Transcript
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.’ And having said this, He breathed His last.
Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, ‘Certainly this was a righteous man.’ And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned. But all His acquaintances and the women who followed Him from Galilee stood at a distance, watching these things.”
If you were to walk into the living room of my apartment you would see hanging above a bookcase a full-color painting of a man who is running. The man who is running is wearing a green business suit. Around his neck and flowing out from behind him there is a thick purple cape. He is wearing a blue gas mask, the face portion of which is yellow. He has orange gloves and a broad-brimmed orange hat. And in each hand he is carrying a gun. In his right hand he is carrying a gun loaded with a steel dart that is attached to a spool of wire. In his left hand he is holding a gas gun from which a stream of gas is flowing out and floating from one side of the picture to the other.
Now just in case you folks are not really up to date on your comic book heroes of the 1940s, I think I should tell you that the running man in the green business suit and the gas mask was a comic book character known as the Sandman. Some of you have heard the somewhat amusing story which explains how it happens that I have a picture like that.
You see, when I was a little boy of about nine or ten my favorite comic book character was the Sandman. But somewhere in the early 1940s he changed his 1940s the green business suit. Gone was the blue gas mask. And he wore a tight-fitting suit of purple and yellow. It was too much like what all the other superheroes were wearing. And I was very disappointed to lose the Sandman in his old costume.
And when it was obvious to me that the old costume was gone for good, I sat down and wrote a letter to a man named Cliff Young whose name I had seen on some of the Sandman stories. And I told Cliff Young that I liked the old-costume Sandman better than the new-costume Sandman. And would he please draw me a story featuring the Sandman in his old costume. And to compensate him for his labors I included in my letter, I kid you not, one solid dime.
Now in my childlike mind I thought that was more than adequate compensation. Because you see I could buy a whole comic book with a dime that had six or seven stories in it. And all I was asking this guy to do was to give me one story. And I thought a dime was generous compensation indeed.
Much to the amusement of my parents he wrote me back. And he told me that he too preferred the old-costume form of the Sandman. And he said he was really too busy to draw me a whole story. But he had drawn me this picture of the Sandman in his old costume. And down in one side of it he signed it: “To Zane Hodges with best wishes, Cliff Young.” And best of all he returned my dime.
And that is how I happen to possess today a unique, one-of-its-kind, original drawing of the 1940s Sandman.
Now if some of you are sitting out there saying, “So what,” I think I need to tell you something. The comic books in which the old Sandman appeared that were bought and sold for ten cents back in the 1940s can now be sold on the collector’s market for hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. And I have not the slightest idea what the value of an original drawing of the Sandman of the 1940s would be worth.
And if anybody were to question the genuineness of the drawing I think a comic book expert could verify it from the signature on the picture and from the style of the artwork. But I have no plans to sell my copy of the Sandman’s picture. Of course if somebody offered me ten thousand dollars I’d have to think that over. But for now I’m planning to keep it. Because you see it’s original. It’s one of its kind. It’s genuine. It’s authentic. And yes, if you may allow me to put it this way, it’s the real stuff.
And do I need to tell you this morning that in the religious world of our day and age sometimes it is very hard to recognize what is genuine, what is authentic, what is the real stuff. Turn on your television screen sometime and channel surf from one religious program to another. And you will discover that an amazing number of claims are made about miraculous events, miraculous answers to prayer, miraculous healings of people. And very often there is no proof or evidence offered that these claims are genuine, authentic or real.
And you know sometimes we do the same thing with our own life and experience, especially when we go through hard times. And we may be tempted to put an interpretation on our own personal experiences that has no support from the Word of God.
And so this morning I would like to discuss with you for a few minutes the following topic: Christian suffering, the real stuff. And as you probably have guessed the topic is also the title of my message to you today: Christian Suffering, the Real Stuff.
Now most of you would probably agree with me that if I walked out on the streets of Dallas today and if I walked up to a perfect stranger and said to that stranger, “Sir, if you don’t get saved by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ you are going straight to the fires of eternal damnation,” most of you I think would agree with me, if I was so tactless as to do that, that I probably should not be surprised if the person said to me, “Get out of my face.” Maybe I would not even be surprised if he tried to put a fist in my face.
And you know I can hardly describe that as real Christian suffering. Because a large part of my problem would come from the tactless and thoughtless way that I had approached this man.
But did you notice that in the passage of Scripture which we read just a few moments ago something entirely different from that takes place. You see the Lord Jesus Christ is hanging on the cross where He is dying for your sins and for mine. And as He hangs there on the cross some very remarkable things happen.
First of all there is an eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth hour. That is from twelve noon to three p.m. The brightest and hottest part of the day suddenly is darkness all over the landscape. And then as the Lord Jesus Christ comes to the point of death Luke tells us that He cries out with a loud voice. With a loud voice: “Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit.” And it is then immediately that He dies.
And the Roman centurion, the Roman army officer who was there at the scene, is profoundly and deeply impressed by what has occurred. In all probability this Roman centurion was the Roman officer in charge of the crucifixion. It is highly probable that this was not the first crucifixion that he had ever attended. But I’m suggesting to you it is probably the first crucifixion he had ever attended in which there was an eclipse of the sun in the middle of the day.
But perhaps even more impressive than that is the fact that when a person was hanging on a cross and dying of crucifixion they died of loss of blood. They died of exhaustion. And they grew weaker and weaker and weaker. Just before the end of their life they probably could hardly speak above a whisper if they could speak at all.
But here is Jesus coming to the end of his life and crying out to God with a loud voice. And then instantly he dies. And it seems obvious that he has not died of weakness. But it is almost as if he had decided himself the moment of his death.
And in fact we know that was true. Because in the Gospel of John Jesus said, “No man takes My life from Me. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again.” And while it is true that men nailed Jesus to the cross it is not true that they actually killed him. Jesus chose the moment of his death. He laid down His life voluntarily in obedience to God as a sacrifice for our sins and for our salvation.
He died on that cross as nobody else has ever died on a cross. Deliberately and voluntarily giving His spirit back to God. And when the centurion saw that, my friends, the Bible says that he glorified God. And this is what he said. He said, “Certainly, certainly this was a righteous man.”
The centurion concluded that Jesus was not a criminal. That Jesus did not deserve to die on that cross. That this was a man who suffered innocently. This was a righteous man.
Do I need to tell you that if our sufferings for the Lord Jesus Christ are to be real and authentic sufferings they can’t be our fault. They can’t be a result of our sins. The first requirement is that if we are to suffer for God’s sake we suffer as righteous men and women. We suffer innocently.
Peter said in his first epistle that none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other people’s affairs. But if any man suffers as a Christian let him not be ashamed. But let him glorify God in that respect.
In 1651 in the colony of Massachusetts there was a pastor by the name of Obadiah Holmes. Governor Endicott of Massachusetts ordered him to be whipped. Do you know why he was whipped? He was whipped because he had held a prayer meeting in his own house.
Obadiah Holmes was whipped so brutally that for days he could not lie comfortably except on his knees and on his elbows. But when the last lash of the whip had fallen upon him he looked up at the men who were whipping him. And through bloodstained lips he said, “Gentlemen, you have whipped me with roses. You have whipped me with roses.”
May I suggest, my friends, that when you and I suffer for our Christian faith innocently in a way that glorifies God then it is almost as if the fragrance of roses, the beauty of roses, shines through the experience of suffering.
You see true Christian suffering must be innocent. And it must be to the glory of God. And if you have that kind of an experience in your life then that experience is genuine. That experience is authentic. Yes, that experience is the real stuff.
You know it’s really hard to believe that only hours before the events that we are reading about the Roman governor had brought the Lord Jesus Christ out to the crowds. And he had announced to the crowds that he hadn’t found anything wrong in this man. There was no reason to execute him. And he offered to release Jesus after whipping him.
And the crowds who were stirred up by the rulers and the chief priests said, “Away with this man and give us Barabbas.” Barabbas was a rebel and a man who had committed murder during his rebellion. And when Pilate tried again to release Jesus the crowd began to chant, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
And Pilate said, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no cause for death in Him. I will chastise Him and let Him go.” And the tumult raised by the crowd was so loud and so insistent that this weak-willed Roman governor released Barabbas the murderer and the rebel. And he delivered the innocent, righteous Jesus to their will to be crucified.
That had happened hours earlier. And it’s almost hard to believe that that happened when we look at the crowd that was now gathered at the foot of the cross. For you see the Gospel of Luke informs us that the crowd who was now gathered at the foot of the cross, when they saw the things that had happened, they beat their breasts. They beat their breasts. And they turned around and went home.
Now there’s no way to prove that the two crowds were identical. They probably almost certainly were not. And yet it is not unlikely that some of those who were in the earlier crowd were in the crowd that watched the crucifixion. But whoever the crowd consisted of isn’t it obvious that the innocent suffering of Jesus Christ reached their heart and affected their soul.
Somehow they sensed that something desperately wrong had happened here. And they beat their breasts and returned.
My Christian friends, when you and I are favored by God to suffer innocently and for the glory of God we must realize that our sufferings in the hands of God have the power to impact and touch the hearts and lives of men who observed them.
In the third century of the Christian era there was a Roman soldier by the name of Adrian. Adrian was a member of an elite bunch of soldiers called the Praetorian Guard. He served under the Roman emperor Galerius Maximian. He was a fanatical persecutor of Christians. But he had to admit that when the Christians suffered, as they often did, with courage and with perseverance, that he was impressed by that.
Adrian himself was a very brave soldier. And he admired bravery. But he thought that the bravery he saw in Christians exceeded any bravery that he had seen on the battlefield. And in 298 A.D. when Adrian was 28 years old, after his daring and skill in the battlefield had led from one promotion to another, he was engaged in torturing some Christians. And he was once again impressed by their courage.
And so he turned to one of the Christians who was suffering torture. And he said to that Christian, “Tell me, what is the secret? What is the source of your strength and your joy in the midst of your suffering?” And the suffering Christian replied, “Our Lord Jesus Christ in whom we believe.”
And then in a flash Adrian made a decision. He turned around. He walked up to the heathen judge. And Adrian said to the heathen judge, “Put my name down as one to be tortured because I too shall become a Christian.”
Now I don’t know enough of the details about this story to guarantee to you that at that moment in time Adrian understood that suffering was not necessary in order to become a Christian. I can’t tell you that Adrian understood that the only way we go to heaven is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and faith alone. But hopefully in the 23 years of his life that followed he did discover that. If he didn’t know it at first.
But isn’t it obvious? Isn’t it clear that the brave, innocent suffering of Christians profoundly affected this man? And if you suffer for Jesus Christ you can count on God to make your sufferings an impact on others who will observe them. And if you have that kind of experience then your experience of Christian suffering is genuine. It’s authentic. Yes, it’s the real stuff.
You know it sometimes happens that when unsaved people hear about the things that happen in connection with Christian suffering they don’t really believe them. That certainly was true in Jesus’ day and time. When people heard that Jesus was seen alive by his disciples many of them didn’t believe that at all.
In fact one of the explanations that made the rounds was that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body from the tomb and that’s why they said he was alive. But another explanation that probably made the rounds was that Jesus hadn’t really died. That the person who died on that cross was somebody else. And that this was a case of mistaken identity.
And maybe some people thought that the Christians were exaggerating when they talked about the loud cry that Jesus gave just before he passed into the spirit of death. But Luke informs us that present here at the crucifixion of Christ, observing all these things, were all his acquaintances. Did you notice that? And the women who had come with Him from Galilee.
The people who observed these things were people who knew him up close. Who knew him close and personal. Who had waited on him, attended on him, been in his company. And not only that they were standing afar off so that if they heard Jesus cry out it was obvious He was not whispering.
Don’t you see that on this occasion God has already in place witnesses, those who will bear testimony to the reality of the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
Now I know that you and I have not actually seen Jesus suffer and die. And therefore we can never be eyewitnesses in the sense in which these people became eyewitnesses of his suffering. But there is a sense, I believe, in which you and I can bear witness to the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
And I want to suggest to you that when the sufferings of Jesus Christ are in some way reproduced in us then we become witnesses to the reality of his experience.
There was a young Englishman by the name of George Atlee who was engaged with the Central African Mission many years ago. He was out one day when he was attacked by a party of natives. Now it just so happened that George Atlee had with him a Winchester repeating rifle with all ten of its chambers loaded.
The natives who attacked him were at his mercy because they had no weapon like this. But George Atlee quickly summed up the situation. And he decided that he would do more harm to the mission for Jesus Christ by killing the natives than he would be if he allowed them to kill him. Which is exactly what they did.
And when his body was found in the stream his Winchester rifle was also found with all ten of its chambers still fully loaded. And isn’t it plain that a man like this gives testimony to the reality of the death of Christ? For just as Jesus died for the salvation of men so also this man died for the salvation of these natives.
And it was the Apostle Paul who said this in connection with his own sufferings. He says, “I suffer all things for the elect’s sake that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”
And no, I haven’t seen Christ suffer. And yet whenever I have seen someone suffer in the spirit of Christ, with the attitude of Christ, I have seen the reality of the sufferings of my Savior. And that person becomes a witness to me and a witness to their friends and to their unsaved relatives of the reality of the love of Christ and the sufferings of the Son of God.
“To this end you were also called,” says Peter, “because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps.”
And if you and I, following the steps of Jesus Christ, if we suffer innocently to the glory of God, if that results in an impact on the lives of men and a witness to the sufferings of the Savior, then be very sure that that experience of Christian suffering is genuine. It’s authentic. And yes, yes, yes, it’s the real stuff.
There is an amusing story that is told about John Wesley the great Methodist evangelist. It is said that he was riding his horse one day and it suddenly dawned on him that he had experienced no persecution at all for three days. For three days nobody had thrown a brick at him or even thrown an egg at him.
And John Wesley was alarmed by this. And he stopped his horse. And he said, “Can it be that I’ve done something wrong? That I’m backslidden?” So he got off his horse and he kneeled down by a hedge that was nearby. And he began to pray out loud. And he began to ask God to show him if he’d done anything wrong which resulted in his not being persecuted.
Now it just so happened that there was a kind of a rough kind of fellow on the other side of the hedge. And he heard John Wesley pray. And he looked over the hedge and he recognized John Wesley. And he said to himself, “I’ll fix that Methodist preacher.” So he picked up a brick and he tossed it over the hedge at John Wesley.
Fortunately his aim was bad and the brick landed harmlessly right next to John Wesley. Immediately when John Wesley saw it he jumped up and he said, “Thank God.” He says, “It’s all right. I still have His presence.”
Now folks I’m not suggesting that if no one has tossed an egg at you or a brick at you for three days you should worry about how you are relating to God. I have to admit looking back over my life I don’t think anybody’s ever thrown an egg at me. I don’t think anybody’s ever tossed a brick at me because of my Christian faith. And that doesn’t worry me.
But you know what would worry me? It would really worry me if I could look back over a long period of time and no one had said or done anything to me that was unkind and unfair because of my testimony and stand for Jesus Christ. If I had to admit that nothing had happened to me in the way of any kind of suffering for Christ for a long time I’d have to wonder whether my testimony for Him was all that God wanted my testimony to be.
And maybe I would have to ask myself the question that the songwriter has asked so very beautifully: “Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause or blush to speak His name? Shall I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through bloody seas? Sure I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord. I’ll bear the cross, endure the pain, supported by Thy Word.”
In the name of Christ the King who has purchased life for me through grace I’ll win the promised crown whatever my cross may be.
Shall we pray? Father guard us from the easy-going, self-indulgent life in which we count ourselves successful if all goes well. Give us the courage to stand for Jesus Christ and to endure whatever consequences You bring as a result of that. We ask this in Christ’s name, amen.