in my car, I'm on the wheel, Jesus take the wheel. But like you come to a point, if you really soak in scripture, in the gospel that you realize, it's not my wheel, it's not even my car. It belongs to him.
It's his and, and honestly, I just don't know any way of calling us into that stuff like that peace and that joy, that happiness and that love, other than to call us into surrender to Jesus.
Dan: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
John: Some hard-hitting stuff here today. Dan. Some big themes.
Dan: It's, yeah. And, but every week we say the same thing, don't we? It's everything or it's everything or nothing. Don't, don't miss out on, don't miss on Jesus. Just like you, like you've been saying by, by trying or adding him to your daily schedule.
Just fall into his, fall, into his arms and say, here I am. Yeah. Well, thanks very much, John. Thanks for joining us. And if you've, if anyone's listened to this and they've got questions or they're struggling with things or they've got Prayer requests, please, please, we'd love to hear from you. So just, um, you can put questions in the comments still.
You can email in, um, And the address will come up at the end. Um, just, yeah, send an email in and we'd love to, we'd love to chat with you. Um, we'd love to just let you know more about this. Jesus, this is the whole point of, of church online.
John: And particularly those big questions of eternity, life after death. You know, occasionally people email us in to say, They've responded to what we've been talking about and it's changed their lives and, you know, just get in touch. We, we, you know, we're not saying you have to agree with everything we said right now.
Let's have a conversation. Let's, let's, uh, talk about it. Let's, um, learn together. And, uh, we want to help people to really enjoy, um, Jesus in a way that helps 'em to enjoy life.
Dan: Oh Amen. Yeah. Thank you John.
John: What's happening next week Dan? What's happening
Dan: So Claire Glare is going to join me hosting, um, Matt Edmundson will be talking on the next chapter of Acts, which I'm very much looking forward to. Um, so yeah. Looking forward to that.
John: Great. Alright thank you Dan.
Dan: And uh you, thank you, John.
John: Yeah, I'll wave to you from my window when I see you outside now.
Dan: We've got the same sun coming through our windows. Well, thank you very much and we'll see you next week.
Matt: Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church. Now if you are watching on YouTube, make sure hit the subscribe button as well as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live. And of course, if you are listening to the podcast, uh, the Livestream podcast, make sure you also hit the follow button. Now by smashing the light button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform.
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It has been awesome to connect with you and you are awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear and hopefully we'll see you next time. That's it from us. God bless you. Bye for now.